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Batgirl moved across the rooftops of one of Gotham’s less rundown warehouse districts. Despite her attention remaining focused on the two men moving through the alleys below, her boots made not a sound on the rough tarpaper roofs and crumbling concrete ledges.
If anyone had asked why she was following them, she would have answered they were hiding something. If pressed on how she knew that, she would have likely shrugged. Cassandra still struggled to explain in words what she read intuitively in others’ bodies.
Neither man acted nervous outwardly. Not checking constantly over their shoulders for a tail, not running, not trying to hide their faces, hoods on their jackets left down. Still, the urgency and tension in them was as clear to her as the massive “WAYNE” sign lit up on the skyscraper back towards the heart of Gotham.
(“Wayne” was one of the first words she’d learned to read, if only because she saw it everywhere in town. She’d asked Spoiler to tell her, in case she was missing important information.)
The pace of the men’s tread. The way one’s hands kept twitching inside their coat pockets, while the other was hiding something under the coat. The slight hunch they walked with despite there being no wind to speak of. Batgirl had seen it the moment she happened to spy them while patrolling, and decided to follow them.
Maybe it was innocent. A late-night card game, or getting drunk when they weren’t supposed to. (Oracle explained that people also hide things that weren’t against the law, but that they knew other people wouldn’t want them doing. They knew it was wrong, but did it anyway, and felt guilty.)
But maybe it wasn’t innocent. They approached a single door in the side of a nondescript building. The words on the front probably told what was done here, or what used to be, but they were gibberish to her.
(Her lessons in reading with Spoiler weren’t going so well so far, although the blonde refused to give up, as usual.)
That the man in ragged clothes pretending to sleep on the ground next to the door was acting as a sentry, that she read perfectly well. The two men paused at the door, one of them muttering something she was too far away to hear. The sentry pressed something he was hiding in the hand pretending to hold a half-full liquor bottle. The door, despite looking rusty and worn, slid open with only a slight “tssh” of air. The pair stepped through, and the door closed just as quietly.
* * *
There weren’t any other entrances. No doors or garages. There were vents for heating and cooling on the roof, but they were fake. Things nailed to the surface, but they didn’t get you past the roof.
Batgirl was going to just knock the sentry unconscious and enter through the front door when another man came into sight. Unlike the first two, this man’s behavior would have been suspicious to anyone. He wore a wide-brimmed hat low over his face, and a coat that reached his ankles held tightly closed around him, hands fisted in the pockets. His walk tried to project confidence he didn’t feel, and his footsteps sounded strange against the concrete and loose gravel.
The newcomer headed straight towards the sentry. Batgirl dropped to street level and slipped from shadow to shadow. If this man could get the door open, she would follow. She halted, silent and unseen just a few feet away while the sentry’s focus was on the coat man, and waited.
He stopped at the door. “Hi there.”
Batgirl could see the sentry moving his other hand towards a weapon. Maybe the stranger knew it too, as he quickly added, “Hail Lord Nada-Nada.”
Three things happened simultaneously. The sentry went to draw his gun. Batgirl lunged, knocking him out with a precise strike to the side of the neck. And the stranger’s trenchcoat flew off as he erupted in a blaze of blue-white light.
* * *
The two of them stared at each other. The man wore a blue-and-gold uniform with a blue star in the center of the chest and a yellow visor across the eyes. A shock of blonde hair sat on top of his head. The suit’s covering was torn across the ribs on one side, exposing a lot wires and things Cass could only guess at.
“Batman?!” he squeaked nervously.
“I believe this is Batgirl, sir.” She whirled to find the source of the voice. It sounded artificial, and caught her entirely by surprise. A small golden machine, floating above them. It looked like a spaceship in a black-and-white space movie she watched with Robin not long ago.
“I knew that, Skeets,” the man pouted. “It was pretty obvious, with her being. . . smaller.” Batgirl eyed him. He’d been intending to say something else.
“Of course, sir.” The machine’s tone reminded her of Alfred, when she did something he thought was stupid, but was too nice to say it. (It was strange hearing the words, but not being able to read anything from the speaker. It made her feel. . . clumsy? Unsteady? Off-balance.)
