Title: Stolen Innocence
Author: EV
Rating: R
Pairing: Dinah/Helena
Spoilers: anything up to and including "Sin of the mother" is fair game
Disclaimer: The Birds of Prey TV series belongs to the WB and some other people
that aren't me.
Feedback: Please Please, I love it, love it, love it
Timeline: Slightly future fic, Dinah's on the verge of turning 18, she and
Helena have been actively partners in "the life" for a while now.
Summary: Meta-children are being kidnapped, but for what purpose? Oracle,
Huntress and the New Canary (Dinah) investigate.
Notes: This is my attempt at a little adventure/episodic like story. It's mostly
a chance to reflect upon what I think Dinah would become with time. Since I
usually do the short scene / one shot deals, it may be silly adventure, silly
villain, cheesy plot, but hey, I took a shot.
More notes: Reese has a minor part in this story and two things about him should
be noted. He and Helena have dated and broken it off as a couple, Reese knows
who Barbara is and knows she's Oracle. Of course the sup-plot here revolves
around a growing relationship between Helena and Dinah (yes I'm talking
romantic, if you don't like it don't read it).
Mucho Thanks to awesome Beta Jaycee
---------------------
It was pitch black inside the building, but she had been trained not to rely on
her eyes. Her minds' eye had grown in the last year and a half, so if this --
whoever he was -- thought he would get away with hiding in the dark, he was
sadly mistaken. She could feel his presence in the room except it seemed to
shoot around her and was hard to pin point.
"Canary," she heard a voice say in her ear. It was still odd to her herself
called that, even though it had been awhile. The voice that called her by her
inherited codename was Huntress. "I lost the guy in the car, what about you?"
If young Canary replied now, she might reveal herself. She had to remain silent.
She turned off her transceiver, it was too distracting. She had to keep her mind
clear and she couldn't do that with Huntress in her ear.
She felt his approach, swung back with her elbow and knocked the guy in the
face. She thought she heard something break as he fell backward. But it was only
a stun, the guy swung back at her. She dogged his swing, but then felt a sharp
pain in her side. She had been stabbed. It wasn't bad, but it gave him the
window he wanted. She heard the offenders footsteps flee as she clutched her
side. She turned her transceiver back on.
"Huntress, he's on his way out," she said. "I've been hurt."
"I'm coming to get you," she replied.
"No get him," Dinah replied back.
"She's right Huntress," Oracle said.
"Do not underestimate him."
"I don't see him," Huntress replied.
"Check it out and get back here as soon as you can," Oracle said. "Especially
you Canary. You need to take care of that injury."
-----------
The silence of the clocktower was broken as the girls arrived back in the
clocktower. Barbara heard the arguing take over the room as the elevator doors
opened. Dinah was holding the side where she had been stabbed.
"Why did you turn off your transceiver?!" Helena yelled
"You were distracting me."
"And minus my 'distraction' you got hurt anyway, didn't you?" Helena told her
"I know you aren't complaining about someone cutting off communications with
you," Barbara said with an amused grin.
"I couldn't concentrate with her constant chatter in my ear," Dinah said.
"Can you believe this girl?" Helena asked Barbara.
"Is it bad?" Barbara asked looking at the injury.
"I'll live," she told her. "Can you help me with this," Dinah asked Helena as
she pulled off her top and walking toward the first aid kit in the other room.
Helena shook her head in frustration but her eyes remained attach to the other
woman as she left the room.
"I remember when it was her eyes following you out of rooms," Barbara said.
"What are you talking about?" Helena replied defensively.
"Nothing."
Helena rolled her eyes and followed Dinah into the other room. She grabbed the
first aid kit and began pulling out what she needed. It was hard to avoid
staring at Dinah these days. She'd noticed the girl was more toned than ever,
the muscles that had developed along with ... other things. She pulled out the
antiseptic and began cleaning the girl's wound. Dinah hissed a little when the
burning liquid touched her. Her now bra-clad chest moved up and down as she did.
It was kind of -- sexy. 'Concentrate' Helena told herself.
"This is the job kid," Helena told her. She said that the first time Dinah had
gotten seriously hurt on the job. She'd been whimpering a lot more that day.
"Don't you think I know that by now," Dinah asked watching her bandage the
wound. "And I'll be 18 in a week, don't you think it's about time you stopped
calling me kid?!"
"What the fuck you snapping at me for? You're the one that nearly got yourself
killed being stupid."
Dinah stood up in front of her. Their faces were inches apart. "I knew what I
was doing. Just back off!"
Helena didn't know if she wanted to slap her or kiss her. Attitude always looked
kind of good on Dinah, but she decided pain was a better lesson for now. She
punched the younger woman's injured side.
"Yeah, sure, you knew exactly what you were doing," Helena told her.
Dinah grunted, grabbing her side for a moment. Then raised her hand to swing at
Helena. Helena was still faster than Dinah, she quickly caught the hand, pinned
it behind her back, and slammed her against a wall. This only made the pain in
her side throb more.
Helena moved in close to her ear. "Listen, I know you're all proud of yourself
right now, finally becoming the big bad crime fighter you wanted to be, but
don't forget who you're dealing with," She told her.
Helena let her go. Dinah sunk into a nearby chair.
"Listen ki--Dinah," Helena began. "There was a job to be done and I did it,
alone, but you don't have to do that. You have me. Don't forget that."
