Brave New World: Black Lightning

Chapter 10

"You want to use Grace to track down Khalil?" Jefferson asked after Gambi brought him and Jen up to speed on the plan they'd come up with.

"Essentially." Gambi said.

"Not a bad idea." Jen said, but Jefferson shook his head.

"I can think of countless different things wrong with that plan." Jefferson said.

"Really, like what?" Anissa asked.

"Well for starters, doing this would mean that we'd be stooping to Odell's level, since we'd be forcing Grace to help us. Something that considering the fact that we're black should not sit well considering our ancestors were slaves." Jefferson said and Anissa had to admit, he had a point, since she did realize now that this plan would basically make her a hypocrite to every ideal she held that had earned her the nickname of Harriet.

"What other flaws do you see in the plan?" Lynn asked.

"Even if we were to control Grace, as Khalil has shown in this universe, there are ways out of the ASA's control. What happens if she breaks free from her ASA programming before she completes her mission. Then we'd not only lose her, but any chance of finding Khalil as well." Jefferson said.

"Okay, that is an issue." Gambi admitted.

"Not to mention the fact that even if everything works properly there's a good chance that Odell would have Grace kill Khalil, who would likely end up trying to kill her in self defense. Either way, we'd lose one of them. There are too many unknowns in this mission. We'll find another way to find Khalil, but for now, our priority is getting Grace out of the Pit, since she is the one that we do know where to find and wherever he is, Khalil is better off with the ASA not knowing where he is, since he's safer. Grace is the one who needs our help immediately." Jefferson said.

"And how are we going to do that? It's not like we can just charge into the Pit." Gambi said.

"Why not? I could take those jokers out before they even know what hits them?" Jen asked.

"Except that the Pit is likely designed to keep metahumans from escaping. Meaning they have power dampeners that can be deployed to kill our powers the moment we walk in and we don't even have our suits yet." Jefferson said.

"Then what are we supposed to do? Leave Grace and who knows how many other metas in the ASA's custody?" Anissa demanded.

"Of course not. But we need to bring in reinforcements. And I think I may have an idea. I need to go talk to Henderson." Jefferson said as he walked out of the Sanctum,

"So tell me again why you want me to get you the contact information for a CSI at the Central City Police Department?" Henderson asked as he and Jefferson stood in his office after Jefferson told him his idea.

"Because that CSI is a metahuman that I met in the old reality. He's going to be one of the world's greatest heroes once he makes his debut and he's a friend of mine." Jefferson said.

"And you think that he remembers you?" Henderson asked.

"He's kind of like Jen. He was sent to a safe place to be protected when that energy killed everyone else. It's a long story, but yes, I know he'll remember me, but we never had a chance to exchange phone numbers and I need to ask a favor of him, since I think that he might be able to help us with the ASA, though not in the way you think." Jefferson said.

"Okay, you should've led with that Jeff. If you think that this Allen guy can help us take down the ASA before they take over the city, I'm for it. Give me a minute." Henderson said as he pulled up the phone number for the Central City Police Department and called David SIngh.

"This is Captain Singh, who is this?" Singh said on the other side of the call.

"This is Inspector William Henderson of the Freeland Police Department." Henderson said.

"How can I help you?" Singh asked.

"I need you to put me in contact with a CSI you have there, Barry Allen. Based on the reports I've read, I think he could be useful for a case we're working on here, though I cannot disclose what it is while it's still an active investigation." Henderson said.

"I understand. Allen is not currently in the office right now, but I will give you his cell number so you can reach out to him personally." Singh said.

"One second, let me grab something to write it down on." Henderson said as Singh gave him the number.

"Thank you Captain." Henderson said as he finished writing it down and repeating to make sure he'd gotten it right.

"No problem. Let me know if I can help with that case." Singh said as he hung up and Henderson handed the paper to Jefferson.

"Thanks man. I'll let you know the full details of my plan if it actually works." Jefferson said and Henderson nodded as Jefferson left the precinct.

"I wasn't sure you were going to come. After all, it's been nearly a week." Jefferson said when he opened the door to his house nearly a week later to find Lyla Michaels standing there.

"My apologies Mr. Pierce, but you have to understand that I can't just drop everything to leave Star City to come to Freeland, no matter how urgent the situation is. As the Director of Argus, I do have responsibilities. However, the message you had Barry give me was enough to get my attention." Lyla said as Jefferson showed her in and led her to the living room where Gambi was waiting.

"This is Peter Gambi, my foster father and an important associate in this discussion." Jefferson said.

"Pleasure to meet you." Lyla said as she held out her hand, which Gambi shook.

"Likewise. I hope Jefferson's right and you can help us." Gambi said.

"What exactly is it I'll be helping you with, since your messenger didn't have specifics." Lyla said.

"I am sorry for not contacting you directly, but unlike Barry, I didn't have a way to contact you." Jefferson said.

"It's fine. But anyways, what was so urgent." Lyla asked as they sat down.

"Are you familiar with the ASA?" Gambi asked.

"The American Security Agency. Only by reputation, I know that my former boss Amanda Waller used to have some dealings with them, but not much else, why?" Lyla asked as Jefferson told her everything they knew about the ASA.

"Okay, I can see why you'd reach out to me." Lyla said.

"My team does not have the resources to go charging into the ASA's base and take them down. But you do. And honestly, I don't understand why the ASA is even needed when we have Argus, which from what Barry told me over the phone, is a much more moral version of the ASA." Jefferson said.

"I wouldn't go that far, but at least under my leadership it has some morals. Do you have any proof that would stand up in the court of law?" Lyla asked as Gambi handed her a hard drive.

"That hard drive contains the entire ASA database, which I copied from their system, but most of it is still encrypted." Gambi said.

"I know a hacker who could crack this easily. Once that's done and we have more evidence against the ASA, then maybe we can talk about a joint operation." Lyla said.

"Any help is welcome." Jefferson said and Lyla nodded.

"You should also swing by Star Labs. I'm sure that Cisco Ramon could provide you with some of the best work, or at least provide whoever your current suit provider is better resources, since from the reports I read on the flight over here, it sounds like Freeland needs Black Lightning back yesterday." Lyla said.

"Barry gave me a way to contact this Cisco guy and I think that we'll take him up on that." Jefferson said as Lyla got up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you gentlemen and hopefully we'll be able to work on this together to bring the ASA down." Lyla said.

"We look forward to hearing from you, Director Michaels." Jefferson said as he showed Lyla out.