The worst part was? None of the others noticed.

Hell, I wouldn't've either if the prick hadn't been practically radiating malice. He wasn't even trying to hide it, but I knew from being around the demon while it was in the kid's body that it could hide his nature even from me, if it cared to.

Harry smiled and waved, stepping forward as all the other villains crowded around, waiting for him to speak. Golden Glider let out a whistle, and chuckled next to me.

"Whew, so that's the man himself, hm? Better built than I expected."

She wasn't wrong. Harry Cooper was built like a brick house. He had a lantern jaw so thick it felt like it should make a metal 'ting' when he tapped it, and was looked like the kind of man who was obsessed with never being in a room with anybody he couldn't wrestle to the ground and snap the neck of.

Which was because he was. Or had been, in life.

He probably was as a demon too, mind you. They tend to be like that.

The others on the ground were swarming, vying for his attention. Penguin got in first, shook his hand, and a few words were exchanged before he was hushed away and Harry Cooper cleared his throat, casting his gaze across the room.

"Ahem. Hello, Honoured guests. Thank you all for coming to join me on the day of my son's birthday. Some of you I know quite closely already-" Penguin, he meant. He'd been raised in the same part of London before moving to America . "-And others, I hope to get to know soon. But for now I'll have to trouble you to allow me to retreat briefly to my study. I'm aware this is not just a party for some of you, and that we have much business to discuss. I'm going to take a brief moment to get my papers in order, then the butlers will usher you in one by one, in about twenty minutes. Mister… 'Captain Cold', was it?"

He stared up at the good captain, tone droll, unimpressed with the, ah, flowery nickname.

"You'll be first. Your entourage can come with you, if you wish. In the meantime, enjoy the festivities! My home is open to you, as is my wine cellar and private swimming pool. Enjoy! And be sure to ask my staff if you need absolutely anything."

Brilliant, devil was a charmer. How the hell the staff hadn't noticed anything was beyond me, the real Harry couldn't go that long without threatening to kick somebody's face in.

He started to move towards his study, but… then he saw me. It was hard to miss me, really, when I was stood right next to Captain Cold like that. Our eyes met, I knew he recognised me.

He didn't say anything, or even openly acknowledge my presence. But he grinned toothily before picking up the pace, brushing past an over-eager Mister Freeze and Heatwave, both of whom had made a b-line for him, tried to grab his attention before he could escape.

"And how are we supposed to know you truly have the technology you promise? Do you intend to give each a private demonstration, like Trickster did?" Freeze spoke up, hoping words spoken to the crowd would work where just trying to grab him. Social pressure works wonders, that way. Trickster in the back gave a wave and a shit-eating grin as eyes turned to him.

"Oh he has the goods. Worked like a charm, demonstrated and all!" The jester piped up, laughing "Oh don't look at me like that. On his goons, not on me!"

"In Gotham, I learned quickly not to trust the word of clowns." Freeze retorted. "You will show all of us this miracle preservative of yours"

"Freeze, is it? I would have assumed you were here for the guns." Harry actually did stop, turning to face the crowd. His back was to the door, one step back and he'd have privacy.

"I for one would positively relish a demonstration of these alien firearms you promise." Mandragora drooled. He'd stationed himself by a buffet table, and had busied himself eating slices of sushi whilst watching the show.

"Medicine first." Freeze folded his arms, staring Harry down. Harry stared right back, not blinking. I wasn't sure he had to blink at all, anymore.

I glanced aside at my own partners, whilst the group bickered.

"How 'bout you then, eh? You here for the guns or meds?"

"Medicine." Cold answered, at the exact same instant his wife answered "Guns".

The two glanced at each other, then at me.

"I hate all this… posturing. I'm here to make money, and a miracle cure sells, doubly on the black market, triply if we can replicate it. I'd love to monopolise it. It's harder to get a monopoly on guns." Cold grunts.

"But so much more fun! Besides, if my husband's knockoff and his bird brained buddy over there get the medicines whilst we get the guns… we can always use those to get the guns and the meds, no?" Golden Glider said, eyes locked on Freeze. She was sizing him up, I could tell.

