END OF THE BEGINNING:

By: Wolfie

DISCLAIMER: Spirit Wolf/Shadow Travis, the Travis family, Neil Reynolds, and Smoke & Mist are copyrighted by Valancy Gilliam (Wolfie) and may not be used without prior permission. ShadowWing/Belle Anderson, FX, MJ and Black Magic are copyrighted by Rebecca Abram and may not be used without prior permission. DC Comics and Warner Bros copyright the members of the Justice League, the Batman characters and the DEO agency. They are used without permission and this story does not generate a profit. No infringement is intended. This is a work of amateur fiction and is for entertainment purposes only. August 2001

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is going to be the catalyst break-away story for Spirit Wolf, in which she will no longer associate with the DC Universe (well not much anyway). Any stories that are out currently by me or ShadowWing (Becky Abram) will be set before this story. I was wanting to start Spirit's 'Rogue's Gallery' without the interference of any other characters other than Batman at the start (where only her training with him will be mentioned) that do not belong to ShadowWing and I. That's not to say there won't be anymore Spirit Wolf stories where she tortures Mr. Grim and Gritty, there will. I'm just trying to establish her in her own continuity. It's going to be a process that may take some time, but I have confidence in her ability to see it through. I have several villains in mind and am working on my 'detective' skills for her.

The Colorado River was dark and murky without the sun shining down upon it. The rainy spring seemed to have swelled the river considerably, despite dams and the River Authority's wastewater treatment facility. Flash flood warnings had been coming in all season as the river swelled in Colorado and washed down into central Texas. Fishermen had found the flooding brought in more fish and the river was crowded often with boats, the banks spotted with people and poles rain or no rain.

Virgil Mallory rowed back for the bank one Saturday morning to where his pickup was parked along the edge of the river. He'd come up empty after several hours of holding his fishing pole and he'd resigned himself to a McDonald's hamburger for his lunch. With his back to the bank, he wasn't paying that much attention to how far he was from land.

The boat nudged against something solid and he turned, surprised to have hit the shore so soon. He stared at the bank some yards away and then glanced down into the water. He scooted off the seat so quickly at the sight in the water he almost tipped the boat over.

Though the body was face down in the water, it was obvious that whoever the poor soul was, she was dead. Her shapely curves were pronounced through bloating and her clothing was sodden yet identifiable as a costume of some sort. People didn't normally wear fringe and fur-lined jumpsuits. Today's fashions were a bit bizarre but not this offbeat. He prodded the body cautiously with an oar and it bobbed lifelessly in the water, negating his wish that it was a manikin and not real.

Mallory pulled his cell phone from the waterproof bag under the seat. With shaking hands he punched the emergency number for the park service. He was glad that he'd taped the number to the back of the phone in case there was an emergency, because he didn't think he could remember the number. Being a war veteran had taught him that the mind sometimes didn't function the way it was supposed to in trying times.

"Yes, my name is Virgil Mallory and I'm in my rowboat just off the bank at the Riverside turn-off north. There's a woman's body floating in the river." He listened a moment. "Yes, I'll stay here and make sure she doesn't float away."

He stared at her until the authorities met up with him in a small speedboat. Moments later the police arrived, screeching to a halt next to his battered pickup.

Rumors were leaking to the press by three that afternoon about the identity of the dead body. The corpse had been pulled from the river at around noon and Mallory had been released after giving his statement. The Austin Police Department found themselves in a quandary: did they bring in the Texas Rangers, the Federal Authorities such as the Department of Extranormal Operations, or the Justice League of America?

After several calls to various city departments it was decided by the mayor of Austin to contact all three. Five minutes later Superman and Wonder Woman were both in his office. The DEO claimed to have an agent en route from Denton, Texas, where they had been investigating something. The Rangers had dispatched the extremely capable Sgt. Paul Travis to meet up with the group as well.

This was more of a problem than the local Austin authorities wanted in their city. When the vigilante, Spirit Wolf, had appeared almost three years ago, the local police had met her with hostility, resentment and eventually resignation. They couldn't find out who she was and she wasn't interfering too much with their procedures. Like the Batman, she was helpful most times but she was not as welcome as the Batman was in Gotham City.

Now they had a bigger problem with Spirit Wolf.

She was dead and there were important people who wanted to know how and why.

"Was it her?" Andrew Travis charged onto the porch of the Travis family ranch. His normally immaculate business suit was wrinkled and Paul thought he detected a coffee stain on the lapel. He raised one brown eyebrow at the haphazard figure his older brother presented. Andrew rarely ruffled a hair at anything tossed his way. "I just heard. Was it Spirit Wolf?"

Paul Travis, the second eldest brother in the powerful Travis family, had followed in his father's footsteps and had become a lawman, eventually making his way into the Texas Rangers. Andrew and Paul's younger twin brothers, Holt and Kyle, had followed suit. Though Andrew was just as tough and intelligent as his brothers, his mind was ruthless when it came to business, so he had taken over the large oil company started by a family patriarch in the early 1900s.

"Interesting that you should be so interested in the vigilante there, Andrew," Paul drawled, pushing the porch chair he was sitting in back to where it balanced on the back two legs. He was the picture of an indolent cowboy, complete with boots crossed at the ankles and black hat shading his eyes despite the porch awning.

Andrew frowned. "I'm concerned. She may have been a vigilante but she was a useful contribution to lowering crime in -"

"Bluster won't get you out of it, Andy," Paul interrupted, thumping the chair down. "How long have you known?"

Andrew's blue eyes met his younger brother's brown ones. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bull. We don't know if it's Shadow or not. The DB's face was mangled and the print and DNA runs haven't come back yet. She ain't answering her cell phone and she ain't at her house. Neither are the wolves." Paul watched the subtle changes of surprise and resignation on his brother's features. "How long have you known?"

Andrew drew in a breath, admitting defeat. "For about two years. I overheard her talking to that New York vigilante, ShadowWing, in my office. Seems she was breaking in using a copy of my key pass and codes to use some of my visual phone equipment and didn't know I'd stayed late that evening. I, uh, have been helping her out here and there."

Obviously Paul wasn't aware of this, Andrew surmised, as his brother's large hands balled into fists and sparks flew from his eyes. "You. Did. What?" he hissed. "You encouraged her?"

"Just as you did by not putting a stop to it," Andrew retorted. "You obviously knew as well. How did you know?"

Paul shifted uncomfortably. "I figured out who ShadowWing was, went to New York and jumped her bones about it. It doesn't take much of a genius to put ShadowWing and Spirit Wolf together to get Belle and Shadow."

Andrew's lips pursed. "Does Kyle know?"

Paul looked away. Kyle was a sensitive subject in the family all around when it came to their headstrong sister-in-law. Holt had been Kyle's twin and Shadow's husband. When Holt had brought the feisty yet insecure Sioux woman home to the family, declaring he was in love with her and was going to marry her, Kyle had adopted her on the spot. When Holt and their son, Shelby, had been killed in the explosion of Holt's rigged pickup in front of Shadow, Kyle had doggedly played guardian angel and protector, insisting that Holt would have wanted him to watch over the woman he had loved so much.

Neither brother figured Shadow would have gotten far as Spirit Wolf if Kyle had known. Both knew also that Kyle wasn't stupid and would have seen the obvious similarities to the maddening Indian vigilante and their equally maddening sister-in-law. They also knew Kyle had suspected many times but had refused to accept the facts as he'd seen them. Even without the obvious two wolves that Shadow slyly insisted were probably hybrids with huskies or something, it was freaking obvious, but Kyle stubbornly kept himself clueless.

Mama Helen, the matriarch of the Travis family, came out with a kitchen towel in her hands, her blue eyes, identical to her eldest son's, red-rimmed and watery. "We need to have a talk," she said in a low tone.

Both sons bowed their head deferentially to their mother. She was an independent, strong-willed woman, with her own mind and ideas that very few, even their father, had been able to change. She was the strength and backbone of the family and always had been. Shadow's possible loss had shaken their mother hard. Shadow was the daughter she'd always wanted but had been denied in her brood of four boys. It surprised neither of her them that she knew Shadow's identity as well. Mama knew everything.

"If it's Shadow, Mama, there's gonna be Hell to pay," groused Paul, pulling open the screen door to step past his mother.

"Yes, there will be but we have to do it proper. We can't go off half-cocked."

"It was Reynolds, you know it was," growled Andrew, stepping into the cool, breezy kitchen. The smell of fresh bread lingered but it turned his stomach. He didn't think he could eat anything.

"No, we don't." Paul answer was more of a growl than Andrew's had been.

"Who else would it be?" argued Andrew, slamming his fist on the table as he sat in his customary seat, which was to the immediate right of his mother's seat at the head of the table. Paul sank into the sturdy oak chair across from him. "She found something out, got too close and Reynolds took her out."

"Why hasn't he before? With that Justice League crowd, she could have run into all sorts of wackos." Paul argued back. "She's been close to nailing Reynolds before, her and that Yankee, ShadowWing! What's so different this time? "

"I don't know," exploded Andrew. "You're the Texas Ranger! You figure it out!"

Paul stood up suddenly, his explosive temper snapping. Before he could lunge at his brother, though, Mama Helen's sharp tone broke through the argument. "That will be enough, the both of you. I will not have this kitchen torn apart because the two of you are acting like ten year olds!"

Both men subsided. Though the words were spoken mildly, the hint of steel in them was sharp as any sword blade.

"If it's not her, we won't tell him." Paul strode over to the sink to stare moodily out the window. "If it is her, we'll tell him. No use getting him riled up and then getting her all spittin' mad at us for a case of mistaken identity."

Andrew was silent but Paul knew his brother agreed. Kyle saw Shadow as a fragile woman who needed protection. She'd been so distraught after the deaths of her son and husband that she'd almost been a walking automaton, functioning perfectly in the everyday world but not comprehending her surroundings. Kyle used that often as an example of Shadow's fragility. Both older brothers were surprised Shadow hadn't thrown Kyle out of the hayloft many a time, but she seemed to find Kyle's over protective attitude amusing and tolerated it fairly well. It was often as if she knew something about their little brother they didn't, which was possible.

She was a clever female.

"She's clever," Andrew said, stating out loud the thought both of them shared. "It wasn't her."

"Then who?" asked Mama Helen softly, putting up dried dishes in the cabinet.

"We'll find out, Mama, I promise." Paul's voice was equally soft but it wasn't comforting. It was threatening.

Like Louis L'Amour's Sacketts, once you stepped on the toes of one Travis, you found you had the whole family to deal with.

"Superman to Batman." The Justice League communications array in the Batcave lit up when Superman's voice drifted over the receiver.

Bruce Wayne, dressed in the Batsuit and cowl pulled off his head, had been typing on a chemical analysis from a murder scene. He punched a button absently and replied, "Batman here. I'm busy. This had better be important."

"Spirit Wolf was found floating upside in the Colorado River just outside Austin. Is that important enough for you?" Superman's voice was calm but there was an underlying hint of anger in it. While Spirit had not been a full member of the JLA and rarely was involved in anything with the Reserve unit that she was a member of, she had made friends quickly in the superhero crowd. Her blunt honesty and feisty temperament was often a source of wry amusement from the more seasoned superheroes.

Bruce typed two more letters, hit the save button and jerked the cowl over his head, covering the upper portion of his face. "I'll be at the WatchTower in three minutes."

"We're already there."

'What did you get yourself into, Shadow Anne Black Horse-Travis?' Batman wondered to himself, ignoring the stab of pain in his gut.

