Greetings All! Here we are for another installment of YJ: Legends Are Made. Please Check the bottom for a longer A/N. Lets jump into it.
GOTHAM CITY – CITY HALL
June 22nd, 2008. 1035 AM EST.
Ellen Yin's POV:
Ellen took a deep breath to steady herself as she stood beside Ethan on the sidewalk out in front of city hall.
The imposing building sat behind them in the early morning light, a slight heat haze already existing as the sun began to bake down upon the city from above while Yin waited anxiously alongside Ethan for the guest of honor's arrival.
All Might.
If anyone had tried to tell Ellen when she'd first arrived in Gotham City that she'd eventually basically be working alongside a superhero, she would have told them it would happen over her cold dead corpse.
Ellen had been, and in a way still very much believed that the word of law deserved to be observed and upheld to its letter.
But since moving to Gotham…Yin had gotten a better look at how things operated in cities that had superheroes.
Gotham City in particular, and Gotham…was nothing like Metropolis.
The sheer volume of crime was astounding, and that was without taking the 'super' villains into account.
Metropolis seemed to deal with more minor crime, with smatterings of believed Industrial Espionage on top as an almost outlying concern or afterthought. A great deal of what could be considered 'open and upfront' crime that used to happen, had seen a serious decline since Superman's debut.
Most times now when a large scale crime was breaking out, it involved high scale tech, and said crime was being perpetrated by people who already seemed to have access to high end technology; or high end munitions.
If the volume of the crime in Gotham wasn't bad enough on its own, having now had the opportunity to sit in on more than a few active court cases, Ellen could clearly say that she was beginning to see exactly what Mayor Garcia had meant when he had spoken to her at her reprimanding about enemies.
'I've seen far too many cases that should have ended with someone behind bars…'
And yet…there had been quite a few times where that hadn't happened, even though it should have.
Ellen's thoughts upon not only the justice system itself, but the way in which it was often upheld, especially in this particular city; had come into question.
And it was no longer due to a hero's involvement, it was because of every other possible factor.
When someone considers those facts, one would think that any officer would be happy to work with a superhero of any kind; especially when said officer had had the chance to work in the same city as Superman.
But Ellen's opinion on hero's in general really hadn't begun to change until she'd met and interacted with All Might.
'Especially considering he's saved me more than once now…' Yin thought with a familiar bubble of guilt which would also war with her newly budding optimism, as the memory of her threating All Might with arrest would wage against the more recent memories where she'd actually worked beside the aforementioned hero.
Working in Metropolis people had a decent chance to simply catch a glimpse of Superman on a day to day basis, and for most, it was an exciting spectacle.
Yin however had come to resent it after a while, because the longer she pondered over it the more she had begun to notice what she felt was a large disconnect, and the underlying symbolism behind it; and the way that Superman handled things.
There could be no mistake made, Superman was clearly an amazing hero; possibly the best the world had at its disposal.
But… the man was polarizing in the extreme, and what was worse; is that he didn't seem to notice said fact.
Appearing one moment, and then zipping off into the sky in a blur the very next.
Ellen had begun to notice that while approachable, and clearly amiable, the so called 'Man of Steel' even if doing so unknowingly; seemed to be holding himself above everyone else.
'Literally and Figuratively.'
He would take the time to seemingly care for those caught up in whichever situation he'd be rescuing them from…
But Yin was of the belief that the man didn't realize he was actually putting a serious barrier between not only himself and the Metropolis PD, but between him and the citizens themselves at times.
'After all, that same disconnect is what led to the like of those rumors about Lex Luthor of all people having a vendetta against the big blue boy scout.'
Things regarding that had proved to be unfounded thus far, but the thought was already there. That thought was backed up by how disgruntled many citizens actually were with the 'Man of Steel', and the amount of property damage his engagements tended to cause.
Reestablishing her thought process back onto her original focus, Yin turned her thoughts to her new measure for comparison when it came to hero's; All Might.
All Might was literally on the ground, literally and metaphorically in the trenches, standing alongside everyone; and more than anything seemed to endeavor to include the Gotham City PD as much as he seemed able to when they were actually around for his heroics.
He was amiable, professional, but more than anything he seemed caring.
'Not that Superman of all people doesn't seem caring…'
But All Might seemed to take a far greater amount of time, and not only for the citizens at large, or more specifically the victims of what he was fighting against at any given moment; but for the police officers as well as was often demonstrated by him simply checking in on those that would be working beside him.
It was a clearly refreshing change of pace for the GCPD at large, when one considered that Batman had long since set up shop in the city…and only seemed to speak to the Commissioner.
'And even that took some time to become a recurring thing.'
For almost the past two weeks, All Might had seemed to have increased his tempo, working with what could almost be called an obsessed fervor or zeal; logging longer hours visibly to the public throughout different parts of the city.
Just the day prior, Yin had gotten a welcome shock amidst all the increased activity, as she'd finally gotten the message she had long been hoping for.
:AM: Detective. Please ask the Mayor if he'd be available to meet early tomorrow at his office.
Yin would forever deny that she'd done a slight jump in place at the request, which had garnered an amused look from Ethan at that time.
The Mayor had been so elated at the opportunity that Yin had actually gotten to listen in as the man had had his secretary clear his early morning schedule up until 1300, just to be on the safe side.
Yin had immediately relayed the news to All Might, and he'd said he'd be there for 10:45.
Since the correspondence, Yin found herself reflecting on the last almost two weeks, and once again found herself surprised; as she was quite sure that All Might had once again been operating all morning and that fact left her surprised that he'd even volunteered to take the meeting with the Mayor at all.
'Hopefully he can actually make it.'
…
That thought brought Yin up short in her mind, as she began to try and look at All Might's movements more closely in her head, as the level of activity once again seemed to draw her attention.
