See No Evil: Deserves Another (ch. 20) (Patreon)

"How long has he been coming here?" I questioned Tifa, my body going into 'oh shit' mode and my mind racing a mile a minute. My knee jerk reaction was to start running -- that was Jason Todd. That was Robin. I was a criminal. Running was in my best interest, but I crushed that reaction. He wasn't jumping across the room to unleash a can of whoop-ass on me. He was just following through the basic self-defense practice like he didn't know every martial art that existed under the sun and a handful that didn't.

"Oh… about a week, I think?" Tifa answered and I was so utterly screwed it wasn't even funny. I closed my eyes for a moment and felt Tifa's hand on my shoulder, "Is something wrong Vergil?"

Taking in a slow breath, I considered the question. Jason Todd was here for a week. He was here as Jason Todd rather than kicking my teeth in as Robin. He was here for a week, likely investigating the place. There were a whole lot of why's attached to that fact, but for now, I focused on the lack of ass-kicking. He was here, in the open, instead of investigating in the shadows. We wouldn't know he was here otherwise.

"Maybe…" I hedged, mulling it over, and that answer was a far cry from the hell yes I would have given a moment ago. I opened my eyes and gestured for her to follow me. I… I didn't know how much I could say. Did he have us bugged? He probably had us bugged. "That kid is Jason Todd," I told Tifa as we walked a small distance away and I received a blank expression in response. "Bruce Wayne's adopted kid."

That got a reaction out of her. "He is?" She questioned, starting to look over, only to stop herself when I shook my head sharply. "Why is he here?"

That was the question. Right now, there were two real possibilities. The first was that the trail that started the fall of the Blackgaters had led here and Jason was investigating. The second was that he was investigating the same rumors that had led the Blackgaters here. Either way, it wasn't good, but… "Jason was a street rat before Bruce Wayne picked him up. He's probably checking it out because of that. You know, making sure that it's not a human chop shop like the rumors say." That was the most likely of the two options with the evidence that I had.

Still, it wasn't good. If he was here, investigating, then that would eventually lead to him finding out that I was a member of the Penguin Mob. Or learning that there had once been Blackgater prisoners here. Or learning that Revy had been the one used to deliver the false message that the Jokers-

No. I was overthinking this. I knew that this day would come eventually. I just hadn't emotionally prepared myself, even if I was prepared.

"That's a good thing, right?" Tifa questioned, her expression lighting up. I blinked at her, wondering how in the hell this was a good thing? "Maybe we could convince him to have his dad support 7th Heaven? He does the same with Dr. Thompkins," She pointed out.

"He could," I agreed, not liking the idea of that at all. I did not want Batman, a guy renowned for being a paranoid controlling asshole, to come anywhere near 7th Heaven even if he only had the best of intentions. "But… how we do things will change a lot. If he endorses us, then laws are going to have to be applied. The kids will have to go to homes, and we could be held accountable for harboring criminals. I don't really know what all would change but things would."

Tifa's lips thinned at that. "We could try an under the table arrangement," She tried. Tifa, I found, had about as much faith in the system as I did. For me, it was because I struggled to place my well being in the hands of anyone but myself. For Tifa, she was constantly connecting with those that the system had failed. She empathized with them. Now the thought of bringing city officials to this place unsettled her about as much as me.

The Batman was going to investigate this place. I covered my tracks and people knew not to talk. People knew that Blackgaters had once been held prisoner here, but not what happened to them. They knew that we had attacked the Blackgaters, but not that we arranged for their fall. But the fact of the matter was that there were still clues and I knew that Batman was somehow going to find them.

So… I had to misdirect them. Offer the dirty secret that they were looking for while keeping the rest of the dirty laundry hidden.

I… I was trying to outsmart Batman. What was wrong with me?

Still, it was my only option.

