WHO: Oracle, Cipher, Helena, Nightwing, Robin, Nobody, and Hal WHAT: Rescue WHERE: the Aceso facility WHEN: To bring us more current, we’re going to say last night
Oracle was stationed at a building not too far from the Aceso research facility. Far enough so they wouldn’t be noticed when she made her escape, but close enough so that she was close enough to do her work. Hacking was a simple matter, at least for her, but she had planned on doing much more than that tonight. Disrupting and controlling the security system was one thing, and could easily be done with one computer. Adding to that taking Aceso restricted data and wiping the traces of their mission at the same time, Oracle would require more than simply relying her computer skills but she was banking on her ability to give her the extra push she needed.
She looked to Cipher to her right. The other woman had a computer screen in front of her dedicated to monitoring all the security camera feeds in the building. Between that and Cipher’s knowledge of the building itself they could monitor everything going on in the facility and, should Cipher need to, be able to use her ability to aid their people inside.
Oracle had her communicator in ear and had dedicated a separate channel to everyone involved tonight to keep them all connected, even Dr. Amsel. Earlier that day she had left the doctor a very small communicator, a barebones version of the one the vigilantes had that could be easily hidden behind her hair to transmit a short signal back to the hub where Oracle was working. But for Cipher she just asked over her shoulder, “Everything coming in clear?”
Cipher nodded. She was, admittedly, worried, but it was because there were too many variables at play, not because she didn’t trust everyone in the op. She was worried about Robin, but if the Bat let him in, well, she knew that meant he was ready enough. It would be good for him to get out, too, she knew, after what had happened (and that was the voice of experience talking.)
She didn’t know the driver, but she knew Oracle’s girl would keep him where they needed him. No, it wasn’t the team that worried her. It was the variables - the good doctor and all the damn security inside. Nightwing, she knew, would already start behind the door, and any wrong move meant he wouldn’t come out. And the pressure was on Robin to get to him, not vice versa. She had no idea where the Bat was tonight, but she as hell hoped they wouldn’t need to call him.
“Everything clear,” Cipher replied, words to go along with the nod, the video streaming in front of her looked fine. She tested out one small dip in the lighting in an empty corridor. “All good. Let’s do this and get it over with,” she said, looking at the other woman.
Oracle nodded and turned her attention to her own computers. A quick thought and her communicator turned the mic on “Doctor.” Less an opening for conversation and more a signal that they were ready when the Amsel was.
Helena Amsel sat in her office in the facility, going through her work on her computer. To any employee who worked in the facility, Helena looked as she always did when she spent late nights in her office: completely absorbed in her work, disinterested in the activities of the outside world. In reality, she was paying attention to everything going on in the facility in the last moments before the storm: the number of people passing her office, the distant sound of the entrance door opening and closing, and the beeps and hums of the laboratories nearby.
She looked up at the clock. Ten minutes to twelve. The facility was now nearly deserted, save for a few security guards that would start their shift soon. Helena took a deep breath, picked up her communicator, and spoke into it.
“I’m ready when you are, Oracle.”
Roger hadn’t memorized the entire facility during the time he was there, but he knew the important hallways, stairwells and rooms like they were part of his childhood home. It would be vital to move quickly through each one and have a clear idea of where alternative paths were in the case of a mishap. This was likely the highest risk operation that he had worked on since he left Musings, but this wasn’t his first rodeo. That didn’t mean he wasn’t particularly concerned about safety, though, since this had to be one of toughest missions the Bat allowed Robin to go on. Whether or not people wanted to admit it, Roger knew that he was responsible for making sure the kid did his job, learned something and didn’t get hurt.
“Copy.” Roger said into his communicator, approaching the building with his hat pulled low and his Nightwing face mask hidden under his collar. He wasn’t about to bust through the facility in full vigilante gear, but he was prepared to step away from cameras long enough to switch out of his security guard uniform.
