A Flash by Any Other Name
Jun. 27th, 2006 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shankieThe League's out of commission, and Wally can't seem to stay out of stealth missions or skirts...
Part Thirty-Seven: Stealing From a Thief
"So like, how are we supposed to get aboard the Watchtower with everyone up there?" Wally asked, fixing on his black domino mask and letting an edge of adrenaline take off the last remnants of sleep's haze from his mind.
"Do you honestly believe I don't have a contingency plan if the Watchtower was ever compromised?" Bruce asked with a dry, humourless smirk.
"No, I guess not."
"Do you remember how to prep the wing?"
"I think so."
"Do it, I'll be right behind you."
Wally jumped into the driver's seat of the Batwing, for the second time ever, and took a deep breath while cracking his knuckles before he began flipping switches that lit up the console and a sequence that made the engine begin to roar to life, then settle in a quiet hum.
By the time he was hopping into the passenger seat, Bruce was jumping through the canopy, cowl up and all Batman.
"Robin, return to the Batcave and monitor, we're going up."
"I can be there in five minutes B, almost done here." A cracking noise came over the radio, and the sound of a gunshot and final heavy thud. "Alright, on my way."
"Nightwing, protocol Alpha Seven."
"Flash?" Was the response over the radio.
"Shadow."
"I'm on it. Good luck."
They were breaking the atmosphere and moving into the spectral realm of space when Wally tried to ask the burning question:
"So, what are we going to..?"
The radio broke through again and interrupted him with Nightwing's voice.
"Batman, we have another problem."
"What?"
"G. Gordon Godfrey."
Wally cringed and tried to forget how he'd made an ass of himself on live television. And advertising. And the Flash Mobile. Nineteen-year-olds do stupid things. He still liked to be on TV, though.
"What about him?"
"Well, as you know, his show got moved back up to Prime Time, and not even five minutes ago he just announced that he believes the Justice League's time is about to come. You know what that could mean."
"Yes. Stay with the plan."
He pushed a series of buttons on the console, and was answered by a cranky and familiar voice.
"What is it Batman, need the little guys to save the world again?" Ollie said, dripping with sarcasm.
"I need you and Canary tailing Godfrey. I have reason to believe he's in on our present situation."
"It'll take us a good hour to get down there, but I'll do what I can. Good luck up there. Arrow out."
Wally looked at Bruce and cocked his head to one side.
"Protocol Alpha Seven. Hostile alien takeover of the Watchtower."
"Alien? So, what am I missing here?"
"Godfrey isn't human. He's from Apokolips."
"Wait, wait, what? The TV show host is from Apokolips?" Wally spouted in disbelief.
"Yes. According to Orion's intel, he was sent as an advance agent, creating an atmosphere of distrust against the League, but unrest in Darkseid's empire postponed his ultimate plans indefinitely."
"And you never did anything about it?"
"He wasn't doing anything illegal, besides bypassing immigration laws. Godfrey was more valuable to us under surveillance, believing he was slipping under our radar. It's no coincidence he's becoming influential once again."
"So... what are you saying?"
"No records, superhuman strength, uncanny influence, understanding of advanced technology, and knowledge of the Anti-Life Equation."
"Brannock..?"
"Is also from Apokolips. That is my current assumption."
"But doesn't that mean..?"
"No. It's hardly the first time one of their residents has come to Earth with designs on succeeding where Darkseid failed."
"But don't they already have the solution to the Equation?"
"Possibly. Beyond quelling unrest in the wake of the civil war, Darkseid's empire expansion is less aggressive than it was in the past, which tells me he's busy doing something else. Luthor is only human, despite his own opinion of himself, and it's unlikely his mind could contain the entire thing for very long without destroying him. And his reappearance on Earth leads me to believe his designs on conquest didn't work out quite as he planned."
"You know a whole lot about all this."
Bruce looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.
"It's what I do."
Wally couldn't help but laugh, then sober and look at him curiously.
"Ok, so like, what's the plan?"
"Sensors indicate that nano-tech is no longer airborne. We'll enter through a hatchway underneath the Watchtower that leads into the maintenance conduits. You'll disable the power, while I'll enact the last resort incursion protocols. After that, we'll bring Atom aboard to being removing the nano-tech from the infected and return to Earth to deal with Brannock. J'onn should be reporting in by then." Bruce glanced over then back ahead as they began drawing close to the Watchtower. "Don't look so surprised. I commissioned and co-designed it, remember?"
"So is there anything you can't do?"
"My cooking is lousy."
Wally grinned and shook his head as they pulled under the orbiting station and Bruce guided the wing upwards, coupling it on with a few brief thuds and shudders.
"The bulk of the infected are currently in Engineering. You'll have to be quick and careful. Disable main power as quickly as you can, and when the secondary systems are kicking in, punch this code into the computer." He handed Wally a slip of paper with a stream of numbers and letters on it. "That'll buy us time. Then meet me at the main control junction above the monitor womb."
Bruce handed him a bundle of plastique explosives, which he slung over his back.
"Can-do."
The canopy swung open, along with a small hatch. Wally leapt up and began making his way through the crawlspace; it'd been some time since he'd been up here. The irony that he'd been running from the League then, too, wasn't lost on him.
