Happy Early Thanksgiving. Consider this as a gift.
TW: Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.
DCMarvel heroes: Glad you enjoyed it.
Watchtower
Night
Tess gasped, sitting up in bed, breathing deeply as she awoke from her nightmare. Then, she heard it. The music from her nightmare.
Tess slowly got out of the cot and walked out into the hall, finding a music box of a figurine dancer outside the room she had been given. And she wasn't the only one.
"Tess?" Tess started, looking over as Steve emerged at the end of the hall. "What is that?"
"I don't know. I just heard it playing," Tess said as she picked it up.
Hearing a sniff, Steve and Tess turned as Logan walked over, sniffing the air.
"Someone else was here…but the trail goes cold. They left that," Logan said with a glance the music box.
It was then that Tess noticed a gift tag on the bottom of the box. It had 'Happy birthday, Tess' on it.
"It's not my birthday," Tess muttered.
"So someone broke into Watchtower to what, screw with you?" Logan asked skeptically.
"I'm more interested in how someone could get in and out without any of us knowing," Steve said in concern. "If Watchtower is compromised, nowhere is safe."
Kent Farm
Same time
Clark was taking a drink of water, looking down at a picture of himself and his father when he had been a child. That was how Lois found him.
"Hey, you okay?" Lois asked as she walked over.
"Fine. Couldn't sleep," Clark said as he set the water down and she gave him a half knowing, half worried look.
"Is this about Lana?" Lois asked uncertainly and Clark smiled tightly.
"It wasn't easy seeing Lana like that, but no. It's about Jor-El. When I was at the Fortress, he showed me a message that the real Jor-El and my mother left for me before Krypton was destroyed," Clark said, surprising her.
"Was it…good or bad?" Lois asked cautiously.
"He said he'd never lose faith in me, no matter what. That I had more potential than he ever could and would be Earth's greatest savior. I always thought he was this strong, unshakable force, kind of like how I was supposed to be. But…maybe he's more human than I thought. All the weight I thought I had on my shoulders and he was carrying something so much heavier. He thought his mistakes would be some kind of burden on me," Clark mused.
"And he didn't want you to carry that burden with him," Lois realized and Clark smiled tightly.
"I wish I could have shown you that side of him. Maybe I'm more like him than I thought," Clark said.
"Well, if he was anything like you, there are worse people to take after," Lois noted and Clark chuckled.
"Maybe," Clark admitted before he felt his phone vibrate.
Pulling it out, he saw it was a text from Chloe.
'Meet at Watchtower. SOS.'
Watchtower
Not long after
"So, someone just dropped this here for you?" Clark asked, examining the music box as the group met in the main room at Watchtower.
"Someone's messing with me. It's not my birthday," Tess explained.
"You said you had a nightmare before with this music box. What was it about?" Charles asked kindly.
"I was a little girl. I was running from someone. That music box was there," Tess explained.
"I feel that the music box appearing in a dream to you just before it was dropped outside your door may not be a coincidence," Stein noted before taking a bit of leftover pizza.
"Whoever dropped it off was able to get passed any security protocols we have here, and they didn't show up on any of security footage in the hallway before Tess found that music box, or at any point after," Chloe said from where she sat at the computer, going over the security footage.
"And I didn't pick up their scent until they were gone," Logan noted.
"So maybe they're a teleporter, like me," Kurt suggested.
"We could use a CSI's help on this. Any word from Barry or Jay?" Sara asked but Chloe shook her.
"They're still on that training trip Jay took Barry on. They said they'd be back in a few days," Chloe said.
"Barry needs all the help against Thawne he can get; we can't rely on him for this. We need to know if Watchtower is Compromised or not," Oliver said firmly.
"And how do we figure that out?" Wanda asked as Clark noticed something.
"I think I just did," Clark said, pulling off the gift tag to reveal an old, faded tag. "Chloe."
Clark walked over, handing it to Chloe. She took it, seeing the tag and putting it under the scanner. After a few moments, the tag is digitally restored. Although it's partially ripped, it did say 'property of St. Louise's orphanage'.
"Tess, does St. Louise's mean anything to you?"
"This might surprise you, but I've never really identified with any saints," Tess said dryly.
"Fair point," Chloe said, putting it in the search engine.
Within seconds, it had a result, an article coming up about an old woman.
"Who's that?" Tess asked.
"She runs St. Louis's, they call her Granny Goodness," Chloe explained.
"The Mother Teresa for orphaned children," Natasha noted as she read the article.
"Go back real quick," Tess said, seeing something.
Chloe did so, taking it back a clip to a picture of Goodness standing on the steps with a little girl.
"Tess? What is it?" Clark asked as they noticed Tess staring at the picture in shock.
"That girl with her…that's me. But I've never been there before in my life," Tess said in shock.
"Well clearly, that's not the case," Clint said dryly.
"We have a lead, now we know where to go. Some of us will go there with Tess to investigate tomorrow," Steve ordered.
"And how do we do that? I'm kind of dead," Tess pointed out.
