The Next Generation

The next thing everyone one knew, 'Here Comes the Bride' was playing, and all eyes turned towards the back of the church. It only took several moments before she appeared, a beautiful young woman with golden hair and bright green eyes. Rose hadn't actually met her in person, but she was sure that Jessie was a perfectly fine person, if Dick was marrying her. She sat back in her seat and watched as the bride marched down the center aisle up to the altar, walked there by her father. It was a happy occasion.

Within several minutes, the bride and groom were up there standing across from each other, while the priest began to ceremony. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to..." and so on and so forth, up through the repeat-after-me's and to the vows themselves. As the ceremony went on, a few people couldn't help but notice that Jessie was appearing a bit feverish, with a sweaty brow and a teetering stance. Most just assumed that the girl was nervous, after all ti was her wedding day, right?

But as she began to struggle through her vows, Rose, as well as several others, began to notice that something was not right. That was more than just nerves. Several people started whispering to each other, wondering about her condition. Even Dick was looking back at his bride-to-be with concern. And then, when she finally collapsed, the entire church erupted with gasps and panicked whispers.

"Jessie!" Dick shouted, dropping to his wife's side. "Jessie, what's wrong?"

Neal took his eyes off of Rose and turned them to the bride as she began to walk down the aisle. She looked lovely in her dress, although she was wearing a far more modest one than Rose was. Clearly Dick and Neal hadn't married the same person. He was certain that this Jessie was the kind of girl that he needed to make him happy, just as how Rose was the women that made Neal happy.

As the actual ceremony began, Neal couldn't help but notice with everyone else that something seemed to be wrong with the bride. She looked ill, as if she was going to throw up at any moment. Neal couldn't blame her though, it was her wedding day and she was surrounded by a bunch of superheroes. She had the right to be more than nervous, it was the biggest day of her life.

It was only when she collapsed that Neal realized that something was truly wrong. Dick was already at her side, like the good husband that he would be, and trying to help Jessie wake up. Neal moved over and got on his knees right next to Dick. "Is she awake?" he asked as he tried to see what exactly was wrong. "Do you want us to get Raven up here?"

Of course, Bruce was the next one at Jessie's side. Considering that Batman had studied just about everything ever, and developed new talents whenever the story called for it, he was now an expert in medical analysis. Which, he probably already was, but that's not the point. He held his fingers to her neck, feeling for a pulse, then opened her eyelids as she started to spasm. "Rapid heartbeat, dilated pupils," he muttered. "She's going into shock."

"Raven!" Dick called, looking into the crowd. "Raven we need you!"

Of course, Raven was there a moment later, already running her hands over the bride in attempts to heal her enough to sustain her long enough for medical treatment. However, she pulled her hands back sharply, as if in pain, and let out a surprised shout. "This... I cannot heal her," she uttered. "I can take away the pain, but I cannot take away the poison running through her veins."

Dick's gaze snapped up to her. "What? Poison? You're telling me someone poisoned her?!"

"Yes," Raven replied, giving a small nod.

"Well get her to a hospital, quick!" Dick shouted. Raven could teleport them all there, after all.

But before she got the chance, Bruce looked up at him, quite seriously. "Dick... it's too late. She's gone."

Neal could only stand by and watch. He knew very little about healing, another thing that he should probably study up on given his advanced learning abilities. Might not be a bad idea to get some antidotes on hand. Neal stood up and backed away from Jessie, after all there was no way that he could really help in this kind of a situation. This was something that Bruce and Raven needed to take care of.

As the situation continued, things grew worse and worse. It wasn't until Bruce said those final words that the full impact of what had happened his Neal. Jessie was dead? Just like that? How could a poison act that fast? And more importantly, who would have done it? When could the poison have been administered? Neal couldn't answer any of these questions, but it was obvious that a murder had just taken place. Jessie wouldn't have committed suicide, there was no way that this was an accident.

Neal turned to look at Cyborg, but at the same time he didn't even know what to say. Did they really think the killer was still here? Where would they even begin? "We have to do something," he finally whispered. It sounded stupid and weak, but he didn't know what else to say.

