M’gann had given J’onn a spare key so that he would not upset the neighbors by phasing through the door. Again, the months undercover made this commonplace. It was fortunate, in some sense, as he and his niece were both being scrutinized by the rest of the world. Their alien status earned many a cold glare and it was harder than ever to blend in, to make a life worth living. J’onn sighed and opened the door to the hallway.

There was a loud creak as the door swung shut, a J’onn mentally kicked himself for not closing it more gently. He did not like to draw attention to himself. Thankfully, he didn’t need to remain in the open for long. J’onn reached into his jacket pocket, expecting to draw the key out right away, but it wasn’t where he had put it. He tried the other pocket and then his pants pockets, and then his jacket pockets again.

At least his wallet was still safely nestled in his inside-jacket pocket. “Where did I--?” J’onn muttered, still hoping that they were somewhere on his person. He turned and tried the knob. Locked, of course. M’gann wouldn’t leave have left it open. J’onn shook the knob a little harder, with two hands this time. It still refused to budge. Intending to phase through the door after all, J’onn quickly glanced around the hallway.

He froze. A woman was standing at the door on the end of the hall. She was watching him closely, suspiciously. “I am a friend.” He held up a hand to dismiss the young woman and turned back to the knob to shake it again.

Next time I speak to you, it will be in the light, with this shadow far behind us.

Today was not that day, Matt realized, dodging the swinging arc of an overhand right with a step back. The Strike Force was capable, but like everyone and anyone else they telegraphed their moves. Training with Stick gave him more than enough sense to know what worked, and what didn’t. One man against so many had worked for Matt once, thanks to that hallway and his own desperation, but an alley wasn’t just going to gain the same result. Stomach lurching like it did while awaiting a jury’s verdict, Matt’s focus slipped a little when someone new came close enough.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Matt snapped in Jessica’s direction, avoiding a kick.

He let her catch him. She knew that the second she actually managed to pin him against the wall. They were in an alleyway, maybe two blocks from her building. She’d seen the lightning up ahead, and had ducked into the alley, and on instinct mostly, stuck her arm out. When she felt him collide into her, she’d pushed forward, and somehow, managed to press him against the wall.

She grinned, fully intending to gloat a little, but the look on his face stopped her. That’s when she understood. That it hadn’t been luck or instinct, he had let her catch him. She felt frozen by the pure fear on his face, what she could see of it beneath the mask anyway. Her hand was still holding him up.

“What is it?” she asked in a low whisper, eyes fixed on his. A thought occurred to her, a terrible, twisting thought. She tightened her grip just a little, careful not to cut off his airway, but enough so he wouldn’t be going anywhere either. “Barry…” she whispered. “Who sent you here?”

She could guess, at least at part of it. The Syndicate had figured out Trish wasn’t the one with superstrength. They’d known who she’d been covering for. Maybe the Panel had finally caught up, too.

Running out of breath never happened to Barry on a run but he was breathing heavily as he stared at Jessica. Back pressed to the wall of the alley, he was terrified and he lifted a shaky hand to the side of his head to press the button of his comms.

“Cisco. Somethings wrong.” In the next second all he heard was static and he knew Cisco was jamming the signal so nobody could listen in. “You know who sent me,” he whispered, still scared that he could be blowing his cover right now. Things were escalating quickly after the attack and the Panel was desperate.

Sending The Flash after someone like Jessica was unfair. She could beat him in a fight any day but his abilities weren’t about fighting, they were about running and he had no way of warning her to get the head start she would need. Barry was lucky that he and Cisco already had code words in place so the other knew when to jam the comms, he would tell his bosses later that Jessica had unknowingly broken them when she stopped him.

He felt eyes on him when he was in there though. People knew who he was, knew he was powered. And they knew he wasn’t registered. It was easier for people like Daredevil who always wore a mask, they could turn it off, they could walk into this room and nobody would know who he was. Luke wasn’t like that, and while they said they weren’t going to take action against unregistered, he didn’t really buy that. So he was on guard.

But then he spotted Jessica from across the crowded room. He instantly felt a small wave of comfort wash over him. He made his way over from where he was sitting to where she was standing, stopping beside her and smiled slyly. “Come here often?” He teased.

@akagoddammit

Ms Jones was the only one who knew of his plan, aside from Len, and frankly he needed more people on side. In the wake of the radio woman’s death it seemed as good a time as any to put forth his argument again. There were people out to kill all the gifted in the world, frankly he was of the opinion that they needed to strike first lest they be wiped out. He could use all the help he could get, and he didn’t trust other heroes to know of his plans.

But Ms Jones had potential, she could help, in the end that was all that mattered. So he did a little research, the most he could determine was she in fact worked as a Private Detective, how amusing. He got an address and paid a visit to the, less than welcoming, looking area of New York. Interesting, for some reason he thought it suited her. 

He gently pushed the door, finding it open and walked inside. Again, he couldn’t say it was the most pleasant of establishments, but he wasn’t here for the usual business.

“Ms Jones,” he called out, still managing to keep his voice quite, “I have something I wish to discuss with you.”

Jessica glanced up at the familiar voice. “Working a case,” she said, gesturing across the street to a darkened apartment building. She pulled an Alias business card out of her pocket, held it out to him.

Bruce took the card that was offered to him, reading over the information (his expression gave the impression he was surprised, but the truth was he had already stumbled into the brunette's job while researching her), turning his gaze to the apartment building across the street. "An interesting one?" he asked, sitting next to Jessica.