"Well," Talia said after a long moment, "this marks the end of an era, doesn't it?"
J'onn didn't think the end of Ra's al-Ghul's criminal empire would be looked back on with much nostalgia. Still, she'd just watched her father's corpse be cremated - literally. They had supervised the entire process, including the first few moments where flames began licking at the body, before shutting the door. She was still hypersensitive about her standing with the Justice League, and she had pointed out that heroes tended to assume their enemies were still alive until they actually saw the body being lowered into the ground.
He couldn't disagree with her. The number of times the Joker alone had been in situations without hope of survival, only to emerge unscathed days later, was legendary.
Anyway, she could be forgiven if she was a trifle stressed.
"Perhaps you should think of it as your beginning," he replied.
She chuckled without much humor. "The death throes of my father's organization will last weeks. My beginning will have to be postponed."
"What will you do?"
Talia sighed. "Very little. DEMON is officially in complete disarray. The Demon's Head is dead, while Ubu and many of my father's most loyal servants are in police custody. I trust you've heard of the Society of Assassins?"
He nodded. Often when Ra's wanted someone dead, he sent a member of the Society.
"The Society is only the most visible of DEMON's varied operations. There are over thirty men and women scattered across the world who, like the Society's sensei, run their own criminal fiefdoms. They answered directly to my father, but with him gone and no one to take his place, these people will waste no time in becoming completely independent." She looked ruefully at him. "There will be no more megalomaniacal schemes to wipe out humanity, but the pieces of DEMON will continue to wreak great havoc on a smaller scale."
"Can't you do something?"
"Are you suggesting I should be a crime lord?"
"Of course not. But your father had information on all these people. You could turn it over to the League."
"Perhaps you should do that. I highly doubt they will invite me to the Watchtower again soon."
"They have accepted you, Talia."
"No, they've accepted your decision," she told him. "I'm just the person nobody hopes to see at family gatherings," she added melodramatically.
"Perhaps," J'onn admitted, "but there's no reason now for them to interfere in our relationship."
"You should read their minds next time you see them," Talia said cynically. "Every time they look at you, they'll pity you for being stuck with me."
"Talia - "
"Isn't that why you came to my hotel room all those months ago?" she snapped. "Because you felt sorry for Batman?"
He realized she was much more than a trifle tense.
"The Justice League is your family," she went on, growing increasingly agitated. "You've said so yourself. How long can you keep me separate from them? How long will you endure their silent disapproval until you decide it's not worth it!"
"I think their minds will turn to more important things," J'onn said, trying a bit impatiently to settle her down.
But she was just getting started. She waved her hand in the air. "Look at this, J'onn. This cavern is practically deserted. I've done more to eviscerate my father's work than anybody, and I'm still the pariah. What will it take for them to accept me?" she complained. "What is there left for me to DO?"
"Talia," he sighed. "With time - "
"I'm over ninety years old, J'onn. By now I positively hate waiting."
"With time," he repeated, "they will accept you. Once you become your own woman and make your own mark, they will understand that your past mistakes were only the result of blind filial loyalty, not a defect of your character."
She paused. "Yes, it is my past that holds me back," she murmured.
J'onn put a hand on her shoulder. "But now that's gone, Talia."
"No," she replied with an odd gleam in her eye, "it will never be gone. It will always be there - unless I fix it." And a smile crept across her lips. "Then they'll have to accept me."
An element of doubt crept into his head. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
"J'onn, I told you how I detest waiting. But I think I know how to gain their approval within the year."
He could tell she was excited. He was definitely not. "How?" he asked with trepidation.
"I think I will become a crime lord after all, J'onn."
" . . . Excuse me?"
"Well, you did say to become my own woman," Talia said wickedly. "You didn't say how, though. Oh, relax, J'onn. I am only kidding."
"Oh," J'onn said, not getting her humor.
She began pacing in front of him. "I shall replace my father as the Demon's Head," she thought out loud. "Everyone knows my father didn't think I was a worthy heir, but the fact of the matter is, there's no one left with a stronger link to the throne than I. If I can solidify my grip on DEMON quickly, I can rein in the thieves and the white slavers and the gun runners before they bolt. Then, by monitoring them all quite closely, I can tighten my web about them. When the time is right, I can notify the Justice League, and the entire organization can be snapped up."
"Wait a minute," he said, stopping her. "You're not seriously proposing becoming the new Demon's Head and allowing these criminals to continue operating in some kind of - massive sting operation?"
