A raven perched on a corner bookshelf watches as the taller shadow turns to confront the attacker, rubbing his head. But all the shadow says is, “What was that for?”
The smaller shadow, a female figure, scolds the other. “That was for Grigori,” she says. “You know who he’s hanging out with for protection now? Thieves and murderers!”
“I granted a costly favor to grant him these past three years,” the taller answers. “Years when he was protected, and had no knowledge of his true nature.”
“When the three years were up, what happened? The first day they try to blow him up—“
“Which was prevented.”
The raven flutters over to perch on a copy of Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death and pecks at its wing, as the voices continue their discussion.
“Yes, it was,” the female voice admits. “But now he’s terrified! He knows he’s not human, he knows that there are others hunting him, and the people he went to for help are nearly as evil as the ones we’re trying to protect him from. If he starts becoming like them, he won’t last long…”
“Well, then, I will have to find him a better influence. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Now if you can do me the courtesy of leaving my library for the moment, I will attend to this, and my other duties, as you attend to yours.”
“Alright,” the female voice says. The raven watches as her shadow on the wall begins to vanish, as the voice says, “Don’t make me come here and hit you with a book again.”
“I will strive strenuously to avoid it,” the remaining shadow answers, though the other has already disappeared. “I have a very high regard for my book collection.”
Splash Page: Sometime JLA member and occasional Birds of Prey operative Gypsy awakens in a cold sweat. She quickly contacts Oracle, explaining that she is in Malta and has had one of her psychic premonitions, about a nearby human trafficking ring about to sell several kidnapped teenaged girls. She calls to ask for info and assistance, seeking a low-key partner to take down the ring—preferably a skilled unarmed combatant without flashy powers. Oracle helps with the information and says she’ll make some calls.
Using her flight and invisibility, Gypsy tracks down a man she saw in her dreams. Meanwhile, Oracle contacts Bronze Tiger. Tiger begs off, saying Waller has him on tight-leash, but if it’s a low-key mission he says he has a Suicide Squad operative he can spare, someone not terribly powerful, but trustworthy. Oracle accepts the offer on Gypsy’s behalf, and determines she has another ally in the area as well: Tien Shi is in Sicily, having been on the hunt for his brother Ox but reached a frustrating dead-end, and is one of the few martial artists in the world who might be able to replace Bronze Tiger. When Oracle explains the mission and offers her assistance in finding Ox, Tien Shi agrees to help.
An hour later, Tien Shi is arriving on Malta as Nightshade teleports the Suicide Squad operative Bronze Tiger mentioned to the island: rookie Grigori Moore, who has taken on the code-name Descent. Gypsy has tracked the human traffickers to a bunker in the countryside, and sends the coordinates to Oracle. Descent is teleported to the site, where he warns Gypsy about his relative inexperience but promises to do the best he can. Gypsy is reassuring, explaining the during her team with the JLA she started as the person with the least power or experience but quickly grew in both before she left the team.
Stealthily, the three break in and quickly make their way to the cells to free the girls. As they release the last of the prisoners from her bonds, a guard discovers them. Tien Shi quickly takes charge, instructing Descent to lead this group out and he will handle the guards. When Descent protests, Tien dismisses his concern, saying “There are only ten of them.”
Gypsy meanwhile, has found her way to the ring leaders and defeated them with telepathic visions of their worst nightmare: trading places with their prisoners. She and Descent meet outside as Tien finishes off the guards, and they leave the men tied up for the Maltese police, who arrive quickly to arrest the traffickers and get the kidnapped victims back to their families. Nightshade appears to teleport Descent back to Belle Reve, and offers Tien and Gypsy transport, but Gypsy remains in Malta and Tien chooses not to travel via Nightshade’s shadowy dimension.
When Descent and Nightshade return to Belle Reve, the younger hero is informed that Waller’s upset with him for going off on an unsanctioned mission. When Descent protests that it was Bronze Tiger’s idea. Nightshade answers that Waller is always looking for ways to make the Squad members owe her more time. The scene ends with Descent asking after his “friend,” Captain Boomerang, who is to be tried for murder. When Descent says Boomerang would never murder anyone, Nightshade merely laughs.
Epilogue: Tien Shi returns to the States and gets in contact with Oracle, who says she looked into his brothers, but found only one lead. And unfortunately, she has her hands too full to follow up on it—someone is coming after the Birds of Prey, a mysterious enemy who seems to be going after them via their personal lives. Tien Shi says if that’s the case, he can follow up on the lead himself. Oracle hands him a file that says his brother, Pig, is no longer working with the other brothers. Apparently, Pig has gone into business for himself, as the head of the Lotus Blossom Triad in a place called Calvin City…
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