Dick stared back at Bruce for several moments in utter disbelief. "No," he said, shaking his head and holding Jessie up close to him. "No no no no, you're wrong. You're wrong! Jessie, Jessie come on, Jessie wake up. Can you hear me? Jessie! Please, wake up!"

Most of the onlookers just stared in silence, also gripped by stunned disbelief. The only ones making any kind of animated reaction were her family. Her parents had rushed over in horror, her mother in particular screaming and sobbing. Jessie's face had already gone pale and cold, leaving no doubt to anyone that she was gone. Her eyes were white and fogged over, as well. They all knew what this was: murder.

"We will... do whatever it takes," Cyborg uttered, lowering his gaze, "to find who did this. I promise you, Dick."

Neal only looked away, he couldn't see the pain that was in Dick's eyes as he realized that Jessie was no longer with him. It was a terrible thing to see, and one that Neal never wanted Dick of all people to go through. This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life, and yet now it was spiraling into a nightmare. This wasn't how things were supposed to be, he was supposed to get married than go on a honeymoon and have a family.

Dick deserved so much better than this.

"We're going to find the son of a bitch that did this," Neal said in a low voice as he gazed down at Jessie's body. This was terrible, no words would do this scene justice. Whoever had done this was worse than scum. Who did this? An old enemy of Dick's? Some crazy or jealous boyfriend? Neal had no idea, but he would do everything that it took in order to help Dick.

He deserved Justice.

The rest of the day was spent in quiet sorrow. After Jessie's body was taken away, Dick needed to be alone for a while and left the others. No matter what his friends tried to say to make things better, nothing worked. What would? He had just lost the love of his life, and on their wedding day, no less. What was supposed to be the happiest moment in his life had instead turned into his most heartbreaking experience ever. Not even Bruce could come up with anything for him. All they could do right now was let him have his space... and do everything in their power to find who had done this.

"So what do we know?" Rose asked, holding one arm with the other as she sat calmly on her chair. The Titans, among others, were all gathered in a small room, trying to come up with a plan of action.

"We know that whoever did this was present at the wedding," Cyborg stated. "And that the poison was probably administered somewhere between the time she entered her room for the day and when she walked down the aisle."

"We'll know more for certain when the autopsy reports come in," Tim said, letting out a small breath.

"I also took a blood sample," Bruce said, nodding slowly. "Tim and I will work on our own analysis, see if we can catch anything of note."

Beast Boy hung his head. "Whoever did this... is going to pay. Big time."

Raven held a hand to his shoulder. "We will find the killer, and he will answer for his crime."

Neal stood next to Rose as they had all gathered together. Dick was a mess, and who could blame him for it? This was supposed to be an amazing day, and now it just seemed like it was Hell on Earth. Neal felt for the guy, if something like that had happened to Rose he would want more than blood. Someone had done this on purpose to hurt Dick and Jessie, and Neal was going to make sure that his friend received justice. It was the only thing he could do, Neal couldn't bring back the dead after all.

Neal just placed a hand on Rose's shoulder as he listened to the conversation that was taking place. Everyone was talking about the next course of action, how they were going to find Jessie's killer and make sure that he would answer for the crime. There had been a lot of people at the wedding, was it really one of the guests?

"Well, right now I guess we can't do much until that analysis comes back. We might also want to talk to Dick and get a complete list of everyone that was invited to the wedding," Neal suggested as they stood there. When they found out what exactly had killed Jessie, perhaps they'd be able to begin narrowing down the suspects.

"This is just... too terrible for words," Starfire uttered, shaking her head solemnly. She clutched Lori close, as if the child were the only thing keeping her from breaking down into tears. "Dick does not deserve this... Though our relationship ended long ego, he is still a valued friend, and this... this shouldn't happen to your friends."

"Yeah," Rose said, folding her arms and looking at the ground. "You can evil a point of view all you want, but whoever did this is just... pure evil."

"Kory, you and Gar will talk to Dick, get a list of everyone who RSVP'd to the wedding," Cyborg stated. "Raven, we'll give that list to you, maybe you can sense something suspicious on one of the guests through their emotions. I'll do a full chemical scan of the church, starting with the bride's room, see if I can find what the killer used to poison her."

Rose looked up at Cyborg. "What do you want us to do?"