Dinah nodded.
--------------
"Did you two break anything this time?" Barbara asked as Helena walked back into
the room.
"I don't think so," Helena replied. "She's so hardheaded. What happened to that
innocent girl you took in?"
"You mean the one who lied, stole the car, and cut school to hang out in a meta
bar?" Barbara asked. Helena didn't reply. "She's just going through some more
growing pains right now. You were the same--"
"Don't tell me I was the same way at her age again, please."
Dinah came in the room looking apologetic.
"Listen Helena, I'm sorry. But it was pitch black in there. It was risky to talk
to you. I needed all my senses tuned in on the guy."
"And you still got hurt."
"How many times have you gotten hurt? It happens. At the time, it was the best
decision. I stand by it."
"Fine," Helena replied. "So we have any more clues on these guys," Helena said
turning to Barbara.
"Actually a lot," Barbara told him. "Got something from Reese while you two were
on your way back, unofficially."
"Reese did something unofficial? Wow, A lot must have changed since we broke
up."
"He had a hard time with that Helena," Barbara said a sympathetically.
"Well I had a problem with the fact he didn't tell me Hawke was his father."
"Helena, Reese not his father," Dinah said. "I mean, I didn't think you two made
a good match anyway, but I don't hate Reese for what his father did. Was it
right when my mom took out her issues with Catwoman on you?"
"That wasn't the same thing. His father nearly killed you."
"Ladies, Can we stop talking about the past and get back to the present?"
Barbara asked. She pulled up a picture of a young doctor on the computer. "I
think this is one of our guys, Adam Hanover. The other one, I believe, is Colin
Thompson."
"Why are they kidnapping metahuman children?" Dinah asked.
"Some years ago Adam Hanover was doing research for the government. Specifically
with kids who displayed mental abilities like yours, Dinah. They didn't call
them metahumans and most of the parents of these children were so scared of
their children's abilities that they easily gave them up. They shut down the
project for unknown reasons and most of the children were reunited with there
families. But one of these children was completely abandoned by his parents.
Adam got custody him."
"Colin? So what can this Colin do?" Dinah asked.
"It seems, at least from these records he has some limited mind control
abilities. But the only picture available is this one." Barbara pulled up a
picture of a six-year-old child. "I have reason to believe that Adam has hired
this boys abilities out to anyone willing to pay."
"Let me guess," Helena said. "Reese knew this because his dad used the guy
once."
Barbara didn't answer that question and continued. "It's possible he did this to
fund an independent project. And now he needs children, metahuman children."
"But Adam can't be looking for more kids like Colin. Some of the kids he's taken
have abilities not even mildly related to mental abilities like mine," Dinah
pointed out.
"So here's my big leap, my theory. This guy has survived by hiring out his
adopted son's abilities. Perhaps he sees the value of having children around
with other abilities. Or perhaps he's still interested in studying them, we
can't be sure."
"So he's stealing kids to either use them as test subjects or to train them to
be thugs for hire?" Dinah asked.
"I don't like either of those options," Helena said. "So now we have names and a
possible motivation, what about an address?"
"Still working on that," Barbara replied. "And while I do, why don't you get
some rest? I know you have a test tomorrow."
"Yeah, I do. But I can't rest yet, I got something to do," Dinah replied. "I got
to change."
Dinah headed toward her room. This time Helena realized her eyes were following
Dinah again and she broke them away.
"You're going to let her go out at this hour?" Helena questioned.
"I'm not her mother Helena. Besides, you use to say out later than this when you
were 17. And besides late-night sweeps have gone on later than this."
"That was work," Helena said.
Barbara laughed to herself. "Helena why don't you two just get it over with?"
"Get what over with?"
---------------
Dinah slipped through the door of the apartment building. It was cold inside and
she turned on the stove to warm the place up. Then walked over to a crib across
the room. Inside was a little baby girl, 6 months old with the faintest traces
of red hair.
"Bet it's going to be just like your mom's," Dinah said to the sleeping infant.
"She already looks just like her," a sleepy voice said from behind her.
"Mike," Dinah said shocked. She turned and faced a teenage boy with shoulder
length dark hair and brown eyes. "I thought you were sleep, I was just going to
put this away." She held up a shopping bag.
He took the bag and opened it. "Formula," he said. "Thanks."
"I knew you probably were getting low. Your checks barely cover the rent and the
babysitter."
"A single father does what he has to do," Mike said.
"It sucks, what she did. Just left her."
Mike shrugged. "I should have told her, before. I mean it's hard enough being a
teenage parent, but the idea that one day our baby could ... lets just say it
isn't a pleasant thought."
Dinah reached out and hugged the guy. "At least she has you, if, you know, she
is like us."
"Yeah, I just hope I'm enough."
"Listen, Formula isn't the only reason I'm here," Dinah said. She broke the hug
and went to the couch that doubled as Mike's bed and sat down. "I want you to
watch out for this guy, Adam Thompson and his son Colin. He's been taking
metahuman children."
Mike sat down beside her. "But we don't even know if Nikki is--"
"How often has a kid with at least one meta-human parent not been a metahuman
them self?"
"Not often"
"This guy has amazing powers of influence," Dinah told him.
"As hard as it is, I would never give up my--"
"I'm not talking about someone with fancy words Mike. He's a metahuman."
"Oh," Mike replied. "Just what I need. As if my life wasn't hard enough."
