Working on a Case, chapter 6: Brainstorming
Characters: Titans as of the end of the Family Lost paperback, starting with Bart Allen (Kid Flash) and Tim Drake (Robin), with a cameo appearance by members of the Justice League.
Rating: PG.
Content: Mystery with comic relief, or perhaps comedy with mystery relief.
Word Count: about 1,200 words per chapter. Unknown number of chapters.
Summary: Bart Allen as Kid Flash wants to help Robin on a Titans case involving a convict with a super-power and a strange police record. He knows honing his investigatory skills will require insight, concentration, and...what was the third thing?
Continuity: DC Comics standard.
Disclaimer: The Titans and its members are owned by DC Comics under copyright and trademark laws. This pastiche is offered freely with no hope of commercial reward.
Notes: It all started here.
Chapter 6
Brainstorming
Tim thumbs through the pages he brought from San Francisco to make sure they’re all there, and then he says, “Can you read them again, Kid Flash?” And he puts a finger over a spot on his mask and leans close and whispers so even I can barely hear: “Come on, Bart! This is why we’re here.”
So I read the pages again, and again, and again, and I know Tim wants me to spot a name from the Mongoose Squad, and I wish I did, but I know a good detective sticks with the evidence, and there’s no name, so I have to whisper back, “Sorry, Tim! I really don’t see anything.” And as soon as I shake my head, I can see Wally shaking his head, too, ’cause he’s disappointed in me, so I read again and say, “I mean, there are some sort-of-same names, like Michael Williams and Michael Williamson, and there are two psychologists both named Margarethe, and-Say! Don’t ladies change their names when they marry?”
And over at the side Plastic Man pokes Wally in the shoulder and says, “Nothing escapes your boy,” and Wally pokes Plastic Man back about a thousand times in half a second until Plastic Man stops being a bench and Wally falls on the floor.
But I’m too busy to laugh ’cause I’m telling Tim, “The chief psychologist at Alcatraz is Dr. Margarethe S. Ignatieff, and the psychologist who was working for the JSO back when they picked up the Penetrators was Dr. Margarethe Sackler, and if the S stands for Sackler-”
“I’m on it,” growls Batman, and Tim’s poking buttons on his wrist, and the rest of us watch to see who gets data first, and I say YES! inside when Tim says:
“The Alcatraz personnel file lists her next of kin as ‘Maxim Ignatieff, former husband.’ So Ignatieff wasn’t her original last name.”
“Dr. Sackler was a government witness in the Mongoose Squad inquiry,” says Batman.
And then there’s a kind of mechanical lady’s voice in my ear saying, “Margarethe Sackler. Born Centerville, Ohio, forty-six years ago. Ohio State University, Hudson University Med School, four years in the US Air Force, then joined the Justice Department. She specialized in evaluating criminals’ mental stability...”
And I make a Who? face to Tim, and he mouths, “Oracle.” And I get all excited ’cause I heard of Oracle a long time ago, and I’ve seen Tim and Wally talking to Oracle, but they never let me listen, so this is the first time I ever got to hear Oracle, and it’s a her, and she’s talking in my ear, too!
“...testified about how Baumhaus recruited his operatives. Paid leave for thirteen months. Four years ago, married Maxim Ignatieff-also a psychologist, born in Yekaterinburg. Five weeks later, she requested a transfer to SIS, District 2-Alcatraz. Marriage broke up after sixteen months. Since then, she’s had two promotions and one rise in federal pay grade. She also joined Netflix.”
“Testified against Baumhaus,” repeats Batman.
“So Crossley might be coming after her for revenge,” says Tim.
“Or he might be afraid she has something on him,” says Plastic Man.
“Or he might think he has something on her that could get him out of jail,” says Wally.
“Or he might be in love with her from seven years ago,” I say, “and he finally found out where she is, and...I think it’s the revenge thing.”
Everybody’s quiet for a whole lot of seconds, and then the Oracle voice says, “Is that Impulse?”
“It’s Kid Flash,” says Tim, “and we’re just brainstorming the possibilities. First thing in the morning, we’ll talk with Dr. Ignatieff to warn her and find out more. By the time the Marshals bring in Crossley, we’ll know what to expect.”
“I can move some things around,” says Wally, “and be in San Francisco tomorrow.” And I deduce that he doesn’t think we can handle this case, and since he knows all about what a good detective Tim is, he must be worried about me, even though he has absolutely no reason to be, and I picture forty-four file cabinets falling onto the Flash as he says, “Plas, what about you?”