Superman watched the Dark Knight of Gotham materialize on the transporter platform, the stern visage almost ashen under the cowl. Only someone who knew the Batman would have recognized the paler than usual features. The Man of Steel often thought there had been something between the Texas vigilante and the loner from Gotham but he'd never said anything or tried to find out more. It wasn't anything Batman had ever said, or Spirit for that matter, it was more of something in the way she treated him, like an errant child or a sulky lover. She had enjoyed teasing smiles out of the Batman, which was often hard to do and was a feat that impressed everyone.

"What happened?" The voice was raspy and unsteady, Superman noted sadly. This was not a good sign.

"A fisherman by the name of Virgil Mallory found her body floating upside down in the Colorado River this morning," Superman began but Batman cut him off.

"Did they take off the mask?"

"Well, you see, Batman," Superman began uncomfortably, "the local authorities and the mayor called in the League, the Rangers," Batman groaned, "and the DEO."

Batman's jaw tightened. "Why the DEO?"

Superman shrugged. "They didn't know who to contact so they contacted everyone they thought might have an interest." Batman grumbled something low that sounded like a string of obscene litanies but Superman ignored them. In an equally low voice he added, "Bruce, the DEO is not letting the League have anything to do with the body. They are keeping it under tight lock and key. Diana and I couldn't even view it for identification. The DNA and print records for the body are being held closed by the DEO."

"Won't the Rangers be thrilled with that move," Batman said crisply, his voice stronger now with anger and sarcasm.

"Not really," the Man of Steel said with a twist to his lips. "Sgt. Travis was extremely vocal in his protests."

"Paul Travis?" Batman looked sharply at his fellow Leaguer. Superman nodded. "Do you know who he is?"

"Spirit's brother-in-law, yes, I know. Let's put it this way, I thought he was going to go after that agent's throat for a minute and I wasn't sure Diana or I would have stopped him either." Superman paused. "It's like they want to have something to hang over our heads and they don't care who gets hurt along the way."

"That's our government," snorted Batman. "Our tax dollars at work."

"I think it's time to give the DEO something to worry about." Batman strode toward the communication room but Superman grabbed his arm to stay him.

"No. Let's wait and see what they do. If nothing happens in a few more hours, we'll contact the Travis family. From Sgt. Travis' concern, I'd wager they know her identity."

Batman gave a huffing laugh, startling Superman. "I kept telling her that she wasn't fooling her family but she was sure she had the brothers snowballed into thinking Spirit Wolf wasn't her. The oldest knows as does the mother, she told me once, but she thought the other two were in the dark." He shook his head. "I never thought they were that foolish."

"So they'll be worried..." Superman's voice trailed off when Batman rounded on him.

"I want to know who's going to tell her Grandfather."

"I want to know," Superman mused, "who's going to tell ShadowWing." Both men shuddered.

New York was relatively quiet, for once. ShadowWing sat on her favorite perch, the Empire State Building, smiling at the tourists clicking their cameras at the impressive nighttime skyline of Manhattan from the top floor viewing area. It was impressive, she had to admit, and that was why she loved this city so much. It might be filthy and fresh air a thing for the imagination, but it thrummed with a pulse she'd never felt anywhere else. It was home, pure and simple.

The commlink in her mask buzzed slightly in warning before the voice of FX, ShadowWing's personal information source and the switchboard operator for Opal Agencies, the private investigation conglomerate that ShadowWing inherited, flowed into the ear receiver.

"Heya, Boss? Got bad news and you better be sitting down for this."

"I'm perched on top of the Empire, FX, this will have to do," replied ShadowWing absently with a frown as she watched a stealthy young man following an elderly couple, who were obvious tourists. It looked like a pickpocket setup to her if ever there was one.

"Okay, you asked for it. Word's come in from various sources that Superman and Wonder Woman were in Austin, as well as the DEO, to investigate a death." FX paused when she heard the sharp intake of breath.

ShadowWing's voice was low and the tone made FX shiver slightly. "Whose death?"

"The rumor is that Spirit Wolf was found upside down in a river." There was a long pause on ShadowWing's end then the sound of flesh smacking flesh, followed by a howl of pain. "Boss? You okay?"

"Get my private jet ready for a flight to Austin. Now."

"Sorry, Boss, Superman and Batman have both requested your presence at the WatchTower." FX knew this couldn't be a good thing. ShadowWing wasn't often in the same company with the Batman owing to past differences and issues. Batman, to FX's considerable knowledge, had never requested ShadowWing for anything.

"Tell them I'll be there as soon as I get to Titans Tower and can transport up." The inflection had changed and FX knew a moment's unease for whoever had taken out the Texas vigilante. There was going to be Hell to pay.

The Justice League conference room was unusually crowded. Martian Manhunter surveyed the crowd with a glint of approval. He knew Spirit would have been surprised to see all the people concerned about her death. She had never considered herself a member of the superhero community, despite her status as a Reserve member. She knew her skills were mediocre at best and that she survived mostly on blind luck through most of her nightly escapades. The Indian woman had few illusions but the Martian had often thought she was blinded by her own insecurities.

The green computerized features of Oracle were glowing on the huge screen that dominated one wall and she was talking. "I can tap into the DEO's database easily enough but I have another suggestion that will be more to Batman's liking. Have him go for physical viewing. If the DEO knows Spirit Wolf's civilian identity, they'll have jerked the mask off."

"It is a mask for certain?" asked Batman sharply.

"From what I've been able to get hold of so far," Oracle responded, "from intercepting internal correspondences, they are saying 'mask'."

"Then it's not Spirit," Batman rumbled. "She wears a special paint that comes off only with special chemicals. I should know, I gave it to her."

"Unless she changed to wearing a mask," rumbled Arsenal, his green eyes darkened with sadness. With their reservation upbringings, both Arsenal and Spirit Wolf had struck up a friendship. Their mutual insecurities gave them each a thing in common as superheroes as well. "She had been talking about doing so."

That drew several sighs from the group. "Lovely," groused Black Canary, using her hip to lean against the table in the center of the room. "Don't the Reserves keep better tabs on their members and their activities?"

"I don't recall 'baby-sitting' duty being in the policy and procedures manual, Canary, as well as a need for costume user manuals." The voice from the door made the whole group turn around. Several people tensed perceptibly.

"There you are," Batman said snidely, much to the surprise of many. That wasn't a normal tone for the Bat.

"I came as fast as I could." ShadowWing walked slowly into the room. "Who called in the DEO?" Superman repeated the story quickly and ShadowWing paced the length of the table once, stopping in front of the Black Canary. "I hate the DEO."

"Stand in line," Canary said with a grin.

"This isn't funny. Spirit is basically harmless, Canary," snapped ShadowWing. "Furthermore she knows it. The list of her enemies isn't long and there's no reason why the DEO would want her for any reason."

"Oracle, see if you can find any reason the DEO would want Spirit Wolf. ShadowWing and I will ascertain where Spirit's enemies were last night and see if we can't view the body." Batman took charge and ShadowWing took exception.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked. "Why doesn't Oracle break into the database and find out what the DNA tests say?"

"Because they know I can and if they know who Spirit is, they would create fake records for me to find." Oracle's voice was a bit tense.

"Do it anyway," snapped ShadowWing.

"That could put Oracle in unnecessary danger," Batman began to argue. "If they want to cover up Spirit's death they'll be ready for anything, including Oracle's tamper..." He didn't get to finish the sentence as ShadowWing's telekinetic ability picked him up and tossed him out the door of the conference room.

"Don't argue with me, Bats," she said grimly. "I'm so not in the mood. Oracle, do it. I have more faith in your abilities than he does."

Superman stepped forward, sensing he should probably try to restore some order. "Where are you two going?"

"Hunting," came ShadowWing's stern tone as her hand clamped on Batman's arm and drug him toward the transporter. "We're going hunting. Where Spirit was, the wolves were. We find the wolves, we find one of two things."

Batman jerked his arm out of her grasp, following her line of reasoning. "We either find the real Spirit Wolf, or we find who killed her."

"Close," ShadowWing said. "If the DB really is Spirit Wolf, then the wolves are dead too. We'll either find the murder location and the possibility of clues or we find the real Spirit Wolf."

The room shuddered together as one. ShadowWing and Batman looked at each other right before the transporter dematerialized them and they actually smiled at each other.

It wasn't a pleasant sight.

"This is killing me." The sudden burst of words was met with silence. Paul raked a hand through his peppered black hair. "You know what I meant."

Kyle Travis sat at the kitchen table, a morose expression on his face. It was an improvement, Paul thought to himself, from the angry one he'd been sporting earlier when Paul, Andrew and Mama Helen had told and convinced the youngest Travis brother of Spirit Wolf's secret identity. With no word from their sister-in-law, they were convinced that it was her body the DEO was keeping squirreled away.

The question was why?

Getting irritated at himself for just sitting around and doing nothing while Shadow's murderer was out roaming free, Paul shoved away from the table the Travis family was gathered around and began to pace around the food-laden table.

"Anyone know how to get hold of any of these superhero people?" he asked, giving Andrew a pointed look. Everyone shook their heads negatively. "Well, hell!" he snapped. "How does she talk to them, Andy? You're the one supplying her with this garbage!"

Andrew stood up to his full height, the chair falling unnoticed to the floor with a crash. Though he topped Paul by an inch in height, his middle brother was still the more muscular. "Don't yell at me, dammit! I don't know! She's got some secret hideout that she stores stuff in along with her Spirit Wolf car."

"She has a car to be Spirit Wolf?" asked Kyle faintly, his face going pale.

"Yeah, it's a Bronco, like the one..." Andrew's voice trailed off. "Was her truck in the drive?"

"No," snapped Paul.

"Then she's taken her regular truck where ever she went." Andrew seemed pleased. "Maybe it's not her."

"Unless she has to drive out to her hideout to get dressed and switch vehicles," Mama said softly, pointing out the obvious.

"Dammit!" Paul slammed back down in his chair and began pushing the mashed potatoes around his plate absently.

"Now what?" Andrew asked.

"I guess we wait until one of the superheroes contact us. Or - " Kyle's face turned sly. "Or we go hunting on our own. We know who must have something to do with this. I think it's time he got a little visit."

Paul and Andrew looked at each other with dark expressions. "Reynolds," they said in unison.

"Oh dear," Mama Helen sighed after her children had stormed out the door. She went to the sink and stared blindly out the window. "Oh, Shadow, if you only knew."

Shadow Travis was tired. She'd been driving for what seemed like forever and she was hungry. She had just enough gas to get out to the ranch and home. Food was the higher priority to her exhausted mind and she drove down the familiar back roads without thinking about what she was doing.

Antoinetta's father was going to be okay and Shadow's student assistant was grateful that her mentor had cared enough to take her across the border in such an emergency. Shadow gave a self-satisfied grin as she looked in the back where the two wolves were sound asleep. Smoke's feet were moving as if he chased something and kept bumping into Mist, who would grunt in her sleep. Shadow snickered tiredly to herself.

Antoinetta Vaza had tearfully caught Shadow as she was getting into her car Friday evening in the teacher's parking lot. The young girl had gotten word her father had been taken to a local clinic in Mexico and the prognosis wasn't good. It didn't take much begging for the girl to talk Shadow into driving the poverty-stricken Antoinetta all the way to the border and across to the tiny Mexican town Antoinetta came from. Her family had spent literally every peso they had ever had on getting Antoinetta to Texas and into an American college. Antoinetta lived in a cheap apartment area next to the burger joint she worked at and had no vehicle or anyway to pay to get home.