Robin knew there was a lot of pressure on him to not only do his job but to do it right, yet he felt strangely calm as he mentally ran through the footage of the facility Oracle had provided him with. He’d studied it over and over until he felt like he practically knew the interior firsthand, or at least the routes he’d be taking and the specific spots he needed to watch out for. He was as prepared as he was ever going to be, equipped with the necessary armor in case things went downhill and a black face mask to keep his identity safe. It wasn’t the one he usually wore; this one covered the entire top half of his face and his nose instead of just the area around his eyes. The communicator was in his ear, Quinn would be at the loading dock with the outside help once they got out, and he knew Oracle and Max were watching.
He listened first as Max gave the all-clear, followed by the doctor and Nightwing. “Copy on this end,” he muttered into the communicator, dropping soundlessly to the ground from his perch and approaching the door he was meant to enter through. For a moment he was worried it might not open, but when he pushed on the handle it gave way and he slipped through once he saw the coast was clear. The hallway was empty at the moment, but he was still a fair distance away from his target location. His guard had to be up until the mission was complete.
Now his goal was getting to Nightwing and the doctor and ensuring that the girls were removed safely. If any security guards got in their way, well, all the worse for them.
Max nodded back at Oracle, letting her know that it was time to start on the doors that would lead Robin to where Nightwing was. It was a touchy thing, and timing was of the essence, and it felt like working back home in Musings. She focused, tried to put the fact that she cared about the people on the other side of the screen out of her mind, and she set to work.
They had the schema and Oracle was tapped into the security systems, and as Robin moved, Max gave him cover, shadow from being seen by anyone who might wander by and by the cameras themselves. She could still follow him on the GPS, and it was the same GPS that Oracle used to override the multiple doors and security requirements on the way in. Simple in theory, but harder in practice, she knew. The facility was quiet that time of evening, mostly deserted, but Robin still had marks between where he was and where Nightwing was on the secured level.
When Robin approached the door that lead down to Nightwing and the girls, Max looked over her shoulder again. The security between there and the lower level was the strongest the facility had to offer, and it would be no small thing for Robin to breach without notice, even with all the assistance they were giving him. “On his way down, Nightwing,” she said.
There was no security stream below, and once she and Oracle saw the last door close behind Robin, they were in the dark. It would be up to Amsel, Nightwing and Robin to get the girls mobilized on their own, at least until that door opened again.
Nightwing pulled his face mask up over his mouth and adjusted his communicator. “All right doc, I’m going to start waking these girls up one by one and then Robin and I are going to herd them out like cats. If there’s anything critical I need to know about their health, tell me now.” He moved to open the door for Robin and then pointed down a room of doors, each containing a sleeping little girl. “Speak softly. Don’t tell them they’re in danger unless they really start fighting you. I can’t carry all of them, so this is the only way we’re going to be able to manage this.”
It was clear in his voice that Nightwing wasn’t crazy about having to wake the girls up, but he tried to hide his concern about whether or not it would be successful. He wasn’t exactly a nanny during the day and didn’t have a clear idea of how the kids would react to two weird guys dressed like it was Halloween.
Some kind of stealth or invisibility ability would have been useful to have for a mission like this, but instead Robin had to rely on his own skills and competence to get past security without drawing any attention to himself. His boots adjusted his weight so that his footsteps were practically inaudible as he made his way down the hallway, keeping close to the walls and listening intently for even the smallest of noises that might suggest someone was approaching. He used Max’s cover to his full advantage, successfully staying out of sight until he reached the door that led to Nightwing and the girls. From here on it would be more difficult, and avoiding all the security guards entirely might not be possible; but he wasn’t going to screw this up. As soon as the door shut behind him Robin was moving forward again, with as much speed as he could manage without compromising his silence. Going unnoticed was preferable but he’d take care of anyone who got in his way as quietly and quickly as possible if it became necessary.
Once again he relied on Max’s cover to keep him from being seen, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough if he didn’t put any effort into it himself as well. Even though it was an irrational thought considering the circumstances were serious, he couldn’t help thinking how much this resembled the sort of thing he did in video games all the time. It was all about strategy, timing, and keeping Oracle’s route and weak points in mind the entire time.
