"Who is that woman?" Huntress asked Jean-Paul, she was dressed as Catwoman
preparing her tools to leave.
"We work with her. She trained me and she trained you." He explained. "I will take you to her after this work."
"I feel that something is wrong, I feel."
"Kyle dear" he caressed her cheek "You are the best, don't fail me now. This amnesia is just temporary. Trust me, let me help you, don't try to look into your mind, I could tell you who you are and that way it would be easier for you to remember."
"It's not that." Huntress told to him "I have strange dreams, and it scares me."
"Don't worry, I need you to focus on our work tonight, you are the best thief. New Gotham will always remember you. Now go, it's getting late."
She nodded and walked outside. He saw her jumping to the next building and to the next. What an amazing girl, and he needed to take all advantage of her. He didn't have much time.
* * *
Dinah was on the rooftop of a hotel, behind a wall. Tonight this hotel held a main event, and would be a good target to the thieves. Keeping an eye on things was the most boring part of being a crime fighter. She only could be patient in that cold night. Suddenly she saw a thin silhouette leaving off the air conditioner duct.
"Is saw a person Oracle " she said in low voice.
::Who is it?::
"I don't know, It's too dark."
The silhouette stood up on the edge of the building and began shap a back in hr back. Suddenly the woman felt her presence and turned "Who is there?"
"Is could ask you the same thing."Dinah said standing up.
The woman ran to the edge trying to escape. Dinah ran behind her, but she was too fast. She jumped high and fell onto the next building. Dinah stood up on the edge of the building, but is was a very long distance she couldn't follow her. She saw her landing on the rooftop. The light of the building let her see her clearly. Dinah froze.
"Oracle she ran away." she could finally said.
::What happened?::
"You are not going to believe this.."
* * *
At Clock Tower few hours later.
"It was her Oracle. I saw her black mask and black costume," Dinah said pacing around the platform in the Clock Tower. It was Catwoman. She's a meta-human, she gotta be. How else could she climb into those ducts and leap over such a great distance? I." she stopped noticing that Barbara was staring into space.
"Earth to Barbara, come in Barbara," Dinah asked waving a hand in front of her mentor's face. "Hey. are you okay?"
"Huh?? Yeah I'm fine." Barbara said looking up a Dinah
"Did you hear what I said?"
"I did but I have this gut feeling that I can't explain. Never mind," she said waving a hand dismissively. Did you follow Jean-Paul?"
"Yes but he just goes to school then to his job where he stays for the rest of the day," Dinah explained. "I've been tailing him all week but nothing of interest happened."
Barbara started typing furiously on her keyboard while Dinah went on. "What about this Catwoman person?" Dinah asked. "I know it can't be Helena's mother but it's her costume!"
"I'm not going to believe anything until I'm absolutely sure." Barbara wheeled around pointing at the monitor. "But now I think I know who she is. It was in front of me all the time and I didn't see it!"
"What did you find out?" Dinah asked Barbara.
" The police couldn't figure out that she was gaining access to the casinos through its air conditioning ducts. If she is thin enough she could easily fit inside them. Now if she is a meta like you said, jumping between those buildings wouldn't be a problem. She would not have the need for climbing equipment. All I had to do was rearrange the puzzles pieces until everything fell into place."
"So what do we have to do?"
"We need to trap her."
* * *
Huntress moved restlessly in her bed, she was dreaming, but she could feel the madness, the anger, the pain and the anguish in her heart. She could see herself, when she was younger. She was sitting at the bottom of a dark alley, it was raining and cold, but it didn't matter to her. She cried, hugging her legs, her face buried in them, she was soaked and trembling.
"Oh my God! I had been looking for you all night!" she heard a woman's voice, she raised her head but she couldn't see her face, it was too dark.
"Leave me alone" she sobbed.
"Please, come back home."
"I don't have a home." she looked away.
The woman was in front of her now, she could feel that the woman tried to touch her but she refused the embrace. "Please, let me in, I know how you feel." the woman said.
"No! you don't!" she shouted "You didn't loose your mother! Go away!"
".I not only lost my mother, I lost my father too, and I was even younger than you. I felt like you. like my whole world was broken."
"Leave me alone!" she covered her head with her hands.
"No, I couldn't, you will get sick if you stay here you are too important for me, and if it's necessary I will be here with you all night."