"That might work," I agreed, feeling a headache coming. It would be nice to get some extra cash in this place, but I wouldn't cross my fingers. Before I could continue, my phone beeped, my alarm before my alarm to tell me that I needed to get ready for my flight. Dismissing it, I saw a sad look on Tifa's face, but there was nothing I could do about it. "Just… treat him as you have. He clearly doesn't want to be noticed. If he asks around, be as honest as you can -- we're doing everything that we can to make this place work."

The sad look lessened, becoming more gentle in nature. "Like putting ourselves twenty-five million dollars in debt with the Penguin," Tifa remarked lightly. I offered a feeble smile -- I couldn't tell if it was the look that she was giving me or that number that was twisting my guts into knots.

"Like putting myself twenty-five mill in debt to the Penguin," I agreed, reaching up to the hand that was still on my shoulder. I gave it a gentle squeeze, a reassurance, and a promise that would be fine. That it would all be fine.

Jason would find my dirty secret. One of them at least. It couldn't be avoided. Still, there was a very big difference between finding out that I worked for the Penguin in the middle of a job and seeing what I was supporting by working for the Penguin. And I knew that Jason would be emotionally compromised -- he had said it best. 'You could take the kid out of Crime Alley, but you couldn't take the Crime Alley out of the kid.'

"I'll miss you," Tifa said, going in for a hug that I accepted.

"Me too," I told her, giving her a squeeze. But time waited for no man, least of all me. The second alarm rang, warning me that I needed to get going. I started to pull back, as did Tifa, only for her to lean in to press a quick kiss to my cheek. Only then did she let go. That got a dopey smile on my face, and I probably wouldn't have pulled away at all if she hadn't encouraged me by placing a hand on my chest, knowing that I really couldn't afford to be late.

I let go, "Just be careful, alright?" I said, trying to not look directly at Jason.

"That's my line," Tifa said before she started backing up towards the group she was supposed to be teaching. "I'll see you when you get back," She told me, a promise in her words. And that was just more motivation to get this job over and done with.

Tifa pivoted to return to teaching and my smile slipped from my face. My gaze lingered on her for a moment, then on Jason, before I turned around and started walking to where Revy and I agreed to meet up.

Once again, it felt like I was standing on a tightrope with an abyss beneath me. Where failure wasn't an option. I was really starting to hate that feeling, especially when I just got used to my feet being on solid ground.

I spotted Revy at the entrance to 7th Heaven wearing her usual attire of a turtleneck sweater, leggings, a skirt, and boots. Beneath a leather jacket were twin pistols in holsters at her ribs. She jerked her head up, finishing off a cup of coffee and tossing it in a trash can. "I thought I would have had to drag you away from Tifa," Revy greeted me, only for her eyes to narrow as I approached. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I dismissed, walking past her as I pulled out a notebook and a pen. I wrote a message and showed it to her, the low lighting of the metro tunnel was just barely enough to let her see it. I saw Revy's eyes narrowed into slits as she began to check herself for a bug or a tracker.

She found nothing. And after a stop and a change of clothes for me, a set that I knew that the Bat-family couldn't have gotten into, I decided that we were safe from being listened on. With my previous clothes sealed away, I now wore a tailored suit. A nice one. Far better than the cheap, ill-fitted one I wore before. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"What the hell is going on?" Revy demanded as we walked, heading up the platform to a car that would be waiting for us. Our window to talk was closing.

"Jason Todd is in 7th Heaven. He's probably Robin and Bruce Wayne is probably Batman," I told her, slowing down and speaking in a low whisper to her. Revy sputtered, and I took the opportunity to continue. "The second Robin appeared when Bruce Wayne took Jason Todd in. The first Robin's disappearance matches up with when Dick Grayson left, as not long after he moved to Bludhaven, Nightwing appeared."

I couldn't tell her the whole truth. Revy wouldn't buy it. And right now I really couldn't afford her to not buy it. Still, it looked like she was having trouble believing it, so I continued, "And when Bruce Wayne comes back to Gotham after a ten-year absence, Batman becomes a thing. The whole playboy thing? An act."

