The sound of Olivia's giggling puts a smile on Victor's face. He shifts his hold on his phone while leaning back against a wet railing. "Arthur is coming with me tomorrow for my checkup so I can introduce him to Sylvia," she says while idly pacing around her room.

"Wow, just met the kid and already he gets to see you naked? Should I be worried?" he teased.

"I wouldn't bring him along for something like that!" she huffs but still she smiles. "I'm really excited about all of this. If I can figure out how to use this...influence I have I can find more fae. Even if it's just one more, it'll be nice to have more people like me around."

"You really miss going to that institute, don't you?" he asked as he pushed away from the railing to head towards a dock as a small cargo boat approached.

Olivia was quiet for a moment. "Yeah but I know I couldn't stay there forever. I wouldn't get to see you for one."

"I'm sure I could have figured out a way to sneak into that school too."

"What do you mean 'too'?" Olivia said as she narrowed her eyes.

"Would you look at that? Time to get to work, Sunshine!" He could practically hear the look she was giving him on the other end.

"Be safe," she finally says. "You still have to take me dancing."

"Yes ma'am. Goodnight."

"Night!"

Victor turned off his phone and tucked it away in his jacket pocket. The shotgun at his side was raised to sit on his shoulder as he approached the docking boat. On board were an equal mix of green and blue masked individuals, armed to the teeth around three heavy shipping containers. A small yacht moored on the adjacent dock swayed as the occupants stepped out. A tall woman with sleek black hair tied in a tight bun and dressed in white was helped on land by Victor. "I did not take you for a gentleman, Zsasz," Kwan Lin, leader of the triad, said with a smile painted to appear a glossy nude with a single hoop piercing in the center of her bottom lip. All he could think was how much trouble he'd be in if Olivia did something similar.

"I am full of surprises," he said with a wry smile then looked out past the dock to the waiting trucks. It didn't matter what they were loading, just that they got to where they needed to without issue. His task, however, was keeping close to Kwan Lin.

The woman of indiscernible years glanced at the heavy shotgun on Victor's shoulder then back at her men getting to work. "Do you think something like that will be necessary?" she asked with a raised brow.

Victor kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Riley's men. "I am not the only one full of surprises." He pauses as he feels Lin's sharp nails inspecting the trim of his lapel.

Sharp eyes tilted as she gently tugged at one of the stitches. "There are little hearts among the seam. "Your tailor must have a crush on you," she pointed out then returned her hand to her hip. The first trailer was quickly being unloaded with forklifts darting between trucks to load them up with sealed black boxes and heavy wooden crates. Victor was looking anywhere but where she was. Every little bit of movement got a second of attention before he moved on to the next that looked out of place. Her men were placed on the rooftops and would be the first to sound the alarm but he had no idea how loyal they were to Lin.

"Are you always this quiet?" she asked while taking his arm to step up on a warehouse's loading dock to better observe her people. Victor arched a naked brow. "There seems to be a disconnect between the myth and the man."

"My name alone puts in more work than I actually have to. It's nice to be feared." he says while shifting his gaze further down the wide road between warehouses. They did not have far to travel to move what they brought but they still needed to move fast. An area was easier to secure indoors.

Lin followed his gaze then pursed her lips. Riley was here. "I agree." Victor changed where he stood but made sure Lin presented as the one in charge. Down the road were pickup trucks and SUVS filing in to block their path. A line of men dressed for working a shipyard such as this approached with Riley at the center. A drag on his cigarette lit up his hardened features before he blew a stream of smoke over his head. Victor gave the signal to start checking their blindspots.

Kwan Lin's men that were not hurriedly unloading the boat took up arms and formed their own line to greet Riley and his men. Both sides kept their distance and Sean Riley waited patiently for Lin to join the line. "Good evening, Mr. Riley," Lin called out.

"Lin," the man said with a voice that would have been pleasant if not coming from an unsavory man. Blue eyes looked at Victor and narrowed. "Zsasz." Victor gave a very unserious smile in reply.

"How kind of you to offer help while we move in. I must remember to send a thank you card." Lin stood tall before a man heads and shoulders taller than her. "If you would be so kind as to get out of our way."

Riley smirked. "You know I can't let ya do that, Lin. At least not without doing our due diligence and checkin' what you've brought to our doorstep."

"So you take yourself as a customs officer? Was that the consolation prize when they refused to back your push to the sea?" Victor took note of one of Riley's men a little less armed than the others sizing up the green masked man across from him. Too obvious.

"I need no backing from any of the families to conduct my business. Now pack up and get back to your side of town before we have a mess to clean up." Riley's eyes darted to Victor before focusing back on Lin.

Lin crossed her arms delicately beneath her bust. "We will be doing no such thing. You can get out of my way or I will go through you. Choose wisely and quickly. I am not a patient woman."

Riley raised his chin to look down at the woman before him. "I'm taking what's mine. Let this be the last time you make this mistake." The line of men stepped forward. "Clear them out, boys."

