FIC: JLA: "Necessary Force" (Part 9 - 1st Half)
Hiya! Here's Part 9 of the Epic, "NF". (again, a bit on the detailed side, so 'tis divided into two bits!) And Happy Summer, all!
Title: JLA: Necessary Force - Part 9: "Enfant Perdu" (1st Half)
Author: Paxwolf
Fandom: JLA/Justice League
Rating: PG-13 (R in parts)
Warnings: Mature Situations, Language, Violence
Disclaimer: JLA sadly not owned by me. OCs are.
Summary: When a powerful terrorist threatens the safety of the planet, the Justice League must go to extremes to stop him, and Superman and Batman may have to make the biggest sacrifice of all.
Summary of This Part: Batman leads the League in formulating the ultimate of plans in the first stage of the effort to bring down the deadly terrorist and his army, and hopefully rescue the children - and a certain hapless Man of Steel - in the process.
JLA
"Necessary Force"
By Paxwolf
Note: Please see all warning, disclaimers, and acknowledgements in Part I of “Necessary Force”. Thank you!
Part IX:
“Enfant Perdu”
Nearly all of the children had finally fallen asleep, huddled in tight groups under the blankets their captors had flung into their enclosure.
Lauren Findlay scrunched her eyes shut in a vain attempt to ease the gritty soreness they’d been plagued with for hours. She opened them again in time to see the glance of pained sympathy from Mei. They shared a silent look of commiseration from across the enforced distance of several feet that separated them. She could see how Mei’s shoulders shook minutely under the blanket thrown across them, and tried to send out a feeling of comfort and hope through her gaze.
Laurie stretched her locked-up muscles as she rose wearily, and stepped around to check on the sleeping children. The three teachers had taken it in turns to patrol through the huddled bodies, more to reassure the kids of their familiar presence than because they could do any real good for those under their care. She saw that some of the children only dozed fitfully, tossing and fidgeting, too wound up with fear to truly rest, while others slumbered on in a near coma-like sleep, perhaps in a subconscious effort to escape from their terrifying situation. She bent down at little Janey’s side, tenderly tucking a corner of the rough blanket around her small shoulder. Standing for a moment gazing down at the child’s sleeping, tear-stained face, Laurie was all at once overwhelmed by her wildly fluctuating emotions. She didn’t think she had ever experienced such a degree of fear, grief, rage, and helplessness in her life.
What was going to happen to these innocent little lives? What would their mysterious captors do to them if they didn’t get whatever they it was they wanted - from whomever they wanted it? And most terribly of all, what could she, or any of the prisoners, do about it? She was once again faced with the realization that she, her colleagues, their students, and the foreign-looking prisoners in the opposite cage were entirely at the mercy of these violent, gun-toting fanatics and this Ubermensch character they called lord. It was so far from the realm of her experience, of her safe, normal little world, that she wanted to scream and force herself wake up from the sheer unreality of it.
She brushed a lock of hair from Janey’s cheek and straightened abruptly as another sentry stalked arrogantly by their fence, weapon angled cockily over one shoulder. He caught her sudden glare and immediately halted, lounging indolently against the bolted gate. She quickly averted her gaze, heart rate speeding up slightly, hoping against hope to avoid more trouble.
“Qu'est-ce que tu regardes, femme?” he snapped out with a sneer.
Laurie said nothing, and only scowled at the ground. She thought maybe the guard had spoken in French, but couldn’t be altogether sure with his peculiar and strong accent from some other language. Either way, she determined to not look back up at him and meet his assessing gaze. Prudently, she just could not risk further trauma to her pupils, of course. But oh, how she longed to wipe that smug grin off the man’s face with a sharp left across the eyes! She held herself still, fists clenched at her sides, staring fiercely at the ground.
The guard paused, then suddenly slunk forward, fishing out keys from his pocket, and unlocked the gate of their pen. In horror she looked up at the sound, heart hammering in her chest. From the corner of her eye she spotted Mei and Linc stand up uneasily. The sentry advanced slowly, but Laurie, seeing anew the sleeping bodies of the children all around her, stood her ground, despite the terror for them, and yes, for herself, that ran in lightning pulses up and down her spine. The man, leering horribly, reached out a gloved hand.
"Alors, veux-tu jouer, ma chere?"
Laurie stiffened as his hand grabbed her chin, breath coming so fast she thought she might hyperventilate.
“Enough!”
The guard stiffened and twisted around at the shouted command. Standing a few metres away from the gate was a woman, also attired in fatigues like their guard, staring narrowly at them both.
“Back off, soldier,” she barked, in English, her own hand on the butt of the weapon at her belt.
The sentry’s face contorted into a grimace, but without argument, he straightened and left the enclosure, violetnly slamming and locking the gate behind him. Laurie closed her eyes and breathed a prayer of relief. All of a sudden she felt her knees wobble and she sank onto the ground gracelessly, the adrenaline rush leaving her weak. Lincoln ignored the five-metre distance rule and hurried to kneel beside her.
“Are you all right?”
She looked up at him, his dark eyes wide with concern, dark skin shining with perspiration as he hovered over her. His frizzled white hair seemed to stand on end like a bizarre halo. She wondered how such a frail-looking older man with all the qualities of a gentleman could stay so strong.
“Y-yes, I’m fine,” she said a little breathlessly, pinching the bridge of her nose as it began to bleed profusely. “Just a little, uh, stressed, obviously.”
Linc fished out a tissue and laid a reassuring hand on her arm.
“Hang tough, Miss Findlay. Before you know it, we'll all be home. We're going to make it out of here just fine. All of us. I just know we will.”
She mopped up the blood before it could run down and soil her jacket. “That would take some miracle, Linc,” she said dispiritedly. “No one knows where we are. We don’t know where we are!”
“Ah, but I happen to believe in miracles,” he answered firmly, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. “I have to. I’m a teacher.”
She smiled back at him, her heart warmed, and held the Kleenex against her nose. “Really.”
“Sure thing.”
“Okay, then.” She drew a deep breath, oddly heartened. “I’ll try to believe the same. It’s the least I can do.” She met his eyes, and tried to smile. She succeeded, even if it was a weak approximation of a real one. “After all, I’m a teacher too.”
“That’s the spirit. We will get out of this interesting predicament of ours soon enough. Have faith, my girl.”