"...Makes me glad I ain't in for any of it. You two start shooting up the place, I'll slip out the back, yeah? Not my scene." I grumbled, leaning against the banister.

"I'll cover you, mucker, don't worry. Getcha' a mirror out, if it does kick off." Mirror Master piped up to reassure me, whilst the crowd below came to their consensus.

"Fine." Harry growled the words, but it was through a smile. I think he'd been half looking for an excuse to do this anyway. Doubly since he apparently already had the tools on hand to do so. He pulled a vial out of his pocket, a syringe filled with something thick and bright crimson. He held it up for the crowd, giving everybody a good, long look.

I recognised it instantly. Demon blood. The fucker was selling his own damn demon blood. It was too bright to be human, too vivid, too… lively. It shifted a little in the bottle even when it wasn't moving. He cast his eyes about, before saying in a throaty purr "Any volunteers?"

To their credit, none of the villains were stupid enough to volunteer to get injected with a mystery goo, so Harry beckoned over his most reliable lieutenant. Len, who'd been hiding out in the back corner the entire conversation.

"This is my prize product. Taken from a magical battle with The Etrigan several months back, a literal miracle cure. It preserves the body, and reverts it to a healthier state, purging impurity… and makes you several years younger. We've used it to cure three cancers, two cases of alzheimers, and an epileptic thus far. And now you, my prime lieutenant… have earned your reward for all these years of service. ."

Len rolled up his sleeve, with a "Thank you, sir. Though I'd rather not be doing this in public."

Harry ignored him. He rubbed the needle off with a cloth, before pressing his fingers into Len's inner elbow, looking for the vein, and once he found it…

Injecting.

There was a moment when nothing happened. The needle slid out, and Len took in a deep breath, gritting his teeth.

I counted out the seconds, I knew how long this took. Mumbled the words.

"One elephant, two elephant, three elephant, four elephant, five, aaaand-"

A scream split the air. Len's veins turned molten, glowing brightly enough the crowd could see from half the room away. Glider and Cold pressed against the bannister to get a closer look, leaning over, almost far enough to topple and fall.

Len clutched his arm, doubling over. Harry didn't seem concerned. If anything, he was proud, taking a perverse, sadistic joy in watching his second in command buck and writhe. Len dry heaved once, twice, and emptied his stomach all over the floor.

And then he began to change.

It was a subtle thing, but noticeable. His hair grew a little thicker, a few of those wrinkles receded. He had a wiry strength before, and maybe it was just the sheer strain as his body wracked itself, but his muscles stood out a little more.

He was panting hard, though he had the strength to keep from shedding tears as the pain receded and the molten blood dimmed down. He looked human again. Not twenty years younger, but maybe five.

Enough to me noticeable

"Dear god." I heard Freeze whisper. It was a common sentiment amongst the audience. Len patted himself down, not seeming to believe it, touching at his face. There was a hushed silence, everybody too shocked to speak, until Harry cut the silence with a call.

"I have two hundred vials and the means to make more! Bidding starts at two million dollars per vial. Any who wish to haggle are welcome to get the hell out of my mansion. Gentlemen, I'll see you in my office. One by one."

He turned on his heels and vanished into the office. Two suited mobsters slid into place to guard the door, and the whole room stared after him.

"Two million? Bloody ripoff, even for a miracle cure."

"I'd pay three. No, four. Five. Got to get there before Penguin does, he'll outbid all of us."

The crowd started murmuring, everybody rushed off to their plans. Mandragora was already out of the room, Penguin was scribbling down some maths on a piece of paper, probably trying to work out how much money he could make out of those things so he could settle on a bid. But as for me?

I was rushing down the stairs to get to Len. Took his hand, helped him up.

"Steady there, mate. Steady on. Take a few deep breaths, okay? Been through just what you have, and it stings like a bitch and never stops itching, but… it gets easier, yeah?"

Len nodded, uncharacteristically mute. His nose curled in disgust as he smelled the pile of puke on the floor, and he stepped back out of it, flicking a little free from his boot.

"Truly. Are you okay? Can you talk?" Freeze chimed in, looming over us both. Len grabbed Freeze's armour at the hip and took my shoulder with his other hand as he stood up on shaky legs.

