Chapter 24: On Watch

            Her mom looked at bit frustrated Dinah thought as she glanced over the top of her homework down at Delphi. Two days had passed since she had told her mom about the ominous dream she had Saturday night. Since then her mom had run Helena ragged seeking evidence and had poured of hundreds of screens of data. Now a couple of hours before sundown she had just gotten some kind of bulletin from Delphi, which had made her mom work even more frantically and there was not a lot she could do about it.

She needed to find some way to gain access to Delphi and her mom's research, but everything was protected by passwords and it was constantly watched. She had tried to find a way around that problem all day and had come up short. She guessed that the news her mom had gotten was off a second guy dying and they were probably getting pressed for time. She had no idea, what this was all about though. As far as she could gather some business men were committing suicide for no apparent reason. Helena and her mom probably knew more, but there was no way for her to access that information.

She needed to figure out a way into the Delphi system, a highly protected computer system without its owner knowing about it. She had considered just sauntering up to her mom and picking the passwords and the access routines, maybe even the information, out of her mind, but there was a limit to how low she would stoop and probing her mom's mind or Helena's for that matter was far below it.

She mentally accounted for all her resources. She had the exact dream memorized, she had physical proximity to Delphi but no access and she had the car Alfred had lent her. It wasn't much. She thought about Alfred's help and wondered if the butler knew more of her secrets than he let on. Clearly he approved somewhat of her plans for the future and was trying to help. He did however not have much influence here in the Clocktower and he wasn't there, he was at the Wayne Manor… with the Batcave underneath. Dinah cast a glance in the direction of her mom. There was no way she could sneak out now, but maybe getting out of school early tomorrow would do the trick.

Helena dropped down next to the cold body. She wondered for a moment, how strange her little life actually was. Here she was standing in the middle of a morgue getting ready to use a device she didn't understand on the body of a man, who apparently had killed himself, all because her surrogate little sister had dreamt of terrible things resulting from a series of suicides. "Oracle, I am starting the scan now," she reported and ran the device, which gave off a sickly green light, over the cold body that lay on the slab.

"Huntress, I've been wondering about the two suicides. It seems that this guy knew and worked with the other guy who committed suicide. The police reports indicate that they seemed to be fleeing from something at the time of their death. Maybe something was bringing out their fears. Maybe they were driven to suicide," Barbara's voice suggested in her ear.

"Sounds very theoretical," she replied.

"True, and it is, but it is an angle we should look into. And if they're connected maybe their other buddies are next. Delphi is gathering up all my info on them now. I will have to look at it tomorrow though, I am almost dropping out of the chair here," Barbara said.

"No staying up for two days in a row anymore, are you getting old by chance?" She teased her former mentor.

"Yeah, maybe, or maybe it is hard to have a home and two careers without sleep. Besides I have to be on my toes these days. That is fine, Huntress just get out of there safely then call it a night too," Barbara answered.

"Why?" She said.

"Why I have to be on my toes? Dinah, of course," Barbara admitted.

Helena knew that Dinah and Barbara were possibly just on the edge of a major face-off, which would decide their relationship for a long time to come. She hoped it would end well, but Barbara wasn't going to budge, so unless Dinah changed her mind their small family was going to continue suffering. "Oh, well, I… will see you tomorrow then," she felt like such a chicken for not giving Barbara her opinion, but she really didn't feel like getting in the middle of their fight. She slipped back into the air duct and closed the grate behind her. She was a little annoyed, when she noticed that slipping out of the morgue was a routine at this point in her life.

If her mom got word of what she was doing, she would be grounded for a long time, Dinah realized as she walked towards the front door. Cutting school was not a popular pastime, when your mom was a teacher at the same school. Luckily her mom had gone home early today, probably with some excuse to continue her hunt for a lead on the strange and seemingly meaningless suicides that had cropped up these last few days. "Hey, Dinah, where are you going?" Gabby's voice called to her as she was just about to push the door open.