"You and Neal can come with us," Tim said. "More hands will help the analysis go faster, and we'll be able to investigate multiple leads more thoroughly."

"It is too terrible, but it's happened and now we have to help Dick through it. Just as he's do for any of us," Neal said as he cast a small smile in Starfire's direction. He knew that she was probably struggling right now, as Starfire herself had lost her wife several months ago. That kind of a wound closed, but it always hurt. Starfire was probably having all of those old feelings sinking back in.

Neal listened as the instructions were given out, leaving Neal and rose with nothing to do quite yet. It was when Tim suggested that they help with the analysis that Neal nodded eagerly. "Alright, we'll help in whatever way we can," he said seriously. He had wanted to work with Bruce again, considering that Neal had never worked with him personally.

Besides, looking in to leads might be the only thing that Neal could do here. His powers were for fighting, he wasn't the best at detective work.

Rose and Neal would traveled across Gotham with Tim and Bruce, who were now dressed in costume as Red Robin and Batman, to Wayne Manor, which had been rebuilt quite nicely after its previous destruction. Of course, their destination wasn't the mansion itself, but the Batcave beneath it. Rose had also dressed herself in her armor, having packed it with her other things just in case. Of course, this wasn't quite that case she'd been expecting to wear it for. This was too tragic.

The analysis of Jessie's blood went on for hours. Batman handled most of it, while Red Robin, who I'm just going to refer to as Robin since it flows off the tongue much better, assisted with some of the more advanced medical tools. Rose and Neal were more in charge of the basic work, like entering the test results into the computer and cross referencing them with known poison chemical structures. When their testing was finally done, they had apparently discovered just what it was that had killed Jessie.

"Strange," Robin muttered, writing something down on the pad next to his microscope. "It's not a poison I've ever heard of before. The chemical compound is foreign to me."

"It appears that the active ingredient is ricin," Batman said, staring into the microscope for a few moments. "It's a naturally occurring protein from the beans of the castor oil plant. Found mostly in the Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, though it's been known to grow in most other tropical areas, as well."

Rose let out a tired sigh. "Okay, so does that help us in any way? I mean... we're not just going to get a suspect from an ingredient."

"You'd be surprised," Batman replied, sitting at his computer now and typing away. "Ricin isn't what you'd call a common poison ingredient. Usually, when someone chooses to poison a target, they'll go with something more common and well known, such as cyanide. Unless the killer is a pro, and has a reason for preferring obscure toxic substances."

"So... you're saying that Jessie wasn't just murdered, but... assassinated?" Rose asked, curiously.

Batman nodded. "Most likely. It also just so happens that ricin has been connected with one well known assassin in particular, who specializes in poisons." An image appeared up on the screen of an Asian woman with long dark hair. "Her name is Jade Nguyen, alias: Cheshire."

Neal had changed into his uniform before they left with Batman and Robin. He hadn't thought that he'd need it, but he figured better to have it just in case. Neal would have almost given anything to not have to wear this today. Still, they had a job that they needed to do and they had to become Fade and Ravager again. They were going to find whoever did this, Dick needed to have whoever performed this crime caught. If Rose had been killed, everyone would have done the same thing for Neal.

Neal went on to working at the computer. Once Batman and Robin made sure that Neal knew what to do, he was able to remember it and work faster the more he repeated the steps. He wasn't used to working with computers, but thankfully he was able to pick it up well enough.

As they discovered the contents of the poison, Neal listened with interest as Batman went on to explain to Rose the importance of what they had found. Neal didn't personally study how to use poison, but the League had mentioned it now and again. Neal still remembered what he had been taught, and ricin was definitely not something that was very commonly used. Apparently a criminal by the name of Cheshire was familiar with it though and used it frequently.

"Does Cheshire have any personal connection to Dick? I mean, do you think she's personally responsible for the attack or do you think someone else might have hired her in order to hurt Dick on their behalf?"

"None that I know of," Batman responded. "The Titans were charged with stopping her on a job quite a long time ago, but she got away. Certainly nothing that would warrant this kind of retaliation. I would assume that someone hired her, however, she claims to have left that life behind her many years ago."

Tim held a hand to his chin in contemplation. "Well, once a killer, always a-"

Rose glared at him with a look that silenced his words instantly.