The female soldier, having finished with her verbal dressing down of her subordinate, snapped her attention back to the captives.
“You! Ne parle pas! Enough talking! Separate yourselves ... now!”
Linc helped Laurie to her feet with gentle hands, and gave her a wink. She nodded wordless thanks as he reluctantly moved away.
Satisfied at their compliance, and seeing that Laurie’s bleeding had slowed, the female captain turned away to resume her watch.
Laurie’s lip curled as she watched the captain. How could the woman be helping keep them in this prison? How could she possibly be a party to this gross subjugation? She could have sworn she’d seen a glimmer of pity in the captain’s eyes when she had been watching the children crying in terror upon their initial arrival. She sighed in frustration. Who was this Ayestrom that he had such a hold over both despicable and decent people? And more importantly, just what could such a monster possibly want with the likes of them?
She couldn’t figure it.
She settled back down beside Janey and Kerry and nodded reassuringly at Linc and Mei. She could swear the bit of grey in Mei’s shiny black hair had spread during the last two days alone.
If only the faintest of glimmers of hope could come their way, she would be able to hold on. She knew she could. If only someone knew where they were. Then it would be that much easier to keep hoping, and keep on fighting.
* * * * * * *
Batman slammed his hand down on the small table beside him, causing the contents to go flying as the surface dented alarmingly inwards. He glowered at the table, and at the communicator that lay haplessly upon it, breathing heavily.
“Batman?” J’onn asked, somewhat tentatively.
“Damn him,” Batman grated, not looking up.
“He knew the risks. We all did,” Aquaman interposed, fingering his metal hand contemplatively.
Batman shot him a dark look. “Then damn us as well.”
“For what?” Kyle asked cluelessly.
“For letting ourselves get into this intolerable predicament in the first place! We have allowed ourselves to be outmaneuvered by Ayestrom at nearly every turn." His gauntleted hands tightened into unyielding fists against the dented surface of the table. "Enough is enough.”
Kyle swallowed. I don't know if I've ever seen Bats this angry before. Like, ever.
“You are correct, Batman,” Diana was saying, blue eyes sparkling with Amazonian fire. “Therefore, I propose that it is high time to mount an offensive.”
“You can’t be serious!” Flash exclaimed in shock. “Say I’m stating the obvious here, but should we attack, those hostages can kiss their collective cabooses good-bye.”
“And these terrorists will commit the exact same atrocity if we stand by and do nothing,” she snapped back. “A monster like Ayestrom has proven he cares nothing for ordinary mortal lives. He is just using those poor people in order to toy with us.”
“Maybe true, but is a direct assault on his power base the answer right now?”
“Why not?” Aquaman answered, a slow smile curling into his beard. “Thanks to Oracle and Superman, we have determined that the Amsterdam location is, in fact, the main base. We know about the other two. Superman’s confirmed the presence of the hostages in the Amsterdam HQ. We now even know their numbers; we know their weapons. It certainly attests to the fact that our infiltration plan was a success.”
But ... but we might have lost Supes in the attempt, Kyle thought, staring down at his Ring. Oh god ...
“Except for the tiny little detail of not getting our infiltrator back,” Wally said, echoing Kyle's thoughts, narrowing his eyes at Arthur.
“Not yet. But that will be corrected,” said Diana determinedly. “We shall get everyone properly prepared for battle. Then we assault this 'Lord' Ayestrom's main lair and show him just with whom he has chosen to deal . We rescue the hostages and Kal, and take down Ayestrom and his army once and for all.”
There was a collective intake of breath, and a hush in the room. Then a few heads began to nod.
"I am ready now," Aquaman said, standing.
“Saddle up, lock and load,” Kyle added with a tight grin, a surge of energy coursing through him at the idea, a gargantuan green bazooka spilling into life from the Ring.
Flash cast a quick look at J’onn, who seemed to be staring off into the distance, then shrugged resignedly. “All right, then, Wondy. Guess we suit up.”
“No.”
Everyone’s heads turned to stare at Batman.
“No?” Aquaman echoed, beginning to glower.
Kyle blinked. No?
“That’s right,” Batman said with quiet intensity. “At this point, it would be the gravest of mistakes on our part to attack.”
“How can you just stand there and say that?” Wonder Woman demanded, straightening abruptly. “Nothing else we have attempted thus far has seemed to accomplish a thing!”
“Nor will this.”
“Ayestrom must be stopped, Batman. We all know it. He must be brought to justice, through any means possible.”
“Not through this means!”
“But why?” asked Kyle, a little startled that he had dared to speak up with Batman looking like that.
“It would be both suicidal and homicidal, Green Lantern,” Batman growled. “I would have thought that that would have been obvious, even to you.”
Kyle flushed.
“I say we attack,” Diana reiterated, eyes trained on Batman challengingly.
“I say we don’t.”
For several long heavy moments, Wonder Woman and Batman stared levelly at each other. Everyone else watched them.
“And what about Kal?” Diana asked finally, her soft tone not detracting from the steel beneath. “I know the two of you have your differences, but I thought he was your friend, if anyone was. Will you simply abandon him there, at the mercy of Ayestrom? Especially if that’s exactly what that demon wants?”
Batman bristled. “This is neither the time nor the place to discuss my relationship with anyone. As for Superman, we shall simply have to trust in his ability to endure.”
“While we do what?” Flash asked before a furious Diana could respond.
“While we come up with an alternative.”
Aquaman threw himself with a huff back into his chair.
“If we launch an attack now,” Diana said, obviously struggling for her usual calm, “with the UN negotiations pending, when he least expects it…”
“Don’t you see, Princess,” Batman riposted, “that this would be precisely what Ayestrom does expect! He wants us to face him head on, with the world watching, on his ground. We would end up playing right into his hands.”
“Not if we overpower him first,” Aquaman said sharply.
Batman turned to look at him levelly. “And you can guarantee that, can you?”
“With ourselves, our League Reserves, the UN security forces, the JSA and other Meta groups, surely we have the sheer firepow…”
“I had always assumed that someone who was the ruling monarch of three quarters of the planet would have a better grasp of tactics than that.”
Aquaman stiffened and rose slightly from his chair.
“If you were anyone else, Batman…”
“Please, my friends,” J’onn interposed gently, rising slowly from his seat. “If Kal-El were here, I am certain he would, rather tenaciously, observe that such dissension in our ranks only serves the interests of the enemy, not our own.”