Shadow tossed the girl in the car, stopped long enough to fill the gas tank and grab the wolves, driving non-stop to the border. She'd been cut off from the world, playing CDs and talking to Antoinetta to keep the girl's mind from worry; she had left her cellphone in her briefcase that she'd dropped off at the house. Shadow had then sat in a filthy medical clinic in a neighboring small town close to the one Antoinetta grew up in, holding Antoinetta's hand and giving comfort. She had kept ignoring the fact that it seemed a lot like the clinic on the reservation. When the news came that her prize student's father was going to recover, Shadow then took the girl to get food. After some discussion, Shadow left Antoinetta there with the promise that the professor would come and pick the girl up when she was ready to return to Texas.

After staying Saturday night with Antoinetta in the family home, Shadow had headed back north late Sunday, feeling good about herself and the world in general. She and the wolves howled along with CDs and Shadow finished a book on tape she'd started and never had the chance to finish. When she stopped for gas, she'd paid no mind to the newspapers and she never once turned on the radio to anything other than the stations that reported highway construction, weather and accidents. She'd been cut off from the world for the past two and a half days and she'd found it refreshing.

Not so refreshed now, Shadow was just ready for a hot shower, food and a long nap. She was hungry too but was craving Mama Helen's fabulous leftovers instead of a cheap roadside hamburger.

She pulled into the driveway of the ranch and felt peace wash over her. Holt's love of the family land had transferred to her and Shadow adored the ranch's spacious tranquility. It some ways it reminded her of her reservation home.

She screeched the Bronco into the yard behind Mama’s Buick and opened the door, getting out before the wolves bowled her over. “Food, lady and gentleman, real food. Too bad the boys aren’t home. I use the release of punching Paul out when he jumps down my throat for not calling them to tell them I left.”

Mama Helen tensed when the door to the kitchen opened. “What happened?” she asked as she turned from the cabinet. She assumed one of the boys had returned.

“Just got back. Who’s mad at me for not calling?”

“Shadow?” Mama Helen dropped the heavy pottery mug into the sink and launched herself across the kitchen. “Oh sweetheart! We thought you were dead! What happened? Sit down, this instant and tell me what happened!”

Shadow bemusedly hugged her mother-in-law and then sat as she was bid. "Well, I've been in Mexico, Mama. One of my students, Antoinetta, her father was suddenly sick. I ran her down to the little town she's from to see him. I dropped my stuff off, grabbed the wolves and headed out." Shadow gave her mother-in-law a long, amused look. "What's this about me being dead? Going overboard on this motherly panic, aren't we?"

Mama Helen swallowed and launched into the explanation of the past few days. Shadow's eyes narrowed and her bronzed skin paled a bit. Her lips pursed and when Mama had finished, she snorted in disgust.

"Very interesting." The Sioux woman stood up and began pacing. "Can I get some dinner? I'm starved." Mama Helen hurriedly reheated the leftover dinner while she watched her daughter-in-law pace the kitchen. The wolves were sprawled on the kitchen floor, watching Mama's every move. She dug out two steaks from the freezer and set them in the microwave, turning it to thaw.

"We should call the boys," the Travis family matron said, reaching for the phone.

"Wait!" Shadow's hand flew into the air, stopping Mama Helen's hand before it pulled the receiver from the hook. "This can work to my advantage. I'm obviously not dead, so that means someone wants me to be dead. Let's leave it at that for now, lull them into thinking they've succeeded."

The microwave buzzed and Mama Helen pulled the steaks out, placed them on plates and set them in front of the two hungry wolves. "I don't understand, dear. You want to be dead?"

"Mama, someone wants me dead. I say let them think they've succeeded, give me time to figure this out. Besides," she said, "whoever that girl is, she was murdered in my stead. That is not acceptable." Shadow sat down at the table and began to eat the food placed before her distractedly. "Where did the boys go?"

"To visit Mr. Reynolds."

Shadow gave a grin. "Really? Well, how's that for coincidence. I was just thinking the same thing."

Batman and ShadowWing had an easy time breaking into the DEO's Austin medical laboratory, too easy for either of their peace of mind. They skulked through the shadowy corridor, avoiding the security traps and cameras with practiced ease. Both paused in front of the door labeled "Morgue" but it was ShadowWing who got the nerve up to push the double doors open it albeit with her telekinetic ability.

"I don't want to see this, Batman," she murmured softly as they dug through the files to find which cabinet the body of Spirit Wolf inhabited. "I don't want it to be her."

He said nothing but a quick glance at what little of his face the black cowl revealed told ShadowWing that Batman was not desirous of the information either. They located the cabinet number and slowly made their way toward it. Again they hesitated but it was Batman who took the initiative this time.

The face was bloated beyond recognition and the costume was torn in places but looked authentic enough. The hair was dull and when Batman gingerly peeled up one eyelid, the brown irises were now black with lifelessness. Both noted the telltale contact lenses that yellowed Spirit's eyes were missing, as were some pieces of the costume. The explanation of the missing items were in the files. ShadowWing stared at the face, willing no recognition to filter into her brain, but she felt uneasy all the same.

"I'm going to do my own DNA sample," Batman rumbled softly, almost reverently. ShadowWing nodded and then watched as the Dark Knight scraped some skin cells off the blotchy arm. He also snagged a hair strand. "Just in case," he murmured. Again ShadowWing nodded numbly.

"Oracle," he said into a speaker in his cowl. "I'm feeding you a DNA sample in a moment from the plane. Give us a few minutes to get out of the DEO complex."

"Is it her?' came Oracle's subdued tone.

"Too soon to tell," ShadowWing murmured dejectedly, "but it doesn't look good."

Batman switched off the speaker, unsure if Oracle had heard ShadowWing's response and not caring if she did not. His heart was heavy as he gave one last glance at the dead woman in front of him. It seemed surreal that this could be Shadow Travis. In some ways he'd predicted she'd go out this way, but the truth was he had always imagined that she'd live to be a hundred, feisty and independent as she was in her youth, telling stories about when she'd been a superhero.

ShadowWing took quick digital scans of the documentation on the corpse before they replaced the files, but did not read it. She refused to let her mind see the words as she took the shots. The two vigilantes left as quietly as they entered.

The Batplane hummed back to life as the two of them clambered in. Batman plugged in the DNA sample and filtered it to Oracle. As the plane soared over and around the city of Austin, Texas, everyone waited with baited breath for Oracle's determination.

"I'm not an expert everyone," came Oracle's voice finally. The heroes at the WatchTower and in the Batplane tensed, "but this program is supposed to be at least ninety percent correct." There was an audible intake of breath over the computerized voice stream. "It's positive."

Both ShadowWing and Batman tensed, rage flooding through them both. "Batman out." He flipped the communications switch to off and looked at his companion. "Suggestions? You know more about her activities than I do."

"There's really only one person who would want Spirit out of the picture," ShadowWing said grimly, staring blindly out the window at the city below. "Neil Reynolds."

"Reynolds knew the identity of Spirit Wolf?" Batman sounded slightly dazed.

"It's not hard to figure out," pointed out his female companion. "I think the only reason that most of the law enforcement agencies don't know is because Paul works hard to keep it a secret."

"Paul Travis knows?" Batman's voice went sharp.

ShadowWing smiled grimly. "I wasn't as vigilant as I thought with my identity down here. I slipped up and he put two and two together. Flew to New York to confront me, as a matter of fact. It's an easy hop, skip and a jump from there to figure out who Spirit Wolf is…was." She grimaced, hating to use the past tense in reference to one of her best friend's, the one person who seemed to make her laugh more than anyone.

"I never understood her," Batman said quietly out of the blue. ShadowWing turned to him and laid a comforting hand on his upper arm.

"I know," she agreed. "I don't think I did either. In some ways, it was like a game to her, something to help her run from the truth of her loss. In other ways, she was deadly serious about it. You know, there were times I had to drag her off the guys we busted because she got so outraged I really think she would have done them serious harm."

"She was innocent and naïve," Batman sighed.

"Well, the naïve part I'll agree with," chuckled ShadowWing sadly, "but I'll argue the innocent part. She's lived a hard life, harder, I think, than what she's told us or that we've discovered on our own. We both know words only reveal so much."

Batman nodded. "I always thought she'd get into trouble. I never really thought she'd die from it."

"Yeah," ShadowWing sympathized, "me too. Best we can do is find out the whos and the whys."

"Reynolds is a good place to start," agreed Batman. ShadowWing smiled grimly in agreement.

While ShadowWing and Batman were breaking into the DEO's facility, the Travis brothers were raising hell in Neil Reynolds's front foyer. The magnate could always be counted on to be working late on some off-to-the-side business that wasn't listed on his income taxes and sure enough, they found him ensconced in his office. After arguing for ten minutes with the security guards, Paul punched them both out and the three brothers headed to the top floor office.

Neil Reynolds lifted his ice blue eyes to the door as it swung open and bounced off the back wall. Three tall men, two with Stetsons and jeans and one in an Armani suit, came stalking through. He raised a fine eyebrow and smiled congenially.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this uninvited visit?" he asked with a tight smile. Though he'd only met Andrew Travis a couple times at various social events, it was easily discernible that the other two were Kyle and Paul Travis. Kyle was more recognizable, being the former Sgt. Holt Travis' identical twin brother. The Travis family had gone beyond being a pain in Reynolds' backside some time ago and it looked like they were about to become a plague.

"We're huntin' information," drawled Kyle lazily, pushing his gray hat back and eyeing the room warily.

"I see," Reynolds said with pursed lips. "And you think I have the information you are hunting for?"

"Enough." Paul Travis obviously lacked his younger brother's acting ability and his older brother's patience. He reached across the desk and grabbed Reynolds by the lapels of his fancy suit, hauling him forward til they were nose to nose. "Spirit Wolf has been reported dead, which I'm sure you're privately rejoicing over. We're looking to find out who's responsible. You're topping the suspect list."

Blue eyes narrowed as he pried Paul's hands off his jacket and he sneered his response. "If I were responsible for the woman's demise, I certainly wouldn't be admitting it, now would I? Go 'huntin' somewhere else, gentlemen. I am busy."

Andrew smiled and Reynolds knew a moment's unease. In the dangerous seas of corporate enterprise, Andrew Travis could be a dolphin or a shark to swimmers trying to stay afloat. A few words to various parties from the head of Travis Enterprises could find Neil Reynolds' own not so small corporation languishing in Davy Jones' locker.

"You know, Neil, you and I have never dealt with each other much, despite our mutually large companies." Andrew walked judiciously around the impeccably furnished office, stopping here and there to view some priceless work of art. "I deal in industrial items while you deal more in construction and the like. Never had much use for large companies dealing in construction. Cuts the small man a bad deal, you know, and a lot of my fellow Texans earn their living through small businesses."

"Indeed," Reynolds murmured, keeping his eyes on the eldest Travis brother.

"Yes," nodded Andrew, turning to smile at the not-so-new Travis family adversary. "It would be a shame if I had to get into your genre of corporate business, would it not? I have a head for business and a down-home upbringing. I'm sure that in record time I could find I like the construction business quite well and could easily find talented and knowledgeable people in construction to guide what I can't learn right off the bat."

Reynolds stiffened. If Travis Enterprises took on a construction angle to their business, the talented Andrew Travis could easily run Reynolds Construction out of business in a few years. While Reynolds Construction gobbled up many smaller companies, the CEO was often a liability to the company. He wasn't a Texan and many smaller companies resented being swallowed whole by a man who wasn't a native Texan.

The Travis', on the other hand, were as Texan as the Dallas Cowboys. Their family ties went back further than the Texas War for Independence. While no relation to Colonel Travis of Alamo fame, they were equally important to the history of the state through being settlers, rangers, being members of the Texas Rangers and the turn of the 20th century oil boom. The name Travis commanded respect and intimated fair and upfront dealing.