They were maintaining radio silence, so he couldn't help but feel like he was on his own and totally isolated, even if Bats was around working his magic. But that was as reassuring a thought as he could ever have.
Main engineering had an unmistakable hum of energy about it he could begin to hear a whole level before he got there, and once he did, the shuffling of silent workers underneath him joined it. Wally peeked through the slots of a vent down into the vast chamber. Bats hadn't been exaggerating; a ton of the League was down there, but he couldn't tell what they were trying to do.
Building something, maybe.
Whatever it was had their full attention, so even though Clark was, in fact, right below him, he didn't think he'd be discovered just yet. Time for a game plan.
'You can totally do this.'
He didn't know much about how the Watchtower's power core worked, but what he did know was that if one or more of the conduits was disconnected, the power buildup would cause the circuits to blow and send the whole thing out of commission for days. That's what happened last time, anyway.
He waited for a good moment, then dropped down and slipped into a shadow behind one of the conduits and looked around to make sure he hadn't been noticed. Satisfied, he crawled out of sight behind the big snaking cables to the core and looked it over. He ran around to each one close to the floor, slapping the explosives on the conduits just far enough away from the core to avoid blowing the entire Watchtower instead of just the power.
When nobody was looking, he ran up the wall and perched on a beam high up on the ceiling, and considered that Clark would be able to seek him out before he'd be able to punch the code into the computer.
He had one last explosive, but his aim wasn't like Ollie's. Needed a direct approach. Wally took a deep breath and ran back down the wall, hurdling behind Clark slapping the plastique over his eyes, hoping beyond all hope he'd forgive him as he vanished back up out of sight and pressed the detonator switch.
Clark grasped his hands over his face with a howl as the explosions went up all at once, leaving the cables sputtering and severed in the sudden dark. With Superman suitably distracted for the moment, he had the upper hand. Night-vision lenses were a wonderful invention.
The Leaguers definitely didn't look very happy. Some of them were fanning out looking for him, while the rest had gone to the consoles trying to stabilize the power buildup. 'Hello Resident Evil moments.'
He jumped back down and punched the code into an empty console, pausing to admire his handiwork; just enough to give John the time to fire up his ring and give him a solid whack that sent Wally flying into the bulkhead and into a stunned slump on the floor. When he looked up again, John was right on top of him and about to go for a second blow.
"I don't think so." He whispered, and snatched Shayera's mace as she'd gone to smack him with it, whipped the mace around a few times, then sent it barreling at the speed of sound right into his chest. The crack of a little sonic boom tore through the room and, despite the glowing green shield around him, John went down hard.
"Sorry about that, buddy." He said, unheard, as the entire room was now focused on him and he had to roll out of the way of Shayera's infuriated attack.
Wally couldn't help but think about how, when the roles had been reversed, and he'd been the evil mind-controlled one, he'd been able to take them all down in seconds. But now, when he was the one in charge... he didn't think he could.
He frowned and took off out into the hall, where he hit the door control and smashed it's keypad, then the hall's security camera, then leapt back up into the crawl space and made his way to meet up with Bats.
The power began to flicker and finally died again, leaving the air eerily still and silent, and the shaft completely dark. He continued forward through the green outlines of his surroundings, until he came upon a Bat-shaped figure hunched over a control panel in the spot where the junction opened up into a wider space.
"Good work." He whispered, without turning around.
"What did I do, exactly?"
"Now none of the doors can be opened or closed. The open ones even Superman couldn't force, because of their design; nothing to grab onto. They won't be able to force the hanger open without de-pressurizing the entire station."
"Wouldn't Mr. Tasteless not even care about killing some of them?"
"If I'm right, he's commanded them to rebuild the discharge cannon; he needs them alive, especially now that you've put a kink in his little plan." Bruce responded. "But now there's no way off the station, and it'll take them time to realize it. And in 60 seconds, the ventilation system will be so pumped full of tranquilizing gas that even Superman will be taking a nice long nap."
"I didn't know that could do that."
"That's the point."
"So why did I..?"
"Prudence."
"Oh."
Bruce closed the panel back up.
"They're not very happy..."
CLANK!
Wally was set off-balance as a reverberating shudder went through the walls, and fell into Bruce, who caught him in his arms and faced him with those empty cowl-eyes and a grim set in his mouth.
"If this doesn't work..." Wally whispered.
"It will." Bruce replied resolutely.
Wally leaned in and kissed him fiercely, trying not to think about the possibility of failure.
CLANK!
Louder and closer, but they ignored it for each other's touch, just for a moment, until Bruce pulled away and set a gas mask over Wally's face, then his own.
CLANK!
The 60 seconds were up now, and Wally bit his lip, waiting for the blow that would tear open their hiding spot; but it never came, and everything was silent again.
Wally let out a long breath and Bruce smirked behind the plastic, as if to tease him for ever doubting him and being concerned.
"Atom, are you ready?" Bruce said after tapping his ear.
A moment later, a yellow flash accompanied The Atom leaping out of Bruce's ear and enlarging to about a foot high, with his own little gas mask and a pack strapped to his back.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"The security systems are down, we can't confirm that they're all incapacitated. Watch your back."
