018
— september 1, 1989 —
THE SOUND OF GUNFIRE FILLED THE COLD AIR OF GOTHAM, SIRENS AND SHOUTING ACCOMPANYING IT. Hazel and the others raced through the streets, dodging past police and military patrolling the streets. They reached the street the men on the radio were speaking about, military grade police vehicles blocking both ends of the road, another car stuck in the middle, the police focussing their fire there.
They hid behind a building, looking out to the police barrier just ahead of them. Hazel looked around, counting the officers. "We could just burst through the front," Terran said with a shrug.
"Yeah, then the other side has time to notice and shoot us," Hazel said, turning to look at Terran, tilting her head to one side.
"I'd Hazel lead this one, Dick's been letting her lead," Gar spoke up, explaining quickly. Rachel looked at Hazel and smiled, nodding softly.
"Rachel you gonna take the centre, they'll try to run down the sides to get out, Gar you take one side, Cole, can you take the other?" Cole nodded softly and Hazel smiled. "Terran, you have to move these cars, get the road clear."
"What about the other side?" Terran asked, leaning closer to Rachel to peer over her shoulder.
"I'll take care of that," Hazel nodded. "I'll give you a signal, you'll know it."
Gar nodded and moved toward the right side. Terran squeezed Cole's shoulder before he ran towards the right side, ducking behind a car. Hazel nodded at Rachel before she ran off, weaving between the police cars.
Rachel and Terran stayed tucked behind the building until all the lights on the block suddenly went dark, at the click of Hazel's fingers. Rachel stood, her arms spread as her magic spread across the road, grabbing the soldiers and pulling them back into the darkness. The magic spread further, forming a barrier around Donna, Tim and his parents caught in the centre of it all.
Terran stepped forward, pulling from the sounds of Rachel's magic to push through the barrier of cars, crushing the frames and clearing the roads. Some men ran down the sides, but Gar simply had to roar, and the men collapsed, Cole just flicked his fingers, zapping a shock of electricity through the police officers knocking them unconscious.
At the other end of the road, Hazel had crumbled the cars beneath thick vines and shot her light through the soldiers, knocking them to the ground. Hazel turned back to the others, Rachel gave her a small nod and Hazel flicked her fingers the vines tugging the cars off the road. Hazel walked back to Rachel, waving her hand willing the lights to return.
She turned back to the group by the car and smiled at Donna, who looked just as happy. The green tiger walked out letting out a deep rumble as he walked towards Donna. She smiled and shook her head softly. "Why don't you get out of that fur suit and come say hi?" Donna hollered and Gar ran back.
"Jeez, you look good for someone who's undead," Rachel called with a smile.
"Yeah, well, I had some help," Donna spoke with a smile, her hand moving to squeeze Terran's arm. Rachel pulled Donna into a hug, laughing to herself. Donna stepped back and nodded at Hazel and her two siblings beside her. "You three look good. Who's the boy?"
Hazel smiled at Cole and crossed her arms over her chest. "Final addition to the family, I hope," Hazel muttered with a smile.
"Cole Martin, the middle child," Cole smiled and shook Donna's hand.
"Aye, I stick by point though," Terran spoke up and Donna raised her eyebrows. "Paradise Island still sucks," Terran huffed.
Donna chuckled softly, "Lydia told me that you guys held vigil for me. I really appreciate that."
"Well, it probably did more for me than it did for you, but, hey, I tried," Rachel shrugged.
"Funny how that works, huh? Though she did mention a broken puzzle box," Donna teased and Terran shrugged softly. Gar ran around one of the blockades, still fixing the sleeves of his jumper. "Hey, kiddo."
"If it ain't Wonder Girl, the sequel?" Gar chuckled, running to Donna and hugging her tight. Gar stepped back, a large smile on his face.
Rachel sighed softly and looked back over her shoulder. "We have to go. Dick sent us to find you. There's something going down with Crane," Rachel explained.
"I think we're going to need a minute," Donna mumbled looking over her shoulder back at Tim and his family.
He spoke with them quietly for a few moments before Hazel walked toward them, placing a hand on Tim's back as she walked to his side. "Am I taking him with me?" Hazel asked, looking between Tim and his mother.
"I didn't really want to, but I know my little boy can do whatever he puts his mind to," His mother praised, and Tim cursed, embarrassed burning his cheeks. "But when you waited for him in surgery, I knew I could let him go." Tim smiled and hugged his mother tightly, his dad patting his shoulder.
"I'll keep him safe," Hazel promised.
Tim turned back to Hazel, fist bumping her as they started to walk over to the others. "You didn't call," Hazel scolded.
"I died," Tim defended.
Hazel shrugged, "Eh, I do that all the time." They stopped beside Donna and Tim greeted Terran with a swift nod. "Let's..." Hazel trailed off as her phone began to ring. Hazel pulled her phone out, flashing it to the others, Dick Grayson. "Hey," Hazel greeted quickly.
"You get to Donna?" Dick asked, his voice quick.
"In one piece, Tim Drake is also here we'll explain later," Hazel said just as fast. "No Conner though. Just kryptonite dust."
Dick sighed softly, "I know where he and Kory are, we need to re-group somewhere."
Hazel turned her phone away, turning her attention to the others. "We need a place to regroup," Hazel explained. "Not your mom's, we need equipment."
"I know a place," Tim said quickly, and Donna nodded.
"Tim's got a place," Hazel said, pressing the phone to her ear. "I'll send you the address."