Victor began gently but firmly ushering Lin back. The first shot fired came from the roof and only grazed Riley. "Go!" Victor said and hoped the woman ran well in heels. His only priority was getting her back to the boat while the bullets flew. Staying just behind her he aimed low to take out legs with a handgun and his shotgun still over his shoulder.

The masked men across the docks emerged from long since cleared out warehouses and the trucks themselves far more ready for an assault than they may have anticipated. A shot strikes Victor's stomach and he glares at the man that ruined his suit! The bulletproof vest beneath did its job well but even so. "She just fixed this!" he yelled and took a shot to the offending man's shoulder to make him drop his gun. Victor kept behind Lin sparing a glance to ensure no one was closing in on her between shots back at Riley's men. In the commotion he could clearly hear his name being cursed. Victor never saw someone so displeased to see him. Lin's boat was waiting on her to return. He has to give it to her for being able to run in heels like she did. She swore in Mandarin and called out to her men to push on.

Footsteps to their left! Victor grabbed Lin by her waist to pull her behind himself as he shot at the first unmasked face to turn the corner behind one of the trucks. The bullet was literally shrugged off as the man kept coming, gun still at his hip and a wild look in his eyes. The shotgun was brought down and a blast fired at the man's chest sending him back. "Get on the boat!" Victor roared. The downed man's lungs, heart and stomach were full of shrapnel and he was not getting up from that. Victor had no time to get a sample from the man and was not sure if that guy would have whatever Riley had been giving his men in his system. A yell came before the person it came from was slammed into the concrete, half his mask shattered and him gasping for air.

More yelling came as well as confusion. On top of the Chinese he could not understand were yells in English over someone losing it. Losing what? "Lin?!" Victor roared and looked back to see her being helped onto the boat. Another man came flying past him crashing into a post with a sickening crack to his back. It was one of Riley's. What was happening behind was catching up as the shots grew and the chaos exploded past the loaded trucks. There men were the root cause, swollen muscles barely contained in their clothes, faces red, veins pulsating and eyes white. Each one was shot no less than three times a piece and still going. If Lin was already on her way he could slip off to get a sample.

But something was not right. The rage triplets clashed with everyone they could see and sometimes even each other! "Zsasz! Let's go!" Lin yelled from the boat as it prepared to leave. He has to stick to his assignment and not draw too much attention to any ulterior motives. He took a risk and shot at one of the men raging and about to throttle one of Lin's men. Three shots with his gun to the same shoulder until it was shoved back and the white-eyed stare was focused on him. Easily provoked. Noted. The man charged at Victor and he started to back towards the boat hearing Lin call out to him again. Not yet! Another shot to the injured shoulder. They weren't bulletproof but pushing through the pain. One shot to the forward most knee and up his thigh. Still moving so fast. There was no time to reload and inspect further. The shotgun was brought back around and he wasted little time blasting at the man's chest until he finally dropped, sliding close from his momentum, scraping his face on the pavement.

Along his arms were square patches that looked to be bandages? Or perhaps nicotine patches but there were four on just one arm. Victor hurried to stealthily fill the vial he was given and ripped one of the patches off before rushing to the edge of the dock to make it to the boat. What was Riley doing to his men he wondered while looking back as the shots began to die down but not the screams and roars.

"What do you have there?" Lin asked as she sat down looking every bit as pissed that Riley was as stupid as she thought he was. Victor slipped the vial out of sight and held out the patch to her with a gloved hand.

"Have you seen anything like this before?" Victor asked with genuine fascination. Lin held her hand out for it. The patch was sat on a handkerchief to keep her from being exposed to whatever was on it. She turned it over with the tips of her nails to examine the strange square barely as large as her palm. "That last guy alone had four of them on him. Adrenalin?"

"Not likely." She sighed and leaned her head back against the cushion of the boat. As they skipped over the waves back to the west side of Gotham Lin looked to the hole in Victor's waistcoat and shirt. "Your tailor is not going to be happy about that."

Victor glanced down then out across the water. "Yeah. She's gonna be upset. This does not look salvageable." It wasn't his favorite suit but after what Lin told him about the trim it was on its way to be. He could feel the woman watching him closely and would not bother making eye contact. They were not in the clear until they touched ground on the west end's docks.

"Tell me something, Zsasz," she called over the engine and wind whipping by their ears. "Why have you not accepted our jobs until now?"

"I don't play in my own background. Simple as that." Living in China Town helped with his general neutrality back then. Any job from the Triad would have gone directly against the interest of the families and they were his main source of income. "Why did you wait for me?" he asked while keeping his eyes on the approaching lights.

"You're getting paid to make sure I get home. Does this look like I'm home?"

"You know what I mean Lin. I'm expendable, remember?"

Lin narrowed her eyes. "Leaving behind my bodyguard would be bad for our professional relationship. What Riley put in those men was not something I think even you could fight your way out of. It took too much to take down just one of those monsters. You would run out of ammo before you got through the second."