"What I'm best at, Batman."
Bruce nodded, and began crawling back towards the Batwing, Wally following close behind.
"So far, so good, I guess." Wally said.
"So little confidence in me, Shadow?" Bruce replied with a chuckle.
"You know me better than that, Bats."
"Mm."
* * *
J'onn looked around the cell they'd locked him in, and decided that the time had come to end his deception; he had what he needed, and a tendril of mental touch outside told him his attentions were now needed elsewhere.
Preparing to hold Batman, as difficult as that was, is quite different from the restraints needed for a Martian; despite being a bit roughed up, blows he'd taken with only a grimace that Batman himself would only ever allow as a response, he felt entirely prepared for another conflict, but it shouldn't come to that in escape.
He found a measure of amusement with the elaborate restraints he morphed out of; to his reckoning, they would have only held the Batman until he had a few moments alone to slip out. The first sign of hubris in their opponent, and it didn't go unnoted. It wasn't unexpected.
Neither was the stream of guarded, but not impenetrable, thoughts that had flowed through him as Brannock returned frequently to bask in victory, to taunt him with defeat. His taunts had been a show to hide the unease and hesitation he took in claiming his superiority over who he believed to be bound before him.
Brannock was close to his goal, but his solution was incomplete; and unknown to him, his influence over those he'd kept in thrall the longest was weakening. Luthor's mind was strong, and not complacent to domination. His fury was emerging, and J'onn could only speculate on how it would be redirected once this had come to a conclusion.
Despite the ill-will universally held toward Luthor by the League, J'onn's disgust was directed towards the mental control that violated him. Such an action, to a telepath most especially, was unforgivable; and he hadn't yet forgotten his own time in that influence.
J'onn left the mental illusion of Batman still in restraints as he became intangible and morphed through the walls and out into the skies above Death Valley. He shook off the heat of the day and travelled out until the cooling touch of clouds finally drifted over his skin, and he reached out with his mind to find Clark's.
What he found was merely a void in it's place; unconscious, perhaps, but in no natural state of sleep. He then moved on to Bruce, and was relieved to find his standard of grim and shrouded order and determination.
'Batman.'
'J'onn. What do you have to report?'
'He is yet unable to complete the solution, however, you were correct in your assessment that he was both seeking the Anti-Life Equation, and the possibility of his origins.'
'What is his next move?'
'He is as yet awaiting the results of the Watchtower assault, which I have sensed already began.'
'That situation is under control for the time being, however, we cannot rely on the bulk of our allies.'
'We should rendezvous and discuss our options further.'
There was a pause, and he could sense a brief discussion and a flicker of amusement before Bruce responded.
'Lacey's, the East End of Gotham. Dress discreetly.'
* * *
Bruce had to hand it to Wally; wherever Brannock would plan on seeking them out, a seedy strip joint in the red light district wouldn't be it. Perhaps a secluded location, some lonely abandoned place, would have worked just as well, but he sensed Wally could use a change of pace for the time being.
His logical mind also reasoned that they'd wouldn't be seeking a man and a woman, and they'd easily slip under the radar. That not being in the cave may keep the manor safe.
'Sheila' lit a cigarette and smirked at 'Charlie', and held it up in one hand idly, with traces of red lipstick smudges on the brown speckled filter.
Wally was wearing a blue top that buckled up to the neck at an angle across his artificially filled-out chest and left his arms bare save a silver band across his left bicep, and unseen under the table, but not forgotten, was a leather skirt that clung to his hips and tight along his ass magnificently, laced up in a flare of patchwork drapes along his thigh. Underneath it all, his waist was laced up again, this time without complaint. Stringy blonde hair, black boots that buckled up to his knees. Just a little too much black mascara.
He looked like a living embodiment of eroticism, amazingly fitting for the setting. Amazingly comfortable in his own skin, even if it wasn't quite his own. Bruce was considerably distracted, but at the moment, among the pulsating music and the array of female flesh offering itself up around them, it was perfect. He wanted none of the rest.
It was a pity he was doing it to to further their subterfuge, even if he suspected it was also for ulterior motives. Don't let it be said that Wally was never capable of wicked cleverness.
Bruce's disguise was far simpler, a leather jacket slung over the back of his chair, a black t-shirt and a fake tattoo of a snake on his forearm, jeans, brown hair and matching contact lenses. Wally had been wearing blue lenses that had been discarded on his request.
He didn't regret the choice as his green eyes glittered under a passing beam of white light. It reminded him of how this all started between them. As he often did, he wondered what Wally was thinking. If the smoke ringing a halo around his face was any indication, it was the difficulty he was having trying to truly relax instead of merely appearing to.
Bruce must have been staring a little too hard, because he felt a heeled boot begin rubbing against the side of his calf.
"What?" Wally asked.
"Do you even have to ask?" Bruce replied with a hint of a smile and a half-raised eyebrow.
Wally pursed his lips slightly through an almost smug expression and flipped a blonde lock over his shoulder.
"If you're thinking that it'd be far preferable for the world to be able to save itself tonight, you're reading my mind." He drawled, continuing to stroke Bruce's leg with his foot.