'He never used to work later hours in the night, and yet lately now it's as if he's working almost all hours of the day if the water cooler talk is true. It's not as though there is an actual pattern to his movements, at least not one that I can see; and yet now All Might is seemingly working in parts of the city that I don't remember him busting perps in before. Like Chinatown.'
From there Yin's thoughts began to attempt to push forward still, but the object or more accurately the person her thoughts were focused on appeared in a small gust of air as his legs came to a halt; the pavement beneath his feet actually letting out a mild crack as he ceased said movement.
Yin brought her gaze to All Might's face, and watched as the ethereal green sparks that typically wreathed his form began to die away; his half and half glowing green and brown eyes settling simply into a pair of dark brown orbs.
After drinking in the small phenomenon that was obviously All Might powering down, Yin really took a harder look at the hero's appearance.
His uniform was a little dusty looking, but there didn't appear to be any overt damage of note on it, and while that was all well and good it was the look on his face that gave Yin slight pause; even with the good majority of it being covered up by his helm as it was.
Dark circles were actually formed and visible underneath the hero's eyes, and said eyes were blinking slightly every now and then.
If those weren't indicators, the deep breath and sigh that All Might went through before seeming to straighten himself up from a slightly hunched posture would have told her.
'He's exhausted.' Yin thought, concern flooding her as she continued looking at the young man before her.
All Might's face was set in what almost appeared to be a stern line, not the usual jovial or seemingly polite smile that he seemed to like to wear for the public.
Yin was going to actually say something, as a bubble of mixed concern and curiosity welled up within her gut; but Ethan cut all of that off as he approached All Might with the typical enthusiasm he'd developed while being around said hero.
"Hey Might! Glad you could make it. And early too huh? Punctuality is a good thing to have, and I know the Mayor's gonna appreciate it. Hell, he…we're all appreciative that you're taking this meeting. Word is you've got a proposal for the Mayor to look at?"
Taking a second to digest Ethan's words Yin looked closer at All Might, and realized that she'd missed something, as the hero had a small vanilla folder in his right hand.
Yin watched as a small grin slowly etched itself onto All Might's face, as he traded the vanilla folder into his left hand while reaching forward a bit with his right; shaking the hand that Ethan had extended to him.
A Moment later, Yin too was taking a turn at shaking the hero's hand, and she couldn't help but display the worry and curiosity that she was feeling on her face.
"All Might are you okay? Sorry to say it, but you're looking a little run down."
Her words saw a slight and almost imperceptible grimace pass across the hero's visage, and while she noticed that she also noticed in her periphery that Ethan was now also looking closer at the hero; a frown of concern now forming on his features.
"I'm alright Detective. I've just been busy, and didn't get a chance to grab any breakfast this morning. I'll have to make that a priority as I'm on my way out. Will you please lead the way?"
Ellen did her best not to frown harder, or cross her arms as she was prone to doing when disappointed or frustrated, as hearing the hero's slightly dismissive tone and words ratcheted her concern up a couple of notches.
Thankfully, Ethan chose that moment to step in.
"Hey don't worry about it Might! The Mayor's actually got a little snack station in his secretary's office for visitors, you can grab something small before we see him. I'm sure he won't mind."
Ethan said all this as he turned sideways and gestured for them to move forward, and from there their little troop began to move up the small but slightly bustling concrete staircase into City Hall proper.
Thankfully the trip into City hall and more specifically into the reception area before Mayor Garcia's office was a small trip.
In the span of a moment, Yin watched All Might demolish three granola bars and two bottles of water like it was the first time he'd seen food in days; the hero doing so with as much decorum as she imagined he had at that moment.
The speed with which he did it was surprising, as the first water bottle disappeared within three very large gulps.
The rest was done at only a slightly slower pace, and when he was finished All Might realized he had an audience; and from there looked decidedly embarrassed as he wiped his left sleeve across his face to remove any possible crumbs.
"…. Sorry. Guess I was a lot hungrier than I realized."
Yin found herself torn between being amused, and horribly worried.
'He really ate that like he hasn't eaten in days. He must be burning the candle at both ends. Does he even take breaks?'
A slight laugh pulled Yins attention to her left, where Ethan stood chuckling at All Might's embarrassment.
"It's all good Might. You should see us when we're on a stake out. There was this time a few months back where we were tracking some gang members and missed breakfast And lunch. Yin's stomach sounded like a car turning over when I handed her 'her' serving of our Big Belly Burger meal."
Slight indignation rose up in Yin's gut at Ethan sharing a slightly embarrassing moment of hers, and she quickly slugged him in his upper right arm, before turning her gaze back to All Might.
Ellen found herself cut off again, though this time it was due to Mayor Garcia's secretary Denise coming back into the reception area.
"Oh my god! All Might!"
The volume of the woman's exclamation drew all of their attention, though Yin found herself having to quickly track the woman's movement, as she took six or seven hurried steps and actually embraced the hero in an awkward hug; considering she had to snake her arms underneath his infamous shield that was attached to his back.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! You may not know this, but you saved my daughter the other day! Thank you!"
All of this was said with a decent amount of emotion, as the small secretary pushed back slightly from the embrace she'd initiated with the hero to then lay a kiss on both of his exposed cheeks, to then only pull him back into another small hug; leaving said hero looking slightly flabbergasted.
Yin watched with budding amusement as All Might seemed to finally process all the woman had said, and patted her gently on the back while holding her in the hug she'd admittedly forcefully initiated.
"Ummm, your welcome ma'am. It's really no trouble at all, I'm just glad I was able to help your daughter; though I am sorry to admit I don't remember her."
Mayor Garcia's secretary quickly waved the hero off as she pulled out of his personal space, a smile of happiness still on her face.
"Oh it's not a big deal at all! You saved her, that's all that matters. It was a car accident not even four blocks from here."
As All Might seemed to be trying to parse what Denise said, she pulled out her phone and came closer to the hero again, brandishing a picture of her daughter and her family at him.