"Why not?" Talia asked. "Your law enforcement agencies do this all the time, do they not? They go undercover for months, even years, allowing crimes to happen right before their eyes. Do they stop the criminals? No. They wait, and they observe, and a year later the leaders are put on trial. I am only suggesting we do it on a global scale."
She saw the disbelief written across his face. "But you don't think I can do it," she said, annoyed.
"To be brutally honest, no. Certainly you cannot do this alone. Let the League - "
"There are only seven of you," Talia pointed out. "Even if you spread yourselves out, dozens of career criminals with leadership experience will melt into the shadows the minute they hear you've started breaking people's doors down."
"I hardly think that will persuade the League to let you do this," J'onn replied. "They'll say what Diana said before - it's an excuse to make yourself look good."
Talia just smiled bitterly. "But they'll say that no matter WHAT I do, won't they?"
J'onn didn't know how to answer that. She wasn't wrong exactly.
"And I suppose it IS an excuse," she said. "But there's a difference between 'making myself look good' and 'seeking redemption'. I think the League will see that once I've started. I'll give them access to my daily activities, as well as my father's computer databanks. They can monitor my progress as much as they want, as long as they don't blow my cover."
"This doesn't change either of my original thoughts," he said stubbornly. "The League won't let you, and you can't do it alone."
"Then I'll have to just not tell them at first, won't I?" she replied calmly. "Let it be a fait accompli."
She was going to keep secrets from the League - temporarily, anyway - and he realized she would need to keep them along with her.
But then, he'd done that once already, hadn't he?
"As for going it alone," Talia continued thoughtfully, "a Demon's Head must always have an Ubu." Then she actually grinned at him, startling him. "Would you like to be my Ubu?"
"What?"
"You could keep a very close eye on me," she pointed out. "Reporting everything back to the League. Well, everything except what happens behind closed doors, anyway."
She was serious! And he felt oddly flushed.
"But," Talia admitted, "even you won't be enough. I need people I can rely on, and obviously I won't find anyone like that within DEMON. Most of them are in custody now, and at any rate no one will help me destroy the organization they've served their entire lives. I'll have to look outside of DEMON." She paused and tapped her chin with her finger. "Someone, preferably more than one, who won't arouse the suspicions of the heads of the crime families, but who at the same time won't try to sell me out. Goodness," she chuckled. "That rules out practically everybody, hero AND criminal, doesn't it?"
J'onn sighed. Finally, a stumbling block she didn't seem to have an answer to.
But Talia smiled. "Still, I have three in mind."
What was he going to do?
Poison Ivy sat quietly in her cell and waited for sleep. It wasn't coming. She felt - strange. Since the events in Tunisia, she'd finally accepted that she was immortal. She could actually feel her heart beating slower, as if it had discovered it no longer had to work so hard to keep her alive.
The doctors at Arkham had been most bewildered when Batman brought her back several days ago. Harley had mocked them savagely for their claims that Ivy would never wake up from her coma. The other inmates had loved it, of course. The doctors were wrong! Hallelujah.
As for Ivy, she told anyone who asked that Harley had saved her. The uncharacteristic softness with which she treated the clown princess convinced them it was true.
She didn't bother to tell the doctors about her eternal youth. How ironic it was, that years after promising it to rich fools at her phony spa, she'd found the real thing while she was sleeping! She didn't tell the Rogues either. A few would take this as an invitation to test her mortality for themselves. And she'd found that no matter how fast her wounds healed now, their infliction still hurt as much as ever.
This was one of several dark clouds that hovered over Ivy. She should have felt triumphant. Not only was she free of a coma that should have ended her life's work, but she had cheated death forever. There were new - opportunities to explore.
But eternal life came with a price, just like everything else. The entire reason for Poison Ivy's purpose in life was the destruction of plant life everywhere. The speed with which her beloved flora was dying was alarming. More alarming was that the situation grew more dire every year.
What if . . . what if she lost?
What if there came a day, maybe in a few decades and maybe in a few centuries, when the last species of plant became extinct? When pollution and overpopulation and greedy corporations wiped all the forests out to make room for more high-rises?
What if the things Ivy loved so dearly were all gone - and she had to live to see it?
She supposed she was just being silly. She would just have to work twice as hard, wouldn't she? She was immortal, after all. The Batman was doomed now, and THEN her plans would succeed.