“Yeah, and if Superman were here, we wouldn’t be in this dilemma in the first place, would we?” Flash ventured with forced cheerfulness.
Kyle tried not to smile.
Wonder Woman frowned, and held herself stiffly for a moment before sitting down with a sigh. “Very well, Batman,” she said with great restraint. “If you do not wish to rescue our teammate and the hostages, what do you propose instead?”
Batman set his teeth and displayed equal restraint.
“It's not that I don’t want to effect a rescue. It’s that our strategy must not be one that our enemy either anticipates, or worse, actually welcomes.” He looked at the others. “My voice alone does not carry the weight necessary to command you in this. But I ask you all to set aside your anger, and your fear for the hostages, even if Superman himself is shortly to become one of them. We must think beyond what Ayestrom is capable. And then act accordingly.”
The League gazed back at him, various states of emotion and reaction easily read on each visage, whether masked or not.
Kyle looked surreptitiously at the faces around him. But ...
“I agree with Batman,” J’onn finally said. “If we charge in now, while Ayestrom is at his greatest strength, then all the work and sacrifice we and our friends have put into this endeavor thus far will have been for naught. Including Superman’s own.”
Arthur and Wally both nodded and Kyle, after a moment, added his own nod, watching Wonder Woman.
Diana closed her eyes and then also inclined her head reluctantly.
“Very well. I will, of course, adhere to the majority. But only because I believe Kal would agree with you in this.”
Batman rose, accepting their decision, but clearly taking no pleasure in his victory.
“Flash, I want you to gather everyone. Even our spies at the other bases. Atom, Steel, Huntress, Canary … everyone. Including our guest. Quickly.”
“Hey, quick’s my middle name.”
And Flash had vanished. Batman thumbed his communicator.
“Oracle, I want you to talk to our UN contact. Tell her … tell her we’ve found all three of Ayestrom’s lairs.”
“Gotcha, boss.”
“What?!?” Diana exclaimed, eyes wide.
“That’s insanity,” Aquaman thundered, looking daggers at Batman.
“Er, correct me if I’m wrong,” Kyle muttered, “but isn’t that our one big advantage right now? I mean, that Ayestrom doesn’t know we now know where he is?”
Plastic Man looked up breathlessly from where he had appeared in the tent via Flash. “Yeah, won’t whatever spies Big Bad’s got at the UN filter the word through?”
“Precisely,” Batman almost smirked. “But we want him to know that we know that he knows that we know where he is.”
Kyle caught himself staring. What?
“Wanna run that by us one more time?” Flash said as he appeared for a split second with a disheveled Black Canary.
“No, no, it makes perfect sense!” Plas said, his head twirling around in an opposite whirl from both of his eyes. “I just can’t believe the Bat was the one who said that.”
Before any more questions or demands could arise, Flash reappeared once more, this time holding a dazed young French mercenary by the shoulders before disappearing again.
“Ah, Monsieur Bondue,” Batman greeted grimly, “I believe you were hoping for the opportunity to meet some of my Justice League colleagues?”
Startled, the young man looked up, his breath caught. The expression on his face was almost comical as he stared at the assembled group, mouth agape.
“Uh, um, comment allez-vous?” he stammered, and then bowed quickly. “Enchanté, Messieurs et Mademoiselles. I am most honoured to be here.” His voice was trembling underneath his politeness.
When no one answered but only continued to grant him measuring stares, he looked down again quickly, and Batman, a small smile playing about his mouth, gestured to a camp chair at the table. “Assie-toi, Etienne.”
Etienne sat gingerly down, feeling the weight of all the stares, acutely sensing the power gathered there in that room. Batman turned to the others.
“Our knowledge of the bases’ locations is not, unfortunately, nearly as much of an advantage as we’d assumed. According to our young friend here, Ayestrom has actually been counting on our finding his bases and coming in person right to him.”
“How can that be?” Diana questioned, startled, throwing a look at the young Frenchman.
“And why would he possibly want such a thing?” Arthur added, a frown darkening his brow. “We’d be in a position to alert the UN, rescue the hostages, and stymie his threat to the world.”
Yeah, pretty much, Kyle thought.
“Except that the hostages are not there as a hold over the UN," Batman countered. "All along they have been used as bait … for us.”
Huh?
“And you believe this … this boy?” Aquaman asked, glancing with disdain at Etienne. “How do you know he’s not feeding you lies that Ayestrom would prefer us to swallow? Just last night he was part and parcel of the monster’s terrorist army, and now he proclaims to help us? Just how naïve are you?”
Batman did not waste breath arguing, but simply looked over at the Martian Manhunter, who was also staring intently at Etienne. Etienne shrank back under the steady scarlet gaze.
“J’onn?”
“He himself believes what he has overheard within his regiment is the truth,” J’onn confirmed quietly.
Etienne’s eyes widened, and he swallowed, hard.
“That doesn’t mean…”
“Oui! C’est vrai!” Etienne piped up suddenly, and though his face reddened as everyone turned to look at him, he drew breath and plunged on. “I tell you the truth. And I would not betray you. At first, Monsieur Batman did not give me any choice in the matter; but now, I would help you of my own accord. I do not wish to be a party to the murders of innocent children. I did not know about the abductions … before. I was not even stationed at the main base in Amsterdam! Only the best, the most loyal, most experienced members of our force were given that privilege, an honour only earned through service in battle against your forces.”
“Heh. Some informant,” Aquaman dismissed him perfunctorily. “It’s doubtful that one of such low rank would be privy to anything of real value.”
Etienne reddened further.
“Hey, man,” Kyle broke in, feeling for the kid, “Cut the kid some slack, why doncha? He’s on our side now, right? That sure can’t have been easy. From what I hear, this Ayestrom dude’s got some hold on most of his people. Right?” he added, a little uncertainly, flashing a look at J’onn.
Etienne cast Kyle a grateful look. “Merci, Monsieur Lumiere-Vert. It is true. Most of my compatriots are fanatically loyal to our Übermensch. I … I thought I was too, but I had not been there for very long. Perhaps …”
Über-what?
“Perhaps that has something to do with the broken ties,” Diana said, forehead creased in thought.
“Do you think Ayestrom’s famed charisma could be some sort of a … a superpower of his or something?” Kyle asked excitedly. “It sure would explain a lot.”
