Chapter Text
Kate scrubbed a hand down her face and groaned. She looked up at the little clock hanging on her wall and groaned louder when she read the time. It was nearly midnight, meaning she was supposed to be out doing her other job, not stuck in her office, going over the same file for the thousandth time.
It was nearly bare, only a few pages long, and didn’t contain any relevant information pertaining to the case she was supposed to be putting together.
How was she supposed to make sure that these four Joker goons stayed locked up after trying to rob a bank if she didn’t even know how they were taken down?
Usually, she was able to figure that part out just fine.
A stray batarang left behind, a word in her ear from a digital green mask, a bruise from gloves with a specific type of padding, a scorched wall left behind by a high powered blast-
Okay, okay. That last one was her fault.
But, in her defense, it’s always easy to figure out who took a criminal down when she was the one who did it.
Made her day job so much easier.
Helena and Dinah and the other birds were usually kind enough to let her know who they stopped. The bats always left quite a stir, whispers of the Batman lingering for hours after, the particular kind of bullets Red hood used, the swiftness of an attack and fight pointing to Black Bat. The way they each took down a criminal was specific enough that she could determine who did it every time.
Or maybe it was the online database Babs gave her access to.
Maybe she just read the reports logged there to figure out who did what.
Not that she ever used that information in establishing her cases for the judges of the fine city of Gotham, and not that she wouldn’t be able to determine who did it without the extensive and incredibly helpful database, but it certainly helped when the files police officers dropped off described the wrong events of what happened or were as bare as the one she was staring at.
Maybe she had been getting too complacent, too comfortable, too reliant on the system that had long been established in Gotham.
She was a lawyer, one of the best in the nation, for a reason.
She helped those 400 women get the compensation and justice they deserved after being ignored and forgotten by two different governments. She helped Wonder Woman when the United States was trying to find her guilty of murdering Maxwell Lord. She got Dr. Psycho acquitted. Yeah. The madman Dr. Psycho.
Kate got him acquitted, despite all the evidence that was piled against him. Despite him literally attacking the courtroom at the end of the trail.
She was good at her job, she knew she was, she had more than enough proof to back it up.
She could do this. She could build this case.
Doesn’t matter if the only information she had to go on was:
- Four ex-Joker goons entered a bank.
- Goons held several people hostage during robbery.
- Unknown and masked individual entered the bank.
- Unknown and masked individual crawled on walls and ceiling (needs to be confirmed).
- Unknown and masked individual, by themselves, stopped the four armed robbers in a time span between two to five minutes.
- Hostages were released quickly and unharmed.
- All four goons had to be cut out of some sort of substance that left them all immobile.
- The substance was none known to anyone working in the forensics department at the GCPD and would have been sent to another police department in another district of Jersey, had it not been for the fact that the substance vaporized about an hour later.
And that’s it.
Kate looked over the online database again, trying to find something that could help.
All she had so far was a video – cam footage from Black Bat’s mask that Oracle placed on her computer screen rather forcibly about… five hours ago, give or take.
The video helped some, only if she had the brightness and volume turned up all the way.
The lights had been turned off in the bank, and the figure could only be seen in the flashes of light given off every time a gun fired.
The figure was fast, efficient, and the only thing stopping Kate from saying it was Black Bat was the fact that she was watching Black Bat’s mask footage.
Kate really should have moved on by now, started focusing on another part of the case – or another case all together – but she didn’t. Couldn’t.
Call it curiosity, call it the need to be thorough, call it the notion that she would need this one specific piece of information to be taken seriously in court, call it a detail that was pertinent to some of her other cases, all of them would be right.
If she wanted the charges against those four robbers to stick, if she wanted the charges to half of the other files forming a stack on her desk to stick, she would need to know who apprehended them.
It’s some bureaucratic thing, established way back when Harvey Dent was still the D.A. and had since become just another thing he’d done to make Kate’s life a hundred times harder.
As much as Kate could, and did, complain about Two-Face, she knew this for sure: that man made one hell of a lawyer.
She pulled over some other files from the pile, all other crimes some random unknown and masked individual stopped. It was unclear whether or not it was the same individual, but the likelihood was high.