Andrew could follow Reynolds' thought process as well as noting his brothers' awed expressions. None of his family had ever seen him act as the corporate bigwig that he was and his normally mild-mannered personality often went into the background as the aggressive CEO came to the foreground.

Finally Reynolds gave a tight-lipped smile and a single sharp nod. "I see," he said crisply. "Rest assured, gentlemen, that I know nothing of the passing of the vigilante, Spirit Wolf. However," he raised a hand to forestall a tirade from Paul, "if I come across any pertinent information, I'll be sure to contact your offices."

Andrew, ever more civilized than his brothers, gave a congenial nod, grabbed his two siblings by the elbow and pushed them politely in front of him as he exited. "Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. Your cooperation is most appreciated."

Reynolds gave one more nod before the door closed behind the brothers. He sagged for a second in his chair and then walked to the window, not moving again until he saw the pickup that the three of them got into drive away, disappearing into the night. He then walked to his desk, picked up the phone and dialed.

"Candy," he purred into the line. "I will be working later than I thought. Perhaps you should go to bed without me this evening." He placed the receiver back on the hook and stared out the window a moment more before going back to his paperwork.

Shadow had donned her extra outfit from the back of her closet at home, slipped out the door and clambered back into the Bronco, muttering because it wasn't her 'vigilante' version with the extra amenities. Now as Spirit Wolf she was heading straight for the large building downtown that housed Neil Reynolds corporate headquarters.

She parked the Bronco some distance away, climbed out and pointed to the wolves. "Enaon," she told them, pointing at the seats they were sitting on. "I need you to stay here this time." Mist whined and Smoke woofed once. Spirit shut the door and locked the car. She shoved the keys into the leather pouch hanging from the belt around her waist. "I need information."

As usual, each time she did it, breaking into the Reynolds Construction offices got easier and easier. She figured either she was getting better or the security was getting worse. She flattered herself into thinking it was the former.

She mumbled to herself as she moved, grimacing when she turned the corner and ran into a janitor's mop bucket, sloshing a bit more water onto an already impressive puddle on the floor. The janitor was nowhere in sight, so Spirit figured he was mopping in one of the rooms. Easily avoiding most of the cameras, Spirit headed straight for the file room, a new location since the last time, but she kept tabs on the activity in Reynolds' office, more than he or anyone else knew.

File cabinet after cabinet, she began to diligently search for Neil Reynolds' latest activities. She'd been ignoring him of late, having had other distractions of a personal and professional nature. Obviously that had been a mistake.

Neil was buried deep in his paperwork when he felt a breeze stir on his neck. His hand flashed to the top desk drawer, pulling it open quickly but a bat-shaped shiriken slammed the drawer close before he could grab the semi-automatic pistol.

"We would prefer doing this non-violently," whispered a voice in his mind and he froze.

"So the infamous ShadowWing has finally decided to grace me with her presence," he said, looking around the office. The lights had been lowered somehow and the room was cloaked in deep shadows from the various antique cabinets that housed his fine art and antiquities.

A slender brunette in a silver and black costume sauntered up to his desk from one of the shadows and propped a shapely hip on the polished surface. "I have company," she smiled and her head tipped to the window behind Reynolds.

He turned in his chair and saw the faint outline of a black male form with a stylized yellow bat symbol on the chest of the costume. "Ah," he said in a clipped tone. "I assume you are here about the mysterious death of Texas' own masked vigilante, Spirit Wolf?"

ShadowWing's smile broadened ferally. "You could say that. You are her most powerful enemy, Mr. Reynolds, with the most to lose should she ever succeed in proving that you are a fink."

Reynolds leaned back in the chair, angling it to where he could view both vigilantes with his peripheral vision. "Fink. What a quaint word for such a modern woman," he mused in a charming tone. For some reason he could not fathom he was less nervous with these two than the three Travis brothers. Probably, he mused, because these two would hesitate in killing him; the Travis' would have no such compunction. "I assure you, however, that I wished Spirit Wolf no harm whatsoever. She had not been good for business, I admit, but she was not much of a detriment that I would take such drastic steps."

There was a whisper of fabric as the Batman slid into the room, standing squarely in front of the infamous Texas crime boss. "Let me put it another way," murmured Batman in a raspy voice that made Reynolds involuntarily shiver. "If I find out otherwise, or that anyone even remotely or indirectly connected to you, past, present or future, was involved in Spirit Wolf's death, I shall personally make sure that your business has more than just a few 'detriments'."

The white eyeslits of the Batman's cowl met with Reynolds black-eyed gaze until Reynolds looked over at ShadowWing. "And you can bet I'll take up where Spirit left off, Mr. Reynolds, regarding her investigation into the death of Sgt. Holt Travis and his son, among other things."

Anger suffused Reynolds' features and he did something he rarely did. He lost his temper. "If it was provable, madam, Spirit Wolf would have found it by now. I assure you she was most diligent in that respect. However, that is neither here nor there and quite in the past. I invite you to leave my office, as I have more work to get done before I go home and enjoy my lovely wife."

Batman raised an eyebrow at ShadowWing's follow-up dig, "Funny, Reynolds, I never saw you as the type to take other men's leavings, but to each their own." Reynolds' face went a mottled red again but he moved his chair back to the desk and shuffled the papers in a meaningful manner.

Batman turned the chair around with one booted foot, forcing Reynolds to face him one more time. He leaned forward until they were almost nose-to-nose. "I would suggest that any information you have or even suspect of having turned over to the Texas Rangers Paul and Kyle Travis before morning, or things will be getting very unpleasant in the next few days for your 'business'."

Reynolds blinked and they were gone, the door of his office closing softly behind them. He punched the security call button and spoke into the receiver as soon as it was answered. "Two vigilantes are leaving the building, don't give them any trouble." He hung up the receiver without waiting for reply and stared blankly at the papers on his desk.

Spirit Wolf was indeed becoming more trouble than she was worth, dead or alive.

ShadowWing and Batman walked stiffly down the hall. "That wasn't good," she murmured to him with her telepathy, not trusting Reynolds' security system.

"I know," he responded outloud. "Had to be done. He has to understand he's gone too far."

ShadowWing looked around furtively and then grinned. "I have an idea." She motioned to him to follow her with a small, gloved hand and he did so. "Spirit on her last check-in with Opal Agencies told me she found out that Reynolds' has moved his file room again. She reported where it was. Let's see if it's still there."

Batman gave a brief nod and they went down one corridor, where ShadowWing stopped to frown, getting her bearings in the complicated maze of corridors. She started walking again.

Spirit grinned widely as she latched onto a folder labeled 'DNA Restructure Project'.

"Now what have we here? Stuff people weren't supposed to leave at the office as usual, Mr. Reynolds?" As she flipped through and skimmed the information the smile quickly flipped into a frown and her brow furrowed beneath the warrior markings on her face. "What the hell is this?" she murmured. Understanding dawned and she snapped the file closed, reflexively swallowing.

He knew she wasn't dead. In fact, he was the only person besides Mama Helen and herself who knew she was still breathing. Spirit shut the file cabinet closed with a soft click and turned off the small wrist light that Batman had given her one trip to Gotham City. Pulling a knife warily and holding it in throwing position, Spirit crept from the room, relocking the door behind her. She ran soft-footed down the corridor, turned sharp to the right and pelted past the security room without the guard seeing her.

She had to study this more closely. She had a bad feeling about what she was going to find.

ShadowWing and Batman both snuck past the security room without the sleeping guard ever knowing. "Great security Reynolds has," muttered Batman with a tightening of his lips in disapproval.

"You'd rather be fighting our way through?" ShadowWing asked derisively. Typically she got no answer. She poked her head around the door to peer at the guard disgustedly. She did a double-take when she thought she saw Spirit Wolf's figure flash across one of the screens. "What the - " she began and then shook her head.

"What?" asked Batman.

"Nothing," she answered weakly. "I thought I saw Spirit in one of the monitors. Wishful thinking, I guess." Batman grunted softly. "I'm going to miss her, you know."

There was a long pause before Batman responded. "Me too."

"Did you love her?" ShadowWing sensed there was an opening for a personal chat at that moment, something she and Batman or Bruce Wayne never indulged in.

Again there was a long pause before he answered, as if he were considering the answer. "Could have, but it wasn't right for her at that time and place. So it never happened. I wouldn't have minded though." ShadowWing nodded, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "All the other women I've been with, ShadowWing, are polished or refined in some way. She was -" Words seem to fail the Dark Knight.

"Normal," supplied ShadowWing with a smile. "She was the girl next door that you've never tripped over before."

His smile was fleeting but definitely there. "Yes." The smile faded. "Let's go information gathering. He's hiding something."

The wolves were ecstatic to see her and Spirit let them out of the Bronco before perusing the information more thoroughly. What she could grasp from her basic scientific knowledge disgusted her.

It seemed Reynolds' team of foreign scientists had found away to alter the genetic code of a human body and change it into something else. At first they had tried animal DNA, giving humans the facial features of cats or the fur of apes but those attempts had been too outwardly difficult on the fragile exoskeleton of the human body. The skin itself couldn't handle the stressful change and broke down with gruesome consequences. Undaunted by early failure they'd switched a different route: change the DNA structure of the skin cells to match those of another human being.

Spirit's mind quickly snapped to what had recently occurred. Reynolds had this process done on some other woman, who then dressed as Spirit Wolf and had been murdered in an awful case of mistaken identity.

She shuddered and whistled to call the two large canines back to the truck. The two animals clambered in, panting heavily in the heavy summer evening air. Spirit turned on the engine and began to drive, her mind reeling at what had occurred and how difficult it would be to figure out the answers to so many questions.

Had Reynolds had the woman killed? Had someone else killed the woman thinking it was the real Spirit Wolf? If so, who? She didn't have a Rogue's Gallery like the Flash or the Batman. Was it possible she was getting one and not even realizing it?

She swallowed nervously. If it was Reynolds, he knew she wasn't dead and it could have been a warning. Perhaps she'd gotten too close for his comfort and he decided it was time to see how hardcore she was willing play.

Suddenly Shadow Travis was beginning to regret becoming Spirit Wolf.

The Justice League WatchTower had cleared out of most of the superheroes that had gathered for information concerning Spirit Wolf. All that was left was Superman and Wonder Woman. Green Lantern had monitor duty and was required to be there.

The communications array began to blink and Green Lantern glanced at the id. "It's Batman," he said somberly, pressing the view screen button. "Justice League WatchTower, any news, Batman?"

"None. We had a talk with Neil Reynolds, the man Spirit believed was responsible for her husband and son's deaths, but we didn't get anything. We also searched through some of his files, but again, nothing." There was a long pause. "What did Oracle find?"

Superman took Green Lantern's place. "Nothing yet to report from Oracle, Batman," he stated. "However, she has been asking questions about Spirit's grandfather. It seems the DEO has quite a file on him."

ShadowWing's visage took Batman's place, her brow furrowed. "Samuel Black Horse has a DEO file? Why?"

"That's what Oracle's trying to find out."

"Well, in the meantime, I think two JLA representatives need to visit the Travis family and offer consolation," ShadowWing sighed. "Besides, her brothers-in-law might have some leads we've missed."

"Keep in touch. We won't send a page if Oracle finds something in case you're in tight spot," advised Superman.

ShadowWing gave him a tight smile. "Sure thing, Boy Scout, ShadowWing and Batman out." The image viewer blipped off and the three heroes sighed heavily.

"Too bad," Green Lantern murmured. "I liked her. She was fun and clever."

"Obviously not clever enough," growled Wonder Woman. "She was the wrong kind of person for that line of work."

