Hunter's Moon
By Serena
A/N: So many thanks to all of you! :)
I'm sorry about this delay, but a loved one of mine passed away a couple days ago, and it's been very hard.
NOTE!: If you enjoy Hunter's Moon, check out my YA sci-fi mermaid novel OCEAN OF EMPTINESS is available on: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple iBookstore for $0.99. Please see my profile for direct links to these sites.
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Here's a short summary of OCEAN:
What do you get when you cross a runaway rich kid, a space mermaid, and a stuck-up teen commander with a bunch of pirates in space? ABSOLUTE CHAOS. Throw in a little hint of romance, a few starship battles, and a lot of yelling, and you've got yourself an intergalactic tale. Think Star Wars meets Little Mermaid meets Treasure Planet.
Also, if you'd like to be a fan of me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, links are on my profile as well, as well as a link to my Deviantart page if you'd like to commission me for artwork.
After so many years, so many regrets - and here we were, dressed as hookers, and meeting up in a shady, mob-owned club? Was the universe truly against me? I still couldn't believe it. I almost wanted to pinch myself to see if this was truly happening.
"Diana... You're - you're a prostitute?" Helena blurted out.
"What? No, I'm -" I hesitated, suddenly wondering what to tell her. I hadn't seen her in years. I honestly didn't know if I could trust her, who she answered to. I didn't know if she were really a prostitute, either, or under cover herself. If she were under cover, she would probably be working the same, or nearly the same angle as Bruce and I: trying to get at the mob. But I didn't know anything, so at this point, I had to keep quiet.
"I'm... it's hard to explain. What about you? Are you..." I trailed off.
Helena's lips pressed firmly together, but I saw that familiar sardonic half-smile. "Hard to explain," she echoed. She looked me over, as if seeing me for the first time. "Damn, Diana. You're still taller than me."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Just a little." I was at least five inches taller than she was. "Um... how are you?"
She laughed - that same, throaty laughter that I remembered. "We're both dressed like prostitutes, stuck in the middle of a mafia den, and you're asking me how I am? Is this where we catch up over coffee? Or a bottle of jack?"
"Bottle of jack sounds good," I admitted. "It's just... I haven't seen you in so long, Helena. You don't know how much I've missed you - how I wanted to explain why I had to leave like that."
"Yeah, well, we can catch up later, Di," she said, sneaking up towards the door. "Because we're in a bit of a mess, here. And I'm not sure what you're doing here, but I have my own mission to complete, so take this as a warning from an old friend - don't get in my way. Unless... if you're an undercover cop..." She eyed me warily.
"No, I'm not. I work as a stablehand."
She let out a bark of laughter. "Damn, girl, we really do need to catch up." She slipped past me and peered through the curtain at the stage. "But not right now. Sorry, Di, but I have things to take care of."
"You're still after him, aren't you. The man who murdered your parents."
She glanced back at me, her eyes hard. "We still going to fight about this? 'Cause now's not really the time."
"No, I'm not," I said, surprising her. "I've got my own things to take care of."
"Oh?"
"You haven't seen Maroni or Commissioner Loeb around, have you?" I came up beside her and pulled back the curtain a little more. I scanned the room for either of the two men, but still didn't see them. What I did see was a disguised Bruce sitting at a table with several other men, all of them laughing and staring at one of the scantily-clad waitresses. One of those men he was talking to was the Russian. And another... another was Mandragora. My eyes narrowed. I needed to talk to Bruce, but if Helena was here...
I saw Bruce scanning the area, undoubtedly looking for Loeb. I didn't see him, either. He was supposed to be here by now at least... Something wasn't right. I sensed Helena stiffening beside me.
"There he is," she said. "That fat, sick murderer." She lifted her dress up to her thigh and reached for what I thought was a gun; I grabbed her arm.
"No, you can't," I said impulsively. "There are too many people out there."
Helena's eyes narrowed. I took my hand off her. Helena suddenly smirked and pulled out a small crossbow, equipped with several small arrows.
"Oh, come on, Diana. I'm a little classier than that. Guns are for thugs and drug dealers. And scumbags like Mandragora and the other lowlives around here." She loaded the crossbow and glared out through the curtain. "I've been waiting for this moment for years, Diana..." She reached out through the curtain and aimed her bow at Mandragora. "I'm thrilled that you can be here with me."
I heard the determination in her voice... the desperation. I understood that. I understood it more after everything I'd been through on Themyscira, with Shiva, and now with Bruce, patrolling Gotham. I'd been naive back then... I hadn't truly understood her. Yes, I'd grown up in a rough neighborhood, but I still hadn't truly suffered loss. I knew it now. I felt it keenly.
I didn't want to stop her. I wanted to kill Mandragora just as much as she did. As the Amazonian fire arose in me, I inhaled deeply, smelled the fear, the drugs, the alcohol, the disgusting atmosphere around me... Bloodlust began to cloud my senses... It would be so easy to just slit the throats of every man here...
