Post by lizity on Feb 7, 2012 14:47:11 GMT -5
The villain's name was Warp. He had some kind of technology to move back and forth in time. But not too far, just a few seconds. Enough to throw someone like me off just a little. And a cop would be basically useless against this guy. He was robbing a jewel store, apparently he needed a specific kind of jewel that focused the energy that his suit that allowed him to move through time like he did. The fight had been going on for a few minutes already, I hadn't been able to land a solid hit yet. Able to dodge and weave my punches.
Though, that didn't stop me from trying to punch him. I had to go on pure instinct that wouldn't allow him to detect my moving. Last thing I remember was throwing a Robin-Rang and it sunk into his forehead. There was a large overload in his suit, when it exploded I was thrown outside onto the snow filled street…
Wait, Snow?
Standing up I'd look around furrowing my brows. It wasn't supposed to snow for another few weeks. And if that. It was colder, the buildings looked like they were worn down by time.
"Weird." saying to myself. This wasn't right, something wasn't right.
"What the hell?" asking as I kneeled down picking up the paper.
"October 11th 2030 ….. Bruce hates time travel. Can't say I blame him."
It's a long trip back to the cave, but if I remember correctly. There's secret passages all over the city that Bruce put in to make it easier to get back to the cave in a hurry. Apparently there's been some upgrades. The tunnel I found was a little broken down, but it was still in good condition. Good enough for me to travel through. It took awhile, but eventually I end up in the entrance for one of the motorcycles. It's sealed shut.
"Damnit." muttering. Placing some small explosives on the hinges, I retreat further back into the tunnel. There'd be a soft pop and enough of an explosion that it blew the hinge off but wouldn't make any noise. Bruce was a rather smart man. Pushing the lid off, I finally get to the floor. Everything's been covered up.
"This is to weird."
What the hell happened? Where's Bruce? Where's ANYBODY? The only thing that wasn't covered up were the costumes of Gotham's heroes. And more than just the Bat-Family. I pull off my mask and look around. "Computer? Activate."
~~
Helena walked through the massive home that was Wayne Manor. Her heels clicked on the marble floors as she flipped through the mail in her hand that had been left sitting on the kitchen counter by Daniels, the butler for the house now. She was still dressed from the office, a tight fitting gray dress that hugged her legs just above her knees with a matching jacket that had been shed when she’d come through the door.
“Welcome home, Miss.” Daniels said with a smile. “Dinner will be ready in an hour.”
“Thank you, Daniels. Is my son home?”
“I believe he’s up stairs in his room. Can I get you anything?”
“No thank you, I’ll get it myself.” She smiled at the man as she moved through the house and upstairs to her study, fixing herself a glass of scotch before sitting down at her desk. This was hardly the life that she’d pictured herself living twenty years ago but things change. She’d become a widow, a mother and a business woman and the last of a league of heroes that where no long dead. She sighed as she hit a key on her keyboard with plans on checking her email one last time before dinner. That would have been the plan if the security alert hadn’t popped up on her screen for the cave.
It startled her and took her a moment to react but when she did she was moving, gun in hand from the desk where she’d taken it. She waved Daniels back as she moved to the hidden doors that lead down into the huge cave under the house. As she came down the stairs she moved against the wall, gun drawn up at the ready until she saw Tim standing looking at the costumes hanging behind glass…. In a costume? She frowned but lifted her gun and took aim.
“Put your hands up above your head and turn around slowly or I will shoot you.”
~~
When he heard Helena's voice, it didn't sound like hers exactly. Oh, this wasn't good. But he'd do as she asked and lift his arms into the air. "Helena. It's Tim." saying as he turned around just as the huge computer monitor turned on, showing his face as clear as day to her. She was older, she didn't look bright and happy (Not that she ever did).
"It's really me."
There was nothing more he could say.
What else could he say? This was too weird, way too weird. She was a good shot, and he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to jump out of the way fast enough.
"What the hell happened? Gotham's in ruins."
~~
“Tim Drake is dead.” She answered in a calm cool voice that just seemed to radiate anger. At least some things hadn’t changed. She was still the same angry person though some of it had been cut out of her just out of time, being a mother and losing everyone else that she’d been friends with.
Her eyes glanced over at the computer before locking back on him. “Computer, verify intruder.”
“Intruder Verified, Tim Drake, Hero Classification, Robin.”
Helena paled instantly, swallowing. “How is that even possible?”
~~
"Fighting some guy named Warp. Needed a certain gem to power his suit, I stuck one of these on his chest piece" showing her the Robin-Rang "It exploded. I ended up here, or rather outside the jeweler's off 15th. Well, when it was a jewelers." moving over to the computer, he'd pull off the some more of the covers. "Computer." without even asking Helena, knowing she was going to be too stunned to really want to talk. He needed information.
"Bring up the records on the villian named Warp." the computer acknowledged and would then start working. "What the hell happened, Helena? I know Gotham wasn't exactly the prettiest city. But it didn't look run down. Where is everyone? Where's Bruce?" asking as he glanced to the glass cases, specifically looking at Batman's.