"Actually, I was thinking about how good you look."
"Edible, or just pulling it off?" He said, licking his lips just slowly enough to be an obvious tease. "Because I'm fairly sure that qualifies as... deviant."
"Mm. Deviant." Bruce reached over and ran his fingers along Wally's forearm and an array of bangles on his wrist. "I don't hear you complaining."
"I dare say it was my idea." Wally's voice was somewhere between huskier and lighter, not his own to any but Bruce's own ears. Slower and more calculating. Laced with laughter. "So what does that mean?"
"I think that makes you the deviant one."
"I think we're going to give poor J'onn the wrong idea about us."
"Or the right one." Bruce said with a laugh.
Wally put out the cigarette halfway burned and took a long drink of the Shirley Temple, taking just a little too long to lick his lips again when he was done.
"Perhaps this was a bad idea." Bruce said, without the conviction to make it sound as if he truly meant it.
"Definitely."
"I'd ask why it is you like... you're present state... but I'm not sure I'm ready for the answer." Bruce teased dryly.
"As if you don't have your own file of theories already."
"Definitely a bad idea." Bruce smirked and looked around the sea of faces... and other bits of anatomy... for anyone familiar, but there was nothing just yet.
"You know I can at least keep most of my head in the game."
"It's not you I'm worried about."
Wally laughed merrily and gave him a gentle kick.
They both looked up as a thin, blonde man in an untucked brown button-up shirt and jeans came over and sat down with J'onn's Martian bearing.
"Hello, John."
"John, good to see you." Wally said with a wink.
If J'onn had a reaction, he didn't show it, beyond a smile in return before greeting Bruce casually and shifting to a more covert tone under the noise around them.
"His hubris has begun overcoming his care and tactic. Despite not reaching his goal yet, he believes beyond doubt he will be victorious. Presently, he has two items that, should we procure them, will greatly reduce his advantage. Luthor and the nano control device."
"Luthor?" Wally whispered earnestly.
"Such men do not take humiliation lightly. I believe if we were to free him, his gratitude could become a significant weapon."
"Where is the device now?" Bruce asked.
J'onn just smiled.
"I was able to gather the information I needed to reproduce the technology."
"You are so much better at spy vs. spy than I am." Wally said with a firm nod. He looked at Bruce and grinned. "Telepathy. Definitely the way to go. So what are we waiting for?" Wally asked. "Actually, I'll be right back."
Wally stood carefully and winked at Bruce before he turned and wove through the crowd out of sight. Bruce watched him go, admiring the heavy swish of the leather over what white skin of his legs was showing, just an extra bit of sway in his hips for his benefit.
Certainly, it was a shame they had no spare moments tonight. Something in the passing of recent events had sparked an insatiable streak in Wally that Bruce had no desire to ignore; but they had their responsibilities. He pledged to himself that, once this was done, they would go on vacation; Australia, perhaps.
Whatever Wally wanted.
But for now, the task at hand.
"Do you know where Luthor is currently being held?"
J'onn nodded.
"Retrieving him will be difficult."
"When is it ever easy?" Bruce finished his ginger ale in a long pull and set the glass back down on the table with conviction. "I need to return to the cave and begin building the device, with your help."
"Who does that leave available for the other task?"
"Oliver is currently occupied, the magic users are all away on some sort of weighty mission in Limbo. With the transporters down, it'll be time consuming for anyone else to get to the location."
"Almost anyone." J'onn said carefully. "Have you gone to see Thawne's ward?"
"No."
"We may have an ally in him, with the proper persuasion."
Bruce thoughtfully watched Wally walk back, and sit sideways in his chair with his legs crossed and his arm draped over the back. Wally tilted his head to one side curiously.
"I hope you haven't had your fill of subterfuge, my dear." Bruce said to him.
"In this relationship? I should hope not." Wally said with a wink. "Bring it on."
* * *
Wally and Bruce at the club by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batfan_sarah
Part Thirty-Seven: Stealing From a Thief
"So like, how are we supposed to get aboard the Watchtower with everyone up there?" Wally asked, fixing on his black domino mask and letting an edge of adrenaline take off the last remnants of sleep's haze from his mind.
"Do you honestly believe I don't have a contingency plan if the Watchtower was ever compromised?" Bruce asked with a dry, humourless smirk.
"No, I guess not."
"Do you remember how to prep the wing?"
"I think so."
"Do it, I'll be right behind you."
Wally jumped into the driver's seat of the Batwing, for the second time ever, and took a deep breath while cracking his knuckles before he began flipping switches that lit up the console and a sequence that made the engine begin to roar to life, then settle in a quiet hum.
By the time he was hopping into the passenger seat, Bruce was jumping through the canopy, cowl up and all Batman.
"Robin, return to the Batcave and monitor, we're going up."
"I can be there in five minutes B, almost done here." A cracking noise came over the radio, and the sound of a gunshot and final heavy thud. "Alright, on my way."
"Nightwing, protocol Alpha Seven."
"Flash?" Was the response over the radio.
"Shadow."
"I'm on it. Good luck."
