Smack.
A pink glow burst through the clinic lobby, and Yang Ming stepped out, half an unlit Marlboro still between his fingers. He had barely found his footing, without even brushing the dust off his suit, when he raised his hand and clapped.
"Everyone, stop a second!"
Everyone in the lobby looked over at once.
Jessica was leaning by the window, rolling her eyes at Gotham's gray streets outside; Loki stood with her arms folded, her face practically declaring, "The air here isn't worthy of entering my lungs."
Selene sat behind the triage desk, wiping down her dagger; Maggie was handing out warm milk to several children; Retsu Unohana sat quietly in a corner, holding an old medical journal she had dug up somewhere.
By the door.
Jason Todd was carrying a bucket of water, leading a group of children in scrubbing the floor.
"Half an hour."
Yang Ming raised two fingers, his expression solemn.
"Pack your things within half an hour. We're all moving today. Grab your bags and check into the Wayne Royal Hotel."
Silence hung in the air for two seconds.
"What?!"
Jessica was the first to jump up. She planted a foot on a chair, nearly kicking over the medicine box beside it.
"A five-star hotel? The one with hot water, air-conditioning, and no rat droppings falling from the ceiling in the middle of the night?!"
Yang Ming glanced at her.
"Tone it down. You're making your old place sound like a sewer."
"My old place was right next to a sewer!"
Jessica spun halfway around in excitement and grabbed the jacket she had tossed onto the couch.
"Boss, I knew sticking with you would get me somewhere! I've had enough of that lousy basement! Every night, I could hear something crawling through the pipes. I