JLU 2001 Fanfiction - Task Force X #19

Previously in TASK FORCE X: The actions of Cheshire have sparked a war between Checkmate and the Strong Arm of Humanity, a group of fanatics with an intense hatred of meta-humans. The Strong Arm of Humanity wants revenge for the murders of several of their members, putting them on the trail of various Task Force X members. At the same time, Task Force X discovered a list of meta-human targets in the Strong Arm of Humanity’s digital files, prompting them to upgrade the group’s threat level and their need to shut them down.

With the telepathic assistance of J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, Task Force X was able to retrieve the location of the Director of the Strong Arm of Humanity from the head of a Strong Arm member named Nora. Task Force X, alongside Sergeant Steel, the Black King of Checkmate, set out to take the Director into custody.

Two other Strong Arm members, Preston Varner and Drew MacKenzie, had meanwhile initiated an investigation to track down those responsible for the massacre in Chicago. They discovered video footage placing Doctor Polaris at the scene of the crime, which in turn led them to Amanda Waller, the woman responsible for his release from prison. Although Waller stonewalled their investigation, Varner and MacKenzie seemingly discovered Cheshire was responsible for the massacre and kidnapped her daughter, Lian. How they gained this information is currently unknown. When Varner began to crack under the pressure of his actions, however, MacKenzie killed him. He is currently on the run, Lian still in his possession. On their trail: Arsenal and Cheshire, Lian’s parents.

And, of course, there is Amanda Waller, the White Queen of Checkmate, who has been playing games of her own including sending a new Suicide Squad to assassinate the ruler of Qatar. Waller has been suspiciously quiet recently, but what was that the Director of the Strong Arm of Humanity insinuated about Waller playing a role in instituting him as leader of the organization? Something fishy is going on.

It all comes to a head here…

Motel 6
New Brunswick, New Jersey

When Scottie Edgerton heard the bell chime and looked up to glimpse the new arrivals, he immediately knew there was going to be trouble. Working the front desk at a small, rundown motel was risky; Scottie had been held up at gunpoint twice in the last six weeks. The barely functioning security cameras failed to deter robbers and thieves, and Scottie was too afraid of inflicting harm on himself to arm himself; he refused to even touch the shotgun hidden under the counter. Unsurprisingly, there was always a certain level of on-the-job danger Scottie had to endure, but the two individuals standing before him—one man and one woman—looked like they were looking for a fight. They both had murder in their eyes.

“We’re looking for a little girl,” the man said. Although he was dressed in a full-length trench coat, Scottie swore he could make out the bulge of some kind of weapon in the man’s breast pocket.

The woman slid a photograph, worn over time, across the front desk. “She would have been with a single man in his early thirties,” the woman clarified.

Scottie could barely suppress a shiver. Someone had angered this duo greatly, that much was clear. Scottie leaned forward slowly and methodically to examine the photograph. In the picture was a young girl who bore a striking resemblance to the woman standing before him. It’s her daughter, Scottie assumed. “I, uh…I haven’t seen this girl,” Scottie stuttered, standing upright.

“Are you positively sure?” the woman asked, teeth gritted in frustration. She looked ready to pounce until the man at the woman’s side placed a hand on her shoulder. The woman visibly relaxed at his touch, and then just as quickly shrugged his hand away.

“We don’t get too many kids in this motel,” Scottie elaborated. “I would have remembered seeing her.”

“A…friend of mine told me she saw them here,” the man said. “She told me the man rented a room yesterday.”

“That may be, but—”

“The girl was kidnapped,” the man interjected. “She’s very important to us and she was taken against her will right out of her home.”

Scottie paused, his eyes widening. “You’re serious,” he said after a moment.

“Deadly,” the woman replied.

Scottie rubbed his chin for a moment. “Well, it’s against company policy, but I guess I can check my records for you. Do you know the man’s name?”

The man’s head drooped. “We don’t.” He then looked up with a renewed purpose. “I did notice your security cameras, though. Does the system extend throughout the entire establishment?”

“Our cameras are finicky at best,” Scottie replied with a shrug. “Some days are better than others in terms of reception and retention.”

“So they could be helpful,” the man said. He was glaring now, though his eyes betrayed the slight bit of hope he was feeling. His hand was resting on the bulge in his coat.

