Post by lizity on Sept 8, 2011 19:08:56 GMT -5
Batman/Huntress/Oracle
- Mobsters Salvatore and Travis Punchinello (Father and son respectively)
Night blanketed the city in heavy shadows, steam rose from the manholes and swirled at his feet, parting like the red sea as he trod through it. His eyes glowed an eery white giving him a sinister visage, The Punchinello's had posted guards throughout the surrounding block, this unfortunate fellow was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Batman crept from behind his cape closed around his torso. His foot steps made not a sound when he walked, the man he followed no more than a foot behind had no idea he was being followed. He scraped his throat with a disgusting sound and hocked it to the ground, sniffing deeply. Batman reached out and touched his shoulder.
The Mafioso whipped around gun in hand, Batman simply grasping it with lightning reflex, twisting his wrist painfully until he dropped the gun. His booted foot collided with his stomach and sent him reeling back and doubled over. He was n him in an instant picking him up easily by the collar.
"How many?" He asked in the wide eyed and terrified gangster. he stammered, mumbled and Batman pushed him hard against the brick wall of a building. "HOW MANY"
He asked once more, harsher, commanding.
"A-a f-f-few dozen" the gangster answered, barely able to communicate. The sound of falling water caught Bruce's attention and looked down to see a thin line of liquid dripping from his pant leg.
His eyes narrowed and he set him down, turning to walk away, but Batman stopped short and jerked an elbow around taking the gangster in the head and sending him reeling and unconscious to the ground. That hadn't been as helpful as he hoped but at least now he had a general idea of how many he was dealing with.
He held his arm up and shot his grappling hook up and onto the building, whipping himself up as the grapple recoiled. Batman pulled himself over the ledge but not before scanning the area, now on the roof he walked its surface and moved to its edge. He looked down on the building he and Huntress had met on last time, it gave them a perfect view of the grounds surrounding the Punchinello manor. A familiar black and purple clad woman was crouching down low on the opposite end. He grunted slightly, there was just too many coincidences.
Silently Batman landed on the lower laying building behind huntress.
"You're still a live." He commented watching her jerk around. he was unsmiling as he crossed the distance between them, but then, he never smiled. "You managed to surprise me again, Huntress" Batman was standing next to her now, one leg on the ledge as he scanned the grounds below.
"Two, maybe three dozen down there and in the surrounding block. He looked over at her and hesitated. "Too many to simply sneak in and out." But he wasn't finished, his eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing here? There's nothing left for either of us to discover." He hadn't needed to ask, he knew, known for too long and chosen to look the other way.
~~
She’d left Travis standing in the park as she walked away for the man that she’d once promised to marry. It was hard to marry a man when the only thing you could see in front of yourself was killing his father. She really wished they’d never come back there but he was to deep in tradition not too, do much his father’s son not to want to take over when his father died. She could only hope that when that day showed up that he was a better man.
Leaving a message for Bruce that she was still alright she spent the better part of the afternoon and evening driving around or parked outside of town trying to figure everything out in her head. That was easier said than done. To many conflicting thoughts were going through her head. She’d hated Gotham since the night that had changed her life and she always swore she’d never come back but now that she was back she couldn’t leave till she saw this through. Even if she did leave would it be over? What would that do but put her on the run for the rest of her life, constantly looking over her shoulder, constantly wondering if that man walking behind her was following her. She couldn’t live like that.
After dark she drove back into the city and stashed the car, taking a round away way back toward her apartment building. She took the fire escape up to her window and triggered the lock from the outside rig she’d set up and slipped inside. She needed her gear and there was a cop car sitting outside the place. She didn’t want to be scene. She changed and took a change of clothes with her to the garage where she kept her bike. Stashing her clothes she headed out into the city under a different face. Huntress didn’t make things much clearer to her but it felt good to be back in the gear.
Parking her bike well away from her destination she made the rest of the trip on foot and over roof tops till she was standing across the street, watching the building. She knew he was in there it was just a matter of how to get in there and past all the guards that was proving to be a problem. He knew she was coming after him, somehow he knew.
When Batman came up behind her she startled for the first time. He’d snuck on up her twice before and she hadn’t but this time something was different. She glanced at him, her blue eyes flicking over his tall dark frame before turning back to look at the house, her arms crossed over her chest. “I don’t die easily.” She commented, cape tugging in the wind.
“I’m not here to discover anything. I saw all I needed to the other night.” She looked over at him again. “What are you doing here?”
~~
He lowered his head. All he needed to do was hear her voice one more time. The dots were connected, the pieces fallen into place. He raised his head and looked at her, his eyes as piercing as they always were, the stiff icy blue eyes that were somehow familiar.
Batman's hand dipped into his cape and a cell phone materialized in his hand. He held it up and pressed a button, quick dial. His phone began to ring. There was a small delay but after two strokes on his phone there was an audible vibrating noise coming from her.
he let out an audible sigh and ended the call. He slowly put the phone back where he had found it and turned square to Huntress. There was his answer. He had known from talking to Helena that she was coming here, the facts he had been denying for so long could no longer be ignored. he had hoped beyond hope that he had made a mistake, but now, all the cards were on the table.
"Helena.." He tried to start, but he wasn't sure how. Instead his hand went to his cowl and he pulled it back exposing his face to her. "I warned you, Helena. About revenge. We have enough evidence to have him put away, no matter how corrupt the court is they can't ignore this."
He had the sinking feeling that it wouldn't matter to her, that she'd simply shrug her shoulders and say it wasn't good enough. But Bruce wore a resolute look on his face, if she was going in, she wasn't going alone.
"I'm here to stop you from making a mistake" And there was more going on than she knew. More than he had told her. There was still another half to the puzzle to complete the whole picture. "Punchinello is one piece of a much larger puzzle. Are you going to kill your way through Gotham? I can't let you do that."
~~
She was focused on the house as he reached for his phone and dialed her number. It wasn’t until her phone was vibrating in the pouch at her side that she looked down and pulled it out then over at him with a frown. How did he have her number… And then she saw the caller id on her phone. She stared at it for a long minute even as his sigh rang loudly in her ear.
He said her name and even though she knew now that the man behind the mask was Bruce it still startled her. Even when he pulled the cowl back and she was face to face with him. She stared at him for a good thirty seconds before. She wanted to hit him. How long had he known? Had he really just figured it out or had he figured it out while she’d been staying with him.
She stammered wordlessly before shutting her mouth and glaring at him. Once she gathered her wits back about her she looked at him with that familiar hard face that he’d seen the first night he’d run into her as Huntress. “The statute of limitations is ten years. He can’t be tried for my parents and brothers murder. All they would have him on is attempted murder and whatever proof we have on the recording isn’t admissible in court because it wasn’t taken legally. Vercetti isn’t going to squeal on him so what proof does that leave to give over to the police? What proof is going to put him behind bars far enough that he’d not going to have someone else finish what he’s started.
“I don’t want to die Bruce but I can’t and I wont spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder for where the next bullet is going to come from.”
~~
"No." Bruce started, stepping closer. If he was angry with her, it didn't show. How could he be? he knew exactly what she was going through, exactly what it felt like to go through life without the support of parents. His too had been ripped from this world far too soon. But at least he had had Alfred. She had murdering sociopaths who took believed there was honor in criminality, in murder and butcher. "But he can be tried for attempted murder, conspiracy to attempt murder."
Bruce pulled a small hand held recorder and tossed it to her.
"I recorded it." He said, giving her a weak smile. Of course he had recorded the meeting.Hhe was surprised she hadn't thought of it first. "The meeting. Its all there. Both Punchinello and Vercetti will go away for a long time."
He had thought about giving the evidence to the police first and allowing distance and prison to prevent her from carrying out the so called honourable revenge of her family.
"I had the choice." His hands took her by the shoulders, but not roughly. "And I know what it feels like once you've made the decision. Helena... Don't you think I thought revenge was what I wanted? What I craved? Any less than you? But I still had the choice. And I won't take that away from you. It's a decision you need to make. Decide if it's worth it. But don't stand there and tell me this comes from some misguided need to satisfy honor. This isn't about them, it's about you and wanting to hit back at someone that hit you first."
He released her and stepped back.
"All the evidence you need is in your hand."
~~
She caught the recording and looked at it in her hand. Was putting him in jail really enough? How many mobsters had turn their families from behind bars? Men with enough influence to scare their men into doing what they wanted them too even when they weren’t standing in front of them. Salvatore was like that, he hadn’t gotten to be where he was by letting people just glide by.
She shook her head but kept the tape. “He’s to influential. Throwing him in jail will just be a change of location for him, he’ll still run things.”
He stepped closer to her again and she took a half step back out of anger before his hands wrapped around the balls of her shoulders and held her gently. Looking up at him in the suit it was hard to picture the man that she’d slept curled up with though the night as the Batman that she’d fought alongside. She also knew that he’d been running around as Batman when they’d had their time in Naples together. He’d left to come back to this.
She heard his words as much as she didn’t want to. “Then let me make the choice and don’t stand in front of me. Just walk away, you don’t have to be a part of this. When it’s done I’ll be gone and you won’t have to think of me again. Helena till be just another regret and Huntress a bad memory. I have fought too long and hard for this to walk away now. I’m sorry Bruce, I really am and I know you’re just trying to help me but I have to see this through.”