All had an unknown person entering the scene of a crime, effectively and efficiently stopping said crime, leaving the criminals bound in some sort of substance that dissolved after a certain unknown length of time, and the only information about the crime was given via word of mouth, the cameras always broken or covered up or containing footage that had somehow been corrupted.
All pointing her absolutely nowhere and not helping her at all in putting together a convincing case against the ex-Joker goons.
Another viewing of the mask footage, another read through of the bare file, another glance at the clock. It was nearing one in the morning.
Usually, at times like these, Matt would walk in with two cups of coffee and offer another set of eyes. Kate couldn’t show him the footage Oracle gave her – footage that was only supposed to help her figure out who stopped the four robbers, something that was suppose to be quick and easy and not take up her entire night – but she could show him everything else.
Except, Matt wasn’t there. Kate had forced him to take the night off, telling him to not treat his internship too seriously and to go have fun with some friends, to enjoy college and the simpler times life offered will he still had them.
And he took her advice. He wasn’t at the office. Kate had a file with a total of six pieces of paper in it, four of which were basic information on each of the robbers respectively. She had a case she needed to be solid but wouldn’t be because she didn’t have any of the information she needed. She needed to know who stopped the robbers, or else the Gotham judges would find the goons as not guilty and they would be roaming the streets again by the end of the week.
She needed to see her son, to hear his voice, but it was past his bedtime already, and she didn’t want him to worry, it when he had finally started to settle down back in L.A. after his impromptu journey across the country just to make sure that Kate was all right.
She needed to punch something.
With that thought, she got up, packing up her files and securing them in her desk and locking the drawer shut, then grabbing her briefcase.
This late at night, the only other person in the entire building would be the janitor, no one else caring enough to stay so late. It was something that she had used to her advantage time and time again. Just like she was doing tonight.
Kate nodded her head as they passed each other and slipped into the bathroom. She entered the largest stall and set her briefcase down, opening it up and pulling out the pieces of her uniform.
However, the janitor must have recently mopped the floor because when Kate tried to put on her pants hastily so she could get out and start her night job faster, her foot slipped and she nearly fell into the toilet.
Goddamnit.
Whatever, doesn’t matter. More important things to focus on.
She finished putting on her suit, took out her staff, and snuck out of the bathroom, taking the stairs up to the roof. She stashed her briefcase under the AC unit, knowing she was going to regret it later when she needed to come back here at the end of the night to collect it, but needing to get out as fast as possible and to take her mind off everything.
Aiming her staff at the ground, she shot off a blast and launched into the air, soaring over several buildings and landing in a roll, coming up on the balls of her feet.
She had been doing this for a while now, dawning the suit for about three years at that point, and it never failed to fill her with a shot of adrenaline. It relaxed her in a way very few other things did. This, being out as Manhunter, was exactly what she needed after such a long and stressful day at her day job.
The comm embedded in her mask beeped, but before Kate could decide if she wanted to accept the call or not, a voice started speaking.
“Evening, Manhunter,” Barbara greeted.
“Oracle,” Kate said. “That video you have me wasn’t all that helpful.”
“Yeah, I know, but that’s all we know about the guy,” Barbara said. She sounded tired, worn out. She sounded like she needed a nice shower and a good nights rest. Kate had been working with the birds of prey for a while now, too, and knew Babs well enough at this point to know that she wouldn’t do either until whatever task she was working on was completed.
Not that Kate could get onto her for it, not when she could be the same way. She was doing better with most parts of her life, but was still a workaholic. It’s what made her a successful lawyer. Sue her.
“That’s it?” Kate asked, not bothering to hide the disbelief from her voice. It wasn’t everyday, after all, that the all knowing Oracle admitted to not knowing something.
“I know,” Babs gritted out, strained. Ah, so that’s what she was working on. Duh. “You don’t need to say anything. I all ready know; I have Batman breathing down my neck, I don’t need anyone else doing that, too.”
“Got it,” Kate replied, wanting to be there for her friend but not entirely sure how to. Barbara wasn’t one who often took comfort, who was more likely to see it as pity than anything else. “What can I do to help?”
Her ear was filled with the clatter of keys on a keyboard for a few seconds before Barbara answered. “I got Nightwing, Red Robin, Black Canary, and the Question already following up on a few leads for me.”
