Barbara Gordon looked at the red marker on the city map showing Helena heading back into town. She considered the information on the screen in front of her while the audio recording of the phone tap at the hotel reran over the speakers. She hoped to glean more information from the background noise of the guy reporting in, but it seemed to be just plain Gotham traffic noises.
With a sigh she leaned back, took of her glasses and rubbed the nose of her bridge. She didn't feel much like sitting in front of Delphi. She wanted to sit in a couch watching a sappy movie with the pleasant feel of her daughter leaning her increasingly large body against hers spending some rare quality time together.
Ben, her until this afternoon would-be boyfriend, had announced that he'd rather be friends with her. She felt hollow inside remembering the painful conversation. She felt a bit ridiculous for thinking that she could ever have a regular relationship. Who was she kidding? She was a handicapped single parent with teenage daughter and barely any spare time to spend with any potential boyfriends. It would be a miracle if anyone ever felt romantically for her. She didn't want to admit it to anyone except herself, but she missed having someone to have that kind of relationship with.
A small icon began blinking on screen. Barbara put her glasses back on and rolled back to her position. She cut off the recording and listened to the live phone conversation out of Ellison's hotel room.
He was getting a little bit nervous. Frosty had promised to return as soon as possible, but he had been gone for hours now. All sorts of treacherous thoughts flew through his mind. What if Frosty had given him up to the criminals looking for him? What if they had caught him? Or had the blonde man simply run off leaving him here in this badly lighted, vomit smelling, condemned building to wait for his hunters to get lucky.
Gibson paced the room for a while then headed over to the dirty windows on a whim. A red car rolled up and parked across the street. Instant recall told him that he had seen the very same car yesterday a short while before the goon had found him at Frosty's apartment. Not wanting to take chances he headed for the door.
Helena stared out of the windscreen, thinking about Gibson Kafka. She remembered the gangly and slightly pasty teen. He had once approached her about a date, and she had turned him down right there in the middle of the halls of the High School. She had been a bit mean to him, hoping to discourage any new attempts from the geek, and he had retreated to quietly watching her from a far. Now she was going to have to look for him. And even worse it seemed she had more in common with him than any of her schoolmates had ever had.
"Helena, I know I am delightful company, but if you don't drive at a green light the other people who want to cross the street get angry," Dinah reminded her. Helena snapped out of her thoughts and managed to get across the street with a minor concert of honking from behind.
"Suddenly I feel the need to drop you off out in one of the suburbs," she threatened.
"Hey," Dinah leaned away and lifted her hands in a defensive posture. Not for the first time, Helena noted how quickly the girl was growing up. Soon she would be as tall as her, and the first signs of teenage rebellion had shown up lately with Dinah getting her ears pierced without permission. Even it had been way past due time in her mind for a bit of rebellion.
"Huntress, come in," a seemingly agitated Barbara called in her ear. Helena held a finger to her lips, while looking at a nodding Dinah, and switched her com on.
"Hey, Oracle, what's up," Helena replied.
"Ellison just got word from his people, they got hold of some friend of Gibson's and they know where he is," Barbara reported.
"Damn, do we know anything," she had to ask.
"Only where they are going to get rid of Gibson's friend, they're headed for the old dock district in the North harbor. You don't have a lot of time to catch up," Barbara reminded her.
"Good thing I have the car then," Helena answered. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Dinah buckling up with a distinctly apprehensive look. She snorted a little shifted the Hummer into gear and slammed her foot on the speeder.
The heavy car swung precariously in and out of traffic. "Are you sure I shouldn't just get off here? I am sure I can find the way home on my own," Dinah said while bracing against the roof handle as they drove in between two trucks and across the red light at a busy intersection.
"And get my head bitten off by your mother, because I caused you to have to walk home on the streets in the evening. Don't worry kid, your mom spend several months teaching me combat driving, and besides this is a very sturdy car. If we hit anything it is the other guy you should be worried about," she explained feeling slightly exhilarated showing off her skills to someone, who knew her.
