Alice (Young Justice)

Incoming Phonecall

Alice could hear water dripping from a leaky pipe just behind her.She could hear a lot more than that, men talking in a language other than her own, the clicking and shifting of firearms, but the leaky pipe was what really seemed to irk her. They just didn't have the decency to blindfold her and tie her to a chair someplace nice, did they? It was the least they could do after drugging her drink.She rolled her head to the side, trying to get a slip of the conversation, but someone must've been watching her. A foot went straight into her stomach, knocking the chair clean back and landing Alice right in the puddle made by that damn pipe. She was nearly ready to call it quits there as the chair was dragged upright again and Alice with it. She felt a migraine coming on."¿Cómo se enteró de nosotros?""Turn up the AC."Alice's head hurt a little too much for her to translate properly, so she was rolling with exactly whatever thoughts came to her head. Obviously her suggestion on room temperature went unappreciated, she felt one of those goons drag her up by the hair, and felt even more the metal barrel pressed right under her chin."Listen, chica, you've got 10 seconds to tell us how you found us or así que ayúdame..."The man was cut off by a buzzing from the young woman's pocket. The gun went a bit slack against her jaw as he rummaged through her dirty tan trench, coming out with a flip phone buzzing like crazy. With a grunt he hit 'Ignore', the gun's hard position against her skin returning as quick as it had vanished."Where were we?" He paused, as if he'd forgotten. Alice thought to herself how much she wished the fool would get on with it. "Ah right! 10... 9..."Somewhere between the nine and the eight, buzzing came again. It wasn't Alice's, her phone was thrown (and likey shattered) across the room. No, this one was from further away. One of the cronies then, Alice thought with a smile. It was a nice touch."¡Apaga esa maldita cosa!" The main man yelled, firing a round into the air as if the warning did anything more than make the henchman stumble around even more. The gun was gone from her chin and put back on Alice's forehead."That's it! I don't know how you're doing this, but this is your last chance, chica! 3... 2... 1!"Just as the man declared Alice's last seconds over, his voice echoing into the depths of whatever abandoned building they'd stuck her in, he paused. Alice heard the slight vibration, coming from right in front of her, in the breast pocket of the idiot with the gun. The metal was off her forehead as the man pulled his phone out, answering it before he had a chance to think twice."What?"Alice could've heard the smirk from the voice on the phone a mile away."I need to speak with The Question." Even with the blindfold, Alice could tell the man's confusion plain as day."What-?""The Question. 5'6, red hair, absolute knockout, a Pseudoderm mask you've tried and failed to get off?" The man on the other line paused, letting it sink into the gunman. "I need to talk to her. Give her the phone. Now."Something about the way the man demanded made Alice's new 'friend' inclined to agree. The cell was tucked between her cheek and her shoulder."Hey babe." She paused, listening to the man on the other side of the line. "Yeah, yeah I'll be right there. I've got all the information I needed from them anyway." It wasn't an empty promise, anyone there could tell. "Yeah. No, I don't need help. You're very sweet. Be there in a few. Love you. Yeah, I know. Love you. Bye."The man watched as this woman, this thing, took the phone from by her ear and slid it into his breast pocket, reaching for the blindfold and--and wasn't she supposed to be tied up?Before the man could react, the gun was snatched from his hand and a shot was fired straight into his knee. He was pushed aside, bleeding on her boots as Alice aimed for the two others in the room, both young for the business, both unarmed. She watched them run for a moment, before dropping the gun behind her into the puddle of that stupid pipe, water now mixed red with blood that wasn't hers. Her heels clicked as she walked, making her way to a table of automatic weaponry and enough ammunition for a small army. In the center was a case, her case, unopened, without a scratch or dent in the steel. She picked it up with mild satisfaction, watching her reflection in the mirror-like surface. Scarlet hair, completely natural but beautifully strange poured from her scalp, ending in gentle waves. The man who wore the costume before her had preferred to dye his hair, hiding the unnatural natural color as he worked, but Alice saw no reason to. The mask, a Pseudoderm cover, made her face seem non-existent, like it was completely covered in skin. From the ground she retrieved a battered tan fedora, a more tacky addition that she'd loved since childhood, and slipped it on her head as she left the abandoned building and the man inside. She'd call the police to pick him up, in a few hours or so.Outside waiting for her was a blue four-door from the 80s with no licence, no registration, and a masked hero in the passenger's seat. He tossed her the keys as she climbed in, and she ran her gloved fingers over the battered steering wheel before starting the old girl, a smile hidden behind her fake face."Thanks for picking me up." She hummed, leaning to the side to steal a quick kiss. "What's the job you were talking about?""You were kidnapped by the Bane Mafia, Q." The man stated, licking his lips. They tasted like silicone, like plastic, but that's what he got for hooking up with Vic Sage's daughter. Tim would remind him of that till the day he died. "...get on the interstate, heading east. I'll tell you where to go from there."He could feel the smile emanating from behind her mask, and it made him grin along with her."Missed you too, Nightwing. I missed you too."