*Warning! Chapters 19-23 were all posted back-t0-back. Returning readers make sure you pick up where you left off!*

Chapter 20: Next Steps

A psychical copy of the Gotham Gazette hit the table, curtesy of a smirking Alyssa. On its front page, a large picture of all three current members of Overwatch was featured, shaking hands with the unexpected new Commissioner in Gotham. Given that they hadn’t been acknowledged as a team with official remit just yet, with two of them officially classed as Vigilantes, the scene was more than a little unusual. Nocturne’s presence, with her official Heroic License as an X-men affiliate had been the only thing that made it possible at all, without running into legal issues. Amusingly, Alyssa and Dinah were both listed as her ‘associates’ and the official invitation had been directed to Nocturne, yet littered with mentions of ‘Overwatch.’

“Well, girls, looks like we made quite the impression. A solidly positive one too. Of course, that does leave us with the important question of ‘what next?’”

Nocturne snorted, even as Dinah picked up the paper to skim the article. The blue-skinned woman’s voice was dry as she spoke while the blonde read.

“You mean aside from more PR events and waiting for the other shoe to drop?”

Alyssa rolled her eyes at the woman’s slightly acerbic tone. Nocturne, it turned out, wasn’t a big fan of PR events. She understood the need for them and handled them quite well, but she didn’t like them at all.

“You know perfectly well that a few such events help our long-term goals. Just look at the reaction from the city and how much pressure the mayor is being put under.”

Nocturne’s expression twitched unhappily, but she sighed a moment later. She didn’t actually respond, but her lack of response was telling. Nor could she really complain that they hadn’t been putting in more ‘Heroic’ work.

One night, no matter now effective they’d been, wasn’t enough to truly sweep up an organization on the scale of Black Mask’s. The Hammer and the Neon Dragons had both been relatively small organizations. Not small time, by any means, but lacking in the raw numbers even the smallest of Gotham’s major crime families had. A few hundred people in total for The Hammer, with closer to twice that for the Neon Dragon triad. Comparatively, Black Mask’s organization had been the largest currently operating in Gotham, with minions numbering in the thousands. Possibly northward of five thousand, if you were counting support personnel instead of just the False Facers themselves.

That meant that, even though they’d raided the False Facers most critical operations all in one night, they’d only managed to sweep maybe thirty-five percent of the gang up in the process. They deliberately hadn’t gotten Black Mask the first night, either, instead directing the Bat at him via the passing off of data they’d acquired. Batman had gotten Black Mask the night after…while Overwatch had raided additional safehouses and operations that swept up another ten percent of the gang.

As soon as Black Mask was in custody, the gang had attempted to start going to ground, making rooting out more of its members increasingly difficult. Yet, leaning on the new connections Alyssa had gotten in the GCPD, as well as the fact the federal agencies were still hanging around, progressive raids had managed to nab more. In total, over the week since they’d first hit Black Mask’s operations, they’d managed to bring in another quarter of the gang to add to the thirty-five percent from the first night. Meaning that, in total, they’d gotten around sixty percent of the single largest underworld organization in the city shut down.

It wasn’t the only shakeup to happen, either.

Alyssa wasn’t honestly sure which combination of agencies had done the job, but the GCPD had been hammered hard, losing a good chunk of officers to corruption charges filed at the federal level. That had included the now-previous commissioner, and the new commissioner was a Gotham native…that had been working in Central City. It was Commissioner Burns who had bent the rules until they screamed to set up that PR event, and Alyssa had convinced the other two to go along with it. Both because it would be a boon to their long-term goals and because both she and Talia had enough telepathic and empathic ability between them to get a good feel for the new commissioner.

Even Talia had to admit that she’d felt positive about the results. Commissioner Burns seemed to be genuinely on the level and willing to work with them. Still, as Dinah finished with the paper and tossed it back down, it was clear it was time to get back to business. Something Dinah got them started on as she gestured to the paper.

