The Flightless

The Bat

I will never go back to the squad. Ever.

"Lucius!" I enter his office without knocking. Alfred Pennyworth sits in the chair across from the chairman.

Shock is apparent on both of their faces. They stand, horrified and relieved at the sight of the woman they thought to be crazy, now completely sane. Well, perhaps not entirely sane.

"Sara."

"My lord," Alfred whispers. "They said you died. It was all over the news. You're a national hero, you know. How on Earth are you here?"

"I had a god in my head," I explain as simply as I can. "It's been a long five years. I came because I need your help, Mr. Fox."

Lucius folds his hands in his lap. "What can I do for you, Miss Lance?"

"Amanda Waller conveniently forgot to remove the bomb from my head." I sweep my hair to the side. "Can you help me?"

Their eyes remain wide.

Lucius examines the device under a careful eye. "It's deeply implanted into the base of your skull. Since it's been idle for so many years, your muscles have simply grown over them. Aside from that, we'll have to disarm the bomb before taking it out."

"Alright, so it's just another day in the park, right?" Alfred asks.

The other man bites on his upper lip. "Unfortunately not. It seems ARGUS didn't want anyone being able to disarm these things. Fortunately for us, we have the equipment to override any explosive."

I finally breathe easy. "Oh, great!"

"There's a catch. That piece of equipment is locked away in the archives at the top of the tower. Even I don't have clearance up there."

The butler's brows knit together. "But Master Bruce cleared you for every floor before he left, Mr. Fox."

"That's what I called you, Alfred. The board members of Wayne Enterprises have decided to vote Bruce out of his own company. Until he returns to settle things with his chair members, I'm all but powerless."

Pennyworth rests in his chair once more. "Oh, bugger. Who knows how long it'll take Master B to get down here. We've got to come up with something in the meantime."

"What if I just steal it?" I blurt out.

"Excuse me?"

"It's only like forty floors up, right? What if I just steal the equipment and bring it down?"

The butler and the tech exchange glances.

"I mean, I guess that could work. You'll only have to deal with a couple of security guards and a lock I'm sure you could break."

Lucius produces an image on his phone. "This is what it'll look like. It'll be in Sector fifty-eight. Floor forty-one. Got it?"

"Sure."

"Ahem, you might want to change, Miss."

I glance down at my inmate garb. "I don't have anything else."

Again, Lucius is the man of the hour. With a click of a button, he reveals some kind of superhero suit. It's my old Cardinal suit, but different. Instead of being a leotard, he's tailored thick pants to the original piece. The white and silver material completely covers my chest, and it's even been given a stylish coat.

"I can't believe you kept this."

"Jim asked if I would keep it safe. I made a few modifications in my spare time. I hope you don't mind."