Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Birds of Prey. No copyright infringement is intended.

HARVEST

It's now almost midnight and I haven't seen one ounce of action tonight.

At this point I'd much rather be wasting my time catching on the sleep that my body so desperately needs, seeing that I've been pulling some late nights every night for the past week or so.

"Oracle?"

:: Go ahead, Huntress. ::

"This is stupid. I've been out here all night and there's absolutely nothing going on. My butt's starting to fall asleep."

I could hear Barbara sigh through the comm because if she had HER way I'd be out here all damn night.

:: Fine. Call it a night. ::

I couldn't help but smile, I love it when I get what I want. "Huntress out."

I jumped over to the adjacent rooftop, landing squarely on my feet. At that same moment, Barbara's voice came back over my comm.

:: Huntress? ::

That's so damn annoying when she does that - making me think that I'm off the hook and then she goes and changes her mind.

"What?" I couldn't mask the annoyance in the tone of my voice. To be honest, I didn't try very hard to.

:: I just got Intel on a body that's been found at the lumber yard. ::

"Are the police there now?"

:: No. I just got the info from an underground source. They said we should check it out before the police get to it. ::

Okay, now I was intrigued. Cases such as this in which the police are the last to know usually spell trouble. And hell...I love trouble.

"I'm on my way."

:: Dinah's going to meet you there. Oracle out. ::

Great. Another baby-sitting mission. Barbara knows I love those.

I race through the streets and try to envision what it is I'm going to find when I get there. There's got to be something unique about this poor stiff, or else the Intel wouldn't have made it to Barbara.

***

The lumber yard is a little more creepy at night than I had expected. The large machinery look rather menacing in the dark as the shadows play with their appearance. To think that some of the machines are downright deadly with all those sharp blades makes me shudder.

"Huntress!" Dinah calls out as she pulls up in the Hummer.

"Maybe you better wait out here while I check this out."

She climbs out of the Hummer and holds up a pair of transmission glasses. "Barbara wants to see what we see. I think it's safe to say that you wouldn't be caught dead wearing these so I'm going in with you."

I held myself back from commenting by taking a deep breath and letting it out slow and easy. "Fine."

We went into the building, cautious of the possibility that the killer could still be in there.

The place was hauntingly silent, except for the occasional noise of the machinery creaking just from the mere weight.

We scanned the entire first half of the building and made our way to the cutting area. That's when we found him.

From where we were standing all you could see were his legs. As we got closer you could smell the coppery odor of fresh blood. It looked like his top half was under one of the machines.

"Oracle, are you getting this?" Dinah asked as she turned on the glasses and sent the images to Barbara's computer.

:: Uploading them now. ::

We both waited for Barbara's reaction as the images revealed themselves to her.

:: Geezus. Is he pinned under there? ::

I knelt down to get a better look. "No. Looks like someone just stuffed him under there."

:: Pull him out. ::

Dinah looked at me and motioned towards the man's body. "Be my guest."

I snarled at her and grabbed the man's ankles, pulling him out from under the machine. "Holy shit!" I exclaimed at the same time Dinah gasped and covered her mouth at the sight. The man's eyes were wide open and staring straight ahead. The expression of shock and horror was eerily etched on his face. But worst of all...he had a hole in his chest and some of his organs had been ripped out.

"You seeing this shit?" I asked Barbara as I dropped the dead man's ankles and let them fall to the dusty floor.

:: What the hell?? :: Barbara asked with surprise. :: Dinah, zoom in on the wound. ::

She zoomed in and closed her eyes, swallowing back the nausea that was creeping up in her throat.

:: Looks like his liver was ripped out. Like something dove right into his body and yanked it out. Can you get samples? ::

Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out the small baggie of supplies. "I'll get what I can. Do you want us to bring him back for observation?"

:: No, we better not. ::

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Dinah announced as she ran out of the room to toss her cookies.

:: She okay? ::

"She'll be fine. She's gutta learn to deal with this stuff, ya know."

:: Go easy on her, please. I remember you weren't all that comfortable with dead bodies when you first started either. ::

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I've got some tissue and blood samples."

:: Good enough. I'll see you back here. ::

"Be there in a few," I said as I tucked the samples into my pocket and stood up, looking at the man in an attempt to understand his story. Who would rip someone's liver out like that? Who could break through bone that easily to get at it in the first place?

I left the room and went outside and found Dinah leaning by the Hummer, hands on her knees.

"You want me to drive back?"

"Are you crazy? I don't want to get killed."

The girl had a mouth on her and there were just some times that I really wasn't in the mood for it. Tonight was one of those times.

"Get in car and shut the fuck up or I'll give you a hell ride you'll never forget, one that'll make you puke all night long."

I didn't wait for an answer, I just grabbed the keys from her hand and climbed behind the wheel.