Huntress couldn't defend herself. A strong blow to her back made her head spin. Her vision blurred and she saw black spots. The thugs released her and she crumpled to the floor. She thought they were done when a kick to her side made all of the pain flash forward once again.

"Stop this!" Barbara yelled. Mad Hatter smiled.

"Stand up bitch!" one of the men who was beating Huntress yelled taking her by the lapel. "Remember me? You hit me a few days ago"

Huntress raised her eyes recognizing the man from the van. "Yea. the clumsy boy." She mumbled.

"Such the little smart-ass aren't ya baby?." he grinned. Huntress felt as if a hammer crashed against her ribs. A hit near her mouth made her taste the metallic flavor of blood. She wanted to hit back but she couldn't with her hands restrained. She would just try to endure the beating and keep her mouth shut.

"You told me I was going to interrogate her! Stop!" Oracle said.

"She must learn." Mad Hatter smiled.

The two men were all over Huntress. She tried to protect herself from the blows by trying to curl up in a ball but to no avail. Oracle wheeled forward, pushing her way between the men and Helena. She waved one escrima stick at them in a menacing manner. "I said stop! How do you expect to get her to talk if she's in a coma or worse?" She faced Mad Hatter. "Let me do this! I know her better than you!"

Mad Hatter signaled to his men to stop. Helena rolled back and forth on the floor moaning softly. With a quick jerk of his head Mad Hatter indicated that the henchmen should leave. They did as they were told but not before each one gave her a swift kick in the ribs. "I want answers today." he ordered as he too exited the room. It was a statement, not a question.

Oracle watched him go and then looked down at the brunette who barely could move. She had a big bruise over one cheek and was bleeding from her mouth and nose. "Damn it Huntress why do you like to make things difficult?"

Huntress coughed and spat blood. Oracle wheeled next to her. "Please, I don't want to see Dinah get hurt. Help me." She said with a soft voice.

"Fuck off," the brunette whispered.

"Mad Hatter will be nice to you if you just help us."

"Son of bitch... I'll... kill him..."

Oracle leaned over her to clean her bottom lip of blood with a napkin. Helena jerked her head back to avoid her touch. Oracle was angry, she really didn't want to hurt her but she was being obstinate as always. "Huntress stop this! Please! Where is Dinah?"

"Oracle wake up! He is a crazy man that is controlling you! Shit!" the girl groaned feeling a sharp jab of pain in her side; she bit her lip trying not to cry. She wasn't sure if some of her ribs were broken since all her body hurt like hell.

Oracle shook her head sadly, not liking to see her protégé in this condition. "Please Huntress I hate to see you like this. We can stop this but you've got to help me. I don't want to see you hurt. Not any worse. Not at all."

"Okay... release me... and I'll help to get you free of this whacko's control!" the brunette said angrily.

"Why are you being stubborn?" Oracle shouted.

"Because I have no intention of helping you hunt down Dinah." Huntress pressed her lips together; the pain was killing her and she was having problems trying to think straight.

"Help me Helena. God, please. He will not hesitate to kill you if you insist on playing the hero."

"...And you? Should I worry about you too?" Huntress locked her eyes on her.

"No but don't test me. Not a good idea." Barbara said in cold voice and wheeled out of the room.

Helena watched her leave, stunned into silence. She coughed up a little more blood and then slowly turned, trying to find a more comfortable position. Those men had used her as a punching bag and she didn't like that one bit. She had to find a way to get out.

Mad Hatter looked through the one-way glass on the door of Helena's cell. "She is like a wild animal. Where did you get her?" he asked Barbara when she wheeled out.

"Her mother was murdered. I picked her up when she was a teen and I trained her."

"You did an excellent job. Without your help I never would have been able trap her. Did she told you where is the girl is?"

"No. Huntress is being her normal stubborn self. If you don't know the correct way to ask her about things she will dodge the question. Now she is pissed. She will let you kill her before she would tell you anything. You can tell your men to beat her to a bloody pulp but that would be a waste of time. I know how to break her."

