NOTES: Someone pointed out that I had missed the part in the pilot about
why she was going to see Harley. They were correct. So I fixed that and
moved ahead. Hope y'all still dig it muchly.
********************
Reese leaned back against his overstuffed sofa and turned the television on. It blared to life with a beep that resembled the old NES games. A picture appeared a few seconds after the audio.
ESPN.
He put his black socked feet up on the coffee table and took a deep breath. It had been a long night already.
She was sound asleep in his bed, no longer snoring, hell, barely moving. The moment he had dropped her onto his sheets, she had grabbed for his pillow and curled it against it. He had cursed himself for not making his bed and then remembered that in her state, she probably didn't care.
This was all so bizarre. She had been fine earlier, chipper even. She had been playing her typical seduction game and she had been doing it well. Being in her presence was enough to get him humming. And then one look into the dead guys' face and she had gone pale white.
Like she had seen a ghost.
After that it had been lights out.
He had considered trying to find her but had known that his chances were slim and none. If she wanted to get lost, well then she got lost.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, she hadn't been trying to get lost. At least not in the city. If anything, she had been trying to get lost in herself. Trying to lose herself in whatever nightmare had taken hold of her.
Which was probably why she reeked of alcohol.
The first time he had met her, he had known that she was wild. He had known that she was crazy. And he had known that she would likely be his downfall. He had seen all of that in the first moment that he had looked into her blue eyes.
What he still didn't know however was her name.
He had contemplated trying to run her fingerprints but he had never really had the opportunity. Of course he could have used the ring she had given him but his mind had immediately rejected that possibility.
"You're hedging," he muttered to himself. He opened a bottle of beer and took a deep gulp of it into his mouth. He swigged it around for a moment and then swallowed.
He knew he was hedging. For God's sakes, he had the girl sleeping in his bed. This mysterious, provocative and alluring woman who drove him nuts with just a seductive grin. And now sound asleep in his blankets.
His tore up nasty ass smelly blankets.
He laughed and took another sip from the bottle. She was driving him crazy. Bit by bit. First it was because he never knew when she was near. Then it was because he knew she was always around. And finally it was because she had let down her wall for just a moment.
And damn was she sexy for it.
She had kissed him.
No, best not to go there.
He shook his head. Standing up, he put the bottle down. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and hit the three on it. It beeped seven times and then began to ring.
"Reese?" a voice answered.
"Right, were you expecting me?"
The detective on the other side, Petrick, chuckled. "I was just about to call you. We've got a few more details for you. You might want to come down here."
"Something bad?" Reese asked, dread in his stomach.
"Nah, likely nothing more than a crazy broad offing her abusive ex- honey."
Reese shook his head. "And these are the scum-bags that I'm supposed to care about?" He sighed. "Right, I'm on my way."
He turned the phone off and stuffed it back into his pocket. He moved back towards his bedroom and looked in.
The room was dark but a soft light being cast from the building across the street was shining on her face. She was curled into the pillow, holding it tightly against her. He wondered if that was how she slept every night.
No.and whoa back there, boyo. Best not to go there.
He moved over to the bed and sat down next to her. He had already removed her jacket and her shoes. He brushed a hand over her hair and then smiled. She really was exceptionally beautiful.
Standing up, he pulled the blankets over her. Lying like she was, it was awfully easy to forget how dangerous she was. How strong she was. She just looked like a small child sleeping soundly.
He closed the door to his room and then went over to the kitchen counter. He scrawled a quick note and then grabbed his keys.
"Back to work," he muttered, not wanting to leave at all.
*****
"Well?" Dinah asked, looking over Barbara's shoulder. "What are you looking for?
"Fingerprints," Barbara muttered, looking through a microscope. Then she backed away from it. "Fuck." She ran her fingers through her hair and dropped it against the table. She had panic in her eyes.
Dinah's eyebrow leapt into her hairline. It wasn't like she had never heard Babs curse but for some reason or another, this caught her off-guard. "Problem worse?"
"Much," Barbara admitted, leaning back. "We need to find Helena. Now."
Dinah shook her head, "She still not responding on comm."