~~
"You don't get to do that, not that easily." Bruce said taking a step towards her, his eyes were focused and narrow and he could see the doubt written on her face. He was too influential, he'd simply run his organization from jail, which could very well be true as it had in the past. But he would still be in jail, locked away and doing time for the murder he had committed and the conspiracy to commit more. If her goal was to remove the man giving order to kill then the act was futile. "You'll have gotten justice. He'll rot in jail for the rest of his life. True, he may run his organization from jail, but kill him? Another man takes his place, one whose not locked away, a man to make orphans of children like you and I, Helena. And what will you get? You'll get to sleep at night without seeing his face in your dreams. And make no mistake, Helena. You will. The first is always the hardest."
She was stuck in her senseless hate, however justified it was. Bruce could only sympathize but Batman couldn't. Somehow the two found a balance though he was pulled in both directions. Helena stepped back and he stepped forward again, finally she relented and allowed his hands to take her gently.
"You made me part of this the minute you put that mask on." Was it really that simple? No. But he needn't dredge up the past, especially the previous two days. Not here in the wind of the Gotham night atop a roof looking over the city and its glittering lights through the fog and smoke. "You fought and you've found justice. You do this Helena, you're no better than they are... and you'll spend the rest of your life searching for redemption. Walk away. You've done your part to honor their memory. Leave the mask and this life behind. "
His tone was hard but not unkind, Bruce knew he wouldn't be able to reach her, he couldn't save her, just as he had refused to hear Alfred's words, refused to allow himself to be saved. His eyes shut briefly and the image of the body sprawled in front of him in some seedy Gotham alley came to his eyes. He shook the memory.
"You're not sorry. You're angry." As she had been for the last twenty odd years. "Go, if you want, but I will be there at your side."
~~
“I already see the faces of the dead in my dreams. What difference will it make adding one more?” She’d had bad dreams since she was a child and she doubted that adding another more nightmare to the mix would make her any less or any more hell bent on this revenge. If anything it would just be a satisfaction to know that he couldn’t hurt anyone else.
“Yes another man will take his place.” And they both knew who that man was. “Hopefully a better man will take his place and turn things around.” Like he’d always talked about. Travis had always been an idealist, she could only hope that he clung to those ideals when he was tested. “Batman will be here after all of this.” Even if she might not be.
She pulled away from his grasping hands, pushing them away so she could turn and pace away from him. It was Bruce and Batman, pressing close to her, whispering the words she didn’t want to hear that bothered her more than the thought of killing a man. She’d been so determined to do this for so long, so uncaring that it was hard to think of compassion right now.
“Is that what you’re looking for? Redemption? Is that why you put on the mask and run around like this every night? What did you do that made you feel like this is what you had to do?” She pressed him, trying to turn the conversation on him rather than her.
Shaking her head she turned back to face him. “I am angry, and I am sorry but probably not over what you think. I’m sorry that it’s you behind the mask. I’m sorry that you have to see me like this. I think I much rather would have had you remember me like we were in Naples, and not standing on a roof, hiding behind masks looking for justice in our own ways.”
~~
"Is that what Justice is now? Killing an old man in his bed while he sleeps?" Bruce's eyes narrowed and he was forced to agree; He'd much rather remember as she was than this. She asked what he had done, did she really need to? Why else would he be so fervent in this? He looked away as she pulled away. Helena was beyond reason. She wasn't seeing through her eyes anymore. Just Huntress's. There was a long moment of silence before he finally answered.
"A part of me wants to open every door for you." Bruce said sincerely as he pulled the cowl over his head, hiding his face from view once more. His eyes regarded her coldly and he turned his back to her, adding over his shoulder "but the other part loves you enough to keep them closed."
She was naive to believe her former fiance would be any better than the man whom had preceded him. A fool to think that anything would change for a society that was so mired in tradition like this. He spared her one last sad look. She was right, he couldn't watch her do this.
"I'm sorry too."
His grappling hook shot out and grasped at some unseen place, he swung into the darkness and disappeared.
~~
She didn’t answer to that. She had no intention of killing him in his sleep but she wasn’t going to tell Bruce that. She had every intention of making sure that Sal knew who she was and why he was about to die. His actions and her own inability to let go of the past he’d made a monster and it was about to step out of the dark and greet him.
She’d almost though that it might come down to a fight between them tonight. He seemed almost as determined to stop her as she was determined to finish this. But he wasn’t stopping her, he was pulling on his mask and walking away and she let out a soft sigh, even as his words hit her harder than a punch ever could have.
Turning she looked back down on the Punchinello compound and sighed, hearing the grappling hook go off and his quiet ‘I’m sorry too’ before he left. “I love you too.” She said quietly to the wind. He wouldn’t have heard them but that was fine. Maybe it was better if he didn’t know, maybe it would help him move on after she was gone… or dead.
Taking a deep breath she fired off a line of her own swung down, clearing the high fence to land behind a line of hedges. He’d tripped the guard detail for the night but why? Was he that worried about someone coming to get him? Had someone see ‘Batman’ walk into her apartment and walk back out with her supposed dead body? Why the paranoia to add on extra?
Sliding along the shadows she moved between the rotating guards to the house. She knew the rotations of the cameras and were they were placed. She knew how to move without one of them catching her and she did so. The guards seemed none the wiser that she was there and that was good for now. She’d deal with them later if she had too, she’d beat the shit out of every last man that stood in front of her if push came to shove but for now she stayed secret.
She pulled herself up to the second floor railing she knelt close to the balcony door and cut a hole through the glass in the upper corner. She’d studied the alarm system when she’d been there before then done more research on her own. She reached through and disabled the trigger for the door before opening it and stepping through, pulling it silently closed behind her. Moving to the door of the room she pressed her ear against it, listening then pulled it open a crack to peer down the hall. Two guards at one door.
Pulling out a gun she checked the rounds in it before opening the door and stepping out, startling the men as she fired, the gun making a pif sound, the tranq dart catching one in the neck as she kept running, hitting the second in the throat before he could yell more than a choked sound. They both hit the ground quickly with dull thuds and she was pushing through the door to Sal’s room, kicking the door back closed behind her loud enough to wake him though he’d find a crossbolt gun pointed at his head when his eyes opened.
“Hello Sal, it’s been a while.”
~~
Salvatore shot up from bed like a rocket his hand instinctually reaching for the gun beneath his pillow, but a crossbow bolt pressed against his cheek drawing blood. His face drained of colour as he turned, putting his hands above his head, he searched her face, that voice, it was far too familiar. Then it dawned on him and the fear turned to rage, he had been beaten, at his own game by a girl young enough to be his daughter... In law.
"You crazy bitch" He spat at her his face turning red with anger, he went to move again but she pressed him back down, and went through her spiel and Punchinello backed against the headboard, knowing that this was the end, killed in his pajamas by a woman in a pointed mask. How fucking pathetic. "You know, you kill me, it don't matter, right? You're still marked. They will come for you and no fucking mask is going to protect you. You're dead, DEAD" His threats were as empty as his soul, he was facing death down the barrel so to speak.
The door burst open and Travis rushed through the door, his gun firing wildly forcing Huntress to dive nimbly away but then she was caught between them both with nowhere to hide, Punchinello had already recovered from beneath the pillow. his gun a high powered magnum, his crooked toothed smile spread across his lips as he leveled the gun, at this range, there'd be no escape, no dodging, no running.
The world seemed to slow, a soft breeze brushed gently across her skin, his finger was squeezing the trigger the hammer was pulling back, the loud explosion echoing through the room as the bullet burst from barrel.
But just as it did the window crashed in on itself, Batman tumbling into the room, a batarang flying from his hand and slicing through the air, catching Salvatore in the shoulder, the gun rattling on the floor. He'd been too late and bullet sped true at its target, it took only a push of his legs to move himself in front of the bullet; His costume was bullet proof among other thing, but his eyes widened then, the bullet ripped through his costume, ricocheting off a bone and exiting up through his shoulder and into the wall above. Batman fell to the ground clutching his shoulder, blood was already pouring from the wound.
Travis stalked closer the gun gripped tightly in his hands, knuckles white and his teeth clamped together, he practically spoke through them, spit coming with every word, sounding exactly like his father as the rage poured like magma seeking to burn the flesh, but they were only words.
"You dumb fucking cunt" Travis shouted at her thrusting the gun forward but not firing "You think you can do this to me" he raged, but his eyes shifted to his father who was writhing in his bed moaning in bed, his wound likewise bleed profusely. The anger ebbed away and logic took over, still, he sneered at her and spat at her feet.
"Take the bat, leave my father, go now or I'll kill you both" His father had an hour, at best, to get to a hospital before he bled out. Batman was in no better condition. "Goddamnit,Helena" he practically spat the words; He'd known it was her, when he'd come home and explained what had happened to his father Salvatore told him everything, the whole story. Was he angry at his father? no, his misguided grief pushed him in the direction of the woman whom had directly hurt him. His father's crime was decades old and the wound she had given him by returning the ring and refusing to marry him was deeper than flesh.
~~
In the dark of his room the blood welling up against his cheek looked black, nothing like what blood really looked like but the dark hid so much from the eyes. She saw him get paler though, saw the rush of fear move through him and it was a welcome sight to see the old man actually feel something. It wasn’t what she would have wished for, no, she would have liked to have seen pity, or remorse on his face for what he’d done but he never would. It made this easier for her somehow.
His angry words made her hand tighten on the trigger and push it harder against his cheek. “I guess we’ll see each other in hell then.” She didn’t feel like wasting her words or her breath on threats or telling him to shut up. He knew who she was and what she was here for now. He knew that letting her life as a child was a mistake and it was coming to bite him in the ass now. She liked knowing that he would die knowing that he’d been bested by a woman.