"I can create some fake IDs. Not even the FBI could tell it was fake," Chloe said, already at work as Oliver and Sara exchanged a look.
"She's like Felicity and Cisco rolled into one," Sara said and Oliver could only nod.
"Felicity Smoak? Done my homework on her. She's not as good as she think she is," Chloe said, not turning away from her task. "Cisco Ramon, on the other hand, I would love to work with."
"We'll need some disguises too," Natasha noted.
"I'll take care of that. I know a guy," Clint said with a grin.
"While you're dealing with that, the rest of us will meet Hill in the morning. She'll be in the city in the morning, and she's got the spare Cerebro," Fury said.
"Then it's time. Tomorrow, we find where they're holding Dinah. Then, we go for Bobbi," Carter said, his eyes narrowed in concentration.
Metropolis, next day
Morning
On an abandoned bridge, Fury sat in the driver's seat of a limo, Charles in the passenger while in the back, Oliver, Logan, and Clark all waited. After a few moments, a black car pulled up. It stopped a few feet away and Hill got out, carrying a brief case.
As one, they all got out of the limo as Hill made her way over to them.
"Hill, good to see you again," Fury said as she reached them.
"Fury. I see you're gathering old friends. Queen," Hill greeted Oliver.
"Hill. Good to see you again," Oliver said politely.
"Been a few years now. Sorry about what's been happening, but hopefully this helps," Hill said before handing the briefcase to Fury.
"That's your Cerebro?" Logan asked in disbelief.
"What, did you expected her to bring a giant crate, carrying the whole machine on a truck?" Fury asked dryly and Logan paused, realizing that was rather ridiculous.
"It's in concealment mode. All you have to do is activate it and you'll get the whole thing," Hill explained.
"Thank you, Agent Hill. This will be a big help to us," Charles said.
"I hope so. Now I have to go, I'll be in touch. Word is Ross is planning something big in retaliation for The Raft breakout. Be careful," Hill warned them.
"We will. Thank you," Clark said.
Hill merely nodded before getting back in her car and driving off.
"Time to head to a safe location and find out if this was worth it," Logan said, glancing back down at the briefcase.
"It will be. Time to go get your girl, Logan. Both of them," Fury assured him.
Keystone City
Same time
Barry raced through the city, trying to catch up with Jay. Key word being 'trying'.
"Come on, kid! You're the Flash! Is that the fastest you can go?" Jay asked with a laugh.
Barry glared, pushing himself faster. He started catching up to Jay when Jay made a U-Turn, phasing through a nearby building. Barry stared as Jay emerged from the other side of the building and reached the bench they had agreed would be their check point.
"I win," Jay said as Barry sped over to him.
"Come on, that was cheating! You didn't say we were allowed to phase!" Barry snapped.
"Do you think Thawne is going to play by some set of rules? He won't. He'll throw you a curve ball in the middle of your fight. It's up to you to learn how to handle those," Jay said calmly, placing a hand on Barry's shoulder. "An experienced speedster like Thawne isn't going to take it easy on you, so neither am I. Now, let me teach you some tricks Thawne won't expect you to know."
Metropolis
Not long after
Tess stood outside the orphanage, Steve on one side of her (wearing a black wig and fake beard) while Matt stood on the other, not wearing any glasses in order to blend in.
"I swear to you, I've never been here before," Tess said in bewilderment.
"That photograph says differently," Steve said gently.
"Whether or not you remember, you were here. And we need to find out if this has a connection to that music box," Matt pointed out.
No further words were spoken as the trio walked forward. Granny Goodness rushed down the stairs to meet them.
"Hello! You must be the reporters who called," Granny said excitedly, shaking their hands. "Welcome, welcome. The girls have been so excited. They already feel like celebrities knowing that our humble little home will be featured on the news."
"Thank you, Ms. Goodness. I'm Mercy Graves. This is my partner, Johnny Storm and Tristian Thorn," Tess said, using the aliases that Chloe had created.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Graves. Here come the girls," Goodness said as several young girls followed Goodness down the steps.
They were all dressed in the same outfit Tess had been wearing in the picture. At Granny's instruction, the girls began to sing 'Amazing Grace'. As Steve and Tess watched, Matt paused, hearing something that sounded like a whimper.
"I left the camera in the car. Johnny, mind helping me back there," Matt asked and Steve glanced at him before nodding.
"Of course," Steve said before walking off with Matt. "What is it?"
"Not sure. I hear something like a little girl in pain. There," Matt said, pointing to a door on the edge of the property.
Steve and Matt make their way over, Steve opening the door and walking inside. Steve's first thought was that this was something out of a horror movie. It was a dark, dimly lit room with someone tied to a chair, letting out a muffled cry. Steve and Matt walked over, seeing it was a girl, no older than ten, with a rag in her mouth acting as a gag.
"We're gonna get you out of here," Matt said kindly as Steve removed the rag.
"Hurry, before Granny comes back!" the girl pleaded.
"Granny did this to you?" Steve asked as they began unstrapping her.
