Chapter 3: The Devil's Daughter

"DeVries, you had better have a damn good reason for this." Mr. Terrific wasn't in a terrific mood that afternoon.

"Oh, you know I do, bossman. I believe I have uncovered a plot by one Ra's al Ghul to infiltrate and subvert Checkmate. We have one of his operatives with us now. Ra's hired outside the League of Assassins for this one." I informed him.

"You're in Sacramento. Good. I'm bringing a dropship to pick you up now. I'm going to want a full briefing from you and Agent Vixen when we return." He hung up and I winced. He always knew Vixen would come back. She rolled her eyes.

She sighed. "That's why he's one of the smartest men in the world."

"He knows you can't stay away, sweetheart." I shrugged and we shared a smile.

Five minutes later, the dropship hovered over the rooftop and the ramp lowered. Terrific himself was onboard. "Get on. We need to get out of here before a League assassin shows up."

He didn't need to tell us twice. Once aboard and with the ramp closed, I gave him the intel. "We have another one for interrogation at Titans Tower. Cyborg's watching her. This runs deep, sir."

"I'm beginning to see that. What gave this guy away?" He asked as Mari sat Sal down on the bench.

"Just a bunch of little things. He was sent to get close to my mother and says he was hired by our prisoner at Titans Tower to pose as her father to seduce my mom. Samantha Hawthorne tells a different story, that he hired her. I'm not sure what game al Ghul's playing, but I really hope we can get on top of this. No telling how many other Agents are potentially compromised." It was scary. Ra's al Ghul wasn't known for doing anything small.

"I see your point, Adam. I'll bring everyone in, and we'll get some telepaths to check them all out. We're swinging by Titans Tower now to pick up Ms. Hawthorne." He informed us. When we landed, Cyborg had Samantha ready for transport and I took custody of her myself. Then something clicked in my head...

I felt her knee hit me in the solar plexus and then her hands were free and she had leveraged one of my MD Gauntlets up under my chin. She had slipped her zipcuffs somehow without anyone seeing. She held me hostage with my own weapon, but now had five weapons trained on her.

"Stop! Now, everyone out except for Mr. Dominguez and Ms. McCabe. I already know that she and Adam are both qualified to fly this ship. That means you too, Mr. Terrific. Out! NOW!" The League Assassin said. God, I should have seen it before! Megan even warned me that she had some mental blocks in place that made reading her mind difficult. I was so focused on Stanley/Salvador at the time that I dismissed it! The pressure point she had used on me rendered my right arm numb.

"Do as she says." Holt said. He ushered his pilots out and disembarked himself. He nodded to me, and once we were onboard, she ordered Mari to take the controls and lift off.

Mari did as ordered, and the four of us took off. She disarmed me, removing my Gauntlets before zipcuffing my hands behind my back. She had Mari fly east, and crushed Dominguez's windpipe with a lightning fast strike. He died quickly, and she turned her attention to me. "You are good. You're both being brought before my master, who will decide your fates."

"What does Ra's al Ghul want, Sam?" I asked, keeping calm. No sense in panicking here. "Was it just me, or is Checkmate being compromised as we speak?"

Samantha sat beside me. She placed my left Gauntlet on her own hand and checked the functionality of the Mass Driver. Satisfied, she then ran her right hand up my inner thigh. "We could be so good together, Adam. But in answer to your question, it was just you. My master has plans for you and Ms. McCabe."

I glanced at the cockpit and Mari glanced at us with a worried look. Then something dawned on me, and once again I cursed myself under my breath. This wasn't Ra's al Ghul's doing. I chuckled. "Sam, it's Talia, isn't it? It's not Ra's at all."

"Very good, Adam. You are as intelligent as advertised. My master likens you to her Detective in skill." She nodded at me in respect with a sultry smile on her beautiful face ... Focus! Dick had told us about Bruce's son Damian being the new Robin, and his mother was Talia al Ghul.

"Batman would have seen it earlier." I shook my head and shrugged at her.

Before I could do anything, Samantha grabbed me and kissed me passionately. My lips opened automatically, and her tongue was in my mouth before I could say anything. I heard a hiss of anger from the cockpit, and Sam pushed me back, laughing. "Somebody's jealous." She smirked. I made a mental note to let Mari do whatever she wanted to Sam before this was all over. I had a very good feeling that Sam's lifespan was now measured in hours. Then I realized my toes had curled in my Nikes. Holy Jesus, she could kiss! I shook that thought out of my head, and Sam went up to the cockpit to take the co-pilot's seat.

She had my Mass Driver now trained on Mari, and I could barely make out their conversation as I started to slip the zipcuffs.

"He's a great kisser. Now I know what you see in him." Sam said to Mari conversationally.

"Just imagine if he was into it, Sam." Mari joked with her. "He's even better when he has some motivation behind it."