She shouldn’t have woken him up, she really should have just pulled the trigger and slipped back out before anyone found him but she’d had to stand over him, she had to know that he knew why he was dying and that had been her mistake. The door opened and she was diving out of the way of bullets that bit into the wood of the wall over her head, missing by what felt like mere centimeters. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she rolled back up to her feet, pulling her second crossbow to aim at both of them. She could kill Sal, she knew she could but could she kill Travis?
But she didn’t get the chance to find out as the window came in behind her and Batman’s dark shape hit the ground in front of her as the loud <b>CRACK</b> of the guns going off echoed in the small room. Batman went down in front of her and her guns trained back on both the men. Sal was hurt and bleeding and she was just as shocked as Travis was though she was doing a good job of not showing it.
Take the bat and leave. She couldn’t help but glance at Sal for a moment then pointed her cross bows at the ceiling and started to lower them to put them away. He was giving them the out and she was going to take it for Bruce. Until he said her name and she froze, kneeling beside Bruce as she’d started to help him up. Her heart hammered in her throat.
“Your father killed my parents, Travis.” She said quietly, as if that might reason with the man that still had a gun pointed at her back. She was helping Batman back to his feet as she spoke, slinging his good arm over her shoulder, one arm around his waist, her other hand hovering near her gun just in case. “And he made a deal with Vercetti to have me killed to seal a new deal. Blame me for leaving you, that was my fault but your father has much bigger crimes to answer for than I do.”
“Fucking lying cunt!” Travis screamed at her, anger over level headed thinking taking over. He thrust the gun forward and she saw his finger tightening on the trigger a moment before it fired. The bullet passed so close to her head it kicked her hair up, skinning the skin from the top of her ear and crashing through what was left of the glass behind her. Travis screamed as he started to fire again but the bolt from her gun took him in the chest, right through the heart. In slow motion he looked down at it, grasping at the bolt as he feel to his knees with Sal screaming from the bed. Travis hit the floor and all she could do was stare until Batman grunted beside her.
She pulled herself together for the moment and turned, pulling him with her as she grabbed his grappling gun and fired it. She held onto him tightly, whispering for him to hold on tight as she pushed the button for it to start recoiling and pull them off the balcony and back out into the night.
Getting them away for now was easy. Across the street to the next building and then the next building, trying to put as much distance as she could between them and the house before she stopped, breathing hard and lowered him onto a roof top. “Where’s the car? What do I need to do?” She pulled her gloves off as she knelt down beside him, pressing her hands against the bleeding gunshot in his shoulder, trying to slow the flow of blood. She had to focus on this because if she started thinking about what had just happened she’d start screaming and wasn’t sure she’d start anytime soon.
~~
"Street, blow" he muttered, his life ebbing from his body, pointing in the general direction. He was struggling to maintain consciousness, his vision separating all that he saw into pairs. He gritted his teeth and tried to move his arm but it only fell limply to his side dangling in the air as Huntress half carried and half dragged him across the roof. he slumped back against the ledge as she glanced over it to see the Batmobile below.
She was muttering about taking him to a hospital, his head was nodding to his chest, an exhaustion he had never known came over his body and all he could think about was sleep. He wouldn't wake from that sleep and it was a fact Bruce knew all too well.
"T-take me" he had to pause, the slight movements sending surges of pain through his body. "Oracle... I-Investigations."
And that was it, he slipped into unconsciousness.
******
The car pulled up in front of nondescript brick building that lay amongst a hundred identical. An old sign hung above the door denoting Oracle Investigations. Helena helped the now unconscious Batman to the short flight of stairs that lead to a lone intercom, she was forced to lower him against the stairs, the sun had long since disappeared behind the looming ominous Gotham skyscrapers, it was three in the morning by the time they reached their destination.
~~
The building where she worked had been a lucky find. She’d been able to buy it from the seller for half what he asked. And the money had been easy to hand over. Her father didn’t know half of what she could do, only that she was probably doing illegal things. But Barbara Gordon was good at what she did. And she hardly ever stepped in to do it physically. It was all through computer technology. She heard the silent buzzer before her head whipped around and she saw the two figures on the stairs.
“Fuck me,” she murmured before she was slamming her hand onto the black button near the desk that would open the door for the two to enter. She was already moving out of the chair and half running, half jumping down the rickety stairs that led from the second floor to the main one. She knew the basement was probably a better place to store the equipment, but she liked having more than one escape route from the second floor. She nearly crashed into the door as Huntress opened the door and started pulling Batman inside.
“Through there!” She pointed to a room just to Huntress’s right. It was a converted living room. “I’ll get the kit. How bad?” She only half waited for Helena to answer as she moved into the kitchen. There were only basic supplies, but she had a full First Aid kit. Complete with a few items from Batman’s personal stash. He’d dropped them off with a note when they first starting “working” together. He said just in case. She said she knew how to use the stuff he gave her. Being a cop’s daughter had its perks. And her mother was a nurse. She came into the room where Huntress stood with a nearly unconscious Batman. She only spared a look at Huntress. Rumors were true. Huh.
“What am I working with?” She was already moving over to where Huntress had helped Batman on a chaise lounge, he was half laying. “I need to get the suit off.” She didn’t look at Huntress as she said it. Somehow she knew it wouldn’t be a welcomed demand. She was already opening the small white box and the black bag.
~~
Getting him in and out of the car had proved harder now that he was unconscious but in a way gave her more thinks to focus on. Getting him help was what needed to happen now and thankfully the car knew where it was going better than she did. The GPS took her straight to where he’d told her before he’s passed out and she was dragging him up the stairs to a reinforced door. She pushed the button asking for Oracle, blood covered gloves with just more of the splattered across her. She hadn’t exactly been caring about her dry cleaning bill.
When the door opened she already had his good arm over her shoulder again and her arm wrapped around his waist, lifting him back to his feet as she dragged him across the room to lay him where she’d pointed before running off to get supplies. God she hoped he trusted this chick because this was bad, really bad and she knew it.
“Gunshot, armor piercing I think because this is Kevlar plating.” She said, her voice strong but just on that edge of wanting to panic but being held in check. She pulled off her gloves and unhooked her cloak, tossing them down out of the way on the floor before moving to start helping Babs get him out of the suit which also included the cowl. Followed by her own mask. It felt suffocating at the moment.
“He trusts you or we wouldn’t be here. I hope you understand that that means. And what do you need from me.”
~~
Barbara didn’t look up from where she was sitting on a small ottman next to where Batman lay. The suit was going to be a problem. Her eyes moved from him to Huntress as the woman told her what didn’t need to be said. The first time Batman had come to Barbara, she’d understood everything that it meant. He didn’t have to say about the trust involved. It was implied. She had grown up hearing about Batman saving Gotham City. Her father idolized him, even if he couldn’t admit that to the media. Barbara had always wanted to do whatever she could to help Gotham, her home. And Batman had given her that chance. She wasn’t out on the streets, risking her life like they were. But she also didn’t have the skills they had, either. Instead, she was behind a screen. Batman had created a link to her when he needed her, he’d tell her. She didn’t think it would ever be like this.
She kept her eyes focused on Huntress, not looking away. “I understand completely,” she said. And she did. She would not betray Batman. Or Huntress.
“I need you to help me get the suit off.” With a nod, Huntress moved and the two were able to get the suit off. The cowl, then the chest pieces and gloves. Barbara’s shock at finding that it was Bruce Wayne under the mask was momentary. Her eyes were on his shoulder, neck. She bit down on her bottom lip and watched as Helena carefully lay him back. “It’s clean. Thank God.” She was already digging through the kit. Her hands were in gloves in seconds, then she was pulling out cotton and antiseptic. “Stay close, please,” she didn’t look at Helena as she said it.
~~
Getting him out of his suit made it look worse. His pale skin worried her though she did her best to hide it. Seeing all the blood brought other memories and old fears which made her slid her hand into Bruce’s and leaned over to carefully kiss his forehead and whisper in his ear. “Don’t you go dying on me, only I get to kill you for that heroic stunt.”
She stayed close, helping Babs when she needed it, passing things over, getting clean towels. By the time Babs finished the sun was just starting to peek up over the horizon, putting the tall buildings across the city in black silhouette as Huntress stood at the little kitchenette sink washing the blood off her hands. She was tired but tried not to let it show, still having not completely recovered from the poison that had near killed her a week before. She shouldn’t have been out tonight, he shouldn’t have followed her. It should have been her risk. If he hadn’t showed up though she would have been laying dead on the floor of the Punchinello mansion.
The thought of Travis came to mind and the shock that had crossed his face when she’d… no, she needed to not think about that just yet so she turned, moving back to where Bruce lay with his shoulder in bandages and more wrapped across his chest to keep his arm in place. It should have been her laying there. Not him.
~~
It took a few hours to get the wound cleaned and bandaged. There were liquid antibiotics that Barbara injected into his system. It would fight the infection. She could feel the fever trying to fight it from the inside out. But his breathing had returned to normal. He was going to be in a lot of pain and it would be hard to move his arm and neck, but he would survive. He’d be okay. When it was done, the dirty gauze and cotton balls and other supplies in a pile next to her, Barbara just sat back and watched him for a long moment. Bruce Wayne. After spending the last few hours nursing him, the shock had gone away – if it’d ever been there. How many times had Wayne stepped up as a citizen? How many times had he tried to help. He wasn’t the millionaire playboy. She knew that. So, maybe that’s why it wasn’t totally surprising.