"She said she was gonna make me forget my parents. My mom and dad just died in a car crash. I can't lose my memories of them to!" the girl said tearfully as she was released.
"And you won't. We're gonna get you out of here," Matt promised.
They began exiting the room when they heard the sound of clashing steel. The sound seemed to terrify the girl, Matt noted silently as he heard her increased heartbeat.
"That's what Granny turns us into," she said fearfully.
"Matt, get her out of here. I'm gonna see what that is," Steve ordered.
"You sure?" Matt asked, not wanting to leave.
"We have to get here out of here and do what we came here to do. Go," Steve ordered and after a moment, Matt nodded.
"If you die, Nat will kill me. And I will spend the rest of our afterlives reminding you," Matt said before leading the girl away.
Steve smiled slightly before turning and following the noise. Eventually, he came upon a wide room with several young women who were sparing with weapons. As he stood outside, surveying the room, he saw a woman forging weapons in green fire.
What on Earth was this place?
Inside the orphanage, Goodness led Tess into a hallway with picture.
"You know, I've always been able to tell an abandoned soul when I see one. It's a gift." Goodness said casually.
Tess didn't respond, although she began to feel unnerved. Even ignoring the picture she didn't remember, something about Goodness just felt…fake to her.
"Do the girls come here as babies?" Tess asked as they began heading up some stairs.
"Unfortunately, tragedy strikes as it pleases. The come at any age."
"It must be difficult to find the older ones permanent homes," Tess noted.
"The truth is, by the time I get my hands on the lost souls, they've lost that sweet baby smell childless couples yearn for," Goodness said as they reached the top of the steps.
"The children don't spend their entire childhoods here, do they?" Tess asked alarmed and Goodness laughed.
"Oh mercy me, you make it sound like a punishment," Goodness said as she continued walking.
Tess followed to keep up, her sense of unease growing. The more she talked, the less that Tess trusted Goodness.
"I've been training my girls for decades, not to blend into society, but to conquer it," Goodness explained as they passed a wall filled with framed pictures of women in all positions of power. "Here, and around the world."
Tess looked away from a picture before pausing, staring in shock at a wardrobe at the end of the hallway. The same wardrobe that had been in her nightmare.
"My girls know I'll always be there for them," Goodness said as Tess approached the wardrobe. "And I know they'll never desert me."
Tess glanced back at Goodness, who smiled at her. Her unease growing, Tess checked the side of the wardrobe, seeing scratch marks where, in her nightmare, she had crawled at it.
"I do hope you enjoyed the birthday present," Goodness said and Tess looked at her sharply. "That music box brought you such comfort when you were young. I knew it would draw you make to me."
Goodness moved aside and Tess stared in shock at her own picture on the wall.
The Brownstone
Same time
"You have quite a hideout, as you might call it," Stein noted as he looked around.
"Might not be as glamorous as Watchtower, but it was home," Carter said, eyes lost in memories of days long passed.
"How long do we have to stay here?" Ronnie wondered.
"Until we know for sure that Watchtower isn't compromised," Sara said calmly.
"So we wait for Steve, Tess and Matt to get back with whatever Intel they dig up at St. Louise's. Hopefully by then, we'll have Dinah's location," Natasha said before the door opened and Oliver, Clark, Logan, Fury and Charles entered the room, Charles holding the briefcase from Hill.
"Let us hope so, Natasha," Charles said, looking down at the briefcase.
"That thing is Cerebro?" Storm said in surprise, having expected something bigger.
"It's in concealment mode. Give it a minute," Fury told her.
Fury then took the briefcase from Charles and set it down on the floor, putting in some kind of code on what seemed to be the lock. Fury then stepped back as the briefcase opened, machinery emerging, transforming in a manner that reminded those who had seen it of Tony's Iron Man suits. Within a minute, there was a panel plus a helmet sitting in front of them.
"It's all yours, Chuck," Fury said as he gestured towards it.
Charles nodded, rolling his chair over to Cerebro. He picked up the helmet and put it on. As he activated it, holographic, red panels appeared around the room, spinning wildly.
From Charles' perspective, he looked, scanning the minds of the city. There were many people in Metropolis and the surrounding area. But Dinah Drake was a Mutant, and once he weeded out the humans and his X-Men, it was fairly easy to locate her.
"She's in a warehouse on the edge of Suicide Slums," Charles said as he removed the helmet. "There are at least two dozen guards."
"Easy enough to take out," Logan noted.
"But the objective has to be to get Dinah out," Natasha reminded him and Logan shot her a look.
"I don't need to be reminded to protect my daughter's mother."
Gambit, who had been watching the scene in fascination as he shuffled some cards from a nearby chair, pocketed his cards and got to his feet.
"Sounds like you need a thief. Gambit is the best there is," Gambit said confidently.
"Then what are we waiting for? Time to go spring a Canary," Sara said with a grin.
Not a lot happened here, but next chapter will be a lot more exciting. Hope you all enjoyed it anyway.