She turned and saw Gabby walk up. "You still have classes today, are you alright?" Gabby asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't spread that around okay. I need to go do something," she explained.

"God, I thought I'd never see you cut classes… I'm so proud," Gabby said with a wink. Dinah couldn't help grinning. "So should I come along and offer moral support or something? I really don't want to have chemistry today," Gabby asked.

Dinah felt bad, as she replied, "Sorry, I need to do this thing on my own… put it down to my mysterious past alright." Gabby nodded.

"See ya," Gabby called out and left. Dinah echoed her and quickly turned to make her way towards the street and started on the walk over to the parking cellar beneath the Clocktower and her waiting ride.

Dinah sat down in the expensive car and caressed the leather upholstery appreciatively. One day she hoped to have a cool car of her own, but for now this would more than do well. She knew that she was still new at driving, but at that moment she couldn't careless. She slipped the key in the ignition and the electronics inside it made the car come alive. It roared slightly, while she slid on her seatbelt. And a slightly bumpy reversal later she was headed smoothly towards the exit of the parking cellar, while fiddling with the radio to see if she could catch a radio station that was remotely worth listening to.

It was quite a rush for her as she finally made it out of the slow moving city traffic and onto the two lane road that led through the forested mansion-filled hills above New Gotham. She had the car roaring comfortably and her hands were tapping the song on the steering wheel, while she thought about what steps she would next take to fulfill the purpose that had consumed her, since she had last stayed at the Wayne mansion.

Dinah parked the large black car next to the gray lichen covered mansion. She walked up the bare and clean stone steps to the reddish heavy wooden doors and pressed the bell. She hoped she had understood Alfred's intentions correctly and that her idea from last night was feasible. The door was opened by a slightly surprised looking Alfred. "Miss, what are you doing out here?" He asked.

"Alfred, I need to speak with you without camera coverage," she said. The butler smiled warmly at her and stepped inside indicating for her to join him. Dinah walked into the cavernous foyer.

"Please, Miss Dinah, give me that," Alfred suggested as she slipped out of her jacket. She handed it to him and followed him. He hung it in a closet then asked her to come with him to the kitchen.

Dinah liked the pleasant homey feel of the kitchen. Alfred put on some tee then turned and looked at her. "So how may I help you, Miss Dinah," he asked.

"I think you know… somehow what I am trying to do," she suggested.

"I am not sure of course, but I have seen enough to presume that you have decided to go against your mother's wishes and begun your own regiment of training in preparation for a career as a crime fighter like her," he said, while putting a couple of chocolate chip cookies on a plate and putting it down next tot the tea cups he had placed on a tray.

"I have been seriously training in Krav Maga for two years now," she admitted and somehow it felt like a bit of load she hadn't even noticed lightened.

"Yes, I recognized some of the moves this Sunday," the butler admitted, while pouring hot water of the dried mix of leaves and berries that would become their tea.

Dinah felt a bit uncomfortable in the silence that followed. "I need to do this Alfred. Everything within me tells me that it is the way for me. You know what happened to me… to my mom and Helena's mom 7 years ago today. That is one of the things that motivate me. I want to prevent anything like that from happening again," she explained.

"I understand," he replied and put the pot of tea on the tray too.

"You know, I am really grateful for the car, but I hoped I could you ask for a bit more help," she waited for his reply, but the butler just looked at her waiting for her to continue. "Mom won't let me help on the case they're working on, but I feel that I need to. I must convince them both that I will be a vigilante with or without them. Then they will have to accept my goal as real and not some fickle teenage phase. But to do that I need information and there is no way for me to get them on my own. I remembered that mom used the Batcave to run Delphi once, and I wondered if there was some kind of connection between the computers here and in the Clocktower that I could use… if you'd let me," she pleaded.

Alfred picked up the tray and said, "Right this way Miss Dinah." Dinah rose and followed the butler to the secret entrance to the Batcave. They walked down into the slightly chilly cave. The butler led her over to the gigantic and slightly old super computer system that had served Batman and his helpers in the past. It still hummed slightly with activity even if the monitor had been turned off.