"I can." He grumbled

"Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Just the middle one. Fuck off, john." He growled, but he was smiling through it, so I took it as a win, laughing.

"Yeah, he's good. Shouldn't be operating any heavy machinery for a bit, but he's good."

Len struggled to stand, whilst Freeze levelled his gaze at me.

"John, you said you had undergone a similar process before."

"Jesus, that was quick. Brief show of concern then you're all business, big guy?" I shot him a glare, even though Len genuinely didn't seem to mind.

"Did you?"

"Yes! Infusion of demon blood. Nasty business, but… Why are you looking at me like that?"

Freeze fixed me with an… intense stare. Analyzing. Weighing me up, but not for a fight. Scrutinising me for… I don't know what. I wasn't sure I liked it, so I stared back. He flinched first, relenting.

"Penguin." He called over, abandoning the two of us entirely. "Penguin! We'll pool our resources for this, how much were you planning to bid?"

"...Fuck 'im." I scowled, looking back to Len, instead. The guy had finally put himself together, brushed himself off. "Rather a show there, no? Take it he ain't done that before. You usually let him make a spectacle of you?"

"No, he doesn't." Len admitted, before closing his eyes, letting out a slow breath… and straightening his back. "But I'd thank you not to pounce on me for information, John. It hurt, but not that much."

"Hey, just doing me due diligence! But, like…" I did my best to put all the subtle, surreptitious meaning I could into one nudge of my elbow. "You know, right?"

"...Know what?"

"You, y'know…" My eyes went to the door, where the monster that was wearing Harry Cooper's skin had retreated to "Know." I paused. "Who that is?"

"...My boss?" He asked, brows raising. Either he didn't know, or he had one hell of a poker face.

I let out an innocent whistle, putting my hands in my pockets. "Y'know what? Nevermind. I have a few fellas I need to talk to. You go do… whatever the hell your job is, keeping the young bucks in your bloody crime outfit from topping themselves by mistake, I guess?"

"Something like that." He grunted, looking at me like I was crazy. "Be seeing you, John. And y'know what, seeing as how my job is apparently keeping idiots from committing suicide, let me give you some advice… whatever it is you're here for? Don't."

—

"No no, oi'm telling you, oi trust the man but oi don't trust him enough to blow five million on the stuff without a test drive. Or enough to be the test subject myself."

"Which is why you should have brought henchmen. This is an official function, we look like amateurs for coming alone and naked as we are. And it would make our work here much easier, too. It is not easy to do this whilst trapped in this accursed suit."

"Oi bring henchmen, it'll look like a show of force! Captain Cold didn't bring henchmen and hell if oi'll look like oi trust an old family friend less'n that bastard. Besides, you want to sneak them through custom? Armed? 'Cause they show up without any weapons then we'll really look like amateurs."

"Gentlemen!" I cut in from the top of the stairs. "Mind If I interrupt?" Penguin and Freeze had taken to one of the wine cellars, and Penguin himself was getting progressively more drunk. They'd shooed out the help for a, ah… business conversation. The place was a dank old cellar, the kind where water dripped from the ceiling and the wooden frames holding all the booze were half rotten. Half these bottles had been down here decades, and Penguin was cracking them open like the home team had just won a footie match.

Though I suppose it was only fair somebody got to loot them, Harry'd probably stole them all first.

"Depends on if you've got anything useful to say." Penguin said. He looked a little annoyed at being interrupted, but leant forward onto his umbrella, putting his considerable weight on it. He looked interested, and his companion nodded for me to go ahead.

I nudged the door a little wider open with my foot. Made sure a passer by or two saw me hanging around in the threshold before heading all the way inside, down the stairs to actually talk to him.

"Depends on how you define useful, mate. See, a certain bird's gone and offered me an ambiguous reward for fucking up your end of negotiations." See how I carefully neglect to mention I was technically the one to make that offer? That's tact, that is. "And I could really use the first crack at ol' Harry. Want to talk to him before anybody else. Right now, that birdie's boyfriend's got right to the first chat in abouuut…" I checked my watch. "Ten minutes."