"We can't judge, though, Diana," Superman rebuked her mildly. "We're all driven to this in some fashion or form and have our own reasons."

Wonder Woman's dark blue eyes were filled with remorse. "Yes, but it still makes me angry at the life some of us choose and the life others choose for us."

"I think for her," mused Green Lantern, "it was a little bit of both."

Andrew and Kyle were sitting on the porch when a flashy sports car came careening up to the ranch house. Paul stuck his head out of the screen door to stare suspiciously at the vehicle. The doors swung open and the stares turned to gawks.

"I thought you normally flew, Yank," greeted Paul with a scowl. ShadowWing returned the look, much to Andrew and Kyle's surprise. Batman ignored it.

"We're here to offer condolences. I have no doubt that the lot of you know about Spirit Wolf." She surveyed each mind delicately to confirm her suspicions.

"Yeah and we just came back from a frustrating meeting with Neil Reynolds too," growled Kyle, slamming his fist into the porch post in frustration. "The man's a murdering bastard and my mission to bring him down has just been escalated to my highest priority."

Andrew and Paul both frowned at him, as did ShadowWing, but Batman nodded. "He was warned this evening by ShadowWing and I as well. That should get him thinking at any rate."

Paul stared openly at the Batman. "I know you from somewhere, Batman, I just can't put my finger on it."

To ShadowWing's amazement, the Batman radiated sudden discomfort, shifting his weight slightly and sinking into the shadows behind the car a bit more, out of the porch light's glow. Puzzled, ShadowWing sat down on the steps next to Andrew and bumped him with a shoulder. "How's Mama Helen?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking, young lady," came Mama Helen's gentle voice from the house. "Why don't all of you come in? I'll fix some coffee and there's some fresh bread."

Batman couldn't help but smile. "Hospitality very similar to that of Superman's family," he murmured and the Travis boys gave half-hearted grins.

"I don't know where the Man of Steel is from but it must be a state from the Heartland," Paul rumbled approvingly.

"Oh it is. Superman's a hick at heart," assured ShadowWing. "Don’t' let the flashy tights fool you." Kyle snorted.

Mama Helen ushered everyone in and made sure the Batman was seated in a corner with no lamp. ShadowWing frowned a moment, sensing a psychic imprint of Shadow from sometime recently but she couldn't pinpoint when. It disturbed her.

"So, Belle Anderson, when were you and Shadow going to tell us your big secrets?" Kyle asked casually.

ShadowWing tensed and slowly reached up to her face to pull off the mask. "Paul knew my secret, Andrew knew hers. We weren't sure how you'd handle it, Kyle." His face thunderclouded but he said nothing else. "You're so protective of her, Shadow was afraid you'd stop her and she needed to do this, Kyle." He looked away but still didn't respond. Belle sighed. "In truth, down here, we didn't keep our secrets very well. We were pretty careless," she admitted. "If anyone could figure out Spirit Wolf's civilian identity it wouldn't take much to figure out mine."

"And what about you?" asked Andrew, looking at Batman, who stiffened slightly. "Who are you under that mask?"

Batman said nothing so Belle interceded. "Batman has more secrets that hinge on his real identity, Andrew. And besides," she shot Batman a pensive look, "Batman is the real man and the mask is his civilian identity. Judge the man as what you see now and you'll have the right perception."

Paul grunted. "I've got my suspicions, but we'll leave them as that, shall we?"

Batman gave a sharp nod and relaxed somewhat.

Mama entered with a coffee service and buttered bread slices. She passed them out with almost high society airs and sat down in her own chair, staring around the room.

"I suppose this visit is to tell us that the body the DEO has is really Shadow?" she asked calmly.

ShadowWing looked down at her coffee. "Yes, Ma'am," Batman answered softly.

Her coffee cup trembled a moment but otherwise Mama Helen looked composed and confused. ShadowWing's eyes narrowed a moment. Why was Mama Helen confused? Before she could sneak feelers out the Travis matron calmly stated, "Stay out of my head, if you please, Belle."

Belle half-grinned and shook her head. "You just seemed puzzled. I wanted to know what about."

"Why would the DEO have Shadow to begin with?" The question seemed obvious enough to the room in general and none of them suspected Mama was fishing for her very much alive daughter-in-law.

"One of the JLA operatives, Oracle, says that the DEO database has a file on Shadow's grandfather, Samuel," Batman answered, sipping his coffee. His lips curved into an appreciative smile. "Decaffeinated. Thank you."

All of the Travis family members frowned in puzzlement. "Sam?" asked Paul with a shake of his head. "What the heck for? He's harmless, been bad sick lately as well. Shadow has…had been worried that he wasn't going to live much longer." Paul gave a short laugh. "Hell, the old codger is older than I hope to ever be, so I don't know why she was moaning about it."

ShadowWing tensed slightly. "Waitaminute. I think I know the DEO's interest." She set her coffee cup down and began to check her thoughts off on her fingers. "Samuel Black Horse is his white man's name, Shadow told me once. He was born Black Horse's Son. His father was a trusted warrior under Chief Black Elk. I can remember Sam talking about his experience at Wounded Knee."

"His father's?" queried Batman.

ShadowWing shook her head. "No, that's what I thought. But his experiences at Wounded Knee. Sam was at Wounded Knee."

Andrew's brow furrowed. "But that was in 1890. To remember it, he would have to have at least been three years old -"

"Shadow has said that she's not sure exactly how old Sam is," interrupted Kyle.

Batman supplied the answer. "Wounded Knee was one hundred and eleven years ago. That would make Samuel Black Horse a few years over the one hundred and ten mark in decent health."

"Better than decent health," sputtered Paul, "considering the 'under the weather' the old man has been experiencing is rheumatism!"

"Could Shadow's grandfather be a metahuman, Batman?" asked ShadowWing with a frown. "It would explain their file on him."

"And the need to retain Spirit Wolf's body," added Andrew. "Especially if they thought it might be hereditary. They would be paranoid enough to want to run tests and all that crap."

"And give them a basis for not telling the family of the deceased," concurred Kyle with a scowl. "Bastards."

"Oh dear," cried Mama Helen. She stood up quickly and ran from the room. They could hear her climbing up the stairs.

"Mama was taking this a bit too well," noted Paul sadly. "I was wondering when the realization would hit."

"I think if she could, she would have traded us all in for more models of Shadow," smiled Andrew grimly.

"Maybe you two," Kyle said with a sad smile. "But she had two of me."

"Speaking of which, what did you two find out from Reynolds?" Paul wheedled, staring at ShadowWing.

She shrugged. "Nothing but a depressingly bad sense of filing order and the stubborn streak we already knew about." Paul snorted.

"Well, I think it's time for bed. Gotta start tomorrow with a clear head." Kyle stood up and stretched. The group disbanded. "You two got a place to stay? If not, we got space here and we won't break in to bother your privacy."

ShadowWing shook her head. "Don’t worry about us, you guys. We'll find you if we get more news."

"You do that and contact Mama every once in awhile in case we find something ourselves." Paul nodded politely to the two superheroes and the screen door slammed behind him.

Andrew was left to lock up after the rest left. He climbed the staircase and knocked on his mother's bedroom door, where her reading light left a faint glow in the crack under the door. "Mama, you going to be okay?" He thought he heard the click of the phone being hung up and a moment later his mother opened her door.

"I'll be fine, Andrew. You run along home. Come check on me in the morning before you go to work if you can." She gave him a tight hug and he returned the gesture.

"We'll be here bright and early for breakfast," he promised her. "Don't you fix nothing. We'll take you out for breakfast."

She smiled wanly. "Alright, that's fine." He watched as she shut the door again and a moment later the light went out. He heaved a sigh, went out the front door, locked it and drove away. On the drive home down the dirt road that led to the highway, he passed a black and silver Bronco going the other way. He smiled to himself.

It seemed those Broncos were getting to be common. He swore it looked just like Shadow's.

Shadow parked the Bronco in the barn as out of sight as she could get it, which was difficult. She let the wolves out and gave the command for them to remain in the cool interior of the building. Both wolves were slightly put out but obeyed. Shadow still marveled that the wolves, wild animals at heart, followed her every command as faithfully as any hound.

Mama Helen was on the back patio, looking shaken up. Shadow wasn't feeling too stable herself, with the news that Mama had given her over the phone.

"It explains so much about Grandfather," Shadow said in lieu of a greeting.

"Yes, there's always been something otherworldly about your grandfather, Shadow," Mama agreed tremulously. "I always thought it was because he was medicine man."

Shadow shrugged. "I never gave it much thought. It was just his way. However, the pieces are starting to come together. The files I found in Reynolds office, man his people are sloppy, supply the 'who is in the DEO morgue' question. The why was supplied by your two visitors this evening. The only problem is how am I going to sufficiently prove I'm not dead? Show up on the street, bust some heads and throw everyone for a loop?"

Mama Helen smiled sadly. "Less dramatic, I should think. You need to check in at the university. Reynolds is going to be confused as to where you are and why you aren't doing anything. Make him nervous. You show up, your vigilante friends can't find you, but he knows its not you in the morgue."

Shadow's brown eyes glinted in the faint light from the house. "Mama, you're a genius." Shadow smacked a kiss on the weathered cheek. "I'll do just that. I'll stay out of the house and go to the hideout. Maybe if I keep ShadowWing, Batman and the boys confused, they'll continue to harass Reynolds enough that he'll crack."

"What about the files, dear? Shouldn't you turn those over to the boys as evidence?" Mama Helen looked anxious.

Shadow shook her head. "No, because they are going back as soon as he cracks, that way the investigators can find them when they search his files for evidence against him." Shadow grinned. "I'm going to get him this time, Mama, and with his own trap."

Something was bothering Belle Anderson and for the life of her she couldn't put her finger on what. In her hotel room adjacent to "Larson Gill", aka yet another Bat identity, Belle sat in the remaining dark, staring through the open window, waiting for the dawn. Her mind flashed through images in her memory, most of them of Shadow and Spirit Wolf. The two women hadn't known each other long, maybe a year or two but they had become fast friends, good friends, and Belle would miss the older Sioux woman terribly. More than she had realized.

The phone jangled, startling her. She grabbed the receiver and spoke. "Room 445."

"Heya, Boss, any word on Spirit Wolf?"

"DNA confirmation, FX, it's her."

There was a moment of silence. "Sorry, Boss, I know she was a good friend."

"I'd dearly love to know the circumstances, though," sighed Belle, tracing the pattern of the comforter with her index finger. "I'd also like to know where those wolves are. Are they dead too?"

"I can't tell ya, Boss, but everyone here has been asking for news. Shall I pass on the bad?" FX's voice, normally chipper and bright, was subdued.

"Yeah. Tell Richard that I'll be home as soon we find out who did this and get the body from the DEO. Someone from the JLA should go visit her grandfather too." Belle heaved a sigh, fighting back tears.

"I'll contact Oracle. She'll know what to do on that score." FX's tone was reassuring and confident. "You take all the time you need, Boss. We got everything covered just fine."

"Gimme that!" Belle heard the familiar brash voice of her half-sister Mary Jane, or MJ. "Belle? Was it Spirit?"

"Yeah, MJ, it was Spirit."

"Shit. Well, you find 'em, sister. Find 'em and make 'em pay. That was a good woman they took out, y'know, despite the differences the two of us had." MJ's obvious Brooklyn accent was angry and sad at the same time. Belle smiled. MJ had enough emotions for both sisters sometimes. Though she may be partly bottled up inside, MJ was a powder keg of emotion that few people ever saw. Belle had always thought it was a shame that Shadow and MJ ever got along well; MJ was merely a citified version of Shadow. Shadow was how Belle pictured MJ in another five to ten years.