"That's my Brooklyn, her husband Ethan, and their daughter Claire."
Yin watched as the hero took in the picture, his face shifting to something decidedly sad; before he blinked forcefully and once again etched a small grin onto his face as he brought his gaze back up to meet Denise.
"They're a lovely looking family, you must be proud. Please pass on to your daughter that I hope she's okay."
Denise nodded quickly, and looked as though she'd speak again, but the double light brown wooden doors to the Mayor's office opened up; the Mayor sticking his head out and appearing shocked after a moment.
"Denise, Is-All Might?! Just who I was about to ask about. Please would you come in?"
The question was asked with a slightly excited tone, as the Mayor opened the doors to his office even wider; the asked invitation being reinforced by the man's excitement and gesture.
Yin watched as All Might bid Denise farewell, and then all three of them stepped forward fully into the Mayor's office, the man closing the double doors behind them as they walked further inside.
After the doors shut Yin turned as All Might did, and they watched as the Mayor moved forward slightly, before coming closer to All Might and offering his right hand for a shake.
Accepting the hand All Might continued to smile lightly for a moment, and Yin watched as the shake ended, how the Mayor actually reached out and took the hero by both of his shoulders.
"I just want you to know All Might, that if you didn't have my support before; you have it now. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for you saving a member of my family; I won't soon forget it. Please let's all take a seat. All Might can I offer you a cup of coffee, or even a drink perhaps? I know you may say no, but I'd feel impolite if I didn't offer." Mayor Garcia said as he walked around his large desk, coming to stand beside a small station on the back left hand side of it near a window view out onto Main Street proper.
Yin realized that Harvey Dent was already in the room after a moment, and the District Attorney gave both detectives a small nod and smile, as they all observed the ongoing interaction.
All Might's light smile which had seemed very forced lost some of its edge and became more genuine for a moment, before the hero politely declined.
"Thank you for the offers Mr. Mayor, but I'm perfectly fine. I will however ask if you don't mind if I grab a bottle of water and a couple more granola bars on my way out when we're done? It's difficult to catch a free moment to refuel sometimes."
The hero kept his tone light, and the Mayor was more than amiable to acquiesce the request.
From there, the group really began to get into the heart of the meeting.
"Well, All Might as you clearly already know I'm Mayor Garcia, and if you wouldn't mind, please call me Anthony when we're behind these closed doors. I already owed you that much from all the help you've given the city, and now with the more personal event on top; you unreservedly deserve it. Clearly you already know the Detectives, and this very dapper man to my left is District Attorney Harvey Dent. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a problem of some kind that came up, so the Police Commissioner Jim Gordon won't be joining us today. I was hoping to have him more involved, but as they say that's the way the cookie crumbles; hopefully you'll get the chance to meet him in the future."
Yin angled the chair she was sitting in so she could try and get a better look at everyone, and curiously wondered if the shield was the only reason that All Might hadn't sat down.
The hero cleared his throat and stepped forward, lightly depositing the vanilla folder he'd been carrying with him onto the Mayor's desk, quickly taking two steps back to stand at parade rest before all of them.
"While it's a shame that I can't meet the Commissioner this time, it's also not necessarily a big deal that he isn't here. In that brief Mr. Mayor, you'll find my own research, and alongside said research you'll find a proposal that I'm putting forth. To yourself specifically. If you feel it's feasible, and the resources to make said situation viable are available; then I'd love for us to press on. You said you hoped for an opportunity for us to work closely together, and while I'm happy to try and provide any and all intel that I can when it's available; I believe that an even closer kind of relationship can only benefit the city as a whole. With some understood boundaries of course."
The hero's words drew looks of curiosity from everyone in attendance, and Yin watched as the Mayor wasted no time in opening the admittedly small vanilla folder and pulling out a stapled stack of papers.
After a few minutes of silence dragged on as the Mayor read, the Mayor gently set the document down and looked up at All Might while slightly rubbing his chin with his right hand.
"S.T.R.I.K.E. huh? I've gotta say it's a very interesting proposition."
Yin was beaten to the punch of asking about the folders contents as Harvey Dent spoke up.
"What's S.T.R.I.K.E.?"
Having expected the Mayor to answer, Yin found herself turning her head slightly alongside Ethan and Dent to look at All Might, as he answered the question.
"The Strategic and Tactical Reserve for Internal Key Emergencies. S.T.R.I.K.E. team for short."
All Might stating the acronym out loud got a curious look from Yin, and she was sure that Ethan and Dent may feel the same way; though fortunately she didn't have to ask for elaboration on said acronym as All Might continued speaking.
"When the Mayor offered the opportunity to work alongside the department, I did some serious thinking. As you two both well know detectives, I've had no issue working alongside the both of you. You are consummate professionals; and in my opinion the status of your individual character is above reproach. When considering the Mayor's offer my biggest concern obviously came to the forefront… said concern revolving around who can be trusted to work directly alongside me in the field during heavy engagements; and whether or not said people can be trusted to not stab me in the back. The fact of the matter is that S.T.R.I.K.E. is going to be an attempt at merging assets from the GCPD, and myself, as a single cohesive unit for when certain extreme situations happen in the city of Gotham."
Yin felt her spirits raise alongside her eyebrows at the young hero's words.
'Having All Might's seal of approval is good and all, and being on an actual team with him would be something else, but…'
All Might continued as Yin went over her thoughts.
"The S.T.R.I.K.E. team initiative is a proposal to put together an eight-man squad, with said squad having an unofficial ninth member; myself. I did some reading and it appears that S.W.A.T. training typically lasts for about 19 weeks, or just a little under 5 months. My proposal for S.T.R.I.K.E would see said squad going through training for a full 24 weeks; 6 months. The training will be based upon the basic S.W.A.T. team training curriculum; but will have a few extras worked into the program. All of these courses being those that have been approved, implemented, and regulated by the United States Meta Human Advisory and Defense Department board."