“Nothing I can do?” Kate asked, twirling her bo staff idly and watching the blue lights bounce off of nearby puddles, the Gotham sky clear for once instead of pouring down rain.
“You can try to beat up Two-Face,” Babs told her. “Or any other criminal who has the misfortune of crossing paths with you.”
Kate snorted, a smirk working its way on her face. “Got it. Talk to you later,” she said, signing off.
Babs must have really been running on fumes because she didn’t say anything when she ended the call. Kate didn’t hold it against her, knowing the girl pushed herself too hard too often.
Manhunter took off again, flying through the sky toward Two-Face’s last known base of operations. Even if he wasn’t there, then there would probably be some goons left behind she could take her frustration out on.
She was learning to be careful, and by careful she meant no more in field amputations. Even though she knew Dylan was all right now, and that Dylan was on doctors orders to take it easy as his stump healed so there was no way she could accidentally hurt him in the field again, she didn’t want to take any chances on anyone else.
Besides, she’s found it unnecessarily cruel to amputate someone’s limb like that, after having to witness the recovery Dylan’s had to go through.
Kate should visit him tomorrow, bring some more of those flowers he hated. At least that would liven up his otherwise dreary and boring home.
It’s not like he had anyone else to visit him.
And on that depressing note, Kate found herself at her destination. It was one of three she had been planning on checking out at some point, all places Two-Face had occupied recently.
It seemed she got lucky with her first choice option, seeing as there was already action happening inside the warehouse.
Kate launched up, crashing through a window and landing in the middle of a firefight. She wasn’t given a moment to think, not that she needed one; she knew which side to fight, and the ones wearing dual-toned clothing all had very punchable faces.
Even after all these years, Kate never got tired of being Manhunter, of beating criminals in the streets and dishing out justice in the courtroom. This was what she was good at, this was how she helped make the world a better place, a safer place. For her son.
She punched someone in the nose, whirled her bo staff around to hit someone else on the side of their head, lashed out a kick behind her in a guy’s nuts.
She didn’t know how many of Two-Face’s minions, exactly, were in the warehouse, just that they all seemed to drift closer towards her. Kate tried to look around the herd, see what they were all running from, but was too busy fighting her way through the bodies to see anything.
When the crowd started to thin and there was only one more person near her to fight, Kate aimed a kick at the goon’s head, knocking him to the ground easily. She pointed the butt of her staff at his face, demanding, “where is Two-Face?”
“Like I’d ever tell you, bitch,” the man spat – literally – all over her boots.
Ew.
Didn’t he know how hard these were to clean? It’s not like she could take them to the dry cleaners. Maybe Dylan knew a trick or two to get blood soaked spit out of clothing…
“Wrong answer,” Kate said, the staff in her hands whirring dramatically. It was a threat, an intimidation tactic to get Mr. Tough Guy beneath her to start talking and give up the information she needed.
She hadn’t been planning on shooting him and leaving a burn mark on the floor were his head had been – not at that moment, but it’s also not like plans can’t change - when something hit her staff. The momentum of whatever it was had been enough to knock it out of her hands entirely.
Kate looked up, shoving the heel of her foot under the guy’s chin on his windpipe to keep him in place, and finally had a moment to get a lay of the land.
All the other worker bees had been beaten, the ones Kate took out lying unconscious or in too much pain to move, none of them dead only because Kate didn’t really want to have to deal with heroes whining about corpses again like she’s had to every other time she killed someone in Gotham.
Damn, she missed missed L.A. She missed fighting crime with Obsidian. At least he never complained when she did what she had to.
And she missed her friend, missed being able to see Todd all the time rather than only on the weekends.
And she missed her son.
She always missed her son.
The rest of the goons, the ones Kate didn’t take out, were all relatively unharmed. All awake and, from the looks of it, in little to no pain. All restrained in some sort of white substance, stuff that looked like webbing.
Stuff just like what was described in the case files she had been obsessing over all day. Weekend. Week. Whatever.
Kate looked over and saw a slim figure on the wall in a backwards crawl, both legs and one hand the only parts of their body touching the bricks, the other hand stretched out in front of them, doing a weird hand sign, aimed in Manhunter’s direction.
