Helena sat at the computer, wearing her Huntress pants and boots, but a black T-shirt that had her father's Bat symbol against a yellow oval emblazed on the chest. She was trying to find anything on Jason Todd in the databases, wondering what his connection was to John.
And speak of the devil.
"Shouldn't you be at home?" John asked, stepping out of the elevator, "You know, sleeping?"
"Who's Jason Todd?" Helena asked straightaway.
John stopped dead in his tracks. How did she find out?
"He's the Red Hood," Helena continued, "And he knows all our secrets. But most of all, he knows you, so I'm going to ask again. Who is he?"
John hesitated briefly, "He was my greatest failure. Fifteen years ago, I came across him trying to steal the tires off the Tumbler. He was a streetwise orphan who stole to survive and I saw a potential in him. So I took him in and I trained him, to help give him purpose."
He stood there, expecting this to happen, especially after she continued to sit there at the computer, her back to him as she watched a recording of her dance with Jason at the fundraiser, a facial scanner matching him to his juvenile police record. This, along with Leslie's confession proved for John without a doubt that Jason was indeed alive and now operating as the Red Hood. Having originally been his big concern, now it was nothing compared to what John was about to face and he knew that not telling Helena or the others about Jason was going to kick him in the ass. And if he knew Helena well, she was going to do the kicking for him. Literally, unless he could plead his case first.
"He was an angry child, so I hoped to channel that anger against the criminals," John continued, hoping against hope, "He became the first Robin. But two years after I took him in, he was murdered by the Joker. At least, I thought he had been, but his death had been faked…to teach me a lesson. Now, Jason's back in Gotham, using everything I've taught him, everything I know to wage his own brand of war against crime. I want to help him, but after failing the first time, how I can help him a second time?"
"Why didn't you tell us about him?" Helena asked, standing up and facing him, "When the suit was stolen, the thief being able to bypass all our security, when Tim said that the Red Hood knew us, why didn't you say a thing about it? Do you realise what could have happened? Our lives are at stake, our identities revealed, our secrets sold to our enemies! We could've been in great danger, my little brother included, because you wanted to remain silent!"
Her voice was increasing with each word, righteous fury lacing them and John knew he was in deep trouble. He had kept a secret that could've destroyed him and a deep pang of regret went through him as he looked up Helena's furious face.
"I failed him. He was to be my burden alone, so I didn't want you to know about him. I even told Tim not to say a word. And after believing him to be dead, I couldn't bring myself to even entertain the thought that he could be alive," John answered with a sigh, "Now, I just don't know what to do."
"You lied to me, John. You've betrayed us," Helena said, "Jason is too far gone to save and you tried to protect him from us. He's out to kill us if necessary and he knows all about us, information that he can use against us. Who knows if he's told anyone, but heaven help him if he has. If you had spoken earlier, we could've taken him down and prevent our secrets from getting out, but it's too late for that."
"I'm sorry, Helena," John tried to apologise, "But you don't understand what I went through when he died. Thirteen years I have been wracked with guilt and now I learn Jason's actually alive, using everything I taught him against us."
"I can understand the guilt. I just don't understand the secrets or the betrayal. And I hate to say this, John, but there's no place for you here."
John's face fell and there was a hollow place in his chest when he heard those words. He had looked up to and admired the Batman, finding it an honour to take up his mantle, but now Bruce's daughter was kicking him out of the cave and John felt that he had no one to blame but himself. Still, he couldn't help the hurt he was feeling, but he knew better than to argue. A slow nod to accept her order and he started towards the exit, but then stopped and turned back, heading up to the computer, as Helena looked away from him, anger coursing through her at his deceit.
"I hope that this doesn't reflect badly on Tim and that you continue to have him fighting alongside you. He deserves it. I know I no longer do, but I will leave you with this."
He placed a small microchip onto the desk.
"I found it on the Talon's gauntlet when I was doing a background check," John said, "There may be information on there that could help. Consider it a last good thing I can do for you."
And then he was gone, taking the elevator up and disappearing from sight, as Helena let out a long, slow breath, releasing the anger from within, wondering if she had done the right thing, as she looked at the microchip briefly, before making her own way out of the cave.
-X-
Mercy let out a sigh as she entered her luxurious penthouse, worn out from the day. It had been a busy day as it was, made worse by half the Whisper Gang being arrested by police, the Red Hood and the Huntress still being alive and the fact that a shipping container full of drugs had been destroyed, while the other goods were seized by the police. To say that the Great White Shark was furious was an understatement. His empire was losing money and crumbling at the edges, fractures appearing thanks to the Red Hood's interfering, but it didn't stop the crime lord from announcing a ten million dollar bounty each for the heads of the Huntress and the Red Hood. Mercy just glad to be finally home, wanting a nice, long hot bath and then curl up on the couch reading a book with a glass of red wine. A chance to relax and unwind…
…Which went straight out the window when she saw the Red Hood in her comfy couch, his Raging Taurus aimed at her chest, the weapon set to firing all four barrels at once.
