THIRTEEN: The Cavalry Runs In Blind
We arrived at the lair a short time later. Billy took a deep breath, and I knew he was nervous.
"Maybe you should say the magic word, Mate," Constantine suggested.
"Not yet," Billy replied. "They don't know my energy signature as Billy Batson... Apophis only senses me when I'm Cap, so the longer I stay me, the longer I can hide from him."
We were about to head inside when Kara stopped us. "Wait," she said softly. "Someone's just on the other side of this door. I can see them."
"X-ray vision for the win," I replied. "Thanks, Kara. Can you tell who it is?"
She focused a little bit harder. "Judging from the shape of his body and what I know about the Justice League, I think it's Cyborg," she said.
"Vic..." I whispered.
"He's not Vic," Billy said softly. His eyes were haunted as he added, "Not right now. They literally rewired his brain. They kept taking him apart and putting him back together differently... The poison didn't work on him, so they had to try other methods... They finally put a computer virus in him that hijacked his brain. I tried to help him, but I couldn't reverse it... I couldn't do anything..."
"Billy," Kara began, "I'm sure you did everything you could for him."
"We need to distract him and get him away from the door," I said.
"Allow me," Constantine replied. He cast a spell, and suddenly, an army of demons appeared. "Go on and play, mates," he said.
The demons gleefully went through the walls and started wreaking havoc inside. "That should buy us a little bit of time," Constantine said.
I nodded. "Alright, Team... Move in," I said.
I tried to break into the lair, but the electronic code was tough to hack. I knew Barbara must have been the one to encode it. "Damnit..." I mumbled. I could probably crack the code, but it would take me a while.
Billy stepped up to the door and entered a very long code. The door opened. "I guess they didn't get around to changing it yet," he said. "I think I know where Lex would take Gar. We'll search for Harley on the way."
We followed Billy through the maze of doors. I couldn't help but wonder what horrors lay on the other side of each one. We headed into the basement. Billy hesitated for a second outside of the third door.
"Billy... Are you okay?" I asked.
"Gar's genetics are complicated. Lex will want to study him before he turns him evil, to make sure the poison will work on him. He'll experiment on him. I... I don't know what we're about to walk in on," he admitted.
"We'll save him, Billy," I promised.
Kara checked the room with her X-ray vision. "It's just Gar inside," she said. "He's on a table."
"Let's get him out of there," I replied.
Billy entered a code which opened the door. What greeted us inside was an exam table, lab equipment, and the horrible sight of Gar strapped down, bloody, and looking like he was trying not to cry as a strange machine poked and prodded him all over the place. His chest was bare and had been slashed open several times. Several vials of his blood were being analyzed by a different machine.
"Oh God... I'm so sorry, Gar," I said. "I never should have let you do this."
"I'm okay, Robin..." Gar said weakly. He offered me a brave smile that broke my heart.
I examined the machine that was studying him. After a minute, I figured out how to turn it off. As soon as I did, Billy freed Gar from his restraints.
Gar's chest was bleeding pretty severely. Billy immediately tended to his wounds, putting pressure on them and making Gar flinch in pain.
"I'm sorry," Billy said softly. "I'm sorry, Gar... I hate hurting you, but I have to stop the bleeding."
"It's okay, Billy," Gar replied. "I know you're just trying to take care of me."
Constantine cast some sort of spell. It didn't fully heal Gar, but it sealed his wounds. "That should help," he said.
"Thanks," Gar replied.
"We need to destroy the samples," Constantine pointed out. "Apophis probably already knows too much about our friend here. Let's not give him a chance to learn more."
Kara focused. Her heat vision began burning the vials of Gar's blood, destroying what was inside. She then melted the machine that had been analyzing it.
"Impressive," I said.
She blushed. "Thanks, Dick," she replied. "Are we ready to go find Harley now?"
I looked at Billy, who was clinging to Gar. I knew they both needed to get out sooner rather than later. "Constantine..." I said.
"I'm already on it, Mate," he replied. He opened a portal. "Take him back to the house, Cap. Zee can finish patching him up."
Billy nodded. "Come on, Gar," he said. "We're going somewhere safe now."
Gar leaned on Billy as they moved through the portal, limping slightly. I felt better when the portal closed and I knew they were safe.
"Alright," I said. "Let's go find Harley."
We no longer had Billy to guide us, so we had to relay on our own instincts. Luckily, Kara could see through walls and Constantine could sense the presence of others.
"Wait," Constantine said as we were about to round a corner. "Harley's close, and she's not alone."
I focused and tried to touch Harley's mind. Soon enough, I found her.
Harley hurt everywhere, but she hardly noticed. After all, she'd been hurt before. It never really bothered her; it just made her stronger.
Her body wasn't as broken as it should be. Her ability to think way outside of the box had given her a slight edge over Apophis. His programming didn't allow him to keep up with a mind as complex and unpredictable as hers.
"Harley... It didn't have to be this way," Poison Ivy said sadly. The emotion seemed genuine, which was odd since I knew Ivy was forcibly under Lex's control. She stroked Harley's hair gently, causing her own hand to come away with blood.
"You can still change it, Ivy," Harley said weakly.
"You're conscious..." Ivy replied in surprise.