This was them. The person Kate had been looking for. The one who stopped all those crimes. Unidentified and masked individual.
Holy f*cking sh*t.
“Who are you?” Kate asked. She may not have had her weapon, but that didn’t mean she was defenseless. She’s certain the guy beneath her suffocating would agree on that front.
The individual sighed with their full body, arm dropping to their side and head dropping to their chest in tandem. They fell from the wall, landing easily on their feet in a way that was both graceful and unnatural, a way that reminded Kate of how ballerinas danced and of how aliens couldn’t appear human no matter how hard they tried. It was as unnerving as it was mesmerizing.
“Guess I haven’t left as big of an impression as I though, huh?” they joked. They walked over to her nimbly, and when they got close enough, stuck out a hand, standing just far enough out of reach that if Kate wanted to shake it, should would have to move away from the man she was standing on. “I’m Spider-man.”
“Manhunter,” Kate replied on guard, not wanting to risk getting too close to someone so… she didn’t have any other word to describe him him than other.
He was an disconcerting as he was elegant, as fluid as he was terrifying. He moved with a certain air to him that screamed predator, but one that didn’t know their place in the food chain.
She swept her eyes over the warehouse again, at all the men Spider-man had taken out. Kate took out more than her fair share, enough that she knew she would be sore tomorrow.
Spider-man took out four times as many as her. And none of them were injured beyond the occasional bump or bruise.
That level of discipline spoke of skill, of strength, of power.
Terrifying, was how Kate described him.
Terrifying didn’t begin to cover it.
This so-called Spider-man seemed to recognize that she wasn’t going to shake his hand and accepted it easily enough, letting his arm fall back to his side unaffected.
Despite his name, despite the skill he had demonstrated that night, Spider-man sounded younger than a man, sounded like someone who had only recently finished going through puberty.
Her mind was already racing with question after question. How could someone so young be so skilled? How could someone so young take out so many people by themselves?
Those two questions perhaps weren’t fair, considering how the presence of child heroes had been around longer in the costumed community than some members of the justice league, but it didn’t but negate their importance.
Kate had questions she wanted to ask, things she wanted to know, details she needed for her files and cases. But before she could ask any of them, Spider-man’s head turned in a way that would have looked fine for an owl, but looked terrifying for a human. If that’s even what he was.
Oh, Kate had so many questions.
“There’s a mugging a couple of blocks away,” Spider-man said. She wasn’t even going to question how he could possibly have known that. Then, turning back to Kate, added on a bit sheepishly, “I would love to stay and keep talking, but I gotta-“
Kate cut him off as soon as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “You’re not here to hurt anyone, right?” She had other questions to ask – more important ones, probably – but that specific question took precedence. Maybe she could have worded it a bit better, and she was already kicking herself a bit for not thinking before she spoke, but that’s the question that came out.
It was the one she needed to know, one whose answer she could report back to Oracle, under the unlikely chance that Babs wasn’t already aware of what was happening in that warehouse.
Spider-man looked a bit wounded by the question, which was interesting how he could portray such emotion considering the fact that not a single inch of his face, not a single inch of skin at all, was visible under his suit. “Of course not,” he said earnestly. “I just want to help however I can.”
Kate nodded. She understood that feeling far too well. She jerked her head toward the door, a simple word giving him permission to leave. She didn’t think she could stop him even if she wanted to. “Go.”
Spider-man nodded and took off, shooting her a thumbs up with one hand while the other raised up and shot out more of that substance to stick to the ceiling. He swung on a rope of the white, web-like substance straight out the window, doing a peaceful and lazy front flip before he disappeared from her view.
Well, f*ck.
Kate’s night just got a lot longer as she thought about the paperwork she could now finally do.
But that could wait until tomorrow. No point in working herself to the bone when she didn’t need to.
See, she said she was getting better at this whole’ life’ thing, and balance was a key part of that.
Tonight, she needed a nice and warm shower, delicious food from that little Thai place on the corner of her street, and a good night’s rest.
On the way back to her apartment, she updated Babs on all the information she just learned, a little shocked by just how much of it was apparently new.
Hopefully that meant that now Babs could do the same and take the rest of the night off, give herself a break. She deserved it, too.
