Part 1
Dick first found me when I came to Bludhaven. The only reason I moved was to find out who my real dad was. I didn't know whom the man who was pretending to be my father was. Did he even know I wasn't his kid? I thought my real father might have been the man who had been my Uncle Guido. And the guy who I thought was my dad might actually be my real uncle. This was so damn confusing. I hated it.
I was sneaking around a meeting of some Mafia-crime bosses, when I first met Dick. I didn't know his real name, so I only referred to him as NightWing, just like everyone else. Dick was there to bust them. I was there for answers. I knew my false dad was involved with them. When they caught me snooping around inside, they quickly pulled me into the alley to scratch me off. NightWing showed up, knocked three huge guys out, and got me outta there in a matter of seconds. He kept asking me all these questions, about why I was there, and what I was doing. Once I told him, he seemed to completely understand.
Then he told me that my real father had been murdered. I already knew that. It was some other family. That's why I had been hiding with my parents for nearly three years. I still wanted to know who killed my false father, though. It's wasn't like I would miss him. I never even knew him. I wouldn't miss my fake father either. He was just evil. Luckily, I didn't see him much, because of his "business." Business for him usually meant shipping out stolen Mercedes. Or setting up someone to be killed. Or something small like paying off the Mayor. That ended when he was killed two months ago. But because he was dead, I'd never to find out about my real father. I would never find out about how this whole screwed up family mistake started.
I needed to find out who killed him. They would have to know something.
After weeks of researching Mafia-family ties, hospital records, and police records that I stole on-line, I determined who killed my real father.
It was my fake father. My uncle. He had set up for them to be killed. But I couldn't ask him; he had also been killed.
Every lead I found, so far, had been slammed in my face. Both my parents were dead. My uncle, who was actually my biological father, had been killed by my father, who was actually my uncle. This all still raised so many questions. Never mind the fact that I was going out of my mind, thinking about it. Why were they all killed? Well, I guess that was simple enough: they were in the Mafia. But who killed my real uncle, the man who I thought was my father for sixteen years? This answer would solve everything. Whoever killed my uncle, knew that he killed my real parents.
I made a list of all the people I knew of that had the power, motive, and knowledge to this. It was a short list.
The first person was pretty much the Mafia-Godfather of my family. I think he was my great-grandfather's brother. But in the end, I had to rule him out. He had died with my real father. The second person was Helena Bertinelli. She was a teacher, or something, in Gotham City. At first I was skeptical. I didn't think a teacher would try and kill her own father. Then I realized something. If I read my screwed up family tree correctly, she was either my cousin. Or possibly my sister. With all the crazy things I had learned about my extended family, I wasn't sure. But I was surprised. I thought everyone in my family was killed, years ago?!? I needed to meet her, even if she didn't kill my father or uncle. The third person was the doctor who had delivered both Helena, and me. I had to rule him out also, since he died of a heart attack, nearly a year before the entire Bertinelli family was murdered.
That left only one person.
I knew I had to meet this Helena, soon. I needed to see my new cousin. She was a teacher. She must hate the Mafia part of life, just like I did. She would know something about both our parents' murders.
I took a bus to Gotham, and found her apartment in the phonebook. I unlocked the door with some simple lock-picks. Everything was dark when I entered the room. Guessing that nobody was home, I looked around. I looked on her fridge, hoping I would see a picture of somebody I recognized. There wasn't crap. I checked around the rest of her apartment, checking all the pictures I could find. There weren't a whole lot, and I didn't see any family members that I knew of. I walked into her bedroom, looking for more photographs. I reached over and picked up one the was on her dresser. The man in it was vaguely familiar. He looked around 25, with black hair. I could tell I wasn't related to that guy. But I had definitely seen him somewhere.
"Great, that's gonna be bugging the hell out of me for weeks." I said out loud.
I found out, speaking out loud, when you're sneaking around in someone's apartment isn't a good idea. Somebody quite strong grabbed my from behind, by my shoulders, and slammed me into the wall. The frame of the picture broke, and the glass cut my hand. The broken frame, then fell to the floor.
"What are doing here." The voice yelled in my ear. It was a woman. I was a bit surprised.
"I'm looking for Helena Bertinelli," I grunted. "Are you her?"
The woman paused. It seemed like a minute had gone buy when she finally answered, "Yes."
"My name is Dylan," I said, still grunting. "Dylan Bertinelli. I think I'm your cousin."
I could feel her loosen her grip, slightly, but it was obvious she still wouldn't let me go.
"You're father, Guido, I don't think he's really your father. I think he's actually mine. And my father, who's really my uncle, is actually your father." I said, almost smiling at the overall confusion. "I think Guido was killed by your real father. I wanted to ask him about it, but somebody arranged for him to die."