Scottie took a step back. He swallowed hard. “M-maybe, but I can’t show them to you. They’re for employees’ eyes only.”

In retrospect, Scottie would realize that his last statement was definitely the wrong thing to say. Before Scottie knew what was happening, the woman had growled and hurled herself over the front desk. Her body collided with Scottie’s and the pair collapsed to the dirty floor. Scottie yelped, scrambled out from under the woman, and skittered across the ground, desperate to escape. Unfortunately for him, the woman moved faster, was on her feet in moments, and laid her heel across the crux of his neck. Scottie halted immediately.

“Jade!” the man that accompanied her exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing?” He had half-jumped over the desk himself when Jade whirled around, stopping him mid-jump with a look of bloodlust.

“Getting answers,” she shot back. “Step back, Roy.”

Scottie whimpered and felt a warm stream begin to moisten the front of his cargo shorts.

“If you like breathing,” Jade said to Scottie, applying pressure to the back of his neck, “I would suggest you begin cooperating to the fullest extent possible. I want my daughter back, and I want her now.”

XXX

Sarge Steel America's Personal Meta-Team...

:Division of Checkmate

“Hell to Pay”

Masterminds: Part One

Task Force X #19 - June, Year Six by Matt Hrubey

XXX

The black Suburban weaved gracefully through traffic, moving like an oil slick through water. Interstate 495 was packed with vehicles, as always, but that did not deter the Checkmate agent driving the Suburban. He moved from lane to lane to bypass slow-moving vehicles, barely slowing down himself. Despite the congestion of traffic, however, it was clear to the passengers in the Suburban that the driver was in complete control. Well, all but one passenger.

Beatriz DaCosta swallowed hard; her eyes were jammed shut for dear life. “We’re gonna die,” she whispered. “We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die…”

“We’re not going to die,” Dinah Lance said, followed by a blatant roll of the eyes. “You’re being overdramatic, Bea.”

“He’s moving so fast,” Beatriz replied, though Dinah quickly realized it was not a response. Beatriz had not even heard Dinah’s statement; she was lost in the moment.

“You better not throw up in the car,” Dinah said before shifting her weight and tuning into the other conversation taking place in the cabin of the Suburban.

“—should reconsider a front assault, Sarge,” Captain Atom was saying to the Black King of Checkmate, Sergeant Steel. “The fact that the Director’s own people don’t know his or her identity tells me we’re dealing with someone very calculated and meticulous. Capturing this person is too important to risk their escape with covert tactics.”

Steel pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Nate, we’ve had this discussion too many times already. We’re not having a battle in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue! You must be out of your mind for even considering it.”

Captain Atom shot back, “Sarge, the bigger national security threat is these people escaping.”

Steel shook his head. “I’m not sure I agree with that statement, and I know there are others above my pay grade that don’t agree. For a variety of reasons, we can’t risk inciting a panic in downtown Washington. The results could be catastrophic.”

“Politically, you mean.”

“Excuse me?” Steel asked.

“The president doesn’t want a panic because it could reflect poorly on his administration and hurt his chances at reelection.”

Dinah interjected, “I’m pretty sure the president’s decision to have Amanda Waller run the Department of Meta-Human Affairs already reflects poorly on his administration.”

Although Steel smirked, Dinah knew her quip had been ill-timed. Captain Atom shot her a look of annoyance. She put up her hands in a sign of surrender and sat back, content to remain silent for the remainder of the car ride.

“If you’re so concerned about people escaping the building,” Steel said, “then you can be on reconnaissance duty. You’ll maintain a position overhead and scoop up anyone who gets past the rest of us. You’ll be supplemented by Checkmate agents and local law enforcement on the ground.”

“Sarge, I really think I’d be better off—”

“I’m not asking you to think, Nate!” Steel exclaimed. “You will do as you’re told, soldier. Drop this issue now. That’s an order.”

Captain Atom’s silver skin took on a duller tone as his anger escalated. Just when it seemed he was going to lash out at his commanding officer, Nate turned away and locked his eyes on the interstate whipping by outside his window.