~~
The computer was listening to him, responding to commands and she slowly lowered her gun, still held in a two handed grasp but at least pointed at the ground. She shook her head and clicked the safely on as she moved over to stand beside him at the computers to read the information that started to pull up. She crossed her arms, gun still in hand but at least she wasn’t aiming at him now.
“I remember him.” She shifted uncomfortably at his next question though. Guilt, pain, sadness all washed over her face before she looked away, toward the glass cases herself. “They’re all dead, almost twenty years now.” Her fingers rubbed at where her wedding band used to sit, she’d stopped wearing it years ago but she still felt the phantom weight of it.
“Deathstroke came back after Bruce and I married. He just started slaughtering everyone he came across associated to me.”
~~
"Interesting." saying with that Bruce like acknowledgement.
"Twenty years ago?" asking, tilting his head. Pursing his lips. "Looks like I need to go back to stop it." saying as he pulled up his profile information and printed it out. "I need wheels. If I go back, I can stop him from killing everybody." turning to face Helena as he lifted to place
"Or at least try."
The last time Tim and Slade had an encounter, Slade beat him to a pulp.
That was then, this is now. He was stronger, faster and better trained.
"And is the armory still in the same place?"
~~
“That’s what Bruce said too. He was dead a week later.” She frowned, the thought of it still bothered her. More so because she still felt responsible for it and she was still alive. She’d been nearly nine months pregnant at the time too. That and the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to end her life were the only reason she was still alive.
She set the gun down on the computer top, her hands resting on her hips. “It’s to dangerous to go back out there alone right now. I can call Fate and get the others together so we can figure out how to get you back to where you belong. You don’t need to stay in this hell hole.”
“There isn’t much left in the armory and all the vehicles have been shut down for years. It’ll take me a day to get one of the bikes up and running unless Damien has been down here messing with things he shouldn’t. Again.” She hesitated, looking down.
~~
"A day?" asking as he then shook his head.
Looking over the printout
"And you're son. Bruce's?"
Interesting.
Moving towards the small garage, he'd lift up one of the doors and a cycle would be there. Worked on, but not completed. "Well. He's got something good going on here." saying as he inspected what he was working on, following the work.
"No. Don't get them involved. I can take care of myself. I was trained by the best." Pulling his cape off, he'd lay it down and start to work on the motorcycle. "What about the other heroes? Wally? Conner?"
~~
“They haven’t been touched since I shut down cave down.” When he opened up the garage to find one of the bikes almost in working order. She growled under her breath, hands moving to rest on her hips. “Yes, he’s our son and just as stubborn as both of us.” Boy wasn’t that the truth.
“All the Flash family is gone. Jesse had a son but he’s under Fate’s tutelage. Conner is still alive but he’s powerless. He and Babs have two children and they live out at the Kent farm. We lost Superman and Supergirl and honestly no one knows what happened to them. Bruce, you, Dick, Stephanie, Oliver, Roy, all gone in a matter of days. Even some of the people who just helped us when we needed a few other hands went down. What was left of the Titans went underground, the Justice League just died off because all the members were either dead or fighting a losing battle.”
“You have a daughter here, by the way.”
~~
When she told him he had a daughter, it didn't phase him.
"I'm not a father." saying as he continued working on the bike "And I'm not her father. Her father died" placing the carburetor back into its place, he'd tweak some more of the engine. It took him less than he anticipated. Turning the bike on, it would roar to life. "So, The Bat-Family is dead." turning off the bike as he turned around and leaned back against it "It's not my place to know what happened. So far, you've told me more than I should know." saying as he pulled his cape back on, fastening it his shoulders.
"I'm sorry for what's happened Helena. And if your kid is anything like Bruce, or you." grabbing a helmet, he'd pull it on and slid the visor up as he looked squarely at her, and then past her "Then I suggest you tell him who his father was, and train him." if she looked behind her, she'd see Damien stepping out of the shadows near the bat-computer.
When she looked back, She'd see Tim already on his way out of the cave. The bike making little, if no noise.
Damien would cross his arms.
"Mother."
~~
“No, you’re not her father but if she finds out that you’re here you might come face to face with her and you need to be prepared for that.” She wasn’t expecting him to jump right in and pick up where someone left off. Quite the opposite, she wanted him to just lie low and not get into any kind of trouble so that he could survive to go back to his time. “You need to know what’s happened, Tim, so you can go back and make sure none of this happens again.” She stepped forward, putting a hand on the front of the bike. “You need to stay here, let me call Fate so we can figure out a way to help you. Going out there isn’t safe for anyone wearing a mask.”
If Tim hadn’t been wearing a helmet she would have smacked him for even suggesting that, more so when she realized that Damien was standing behind them. Her blue eyes glared hard at him with the fierce protection of a mother for her son. Tim pulled away from her and she rested her hands on her hips, a familiar action for Tim at least from the Helena he knew from back home. At least that much was the same.
“If you get into trouble I’ll have the systems turned on here. I can’t promise I can get someone to you but I can try. Please don’t stir anything up here. We have enough things to deal with.” Her jaw was tight as she turned away from Tim, letting him leave, her head was already pounding with what was promising to be a terrible headache.