"It's still off," Barbara said thoughtfully. She wheeled herself backwards. "Okay then, I guess it's time to track her."
"Using?"
"The chip in her necklace. It has a signaling device in it. If I can."
"Stop," Dinah said, holding up her hand. "Just do it. I'm not going to understand what you're about to say anyways so just do it."
"Right," Barbara said, allowing herself a small smile. She circled back around to the desk and began to type again. She could have done this much earlier but she hadn't wanted to invade Helena's privacy. However with the new revelations from the murder investigation, that wasn't exactly an option anymore.
She continued typing, her fingers flying over the keyboard. A few moments later a map appeared on the monitor overhead. A red dot started beeping in the middle of it. After a few seconds, the dot began to circle the map until it finally stopped.
Barbara lifted an eyebrow. "The Top Down."
"That's a bar?"
Barbara nodded. "Right. It's one that she hasn't been to in a very long time." She turned towards Dinah. "Bring the car around."
"Finding her didn't make you happy."
"Oh I'm glad we found her.I just wish we hadn't found her there."
"You're going to have to explain this all very soon to me."
Barbara looked at Dinah for a long moment. She took a deep breath and then sighed. Slowly, deliberately she replied, "I know. Soon, I promise."
*****
"Your boy here is not the nicest guy in the world," Detective Joe Petrick said as he moved around the corpse lying on the slab. "He's got quite the jacket. Very impressive."
"Such as?"
"Robbery. Assault. Battery. Suspicion of murder. Three times over on that one. Also two arrests for rape. Both charges were dropped because the girls bailed town."
"That's interesting," Reese noted. Girls bailing on rape charges? That usually meant that they were buried somewhere. Life in New Gotham was a thrill a day.
"Very. But the most interesting thing in his jacket is that which probably got him killed."
"Talk to me," Reese said, sitting down. He picked up a cup of water and knocked it back in one shot. Petrick offered him a cigarette but he waved it off.
"About a year ago he was running with some chick. They were apparently pretty well known in the club scene. One in particular. Tossed things up.had a real reputation for causing holy hell."
"Okay, I'm on board so far. Bonnie and Clyde, right?"
"Kinda.only without the robberies. We were never able to pin any actual crimes on these two for the longest time. Until he hurt her."
"Hurt her?" Reese asked, standing back up to look at the corpse.
"Yeah. Tore her up right good with a knife." He reached into the file and handed Reese a handful of colour pictures. "That's her."
"Shit," he muttered. Then he stopped. He leaned closer to one and his eyes nearly bugged out. "Can't be."
"What's that? You know this girl, Reese?"
"Not sure. You got her jacket?"
"Uh huh," Petrick replied, offering it to the taller cop.
Reese opened the file and sighed. Yep, that was her alright. Helena Kyle. He sighed. Nice name.
Then he shook his head, "No, couldn't be.she would have kicked his ass. The girl I know.and this certainly does look like her.would never allow anyone to hurt her."
Petrick shrugged. "You sound like you almost respect her, Reese."
"I almost do," he replied under his breath. "Okay, go on with your story."
"Short story? He puts her in the hospital but she bails after day one. The next time anyone sees her again, she's being arrested for destruction of city property and assaulting a security officer." He chuckled, "She took out a couple of signs and a fire hydrant. Then some old guy tried to place a citizens' arrest on her and she knocked him cold."
Reese rolled his eyes. Somehow that part of the story didn't shock him. "So what happens?"
"Nothing major. She does a week in the lock-up and three months of court- ordered therapy. They can't pin anything else on her. But we know she used to ride with Falco. And he certainly wasn't one of the good guys. One of the detectives on the case tries to get her to squat Falco out and he nearly gets pulverized for his efforts. Only thing that saves the detective from losing a vital limb is that her adopted mom shows up and bails her out. But what we do know for certain is that this girl is wicked pissed about this guy. Crazy pissed. Turns into an animal. The cop really actually thought he was about to die."
Reese titled his head. He could see that. Something in him told him that Huntress wasn't the type of girl who really appreciated being restrained. Or being grilled for information. Or being hurt by some two-bit thug with a knife and too much time. Just the same, there had to be more to the story; she just wasn't the type to allow herself to get abused by some scuzzball guy.