"I can't. I can't love anyone else, I told you, leave me alone." Huntress sobbed and rested her forehead on the wet wall and bit her nails, she was cold and was trembling. "I can't."
The woman continued talking to her "I lost my parents when I was a child, and it hurt me a lot, as you are hurting now. It was hard, so hard. I moved around as much as you, I left my home, my memories, my happy childhood suddenly. I moved to live with an uncle. A lovely uncle that never couldn't replace my parents but he gave me the best of him, all his love. He made me feel that I wasn't alone. That I had a new father."
The woman touched her shoulder and this time the girl didn't refuse the touch. "I know that I can't help you heal that lost sense that you feel now. I don't want to be your mother, I want just to be your friend. I want you to understand that I love you, that I'm going to do my best to help you. I don't want you to feel that you are alone in this world, I know how much it hurts to loose your parents."
Huntress turned her face and looked at her. She tried to focus on her but she couldn't.
"I don't want you to think that you don't have a home." The woman smiled, she could see her smile but not her face "You have one, your home, our home, not the same that we had with our parents but it's ours. You are now my family, please; don't leave me alone, I love you."
Huntress jumped in her arms crying desperate "I miss her, I want to see her again! Please, I want to see her!"
"It's impossible, she is dead" the woman was crying with her "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, if I could bring her back to you, I would, but I can't."
"I can't go on with all this pain, I can't!" she sobbed resting her head on her shoulder "I don't want to feel this way! Please help me, I don't want to feel like this!"
The woman hugged her strongly. Huntress felt warmth and comfort in her arms, she felt that she wasn't alone, she felt protected, a feeling that she had missed since her mother had died. But she couldn't give her heart to that that woman, she couldn't.
Huntress woke up sweating and breathing fast. She looked around scared, the anguish inside her was real, as that dream was also so real. She took the blankets off and went to the bathroom. She turned on the water and washed her face for long minutes.
Huntress took the towel and cleaned her face, she looked in the mirror and saw her eyes, they were in feral form. She screamed throwing the towel away, she stumbled and fell on the floor. Suddenly she realized that the light was off, she looked around scared. The room was dark, but she could see clearly on it.
Huntress felt as if she was living a nightmare. She looked up to the mirror and stood up. She looked again at her eyes in the glass, they were like those of a cat. Maybe she was a kind of a monster and she was changing. She heard the door open, she ran to hide in a corner of the bathroom. He couldn't see her eyes, maybe he would kill her if he discovered that she was a monster. He had told her that she attacked him, maybe then she had changed like she did now, and she would attack him again.
"Kyle?" Jean called her and turned the light in the room on, she could see the light entering through the bathroom door. "Where are you?"
Huntress was trembling, sure he would kill her. He walked in and saw her in the corner hiding her face.
"What happened Kyle?" he asked kneeling in front of her.
"Go away, I can hurt you!"
Jean could see that she was truly scared "Kyle what happened?" he took her face in his hand and forced her to look up at him. He saw her feral eyes. "What happened?"
"I'm changing, I can hurt you again. Go away." She looked down scared.
"What are you talking about?"
"You told me I attacked you, I don't remember why, maybe because I'm a freak, look at my eyes, they are not human, maybe I'm changing now. I could hurt you. Go!"
Jean laughed. "Ah, is that it? Kyle, you have special abilities, this is one of them."
"Another one?" Huntress looked at him confused. "I can jump and move fast, as you told me. So, my eyes in this stat help me to see clearly in the dark?"
"Yea, hey, this is new for me. I knew your eyes changed when you feel in danger. But now I see it works as cats eyes as well."
"Am I a cat?"
"Something like that, remember your costume." He stood up and gave her his hand "Come on, go to sleep, it's late."
"Jean, I can't remember. You know me well? I lost my parents?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"I had a nightmare. I was in an alley crying because I lost my parents. A woman came to me trying to comfort me, but I couldn't see her face."
"As you said, it was just a nightmare." He smiled and hugged her "Everything will be fine, we just do one more work before our big punch. Don't worry, I'm sure you will remember soon." But before, I need to take you to meet a person that would help us. Jean knew he needed to move faster and be prepared, if she recovered her memory before, he couldn't finish his mission. He had to kill her. Huntress closed her eyes and rested her head in his shoulder. She felt so scared.