"Well she doesn't look very broken to me except for maybe a rib or two." He grinned wickedly.

"Your idiots interrupted me..." Barbara protested.

"I'm the boss here not you, don't you forget that!" he growled glaring at her. "I want that damn girl found. I don't want my plans ruined because of her!"

"They won't be. I'll get her to talk. Trust me."

* * *

Alfred sat in stunned silence when Dinah finished telling him what had happened. He was really worried; Barbara was smart and she had at her disposal the sophisticated Delphi system. With it she could hack into any system or place without problem. The greater danger would be if Barbara succeeded in implanting the device into Helena.

"We need to rescue Helena," Dinah said. "I need a plan."

"We can't stay here." Alfred states standing up. "This would be the first place Miss Barbara would look. Follow me."

Dinah followed Alfred to the library of the manor. He went to a wall and pressed a hidden button. The panel to the left of the button moved to one side revealing a secret door.

"What is that?" Dinah asked.

"The entrance to a secret room. Please come in."

"Does this go to the Batcave?"

"No. Miss Barbara will look there first. This leads to Batman's Fallback shelter."

Dinah walked stepped into the hidden elevator. Alfred pressed a button and the elevator whisked them to the Fallout shelter. The door opened and as they stepped out the lights slowly came on. She found herself standing in a twelve by twelve room with a computer in one corner.

"What did Batman use this for?" she asked.

"A backup in case the Batcave is ever compromised."

"Does that computer work?"

"I believe so but it has been awhile since I had tested it. I do know it is an exact replica of the system in the Batcave."

Dinah sat in front of the equipment and turned it on. She began to press buttons in order to test out the system. It whirled to life in a spray of colors and bleeps.

"It's still working. This should help me hack into Delphi."

"To what purpose?" Alfred asked in curiosity.

"Barbara gave me a code to get inside Delphi. If the Mad Hatter is trying to use Barbara and the system to be the greatest thief in New Gotham, I need find a way delay them. But I need time to learn how this equipment works"

Dinah worked hard for hours until she found a way past Delphi's firewall. She now had access to the video system.

"I'm in Alfred!" the blond girl smiled and examined the place. "There are four men and Barbara with Mad Hatter."

"Where is Miss Helena?" Alfred asked leaning over her shoulder to look at the images on the screen.

Dinah typed a few commands to switch cameras. Soon she and Alfred were looking inside Helena's cell. They could see that she was sound asleep on the floor. "That means that Mad Hatter hasn't gotten control of her yet. We still have time to do something fast."

"Do you have a plan?"

"No. But I hope to have one soon."



* * *



Barbara was guiding the men of the Mad Hatter. She interrupted the transmissions to all the traffic lights in New Gotham causing chaos in the streets. Traffic was at a stand still all that night. Mad Hatter was happy with Barbara's work so he started planning his next big robbery, Central Bank.

The next afternoon, when Barbara was showing him the security system of the bank on the screen of the computer, the signal vanished. She frowned as she tried to reestablish the link.

"What is happening?" Mad Hatter asked looking at her worried face.

"I don't know." Barbara said as she typed furiously on the keyboard. She discovered that Dinah had accessed Delphi's database and was copying and then deleting files. "Damn." She grumbled and began to change the password to stop Dinah before she could cause any more damage.

"What is going on?" Mad Hatter insisted again.

"Dinah is inside Delphi and is fucking it all up!" she shouted. "She is deleting my database!"

"What?"

"She used an access code to get inside. The alarm didn't sound because it was a valid password. Now I am attempting to block her."

* * *

"She discovered me." Dinah grumbled. "She kicked me off."

Alfred stood behind her. "Were you on long enough?"

"Enough to copy all New Gotham maps; the database and codes of police; the software to intercept the systems of computers and phone lines, criminal files, the files of all meta people and our files. I deleted it from Delphi, so I guess he would be now really pissed. But this should stop the Mad Hatter plans for a while and give us time to rescue Barbara and Helena."

"How are you going to help them?" He asked.

"You are going to help me on that."