“That is entirely possible, Green Lantern,” J’onn said thoughtfully. “And certainly the idea bears looking into.”
“We’re getting off-topic here,” Aquaman snapped. “How can anything this pup tells us be of use? He’s obviously much too young to be have been told anything of strategic interest.”
Etienne’s hackles went up. “I want to help you, Monsieurs. I truly do. But you do not make it easy. And even one such as I can know many things. I was considered part of our group. And so was trusted. Trusted because I too believed in Lord Ayestrom. Only Monsieur Batman’s … influence has persuaded me from this belief. And it gets easier the longer I am here.”
Batman merely looked at Aquaman, head slightly cocked to one side. At Arthur’s eloquent but silent look of grudging respect, he nodded at Etienne to continue.
The boy drew a breath.
“As I said earlier, mes amis, it is widely known amongst us that our lord - er, Ayestrom,” he corrected himself hastily at their looks. “- was in reality, en actualement, hoping to be discovered by you or your friends.” Several Leaguers frowned. “He desires to force a physical confrontation between you and he. He wants to match wits and strength against the best you have to offer.” He looked at them all, everyone’s attention upon himself. He gulped, but pressed on. “This is to prove his superiority to Europe, and to the entire world. He will rule, he will have power, and to his mind, his defeat of the Justice League of America grants him the very right to that power.”
The various members of the League looked at each other as the words sank in. Throughout the conversation, reserve members and JLA allies were filtering by ones and twos into the room, brought in under their own power, or by the Flash. They stood quietly inside the large tent’s entrance, listening. But at this point, it was Green Arrow who finally spoke up.
“Hold on here, and pardon me if I’m interrupting, gents, but this is somethin' that's been botherin' me for a bit. If this Ayestrom jerk is so bloody powerful, how come we’ve never heard of him before this crisis?”
“That’s right,” Canary said, a perplexed look on her face, glancing at Arrow. “Before this crisis, did anyone know of him, or hear of this massive terrorist army he’d built up? Oracle hadn’t. And generally she’s pretty much in the know from the get-go.”
“Usually super-villainous despots can’t contain their power,” Blue Beetle agreed, tapping a hand against his palm. “Or their greed. They pop up long before they’ve had a chance to really mature into a genuine threat - especially a planet-level one.”
“And oh man, is this dude ever a threat now,” chimed in Booster Gold with a rather melodramatic shudder. “I mean, lookit what he did to Rio … man, my fave party town …”
“Si,” Green Flame said hotly. “My country did not fare well against this attack. Many lives were lost before the League could step in! Where did he come from?”
“We’re sorry that we couldn’t prevent all the damage, Beatriz,” Diana said consolingly to her. “In Saskatchewan we were lucky; only our own people suffered damage, no civilians.” Her face darkened. “But Metropolis fared even worse than did Brazil in that first attack. The numbers lost were unacceptably high.”
“The question of where Ayestrom comes from is one we cannot answer today,” J’onn said. “But it is a mystery we shall indeed need to solve before too long.”
“I still can’t figure why we hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him before last month,” Ollie complained again.
“He is simply a more patient and prepossessing individual than the run of the mill ‘villains’ with whom you are obviously accustomed to dealing,” snorted Aquaman.
“Than most of us are,” Diana said diplomatically as several of the junior reserves bristled, and Green Arrow's fingers twitched on his bowstring. “Ayestrom, obviously, knew to bide his time.”
There was a moment of silence as the group digested this.
“Um, not to diss my college education or nothing,” Kyle broke into the quiet, with a puzzled countenance, “but could anyone tell me what this ‘ubermench’ means, anyway? I, uh, majored in fine art, not linguistics.” He hoped his blush wasn't visible under his mask.
“It was a term coined by 19th Century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche,” Batman said darkly. “In German, the word basically translates as ‘super-man’.”
“Ouch. Talk about a complex,” Wally said with a wince, as Kyle whistled lowly. “Either he’s a neo-Nazi with a mad-on for both the West and us Metas who’re on the side of the angels, or …”
“Or he’s really courting disaster with a moniker like that,” Kyle said. “’Cuz I think that name’s already taken.”
“Or,” Black Canary speculated worriedly. “We’ve inadvertently sent him the one Christmas present he’s been lusting after all along.”
Kyle looked quickly at Batman to spot his reaction, but the Dark Knight remained as impassive as always.
Probably already thought of that possibility, he thought uneasily.
“Mon Dieu,” Etienne said suddenly, as if just now putting two and two together. “Are you saying you have sent your Superman into our main base?”
When no one immediately answered, Kyle shifted his feet. “We-ell, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Etienne squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head.
“Je vu. I had always wanted to meet the famed Man of Steel,” he said, almost inaudibly. “I must admit, I read about him as often as I could in my native France. He was my childhood hero. Then, when I and my comrades first encountered Lord Ayestrom’s men, and heard about their leader, I thought to myself: here is Europe’s answer to the famed American 'l'Homme de Demain'. Only ours would be greater. And he would be no alien. Et alors ... and so ... be truly one of us.”
“Superman is one of us,” snarled Steel, flexing his hands on his hammer.
Etienne ducked his head in apology. “As you say. I found myself overwhelmed by Ayestrom and his words. But still … after all your friend had done for the world entire, not just your United States … But I suppose it is now too late.”
“It most certainly is not,” Batman said, so sharply that the younger heroes all jumped. Wonder Woman and Steel nodded adamantly, and Etienne found himself looking back at twenty angry faces, and drew back in sudden mortal fear.
“Yeah, what he said,” Flash sniffed. “And stop referrin’ to the S-Man in the past tense. It’s creepy.”
“We prefer to live with a bit more optimism, if you don’t mind,” Kyle added, a green dove blooming into life from his Ring. A small S-shield was emblazoned on the dove’s chest feathers.
“Kal-El was not yet in Ayestrom’s clutches at our last communiqué,” J’onn calmly reminded them all. “Not only is he effectively disguised, he is an extremely resourceful individual. I trust he will prevail.”
The room visibly seemed to relax.
“As do I,” Diana said stridently. “He shall escape and return to us whole. The only thing that would stop him is either a direct threat to the hostages, or …” She hesitated.
“Or if Ayestrom and his people already know he’s there,” Batman finished grimly.
There was an appalled sort of hush at these words throughout the room.
Kyle bit his lip. Aw, crap ...