Yin found herself boggling at All Might's admission.
'He wants Ethan and I to go through this training? That'll mean that we get to train with some of our FBI contacts that went through Quantico! It may also mean that we'll get access to some of that new tech that's being disbursed to deal with 'Rogue Meta Enhanced' civilians. This is a huge deal. But…do we even have the funding for this? What does this mean for our general service here in the department?'
Yin's own thoughts were brought out into the open by Harvey Dent.
"Well, this certainly seems like the type of thing that would certainly qualify as a partnership between the GCPD and yourself All Might, if we can see it through. But one of the biggest hurdles we have going into this is the funding it's going to cost to put the candidates through said training. The second, and if I'm being quite honest, the biggest difficulty we face; is recruitment. Are there even enough officers that are trustworthy enough to undergo this? Can we take the risk of doing this knowing that we're risking the chance of someone being bought off in a way that either puts them in a position to feed intel to someone against this force, or, more importantly them being bought off to do exactly what you yourself have expressed your worry over? It's a high risk scenario Mr. Mayor, All Might. I'm not saying I'm against doing this, in fact I'm all for it. To have a force that will be able to be seen directly alongside you All Might? That could be just the thing we need to restore the city's faith in the GCPD. But there's more than a couple of factors that are gonna stall, or quite frankly, make this endeavor impossible."
At the end of Dent's speech, Yin found her slight excitement tempered by her more analytical side, her brain already going through possible candidates.
Looking over at Ethan and making eye contact, her partner nodded at her, and that told her that they were both as always looking at the same possible angles.
The Mayor's cultured voice brought everyone's attention back to him.
"I quite frankly am with Harvey on this All Might. I think that this initiative is exactly what the city may need to bolster morale and instill a sense of faith back into our Police Department. I'm not taking a shot at you or the Batman's work in keeping the city safe All Might, but people should be able to place faith and trust in those who've taken up the position of public servant. For too long the hands of corruption have steered faith away from people like those of us standing in this room. I think it's time we start to take it back. Some time back, Bruce Wayne made a donation to the city to attempt to bolster Black Gate prison and Arkham Asylum; as both facilities are dangerously close to maximum capacity. Shortly afterwards, Thomas Elliot, another admittedly wealthy Gothamite stepped forward with his own donation. I believe we have more than enough funding to get the ball rolling on this."
Yin found herself shocked at this, and clearly wasn't the only one, as both Ethan and Harvey looked shocked; though curiously enough Yin saw All Might's relaxed countenance tense up at the mention of Elliot.
'…I wonder what that's about.'
Harvey once again drew Yin's attention as he spoke to the Mayor.
"Well, while it's not an unwelcome surprise to know we now have more than enough funds to make this pipe dream a reality, there's still the matter of recruitment…"
Yin went to speak, but was actually a hairs breath slower than Ethan.
"Don't worry about that Mr. Dent. Yin and I have been in the department long enough, and we know who we can trust in there. There's been enough water cooler talk to let us know who may not be so squeaky clean, and Yin's got a bloodhounds nose for trouble. Mr. Mayor, we can have the roster of the other six candidates to you for review by Friday; if that's alright?"
Yin watched as a smile broke out on the Mayor's face, before he spoke again.
"That sounds perfectly fine to me. S.T.R.I.K.E. will be our new rapid response team that'll be able to work alongside All Might out on the streets when extreme situations kick off. With Maximilian Zeus's airship initiative taking over in place of our former GCPD Air Balloons, we may just be seeing a far more welcoming climate settle over Gotham in the near future. I know that a few of the higher end restaurants in the city are still running a couple of the Air Balloons for their more eccentric and high spending diners that enjoy the views from up above, but after that high jacking incident involving Joker…we need a far more stable kind of platform in place for defense. Hopefully those timeframes meet up, I'm pretty sure that they will; I know I had a recent update document from Zeus's company here somewhere."
As the Mayor began to rifle through a few papers that were scattered on his desk, Yin couldn't help herself but to once again analyze All Might's posture.
'There it is again. When the Mayor mentioned Zeus's name he looked like he tensed up. I wonder what's wrong…I'll have to ask him when the meeting is over.'
Yin's thoughts were put to the sideline as she watched All Might reach down to a pocket on his pants and pull out a phone.
All Might glanced at it briefly and seemed to let out a sigh, before, without even answering putting said phone away.
The hero glanced up while clearing his throat, and the other occupants of the room looked at the hero as Yin had been.
"I'm sorry, but I've gotta go."
Yin felt trepidation fill her, as once again All Might's countenance seemed to radiate exhaustion, even with the small smile he was trying to project.
The Mayor stopped his rummaging on his desk, and quickly came back around to shake the hero's hand and thank him.
From there a few other thanks were exchanged between All Might, Ethan, and Dent.
All Might was already turned and attempting to walk through the double doors before Yin realized she needed to approach him.
"All Might wait."
The hero stopped and actually looked surprised at her approach.
"I'm sorry detective, that was rude of me."
His response caught her off guard, and she had been mid stride and actually reaching for him slightly, so it made the handshake he initiated almost easy.
"I must be more tired than I thought if I'm losing my manners like that. Hopefully I'll see you guys out in the city later."
As All Might went to pull back from the handshake Ellen held on, and actually pulled herself slightly closer to the hero, doing her best to not make it look suspicious.
"All Might, are you really alright? Maybe instead of going out you should get some rest?"
A slight look of shock passed over the hero's face, before it shifted back into something resembling the stern line from when he'd first arrived for the meeting.
"I'm fine Detective. The jobs what matters right now. Like I said, hopefully I'll see you out there."
The words had been tight, the young man's tone closing off toward the end as he forced his hand form her grip.
Yin felt worry stir in her gut again, and wanted to press the issue, but Mayor Garcia's voice drew her back.
"Thank you again All Might. I'll have one of the detectives keep you updated. We should be able to get the ball rolling on this fairly quickly."