"Just be careful, okay," Dinah said touching his hand affectionately.
"I will," Mike said. "Thanks. I don't think I thank you enough."
"No problem," Dinah said. She gave him a reassuring kiss on the cheek then she
got up and left.
----------
Dinah felt a chill as she stepped outside. It was getting cold, so Dinah pulled
her coat around her. Then she realized the cold wasn't the only thing she felt
as she stepped out into the New Gotham streets.
"You following me now?" Dinah questioned.
"I was curious," Helena told her stepping into the light. "So who's your
boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" Dinah snapped.
"What's your problem kid? I'm just teasing you."
"I'm sorry, I'm just worried about Nikki."
"Who's Nikki?" Helena asked as the two of them began walking.
"A few months ago I met this guy Mike in Gibson's and I recognized him from
school. We kinda started hanging out. He had this girlfriend, Kelly. He wanted
to tell her that he was a metahuman, but he wasn't sure how she would react and
then she got pregnant. Of course, there was every chance the kid had metahuman
abilities too, so he told her. She freaked out, abandoned the kid and he's been
struggling to be a good dad ever since."
"His parents help?"
"His father's dead, his mom's in jail."
"And I thought my life was screwed up," Helena replied. "Must be hard on the kid
and his kid."
"At least she has a father that loves her and is willing to sacrifice everything
for her. It's a lot more than some of us had," Dinah stated. "You coming back to
the clocktower?" Dinah asked.
"Nah, I think I'm going to go home."
They said good-bye with a friendly hug and parted ways.
----------
Helena felt like she had walked into the Harry Potter movie as she came in that
evening. She saw Dinah staring hard at some dirty dishes in the sink. A rag
seemed to float in the air scrubbing at a plate. It was followed by another, and
then one more. One plate was moved into the dish drainer as another began to be
washed. Barbara was sitting at the table reading something.
"You're lazy," Helena said to Dinah.
"Shh, It's harder than it looks," Dinah told her.
"This is good training for her," Barbara said. "She's focusing in on several
things at once. It's not magic, it's work. If she lets herself get distracted
for a moment, that's it."
"Really," Helena said with a naughty smile. She leaned forward and blew in
Dinah's ear. Everything dropped. One plate hit the floor as the girl jumped. The
other plate fell back in the sink and water spilled all over the floor. Helena
laughed.
"I hate you," Dinah said punching Helena in the arm playfully.
"No you don't," Helena said dropping down beside Barbara at the table.
Barbara smiled to herself again. "I really wish you two would just get it over
with."
"Get what over with?" Helena and Dinah asked together.
Barbara looked from Helena to Dinah and shook her head.
"How's that going?" Helena said to Dinah nodding toward the injury of the day
before.
"It's healing," Dinah said. "Barbara has new information on the kidnappers. We
were just waiting for you."
"I just found out, Colin's parents are dead. The murders were never solved, but
it seems they were quite wealthy, right up there with the Wayne's and the
Luthors. Someone claimed the estate recently. You two should check the
property." Barbara wrote something down on a piece of scrap paper. "Here's the
address."
"Dinah's still injured," Helena pointed out. "Maybe I should go alone."
"I'm fine! God, it's just a cut, I'm healing. You've fought with much worse
injuries."
"You're not me," Helena told her.
"Of course, I'm just a little girl, I'm weaker than you, so I should stay home
and watch TV. You never stop treating me like a little kid."
Helena rolled her eyes and grunted in frustration. "That has nothing to do with
it."
"Dinah! Helena!" Barbara yelled. "Just go."
Helena got the address from Barbara. They continued to argue on their way out
the door.
----------
"Come on Nikki, stop crying," Mike said bouncing the wailing infant as he stood
on the bus stop. He had just got off from work and picked up the baby from her
baby sitter. He still hadn't figured out how he was going to make this month
rent considering he owed the babysitter a double payment. She let him off last
month because Nikki got sick and needed medicine.
"Must be hard," a man in a business suit said lowering his newspaper.
Mike met the ice-blue eyes of a man in his late twenties. He was dressed well,
Mike could tell the suit and coat he wore was expensive.
"I get along," Mike said.
"It's hard enough being an orphan who became the single teenage father to a
little girl," the man said reaching out to touch the baby. "But to know in a
couple years you may have to deal with teaching a child to control and
understand there metahuman abilities must make it much more complicated."
The man leaned forward and whispered in the baby's ear while touching her. It
made Mike nervous, the man made him uncomfortable in general. But Nikki stopped
crying.
"How do you know so much about me?"
"That's not important, what is important is I could help you Mike. I'm starting
a school, a private, exclusive school, where it will be safe for metahuman
children to live and share their lives and their gifts. They won't have to hide
or pretend they are normal. And you my boy, all your bills, your daughter's
lively hood would be taken care of. You'd never have to worry about anything
again. Of course there are certain people who wouldn't approve of such a school.
So we must not talk about it. That's why I take it upon myself to find those who
need my help personally. Consider this offer. Here's my number." The man
presented a card.
"Colin Thompson," Mike said reading.
"Look at me," the man said.
Mike looked up and met the man's eyes. "You must tell no one."
"I will tell no one," Mike repeated.
----------
Huntress turned off the car a mile away from the property they were going to
look into.
"You can park closer than this," the young Canary said.
"What you want to go right up to the front door, ask for a tour?"