Dinah’s phone began to ring at this most opportune of times. She reached into the pocket of her Checkmate-issued jacket and extracted the small device. Dinah checked the caller ID and knew immediately who was on the other line. “O, this isn’t the best of times. I’m heading into the field.”

“This will only take a minute,” responded the modulated voice of Barbara Gordon, the information broker, Oracle. “I wanted to give you a heads up. Roy Harper contacted me and asked that I track down a man he claims to have kidnapped his daughter.”

Dinah’s eyes widened. “Lian’s been kidnapped?”

“So it seems,” Oracle replied, “and now he’s working with Cheshire to get her back.”

Following a sigh, Dinah said, “Thanks for the update, O. If you talk to Roy again, tell him I’ll rendezvous with him and his psycho ex when I’m finished with my current mission.”

“Will do. Good luck, Dinah.”

“Thanks,” Dinah replied. “Canary out.” As she shut her phone, Dinah realized all eyes in the Suburban were on her. She looked over at Steel and said, “It looks like Cheshire is back on the board.”

Sergeant Steel’s response was to sit back in his seat and roll his eyes. “Great. That’s just what I need today.”

The wooden door shattered under the force of Cheshire’s kick. As she slowly lowered her leg back to the ground, her senses were taking in the interior of the motel room where, at some point recently, her daughter had been held captive. It was immediately clear, however, that Lian and her kidnapper were no longer there.

“Jesus, Jade,” Roy said, stepping past her into the motel room. “The guy gave us a key to the room. Is the collateral damage really necessary?”

“Feel free to pay for it if you care so much,” Jade responded emotionlessly, stepping into the room. Her eyes glanced back and forth, taking in the details of the room; she saw the crumbled sheets where a body had laid, the half-full garbage can of pop cans and empty chip bags, the muddy footprints inside the doorway. “They haven’t cleaned the room yet.”

Roy was also looking around the room, but he was more consumed by the squalor of the small area. “I’m not convinced they were ever going to clean the room. Gross.”

Cheshire spun toward her ex-lover, her fingers arched like talons. “Will you be serious, Roy?! Our daughter is missing.”

Arms up, palms toward Cheshire in a defensive manner, Roy responded, “You think I don’t know that? It’s killing me that we haven’t found her yet.”

“Then start acting like you care,” Jade shot back before turning away and resuming her search.

Roy’s mouth fell open. Had Cheshire just insinuated that he didn’t care about his own daughter, the love of his life? Roy’s hands became fists, quickly whitening at the knuckles, and he considered lashing out. Before doing so, however, he realized how unhelpful such a reaction would be. Jade was right; Lian was still missing and they needed to find her sooner than later. Roy’s body relaxed and he opted to try a productive course of action. “Will any of this stuff tell us where they went?”

“You know, for a superhero, you’re rather inept,” Cheshire muttered.

“Hey!” Roy said. “I’m not inept, just inexperienced. I usually left the detective work to Nightwing.”

Cheshire shook her head in disgust. “No, I don’t anticipate this room leading to a particular place, but it may give us an idea about the kind of man the meat is who took Lian.”

Roy nodded to convey his understanding. He had just begun to take a step and inspect his surroundings when there was a soft knock at the door. Arsenal and Cheshire both whirled around, their bodies assuming offensive positions.

Scottie, the front desk operator, jumped and began to breathe heavily. “T-There is a phone call for you two up in the office,” he said.

Roy glanced at Jade, a confused look on his face. “Who even knows we’re here besides Oracle?” Roy asked, to which Jade shrugged.

“I don’t know who it is,” Scottie interjected, “but they said they know where you can find your daughter.”

The building on Pennsylvania Avenue that allegedly housed the Strong Arm of Humanity national headquarters was indistinguishable from those surrounding it. It had multiple floors and an unassuming frontage, as did most of the office buildings and museums that lined Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the United States Capitol.

Sergeant Steel sat in a coffee shop across the street from his team’s destination, his body hunched as if reading the newspaper in his lap. In reality, Steel was visually scrutinizing the exterior of the building, looking for anything that could help or hinder his team’s infiltration. He reached up nonchalantly and tapped the translucent earpiece in his ear. “Captain, report,” he muttered.

The voice of Captain Atom responded almost immediately. “I’m up on an adjacent rooftop, Sarge. I see nothing.”