It felt like hours before he finally got to his intended target, and there had been a couple close calls where a security guard passed within inches of where he was hiding - but he’d kept entirely still and hadn’t even breathed until he saw an opening and slipped by. Robin didn’t let himself overthink what he was doing, instead choosing to react as quickly as possible to minimize the chance of being spotted. It was almost like being on autopilot without the complete lack of self-awareness, but he’d made it to where he was supposed to be and that was all that mattered at the moment. Only when he was through the door Nightwing opened did he allow a small sigh of relief, but it was short-lived when he thought of what was to come. Waking up the girls wouldn’t be easy, but he nodded along to what Nightwing instructed regardless. “Got it.”
Everything was going well and Oracle tried not to dwell on whether it was going too smoothly. She worked silently on the security systems, overriding the commands in place with a few thoughts and the occasional keytap. She watched as Robin and Nightwing make their way to the last section of the facility, and watched them disappear behind the last door. Now that she had done all she could on that front she turned her attention elsewhere.
She did a quick glance to her other windows and watched as it was pulling all the secured and classified data she needed from their files. That also was going without a hitch. There was only one part left. She switched to the feed of the loading dock.
For the security in the facility, the loading dock feeds looked empty, as they should be for this time of night. In reality Oracle had simply played old footage for them as the real feed was streamed into her computer. She could see make out Nobody’s figure as well as the bus Hal promised her. “Loading dock. How’s it looking?” She also supplied them with a barebones commlink, like the one she gave the doctor.
Hal had a bus, but you didn’t hire Hal and expect him to show up in a piece of junk unless you specifically outlined “show up with a piece of junk.” The bus was stenciled with a church camp logo (complete with Jesus Shoots, He Saves! on the back), the windows were tinted just a hair darker than usual, and there was an engine, shocks and brakes in there that might have taken the bus through Jurassic Park without too much trouble.
“Clear and free as a bird,” he replied into his communicator, as if he’d owned one his entire life--which he practically had. These were a lot fancier than the ones he and Charlie used, however, which were old Musings army issue. He was thinking about making a deal with Oracle about it if they all lived through this.
Hal had a bit of a nicotine problem, but he wasn’t so unprofessional as to light a flame in the dark of night, so he just sat behind the wheel with an unlit cigarette in the corner of his mouth and waited.
Quinn kept low in her position, hidden right out of sight in the shadows of the loading dock. It was quiet, except for what she could see of the driver. There was a moment where she fidgeted, a frown behind the mask. She never trusted when it was going so smoothly. There was too much quiet and it made Quinn suspicious. When Oracle’s voice came in to her ear, she finally replied, “All clear.”
Inside the facility, guards were stirring, preparing for the upcoming shift change, and all Max could see was movement where there hadn’t been any before. The door Robin and Nightwing were behind, the one with the girls, remained stubbornly shut, and she glanced over her shoulder at Oracle. “They’re moving,” she said, motioning to the screen, and she didn’t mean Robin and Nightwing. “Guard change?” she asked, hoping that was all it was, knowing Oracle would be able to tell if any signals had gone up in the last few seconds on the grid. “Better get ready to move,” she said into the comm, the message intended for those outside and in, and she took down the lights outside that stubbornly shut door, ready to cast whoever walked through in shadow, keeping them from being seen by any guards moving earlier than expected. The time for waiting was over.
Nightwing opened the first door to a girl’s holding room. There was a moment of hesitation, a draw of breath from behind the face shield, as he realized just exactly what he was doing here. He knew there was no time for reconsidering now and convinced himself this was the best for the girls so that he could get this job done. Stepping carefully to the bed, he stirred the girl from sleep and disconnected her from the machine with great care. She was too sleepy to be startled right away, but soon showed signs of alarm when her eyes were open enough to see his face. It was like she had just realized there was a monster in the room.