“You’re not supposed to be down here.” She said pointedly toward Damien once Tim was out of hearing range. “Further more what have you been doing down here working on those bikes.” Her voice was angry and sharp though under it was no small amount of fear.
~~
Tim wasn't going out to play with the criminals, he was going to find a way home. Ignoring Helena's warnings, he'd gun it out of the cave as she then chewed out Damien. He simply stood there giving her this even, cool, look.
"I don't understand, Mother. You keep telling me that I am like my father. But everytime I do something remotely like him, You yell at me. Especially by coming down there." gesturing to the cave as he stared his mother down slowly taking steps towards her. "If you have noticed, Mother. The world needs heroes." taking a deep breath as he cross his arms.
"Richard, Stephanie, Roy, Oliver. They all started younger than me. But when I try? I get shunned." tilting his head "Why?"
~~
“The world can fine it’s heroes in other places.” She said with the same even tone as she wrapped a firm hand of control back around herself. Her hand still rested on her hips, it was a comfortable pose for her even as imposing as it could be.
“You are like your father and it’s because of that I don’t want you to end up like him. I lost my family and my husband to it, I won’t lose you too.” Her hands dropped to her sides as he came to stand in front of her, lifting one hand to touch his cheek lightly.
“It’s a different world now then it was back when they all started.”
~~
Licking his lips he took a deep breath as she touched his cheek with her cool hand. Bringing his hands up, he'd cup it in his, attempting to warm them. "We should go upstairs. You'll catch a cold down here." saying quietly as he started to lead her towards the stairs. "And, Mother. I know the world is different now. And that you don't want to lose me…but you only knew of father a short time before he passed. And from what you have told me. That he was targeted."
Taking a deep breath, it was hard to talk to her about this. But he would bow his head slightly… not wanting to upset her.
When they came up, the Butler would inform them dinner was ready.
"I'll go get Carmen and I promise not to go down again. I apologize for doing so." telling her as he kissed her cheek then turned to walk off to find Carmen and get things ready for dinner.
~~
Helena was a lucky mother. As much as Damien wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, as much as he wanted to be out there fighting to clean up the city again he wouldn’t go against her wishes. Was she wrong in wanting to keep him safe? Wasn’t it a mother’s job to keep her child safe? He was old enough to be on his own but he hadn’t left yet, he stayed with her and some part of that was her fault she knew.
Carmen and Damien had gone off to do their own things for the evening which wasn’t out of the ordinary and she’d ended up in her office for a few hours though it hadn’t lasted. By the time late night had hit she was walking back down a set of familiar stairs. She’d changed into a pair of knit yoga pants, a white t-shirt and matching jacket over the top. Her slippers were silent on the stone floors.
Dropping down into the chair at the large banks of computers she set her glass of scotch down on an empty spot. Her eyes stared at the line of uniforms behind glass. Sometimes it felt wrong that hers was hanging up with everyone else’s and other times fitting. Helena hadn’t died but Huntress had for better or worse.
The alcohol was heavy on her head and it wasn’t the first time she’d drank this much. Generally it was more than a few nights a week. It helped keep the nightmares at bay, helped her deal with everything. Tim showing up, his refusal to see the reason she laid out in front of him just pushed it that much more and by the time he returned, she was curled up in the large chair asleep.
~~
Tim would come down the ramp and park the motorcycle, throwing his helmet into the garage. He had been jumped by 3 Gangs, in an area where there were no gangs. It took him nearly 20 minutes to fend them off enough so that he could get away with his life. And to show for it, He had a nasty gash above his brow that would require stitches, but it didn't hurt as much as he was pissed off. This shouldn't have happened! He should have been there to prevent this. Why didn't Bruce's contingency plans go off?
Seeing Helena there sleeping in the chair, he wouldn't wake her. But he was pretty sure that she'd wake up when he started looking for the medical supplies. Unaware that they'd been moved up stairs to be part of the house. Blood would trickle down his face as he moved about, crashing things when he couldn't find anything.
Why had this happened?! HOW could it have happened.
"Helena. What the hell is going on?!" saying, his heart pumping, his adrenaline making him a bit of a hot head. It was something Bruce was trying to help him on, to calm down during the heat of battle and after.
~~
The sound of him banging drawers and cabnets open woke her and she startled as she pushed up out of the seat. It didn’t take but a few seconds to look at him and realize that he’d gotten into trouble, A LOT of trouble. An old familiar anger boiled up inside her as she stomped over to him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him around to face her.
Her hand snapped across his cheek, slick with blood, the fact of that not even bothering her. “I told you to stay out of trouble.” Didn’t he understand that he was just going to make things worse for the rest of them.
~~
When she slapped him, he'd stare into her cold eyes.
"Right. Because I just went out picking a fight. Did it ever occur to you that I got jumped?" asking "In a place where gangs never had been before?" glaring right back, his voice heavy with anger. The slap didn't do anything more than just enrage him further. But he wasn't going to hit her, he didn't hit a defenseless woman. And that's what he just saw. Pushing his way past her he'd move to the terminal and reach under it grabbing a first aid kit.
Apparently she didn't get them all.
