"Uhh, let me go with the promise that I'll not tell anyone?"
I gave her the blankest stare I could manage. "Nice try."
My phone vibrated just then. My eyes went slightly wide as I pulled it out. I had forgotten about Mike. The screen came on and I quickly scrolled the messages he'd sent.
Alarm turned into pleasant surprise at the unexpected but welcome updates, and I stopped leaning on the car, sending a quick message back that I was okay.
While I tapped the keypad, I found Felicity's eyes again, registering the subtle hint of fear in them. "You can go," I said and waved with my left arm. "You'll get your laptop back, don't worry."
She looked stumped, her gaze alternating between said unresponsive laptop and me. "I won't tell anyone about you, or this place. I promise. I was just worried about my mom. Now I know she's okay and I want nothing to do with all this," she said, her tone pleading.
Still smiling, I held out my phone to her, "I believe you. Number?"
That made her do a double take. She looked up and down, mouth and opening and closing as her stunned gaze alternated between the phone and me.
"My number? Is this what I think it is? Of course it is. Why else would you want my number? There's only one reason why you would want my number." She caught herself at that last statement and remembered the person she was talking about was right there.
She whipped her head and found my eyes again. "And by one reason I mean something completely platonic."
"Heh," I could barely keep from chuckling, "I believe you. You have my number from your illegal super sleuthing right?"
She nodded.
"Then I want yours in return. It's only fair."
As much as I enjoyed seeing her live up to the mental image I had of her, namely the visual and audible expression of the holes in her brain-mouth barrier, Felicity really needed to leave.
Thankfully, she was aware of that fact as well and gave in. After confirming that the number she gave me was indeed hers, her mini cooper's engine roared to life again and she successfully escaped on her second attempt.
I waited till her car disappeared into the distance before tearing my gaze away from its faint dust trail. This was an overall weird situation and interaction I didn't see coming. At all.
Felicity Smoak. On my borrowed doorstep. Hacking me, off all things.
Chasing away the subtle disbelief and making my way back inside, I put the cute, nerdy blonde out of mind and focused on the benefits her sudden intrusion had provided.
"Talk to me," I said upon reentering the workshop.
Proving why any Artificial Intelligence had superiority over all things net, Mike not only chased Felicity out of our systems, he had followed her on the path she took and made himself at home in her systems.
No pun intended.
"Do you want the long or short version?"
"Short version," I said, not in the mood for long technical terms I no doubt understood. This location had been burned. We needed to move. Quickly.
"I can find where Black Spider hangs his webs."
Say what you will about this cheeky A.I., he knew how to lay it on a person. There was no bullshit with him. "Ms. Smoak's laptop was a treasure trove. Her unique methodologies have no doubt improved my hacking abilities.
But her illegal access to numerous databases and unique, likely self written search and triangulation algorithms are the true diamonds I uncovered and appropriated. I am tracking her now as we speak."
Stepping closer to the monitor, I found the red dot representing Felicity on the city map. My first instinct was to tell Mike to stop. Doing this felt weird and gross, but I paused and took some time to think.
"You have the evidence of her activities right?"
"Yes. Will we be using it against her?"
"No. Well yes, but just as a warning. Give her laptop back along with a message: We can ruin you just as you can ruin us."
"Message sent," Mike said a second later.
I turned away from the screen and looked around the workshop, thinking of the rush job I'd have to do in the coming days. Not only did I have to build a vehicle large enough to transport all the important stuff out of here, I needed to wipe the place down and remove any traces of my presence.
Thankfully, not only was I spoiled for parts, I didn't have to start from scratch on the vehicle front. This place was full of skeletons I could build up on and transform into a van.
"Look up some parking garages and see if you can find one with good security. How much money do we have left?"
"Account 1 has 87 dollars and Account 2 has 130. We are set to receive more than 1200 dollars each in both tomorrow."
"The data scraping gigs?"
"Yes."
I nodded and threw off my jacket, setting it aside and my spider themed mask down on the table. "Don't forget about the taxes. Can't have those crooks in suits coming after me."
"Already done."