The machine – Skeets? – floated down to eye level. “Greetings ma’am. My name is Skeets, and I’m sure you’ve heard of Booster Gold?”
Batgirl shook her head. The man – Booster Gold – groaned.
“Come on, seriously? I endorsed a brand of toothpaste? And children’s vitamins?”
All he received was a blank stare. “I was on the Justice League with Bats!”
She looked at him suspiciously. She didn’t remember seeing him on TV news with Superman and the others, but he was telling the truth.
“It was a few years ago,” he admitted.
“Why. . . are you here?”
“This is a Kobra hideout. They’ve got Ted prisoner in there.” He must have seen her confusion. “Blue Beetle.”
“Oh. I know him.” Cassandra met him once or twice at Oracle’s. He was funny. Liked Oracle. She liked him too, maybe not as much? Her body language didn’t change as much around him. Robin admired him.
“But she doesn’t know me,” Booster muttered.
“Sir. . .”
“Right. I need to get in there and rescue him. Step aside.” He raised one arm, a glow emanating from the back of his hand.
“I believe that will attract a lot of attention, sir.”
“Well, can you hack the door?”
The door slid open, man and security droid turned to Batgirl, holding the remote the sentry had. Booster turned back to Skeets.
“Why couldn’t you do that?”
“Because I don’t have opposable digits, sir.”
Batgirl started into the doorway. Booster Gold put a hand on her shoulder.
“Maybe I should go first.”
“Why?”
“In case there’s people waiting.”
Batgirl peered into the darkness. “No one there.”
“There could be security devices. And I have a force field, so I’d be untouchable.”
Faster than he could blink, Batgirl jabbed him sharply in the chest with one finger. Booster yelped and jumped back.
“Touchable.” She entered the warehouse, swallowed up by shadows. Booster and Skeets followed, the time traveler muttering.
“Well sure, if you hit me before I use the force field. . .”
* * *
“Why take him?”
“Huh?”
“Beetle.”
The trio found the inside of the warehouse empty, but Skeets detected a hidden elevator behind one wall. It went down a long way, opening on a hallway much newer and better maintained than the warehouse. All shiny, polished metal and silently opening doors. Faint hiss of cool, recirculated air.
They moved (mostly) silently through the halls, Skeets countering the electronic security, Batgirl alerting them to patrols. It was Kobra, as Booster said.
“Well, it was like this. . .”
* * *
Booster Gold’s Version of Events
Booster Gold has just finished saving a bus full of swimsuit models (who were being Big Sisters to orphans) from Doomsday, when Blue Beetle rushes up in a tattered costume, panicked.
“Booster, my best pal and idol, there you are! I really need your help!”
“Of course, Blue. I always have time for my friend.”
“You know that Justice League teleporter I, completely by myself, borrowed from the Embassy so I could open a parcel delivery service?”
“Now Ted, I thought we talked about how improper that was.”
The Blue Beetle hangs his head. “I know I should have listened to you like always, but I didn’t, and I may have shipped Kobra a stolen energy siphon engine that could stop the Earth’s rotation.”
Booster shakes his head in exasperated fondness. “Oh Ted, when will you learn? Well don’t worry, I’ll recover the engine for you.”
Beetle suddenly gets a stubborn look. “No! I can handle it! You’re much too busy being the idol of millions!”
* * *
Back in reality. . .
“. . . And I guess he got captured. But he was able to get a distress call off first.”
Total silence greeted the story. If it was possible for a tiny gold spaceship to look embarrassed, Skeets managed it.
“Fib.”
Booster tilted his head, confused. “What?”
Batgirl paused. Maybe she said the word wrong? There was a thing you did, where you added more letters on the end? “Fibbing?”
“She means you’re lying, sir.”
“Yes.”
“How can she tell?!”
“You talk louder when you fib.”
“Oh.”
“Stop it. Gives us away.”
* * *
“OK, I may have accepted a job to ship a package using the teleporter Ted and I borrowed, together, without consulting him.”
“Hmm.”
