NO CELESTIAL / dick grayson

twenty-three, cages

  KOWLOON CITY WAS a place of history. There was the Kowloon Walled City Park at one end, holding the ruins of what was once one of the most lawless places in the world. Then there were the famous restaurants littered around the streets—noodles, tofu, egg tarts, though they were all closed at this time of day. Unlike Mongkok, there wasn't much of a nightlife. Only a few bars stood at street corners, and there were few visitors.

  The White Canary's tracker indicated that she was in one of the various old buildings in the area. Right opposite the fish market, on the top floor of a structure with a hotpot shop at the very bottom.

  They approached with care. There might be any amount of security measures around the area. Delphi and Owl were running scans, ensuring it was safe to continue moving as they hopped from one roof to the next.

  "It seems she and I had the same idea," Remiel muttered into her comm. "Old buildings, am I right? Cheaper to rent, bad security, no one asks questions."

  "Got floor plans for this place?" Nightwing asked, eyes narrowed as he glanced at the blocked-up windows. "Doesn't have to be for the top flat, even though that would be greatly appreciated."

  "Looking for one," Owl muttered. "Give me a second..."

  "Robin, are you in position?" That was Delphi's voice crackling in the comms. "Don't get distracted."

  "I never get distracted," returned Robin's offended voice. "How dare you suggest such a thing?"

  "We'll have to be careful. There's people on the lower floors." Remiel let out a sigh. "We do not want a hostage situation."

  "If it comes down to that, we just let her go," Nightwing replied softly. "We still have the tracker on her."

  "Not if she leaves her suit and whip behind." Delphi sighed. "Unless you're prepared to slap another tracker on her?"

  "If necessary, I'll try," Remiel promised. "But she'll figure it out."

  "Bummer." Delphi sounded annoyed. "Let's try to get this done with, yeah? I don't like the idea of someone like her running around killing people like it's nothing."

  "We literally have three former assassins on this mission," Nightwing deadpanned. "As much as I hate to say it, White Canary is right about one thing. It is a bit hypocritical for us to arrest her just on the basis she's an assassin."

  "On the basis that she's killed a bunch of my relatives, though? Albeit I don't know any of them and am not particularly fond of any of them—still my relatives."

  "There's a good reason," Nightwing chortled in agreement.

  Robin sounded disgusted on the other end of the comms. "Can you just get us a floor plan so we can get this over with?"

  "Uploading a floor plan right now... you should be able to pull up a hologram of it now."

  Nightwing was right beside her anyways, so Remiel didn't bother pulling one up one of her own. The two of them scanned the plan for a moment. "How strong are the boards on the window?"

  "Just wood," Owl replied. "It seems a fairly... rough base. And from what I can see, the recent tenant only rented this place about three months ago. She wouldn't have had time to set much up in there."

  "That's good news for us." Remiel paused, continuing to think. "We're on the side of the living room. Robin, the window you're facing is the bedroom. And I mean the window on your left, not the one on the right. That one's another apartment."

  "I've figured."

  "Best option is just to head in," Nightwing frowned. "One into the living room, one into the bedroom. Someone got down from the roof."