Ivy closed her eyes. The things she loved so dearly . . .
"Harley," she said mournfully.
The problem with immortality and eternal youth was that they couldn't help her one iota in her quest to get Harley away from that horrible, murderous clown! The tragicomic aspect of this whole thing was that she'd finally found a way, and all she had to do was slip into an irreversible coma.
Ivy was irritated, even enraged, with Harley. What was so special about her? She was a total flake. She was annoying and forgetful and she squealed when she was excited! And she wasn't even INTERESTED! At least her monstrously abusive lover wasn't in Arkham to crook his finger and make her come running.
How dare that stupid girl prevent her from enjoying her newfound powers! How dare she make her feel so desperately lonely . . .
Ivy started to cry. Her humiliation at being driven to tears wasn't enough to stop them from spilling onto her cheeks. How many years was she supposed to feel this way now? And what about when Harley died, for whatever reason? Would Ivy's silly infatuation end then, or would she spend decades wearing black?
"I don't want this," she whispered. If anyone needed eternal life, it was Harley! She was the one in daily danger of being shot or stabbed by the Joker.
Then she wondered - she'd apparently become immortal by being lowered into a special pit at the same time as someone who already was immortal. In the process she'd taken his immortality from him. Perhaps Ivy could GIVE her immortality to Harley in the same way? Maybe she could track that al-Ghul woman down after she escaped and work out a deal with her.
Ivy looked at herself in the mirror. She was the most beautiful and desirable woman on the planet. She ran her hands along curves women would die for. Could she really give up an eternity looking like this?
She looked at her tear-streaked cheeks. If she lived forever, THAT was what she feared she'd end up looking like - utterly miserable.
"What do I have to give up to make you want me, Harley?" Ivy sighed unhappily.
There was a tap on her door, and she started. It was the middle of the night!
The door slid open, and Ivy gasped, backing against the wall. Three men were there, dressed all in black. Two of them were carrying a man-sized bundle in their arms. "You are - Poison Ivy?" the third asked formally, if a bit uncertainly.
"Who the hell are you?" she hissed, wiping angrily at her cheeks. If these men thought they could mess with the IMMORTAL Poison Ivy, they were dead wrong!
"The Demon's Head requests an audience with you," he replied.
She stared at him. "But - I was there last week! They told me he was dead!"
"The Demon's Head is dead. Long live the Demon's Head," he said automatically. "But you must come with us right now. She was most insistent."
Ivy was stunned. They must have meant the al-Ghul woman! And she'd just been thinking about her. Was this some kind of cosmic coincidence? "All right," she said slowly. "I think I would like an audience with her too."
"Your preference is of no importance," he said. "You are to come."
She wanted to use her special kiss on him for his effrontery, but the other men were struggling between them with their package. They dumped it unceremoniously on her bed and unwrapped the contents.
Ivy was even more surprised. There, on her bed, was the bound and gagged form of Harvey Two-Face. "What the hell?" she said.
"The Demon's Head gave us orders," the third man told her. "The three of you are to be fetched. The three of you are to be replaced. No harm is to come to any doctor or guard."
"Wait, three?"
The man no longer seemed willing to answer her questions, but she glared at him. "I won't come quietly if you don't answer me," she warned him.
He looked at his watch and sighed. "The other woman, the one called Har-lee-quin. And the man not made of flesh, the clayman. Now come," he ordered.
Ivy came. Maybe God was finally doing her a favor. She was a goddess, after all. Call it professional courtesy.
"Er, Ms. Graves?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Ms. Anders has a visitor. He requests five minutes of her time," the receptionist said. "Is she - "
There was no response at first. Then the doors opened and Koriand'r was pushed out. "Take all the time you need," Mercy told her before retreating back into her office.
Koriand'r sighed. "A visitor, Janice?"
The receptionist pointed wordlessly into the waiting area. Koriand'r followed her finger and realized to her surprise that the Flash was sitting nearby, reading Sports Illustrated. "Flash?" she asked hesitantly.
"Hey," he said, standing up. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"Depends on who you ask," Koriand'r said with a bemused expression. "What can I do for you?"
"Well . . . maybe we could talk privately?"
She ushered him into one of the conference rooms. People gawked at the scarlet-clad superhero, but she shut the blinds. "Is everything all right?" she asked.
"Yeah, I suppose," Flash said. "It's just that - well, I wanted your advice, but I'm not sure you'll be willing to give it."
