chapter 16

Why couldn't every villain have a home base? Life would be so much easier. Or, at least, his life would be so much easier.

It was only supposed to be a quick pit stop to find this lady for some kid who had been obsessed with the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland since watching the movie. Just his luck that it was three hours later, and he was hiking in a forest in the middle of nowhere. Deathstroke had sent him the coordinates of where she was, but it wasn't like Danny was a seasoned tracker. Google Maps was his limit most of the time.

Now was an exception, apparently.

As he paused for a quick drink from his water bottle (thank god for his hindsight), Danny realized something that would've saved him so much time and effort. Wow, was he stupid. He was being watched. Hopefully, it was Cheshire.

Might as well sit and wait for the assassin to make her move. He knew she would; Cheshire wouldn't be one to leave loose ends that might give away her position to others… Maybe he should start singing.

"Always look on the bright side of death, just before you take your terminal breath," he began at a normal tone. Apparently, that was all she needed.

"Alright, alright: enough with the caterwauling. I'm the cat here," Cheshire cringed, slinking out of the trees behind him. The annoyance on her face was as clear as day, especially since her ever-present mask was hanging loosely in one hand. In Danny's opinion, the term "villain" didn't really seem to fit her, but he supposed "assassin" was a synonym for it (at least to his boss). "What do you want?"

Danny raised an eyebrow in response to semi-rhetorical query. Her glare kept him from giving a sarcastic answer this time. "Eight year old with lymphoma really likes the Cheshire cat, hence why I tracked you down."

He wouldn't categorize Cheshire's expression as 'sad,' but it was somewhere near that line. Her shoulders visibly slumped under the weight of what he said. "How long have they got?"

He held up his index finger in a "give me a second" gesture and pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper from his jean pocket. Unfolding it, Danny sighed as he read the child's information. "Mina's doctors aren't sure, but they're not optimistic."

"I'll be there tomorrow."

It took him a moment to react to her quick response. "Damn... okay. Blüdhaven General, Children's Ward." He stood up and moved to start heading back down the path. "Wait, do you need my num-"

She grinned in amused. "Your burner number? Don't worry, I already got it." Cheshire gave him a lazy salute. "You can go back to your 'singing' now; if you keep it up, you'll be able to shatter glass soon!"

"I'm not that bad," Danny muttered in annoyance as he turned his back to the emerald clad assassin and began the trek back.