They were breaking the atmosphere and moving into the spectral realm of space when Wally tried to ask the burning question:
"So, what are we going to..?"
The radio broke through again and interrupted him with Nightwing's voice.
"Batman, we have another problem."
"What?"
"G. Gordon Godfrey."
Wally cringed and tried to forget how he'd made an ass of himself on live television. And advertising. And the Flash Mobile. Nineteen-year-olds do stupid things. He still liked to be on TV, though.
"What about him?"
"Well, as you know, his show got moved back up to Prime Time, and not even five minutes ago he just announced that he believes the Justice League's time is about to come. You know what that could mean."
"Yes. Stay with the plan."
He pushed a series of buttons on the console, and was answered by a cranky and familiar voice.
"What is it Batman, need the little guys to save the world again?" Ollie said, dripping with sarcasm.
"I need you and Canary tailing Godfrey. I have reason to believe he's in on our present situation."
"It'll take us a good hour to get down there, but I'll do what I can. Good luck up there. Arrow out."
Wally looked at Bruce and cocked his head to one side.
"Protocol Alpha Seven. Hostile alien takeover of the Watchtower."
"Alien? So, what am I missing here?"
"Godfrey isn't human. He's from Apokolips."
"Wait, wait, what? The TV show host is from Apokolips?" Wally spouted in disbelief.
"Yes. According to Orion's intel, he was sent as an advance agent, creating an atmosphere of distrust against the League, but unrest in Darkseid's empire postponed his ultimate plans indefinitely."
"And you never did anything about it?"
"He wasn't doing anything illegal, besides bypassing immigration laws. Godfrey was more valuable to us under surveillance, believing he was slipping under our radar. It's no coincidence he's becoming influential once again."
"So... what are you saying?"
"No records, superhuman strength, uncanny influence, understanding of advanced technology, and knowledge of the Anti-Life Equation."
"Brannock..?"
"Is also from Apokolips. That is my current assumption."
"But doesn't that mean..?"
"No. It's hardly the first time one of their residents has come to Earth with designs on succeeding where Darkseid failed."
"But don't they already have the solution to the Equation?"
"Possibly. Beyond quelling unrest in the wake of the civil war, Darkseid's empire expansion is less aggressive than it was in the past, which tells me he's busy doing something else. Luthor is only human, despite his own opinion of himself, and it's unlikely his mind could contain the entire thing for very long without destroying him. And his reappearance on Earth leads me to believe his designs on conquest didn't work out quite as he planned."
"You know a whole lot about all this."
Bruce looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.
"It's what I do."
Wally couldn't help but laugh, then sober and look at him curiously.
"Ok, so like, what's the plan?"
"Sensors indicate that nano-tech is no longer airborne. We'll enter through a hatchway underneath the Watchtower that leads into the maintenance conduits. You'll disable the power, while I'll enact the last resort incursion protocols. After that, we'll bring Atom aboard to being removing the nano-tech from the infected and return to Earth to deal with Brannock. J'onn should be reporting in by then." Bruce glanced over then back ahead as they began drawing close to the Watchtower. "Don't look so surprised. I commissioned and co-designed it, remember?"
"So is there anything you can't do?"
"My cooking is lousy."
Wally grinned and shook his head as they pulled under the orbiting station and Bruce guided the wing upwards, coupling it on with a few brief thuds and shudders.
"The bulk of the infected are currently in Engineering. You'll have to be quick and careful. Disable main power as quickly as you can, and when the secondary systems are kicking in, punch this code into the computer." He handed Wally a slip of paper with a stream of numbers and letters on it. "That'll buy us time. Then meet me at the main control junction above the monitor womb."
Bruce handed him a bundle of plastique explosives, which he slung over his back.
"Can-do."
The canopy swung open, along with a small hatch. Wally leapt up and began making his way through the crawlspace; it'd been some time since he'd been up here. The irony that he'd been running from the League then, too, wasn't lost on him.
They were maintaining radio silence, so he couldn't help but feel like he was on his own and totally isolated, even if Bats was around working his magic. But that was as reassuring a thought as he could ever have.
Main engineering had an unmistakable hum of energy about it he could begin to hear a whole level before he got there, and once he did, the shuffling of silent workers underneath him joined it. Wally peeked through the slots of a vent down into the vast chamber. Bats hadn't been exaggerating; a ton of the League was down there, but he couldn't tell what they were trying to do.
Building something, maybe.
Whatever it was had their full attention, so even though Clark was, in fact, right below him, he didn't think he'd be discovered just yet. Time for a game plan.
'You can totally do this.'
He didn't know much about how the Watchtower's power core worked, but what he did know was that if one or more of the conduits was disconnected, the power buildup would cause the circuits to blow and send the whole thing out of commission for days. That's what happened last time, anyway.
He waited for a good moment, then dropped down and slipped into a shadow behind one of the conduits and looked around to make sure he hadn't been noticed. Satisfied, he crawled out of sight behind the big snaking cables to the core and looked it over. He ran around to each one close to the floor, slapping the explosives on the conduits just far enough away from the core to avoid blowing the entire Watchtower instead of just the power.