"I'm just saying its dark," Dinah pointed out.
"Ladies," Oracle chimed in both there ears.
"Amateur," Huntress mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing, lets go," Huntress said, getting out the car.
The two slowly approached the mansion cautiously. The place certainly looked
lived in. There was a car out front and a young man standing guard. As they got
closer, they heard a car approaching and ducked behind some shrubbery.
"Mike," Canary suddenly said as teenager carrying an infant emerged from the
car. He reached the front gate and pushed a buzzer. A man in a white suit
emerged from the mansion and greeted him at the gate.
"I'm so glad you decided to join us," the man said. As the boy came in the man
smiled to himself. "As if there were any other choice."
"We got to stop him," Canary said moving forward.
"Don't be stupid," Huntress said grabbing her arm and pulling her back.
"But I can't let him have Mike and Nikki."
"Huntress is right, revealing yourself now won't do any good," Oracle entered.
"Don't blow it now."
"We can save your boyfriend and his kid later."
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Whatever, the point is we have even more of a reason to believe this is the
place. Now let's see if there's a back way."
The two women traveled around the property, surveying the area. Cameras and
guards were all over the place.
"I think our best bet it to pick a weak spot and take out one of the guards.
That's the only way we're going to find out what's going on here."
Huntress spotted a young man leaning against the gate. He looked around for
spying eyes and then lit a cigarette.
"Good as anyone," Huntress said to the young Canary. She walked up to the guy,
catching him unaware. Her hands came though the metal bars of the fence. The
cigarette fell from his mouth as she caught him in a sleeper hold until he
passed out. Canary used a bird-a-rang to knock the nearest cameras off line.
Huntress helped Canary over the fence and then joined her.
"So far so good," Canary said.
"You know what that means," Huntress replied.
"It can only get worse."
Luckily, the property had more than enough shrubbery to provide cover. They made
there way to what seemed to be the pool house and slipped inside. While Huntress
was looking to see how many men stood between them and the main house, Canary
noticed what seemed to be a textbook on the floor. She picked it up and opened
it. At first it seemed to be a simple biology book, but in a few pages she
realized the text was directed at something else.
"Hele-- I mean Huntress," Canary said.
"What?"
"Look at this."
"It's a kid's school book," she said glancing at it.
"Yes it is and I think we're in the school."
"What?"
"This book, it's all about how Metahumans are superior. How regular humans don't
have the capacity to understand us. How we're the next stage in human evolution
and the non-metas need to be wiped from our race, that there time is over."
"I guess this is worse than we thought," Oracle chimed in.
"It's clear," Huntress said peaking out the window.
The girls exited the pool house and made there way toward the main house. They
had to knock out another guard before slipping inside a side door. The door led
to the kitchen, which was empty at the time. The sound of footsteps were heard
soon enough and they slipped up a set of nearby steps, one watching up, the
other watching down for anyone who might approach. At the top of a staircase it
was silent, but there was a man checking bedrooms. He was with Mike who was
still carrying his infant daughter. They slipped into what looked like an
office. The girls cautiously crept down the hallway and peaked in the rooms.
There were about 10 children all under 10 years old in one large bedroom. A peak
in another room revealed half as many teenagers in a similar set up. There was a
room labeled potentials that had four babies currently and a partially filed
room of pre-teens and younger teenagers.
"I think he has a lot more than the 15 meta-children we knew about," Canary
whispered.
"I think we have the beginnings of some serious meta cult-worthy shit." Huntress
entered.
"How could he?" Canary said looking at the innocent faces sleeping in the beds.
"What are we going to do?" Huntress asked. "There's no way to get all these
children out without a disturbance."
"And I have a feeling many of them would resist you anyway," Oracle said in
there ear. "And we have no clue what kind of powers and training we're dealing
with, even if they are children. Under the wrong influence they could inflict
some real damage. Perhaps we could--"
"These children aren't going anywhere," a voice said to Huntress and Dinah,
causing Barbara to pause.
"Huntress, Canary?" Barbara said. "What's going on?"
"We got company," Canary said.
"Looking pretty good for a girl I took a good stab at yesterday," the young
teenager said.
"Get out of there," Barbara said.
"But the childr--" Canary began.
"You can't help anyone if--"
Canary didn't hear the rest; their visitor shot two electric shocks from his
hands. Both Huntress and Canary barely dodged the lash of these. They were on
the verge of counter attack when they felt two electric shocks to the back of
the neck doubled by and attack to the front by the attacker they could see. The
shocks continued, all over their body as there first and second attacker merged
on them. They passed out and there communication line with Oracle was dead.
----------
The ground was cold and hard where Helena laid. It was the only thing she was
aware of as she woke up. Then she saw the bars and knew she was in some type of
a cage.
"Shit," Huntress mumbled as she got to her feet. "Canary?" she said still half
aware of the need to still use codenames.
She saw the girl was still lying on the floor, unconscious. She ran to her side
and gently lifted her head.
"Dinah, Dinah," Huntress said shaking her. "You are not dead, speak to me."
Huntress laid the young woman's head in her lap and took her hand.
"Come on Dinah," she said rubbing her hand.
Suddenly it was like a shock wave went through her body. She could feel Dinah's
mind inside her own or was she in Dinah's mind. In any case, she felt like she
was in another place. It looked like the training room, but it wasn't. Dinah, or
at least a version of her that appeared in Helena's mind, was kneeling on the
floor. Helena approached her.