"I was driving downtown on my back when I got jumped." telling her "3 Gangs, about 30-40 people were involved in the brawl." saying as he grabbed a mirror and started cleaning up his wound. It was going to need stitches and it was going to leave a hell of a wicked scar. Turning around as he pressed a pad up to his forehead.
"What the hell happened, Helena? And don't give me this bullshit about how Bruce died, and then other heroes died. What happened to the contingency plans? The back up plans? If you were married to him, then you should have known that there would have been a contingency. Incase Batman ever fell." telling her "How'd this happen, Helena? How'd the city become so corrupt?" moving to get close to her "How'd you let it happen?"
~~
“I told you not to go out. Fate is your best chance of getting home. It’s about the only decent power left in the world at this point and that’s because he knew to stay quiet when things got to the point that none of us could handle it anymore.”
He pushed past her and she glared needles at the back of his head. That sounded about right though, the gangs where bad in parts of town. “Twenty years changes things, nothing is going to be the same as you remember plus this is completely different from the sound of it.”
Her hands balled into fists and she paced in the cool dusk of the cave. He hit a nerve, a bad one. “Don’t you even BEGIN to come here and accuse me of letting things happen here you arrogant little brat. You think I wanted this to happen!” It was that point that he’d feel her foot crash into his back, as she lashed out at him. “The contingency’s couldn’t stand up to the League of Assassins that came after everyone. The few of us alive are lucky to be that at most. I had an infant son to take care of, he lost one parent before he was even born! What should I have done, orphaned him before he even knew who his parents were? You have NO right to point fingers and accuse here!”
~~
When he felt the boot to his back, he'd stumble a little forward, then turned around to face her. Before her foot could go down. He'd grab it, then push forward. Intending on knocking her down as he then placed his leg between her legs and his foot on the side of her hip as he kept her foot in his hands. Glaring down at her. "Why did the league come after everybody? Because Slade found out you were having a little fun without him?" asking as he pushed her leg. It would cause a little pain, but it was more of a way to incapacitate her.
He'd then let go of her stepping a few feet away watching her.
"Then why not gather other heroes?" asking as he watched her "Something could have been done to prevent this. " she was holding back on something. "So. If Slade was so hell bent on killing everybody. Why are you still alive?" shifting his cape to hide his body, he'd stand there against the blackness of the cave.
"Things got bad before, Helena. How'd they get out of hand now? A world without heroes?"
~~
He caught her leg and stepped forward to drop her on her back but she knew the move, Bruce had used it on her plenty of times when they’d spared together. Instead of trying to balance herself she leaned forward into him, grabbing his shoulders and throwing her weight into the leg, making him drop it, all the while jerking his shoulders down so she could bounce his face off her knee if he wasn’t careful.
“Because the bad guys got smart for once. THEY banded together and they did a damn good job of it. They hit is fast and they hit us hard.” She stepped back away from him, balling her hand in fist, feeling the sticky sensation of slow drying blood.
“Good question, you go find Slade and ask him.” She snapped, turning and heading for the stairs. “We can’t always save the world so go find your way home and get the fuck out of here.”
~~
He wasn't expecting this, when her knee connected, he'd stumble backwards watching her walk out as he threw three Robin-Rangs past her and sinking them into the stairs infront of her. "Where's Huntress, Helena? Why didn't she come back out? Too afraid?" asking. "And I'm not going anywhere. Look at you, Helena. You're angry, drinking. You have a son who obviously thinks the world of you."
Shaking his head as he walked to where his helmet had been thrown.
"Maybe you're willing to die and let this place fall apart on your watch. But I'm not."
~~
“Because I’m not leaving my son to be an orphan!” She reeled around on him, picking one of the rangs and hurling it back at him. “I have something to live for, not run out there and let myself get killed over something I can’t change. I’m forty nine years old, my days of being a hero are over. I paid my dues in blood over and over again.”
“You’re not willing to do this? This isn’t even your time, Tim. Grow a god damn brain and be something other than a comic relief side kick for once in your life before it’s to late and you’re laying dead in some ditch.”
~~
Moving to the side letting the rang whiz by him as she walked up the stairs watching her. There was more than one way to help. Oracle did it by becoming their eyes and ears while out in the field. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. It'd been a hard time adjusting to a future that had little hope. Tim had nowhere to go and he sure as hell wasn't going to let her run him out. Bruce would have kept a copy of all the information before he died. Maybe it was time to do the research and figure out what happened. He knew it wasn't all on Helena's shoulders, there were many fingers to point. But that wasn't the way things were going to happen if they were going to clean up the streets again. He was silent, but not moving. This was his place as much as hers.
She could see that the gash on his head was starting to bleed again. The adrenaline was slowly fading out of his system. The color of his skin was losing color rapidly as he started staggering placing his hand against his head before collapsing. This wasn't the way to do things.
~~
It had been a long time since anyone had questioned her for the things that had happened in the past. It brought up a lot of old memories, brought up old feelings and wounds that were better left where they had been. The dead weren’t mean to come back and ask questions.