---
To be Continued in the next post, right over HERE! :-)
& All Previous Parts can be found at the Main Page here.!
Title: JLA: Necessary Force - Part 9: "Enfant Perdu" (1st Half)
Author: Paxwolf
Fandom: JLA/Justice League
Rating: PG-13 (R in parts)
Warnings: Mature Situations, Language, Violence
Disclaimer: JLA sadly not owned by me. OCs are.
Summary: When a powerful terrorist threatens the safety of the planet, the Justice League must go to extremes to stop him, and Superman and Batman may have to make the biggest sacrifice of all.
Summary of This Part: Batman leads the League in formulating the ultimate of plans in the first stage of the effort to bring down the deadly terrorist and his army, and hopefully rescue the children - and a certain hapless Man of Steel - in the process.
JLA
"Necessary Force"
By Paxwolf
Note: Please see all warning, disclaimers, and acknowledgements in Part I of “Necessary Force”. Thank you!
Part IX:
“Enfant Perdu”
Nearly all of the children had finally fallen asleep, huddled in tight groups under the blankets their captors had flung into their enclosure.
Lauren Findlay scrunched her eyes shut in a vain attempt to ease the gritty soreness they’d been plagued with for hours. She opened them again in time to see the glance of pained sympathy from Mei. They shared a silent look of commiseration from across the enforced distance of several feet that separated them. She could see how Mei’s shoulders shook minutely under the blanket thrown across them, and tried to send out a feeling of comfort and hope through her gaze.
Laurie stretched her locked-up muscles as she rose wearily, and stepped around to check on the sleeping children. The three teachers had taken it in turns to patrol through the huddled bodies, more to reassure the kids of their familiar presence than because they could do any real good for those under their care. She saw that some of the children only dozed fitfully, tossing and fidgeting, too wound up with fear to truly rest, while others slumbered on in a near coma-like sleep, perhaps in a subconscious effort to escape from their terrifying situation. She bent down at little Janey’s side, tenderly tucking a corner of the rough blanket around her small shoulder. Standing for a moment gazing down at the child’s sleeping, tear-stained face, Laurie was all at once overwhelmed by her wildly fluctuating emotions. She didn’t think she had ever experienced such a degree of fear, grief, rage, and helplessness in her life.
What was going to happen to these innocent little lives? What would their mysterious captors do to them if they didn’t get whatever they it was they wanted - from whomever they wanted it? And most terribly of all, what could she, or any of the prisoners, do about it? She was once again faced with the realization that she, her colleagues, their students, and the foreign-looking prisoners in the opposite cage were entirely at the mercy of these violent, gun-toting fanatics and this Ubermensch character they called lord. It was so far from the realm of her experience, of her safe, normal little world, that she wanted to scream and force herself wake up from the sheer unreality of it.
She brushed a lock of hair from Janey’s cheek and straightened abruptly as another sentry stalked arrogantly by their fence, weapon angled cockily over one shoulder. He caught her sudden glare and immediately halted, lounging indolently against the bolted gate. She quickly averted her gaze, heart rate speeding up slightly, hoping against hope to avoid more trouble.
“Qu'est-ce que tu regardes, femme?” he snapped out with a sneer.
Laurie said nothing, and only scowled at the ground. She thought maybe the guard had spoken in French, but couldn’t be altogether sure with his peculiar and strong accent from some other language. Either way, she determined to not look back up at him and meet his assessing gaze. Prudently, she just could not risk further trauma to her pupils, of course. But oh, how she longed to wipe that smug grin off the man’s face with a sharp left across the eyes! She held herself still, fists clenched at her sides, staring fiercely at the ground.
The guard paused, then suddenly slunk forward, fishing out keys from his pocket, and unlocked the gate of their pen. In horror she looked up at the sound, heart hammering in her chest. From the corner of her eye she spotted Mei and Linc stand up uneasily. The sentry advanced slowly, but Laurie, seeing anew the sleeping bodies of the children all around her, stood her ground, despite the terror for them, and yes, for herself, that ran in lightning pulses up and down her spine. The man, leering horribly, reached out a gloved hand.
"Alors, veux-tu jouer, ma chere?"
Laurie stiffened as his hand grabbed her chin, breath coming so fast she thought she might hyperventilate.
“Enough!”
The guard stiffened and twisted around at the shouted command. Standing a few metres away from the gate was a woman, also attired in fatigues like their guard, staring narrowly at them both.
“Back off, soldier,” she barked, in English, her own hand on the butt of the weapon at her belt.
The sentry’s face contorted into a grimace, but without argument, he straightened and left the enclosure, violetnly slamming and locking the gate behind him. Laurie closed her eyes and breathed a prayer of relief. All of a sudden she felt her knees wobble and she sank onto the ground gracelessly, the adrenaline rush leaving her weak. Lincoln ignored the five-metre distance rule and hurried to kneel beside her.
“Are you all right?”
She looked up at him, his dark eyes wide with concern, dark skin shining with perspiration as he hovered over her. His frizzled white hair seemed to stand on end like a bizarre halo. She wondered how such a frail-looking older man with all the qualities of a gentleman could stay so strong.
“Y-yes, I’m fine,” she said a little breathlessly, pinching the bridge of her nose as it began to bleed profusely. “Just a little, uh, stressed, obviously.”
Linc fished out a tissue and laid a reassuring hand on her arm.
“Hang tough, Miss Findlay. Before you know it, we'll all be home. We're going to make it out of here just fine. All of us. I just know we will.”
She mopped up the blood before it could run down and soil her jacket. “That would take some miracle, Linc,” she said dispiritedly. “No one knows where we are. We don’t know where we are!”
“Ah, but I happen to believe in miracles,” he answered firmly, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. “I have to. I’m a teacher.”
She smiled back at him, her heart warmed, and held the Kleenex against her nose. “Really.”
“Sure thing.”
“Okay, then.” She drew a deep breath, oddly heartened. “I’ll try to believe the same. It’s the least I can do.” She met his eyes, and tried to smile. She succeeded, even if it was a weak approximation of a real one. “After all, I’m a teacher too.”
“That’s the spirit. We will get out of this interesting predicament of ours soon enough. Have faith, my girl.”
The female soldier, having finished with her verbal dressing down of her subordinate, snapped her attention back to the captives.
“You! Ne parle pas! Enough talking! Separate yourselves ... now!”