When nobody was looking, he ran up the wall and perched on a beam high up on the ceiling, and considered that Clark would be able to seek him out before he'd be able to punch the code into the computer.
He had one last explosive, but his aim wasn't like Ollie's. Needed a direct approach. Wally took a deep breath and ran back down the wall, hurdling behind Clark slapping the plastique over his eyes, hoping beyond all hope he'd forgive him as he vanished back up out of sight and pressed the detonator switch.
Clark grasped his hands over his face with a howl as the explosions went up all at once, leaving the cables sputtering and severed in the sudden dark. With Superman suitably distracted for the moment, he had the upper hand. Night-vision lenses were a wonderful invention.
The Leaguers definitely didn't look very happy. Some of them were fanning out looking for him, while the rest had gone to the consoles trying to stabilize the power buildup. 'Hello Resident Evil moments.'
He jumped back down and punched the code into an empty console, pausing to admire his handiwork; just enough to give John the time to fire up his ring and give him a solid whack that sent Wally flying into the bulkhead and into a stunned slump on the floor. When he looked up again, John was right on top of him and about to go for a second blow.
"I don't think so." He whispered, and snatched Shayera's mace as she'd gone to smack him with it, whipped the mace around a few times, then sent it barreling at the speed of sound right into his chest. The crack of a little sonic boom tore through the room and, despite the glowing green shield around him, John went down hard.
"Sorry about that, buddy." He said, unheard, as the entire room was now focused on him and he had to roll out of the way of Shayera's infuriated attack.
Wally couldn't help but think about how, when the roles had been reversed, and he'd been the evil mind-controlled one, he'd been able to take them all down in seconds. But now, when he was the one in charge... he didn't think he could.
He frowned and took off out into the hall, where he hit the door control and smashed it's keypad, then the hall's security camera, then leapt back up into the crawl space and made his way to meet up with Bats.
The power began to flicker and finally died again, leaving the air eerily still and silent, and the shaft completely dark. He continued forward through the green outlines of his surroundings, until he came upon a Bat-shaped figure hunched over a control panel in the spot where the junction opened up into a wider space.
"Good work." He whispered, without turning around.
"What did I do, exactly?"
"Now none of the doors can be opened or closed. The open ones even Superman couldn't force, because of their design; nothing to grab onto. They won't be able to force the hanger open without de-pressurizing the entire station."
"Wouldn't Mr. Tasteless not even care about killing some of them?"
"If I'm right, he's commanded them to rebuild the discharge cannon; he needs them alive, especially now that you've put a kink in his little plan." Bruce responded. "But now there's no way off the station, and it'll take them time to realize it. And in 60 seconds, the ventilation system will be so pumped full of tranquilizing gas that even Superman will be taking a nice long nap."
"I didn't know that could do that."
"That's the point."
"So why did I..?"
"Prudence."
"Oh."
Bruce closed the panel back up.
"They're not very happy..."
CLANK!
Wally was set off-balance as a reverberating shudder went through the walls, and fell into Bruce, who caught him in his arms and faced him with those empty cowl-eyes and a grim set in his mouth.
"If this doesn't work..." Wally whispered.
"It will." Bruce replied resolutely.
Wally leaned in and kissed him fiercely, trying not to think about the possibility of failure.
CLANK!
Louder and closer, but they ignored it for each other's touch, just for a moment, until Bruce pulled away and set a gas mask over Wally's face, then his own.
CLANK!
The 60 seconds were up now, and Wally bit his lip, waiting for the blow that would tear open their hiding spot; but it never came, and everything was silent again.
Wally let out a long breath and Bruce smirked behind the plastic, as if to tease him for ever doubting him and being concerned.
"Atom, are you ready?" Bruce said after tapping his ear.
A moment later, a yellow flash accompanied The Atom leaping out of Bruce's ear and enlarging to about a foot high, with his own little gas mask and a pack strapped to his back.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"The security systems are down, we can't confirm that they're all incapacitated. Watch your back."
"What I'm best at, Batman."
Bruce nodded, and began crawling back towards the Batwing, Wally following close behind.
"So far, so good, I guess." Wally said.
"So little confidence in me, Shadow?" Bruce replied with a chuckle.
"You know me better than that, Bats."
"Mm."
* * *
J'onn looked around the cell they'd locked him in, and decided that the time had come to end his deception; he had what he needed, and a tendril of mental touch outside told him his attentions were now needed elsewhere.
Preparing to hold Batman, as difficult as that was, is quite different from the restraints needed for a Martian; despite being a bit roughed up, blows he'd taken with only a grimace that Batman himself would only ever allow as a response, he felt entirely prepared for another conflict, but it shouldn't come to that in escape.
He found a measure of amusement with the elaborate restraints he morphed out of; to his reckoning, they would have only held the Batman until he had a few moments alone to slip out. The first sign of hubris in their opponent, and it didn't go unnoted. It wasn't unexpected.
Neither was the stream of guarded, but not impenetrable, thoughts that had flowed through him as Brannock returned frequently to bask in victory, to taunt him with defeat. His taunts had been a show to hide the unease and hesitation he took in claiming his superiority over who he believed to be bound before him.