Steel glanced at his watch. “It’s approximately 20:00 hours. By this point even the late workers will have headed home. There should be very few non-Strong Arm personnel remaining inside. Pat, are you online?”

“I’m here,” replied Patrick Dugan, the Black Bishop of Checkmate and the Black King’s advisor. “I received authorization to utilize a DoD satellite and I have it trained over top the building. I’ve got minimal movement as well. The place is quiet.”

“Are we concerned that the Director might not be here?” the Black Canary chimed in.

“It’s a possibility,” Steel replied. “Fire, what do you got?”

“I can see the thermal signatures of everyone inside,” Beatriz DaCosta replied. “There are not many people inside, but there’s a small cluster to the northeast side of the building. I’d bet money that’s our target.”

Steel stood up, folded his newspaper, and headed for the coffee shop exit. “Okay, people, the op is officially green. Canary, Fire, converge on me at the front entrance. The supplemental Checkmate agents should be in place, maintaining a two-block radius as requested. Pat, you’re our eyes for the duration of the operation. Don’t let me down. Captain, be ready to move if I say so.”

After receiving affirmative responses from all parties, Steel stepped out into the warm Washington evening and began crossing Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Citadel
Moments Before

“I read you loud and clear, Black King,” said Patrick Dugan, formerly known as the hero S.T.R.I.P.E. “Be careful. I’ll be in touch.”

The connection terminated, Pat leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the computer console before him. He wasn’t overly concerned about the safety of the Black King or the members of Task Force X. Frankly, the Strong Arm of Humanity was no Doomsday or Darkseid; they were simply fanatics with no special abilities, just debilitating hatred. He took a swig of his soda and settled back to wait as the operation commenced.

“Get your feet down,” a voice said that nearly caused Pat to choke on the soda in his mouth. A shiver ran down his spine. “This isn’t your playpen. That’s American tax dollars you’re using as a doormat.”

Placing his feet on the ground, Pat turned in his chair. “Since when did you become such a steward of the American public, Amanda? It’s so unlike you given your tendency to use taxpayer dollars to fund secret, unauthorized missions.”

“What exactly are you insinuating, Patrick?” Amanda Waller, the White Queen of Checkmate, asked.

Pat spun back around to face the data feed from the DoD satellite he was linked into. “Oh, nothing,” he said. “Where’ve you been? I haven’t seen your smiling face for a few days.” He quickly added, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, but I feel as though I need to keep an eye on you or I’ll end up with a knife in my back.”

“Please, Patrick,” Amanda responded with a roll of her eyes, “you should know by now that if I wanted to put a knife in your back, I would get someone else to do it for me. Although I would find it satisfying to do it myself, especially in your case, I prefer not to make a mess. If I were you, I would keep my eyes open at all times.”

“Duly noted,” Patrick replied, wishing more than anything that the White Queen would walk away and leave him alone. After a moment of silence, Patrick realized that she wasn’t leaving and asked, “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I’m looking for the Black King,” Waller replied.

“He’s indisposed offsite at the moment.”

“Oh? Elaborate, please.”

Patrick jabbed his thumb at the satellite feed. “He’s in the field with Task Force X. They got a bead on the leadership of the Strong Arm of Humanity. They’re initiating infil as we speak.”

Waller, normally calm and collected, felt sweat form on her brow. She was thankful in that moment that Dugan so childishly refused to look at her. “Is that so? Well, please inform him when he returns that I’m looking for him.” She turned and walked quickly in the direction of her office.

“Really, Waller?”

She stopped and swallowed. Glancing over her shoulder, Waller responded, “What now, Patrick?”

“No inane threat or insult before you leave?” he asked. Pat’s hands were crossed over his heart and he was swooning as if he were ill. “I’m hurt. I thought our relationship was stronger than that.”

“You thought wrong,” Waller shot back. “I’d rather not waste my time.” She exited mission control seconds later, the doors closing at her back with a hiss of compressed air.

Dugan looked at the exit, curious about Amanda’s sudden exit. It was unlike her to leave without a few parting jabs. After brief consideration, however, Dugan simply shrugged his shoulders and returned to his duties as Black Bishop.