"You're alive," her mental self said to Dinah.
"I feel so drained," the Dinah in her mind replied. "I can't wake up."
"Yes you can. I did."
"I'm not as strong as you," Dinah lifted a hand that had been attached to her
side. There was blood on it. "See, I just get hurt. I just get in the way."
"What's wrong with you?"
"I'm not as strong you. I never will be, I'm just a silly little girl."
"I don't know what part of you this is Dinah, but let it go and open your
fucking eyes."
Suddenly Huntress was aware of herself again in the real world. The eyes of the
girl in her lap slowly came open. "Hel-- Huntress?"
"Yeah," she said with a relieved smile.
"Don't scare me like that again."
"I won't," the younger woman replied.
"Good you're awake," a voice said. "I thought maybe the boys had given you a
little to much of a shock." They both looked up into the coldest blue eyes
they'd ever seen. He had a young man on either side of him, neither older than
16 or so. But the odd thing was they were the same young man and both were the
ones who'd sent those electric shocks though her body. They noticed one of them
had a broken nose. Dinah now knew why she had been caught off guard; there were
two of them. "You don't even comprehend all the possibilities of your metahuman
gifts. To busy running around playing vigilante with this one. I could offer you
so much young Miss Redmond."
"How do you know my name?" Dinah said getting to her feet.
"Records from your school, before you ran away. I was ... disappointed to find
you had gone. You were such a sweet specimen. Almost as exceptional as these
boys here."
"What are they, clones?" Huntress asked.
"Natures clones, natures perfect clones, twins. Identical twins with identical
DNA down to the meta-gene. Believe me, science has tried in secret for years to
produce two specimens like this. They even tried to clone me--"
"We know what Adam Hanover did to you," Dinah said to him. "Adopted you only to
hire you out for jobs and--"
"Hah, Dr. Hanover was a fool. He had no idea what he was dealing with. He was a
puppet. Before I turned 12 I knew how to make him do anything I wanted." Colin
smiled slyly. "No one would listen to a kid, so I needed him. And now I don't."
Colin pulled a remote from his pocket, hit the button, and a metal door slid
open across from them. A very sickly man lay in a cell opposite them. He was old
and thin.
"Can't decide if I should kill him or let him die naturally. Eventually
controlling a man to the extent I controlled him eats away at the man inside.
Soon he didn't even know how to eat unless I told him. Which is why I don't
inflict as much control on my children. Only a little to open the door to the
truth."
"And what truth is that?" Huntress asked.
"That we are the future. That the time of the simple human has... passed." He
looked at his shriveled former doctor.
"These boys," he said touching their faces. "Were abandoned by there parents
because they were afraid. They made the boys ashamed of what they are and I made
them proud of it. These two are a miracle even among metahumans, yet there
parents and many others never appreciated it."
The twins smiled. The alarm on Colin's watch went off.
"Breakfast time," he said. "Awake the children my boys."
The two boys left.
"You're brainwashing innocent kids. Do you realize how sick that is?" Huntress
questioned.
"How sick is the world for the way they treat them?" Colin fired back.
"Screw the world. I'm damn happy with who I am. I don't need the world to say
it's okay. And I don't need you to validate me."
"Ditto" The younger woman said.
"Ditto? Perfectly explains the sidekick, a ditto, and a younger copycat. Don't
you understand Dinah, I could give you purpose beyond sidekick to this thug,"
Colin told Dinah. "You are the first one I have known as powerful myself. So
much untapped potential. You have no idea the things you could do. Yet you waste
your time with fancy gadgets, and costumes and fake names." He turned with a
disgusting look on his face and stared at Helena. "And her. She should be
working for you, not the other way around. My boys, they were meant to fight the
way they do. Meant to be foot soldiers. But I need someone suitable to lead.
Someone with power here..." Colin pointed to his head.
"No thanks," Dinah said meeting his eyes. "I'm taken."
"I think your smarter that that, but if your not--" He smiled. It sent chills up
Dinah's spine. "Well I can't miss morning lessons, we'll continue this later."
Colin turned and went upstairs.
"He knows who I am," Dinah sighed. "What are we going to do?"
"Get out of here," Huntress told her. "Communication with Oracle is obviously
dead, so we're on our own."
"What about the kids?"
"We can't do the kids any good until we save ourselves."
"He was trying to get in my mind," Dinah told her. "It was familiar."
"What do you mean familiar? You know this guy?"
"Maybe. Once I was playing on the playground. Maybe I was about eight. It was
right after my foster parents dragged me to this doctor and that was the first
time I went into 'I didn't see anything' denial. I said I made it all up. They
let me playground when I got home and while I was out there it was like someone
speaking from inside me, asking me to come to them. I was so afraid I ran in the
house that second. I think he wanted me to hear it, but he didn't expect me to
really hear it."
"You're saying this guy may have come to you before."
"I could be one of those kids upstairs."
"Okay, I guess you're ability to resist the call can be explained by your
abilities being similar, I guess. But why didn't he have me kissing his ass."
"Well, like Barbara said, it isn't magic, its work. He still has to get at a
reason already inside you to manipulate you. Someone like Mike, always at the
end of his rope, he can offer him food, shelter, everything for him and Nikki.
You he doesn't know enough about yet and he doesn't consider it worth the effort
obviously."