Revy stared at me for a moment, falling behind as we walked through a crowd. I could tell she had a lot of questions, but she was sorting through them by priority. "Aren't you fucked, then?" She questioned, earning a laugh from me as we both continued moving.

"Probably," I said as I started walking up the stairs. When they found my dirty secrets then the situation that I had feared at the very start would pass -- the Batfamily would hunt me down and throw me in jail. If they learned that I had killed, the number of people that I've killed… the number of people that I've gotten killed… no amount of goodwill that I had built up with what 7th Heaven was doing would save me.

But the situation had also changed from what it was a few months ago. I had millions of dollars to bribe the judge and jury with. More than that, Mr. Cobblepot had tipped his hand with how much he was willing to do to butter me up. Money might not have much value to him, but the fact remained that he gave me a twenty million loan because I had asked. He did it to dig those hooks deeper into me, but that just showed how much he valued me. And I was useless to him rotting in a cell, so even if I was brought up in charges, I had faith that they would be dropped.

"But I'm more concerned about the job," I told Revy. "If they're investigating 7th Heaven, then they're going to investigate the people running it. So, they might know about the job," I reasoned. I wasn't sure how they would have learned about it, but I had to assume that they knew. Meaning I more or less knew for certain that this job wasn't going to go smoothly. Shockingly.

We reached the top of the stairs and I saw a familiar black car parked where there was a clear no parking zone. As we started walking towards it, Revy spoke up. “What are we doing then?” She knew that we couldn’t call the job off. For starters, the entire job hinged on my cards. Not only that, I couldn’t afford to look like I had cold feet. A job like this could be my big break. I do a handful of them, I collect my evidence on Mr. Cobblepot… then I could offer it in exchange for immunity.

That clock was ticking down again. Slower this time. I just had to get the pieces in place and when everything came crashing down, 7th Heaven would still be standing.

“We get the job done,” I told Revy as we neared the car, giving her a pointed look. She nodded, getting the message, and she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t give me any crap for holding the door for her. Once we were both in, the driver started up the engine without a word and started driving towards the airport.

The silence was heavy in the car. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Revy looking up the points I had brought up about Bruce Wayne being Batman. On a burner flip phone, so it wasn’t as bad as it could be. But based on the frown tugging at her lips, she saw enough evidence to give me the benefit of the doubt.

The Batfamily had covered their tracks well. Extremely well. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew without a shadow of a doubt, I wouldn’t have ever guessed. But, because I knew where to look, I found the pieces. I might have felt proud, but considering that I had already known the answer took the edge off. Not to mention that they were probably doing the same thing to me.

So, I simply gazed out of my window and planned for the clusterfuck that was coming my way.

…

I don’t think I’ve ever quite felt as much like an adult as I did when I checked everything in at the airport. It was just an odd feeling that I didn’t really think about until I took my seat. I checked everything in, was on time, and my boarding pass was accepted with no issue. I had my passport and everything. A fake passport, but that was neither here nor there. There wasn’t any real point to the train of thought, and it was quickly forgotten when Revy took her seat next to me.

Her guns were in the overhead compartment. Gotham’s airport was about as corrupt as the city was, and with a well-placed bribe, the guns made it through with no issue. That was a scary thought if I’m being honest, but it was also convenient.

“Any word on the guy we’re meeting?” Revy questioned, looking at the screen in front of us on the back of a chair while the plane took off. It showed our route -- we would fly straight to Buenaventura, there we would meet a contact that would take us to where the drugs were, I would seal them, we would make our way back and head home to Gotham. A straight flight that would take about eight hours or so.

I shook my head, “None. The only thing that Mr. Wake said was that the guy was apparently a nutcase, so…”

“What flavor of crazy are we talking about here?” Revy questioned, bringing up a movie on the screen.

That was a good question. “Hopefully not the kind that makes this more difficult than it needs to be,” I responded with a small shrug. The look that Revy gave me told me that wasn’t particularly helpful. “I didn’t ask too many questions. If I was supposed to know, then I would have been told.”