But then, a young girl serving drinks came up to the table, right in front of Mandragora. And right in front of Helena's target. I returned to my senses and pushed down Helena's arm.
"Don't," I warned. "Now's not the time, Helena."
Helena jerked back, her eyes glittering angrily. "I'll wait a few more seconds. I've waited this long..."
But it looked like she'd have to wait a little longer: I heard talking and laughing women only just outside the room. Before Helena could aim again, another woman entered the dressing room. She took off her hat and coat and halted when she saw us. She was tall, shapely, with short black hair and flashing black eyes. She reminded me of Helena, oddly enough. Behind her came a younger girl, looking about eighteen or nineteen, with frizzy hair tamed with a large headband.
"Selina," whined the younger girl, "I never got my slushie."
"I told you after your next shift," replied the taller woman sternly. Then, she noticed us, and she didn't look too friendly. "I don't remember either of you," she said in a low voice. "You new here?"
I nodded. Helena had already hidden her bow and looked extremely irritated.
The woman, Selina, raised an eyebrow. "I think the guys need another waitress out there. Either of you know how to work tables?"
This was my opportunity. "I'll go," I muttered. "You coming?" I glanced at Helena, who grit her teeth before stomping after me. As we slipped through the back hall to the main club area, I hissed to my old friend, "Listen, there will be a time, Helena, but it's not now. It's too dangerous, and there are too many people around."
"Collateral damage," she growled.
I yanked her to a halt. "You don't mean that."
"What if I do?"
I shook my head. "No. You don't mean it. Does that mean that you were collateral damage, Helena?"
Helena's lips parted; I don't think she ever expected me to say something so direct. But I wasn't finished.
"Hiding in that closet? Watching your parents die? Were you collateral damage, Helena?"
"Shut up," she snarled, her dark eyes glittering with tears. "Just shut the hell up. What do you know? You've had a precious little life. You have a mother. You got out of the Narrows. Don't you dare talk to me about death... about my parents. You have no right. And you have no right to tell me what to do."
I sucked in a breath. "Mom has cancer."
Helena halted; and even in the dim light, I saw her grow pale. "What?" she whispered. "Is she okay?"
"For now." I swallowed. "It's been rough. She had a relapse this week. She's been in the hospital for days. She's going to have another surgery soon."
"Oh, Diana..." Helena stepped forward and placed her hands on my upper arms. "I didn't know... How long?"
"A couple years now." I cleared my throat. "Helena, there's so much I have to tell you. But not here. Will you meet me outside in twenty minutes?"
Now she hesitated. "But Mandragora..."
"Will go down," I finished darkly. "But tonight's not the night. Trust me. I just have to finish something, and I'll meet you outside." I squeezed her arm and hurried off down the corridor, out to the main area. But I didn't notice the hard look on her face after I turned my back.
I grabbed a tray off a table and headed over to Bruce's table, combing a hand through my wig and ensuring my dress was in order. It only took a few seconds before most of the men at the table noticed me. I felt queasy but held it in. I was the freaking Princess of the Amazons. I could handle this.
"Evening, gentlemen," I said, smiling slowly at them. "Need refills on those drinks?"
"Think I need a little more than that, babe," said one of the men, leering at me.
I just smiled and took an empty glass. "Anyone else joining you boys tonight?" I asked, my voice low and throaty. I cast a quick glance at Bruce.
"No," Bruce said, his voice slightly sharp. "No one else is coming. Besides," he added, grinning at others around the table, "Saves more for us, right?"
All the men chuckled. But I ignored them, inwardly glowering. Bruce's message was clear: Loeb wasn't coming. He must've intercepted another of Loeb's texts. I held back a sigh of frustration, sorely tempted to hit a wall. But I didn't think the owners would take kindly to a fist-imprint in their establishment. Not that I cared...
"Give me another drink and some of those delicious oysters," purred the heavyset man at the far end of the table. The urge to hit a wall grew more difficult to avoid when I saw the source of the voice. Mandragora. The murderer of the parents of my oldest friend.
I forced a smile and went up to him, reached down for his glass -
His meaty, gigantic hand closed over my wrist. When I looked up, I found the man leering dangerously at me. His pale skin was covered in a sheen of sweat, and his stringy blond hair fell to the shoulders of his white suit. But his eyes... his eyes reminded me of Ares. I saw the same lust, the same darkness... He wanted to take me. He wanted to break me down...
I tried to pull away with normal strength, but he was far too powerful. I didn't want to use my Amazon strength - it would arouse suspicion. But I wasn't sure if it wasn't worth it... However, I sucked in a breath and said sweetly, "That'll be extra, darling." And I managed to extract myself out of his slippery, sweaty hold. Phew.