"Unlike you," Huntress replied. "He looked like he was ready to ask you to marry
him," Helena said annoyed. "Maybe we can use that, could you fool him?"
"I doubt it. I think he would know deception."
"Then it's back to trying to find a way out of here."
Dinah surveyed the room for any tool that she could use to her advantage. The
room was bare and the lock was obviously powered by that remote Colin carried.
Huntress tested every bar for a lose one or weak one.
"He keeps a tight ship," Huntress said.
Suddenly a hole opened in the wall beside Huntress. She didn't see it. A round
tube came out. Dinah was on the other side of the cell and a wall emerged from
the back wall, separating them.
"Helena!" Dinah called.
"What the--?" Huntress began.
No other words were spoken as gas began to leak into Helena's side of the cell.
----------
Meanwhile...
Barbara and Detective Reese approached the property. She had contacted him after
it was clear she'd lost communication with both Huntress and Canary.
"You have no idea how many are in there?" Detective Reese asked. "Or if there
are any weapons."
"I think Huntress said a couple of the guards were carrying weapons. But of
course, there are several metahumans in there with abilities as dangerous as any
weapon. There's Colin Thompson and Adam Hanover, who isn't a meta human, the guy
that attacked them and a handful of children from teenagers to infants. I know
for a fact there's a 15 year old in there that can run at super speed, there's a
nine year old who can blow fire, an eleven year old who can blow a wind strong
enough to destroy a house, a 13 year old who can walk through walls--"
"What?"
"And these are just the kids I know about. With the brainwashing... I just don't
know how big of a threat they are."
"So if I call for help I could end up killing a lot of innocent kids."
"Or end up getting killed by a bunch of brainwashed kids."
"Any ideas?"
----------
Huntress felt herself coming awake in another strange place. She was still
caged. She hated it; she wanted to snap the bars in half. But she wasn't the
incredible Hulk and she knew it. This time she was alone in her cage. But when
she stood up and turned around, she saw Dinah lay locked outside of it with a
funny looking computerized helmet on her head.
"This guy is straight out of the super villain handbook with this crap."
"Completely," Dinah replied. "He even gave me a choice. Put on the helmet or
watch him kill you."
"Enough of the chatter," Colin said entering the room. "It really is a waste.
You could have been my perfect mate. But as it stands, your DNA will have to be
enough."
"What are you talking about?"
"I thought maybe I was reading to much into that little moment in the cell when
she thought you were dead. But they way you looked at her when I threatened to
kill her if you didn't put on the helmet, what I felt from you." Colin sighed.
"Well let's just say it ruins all my plans. However, if I can not have my queen,
at least I can have my prince."
"What?"
"Your eggs. Your DNA and my DNA. I have my warriors, now I need my general an
heir to carry on after I am gone."
"Even with this thing on my head, do you think I'd let your 'DNA' and anywhere
near my...'DNA'"
"You need not say it with such disgust," Colin said. "I wouldn't think of
touching you, but I have some doctors who will."
Suddenly there was a loud bang on the metal doors. Colin opened them.
"Sir," one of the twins said running inside.
"What is it?"
"There's a woman at the door. She says she's selling something. Says she wishes
to speak to the man of the house."
"Get rid of her," Colin said turning away.
"She's kind of persistent, especially for a woman in a wheelchair."
"Fine, I'm coming."
Huntress and her young friend shared a knowing glance as Colin left the room
with the boy.
"You think?" Dinah questioned.
"I know," Huntress replied. "Don't say to much, I have a feeling even when we're
alone."
"We're not alone."
"I'm going to try something."
"What?"
"Well, this thing is suppose to block me from using my gifts on anything outside
of it. But I wonder... just give me a minute."
----------
Barbara saw the doors open again and this time a man came out. He was well
dressed and seemed sophisticated, but his eyes were so cold.
"Miss, I assure you whatever you're selling we don't need it."
Barbara caught sight of a little boy and girl peaking around the door.
"Well I see there are children in your home," she said.
Colin turned and shooed the children. "They are my foster children. They're home
schooled."
"Well perhaps then you'd be interested in the Phonics Fun Package."
"I assure you, all of my children are well educated."
"Surely they could--"
"Miss, I hate to be rude, but you're going to force me to take extreme measures
to remove you from the property."
"Actually, I think you're the one who should be removed from the property," a
female voice said behind him. "And put in jail."
Colin turned and a metal box smacked him in the face. He fell to the floor.
Dinah had obviously ripped the thing from the wall and thrown it across the
room. He looked up to see his former prisoners were holding each of the twins.
There hands bound so that there powers were useless.
"They're pretty good at sneaking up on people," Huntress told him. "But
otherwise pretty useless."
He started to get up when the woman in the wheelchair pulled two fighting sticks
out of nowhere and struck him down, keeping him grounded.
"How did you get out of the helmet?" Colin asked.
"Well it blocked me from using my powers on anything else, not on the helmet
itself."
"So you used your telekinesis to remove the helmet," Colin grinned. "Brilliant."
Children emerged all around him. From upstairs, downstairs, and other rooms.
Obviously drawn by the noise, somewhat. But Dinah got the feeling he was calling
them.
"No matter. My future is still here, all around you. You'll never get them to
leave."
"Dinah," Mike said as he came down the stairs. What are you doing to Sean and
Dean?"
"Where's Nikki?" Dinah asked him.