The hero tilted his head up and another brittle like smile seemed to form, as he popped off a crisp salute, before quickly turning around and walking out of the office; the double doors shutting closed almost in Yin's face.
"Detective, we should start to iron out some other small things amongst us."
Yin knew she had to remain for the rest of the meeting but couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
'Be careful All Might.'
GOTHAM CITY – GRANTS GYM
June 22nd, 2008. 1315 (1:15) PM EST
Ted's POV:
:" Hey! It's Jack. I can't come to the phone right now. I'll get back to you when I can, have a good one."
BEEP
Ted put his phone down on the counter and brought both of his hands up to rub small circles into his temples, as the small headache that had been building since the early morning was starting to grow into something larger due to the stress.
Every day had been like this since that first night when Wes had finally told Jack the truth.
He'd pop in and out at intervals, but he wouldn't even really speak.
Helena had already complained to Ted a few times, as any and all calls that she had made had been ignored after the very first that Jack had deigned to answer; rebuffing her from coming on patrol with him for the very first time since he'd started taking her along on his routes.
Both of them had started to worry, and now, whatever the word was for whatever was beyond worry was what Ted was feeling.
'I don't know what to do…'
"Teddy bear, you've gotta relax. The pacing is making me nervous and nauseous, like I'm getting seasick. The kid'll come back, you know that. You already told me he's at least popped back in at points, right?
Selina's soothing voice while nice to hear under most circumstances, didn't offer as much comfort as it usually could have, especially because of the circumstances.
"You don't get it Selina. He's hurting, he's hurting and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it."
Ted nearly shouted it while turning to face Selina, his arms flying into the air briefly as his frustration continued to mount.
"Well, I could try and be of more help if you'd explain exactly what happened to upset him…but you haven't given me anything to go on here Ted."
Ted had to physically bite his tongue and count backwards from ten with his eyes closed, the frustration of not being able to just spell out Jacks situation for once weighing on Ted.
'It's not my secret to tell, and it would do more harm than good anyway. But…god dammit I don't know what to do. How do I explain this?'
As Ted continued to try and calm himself down, Selina spoke from her place at the dining room table after she took a sip of her coffee.
"Teddy I'm always here for you, you know that. And the kid is great, so I'm more than happy to help. But what exactly are you looking for me to do? Jack and I have a great rapport with all the little visits and dinners and all that…but if he's not talking to you; why do you think he'll talk to me about what's bothering him?"
…
Truthfully, Ted didn't have an answer for Selina's question, outside of the fact that he was grasping at straws. Everything that Selina had said was true, and it left him exactly where he'd been in the first place.
'If he's shutting me and Helena out, truth is Selina may not make a lick of difference…but I don't know what else to try.'
Then it hit him like a bolt of lightning.
"I'm thinking tonight I'm suiting up. Jacks got some trackers stashed in his gear here that he uses. It's either he comes back here, and we sit him down, I try and track his phone, or I'll slip one of the trackers he's got onto a piece of his gear when he comes back, probably his shield. Use that to follow him. If it's none of those? Hit the streets, follow the sirens; hope we get lucky. Will you come with me? I'll even get- "
The door to the apartment opened quickly, and Ted whirled around not expecting it to open, and surprisingly standing there was Helena in her full Huntress regalia.
"Ted we need to…oh great."
Ted felt a sardonic grin stretch across his features at her reaction, as Helena realized that she should have checked in if it was okay to pop in at the moment.
It was something that the group had already spoken about a few times, as they'd realized that they were getting a little too cavalier about their comings and goings in the apartment.
'Hell…the area in general.'
Jack had sited that Ted was still a celebrity, and while he was considered quite reclusive for someone of his status and vocation, he could; like anyone else just randomly receive visitors.
'That and of course there's Jack's worries about Batman too…'
The whole thing was definitely something to be wary of.
'And so, we decided we were supposed to do check ins via text…yet we see how well that's working out.' Ted thought ruefully as he shook his head a bit.
Selina of course being the person that she was, couldn't help but take a small jab, especially because she seemed to love busting Helena's chops.
"Wow. Way to be girly. Just walking around in broad daylight all geared up, brazenly walking into someone's house. I sure hope you were checking your six, because if you were tailed whoever was doing it now knows your connected to Teddy bear here. That or they think he's a criminal."
Ted watched as Helena did her best to keep any irritation off of her face, before she responded.
"The name's Huntress ma'am."
That response drew a slightly startled first laugh from Selina that was followed up by chuckles.
"There's no point in you trying to play it off kiddo, I know it's you under that get up. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out when we're so closely tied together, not to mention that your hair is prominently on display."
…
A heartbeat moment or so passed, and Ted saw that Helena was stymied and feeling quite sheepish due to Selina's retort, if the slightly visible blush on her face was anything to go by.
'Better nip this in the butt.'
"What do you need Hel's?"
Ted saw Helena flinch ever so slightly at the nickname, knowing that Jack had been the one to give it to her.
'I'll make sure not to call her that again until we sort all this out.'
Helena quickly pressed on as she walked closer to him.
"That's just it Ted. Where's Jack? Why the hell isn't he taking any of my calls? Responding to any of my texts? And what the hell is up? He's working like a madman for god's sake! Has he checked in with you at all? And are you ever gonna tell me what the hell happened? He's been different since I took my time off. I thought it was about that, but it can't be Jacks not like that and he had already been pushing me to take it easier. What the hell is going on Ted?"
It broke Ted's heart a little to hear the doubt, pain, and worry mixing in Helena's voice.
Jack was her closest friend, her partner in the field, and hell even a mentor like Ted was for her in many ways…
'And that's not even counting the Mt. St. Helens sized crush she's got on him.'
Again regret filled Ted that he couldn't give all of the details to either of the people here with him, because it would make things so much easier.