"You're finally home," the Red Hood said, "And here I thought I'd die from waiting."
"That's a shame," Mercy said coolly, falling into her cold persona as a defence mechanism, "What are you doing here? How'd you get in here? How did you find me?"
"One question at a time, sweetheart, and then I'll ask some. How did I find you? Easy. I asked around. This one guy, I had him swinging from the rooftops by his ankle. You should have seen the look of terror on his face. Heart-warming. Then I let him go when he told me where you live. Let's just say the police are going to be busy putting Humpty Dumpty back together again."
"You don't scare me," Mercy said.
"No, but your boss scares you. Every day, you wonder if he's going to turn on you suddenly. I've heard what he does to those who are useless in his eyes. So tell me, where is he?"
"Why should I tell you? You're no better than he is."
"I didn't want to do this, but you've given me no choice."
"What are you going to do?" Mercy asked, a hint of fear in her voice as she backed away from the rising Red Hood.
"Oh, you'll see."
-X-
"P-please don't hurt me," the terrified woman cried as she backed away against the wall, "L-let me go and I won't tell anyone, I p-promise!"
"And where would that leave me?" the man leered at her, brandishing a razor-sharp, serrated knife, "Now, hold still and don't scream. This won't hurt much. Actually, I hope you do scream. I really enjoy it-"
The hand holding the knife was seized, his arm being wrenched behind his back and the knife fell from his hand, as he was shoved face-first into the brick wall.
"I hope you scream," the Huntress growled, "I really enjoy it when you do."
"Damn you, you bitch," the man snarled.
He pushed back against her and spun around, swinging his meaty fist, but the Huntress backed away, stopping his punch with her arms and with a complex twist, she dislocated his arm, then shoved him away, a look of disgust on her face. The man snarled and tried to attack again, but the Huntress leapt at him, smashing her knee into his face, then slammed him to the ground with a punch, knocking him out cold. Dusting her hands, the Huntress gave a smile to the frightened woman and fired her grappling gun, leaving the alley as the woman decided to do the same, thankful that she had been saved.
Meanwhile, the Huntress stood on the building edge, making sure that the woman left the alley and could make her way home safely, before sitting down on the ledge with a sigh. The day had been rough with work, making sure that the plans went ahead without hassle, heavily training Stephanie, Tim and Damian in case they ever fought the Talons (she had refrained from telling Stephanie about the Red Hood's identity, not wanting to cause any tension between her and Tim, as well as cautioning her from trying to find the Red Hood), having lunch with Jesse to make it up to him for attacking him in order to escape, reflecting on her decision to kick John out of the cave (apparently, he hadn't told Tim about her decision, because Tim trained with her just fine) and now she was on patrol, trying to find either the Red Hood or the Great White Shark. Since the assassination attempt, she had seen nothing more from the Court of Owls, nor had she been able to find any proof that they existed. The chip that John had managed to take from the assassin's corpse was quite encrypted and a program was currently running on it, but they weren't sure how long it would take before it was cracked-
Helena's shoulder pad shattered and blood sprayed as she fell back against the roof, pain sweeping through her. Despite the bullet in her shoulder, she quickly pulled herself towards cover, as another gunshot just missed her leg. Once she was safely behind the chimney, Helena engaged the night-vision lenses, before scanning the rooftops for the sniper. Another gunshot had her ducking back behind the chimney and she decided to focus on her wound. The sniper was trying to find her, scoping out the rooftops with the thermal vision switched on. He just needed her to pop out again and a billion dollars would be his. Suddenly, the rifle was booted from his hands and the sniper found himself on the business end of a crossbow wielded by a very pissed off Huntress and he quickly raised his hands.
"Who sent you?" the Huntress demanded, "Was it the Great White Shark?"
"No, it was someone else," the sniper said.
The Huntress fired an arrow into his leg and he hit the deck in agony, clutching at his wound as the Huntress stepped on his leg, increasing pressure and shooting pain throughout his body, levelling the crossbow at his head.
"Next shot goes between your eyes," the Huntress said, "Again, who sent you?"
"Zucco!" the sniper screamed, "Tony Zucco! Senior!"
"Well, I guess I'll have to pay him a visit."
She then kicked the sniper in the face, rendering him unconscious.
-X-