Mandragora's eyes hardened. "I think you make enough, sweetheart..."
But I just smiled again and retreated. "Not enough." And I backed away and sauntered off towards the exit. If Loeb wasn't coming, then there wasn't much we could do. Bruce, however, had found his way to the table of a powerful crime lord. This could be used to our advantage. I had to stall...
But as I glanced behind me, I heard Mandragora say, "Gentlemen, I believe that's my exit." And as I glanced back, I saw him rising... and heading right for me.
Hera... I'd probably end up killing him...
I walked faster, disappeared behind the curtain that would lead me back into the hall. I had to get away from him and ensured that he didn't touch me. I needed my suit, I -
Something happened that caused me to stop in my tracks. I looked down at myself in astonishment. I was now wearing my suit. I didn't know how - I'd only brought it, I hadn't been actually wearing it... but now... Was this another advantage of the suit that I had only just discovered?
Whatever it was, I liked it. Smirking, I whirled around and lurked in the shadows, waiting. Sure enough, Mandragora lumbered through the curtain, searching for me.
"Looking for someone?" I said in a low, silky voice.
Mandragora turned, smiling lasciviously and saw me in full outfit and armor - The smile on his face disappeared -
Enjoying the look of horror on his face, I burst forward and struck him with a vicious, full-powered Amazonian upper-cut. The giant man crashed backwards through the wall and soared all the way back into his table, sending two men tumbling to the floor with him. I heard screams, gasps; and the Russian and his lackeys jumped to their feet, pulling out their guns. Unafraid and frankly pissed off, I stormed right through the wrecked wall and halted a few feet inside the main club area.
A moment of eerie silence passed. Then came the shooting.
The fight didn't last long. Guns of all sizes fired at me from all directions. While it hadn't been my intent to storm the castle, so to speak, the situation was quickly growing out of control, and innocent people would get hurt if I weren't careful. Blocking the gunfire of Mandragora's men, I threw one of Bruce's smoke bombs and flew out of the severely damaged establishment. Hopefully Bruce had gotten some information during the attack. Early in the fight, I had seen him sneaking into the back of the establishment.
While I watched people fleeing down the street, I heard two cop cars wailing towards us. I didn't feel like dealing with the police at the moment and took off into the sky.
Maintain radio silence, Bruce had said.
Lousy idea.
But as I swooped around to the back, I caught sight of Helena, still in her hooker disguise, fighting off several men. Wow - she'd gotten good. But being the friend that I was, I had to intervene. As she knocked out one thug, she didn't see another man coming up behind her. That man didn't see me. As Helena whirled around, her eyes widened. The thug raised his crowbar, probably thinking that he was the reason for her fear.
Then, I crashed down onto him, knocking him out by smashing his head into the ground. Rising to my feet, I faced a slack-jawed Helena. She let out a small laugh, staring at me in astonishment. I wondered if she'd figure out it was me. Maybe she did know...
"Are you all right?" I finally asked in my lower, throatier Wonder Woman voice.
Helena scoffed, folded her arms over her chest. "Please. I had these guys taken care of. Thanks for the help, but I don't need some crazy woman covering for me." She turned on her heel and started to walk off.
No. Forget this. I knew Bruce wouldn't be pleased with me, but I'd known Helena too long. I owed her this.
"Screw it!" I growled, and suddenly grabbed her under her shoulders and took off into the air. As she let out a strangled gasp, I pulled her up so I could glare at her directly. "Now you are going to listen to me, Helena Bertinelli," I snapped. "For once in your life, shut up and let me explain."
"You're crazy!" she gasped out. "Put me down, you psycho!"
"Helena!" I shouted, frustrated. "It's me!"
Still gasping, she took another hard look at me... and paused, momentarily halting her struggle. "What the hell..."
I patiently waited for her to continue.
"Diana?" She let out a strangled whisper.
"Hi again," I said.
"You're flying," she gasped out. "You... you're flying!"
"Yes, I'm flying," I said. "I'm a long-lost Amazon princess with super-powers; my mom isn't my real mother; I was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and the god of the Underworld; and I can lift a Mac truck and throw it across Gotham City with one hand and not even break a sweat. I'm pretty much bulletproof; I have a lasso that makes people tell the truth; and I can communicate with animals. Oh, and I'm Wonder Woman, in case you've heard of me."
Helena just stared at me. I worried for a moment that she would think I was crazy; but then all of a sudden, she started laughing. Now I was even more worried.
"Of course," she laughed, "I'd be the one with an Amazon Princess as a friend. Story of my life."
I smiled back, relieved. It felt just like old times. "You have no idea, El." I flew us over to an adjoining building and alighted on the ground.
Helena pulled back, studied me with a more careful eye. I knew she was running it through, trying to figure out how what to do about this very strange situation. I knew that Bruce would kill me for telling her my secret identity. I lived with the man - it wouldn't be that hard to connect him to the Batman.