Linc helped Laurie to her feet with gentle hands, and gave her a wink. She nodded wordless thanks as he reluctantly moved away.
Satisfied at their compliance, and seeing that Laurie’s bleeding had slowed, the female captain turned away to resume her watch.
Laurie’s lip curled as she watched the captain. How could the woman be helping keep them in this prison? How could she possibly be a party to this gross subjugation? She could have sworn she’d seen a glimmer of pity in the captain’s eyes when she had been watching the children crying in terror upon their initial arrival. She sighed in frustration. Who was this Ayestrom that he had such a hold over both despicable and decent people? And more importantly, just what could such a monster possibly want with the likes of them?
She couldn’t figure it.
She settled back down beside Janey and Kerry and nodded reassuringly at Linc and Mei. She could swear the bit of grey in Mei’s shiny black hair had spread during the last two days alone.
If only the faintest of glimmers of hope could come their way, she would be able to hold on. She knew she could. If only someone knew where they were. Then it would be that much easier to keep hoping, and keep on fighting.
* * * * * * *
Batman slammed his hand down on the small table beside him, causing the contents to go flying as the surface dented alarmingly inwards. He glowered at the table, and at the communicator that lay haplessly upon it, breathing heavily.
“Batman?” J’onn asked, somewhat tentatively.
“Damn him,” Batman grated, not looking up.
“He knew the risks. We all did,” Aquaman interposed, fingering his metal hand contemplatively.
Batman shot him a dark look. “Then damn us as well.”
“For what?” Kyle asked cluelessly.
“For letting ourselves get into this intolerable predicament in the first place! We have allowed ourselves to be outmaneuvered by Ayestrom at nearly every turn." His gauntleted hands tightened into unyielding fists against the dented surface of the table. "Enough is enough.”
Kyle swallowed. I don't know if I've ever seen Bats this angry before. Like, ever.
“You are correct, Batman,” Diana was saying, blue eyes sparkling with Amazonian fire. “Therefore, I propose that it is high time to mount an offensive.”
“You can’t be serious!” Flash exclaimed in shock. “Say I’m stating the obvious here, but should we attack, those hostages can kiss their collective cabooses good-bye.”
“And these terrorists will commit the exact same atrocity if we stand by and do nothing,” she snapped back. “A monster like Ayestrom has proven he cares nothing for ordinary mortal lives. He is just using those poor people in order to toy with us.”
“Maybe true, but is a direct assault on his power base the answer right now?”
“Why not?” Aquaman answered, a slow smile curling into his beard. “Thanks to Oracle and Superman, we have determined that the Amsterdam location is, in fact, the main base. We know about the other two. Superman’s confirmed the presence of the hostages in the Amsterdam HQ. We now even know their numbers; we know their weapons. It certainly attests to the fact that our infiltration plan was a success.”
But ... but we might have lost Supes in the attempt, Kyle thought, staring down at his Ring. Oh god ...
“Except for the tiny little detail of not getting our infiltrator back,” Wally said, echoing Kyle's thoughts, narrowing his eyes at Arthur.
“Not yet. But that will be corrected,” said Diana determinedly. “We shall get everyone properly prepared for battle. Then we assault this 'Lord' Ayestrom's main lair and show him just with whom he has chosen to deal . We rescue the hostages and Kal, and take down Ayestrom and his army once and for all.”
There was a collective intake of breath, and a hush in the room. Then a few heads began to nod.
"I am ready now," Aquaman said, standing.
“Saddle up, lock and load,” Kyle added with a tight grin, a surge of energy coursing through him at the idea, a gargantuan green bazooka spilling into life from the Ring.
Flash cast a quick look at J’onn, who seemed to be staring off into the distance, then shrugged resignedly. “All right, then, Wondy. Guess we suit up.”
“No.”
Everyone’s heads turned to stare at Batman.
“No?” Aquaman echoed, beginning to glower.
Kyle blinked. No?
“That’s right,” Batman said with quiet intensity. “At this point, it would be the gravest of mistakes on our part to attack.”
“How can you just stand there and say that?” Wonder Woman demanded, straightening abruptly. “Nothing else we have attempted thus far has seemed to accomplish a thing!”
“Nor will this.”
“Ayestrom must be stopped, Batman. We all know it. He must be brought to justice, through any means possible.”
“Not through this means!”
“But why?” asked Kyle, a little startled that he had dared to speak up with Batman looking like that.
“It would be both suicidal and homicidal, Green Lantern,” Batman growled. “I would have thought that that would have been obvious, even to you.”
Kyle flushed.
“I say we attack,” Diana reiterated, eyes trained on Batman challengingly.
“I say we don’t.”
For several long heavy moments, Wonder Woman and Batman stared levelly at each other. Everyone else watched them.
“And what about Kal?” Diana asked finally, her soft tone not detracting from the steel beneath. “I know the two of you have your differences, but I thought he was your friend, if anyone was. Will you simply abandon him there, at the mercy of Ayestrom? Especially if that’s exactly what that demon wants?”
Batman bristled. “This is neither the time nor the place to discuss my relationship with anyone. As for Superman, we shall simply have to trust in his ability to endure.”
“While we do what?” Flash asked before a furious Diana could respond.
“While we come up with an alternative.”
Aquaman threw himself with a huff back into his chair.
“If we launch an attack now,” Diana said, obviously struggling for her usual calm, “with the UN negotiations pending, when he least expects it…”
“Don’t you see, Princess,” Batman riposted, “that this would be precisely what Ayestrom does expect! He wants us to face him head on, with the world watching, on his ground. We would end up playing right into his hands.”
“Not if we overpower him first,” Aquaman said sharply.
Batman turned to look at him levelly. “And you can guarantee that, can you?”
“With ourselves, our League Reserves, the UN security forces, the JSA and other Meta groups, surely we have the sheer firepow…”
“I had always assumed that someone who was the ruling monarch of three quarters of the planet would have a better grasp of tactics than that.”
Aquaman stiffened and rose slightly from his chair.
“If you were anyone else, Batman…”
“Please, my friends,” J’onn interposed gently, rising slowly from his seat. “If Kal-El were here, I am certain he would, rather tenaciously, observe that such dissension in our ranks only serves the interests of the enemy, not our own.”
“Yeah, and if Superman were here, we wouldn’t be in this dilemma in the first place, would we?” Flash ventured with forced cheerfulness.
