CHAPTER 29: Part 1 - "The End Of Innocence"

*The Team, Gotham City Mall

CRACK

BOOM

Thunder echoed across Gotham that afternoon, the wind whirled and rain slammed into the concrete. Pedestrians ran to escape the torrential rain with most still being soaked despite their best efforts.

"Darn, this rain is going to ruin this evening," M'gann said sadly. She was currently using her normal human form to avoid staring at her typical green skin tone.

"Nah, don't sweat it M," Wally was leaning back in his chair trying to balance it on its two back legs.

"Worst comes to worst we hit up the megaplex and check out that new shark movie."

Dick groaned, "The one with Jason Statham?"

"OF COURSE!" Wally said with glee.

"I would not mind seeing it," Kaldur said with a smile, "Megalodons were once used as war beasts, though now they tend to be rather large pets for the rich where I am from."

Dick gave a pleading look to Kaldur, "Don't encourage him Kaldur."

He felt a light punch in his arm from Barbara who leaned in and said, "Don't be a buzz kill, Dick, it is not our fault we can't always watch horror movies like you want to."

"Horror films are the peak of the film industry!" Dick defended.

"Considering that we have met literal demons before, horror films tend to lose their edge," Connor said dryly.

Dick sat in defeat. Today was one of their days off from all the excitement of school and hero life. He, Barbara, Connor, M'gann, Kaldur, Wally, and Artemis had all decided to go to the mall. Jason would of come but he had a thing with Alfred.

The group had planned to hit up Robinson Park, but with the weather now staying indoors to go to a movie seemed better.

Plus they were sitting around the mall's cafeteria just wrapping up a late lunch and it seemed like a nice chill thing to do. The life they all led was a difficult one, rare were the days when they could sit around and do absolutely nothing. Between school, training, and missions they were always on the run. It became such a problem that Black Canary, one of the League's supervisors insisted on chill days like such.

And considering all the chaos with Amazo, Klarion, and Sportsmaster's lie about a mole. It felt good to just be kids and enjoy the normal life.

Wally dug into his plate of fries, "Phat do u thenk ve should du after de movie?"

Artemis rolling her eyes swatted the back of his head, "Chew your food before talking, what were you raised by savages?"

"Well," Wally swallowed, "Maybe you could teach me when we go out?"

That earned Wally another swat and the table laughed at the misfortune and failure of their favorite speedster.

Barbara smiled at the interaction before her eyes spotted something across the food court.

"Oh whoa, I think that's James," she said while standing up and waving to someone.

Dick frowned, "Whose Jam..."

"Hey, James! James! Over here!" Barbara shouted.

She walked over to a young guy who had been heading off in another direction. He looked startled by Barbara's enthusiastic greeting though to his credit he quickly recovered and appeared to return the greeting.

Wally let out a satisfied burp earning another swat from Artemis, "Who is he?"

Dick took a closer look and nodded, "I believe he was one of Barbara's study partners last month..."

He remembered meeting the guy briefly when Jason and him had gone to one of the study group sessions. Jessica, Barbara's friend was practically fawning over him, while Barbara kept sending daggers with her eyes at her. He never did ask what that was about, probably nothing.

The one thing he really remembered when meeting James was the flash of familiarity when he saw the guy, but he knew he had never before seen his face. Strangely, that flash of familiarity hit him again, he just couldn't place where he had met him.

Before another question could be asked Barbara came walking back to their table practically dragging the guy over.

"Guys," she began, "I would like you to meet my study partner and professional bad friend James."

James rubbed his neck embarrassed, "I really did mean to text you and Jessica. Life just got a little hectic..."

"None of that now! A month was how long you ignored us. Not only did you ditch us for that Friday but you just disappeared. Just wait till Jessica hears about this, we all thought you moved away or something," Barbara teased.

Some of the group laughed at the helpless look on James' face, a glance at Dick with a slight pleading prompted him to help his fellow man.

Smiling Dick said, "Go easy on the guy Barbara, you know how crazy life can get sometimes."

Barbara turned to glare at him causing him to sink in his chair a little more.

"You have just met him once and are already defending him?"

Dick noticed James give him a barely noticeable nod of gratitude, the bro code was after all strong, even if you barely knew the other guy.

James cleared his throat, "I really am sorry Barbs for disappearing as I did. I could blame my work but really I just got focused on other stuff and neglected my personal life. I know what I did was not only rude but also hurtful and I ask for your forgiveness."

Barbara turned to glare at him before sighing, "It's hard when you go all sincere like that you know."

