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THE GIRL STOOD OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, OBSERVING THE THREE BOYS THROUGH THE WINDOW AS THEY WOKE UP. They were hung upside down from Spider's web. She had a plan in mind, it would take some competence on the oppositions part but if the three had managed to stay alive all night sharing a singular brain cell, then perhaps there was hope.
"We need to get out of this" Kid Flash spoke in a hushed tone, though Shadow could hear every word. Enhanced senses and all. "Aqualad is still out...I think" Robin answered back just as the Fish boy opened his eyes "What? Where am I?" He questioned, his face littered with bruises as Kid spoke up in an overly sweet yet nervous tone "You're awake? Good. But, we have some bad news." Shadow figured it took the Atlantean a minute to realise exactly what sort of situation it was they were stuck in "...and even worse news!"
Selena who had been struggling in Spider's grip for the past fifteen minutes pleaded "Please let go" Spider ignored her "So you three junior grade good guys thought you could stop us?" Hook scoffed "Yeah. What were you thinking? This is Hook and the Black Spider you got here! We're good at what we do. We're professionals" Shadow made a disagreeing face 'Mediocre. Average. At best.' Speedy boy scoffed "Yeah professional hit men for the League of Shadows. Sent to kill an innocent woman" Shadow had been right, Batman was following this trail and their awareness of the League just showed that after the Cadmus debacle, the protégés were a threat of their own. Rising steadily.
"I wouldn't go throwing around names of deadly groups like that if you know what's good for you, kid" Spider warned and Robin, the detective, asked questions of his own. Stupid move "Why are you after her? Why is Selena Gonzalez being targeted?"
"You're not in any position to ask questions" He warned "But we are, how'd you know we'd be here" After they remained silent, The larger man threateningly waved his hook in front of Aqualad's face "He asked you a question" Shadow smirked at the Atlantean's reply. He had guts. Fishy ones. But he had them "Like you we do not have to answer any questions"
"Yeah but you're going to 'cause you screwed up and got caught! Face it, you guys never had a chance against us." In her little time with knowing the Boy Wonder, Shadow had learned some things. He was smart. He was exasperating. He had that smirk, that vexatious smirk that he would only have when he knew he had some sort of advantage or at times when he was being a complete smartass. In this case, it was probably because he still had his utility belt.
"What?" He uttered complacently "We came here to stop you from hurting her, we did that" Hook rolled his eyes "Ha! Are you kidding me? You stopped us, yeah? For like five minutes. You see what's happening here right now? You lost" Robin's expression remained the same and she held up three fingers, counting backwards. Three, two, one.
"You didn't take my utility belt"
'Knew it' She scoffed 'How very predictable'
"Wait...you what now?" Hook questioned, Shadow rolled her eyes at the dimwit "You never took my utility belt away, you know the thing that let's us escape." He stated and Hook turned to look around, searching for Shadow before looking at Spider "What is he talking abou—"
"Now!" Robin jumped out as the webs exploded and kicked Hook in the face "Dude! Have I told you I love that belt?" Kid questioned and Robin laughed "What can I say? It's one accessory that goes with everything" Shadow rolled her eyes at the comment, the boy who dressed like a traffic light some point prior to this had no right to give out fashion advice.
Shadow stepped back as chaos ensued, each fighting the other and in between all this Kid ran into the hallway and Shadow followed him into the office building's kitchenette. The woman kept glancing back nervously at the door as Kid Flash kept looking through the fridge "Should you really be concerned with food at a time like this?"
"I didn't get to finish my sandwi—never mind it's a metabolism thing" She shook her head at him "Why are we just sitting here, shouldn't we be running or calling the police?"
Kid kept rummaging through the cupboards, looking for food "Aqualad's got a plan we just sit tight 'til he puts it into effect" He looked over his shoulder as Hook bashed his hook right into the wall above Gonzales' head "So really, you have no idea why these guys targeted you?" She shook her head and Shadow listened, intrigued. She wanted answers before knowing why the hell she was killing a woman. Something about easing her own conscience.