"You know I will, MJ, you know I will. How's Magic?" Belle thought about her black cat and felt a pang of remorse. If she found the wolves, they were going home with her. Wouldn't Magic be thrilled? She frowned as MJ related an amusing anecdote about Magic and a bird on the balcony designed to cheer up her half-sister, not really paying attention to the story but thinking on the impressions she'd been picking up all day. Her eyes widened as something clicked and she interrupted her sister. "Sorry, MJ, something just came up. Gotta go. I'll call back later." She hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

Belle pulled the jumpsuit on, her only clothes, and grabbed the complimentary terry cloth robe from the bathroom. She jerked open the door and sprinted across the room, pounding on the door urgently. "Larry, it's me, open the damned door. I think I've got something figured out!"

The sporty car pulled sedately into a parking place at a small corner IGA grocery store and the driver killed the motor. The doors opened and two dark figures exited the vehicle, disappearing behind the store. They ran down the alley behind the grocery store and darted down an adjacent alley behind a condominium complex. Both Batman and ShadowWing easily vaulted over the high fence of the complex and the female vigilante pointed up.

"That one," she said, pointing to a window several stories up.

"We need to hurry, it's almost dawn," Batman told her.

ShadowWing nodded and the two of them were encased in a blue bubble of telekinetic energy, rising through the air toward the window. They peeked through.

"Damn it," she swore. "I hate it when she doesn't update me on these things."

"Off hand, unless Shadow has another side to her that we don't know about, I'd say this isn't her secret hide-out anymore." Batman made the comment while staring pointedly at the posters of supermodels and sports cars haphazardly plastered all over the wall. A college-age boy was snoring on the couch, the TV remote control dangling from his hand. "Does she update you on every activity she makes?"

"Damn near," muttered ShadowWing.

"Are you sure you weren't imagining Spirit's presence?" Batman looked skeptical.

"No, Batman, it was her. That's what kept bothering me at the ranch house. I could feel her there, but I knew that couldn't be right. While I was talking to MJ on the phone I was analyzing everything I'd felt yesterday. Things started to take shape. I thought I saw Spirit in the security cameras. You remarked in the file room that it looked like someone had already been there, or that Reynolds had horrible filing systems. Reynolds is hiding something, everyone agrees on that. Where are the wolves? Mama Helen didn't seem too particularly upset until we started theorizing on Spirit's grandfather. What if she knows Spirit's alive and kicking somewhere? And in both places I had a sense of Spirit, a recent impression of her. Could it be that she's investigating something that we've stumbled into, or has gotten out of hand and she's in the middle of something? There's so many explanations and questions."

"Or it could be wishful thinking."

ShadowWing nodded ruefully. "That too."

"Well, for now, let's go back to the hotel and get some sleep," Batman suggested. "We'll visit Mr. Reynolds again this evening and see what we can rattle out of him."

ShadowWing gave one more look into the apartment that had once been Spirit Wolf's hide-out and sighed. If she was alive, where the hell was she?

Neil Reynolds, after his aggravating previous night, was having a good morning. The weapons cache north of Laredo had missed a sweep by the FBI and had gotten across the border without a problem. It was unfortunate that things were getting ready to be shaken up for him.

"Sir, this letter came for you via special messenger," murmured his secretary after he gave her permission to enter. He took it with a grunt and she left the room quickly, in case it was bad news.

Inside the envelope was a single sheet of paper. He frowned as he read.

Mr. Reynolds,

Thanks for the retirement option, but unfortunately, I'll have to decline your gracious offer. Since the cards are on the table and we know who the other is, there's no beating around the bush. This is your twenty-four hour warning. It's the only one you'll get. You're going down and I'll see to it personally. I can't retire until you're gone, you see, so it makes no difference what schemes you come up with to get me out of the picture. I’m here as long as you're here.

Spirit Wolf

Reynolds stared blankly at the note and then picked up his phone. Calmly he dialed a number he had memorized but had never used.

"Dr. Shadow Travis' office, Marie speaking. How can I help you?" came the bright voice on the other end of the line.

"Yes, is Dr. Travis in? I need to schedule an appointment for my son. I understand she's an advisor for the Native American studies program?" Reynolds told his lie smoothly.

"Yes, sir, she's holding her office hours today. Would you like me to transfer you to her office?"

Reynolds felt his stomach drop. With all the hoopla, she was in her college office? Did her family know she was there? "Yes, please," he replied calmly.

"Just one moment, sir, could I get your name?" Marie sounded eager to please.

"Mr. Neil Reynolds."

"Just a moment, Mr. Reynolds." There was a short period of music from the 1980s and then a calm voice on the other end answered.

"Dr. Shadow Travis, how may I help you, Mr. Reynolds?" He could almost see the smirk that had to be on her face.

"I'm merely pleased to know that you are in excellent health, Dr. Travis," he answered smoothly, wondering what was going on. "I'm also a bit curious, if you don't mind answering a few questions?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line and he swore he heard a choked laugh. "Certainly, Mr. Reynolds, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have within reason, of course."

He leaned back in his chair and grabbed his coffee mug, taking a sip of the tepid liquid before speaking. "I understand that the hubbub about your death is exaggerated, obviously. May I ask how you manage to keep the furor going?"

There was a sly chuckle on the other end. "Secrets, Mr. Reynolds. Just because you know who I am doesn't mean I don't have other secrets."

'Hmm,' he thought to himself. "I see," he said outloud. "Last I was aware, which was last night, your friends and family are still in the dark about the truth of your rumored death. Do you intend to enlighten them?"

Again that sly chuckle sounded in his ear and he drummed his fingers on the arm of his leather chair. "Actually, I figure that will be rectified on its own sometime today. In fact," there was a long pause, "I was hoping to beg your help in this. Drop a few hints and rumors, maybe?"

He laughed. "You are outrageous, Dr. Travis, but that's why I haven't had you taken care of long ago!" He laughed again. "Now why would I enlighten your compatriots to the truth when you can do so yourself?"

"All part of the master plan, Mr. Reynolds, that and a little blackmail. You see I have something that could get you into a lot of trouble. More trouble than you'll be in when I get the evidence I need to prove you murdered my husband and son. More than just weapons and drug smuggling or dealing in child pornography." He tensed as her voice turned knowing. "You know, I've gotten more incriminating evidence from your company's filing cabinets than from any patsy or informer in the state of Texas and most of Mexico."

He paled, knowing exactly to what she was referring. "I will kill you first," he threatened in a low tone.

"You are more than welcome to try, but how will you explain my death twice? Either way, you lose, Mr. Reynolds. It's been interesting but the war's over and this time the Indians win. Good-bye, Mr. Reynolds."

The phone clicked in his ear and he listened to the static on the other end for a moment before slamming the receiver down with a loud burst of cursing. He dialed his home number, got his wife's bodyguard and spat, "Get my wife and get to the airport. Wait until I arrive. We may have a problem."

He sat back and swore again.

Shadow put the phone down, hand shaking. Everything was going according to plan and in truth she couldn't believe Reynolds was this stupid. Wasn’t her plan obvious? Sloughing off the doubt, Shadow picked up her purse and briefcase and opened her office door. "Marie? I have to go for the day. Tell everyone I'll see them tomorrow morning. If anyone calls about Antoinetta, take a message. My afternoons are now off-limits for a bit. Tell them I'm sorry for the inconvenience and give my cellphone number to the students who actually seem to have an emergency, would you?"

"Yes, Dr. Travis," the rather chubby girl said with a nod.

Shadow then paused before turning. "Oh, and will you give this number a call and tell the young woman who answers that you have a message for Belle Anderson from Shadow Travis?"

Marie obediently nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."

"904-555-0098. The message is "Tell Belle Anderson that Shadow Travis wants to say hello and that she'll meet Belle and her companion at the usual place tonight at eleven o'clock." Marie's brow creased into a confused frown but did as she was told.

Shadow smiled as she left, hearing Marie pick up the phone and start dialing the number.

FX picked up the phone and in her best upscale Jersey accent said, "This is the office of Belle Anderson of Anderson Industries. How can I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Marie Alvarez calling for Dr. Shadow Travis. I have a message for Belle Anderson?" The voice on the other end was decidedly Mexican and the name Shadow Travis gave FX pause.

"Certainly," she responded, grabbing a sheet of paper and punching the record button almost at the same time. "The message?"

"Dr. Travis says hello and that she'll meet Belle Anderson and her companion at the usual place at eleven o'clock this evening." The girl on the other end seemed as confused as FX was and FX was used to secretly worded phrases.

"Certainly," FX told the girl on the other end. "I'll see that it's given to Miss Anderson right away. Thank you."

"Your welcome. Good-bye." The girl hung up and FX did the same. She punched another button and it automatically dialed.

"This had better be good. I'm actually getting sleep," came Belle's sleepy voice over the other end.

"Boss, I got a message that you might find important."

Belle sounded more alert. "What is it?" FX relayed the message. "Son of a bitch!" swore Belle. "I knew it! Thanks, FX!" The line went dead and FX dialed Belle's fiancé to tell him the latest update.

Belle pounded on Bruce's door yet again and he jerked it open with an irate glare. "What now?" he snapped.

"We have a hot date tonight." Belle smirked as she shoved her way past him. "Compliments of Mrs. Travis."

"What does Mama Helen have anything…" Bruce started, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Not Mama Helen, the Mrs. Travis we're hunting." Bruce stopped rubbing his eyes and peered at her. "FX was left a message that Shadow Travis says hello and that she'll meet us at eleven o'clock tonight."

"Where?" Bruce grabbed a pair of slacks he'd purchased the day before for any civilian work they would be doing.

Belle turned around when he pulled off the robe to dress. "The message said the usual place, so I assume the state capital building. It's the only place Shadow actually likes to perch."

"I'm going to kill her myself," he grumbled.

"Stand in line," she countered. "I think it's time we talked with Mama Helen. We need all the pieces to this puzzle."

Bruce tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around, momentarily appreciating the nice figure he cut in the fine clothes. "Let's go then," he said, motioning to the door. She smiled.

They couldn't find Mama Helen but Belle managed to get a hold of Andrew to update them on the situation.

"You mean she's not dead!" Andrew exclaimed over the phone.

"No, she's not dead. We don't know what the story is yet, but I'm laying odds it must be a doozy." Belle drove the sports car through the heavy lunchtime traffic with the ease that only a large city person could have.

"I'll call my brothers and Mama Helen and tell them," Andrew began but Belle interrupted.

"I think Mama Helen knew, Andrew. I don't think she was upset and ran up the stairs last night because of Shadow's death. I think she ran upstairs because she was startled by the talk about Sam. I think she may have called Shadow, where ever she's at, and told her."

There was silence over the line. "It was her car."

"What?" Belle frowned as she dodged a pair of young kids on motorcycles. She heard Bruce grind his teeth over in the passenger seat.

"I saw a black Bronco when we left last night. I didn't think anything about it other than it was amazing how many black Broncos there were." Andrew paused. "Maybe she was heading out to the ranch. I thought I heard the phone being hung up when I checked to see if Mama was okay before I left. You may have the right of it."

"Outwitted by Shadow!" laughed Belle. "Who knew?"

"You guys always underestimated her," Andrew informed the New Yorker. "Just because she hasn't trained all her life or been doing it since she was a kid, you always underestimate her."

"You're right, Andrew, we do but not anymore, I can tell you that," Belle replied.

"So now what? You think this whole death thing is a plan of Shadow's for some reason?" Andrew sounded worried about the prospect.