He looked at the pictures again. This would certainly go a long way towards explaining why she had turned ice cold when she had seen Falco's body.
"Hey, what was the name of the bar they used to haunt?"
"The Top Down.it's a little hole in the wall in South Gotham."
"I'm aware of it," Reese muttered, marveling at his fantastic luck. He had passed by the bar earlier that evening and decided that no matter it's ragged appearance, it probably still served the same type of beer that every other bar in New Gotham did.
Things were beginning to fall together but he really wasn't fond of how.
"Okay, so how does all of this relate to Falco being dead?" Reese asked, sitting back down.
"Oh now, that's the fun part," Petrick grinned. He held up a piece of paper with a lot of scientific terms on it. "We have a seven point fingerprint match."
"And?"
"It belongs to Helena Kyle. The ex."
Reese swallowed hard. He took the piece of paper from Petrick and looked it over. "Christ," he muttered. "Oh Christ."
*****
The barkeep looked up at Barbara and smiled, not unkindly. "Ms. Gordon," he greeted. She returned the fondness. The man had spent a lot of time looking out for Helena during a time when Huntress hadn't been doing it for herself.
"Has she been here?" Barbara asked.
"Several hours ago. She left with a man. She seemed to know him."
Barbara wrinkled her nose. "That's odd. Jimmy, have you seen that necklace she wears?"
"This?" he asked, reaching behind the bar. "She dropped it on the way out. It looks like the chain's broke."
"Indeed," Barbara said thoughtfully as she turned the broach over in her hand. The broach had belonged to her mother; it was the one solid thing besides a few pictures and Catwomans' old mask that Helena had of her mom. Barbara had long ago fitted it with a mic so that they could use it as a communication device. She figured that it was going to be there anyways, it might as well be put to good use.
"So who was the guy she left with?" Dinah asked from behind her.
The bartender shrugged. "Never seen him before but she was awfully friendly with him. Of course she was awfully drunk."
"Great," Barbara muttered. "You think you could describe him?"
"Sure. A tall black guy. Dressed well. Looked like a cop to me."
Barbara let out a sigh of relief. "Reese," she said to herself.
"That's it," Jimmy said, smacking his hand against the bar top. "That's what she called him. Detective Reese. Dunno how I forgot that. He paid her bill."
"Hey Jimmy, what did he look like to you? I mean.did he look like he had just come in for a drink and found her or."
"Yeah. He seemed shocked to have found her here," Jimmy replied as he started to wipe down the counter. He sighed as he looked around her. "Great, more cops."
Barbara turned to look. There were two men in ugly coats entering the bar. They were both trying to look inconspicuous and both were failing miserably. One finally got bold and just walked up to the bar.
The taller one of the two had a mustache. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture. He thrust it into Jimmy's face. "Have you seen this girl?" He was holding up Helena's mug shot. It wasn't a terribly attractive photo. Helena would have been outraged.
Jimmy shook his head. "Not in a long time."
"What's a long time, pops?" the younger of the two men said. He was chewing gum and managing to be insanely annoying just by being there.
"At least six months. Maybe more," Jimmy replied. He looked towards the doorway and frowned.
Dinah followed his gaze and then turned towards Barbara, "That's Reese."
Barbara turned slightly. "That is Reese?"
"Uh huh."
"I can see why Helena is so interested," she muttered. Then she frowned. If he had been with Helena earlier in the evening, then what the hell was he doing back with the cops while they were trying to find out where she was and if she had been to the bar at all.
Unless he was protecting her.
Barbara searched his face, trying to figure on what was going on in the handsome cops' mind. He seemed a million miles away. Finally he spoke up, "She hasn't been here. Let's go."
The two cops groaned and finally stepped away. One stopped and looked over the bar as if he was sniffing to make trouble. Reese gave him a bit of a shove and they were out the door.
Barbara turned back to Jimmy. "Was that the guy?"
"The very same. The last time I saw him, he was carrying Helena out over his shoulder."
Barbara glanced over at Dinah. "We need to get him alone."
"Barbara, what's going on?" Dinah demanded. "Why are the cops looking for her? What trouble is she in?"