"We work with her. She trained me and she trained you." He explained. "I will take you to her after this work."
"I feel that something is wrong, I feel."
"Kyle dear" he caressed her cheek "You are the best, don't fail me now. This amnesia is just temporary. Trust me, let me help you, don't try to look into your mind, I could tell you who you are and that way it would be easier for you to remember."
"It's not that." Huntress told to him "I have strange dreams, and it scares me."
"Don't worry, I need you to focus on our work tonight, you are the best thief. New Gotham will always remember you. Now go, it's getting late."
She nodded and walked outside. He saw her jumping to the next building and to the next. What an amazing girl, and he needed to take all advantage of her. He didn't have much time.
* * *
Dinah was on the rooftop of a hotel, behind a wall. Tonight this hotel held a main event, and would be a good target to the thieves. Keeping an eye on things was the most boring part of being a crime fighter. She only could be patient in that cold night. Suddenly she saw a thin silhouette leaving off the air conditioner duct.
"Is saw a person Oracle " she said in low voice.
::Who is it?::
"I don't know, It's too dark."
The silhouette stood up on the edge of the building and began shap a back in hr back. Suddenly the woman felt her presence and turned "Who is there?"
"Is could ask you the same thing."Dinah said standing up.
The woman ran to the edge trying to escape. Dinah ran behind her, but she was too fast. She jumped high and fell onto the next building. Dinah stood up on the edge of the building, but is was a very long distance she couldn't follow her. She saw her landing on the rooftop. The light of the building let her see her clearly. Dinah froze.
"Oracle she ran away." she could finally said.
::What happened?::
"You are not going to believe this.."
* * *
At Clock Tower few hours later.
"It was her Oracle. I saw her black mask and black costume," Dinah said pacing around the platform in the Clock Tower. It was Catwoman. She's a meta-human, she gotta be. How else could she climb into those ducts and leap over such a great distance? I." she stopped noticing that Barbara was staring into space.
"Earth to Barbara, come in Barbara," Dinah asked waving a hand in front of her mentor's face. "Hey. are you okay?"
"Huh?? Yeah I'm fine." Barbara said looking up a Dinah
"Did you hear what I said?"
"I did but I have this gut feeling that I can't explain. Never mind," she said waving a hand dismissively. Did you follow Jean-Paul?"
"Yes but he just goes to school then to his job where he stays for the rest of the day," Dinah explained. "I've been tailing him all week but nothing of interest happened."
Barbara started typing furiously on her keyboard while Dinah went on. "What about this Catwoman person?" Dinah asked. "I know it can't be Helena's mother but it's her costume!"
"I'm not going to believe anything until I'm absolutely sure." Barbara wheeled around pointing at the monitor. "But now I think I know who she is. It was in front of me all the time and I didn't see it!"
"What did you find out?" Dinah asked Barbara.
" The police couldn't figure out that she was gaining access to the casinos through its air conditioning ducts. If she is thin enough she could easily fit inside them. Now if she is a meta like you said, jumping between those buildings wouldn't be a problem. She would not have the need for climbing equipment. All I had to do was rearrange the puzzles pieces until everything fell into place."
"So what do we have to do?"
"We need to trap her."
* * *
Huntress moved restlessly in her bed, she was dreaming, but she could feel the madness, the anger, the pain and the anguish in her heart. She could see herself, when she was younger. She was sitting at the bottom of a dark alley, it was raining and cold, but it didn't matter to her. She cried, hugging her legs, her face buried in them, she was soaked and trembling.
"Oh my God! I had been looking for you all night!" she heard a woman's voice, she raised her head but she couldn't see her face, it was too dark.
"Leave me alone" she sobbed.
"Please, come back home."
"I don't have a home." she looked away.
The woman was in front of her now, she could feel that the woman tried to touch her but she refused the embrace. "Please, let me in, I know how you feel." the woman said.
"No! you don't!" she shouted "You didn't loose your mother! Go away!"
".I not only lost my mother, I lost my father too, and I was even younger than you. I felt like you. like my whole world was broken."
"Leave me alone!" she covered her head with her hands.
"No, I couldn't, you will get sick if you stay here you are too important for me, and if it's necessary I will be here with you all night."
