***
We needed to get more information about Rachel, but it was clear that Adamson wouldn't give us anything. He was extremely loyal to this Organization and after almost an hour of attempting to get information out of him, our patience was running thin. And after his little resurrection stunt with Rachel we all felt a sense of uncertainty.
Kory who was leaning against the bathroom wall studied Adamson closely the familiar look of mild disinterest on her face. "How did you know she could do that?"
"I know everything about her. She will purify the world." Adamson replied cynically a crazed look in his eyes. His response left me unsure if he believed what he was saying or was taking us as fools.
"There's a prophecy that says Rachel will destroy the world."
Kory's statement only seemed to anger the man who arm was currently being twisted behind him back by Dick. And no matter the pain he seemed to be in, it also didn't seem to be enough to motivate him to speak anything useful. "An interpretation based on fear."
"What do you want with Rachel?" I questioned, although it was clear that it was something relating to her powers the words he was speaking seemed religious. I almost wondered if he was brainwashed himself.
"She will purify the world." He repeated.
Dick applied more pressure to the man's arm but his defiance made it clear that he wasn't going to speak. I was surprised when Dick's eyes met mine as he released the man stepping aside. "Cheyenne?"
A small smile tugged on my lips as I simply wrapped my hand around his wrist. "Now, I'm not going ask again. What do you want with Rachel?"
He looked at me defiantly until he began to scream out in pain from the electricity that was now running through my fingertips. When he began gasping for breath I lowered my voltage to what was only a mild sting allowing him to speak. "To reunite her with her father."
"Who is he?" Kory asked eagerly. "Where is he?
"I don't know. I swear. You can't stop him. Angela couldn't. Melissa couldn't." He continued hurriedly grinding his teeth together from the pain as I amplified the electricity that was running from me to him. In the reflection in the glass behind him I could see the reflection of my electric blue eyes shinning back at me, the realization that I felt nothing in torturing this man sinking in. "No one can keep Rachel from him."
Kory stepped forward now leaving her place against the wall, as Dick stood silently watching. "Who's Angela? You said she couldn't keep Rachel from him. Who is Angela?"
"Her mother. Angela is her mother."
"Now we're getting somewhere." Kory stated as she met my eyes with excitement. "Let's talk." about Angela.
Adamson became suddenly forthcoming with all the information that we asked of him. I could only wonder how we would tell all of this to Rachel, this was extremely heavy news for her to hear. Although once Dick had gathered all of us together he decided that going straight forward was the best way to navigate this situation. "He says your birth mother is still alive."
"What?" Rachel said he voice barely a whisper, though I completely understood her reaction. I couldn't imagine what she must be thinking in discovering the woman who she believed was her birth mother wasn't, only to find out that her real mother was still alive.
"He claims they've been holding her prisoner. He may be lying."
"He says your mother's name is Angela Azarath." I began, giving her the information that I knew she wanted to know. "They're holding her at an abandoned asylum. According to him, they want to keep you away from her."
Rachel still seemed mildly dazed, but hearing that they wanted to keep her away from her brother seemed to snap her back to reality. "Why?"
"Some more blabber about Rachel's father and his divine mission. I don't know." Kory continued not attempting to hide the uneasiness in her voice. An uneasiness that I shared, there was something about this situation that still didn't sit well with me. "Sounds like your mother isn't a fan."
"My mom's alive. I could meet my mom." Rachel began with hope burning in her eyes as she stood. "We have to go. Now."
"Even if he is telling the truth about mother, this is clearly some sort of trap." I stated all too familiar with how the minds of these kinds of people worked. "Or maybe all of this is part of their plan."
"Cheyenne's right. At best, we would be marching into an enemy stronghold." Dick continued to argue through I had the feeling that any reasonable thought wouldn't register in Rachel's mind. Possibly due to the fact that if I was in her place I would do everything in my power to attempt to get my mother back. I've made my own stupid mistakes in the past, mistakes that had terrible consequences but also enlightened me about who I really was. "You've seen what these people can do. No one's going anywhere until we take some time for recon."
As predicted Rachel stubbornly shook her head, a panicked look in her eyes. "What if they move her? They know we have him."
"I'm not risking all of our lives on his word." Dick replied sternly. "I'm sorry."
Rachel turned to meet my eyes and whatever she saw in them was enough to tell her that I wouldn't be on her side, causing her to move on to Kory. Although a part of me hatred to disappoint her, the risk were simply too high. "Tell him he's wrong."
