Chapter Seven
Dinah spirited the wounded Spoiler out of the cafeteria and away from the school building (No small feat when you consider that the campus was now surrounded by police cars, dozens of officers, and a SWAT team … all called to the scene of the "disturbance" in the cafeteria). They made their way to the faculty parking lot -- and the waiting Hummer.
Once they had arrived at the Hummer, Dinah gently set Spoiler down on the ground, opened the trunk, and took out the orange plastic briefcase that contained the unit's First Aid kit. Dinah squatted down, set the briefcase on the ground, opened it, took out a pair of EMT scissors, and cut away the ripped sections of Spoiler's bodysuit, exposing her wounds.
"I really appreciate this," said the exhausted Spoiler between gasps. Dinah put the scissors away, took out a bottle of antiseptic and a handful of large surgical swabs, and flushed out Spoiler's wounds.
"My pleasure," said Dinah as Spoiler let out a yelp from the stinging antiseptic. "I know it hurts … but it'll draw out the poison."
"If I didn't know better, I'd swear you'd done this before."
You have no idea, thought Dinah wryly.
After cleaning Spoiler's wounds, Dinah put away the antiseptic bottle and took out a mini-cauter, some rubber gloves, and some gauze. She put on the gloves, dabbed the wounds dry with the gauze, and ran the cauter over the wounds, sealing them.
"There," said Dinah as she examined her work. "Clean as a whistle."
"Thank you," said Spoiler weakly.
"Not a problem," Dinah replied. "Take it easy on that wound. He really took a chunk outta ya'."
"What if someone catches us … out here?"
"Worse comes to worse, I'll cover you."
"You'd do that?"
"What's the worse they can do to me … detention?" said Dinah.
"You speak as someone who's seen worse."
"Oh, yeah," said Dinah mournfully. "Much … much worse."
"Do me a favor…"
"What?"
Spoiler removed her mask and hood, revealing her true identity -- Brenda Cantrell. "Keep my secret."
"Sure," said Dinah. "Tell you what … I won't tell anyone that you're a superhero … if YOU promise not to tell anyone that I'M a Meta-human." Dinah then extended a hand to Spoiler. "Deal?"
Brenda smiled and shook Dinah's hand. "Deal," she said softly.
"I know the superhero game too," said Dinah. "Ever hear of The Black Canary…?"
"She was born Brenda Rose Antonello," said Barbara later that day in the Clocktower. Helena and Dinah were standing behind her. An image of Brenda Cantrell's driver's license was on the overhead plasma screen. Barbara then tapped another key on her PC. A police mug shot of a balding, middle-aged Caucasian male with a double chin and a dark moustache appeared on the screen. "Kid's mobbed up. Her father was a minor league enforcer-slash-hitman in the Corelli crime family named Louis 'The Fixer' Antonello. His nickname pretty much described what he did: he … 'fixed' things … at the other guy's expense." Barbara then turned around to face Dinah and Helena. "He went to prison three years ago. He's now doing Twenty-five-to-Life at Attica. Seems SOMEBODY … an 'anonymous tipster' … dropped a dime on the guy." Barbara paused. "Here's where it gets interesting. It seems that this … snitch … provided the police with a LOT of detailed information: identities of victims, dates of death, locations of unmarked shallow graves … that sort of thing. Almost as if they'd LIVED with the guy."
"You think Brenda ratted out her dad?" asked Dinah.
"Probably … but it's never been proven," Barbara replied. "To this day, this … tipster … has chosen to remain anonymous. There's a strong probability that it was indeed HER. This person possessed a VERY intimate knowledge of Mr. Antonello's illicit activities. Louis, for the most part, was a loner. He didn't have many friends inside … 'The Family'. For that matter, he didn't have many friends PERIOD. Whoever told on him had to have been EXTREMELY close to him … a relative or next of kin. If Brenda DID do it, she would be following in the footsteps of her predecessor."
"Sooo … how did she go from Antonello to Cantrell?"
"Her mother divorced Louis after he went to prison," said Barbara. "For the past three years, she's been living under her grandparents' name … and their roof."
"What do you wanna do about this kid?" asked Helena. "Didn't you say something one time about forging an alliance?"
"I did … but not now. The time isn't right."
"You want me to contact her?"
"Dinah already has…" said Barbara. "Albeit unwittingly."
"What do we do about her?"
"Right now, I figure the least we can do is offer her our services … as needed."
Two days later, Brenda arrived at her motorcycle after school to find tucked under the seat a small brown envelope with the name "SPOILER" printed in handwritten letters on the front.
For me? she wondered. She opened the envelope; inside was a small lapel pin inscribed with the team's trademark silver stylized bird on a blue enamel background. Included with the pin was a small note:
IF YOU EVER NEED BACKUP,
FEEL FREE TO CALL US.
SINCERELY,
YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD
BIRDS OF PREY
Included with the note were instructions on how to use the pin to contact the team. The wheels began turning in Brenda's mind as she read the note: The fancy First Aid kit … the talk of superheroes … could Dinah be working for THEM? She smiled and shook her head in bemusement. Does it matter? You don't look a gift horse in the mouth. She put the pin on her jacket and put the note in her backpack. It's nice to know I've got someone watching over me. She then put on her helmet, got on the bike and started it, and rode away.
THE END