"In the Nursery, why?"
"We need to get out of here," Dinah told him.
"Mike wouldn't leave me now," Colin said.
"Mr. Thompson is helping us," Mike told her. "He's going to help me bring up
Nikki right. He knows so much."
"There's no reasoning with her. She was never your friend Mike," Colin said to
him. "She just pities you."
"That's not true Mike."
"Let the children go," Barbara said to him.
"They are mine."
"What will it take to get them free?" Dinah asked.
"I'll never let them go."
"Then I'll make you," Dinah said moving forward and pushing the twin she was
holding to the floor.
Dinah kneeled in front of him. She grabbed his clammy hand and held on tight.
She focused harder than she ever had on getting inside of his mind. It was no
easy task finding a place to blend her mind with his, but she found a way in.
She didn't recognize where she was at first. She knew she was inside now, on
that other plain where her mind could merge with others. As for the place her
mind chose, it seemed she was on the playground she was on the first time she
ever heard Colin's call. She was looking at a distance at Colin the man, but as
he came closer he sunk to the size of a 6-year-old boy.
"Colin?" Dinah questioned.
"Are you here to play?" the boy asked.
"No, I want to ask you to let the children go."
"The children don't want to go, they want to stay with me. You don't belong. I
don't share my mind with others," The boy said turning away. "They share their
mind with me."
"Don't you realize what you're doing isn't right?"
"I don't want to be alone anymore," Colin said. "Mommy and Daddy wouldn't touch
me, I scared them because I could make them do things. I didn't know what I was
doing most of the time, so I couldn't fix it when--" Boy Colin started to cry.
"When what?"
"I got mad at my uncle. I said I wish you were dead. I didn't know he was
suicidal, I didn't even know what that meant. I didn't want him to kill himself
and then they sent me away."
"I'm sorry that happened."
"I was happy with the Doctor when they gave me away. There were other kids like
me and then they took them away and I was all alone again. I just wanted a
family."
"We all do Colin, but you could have let the Doctor be your family."
"I didn't care about him, he didn't care about me. He just wanted to know how I
worked so I showed him, by--" Colin began to cry. "I was angry. I could make
them do anything, anything but really love me. After my uncle I should have
known better to watch my words."
"What are you saying?"
"I killed mommy and daddy."
The crying boy Colin wiped away his tears. Then man Colin turned back toward
her. "You happy now. Now you know. We aren't built for this world Dinah, we were
built to change it."
"What you're doing is wrong."
"No more wrong than what a thousand non-meta parents have done to
meta-children."
"Unfortunately, it's a fact of life that sometimes parents can be cruel to their
children. Sadly, it happens. People abandon children, abuse them, and it's not
exclusive to metas. Just like being a good person or not being one isn't
exclusive to metas or non-metas. Your logic here, the justifications you make
for it, they're not realistic. Many of these children have parents who do love
them, who accept that they're different, they deserve to go home to them."
"I just wanted to be loved like that," he said, his voice cracking into that of
a little boy.
As Dinah returned to reality Colin's hand slipped from hers. He curled up in a
ball and he was crying. The children and teenagers stood dumbfounded watching
him. Suddenly Reese appeared in the door.
"Gotham PD," he said showing his badge.
"What are you doing here?" Huntress asked.
Reese glanced at Barbara. "Back up," he replied.
The sound of sirens could be heard approaching.
"Thanks, Reese," Oracle replied.
"Just a day in the life of a superhero informant," he smiled. He turned to the
children. "I'm going to ask you all to please peacefully exit the premises. This
man is under arrest and can no longer provide you with care." He put the cuffs
on the man and walked him outside.
The children gathered and began to file out.
"Officer, my daughter," Mike said.
"I'll get her Mike," Dinah said touching his shoulder. "We'll meet up later."
He agreed and walked out the door.
"I'm going to head back," Barbara told them and went out the door.
"Well we're still alive." Huntress laughed. "And you still have your eggs."
They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then they went upstairs,
retrieved Nikki and slipped away from the prying eyes of law enforcement.
----------
Mike carried Nikki carefully over to the crib and laid her down. She'd gotten a
cold. She was just calming down after an emergency trip to the hospital seconds
after Mike got done with the cops and met up with Dinah. He'd just taken her
temperature and walked with her for a while. She seemed to be calm for now, but
Dinah could see the worry in his face, which is why she had stayed.
"It's not going to get any easier, is it?" Mike asked.
"Anything in life worth having takes a little effort."
"I love her so much, but sometimes I feel like I'm not enough for her."
"You're everything she needs, a parent who cares about her. You always figure
out how to get the other stuff."
"I don't know what I would do without you," Mike said walking up to her.
"You'd do what you have to do," she said with a smile. "You said it yourself.
You love her."
"Thank you again," Mike said taking her hands in his. "You just get more and
more amazing everyday."
He leaned forward to kiss her, she stepped back.
"Don't do that," she told him.
"Why?"
She got free of his hands and walked across the room.
"I don't feel that way about..."
"You have feelings for someone else?" he questioned.
Dinah didn't answer.
"Who is he?"
"I want us to stay friends."
"Okay," Mike said obviously too tired to argue as he fell on his couch. "You can
go, we're okay."
Dinah turned toward the door. She paused and turned back. "About the whole
rescue situation--"
"Your secrets safe with me."
"And we're okay?"