He collapsed and she screamed in frustration and rage which brought Daniels down to check on her. He didn’t say anything, only helped her gather Tim up and take him upstairs. Between the two of them they cleaned him up and she stitched his brow up and bandaged it. If he was going to stay here he was going to have to learn that heroes weren’t the top of the food chain anymore. The status quo changed and alone there wasn’t much he or she could do about it.
Though, that didn't stop me from trying to punch him. I had to go on pure instinct that wouldn't allow him to detect my moving. Last thing I remember was throwing a Robin-Rang and it sunk into his forehead. There was a large overload in his suit, when it exploded I was thrown outside onto the snow filled street…
Wait, Snow?
Standing up I'd look around furrowing my brows. It wasn't supposed to snow for another few weeks. And if that. It was colder, the buildings looked like they were worn down by time.
"Weird." saying to myself. This wasn't right, something wasn't right.
"What the hell?" asking as I kneeled down picking up the paper.
"October 11th 2030 ….. Bruce hates time travel. Can't say I blame him."
It's a long trip back to the cave, but if I remember correctly. There's secret passages all over the city that Bruce put in to make it easier to get back to the cave in a hurry. Apparently there's been some upgrades. The tunnel I found was a little broken down, but it was still in good condition. Good enough for me to travel through. It took awhile, but eventually I end up in the entrance for one of the motorcycles. It's sealed shut.
"Damnit." muttering. Placing some small explosives on the hinges, I retreat further back into the tunnel. There'd be a soft pop and enough of an explosion that it blew the hinge off but wouldn't make any noise. Bruce was a rather smart man. Pushing the lid off, I finally get to the floor. Everything's been covered up.
"This is to weird."
What the hell happened? Where's Bruce? Where's ANYBODY? The only thing that wasn't covered up were the costumes of Gotham's heroes. And more than just the Bat-Family. I pull off my mask and look around. "Computer? Activate."
~~
Helena walked through the massive home that was Wayne Manor. Her heels clicked on the marble floors as she flipped through the mail in her hand that had been left sitting on the kitchen counter by Daniels, the butler for the house now. She was still dressed from the office, a tight fitting gray dress that hugged her legs just above her knees with a matching jacket that had been shed when she’d come through the door.
“Welcome home, Miss.” Daniels said with a smile. “Dinner will be ready in an hour.”
“Thank you, Daniels. Is my son home?”
“I believe he’s up stairs in his room. Can I get you anything?”
“No thank you, I’ll get it myself.” She smiled at the man as she moved through the house and upstairs to her study, fixing herself a glass of scotch before sitting down at her desk. This was hardly the life that she’d pictured herself living twenty years ago but things change. She’d become a widow, a mother and a business woman and the last of a league of heroes that where no long dead. She sighed as she hit a key on her keyboard with plans on checking her email one last time before dinner. That would have been the plan if the security alert hadn’t popped up on her screen for the cave.
It startled her and took her a moment to react but when she did she was moving, gun in hand from the desk where she’d taken it. She waved Daniels back as she moved to the hidden doors that lead down into the huge cave under the house. As she came down the stairs she moved against the wall, gun drawn up at the ready until she saw Tim standing looking at the costumes hanging behind glass…. In a costume? She frowned but lifted her gun and took aim.
“Put your hands up above your head and turn around slowly or I will shoot you.”
~~
When he heard Helena's voice, it didn't sound like hers exactly. Oh, this wasn't good. But he'd do as she asked and lift his arms into the air. "Helena. It's Tim." saying as he turned around just as the huge computer monitor turned on, showing his face as clear as day to her. She was older, she didn't look bright and happy (Not that she ever did).
"It's really me."
There was nothing more he could say.
What else could he say? This was too weird, way too weird. She was a good shot, and he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to jump out of the way fast enough.
"What the hell happened? Gotham's in ruins."
~~
“Tim Drake is dead.” She answered in a calm cool voice that just seemed to radiate anger. At least some things hadn’t changed. She was still the same angry person though some of it had been cut out of her just out of time, being a mother and losing everyone else that she’d been friends with.
Her eyes glanced over at the computer before locking back on him. “Computer, verify intruder.”
“Intruder Verified, Tim Drake, Hero Classification, Robin.”
Helena paled instantly, swallowing. “How is that even possible?”
~~
"Fighting some guy named Warp. Needed a certain gem to power his suit, I stuck one of these on his chest piece" showing her the Robin-Rang "It exploded. I ended up here, or rather outside the jeweler's off 15th. Well, when it was a jewelers." moving over to the computer, he'd pull off the some more of the covers. "Computer." without even asking Helena, knowing she was going to be too stunned to really want to talk. He needed information.
"Bring up the records on the villian named Warp." the computer acknowledged and would then start working. "What the hell happened, Helena? I know Gotham wasn't exactly the prettiest city. But it didn't look run down. Where is everyone? Where's Bruce?" asking as he glanced to the glass cases, specifically looking at Batman's.
~~
The computer was listening to him, responding to commands and she slowly lowered her gun, still held in a two handed grasp but at least pointed at the ground. She shook her head and clicked the safely on as she moved over to stand beside him at the computers to read the information that started to pull up. She crossed her arms, gun still in hand but at least she wasn’t aiming at him now.