Barbara smiled sadly. "Too much," she assured her. "Too much for even her."
TBC.
********************
Reese leaned back against his overstuffed sofa and turned the television on. It blared to life with a beep that resembled the old NES games. A picture appeared a few seconds after the audio.
ESPN.
He put his black socked feet up on the coffee table and took a deep breath. It had been a long night already.
She was sound asleep in his bed, no longer snoring, hell, barely moving. The moment he had dropped her onto his sheets, she had grabbed for his pillow and curled it against it. He had cursed himself for not making his bed and then remembered that in her state, she probably didn't care.
This was all so bizarre. She had been fine earlier, chipper even. She had been playing her typical seduction game and she had been doing it well. Being in her presence was enough to get him humming. And then one look into the dead guys' face and she had gone pale white.
Like she had seen a ghost.
After that it had been lights out.
He had considered trying to find her but had known that his chances were slim and none. If she wanted to get lost, well then she got lost.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, she hadn't been trying to get lost. At least not in the city. If anything, she had been trying to get lost in herself. Trying to lose herself in whatever nightmare had taken hold of her.
Which was probably why she reeked of alcohol.
The first time he had met her, he had known that she was wild. He had known that she was crazy. And he had known that she would likely be his downfall. He had seen all of that in the first moment that he had looked into her blue eyes.
What he still didn't know however was her name.
He had contemplated trying to run her fingerprints but he had never really had the opportunity. Of course he could have used the ring she had given him but his mind had immediately rejected that possibility.
"You're hedging," he muttered to himself. He opened a bottle of beer and took a deep gulp of it into his mouth. He swigged it around for a moment and then swallowed.
He knew he was hedging. For God's sakes, he had the girl sleeping in his bed. This mysterious, provocative and alluring woman who drove him nuts with just a seductive grin. And now sound asleep in his blankets.
His tore up nasty ass smelly blankets.
He laughed and took another sip from the bottle. She was driving him crazy. Bit by bit. First it was because he never knew when she was near. Then it was because he knew she was always around. And finally it was because she had let down her wall for just a moment.
And damn was she sexy for it.
She had kissed him.
No, best not to go there.
He shook his head. Standing up, he put the bottle down. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and hit the three on it. It beeped seven times and then began to ring.
"Reese?" a voice answered.
"Right, were you expecting me?"
The detective on the other side, Petrick, chuckled. "I was just about to call you. We've got a few more details for you. You might want to come down here."
"Something bad?" Reese asked, dread in his stomach.
"Nah, likely nothing more than a crazy broad offing her abusive ex- honey."
Reese shook his head. "And these are the scum-bags that I'm supposed to care about?" He sighed. "Right, I'm on my way."
He turned the phone off and stuffed it back into his pocket. He moved back towards his bedroom and looked in.
The room was dark but a soft light being cast from the building across the street was shining on her face. She was curled into the pillow, holding it tightly against her. He wondered if that was how she slept every night.
No.and whoa back there, boyo. Best not to go there.
He moved over to the bed and sat down next to her. He had already removed her jacket and her shoes. He brushed a hand over her hair and then smiled. She really was exceptionally beautiful.
Standing up, he pulled the blankets over her. Lying like she was, it was awfully easy to forget how dangerous she was. How strong she was. She just looked like a small child sleeping soundly.
He closed the door to his room and then went over to the kitchen counter. He scrawled a quick note and then grabbed his keys.
"Back to work," he muttered, not wanting to leave at all.
*****
"Well?" Dinah asked, looking over Barbara's shoulder. "What are you looking for?
"Fingerprints," Barbara muttered, looking through a microscope. Then she backed away from it. "Fuck." She ran her fingers through her hair and dropped it against the table. She had panic in her eyes.
Dinah's eyebrow leapt into her hairline. It wasn't like she had never heard Babs curse but for some reason or another, this caught her off-guard. "Problem worse?"
"Much," Barbara admitted, leaning back. "We need to find Helena. Now."
Dinah shook her head, "She still not responding on comm."
"It's still off," Barbara said thoughtfully. She wheeled herself backwards. "Okay then, I guess it's time to track her."
"Using?"
