Chapter Nine
Encrypted Journal Entry -- Barbara Gordon
November 8th
Huntress is going after Santiago. It's not a question of IF so much as a question of WHEN. Knowing Huntress, she won't bother to inform me when she does.
She's out for blood … out for it in the worst way. I fear that her bloodlust is going to get her killed. Never in my seventeen years as a crimefighter have I felt as helpless as I do right now. This is not a feeling that I relish.
It was midnight. Santiago -- dressed in his regulation white Panama and starched white linen suit -- stood with four henchmen who wore black suits in a shadowy grove of pine trees near the northwest corner of Central Park. Four other burly men stood across from them. A large black duffel bag and a navy blue gym bag sat between the men. Santiago whispered in conspiratorial Spanish with the leader of the other four men.
"Hi, boys," said a voice from the darkness -- Huntress's. "Can I play?"
The men turned towards the voice. Huntress stood just to the left of the men.
"You are beginning to get under my skin, Seňora," said Santiago bitterly.
"What's on the menu tonight, Santiago?" taunted Huntress. "Heroin? Cocaine? Hash?"
Santiago nodded to two of his henchmen. Both of them reached into their jackets, as if to draw weapons.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said another voice -- male, baritone -- from the darkness.
"Who's there?" cried Santiago. All present were now on the alert.
"You don't know?" said the voice quizzically. "Word on the street is that you wanted to MEET me."
Dad? Huntress thought.
"Don't just stand there," barked Santiago to his henchmen. "KILL HIM!"
Just as Santiago's henchmen were reaching into their jackets and preparing to draw their weapons, a pair of Bat-shaped throwing stars came flying out of the darkness and struck both men in the chest -- just narrowly missing the heart.
"Be careful what you wish for," said the voice.
"BATMAN!" screamed a henchman, recognizing the throwing stars. Hearing that, everyone except Huntress, the stranger, and Santiago scattered in all directions.
"It's been too long, Batman," cried Santiago.
Unseen by The Huntress, the glowing red dot of a laser sight traveled up her spine -- and came to a stop at the nape of her neck. "SNIPER!" the stranger screamed as he wrestled her to the ground and shielded her body with his own. "GET DOWN! GET DOWN! GET DOWN!"
Strange, thought Huntress, I always figured Batman as being taller. All the while, three cracks of a rifle could be heard in the background.
Just as quickly as the shooting began, it ended. Huntress looked up from her place underneath the stranger's body -- Santiago was nowhere to be found. Damn. She then gulped nervously. Do I have a corpse on my back? she wondered. She then opted for the direct approach.
"Hey … buddy," she asked the stranger. "You OK?"
The stranger stirred slightly. "I'm fine," came a familiar -- and feminine -- reply … Barbara's.
"How…"
"I'm wearing body armor."
"Oh," said Huntress. "I see."
Barbara gingerly rolled herself off Huntress's back, taking care to make sure that the sniper was nowhere to be found. "Our sniper appears to have vanished," said Barbara. Turning her attention back to Huntress, she then added, "Let's get out of here."
Back at the Clocktower, Huntress was finally able to get a better look at Barbara's faux Batman costume. The costume was obviously cobbled together -- she was wearing a black floor-length cape, a black jumpsuit, black gloves, black tactical boots, and a full black cowl that was draped over the back of her neck.
"Where'd you get the voice from?" asked Huntress.
"This", said Barbara as she held up a small black device that was about the size of a pack of cigarettes. A small microphone dangled from the end of the device.
"What is it?"
Barbara studied the device. "Voice synthesizer."
"I guess I should've known you'd be prowling around."
"How'd you know about the deal?"
"Tip from Fredo." Huntress paused. "How'd YOU know about the deal?"
"Dinah told me about your tip from Fredo," said Barbara.
"It didn't shock you that she spoke to you?"
"You told me that she had spoken to you," said Barbara. "At first I was somewhat … hesitant … to act upon what I had heard."
"You couldn't believe what you were hearing."
"Essentially, yes," said Barbara. "At the same time, if there was any truth at all in what she was saying, I didn't want to take a chance on you getting killed." Barbara paused. "We would've gotten Santiago eventually … why the rush?"
"I did it for Dinah."
"Do you really think she'd want you embarking on a suicide mission?"Barbara snapped. "Did it ever ONCE occur to you that Santiago would have an armed posse with him?"
"I didn't care."
"And what would you have gained by killing yourself?" grilled Barbara. "You would've been dead … and Santiago and his pals would've walked free."
"Dunno," said Huntress. "Guess I wasn't thinking."
Why doesn't that surprise me? Barbara thought.
"I suppose the Batsuit was part of the plan?" asked Huntress.
"Part of it, yes."
"Where'd you get it? It doesn't look like the sort of thing Batgirl would've had in her closet."
"The cowl I've had for a while," said Barbara. "And the cape was once part of an old Halloween costume."
"Where'd you learn to fling those throwing stars?"
"There's a lot … I haven't told you about myself," said Barbara cryptically.
"Thanks ... for being there," said Huntress softly.
"Really, Huntress ... did you think for one minute that I'd let you take on a cutthroat psychopath like Santiago without backup?" At that moment, the phone rang. Barbara reached over and answered it. "Hello?" she said into the receiver. "Yes, this is Barbara Gordon … that's wonderful … we'll be over there later on today … thank you very much … good-bye."
"Well?" asked Huntress as Barbara hung up the phone.
"That was the hospital," said Barbara with a smile. "Dinah's out of her coma."
