AN: I just want to say thank you for all the alerts, favourites and reviews. I greatly appreciate it, so here's another chapter.

-X-

"So, Alberto, you're quite a hard man to arrest," Jesse said as he read the file, "In practically everything we've nabbed you for, the charges have been dropped. Until now."

He placed the skull-shaped belt buckle on the table and the recording played again, but Alberto didn't show any reaction to it at all.

"In this day and age, how can you prove that's me?" he asked finally.

"We have a number of witnesses who will say it's you," Jesse said, "Wasn't easy getting it out of them, but I guess something had them a little scared. They were sporting some nasty bruises. Know anything about that?"

Alberto muttered something, but Jesse didn't hear it. However, he did notice that the Mob leader's eyes filled with both fear and hatred, but which one was more dominant, he wasn't sure, it was such a mixture.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Jesse asked.

"Huntress. She called herself the Huntress," Alberto said, his voice increasing in anger, "Who the hell does she think she is? Trying to take over Batman's mantle? Idiot!"

"The Huntress? So, what you're telling me is that you, the most feared man in Gotham and about thirty of your men, all armed mind you, got taken down by some girl?"

Alberto glowered at him, but he just offered a smile of condolence.

"Thanks for your time."

-X-

"The Huntress?" Commissioner Redhorn snorted in amusement, "Whoever she is, she's gonna get herself killed. I want you to find her, Drysdale and bring her in."

"Might I remind you that she's the one who captured Alberto Falcone for us," Jesse said, "Not to mention Floyd Lawton, the most wanted assassin in the world."

"That may be, but she's a vigilante and I don't agree with it. Just when the city stops worshipping the last vigilante, out comes another one. Look, rookie, I don't need some little girl doing our jobs for us. We were doing them just fine before she came along. Bring her in."

"Yes, sir," Jesse said reluctantly.

For the first time in what felt like ages, he was feeling hope and the Huntress had given him that. With Alberto Falcone behind bars, now was the opportune time to break the Mob apart and clean up the streets, but instead, he had been tasked with arresting the very person who had given him his long-awaited breakthrough. If anything, Jesse wanted to find the Huntress and thank her. But if she was anything like Batman, how was he going to find her?

-X-

The elevator slowed to a stop and Helena entered the Batcave, heading for the main computer. She had just spent the last few hours helping Cassandra with her reading and writing, her heart breaking every time she saw the young girl struggle with a simple word. She couldn't believe that someone would just do that to a child, deny them the basic education they needed for life and it made her want to find out more about the child's past. But first, there was something else she needed to do. Taking a seat at the computer, Helena opened a webcam connection, making sure the line was secure and encrypted, then typed in the email address. She only had to wait a moment, but the person she saw was not who she was expecting and she wasn't exactly thrilled about it.

"Dad, Helena's on the computer," fourteen-year-old Damian called.

"What are you doing on here?" Helena demanded, "Shouldn't you be harassing Old Man Grant in the boxing ring? Perhaps he could knock some respect into you."

"Please, sister, I can run rings around him. Besides, I do have an internet life too."

"Wicked Angels dot com doesn't count. Better hope Mom doesn't find out."

"Like how you don't want Dad to find out about that pen pal guy? What was his name? Conner something?"

"How did you know about that?" Helena hissed in anger while her brother looked smug, "Breathe a single word and I swear I will kill you."

"Even on opposite sides of the world, you two still can't be nice to each other," Bruce said as he came into view and Damian slipped away, "Hello, Helena. How's Gotham?"

"It's not exactly what I was expecting, but then again, that was all based on your stories from like twenty, thirty years ago. How's Mom?"

"She's good, as always," Bruce replied, "What can you tell me about the company?"

"They've gone back into military weapons development; much like William Earle did when you were gone, although the profits from these projects are funnelled back into the city. I know you would want to shut down the weapons department if we took over and I don't disagree," Helena reported, "Or at the very least, minimalize production. Emmerich and I are still yet to go over the finer details of the deal, which could take a few days. He may also present a bit of a problem, but it's understandable."

