The lift platform stopped outside an abandoned tunnel.
The hidden door opened, and the sound of rain rushed in.
Chen Mo jumped from the edge of the platform onto the road and glanced back. The black gap of the doorway slowly closed. The Batmobile didn't come charging out, and Batman didn't drop from the ceiling to haul him back.
Good.
Bruce was showing restraint tonight.
So much restraint that Chen Mo wanted to send him a certificate saying, "Congratulations on learning to let go." The recipient would most likely stick a tracking tag on the back.
Just as Chen Mo couldn't be bothered to care how many trackers and listening devices Bruce Wayne had planted all over him today.
There was no avoiding it.
That was how Batman was. He didn't respect other superheroes' privacy at all, just as he didn't respect his own privacy at all.
There was a closed laundromat at the intersection, with a little light still leaking around the edge of its roller shutter. Chen Mo walked over and crouched under the awning, first feeling for the little communicator in his pocket, then taking out his phone.
The phone screen lit up.
It still had power.
Gotham had finally done something decent tonight.
Chen Mo called Barbara.
When the phone rang, Barbara was in the Gordons' living room, stuffing a pair of purple-and-black gloves into a gym bag.
She had been planning to go out tonight.
Before Batgirl could even fasten her utility belt, Chen Mo's call switched her back into ordinary high school student mode.
Barbara paused when she saw the name on the screen.
Over at the dining table, Gordon was looking down at some documents. A cup of coffee sat beside his hand, long since cold.
Barbara pushed the gym bag farther behind