April 3rd, 2021
6:37 am
Tim led the others to his garage, the entire space filled with detective boards and computer equipment. Barely five minutes after entering, Barbra called Hazel's phone and they were joined by Dick, Kory, Conner and Komand'r on another call. Dick explained how Scarecrow thought of this as a game, placing bombs around the city ready to blow but he had left clues behind as almost a taunt to get Barbra or Dick to do something.
Tim, Cole and Gar printed out everything Dick said they may need and another ten minutes later, Dick walked through the doors, the others close behind. Dick gave them each a station and a part of the poem Crane was using as clues, a map to each bomb's locations.
Dick got off the phone with Barbra once again and stepped into the centre of the room, looking around for a moment before walking towards Gar. "Gar, what do you know?"
"I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street," Gar read aloud before motioning across the map he set up. "There's like 20 dive bars near 52nd Street."
Dick sighed his eyes tracing over the map. "Narrow it down. Find the one," Dick ordered before moving to Terran and Rachel. "Hey, what you guys got?"
"Line 76, Who can reach the deaf? Who can speak for the dumb?," Terran read as she held a print of the poem. "Gotham School for the Deaf is at the corner of Machine and tenth."
"But there are also four branches of the Wayne Institute for Child Development," Rachel added. "Each with a program for disabled kids, including the deaf. Do you think he'd target them because of Bruce's connection?"
"Find the one closest to midtown," Dick ordered and Terran looked over the map again. "Near hotels, hospitals, apartment buildings. He'd want maximum damage." Dick moved on to Conner and Komand'r. "Guys, anything?"
"The name Nijinksy comes up in line 59," Blackfire relayed, displaying the paper.
"So far, we found a restaurant, a performing arts centre and about 12 private residences," Conner said.
"The arts centre is only a block from here," Dick said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Maybe some X-ray vision for a quick sweep?"
"I could try, but if Crane's got the bombs in lead containers..."
"Let's hope he doesn't," Dick nodded. He stepped away from them and moved to Cole and Tim. "Found anything?"
Tim looked up form the book, tracing the lines of the poem with his finger. "Whose buildings grope the sky," Tim read.
"There are nearly twenty buildings in Gotham that reach the skyline, Bruce holds shares in ten of them and owns three," Cole relayed.
"Look for any that overlap," Dick ordered and Cole nodded. He moved to Hazel who scribbled over a notepad. "Haze? Please."
"The lights must never go out, The music must always play," Hazel muttered, the cap to a pen between her teeth. She spat it up and caught it in her palm. "Fifteen music centres and a hundred and three entertainment centres that housed music. I looked into it and forty of those stay on all year."
"Any run by Wayne enterprises?" Dick questioned, crossing his arms.
"No, but three of the charities he invests in connect to at least ten different centres," Hazel countered.
"Look for any personal connections," Dick instructed. "Stuff Bruce hasn't gone public about."
Hazel nodded and flipped to a new page. She stopped however and looked up at Dick. "I know I've done some wild shit recently, but I hope you still respect me and my opinion when I say this. This is a waste of time."
"We have to keep trying-"
"You sound like Bruce, or what I imagine he would sound like when Batman-ing." Hazel stopped and looked around. "My point is you are Batman's son and Bruce's last words to you were to be a better Batman. Crane doing the same thing to you he did to him."
"Barbra and I may as well be Jim and Bruce," Dick sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Hazel sighed and glanced up at Kory and Donna, looking over the books they were reading through. She raced to Kory's side and took the book from her hands.
Kory glanced at her, "It's the myths on resurrection. Gar was reading into it."
Hazel's eyes skimmed over the page, her fingers tracing the word Lazarus. "Out of the ash, I rise with my red hair, And I eat men like air," Hazel muttered. "I have an idea." Hazel turned the book to face Dick. "What if we poured this over the city, reviving the people Cranes already killed. Rachel could absorb the nightmares so everyone wakes up happy and well rested."
"What about the people stuck inside buildings?" Kory questioned.
Hazel tapped her fingers against the paper, nodding to herself. "Terran, Cole and I could grow flowers, pump it into the air."
"Like rain in a storm," Kory mumbled.
"That's well and good, what about Crane?" Donna asked.
"I have an idea," Dick muttered. "Hazel come with me." Dick turned for the stairs, Hazel chasing after him. They stepped out onto the streets and turned back to her, pocketing his phone after he messaged someone. "Barbra can hack into the Manor security, but it needs a door in. Gar turns into a bat and flies into the top window, lets Babra in."
"Okay, solid idea, what about the police? You can't exactly get anywhere near the property line," Hazel reminded, and Dick nodded softly.
"Yeah, but you know who can? Jason and you." Hazel's eyes widened as she stared up at Dick. "Crane knows everything about Jason, which means he knows you and knows you're not my biggest fan."
"Dick-"
"You'll blend in enough to get inside. You two go in, handle the police," Dick continued. "Police are cleared out, I'll come in and take care of Crane. He goes to Arkham and we get a good night's sleep."
The rev of a bike engine made Hazel turn, facing Jason sitting atop his black bike, his clothes far more casual than she had seen in the past few days. "I'll message you when we're ready, Cole and Tim will keep you updated on everything."
Hazel turned back to Dick, "Are you doing this because you trust him or are you doing this for me?"
Dick stopped for a moment and sighed, "I'm doing this because you trust him, and I trust you."
Hazel nodded and stepped away, walking over to Jason. "I bought a helmet if you want it," Jason said, motioning to the helmet strapped to the rack. Hazel shook her head and pulled herself onto the small backseat, her arms wound around his torso. "I have to do a couple rounds, make sure we're not being followed."
Hazel hummed softly and rested her chin against Jason's shoulder, her cheek pressed against the black helmet. "Sure thing Jay." Jason revved the engine and sped off.
— rage —