Worldheart (A Justice League fanfic)

7 - The Fall of Arrogance

Timber Wolf stood in the middle of the empty basement searching for any sign of the entry or exit used to capture Jaz. Jason sat against the wall, having just woken up after being knocked out. Timber's eyes allowed him to see perfectly in the darkness, but they could not spot any signs that the room had been disturbed. He could smell the tang of oil and metal the Dino's released but the door was still locked when he'd arrived and there were no holes in the wall or floors they could've crawled through. He snarled, taking a swipe out of the door frame. Distantly, he recalled that Jason would make him fix the damage later, but it didn't quell his anger now. Timber placed his hand on Jason's slumped shoulders, "Lock the door behind me. Hide until I come back, call nine-one-one. Wait until the police arrive. I'm going for Jaz." Jason's eyes were blank, but he nodded after a moment.

Timber could hear the footfalls of enemies upstairs. He thundered up the steps, but Hero slipped past him blocking the exit to the office. He bared his fangs at the dog who seemed unfazed by the sight. Beyond the rage clouding his vision, he noticed the Dino men were retreating. "You want us to follow them." He kept his voice low and didn't think twice when the dog nodded at him.

He followed the Dinos down the alleyway, sticking to the shadows. They pulled up hoods and placed hats to attempt to hide their form as they piled into a large military style SUV that barely fit their forms in the back seats. Swearing under his breath he looked around for what to do. If he took his bike, his suit would attract the attention of passersby, possibly even the Justice League, but if he lost them it could mean... He shook his head to clear the thought. Using his super strength he launched himself off the ground. He dug his claws into the wall before propelling himself higher using the momentum to reach the top of the four story building. From up here he had an excellent vantage.

Down below he spotted Hero giving into the chase. The dog was smart though. It purposefully hung back, and it hid every time the car stopped at a red light. Up top, Timber Wolf didn't have to be as careful. He ran full speed to the edge of the building leaping over it. He bent his knees to quieten the impact of his landing and used his weight to push his momentum forward into another sprint and leap all the while never letting the SUV leave his sight. He used fire escapes where he could and his claws when he had to to scale taller buildings in his path. They followed the car to the west edge of Suicide slums where it crossed the bridge out of Metropolis. Here they both took the risk of letting the vehicle get just barely out of sight before they sprinted after it. Some cars honked having noticed his uniform but he paid no one else attention.

The vehicle didn't stop till it reached a gate topped with barbed wire. While Hero tried to find a way under the gate, Timber Wolf grabbed onto the wire and tore a hole through the side of it. The thick forest provided excellent cover for them and the soft ground made it near impossible to hear him sprint. The SUV stopped in front of a large cement building built like a featureless rectangle in the middle of nowhere. The building was too new to pass as abandoned but from the outside there were no signs of activity. At least, to any human watching. With Timber Wolf's super hearing he could hear machinery whirling away inside and the voices of multiple men behind its thick concrete walls.

He took vantage behind a large tree trunk up the hill. He watched the Dinos exit the vehicle along side two human drivers. There were no guards posted outside the building but Timber spotted several cameras attached to the sides of the buildings in areas where they were intended not to be spotted. He knew in the back of his mind that he should wait. He could hear his ex's chiding voice Lightning Lass' telling him to wait and watch, to scope out the place and attack once he had a plan. He was never patient though and she wasn't here to stop him this time.

Carefully, Timber Wolf and Hero circled the compound looking for an easy way in. The place looked like it had originally been built on the old foundations of a mill. There were outer storage houses, some empty and others still full of old logs. Numerous old dirt roads now overgrown and unusable spanned out into the woods and signs of old stumps from past clear cuts dotted the newly grown forest surrounding it. The new building was a cement block with no features defining its surface. Just the two doors where the Dinos had entered previously. His nose picked up on something else though. Deeper into the woods out of sight of the main building he found an large cement block inset into the earth with a large metal grate covering the top of it. The familiar scent of oil and metal was blowing out of it.