Kyle tried not to smile.
Wonder Woman frowned, and held herself stiffly for a moment before sitting down with a sigh. “Very well, Batman,” she said with great restraint. “If you do not wish to rescue our teammate and the hostages, what do you propose instead?”
Batman set his teeth and displayed equal restraint.
“It's not that I don’t want to effect a rescue. It’s that our strategy must not be one that our enemy either anticipates, or worse, actually welcomes.” He looked at the others. “My voice alone does not carry the weight necessary to command you in this. But I ask you all to set aside your anger, and your fear for the hostages, even if Superman himself is shortly to become one of them. We must think beyond what Ayestrom is capable. And then act accordingly.”
The League gazed back at him, various states of emotion and reaction easily read on each visage, whether masked or not.
Kyle looked surreptitiously at the faces around him. But ...
“I agree with Batman,” J’onn finally said. “If we charge in now, while Ayestrom is at his greatest strength, then all the work and sacrifice we and our friends have put into this endeavor thus far will have been for naught. Including Superman’s own.”
Arthur and Wally both nodded and Kyle, after a moment, added his own nod, watching Wonder Woman.
Diana closed her eyes and then also inclined her head reluctantly.
“Very well. I will, of course, adhere to the majority. But only because I believe Kal would agree with you in this.”
Batman rose, accepting their decision, but clearly taking no pleasure in his victory.
“Flash, I want you to gather everyone. Even our spies at the other bases. Atom, Steel, Huntress, Canary … everyone. Including our guest. Quickly.”
“Hey, quick’s my middle name.”
And Flash had vanished. Batman thumbed his communicator.
“Oracle, I want you to talk to our UN contact. Tell her … tell her we’ve found all three of Ayestrom’s lairs.”
“Gotcha, boss.”
“What?!?” Diana exclaimed, eyes wide.
“That’s insanity,” Aquaman thundered, looking daggers at Batman.
“Er, correct me if I’m wrong,” Kyle muttered, “but isn’t that our one big advantage right now? I mean, that Ayestrom doesn’t know we now know where he is?”
Plastic Man looked up breathlessly from where he had appeared in the tent via Flash. “Yeah, won’t whatever spies Big Bad’s got at the UN filter the word through?”
“Precisely,” Batman almost smirked. “But we want him to know that we know that he knows that we know where he is.”
Kyle caught himself staring. What?
“Wanna run that by us one more time?” Flash said as he appeared for a split second with a disheveled Black Canary.
“No, no, it makes perfect sense!” Plas said, his head twirling around in an opposite whirl from both of his eyes. “I just can’t believe the Bat was the one who said that.”
Before any more questions or demands could arise, Flash reappeared once more, this time holding a dazed young French mercenary by the shoulders before disappearing again.
“Ah, Monsieur Bondue,” Batman greeted grimly, “I believe you were hoping for the opportunity to meet some of my Justice League colleagues?”
Startled, the young man looked up, his breath caught. The expression on his face was almost comical as he stared at the assembled group, mouth agape.
“Uh, um, comment allez-vous?” he stammered, and then bowed quickly. “Enchanté, Messieurs et Mademoiselles. I am most honoured to be here.” His voice was trembling underneath his politeness.
When no one answered but only continued to grant him measuring stares, he looked down again quickly, and Batman, a small smile playing about his mouth, gestured to a camp chair at the table. “Assie-toi, Etienne.”
Etienne sat gingerly down, feeling the weight of all the stares, acutely sensing the power gathered there in that room. Batman turned to the others.
“Our knowledge of the bases’ locations is not, unfortunately, nearly as much of an advantage as we’d assumed. According to our young friend here, Ayestrom has actually been counting on our finding his bases and coming in person right to him.”
“How can that be?” Diana questioned, startled, throwing a look at the young Frenchman.
“And why would he possibly want such a thing?” Arthur added, a frown darkening his brow. “We’d be in a position to alert the UN, rescue the hostages, and stymie his threat to the world.”
Yeah, pretty much, Kyle thought.
“Except that the hostages are not there as a hold over the UN," Batman countered. "All along they have been used as bait … for us.”
Huh?
“And you believe this … this boy?” Aquaman asked, glancing with disdain at Etienne. “How do you know he’s not feeding you lies that Ayestrom would prefer us to swallow? Just last night he was part and parcel of the monster’s terrorist army, and now he proclaims to help us? Just how naïve are you?”
Batman did not waste breath arguing, but simply looked over at the Martian Manhunter, who was also staring intently at Etienne. Etienne shrank back under the steady scarlet gaze.
“J’onn?”
“He himself believes what he has overheard within his regiment is the truth,” J’onn confirmed quietly.
Etienne’s eyes widened, and he swallowed, hard.
“That doesn’t mean…”
“Oui! C’est vrai!” Etienne piped up suddenly, and though his face reddened as everyone turned to look at him, he drew breath and plunged on. “I tell you the truth. And I would not betray you. At first, Monsieur Batman did not give me any choice in the matter; but now, I would help you of my own accord. I do not wish to be a party to the murders of innocent children. I did not know about the abductions … before. I was not even stationed at the main base in Amsterdam! Only the best, the most loyal, most experienced members of our force were given that privilege, an honour only earned through service in battle against your forces.”
“Heh. Some informant,” Aquaman dismissed him perfunctorily. “It’s doubtful that one of such low rank would be privy to anything of real value.”
Etienne reddened further.
“Hey, man,” Kyle broke in, feeling for the kid, “Cut the kid some slack, why doncha? He’s on our side now, right? That sure can’t have been easy. From what I hear, this Ayestrom dude’s got some hold on most of his people. Right?” he added, a little uncertainly, flashing a look at J’onn.
Etienne cast Kyle a grateful look. “Merci, Monsieur Lumiere-Vert. It is true. Most of my compatriots are fanatically loyal to our Übermensch. I … I thought I was too, but I had not been there for very long. Perhaps …”
Über-what?
“Perhaps that has something to do with the broken ties,” Diana said, forehead creased in thought.
“Do you think Ayestrom’s famed charisma could be some sort of a … a superpower of his or something?” Kyle asked excitedly. “It sure would explain a lot.”
“That is entirely possible, Green Lantern,” J’onn said thoughtfully. “And certainly the idea bears looking into.”