Brannock was close to his goal, but his solution was incomplete; and unknown to him, his influence over those he'd kept in thrall the longest was weakening. Luthor's mind was strong, and not complacent to domination. His fury was emerging, and J'onn could only speculate on how it would be redirected once this had come to a conclusion.
Despite the ill-will universally held toward Luthor by the League, J'onn's disgust was directed towards the mental control that violated him. Such an action, to a telepath most especially, was unforgivable; and he hadn't yet forgotten his own time in that influence.
J'onn left the mental illusion of Batman still in restraints as he became intangible and morphed through the walls and out into the skies above Death Valley. He shook off the heat of the day and travelled out until the cooling touch of clouds finally drifted over his skin, and he reached out with his mind to find Clark's.
What he found was merely a void in it's place; unconscious, perhaps, but in no natural state of sleep. He then moved on to Bruce, and was relieved to find his standard of grim and shrouded order and determination.
'Batman.'
'J'onn. What do you have to report?'
'He is yet unable to complete the solution, however, you were correct in your assessment that he was both seeking the Anti-Life Equation, and the possibility of his origins.'
'What is his next move?'
'He is as yet awaiting the results of the Watchtower assault, which I have sensed already began.'
'That situation is under control for the time being, however, we cannot rely on the bulk of our allies.'
'We should rendezvous and discuss our options further.'
There was a pause, and he could sense a brief discussion and a flicker of amusement before Bruce responded.
'Lacey's, the East End of Gotham. Dress discreetly.'
* * *
Bruce had to hand it to Wally; wherever Brannock would plan on seeking them out, a seedy strip joint in the red light district wouldn't be it. Perhaps a secluded location, some lonely abandoned place, would have worked just as well, but he sensed Wally could use a change of pace for the time being.
His logical mind also reasoned that they'd wouldn't be seeking a man and a woman, and they'd easily slip under the radar. That not being in the cave may keep the manor safe.
'Sheila' lit a cigarette and smirked at 'Charlie', and held it up in one hand idly, with traces of red lipstick smudges on the brown speckled filter.
Wally was wearing a blue top that buckled up to the neck at an angle across his artificially filled-out chest and left his arms bare save a silver band across his left bicep, and unseen under the table, but not forgotten, was a leather skirt that clung to his hips and tight along his ass magnificently, laced up in a flare of patchwork drapes along his thigh. Underneath it all, his waist was laced up again, this time without complaint. Stringy blonde hair, black boots that buckled up to his knees. Just a little too much black mascara.
He looked like a living embodiment of eroticism, amazingly fitting for the setting. Amazingly comfortable in his own skin, even if it wasn't quite his own. Bruce was considerably distracted, but at the moment, among the pulsating music and the array of female flesh offering itself up around them, it was perfect. He wanted none of the rest.
It was a pity he was doing it to to further their subterfuge, even if he suspected it was also for ulterior motives. Don't let it be said that Wally was never capable of wicked cleverness.
Bruce's disguise was far simpler, a leather jacket slung over the back of his chair, a black t-shirt and a fake tattoo of a snake on his forearm, jeans, brown hair and matching contact lenses. Wally had been wearing blue lenses that had been discarded on his request.
He didn't regret the choice as his green eyes glittered under a passing beam of white light. It reminded him of how this all started between them. As he often did, he wondered what Wally was thinking. If the smoke ringing a halo around his face was any indication, it was the difficulty he was having trying to truly relax instead of merely appearing to.
Bruce must have been staring a little too hard, because he felt a heeled boot begin rubbing against the side of his calf.
"What?" Wally asked.
"Do you even have to ask?" Bruce replied with a hint of a smile and a half-raised eyebrow.
Wally pursed his lips slightly through an almost smug expression and flipped a blonde lock over his shoulder.
"If you're thinking that it'd be far preferable for the world to be able to save itself tonight, you're reading my mind." He drawled, continuing to stroke Bruce's leg with his foot.
"Actually, I was thinking about how good you look."
"Edible, or just pulling it off?" He said, licking his lips just slowly enough to be an obvious tease. "Because I'm fairly sure that qualifies as... deviant."
"Mm. Deviant." Bruce reached over and ran his fingers along Wally's forearm and an array of bangles on his wrist. "I don't hear you complaining."
"I dare say it was my idea." Wally's voice was somewhere between huskier and lighter, not his own to any but Bruce's own ears. Slower and more calculating. Laced with laughter. "So what does that mean?"
"I think that makes you the deviant one."
"I think we're going to give poor J'onn the wrong idea about us."
"Or the right one." Bruce said with a laugh.
Wally put out the cigarette halfway burned and took a long drink of the Shirley Temple, taking just a little too long to lick his lips again when he was done.
"Perhaps this was a bad idea." Bruce said, without the conviction to make it sound as if he truly meant it.
"Definitely."
"I'd ask why it is you like... you're present state... but I'm not sure I'm ready for the answer." Bruce teased dryly.
"As if you don't have your own file of theories already."
"Definitely a bad idea." Bruce smirked and looked around the sea of faces... and other bits of anatomy... for anyone familiar, but there was nothing just yet.
"You know I can at least keep most of my head in the game."
"It's not you I'm worried about."