“Some of us have lives, Flash-man!” says Plastic Man. “Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Bats, should we help the kids out?”
Batman just says, “Robin?”
And Tim says, “This is a Titans case.”
Plastic Man does a giant shruggy thing with his shoulders and says, “I know when I’m not wanted.”
But Wally is still frowning, and he says, “Is anyone else worried about this?”
And the voice in our ears says, “Oracle out,” and Tim smiles, and I know we’ve won, and Crossley is still our case, and all we have to do is figure out what he’s up to and stop him, which we’ve practically done already.
“All right, Kid Flash,” says Tim, and he turns for the stairs. “Let’s head back to the Tower.” And I zoom up the stairs and hold the door open for when he gets there.
But Wally arrives first, and he looks at me and purses his lips, and he says, “You really got something with that speed-reading thing. Barry would be proud.” And he’s off in a red streak on his way to Keystone City.
And before I know it Tim is beside me, and then Plastic Man snakes by, and usually I’d ask Plastic Man to turn into different things, like a football or a spring or a trombone, but right now I’m a detective working on a case, so I zip across the street to where Robin left his motorcycle helmet and bring it back to him.
And Plastic Man has his neck stretched to peer at the box on the side of the JLA building, and he calls, “Don’t leave yet, Boy Wonder! You still have to fix this security sensor.”
But Batman’s voice says, “The security system is undamaged.”
“Remember, Bats, I caught your boy trying to disable it. And when you bat-types disable something, it stays disabled.”
“Robin was simply triggering the system.”
“Why would he-”
“In order to summon a JLA member,” explains Batman. “He knew exactly when I’d be unavailable this evening, and he calculated that during that time the member would take him into the facility to wait for me. As soon as you opened the door, Kid Flash ran inside. Isn’t that so, Robin?”
“Yes,” says Tim, and I can see his little smile just before he puts on the helmet and motions for me to pick him up. And Plastic Man makes his teeth as big as cement blocks and starts gnashing them, so I grab Tim and start to run west, and when I glance back, Plastic Man has climbed onto the roof of the building, and he’s turned himself into a big black sign with red and white blinking circles that spell out one word at a time:
MOST
ANNOYING
SIDEKICKS
EVER!
Continued here.
Rating: PG.
Content: Mystery with comic relief, or perhaps comedy with mystery relief.
Word Count: about 1,200 words per chapter. Unknown number of chapters.
Summary: Bart Allen as Kid Flash wants to help Robin on a Titans case involving a convict with a super-power and a strange police record. He knows honing his investigatory skills will require insight, concentration, and...what was the third thing?
Continuity: DC Comics standard.
Disclaimer: The Titans and its members are owned by DC Comics under copyright and trademark laws. This pastiche is offered freely with no hope of commercial reward.
Notes: It all started here.
Chapter 6
Brainstorming
Tim thumbs through the pages he brought from San Francisco to make sure they’re all there, and then he says, “Can you read them again, Kid Flash?” And he puts a finger over a spot on his mask and leans close and whispers so even I can barely hear: “Come on, Bart! This is why we’re here.”
So I read the pages again, and again, and again, and I know Tim wants me to spot a name from the Mongoose Squad, and I wish I did, but I know a good detective sticks with the evidence, and there’s no name, so I have to whisper back, “Sorry, Tim! I really don’t see anything.” And as soon as I shake my head, I can see Wally shaking his head, too, ’cause he’s disappointed in me, so I read again and say, “I mean, there are some sort-of-same names, like Michael Williams and Michael Williamson, and there are two psychologists both named Margarethe, and-Say! Don’t ladies change their names when they marry?”
And over at the side Plastic Man pokes Wally in the shoulder and says, “Nothing escapes your boy,” and Wally pokes Plastic Man back about a thousand times in half a second until Plastic Man stops being a bench and Wally falls on the floor.
But I’m too busy to laugh ’cause I’m telling Tim, “The chief psychologist at Alcatraz is Dr. Margarethe S. Ignatieff, and the psychologist who was working for the JSO back when they picked up the Penetrators was Dr. Margarethe Sackler, and if the S stands for Sackler-”
“I’m on it,” growls Batman, and Tim’s poking buttons on his wrist, and the rest of us watch to see who gets data first, and I say YES! inside when Tim says:
“The Alcatraz personnel file lists her next of kin as ‘Maxim Ignatieff, former husband.’ So Ignatieff wasn’t her original last name.”