“I remember him.” She shifted uncomfortably at his next question though. Guilt, pain, sadness all washed over her face before she looked away, toward the glass cases herself. “They’re all dead, almost twenty years now.” Her fingers rubbed at where her wedding band used to sit, she’d stopped wearing it years ago but she still felt the phantom weight of it.
“Deathstroke came back after Bruce and I married. He just started slaughtering everyone he came across associated to me.”
~~
"Interesting." saying with that Bruce like acknowledgement.
"Twenty years ago?" asking, tilting his head. Pursing his lips. "Looks like I need to go back to stop it." saying as he pulled up his profile information and printed it out. "I need wheels. If I go back, I can stop him from killing everybody." turning to face Helena as he lifted to place
"Or at least try."
The last time Tim and Slade had an encounter, Slade beat him to a pulp.
That was then, this is now. He was stronger, faster and better trained.
"And is the armory still in the same place?"
~~
“That’s what Bruce said too. He was dead a week later.” She frowned, the thought of it still bothered her. More so because she still felt responsible for it and she was still alive. She’d been nearly nine months pregnant at the time too. That and the fact that he couldn’t bring himself to end her life were the only reason she was still alive.
She set the gun down on the computer top, her hands resting on her hips. “It’s to dangerous to go back out there alone right now. I can call Fate and get the others together so we can figure out how to get you back to where you belong. You don’t need to stay in this hell hole.”
“There isn’t much left in the armory and all the vehicles have been shut down for years. It’ll take me a day to get one of the bikes up and running unless Damien has been down here messing with things he shouldn’t. Again.” She hesitated, looking down.
~~
"A day?" asking as he then shook his head.
Looking over the printout
"And you're son. Bruce's?"
Interesting.
Moving towards the small garage, he'd lift up one of the doors and a cycle would be there. Worked on, but not completed. "Well. He's got something good going on here." saying as he inspected what he was working on, following the work.
"No. Don't get them involved. I can take care of myself. I was trained by the best." Pulling his cape off, he'd lay it down and start to work on the motorcycle. "What about the other heroes? Wally? Conner?"
~~
“They haven’t been touched since I shut down cave down.” When he opened up the garage to find one of the bikes almost in working order. She growled under her breath, hands moving to rest on her hips. “Yes, he’s our son and just as stubborn as both of us.” Boy wasn’t that the truth.
“All the Flash family is gone. Jesse had a son but he’s under Fate’s tutelage. Conner is still alive but he’s powerless. He and Babs have two children and they live out at the Kent farm. We lost Superman and Supergirl and honestly no one knows what happened to them. Bruce, you, Dick, Stephanie, Oliver, Roy, all gone in a matter of days. Even some of the people who just helped us when we needed a few other hands went down. What was left of the Titans went underground, the Justice League just died off because all the members were either dead or fighting a losing battle.”
“You have a daughter here, by the way.”
~~
When she told him he had a daughter, it didn't phase him.
"I'm not a father." saying as he continued working on the bike "And I'm not her father. Her father died" placing the carburetor back into its place, he'd tweak some more of the engine. It took him less than he anticipated. Turning the bike on, it would roar to life. "So, The Bat-Family is dead." turning off the bike as he turned around and leaned back against it "It's not my place to know what happened. So far, you've told me more than I should know." saying as he pulled his cape back on, fastening it his shoulders.
"I'm sorry for what's happened Helena. And if your kid is anything like Bruce, or you." grabbing a helmet, he'd pull it on and slid the visor up as he looked squarely at her, and then past her "Then I suggest you tell him who his father was, and train him." if she looked behind her, she'd see Damien stepping out of the shadows near the bat-computer.
When she looked back, She'd see Tim already on his way out of the cave. The bike making little, if no noise.
Damien would cross his arms.
"Mother."
~~
“No, you’re not her father but if she finds out that you’re here you might come face to face with her and you need to be prepared for that.” She wasn’t expecting him to jump right in and pick up where someone left off. Quite the opposite, she wanted him to just lie low and not get into any kind of trouble so that he could survive to go back to his time. “You need to know what’s happened, Tim, so you can go back and make sure none of this happens again.” She stepped forward, putting a hand on the front of the bike. “You need to stay here, let me call Fate so we can figure out a way to help you. Going out there isn’t safe for anyone wearing a mask.”
If Tim hadn’t been wearing a helmet she would have smacked him for even suggesting that, more so when she realized that Damien was standing behind them. Her blue eyes glared hard at him with the fierce protection of a mother for her son. Tim pulled away from her and she rested her hands on her hips, a familiar action for Tim at least from the Helena he knew from back home. At least that much was the same.
“If you get into trouble I’ll have the systems turned on here. I can’t promise I can get someone to you but I can try. Please don’t stir anything up here. We have enough things to deal with.” Her jaw was tight as she turned away from Tim, letting him leave, her head was already pounding with what was promising to be a terrible headache.
“You’re not supposed to be down here.” She said pointedly toward Damien once Tim was out of hearing range. “Further more what have you been doing down here working on those bikes.” Her voice was angry and sharp though under it was no small amount of fear.
