Liz said “I don’t suppose you will believe that we happened to get lost, and the door was just open?”

“While unlikely events have happened before, no, I don’t believe that you just bypassed several of my security features just by accident. It is a surprise to see you here Mr. Mistfield, I was under the impression that I would find someone else here, other than the two of you.”

“Oh I’m sure they just stepped out. I’m sure if you hurry you might just catch up with them.” James said.

His muscles were tense the moment that Lex had stepped into the room. His gut was screaming danger constantly pointing out several points in the wall where it was obvious some kind of ray-guns were embedded. They had become active the moment that Luthor stepped inside, and were alarmingly pointed at him and Liz. He might be able to take a blast, but Liz would die instantly.

“I don’t suppose Dr. Pye is aware you are here.”

“No. She is not involved.” James said.

Lex nodded, glancing about the room. “So The Riddler was here. I did not think he had the means of getting a submersible. If he was here, that must mean that you are his daughter. I had heard that you were dead. So are you here working for him?”

Not liking where this conversation was headed, James interrupted and said “Mr. Luthor, I believe we can make a deal?”

“You're inside my vault completely at my mercy and you wish to make a deal?” Lex said with a hint of humor. “What? You're going to offer me something that we both no you couldn’t deliver? Offer to work for me? Tell me what exactly do you think you have that could possibly interest me enough to make a deal.”

“I know what’s wrong with her, and I can give you the cure to save her.” James said.

Lex narrowed his eyes, his body briefly tensing as James said that. “You will have to be a little more specific. I’m not aware of anyone that I need to have cured. Killed perhaps, but certainly not cured.”

“Of course you know who I am talking about. The one you could not save. I can help you save her.”

For several moment’s Lex just stared at him. James could tell that the man was thinking of various ways to either rip the knowledge from James or kill him in an extremely unpleasant manner. “That’s a very bold claim. Even if I say I might know who you're speaking about, why would you be able to help her if I couldn’t?”

“The only reason you couldn’t save her is that you didn’t have the relevant information. I did.” James said. Of course the only reason James did was because he read the comic books and was able to read between the lines. While it wasn’t mentioned in the books, he had figured it out.

“Is that right? How exactly did you come by this information?” Lex asked.

“From the place you would never look.” James replied.

Lex frowned and said “What exactly do you want?”

“Simple. All I want is for you to walk out that door and pretend that you did not see us here. All that you’ll need to know is that The Riddler attempted to steal from you and he failed. No one else was here.”

“That’s it?” Lex said.

“You are a dangerous man Mr. Luthor, I’m offering this not only to save her life, but ours as well.”

“Indeed I am a very dangerous man. How do I know you are not just bluffing to in fact save your lives?”

“Because I have it right here.” James said taking out a piece of folded paper. “You will know it will work when you read it. If you don’t think it will work, then you don’t have to honor the deal.”

“If you're that confidant, I will humor you. I will pretend you were never here and let the both of you walk out unharmed.”

James flicked the paper over to the man who snatched it from the air. He opened it and for several seconds the man looked over the paper. Then without saying anything else, he turned around and left. The rayguns depowered again and James breathed a sigh of relief. For now they had escaped, “We should leave before he changes his mind.”

Liz said “So who were you talking about?”

“His sister.”

“Wait, he has a sister? What’s wrong with her?”

“Yes, and I can’t tell you. Lex is really touchy about his family and the less you know about it the better.”

“Do we have to worry about Lex seeking us out?”

“Yes. Though he shouldn’t go after you. He’ll come after me if he does.”

“Then he’ll have to go through me.” Liz said. 

They left quickly out a side exit of the vault and made their way back to the upper floors. As the power was still down everyone was forced out of the lounge onto the big deck of the yacht. They were all talking nervously while Lex Luthor's guards tried to keep everyone calm. James stepped onto the deck with Liz following shortly behind him. 

“James!” He heard Maggie shout and she came rushing up to him. “Where have you been?”

“Oh I walked around the boat for a bit. It’s a surprisingly big boat and quite easy to get lost in with the power out.” James replied.

She glanced at Liz who came up to them. “So you were ‘walking’ around the boat with her?”

“Yes, we bumped into each other. She’s actually a close friend of mine, so we talked a little bit. Maggie, this is my friend Liz. Liz, this is Maggie, my date.”

Liz put out her hand and said “James has spoken highly of you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Maggie glanced down at Liz’s hand and gave her a sneer. She looked at James and said “I need to speak to you alone.”

“Of course.” James said.

Liz said “I’ll see you later James.”

Maggie dragged him over to the side of the boat where no one was. She whirled upon him and for a second James thought she was about to try and throw him overboard. “Do you have any idea how scared I was? There was an explosion and the lights went out. People were screaming, and I had no idea where you were. I was scared you were lying around dead or dying. Now I find you walking around with some tramp?”

“Look I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. I should have been, and you are right to be angry with me. But please don’t go calling my friends names. I didn’t go off to have a sexual rendezvous with her if that’s what you're thinking.”

“I saw how she looked at you. Sorry, don't even begin to cut it.” She took a deep breath. “But I am glad you are alright. But henceforth you need to start acting like you are mine. I can’t have all these hussies eyeing my man.”

“Woah,” James said. “You are coming on way too strong right now. I knew you were an intense person, but this is kinda too much. This is just our second date. I like you, but you are pushing for a serious relationship when I’m not ready for that yet.”