I chuckled darkly, rolling my shoulders. "I don't want in on the negotiations or bidding or any of that crap. But I want that first meeting, and I figure they'll give it to me if I ask it as my prize."

The two went cold at that. Two pairs of hostile eyes bored into my cloak. I heard a distinctive hiss as Penguin twisted the handle of his umbrella, and Freeze's hands went towards the freeze ray at his belt.

"So you plan to sabotage us." Freeze repeated, slowly. "I assume you understand we won't allow you to do this easily."

"Easy, easy! I ain't stupid, I wouldn't be telling you if I intended to actually do it. See, thing is, our interests seem to align here. If I'm the one who meets Harry first, you're second, yeah? Which would leave you, my lads, as the lucky fellas who get to make the first good impression in this here bidding brewing war."

The two exchanged a look, starting to cotton on, but I filled in the blanks for them anyway, grinning like a knife the whole time. "Cold and Golden Glider know I'm here, so you've about ten minutes minus however long it'll take me to report back to them to come up with a nice, solid lie I can give them that they'll think will sink your bid entirely."

–

I whistled innocently as I emerged from the wine cellar about five minutes later with a swing in my step and one hand in my pocket, keeping hold of a little gift Penguin gave me, which I was not gonna be questioning the propriety of. Ah, I love it when a good plan comes together.

Though I love it a lot less when somebody else comes to throw a wrench into that plan. I jumped out of my skin when I realised somebody had fallen into lockstep besides me, miming my movements down to the step and whistling, with a comically exaggerated bent.

Trickster. I stopped still, and he mirrored me, going silent. Then I whistled a single beat and he copied a nanosecond behind me. I whistled again and he repeated the trick. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he narrowed his eyes at me. I tried whistling the sailor's hornpipe but he kept up, then swerved into Benny Hill. Should've known he'd've had that one down by heart, but I swapped mid note from whistling to verbal scatting, and he 'beeped' when I 'booped'.

We both froze at his mistake, and then burst into hysterical laughter. He wiped away tears, and I clapped him on the back.

"Okay, okay, enough fucking about." I said, to break the tension as we settled down. "You here for a reason, or just to fuck with me? I'm on a timer."

We walked and talked, and he tittered a little, manically. "Nope, just to fuck with ya! Also curiosity. Saw you fondling something in your pocket and it reminded me of a movie."

"A movi-" I started, before he cut me off

"What has it got in it's pocketssessss~" he leered, dimming his voice down into an vicious hiss, a near perfect impression

"Uh, a wadded up fiver 'n a slim fit condom. Why?" I parried, a quote of my own.

At which point he juggled a little white capsule pill from one hand to the other, smirking "Bit small for a condom, your dick really fit in one of these?"

"Shit!" I started, trying to snatch it out of the air mid-toss. I fumbled it, and he caught it back anyway.

"Naughty naughty! Okay, this is a-" He tapped it to his tongue then pulled a disgusted face, going cross-eyed at me. "A roofie! Whatcha wandering around with this for? Oh, and you have such a pretty face, doubt you need it!"

"If you must know…" I puffed up my chest, trying to look proud. "I put one into Penguin's drink for your boss. He asked me to sabotage, and I'm going to go claim me reward."

He skipped a step, freezing a moment, before bursting out laughing "Hah! Oh, pull the other one! No you did not!"

"I bloody well did. Go check in on him now, he's blind on the stuff, loopy. Freeze'll be babysitting him all night."

The laughter stopped at that for a moment, and Trickster, in a grave voice, said "No, you didn't. Because this isn't a street drug or a local one, this is the mix Mandragora uses. And I just know you're not in with him"

"...It's fucking what?!" I stumbled, and his laughter returned in an instant as he tapped me on the nose.

"Nah, it's not. But I had you for a moment, didn't I? It's not yours, then, if you don't know where it's from. So…"

Son of a- I hissed, as much from the tap as from being tricked. That's my bloody game to play, I was pissed at myself for not catching such an obvious lie.

Well, if he was dancing circles around me when it came to words, I might as well play the other part of that dance and bulldoze right on through his arguments as bluntly as possible.

"What do you want here, Trickster?"

