Old Wounds __ Episode 22
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
Life Ore Death
** Episode 22 __ [Old Wounds]* October 22 [Wally PoV]
'Geeez, she's making us look bad here. Probably the guilt,' I guessed, since Renka had sorta snubbed Captain Atom while he was our resident babysitter of the week. On top of being busy handling Megalicious's celebrations when the good Captain arrived Sunday, and just not being in the Mountain for most of the week after that, she'd gone and spent her time in China.
I could care less other than hearing about her adventures, but Captain Atom was in active military service, and according to Rob he had been for a long time, meaning he might've had some lingering Red Scare, get-the-dirty-commies feelings still hanging around in his head.
On top of all of that, I hadn't gotten much out of her, but whatever report she filed with Batman about China really stirred the guy up, according to Rob. We weren't sure what or why because Rob hadn't had a chance to hack anything yet, but there was something… about misplacing a Justice League credit card? 'Geez. It isn't like Bruce Wayne couldn't take the losses, but between his Will Not Kill and Renka's uncomfortably big body count I bet she's not exactly his favorite person on even the best of days.'
So it was totes understandable that she was getting in some subtle sucking up to the good Captain Atom by hanging off his every word, asking questions, and taking copious notes on his boring-ass espionage lecture. 'Like Mr. Flying Nuke ever did much in the way of sneaking around under cover. We're the ones running covert missions here, we could probably teach you a thing or two.'
"I'm boring you, aren't I?" I perked up as the talk finally moved in a new direction.
'Yeah, and it only took me, Zee, Superboy… it only took half of us almost nodding off for you to figure it out. But, hey, this looks like it'll be more interesting.' We all listened more closely as he pulled up the bare bones of the case he was handing us.
"Your assignment: investigate. Prove Nathaniel Adams's innocence or reconfirm his guilt, and report back to me."
"Just to be clear," Zee asked quickly, rearranging some papers, "this is a genuine tip, not more busy work, right?"
"Yeah, Captain… I'm not sure if you've noticed," Rob observed nervously, "but our busy work assignments tend to be lacking in the aster a lot more than our regular stuff. We check up on the Tower of Fate and get Klarion the Witch Boy; we run background checks on some cryokinetics to kill time waiting for a jailbreak, only find multiple kidnappings and the League of Shadows; Batman sends us to India, and it turns out Brain is doing some freaky stuff at a lab to prepare for the Injustice League's plant plot; and let's not forget someone stopping a super-volcano by talking down the murderous, human-hating robot."
He gave a nod to Renka, who had a half-grin on her face at the mention. Our resident watcher just raised one eyebrow at us.
"You do all realize at least half that list were unassigned missions? Un-vetted operations you all took under your own initiative?"
We all shared an awkward look at Captain Atom's comment. 'Yeah, that probably would count as AWOL in the military, and Not OK.'
"Can you name a time we had a nice, simple, innocuous, easy mission that didn't go FUBAR?" I asked instead, hoping for back-up.
"Wally is right – gag," Artemis commented. I stuck my tongue out at her. "Captain, sir, if this is a genuine tip, and if it's right, that means Nate Adams was framed: that means a guy who we know is willing to murder will want to shut us up fast when we go poking around."
"We'll still do it either way!" Megalicious was quick to insert when Captain Atom started frowning.
"Yeah, I mean, a couple of times Batman has sent me to spend half an hour or two gathering evidence from rooftops or even near-empty parking lots while he tried to chase down Catwoman, and I still do those missions as seriously as any other." I wasn't the only member of the Team to nearly choke. 'I guess Rob still hasn't run into the wonders of puberty and girls yet, or he hasn't looked back at that through those lenses at least. Between Bats getting it on and the "Brucie" reputation, how has that penny not dropped yet?' "This is way better than that."
Unfortunately, it didn't look like Captain Atom thought this was the highest of compliments, because he was still frowning.
"You nearly fall asleep during my talk, and now you want me to talk more?" he asked skeptically. "Or do you just want to put the work off?"
'Agh, damage control, damage control!' I thought furiously at Renka, then Miss M, but apparently her telepathic link wasn't up at all at the moment. I still tried to get it across with my eyes, but Renka just raised one grouchy eyebrow right back at me.
'Right then,' I resolved, 'looks like its time to see what I've learned from Miss Socialization Super-Powers and turn on the bull.'