~~
Tim wasn't going out to play with the criminals, he was going to find a way home. Ignoring Helena's warnings, he'd gun it out of the cave as she then chewed out Damien. He simply stood there giving her this even, cool, look.
"I don't understand, Mother. You keep telling me that I am like my father. But everytime I do something remotely like him, You yell at me. Especially by coming down there." gesturing to the cave as he stared his mother down slowly taking steps towards her. "If you have noticed, Mother. The world needs heroes." taking a deep breath as he cross his arms.
"Richard, Stephanie, Roy, Oliver. They all started younger than me. But when I try? I get shunned." tilting his head "Why?"
~~
“The world can fine it’s heroes in other places.” She said with the same even tone as she wrapped a firm hand of control back around herself. Her hand still rested on her hips, it was a comfortable pose for her even as imposing as it could be.
“You are like your father and it’s because of that I don’t want you to end up like him. I lost my family and my husband to it, I won’t lose you too.” Her hands dropped to her sides as he came to stand in front of her, lifting one hand to touch his cheek lightly.
“It’s a different world now then it was back when they all started.”
~~
Licking his lips he took a deep breath as she touched his cheek with her cool hand. Bringing his hands up, he'd cup it in his, attempting to warm them. "We should go upstairs. You'll catch a cold down here." saying quietly as he started to lead her towards the stairs. "And, Mother. I know the world is different now. And that you don't want to lose me…but you only knew of father a short time before he passed. And from what you have told me. That he was targeted."
Taking a deep breath, it was hard to talk to her about this. But he would bow his head slightly… not wanting to upset her.
When they came up, the Butler would inform them dinner was ready.
"I'll go get Carmen and I promise not to go down again. I apologize for doing so." telling her as he kissed her cheek then turned to walk off to find Carmen and get things ready for dinner.
~~
Helena was a lucky mother. As much as Damien wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, as much as he wanted to be out there fighting to clean up the city again he wouldn’t go against her wishes. Was she wrong in wanting to keep him safe? Wasn’t it a mother’s job to keep her child safe? He was old enough to be on his own but he hadn’t left yet, he stayed with her and some part of that was her fault she knew.
Carmen and Damien had gone off to do their own things for the evening which wasn’t out of the ordinary and she’d ended up in her office for a few hours though it hadn’t lasted. By the time late night had hit she was walking back down a set of familiar stairs. She’d changed into a pair of knit yoga pants, a white t-shirt and matching jacket over the top. Her slippers were silent on the stone floors.
Dropping down into the chair at the large banks of computers she set her glass of scotch down on an empty spot. Her eyes stared at the line of uniforms behind glass. Sometimes it felt wrong that hers was hanging up with everyone else’s and other times fitting. Helena hadn’t died but Huntress had for better or worse.
The alcohol was heavy on her head and it wasn’t the first time she’d drank this much. Generally it was more than a few nights a week. It helped keep the nightmares at bay, helped her deal with everything. Tim showing up, his refusal to see the reason she laid out in front of him just pushed it that much more and by the time he returned, she was curled up in the large chair asleep.
~~
Tim would come down the ramp and park the motorcycle, throwing his helmet into the garage. He had been jumped by 3 Gangs, in an area where there were no gangs. It took him nearly 20 minutes to fend them off enough so that he could get away with his life. And to show for it, He had a nasty gash above his brow that would require stitches, but it didn't hurt as much as he was pissed off. This shouldn't have happened! He should have been there to prevent this. Why didn't Bruce's contingency plans go off?
Seeing Helena there sleeping in the chair, he wouldn't wake her. But he was pretty sure that she'd wake up when he started looking for the medical supplies. Unaware that they'd been moved up stairs to be part of the house. Blood would trickle down his face as he moved about, crashing things when he couldn't find anything.
Why had this happened?! HOW could it have happened.
"Helena. What the hell is going on?!" saying, his heart pumping, his adrenaline making him a bit of a hot head. It was something Bruce was trying to help him on, to calm down during the heat of battle and after.
~~
The sound of him banging drawers and cabnets open woke her and she startled as she pushed up out of the seat. It didn’t take but a few seconds to look at him and realize that he’d gotten into trouble, A LOT of trouble. An old familiar anger boiled up inside her as she stomped over to him, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him around to face her.
Her hand snapped across his cheek, slick with blood, the fact of that not even bothering her. “I told you to stay out of trouble.” Didn’t he understand that he was just going to make things worse for the rest of them.
~~
When she slapped him, he'd stare into her cold eyes.
"Right. Because I just went out picking a fight. Did it ever occur to you that I got jumped?" asking "In a place where gangs never had been before?" glaring right back, his voice heavy with anger. The slap didn't do anything more than just enrage him further. But he wasn't going to hit her, he didn't hit a defenseless woman. And that's what he just saw. Pushing his way past her he'd move to the terminal and reach under it grabbing a first aid kit.
Apparently she didn't get them all.
"I was driving downtown on my back when I got jumped." telling her "3 Gangs, about 30-40 people were involved in the brawl." saying as he grabbed a mirror and started cleaning up his wound. It was going to need stitches and it was going to leave a hell of a wicked scar. Turning around as he pressed a pad up to his forehead.