"I mean... it might still be worth checking into," Tim said, clearing his throat. "Where's her last known place of residence?"

"Beijing, China," Batman informed. "No known address, just the city. Fade, Ravager, you two will investigate and track down Cheshire, squeeze whatever information you can out of her. If she was the one that killed Jessie, then someone hired her, and we'll need to know who. Tim and I will stay here and run further tests."

"I see, I guess the only way we're going to know for certain is if we go down and talk to her ourselves," Neal remarked as he listened to the explanation on Dick's past with Cheshire. If this was about one job that long ago than this woman must be severely deranged. They'd have to exercise caution with her.

Rose's glare was right alongside Neal's own glare as he stared at Tim. People changed, and he wasn't going to have something absolute said about that in front of himself or his wife. Neal and Rose both made mistakes, but they both came around and were now strong and model heroes in the Titan ranks.

"Leave the information gathering to us," Neal said as he stretched out his hands. "Believe me, I don't care what she's been through she has never dealt with one of my interrogations before," Neal said seriously. He could already imagine what he was going to do to this woman to get her to talk. If she had killed Jessie, Neal was not going to start off kindly and slowly.

"Yeah, we're on it," Rose said with a nod. "If she ran back to China, we'll find her. And if she's still stateside, well, we'll come back and find here and find her still. If she was involved in this... she'll talk."

Rose knew that if they got their hands on his Cheshire person, she would spill everything she knew. She'd seen Neal's interrogation tactics firsthand, and that no one she'd seen yet was resistant to him. Fortunately, they both also had a lot of experience tracking down criminals in foreign countries, as they'd spent a whole year searching for Deathstroke, and then Joey, across the whole globe. This would be a piece of cake.

---

After the plane touched down and dropped the two off in Beijing, it was down to business. "Her address is unknown to us, so we're probably going to have to look up the city's housing records, see if we can't find any current listings. Bruce gave us a list of her known aliases, in case he isn't using her real name. Once we track down wherever she's living, we'll either find her there and we can start interrogating, or we'll find clues about where she's gone and keep looking. Hopefully, though, she didn't move recently. If she's not living in Beijing anymore, it might be like trying to find a ghost."

Rose and Neal had to travel as themselves to Beijing, if the Chinese Government knew that two Titans had traveled into their country who knew what would happen? They had to travel casually, acting just like any other tourists. Thankfully that act would be easy, they had never been to China before so odds were that they would be asking for a LOT of directions. Still, they were going to find Cheshire. All of China wasn't big enough for her to hide from Fade and Ravager.

As Neal walked with Rose, he glanced over at her and listened to her summary of what they needed to do. "I agree, and we should move as quickly as possible. If she's really the one that poisoned Jessie, she must have known that the Justice League and Titans would get involved. If she's smart enough to figure that out, I doubt she'll be sitting at home and drinking tea........or whatever is popular in this culture," Neal added to himself.

"We'll do everything that we can to find her. There's a trail here somewhere, and we need to do this for Dick"

Much to their surprise... it really didn't take long to find Cheshire's home residence. A quick look in the housing records revealed the aptly named Jade Nguyen located near the outskirts of the city. She hadn't even bothered to use a false name when coming to China to hide out. Either she wasn't expecting people to come after her, or she was just cocky. Or, quite possibly, both. Her actual home was a secluded little structure on the top of a hill, connected to the garden district by a small winding path that led outside the actual city itself. The architectural style of the house actually appeared more Japanese than Chinese, or more a possible blend of both cultures, with a lotus garden surrounding the building.

"Not... quite what I would have expected from a secretive assassin," Rose muttered, taking a careful look around the place. She already had the handles of her energy swords at the ready, just in case. "Let's take a closer look around.

Rose swiftly worked her way over to the side of the building and climbed atop it in a single nimble climb. She crouched low, while working her way towards the back of the home, where the garden opened up and revealed a small pond with koi fish, as well as a stone patio and a fountain. In the center of that patio, kneeling calmly on a folded blanket, was a dark haired woman with a green kimono.

"Uh... I think I found her," Rose said, staring in confusion. "Is she... sipping tea?"