Taking a deep breath, Ted decided to go with a half-truth, one that he did his best to manipulate into what could at least be a halfway believable lie.
He spun the tale of how Jack had lost his entire family, and how it had been a lot of incidents leading up to the final reveal from Wes.
The look Ted saw on Selina's face told him that she felt awful for Jack, thinking that he was simply a young boy that no longer had any family.
Selina may not have always been the most approachable, or even responsible, but her maternal side clearly existed.
She had shown it for the girl Holly…and now that same side seemed to be rearing its head a bit for Jack.
Helena, looked dumbstruck.
'And that's probably because now she finally gets that they're relatively even in the family department, even though its two completely different situations.'
Ted could only shake his head a bit at how big the disparity was between Helena's and Jacks situation though…
'We gotta get through to him.'
Ted quickly outlined to Helena what he had been discussing with Selina a few moments later.
"So? You in?"
Selina nodded her head as she stood up.
"You just give me a call and I'll suit up. We'll all do this together, make sure he knows he's not alone…even though that may be how he feels right now."
When Ted met Helena's gaze he found exactly what he'd known would be there.
Determination.
"You're damn right I'm in."
Ted could only feel a sense of swelling pride.
'Alright Jack, just…just come back or at least give us the chance to get an opening.'
GOTHAM CITY – DIAMOND DISTRICT: PLAZA MANOR
June 22nd, 2008. 1900 (7:00) PM EST
Sofia Falcone's POV:
Sofia tried not to fidget as she sat behind her large mahogany desk, taking in the appearance of her two esteemed guests.
It had taken a lot of convincing, a lot of time, and more than anything by the end of things it was going to wind up costing her a lot of money; all to see things set right.
'That shield slinging little bastard did something to my nephew. I don't know what, and it doesn't matter. No one messes with my family and gets away with it. Once I get him taken care of, it'll be time to turn my sights on Sionis. May cost more than I'm willing to spend…but maybe one or both of these two will take on the contract and help me put an end to this crap. That deformed fuck Sionis has breathed free air for far too long now.'
Placing her hands on her desktop, Sofia took a closer look at the two men she'd had escorted into her office.
The one on her left in front of the desk was the renowned David Cain.
The 42-year-old assassin stood at 6'2, while being thickly built, with a roughened visage.
He still sported a full head of thick looking hair, but it was colored in a salt and pepper kind of style, the silver beginning to overtake what had probably once been a dark brown or black.
The man's nose was slightly crooked, and his face bore a few scattered marks that were clearly slash marks, made either by a knife or even a sword; the most notable one being on the right side of his face stretching from beside his eye all the way down to his jawline.
The man's grey eyes bore into her, even from across the desk.
He was dressed quite simply, a long black trench coat covering black military style fatigues, and a pair of steel capped boots upon his feet.
Her guards had attempted to disarm both of the men that were now standing before her, and though according to her men the two hadn't been predisposed to one another, they had both offered them the same ultimatum at the same time.
'Go ahead and try.'
A shiver ran up Sofia's spine at remembering the fact, the discomforting knowledge that both of these men were armed causing her to slowly bring her right hand down to underneath the lip of the desk on her side; her hand comfortingly squeezing the grip of her 9mm Beretta.
That action drew the gaze of the man at the front right of her desk, and Sofia slowly pulled her hand back again.
His long jet-black hair had been done into dreadlocks at the ends and hung just passed his shoulders, with a small set of dread like bangs hanging in the front.
His dark brown skin was clear and had a healthy sheen to it, his beard and mustache were immaculately trimmed; and the man's black eyes took in everything while still keeping Sofia in his line of sight.
Standing at 5'11, 32-year-old Benjamin Turner, otherwise known as the Bronze Tiger, stared Sofia down.
He was garbed in a dark brown, almost bronze colored leather jacket that had a light blonde fur lining running from around the lapels to the back collar, his pants bearing some striped markings on them; his black boots being the only truly offsetting part of his ensemble.
'That…and his gunmetal gray gauntlets with the four little hooked claws.'
Over the tops of Turner's clenched fists, was his apparent signature weapons, his Tiger claws.
Heat treated and super hardened, they apparently could even sheer through plate metal when the proper force was applied.
'Those being the main reason I want to hire him. Let's see that shield protect that freak against something like that.'
Sofia was pulled out of her inspection of the two men, when David Cain cleared his throat roughly.
"We gonna get to the point of why you've called us here?"
His voice was that of someone who'd probably smoked a pack and a half of cigarettes a day for most of his like, rough and slightly grating.
Sofia went to answer him, trying her best to keep the slight irritation off her face because of his tone, when Bronze Tiger decided to speak up.
"That would be good to know. And I'm gonna go ahead and get this out of the way, I don't want his help. Whoever you want dead, I can handle on my own."
In direct opposition to Cain's voice, Tiger's was smokey but rich, with a little timber to it towards the end.
'Check yourself girl. Business. That's what we're here for.'
Turning her chair slightly to her right while picking up a remote that had been sitting right in front of her, Sofia turned on her projector that was hooked up to the laptop that was sitting on her desk.
A few clicks later and she was then cycling through pictures and short video clips for the two mercenaries.
Every single clip was revolved around All Might.
The final clip was a part of the fight that All Might had had with Tony while he'd been possessing Solomon Grundy's body, and when it was finished she set the remote down and then folded her hands back on the desk in front of her.
"While I can appreciate your fire Tiger, are you willing to say that again? After seeing that?"
…
A few moments passed, and then Sofia found herself backpedaling after Tiger spoke.
"You didn't say you wanted me to go after an enhanced. I thought I was here for some politician or other pathetic nobody. I'm outta here."
Sofia felt her eyes almost bulge out of her skull, before she quickly spoke up.
"Wait a second! You said you could take anyone! That it wouldn't be a problem."
Tiger who had already been halfway set to turn around, turned back and leveled an unimpressed look upon Sofia.