In the city of Arlington, Virginia, Drew MacKenzie peeked out the window of his hotel room. He had been given the address for the high-rise hotel by the Director of the Strong Arm of Humanity himself and had traveled there immediately, guest in tow. Drew glanced over his shoulder where young Lian Harper was sitting on the bed watching television. The kid had acclimated relatively well to captivity; she had long sense stopped crying and now seemed content to endure the situation until it was resolved.

In reality, Drew figured she knew the truth of the matter: her parents were on their trail. Lian’s father was the spandex-clad Arsenal, a long-time member of the superhero Titans. Lian’s mother was the assassin, Cheshire. Definitely two people you didn’t want on your trail when they were pissed and intent on taking their frustrations out on you. Drew supposed it was warranted, though.

Kidnapping Lian Harper had seemed like a good idea at the time. Cheshire had murdered several of Drew’s friends and co-workers; turnabout was fair play. Of course, Drew never considered killing a child (he didn’t even know if he would be capable of such an act), but taking Cheshire’s daughter hostage until she was brought to justice for her actions was a suitable alternative. Of course, once his bloodlust had worn off, Drew had remembered a key fact: Cheshire was a stone cold killer. It was about that time Drew understood he had made a huge mistake.

A car backfiring on the street below caused Drew to jump. He returned to his vantage point, his eyes scoping out his surroundings. Drew shivered, as if he could feel death breathing down his neck.

In that moment of sheer terror, Drew made another decision. He spun from the window, the curtains fluttering closed at his back. “Lian,” he said to the little girl. “We’re leaving.”

“Leaving?” Lian asked, her head tilted to the side in wonder. “But we just got here.”

“Don’t question me,” Drew responded in a firm but eerily calm voice. “Just get ready. Use the bathroom is you need to.”

Lian gave a solitary nod and went off to do her business.

In her absence, Drew began to pace the hotel room. Sweat broke out on his brow and he felt a constriction in his chest. It felt like he was going to have a heart attack. Drew stopped breathing altogether when he heard the knock at the door.

“Housekeeping,” a male voice said a moment later.

Drew inhaled deeply with relief. “Come back later,” Drew called out, his voice cracking.

“I said housekeeping, bitch,” the voice responded, and then the door was kicked off its hinges. Drew screamed loudly and spun around, only to realize that his sole exit was being blocked by the last two people in the world he wanted to see.

Roy Harper entered the hotel room first, bow in hand, arrow notched. He took a few steps inside and took aim. The arrowhead was pointed directly at Drew’s heart. “You know who I am?” Arsenal asked.

Drew stood stock still. He said nothing.

“Do you know how I am?!” Arsenal exclaimed, to which Drew jumped and nodded. “Good. If you know who I am, then you know what I can do. Now, if you move an inch, I will kill you. I will skewer you like a shish-kebob and not bat an eyelash. You understand me?”

Drew nodded again.

“You have something that belongs to us,” the second intruder said. Jade Nguyen stepped out from behind Arsenal and stood at his side. Arms crossed, she continued, “We would like her back.”

“H-How did you find me?” Drew asked.

“Your employer sends his regards,” Arsenal answered. “He’s says you’re fired.”

Drew’s jaw dropped as he considered the betrayal to which he had been subjected. “That son of a bitch,” he said, but before he could curse the Director any further, he was interrupted by the squeaking of an opening door in need of being oiled.

The bathroom door behind the two angry parents opened slowly and a small face peeked out. “Mommy?” Lian Harper asked. “Daddy?”

At the sound of his daughter’s voice, Arsenal’s rough, angry exterior dissipated. He lowered his bow and prepared to turn, to envelope this daughter in his arms. His movement, however, was halted by Cheshire. Her hand on his bow, Cheshire’s face retained its stoic expression. “Lian, honey,” she said in a soothing tone that did not match her expression, “wait in the bathroom for a few more minutes and cover your ears. Daddy and I will come get you when it’s safe to leave.”

“Mommy—”

“Please just do it, sweetheart. It’ll just be a few minutes, I promise.”

After a moment of hesitation, the bathroom door creaked shut, Lian inside.

“Jade, what are you doing?” Arsenal asked. He had leaned close to her, his voice just above a whisper.