"Good. Now, Black Spider. I wanna know everything you can find. His addresses, phone numbers, car numbers. His habits, secret bank accounts, lovers, a favourite hooker… I want to know everything. While you're on that, book a flight to Gotham as well. As soon as we have the webs and Spider is in jail, we'll go see the Bat."
"What should I choose as the departure date?"
The amount of work I needed to do flew across my mind like a phantom and I weighed my options. "One week from now. Everything should be squared away by then."
Picking up my phone, I found Felicity's contact and quickly sent a, *"Get home safe?"*
"Have you thought about what you'll say to him and the rest of the league?"
"Who? Batman?" I said and looked away from the seen but ignored message. My phone went into the side pocket of my cargo pants while I thought about my uncertainty regarding the meeting.
How did I explain the contents of the letter? Did I just come out and tell them about my death and the entity's trick? Or did I cook up some story and get exposed immediately because my own handiwork had put them on edge?
What about my powers? How did I explain that? Oh, I get points when I do things and those points get me powers and sometimes things.
No matter what I told them, I knew what I wanted by going to them. Whether that thing was worth me bearing my soul and all its secrets to them was another story.
"We'll see. I have a whole week to think about it," I said, even though the previous weeks had netted me no good answer or alternative. As if to lift my somewhat dampened spirits, my phone shook and I pulled it out to see Felicity had replied to my message.
*"You know this is weird right?"*
I laughed and hastily typed my reply before hitting send. "True, but I'd say the weirdness has passed. Right now we're just two people talking. How we met is not that important. Trust me. People have met under more weirder circumstances."
"Why are you doing this? You don't have to keep tabs on me. I'm not gonna tell anyone."
"This is not about that. Cutting contact with you seems like a waste. Plus, don't tell me having a superhero you can hit up at any time doesn't interest you in the slightest."
"... Fine. I just got home… and your message. 👀"
"Just covering my bases. You understand that right?"
"~Sigh."
.
.
.
.
"Alfred."
"Sir. You have a visitor. He claims he's here about… a letter."
"I'm on my way."
"Sir."
"What's the problem?"
"Do I let him in?"
"What's he doing right now?"
"Sitting. On the edge of the flower bed near the main gate."
"Let him be. We'll be there soon."
"Where are we going? Is this about the secret you and the rest of the league are keeping?" Robin asked.
Batman answered only one of those questions, and it technically wasn't even an answer. "We're leaving," he said dryly and leapt off the roof, firing his grapnel towards the top lip of the nearby skyscraper.
"We're leaving," Robin mouthed and made a funny face as soon as his mentor was out of sight.
He'd noticed an unusual change in the manor immediately when he got home from school a month ago. No one would tell him anything. Not even Alfred or his other "super friends."
Neither of the other sidekicks—they never called themselves that, obviously—knew why their mentors, partners, and parental figures had suddenly grown serious about their training but clammed up about the reason for the increased intensity.
To make an already confusing and aggravating situation worse, Speedy disappeared a day after whatever happened, detained by the league, the unusually tightlipped, unusually serious and unusually fuming league.
His personal investigation had unearthed only a single clue, one that made no sense to him or the others when he shared it with them. The most significant thing to happen on that day had been the arrival of FedLex delivery.
This wouldn't have even been a clue if Bruce and Alfred had refused to answer his questions about the package nor its contents. As for viewing them, that was even more out of the question.
He could only speculate. Something in that package had been damning enough to warrant this reaction from the whole league and even Batman, someone who had never expressed fear. At least not in front of him.
Easily throwing himself off the roof and keeping up with his foster parent, Robin joined him and the duo made their way to a secluded location, the Batmobile making a timely arrival upon being summoned.
Seated within the confines of the million dollar custom transport, personal carrier, and tank all in one, Robin felt the familiar arms of the seatbelt latch onto him before a sudden rumble pressed him flat into the seat.
"Seems like you're in a hurry."
He got the typical Batman response; silence.
Crossing both arms together with a huff, the Boy Wonder kept an eye on his mentor from the corner of his vision, hoping to catch the faintest hint as to what was happening.