Revy let out a huff as she decided on a war movie about Wonder Woman and the Justice Society during WWII. “Smart, but annoying,” She remarked as she settled in. I thought so as well. I did want to learn everything that I could before I flew off, but the fact of the matter was that I was an errand boy for this job. I might be in management, yet I was still acting as a courier.

Mr. Wake and I weren’t equals. Pestering him didn’t seem wise, and asking around about the job was even less wise.

So, I just sighed and put on my own movie -- a documentary about Lex Luthor’s rise to power. His family always had money, but Lex turned that money into money. He was the world's first trillionaire, the world's first multi trillionaire, New York Times man of the year three separate times due to revolutionizing technology, his work in Metropolis, and being a powerhouse of a company. The only comparisons I could make was that he turned his company into Tesla, Amazon, AT&T, Microsoft, and Mcdonalds all rolled into one. All within about twenty years because the guy was still in his thirties, so he started his capitalist takeover in his mid-teens.

It was a nice distraction from my laundry list of problems. Then the plane shook violently. I ripped out a headphone and heard people gasping while they shared worried looks. Looking at Revy for answers or a clue, I saw her look back at me just as puzzled. It felt a bit too strong for turbulence, especially when it had been a smooth flight so far.

“This is your pilot speaking,” A voice on the intercom announced while the flight attendants began to panic walk through pathways. “Please remain calm -- a hurricane sprouted in the Gulf of Mexico,” He said in a calm voice like hurricanes sprouting from thin air was a normal thing. “We are out of the danger zone, and I’m sure that the Justice League has this situation in control, we will be making a detour to avoid the hurricane, however short-lived it might be.”

I looked out of my window to see that the clouds were gathering. I couldn’t see it, but… our flight path took us on the outskirts of the Gulf of Mexico, so I shouldn’t be seeing any swirling clouds. Right. I had prepared myself for all sorts of trouble, but not for the plane crashing.

“We have been cleared to land in Rio de Janeiro -- a beautiful city in Brazil. It will add a few hours to our flight, and their fights can be rescheduled. As part of the Lexian Flight Plan, all costs for your hotels and flights will be covered as this falls under the natural disaster clause.” The pilot continued and the screen I used to watch my movie displayed the new flight plan.

Next to me, I heard Revy chuckle. Glancing over, she realized I was clueless as to what was so funny. “It’s the worst city in Brazil. And pretty much on the opposite side of the continent on where we’re trying to be,” She explained.

Curious, I looked the city up and… yeah. I’m sure it was a lovely place, but if the crime rate was comparable to Gotham, then there was a problem. And small delay my ass, that was like another six hours added to the flight.

Frowning, I realized that there wasn’t much I could do about it. I couldn’t exactly hop out of the plane. “We’ll arrange a flight to the right city when we touch down. The Justice League will take care of it,” I said, settling in my chair once again to return to my documentaries. Though, I couldn’t help but wonder who was making hurricanes form.

“Yeah, they better.”

…

The hurricane got up to a category eight. I hadn’t known that the categories went that high, but they did. There were videos of it being uploaded to the internet and… it looked like the world was ending. The videos were taken on phones, so the quality was pretty bad, but I watched a fight between a blue and red pixelated figure and a green and purple one.

Naturally, the former won. The villain was currently unnamed for now. That would change soon enough when the dust settled. The hurricane hadn’t just faded into nothing either -- it was likely powered by something, but the ball was already rolling so the hurricane continued on its path, going to leave devastation on the south coast even if the hurricane was losing steam.

That category eight was slowly bled with the combined help of Red Tornado, a red robot that was once a part of the Justice Society, Doctor Fate, a magician and Lord of Order that also was once a member of the Justice Society, and the Flash, the fastest man alive. All three of them worked to reverse the hurricane's spin, costing it power. It took hours. Most of the time that we spent flying towards our detour. By the time they were done, the once-mighty hurricane was reduced to a tropical storm when it hit the coast.