"I wish I could." Kory began in a calm tone. "You know how I hate to agree with him, but..."
"All you ever talk about is finding out who you are." Rachel exclaimed her frustration palpable as she turned towards the only person she knew would take her side no matter what. "You think we should go. Right, Gar? Gar?"
Gar who had been avoiding Rachel's gaze finally looked up from his hands, an apologetic look in his eyes that I found surprising. A part of me was sure that he would be the one to take her side not only because they quickly became friends but because it was clear that he was getting feeling for her. "I'm sorry, Rachel."
Rachel took one last look at the four of us before storming upstairs, soon followed by a guilty looking Gar. I honestly expected this to go a lot worse than it really did, especially knowing what Rachel could do when she got upset or angry.
***
"What are the chances our two geniuses haven't gotten caught yet?" Kory questioned as we looked out towards the supposedly abandoned building. There was no doubt in my mind that they were captured, there was no point in attempting to be optimistic about the situation. I personally couldn't believe that we were stupid enough not to have kept a closer eye on the two teenagers.
"Next security sweep is in ten minutes." Dick replied instead, a look of determination on his face. "Let's go."
"I can't believe I'm going to willingly walk into an asylum after I just escaped from one." I said under my breath, though I was mostly voicing my thoughts. After being locked up in Arkham for several months without the freedom that I deeply cherished I was sure I was going to become as mad as they believed me to be. And now I was walking through the underground tunnel system of an abandoned asylum.
Kory turned towards me with wide eyes, her interest clearly peaked. "You were in an asylum?"
"Long story." I replied dismissively, not only wasn't it the right time but although I tended to joke about my time in Arkham it wasn't a period in my life that I like to talk about often.
"One that I want to hear. Sounds exciting."
"Later. You two focus." Dick ordered as we continued through the tunnel and as we did I began to notice something. Or the lack of it causing me to come to a stop. It was something that I was surprised I hadn't noticed sooner. The electricity that ran through the walls called out to the electricity running through my veins. It was a sensation that I always felt everywhere I went, but was missing now. "Chey?"
"Weird." I muttered to myself as I looked more closely at the walls and at the lights along them. The realization of this detail creating an unsettling feeling in my stomach. "This part of the building isn't run by electricity."
This new bit of information seemed to worry Dick or at least cause him to rethink our our entire plan. Although we had intensively done our research on the entire building this little detail seemed to have slipped our notice.
Suddenly on one end of the tunnel Gar appeared wheeled in by a pair of guards. Although it was dark it was clear that he was unconscious in that wheelchair the sight alone was enough to spike my anger. But we didn't have much time to process Gar's current situation as the sound of heels had the three of us turning towards the other end of the tunnel where a woman was standing surrounded by three security guards.
"Don't worry. He's just taking a little nap. We've got the girl, too." The woman stated confidently as one of the men raised a gun at Gar's head. "I don't want to kill either of them, but if you make a move, I will give the order."
Kory without a second thought raised her arm an orange glow consuming her as she was about to use her powers, instantly Dick placed a hand on her arm stopping her. "Kory, wait. Gas lines. You'll burn us all up."
"We aren't really going to let ourselves be captured?" I questioned in disbelief, the idea itself seemed too risky. We had no idea if we would be able to escape if we did, but the look on Dick's face confirmed he had already made up his mind. "You can't be serious."
"They'll kill Gar." He argued as he an Kory raised their hands up in surrender.
"I'm going to kill Gar and Rachel when we get out of here." I muttered as I reluctantly raised my hands in the air. When the guards approached us with handcuff I had to swallow the urge to laugh, they couldn't possibly believe that this thing would be able to contain us in anyway. "Handcuffs?" I questioned with a chuckle as I held my wrist out towards one of the guards. "You know handsome I have a pair of my own."
I guard stood stiffly as he placed the handcuffs around my wrist. The instant the metal closed around my wrist a blue glow shinned from them immediately followed by a burning sensation. It felt like the cuffs were not only burning into my skin but also the energy from me. In that moment I realized that I no longer felt the exhilaration charge of electricity running through me. "What the hell?"
"Metahuman dampeners." The woman replied with satisfaction, and if it weren't for the fact that I was currently handcuffed, powerless and there was a gun pointed at Gar I would be killing her at the moment. "Stolen prototypes from S.T.A.R. Labs."