To be fair, Nightwing’s vigilante get-up made him look like some kind of bandit mixed with a cyberpunk biker. Neither things were immediately child-friendly. He pulled down his shield so she could see his whole face. To be fair, Roger wasn’t the most kindly looking gentleman in the world, but he was good at showing honesty that even a child could understand. He wasn’t going to hurt her. Not for the whole world.
“It’s okay.” Nightwing whispered to her and extended his hand, palm up in a sign of harmlessness. “We gotta go, kiddo.” She flinched, still unsure despite his kind voice. “I promise it’s gunna be a lot better than this.” He added softly. Despite the limited time they had, Nightwing seemed ready to wait for her to agree. A small moment of silence followed before she took his hand and tried a smile. “Wanna help me wake up your friends?” Nightwing asked and she nodded gently. He smirked at her in that playful way he was known for, pulled his face shield back over his nose and took her to wake up the rest of the girls. With this one along, the others would be more willing to follow suit.
Robin wasn’t exactly sure what he and Nightwing were supposed to do if the girls were uncooperative and refused to go with them, but he figured all he could do was hope for the best and try to be as non-threatening as possible; not as easy as it sounded when masks and armor were involved. He hung back at first to watch Nightwing before attempting to wake any of the other girls himself even though he was aware of the seconds ticking by while he waited. They were running out of time, but one wrong move and time would be the least of their problems. He lingered in the doorway and held his breath when the girl awakened enough to realize that there was a man in a mask standing over her, fearing for a few tense moments that he wouldn’t be able to reassure her and she’d simply panic instead.
That same breath was let out in a long sigh when the girl took Nightwing’s hand instead. He didn’t have much experience with kids but his own fairly young age was at least somewhat of an advantage, while the fact that he was genuinely there to help them and had nothing to hide made up for the rest. Robin copied Nightwing’s mannerisms, speaking softly and ensuring that he smiled as much as possible, and with some help from the first girl they managed to get them all up and willing to follow.
One hurdle was crossed, but they still had to get the girls back through the facility and out to the loading dock. “Ready?” He glanced over at Nightwing before looking down at the girls, trying his best little-kid smile and instructed them in a whisper to be as quiet as possible, adding that everything would be okay as an afterthought. It would be ideal to get past the guards unnoticed again, but if they had to fight their way through to get these girls out then Robin was fully prepared to do just that.
When the door opened and Nightwing, Robin and the girls became visible, Max sighed with relief. “On their way out,” she said into the communicator system, and a glance to Oracle revealed her unlocking doors along the way in advance of the trek out. “They’ll have some company at the exit,” she told the other woman, plunging the men and the girls into shadow.
Oracle had the same thought as Max voiced it and she pressed her lips together to avoid cursing aloud. She saw the approach of the other guards. The shift change was expected but it was happening a little earlier than planned, and the guards weren’t leaving but lingering. Boredom, she figured, and not at all what she wanted. It was more guards than should have been on the floor but it could be handled. They had to handle it.
She set the cameras to another loop, letting them watch a empty hallway so they station wouldn’t notice. Their radios she couldn’t jam. There were too many of them to knock out individually and not without immediately alerting that something was wrong. A blanket jamming would risk their frequency being cut off too. The security locks she could do though, and completely locked out the doors and hallways in the surrounding area. It wouldn’t stop the guards closest to them, but absolutely stop more help that would be on the way.
She frowned as she watched the guards getting closer, scrambling the lock to this sector but only delaying them for a few seconds, not enough to alert the system but not enough to give them a lot of time to work with. “Nobody.” The ‘be ready’ command went unspoken as Oracle opened up the last door closest to her, allowing her clear access to the hallway that Nightwing, Robin, and the girls would be coming through. It would be seconds before someone came in, saw masks carrying girls and shadows covering the walls.
Nightwing had the first girl in his arms and was holding another girl’s hand. He knew this was about to get ugly, but he didn’t have the foresight that Oracle had. It didn’t take long for the guards to appear, mistakenly taking a second to yell words like “freeze” and “hold it”. Nightwing knew these men were trained well enough, but would be as easy to take down as any other standard security guard. Men like these were police academy drop outs and fuck ups. Or just low achieving tough guys. Nothing wrong with it, but they were sloppy compared to Nightwing and Robin.