Good. Try to knock her off balance.

"Oh, I think he was getting into it until he heard you interrupt." Sam had a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Keep it together, Mari. Please. Dislocated thumbs now. Shit, that hurt! Sliding off the one side ... got it. Now the second cuff ... there! Pop thumbs back into place ... ugh. GOD! Ok, better now.

"It's true, Sam." I said, getting her attention. "I wasn't really into it, but if you want, I could give it another try."

She looked back at me, and Mari shot me a glare that would have splattered me against the interior of the dropship if looks were really lethal.

Sam looked me up and down, and I smirked at her. That was her weakness. Me. Oh great. Now I had a complete psycho assassin stalker type!

"We can have some fun later after we meet with my master." She winked at me.

So we flew east until we landed someplace in the middle of a desert. It took a few hours to get there, but I didn't dare try anything while she was wearing the Gauntlet. If she fired a round, it would cause explosive depressurization if it breached the hull.

Once we were underground in the hidden hangar that had opened beneath us, it was time to see what was what. Sam came back and pulled me to my feet, and I disabled her with an armbar and removed the Gauntlet from her hand. Mari grabbed her too, and we subdued her quickly. I slipped my Gauntlets back on, and Mari lowered the ramp to find the League of Assassins was there and waiting for us.

"Hey, guys." I grinned. "Where's the lady herself? We need to have a little chat."

"They will kill me to get to you!" Sam threatened me.

"Now why would they have you capture us and bring us all the way here just to kill us? I'm pretty sure Ms. al Ghul wants to at least talk with us a bit first." I pushed her forward as I walked with her and Mari brought up the rear. She was accessing her abilities again, so I was pretty sure she could hold her own if the shit hit the fan.

"I am here, Agent DeVries." And that would be Ms. Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's al Ghul. Very beautiful. Very deadly. Now I knew why Bruce fell for her in the first place!

"Cool. Here's your assassin." I shoved Sam forward none too gently. I may be a gentleman, but I have my limits when it comes to women trying to kill me.

"Thank you." She bowed her head slightly to me, then turned to Sam. "Leave and return to your chambers. Clean yourself up and prepare for your discipline.

"Yes, mistress." Sam bowed and shot me a baleful look before disappearing down a corridor to the left. Mari and I descended the boarding ramp to have a little talk with our hostess and find out why the hell she's interested in us now.

"Ok, Talia. We haven't formally met, but I was kind of a friend of Bruce's." I informed her. "Now, what do you want from us that you couldn't just come right out and ask for?"

"You are very direct, Agent DeVries. Very well. I need you to help me find my beloved." She looked completely calm, but her voice betrayed just a hint of love lost.

"Ummm, he's buried in Gotham City Cemetery. He's dead, Talia." I kept my voice even and shook my head slowly.

"No, Agent. He is not dead." She insisted.

"How do you know? Hell, we want him back too." I shrugged. I was willing to hear her out, at least.

"That, I can explain. Timothy Drake has been working for my father to find my Detective's whereabouts ... or in this case, whenabouts." She beckoned for us to follow her.

I looked at Mari. "We might as well hear what she has to say." I shrugged.

"Fine, but if she tries anything..." She said, but shook her head as she trailed off.

"We'll burn that bridge if we get to it." I finished and gave her a smile.

We followed Talia into her briefing room where she showed us the evidence that Bruce was still alive.

"Are the dates on these correct?" I asked her. The pictures had approximate dates of when they were likely created. From cave drawings of the Bat symbol to journals in Bruce's handwriting.

"As far as we can tell, yes." Talia confirmed.

"Ok, all I've heard about his death is that Darkseid killed him. How? Do you know?" I asked her.

"From all reports, he was killed by Darkseid's Omega Beams. Why?" She looked perplexed.

"Talia, please trust me on this. I need to comm my boss and find something out. Ok?" I said as I pulled out my cellphone.

She nodded. "Do what you must, if it brings my Beloved back to me." She looked worried, which is something you don't see too often from Talia al Ghul.

I called Holt.

"DeVries! Did you get away from her?" He asked.

"Negative, Mr. T. I need the file from Scott Free on the Omega Sanction sent to my phone immediately." I said.

"What?!?! That's TSCI ONLY!" He shouted.

"Sir, please just trust me on this! It has to do with Bruce!" I shouted back. "If it's what I think it is, I might be able to tell when he's going to be back!"

"How?" He asked, simply. Mike Holt might be the third smartest man in the world, but I'm the best with extrapolation theory and deduction. Taking Sherlock Holmes one step further.

"Just do it, sir. I need to do this." I said. I looked at Mari and Talia. Both were looking at me with concern.

"Fine. Sending you the file now." He said with an exasperated sigh.

"Thanks, sir. Talk to ya if we survive." I ended the secure call and opened the file as I received it.