Maggie looked hurt and she then said “You are just not looking at it right. It’s alright, I can show you that we belong together. I’m sorry I blew up on you, I was just annoyed how that woman was with you. We can work this out.”

“You are coming at this from a totally different goal than I was. I wanted to date you and see where it goes, and you are already at a commitment level that I am nowhere near being. That’s unfair to you because I can’t give you what you want, so I think we need to take a step back and reevaluate our relationship.”

“Wait, are you breaking up with me James? Here?” Maggie's voice grew more high pitched.

James rubbed his head and said “Yeah I guess I am. We are not on the same page, and you need someone who is.”

She glared at him, and he saw a complex mix of emotions cross her eyes. She finally said coldly, “Fine. We’ll take a step back for now. You’ll come back to me. I know it. You’re still mine.”

He knew she wasn’t exactly stable, but he didn’t realize that it was bad. If he had, he wouldn’t have done what he did. Now that he had, this was clearly going to come back and bite him in the ass. Due to her outburst, he could see the other guests looking at him, and he walked to the edge of the boat and leaned on the boat looking out into the sea.

As he watched the waters off the ship, he saw a large column of water shoot up into the air. A loud boom slammed into him and the yacht rocked and several people screamed. The water fell back down, and James sighed. “So he made his choice.”

“As did I.” Said a voice to his right. Glancing to his right, he saw Talia come up to the railing. 

James nodded to her and said “Surprised that your willing to speak to me after that scene.”

She smirked amused. “It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with relationship issues.” Looking out into the waters, she said “So you planned this.”

“Did I? He was the one who brought the C4. He had your men hide it on board, except they were placed in obvious locations and could easily be moved. In the end all I did was place them back where they came from, and I did tell him that if he went through with his plan, he would die. The choice was up to him.” James said, leaning against the railing. The ripples from the underwater explosion were dying away.

“I admit, I did instruct my men to not be diligent in their placement, because I was curious to see how someone else would respond. To my surprise, someone else made a move. To be clear though, you knew what he would choose. You could have just as easily tossed the bombs overboard.”

“I could have. I believe that there is always a chance for redemption. But I also believe that choices do have consequences. I told him he would die if he did it. He chose to kill his daughter a second time, and his choice led him to his end.” James said.

“So you decided to kill the man for her?” Talia said.

James looked at her and said “I will protect those that I care for. I am merciful to a point, but I am not as noble as Batman. I realize that some are just monsters, and while it’s not my place to kill them, if they threaten those I protect I will take action. Like I said, choices have consequences.”

“Yet, you decided to interfere in my choice. I can tell you now that more have died at my hands than him, and yet I was the one whom you warned.” Talia said.

Shrugging James replied “Well, despite working with him you weren’t trying to kill a friend of mine. I also meant what I said, a child should not lose their mother when they are still young.” His eyes flicked to her and he said “Which is something we both share, though I would say you had the worst of it.”

“I find it alarming how much you seem to know about me and how little I know about you.” Talia remarked. 

“I find it alarming how little I know about myself sometimes.” James said.

“You lost your mother?”

“Yes. A car accident. She was driving me to a pool when a truck ran a red light and just plowed us. Next thing I know I’m in the hospital for several months. I lived, my mom died on impact. It was a rough few years after that. My dad eventually remarried and I came to love my new step-mom as well.”

“I’m sorry.” Talia said. “But that’s not the full reason why you chose to help me?”

“No it isn’t. Talia, I look at you and I can see that you are still a good person deep down. Stained with blood yes, but you are still good.”

She cocked her head and looked at him skeptically “Is that just wishful thinking of yours?”

“Hardly. I know your father sees the evils of humanity and thinks he can simply rid the world of it through slaughter. He fails to see the light within the blackness, and I think he has lost the ability to truly love anyone. Even you, I’m certain he just sees as a tool to carry on his plans for the world. But that’s not you. I can tell you really fell in love, and you did change because of it. You can escape the spiral of misery that your father set you on.”

Talia gave him a long look and said simply “I see.”

“Before you go, I will give you one last piece of advice. You have an older half-sister than you by far. Your father discarded her and suffered because of it. She is vengeful towards your father and will seek to ruin him. To get at him she will break you, and she will use the pit to do so. In her actions she will crush that love within you, and that is wrong.”

“I have a sister?” Talia said with disbelief crossing her face.

“Yeah. I’m certain you probably have more given how old your father is. She suffered at the hands of Nazis, and your father did nothing to save her. She lost everything and blames your father and the world. She needs help, but be careful not to be dragged down with her. If you do not believe me, you can ask your father about Nyssa Raatko.”

“I will see about that.” Talia said. 

Then she slipped away into the crowd. He glanced over the figures and saw Liz standing with her model friend. She nodded towards him and he nodded back. Above them was the bridge of the yacht and while he couldn’t see inside of it, he definitely could feel a pair of eyes staring down at him. 

He had played one of his only two cards against Lex Luthor and it had worked for now. Worryingly however, it had also drawn the attention of the supervillain. While he could be reasoned with, he was also willing to do whatever to achieve his goals. James had however approached one of Lex’s taboo lines by revealing that he was aware of Lex’s dark past. The past that Lex would rather stay buried.

Even saving his sister was no guarantee that Lex wouldn’t decide one day to remove him. At least for now James was confident that Lex wouldn’t kill him, until he had figured out how James knew this. The next card he had, James wasn’t certain would work. If he played it however, James was certain that he would become one of the men that Lex hated the most.

There was a sound of a horn, and James could see in the distance a tugboat start to approach the ship.