It really drove home just how… wild the world was, I thought as the plane began to drift down. A monster of a hurricane could just form because some guy wanted to. If it wasn’t for the Justice League, I could only guess how many people would have died. In Gotham, as insane as things were, there was never a sense of… that. That feeling of there being things far beyond the limits of man.

Gotham was mundane. Sure, it was corrupt and a dumpster fire of a city, but there my concerns were mobsters and gangsters. And Batman. Not aliens, or magic or whatever else this hellish world had to offer. Just normal, mundane, gangsters, and bat people.

Getting off was simple enough and in a handful of minutes, we were back on solid ground, standing outside of the airport and eying the various taxies that lined up, waiting for people to get in before taking off. Taking out my phone, I shot a quick message to Mr. Wake to inform him of the delay. And to start searching for a flight to our destination.

“So, there aren’t any straight shots to Buenaventura from what I’m seeing. There is a flight to Panama, and we could get to the city from there,” I started, speaking to Revy as she leaned against a wall by the door. She had changed from her attire to a tank top and short shorts that showed off a tribal tattoo that covered one shoulder and climbed up her neck. We might still be in the same time zone, but we were a lot closer to the equator, and it was too hot for turtlenecks and leggings.

“But?” Revy questioned with a sigh.

“But, it’s going to be in about a week. The sudden hurricane has screwed everything up, from what I’m guessing.” I said, showing her the delays. Part of it was the scare that hurricanes could now just form at random, so flights were being grounded in response. And probably would stay that way until the Justice League gave the all-clear. She snuffed out a cigarette before flicking it away.

“That’s not happening. Let’s just steal a plane,” Revy said, and I wasn’t aware that had been an option.

I blinked, “Where are we going to find a plane? Can you fly one because I sure can’t?” I questioned and earned a far too dismissive shrug from Revy as an answer. Worse, I wasn’t sure which question she was shrugging at.

“They have planes here, don’t they?” She questioned and I shook my head.

“No, we steal a jet and it's going to make worldwide news,” I denied, making Revy tsk. Not to mention I had to assume that I was under constant scrutiny from the Bat-family. It was far too late for me to try to buddy up with them, but I had to make every action I made a reason to not come after me hard. Stealing a plane and making international news didn't mesh well with that plan.

Still, the idea had merit. "We can try buying a plane. This is Brazil, so I'm sure there's a farming plane or something that someone is willing to sell under the table. Or I can buy a junker, fix it up, and we use it," I muttered more to myself as I looked up if anyone was selling a convenient plane. Except the problem was that it was all in Portuguese. A language I didn't speak.

"Right, option three -- we just drive there," I offered, putting in a route. "Four days of nonstop driving. And it looks like we'll hit every toll booth on the planet, but it's probably our best shot at getting there any time soon." Not to mention that it would be a lot simpler to buy a car or a taxi ride."

"Of fucking course I would end up backpacking through South America," Revy sighed, nodding in agreement with the plan. "Let's go then."

We struck out on a taxi pretty quickly when I showed our desired route, unsurprisingly. Even when I scaled down to a city over, no taxi driver wanted to take us. Perhaps I could have sweetened the deal by flashing some cash, but the fact that we were driving to a drug deal… maybe I had seen too many movies, but random civilians getting mixed up in a deal like the one going on didn't go well. A hundred million in cocaine -- I could all too easily see a drug lord murdering a civilian to keep that piece of info under wraps.

Renting was also out because no one wanted their cars driven out of the country. Meaning that buying was our only option.

Which is how Revy and I found ourselves standing on a packed train heading to the favelas. The train was so packed that I could feel a dozen different people touching me, and I could feel more eyes. My hand was in my pocket, clutching my cards in a death grip to make sure no one stole them. My gaze slid over to Revy, to find her gazing ahead with a flat look in her eyes.

I was standing out too much, I quickly realized. I wore the suit to represent Mr. Wake when meeting a powerful Colombian drug lord, but right now it was acting as a magnet for greedy eyes. Still, I kept my face blank as I walked off the train when it came to a stop with Revy right behind me. My gaze drifted up to the sky to find that it was well past noon.