Belle shook her head, even thought Andrew couldn’t see the motion. "No, she's not a killer, no matter how angry she gets. Not a cold-blooded one anyway. I think she's just using circumstances to her advantage. She may be in over her head though and that's why she contacted Batman and I for help. She's meeting us tonight."

"Good. Tell her she's in a world of hurt from her brothers," retorted Andrew.

"Will do, but you know her, she'll just shrug and say 'ah well'. Another thing, don't tell Kyle or Paul. It might ruin her plan. Let's see what she's got up her sleeve first before we break the news. Those two are perfect pawns." Andrew laughed and assured her that he wouldn't divulge the good news.

Belle hung up the phone and glanced at Bruce. His square, clean-cut face was scowling and if Batman could ever exist without the mask this was awful close.

"We can't jump her about this until we get the story, Bruce."

"I know that," he snapped. "We should call the League."

"No." Belle stayed his hand as it reached for the phone. "Same reason as for not telling Kyle and Paul. Let's find out what she's up to first."

Bruce blew out air in frustration and nodded agreement. "You're right. I usually think clearer than this." Belle grinned. "I never would have thought she would be this devious."

"Andrew is right. We underestimate her. A lot obviously." Bruce snorted but didn't comment.

Kyle and Paul Travis stalked into the office of Neil Reynolds to find the place in a flurry of activity. Moving activity.

"What's going on?" Paul asked the secretary casually, half-sitting on the edge of her desk.

She shot him a dirty look. "There was an emergency. Mr. Reynolds is having to leave the country to take care of the situation."

The two Rangers shared a glance and swept past the secretary who was too flustered to stop them.

"Leaving town already, Reynolds?" asked Kyle as the door banged open. Reynolds looked up in surprise from several large boxes. "Don’t criminals normally flee for their lives if they are a step away from being caught?"

Reynolds shot them both a dirty look. "Is there something you gentlemen wanted or are you here to offer more threats? If it’s the latter, save yourself the trouble. Your sister-in-law does it better."

Paul glowered. "I beg your pardon?"

Reynolds' lips twitched into a smile. "I wonder if she'll consider this a debt if I tell you?"

Paul grabbed Reynolds by the lapel and hauled him forward until they were nose to nose. "Explain. Now."

"Make it double-time," added Kyle, standing right next to them.

"Your sister-in-law isn't dead. In fact, she called to tell me she had some evidence against me. I have decided to make myself scarce in case she can actually follow through. She has come through every once in awhile."

Paul and Kyle exchanged glances and then slow smiles spread over their faces. "She must have the right of it then, if you're packing to leave the country," Paul drawled, letting go of the suit jacket and brushing out the wrinkles politely.

Kyle chortled. "Yeah, odds are good more than one new murder charge is on that, as well as the ones we already know about. What other activities are you into, Reynolds, that we don't know about that has you this worried?"

Reynolds smirked and walked to the other side of his desk. "I would suggest you ask her."

"Where is she?" Kyle took a step forward, both hands clenched into fists.

"She was at her office this morning but I had a feeling it was only a stop over." Reynolds thrust a few large piles of papers into one of the boxes. "I would suggest you chat with someone else for that information."

Paul gave a slow smile. "You leave the country and I'll hunt you down. I don't need a badge to bring you in, Reynolds."

Reynolds held Paul's gaze unflinchingly, making one nod in acknowledgement. The two Rangers left the office. Once outside in the parking lot, Kyle let out a whoop. "I knew she was too tough to be dead!"

"Says the man who previously treated her like fragile china." Kyle laughed at his brother's dry humor. "She's alive though and we have to find her. This thing is rapidly getting complicated enough to give me a headache." Paul jerked open the door of his old Ford pickup.

"Yeah, but you know, its kinda cool to have a superhero in the family," Kyle mused as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"No, it's a pain in the butt." The engine roared to life and they drove off.

The grounds around the state capital were well lit and well kept. Trees and shrubs surrounded the domed building. ShadowWing levitated Batman and herself up to the top and they waited impatiently for eleven o'clock.

There was a howl below them and Batman looked down. They couldn't see the wolves, but obviously Smoke and Mist were down there. "You know, you two look a little worse for wear!"

The voice came from the other side of the dome's ornament cap, the Goddess of Liberty statue. Spirit Wolf came sauntering around, carefully holding onto the metal outcroppings of the ornamentation. "Impressive, isn't it? They restored the whole thing a few years ago, redid some of the interior design but I've always thought the neo-classical look worked well in this location. It's impressive for one of the two states that had been a country before joining the USA to have a great piece of architecture for its capital."

"You talk to much." Batman stood up carefully and crossed his arms.

"For a dead woman," grinned Belle. Despite the growing certainty over the course of the day that Shadow was alive it was nice to have it confirmed in person.

"Rumors of my death are just that, rumors. What's this I hear about my DNA found on a corpse at the DEO? I leave the country for a few days and all hell breaks loose." Spirit Wolf grinned broadly, accepting a relieved hug from the younger vigilante. "What's the matter, Breakfast? Too good to give me a sock in the jaw?"

Batman finally gave a small smile, the only concession Spirit knew she was going to get. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Mexico. I left the cell phone in the house, which is what started this whole thing, sort of. The other part is Mr. Reynolds is dabbling in things he doesn't need to be." Spirit sat down and began to relate what she'd found.

ShadowWing in turn related what they had discovered and the pieces began to fall into place.

"Okay," Spirit help up a black-gloved hand ticked off the points. "The DEO took the body identified as Spirit Wolf because they think I may have a metahuman gene or two because they suspect my grandfather of having a few himself. Neil Reynolds had some plan of scaring me into quitting or something. The two incidents manage to get linked because of Reynolds harebrained scheme of creating a new me from someone else and then having her killed." She shook her head. "What a mess."

"I'll agree with that. We told Andrew you were alive when we got your message but we told him not to tell Paul and Kyle," Batman said.

"Don't worry," grinned Spirit. "Reynolds did that for me this afternoon. I heard Paul and Kyle ranting downstairs at dinner while I was hiding in my husband's old bedroom." ShadowWing snickered. "Mama knew as soon as I got home. I had her not tell anyone in case it brought more info into light."

"No you were hiding from your brothers, who would have made your death permanent." Batman glowered at her.

"What a complicated mess," ShadowWing sighed. "So we need to nail Reynolds. How?"

Spirit Wolf smiled. "You leave that to me. I have a plan."

Batman frowned and ShadowWing grinned. "I love it when you have plans."

"It is rare," agreed Spirit Wolf as ShadowWing telekinetically lowered the three of them to the wolves waiting below.

Paul, Kyle and Andrew once again found themselves at the ranch house. They'd listened patiently as Mama Helen explained everything and then Paul walked outside. The others followed him and winced when he punched his fist through his truck's window. He then calmly went into the house to remove the glass.

"What did that accomplish?" asked Andrew. His brother glared at him. "Besides the fact that you've cut your hand up and ruined your truck?"

"Made him feel better?" offered Kyle, taking the cotton balls and peroxide from his frowning mother.

"Not really," mumbled Paul, "but it was better than strangling her." There was no need to make mention of who 'her' was.

"What's she planning, Mama?" asked Andrew as he picked glass out of his brother's hand with the tweezers.

She shrugged, watching her sons with a cautious look. "I'm not exactly certain, except for she had devised a way of tripping Neil Reynolds up with his own trap."

All three brothers looked up with arrested expressions.

"What?"

"How?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Again Mama Helen shrugged. She couldn't answer a question she didn't know the answer to.

Kyle sighed and daubed at the cuts, causing his older brother to hiss in pain. "Well, maybe we should tank the Yank for the information. Surely she has some inkling of what's going on?"

"You gonna find her?" challenged Paul.

"Not hard to do when she's over in the corner and has been since we came back inside," Kyle retorted, tilting his head in the direction of the corner where the piano stood. ShadowWing stood up from where she'd been crouched behind the piano.

"Good eyes, Kyle."

"I smelled your perfume. It's the same one my fiancée wears." Kyle gave her roguish grin and ShadowWing could imagine the grin that Shadow once saw every morning when she awoke next her husband, Holt, Kyle's deceased twin brother. Did it hurt Shadow every time she looked at Kyle? It was a question that had never occurred to the New Yorker.

"Well, I'll keep that in mind, especially since I'm not wearing perfume." ShadowWing arched a brow underneath the mask but Kyle wasn't paying attention.

"It's the soap then," he shrugged, not paying attention to the startled looks the room was giving him.

"It's hotel soap, Kyle."

"You gonna keep arguin' with me about your smell or are you gonna clue us in on what's going on?" Kyle tossed the bloody cotton ball into a nearby trash bin and stalked over to ShadowWing, glowering down at her.

"Okay, okay!" She held her hands out placatingly. "I'm supposed to tell you boys that one of you needs to be at the airport to keep Reynolds on the ground. She said Paul or Andrew might have a few favors to call in there to keep the scumbag there?" Paul grinned, answering that query. There was no need to explain who 'she' was. "The one or ones left over need to meet us at his office, preferably with some of your Ranger buddies in tow with a search warrant. You're going to find information regarding illegal cloning techniques and DNA 'smudging'."

"Smudging?" Andrew asked with a skeptical look.

"Good a term as any. Basically they take the DNA composite of one human and use it to replace the DNA composite of another. It's like cloning but you've already got the mold grown. No starting from scratch, just change the pre-existing data." ShadowWing shrugged.

"That's disgusting. What ever happened to good, old-fashioned sex?" Paul grumbled.

To their amazement, ShadowWing blushed. "Yeah, well," she laughed uncomfortably, "some people don't appreciate the waiting period and want it all now." All three men raised their eyebrows at her. "Anyway," she continued quickly, "go here." She pulled a sheet of paper from her pouch and handed it to Andrew. "And follow the instructions. That should give you all the info you need. Plus you'll have Reynolds detained for questioning and arrest."

"And what about Spirit Wolf?" asked Mama Helen with huge eyes.

"Well, let's just say the DEO is in for a surprise visit from their corpse." ShadowWing grinned.

"The problem with this, Dr. Arbuckle, is I'm not sure you have clearance." The guard was babbling but not getting anywhere as the wheel chair bound doctor and her small statured but muscular escort made their way toward the morgue.

"Let me tell you, Mr. Hanes," the red-haired woman snapped, her green eyes flashing behind her prim glasses. "These documents more than clear me. Don’t make me report you and get you fired. I'm sure you can't afford it."

Guard Hanes sighed, shrugged and turned back to his post. "Dr. Carmichael is there at the moment," he said peevishly. "Another not cleared doctor."

"What's with the Scottish names?" whispered Arbuckle's companion.

She chuckled. "I don't know, his idea." The door opened to reveal "Dr. Carmichael".

"You've looked better, but then you've looked worse too," commented her companion.

"Shut up, Dick, and get in here. We've got tests to run." Bruce Wayne held the door open long enough for Barbara Gordon's wheel chair to clear and then allowed it to slam shut. "The purpose of this is to find out who this 'fake' Spirit Wolf is."

"And the real Spirit Wolf's opinion is what?" asked Dick Grayson, slipping on a white medical robe that was hanging from a nearby peg.

"She thinks the whole thing is fascinatingly sick, but doesn't expect less from scum like Reynolds." Shadow Travis emerged from behind a cabinet column and stared around. "Who knew there were this many freaks that the DEO had to put on ice in the state of Texas?"

"Actually," Barbara corrected, "this covers most of the Southwest and some Midwest."

"Wonderful."

"Glad to see the rumors of your demise are exaggerated," Dick said, hugging the Sioux woman to him. "We," he glanced at Bruce, "were upset you might have bit the dust."