"I can't. I can't love anyone else, I told you, leave me alone." Huntress sobbed and rested her forehead on the wet wall and bit her nails, she was cold and was trembling. "I can't."
The woman continued talking to her "I lost my parents when I was a child, and it hurt me a lot, as you are hurting now. It was hard, so hard. I moved around as much as you, I left my home, my memories, my happy childhood suddenly. I moved to live with an uncle. A lovely uncle that never couldn't replace my parents but he gave me the best of him, all his love. He made me feel that I wasn't alone. That I had a new father."
The woman touched her shoulder and this time the girl didn't refuse the touch. "I know that I can't help you heal that lost sense that you feel now. I don't want to be your mother, I want just to be your friend. I want you to understand that I love you, that I'm going to do my best to help you. I don't want you to feel that you are alone in this world, I know how much it hurts to loose your parents."
Huntress turned her face and looked at her. She tried to focus on her but she couldn't.
"I don't want you to think that you don't have a home." The woman smiled, she could see her smile but not her face "You have one, your home, our home, not the same that we had with our parents but it's ours. You are now my family, please; don't leave me alone, I love you."
Huntress jumped in her arms crying desperate "I miss her, I want to see her again! Please, I want to see her!"
"It's impossible, she is dead" the woman was crying with her "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, if I could bring her back to you, I would, but I can't."
"I can't go on with all this pain, I can't!" she sobbed resting her head on her shoulder "I don't want to feel this way! Please help me, I don't want to feel like this!"
The woman hugged her strongly. Huntress felt warmth and comfort in her arms, she felt that she wasn't alone, she felt protected, a feeling that she had missed since her mother had died. But she couldn't give her heart to that that woman, she couldn't.
Huntress woke up sweating and breathing fast. She looked around scared, the anguish inside her was real, as that dream was also so real. She took the blankets off and went to the bathroom. She turned on the water and washed her face for long minutes.
Huntress took the towel and cleaned her face, she looked in the mirror and saw her eyes, they were in feral form. She screamed throwing the towel away, she stumbled and fell on the floor. Suddenly she realized that the light was off, she looked around scared. The room was dark, but she could see clearly on it.
Huntress felt as if she was living a nightmare. She looked up to the mirror and stood up. She looked again at her eyes in the glass, they were like those of a cat. Maybe she was a kind of a monster and she was changing. She heard the door open, she ran to hide in a corner of the bathroom. He couldn't see her eyes, maybe he would kill her if he discovered that she was a monster. He had told her that she attacked him, maybe then she had changed like she did now, and she would attack him again.
"Kyle?" Jean called her and turned the light in the room on, she could see the light entering through the bathroom door. "Where are you?"
Huntress was trembling, sure he would kill her. He walked in and saw her in the corner hiding her face.
"What happened Kyle?" he asked kneeling in front of her.
"Go away, I can hurt you!"
Jean could see that she was truly scared "Kyle what happened?" he took her face in his hand and forced her to look up at him. He saw her feral eyes. "What happened?"
"I'm changing, I can hurt you again. Go away." She looked down scared.
"What are you talking about?"
"You told me I attacked you, I don't remember why, maybe because I'm a freak, look at my eyes, they are not human, maybe I'm changing now. I could hurt you. Go!"
Jean laughed. "Ah, is that it? Kyle, you have special abilities, this is one of them."
"Another one?" Huntress looked at him confused. "I can jump and move fast, as you told me. So, my eyes in this stat help me to see clearly in the dark?"
"Yea, hey, this is new for me. I knew your eyes changed when you feel in danger. But now I see it works as cats eyes as well."
"Am I a cat?"
"Something like that, remember your costume." He stood up and gave her his hand "Come on, go to sleep, it's late."
"Jean, I can't remember. You know me well? I lost my parents?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"I had a nightmare. I was in an alley crying because I lost my parents. A woman came to me trying to comfort me, but I couldn't see her face."
"As you said, it was just a nightmare." He smiled and hugged her "Everything will be fine, we just do one more work before our big punch. Don't worry, I'm sure you will remember soon." But before, I need to take you to meet a person that would help us. Jean knew he needed to move faster and be prepared, if she recovered her memory before, he couldn't finish his mission. He had to kill her. Huntress closed her eyes and rested her head in his shoulder. She felt so scared.