"I just run the company. Why would they target me?"
"Ever heard of Cadmus?" The woman's eyes widened "The research facility? We have a vested business interest, just as they do with a hundred other companies! Are you saying Cadmus is trying to kill me for doing business with them?" She questioned incredulously 'More like trying to kill you for the business you have no idea you have invested in' Shadow thought and sighed, she couldn't let Selena roam. Not matter what she thought, the woman's life would be hell on the run and if she didn't kill her someone else was bound to. All the while Shadow would be questioned by not only Sensei but members of the Light. This was their mission after all.
"No. But someone doesn't. Like who Cadmus is doing business with and apparently you're one of them" Kid spoke and let out a surprised noise when he opened a cupboard "Jeez! What do you own stock in this energy drink or something?" He asked as looked at the cartons of 'Kapow' energy drinks
"Yes...we're a parent company. We own them." Kid muttered to himself as he drank one "Ask a stupid question..." He took several and gulped them down. Shadow heard water whooshing through the pipes and saw Robin grab Kid Flash out and both left Selena, unattended. The woman gazed out the window of the kitchen to see the commotion before gasping at Shadow's reflection "You! You-you're back" She quaked but Shadow remained quiet and inched towards her "Please—please don't hurt me" She begged and Shadow simply gripped her arm tightly, before applying pressure to a singular point in her neck and that was all it took for the woman to crumple into her arms. In an unconscious state, perhaps she wouldn't feel pain. She ruefully stared at the Tantō in her hand. A weapon of warriors used for something so foul.
She glanced back at the scene with the two men down and the boys exclaiming in victory "Dude! Nice" Kid complimented but as she saw Spider and Hook, she figured at least she brought someone to justice by stalling the two just enough so they'd be caught. Her own distorted perception of justice. How she kept wanting to fight a good fight only to end up with more blood on her hands.
Maybe this really had been her true call.
She stared at Selena's body. It had gone cold and she was covered with a sheet by one of the other assailants that had been waiting outside. This would be proof that the job had been done. She stood back, her eyes indicating to the others that she would return later and they left quickly. Soon after she stood near the alleyway as the three heroes walked out with solemn expressions, realising they had failed.
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"POLICE SAY IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL IF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF FARANO ENTERPRISE CEO SELENA GONZALEZ IS IN ANYWAY CONNECTED TO WHAT HAPPENED AT THEIR CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS LAST NIGHT..." The TV in the room was muted but Shadow didn't care. She was drowning in her own silence. Another sleepless night awaited her. Sensei looked at the girl and nodded at her, he held his hand to gently place on her head before immediately taking it off "Hook and Black Spider have escaped. I am glad everything went as it was planned"
She nodded, it was his way of expressing his respect for her on a job well done. She couldn't tell yet, the signs were all there. Cracks beneath the surface. She was meant to be perfect in their eyes. Capable of everything from killing a man to speaking every language.
One small crack didn't mean that she was broken, not yet. She was being put to the test and she didn't fall apart. She couldn't. But she had to learn somehow, life was such a precious thing, so easily broken. There is no perfection, only beautiful versions of brokenness and It was tragic that she recognised her self worth from external validation.
Validation and acceptance from the very people she had come to abhor. Her mind was frazzled, questions lingering everywhere and her heart and ming were never in agreement these days. That was a very dangerous thing for someone in her situation.
"I shall report to the Master" With that he left the room and Shadow stood from the chair leaving as well.
The walls around her were closing in, everything, everyone, everywhere. She wanted to scream. But she couldn't find her own voice. Uneasiness. So she gripped one of her kunai in anger before hitting it directly in the centre of the chair where Sensei had sat. Then walked out. She needed to escape. She always wanted to escape. From her own captivity.
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ONE IN THE MORNING IN GOTHAM CITY. THE LIGHT BREEZE AND THE SILENCE HAD SIGNIFICANTLY CALMED HER. Visions of Selena's dead body had almost been pushed to the back of her head and she began focusing on the book in her hand.