He was resting, comfortably, Barbara hoped. Out of maternal habit, she rested a light blanket over his torso and started to gather the used supplies. She moved out of the room, motioning with her head for Huntress to follow her. The shades were pulled tight, no light would seep into the room. As Huntress followed her out, Barbara watched as she pulled the door closed, but not all the way.
“He’ll be okay,” she said as she moved into the kitchen, dropping the used medical supplies in a red bin under the sink. She washed her hands and then turned, grabbing two mugs from the counter above her head. “Tea? I don’t keep anything harder here, sorry.” Not to mention she didn’t drink. She was eighteen, still under the legal limit. Her father would have a kanipshit if he ever found out she drank.
“There’s a bedroom down the hall. You could get some rest.” She knew Huntress wouldn’t take to the suggestion of going home, wherever her home was. So Barbara didn’t even suggest it.
~~
“Tea would be nice, thank you.” She slid down into one of the kitchen chairs , picking at dried blood on her uniform. Taking a deep breath she lifted her head back up to watch the redhead moving around the room. She turned her head to glance back at the door before letting out the breath she’d taken and had been holding in a deep sigh.
“I’ll be fine, but thank you. You should get some rest, I’ll camp out in the recliner in the room with him.” Her voice had just an edge of Italian too it now that it didn’t have the rough edge of the Huntress growl to it. That was all a part of the mask and she’d taken that off already. “I’m Helena by the way, and thank you for taking care of him. I’m not sure if we would have made it all the way back to base or not.” And watching another person she loved bleed out in front of her wasn’t something she wanted to see. She’d seen enough bad things to last her a life time.
“Do you have a police scanner? Can we get the reports coming in from the evening?”
~~
She put two mugs of water into a microwave. She kept necessities here, since she spent most of her time here when she wasn’t at school, or making appearances at home. Her parents, since she turned 18, had bee more lenient with knowing her whereabouts. There were times that she crashed out upstairs, too. She was glad she didn’t have to make an appearance at school on a Saturday. Only a few more weeks until graduation and then she wouldn’t have to worry…quite so much.
She set a few things in front of Helena. She catch (what she hoped) were surreptitious glances at the woman. She had recognized her almost as quickly as she recognized Bruce. But not because of Helena’s background, but that she’d been all over the papers and Gotham PD station for the last week.
She finally set down a mug of hot water in front of Helena. “Sure, there’s one in the room. I have one upstairs, too.” She watched Helena for a moment, mixing her own tea. “We were lucky that it was a clean shot. I’m…I’m not sure I could’ve helped if the bullet was lodged in his body.” She bit down on her bottom lip before she brought the steaming mug to her lips, taking a careful sip.
After a yawn, she nodded. “I have a bed upstairs, with my computer. Help yourself to anything you need.” She stood and moved for the door that led to the main hallway before she stopped. She wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure what, so she simply kept her mouth shut, offered a small smile, and then moved out of the kitchen.
~~
“Ironically, it was nearly the same kind of shot that I took years ago.” She said to her mug as she added a tea bag to start steeping. Once the water had colored darkly she added cream and sugar then stood up, popping her back with loud crunches before signing. “Thank you again, you should get some rest though. I’ll cat nap and wait for him to get up.”
She watched the head retreat upstairs then turned and moved back toward the living room that had become their makeshift hospital for the moment. Leaning in the doorway she wrapped her hands around the hot mug and stared at him. In the darkness of the room his pale skin almost seemed to glow but it was an illusion she knew, or one made up in her head.
Walking across the room she bent over to press a soft kiss to his forehead, brushing his hair away from it and combing down the once sweat matted hair from his cowl down and back into order. Once she was satisfied she sank down into the recliner next to him, pulling her legs up and pulling her cloak up from the floor to cover herself up. Leaning it back she lay there staring at him and letting it all soak into her head, the mug of tea forgotten on the small table next to her. She didn’t realize she was crying till the wetness started to dry on her cheeks. The slow trail of tears didn’t stop though, not matter how hard she tried to make them but she didn’t sob. Just quiet tears of shock.
~~
Bruce a woke with a jerk, as though the reflex to dodge the bullet had been frozen until he regained consciousness. But pain seared through the shoulder that had been shot forcing his hand to it a low grunt of pain as he slowly leaned himself back. The room spun and he thought he'd vomit, his vision swam and he turned his head to the side, the roof spinning. Bruce shut his eyes against the nausea and waited for the moment to pass. everything hurt, his body was weak, he was as vulnerable as a new born, he lifted a weak arm to his forehead, his palm covering his eyes for a moment. He felt his hair matted against his head from sweat and the dull throb in his shoulder remained a constant thrum in the background. They must have shot him up with some powerful painkiller, he could scarcely believe a bullet wound wouldn't have him near crying from pain.
His hand fell back down to his chest and he lolled his head to the side, it was then he saw her, sitting in an arm chair, resting her head against it her pale eyes watching him through the silvery moonlight which made Bruce's pale complexion turn a tinge blue.
"H-h-ow long?" Bruce forced, his throat and mouth drier than he ever remembered being before. "..Water" he reached out weakly.
Helena pressed a glass into his hand and helped him bring it to his lips. He tried to gulp down the liquid but the first taste brought a wracking cough to his body sending him into agony as the movement throbbed in his wound.
Bruce could see the stricken look on her face as she braced his shoulders as gently as she could to prevent more involuntary movement. He grit his teeth and gulped the pain down his throat, but he didn't have to make a sound, it was written on his face.
~~
At some point in the day she’d turned on the police scanner on low to listen to the rumble of men chattering back and fourth about things going on around the city. Barbara had been nice enough to bring her dinner, her dinner plate still sitting mostly untouched on the end table next to her. She was still dressed in her uniform, having refused to go home to change. The only time she’d left his side was to move the batmoble to a better location that wasn’t at Bab’s front door.
She’d been half asleep when she heard him wake up and sat frozen for a few long heartbeats before standing and moving to his side. Sitting on the edge of the lounge he was still laying on she brought water up for him. Helping him sit up the best he could so he could drink, not that it seemed to be doing him any good at the moment.
“Almost twenty four hours. Go slow, you’re shot up with some heavy hitters Barbara brought in for you.” She said quietly, setting the water aside again. Her fingers brushed his cheek then pressed her palm against it, thumb rubbing gently up and down before she drew it back.
“You’re going to be down for a while but she did a good job.” Her hand fluttered down his chest lightly, almost unsure if she should touch him or not before she settled it back into her own lap. “You shouldn’t have done that you know. “
~~
"No time." Bruce said his eyes narrowing, he couldn't even sit up, but he was determined nonetheless. "Twenty four hours too many. Vercetti is still on the loose."
And there was more to this that he was letting on; She had never thought to follow Vercetti after locating Punchinello but Batman wasn't about to leave out half the pieces of the puzzle. And what he had found painted a disturbing picture. How Vercetti had gotten wound up with "Satanic cults" was hardly the Mafia's MO. But the thoughts hurt his head, shattered and slipped away, she was right, there were too many drugs in his system for him to think much less move.
He balled his fist and slammed it on the bed next to him. Vercetti would elude him a little longer and it obviously nettled him. From what he had seen Vercetti was involved in operations far outside the scope of the Mafia or even Gotham city. From the remains of a sacrifice, he hoped it had been an animal, but he remained doubtful to the maps he had found detailing the widespread cult. They had chapters in every major city across the nation, the commiques he read had been cryptic and vague but indicated that something big was coming. Normally he would have passed it off as a bunch smoke and mirrors but the ceremony he had watched hadn't been any sort of trick he could divine. Bruce had watched from the shadows a disembodied head, its features obscured by shadows and a deep hood. He'd demanded Vercetti obtain a man by the name Giovanni Zatanna. That was what concerned him; he'd never heard the name but he knew someone who would.
Her hand ran down his chest and he watched it as it went, his eyes closed and shut out the pale moonlight. he would have put his own over hers if he could have mustered the strength but he could barely manage that.
"No. I did what I had to. What I wanted to do." He said, his voice rough and hoarse. He opened his eyes and looked at her "Did you get what you came for?"
~~
“We’ll make time.” She insisted. “Your won’t be on your feet for a while, you’ll have to back seat drive for me till you are. I’m sure we can come up with something to let you virtually ride along with me. It’s my fault your down. I’m not Batman by any measure but if I can help out till then I will.” She’d already decided that before he’d woke up. Batman helped people and she’d taken that help away from them. Huntress wouldn’t be the same as him but she could do something, she had to do something, she owed that to not just him but his cause.
She turned away from him as he looked at her, sitting on the edge of the bed with her hands in her lap, staring down at her knees and the floor. She didn’t feel like she was worth it, not by far but most people had little belief in their own self worth. He asked the question that she was trying to avoid thinking about, trying to avoid the images that popped into her head the moment he asked it.
Helena closed her eyes and for a brief moment she was back in the dark bedroom with Sal moaning in pain in the bed and Travis standing over her with the gun in her hand, screaming at her. She remembered the sound of the gun firing so close to her head that her ears rang and then she was turning and firing. Why? To protect, but who? Herself? Or Bruce? The answer was simple as she turned her head to look back at him. She’d been protecting him. She’d walked into that house knowing that the chances of her leaving it were slim.