“And I may have agreed to ship it without using any of the scanning devices he designed to make sure we didn’t ship dangerous weapons, because they offered to pay quadruple if I could get it there in five minutes.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And we may have found out after the fact that Kobra stole an experimental energy siphon engine from STAR Labs, and tried to get it back. And my suit might have been damaged, and Beetle might have covered me and Skeets while we got out.”
“Hnnh.” Cass had heard Batman use that sound sometimes. It made Booster nervous.
* * *
“We’ve reached the detention block,” Skeets hovered silently next to them, “but there’s a problem.”
“What is it?” Booster signaled for Batgirl, who was in the lead, to hold up.
“The entire wing seems laced with sensors to detect any high-energy outputs.”
“Meaning?”
“I’ll have to shut down most systems, and you won’t be able to use your suit or flight ring.”
“Oh. Crap.”
Cass glanced briefly around the corner. “Two guards. Know they’re being watched.”
Booster’s eyes widened. “You let them see you?”
“No. Cameras.” Batgirl went back the way they came.
“So if we knock them out, everyone’s gonna know.” Booster tapped his chin with one finger, not noticing his new partner’s disappearance. “So we have to trick them. Good thing I’m a flawless actor. Now all I need is one of their uni –“
He trailed off as Batgirl reappeared in front of him, holding an unconscious Kobra agent.
“Where did he come from?”
“Stuffed him in the closet ten minutes ago.”
Booster eyed the agent carefully. “He’s too short.”
“Is not.”
* * *
He wasn’t, and Booster was able to drape the outfit over himself quickly and quietly.
“Sir, remember that he’s called Lord Naja-Naja, not Lord Nada-Nada.” Skeets rested in Booster’s hands, wrapped in a cloth.
“Naga-Naga. Right, got it. I’m kidding!” He added as Skeets sighed. “Lord Naja-Naja.”
Booster started forward, taking exaggerated footsteps again. Batgirl gripped his shoulder.
“Stop. Walk normal.”
“I was!”
“Fibbing. Talk quieter. Be calm.” The older man was full of tension, impatient to rush to Beetle’s aid.
“Right. Calm.” Booster took a deep breath, then marched towards the two guards.
“I’m here to interrogate the prisoner.” The guards didn’t react. “New instrument,” Booster added, gesturing to the clothed bundle in his hands.
Still nothing. “It’s really painful for the prisoner.”
The guards exchanged a look, and Cass watching from a tiny space in the ceiling, prepared to move in.
Then Booster snapped, “Do you want to explain to the Lord Naja-Naja why the interfering prisoner isn’t suffering before death as he decreed?!”
They opened the door and Booster walked past without a second glance.
* * *
Beetle was shackled spread-eagle to some device hanging from the ceiling. His costume was torn in places and he’d been bleeding, though it had stopped. One of the lenses in his mask was missing, and the other was cracked. He raised his head as the door opened and squinted at his visitor through the eye that wasn’t swollen up.
“Hey, if that’s lunch, you should know I’m supposed to be on a heart-healthy diet. Although we can ignore that, as long as it’s not pimento loaf. Can’t stand that stuff.”
“Ted?”
Beetle looked a little closer. “Booster?”
“Yeah, we’re here to get you out.”
“We? You brought help? Karen? No, there’s no explosions. Bea? No, there’s no cursing in Spanish. Tell me it’s not J’onn, I can’t take a lecture complete with telepathically transmitted disapproval.”
“Nope. Me and Skeets, and we’ve got some help waiting – “
“Here.”
Booster only shrieked a little when Cass spoke up from right next to him, although it didn't overwhelm his joy at seeing Beetle. “How did you get in?”
“Followed you.”
Cass noted that her presence, rather than reassuring the Beetle, seemed to terrify him. “Batgirl? We’re in Gotham?!”
“Yes.”
“Does, uh, does Batman know we’re here?”
Cass shrugged. He seemed to know a lot, but he didn’t tell her much. Except things not to do. “I think he’s busy with, um, Riddler?”
She wasn’t sure. Batman seemed to have a lot of enemies who left clues on purpose. Cass didn’t get it, seemed to be the opposite of what a criminal should do. Until Oracle explained they wanted to prove they were smarter than Batman.