Whether he was aware of this or not, (come on) Batman summoned a hologram and moved his fingers across it at a rapid pace before dismissing it just as quickly.
"You're calling the League?!" Robin blurted out, unable to restrain himself. "It is about the package. All of this started when it arrived, and Alfred was the one who contacted you." His eyes went wide. "Either another one arrived, or the one who sent it came in person. You wouldn't rush back to examine a simple delivery."
Batman let out a subtle and brief nasally growl.
"When we arrive, I'll do the talking."
"But—"
"This is not up for discussion. It's either this or nothing."
Robin threw his arms across his chest again and sunk into his seat. "...Fine."
The confusion piled on in the Boy Wonder's mind when Batman went straight to the Batcave. Did the person somehow break into this place? Was Alfred okay?
His questions were answered once he saw the aged butler welcome them in one piece, though the old man had that same severe expression he wore on that fateful day.
Rushing after Batman to the Batcomputer, they both stared at the wide screen currently displaying the scene at the main gate. Seated a few inches away from the ground and resting his back on the wall with his arms and legs crossed was the reason for the League's mysterious behaviour.
His clothes were nearly invisible in the dark of the night. His skin was a few shades lighter, though darker than Kaldur's. Apart from that, what he had in common with the Atlantean was their hairdo.
His black hair, unlike Kaldur's, was neat and cropped close to the scalp. That was where the similarities ended.
This guy was clearly older than his sea born friend but not by much. He was also shorter; an inch or two give or take. Though his clothes hid a build that clearly eclipsed Kaldur's.
"This is the guy?"
"We're about to find out," Batman said while reviewing the full background Alfred had long done before their arrival. Robin took a peek but only made out the name as his mentor was soon on the move again.
They went up the secret elevator into the manor proper and then outside onto the grounds, where they stealthily made their way to the wall their guest was leaning on.
So far, everything seemed normal about this guy, and that gave Robin major doubts about his ability to spook the League. Those doubts disappeared like smoke in a strong breeze when they arrived on top of the wall.
Their guest was on his feet, hands settled in his coat pockets and staring right at where they appeared.
'Yep. It's definitely him,' the Boy Wonder affirmed.
"...Batman, and Robin," Elliot said as his eyes flicked from the older to the younger of the duo.
"Did you send the package?" Batman asked from his perch, entombed within his cowl.
"Yes," Elliot responded and narrowed his eyes at their choice to remain stationary. "Are you recording this? Using some lie detection program or reading my body language to see if I'm lying?"
No answer.
"Who am I kidding? Of course you are. Listen, I'll take any tests you want me to. Wonder Woman's Lasso, Manhunter's telepathy, hell I'll even let you use magic on me."
"...."
"Why now?"
"What?"
"You could've brought the letter in person but you didn't. You went through great lengths to hide from us. Yet now you're here. What changed?" Batman asked.
"Well," Elliot seemed undecided. "I got powers out of nowhere and a friend made me see that I was being… childish by choosing not to work with you."
That seemed to get a rise out of the dark knight. "You told someone else."
Hastily replying to clear the confusion, Elliot raised a hand and waved his finger. "It's not what you think."
The "explain" he was waiting for didn't come. Instead, Elliot suddenly put eyes to his shadow as a font of emerald green light hit him from behind.
"Hey Bats," the masked hero Hal Jordan, Elliot assumed, in his green and black skinsuit, greeted before staring at him with blank, white lenses. "This the kid?"
"Not a kid," Elliot rebutted, his tone unchanged since the start of this conversation, or rather interrogation.
Shifting his eyes away from Green Lantern's ring and source of the emerald glow, Elliot took in the sight of the new arrivals while funneling his surging emotions away; Superman, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Captain Atom.
"Diana," Batman said and walked closer with Robin, whose mask of indifference was already showing cracks.
Floating forward with her feet inches away from the ground, Wonder Woman unfurled her lasso and held it out to Elliot, who took hold of it before she even let a word out.
For the first time in all the years they'd known her and seen the infallible truth extractor in action, it didn't light up when the cause for their headaches this past month grabbed it.