“As nice as it is to be recognized, it’s also more pressure to keep the pace up and deliver more. Black Mask’s people have gone to ground now, to the point finding them will be hard and pinning anything on them harder. So what’s our next move? The power vacuum is going to attract trouble sooner or later, even if the families are being suspiciously quiet.”

Alyssa and Talia both nodded, but it was Talia that managed to speak up first, and what she said legitimately caught Alyssa off guard.

“We should probably go recruiting. Preferably before things go to hell.”

Cocking her head to the side with a small frown, Alyssa carefully picked her words.

“I’m not against that idea. Yet we’re still brand new and not officially supported yet. Would trying to weld more people to the team this quickly be wise?”

It was a legitimate question, rather than her trying to direct the narrative, something she made sure to project towards Talia’s own limited telepathy. This was firmly into the realm of ‘fuck if I know’ for Alyssa herself. Superhero teams hadn’t been a thing in her old reality, obviously, and Major Kusanagi had worked entirely within the system. With recruitment for Section 9 coming as part of efforts from a massive, interconnected, governmental apparatus. Thankfully, while Dinah looked just as lost on that subject as she was, Talia was a legacy hero that had spent years operating on an X-men sub-team.

“It’s a bit of a case of six of one, half a dozen the other. Right now, if we recruit, we’re bringing people in on the ground floor and creating a larger ‘core team.’ If we wait, anyone we bring in will feel more like a newbie or subordinate. So long as we have the means to support it…”

Talia shot Alyssa a look, and Alyssa firmly nodded. With the bounties that had been paid out for her and the team’s operations thus far? Well, Shield had cheerfully paid out a fifteen-million-dollar bounty just for KGBeast. Other bounties, including some significant ones that the ATF and DEA paid out for handing over close to a billion dollars in drugs and illegal firearms so far? The team was rock-solid for funding for the foreseeable future. Talia seemed to have guessed as much, so she nodded and went on.

“…then expanding the core group right now, before the shit really hits the fan, might be critical. There will be backlash from hitting so many groups so hard, and staying on top of it with just the three of us might not be possible. Even just getting a few more warm bodies to handle smaller emergencies would be good. Though, given how little time we might have, I’d say we need to try and recruit at least one or two people with experience.”

She shrugged, looking apologetically at Dinah, but the blonde waved her off. Alyssa wasn’t sure how to feel about finding herself included in the ‘experienced’ category, given how much she was leaning on Major Kusnagi’s memories and skills. It was probably better than the alternative, overall, she supposed. At least if she wanted to remain the ‘leader’ of the group. While she was sorting that out to herself, Talia was already continuing, highlighting exactly that point.

 “That does have a downside, in that we could end up with the wrong personalities and have them try to take over. Thankfully, with Alyssa having set us up so well and effectively funding things, that would be hard for anyone to pull off.”

Alyssa pursed her lips, nodding slowly as she rapidly worked through everything Talia had said, along with a lot that was implied even if she hadn’t. Failing to contain the backlash for their actions would be bad for their future prospects. Likewise, a ‘core team’ of only three for a city as much of a mess as Gotham was running a bit too light. Doubly so since Dinah still wasn’t quite ‘full-time,’ wanting to keep her regular life going for now. In fact, their opposition could pin her down a little too easily right now if…

“Dinah? Whatever we decide on recruitment, remind me to head to your dojo with you when we’re done. I can put in some security upgrades that will keep anyone targeting it for reprisals from having an easy go of it.”

From the way a fair bit of tension flowed out of Dinah’s emotions at that, tension that Alyssa had noticed but hadn’t quite clued into the reason for, she’d already considered that problem. She nodded back Alyssa’s way.

“Thanks. I’ve been worried about that. As to the recruitment thing…do we have any ideas? Or limitations? Are we trying to stick to any themes here, like all female or anything?”

Alyssa shrugged at that, shaking her head.