“Dr. Sackler was a government witness in the Mongoose Squad inquiry,” says Batman.
And then there’s a kind of mechanical lady’s voice in my ear saying, “Margarethe Sackler. Born Centerville, Ohio, forty-six years ago. Ohio State University, Hudson University Med School, four years in the US Air Force, then joined the Justice Department. She specialized in evaluating criminals’ mental stability...”
And I make a Who? face to Tim, and he mouths, “Oracle.” And I get all excited ’cause I heard of Oracle a long time ago, and I’ve seen Tim and Wally talking to Oracle, but they never let me listen, so this is the first time I ever got to hear Oracle, and it’s a her, and she’s talking in my ear, too!
“...testified about how Baumhaus recruited his operatives. Paid leave for thirteen months. Four years ago, married Maxim Ignatieff-also a psychologist, born in Yekaterinburg. Five weeks later, she requested a transfer to SIS, District 2-Alcatraz. Marriage broke up after sixteen months. Since then, she’s had two promotions and one rise in federal pay grade. She also joined Netflix.”
“Testified against Baumhaus,” repeats Batman.
“So Crossley might be coming after her for revenge,” says Tim.
“Or he might be afraid she has something on him,” says Plastic Man.
“Or he might think he has something on her that could get him out of jail,” says Wally.
“Or he might be in love with her from seven years ago,” I say, “and he finally found out where she is, and...I think it’s the revenge thing.”
Everybody’s quiet for a whole lot of seconds, and then the Oracle voice says, “Is that Impulse?”
“It’s Kid Flash,” says Tim, “and we’re just brainstorming the possibilities. First thing in the morning, we’ll talk with Dr. Ignatieff to warn her and find out more. By the time the Marshals bring in Crossley, we’ll know what to expect.”
“I can move some things around,” says Wally, “and be in San Francisco tomorrow.” And I deduce that he doesn’t think we can handle this case, and since he knows all about what a good detective Tim is, he must be worried about me, even though he has absolutely no reason to be, and I picture forty-four file cabinets falling onto the Flash as he says, “Plas, what about you?”
“Some of us have lives, Flash-man!” says Plastic Man. “Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Bats, should we help the kids out?”
Batman just says, “Robin?”
And Tim says, “This is a Titans case.”
Plastic Man does a giant shruggy thing with his shoulders and says, “I know when I’m not wanted.”
But Wally is still frowning, and he says, “Is anyone else worried about this?”
And the voice in our ears says, “Oracle out,” and Tim smiles, and I know we’ve won, and Crossley is still our case, and all we have to do is figure out what he’s up to and stop him, which we’ve practically done already.
“All right, Kid Flash,” says Tim, and he turns for the stairs. “Let’s head back to the Tower.” And I zoom up the stairs and hold the door open for when he gets there.
But Wally arrives first, and he looks at me and purses his lips, and he says, “You really got something with that speed-reading thing. Barry would be proud.” And he’s off in a red streak on his way to Keystone City.
And before I know it Tim is beside me, and then Plastic Man snakes by, and usually I’d ask Plastic Man to turn into different things, like a football or a spring or a trombone, but right now I’m a detective working on a case, so I zip across the street to where Robin left his motorcycle helmet and bring it back to him.
And Plastic Man has his neck stretched to peer at the box on the side of the JLA building, and he calls, “Don’t leave yet, Boy Wonder! You still have to fix this security sensor.”
But Batman’s voice says, “The security system is undamaged.”
“Remember, Bats, I caught your boy trying to disable it. And when you bat-types disable something, it stays disabled.”
“Robin was simply triggering the system.”
“Why would he-”
“In order to summon a JLA member,” explains Batman. “He knew exactly when I’d be unavailable this evening, and he calculated that during that time the member would take him into the facility to wait for me. As soon as you opened the door, Kid Flash ran inside. Isn’t that so, Robin?”
“Yes,” says Tim, and I can see his little smile just before he puts on the helmet and motions for me to pick him up. And Plastic Man makes his teeth as big as cement blocks and starts gnashing them, so I grab Tim and start to run west, and when I glance back, Plastic Man has climbed onto the roof of the building, and he’s turned himself into a big black sign with red and white blinking circles that spell out one word at a time:
MOST
ANNOYING
SIDEKICKS
EVER!
Continued here.