"The chip in her necklace. It has a signaling device in it. If I can."
"Stop," Dinah said, holding up her hand. "Just do it. I'm not going to understand what you're about to say anyways so just do it."
"Right," Barbara said, allowing herself a small smile. She circled back around to the desk and began to type again. She could have done this much earlier but she hadn't wanted to invade Helena's privacy. However with the new revelations from the murder investigation, that wasn't exactly an option anymore.
She continued typing, her fingers flying over the keyboard. A few moments later a map appeared on the monitor overhead. A red dot started beeping in the middle of it. After a few seconds, the dot began to circle the map until it finally stopped.
Barbara lifted an eyebrow. "The Top Down."
"That's a bar?"
Barbara nodded. "Right. It's one that she hasn't been to in a very long time." She turned towards Dinah. "Bring the car around."
"Finding her didn't make you happy."
"Oh I'm glad we found her.I just wish we hadn't found her there."
"You're going to have to explain this all very soon to me."
Barbara looked at Dinah for a long moment. She took a deep breath and then sighed. Slowly, deliberately she replied, "I know. Soon, I promise."
*****
"Your boy here is not the nicest guy in the world," Detective Joe Petrick said as he moved around the corpse lying on the slab. "He's got quite the jacket. Very impressive."
"Such as?"
"Robbery. Assault. Battery. Suspicion of murder. Three times over on that one. Also two arrests for rape. Both charges were dropped because the girls bailed town."
"That's interesting," Reese noted. Girls bailing on rape charges? That usually meant that they were buried somewhere. Life in New Gotham was a thrill a day.
"Very. But the most interesting thing in his jacket is that which probably got him killed."
"Talk to me," Reese said, sitting down. He picked up a cup of water and knocked it back in one shot. Petrick offered him a cigarette but he waved it off.
"About a year ago he was running with some chick. They were apparently pretty well known in the club scene. One in particular. Tossed things up.had a real reputation for causing holy hell."
"Okay, I'm on board so far. Bonnie and Clyde, right?"
"Kinda.only without the robberies. We were never able to pin any actual crimes on these two for the longest time. Until he hurt her."
"Hurt her?" Reese asked, standing back up to look at the corpse.
"Yeah. Tore her up right good with a knife." He reached into the file and handed Reese a handful of colour pictures. "That's her."
"Shit," he muttered. Then he stopped. He leaned closer to one and his eyes nearly bugged out. "Can't be."
"What's that? You know this girl, Reese?"
"Not sure. You got her jacket?"
"Uh huh," Petrick replied, offering it to the taller cop.
Reese opened the file and sighed. Yep, that was her alright. Helena Kyle. He sighed. Nice name.
Then he shook his head, "No, couldn't be.she would have kicked his ass. The girl I know.and this certainly does look like her.would never allow anyone to hurt her."
Petrick shrugged. "You sound like you almost respect her, Reese."
"I almost do," he replied under his breath. "Okay, go on with your story."
"Short story? He puts her in the hospital but she bails after day one. The next time anyone sees her again, she's being arrested for destruction of city property and assaulting a security officer." He chuckled, "She took out a couple of signs and a fire hydrant. Then some old guy tried to place a citizens' arrest on her and she knocked him cold."
Reese rolled his eyes. Somehow that part of the story didn't shock him. "So what happens?"
"Nothing major. She does a week in the lock-up and three months of court- ordered therapy. They can't pin anything else on her. But we know she used to ride with Falco. And he certainly wasn't one of the good guys. One of the detectives on the case tries to get her to squat Falco out and he nearly gets pulverized for his efforts. Only thing that saves the detective from losing a vital limb is that her adopted mom shows up and bails her out. But what we do know for certain is that this girl is wicked pissed about this guy. Crazy pissed. Turns into an animal. The cop really actually thought he was about to die."
Reese titled his head. He could see that. Something in him told him that Huntress wasn't the type of girl who really appreciated being restrained. Or being grilled for information. Or being hurt by some two-bit thug with a knife and too much time. Just the same, there had to be more to the story; she just wasn't the type to allow herself to get abused by some scuzzball guy.