“The Punchinello’s are dead. Both of them.” She looked back down at her hands, clenching them both into fists.
- Mobsters Salvatore and Travis Punchinello (Father and son respectively)
Night blanketed the city in heavy shadows, steam rose from the manholes and swirled at his feet, parting like the red sea as he trod through it. His eyes glowed an eery white giving him a sinister visage, The Punchinello's had posted guards throughout the surrounding block, this unfortunate fellow was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Batman crept from behind his cape closed around his torso. His foot steps made not a sound when he walked, the man he followed no more than a foot behind had no idea he was being followed. He scraped his throat with a disgusting sound and hocked it to the ground, sniffing deeply. Batman reached out and touched his shoulder.
The Mafioso whipped around gun in hand, Batman simply grasping it with lightning reflex, twisting his wrist painfully until he dropped the gun. His booted foot collided with his stomach and sent him reeling back and doubled over. He was n him in an instant picking him up easily by the collar.
"How many?" He asked in the wide eyed and terrified gangster. he stammered, mumbled and Batman pushed him hard against the brick wall of a building. "HOW MANY"
He asked once more, harsher, commanding.
"A-a f-f-few dozen" the gangster answered, barely able to communicate. The sound of falling water caught Bruce's attention and looked down to see a thin line of liquid dripping from his pant leg.
His eyes narrowed and he set him down, turning to walk away, but Batman stopped short and jerked an elbow around taking the gangster in the head and sending him reeling and unconscious to the ground. That hadn't been as helpful as he hoped but at least now he had a general idea of how many he was dealing with.
He held his arm up and shot his grappling hook up and onto the building, whipping himself up as the grapple recoiled. Batman pulled himself over the ledge but not before scanning the area, now on the roof he walked its surface and moved to its edge. He looked down on the building he and Huntress had met on last time, it gave them a perfect view of the grounds surrounding the Punchinello manor. A familiar black and purple clad woman was crouching down low on the opposite end. He grunted slightly, there was just too many coincidences.
Silently Batman landed on the lower laying building behind huntress.
"You're still a live." He commented watching her jerk around. he was unsmiling as he crossed the distance between them, but then, he never smiled. "You managed to surprise me again, Huntress" Batman was standing next to her now, one leg on the ledge as he scanned the grounds below.
"Two, maybe three dozen down there and in the surrounding block. He looked over at her and hesitated. "Too many to simply sneak in and out." But he wasn't finished, his eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing here? There's nothing left for either of us to discover." He hadn't needed to ask, he knew, known for too long and chosen to look the other way.
~~
She’d left Travis standing in the park as she walked away for the man that she’d once promised to marry. It was hard to marry a man when the only thing you could see in front of yourself was killing his father. She really wished they’d never come back there but he was to deep in tradition not too, do much his father’s son not to want to take over when his father died. She could only hope that when that day showed up that he was a better man.
Leaving a message for Bruce that she was still alright she spent the better part of the afternoon and evening driving around or parked outside of town trying to figure everything out in her head. That was easier said than done. To many conflicting thoughts were going through her head. She’d hated Gotham since the night that had changed her life and she always swore she’d never come back but now that she was back she couldn’t leave till she saw this through. Even if she did leave would it be over? What would that do but put her on the run for the rest of her life, constantly looking over her shoulder, constantly wondering if that man walking behind her was following her. She couldn’t live like that.
After dark she drove back into the city and stashed the car, taking a round away way back toward her apartment building. She took the fire escape up to her window and triggered the lock from the outside rig she’d set up and slipped inside. She needed her gear and there was a cop car sitting outside the place. She didn’t want to be scene. She changed and took a change of clothes with her to the garage where she kept her bike. Stashing her clothes she headed out into the city under a different face. Huntress didn’t make things much clearer to her but it felt good to be back in the gear.
Parking her bike well away from her destination she made the rest of the trip on foot and over roof tops till she was standing across the street, watching the building. She knew he was in there it was just a matter of how to get in there and past all the guards that was proving to be a problem. He knew she was coming after him, somehow he knew.
When Batman came up behind her she startled for the first time. He’d snuck on up her twice before and she hadn’t but this time something was different. She glanced at him, her blue eyes flicking over his tall dark frame before turning back to look at the house, her arms crossed over her chest. “I don’t die easily.” She commented, cape tugging in the wind.
“I’m not here to discover anything. I saw all I needed to the other night.” She looked over at him again. “What are you doing here?”
~~
He lowered his head. All he needed to do was hear her voice one more time. The dots were connected, the pieces fallen into place. He raised his head and looked at her, his eyes as piercing as they always were, the stiff icy blue eyes that were somehow familiar.
Batman's hand dipped into his cape and a cell phone materialized in his hand. He held it up and pressed a button, quick dial. His phone began to ring. There was a small delay but after two strokes on his phone there was an audible vibrating noise coming from her.
he let out an audible sigh and ended the call. He slowly put the phone back where he had found it and turned square to Huntress. There was his answer. He had known from talking to Helena that she was coming here, the facts he had been denying for so long could no longer be ignored. he had hoped beyond hope that he had made a mistake, but now, all the cards were on the table.
"Helena.." He tried to start, but he wasn't sure how. Instead his hand went to his cowl and he pulled it back exposing his face to her. "I warned you, Helena. About revenge. We have enough evidence to have him put away, no matter how corrupt the court is they can't ignore this."
He had the sinking feeling that it wouldn't matter to her, that she'd simply shrug her shoulders and say it wasn't good enough. But Bruce wore a resolute look on his face, if she was going in, she wasn't going alone.
"I'm here to stop you from making a mistake" And there was more going on than she knew. More than he had told her. There was still another half to the puzzle to complete the whole picture. "Punchinello is one piece of a much larger puzzle. Are you going to kill your way through Gotham? I can't let you do that."
~~
She was focused on the house as he reached for his phone and dialed her number. It wasn’t until her phone was vibrating in the pouch at her side that she looked down and pulled it out then over at him with a frown. How did he have her number… And then she saw the caller id on her phone. She stared at it for a long minute even as his sigh rang loudly in her ear.
He said her name and even though she knew now that the man behind the mask was Bruce it still startled her. Even when he pulled the cowl back and she was face to face with him. She stared at him for a good thirty seconds before. She wanted to hit him. How long had he known? Had he really just figured it out or had he figured it out while she’d been staying with him.
She stammered wordlessly before shutting her mouth and glaring at him. Once she gathered her wits back about her she looked at him with that familiar hard face that he’d seen the first night he’d run into her as Huntress. “The statute of limitations is ten years. He can’t be tried for my parents and brothers murder. All they would have him on is attempted murder and whatever proof we have on the recording isn’t admissible in court because it wasn’t taken legally. Vercetti isn’t going to squeal on him so what proof does that leave to give over to the police? What proof is going to put him behind bars far enough that he’d not going to have someone else finish what he’s started.
“I don’t want to die Bruce but I can’t and I wont spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder for where the next bullet is going to come from.”
~~
"No." Bruce started, stepping closer. If he was angry with her, it didn't show. How could he be? he knew exactly what she was going through, exactly what it felt like to go through life without the support of parents. His too had been ripped from this world far too soon. But at least he had had Alfred. She had murdering sociopaths who took believed there was honor in criminality, in murder and butcher. "But he can be tried for attempted murder, conspiracy to attempt murder."
Bruce pulled a small hand held recorder and tossed it to her.
"I recorded it." He said, giving her a weak smile. Of course he had recorded the meeting.Hhe was surprised she hadn't thought of it first. "The meeting. Its all there. Both Punchinello and Vercetti will go away for a long time."
He had thought about giving the evidence to the police first and allowing distance and prison to prevent her from carrying out the so called honourable revenge of her family.
"I had the choice." His hands took her by the shoulders, but not roughly. "And I know what it feels like once you've made the decision. Helena... Don't you think I thought revenge was what I wanted? What I craved? Any less than you? But I still had the choice. And I won't take that away from you. It's a decision you need to make. Decide if it's worth it. But don't stand there and tell me this comes from some misguided need to satisfy honor. This isn't about them, it's about you and wanting to hit back at someone that hit you first."
He released her and stepped back.
"All the evidence you need is in your hand."
~~
She caught the recording and looked at it in her hand. Was putting him in jail really enough? How many mobsters had turn their families from behind bars? Men with enough influence to scare their men into doing what they wanted them too even when they weren’t standing in front of them. Salvatore was like that, he hadn’t gotten to be where he was by letting people just glide by.
She shook her head but kept the tape. “He’s to influential. Throwing him in jail will just be a change of location for him, he’ll still run things.”
He stepped closer to her again and she took a half step back out of anger before his hands wrapped around the balls of her shoulders and held her gently. Looking up at him in the suit it was hard to picture the man that she’d slept curled up with though the night as the Batman that she’d fought alongside. She also knew that he’d been running around as Batman when they’d had their time in Naples together. He’d left to come back to this.
She heard his words as much as she didn’t want to. “Then let me make the choice and don’t stand in front of me. Just walk away, you don’t have to be a part of this. When it’s done I’ll be gone and you won’t have to think of me again. Helena till be just another regret and Huntress a bad memory. I have fought too long and hard for this to walk away now. I’m sorry Bruce, I really am and I know you’re just trying to help me but I have to see this through.”