"I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life...I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others—young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life...So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back—" She cut herself off when she heard hurried footsteps approaching and looked to her right to see a distressed Boy Wonder
"Did you know?" He questioned, his gaze on the view upfront. She stared at him, examining his face. She was right about the bruises and with his jaw clenched as tightly as it was, she could see them more clearly. She imagined his teammates and himself must've seen the news. Must've heard how Selena had been now reported as missing. But heroes are always so hopeful, so eager to save the day; she could imagine that his next question might be whether the woman was alive or not. After tonight, she was much to exhausted to save someone else's hopes when her own were shattered.
"You already know the answer to that one" She replied, a dull ache in her head as she rubbed her temple before returning to look at her book but she only saw a scramble of ink and a few alphabets, unable to focus. The book was pulled out of her grasp and thrown away by the other person present on the roof tonight.
"You killed someone" She stared at him with a deadpan "I am sorry I was under the assumption that this is what assassins do" She stood up "Besides it wouldn't be the first time" She spoke in a grave tone.
"You could've stopped it." She remained silent. She knew she couldn't and she would not, so what was the point of denial.
Richard Grayson wasn't a complex personality as opposed to what others may have thought of him. His biggest secret in life were that he was Robin, the crime fighting protege of Batman. Other than that he was pretty much the sad kid who lost his parents and got his life turned upside down. Sure, he had burdens of his own but he was optimistic.
When he first met Shadow, he wasn't exactly prepared for someone at her skill level and his first fight with her could've been his last if she hadn't gripped his cape and prevented him from falling into the Lazarus pit. Whether it was purely out of reflex or out of the fact that she probably wasn't ordered to kill him that night, Dick believed she had some sort of redeemable quality.
It wasn't the first time he thought so, in his many encounters, he would observe her just as the Dark knight had taught him and he saw that she never killed anyone other than the target, she saved someone from a couple of street thugs too.
But he didn't trust her.
Most times the nice guy or somewhat nice guy, wasn't nice, he wasn't kind, respectful or honest. He's usually a chameleon. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
But Dick Grayson wasn't exactly heartless, he sympathised with her. He'd heard stories of the Shadows and could only imagine someone being trained to do one thing their entire life and that had been to kill. So when he saw a glimpse of her in the window at the office, he knew that the two assailants who captured them weren't the only ones present. If only he hadn't been slow enough to realise it, maybe Selena would have been alive today.
He couldn't condone killing someone, no matter how much sympathy he had. Besides he was always someone up for a good confrontation, especially since the guilty had been occupying his favourite spot in Gotham, even though in an agreeable manner.
"You could have done something" He decreed and still kept on talking despite receiving no answer "You could have let her go"
Shadow sighed to herself, he wouldn't stop, no he was basically trying to get something out of her. Some sort of answer, something that would possibly change his entire view of the situation, a lead. But she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of that. Or anything else for that matter
Heroes, always so black and white. If she had let the woman run, the League of assassins would have sent others to hunt her down, then kill her family in retribution for running away, she would've lost everything. Even if she had survived, she be a walking corpse, seeing no point to the life she would've had with a target on her back.
It was a mercy.
"You're really not gonna answer me?" He was fuming by the way his teeth gritted but she wasn't bothered by it. She was enough to make herself feel awful about her own life, she didn't need someone else for that, she simply passed him, their capes lightly rustling in the wind, and bent to pick up the book he had tossed carelessly "I am not answerable to you. Your rules entail I do not have to speak if I do not wish to" She taunted.
She took in a deep breath before standing on the edge she usually sat on "For what could have been or what I could have done. I did what I had to" She tilted her face slightly and paused looking at him over her shoulder.
"Not all of us have a choice"
With that she flipped off leaving the Boy Wonder looking down at the ground, feeling even worse about everything that had happened so far.
Please vote and comment. ♡
Author's notes: Tie in comics that later blend into the season sounded way more fun to write and gives me more time to develop the plot.
Confused character with inner conflicts and severe issues that they can't recognise is kinda Shadow's whole vibe...idk. Feel free to comment any suggestions or thoughts.