"Yeah," Mike yawned. "We're okay, if you promise to tell me about this guy of
yours at some point. I want permission to grill him, make sure he's good enough
for you."
"Why do you assume it's a guy?"
With that final comment, Dinah was out the door leaving Mike to debate that in
his head.
"Her friend, what's her name, of course," Mike smiled to himself.
----------
Helena entered the room just as Dinah was putting away the practice equipment.
Even though the word 'kid' slipped from her mouth all too often when talking to
Dinah, she no longer saw that kid in the alley. She watched her mature from that
kid in the alley into this woman, never expecting to become so attached. Yet,
today here they were.
"Hey," Helena said. "What were you doing?"
"Practicing my telekinesis. I'm pretty good at throwing things across the room,
knocking things over. Which was great a year ago, but you know I'm trying to get
a little more control to it."
"Like with the dishes."
Dinah nodded.
"That's good."
"You know, I never really thought about how important it is to refine my gifts.
I mean I work like hell to be able to throw a good punch, but I always sort of
took my metahuman gifts as a given, at there surface value." Dinah looked
directly at Helena. "But Colin's right, I never asked myself if there's more to
them. Maybe there's a lot more to it that I don't understand. If I am as
powerful as he says and he could destroy a man from the inside, maybe I can heal
them."
"What? How?"
"I taped into something deep in Colin. I mean usually all I do is skim what's on
the surface, but there were so many things he banished from the surface I had to
force myself deeper. It was voluntary. It was weird to see this little boy
inside of him, this little hurt boy. I was just flying by the seat of my pants.
I didn't know what the hell to say."
"Seem like you did pretty good to me."
"It was luck. I don't want it to be luck next time. My mind needs as much work
as my body, as my throwing arm, as anything. There's still so much I don't
understand about my gifts. All I've ever thought about is how to make myself a
better superhero, but I never really thought about using them for any good
otherwise. I do now and I want to refine my control of my gifts and not just
because of this life, but in my other life."
"Does little Dinah have a goal beyond the night time life of cleaning up Gotham
scum? I can't believe it. Can't wait to hear this."
Dinah smiled. "I think I'd make a pretty good psychiatrist or counselor. It
would give me a chance to study the mind and really develop my skills up here,"
Dinah pointed to her head.
"Actually, I think you'd be pretty good at that."
"Approval and a compliment, wow. I don't think I've had that in awhile. At least
not from you."
"You have to know you've become a little hard headed lately when it comes to our
work. I'm just trying to look out for you."
"I know that and it bothers me. It's just, sometimes I feel like all you'll ever
see is that helpless little girl."
"That's what you said when you brought me into your mind," Helena told her.
"That was real? Shit," Dinah cursed to herself. She inhaled before continuing.
"I think you know Helena, that for a long time now you've been my whole world.
That's why I train so hard. All I ever wanted to be was like you. I mean sure I
want to live up to my mom's name and all, but you were my first reason for
wanting this life. That's why I fight so hard to be independent. I don't want
you to worry about protecting me and the person we're trying to save. Or
protecting me when you should be worrying about the bad guy. I'm there to back
you up, not be your baggage."
"Dinah, first of all, at your worse you're more controlled than I ever was at
your age. I mean I'm just waiting for the day you outgrow me and the life.
Second, you can't stop me from worrying about you, no one can." Helena touched
her cheek gently. "I've tried, tried not to like you, tried to tell myself I
don't want you here, but I love you kid." Dinah started to speak and Helena put
a finger to her lips. "And don't get mad at me for saying that, I don't see you
as a kid. It's just like... a nickname."
"Did you just say you love me?" Dinah asked when Helena was finished.
"Yeah, I mean we're like family right."
"Is that all we are?"
It was both a question and a challenge as Helena's eyes remained locked on hers,
as her hand continued it's gentle caress. They had been pretending for months,
pretending that it wasn't happening, that they weren't happening. But the
pretending was over and they both knew it. There lips met each other and it
topped every fantasy Dinah had ever had about Helena. She always imagined Helena
different, the hard edges that had been her first impression of Helena were a
lasting impression on her fantasies even as she learned that there was a softer
side of the woman. But kissing her for real was like that m&m slogan, melts in
your mouth, not in your hand. Beyond the hard shell was the softer center;
delicious, sensual, exciting.
"Finally," a voice said behind them, breaking the kiss.
They both turned to see Barbara coming through the door. Barbara didn't hide the
pleased grin on her face, so there was no reason for either of them to feel
awkward about being caught.
"I guess you're happy now," Helena stated.
"Well it should make getting work done around here a whole lot easier."
"I doubt it, you know how this one is," Dinah teased.
"Me?!" Helena said in mock shock.
"Alright, Alright," Barbara interrupted.
"Anyway, I got some studying to do," Dinah said. She turned to Helena. "See you
later."
"Sooner than you think"
Helena and Dinah shared a quick kiss and then the younger woman left. Helena
watched the door clothes behind her.
"You really don't mind?" Helena asked. "I mean, because, well...you know."
"I've seen it happening, watched it happen, after awhile I just knew."
"Well I wish you had clued me in. How did you know?"
"She was the one thing you didn't want to care about that you couldn't help
caring about."
"What happened to that innocent girl I found in the alley?"
"She became exactly what she wanted to be."
"A superhero?"
"The one you love."
END
12-9-2002