"You give a great lecture, Captain Atom sir," I babbled, and I caught onto a thought from before I could reuse. "It's not that this is boring, it's that this stuff is old for us. Like multiplication tables!" I burst out because I needed something inane while I waited for a brain-blast.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I mean, I don't know everything the League does, but I'd bet my weekly snack budget that we've been on more covert operations than you have in the past six months, sir. You were giving us an interesting talk that we already had from Batman before we hit Santa Prisca, and he repeated it before Bialya, and-," 'Don't call me on this, just let me put it ambiguously…' "-it got brought up when we were flying to India with Captain Marvel, and we heard stuff about this from Hawkman and Hawkwoman when they were leading us out. Now the case is new stuff, stuff we want and need," I emphasized, biting back panic because he still did not look super-happy to me, "to hear more about, and you obviously know a lot more about it than you're giving us, sir." 'Megalicious, please put the link up so I can ask someone to help me.'
Beat of silence.
Freaky beat of silence.
"Kid Flash-," I heaved a relieved sigh and slumped back as Kal – wonderful guy that he is – picked up the slack in the conversation. "-has spoken truly, if not succinctly, Captain. For a case in this country, there should be court records to peruse, and you would not have suggested it if you did not already know the situation well. I do not wish to send the Team on a mission with so little information-," I glanced back at the three-paragraph bio beside the photo. Only the last part mentioned the court case, the presiding judge, and the lawyers. 'Oh, did he just nudge Miss M? Smooth, Kaldur.' "-when there are superior sources available, such as yourself and your personal experience."
[Team, perk up and pay attention: treat the subject matter as immediately vital,] Kal ordered over the mind link Megalicious threw up.
[I'm writing down everything that sticks out on the bio, if only to make sure it looks like we're paying extra close attention,] I affirmed.
[And pay attention,] Kal scolded, [because we will treat this as a serious mission. Take notes on the screen he just opened as well.]
[The Captain Atom does not have powers of telepathy and is not, I think, listening, yes?] Renka checked.
[No, and I haven't included him. Why?] Miss M asked, and when Ferris wouldn't I just tossed out an answer instead.
[No worries.] I bit back my flirting instinct because she was dating Conner now, and, [Don't think about that while the link is up, Wally. Ferris is just getting her head in the game and brainstorming all the ways things could be going wrong.]
"Well, if that's how it is." I couldn't really read Captain Atom's face, but I thought he looked a bit embarrassed when we all started scribbling down stuff from the new page on the court case he opened. "Nathaniel Adams worked in Air Force Intelligence and investigations, and was posted in Vietnam during the war. He would have been decorated four times, the last of which… he never received. Hill four-oh-nine occurred almost immediately before the case in question, and was arguably the catalyst for those events."
[Does anyone have a question to show we're paying attention?] I asked.
[Does anyone else hear anything odd in his tone of voice?] Renka asked.
[Maybe, but that's not the type of question I was asking about,] I returned, but I started paying closer attention, too.
"How legitimate were the first three?" Artemis asked. "Is it possible he was framed out of jealousy? Or if he was guilty-,"
"The decorations were all entirely legitimate," Captain Atom snapped. I winced and, despite myself, mentally reached out to her.
[Don't worry about it, Artemis; you're taking one for the team, but I can say something stupid if you want him off your back.]
[Thanks, but no thanks. Just take this seriously, Wally,] she sent back.
"Adams," Captain Atom continued, "tracked supplies movements and requests, reports of weapons taken from enemy combatants, and other information that led him to suspect the existence of a weapons smuggling ring. He did not have enough evidence for court at the point he confided in General Lemar; he brought the matter up with Lemar in personal confidence, in the hopes other men might have reported the same thing, and we could pool our evidence to get the ba- the men responsible." He faked an awkward cough.
"General Lemar was murdered, yes?" Renka checked quickly, circling something in her notes.
"Yes, he was the victim. The murder victim, that is. General Lemar claimed he had some corroborating evidence from a Central Intelligence agent that some kind of drop was happening at Hill four-oh-nine. Now that they knew what was being dropped, and who was buying it, they had enough evidence to send in a team and clean it all up. Adams's team, in fact: Lemar said it would be a good feather in his cap to drag this all out into the clean light of day. Adams took his squad to the hill, and they walked into an ambush."
"Adams was the only survivor?" Renka inquired.
"No, there was another man, Henry Yarrow. Everyone else, Michael Hart, Anthony Forest… half-a-dozen good men died that day to cover the crimes of that-," Captain Atom stopped and took a calming breath. "Yarrow and Adams made it out alive, but wounded, and with confirmation that a drop of some sort had been arranged at that location, only for it to change later. The only- Adams realized that the only way it was possible was if Lemar was involved in the ring and arrange the ambush to silence the discovery. He ignored Yarrow's arguments to the contrary and pleas to let our Internal Intelligence sort the matter out; for his friends' lives, he confronted Lemar in person."