As they arrived at the home of Jade Nguyen, Neal couldn't help but feel like something was off. He had assumed that Cheshire would be hiding out in Spain or the States somewhere, why would she be staying at the home that was marked under her name? Something didn't smell right, she was acting pretty dang calm for a murderer. Her house was nice, but of course that happened when you were paid like Deathstroke in order to kill people. Whatever money she had just earned, it was all blood money.

They moved on top of the house, moving silently. Neal was grateful to have been trained in stealth by Talia. He wasn't the best assassin, but he was definitely pretty good at being silent and hidden. When sneaking up on an assassin it was an essential skill set to have now wasn't it?

As Rose pointed out that Jade was actually sipping tea, Neal could only smile. "See? I am getting better at this whole detective thing," Neal said with a wink before focusing on Cheshire. "How do you want to take her down?" he asked in a soft voice. "We can't risk jumping her and losing her here"

"Uh... I figured we'd just attack at the same time and take her down quickly," Rose said. "No reason to make this more complicated than it needs to be, it's two on one after all. We took down Deathstroke together, and she's no Deathstroke."

It seemed like a logical assumption, anyway. There was no way that they'd be letting her get away. Batman had given them all the intel he had on her. She was nothing special, no powers, not enhanced in anyway, just a highly trained and skilled assassin. Even if she fled, there was no way she could outrun Rose. However, before they could commence their attack, the woman stood up and turned around.

"Are you two going to skulk around in the shadows all day or are you going to come out?" Jade asked, glancing up at the roof of her home.

Okay, so apparently she was a little more talented than they'd given her credit for. Rose glanced over at Neal, then shrugged and jumped down into the garden.

"I'll have to ask why you're trespassing on my property," Jade added, folding her arms over her chest and staring at them. "I don't like visitors."

"You make a fair point," Neal remarked as he glanced back down to where Cheshire was. Neal and Rose were an amazing team together, and Cheshire was just a skilled fighter. It was like Rose said, they had taken down Deathstroke and there was no way that this girl could ever compare to him.

As Neal prepared to act, it was only revealed that Cheshire knew that they were there. It had caught Neal off guard, but perhaps her ears had picked up the conversation that they were having. Neal thought he had been quiet enough, but apparently not. Ah well, no point in hiding now. They both leaped down, standing straight up as they looked towards Jade.

"That's funny, because I don't like people that are hired in order to kill other people. Funny how we all have our preferences like that," Neal said as he kept his gaze fixed upon Jade. If she tried anything funny, she'd find herself in a world of pain as Neal unleashed his illusions to hold her in place. "We want to know who hired you to poison Jessie Linwood"

Jade narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said firmly. "I've never heard of anyone by that name, and I haven't killed in a long, long time. Now, if you'll please leave my property, I was in the middle of my daily tea."

"Right, because we totally buy that," Rose responded with a small scoff. "One of the greatest assassins in the world doesn't just up and quit cold turkey. I'll bet you've been working small jobs on the side over the years, until you got this job back in Gotham. then, you slipped up and left evidence behind, a poison used that's closely associated with your methods."

"So that's the reason you're here, because of circumstantial evidence that can only be loosely connected to me at best?" Jade retorted. Her mood was quickly beginning to sour. "I wasn't the only assassin to use poisons, yet you automatically assume that I'm the one who had to have done it. I just want to be left alone."

Rose began to walk towards her, turning on her energy swords. "Then you should have thought about that before you murdered our friend's bride!"

"Do not take another step," Jade commanded, moving her stance defensively. "Just leave my property!"

But Rose didn't listen, continuing to advance. She wasn't going to let this woman just deny her involvement and then walk away. No, they were going to squeeze whatever information they could out of her.

"Damn it!" Jade growled, suddenly throwing off her heavier kimono and whipping it at Rose as a distraction. Then... she ran.

She sprinted over towards the back end of the garden, going through the rear entrance of her home. Rose cut through the kimono and sprinted after her, ending up inside a small, personal dojo. Jade was already grabbing various weapons that were hanging up on racks, though the weapons appeared more ceremonial than functional. She tossed several shuriken with lethal accuracy, but Rose cut them out of the air. Jade flipped a table to slow her down, then grabbed a dao sword and a bladed fan, holding on in each hand.