"Fuck S.T.A.R. Labs." I muttered annoyed at the fact that they would create such a device, even if the reasonable part of me understood their purpose. As always the unreasonable part of me won over and was irritated that there now existed an object that could contain my abilities.
It wasn't before long that Dick, Kory and I were separated. The thought brought me dread knowing that our chances of planning any sort of escape had decreased drastically. And now I was strapped down on a steel table surrounded by doctors and scientist. My heart began to beat erratically in my chest knowing what was coming next. From the instruments played out on tables to the doctors in scrubs I knew they were going to be testing me.
"I have to say when they told me they were giving me a subject to study on, I didn't expect that subject to be one of Gotham City's sirens." One of the doctors stated as he looked down at his scalpel with care, the eagerness in his voice revolting. "Blackout. They've named you. I ask why?"
"Don't worry you'll find out when I get out of these cuffs." I replied attempting to keep my voice as even as possible, the thought of death was better than giving them the satisfaction that they caused me any sort of fear.
"Let's see if like her friend in the other room she heals." He addressed the others as he gently placed the scalpel on my forearm. The fear that I felt to myself now extended towards the others, I didn't even want to imagine the things they would be doing to them.
As they cut into my skin I bit back a scream unwilling to give them such a sign of weakness. The anger that was building up in me felt like it could no longer be contained as I turned towards the head scientist feeling as my blood flowed down my arm. "I can't heal if you're dampening my powers. You idiots."
The scientist smiled as he looked over at the other scientist in the room. "Prepare the water tank. Let's test her weaknesses first."
It wasn't until I was above the water tank that I began to struggle against the restraints that held me, the feeling of fear and helplessness beginning to take over. A helplessness that I hadn't felt since the night that I met Bruce and Dick only this time I knew that I wasn't going to be saved from this. And as I was being submerged into the water I held my breath for as long as I could, but the instinct to breath won over instantly filling my lungs with water. My lungs quickly began to burn from the pressure, and the lack of air was causing my vision to blur as I was swallowed by darkness.
***
It wasn't before long that I felt another type of pressure on my chest, allowing with a familiar voice that I couldn't place through the ringing in my ears. There was some part of me that had accepted my fate and was fine with simply resisting to pull to react to the consistent pressure on my chest. Though my body seemed to have made the decision for me as my lungs were suddenly emptied of water.
I heard my name being called out to me by different voices, the panic I heard from them was possibly the only thing that motivated me to open my eyes. Dick was the closest, and from the relieved look on his face I could only wonder how long it took for them to get me to come back. "Hey. Are you okay?"
"Define okay." I said attempting to sit up, but the burning in my lungs didn't allow for much movement. That was when I noticed that I still had the cuffs around my wrist, a frantic fear returning. "Someone get these things off of me!"
"I got the keys!" Gar declared as he rushed over to me unlocking the cuffs, and the instant that they fell beside me the lights began to flicker as I tested my abilities. A sigh of relief escaped my lips at the sight of the blue electricity that was running through my fingertips, my energy slowly returning back to me. Dick helped me to my feet a bitter cold hitting my wet skin. My clothes sticking to my body uncomfortably as I finally took in the room around me.
All the scientist and doctors were scattered unconscious around the room. But I was only looking for one, and unfortunately for him he was the only one that was semi-conscious. Moving away from the others I headed towards the man getting a hold of the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the wall.
"You wanted to know why they call me Blackout? Here's why." I said through gritted teeth as my hand tightened around his neck, the electricity flowing through my fingers causing the man to convulse under my touch. Though the instinct to kill him was strong, the persistent voice in the back of my mind reminded me that I couldn't do it. That vengeance was not justice. I released the man then as he fell unconscious on the floor. "Night. Night. Asshole."
Dick approached me as he looked down at the unconscious man lying at my feet. "Is he..."
"No." I replied immediately, my anger slowly beginning to drain away to the point that i simply felt exhaustion. "Batman isn't the only one with the no killing rule."
"Come on. We can get out through there." The woman who I assumed had to be Rachel's mother urged us from the doorway. Without a second though we all followed her out into the hallway. For a brief moment I found it odd that she knew exactly where to go as she led us down the asylum halls, but that suspicion was instantly clouded over by the need to get out of this place. "Hurry."
***