Beetle exhaled. “OK, we just need to get the engine and get out of here before he wraps that up.”
Booster stepped forward, raising one arm. “I’ll have you free in a sec.”
“No, don’t!” Booster froze. “It’s rigged. You free me like that, it sets off an alarm. Also, I think it electrocutes me. Three's some parts to these restraints, I think that's what they're for.”
Booster looked to his partner, cradled under one arm. “Skeets, can you do something about that?”
“Not without using enough power to alert the sensors.”
Beetle looked to her. “Batgirl, you’ve got some of Bats’ high-tech gear in that belt, right?”
“Maybe?” She didn’t use anything but the Batarangs and the grapple line. She was sure there were some smoke pellets somewhere.
The Beetle stared at everything she laid out, then looked to a cabinet in the corner. “Can someone get my gear out of that, quietly? I think we can make this work.”
* * *
“He said blue wire.” Batgirl stood peering over Booster’s shoulder as he worked.
“That is the blue wire!”
“Purple.”
Beetle called over his shoulder. “Skeets, which wire is Booster about to cut?”
“Purple, Mr. Kord.”
“It’s a navy blue, Skeets! It’s only a little darker than Beetle’s costume!”
* * *
“OK,” Ted explained, “you throw the Batarang into that power cable up there, the line from my gear it’s attached to sends the charge into the circuit Booster wired up, and that overloads everything. Then I’m free, no alarms, and most important, no flash-fried Beetle.”
“Someone will have to hold the other end to act as a ground, though,” Skeets pointed out.
Booster immediately grabbed the line. “I guess that’s my line.”
Beetle chuckled. “You can use some grounding.”
“I can.” Cass thought her suit probably had some defenses against electricity.
“No, it’s fine. It’s your Batarang thing, and my suit’s from the future. It’ll have better protection. And my quarterbacking days are in the past. Or, the future, I guess.” He scratched his head.
Everything worked as planned. She hit the mark, the electricity did what it was supposed to, and the thing Beetle was trapped in released him, dropping him to the floor, although she caught him before he landed. No alarms went off. Booster Gold’s suit smoked a little, but he didn’t complain. Got up immediately to check on his partner.
“You OK, Blue?”
“Sure, Booster old pal,” he wheezed. “Never better. You?”
Booster didn’t have time to answer – Batgirl could tell he was worried, but physically not hurt badly – as the door to the detention block slid open.
“What are you doing with the pri - ?” Both guards were dropped with a blast from the gauntlet on the back of Booster’s hand. As soon as he fired, alarms sounded through the entire section.
“Crap,” The time traveler muttered as he draped Beetle’s arm over his shoulder. “We have to get you out of here.”
Beetle pushed himself free, shaking his head. “Sounds great, but we have to stop Kobra from using that engine. I’m pretty sure it’s already running. He’s got some big weapon he wants to use, and you know how impatient the megalomaniacal types get. Can't wait to play with their new toy.”
“More coming. Lots.” Batgirl could feel their footsteps thundering down the hall through the soles of her boots.
Booster Gold was in deep thought for a moment. “Skeets, you find out where Kobra’s got the engine?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Guide them there, while I keep these guys occupied. If you let one of them carry you, Kobra’s guys won’t even notice.”
“Whoa, hold on Booster.” Beetle reached for him, but Booster was already flying into the hall.
“This way, Mr. Kord.”
Skeets guided them the other direction, while the echo of energy blasts and explosions followed them.
* * *
Beetle carried Skeets, who quietly directed them through the maze of tunnels and hallways. Batgirl stuck by his side, drifting ahead or falling back to deal with any Kobra soldiers they encountered.
Beetle was hurting. Broken ribs for sure, some injury to his leg, but keeping up as best he could.
They reached the room with the siphon engine. Also about 50 of Kobra’s soldiers, plus the big man himself. He stood at the rear of the room, in his orange snake patterned gear, green cloak billowing somehow in a room with no breeze. Nearby a monitor showed the Justice League Watchtower on the Moon.
“Did you think we wouldn’t expect more interference after you two fools showed up?”