“We’re getting off-topic here,” Aquaman snapped. “How can anything this pup tells us be of use? He’s obviously much too young to be have been told anything of strategic interest.”
Etienne’s hackles went up. “I want to help you, Monsieurs. I truly do. But you do not make it easy. And even one such as I can know many things. I was considered part of our group. And so was trusted. Trusted because I too believed in Lord Ayestrom. Only Monsieur Batman’s … influence has persuaded me from this belief. And it gets easier the longer I am here.”
Batman merely looked at Aquaman, head slightly cocked to one side. At Arthur’s eloquent but silent look of grudging respect, he nodded at Etienne to continue.
The boy drew a breath.
“As I said earlier, mes amis, it is widely known amongst us that our lord - er, Ayestrom,” he corrected himself hastily at their looks. “- was in reality, en actualement, hoping to be discovered by you or your friends.” Several Leaguers frowned. “He desires to force a physical confrontation between you and he. He wants to match wits and strength against the best you have to offer.” He looked at them all, everyone’s attention upon himself. He gulped, but pressed on. “This is to prove his superiority to Europe, and to the entire world. He will rule, he will have power, and to his mind, his defeat of the Justice League of America grants him the very right to that power.”
The various members of the League looked at each other as the words sank in. Throughout the conversation, reserve members and JLA allies were filtering by ones and twos into the room, brought in under their own power, or by the Flash. They stood quietly inside the large tent’s entrance, listening. But at this point, it was Green Arrow who finally spoke up.
“Hold on here, and pardon me if I’m interrupting, gents, but this is somethin' that's been botherin' me for a bit. If this Ayestrom jerk is so bloody powerful, how come we’ve never heard of him before this crisis?”
“That’s right,” Canary said, a perplexed look on her face, glancing at Arrow. “Before this crisis, did anyone know of him, or hear of this massive terrorist army he’d built up? Oracle hadn’t. And generally she’s pretty much in the know from the get-go.”
“Usually super-villainous despots can’t contain their power,” Blue Beetle agreed, tapping a hand against his palm. “Or their greed. They pop up long before they’ve had a chance to really mature into a genuine threat - especially a planet-level one.”
“And oh man, is this dude ever a threat now,” chimed in Booster Gold with a rather melodramatic shudder. “I mean, lookit what he did to Rio … man, my fave party town …”
“Si,” Green Flame said hotly. “My country did not fare well against this attack. Many lives were lost before the League could step in! Where did he come from?”
“We’re sorry that we couldn’t prevent all the damage, Beatriz,” Diana said consolingly to her. “In Saskatchewan we were lucky; only our own people suffered damage, no civilians.” Her face darkened. “But Metropolis fared even worse than did Brazil in that first attack. The numbers lost were unacceptably high.”
“The question of where Ayestrom comes from is one we cannot answer today,” J’onn said. “But it is a mystery we shall indeed need to solve before too long.”
“I still can’t figure why we hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him before last month,” Ollie complained again.
“He is simply a more patient and prepossessing individual than the run of the mill ‘villains’ with whom you are obviously accustomed to dealing,” snorted Aquaman.
“Than most of us are,” Diana said diplomatically as several of the junior reserves bristled, and Green Arrow's fingers twitched on his bowstring. “Ayestrom, obviously, knew to bide his time.”
There was a moment of silence as the group digested this.
“Um, not to diss my college education or nothing,” Kyle broke into the quiet, with a puzzled countenance, “but could anyone tell me what this ‘ubermench’ means, anyway? I, uh, majored in fine art, not linguistics.” He hoped his blush wasn't visible under his mask.
“It was a term coined by 19th Century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche,” Batman said darkly. “In German, the word basically translates as ‘super-man’.”
“Ouch. Talk about a complex,” Wally said with a wince, as Kyle whistled lowly. “Either he’s a neo-Nazi with a mad-on for both the West and us Metas who’re on the side of the angels, or …”
“Or he’s really courting disaster with a moniker like that,” Kyle said. “’Cuz I think that name’s already taken.”
“Or,” Black Canary speculated worriedly. “We’ve inadvertently sent him the one Christmas present he’s been lusting after all along.”
Kyle looked quickly at Batman to spot his reaction, but the Dark Knight remained as impassive as always.
Probably already thought of that possibility, he thought uneasily.
“Mon Dieu,” Etienne said suddenly, as if just now putting two and two together. “Are you saying you have sent your Superman into our main base?”
When no one immediately answered, Kyle shifted his feet. “We-ell, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Etienne squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head.
“Je vu. I had always wanted to meet the famed Man of Steel,” he said, almost inaudibly. “I must admit, I read about him as often as I could in my native France. He was my childhood hero. Then, when I and my comrades first encountered Lord Ayestrom’s men, and heard about their leader, I thought to myself: here is Europe’s answer to the famed American 'l'Homme de Demain'. Only ours would be greater. And he would be no alien. Et alors ... and so ... be truly one of us.”
“Superman is one of us,” snarled Steel, flexing his hands on his hammer.
Etienne ducked his head in apology. “As you say. I found myself overwhelmed by Ayestrom and his words. But still … after all your friend had done for the world entire, not just your United States … But I suppose it is now too late.”
“It most certainly is not,” Batman said, so sharply that the younger heroes all jumped. Wonder Woman and Steel nodded adamantly, and Etienne found himself looking back at twenty angry faces, and drew back in sudden mortal fear.
“Yeah, what he said,” Flash sniffed. “And stop referrin’ to the S-Man in the past tense. It’s creepy.”
“We prefer to live with a bit more optimism, if you don’t mind,” Kyle added, a green dove blooming into life from his Ring. A small S-shield was emblazoned on the dove’s chest feathers.
“Kal-El was not yet in Ayestrom’s clutches at our last communiqué,” J’onn calmly reminded them all. “Not only is he effectively disguised, he is an extremely resourceful individual. I trust he will prevail.”
The room visibly seemed to relax.
“As do I,” Diana said stridently. “He shall escape and return to us whole. The only thing that would stop him is either a direct threat to the hostages, or …” She hesitated.
“Or if Ayestrom and his people already know he’s there,” Batman finished grimly.
There was an appalled sort of hush at these words throughout the room.
Kyle bit his lip. Aw, crap ...
---
To be Continued in the next post, right over HERE! :-)
& All Previous Parts can be found at the Main Page here.!