Allies & Nosebleeds

~*~

"Al's" pov

Someplace outside Gotham

I flew over Gotham and Slaughter Swamp without any further disturbances. The air grew colder and colder as I flew. A certain chilly wind was almost a guide home nowadays. Landing atop a boarded up and deteriorated house I went to the metal hatch and unlocked the coded Masterlock. However, that lock was a ruse. A shingle slid back with a camera, scanner and number pad. Entering the code the hatch opened and I slipped inside.

Locking the hatch behind me, I went to the piano on the ground floor. Playing a coded chord, I revealed another hatch. Before going to it, I took some dust off the floor and coated the keys on the piano to hide where I played. Then another code and pad but it didn't unlock. A strained "icy" voice spoke through the pad,

"Are you alone?"

Trying to contain my mixture of humor and annoyance, I answered, "Of course Mr. Fries."

I stood there a moment before the hatch slid open and I descended into the secret bunker of none other than Mr. Freeze. The cold didn't bother me most of the time but I froze at what was on Professor Fries' screen. News anchors were reporting about a giant zombie attack, a new "hero" who fought it, and articles on the new viral video.

The video of me saving Robin.

"Do you have any inkling of what you have done?"

I tossed him a bag of diamonds, what he uses to fuel his suit and cryo-lab. I also tossed him the Boy Wonder's utility belt. Trying to retreat to my room I said, "I took every precaution. There aren't any bugs."

"This isn't about that boy!" Fries stood up from his chair and ordered, "Stop, come here."

I stopped but didn't turn.

"Do you realize that you could have brought the Bat down onto us? Do you fathom that my dear Nora and your Kryptonian are in danger?!"

He's worried about whether or not I left any evidence on accident. If there was a drop of my blood, or a strand of my hair, or maybe even a feather or something else so minute but damning in the hands of a detective. My tone was monotonous and hollow when I said,

"My hair, feathers, or blood won't come up in any human system Mr. Fries. Are we done?"

"You've most likely doomed us boy. We're going to have to move soon."

I turned to him and glared, "We can't risk that."

"No YOU think we can't risk it."

"I don't think you understand that until I fix the situation. Cir-El MUST NOT wake up or lots of people are going to die."

"You won't be able to do that once the Bat comes knocking, boy."

"Look!" I took a deep breath, "I've already had a stressful evening. Please, leave me alone for a second."

The scientist's brows furrowed and he sat back down saying, "I'll see if there are any flaws in this tech we can use to our advantage. We'll have a few busy weeks if we are getting out of here away from the Bat."

At that, I opened the door to my private heated room and pressed the panel to lock and close the door behind me. The modified cell was dimly lit by the tank in front of me. Within it, Cir-El, my friend and love slumbered. Her black costume with a red "S" still on her. A mattress and pictures of me and my ex in San Francisco were on my left. "Al x Laurie" was written on a photo, and feminie cursive below it read "fly away with me". To my right was a fridge and my books.

And a supernatural visitor.

She didn't acknowledge me, but kept reading my books in her black v-neck and skirt. The silver ankh reflected milky light from the tank next to her. She turned a page, still pretending as if she hadn't seen me come in. Acknowledging her presence, I said,

"Death."

She said nothing, but finished reading that page and turned it. With a sigh I hopped onto my mattress, not even bothering to shower. Without taking her eyes away from the book she stated, her voice clipped with emotion, "You know if something doesn't happen soon I'm going to be left to turn off the lights, right?"

I closed my eyes and murmured, "Yes, yes I know."

~*~

Kevin Grant's pov

Back at the Solomon Grundy fight scene

"You know," a voice rasped over my closed eyes, "I thought Starfire was crazy to tell me not to heal you but that healing factor you have is really something."

I shot up in my seat, looked both ways like a bird and coughed.

"Well, we're even!" I hopped out of my cot I was in and collapsed. Muttering curses I heard Raven facepalm and say,

"Please don't. I haven't even had my 'YES' coffee yet."

"Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!"

(A/N: Behold the meme.)

"Raven!" Starfire scolded, "He is an ally!"

"Yeah!" I childishly agreed, while Starfire propped me back on my cot, "I'm a good guy!"

"You, are my patient, a suspect and you literally just tried resisting arrest."

"You got a warrant?"

"Look," she pointed her index finger in my face, "do NOT play with me! One of my friends almost died trying to get your flying turkey friend!"

My eyes widened and my mouth clamped shut.

"But seeing that my alien friend isn't wearing doom and gloom on her sleeve," she addressed Starfire, "is he okay?"

"He's… home." She tried to smile but I could see the worry… and exhaustion on her face. A twinge of guilt passed through me and I apologized saying,

"Hey, look. I'm- sorry if I seem wishy washy err-" I huffed, "I'm not good at these. Sorry I was being a dick but I've never met that guy before. Honest."

Raven seemed unconvinced and only huffed, before saying, "I'll update Alfred. Can you make sure he doesn't grow legs and run away Starfire?"

"Sure!" She replied with a smile and Raven tried to find a place out of earshot.

Finding a quiet place was harder now than one would think. Even though the sun was barely rising over the city buildings police, EMT's, barricades, the press and tape were everywhere. Civilians and possibly insurance agents were doing business over the damages.

I'm gonna have to summon a bunch of money soon.

Turning my head I yelped and jumped at the sight of Grundy still standing in the middle of the street. A blonde man in a white costume was sitting down on the curb with a twelve or thirteen year old girl in green while a green skinned red head concentrated on Grundy.

"Hey, who are they?"

"Oh!" Starfire answered, "Those are psychics!"

I kinda knew that, but I didn't plan on using her for intel. It just…

"I knew that. Never seen a green skinned woman before."

"Oh! Yeah, she's Martian. That Green Lantern, the one sitting down, she is from another planet like me."

"Isn't she a little young for this?"

Starfire laughed, "I think in Earth years she's a little over two hundred so no."

Wow, never judge a book by its cover I guess. People milled about here until a woman in a galaxy uniform kinda emerged from the crowd and greeted Star,

"Hey girl, haven't seen you all day." She glanced at me and asked, "How's HE doing?"

"Robin & I are great." I deadpanned, "Thanks for asking."

"Hey, hey," Troy protested, "I heard a little bit about you. I'm sure we'll be good friends. Star and I are going to step out for some girl talk."

"If you run, I will break your legs." Star said with a smile and added, "All three of them."

Donna choked on a laugh and they took a few steps and turned away from me. We were still in line of sight and good god those pants were tight! Catching myself, I turned and looked up at the cloudless blue sky instead. I rested with my eyes closed until a man came up to me asking,

"Were you the man that started the sprinklers in that hotel?"

I opened my eyes and got a good look at him. My face scrunched up in confusion, why did he want to know that? The black haired, blue eyed man seemed… angry. Dog tags hung at his neck and I answered,

"Um, yeah? Why-"

His fist found my nose, almost breaking it into my brain again… long unrelated story. He was wailing on me until Starfire and Troia pulled him off. Spitting on me, he yelled all manner of obscenities while I watched on in shock.

What the hell was his problem?