"I'm worth more than your own men?" Victor asked with a sliver of concern.

"They were not all my men. The ones still loyal to me will come out on top and return once they've finished their work." Very concerning indeed. His silence made her curious. "You are not going to ask what that entails?"

"I know when to keep my nose out of things that don't involve me. If you wanted me to know, you would tell me," he explains as they near the dock and anchor up.

"You already know, don't you?" Victor smiles and shrugs. "Mm, I see why they pay you so well. It's to keep that mouth shut." She was helped from the boat and Victor took the lead towards the SUV waiting for her. He took no risks and inspected the men more than the car itself. Any sign of nerves and he would be the one driving without anyone else but Lin. Cleared, he opened the backseat door for her. "We can take it from here," Lin says while taking her seat. "I look forward to working with you again in the future."

"It's been a pleasure, Kwan Lin." The door was shut and he watched them drive away. He would head off up the street darting between buildings until he was in a dark alley. The motorbike he rode in on lit up as he approached and his mask was removed from a compartment in the seat and put on. After a quick message to Red Hood he was on his way home. There were many things to go through and that vial in his pocket was burning a hole in his mind with all the questions he had.

Detours were taken in case someone was on his trail and once inside his fortress of an apartment he sent a quick message to Olivia to let her know he was fine. That way she won't worry come morning. The vial was stashed in the fridge until Red came to collect it for whatever testing he could do. The ruined bits of his suit were set aside to be dealt with later and all of his gear was put away save for lockbox gun. He wasn't quite unwound just yet. Riley's men seemed fixated on him more than Lin and her business at the docks. If he wanted to flush him out he need only ask. He wasn't adverse to working with someone that suggested he be put down. It would be funny to him at this point. He was far more skilled at getting out of a pinch and could pick up on trouble at a greater level as well.

A message from Red explained he would have to hold the vial for a bit while he dealt with things outside of the city. Now seemed as good a time as any to start digging on Red Hood. The first few queries posed to Oracle were simply a joke. "Who is Red Hood?" Results need further narrowing. "Who is the current Red Hood?" Not authorized to access that information. "What information on him am I allowed to see?" No response. Of course it wouldn't be that easy or perhaps it was still thinking.

"Alright, put that on the back burner for now. Give me a rundown of this apartment." He said there was equipment that couldn't be moved. Where? A floor plan was pulled up. "More in depth, Oracle." Blueprints, a detailed breakdown on the history of the building's construction. Additions and changes were marked and revealed more about the building than he initially realized but confirmed one suspicion. He moved to stand before the leftmost wall of his living room. There was room for more than just a thick wall. The weathering on the bricks looked out of place but as color matched to the rest of the building as possible. "Open it."

~Authorization code required~

Victor tapped his foot while thinking. "Red Hood." Denied. "Victor Zsasz." Denied. He crossed his arms then looked towards the window catching his own reflection. "Black Mask?"

~Authorization accepted. Welcome Black Mask.~ A six by seven foot section of the brick pushed in then slid out of the way closer to the kitchen and he had a quick peek inside before walking in. The dark room lit revealing empty shelves, an armory waiting to be filled, computers and a small lab. At the center was a full mask like Red Hood's but in black. "Who has access to this room besides me?"

~Since the transition of ownership you are the only person authorized to access the armory. Would you like to extend access at this time?~

"Not right now." This was going to be a very productive night. When asked if there was something capable of analyzing the blood sample he was directed to a labstation. The vial was fetched along with the patch in his coat pocket. The vial was placed into a machine to have tests run on it while the patch was put aside for analyzing. No different from any other transdermal patch. Processing was focused on the blood for now while Victor zipped in and out of his room to place all of his equipment inside the real armory.

"How is the search on Red Hood?" he asked. Inconclusive. "Such a fucking liar!" he laughed. This was another test. "Okay...give me the shortest ETA's of when I call on Red to when he arrives at this place. What do I call this place now?"

~Whatever you wish it to be called, Victor.~

Victor smirks, shaking his head. "Let's call it The Kennel, for now."

~Providing travel times of Red Hood's arrival to The Kennel.~ He'll have to figure out a better name later. The search was expanded to longer times and then locations of Wayne properties were placed on the map. There was overlap but not much. It seemed the man was often on the move. A few more important things were placed in the armory. The trophies he's collected from his more impressive kills over the years, his box of family effects, and the clothes he ruined after Olivia fixed them. Best to hide that evidence until he was ready to fess up to it. "...Oracle, can I authorize emergency access to the armory?"

~Of course, Victor. Who will we be granting access to?~

It's crossing his mind that Olivia may have known this was here all along. She can hear a powerful energy draw or perhaps she simply found it normal. She has seen the security system for the shutters. "Olivia Ferris Wayne."

~Designation?~

"Sunshine."