"I said leave me alone!" she shouted, taking an unconventional stance to defend herself in. "Do not make me fight you."

This whole situation still felt wrong to Neal, Jade was acting to calm and surprised to be the murderer. Perhaps that was just part of her act? Neal could have sworn that she would have done something more to defend herself, and yet she was just standing here and talking to them. It was like they were police and merely questioning a witness. The whole thing was just off, but Neal wasn't going to just let her go.

If Jade was innocent, she was going to have to come up with a better reason than just denying her involvement.

Rose spoke on Neal's behalf, something that Neal might have wanted to control himself. Rose was a very aggressive person, and quitter or not Jade was still an assassin. If she had anything poisoned, she was still someone that they couldn't just take lightly. As the conversation continued, it was Jade who ended up turning and running off. "Don't lose her!" Neal shouted before he began sprinting off after Rose. Man, Neal really needed to work on his speed. Those two just booked ahead of him!

As Neal arrived in the dojo, he saw that Jade was starting to grab several weapons from off the wall. Neal's eyes narrowed as he began to feel anger. This woman had killed one bride-to-be, Neal was not going to let her kill his wife! "We wouldn't dare make you to fight us," Neal said before casting an illusion as she looked in his direction. Chains would wrap around the assassins arms and legs, each one attached to several heavy weights. With luck, Jade didn't have a trick to avoid it.

"Forcing you to the ground without raising a fist is so much easier"

When Jade went down, wrapped up by Neal's illusion, Rose was already on her, swinging with one of her energy blades that cut through the front of the woman's gi and let loose a powerful electric shock that brought her to the floor screaming, not to mention singeing her clothes. she collapsed with a thud on the floor, curled up and quivering. her fingers were still twitching, clawing at her weapons as if still trying to defend herself, but that wasn't going to work.

"Why... can't you people just leave me... along?" Jade uttered, her voice hoarse. "Haven't I already... suffered enough?" At the mention of that last comment, her eyes actually started tearing up, as her gaze went blank. It was as though she were recalling some painful memory.

"Whatever suffering you've been through, it isn't enough," Rose said, holding her foot on top of Jade's chest to keep her from moving. "You've killed too many people, and this last one is going to cost you."

Jade bowed her gaze slowly, averting her eyes. "Is that what I am to you now? Guilty... until proven innocent? I'm not... that person... anymore."

Neal only watched as Rose took her moment to act and quickly swing at Jade. The attack went through easily, striking Jade right in the stomach and sending her to the ground. It was a perfectly coordinated attack, and Neal was glad that it had worked before Jade had a chance to unleash something deadly. He just needed to keep focusing, he'd make sure that she couldn't even wiggle her fingers to get a hold of anything.

Neal walked over slowly, watching as Rose and Jade spoke to one another. He listened to them each, hearing about how Jade continued to insist that she was innocent and that all she wanted to do was to be left alone. Neal wasn't sure who to believe, and since they couldn't force her to speak the truth they were going to have to force her to talk through pain.

Neal crouched down to look at Jade's face. His helmet probably looked like an emotionless warrior, someone that wouldn't show mercy to someone like Jade. Given what they had just done to her, she should be worrying about what was coming next. "I don't know if you did or not, and that's why we are here. You don't know it yet, but you'll tell the full truth for me," Neal said as he glanced at Rose and gave a single nod before turning to Jade.

"Before I begin, I'll give you one more chance. Either confess that you did this, or tell me who knew about your poison well enough to replicate it perfectly," Neal said as he stared at her. "Keep in mind, I don't think you have any idea who I am. I'm the best interrogator in the world. I make people talk that Joker and Deathstroke can't make talk, and I'm sure that you've heard of them before"

"And how are you any better than them?" Jade responded, in reference to the Joker and Deathstroke. "Attacking an innocent woman in her home, interrogate her for information she doesn't have, and all because of nothing more than a hunch? Are you that stupid, or do you just enjoy it? What kind of heroes are you supposed to be?"

"The unconventional kind," Rose said, folding her arms over her chest.

Jade clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. "Do what you're going to do then, I have nothing to hide. And when you're done, just leave me the fuck alone. I don't need anymore pain from my past life."