Wally laughed merrily and gave him a gentle kick.
They both looked up as a thin, blonde man in an untucked brown button-up shirt and jeans came over and sat down with J'onn's Martian bearing.
"Hello, John."
"John, good to see you." Wally said with a wink.
If J'onn had a reaction, he didn't show it, beyond a smile in return before greeting Bruce casually and shifting to a more covert tone under the noise around them.
"His hubris has begun overcoming his care and tactic. Despite not reaching his goal yet, he believes beyond doubt he will be victorious. Presently, he has two items that, should we procure them, will greatly reduce his advantage. Luthor and the nano control device."
"Luthor?" Wally whispered earnestly.
"Such men do not take humiliation lightly. I believe if we were to free him, his gratitude could become a significant weapon."
"Where is the device now?" Bruce asked.
J'onn just smiled.
"I was able to gather the information I needed to reproduce the technology."
"You are so much better at spy vs. spy than I am." Wally said with a firm nod. He looked at Bruce and grinned. "Telepathy. Definitely the way to go. So what are we waiting for?" Wally asked. "Actually, I'll be right back."
Wally stood carefully and winked at Bruce before he turned and wove through the crowd out of sight. Bruce watched him go, admiring the heavy swish of the leather over what white skin of his legs was showing, just an extra bit of sway in his hips for his benefit.
Certainly, it was a shame they had no spare moments tonight. Something in the passing of recent events had sparked an insatiable streak in Wally that Bruce had no desire to ignore; but they had their responsibilities. He pledged to himself that, once this was done, they would go on vacation; Australia, perhaps.
Whatever Wally wanted.
But for now, the task at hand.
"Do you know where Luthor is currently being held?"
J'onn nodded.
"Retrieving him will be difficult."
"When is it ever easy?" Bruce finished his ginger ale in a long pull and set the glass back down on the table with conviction. "I need to return to the cave and begin building the device, with your help."
"Who does that leave available for the other task?"
"Oliver is currently occupied, the magic users are all away on some sort of weighty mission in Limbo. With the transporters down, it'll be time consuming for anyone else to get to the location."
"Almost anyone." J'onn said carefully. "Have you gone to see Thawne's ward?"
"No."
"We may have an ally in him, with the proper persuasion."
Bruce thoughtfully watched Wally walk back, and sit sideways in his chair with his legs crossed and his arm draped over the back. Wally tilted his head to one side curiously.
"I hope you haven't had your fill of subterfuge, my dear." Bruce said to him.
"In this relationship? I should hope not." Wally said with a wink. "Bring it on."
* * *
Wally and Bruce at the club by
batfan_sarah
no subject
on 2006-06-28 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-28 04:12 am (UTC)And your consistantly wonderful comments are appreciation enough. Thank you. :D
no subject
on 2006-06-28 06:01 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-28 06:26 am (UTC)Thank you! The idea of having them play out different parts of their personality through disguises... yeah. I've firmly latched onto the idea.
no subject
on 2006-06-28 06:37 am (UTC)Oh man, I'm a sucker for competent!Wally XD
Wally inna dress is pretty damn good too :D
no subject
on 2006-06-28 07:00 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-28 07:25 am (UTC)I love this story so very very much.
And again, the plot thickens! (I'd really like to read Bruce and Wally going all the way with the whole dress thing sometime...*wink wink nudge*)
no subject
on 2006-06-28 07:30 am (UTC)It'll happen, it'll happen. Don't you worry about that. ::grin::
I love that you love it! :)
no subject
on 2006-06-28 09:14 am (UTC)it just takes time. i already have a pencil sketch. i'm gonna scan an assload of stuff tomorrow (er...it's four in the morning, so i guess today...nar), so i'll include the sketch.
*woosh!*
no subject
on 2006-06-28 11:55 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-28 07:47 am (UTC)And Um...Hi, yeah, I found this on JLA Unlimited first, then followed some links andfound the rest....Ilove it O.o
So I'm adding you as a friend, and egerly awaiting more chapters....
I also really want to draw you fanart now XD But I'm lazy, so we'll see what happens XD
no subject
on 2006-06-28 07:55 am (UTC)Yeah, I'm kinda slow when it comes to posting updates there... heh.
It's good to have you aboard, as it were. :D
no subject
on 2006-06-28 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-28 01:39 pm (UTC)Oh by the way I've put a link to this fic on all most all the forums I go in in my sig - I hope that's ok. I'm trying to spread the love for this pairings and this wonderful fic. XD
no subject
on 2006-06-28 03:20 pm (UTC)That's totally ok, it's awesome you love it so much.
no subject
on 2006-06-28 01:42 pm (UTC)...That sounded dirty and I didn't even mean it like that.
Oh well, maybe Bruce is rubbing off on me too after being enthralled by this story for so long. So loving it.
I definitely need and Wally icon...
no subject
on 2006-06-28 03:27 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-28 01:54 pm (UTC)The plot is really thickening and I can't wait for the next chapter. Will it have some Thaddeus? (ooo, I hope so...)
no subject
on 2006-06-28 09:09 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-29 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-29 11:52 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2006-08-08 12:54 am (UTC)