“Not really. The recruitment pool available in Gotham itself, at least the ones I thought I could convince or seemed like possible team players, were mostly female. You two were at the very top of the list, though. Hawkeye is easily the next top candidate operating nearby. White Tiger is a possibility, but she’s mostly a loner and connected to the Bats to some extent. The only male independent currently is Ragman and my powers and his very much wouldn’t mix well. Batman seems to have, intentionally or not, been harsher on the male independents and run a few off. Thunderbird clashed hard with him, for example.”

Nocturne grimaced at that, likely having heard about it when the X-man had attempted to move into Gotham. Likely in an attempt to set up a team like they were, but no one was completely sure. He’d clashed early and hard with Batman, eventually getting yanked out by other X-men before he escalated to villainy. Pointedly steering away from that thorny topic, Talia asked the obvious question.

“Did you look farther afield, too?”

Alyssa nodded and, before answering, shifted the wall display of the lounge with a thought to her visor’s neurochip. A full dozen profiles, including Hawkeye’s and White Tiger’s, appeared even as she listed them off.

“Lifeguard and Anole are two that you should be at least somewhat familiar with Talia, as both are X-men affiliates that were formerly part of the subsidiary teams. Lifeguard was actually a core member of X-men Gamma, but is currently at loose ends due to a bad breakup with Thunderbird and some issue that estranged her from her brother. Anole has been independent for a while for unknown reasons.”

Talia winced a bit, then shrugged.

“Lifeguard would probably be a great fit for Gotham, given how adaptable she is. Victor…he’d fit here but he and I don’t get along too well. I’d rather not talk about it.”

Alyssa nodded and silently struck Anole from the list. The last thing they needed were personality conflicts in the early game. She moved onto the rest without comment.

“Uber and Leet, currently working out of Chicago, but they’ve moved through several cities in the past. My major concern with them is that their video-game theming might seem a bit too much like Gotham’s villain crowd.”

Judging by Dinah’s expression, that was probably a serious concern, but Alyssa decided not to strike them entirely from the list.

“Cyborg. Real name Victor Stone. He has some extremely good cybernetics and a talent for technology. He’s done some minor vigilantism, but comes with a few built in enemies too. A couple of megacorps like Luthor Industries and Arasaka have targeted him, trying to get ahold of his technology. Not a huge concern, but something to consider.”

No recognition from either of them on Cyborg, but Alyssa mostly expected that. The Teen Titans didn’t exist and Victor had mostly kept to disrupting street-level crime as he moved around, trying to avoid various megacorp hit teams.

“Laserdream. A legacy hero that used to belong to a family team, but the older generation are mostly retired and the younger split up somewhat. She just finished college with a Public Relations degree and, frankly, could be useful to us in a lot of ways if she’s interested in meshing Heroics and said degree. As she’s continued to hero on and off, there’s a strong chance that might be the case. Her aunt did something similar with a Hero career and law degree, honestly doing more good in metahuman law than she ever did as a somewhat controversial heroine.”

Actively pulling up and exploded the view of the next dossier, because of how extremely unusual it was, she introduced the Gorilla in a suit.

“Winston is perhaps the oddest of the bunch, and I’m not sure if he’s quite ready to be recruited yet, though it’s possible he might be. Someone got their hands on DNA from some place called Gorilla City in Africa and decided to raise Gorillas based on that DNA in a facility on the moon of all places.”

Alyssa let the looks of incredulous disbelief roll off of her. Even for this reality, that sentence was a little weird and she knew it.

“It was a dubiously ethical experiment meant to see what long term problems would develop for humans in space, and it was eventually broken up by the Justice League. Winston came out hyper intelligent and has been adjusting to life on Earth. He’s a mix of researcher and occasional hero, with some association with the JL, but apparently he doesn’t particularly like the fact they threw his ‘father’ in prison. Which means he might be open to being recruited by a different team. Of particular note, one of our longer-term issues is the pollution in Slaughter Swamp, so a researcher that might be able to help us with a long-term solution there might be someone to consider bringing onboard sooner rather than later.”