"How long after the ambush did he confront Lemar?" Rob asked. "Was there enough time to begin looking into everything?"
"No… It was less than three days, and Lemar was the primary connection to other intelligence services at the camp. Adams worried that giving Lemar more time would allow him to cover his tracks, and potentially silence his friend Yarrow alongside Adams as well. Minutes into the confrontation, Adams blacked out. The only sensible explanation would have been if he were drugged, which he claimed. Yes?"
"Is it possible there was a telepath who could have wiped his memories, or altered them?" Miss M wondered.
Captain Atom hesitated. "Telepathy was less common those years ago than it is today, and… it might explain… there was no reason to believe it was a telepath," he said carefully. "Certain drugs leave recognizable fogginess or aftertastes, and Adams claimed he recognized it; intelligence officers are exposed to a set of drugs as part of their training, to teach them to recognize the effects. It also meant they had…."
The pause stretched on a bit too long. "The trial files mention a knife," Rob prompted. "Was there any blood on Adams? Did the blood spray indicate Lemar had struggled or was it concurrent with Lemar being knifed while unconscious?" Captain Atom shook his head.
"I did not see records of the crime scene in great detail, or for very long: consider it another matter for you to investigate. Adams claimed he had been awake for less than ten seconds when Polk – the arresting officer, Military Police Enos Polk – burst through the door to investigate a commotion that Adams had not made. There was no blood on Adams's hands or uniform, I remember that was argued by the defense, but the murder weapon was Adams's service knife, with his fingerprints on it. The medical examiner reported that Adams's system had no signs of drugs, which conflicted with his report of blacking out – unless a telepath was involved," he said with a nod to Miss Em.
"So maybe the medical examiner was in on it and rigged the results, or maybe she didn't have the tests to recognize the knockout gas if it was something state-of-the-art or classified, or maybe Adams was tested after it had cleared out of his system," Rob summarized.
"What did the autopsy say?" Artemis asked. "Were there any drugs in Lemar's system? Who ran those tests?"
"The autopsy reports mostly focused on Lemar's wound and matching the service knife to it. You will need to investigate the rest of those matters on your own time." Captain Atom shook his head distantly. "Colonel Wade Eiling – he's a general now, went on to marry Adams's widow and was by all accounts a good father for his two children – he found Adams guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence. Yarrow was, is a great man, took up arguing the defense despite everything. I'm hoping this tip works out to give him some closure about it."
"Sentenced to life in prison, Adams took his own life less than a year later," Rob finished, reading off the bio.
"Hey. Took his own life, or was he silenced?" Conner asked, which got my suspicions up too.
"Yeah, it could be that if Adams stuck around, he might have petitioned hard enough to get the case re-opened without whoever stacked the trial against him," I agreed. "What do we know about his death, was it really suicide?"
"You don't need to get suspicious of Adams's death; the details are classified higher than I can condone you looking into," Captain Atom said just a little too quickly. It struck me as sort of silly because he already had us covertly looking into it. "That is the case as it stands."
"Robin, please find the current locations for everyone connected to Nathaniel Adams," Kal said. Captain Atom nodded and stepped back, half of us watching him go. 'Looks like he's leaving the rest of it to us. Which means…' "Everyone in the trial, his surviving family-,"
<Recognized: Captain Atom, one two. >
"-and the people who reported his death and performed his autopsy," Kal finished firmly. I wasn't the only one grinning.
[Honestly, you think they'd have learned that waving this stuff in front of our nose is like an invitation. We always get more than they ever bargain for. Off the top of my head: arresting officer, medical examiner, and check if the prosecutor was a knife expert or what. My uncle is a criminal forensic investigator pathologist type of guy, so I know people need some special training for matching weapons,] I volunteered.
[I'm already working on it,] Rob confirmed.
[Your uncle… So is this the same uncle who is Flash's secret identity, or do you have more than one?] Artemis teased.
[Ah, crap. Forget I said that?]
[Consider it forgotten, Kid. By all of us,] Kaldur insisted, and I sighed in relief as everyone else agreed.
[Right, right, you know I wouldn't do anything with it. But y'know, you could've just lied,] she pointed out snidely.
[Who wants to have to lie to their friends? I know Rob feels guilty enough as it is,] I countered, then I felt guilty because I knew he did.