"Very well. Keep on it. How's John and his family? Everything good there?"

"Yeah, everything's cool. He's a great guy. They all are. I can see why you chose him."

"And speaking of which, you are keeping out of trouble, right?" Bruce said, "You're not running around at night trying to be a Batgirl?"

"Of course not. Like I would do that," Helena lied, "Well, I gotta go now, Dad. Give Mom my love and I'll see you all when I get back."

"Take care of yourself, Helena."

The connection was broken and Helena let out a slow breath, wondering if her father believed her lie. If he wasn't in Gotham by morning, then she was safe for now. To help get her mind off the fact that she just outright lied to her father's face, Helena decided to try out her new costume and live up to her claim of being Gotham's new protector of the night. But before she left, she had the computer run a background check on Cassandra, hoping to find answers.

-X-

Jesse made his way down the street, hands in his jacket pockets as he wondered how he was going to find the Huntress. Commissioner Redhorn had put the word out to all officers that they were to find and bring her in. He didn't agree with the order at all, but it was his job and besides, it wasn't like there was anything else happening. With Alberto Falcone in custody, police were starting to make some leeway into the Mob, making arrests, although the majority of the Mob had gone into hiding once they learnt that their boss was behind bars.

Taking a casual look around the mostly deserted street, Jesse spotted two shifty men taking an interest in a lonely young woman when she walked past them and they followed after her. He quickly crossed the street, his hand going for his gun when they followed her down into an alley that she took to try and get home quicker. Usually never a good idea in Gotham, especially in this part of town, but given the type of people in this city, it was understandable to try and get home as quickly as possible. Reaching the alley, Jesse drew his flashlight and peered into the alley, hearing the woman beg to the men and just as he rounded the corner, prepared to confront the men, something struck the two men from above and he heard bone crack, with one man being hurled against the wall. Realising that he was witnessing the Huntress at work, Jesse rushed into the alley, but she fired a grapple gun, soaring back to the rooftops, leaving the two broken men and a quivering woman behind.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Jesse asked.

"Whoever she was, she saved my life," the woman cried.

"It's going to be okay. It's best you hurried home."

She nodded and left the alley, as Jesse called in the incident to headquarters, then looked to the rooftops. He caught a glimpse of hair and after slapping handcuffs onto the men, he left the alley, seeing the Huntress dart amongst the rooftops. He gave chase through the streets, at times losing sight of her, until she soared through the sky with the aid of her grapple gun, her cape spread around her like wings, catching his attention once more. Finally the chase came to an end when they reached the Grand Hall and Jesse hurried inside, gun drawn as he reached the Batman statue.

"You don't need that," came the Huntress' voice.

Jesse aimed his gun as she stepped out from behind the statue, her eyes obscured by the night-vision slides, further covering her identity from him.

"Why did you come here?" Jesse asked, "What do you want?"

"I simply seek to strike fear into those who prey on the fearful," the Huntress replied, "The city is falling back into corruption and I wish to save it. Much like he did," she finished, glancing up at the statue of her father.

"The police department has issued a warrant for your arrest. Vigilantism is still against the law here in Gotham. However, I'm not feeling the urge to arrest you."

"Lucky you. Normally, you wouldn't get a chance to arrest me, but since you're cute, I might make an exception."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Jesse said, allowing himself a small smirk, "I saw what you did with Alberto Falcone and his boys. We could use someone like you around here."

"I appreciate the thought, officer. I know that you're one of the few good men on the force, someone trustworthy. Perhaps together we could save this city. Think you could work alongside a vigilante or you're a little too above that?"

Jesse holstered his gun, "I don't disagree about the whole corruption thing and sometimes I feel like I'm the only one trying. I won't say no to a little outside help."

The Huntress gave him a small smile, then turned and walked off into the dark.

"So how do I contact you?" Jesse called after her.

There was no reply.

"Woman of mystery," he muttered, "This should be interesting."

-X-