"Make no mistake. I can take just about anyone, at about anytime. But I think you've forgotten where we are, which is surprising considering that you actually live here. I took this meeting because I've done work for your father, and I know the pay is good. So I figured I'd be killing someone that warrants death, but that it would be relatively low profile in the end. Only now, I come to find you want me to off an enhanced, and not just any enhanced; but the media darling of Gotham City himself."
Sofia felt flabbergasted, and pushed on, hoping she could convince Tiger.
"I'll pay you double your asking price."
Tiger raised an eyebrow at her declaration.
"It's not about the money. In case you've forgotten, Batman is somewhere lurking in this shithole of a city. The last thing I need to do is have the bat breathing down my neck after I off another of the little goody two-shoes that do the same kinda crap he does. Let alone one from the very same city."
"I'll triple it!"
She had said it in desperation, and while she was good for it; she almost wished she could take it back now.
…
A few scant moments passed, and then finally Tiger crossed his arms over his chest, her words having clearly gotten his attention.
"…Fine. That means you owe me 1.5 Mil, and I want half of it up front. Non-negotiable."
The man's demand threw her for another loop.
"That wasn't part of our arrangement."
The man's small smirk almost caused her to lose her patience and throw something from her desk at his head.
"Conditions change. You should've told me upfront that you wanted me to go after a hero. That's called professional courtesy, so consider the condition a tax for your poor communication skills."
The man's words made her wanna gnash her teeth together in her frustration, but her father had taught her better than that.
'That, and I may still need the asshole sometime, especially if he'll accept the job to take down Sionis.'
Sofia went to respond, but once again David Cain roughly cleared his throat, bringing all attention on himself.
"I hope your planning on paying me at least double now, because I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here and listen to you upsell this amateur while I stand here in witness."
Sofia saw Tiger's face take on an offended edge but was far mor concerned with what she felt, the large metaphorical hole that was opening in her pockets.
Cain had already charged her just for the meeting, 500k just to get the man in the door.
His actual asking price was exactly what she'd rounded up to for Bronze Tiger.
'So, when all is said and done, I'm out a cool $5 mil. Christ.'
There was no mistake to be made that she had plenty of money, whether it be liquid, or what was tied up in investments and such.
But that didn't mean that Sofia was happy to part with that kind of money.
"I think I'll take a page out of the youngster's book while I'm at it. You want my services? Your gonna deposit half of the amount up front into an account for me. But don't you worry, I won't expect the other half until the jobs done."
…
'I'm out $2,750,000…just to get these assholes out there looking for this shield wielding dipshit.'
Sofia had to take a moment just to breathe.
A ruinous amount of money for the vast majority of anyone.
It was only really a drop in the bucket for her…but it was the principle of the thing.
She felt as though she was being fleeced by the scumbags in front of her, and it rankled; badly.
'But unfortunately, what other options do I have? I have to see him put down before I have Sionis buried too.'
There was no mistake to be made, Sofia knew for a fact that she had options.
But out of all the other options, she'd either be paying even more for what was considered higher class services, or she could take a chance and go for the low hanging fruit in Gotham itself; and pray that one of the psychopaths in Arkham could do the job successfully for her for cheaper.
Sofia did her best to keep her look mild as she looked at the two before her, while she finally settled into the decision to go with them; even though she longed to try and use one of the other options while knowing said alternates would probably leave things worse off in the end.
"Fine. Half up front, for the both of you. But I've got my own condition going forward. You will work together, and put this newbie hero in the ground. After that, if either one of, or both of you are amenable…I may have another job lined up for you to take. A high paying one."
She stressed the last part, barely holding back a grimace, knowing that she'd be spending an even more egregious amount of money on top of what she was already paying if the two before her deigned to take the next job.
Cain looked at her and simply nodded once.
"That's fine by me."
Tiger also quickly acquiesced.
"Good enough."
Asking for a moment Sofia began working on her computer, bringing in a private banker she utilized for business into the situation, to ensure that the transfers were done speedily.
Once she got confirmation back, she looked up at the two men.
"Okay, it's done. You've each got your up front. Now, get out there and bring this fuckin punk down. When it's over, if one of you can bring that stupid shield back as a souvenir? I'll throw in a bonus. I want it made clear to him before it's over that this is being done in the name of my family. Nobody screws with the Falcone's and walks away. Nobody."
Neither one of the men seemed to have anything else to say after that and proceeded to leave the Penthouse suit.
After both men left, Sofia sat back deeper into her chair, letting out a deep sigh before standing up, and walking over to her liquor cabinet to pour herself a double shot of bourbon.
'These two better be worth every penny I'm paying. Your time's coming All Might. Just you wait.' Sofia thought, as she knocked back some of her drink; taking in the evening light of Gotham.
…
Unbeknownst to Sofia however, the two mercenaries would be getting a bit of unsolicited help.
GOTHAM CITY – DIAMOND DISTRICT
June 22nd, 2008. 1925 (7:25) PM EST
Agent Noah Bennet's POV:
He hated that he was back in this decrepit fucking city.
He was beyond fed up.
Almost two weeks had gone by since Dr. Selig had disappeared…
'And if his own disappearance wasn't bad enough, the old bastard had the gall to lie while actually having a working prototype of the damned synthoid. What a fucking mess.'
Once word had reached him about what had happened at the Sorben Institute, Noah and Rene had quickly caught a flight back to Gotham.
Every tactic they could think of was being utilized, and the agency was ensuring that they had access to what working traffic cameras existed in Gotham.
Yet, even still, there was no sign of the synthoid.
'And somehow, someway the good Doctor actually proved to be an even smarter man than I gave him credit for.' Noah thought, as he ruminated over the fact that not only had the Doctor fooled everyone, including his own partner Dr. Tannor, but that the old geezer had seemingly sequestered away a small fortune while somehow obtaining new identity documents.
