Chapter 19

  Garfield rubbed his eyes, he had just finished reading the Jarvis Tetch file for the 3rd time, he could feel he was missing something, but couldn’t figure out what it was, that's when Kara stepped out into the hall,

  “You need to go back to bed” Garfield said, putting the tablet down,

  “I’m fine, do they have the guys who took Alice?” Kara asked, bracing herself on the doorframe,

  “No, they’re still trying to find them” Right after he said it a look of realization dawned on his face,

  “What?” Kara asked,

  “I know what we’ve been missing,” Garfield answered, already running towards the elevator.

  Garfield barged into the conference room,

  “I know how to find them” He announced urgently, the 3 officers and 2 heroes glanced between themselves,

  “Ok, we’re listening” Robin said, Garfield walked around the table to the screen that showed the map, he zoomed it out and dragged it to an area northeast of the docking district, he highlighted it,

  “There, that's where we need to look” He stood back and let them look,

  “Explain” Batgirl ordered,

  “Floyd Lawton, if they were working together Lawton would have put Tetch up somewhere around there, 8 of the 20 times that we know he stayed in Metropolis, that's the area he stayed in, there are few cameras and mostly empty old buildings” Batgirl began typing on her laptop before he finished,

  “Cheshire Tea and China, 1 of Lawton's known aliases bought it 7 years ago after it went out of business, it’s got 2 floors of living areas above the main storefront, it's in the corner of that area, near the docking district, it’s perfect” She said,

  “Let’s go” Kara stepped into the conference room wearing a spare Titans uniform,

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  “No way, you’re hurt, you get back to bed, now” Batgirl argued,

  “So are you, anyway we all know I’m our best chance of stopping Alice, if that becomes necessary, that’s why you paired us up in the first place, right?” Batgirl looked away, as though she had been caught in some unspoken lie,

  “Fine, but if I don’t think you’re ok, and I call you off, you obey” She relented,

  “Ok” Kara agreed, quickly.

  Jarvis stepped back into the dark dining room, Rachel still sat in the old wooden chair illuminated by the flickering light on the sheet in front of her, as he stepped closer he noticed that she was shaking, her eyes were glowing white, as if they had rolled back,

  “Alice, Alice” Jarvis shook her shoulders, her mouth began to move, silently at first,

  “Rachel Roth” She began to repeat slowly, unconsciously, Jarvis reached out to test her forehead, she was colder than any living person he’d ever felt, suddenly a black tendril caught him by the wrist, another appeared and wrapped itself around his throat, he was yanked into the air, his head scraped across the low ceiling, he was jerked around as more tendrils wrapped around the back and arms of the dining room chair Rachel was tied too, each tendril moved in unison as they tore the chair apart, Rachel floated off the floor, the tendrils straightened to hold Jarvis steady.

  Batgirl pulled herself into the 3rd story window, above Cheshire Tea and China, she rolled quietly on to the worn dirty carpet, she winced as the stitches in her side stretched with the motion,

  We’re almost set up” Robin's voice came through her earpiece from the building next door, Batgirl moved slowly through the old living space, it smelled like mildew and old rain water, the furniture had clearly gone unused for years, she crept into an bare kitchen, with a circular table that had a single chair in the center,

  “Batgirl, we’ve got a problem” Robin said, concern laced in his voice,

  “What?” Batgirl asked, quiet but urgent,

  “We only have 1 heat signature on the second floor” Batgirl's breath caught in her throat, Sayre’s voice came through,

  “Are you sure this thing’s working right?” He asked,

  “Yes” Robin answered,

  “Then look here, right next to Tetch, it’s a cold spot, there's no way it's that cold, not unless he’s standing next to a subzero freezer” Sayre explained, then Robin freaked out,

  “Get downstairs now, the whole room just lit up.”

  The ceiling above The Mad Hatter exploded, Batgirl caught him and pulled him down and away from the tendrils, she slammed him to the floor, landing on top of him and pinning him in place under her,

  “Alice” Kara dropped through the new hole in the ceiling, Rachel was slowly floating backward, her breathing heavy, as the tendrils retreated around her, forming a dark, thick cloud, that was consuming her,

  “Alice” Batgirl shouted, darting forward, Kara caught her arm,

  “I’ll get her, you keep a eye on him” She said, motioning to the writhing man on the floor, before pushing into the darkness that surrounded Rachel.

  “Alice” Kara called,

  “Go away” Rachel screamed, her voice so shrill that she had to cover her own ears, dark read tears streaked her face, she was curled up, shaking as Kara slowly moved closer,

  “We want to help you” Kara said,

  “Stay away, look around you, I can’t control this” Rachel cried, her voice shaking, Kara continued cautiously,

  “We want to help you, I want to help you” She repeated, Rachel shook her head,

  “I don’t want to hurt you” They were now only a couple feet from each other, Kara put her hands on Rachel’s shoulders,

  “You can’t hurt me” She pulled Rachel into her arms “It’s gonna be ok” The dark cloud began to clear slowly, Rachel's eyes had returned to light blue, and as the darkness cleared, the lights from above the dining room burned them, she cried out in pain, Kara pulled Rachel's face to her chest to shield her eyes,

  “It’s gonna be ok, we’re gonna get you help, ok?” Rachel nodded in her chest, her breath, short sniffles,

  “Is she ok?” Batgirl asked, she rushed over and placed a hand on Rachel’s head,

  “I think so, I want to get her back to the tower” Kara said, and Batgirl nodded, reluctantly,

  “Just take care of her” She said softly, Kara nodded and took off.