"A dozen brazilian whores and my own private island." He said, voice gravelly and serious, before lightening up again on a dime. "And a pony!" He grinned, much too widely. "But I'm not getting that from you. All i want tonight is to trade a capsule for a capsule." He tossed me a much larger little pill. This one was the size of my thumb, not a fingernail like the one he'd stolen from me. I caught it deftly.

"Lemme guess, this is how big they need to be to get a bird to sleep with you?"

"Nope!" He at least had the decency to laugh at his own expense. "That's a remote detonated microexplosive. See, if he's really 'drunk', Pingu 'n Frosty the Snowman are gonna be holed up in that cellar a while. I'd like a little insurance against them doing anything nasty in there. Don't suppose you could do me a tiny, tiny favour and plant that on, say, the eighth brick from the back-right corner wall?"

Well that's specific.

I pocketed it, which I knew was an implicit agreement… but mostly I didn't want him snatching the damn thing back. "And if I don't?" I asked, conversationally, knowing the answer already.

"I out your little scheme." Came the rote response. He sounded a little surprised he even had to say it.

"What scheme?"

"Your scheme with Penguin. The one with the roofie, roofying him."

"No no no, mate. You misunderstand me." It was my turn to smile, now. "What scheme? Spell it out for me, step by step. I don't think you've got a clue, do you? I ain't working with him, but if you're so smart, figured us all out, prove it. What. Scheme?"

"Uh-" He blanched at that, pale even through the white clown makeup. "Thing is-" He stalled a moment, before grasping a thread he thought would save him. "You're right! I have no idea, none at all!" He said, sounding way too pleased for somebody admitting they had no clue what was going on. "But I know there is a scheme. I'll make up some kind of bullshit, and who d'ya think El Capitainé will believe? 'Specially since the best lies have a grain of truth, and whatever I come up with will have a whole rice bowl of the stuff."

The worst part is he was right. That thread of logic would save him. Cold would believe him, and I'd lose my shot at Harry.

"...Fine. Fuck it, fine. I'll plant the damn thing. But- time limit. I'm gonna need to plant this after talking to Cold, else I'll lose my shot, he goes in in two minutes."

"Ah ah ah" he shook a finger at me. "No backing out now. Proof before payment, plant it or I rat."

"Mate, I can't plant this in two bloody minutes, I ain't that kind of magic. Not bending the laws of time and bloody space. And if you make me wait, I lose my deal with Cold anyway, and you have no hold on me. You're gonna need to trust me word, here."

We both stopped in the middle of the main hall, having made our way over from the wine Cellar. Cold and Golden Glider were across the room, with Mirror Master backing them, already walking towards the office they were due to meet Harry in.

A time limit. One measured in seconds.

"Fine! Fine. Can always rat you out after, get you killed for it." He said, throwing up his hands, stepping away, doing a pirouette as he stalked back into the hallway we'd come from. "Oh, and I'm keeping this!" He pocketed the roofie, wandering off. "Well! Don't stare. Go, hurry, hurry, hurry! Or- fucksake. El Capitainé!" He yelled across the room and every eye in the main hall turned to me. Which admittedly was only Huntress and a few milling goons. "Johnny-boy wants ta speak witcha!"

—

"I can confirm he's blackout drunk in there. Lying on his back singin' a little song." Mirror Master chuckled. "Place's full've glass thanks to all the bottles, got a perfect view. Freeze's alternating between babysitting 'im and fucking about in the back digging through the older vintages."

We had a perfect view, he'd called up a reflection looking through some random wine glass , displaying the dank scellar. Penguin was a good actor, really did look high off his tits on some kind of roofie. The fact he was probably legitimately drunk must have helped

"Perfect. Then yes, it's in our interest to let him go first. Let him make a fool of himself so our offer looks more reasonable. You can have the first slot, John." Captain Cold kept his hands behind his back, trying to look military, live up to the 'Captain' part of his name, I supposed. "Trickster, you vouch for him?"