"Thanks, Dinner, I appreciate the love."

"Let's get to work." Bruce Wayne rolled out a cabinet and pulled the sheet back.

Two hours later, Shadow disappeared from the Bat-crew's midst. It was time for Spirit Wolf to go into action. One of the two DEO agents who had confiscated the body from the Austin Police was a local resident and Spirit intended to pay a call, just to shake things up. Bringing the DEO in on the investigation was going to be crucial, considering they would have a stake in the information that Reynolds had concerning his genetic smudging project as well as a few other things.

The agent lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood with his wife and two children. It was always the normal ones that had weird jobs, Spirit thought to herself.

She opened the window and was met with a pistol in her face. "Hey, is this how you treat the returned from the dead?" The pistol shook a bit. "Maybe it is."

The pistol moved away and Spirit hauled herself the rest of the way in. She waved a folder around in his face. "You might find this interesting. I'm not in the morgue, in case you haven't noticed."

The agent stared at her and then at the documents. "Explain," he said simply.

"Can't," she shrugged. "You'll have to take it up with the Texas Rangers. They have first dibs." The agent swore and made a grab for the files. Spirit danced away. "I'm just showing you. I'm taking these with me. How you get your own copies is your business. I'm thinking of starting a Spirit Wolf Hall of Fame." The agent got the files, skimmed through them and glared at her, handing them back. "The objects that helped me outwit both the DEO and big time criminals."

Spirit gave a smart salute and crawled back out the window. "Oh and if you pester my grandfather with your metahuman theories, I'll be sure to tell him you'll make great barbeque."

"Is he a metahuman?" the agent snapped.

Spirit pondered the question and then shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not, but he is a very old, very tired man who's seen a lot in this world and deserves peace and quiet for however many months to years he has left. If I hear of the DEO sniffing around the reservation, and I will, I'll make sure that a few other vital things disappear from your organization." She grinned. "I have the contacts to make it happen."

She vanished into the night.

Neil Reynolds and entourage found themselves unavoidably delayed long enough for the Austin Police department to come careening onto the tarmac. Sgt. Paul Travis was grinning as Reynolds, his former pornography star wife and her bodyguard were handcuffed, had their rights read to them and put into a squad car. He actually waved at a fuming Reynolds as the car pulled away.

The raid on the Reynolds Industry building wielded equally positive results. The instructional note from Spirit Wolf led them straight to the file that had all the information concerning the DNA smudging (that she replaced before visiting the DEO with her own private copies). Further information was also found concerning the scheme to setup another woman as a murder victim in Spirit Wolf's stead and other nefarious and illegal activities, including locations concerning a new child pornography studio and the route taken by the latest cocaine smuggling ring in San Antonio.

All in all, it had been extremely fruitful.

"You know, he's going to get off, don't you?" asked Belle Anderson cynically as she buttered her toast.

"This is Texas, Yank," Paul informed her as he passed the peach preserves. "We'll fry him first."

Batman, in disguise but without the cape and cowl, scowled at him. "That's not encouraging."

Paul shrugged. "As a policeman, 'Larry', I could care less. It's one less nutjob hiring other nutjobs to blow my brains out, get strung out on dope and blow my brains out or other things that will make them want to blow my brains out. I'm not a religious man but the Old Testament has it right, 'Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.' If you think slicing someone up is fun, then let's see how fun it is when you're on the other side of the knife." Paul took a bite of bacon.

Belle shook her head. "Whatever happened to 'turn the other cheek'?" she commented.

"People got stabbed in the back too often to bother with it anymore," Shadow informed her with an arched brow. Belle grinned and shrugged.

"So Neil Reynolds goes on trial for more criminal activities than Al Capone and Spirit Wolf retires." Kyle sipped his orange juice and gave a long look at his sister-in-law, who stopped chewing her hashbrowns.

"Well, first of all, Kyle, Capone got snagged on tax evasion and second, Spirit Wolf is taking sabbatical, not retirement." Shadow speared a tomato from the bowl in front of her before passing it to Mama Helen.

"The hell she is!" roared Kyle in frustration.

'Larry' grabbed Kyle's wrist and jerked him back down into his chair. "If I were you," he said, shoving a bowl of eggs at the youngest Travis, "I'd shut up and eat my eggs." Everyone laughed and finally Kyle gave a half-hearted chuckle.

"You are requested to show up at the JLA base tonight, Shadow," Barbara said, cutting up her biscuits and gravy into neat little bites.

Dick watched her cut the precise bites in amused exasperation. "You know, Shadow, you're going to get reamed for making us worry like that. We hate losing a member of our family."

Shadow's fork stopped halfway to her mouth and she stared at him in surprise. "Family?" she sputtered. "That I'm still alive is a miracle only the Great Spirit can explain!"

"Same goes for the rest of us. Just don't scare us like that anymore," agreed Belle, passing the salt to Kyle, who was pointing at it. "Besides, we all know how pathetic you are and need to set up babysitting shifts so this won't happen again."

Shadow growled and threw her remaining toast at Belle, who tossed it at Paul.

"Stop that!" snapped Mama Helen as a piece of bacon went whizzing past her ear. "This is all I need, more grown up children." The group laughed and continued eating while the wolves cleaned up the mess on the floor.

Kyle grabbed Shadow's hand before she followed the rest of the group to the front porch after breakfast. "We need to talk."

Shadow sighed but nodded in resignation. Expecting a lecture and an argument she was shocked when her husband's twin enveloped her in a huge hug. "I love you, Shadow, please, whatever you do in the future, be careful."

Shadow pulled out of the embrace and laid a hand on his cheek. "I love you too, Kyle. It hurts sometimes when I look at you but I know that you just share his good looks and bad sense of humor." Kyle gave a wan smile. Shadow never called Holt or Shelby by their names. She believed it was bad to speak of her deceased loved ones by name, as was Sioux tradition.

"I knew it was you," he confessed, "but I didn't want it to be. I wanted you -" He shrugged, unsure to express what he wanted.

"I know," she told him, hugging him again. "I know. I promise. I'll be careful and if I get into a jam, I'll call. I promise."

Kyle settled his cheek against her brown-black hair. "I'll hold you to that promise, little sister."

Spirit Wolf didn't make the meeting that night but a few nights later on the JLA's moonbase.

There were cheers and claps as Spirit Wolf stumbled out of the transporter unit with a grimace and pale face. "I hate that thing," she grumbled before her fellow masked heroes surrounded her.

The next few minutes were filled with congratulations and relieved exclamations at her continued existence. "So!" called out Nightwing's voice, "how attached are you to your cellphone?" There were laughs and Spirit saw Arsenal catcalling her, both hands giving her a cheerful thumb's up.

She grinned ruefully and pulled a small folding phone from her belt pouch to the laughter of her friends and acquaintances. "I'll cherish it always, Nightwing, I promise," she assured him. "And for those who give a hoot, my teaching assistant's father is on the road to good health thanks in part to the fine folks at the Wayne Foundation. Antoinetta absolutely adores their new home and the town appreciates the new health facilities that are being built." There was more clapping and hooting. "And it looks like Neil Reynolds is going to be one less scum on the street." There were louder cheers and Spirit Wolf grinned. Who knew that such a ruckus could have been made over her? She accepted a cup of coffee from a smiling Martian Manhunter and raised it to her fellow heroes. "Here's to my new family. I don't need frickin' babysitter!"

"Debatable!" came a few shouts but everyone laughed anyway.

Later ShadowWing sat with Spirit in the observation lounge. The crowd had cleared away and the two were relaxing in companionable silence.

"Do that again and I'll make sure you're dead."

"I know. I would like to point out that it happened without my permission though."

"That's beside the point. What did you tell your grandfather?"

There was hesitation. "The truth."

"The whole story?"

"Yeah."

"And he said?"

"He seemed to think about it and then said, 'Granddaughter, they term everything something that it's not. Someday you will understand.' Then he had to take his medicine." Spirit shrugged over her grandfather's mystic answer; she was used to them.

ShadowWing snorted with laughter. "Yeah, that's your grandfather."

"I don't think he's a metahuman but he's not your everyday human either, ShadowWing. It has something to do with his shaman background. It's unusual for the role to be hereditary, but it always been so with our family. Never been sure why." Spirit Wolf stared glumly out the view port, for once not uneasy at the sight of being so far from Earth. "I'm not looking forward to finding out what he's talking about."

ShadowWing gave her a sideways look. "You think you'll get it then?"

"I'm the only living member of the bloodline, so yeah, lucky me, I get the booby prize."

ShadowWing chuckled. "Hey, just don't go getting all mystical on me. You're weird enough as it is."

"Thanks," Spirit Wolf said dryly. "I'll keep that in mind."

"See that you do."

"Belle," Spirit said and the other woman tensed at the use of her real name. "It's weird. It was like Reynolds knew I was looking for an out and he was providing me an opportunity but instead of making me see I needed to quit this nonsense it merely strengthened my resolve. His plan backfired on both of us. I'm not sure I like having garbage like Reynolds being able to read me so well."

"He wasn't the brightest bird in the aviary, if his filing system is any indication," offered ShadowWing.

"No, Reynolds is extremely intelligent and dangerous. He just picks crappy lackeys." Spirit fiddled with the fringe on her costume.

"And file clerks," snickered ShadowWing.

"Now that was a boneheaded play if ever there was one," agreed Spirit with a grin. "So I guess I'll just see what crime rears its ugly head in my area from now on. However, I was thinking…"

"Uh-oh," muttered ShadowWing.

"I've been wanting to take a year off from teaching. I've been in school all my life, whether teaching or taking classes. I'm sick of it. I want to do something else." Spirit looked away from her friend and stood up.

"Like?" ShadowWing prompted.

"A year working as an agent for Opal Agencies. It will buff my skills in all sorts of areas and make me less of a joke to the spandex and mask set." Spirit still refused to look at her friend.

ShadowWing felt a moment's unease. "Are you sure about this? It's dangerous."

Spirit blew air out of her mouth in exasperation. "So is going out and chasing gangbangers, Belle, without the slightest clue of what I'm doing. Start me with the simple junk first and work me upward into harder things. You're the agency maestro, you figure it out. I'm just telling you I'm interested and willing to join up."

Belle sighed. "All right, on one condition."

"What?"

ShadowWing paused. {You sure about this, Bruce?}

{Do it.}

"You train with the Bat for two months first. You pass his test, you're in for however long you think you need to be." Spirit looked at ShadowWing with a startled expression and then sank back into the chair, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"All right, tell him I'll be there in two weeks. I'm bringing the wolves. And be prepared for his identity to get blown with the boys. After this, they aren't going to let any secrets happen in my vicinity."

"Agreed." Batman's gravelly voice came from behind and Spirit tipped her head back to grin at him upside down. "But if they breathe a word, I'll do serious damage to a wolf."

Spirit continued to grin, knowing an empty threat from him when she heard one. "Deal." She stuck out a gloved hand, which was engulfed in his own. They shook and then ShadowWing shook with Spirit, sealing the deal.

"Well, if this is going to happen, I better start digging up stuff for you to do that's relatively harmless," teased ShadowWing, skipping out the lounge door before Spirit could take a swipe at her.

"Minx," said Spirit fondly at ShadowWing's exit. She stood up and nudged Batman in the ribs. "Glad to have me 'back', so to speak?"

Batman, in a very uncharacteristic display, nudged her back and nodded. "Be ready for the workout of your life, Spirit Wolf. You don't leave that cave until you beat ten seconds in the simulator." He left Spirit Wolf gaping at him.

~Finis~

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