After a long pause, I began to question my rash decision. Helena had always played things close to the chest... been more of a rebel. She was clearly willing to kill. To be honest, I didn't have much of a problem with getting rid of one more mafia thug... But Bruce and I had a code to stick to. We had to draw a line, and killing was that line.
"Diana..." Helena said finally, "I think we need to catch up now."
I nodded. "Agreed," I said, hiding my sheer relief. "Look, you probably think I'm crazy... And I don't blame you if you do... But I want us to be friends again. You have no idea how hard it was for me to have to leave you like that."
Helena ran a hand through her messy hair. "So... how about that bottle of jack?"
While I normally didn't drink, I would this time.
"It's on me," I said.
Interlude: Jim Gordon
Not for the first time, Jim Gordon was regretting the fact that he'd let Flass drive the car. But Flass had insisted, and fortunately he hadn't had too many drinks that night. At least, not yet.
"Word is the Wonder Woman was spotted at Maroni's place," Flass rumbled. "Haven't really seen 'er myself yet.. Heard she's a looker. You catch a glimpse of her, Jimmy?"
Gordon didn't miss the look his partner was giving him. "No," he said. "I haven't."
"Rumor is she can fly. Whaddaya think of that, huh?"
"I think I'll believe it if I see it." He had seen it, but he still wasn't sure he believed it. People flying? Impossible.
Flass laughed. "And what about her partner? Y'know, the Batman. Heard he scares the crap outta the criminals. Believe in him?"
Gordon suddenly wished Batman would scare the crap out of his partner. Flass needed a good knock over the head. Just as dirty as the thugs he put in jail.
"Well, it's hard for criminals from two different territories telling the exact same story," Gordon said eventually. "Probably just some nut in a bat costume." While Gordon still didn't trust those two, he found that he was actually protecting them. Well, protecting himself for sure, distancing himself from them. But were they really so bad? Yes, they were vigilantes. Yes, they were working outside the law. But the work they'd done in the past few months alone...
And she could fly. The woman... she could really fly. He didn't know how, but he'd heard rumors of strange things happening... Some Superman in Metropolis. A woman with a sonic scream in Star City. People with special abilities. He'd heard some pretty strange stuff over the past couple years. But now, these strange occurrences were happening with alarming frequency, including the Wonder Woman. But he'd seen it with his own eyes. What was she? A... what did they call it... a meta-human?
He rubbed his temples. This was government business. He didn't need more psychos running around the city.
Flass's phone suddenly buzzed. Gordon glanced at his partner, who cast a quick look down at his phone with a small, pensive frown. As pensive as Flass could be, anyway...
"What's up?" Gordon asked, wondering if he should even bother asking.
Flass blinked, shrugged, and threw him a small smile, slipping his phone back into its case. "Just some crazy chick I met last night. Wants to meet up tonight."
"You gonna say yes?" Gordon couldn't help but be suspicious. There were crazy chicks out there, but none crazy enough to go out with Flass.
Flass shrugged again. "Dunno." He pulled the car into the GCPD parking garage and drove it up to the third level. He parked the car and opened the door, heaving himself out.
Gordon let out a sigh and opened the door to return to his own car, looking forward to the drive home - alone - to see his beloved pregnant wife and his baby girl. Although he was consumed with thoughts of home, he was still alert enough to notice the five men coming out of the shadows. Startled, Gordon looked over at his partner -
Something whacked him from behind; with a grunt, Gordon fell forward to the ground, his glasses tumbling off his face. Groaning, Gordon was only able to see fuzzy figures... But when he turned and glanced up, he saw his partner. "Flass?" he managed to get out.
But Flass had a hard smirk on his ugly face.
"We hear you've been talking with a fine lady," Flass said, taking a wooden bat from one of the surrounding men. Gordon knew they were all fellow cops. "Hear you've been sayin' a few things to Miss Wonder Woman."
"What?" groaned out Gordon. "You're... crazy..."
Flass kicked him in the stomach; Gordon fought back a whimper of pain.
"Don't play dumb, Jimmy-boy. The Wonder freak just took out Maroni's club. The Commish is concerned... that you're not playing on our side, Jimmy. The right side." Flass tapped the bat thoughtfully. "Consider this a warning. If you ain't with us... then you're sure as hell gonna wind up... a little more sore than you used to be."
They'd been right. The Batman and Wonder Woman... they were right. Loeb was working with the mafia. With Maroni.
But then the blows came... and Gordon's vision was stained with his own blood.
And soon enough, his vision completely died away into blackness.
Thoughts?
I was so happy to bring Helena back. She's such a great character. :)
Things are going to heat up in the next chapter. ;) So stay tuned...
Also be on the lookout for information about my new detective series Rose and Shadow, coming out soon.
- Serena