~~
"You don't get to do that, not that easily." Bruce said taking a step towards her, his eyes were focused and narrow and he could see the doubt written on her face. He was too influential, he'd simply run his organization from jail, which could very well be true as it had in the past. But he would still be in jail, locked away and doing time for the murder he had committed and the conspiracy to commit more. If her goal was to remove the man giving order to kill then the act was futile. "You'll have gotten justice. He'll rot in jail for the rest of his life. True, he may run his organization from jail, but kill him? Another man takes his place, one whose not locked away, a man to make orphans of children like you and I, Helena. And what will you get? You'll get to sleep at night without seeing his face in your dreams. And make no mistake, Helena. You will. The first is always the hardest."
She was stuck in her senseless hate, however justified it was. Bruce could only sympathize but Batman couldn't. Somehow the two found a balance though he was pulled in both directions. Helena stepped back and he stepped forward again, finally she relented and allowed his hands to take her gently.
"You made me part of this the minute you put that mask on." Was it really that simple? No. But he needn't dredge up the past, especially the previous two days. Not here in the wind of the Gotham night atop a roof looking over the city and its glittering lights through the fog and smoke. "You fought and you've found justice. You do this Helena, you're no better than they are... and you'll spend the rest of your life searching for redemption. Walk away. You've done your part to honor their memory. Leave the mask and this life behind. "
His tone was hard but not unkind, Bruce knew he wouldn't be able to reach her, he couldn't save her, just as he had refused to hear Alfred's words, refused to allow himself to be saved. His eyes shut briefly and the image of the body sprawled in front of him in some seedy Gotham alley came to his eyes. He shook the memory.
"You're not sorry. You're angry." As she had been for the last twenty odd years. "Go, if you want, but I will be there at your side."
~~
“I already see the faces of the dead in my dreams. What difference will it make adding one more?” She’d had bad dreams since she was a child and she doubted that adding another more nightmare to the mix would make her any less or any more hell bent on this revenge. If anything it would just be a satisfaction to know that he couldn’t hurt anyone else.
“Yes another man will take his place.” And they both knew who that man was. “Hopefully a better man will take his place and turn things around.” Like he’d always talked about. Travis had always been an idealist, she could only hope that he clung to those ideals when he was tested. “Batman will be here after all of this.” Even if she might not be.
She pulled away from his grasping hands, pushing them away so she could turn and pace away from him. It was Bruce and Batman, pressing close to her, whispering the words she didn’t want to hear that bothered her more than the thought of killing a man. She’d been so determined to do this for so long, so uncaring that it was hard to think of compassion right now.
“Is that what you’re looking for? Redemption? Is that why you put on the mask and run around like this every night? What did you do that made you feel like this is what you had to do?” She pressed him, trying to turn the conversation on him rather than her.
Shaking her head she turned back to face him. “I am angry, and I am sorry but probably not over what you think. I’m sorry that it’s you behind the mask. I’m sorry that you have to see me like this. I think I much rather would have had you remember me like we were in Naples, and not standing on a roof, hiding behind masks looking for justice in our own ways.”
~~
"Is that what Justice is now? Killing an old man in his bed while he sleeps?" Bruce's eyes narrowed and he was forced to agree; He'd much rather remember as she was than this. She asked what he had done, did she really need to? Why else would he be so fervent in this? He looked away as she pulled away. Helena was beyond reason. She wasn't seeing through her eyes anymore. Just Huntress's. There was a long moment of silence before he finally answered.
"A part of me wants to open every door for you." Bruce said sincerely as he pulled the cowl over his head, hiding his face from view once more. His eyes regarded her coldly and he turned his back to her, adding over his shoulder "but the other part loves you enough to keep them closed."
She was naive to believe her former fiance would be any better than the man whom had preceded him. A fool to think that anything would change for a society that was so mired in tradition like this. He spared her one last sad look. She was right, he couldn't watch her do this.
"I'm sorry too."
His grappling hook shot out and grasped at some unseen place, he swung into the darkness and disappeared.
~~
She didn’t answer to that. She had no intention of killing him in his sleep but she wasn’t going to tell Bruce that. She had every intention of making sure that Sal knew who she was and why he was about to die. His actions and her own inability to let go of the past he’d made a monster and it was about to step out of the dark and greet him.
She’d almost though that it might come down to a fight between them tonight. He seemed almost as determined to stop her as she was determined to finish this. But he wasn’t stopping her, he was pulling on his mask and walking away and she let out a soft sigh, even as his words hit her harder than a punch ever could have.
Turning she looked back down on the Punchinello compound and sighed, hearing the grappling hook go off and his quiet ‘I’m sorry too’ before he left. “I love you too.” She said quietly to the wind. He wouldn’t have heard them but that was fine. Maybe it was better if he didn’t know, maybe it would help him move on after she was gone… or dead.
Taking a deep breath she fired off a line of her own swung down, clearing the high fence to land behind a line of hedges. He’d tripped the guard detail for the night but why? Was he that worried about someone coming to get him? Had someone see ‘Batman’ walk into her apartment and walk back out with her supposed dead body? Why the paranoia to add on extra?
Sliding along the shadows she moved between the rotating guards to the house. She knew the rotations of the cameras and were they were placed. She knew how to move without one of them catching her and she did so. The guards seemed none the wiser that she was there and that was good for now. She’d deal with them later if she had too, she’d beat the shit out of every last man that stood in front of her if push came to shove but for now she stayed secret.
She pulled herself up to the second floor railing she knelt close to the balcony door and cut a hole through the glass in the upper corner. She’d studied the alarm system when she’d been there before then done more research on her own. She reached through and disabled the trigger for the door before opening it and stepping through, pulling it silently closed behind her. Moving to the door of the room she pressed her ear against it, listening then pulled it open a crack to peer down the hall. Two guards at one door.
Pulling out a gun she checked the rounds in it before opening the door and stepping out, startling the men as she fired, the gun making a pif sound, the tranq dart catching one in the neck as she kept running, hitting the second in the throat before he could yell more than a choked sound. They both hit the ground quickly with dull thuds and she was pushing through the door to Sal’s room, kicking the door back closed behind her loud enough to wake him though he’d find a crossbolt gun pointed at his head when his eyes opened.
“Hello Sal, it’s been a while.”
~~
Salvatore shot up from bed like a rocket his hand instinctually reaching for the gun beneath his pillow, but a crossbow bolt pressed against his cheek drawing blood. His face drained of colour as he turned, putting his hands above his head, he searched her face, that voice, it was far too familiar. Then it dawned on him and the fear turned to rage, he had been beaten, at his own game by a girl young enough to be his daughter... In law.
"You crazy bitch" He spat at her his face turning red with anger, he went to move again but she pressed him back down, and went through her spiel and Punchinello backed against the headboard, knowing that this was the end, killed in his pajamas by a woman in a pointed mask. How fucking pathetic. "You know, you kill me, it don't matter, right? You're still marked. They will come for you and no fucking mask is going to protect you. You're dead, DEAD" His threats were as empty as his soul, he was facing death down the barrel so to speak.
The door burst open and Travis rushed through the door, his gun firing wildly forcing Huntress to dive nimbly away but then she was caught between them both with nowhere to hide, Punchinello had already recovered from beneath the pillow. his gun a high powered magnum, his crooked toothed smile spread across his lips as he leveled the gun, at this range, there'd be no escape, no dodging, no running.
The world seemed to slow, a soft breeze brushed gently across her skin, his finger was squeezing the trigger the hammer was pulling back, the loud explosion echoing through the room as the bullet burst from barrel.
But just as it did the window crashed in on itself, Batman tumbling into the room, a batarang flying from his hand and slicing through the air, catching Salvatore in the shoulder, the gun rattling on the floor. He'd been too late and bullet sped true at its target, it took only a push of his legs to move himself in front of the bullet; His costume was bullet proof among other thing, but his eyes widened then, the bullet ripped through his costume, ricocheting off a bone and exiting up through his shoulder and into the wall above. Batman fell to the ground clutching his shoulder, blood was already pouring from the wound.
Travis stalked closer the gun gripped tightly in his hands, knuckles white and his teeth clamped together, he practically spoke through them, spit coming with every word, sounding exactly like his father as the rage poured like magma seeking to burn the flesh, but they were only words.
"You dumb fucking cunt" Travis shouted at her thrusting the gun forward but not firing "You think you can do this to me" he raged, but his eyes shifted to his father who was writhing in his bed moaning in bed, his wound likewise bleed profusely. The anger ebbed away and logic took over, still, he sneered at her and spat at her feet.
"Take the bat, leave my father, go now or I'll kill you both" His father had an hour, at best, to get to a hospital before he bled out. Batman was in no better condition. "Goddamnit,Helena" he practically spat the words; He'd known it was her, when he'd come home and explained what had happened to his father Salvatore told him everything, the whole story. Was he angry at his father? no, his misguided grief pushed him in the direction of the woman whom had directly hurt him. His father's crime was decades old and the wound she had given him by returning the ring and refusing to marry him was deeper than flesh.
~~
In the dark of his room the blood welling up against his cheek looked black, nothing like what blood really looked like but the dark hid so much from the eyes. She saw him get paler though, saw the rush of fear move through him and it was a welcome sight to see the old man actually feel something. It wasn’t what she would have wished for, no, she would have liked to have seen pity, or remorse on his face for what he’d done but he never would. It made this easier for her somehow.
His angry words made her hand tighten on the trigger and push it harder against his cheek. “I guess we’ll see each other in hell then.” She didn’t feel like wasting her words or her breath on threats or telling him to shut up. He knew who she was and what she was here for now. He knew that letting her life as a child was a mistake and it was coming to bite him in the ass now. She liked knowing that he would die knowing that he’d been bested by a woman.