"What the hell happened, Helena? And don't give me this bullshit about how Bruce died, and then other heroes died. What happened to the contingency plans? The back up plans? If you were married to him, then you should have known that there would have been a contingency. Incase Batman ever fell." telling her "How'd this happen, Helena? How'd the city become so corrupt?" moving to get close to her "How'd you let it happen?"
~~
“I told you not to go out. Fate is your best chance of getting home. It’s about the only decent power left in the world at this point and that’s because he knew to stay quiet when things got to the point that none of us could handle it anymore.”
He pushed past her and she glared needles at the back of his head. That sounded about right though, the gangs where bad in parts of town. “Twenty years changes things, nothing is going to be the same as you remember plus this is completely different from the sound of it.”
Her hands balled into fists and she paced in the cool dusk of the cave. He hit a nerve, a bad one. “Don’t you even BEGIN to come here and accuse me of letting things happen here you arrogant little brat. You think I wanted this to happen!” It was that point that he’d feel her foot crash into his back, as she lashed out at him. “The contingency’s couldn’t stand up to the League of Assassins that came after everyone. The few of us alive are lucky to be that at most. I had an infant son to take care of, he lost one parent before he was even born! What should I have done, orphaned him before he even knew who his parents were? You have NO right to point fingers and accuse here!”
~~
When he felt the boot to his back, he'd stumble a little forward, then turned around to face her. Before her foot could go down. He'd grab it, then push forward. Intending on knocking her down as he then placed his leg between her legs and his foot on the side of her hip as he kept her foot in his hands. Glaring down at her. "Why did the league come after everybody? Because Slade found out you were having a little fun without him?" asking as he pushed her leg. It would cause a little pain, but it was more of a way to incapacitate her.
He'd then let go of her stepping a few feet away watching her.
"Then why not gather other heroes?" asking as he watched her "Something could have been done to prevent this. " she was holding back on something. "So. If Slade was so hell bent on killing everybody. Why are you still alive?" shifting his cape to hide his body, he'd stand there against the blackness of the cave.
"Things got bad before, Helena. How'd they get out of hand now? A world without heroes?"
~~
He caught her leg and stepped forward to drop her on her back but she knew the move, Bruce had used it on her plenty of times when they’d spared together. Instead of trying to balance herself she leaned forward into him, grabbing his shoulders and throwing her weight into the leg, making him drop it, all the while jerking his shoulders down so she could bounce his face off her knee if he wasn’t careful.
“Because the bad guys got smart for once. THEY banded together and they did a damn good job of it. They hit is fast and they hit us hard.” She stepped back away from him, balling her hand in fist, feeling the sticky sensation of slow drying blood.
“Good question, you go find Slade and ask him.” She snapped, turning and heading for the stairs. “We can’t always save the world so go find your way home and get the fuck out of here.”
~~
He wasn't expecting this, when her knee connected, he'd stumble backwards watching her walk out as he threw three Robin-Rangs past her and sinking them into the stairs infront of her. "Where's Huntress, Helena? Why didn't she come back out? Too afraid?" asking. "And I'm not going anywhere. Look at you, Helena. You're angry, drinking. You have a son who obviously thinks the world of you."
Shaking his head as he walked to where his helmet had been thrown.
"Maybe you're willing to die and let this place fall apart on your watch. But I'm not."
~~
“Because I’m not leaving my son to be an orphan!” She reeled around on him, picking one of the rangs and hurling it back at him. “I have something to live for, not run out there and let myself get killed over something I can’t change. I’m forty nine years old, my days of being a hero are over. I paid my dues in blood over and over again.”
“You’re not willing to do this? This isn’t even your time, Tim. Grow a god damn brain and be something other than a comic relief side kick for once in your life before it’s to late and you’re laying dead in some ditch.”
~~
Moving to the side letting the rang whiz by him as she walked up the stairs watching her. There was more than one way to help. Oracle did it by becoming their eyes and ears while out in the field. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. It'd been a hard time adjusting to a future that had little hope. Tim had nowhere to go and he sure as hell wasn't going to let her run him out. Bruce would have kept a copy of all the information before he died. Maybe it was time to do the research and figure out what happened. He knew it wasn't all on Helena's shoulders, there were many fingers to point. But that wasn't the way things were going to happen if they were going to clean up the streets again. He was silent, but not moving. This was his place as much as hers.
She could see that the gash on his head was starting to bleed again. The adrenaline was slowly fading out of his system. The color of his skin was losing color rapidly as he started staggering placing his hand against his head before collapsing. This wasn't the way to do things.
~~
It had been a long time since anyone had questioned her for the things that had happened in the past. It brought up a lot of old memories, brought up old feelings and wounds that were better left where they had been. The dead weren’t mean to come back and ask questions.
He collapsed and she screamed in frustration and rage which brought Daniels down to check on her. He didn’t say anything, only helped her gather Tim up and take him upstairs. Between the two of them they cleaned him up and she stitched his brow up and bandaged it. If he was going to stay here he was going to have to learn that heroes weren’t the top of the food chain anymore. The status quo changed and alone there wasn’t much he or she could do about it.