"Why ever not?"
"Because I'm kind of breaking up with you."
Koriand'r raised an eyebrow. "We haven't even dated yet."
"But we were about to," Flash replied. "If you hadn't gotten injured, we would have. And I guess you know I was hovering around you for a while there. I just wanted to let you know that if you'd gotten your hopes up - you know, having a super-stud like me for a boyfriend - I'd just like to be friends."
"I suppose I'll have to live with that," she said, suppressing a giggle. "Friends it will be. And since friends do give advice when it's asked for?"
Flash rubbed the back of his head. "I was thinking about maybe . . . asking Raven out again."
That was a surprise, and she sat down. "Really?"
"She's different, that's for sure," he said. "Usually I go after girls who are more like - "
"Yes?"
"Well, like you," Flash said.
Koriand'r blinked. She wasn't sure if that was a compliment. Of course, he wasn't the first person to observe that Koriand'r and Raven were two very different people in terms of personality and appearance.
"But, you know," he went on, "she's a good listener. I realize most people try to tune me out or shut me up when I talk, but she lets me say whatever's on my mind, and Raven really seems to care about what I'm saying." Flash chuckled. "For a talker like me, that means a lot."
"I can imagine."
"Plus she's smart, she's gentle, and she's pretty good-looking once you get past the cape and cowl. I've been spending more time with her, but it took me a while to figure out how much I liked it."
"Flash, this is wonderful," Koriand'r said happily. "You have no idea how worried I was after moving to Metropolis that Raven would become lonely. She's like a sister to me, you know. But why do you need my advice?"
He frowned. "Her father," he said.
"Ah," she replied. Raven had told her everything about Trigon after the empath's transformation in front of Mercy. "You're not sure if she can ever return your feelings?"
"Basically," Flash admitted.
"Well, first of all, I know she CAN. She has a very big heart, and she is capable of the truest emotions, Flash. It's a matter of whether she WILL. Personally," she said, "I think you should go for it."
"You do?"
She nodded. "You must be prepared to move very slowly, though. But I think she will be receptive. She never intended to become so close to me, I know, but obviously Raven decided that our friendship meant too much to her, even despite Trigon. I know she likes you, and I know you were the one who saved her from her father in Mercy's home. I think if you're careful enough, while continuing to be your true self, she won't be able to resist."
"Well, how could she?" Flash pointed out, standing straight and flashing a killer grin.
Koriand'r only smiled.
"Thanks a lot," he added awkwardly. "Sorry I pulled you away like that."
"Oh, don't worry about it. You probably made Mercy's morning."
"Huh?"
"Well," Koriand'r explained, her smile even wider, "Mercy fired me last month after the Luminus incident, but she's discovered she can't get rid of me that easily. She's tried very hard to push me away, but I think she's starting to realize that it won't work."
Flash looked quizzical. "Really. Huh. Uh, guess she's a pretty good friend."
"Oh yes," Koriand'r agreed. "That's why she's fighting me on this. I have reason to believe she and I could become VERY good friends."
Flash stared at her. Her meaning was unmistakable, even for him.
First Wonder Woman. Then Poison Ivy (according to Diana). And Killer Frost. And now Koriand'r.
Had the women of the world woken up gay one morning?
"Boy, I hope not," he thought.
J'onn entered the monitor room and found Superman sitting there. He didn't appear to be waiting for the Martian. He was poring over computer records - of various heroes unaffiliated with the Justice League, it appeared. J'onn waited silently for a minute or two for an opportunity to interrupt.
"Super hearing, J'onn," Superman finally said after reviewing files on Supergirl, Nightwing, and the Atom.
"I didn't mean to intrude," J'onn replied as he came closer. "What are you doing?"
Superman turned away from the computers. "Diana is taking a sabbatical from the Justice League," he said.
J'onn blinked. "A sabbatical? Really?"
The Kryptonian nodded. "Six months, now that the Savage incident has blown over. She says she owes it to Audrey and herself. She wants to live in Washington as Diana Castle full-time for a while, so she can fully establish her secret identity and 'rewrite' her relationship with Audrey."
"Rewrite?" J'onn asked.
"Kind of like creating a paper trail. If their relationship is ever discovered, the press will think Audrey is involved with an American small business owner she met by chance, rather than a superhero. Diana also hopes it can relieve some of her tension. She thinks it's been causing distance between them," Superman confided.