“Getting answers,” she retorted. “Unless you want this kind of thing to happen again.”

Arsenal could guess what Cheshire’s version of getting answers would entail. Normally, he would be putting his energies into stopping her from killing. However, after hours of running around the east coast, trying to find his daughter, Roy found that he couldn’t justify expending the energy to defend the quivering, crying man in front of him. “Go for it,” he muttered, the shame he was feeling dripping off each syllable.

Cheshire turned her gaze to Drew MacKenzie and stepped toward him. In turn, for each step Cheshire took in his direction, Drew stepped backward. Very soon after, however, Drew found his back pressed up against the window he had been staring out minutes before.

“Please don’t kill me,” Drew said, his face wet with tears.

“When I’m finished with you,” Cheshire responded, “you’re going to beg me to kill you. Now tell me, who told you where to find my daughter?”

Across the Potomac River, in the heart of downtown Washington, a hurried knocking at his office door prompted the Director of the Strong Arm of Humanity to glance up from the stack of papers situated haphazardly on the desk before him. “I’m busy,” he grumbled, his eyes turning downward once more.

The reports coming in from the regional Strong Arm installations were less than promising, though hardly unexpected. Basically, Checkmate had declared war on the Strong Arm of Humanity. In the last eight hours, the Director had read report after report of break-ins at Strong Arm regional bases nationwide. The occurrences had started on the east coast and were slowly spreading west. The reports included eyewitness accounts of intruders sporting the Checkmate insignia of a Chess piece.

This shouldn’t be happening, thought the Director with a shake of his head. The existence of the Strong Arm of Humanity depended on its anonymity and discretion, both of which had been lost after the incident in Chicago. The assassin Cheshire, in the process of infiltrating the Chicago regional Strong Arm office, had murdered several Strong Arm members in cold blood and left a taunting message to the organization in the blood of their slaughtered comrades.* Unfortunately, while the Director was satisfied with chalking the deaths up to collateral damage and moving on, the members of the Strong Arm of Humanity had reacted to the brutality and death with anger and calls for revenge.

* Task Force X #10 –MH

The Director went along with the manhunt in the beginning; being too lax would have led to his actions being questioned, which was unacceptable. Of course, he hadn’t realized at the time that the investigation by Preston Varner and Drew MacKenzie, two Strong Arm members operating out of the Chicago regional office, would reveal the attack to have been perpetrated by members of Amanda Waller’s Task Force X. Had the Director been privy to that piece of information initially, he would have buried the investigation, Varner, and MacKenzie, and wiped his hands clean of the whole affair. Instead, things had now progressed too far to be stopped: Varner was dead at the hands of MacKenzie, MacKenzie was in possession of Cheshire’s kidnapped daughter, and Checkmate was rallying its forces in a multi-pronged operation to crumble the infrastructure of the Strong Arm of Humanity.

The hurried knocking continued. The Director rolled his eyes. “Do you not know what it means when I say—?”

The door burst open and the Director’s secretary jumped into the room, slamming and locking the door behind her.

The Director jumped to his feet. “Claudia! What the hell?”

“The building has been infiltrated, sir. They’ll be here soon.”

An incredulous look set on the Director’s face. “Who is ‘they’?”

“I don’t know, sir,” Claudia responded as she checked to make sure the door wouldn’t budge. “I received a call from a woman, warning me that we were in danger and needed to get out of the building immediately. I thought she was crazy, but when I called downstairs to security, I heard screaming and gunfire in the background. Whoever is here is armed, and I think at least one of them is a Meta.”

“Who was the phone call from?” asked the Director.

“The woman identified herself only as A.W.”

“A.W., huh?” The Director shook his head. “Damn it, Amanda,” he said, standing and reaching for his coat. “Federal meta-human agents are coming for me. I don’t know how my location was discovered, but—”

“What are we going to do, sir?”

“We, Claudia?” the Director asked. He stepped around his desk and moved for the window. “There is no ‘we’, honey. I’m going to take the fire escape and you’re going to wait here and stall the feds so I can get away.”

“What?” Claudia exclaimed. “I will do no such—”

Claudia was interrupted by an ear-piercing shriek, followed quickly by the splintering of the door at her back. The force of the assault launched both Claudia and the debris from the office door backward into the middle of the office floor. Claudia didn’t move after the attack, but the Director could see her chest rising and falling as she inhaled and exhaled.