The favelas of Rio de Niro was a sprawling city of back allies. Some of the buildings were painted vibrant colors, and from my view of looking down at the sprawling city of tightly packed buildings that stood on layers towards the ocean, it looked beautiful. Amazing, really.

"Quit gawking," Revy said as she lit up another cigarette. "It's pretty to look at but, trust me, this place is all rotten beneath that pretty coat of paint.” A few crinkled their nose and walked around us as we stood on the train platform. I glanced at Revy for a moment, then at the city below, before I sighed. She was probably right.

Then, as if to prove her point, my gaze landed on two people running. One was a teenage girl, short black hair that looked like it was hacked at. I couldn’t tell how old she was, but I would put her around her early teens. She wore a baggy black tank top and cargo pants, the former revealing a number of white lines on her tanned skin. Scar tissue. Most noticeably, however, was the fact that her expression was calm and collected as she ran from a guy chasing after her with a stick.

It was easy enough to guess why when she was carrying a bag in her arms. Food.

“Someone stop her!” The guy shouted, lagging behind by a mile while the girl just kept running. A guy went to cut her off, and he might have done it if he hadn’t tripped on my foot. He ended up falling flat on his face, letting the girl slip by unmolested. She looked over at me as she ran to the train car, her dark eyes seeming to know what I had just done. But she didn’t slow down in favor of sprinting into the train car and the doors closed a second later.

She looked through the window at me, but I paid her no mind in favor of reaching a hand out to the guy that I had tripped. “Sorry about that,” I told him, throwing on my best apologetic smile. “Are you okay?”

The guy rattled off an answer in Portuguese that I didn’t understand, but based on the fact he accepted my hand with no trouble, he seemed to think it was an honest mistake. By that time, the guy who had been chasing the girl reached the top of the hill, panting for breath. He was a foreigner like me, though based on his tan he spent a lot more time out in the sun. And since he called out in English, I’m guessing that he didn’t know Portuguese either.

“Sorry that the girl got away, did she steal your groceries?” I approached the guy, greeting him. He looked a bit caught out, looking at the train car that was moving away.

“Yeah… yeah, she did,” The guy said and I heard Revy scoff behind me. Meaning that this guy was no good. I didn’t really care one way or the other -- if you were in a situation that you were stealing food, then to hell with what the law says. The guy’s eyes raked over my suit, and I saw a gleam of greed enter his eyes. Revy was right once again, this guy was no good. “I needed it for my family! My kids haven’t eaten in days, and that girl…”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a hundred, “I’m sorry to hear it! Let me cover it,” I said, handing over the hundred to him that he all but snatched out of my hand. “I didn’t exactly do much to stop her, so at least let me do this much.”

“No, no! Thank you!” The guy said, tucking the money away in a spot that it would be very difficult to steal from.

“Oi, fucker,” Revy interjected, making the guy flinch back a bit at the sudden shift in tone. “We’re looking for a car to buy. You know where we can get one?”

The guy’s smile widened until it was all teeth, “I do actually! How about you follow me?” He said, his gaze raking over Revy, but it lingered on the guns at her sides. A telling sign. If it wasn’t for Revy disliking the guy, I would have assumed he was either checking her out or worried about the guns. The latter was true, just for different reasons than I would have thought.

“I would appreciate it,” I said with a smile that only slipped when the guy turned around to lead me to wherever he was taking me. Revy walked a few short steps, closing the distance between us, and muttered in a low whisper.

“Are you sure about this?” She questioned, knowing that this was going to end up being an ambush.

I was. Because those that ambushed us might have a car. And… the kind of person that would chase down a kid stealing food to survive…

Yeah. I was sure.

....

Let me know what you think about this chapter. I have some mixed feelings about it. Also, I had the hurricane part planned way before this hurricane season decided on YES when asked how many hurricanes it wanted to have.