"I think she's right," J'onn said, "and I wish her the best. So these are - temporary replacements?"
"Right," Superman replied. "I'm going to speak to the entire League about it. I think we should offer invitations to two heroes as reserve members. That way, when Diana returns, perhaps they could stay on. There are a lot of qualified heroes today, and there's no reason why we can't have more cooperation between them."
J'onn didn't respond at first. He was trying to decide if this would make his intentions more or less difficult.
"You know, J'onn," Superman said, "that was some pretty interesting news out of Gotham this morning. Wouldn't you say?"
"Quite unusual," J'onn observed.
In what the press was billing one of the strangest occurrences ever recorded at Arkham Asylum, the doctors had discovered three missing patients that morning, and three NEW patients that hadn't been there before.
Poison Ivy was locked in her cell last night. She was gone the next morning, and Harvey Two-Face was in her place.
Harley Quinn was also gone. In her place was the Mad Hatter.
And Clayface was missing. The doctors found the Joker in his cell instead.
"Funny how the escapees are the exact same people who helped you and Talia last week," Superman said. "Maybe you could offer some insight into what they're planning?"
J'onn sighed. "Talia is - trying to redeem herself."
"She picked a funny way of doing it. Bruce isn't happy."
"Three dangerous criminals are off the streets, and three others are nowhere near Gotham. Since his city is paramount to Batman, he should remember that," J'onn said.
"J'onn," Superman muttered.
"She's drawing up a massive undercover operation, Superman," J'onn said. "Her goal is to be able to hand over all of the major figures in DEMON's various criminal enterprises to the League and the law enforcement agencies of the world, as well as the evidence necessary to convict them. She wants our help to do it, and I've agreed."
"J'onn, some people aren't going to like this, and I'm not exactly thrilled either. It sounds to me like she's already started whether we agree or not."
"She's trying to make it hard for you to say no," J'onn said.
"We're the Justice League, J'onn. We're pretty good at saying no to criminals."
"She's not a criminal."
"Maybe not, but she's going to act like one for what? Weeks? Months? And how do the Gotham Rogues fit in?"
J'onn sat across from him. "By now, they're meeting with Talia. She believes she can offer them all the right incentives to make them join her. Some of these DEMON associates, they won't accept her as the Demon's Head without force. Talia wants her own people on this mission, Clark. People she believes she can count on, who won't arouse suspicions among her underlings. Once her position has crystallized, she can begin amassing complete dossiers on all their activities for use in their eventual prosecutions."
"You're still asking for us to rely solely on your faith in her, J'onn," Superman said. "I don't think it's enough."
"It's more than faith, Superman," J'onn said quietly. "I know."
"Know?" Superman paused. "I thought you weren't going to read her mind."
"She asked me to," J'onn told him. "She begged me to. I find it - hard to resist her these days. There is no sign of deception in her mind. She wants to become her own person. She wants to redeem herself. She wants acceptance in the eyes of my closest friends, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to get that. Her enthusiasm may seem a little . . . misguided, but I believe my guidance can help with that. Superman, I think this is an opportunity to put away a great number of very bad people, AND help Talia establish herself as a force for good."
J'onn didn't add that he'd learned that Talia's romantic interest in him was unfeigned. He'd believed her, of course, but believing wasn't the same as KNOWING.
Superman leaned back in his chair. "Guidance? You'll be helping her?"
"I will be the liaison between DEMON and the League," J'onn explained. "I will provide the League with 24-hour monitoring of the situation, including the activities of these people she has - recruited."
"I'm not sure the League can afford to lose YOU as well as Diana," Superman said. "Even if it's temporary."
J'onn gestured at the screen. "I'm not sure you should extend invitations to only TWO new heroes. I don't see why you can't 'cooperate', as you put it, with many more."
Superman rubbed his chin. "I suppose I could convince the others, if you have proof of the sincerity of her actions. Still, it will just be you, Talia, and some very hardened criminals. I'd feel better if there was a sixth person who could be trusted, someone to even the odds on this little 'Redemption Squad' of yours."
"If you have any ideas, I'm sure Talia would say yes. She's cognizant of the difficulty she has put the League in here, and she wishes to be accommodating. But it can't be one of us. I can disguise myself, of course, but the presence of a superhero would naturally wreck everything."
"Does Talia's planned incentives for Poison Ivy and the others include a fat paycheck?"
"Certainly."
"Then I have a name."
To be concluded!