Beetle gestured towards the machine. “You know if you fire a laser cannon with this much power behind it towards the Moon, it’ll set the entire atmosphere on fire, right?”
Kobra’s grin widened. Batgirl’s stomach clenched. The idea of killing that many people. . . excited him.
Beetle whispered to her and Skeets. “I need time at that console to get siphon engine to draw back the energy it’s fed the cannon.”
“So we fight.”
“Yep.”
Cass could do that. “Skeets, cover him.”
“Of course, miss.”
Beetle raised a gun, and Batgirl would stop him, but there was no intent to kill. It emitted a flash that blinded the soldiers.
That was more than enough for her. Batgirl dove headlong into the crowd. Every direction yielded someone to hit, and she was a blur of fists and feet. Striking sharp and true, not giving them time to recover or react.
Beetle headed for the console, shouldering his way past the confused mass of fanatics, Skeets flying beside him. His eyes flew over the controls and screens, trying to decipher the commands he’d need.
Two of the soldiers’ vision cleared, and they aimed their weapons at Beetle’s back. A Batarang struck one gun, then ricocheted to the other, knocking both off-target. Before they could raise the rifles again, Skeets knocked both of them unconscious.
Batgirl turned her focus back to the men surrounding her. She could avoid their attacks easily enough, but they weren’t concerned about shooting each other. She didn’t think she should let them die, so that made things a little tougher.
* * *
Not that much tougher, though. Something Kobra had realized, as she tilted her head to avoid a fist clothed in orange snakeskin that whistled past.
“Kill the other one,” he hissed, settling into a ready stance. The few soldiers still standing turned towards Beetle and Skeets. Batgirl leapt to cut them off, but Kobra caught her cape and pulled her back. She spun and turned it into a sharp kick in the face, knocking the leader of the cult back a few steps.
“I’ve heard of you,” he commented, striking with a sharp, stiff-fingered jab. “Cain’s prized creation, now the bat’s weapon.”
She ducked under a follow-up kick, but he managed to shift so her return strike was blocked with one forearm. “The child who defeated the false Shiva. I am not intimidated, or impressed.”
One of his chops clipped the left ear from her costume. “You could help usher the Age of Chaos this world requires, but you deny your nature.”
“Don’t know. . . my nature.”
“Are you speaking of me,” his voice slid smoothly around her, “or yourself? No matter how often you shed your skin, you will remain the same.”
His cape briefly hid him from view, and then his knee was rising towards her stomach. Cassandra met it with a fist. His knee cracked under the impact, and two of her fingers broke. Neither fighter noticed.
* * *
Batgirl took out most of Kobra’s guys, Ted noted gratefully. He’d kept an eye on her during the fight, in case she needed back up. Turned out to be unnecessary. Did it ever.
‘Canary told me the kid could fight, but jeez.’
So he turned his focus to the engine’s controls. Kobra had added his own security protocols, and was supposed to be a genius himself, so it was taking time.
Skeets was keeping the few guys that got past Batgirl busy. One did get close, but Beetle was able to disarm him easily and toss him into a wall. “Any word from Booster?”
“No, sir.”
Ted tried to trust his best friend was OK, and turned his attention to his work.
* * *
Kobra grunted as another punch landed solidly on his jaw. He raised one arm in what looked like a feeble block, but Batgirl read something else in the movement.
A stream of green liquid erupted from the back of his glove, melting her cape where it touched. Her next hit smashed the weapon, even if it left her open to a punch to the ribs. She ignored it, even as she felt a tiny stab, and landed another punch, plus two kicks.
Kobra was driven to his knees, but his confident smile didn’t fade. “The snake’s hood distracts from the true dang –“
Cass cut him off with another punch. “You poisoned me.”
His grin widened, more triumphant. “Yes.”
“Don’t care.” She went on the attack again. She had enough time to beat him.
And in the next 20 seconds, he realized it, too. Which was when he pressed a button, and a giant machine burst into the room.
* * *
‘A Servitor,’ Ted noted absently. ‘Swell.’
Kobra took the arrival of the twenty-foot tall, snake-faced robot equipped with cannons and missile launchers as an opportunity to run.