"Yeah, Apophis just gave me a good bump on the head. I'm used to that! I'm fine."
"You're severely injured. You won't survive much longer."
"I'm tougher than I look. Give me some credit, Pammy!"
Pammy? I thought. I vaguely remembered Bruce telling me Ivy's real name was Pamela.
Ivy tensed. "Harley..." She said softly. "I keep fighting it... I am poison, so Lex's poison only partially works on me. I keep breaking his hold, but then the venom takes control of me again..."
"You and me go back a while... I care about you, Pammy. Let me help you. Get me out of here and I can get you to people who can find a way to free you from Lex for good."
Ivy tried to take care of Harley. Some sort of herb spouted from the floor, and she used it to patch up a few of Harley's wounds.
"He wants you dead," Ivy said. "You, especially... He blames you and the Joker for something."
"Well, me and my Puddin' did a lot to piss people off," Harley replied, "but he's gone now..." She sniffled as she added, "He's dead. My Puddin' is dead, and I should be, too, but I survived... I'm still here, and there's gotta be a reason, right? So I figure I gotta stop this from getting worse." She shook her head. "My Puddin' is gone. He's never coming back..."
"You're better off, Harley," Ivy said softly.
"I know," Harley replied in a whisper.
I was genuinely stunned. Harley Quinn lived, breathed, and generally existed purely for the Joker. Had she just admitted she knew that he was bad for her?
"Earth to Dick?" Constantine called.
"Sorry... Poison Ivy's in there with Harley, but she's trying to help her," I said. "She's trying to resist the evil."
"Then we need to help her," Kara said. "Maybe we can get them both out."
"Poison Ivy's one of the bad guys, but honestly, Batman always believed she had more good in her than evil. I think he was right."
I opened the door. Ivy jumped, but Harley simply let out a cheer. "The cavalry's here! Whoopee!" She cried.
Seeing her was disturbing. Her head was cracked open. One of her eyes was swollen shut. Her lip was busted. She had cuts and bruises everywhere. Apophis had worked her over pretty severely.
"Harley, I feel terrible... I should have realized Lex would be suspicious," I said.
"It's all good, Robin," she replied. "I'm fine. Let's get out of here."
"You're working with Robin?" Ivy asked.
"No," I said. "She's working with Dick. And so are you, if we can fix you."
"You... You want to help me?" Ivy asked in confusion.
"The way I see it is, the apocalypse came. Any survivor who was turned into an evil minion against their will isn't at fault for their actions. So, if you let us, we'll free you and then you can choose which side you're on. As of now, you haven't chosen yet, but I don't think you want to be on Team Luthor."
"I don't," she admitted. "Please help me, Rob- Dick. I don't want to be a puppet anymore."
"Come with us, Ivy. We'll make sure you get the help you deserve."
"There are others... Good and bad. They should have a choice, too."
"We'll work on them next," I replied. "I promise."
She nodded, but then she hesitated. "If I lose control of my mind again, I may hurt all of you."
"Look at me, luv," Constantine said. "We've all got demons. If you lose control before we can cure you, then we'll deal with it. Until that happens, let's just focus on getting the bloody hell out of this place before we get caught."
"Guys... I'm feeling a little woozy," Harley said as she stood up. She fainted into Ivy's arms.
"We need to get her proper medical attention. She may need blood," Ivy said. "She lost a lot of hers."
"I've got supplies back at the Batcave," I said. "Constantine, bring us there first. We'll pick up as much medical supplies as we can, including blood bags."
"Do you know how to do a blood transfusion?" Kara asked.
"I know enough. I can figure the rest out," I replied.
"I can help," a voice said.
I looked up to see Killer Frost looking at us. I automatically pulled Kara behind me. Constantine studied Killer Frost curiously.
"Alright, I'll bite," he said. "Who are you, luv?"
"That depends on the day of the week," she replied.
"This is Killer Frost," I replied.
"Is she a bad guy?" Kara asked.
"Usually," Frost replied, "but not at the moment... Call me Caitlin. Caitlin Snow."
"Caitlin Snow?" I asked. "As in the one who works at S.T.A.R. Labs?"
"We don't have a lot of time. Basically, I have a bit of a split personality, and because one is pure evil and one is pure good, the poison didn't work right on me. I'm just kind of balanced now. Lex thinks he's in control of me. He's not. Take me with you and I'll handle the medical stuff."
"Alright, Caitlin," I said, making the executive decision to stick to the whole giving everyone a chance to choose their side. "You can come with us, too."
Constantine opened a portal to the Batcave. Kara took Harley from Ivy's arms and flew into the portal with her. Ivy and Caitlin hurried after them.
"Alright, Mate, your turn," Constantine said.
I was about to run toward the portal when someone grabbed me from behind. "Dick!" Constantine shouted.
"Go!" I replied.
"I can't just leave you here," he protested.
Close the portal, Constantine! Harley's half-dead and Ivy and Caitlin are trying to escape from Lex. They need you more than I do, I thought.
Bollocks, he replied after a moment. We'll come back for you.
Keep them safe, I said before closing the telepathic connection.
I struggled to free myself from my captor, and that was when I saw her face. "Well, well, well," Artemis said darkly. "Look who finally showed up."