I paused, waiting for her to say something. Anything.
"You killed him, didn't you?" I said, being pushed up into a wall. "He killed my real father, Guido. You found out it was him, so you arranged the hit on him."
"You came here to tell me something I already knew" she stated.
"So, you did kill him." I accused.
"I didn't say that." She plainly answered. She knew I was right. I knew it too.
"Then tell me you didn't kill your own father." I dared. She was silent. She could have lied, and denied it. I wasn't in a position to disagree with her easily.
But for some reason, she was honest.
"You're a smart kid." She said, bluntly.
She loosened her grip even more. I knew I could get out of her grasp, now. I didn't think she would harm me, but I still wasn't really sure about her. I jerked my arms quickly. She pushed forwards, trying to force me into the wall, again.
I surprised her by running up the wall, using my feet to propel myself. I pushed off, and she let go, or she would have dislocated her own shoulder. I landed a foot behind her, facing her back. I did two summersaults backwards, as she spun around, obviously surprised. I landed and flicked on the lights. I guess taking three years of karate can really help you sometimes.
Although I didn't know what she looked like, what I saw would never have come close to my wildest guess.
She looked around twenty-seven. Though it was hard to tell behind the mask. She had jet-black hair, just like everyone else in Gotham City. But her clothes scared the hell out of me. For one, she was wearing a long blue cape, that wrapped around her collar, with a golden cross. She had a row of pouches on her belt. On her belt also, was a yellow and black design. The thing was a very tight body suit. It was mostly black, with some blue and purple. I knew who she was. I was in a mob family. Everyone in the mob had to know who she was.
She was the Huntress. Partner to the Batman. And much more willing to kill. Especially when it came to mobsters.
She was also my cousin.
I shouldn't have run.
I was against the Mafia thing just as much as she was. But I had still been raised to fear and hate these vigilantes. I guess my instincts just kinda kicked in.
I spun around, and darted out of her apartment. I knew she couldn't come out as the Huntress, chasing some kid out of an apartment building. I ran to the main stairs. Instead of wasting my time running down the whole thing, I jumped from floor to floor, going straight down. I got to the bottom floor, in no time flat.
I had to lose her. I had to hide.
But how could I hide from someone called The Huntress?
Dick first found me when I came to Bludhaven. The only reason I moved was to find out who my real dad was. I didn't know whom the man who was pretending to be my father was. Did he even know I wasn't his kid? I thought my real father might have been the man who had been my Uncle Guido. And the guy who I thought was my dad might actually be my real uncle. This was so damn confusing. I hated it.
I was sneaking around a meeting of some Mafia-crime bosses, when I first met Dick. I didn't know his real name, so I only referred to him as NightWing, just like everyone else. Dick was there to bust them. I was there for answers. I knew my false dad was involved with them. When they caught me snooping around inside, they quickly pulled me into the alley to scratch me off. NightWing showed up, knocked three huge guys out, and got me outta there in a matter of seconds. He kept asking me all these questions, about why I was there, and what I was doing. Once I told him, he seemed to completely understand.
Then he told me that my real father had been murdered. I already knew that. It was some other family. That's why I had been hiding with my parents for nearly three years. I still wanted to know who killed my false father, though. It's wasn't like I would miss him. I never even knew him. I wouldn't miss my fake father either. He was just evil. Luckily, I didn't see him much, because of his "business." Business for him usually meant shipping out stolen Mercedes. Or setting up someone to be killed. Or something small like paying off the Mayor. That ended when he was killed two months ago. But because he was dead, I'd never to find out about my real father. I would never find out about how this whole screwed up family mistake started.
I needed to find out who killed him. They would have to know something.
After weeks of researching Mafia-family ties, hospital records, and police records that I stole on-line, I determined who killed my real father.
It was my fake father. My uncle. He had set up for them to be killed. But I couldn't ask him; he had also been killed.
Every lead I found, so far, had been slammed in my face. Both my parents were dead. My uncle, who was actually my biological father, had been killed by my father, who was actually my uncle. This all still raised so many questions. Never mind the fact that I was going out of my mind, thinking about it. Why were they all killed? Well, I guess that was simple enough: they were in the Mafia. But who killed my real uncle, the man who I thought was my father for sixteen years? This answer would solve everything. Whoever killed my uncle, knew that he killed my real parents.
I made a list of all the people I knew of that had the power, motive, and knowledge to this. It was a short list.