Well, hobble. Batgirl had kicked the shit out of him pretty good by then. And she was prepared to face the new challenger, too. But the way she was struggling to dodge, Ted didn’t like her odds. The Servitor was not impressed with Batarangs to the face.
Skeets was zipping around, trying to draw fire, but his security measures were meant to stun people, so they weren’t doing much.
Ted was almost done. The engine wasn’t drawing energy from the core any longer, but the cannon was still getting ready to fire. And the cannon had its own set of security protocols, ones Ted didn’t think he could break in time.
Batgirl flipped and dodged as cannon fire chewed up the ground near her. She didn’t land well, though, and the arm tracked towards her. Before it opened fire again, a blast of air pushed it up and away, the shots tearing through the ceiling. Seawater began to trickle in, but picked up strength every moment.
Ted holstered the pistol, and muttered several curses as the robot decided he was worth killing, aiming one arm to him, while the other continued to shoot at Batgirl.
“Another of these things?” Booster appeared, flying low past the Servitor’s legs, force field appearing to intercept the shots aimed towards Beetle. The shots bounced off, hitting the other gun arm, destroying it. Two shots from Booster’s gauntlets destroyed the head of the robot.
* * *
“Good thing I showed up in the nick of time, huh?”
“Did you deflect it like that on purpose?”
“Of course!”
“. . .Fibbing.”
“Oh, come on!”
* * *
“Good news and bad news,” Beetle said. “Good news, I managed to make the engine siphon the energy it put into the cannon, back out of it.”
“Does the bad news have anything to do with the rising energy levels I detect within the engine?” Skeets asked.
“Yeah, there isn’t a safe place to send that much energy, and it doesn’t look like STAR Labs figured out how to make it hold energy safely.”
“This is one of those dramatic, “escape before the base explodes” moments, then?” Booster, floating above the rising waters, held out both arms. “Grab hold, I’ll fly us out.”
Which is when Batgirl collapsed.
“What’s wrong with her? Low blood sugar?”
She tried to push herself up, but her muscles wouldn’t respond. She was burning up. Even the freezing seawater didn't help. “Poison.”
“I’m detecting a neurotoxic venom in her bloodstream, sirs.”
“Crap!” Booster yelled. “We can’t let Batman’s sidekick die! He’ll kill us!”
“Relax,” Beetle said, “I saw a kit for neutralizing toxins and poisons in her gear. Hey, hey Batgirl, which pouch did you put that in?”
“Left it. . . behind.”
“What?!” the two older heroes yelled in unison.
“Not important.”
Ted looked at Booster. “OK, well now it’s one of those, “Get the anti-venom shot to keep the teenager from dying, then escape the exploding base,” moments.”
"Sure, no pressure." Booster picked her up gently as Beetle hopped on his back. “Jeez, she weighs like nothing. Does Bats even feed these kids?”
Skeets flew down the passageway at top speed, staying near the ceiling to avoid the freezing waters. “This way, sirs.”
* * *
“You want me to go back and carry out all the Kobra guys we left unconscious or tied up, too?”
“Yes.”
“You’re the only one of us who can fly, Booster old buddy.”
A frustrated groan, and then, “Fine.”
* * *
“Not to be critical,” Beetle said, “but maybe have Batman take a little time to go over what he’s got you carrying and what it’s for. You know, just in case.”
Batgirl nodded agreeably. If she could find five minutes to talk to Batman, she might do that. If there weren’t any crimes to stop. “OK.”
The four heroes were gathered on a nearby rooftop, watching Gotham’s police milling around the warehouse. The seawater had filled the elevator shaft to the surface level, but not before Booster Gold made it back with all the unconscious Kobra agents he could find. Agents who were being herded into prisoner transports at the moment.
“Why would they try this in Gotham?” Beetle asked no one in particular, as he took a seat on the edge of the roof. “There’s two dozen capes in this town. The bottom of the ocean would get you closer to the core, less crust between it and the engine.”
“But what if Aquaman’s in his “stab you with a harpoon” mood?” Booster countered, taking a seat next to him.
“Point.”
They both glanced over as Batgirl let out an amused snort. "Point. Ha."
