Oracle

Chapter 3

"This is too easy..." I mumble as I tap my pencil on the desk, staring at the pictures of the charred bones of a young female assassin.

"What do you mean?" Dick smiles, "Ra's made a mistake, and you found it."

"You know it's not like him to make mistakes."

"You're right; it is a little out of character." I shoot him a look. "Okay, very out of character... but I do know that he has underestimated you time and time again, so enjoy the victory and keep up the great work."

He leans over and kisses my head, "Have a great first day at work."

"Thanks, Barb."

"Let me know if they haze you, and I'll freeze their bank accounts."

"Be nice," he chuckles as he leaves.

The computer chirps again: the results are back from the scans I did of the bones. Female, age 20-25, there is slight wear on the knee caps - probably from jumping off buildings, rolling... No other marks on the bones other than the sword indentations on the ribs, confirming that she knew her attacker and did not fight him, or could not fight him. I stare at the pictures and am transfixed on the eye sockets: who was she?

************************
Her
************************

There is always a price. I was welcomed to the League with open arms. My ferocity caught his attention, and my dedication to succeed and be seen by the only person who acknowledged my existence drove me up the ranks. I have trained for decades, since I was a child. I stare down at a child, huddled in a blanket on a street in Gotham... just like me... but I am no longer that child.

My eyes narrow as I continue through the alleyway. What has become of society today to lack the humanity to care for these children? Humanity... that is what this mission is about. It always has been. We must cleanse those that do not have a sense of humanity. Ironic, that word has such weight that in some has been lost.

I lean into the shadows on the side of the brick building at the opening of the alley, gazing across at the bright lights inside the Gotham General lobby. I may not know why I am here, but I can only imagine it is because of the cause. This woman, this doctor, she is part of the reason Gotham is beyond help. Creating diseases for A.R.G.U.S. to use against their enemies... how dare she even breathe.

I have studied the camera pattern and practiced several times. I move through the hallways flawlessly to her office. I silently open the door, and smile as I see her back to me. This will be quick and easy. I close the door, not making a sound, as her instincts catch on. Sensing another person behind her, she turns.

What? I gaze at her face. This cannot be possible. She was supposed to be dead. My hands shake as I see confusion and worry come over her face, probably from the blade at my side. I look down at it, confused as why it is there myself, then back at her; forcing the word plaguing my thoughts.

"Mom?" I stammer, as her face falls.

"Kim?" Recognition flashes through her face, finding somewhere a glimpse of the daughter that she had nearly thirty years ago. "Kimmy? My little Kim," she embraces me, "I thought I would never see you again. After your father took you, I..." She cuts herself off with tears.

So, this is what it must be like. This warm feeling in my chest, the constriction in my throat, the water in my eyes... this is what it must be like to feel wanted, or I am choking or having any number of afflictions. Then it hits me: Ra's wants her dead.

A chill shakes the feelings in my body and my head to the gravity of the situation. Ra's al Ghul wants my mother dead. I am supposed to be loyal to him and not this woman who birthed me, and yet here I am thinking of how I can save her. What is this sorcery, this mind control?

"This is your test, Kimberly." I hear from behind me. He's here.

"Kim, who is this?" My mother asks as she backs away from me slowly.

"I see where you get your instinctual drive, Kimberly. She is quite aware of who I am, yet her brain cannot make the connection. What does your instinct tell you in this moment, child?"

"Child? Kim, what is going on? Who is this man?"

"Who plucked you from the streets and raised you as his own? Who gave you a purpose and the skills to feel wanted in this world? Isn't that what you want? That feeling? Then you know what you must do."

My hand falls on my sword. "No, Kimmy, don't."

"Yes, my child. I will always be here for you."

"Kimmy, please, I don't know what he has done to you, or told you about me, but I know you. That girl I saw two seconds ago, that is who you are. That is my daughter. I don't need you any other way."

My hand tightens around the hilt as I kneel and turn to my left, as my sword slashes behind me. Instantly, I feel a pain in my gut. I look down at the blade, and then up to the man I once thought of as my father.

"How disappointing." He growls. I feel his wrist turn to the right, deepening my pain.

I snarl as he pulls out the blade, "You monster."

"Take one last look at your mother, Kimberly. For if their isn't an afterlife, you might not see her again."

"See you in hell."

My eyes close as his laughter takes root in my skull.

**************************

Doctor Marianne Whitworth, murder number twelve... why stop the streak with her? I tap my fingertips on the desk in the chemistry lab section of my "cave," waiting for the the DNA to come back from a sample I took from the young woman's bones. The machine stops, and the results pop up on my computer screen. Wait a second... the software shows that the last victim and the Jane Doe have similar DNA. I run another scan to see the percentage... 50%. Victim 12 was almost 50 and Jane Doe was in her twenties... Oh my god... Victim 12 was this girl's mother.

*********************

"Thank you, Oracle, that information will be very useful..." Waller's smile falls as soon as she hangs up the phone.

If Gordon found out about Kimberly Whitworth then it is only a matter of time before... She breathes deeply, calming herself. Her agents cannot see her this way; she can't have them doubting her leadership. She exhales as she smiles. If Barbara notified her of this fact, then she must still trust me, she thinks. She has no idea that A.R.G.U.S. is even connected to the recent League murders.

Good. She can't have Barbara setting them back or pleading with them to destroy the viruses. Although it would be better than having them in Ra's al Ghul's possession, but why worry? Everything is in place perfectly: Barbara and the Suicide Squad will get Ra's while A.R.G.U.S.'s biological weapons remain hidden. She chuckles to herself, it's a win-win.