The first 36 hours spent back in Gotham had been divided between setting up shop in the new safe house, and then gluing himself and the rest of his team's collective faces to a screen.
Five collective bodies sat and scanned every available photo, of every single passenger that passed in or out of not only Gotham International, but the local docks as well.
The entire process had made Noah want to throttle someone…
Thankfully he had checked his own worst impulses and set the fire in his gut to finding Dr. Selig.
The scanning work had wound up carrying on into the 40-hour mark, but thankfully, they'd gotten a hit.
'The good Doctor flew himself down to Ecuador, as one Mr. Thomas Keen.'
Two sweeper teams had already been put together and had been deployed to the country to try and track down the wayward scientist.
'And meanwhile, I got stuck with the esteemed pleasure of searching for a literal chameleon in a city full of possible mirrors.' Noah thought as he took a drag of the cigarette in his hand, before quickly snuffing it out.
Slipping back inside the decrepit apartment that now served as the team's temporary base of operations, Noah looked up to see Rene sitting by one of the large computer assembly's, which was also hooked up to a recording tower.
While the team's primary focus was the Z-8 model synthoid, that didn't mean that Noah's workload was any smaller than it normally would be.
The small team would still be fed intel briefs, after action reports, and the entire team was also on standby for the possibility of a target of opportunity.
'If only god would be good and just give me one of those, while we sit here and widdle our time away waiting for the backup.'
A quick double knock, spaced at the proper code interval rapped against the main front door of the apartment.
Knowing not to take any chances, Noah drew his handgun from his lower back and approached the door.
"Call Sign?"
A voice he recognized quickly echoed back through the door.
"Call Sign: Songbird."
Noah nodded briefly before slowly opening the door, his gun still relatively level to center mass.
Nicky Parsons face became visible, and Noah allowed himself to minutely relax, before he slowly opened the door to let the young woman in while checking behind her; her light grey pinstriped suit giving her the appearance of a paralegal.
After shutting the door Noah quickly turned to her.
"Anything to report Nicky?"
A small smile stretched across the woman's face.
"Target of Opportunity."
Noah felt the urge to hug the young woman, but knew that it would be unprofessional, though even still he smiled.
"Excellent. Who or what are we looking at?"
Noah watched as Nicky quickly walked over to Rene's station and tapped him on the shoulder.
Noah watched a small exchange take place, as Nicky was able to get Rene to give up his workstation, before Nicky began to work the entire system like a conductor does a symphony.
After a few moments of clicking and clacking on the keyboard, Nicky turned and pulled the headset that Rene had had hooked up to the recording tower free and pressed a button: flooding the space with a recording.
Noah sat and processed the voices of said recording for a moment, before turning his gaze to Rene.
"There'll never be a better time."
Noah watched as Rene nodded, a minute grin on his lips.
Noah couldn't help but allow a bit of a vindictive pleasure to flood his system.
Benjamin Turner had been a freelancer for the agency for a while, before word had come down the pipeline that he had been double dealing under the table.
'Who knew that the American government didn't like its own assassins cashing checks from foreign entities? Perish the thought.'
Turner had been taking side jobs in what was supposed to be his time off…
An example had been set to be made of him.
Normally that would have been the end of him, just a lesson to be taught to up and comers.
But the sweeper team had made a mistake, and Turner's fiancé had been killed in the crossfire.
Since then, on occasion, Turner had gone about making an example out of any Agent he came across, regardless of their position in the agency.
'Son of a bitch has killed enough of us… but it seems his chosen career path has given us a unique opportunity.' Noah thought before telling Nicky to shut the recording off.
"Rene, we're going hunting. Kit yourself out but stay light, we're gonna keep it to just you and I on this one."
Rene looked curious, and actually bothered to voice his concerns over the situation for once.
"Noah. With both Turner and Cain involved, it would do us well to take the entire team."
Noah however shook his head and locked eyes with Rene again as he put his pistol back into its holster.
"No. We're gonna treat this as an 'assist and destroy'. We're gonna find and follow these two assholes. Once they've engaged All Might? You're gonna get into position, and short out his abilities. It'll make him an easy target for those two. Once this would be hero is a cold corpse, you'll take Turner out. I'll have you protected as long-range cover and exfill. Cain's a professional and only cares about his paycheck. If he makes an issue out of it, we'll give him the shield so he can collect his bonus and fuck off."
Noah watched as uncertainty passed over Rene's face for a moment, and the man looked like he'd attempt to voice his concerns, but Noah cut across him.
"You know the directive we stand by for our department. All Might is clearly an independent, and already he possesses too much power. He crumpled that Brimstone Mech's face like it was a god damn soda can. We have an opportunity, and we're taking the shot. Do you get me?"
Noah waited for the possible argument, but Rene simply remained quiet for a few moments longer before finally nodding his head in acceptance.
"Good. Let's get this done."
Noah turned and made his way to a storage locker in the apartment to pick a rifle to use for his position as long-range support, and all the while he had to fight back the grin that tried to build on his face.
'Two birds, one stone. I love it when a prayer gets answered quickly. You must have realized you're on the good guy's side. May my aim be steady and accurate.'
Annnnnd FIN. Alright folks. That's Chapter 27! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Enquiring minds wanna know. Next chapter we're kicking back into action with a pretty serious fight. It's been a long time coming to This particular moment for me, and I can honestly say that while I'm worried about the reception it and some of my future plans will get, I'm really hoping you guys will enjoy it. Once again, I can't thank you all enough for taking this journey with me as I put this story out. I hope you have all been doing well, and that the budding summer has been good to all of you thus far. A big shout out to my friends Darth Sauron, Wolfling, and Storysmith. All three of them always give me a chance to use them as sounding boards, and I couldn't be more thankful for it. As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc, feel free to either leave a review; or drop me a PM. I will get back to you as soon as I am able. Until next time ya'll, I hope you all stay safe, happy, and most of all healthy. Laters Gators.