Trickster had tried to make an exit stage left, but Cold had called him up the instant he saw the guy was with me. I gave him the side-eye, heart in my throat. If he tattled on me now…

"Nope! But I don't vouch against him. He plays a mean hand of cards, and he doesn't smell of trouble. Not more than most people in our line do, anyway!" He was a little less manic than usual, it seemed, and my worry subsided. Good. He was holding up his end of the bargain. Which did leave me wondering why he was okay keeping secrets like this from his boss. And what the explosive was about if he wasn't gonna be bombing Freeze 'n Penguin on behalf of The Rogues.

"I like him, at least." Glider cut in, smiling warmly at me. "But what really matters is what comes next. And if he's telling the truth. If he really does just want a talk with Harry, if he leaves after that? Maybe we can have a… productive relationship, in future. If not?"

Her outfit made a sharp 'shink' noise as several of the ridges that I'd thought were just patterning around her spine extended into sharp blades running up her arm and across her shoulderblades. They were joined by an ephemeral sheen, fabric so thin it almost looked like a trick of the light. This was the eponymous glider, I assumed. It was so thin and translucent it was tough to tell if it was actually fabric or some kind of energy field.

I got the implicit threat, but I'd faced worse. It didn't take a lot to hide any fear I felt.

"Well then, shall I take the meeting? Harry must be waiting."

"Not just yet." Golden Glider tutted. "We called Trickster here for a reason. You asked a favour, and far be it from us to let you stay out of our debt for long." She turned to Captain Cold, who finished the thought for her.

"Yes, that's right. Trickster, you saw Harry Cooper's stash with Len, no? He gave demonstration? What did you see?"

Trickster couldn't resist the chance to showboat. He leaned in, stage-whispering into Cold's ear, but loud enough that me and the rest of the little clique could hear pretty clearly.

"A terrible secret. Ooooh, he's been keeping things from us, underselling us! It's not one room, one storehouse, one basement full of technology, heheee! He's pulled a trick, it's far more!"

He danced a jig, tapping his feet on the floor and looking straight downwards. "No, it's so much more. He's hollowed out a cavern, a tunnel under the manor! He has a cave full of guns, demon blood and more, hidden right under our feet, the sly old rogue. The skid-dog!"

This clearly wasn't the answer the Rogues' inner circle had been expecting. They all paled, and Mirror Master jerked his head indicatively at me. A few meaningful looks were exchanged, a silent argument. Mirror smiled, Cold scowled, Glider was somewhere in-between, but edging towards smiling too. But she nudged Cold silently in the back, prompting him, and he was the one who cut through the discussion by speaking up.

"John, perhaps it's best if you take that meeting before Harry Cooper gets impatient. This is information we'll need to mull on. Rethink our negotiating strategy, maybe. In private." He shot Trickster a look of reproach, and the poor guy just shrugged, face a mask of cherubic innocence.

"Hold on, a bloody cavern? That needs talking about, the hell's he doing with a-"

"John." Cold repeated, more sharply, and… I didn't see any budge in his face.

"John." Mirror Master repeated, more softly. "Might be best if ye sit this one out. I'll talk to ya after, but 'til then?" He rapped his knuckles on the door to the office. The door slid open, a silent invite.

I wanted to stay. I needed to stay. A cavern, filled at least partly with demon blood, that implied- that implied a lot. That implied more than one demon. Oh sure, it had been active a long time, maybe that was how it had accrued so much, but…

Most of all, it implied a plan. And as much as I truly believed Len wasn't in on it, It was real, real unlikely he gave Trickster a peek without permission from his boss.

It implied too much. Implied stuff I needed to figure out before talking to Harry, before-

The door was open. He was sat behind his desk, staring at me with dark, intense eyes.

I was out of time.

So I stepped into the room, closed the door behind me. Left The Rogues to their planning an silently cursed the fact I'd negotiated myself less time to plan this out instead of more.

And then I did what I always did, faced with demonic foes and certain death.

I started to talk and hoped I could keep doing that long enough to come up with an actual plan.

Notes: Things are already heating up for John, and as you can see, this story is already a bit more intrigue heavy than the last few. John's already playing all sides, as he tends to, to ensure he comes out on top. Hopefully all the plotting makes sense so far, as there's much, much more to come soon. 'cause next chapter is where things really kick off!