James smiled, "I learned from our study group, especially when I had a late assignment it always works."

Seeing Barbara interact with James gave Dick a small feeling of irritation that he fought to keep down. James was after all the one time he had met him a very polite and funny guy. In other situations, they probably would have been casual friends. But right now with how they both were acting towards each other, Dick just didn't like it for some reason.

James looked over their group, "Well I remember meeting Dick, but who are the rest of you?"

Introductions were made with everyone going around saying their names. The group did fumble for a second when he asked how they all knew each other, but Artemis gave the reasonable answer of meeting at summer camps. Technically the team did have summer camps of a sort, it just usually involved intense training week moderated by Batman.

It was a fairly mundane conversation, broken off after just a few minutes when James checked his phone.

"I am so sorry, I am running late for work, it was super nice to meet you all," James said.

The nagging feeling of familiarity was hitting Dick in the back of his mind, maybe he knew James from his work?

"What type of work do you do?" Dick asked curiously.

James paused for a second, "I work occasionally as a janitor."

M'gann gave a ew face, "That sounds gross."

Realizing how that could be rude she quickly said, "Of course not that there is anything wrong with being a janitor!"

James merely laughed, "Don't worry, it is not a glamorous job and can be pretty gross. Luckily I have a gig lined up that once done I should be good for doing anymore janitorial work."

Bidding farewell he began walking away with Barbara following him a little bit, trying to say something to him.

The group's curiosity was immense about what she was saying, and luckily they all knew of an extraterrestrial that would be just as curious.

Looking over at M'gann they could see she was focused and using her powers to pick up what Barbara was saying.

Artemis also seemed to notice what M'gann was doing and lightly nudged her, "So what is she saying to him?"

With a look of concentration, M'gann started reciting their words.

"...I hope you are not going to disappear on me like last time?" Barbara said.

James acted insulted, "Ah, never! Plus I imagine if I do that again you will have your dad arrest me."

"Don't tempt me ha ha ha."

James laughed with her, "Well I promise to make it up to you sometime, maybe we can grab food sometime."

Barbara smiled, "I would love that, it's a date."

"..." James seemed startled by what she implied.

Even from where they were sitting they could see Barbara turn a little red, embarrassed by what she had indicated. Everyone at their table, minus Connor, were holding their breath at what they thought was an impending train crash.

"I mean, sorry, of course just as frie..." she began before he interrupted her.

"Ya... It's a date," he said with a genuine small smile.

They both just stared at each other for a moment before laughing, they gave a few more pleasantries before James walked off deeper into the mall.

Barbara walked back to the table with all eyes on her.

"What?" she asked.

Wally in a sing-song voice said, "Someone has a daaaaaate."

Barbara narrowed her eyes at him, then glanced around the table with many avoiding her gaze and hiding their smiles before landing on M'gann.

"Did you read our minds while we were talking?" She said dangerously quiet.

M'gann reached over and held Barbara's hand, "Of course not! I promised you I wouldn't do that without your permission."

She then looked guiltily down, "I may have listened in by reading the woman's mind sitting right next to you guys as you talked though."

Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose, "If any of you say anything right now, I promise I will end you, right here, right now in public!"

The smiles remained but most of the group got quiet, they knew what Barbara was like when she was both mad and embarrassed.

And well, by most of the group being quiet...

Wally started singing "Barbara and James sitting in a tree... K...I... S...S... wait Barbs I was joking I swear I will sto... ow ow Ow Ow OWW!"

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James walked away from Barbara in a rush, already running late to the rendezvous point. There he would change his clothes and meet up with the rest of his teammates for when things kicked off.

Seeing her again was... actually really nice.

Meeting her friends was awkward at first but grew into a nice conversation. They all seemed like a nice lot, maybe proving he needed to expand his social group to more normal people rather than supervillains and heroes.

What he had told her was true about not reaching out. The odd-end jobs of the Riddler and Freeze had him busy, and slowly but surely he had gotten lost in his work life.

Hell, for a while the only times he really saw or talked with Jane was when they visited Crystal together once a week. He was still trying to get over her leaving Gotham, which he knew was good, but also bad for him.

It was also easier to avoid her questioning gaze, he still was not quite comfortable with what he had done to the cop. And every time he was with Jane he knew she could tell something was bothering him. And it quite frankly was something he could not deal with talking about right now. Not when one of the biggest jobs of his life was about to happen.

Making his way to the 3rd story of the mall, he glanced back at Barbara and her friends. Luckily being in the food court meant they would be able to get out quickly once the shit hit the fan.