"Actually her mom would very much like to know, why her daughter is not at her music school practicing with her cello, instead of in a car coming in from out of town that I am very sure hasn't stopped along the way," Barbara's voice calmly asked in her ear. She nearly smacked her forehead, but decided as she swerved back onto the proper lane that it was better to keep her hands on the wheel. She had forgotten that her com link was open.
"I was showing her the sights, it was kind of a belated birthday present," Helena explained.
"Damn it, H… Huntress, you can't just drag her away from her activities like that. At the very least I have to know and I am guessing but since you didn't ask for permission, you were out doing something I wouldn't have allowed," Barbara said.
"Yeah," she accidentally let her voice sound as meek as she suddenly felt, "can't we wait to discuss it, until I have rescued Gibson's friend," she suggested.
"She can't go with you, Huntress. It is way too dangerous. Bring her back here immediately," Barbara commanded.
She felt a warm and righteous anger rise in her. "No way, I am not going to do that. She will stay in the car, while I handle Ellison's men. Our Hummer is a remodeled military model with concealed armor. It is more bulletproof than anything the police have short of a tank. This is how it is going to be. Don't worry she is going to be just fine," she explained.
There was a period of silence. Helena felt strangely nervous as if she had just taken a rather large step. "Alright, but I am holding you responsible for everything that happens. And this is not over," Barbara finally replied. The Hummer hammered into the empty and badly kept lots of the old Gotham docks. Helena slowed down and drove around for a while looking for a good parking spot, where the car would be reasonably hard to find.
She rolled the black car into an empty open loading bay of an abandoned warehouse and turned towards Dinah, "you're gonna stay put until I get back here. Until I get back these doors are staying locked. If anything happens then use my cell and call the police or your mom. I mean it kid, stay here." Dinah nodded mutely but her eyes betrayed more excitement than when she had just gotten back onto the bridge. Helena left the car, while putting on her eye mask and started her patrol of the area.
Helena ran between two old buildings. One was some kind of administrative place complete with broken windows and empty office space. The other was some kind of warehouse out of cheap materials. Someone nearby slammed a car door. She moved forward silently and peeked around the corner.
A man clad in a thermo jacket over a suit was opening the trunk of his car. He lifted a small slightly portly blonde man out with great difficulty and threw him over his shoulder. Strangely the air seemed to be colder as the man's breath was showing like fog in the evening air. Helena set her jaw and ran carefully over behind the toiling criminal as he headed for the harbor with his load.
"Excuse me," she said. The guy whipped around only to find her fist heading at high speed for his jaw. She felt a jarring impact and her hand felt almost numb as she watched the man spin back the other way around and drop under the weight he carried. "That was easy enough," Helena mused and easily picked up the cold and well tied up blonde fellow.
Someone had clearly beaten almost tortured the unconscious guy. She untied him, while keeping an eye on the unconscious criminal. Either of them might know where to find Gibson and right now that had priority. "Oracle, would you mind calling the police, while I wait to get my questions answered," she suggested.
"I will get right on it," Barbara replied.
Helena didn't have to wait long. The criminal was starting to stir. Helena carefully put down the one she had freed and headed over to grab the ankles of the felon. She easily climbed a rusting crane in a few powerful leaps carrying him along on. She dangled him out over the asphalt below and waited for him to fully come to his senses.
The guy looked around, then down, then screamed. Helena smirked happily; she enjoyed doing stuff like this immensely. "Finally you woke up. My arms were getting a bit tired. Now I'd like to know, where Gibson Kafka is… soon," she let her grip slip a little to emphasize her point.
The gibbering felon quickly gave her directions to where Gibson was supposed to be, who was after him and then began begging for his life. Helena ignored his pleas and with a firm grip on his ankles made a quick descent in a couple of hops. Not too far away she could hear sirens. "Huntress, the police is seconds away. Secure the crook and leave him there," Barbara said.
Helena looked at the still scared criminal, "Now I am going to leave soon. You never saw me, you're gonna tell them everything about Ellison and confess all your sins. Then if you're lucky I won't come to find you and finish this conversation." Helena kneed him in the guts as he started nodding and gave him a solid hit on the back of the head to send him to dreamland. Behind her in the shadows a blonde girl turned and ran away.