After a moment, she crouched on Booster’s other side.
“Too bad we couldn’t recover the engine without destroying it,” Beetle said, seated on the ledge.
“Yeah, I bet STAR Labs would have offered a pretty good reward for getting it back.”
“Always with your eye on the big picture, sir.” Skeets said drily.
“Well, obviously the important thing is we stopped Kobra from using it,” Booster allowed. "And that they paid in advance."
“We should probably get the hell out of here.” Beetle said, pushing himself back up.
“Yeah,” Booster agreed, “thanks for your help.”
Cass shrugged. “No problem. It was fun.”
Booster stared, jaw slack. Beetle shook his head. “If you say so. Could I ask you not to mention this to Batman?”
“Not to mention what?”
The two men and the security droid all jumped. (Well, Skeets just floated higher in the air briefly, but it came to the same thing.) Cassandra had sensed him coming, so she didn’t react.
Booster and Beetle turned slowly towards Batman, barely visible in the shadows, cape closed around him, glaring.
“Batman! Good to see you!” Booster started, offering a big, fake smile. “Love to chat, but Beetle could use a doctor, so. . .”
Beetle nodded vigorously, wincing. “Ouch, my ribs and face. And everything else.”
Booster grabbed him under the arms and started to fly off.
“Hold it.” Booster froze in mid-air, and Beetle muttered a curse under his breath. “What are you doing here, in my city?”
“We were stopping Kobra from using an experimental engine to drain the energy from Earth's core to use as a power source for a dangerous weapon,” Ted supplied.
“And how did it get here?”
“They stole it, obviously.”
The Dark Knight’s eyes narrowed. “How did they get it into Gotham, without my noticing?”
“You’re slipping?” Booster offered. Though his arms were hidden beneath his cape, Batgirl could see Batman clenching and unclenching his fists.
Booster started to try again, but Ted clamped a hand over his mouth. Batman turned to her.
“Batgirl. What happened?”
He watched her expectantly. She glanced at the others. Booster wore a pleading look she saw on Nightwing once. Oracle called it “puppy dog eyes”. Beetle was getting ready to be yelled at. Skeets was still unreadable to her.
“Saw two. . . suspicious men. Followed them here. Found Booster Gold and Blue Beetle fighting Kobra. Tried to help.”
Batman frowned. Suspected she was fibbing, but couldn’t prove it. Cass was a master of body language. Not just reading others, but controlling her own. Cain taught her that. Knew how to make himself so she couldn’t read anything from him. She gave away nothing.
He settled for growling, “I told you to stay away from meta-humans.”
“Don’t worry Batman,” Beetle said, a little more relaxed, “Kobra didn’t have any enhanced guys down there. Some of those Servitor bots, but Booster handled those.”
“I meant you two.”
“Oh.”
“Then she’s still in the clear!” Booster offered cheerfully. “You know all my powers are just future technology, and as for Beetle here, why, he’s just as normal and ordinary as you!”
Batman scowled harder, and now Beetle was frowning at Booster, too.
“Thanks a lot, buddy.”
Booster hunched his shoulders sheepishly.
“So, you know, no need to ground her or make with the lecture,” he finished, mumbling. “What?”
“. . . Dissed them both.”
Batman turned an eye on her. “Where did you learn that word?”
“Oracle.”
(It was actually Spoiler, but Batman didn’t seem happy, and he didn’t like her spending time with Stephanie. Oracle wouldn’t care if he got cross with her.)
“Well, sounds like you two have things to discuss,” Ted said, still dangling from Booster’s arms, “sooooo. . .”
Booster took off as fast as he could. Skeets floated over to Batgirl.
“Thank you very much for your assistance, miss. It was nice to meet you.”
Batgirl smiled. “Nice to meet you, too.”
The little security droid flew off, following after his boss. Batgirl waved. She could just hear the Beetle grumbling something about, "I'm as normal as Batman?!", while Booster offered apologies.
Batman frowned. “You shouldn’t hang around those two. They’re a bad influence.”
Cass ignored him, reaching into her utility belt instead. She withdrew a device covered with buttons and a tuning fork on the end. “What’s this for?”