With a sorrowful shake of his head, the Director asked himself, How did things spiral out of control so fast? In moments, he had the window at his side open and one leg out in the cool night air. The toe of his patent leather dress shoe had just grazed the steel of the fire escape when—

“Freeze!”

The Director halted at the voice commanding him to stop, recognizing it immediately.

“Step back inside or I’ll put a bullet in your head,” the voice said. “You’re leaving this room in handcuffs or in a body bag. The choice is yours.”

“I wouldn’t test him,” a female voice interjected. “He’s been itching for a piece of you.”

The Director sighed at the forking path he now faced. Should he chance it and jump out the window? He would risk serious injury, but it would also provide the best odds of escape. Or should he just give up? He wasn’t thrilled about his gig with the Strong Arm of Humanity, or the fact that he had been strong-armed into it in the first place. The Director pictured the face of Amanda Waller, the woman responsible for his assuming leadership of the Strong Arm of Humanity, and just like that the decision was made.

The Director pulled his body back into his office. The first thing he saw was the owner of the female voice—a beautiful blonde woman wearing fishnets and black leather. She was kneeling over Claudia’s unconscious form, but her eyes were focused squarely on the Director. He recognized the Black Canary immediately.

The other intruder in the room was far more intriguing to the Director, however. And, as evidence by the wide-eyed, jaw-dropped expression on Sergeant Steel’s face, the feeling was mutual.

“King?” Steel asked, confused. The gun in his hands lowered to his waist.

“Hello, Sarge,” responded King Faraday, the Director of the Strong Arm of Humanity. “It’s been a while.”

Arlington, Virginia

The door to the bathroom opened and Cheshire stood in the doorway. Without a word, she stepped to the sink and went about scrubbing the blood off the exposed areas of her skin. Her eyes glanced at her ex-lover, who was sitting on the edge of the linoleum bathtub, cradling their daughter in his arms.

At some point during the torture of Drew MacKenzie, Roy Harper had left the room, opting instead to sit with and comfort Lian. Although the little girl had her face buried in Roy’s chest, Cheshire could still tell that her face was wet with tears. Clearly Lian had heard the events taking place in the adjacent room despite Cheshire telling her daughter to cover her ears.

“Is he—?”

Cheshire nodded at Roy’s half-unspoken question.

“Did he tell you who’s responsible?”

Another nod from Cheshire.

“And?” Roy asked. He swayed a bit, rocking Lian to stop her sobbing.

“Amanda Waller.” Cheshire said the name with such vehemence that Roy winced.

“The Wall?” Roy asked, more confused than angry. “The Wall is responsible? Really? What’s her motive?”

“It’s complicated,” Jade responded. She finally turned from the mirror and looked Roy straight in the eyes. “Do me a favor. Take Lian home. I clearly have some unfinished business to take care of.”

“What about the body?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Jade said.

A moment of silence. “You’re going after the Wall,” Roy said. It was a statement, not a question. “Jade—”

“Not a word, Roy. I don’t need your conscientious objection.”

Roy shook his head. “Believe it or not, that’s not what I was going to say,” he responded. “I was going to say: take that fat bitch down. Hard.”

If Roy didn’t know any better, he would have sworn he saw a smile tugging at the corners of Cheshire’s mouth. She turned back to the mirror and inspected herself quickly to ensure she had gotten rid of all the blood stains on her flesh. Then, after Cheshire planted a kiss on Lian’s forehead, she stepped out of the bathroom.

A few minutes passed during which Roy assumed Cheshire was cleaning up the mess she had undoubtedly made in the next room. When he heard the click of the door signifying Cheshire’s departure, Roy nudged Lian’s chin with his curled pointer finger so that she looked up into his face. “What do you say, sweetheart? Want to go home?”

Lian Harper said nothing, but she did nod. She would be more than happy to leave this nightmare behind.

To be concluded…

XXX

NEXT ISSUE: As the pre-One Year Later TFX concludes, you better believe that certain members of our cast will be held “Accountable” for their actions. Be here for the finale of Masterminds!