She shouldn’t have woken him up, she really should have just pulled the trigger and slipped back out before anyone found him but she’d had to stand over him, she had to know that he knew why he was dying and that had been her mistake. The door opened and she was diving out of the way of bullets that bit into the wood of the wall over her head, missing by what felt like mere centimeters. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she rolled back up to her feet, pulling her second crossbow to aim at both of them. She could kill Sal, she knew she could but could she kill Travis?
But she didn’t get the chance to find out as the window came in behind her and Batman’s dark shape hit the ground in front of her as the loud <b>CRACK</b> of the guns going off echoed in the small room. Batman went down in front of her and her guns trained back on both the men. Sal was hurt and bleeding and she was just as shocked as Travis was though she was doing a good job of not showing it.
Take the bat and leave. She couldn’t help but glance at Sal for a moment then pointed her cross bows at the ceiling and started to lower them to put them away. He was giving them the out and she was going to take it for Bruce. Until he said her name and she froze, kneeling beside Bruce as she’d started to help him up. Her heart hammered in her throat.
“Your father killed my parents, Travis.” She said quietly, as if that might reason with the man that still had a gun pointed at her back. She was helping Batman back to his feet as she spoke, slinging his good arm over her shoulder, one arm around his waist, her other hand hovering near her gun just in case. “And he made a deal with Vercetti to have me killed to seal a new deal. Blame me for leaving you, that was my fault but your father has much bigger crimes to answer for than I do.”
“Fucking lying cunt!” Travis screamed at her, anger over level headed thinking taking over. He thrust the gun forward and she saw his finger tightening on the trigger a moment before it fired. The bullet passed so close to her head it kicked her hair up, skinning the skin from the top of her ear and crashing through what was left of the glass behind her. Travis screamed as he started to fire again but the bolt from her gun took him in the chest, right through the heart. In slow motion he looked down at it, grasping at the bolt as he feel to his knees with Sal screaming from the bed. Travis hit the floor and all she could do was stare until Batman grunted beside her.
She pulled herself together for the moment and turned, pulling him with her as she grabbed his grappling gun and fired it. She held onto him tightly, whispering for him to hold on tight as she pushed the button for it to start recoiling and pull them off the balcony and back out into the night.
Getting them away for now was easy. Across the street to the next building and then the next building, trying to put as much distance as she could between them and the house before she stopped, breathing hard and lowered him onto a roof top. “Where’s the car? What do I need to do?” She pulled her gloves off as she knelt down beside him, pressing her hands against the bleeding gunshot in his shoulder, trying to slow the flow of blood. She had to focus on this because if she started thinking about what had just happened she’d start screaming and wasn’t sure she’d start anytime soon.
~~
"Street, blow" he muttered, his life ebbing from his body, pointing in the general direction. He was struggling to maintain consciousness, his vision separating all that he saw into pairs. He gritted his teeth and tried to move his arm but it only fell limply to his side dangling in the air as Huntress half carried and half dragged him across the roof. he slumped back against the ledge as she glanced over it to see the Batmobile below.
She was muttering about taking him to a hospital, his head was nodding to his chest, an exhaustion he had never known came over his body and all he could think about was sleep. He wouldn't wake from that sleep and it was a fact Bruce knew all too well.
"T-take me" he had to pause, the slight movements sending surges of pain through his body. "Oracle... I-Investigations."
And that was it, he slipped into unconsciousness.
******
The car pulled up in front of nondescript brick building that lay amongst a hundred identical. An old sign hung above the door denoting Oracle Investigations. Helena helped the now unconscious Batman to the short flight of stairs that lead to a lone intercom, she was forced to lower him against the stairs, the sun had long since disappeared behind the looming ominous Gotham skyscrapers, it was three in the morning by the time they reached their destination.
~~
The building where she worked had been a lucky find. She’d been able to buy it from the seller for half what he asked. And the money had been easy to hand over. Her father didn’t know half of what she could do, only that she was probably doing illegal things. But Barbara Gordon was good at what she did. And she hardly ever stepped in to do it physically. It was all through computer technology. She heard the silent buzzer before her head whipped around and she saw the two figures on the stairs.
“Fuck me,” she murmured before she was slamming her hand onto the black button near the desk that would open the door for the two to enter. She was already moving out of the chair and half running, half jumping down the rickety stairs that led from the second floor to the main one. She knew the basement was probably a better place to store the equipment, but she liked having more than one escape route from the second floor. She nearly crashed into the door as Huntress opened the door and started pulling Batman inside.
“Through there!” She pointed to a room just to Huntress’s right. It was a converted living room. “I’ll get the kit. How bad?” She only half waited for Helena to answer as she moved into the kitchen. There were only basic supplies, but she had a full First Aid kit. Complete with a few items from Batman’s personal stash. He’d dropped them off with a note when they first starting “working” together. He said just in case. She said she knew how to use the stuff he gave her. Being a cop’s daughter had its perks. And her mother was a nurse. She came into the room where Huntress stood with a nearly unconscious Batman. She only spared a look at Huntress. Rumors were true. Huh.
“What am I working with?” She was already moving over to where Huntress had helped Batman on a chaise lounge, he was half laying. “I need to get the suit off.” She didn’t look at Huntress as she said it. Somehow she knew it wouldn’t be a welcomed demand. She was already opening the small white box and the black bag.
~~
Getting him in and out of the car had proved harder now that he was unconscious but in a way gave her more thinks to focus on. Getting him help was what needed to happen now and thankfully the car knew where it was going better than she did. The GPS took her straight to where he’d told her before he’s passed out and she was dragging him up the stairs to a reinforced door. She pushed the button asking for Oracle, blood covered gloves with just more of the splattered across her. She hadn’t exactly been caring about her dry cleaning bill.
When the door opened she already had his good arm over her shoulder again and her arm wrapped around his waist, lifting him back to his feet as she dragged him across the room to lay him where she’d pointed before running off to get supplies. God she hoped he trusted this chick because this was bad, really bad and she knew it.
“Gunshot, armor piercing I think because this is Kevlar plating.” She said, her voice strong but just on that edge of wanting to panic but being held in check. She pulled off her gloves and unhooked her cloak, tossing them down out of the way on the floor before moving to start helping Babs get him out of the suit which also included the cowl. Followed by her own mask. It felt suffocating at the moment.
“He trusts you or we wouldn’t be here. I hope you understand that that means. And what do you need from me.”
~~
Barbara didn’t look up from where she was sitting on a small ottman next to where Batman lay. The suit was going to be a problem. Her eyes moved from him to Huntress as the woman told her what didn’t need to be said. The first time Batman had come to Barbara, she’d understood everything that it meant. He didn’t have to say about the trust involved. It was implied. She had grown up hearing about Batman saving Gotham City. Her father idolized him, even if he couldn’t admit that to the media. Barbara had always wanted to do whatever she could to help Gotham, her home. And Batman had given her that chance. She wasn’t out on the streets, risking her life like they were. But she also didn’t have the skills they had, either. Instead, she was behind a screen. Batman had created a link to her when he needed her, he’d tell her. She didn’t think it would ever be like this.
She kept her eyes focused on Huntress, not looking away. “I understand completely,” she said. And she did. She would not betray Batman. Or Huntress.
“I need you to help me get the suit off.” With a nod, Huntress moved and the two were able to get the suit off. The cowl, then the chest pieces and gloves. Barbara’s shock at finding that it was Bruce Wayne under the mask was momentary. Her eyes were on his shoulder, neck. She bit down on her bottom lip and watched as Helena carefully lay him back. “It’s clean. Thank God.” She was already digging through the kit. Her hands were in gloves in seconds, then she was pulling out cotton and antiseptic. “Stay close, please,” she didn’t look at Helena as she said it.
~~
Getting him out of his suit made it look worse. His pale skin worried her though she did her best to hide it. Seeing all the blood brought other memories and old fears which made her slid her hand into Bruce’s and leaned over to carefully kiss his forehead and whisper in his ear. “Don’t you go dying on me, only I get to kill you for that heroic stunt.”
She stayed close, helping Babs when she needed it, passing things over, getting clean towels. By the time Babs finished the sun was just starting to peek up over the horizon, putting the tall buildings across the city in black silhouette as Huntress stood at the little kitchenette sink washing the blood off her hands. She was tired but tried not to let it show, still having not completely recovered from the poison that had near killed her a week before. She shouldn’t have been out tonight, he shouldn’t have followed her. It should have been her risk. If he hadn’t showed up though she would have been laying dead on the floor of the Punchinello mansion.
The thought of Travis came to mind and the shock that had crossed his face when she’d… no, she needed to not think about that just yet so she turned, moving back to where Bruce lay with his shoulder in bandages and more wrapped across his chest to keep his arm in place. It should have been her laying there. Not him.
~~
It took a few hours to get the wound cleaned and bandaged. There were liquid antibiotics that Barbara injected into his system. It would fight the infection. She could feel the fever trying to fight it from the inside out. But his breathing had returned to normal. He was going to be in a lot of pain and it would be hard to move his arm and neck, but he would survive. He’d be okay. When it was done, the dirty gauze and cotton balls and other supplies in a pile next to her, Barbara just sat back and watched him for a long moment. Bruce Wayne. After spending the last few hours nursing him, the shock had gone away – if it’d ever been there. How many times had Wayne stepped up as a citizen? How many times had he tried to help. He wasn’t the millionaire playboy. She knew that. So, maybe that’s why it wasn’t totally surprising.