Dinah and Talia were still openly staring at Winston’s profile, which amused Alyssa, though it would have to be something they got past quickly if they tried to recruit him. For now, she moved on, shrinking Winston’s profile.

“These next two are potentially very important, since Gotham has an active magic scene. I have some magic ability, but I’m not an expert. These two are, at least to a degree. The first is Elsa Bloodstone. Currently an itinerant monster hunter loosely based in Boston, she also has a habit of heroics whenever something happens around her. She’d be a fantastic addition to our ability to recognize and counter magical threats. As would one other.”

Alyssa brought up a young woman in elaborate gothic clothing next. Before she could even speak, Talia surprised her by happily blurting out a name.

“Nico!”

Flow disrupted, Alyssa blinked, Dinah joining her in staring at their teammate. Talia flushed, but her smile didn’t fade.

“Nico Minoru is a friend. Mom got her away from her psycho parents, along with some other kids, and then got her a proper magical education from her own old mentor, Agatha Harkness. Nico knows her stuff, and I can totally reach out to her. Dunno if she’ll want to join a new team or not, but I do know Agatha has been throwing her at various X- Teams for experience now that she’s mostly trained. The old bat would probably approve of her tackling a place like Gotham as a final training towards mastery or something.”

Huh. Alyssa had not expected that. She’d known that this version of Nico Minoru was notably not leading the Runaways, but hadn’t known why. That group being picked up by someone like the Scarlet Witch and shuffled to appropriate places for proper training would certainly explain it.

“Right. Well, she’s the other possibility I came up with for magic users that might be willing to team up. Only one last dossier.”

Quickly pulling up the image of a kid riding a hover board, she noted the primary problem immediately.

“Kid Win is the lowest possibility for recruitment, despite being quite nearby in Atlantic City, as he’s a bit on the young side. Talented, with an ability to build modular technology with broad applications, but doesn’t have a lot of experience. Feeding him into Gotham might be a bit much this early in his career. He’s also young enough that he might have parental issues joining a team that doesn’t have a city or regional remit yet. Though he did just turn eighteen, which is the only reason I put him down as a possibility at all.”

With that, the last of her immediate dossiers were shown. There were a ton more heroes out there, of course. But a lot of the younger ones actually did get scooped up by the various established groups with youth arms. Young Justice had a fluctuating number of teams, there were three permanent Junior Avenger teams, and the X-men operated a full half dozen smaller sub teams. Even the Protectorate had a youth program, though the Wards weren’t very popular due to having a lot more governmental oversight and restrictions. Then, of course, individual heroes and vigilantes often had sidekicks as well.

Dinah, who had been the quietest as she absorbed all the options, spoke up now.

“Well…you’ve done some serious research, obviously. But how the heck do we figure out who to approach from the list? And in what order? Twelve is definitely too many, after all.”

Talia hummed and spoke up before Alyssa could.

“Well, I think we can eliminate White Tiger at least, Alyssa is right that she’s too tied up with the Bats for now. Better we not muddle the waters there for the time being. Hawkeye would make sense, she’s already been active in Gotham…but she’s also been conspicuously absent recently. I’m betting she got pulled into something with her old Junior Avengers team, or possibly her ‘retired’ mentor.”

Both of them nodded at that. Alyssa, in particular, had been keeping an eye out for the archer and so far failed to connect with her. Which is how Talia and Dinah had ended up as her top two picks. Dinah probably would have been number three, given her lack of team training and unknown level of commitment at the time, if Hawkeye hadn’t vanished.

“Well, I think we should start with both who we can reach out to quickly, and who covers areas we could really use. So…”

With that, they were off in discussion, with all three of them pulling up and reading dossiers and listing pros and cons.