He hated to think that his future first date's friends would get hurt once Riddler started downloading the data from the mall...

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Rene Montoya, GCPD Tech Department

It took awhile, and it burned up quite a few of the favors she had saved but she managed to get a hold of a copy of the recovered Penguin files.

Walking out of the tech department she scanned through the list hoping for a smoking gun or something.

These were the partially decrypted files Gordon, Bullock, and the D.A. had which they were going to use to identify and question various suspects that Penguin had paid. The news of this had been kept locked down tight, but Rene had found out from Bullock. It was his way of pacifying her with progress in identifying figures of the Penguin Mob. That maybe some of the people might know more.

She truthfully had been ecstatic, at least until he denied her access to the files, as well as any opportunity to interview the suspects.

Her outburst very nearly had her suspended and it was only because of her friendship with the Commissioner and Bullock that she was allowed one last pass.

She knew what they were doing. They were trying to protect her, the kids, and the case they were building. And deep down she appreciated it, she really did.

But her Benny... her little brother... father to her niece and nephew... her closest friend was dead.

And the one who did it was still running about free... something she would not accept.

She had done her best to put a strong face for the kids but it was impossible to keep on forever. When she first heard about him dying she screamed, raged, and fell to the floor crying. Growing up in the rough streets it was a miracle to be where she was at. A lead detective with a solid career, pension, education, and wonderful family. Despite being the younger brother, Benny Montoya made sure they stuck on a good path. Even after the parents died he stepped up and helped her make sure ends met. His graduating from the police academy was one of her proudest moments. To think he was inspired to take up the blue and join her in the force.

But now he was gone... leaving her with two heartbroken kids far too young to lose a parent.

Getting into her car she made her way back to her apartment. The kids she had dropped off earlier with a great aunt who would watch them while she worked.

For the first time in months, she felt she had a real verifiable lead on this meta who killed Benny. She would comb through these records and find names, and when she did, she would make sure they would answer her questions!

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Commissioner James Gordon, Mayor's Office

Gordon's stomach gurgled as a reminder of him missing both breakfast and lunch that day.

But it also reminded him of the massive Pastrami sandwich he had planned to get at Jimmy's Cafe for dinner. This delicious meal he had planned was a rarity as his daughter insisted that he should instead eat a healthier meal of salads or vegetables.

But this afternoon she was out with friends and wouldn't be home for dinner. Thus a perfect time for him to enjoy something that definitely was going to raise his cholesterol.

'Maybe I should eat early? I don't have any more meetings now...' he thought walking down the hall away from the mayor's office.

It had been their standard weekly meeting with no real major concerns. The mayor tended to keep meetings short and to the point, and when there was nothing to report those meetings would be over in a blink.

Gordon was still considering calling it a day early when his phone rang. Checking the number he saw that it was an unknown before hitting the answer button.

"Gordon here."

Batman's distinct voice spoke, "I have a source who says something is going down."

Gordon stopped walking, and glancing around to make sure no one was around asked, "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

He could already feel the migraine coming on as he turned around and headed back to the mayor's office.

"Do you have specifics?" he asked.

"GCPD, Major Crimes and Blackgate. All are targets for an attack."

"That's insane!"

"When has that ever stopped them before?" Batman dryly stated.

Rubbing his head to relieve the growing headache and worry building he reached the door of the mayor. Large-scale attacks in Gotham were not unheard of, usually perpetrated by one of the crazier villains, but after months of peace, it was startling to see it come crashing down in an instant.

"Who is behind it?"

Batman was quiet for a moment, "Riddler seems most likely suspect."

Gordon's eyes widen in surprise, "Riddler? This is an odd choice for him, he usually has been robbing banks."

"True," Batman agreed, "But knowing him that just means there is something else going on, and that is what worries me."

Gordon glanced over to the mayor's secretary, "Is he still in?"

"Yes sir but..."

Gordon pushed past the mayor's door surprising them on the other side.

"Gordon what are you..." the mayor began before stopping as Gordon held up a finger.

"I am going to put all sites on alert, and alert the mayor, what will you do?" Gordon said.

Batman hmm in approval, "Blackgate, I will head there. If they manage to cause a jailbreak this situation will explode out of hand. We can't let the prison fall."

"Great at least we have time to get everyone ready..." Gordon started to say when his phone started buzzing.

Glancing at it he saw it was an alert from Major Crimes, apparently, shots had been fired at the building. Then another alert buzzed in, this time from GCPD, then another from Blackgate. Soon his phone was buzzing with either text messages or other calls to alert him of the attacks taking place.