Chapter Text
4 months later…
The heroes were all assembled in the watchtower, preparing for their final move in taking down The Mayor and his weapons ring. Dick couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the tower like this, filled to capacity with every hero you could name and more.
Among the crowd, he could see Cassandra and Tim standing with the Titans, Jason with the Outlaws, and Stephanie with the Young Justice Team. Damian would also have been here if he hadn’t been grounded last night for cursing and threatening his teacher.
Dick was figditing with one of his escrima sticks while listening to Batman go through the details once more. Across the table sat Cleo, together with another two A.R.G.U.S. agents. They were to pose as a potential buyer to The Mayor; their cover was a Korean organised crime ring. And after the deal goes through, the league will intervene, arrest him, and hand him over to the proper authorities.
Dick glanced at Cleo. Their eyes met briefly, with no words spoken, but they understood each other perfectly. Both worried for the other yet confident in their skills and abilities.
The league moved into their positions surrounding the shutdown warehouse. They were divided into four groups, each assigned to guard one of the entrances. The Titans guarded the Eastern front, the Outlaws at the Western front, the Team at the Southern entrance, and the League together with Nightwing at the Northern front.
A black SUV pulled up to the warehouse, and Cleo, along with the other agents, stepped out. With a hidden camera disguised as a pair of stud earrings and a small undetectable earpiece, are the teams able to both see and hear everything Cloe did.
The vehicle drove off, and as it turned the corner, the warehouse doors opened. Six men rushed out; three of them pointed guns with laser sights at them, while the other three patted them down and confiscated their weapons.
The henchman patting down Cleo got a little too handsy. His hands resting far too long on certain places. His wide grin told her he knew exactly what he was doing and that he thought she wouldn’t do anything about it. Soon, his grin washed off as Cleo kicked him to the dirt. All three of the lasers pointed towards her chest now.
The scene made Nightwing flinch, but he remained in his place out of sight.
The henchman still on the ground, another shadow walked out of the warehouse. “Whoa! What’s all this noise?” The Mayor’s eyes stopped at the man lying there. “What are you doing? Get up!” Quickly rising to his feet, the henchman explained, “She kicked me!” The Mayor looked at Cleo and smiled. “You must be Miss Kim.”
“And you should teach your lapdogs to keep their hands to themselves”, Cleo replied. His smile grew wider. “I like you,” he said. “But let's take this inside.” Signalling for the men to lower their weapons, the Mayor went back inside. Cleo and her agents followed.
The warehouse had a clear smell from its previous production. With only a couple of lights in the warehouse, most of the space remains dark. The Mayor stopped in front of a table with three bags on it. He pulled a weapon out of one of them and started presenting it.
Cleo nodded along. At the end of the presentation, the Mayor offered a “test round”. Cleo called on the man to her right, who stepped up and took the weapon. Agent Nathan Choi was a weapons expert in the military. With the gun in his hands, he thoroughly analysed it and fired a round at the target board across the room.
After the fired round, Cleo said something to him in Korean, Choi quickly turned around and fired a shot at the man Cleo had kicked off her before, hitting his shoulder. The man fell to the ground, clenching his bloody shoulder. Their guns turned toward Choi as he put the gun back on the table.
“What the HELL is she doing!” Green Arrow exclaimed.
“She’s playing the role she was given”, Batman said calmly while resting his hand on Nightwing’s shoulder. Nightwing loosens his grip on the WingDing. Cleo’s voice came through again.
“I have a reputation to keep, Mister Mayor,” she said coolly. The Mayor stepped closer, testing her resolve, but Cleo didn’t flinch. “I’m not going to let one of your idiots tarnish that.” The Mayor loomed over her, voice low. “I like you, Miss Kim, but don’t test my patience.” Cleo held his gaze, an amused smile on her lips. “Judging by the looks on your men’s faces, I won’t have to.” He glanced over his shoulder at their uneasy expressions.
“SO,” Cleo said, extending her hand, “do we have a deal or not?”
He met her eyes and smirked, “That we do,” shaking her hand firmly.
With another phrase in Korean, she signalled to the agent on her left, who set down two briefcases and carefully opened them. “Twelve million, as agreed,” Cleo announced. The Mayor riffled through the stacks of cash before nodding to one of his men. The agent was handed three bags. “Thank you. And the two dozen guns.”
As the agents checked their bags, the car from earlier rolled up in front of the warehouse. “Till next time”, the Mayor says. Cleo and her agents turned around, walking past the man still clutching his shoulder. The Mayor watched them climb into the car and drive off.
In the car, Cleo looked back at the warehouse disappearing into the distance. She let her cold and stoic mask fade as she took a deep breath. Her voice warmed but remained confident. “All yours, heroes.”
With a single sentence, Cleo set their last move in motion.