The first person was pretty much the Mafia-Godfather of my family. I think he was my great-grandfather's brother. But in the end, I had to rule him out. He had died with my real father. The second person was Helena Bertinelli. She was a teacher, or something, in Gotham City. At first I was skeptical. I didn't think a teacher would try and kill her own father. Then I realized something. If I read my screwed up family tree correctly, she was either my cousin. Or possibly my sister. With all the crazy things I had learned about my extended family, I wasn't sure. But I was surprised. I thought everyone in my family was killed, years ago?!? I needed to meet her, even if she didn't kill my father or uncle. The third person was the doctor who had delivered both Helena, and me. I had to rule him out also, since he died of a heart attack, nearly a year before the entire Bertinelli family was murdered.
That left only one person.
I knew I had to meet this Helena, soon. I needed to see my new cousin. She was a teacher. She must hate the Mafia part of life, just like I did. She would know something about both our parents' murders.
I took a bus to Gotham, and found her apartment in the phonebook. I unlocked the door with some simple lock-picks. Everything was dark when I entered the room. Guessing that nobody was home, I looked around. I looked on her fridge, hoping I would see a picture of somebody I recognized. There wasn't crap. I checked around the rest of her apartment, checking all the pictures I could find. There weren't a whole lot, and I didn't see any family members that I knew of. I walked into her bedroom, looking for more photographs. I reached over and picked up one the was on her dresser. The man in it was vaguely familiar. He looked around 25, with black hair. I could tell I wasn't related to that guy. But I had definitely seen him somewhere.
"Great, that's gonna be bugging the hell out of me for weeks." I said out loud.
I found out, speaking out loud, when you're sneaking around in someone's apartment isn't a good idea. Somebody quite strong grabbed my from behind, by my shoulders, and slammed me into the wall. The frame of the picture broke, and the glass cut my hand. The broken frame, then fell to the floor.
"What are doing here." The voice yelled in my ear. It was a woman. I was a bit surprised.
"I'm looking for Helena Bertinelli," I grunted. "Are you her?"
The woman paused. It seemed like a minute had gone buy when she finally answered, "Yes."
"My name is Dylan," I said, still grunting. "Dylan Bertinelli. I think I'm your cousin."
I could feel her loosen her grip, slightly, but it was obvious she still wouldn't let me go.
"You're father, Guido, I don't think he's really your father. I think he's actually mine. And my father, who's really my uncle, is actually your father." I said, almost smiling at the overall confusion. "I think Guido was killed by your real father. I wanted to ask him about it, but somebody arranged for him to die."
I paused, waiting for her to say something. Anything.
"You killed him, didn't you?" I said, being pushed up into a wall. "He killed my real father, Guido. You found out it was him, so you arranged the hit on him."
"You came here to tell me something I already knew" she stated.
"So, you did kill him." I accused.
"I didn't say that." She plainly answered. She knew I was right. I knew it too.
"Then tell me you didn't kill your own father." I dared. She was silent. She could have lied, and denied it. I wasn't in a position to disagree with her easily.
But for some reason, she was honest.
"You're a smart kid." She said, bluntly.
She loosened her grip even more. I knew I could get out of her grasp, now. I didn't think she would harm me, but I still wasn't really sure about her. I jerked my arms quickly. She pushed forwards, trying to force me into the wall, again.
I surprised her by running up the wall, using my feet to propel myself. I pushed off, and she let go, or she would have dislocated her own shoulder. I landed a foot behind her, facing her back. I did two summersaults backwards, as she spun around, obviously surprised. I landed and flicked on the lights. I guess taking three years of karate can really help you sometimes.
Although I didn't know what she looked like, what I saw would never have come close to my wildest guess.
She looked around twenty-seven. Though it was hard to tell behind the mask. She had jet-black hair, just like everyone else in Gotham City. But her clothes scared the hell out of me. For one, she was wearing a long blue cape, that wrapped around her collar, with a golden cross. She had a row of pouches on her belt. On her belt also, was a yellow and black design. The thing was a very tight body suit. It was mostly black, with some blue and purple. I knew who she was. I was in a mob family. Everyone in the mob had to know who she was.
She was the Huntress. Partner to the Batman. And much more willing to kill. Especially when it came to mobsters.
She was also my cousin.
I shouldn't have run.
I was against the Mafia thing just as much as she was. But I had still been raised to fear and hate these vigilantes. I guess my instincts just kinda kicked in.
I spun around, and darted out of her apartment. I knew she couldn't come out as the Huntress, chasing some kid out of an apartment building. I ran to the main stairs. Instead of wasting my time running down the whole thing, I jumped from floor to floor, going straight down. I got to the bottom floor, in no time flat.
I had to lose her. I had to hide.
But how could I hide from someone called The Huntress?