He looked at the pictures again. This would certainly go a long way towards explaining why she had turned ice cold when she had seen Falco's body.
"Hey, what was the name of the bar they used to haunt?"
"The Top Down.it's a little hole in the wall in South Gotham."
"I'm aware of it," Reese muttered, marveling at his fantastic luck. He had passed by the bar earlier that evening and decided that no matter it's ragged appearance, it probably still served the same type of beer that every other bar in New Gotham did.
Things were beginning to fall together but he really wasn't fond of how.
"Okay, so how does all of this relate to Falco being dead?" Reese asked, sitting back down.
"Oh now, that's the fun part," Petrick grinned. He held up a piece of paper with a lot of scientific terms on it. "We have a seven point fingerprint match."
"And?"
"It belongs to Helena Kyle. The ex."
Reese swallowed hard. He took the piece of paper from Petrick and looked it over. "Christ," he muttered. "Oh Christ."
*****
The barkeep looked up at Barbara and smiled, not unkindly. "Ms. Gordon," he greeted. She returned the fondness. The man had spent a lot of time looking out for Helena during a time when Huntress hadn't been doing it for herself.
"Has she been here?" Barbara asked.
"Several hours ago. She left with a man. She seemed to know him."
Barbara wrinkled her nose. "That's odd. Jimmy, have you seen that necklace she wears?"
"This?" he asked, reaching behind the bar. "She dropped it on the way out. It looks like the chain's broke."
"Indeed," Barbara said thoughtfully as she turned the broach over in her hand. The broach had belonged to her mother; it was the one solid thing besides a few pictures and Catwomans' old mask that Helena had of her mom. Barbara had long ago fitted it with a mic so that they could use it as a communication device. She figured that it was going to be there anyways, it might as well be put to good use.
"So who was the guy she left with?" Dinah asked from behind her.
The bartender shrugged. "Never seen him before but she was awfully friendly with him. Of course she was awfully drunk."
"Great," Barbara muttered. "You think you could describe him?"
"Sure. A tall black guy. Dressed well. Looked like a cop to me."
Barbara let out a sigh of relief. "Reese," she said to herself.
"That's it," Jimmy said, smacking his hand against the bar top. "That's what she called him. Detective Reese. Dunno how I forgot that. He paid her bill."
"Hey Jimmy, what did he look like to you? I mean.did he look like he had just come in for a drink and found her or."
"Yeah. He seemed shocked to have found her here," Jimmy replied as he started to wipe down the counter. He sighed as he looked around her. "Great, more cops."
Barbara turned to look. There were two men in ugly coats entering the bar. They were both trying to look inconspicuous and both were failing miserably. One finally got bold and just walked up to the bar.
The taller one of the two had a mustache. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture. He thrust it into Jimmy's face. "Have you seen this girl?" He was holding up Helena's mug shot. It wasn't a terribly attractive photo. Helena would have been outraged.
Jimmy shook his head. "Not in a long time."
"What's a long time, pops?" the younger of the two men said. He was chewing gum and managing to be insanely annoying just by being there.
"At least six months. Maybe more," Jimmy replied. He looked towards the doorway and frowned.
Dinah followed his gaze and then turned towards Barbara, "That's Reese."
Barbara turned slightly. "That is Reese?"
"Uh huh."
"I can see why Helena is so interested," she muttered. Then she frowned. If he had been with Helena earlier in the evening, then what the hell was he doing back with the cops while they were trying to find out where she was and if she had been to the bar at all.
Unless he was protecting her.
Barbara searched his face, trying to figure on what was going on in the handsome cops' mind. He seemed a million miles away. Finally he spoke up, "She hasn't been here. Let's go."
The two cops groaned and finally stepped away. One stopped and looked over the bar as if he was sniffing to make trouble. Reese gave him a bit of a shove and they were out the door.
Barbara turned back to Jimmy. "Was that the guy?"
"The very same. The last time I saw him, he was carrying Helena out over his shoulder."
Barbara glanced over at Dinah. "We need to get him alone."
"Barbara, what's going on?" Dinah demanded. "Why are the cops looking for her? What trouble is she in?"
Barbara smiled sadly. "Too much," she assured her. "Too much for even her."
TBC.