He saw the door at the end of the hallway open and set the girl down with a quick, “Get out of the way!” The girl gave a worried scream, but scampered away with the rest. Nightwing moved into the shadows and saw the guards try to decide whether or not to go after the girls or try to find him. This moment of indecision gave him the chance to disarm and knock out the nearest guard to him, allowing Robin enough room to help take down the others. They had to be quick. Nightwing didn’t like letting the girls out of his sight for more than a couple seconds.
Despite how quickly they tried to move with ten girls between the two of them, it seemed an encounter with the guards had just become inevitable. Two of the girls were clinging to his arms, but he managed to disentangle them and nudged them out of the way along with the others. One of the guards turned as though he intended to go after the girls, but with a smooth slide of his leg Robin swept the man’s feet out from under him and he hit the ground heavily. From there it was easy to disarm him and a sharp blow to his jaw ensured that the guard wouldn’t be getting up any time soon. He kept to the shadows in order to stay out of the guards’ line of vision, since they were easier to attack when they were confused and he kept his blows sharp and quick so they didn’t have much time to react - it gave him less time to overthink things and kept him moving at a steady pace as well. The guards weren’t untrained by any means, but they weren’t used to these kind of tactics and any return blows were easily dodged.
Robin delivered a heavy kick to another guard’s side and brought his knee up to collide with the man’s face when he doubled over in pain, sending him to the floor along with the others. There was a clear path to the door at the end of the hallway now, but they still had to move fast to avoid being held up further. He glanced back at Nightwing and nodded before sprinting forward, grabbing any girls that lingered behind and tugging them forward. “We’re coming,” he said into the communicator, even though he was sure Oracle was already aware of that.
Max did what she could, throwing up wall after wall behind them. Walls that were substantial enough to give them a chance to get clear. At the front door, she plunged them into utter blackness, leveling the playing field as Oracle unlocked the front door. And then they were outside, and the security camera stream changed to the snowy, grainy outside of the building, where things were already moving into lockdown. A lockdown which Oracle countered. Max coated the yard in thick white fog, almost so thick you could cut it with a knife, and she spoke into her communicator. “Northeast,” she said, “Ten yards.”
“Here we go,” Hal muttered. To Oracle and the others, he’d be muttering to himself. To the communicator in his other ear, well, that was something else entirely. Hal found it never hurt to have extra eyes on the job, and Charlie was farther afield to cover retreat if necessary. Hal had both doors open by the time Max finished speaking, and he watched closely in his rearview as a bunch of little girls scampered into the bus. “If dis is kidnappin’, we gonna have words,” he told the communicating masks in general, blanket reference, but he still had the engine going and the bus moving before Nightwing’s heel was finished getting off the ground.
“Good thing it’s not,” Oracle replied flatly, her attention divided between what was going on the ground and what was being relayed between the guards on their system. Now that the bus in motion and everyone was on she closed the way behind them, locking the guards who managed to make their way through Cipher’s illusions of darkness only to find the loading dock doors weren’t responding to anything they tried.
She glanced to the other screen, showing the vehicle and the fogged field ahead of it. She could barely make out the outside perimeter and the guard station but she knew it was there and knew they were heading right where Max had directed them. The lone guard couldn’t make heads or tails of the fog and Oracle kept his radio isolated from the rest, not letting any calls in or out to him. And as she saw the van draw closer she raised the bar that was standing in their way, listening to the guards surprise and frantic call to stop before turning her attention back to her communicator. She rattled off an address, where the doctor had her warehouse, and gave Hal a few directions though she trusted that he knew his way around the city regardless. Then she went silent as watched through the last security camera feeds and saw the lights of the van disappear in the distance.
A faint beep on her computer she stared at the last status message. All the files she needed were now in her possession, the precious originals wiped for the systems in the facility in their entirety. A few more keystrokes and Oracle was erasing the last traces of their work tonight. For now, the mission was complete.