Helena ran back to the car. Ellison still had someone on Gibson's trail and she definitely wanted to catch him first. She found Dinah sitting in the car looking deeply bored. Helena got in and quickly rammed her key into the ignition. "Buckle up, I am gonna have to drive really rotten for once," she said and noticed with glee, how Dinah with wide eyes quickly buckled up and tightened her seatbelt.
"Helena, I have tapped into a camera close to the location you got. It would seem that if my IDs on Ellison's people are correct then one of them is already there," Barbara reported.
"I'll get over there as fast as possible," Helena said and was relieved that the address at least wasn't halfway across town. She backed out, the tires squealed and they were off.
Gibson was quickly losing his breath. Large and bumbling as the black clad guy following him was, he was persistent. Gibson remembered a small underpass below a street nearby. He could find at least a measure of cover there as warm spring rain began to drip from overhead.
His eyes lazily scanned over the graffiti tags updating his images of the place as he tried to regain a measure of energy. He hadn't slept in days. He hadn't eaten or gotten any real rest. He was jumpier than usual and somewhere nearby was a big guy probably armed that wanted him for some nefarious purpose. He looked around once more, when the reflection of street changed in one of the puddles.
"You've been more trouble than anyone in a long time," the voice of his hunter boomed amongst the cement walls. "But if you come along now, I will refrain from giving you a flesh wound," Gibson recognized the sound of a 9 millimeter automatic from Glock chambering a round, life in New Gotham had never been dull. He took the prudent action and turned around in time to see a black coated female figure jump down from above the rain pelting her as she hammered a powerful kick into the neck of the massive bastard pointing his gun at him.
The big guy staggered back, but got around to see the black clad woman land in a very low crouch. She jumped off again and bowling into the massive guy's chest, then flipped away from his attempt to grab her. She was a marvel to watch as proceeded to trade several kicks, blocks and punches with the guy. Finally she grabbed hold of his collar, swung down and kicked him upwards, sending the soon to be unconscious crook into the cement ceiling of the underpass. She just managed to roll away before his heavy body slammed into the ground.
She flipped back onto her feet and walked towards him. Gibson admired her catlike grace and curves, realizing that this superheroine felt incredibly familiar. As she walked up, he started to compare her looks with those metahumans he had met or seen over the years. "Are you alright," she asked in an unmistakable voice.
"Helena Kyle," he blurted in bewilderment. She took a step back in amazement, and didn't speak. "I know it is you. I recognize your voice, your body. How could I not? I've spent long enough memorizing a goddess such as you from afar. So this is what you do. I wonder might you be the mysterious rumored protector of New Gotham that has been rumored around town for years," he theorized.
It seemed Helena listened to something that only she could hear then murmured, "I know, and I think so too. He might be a good contact and… yes I will take him to you after this is over." She turned towards him. "Gibson, how did you know?" She finally said. His suspicion was validated.
"Ah, it is like this. I, like you it seems, am metahuman. I've been gifted or cursed depending on what memory you consider with the ability to remember anything and everything I've ever sensed. I remember my first step just as clearly as how many flies I counted the apartment I was in last night," he explained.
"O-Okay, well the guy that wanted you has suffered a bit of bad luck tonight, and the New Gotham Police force has for once done something right, and is on their way to arrest him right now. I am going to drop this lump off with them, while you wait here," she commanded and easily slung the big guy over her shoulder and walked off.
The rain had stopped and Helena hadn't returned yet. Gibson had left the underpass and was pacing on the sidewalk of the nearby street. He had noticed that not too far away a black Hummer was parked and that a girl with long blonde hair sat inside looking mightily bored. However a few minutes later he was astounded as the girl bumped into him. "Sorry," she said and casually swept a finger along his hand. He felt strange for a second almost as if he was out of control of his body lost in the steady stream of memories that always assaulted his mind. "Whoa," the girl exclaimed and seemed to suddenly stagger in shock.
"Meta," Gibson realized. The girl had done something, when they touched. Still he couldn't help gently supporting her as she was about to fall over.
"How do you handle all that information?" The girl asked in a small voice and put a hand to her forehead.
"Practice… you must be some kind of telepath," he realized that she had probably read his mind just now, which would mean she had to touch people to do it.