He was resting, comfortably, Barbara hoped. Out of maternal habit, she rested a light blanket over his torso and started to gather the used supplies. She moved out of the room, motioning with her head for Huntress to follow her. The shades were pulled tight, no light would seep into the room. As Huntress followed her out, Barbara watched as she pulled the door closed, but not all the way.
“He’ll be okay,” she said as she moved into the kitchen, dropping the used medical supplies in a red bin under the sink. She washed her hands and then turned, grabbing two mugs from the counter above her head. “Tea? I don’t keep anything harder here, sorry.” Not to mention she didn’t drink. She was eighteen, still under the legal limit. Her father would have a kanipshit if he ever found out she drank.
“There’s a bedroom down the hall. You could get some rest.” She knew Huntress wouldn’t take to the suggestion of going home, wherever her home was. So Barbara didn’t even suggest it.
~~
“Tea would be nice, thank you.” She slid down into one of the kitchen chairs , picking at dried blood on her uniform. Taking a deep breath she lifted her head back up to watch the redhead moving around the room. She turned her head to glance back at the door before letting out the breath she’d taken and had been holding in a deep sigh.
“I’ll be fine, but thank you. You should get some rest, I’ll camp out in the recliner in the room with him.” Her voice had just an edge of Italian too it now that it didn’t have the rough edge of the Huntress growl to it. That was all a part of the mask and she’d taken that off already. “I’m Helena by the way, and thank you for taking care of him. I’m not sure if we would have made it all the way back to base or not.” And watching another person she loved bleed out in front of her wasn’t something she wanted to see. She’d seen enough bad things to last her a life time.
“Do you have a police scanner? Can we get the reports coming in from the evening?”
~~
She put two mugs of water into a microwave. She kept necessities here, since she spent most of her time here when she wasn’t at school, or making appearances at home. Her parents, since she turned 18, had bee more lenient with knowing her whereabouts. There were times that she crashed out upstairs, too. She was glad she didn’t have to make an appearance at school on a Saturday. Only a few more weeks until graduation and then she wouldn’t have to worry…quite so much.
She set a few things in front of Helena. She catch (what she hoped) were surreptitious glances at the woman. She had recognized her almost as quickly as she recognized Bruce. But not because of Helena’s background, but that she’d been all over the papers and Gotham PD station for the last week.
She finally set down a mug of hot water in front of Helena. “Sure, there’s one in the room. I have one upstairs, too.” She watched Helena for a moment, mixing her own tea. “We were lucky that it was a clean shot. I’m…I’m not sure I could’ve helped if the bullet was lodged in his body.” She bit down on her bottom lip before she brought the steaming mug to her lips, taking a careful sip.
After a yawn, she nodded. “I have a bed upstairs, with my computer. Help yourself to anything you need.” She stood and moved for the door that led to the main hallway before she stopped. She wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure what, so she simply kept her mouth shut, offered a small smile, and then moved out of the kitchen.
~~
“Ironically, it was nearly the same kind of shot that I took years ago.” She said to her mug as she added a tea bag to start steeping. Once the water had colored darkly she added cream and sugar then stood up, popping her back with loud crunches before signing. “Thank you again, you should get some rest though. I’ll cat nap and wait for him to get up.”
She watched the head retreat upstairs then turned and moved back toward the living room that had become their makeshift hospital for the moment. Leaning in the doorway she wrapped her hands around the hot mug and stared at him. In the darkness of the room his pale skin almost seemed to glow but it was an illusion she knew, or one made up in her head.
Walking across the room she bent over to press a soft kiss to his forehead, brushing his hair away from it and combing down the once sweat matted hair from his cowl down and back into order. Once she was satisfied she sank down into the recliner next to him, pulling her legs up and pulling her cloak up from the floor to cover herself up. Leaning it back she lay there staring at him and letting it all soak into her head, the mug of tea forgotten on the small table next to her. She didn’t realize she was crying till the wetness started to dry on her cheeks. The slow trail of tears didn’t stop though, not matter how hard she tried to make them but she didn’t sob. Just quiet tears of shock.
~~
Bruce a woke with a jerk, as though the reflex to dodge the bullet had been frozen until he regained consciousness. But pain seared through the shoulder that had been shot forcing his hand to it a low grunt of pain as he slowly leaned himself back. The room spun and he thought he'd vomit, his vision swam and he turned his head to the side, the roof spinning. Bruce shut his eyes against the nausea and waited for the moment to pass. everything hurt, his body was weak, he was as vulnerable as a new born, he lifted a weak arm to his forehead, his palm covering his eyes for a moment. He felt his hair matted against his head from sweat and the dull throb in his shoulder remained a constant thrum in the background. They must have shot him up with some powerful painkiller, he could scarcely believe a bullet wound wouldn't have him near crying from pain.
His hand fell back down to his chest and he lolled his head to the side, it was then he saw her, sitting in an arm chair, resting her head against it her pale eyes watching him through the silvery moonlight which made Bruce's pale complexion turn a tinge blue.
"H-h-ow long?" Bruce forced, his throat and mouth drier than he ever remembered being before. "..Water" he reached out weakly.
Helena pressed a glass into his hand and helped him bring it to his lips. He tried to gulp down the liquid but the first taste brought a wracking cough to his body sending him into agony as the movement throbbed in his wound.
Bruce could see the stricken look on her face as she braced his shoulders as gently as she could to prevent more involuntary movement. He grit his teeth and gulped the pain down his throat, but he didn't have to make a sound, it was written on his face.
~~
At some point in the day she’d turned on the police scanner on low to listen to the rumble of men chattering back and fourth about things going on around the city. Barbara had been nice enough to bring her dinner, her dinner plate still sitting mostly untouched on the end table next to her. She was still dressed in her uniform, having refused to go home to change. The only time she’d left his side was to move the batmoble to a better location that wasn’t at Bab’s front door.
She’d been half asleep when she heard him wake up and sat frozen for a few long heartbeats before standing and moving to his side. Sitting on the edge of the lounge he was still laying on she brought water up for him. Helping him sit up the best he could so he could drink, not that it seemed to be doing him any good at the moment.
“Almost twenty four hours. Go slow, you’re shot up with some heavy hitters Barbara brought in for you.” She said quietly, setting the water aside again. Her fingers brushed his cheek then pressed her palm against it, thumb rubbing gently up and down before she drew it back.
“You’re going to be down for a while but she did a good job.” Her hand fluttered down his chest lightly, almost unsure if she should touch him or not before she settled it back into her own lap. “You shouldn’t have done that you know. “
~~
"No time." Bruce said his eyes narrowing, he couldn't even sit up, but he was determined nonetheless. "Twenty four hours too many. Vercetti is still on the loose."
And there was more to this that he was letting on; She had never thought to follow Vercetti after locating Punchinello but Batman wasn't about to leave out half the pieces of the puzzle. And what he had found painted a disturbing picture. How Vercetti had gotten wound up with "Satanic cults" was hardly the Mafia's MO. But the thoughts hurt his head, shattered and slipped away, she was right, there were too many drugs in his system for him to think much less move.
He balled his fist and slammed it on the bed next to him. Vercetti would elude him a little longer and it obviously nettled him. From what he had seen Vercetti was involved in operations far outside the scope of the Mafia or even Gotham city. From the remains of a sacrifice, he hoped it had been an animal, but he remained doubtful to the maps he had found detailing the widespread cult. They had chapters in every major city across the nation, the commiques he read had been cryptic and vague but indicated that something big was coming. Normally he would have passed it off as a bunch smoke and mirrors but the ceremony he had watched hadn't been any sort of trick he could divine. Bruce had watched from the shadows a disembodied head, its features obscured by shadows and a deep hood. He'd demanded Vercetti obtain a man by the name Giovanni Zatanna. That was what concerned him; he'd never heard the name but he knew someone who would.
Her hand ran down his chest and he watched it as it went, his eyes closed and shut out the pale moonlight. he would have put his own over hers if he could have mustered the strength but he could barely manage that.
"No. I did what I had to. What I wanted to do." He said, his voice rough and hoarse. He opened his eyes and looked at her "Did you get what you came for?"
~~
“We’ll make time.” She insisted. “Your won’t be on your feet for a while, you’ll have to back seat drive for me till you are. I’m sure we can come up with something to let you virtually ride along with me. It’s my fault your down. I’m not Batman by any measure but if I can help out till then I will.” She’d already decided that before he’d woke up. Batman helped people and she’d taken that help away from them. Huntress wouldn’t be the same as him but she could do something, she had to do something, she owed that to not just him but his cause.
She turned away from him as he looked at her, sitting on the edge of the bed with her hands in her lap, staring down at her knees and the floor. She didn’t feel like she was worth it, not by far but most people had little belief in their own self worth. He asked the question that she was trying to avoid thinking about, trying to avoid the images that popped into her head the moment he asked it.
Helena closed her eyes and for a brief moment she was back in the dark bedroom with Sal moaning in pain in the bed and Travis standing over her with the gun in her hand, screaming at her. She remembered the sound of the gun firing so close to her head that her ears rang and then she was turning and firing. Why? To protect, but who? Herself? Or Bruce? The answer was simple as she turned her head to look back at him. She’d been protecting him. She’d walked into that house knowing that the chances of her leaving it were slim.
“The Punchinello’s are dead. Both of them.” She looked back down at her hands, clenching them both into fists.