"Okay," Rob announced sharply at that, signaling we should all switch back to thinking out loud. Or talking that way, at least. "Wade Eiling, Randal Eiling, Peggy Eiling, Enos Polk, Shirley Mason, and Henry Yarrow all have current addresses and contact information I can access, I'm putting a list together to send to your phones right now. Angela Eiling is deceased, liver failure according to the records, and man is Nate Adams's death record tied up tight. He wasn't kidding about classified. Aaand Kevin Blankly died of… lung cancer two decades back."
"We will divide into three groups, and each group will approach two targets," Kaldur announced, pulling up a holographic list. "We will begin with the three high-priority targets-," Polk, General Eiling, and Mason all got moved to the top. "-and then a low-priority target, followed by a check-in, unless there is an emergency."
"If we're going to be dividing this up so that someone with interrogation skills is on each team, you might want to add me to that list," Zee volunteered, which got our attention. "Going into someone's mind is a no for me, but even though my truth spells would be way weaker than Wonder Woman's Lasso, I could do a solid one if the circumstances were right."
"What would you need?" I asked. I canned my instinctive follow-up of wondering whether she wanted toad's feet and hen's teeth.
Me, Zee, and Renka had done enough work together that I took her powers very seriously, even if I still didn't like the word magic.
"Ingredients like incense could be useful, but mostly they'd have to want to tell the truth on a high- or low-enough level," she explained. "Everyone hates the Joker, even the other Gotham criminals, right?"
"Most of them, yeah. I'm not sure what happened that got Ivy working with him that long; but I don't know that much about them."
"Thank you, Robin." She smiled and he blushed. "That means that even though Riddler or Penguin hate us, and I could never get them to talk about where they'd stashed their loot, I could do a, 'Blurt out Joker's true location' spell, and they'd talk because they'd want to screw his plans over. Even if they'd usually choose not to because they hate us more, they'd want to talk enough that I could pull it out."
"I see. Atlantis does have minor truth spells on its curriculum," Kal admitted, "but they are difficult, and time-consuming to prepare. I would not have used one myself, but this will be a valuable addition to our options. Robin, Miss Martian, and Zatanna can seek out the answers."
"Eh, sorry to whelm you," Rob pointed out, "but most of my experience involves terrifying criminals. Not stuff we can use on people who might be innocent, and especially not if we want this to stay covert. I'm good at reading people. I could still look for tells and sneak."
"I see. Do we have opinions on who might have the least disciplined mind, or who would want to talk for Zatanna's spells to take effect?"
I had an idea. "Maybe I'm just being a bit sexist," I started off, "but if Shirley Mason isn't a total sociopath, then she's probably the one. Most people take up medicine, especially in wartime, because they want to heal, right? Maybe she went along willingly, cackling the whole way, but if she got pressured or blackmailed, bringing this up will probably have her wanting to unburden her spirit, you know?"
"If I go in disguise – since we're doing this covertly – I can telepathically skim the top of Mister Polk's memories when I ask him about finding the scene and I can tell if he was in on it, or if there really was a disturbance and he found Adams with the knife in his hand."
"Huh… I think Eiling isn't worth trying that on," Conner agreed, and I glanced away when I saw he'd covered her hand in his, because it still hurt a little to see them do that. "He wouldn't need to be involved if everyone else had the evidence stacked."
"If we are going to be covert, then we will need people on each team who can ask questions without being overt," Renka observed, and we all started paying attention when we saw her hair going gray. "The soldier men should like strong and determined young men, yes? Artemis and Zatanna can be my aides when I, as a peer and fellow from the same war, ask Mason about the trial of Mister Adams, because he saved my life and I hope to clear his name to his children before I die." She gave a wide, wrinkly smile. 'Huh? Where did her teeth go? Cool.'
"Ferris and Zatanna, yes, and you may use whichever approach you desire," Kal told them. "Kid Flash will be your third member."
"I'm good with that," I declared, stomping down my pout about not being on a team with Megalicious, since Superboy, etc.
"You are Beta Squad. Robin and Superboy will assist Miss Martian's investigation of Eiling as Gamma Squad."
"You and me are on Alpha Squad and Polk? Sounds like a plan," Artemis assessed.
"Yes, and then we will speak with the Randal Eiling, Beta Squad will speak with Peggy Eiling, and Gamma Squad will seek out Henry Yarrow. We will call ahead." Kal gave his outfit an exaggerated lookover. "I will require the location of an Army Surplus store."
Of course, the plan went through a few modifications when it turned out the siblings were living less than an hour's traveling apart in Hawaii, and it was harder to get an interview with an active general than expected, but hey, we did our best to cope.