"Something like that yeah, listen Gibson I probably won't be able to see you again tonight, Oracle doesn't like me getting mixed up in Helena's job, but I need a favor from you and a promise that you won't tell my mom about it. Helena will take you to see her later on or something like that, so she can judge for herself if she can trust you. She is like that. My name is Dinah by the way," she smiled at him. He knew he should be angry for her entering his mind, but something in her eyes told him that he would rather know her like a regular person instead of starting with the yelling now.
"I gotta go before Helena gets back, but I just wanted to meet another metahuman. People like you and me don't get to meet one another just to talk very often. I kind of miss having someone that could relate to my problems," Dinah explained. He concurred and maybe he could do something about it. Given his memory, his contacts with metahumans and his shop maybe he could create something that he had dreamed off since being ostracized all through High School.
"You've given me an idea, Dinah," he admitted and caught a whiff of Helena's scent in the wind. "Helena is coming," he said. Dinah nodded and ran back towards the car. He only wondered for a moment what he was getting into before the arrival of shapely Helena Kyle made him think of entirely different things.
Dinah was feeling a little apprehensive as she waited for her mom and Helena to return from their little meeting with Gibson. She had risked a lot tonight to meet another metahuman, but at least she had gotten a chance to advance her hope for the future. Having followed Helena around and seen her work in person had indicated that a possible goal for her future that she had often wondered about was a distinct possibility. But there were so many things she would have to learn and understand before she could get there. Maybe Gibson could help her with some of that as well. The elevator doors slid open admitting her mom and Helena to the Clocktower. "Dinah go to bed, Helena and I need to talk in private," her mom commanded and cast her, a no-nonsense kind of glance usually reserved for times when it really meant something.
A few weeks later just on the cusp of the summer Gibson Kafka wiped the bar of the No Man's Land with pride. The rumor had spread far enough already to make his metahuman only establishment a profitable place on top of his well running shop that acted as cover. It was still early in the afternoon and they had only just opened, but there were already a couple of customers at the billiard table and several scattered in the couches talking quietly. The elevator doors opened admitting a much too young person to the bar.
Dinah the daughter of the mysterious Oracle and friend of Helena Kyle walked up to the bar with a pleasant smile. "Can I offer you a soda on the house?" he suggested. He didn't mind having a minor in his bar as long she was a Meta like the others.
"Sure," Dinah answered and cast a glance around her smile growing as she realized that all the people in here were metahumans like her. Gibson poured a can of cherry coke for her and put down the glass next to the girl that had mysteriously appeared after his ordeal.
"I came for a reason. I need a big favor. I have my abilities mostly under control, but I would like to be able to use them to their fullest. You know many metahumans; maybe you could find someone who could help me with that… without Oracle knowing about it," she asked.
This kid was way smarter than he had originally expected. She had gone to see him that night just to set him up for this. "I guess, but I don't feel comfortable going around the back of Helena," he admitted.
"Gibson, please, Oracle isn't Meta, and she doesn't understand how hard it is for me. She won't allow me to train anything but control, so I thought that maybe there was someone in the Meta community, who would help me," she pleaded.
He wasn't sure, it was a good idea, but the kid really sounded sincere and he knew from all his friends both old and new that mastering their abilities really was the hard part. "Alright, I'll try. I know off a none-touch telepath that might be able to help you," he said.
Dinah looked a little uncomfortable and said, "I'm not a telepath. My abilities are a bit wider than that."
"Really how wide," he asked and wondered again, why he couldn't have the cool laser eyes or the super strength instead of just the ultimate memory.
"Well, my mind is supposedly constantly improving itself, but I am able to see things from now or even the future in my dreams. I have the touch telepathy and… well this is a secret, but I can also move things with my mind, but I haven't really gotten a handle on that yet," the blonde girl explained.
Gibson couldn't help feeling a bit of awe. He knew that there were wide differences in strengths of different metahumans, but usually people like Dinah was in the exclusive category of the superheroes and –villains. He had never figured that they needed training too. "You know what I will figure something out. Why don't you swing by in a little while and I will have something for you," he said. Dinah nodded resolutely, but stayed to make friends with the others in the bar.