The butler put down the tray next to the terminal and indicated for Dinah to sit down. "I am afraid I understand very little about computers, but I have overheard Miss Barbara saying that her system is still connected to these. Maybe it would be possible for you to find a way into Delphi through that connection," he said and poured her a cup of warm tea to fend off the cold of the cave.

She looked down at the cup and then over at the tray. "Did you know all the time what I wanted?" She had to ask.

"Miss Dinah, if I didn't think you wanted this for the right reasons and was capable of what you have set out to do, we would have been having tea in the kitchen right now," he said and poured himself a cup as well.

She nodded and turned towards the big computer. A slight tap on a key activated the large screen. Soon she was trying to work her way through the computer and its unique interface hoping to find a way into her mother's databases.

"Helena, I'm glad you're here… today of all days," Barbara said and looked up at the black haired woman as she sullenly walked up towards her. She adjusted her wheelchair with a casual thought and found herself facing the vigilante she had created.

"Let's not talk about that alright. What's up? I mean the sun is still up," Helena asked archly.

Barbara adjusted her glasses a little. "I've been going through the finances of both guys, who died. It seemed they worked together with two other partners on a land investment plan involving the old docks. I think something might have gone wrong with the money and they were depressed, but it looks like everything is going very well. I thought that maybe you could watch one of the other partners tonight, maybe check to see if there is something chasing them," she explained.

Helena, who had been leaning against a table, got up and walked towards the door, while fiddling with her necklace. "On my way," she said and the speakers at Delphi echoed her words.

After the elevator doors closed on Helena, Barbara pressed the send button on the microphone and told her wayward vigilante were the guy she was looking for lived, while she started to wonder, why her wayward daughter had come home for dinner yet.

"Finally," Dinah said as the list of files scrolled across the screen. She had gotten her mom's currently open files off of Delphi and copied them over the small dedicated network between the computers here in the cave that her mom obviously used as backup storage and the Delphi machine in the Clocktower. She started to examine the computer again and found the CD burner. She popped it open and realized she had no fresh media to get the files onto. She rose and turned only to find Alfred offering her a CD case.

"Master Bruce kept a small supply of those, he wouldn't mind if I lent you one," the butler explained at her questioning look. Still she didn't argue she would have enough trouble trying to figure out how to get the computer to actually burn the files out onto the disk.

Another hour later she finally popped the CD into its case and while already wincing she glanced down at her watch. It was almost eight o'clock and her mom had no idea, where she was. There was a rather good chance that her coming home tonight would involve words being screamed rather than said. "I need to go," she said to Alfred and anxiously dashed towards the stairs, while the unperturbed butler just calmly walked in the same direction.

By the time she had on her jacket Alfred stood holding the door open. "Good night Miss Dinah," he said.

She walked past him and asked, "When are you gonna just call me Dinah?"

The Englishman just smiled wickedly for a moment then replied, "Never."

"Thank you anyway, I don't know what I would have done without your help," she admitted and hugged the old man. Dinah couldn't help smiling as she saw the slightly blushing butler standing stiffly there as she headed down the stairs towards the car.

Helena watched as another car left the parking cellar below the massive building in which the guy she was watching lived. She was perched in the shadow next to a massive statue across the street from the guy's artfully decorated living room. A light shone through the gauzy white curtains. He had just had some kind of visitor in what Barbara had reported was probably his study and now that he had left the gray haired man suddenly dashed into the living room and barricaded the door with a chair. She couldn't help arching an eyebrow.

"Oracle, something is happening. Our guy is barricading himself," she said as she watched him completely close the curtains. "I've lost view of him," she quickly added.

"Don't let him kill himself," Barbara's voice added and the open mike added the faint background noise of Dinah greeting her mom.

"I'll go in. Keep the police off my back if I trip any alarms," she said and quickly took a step back before taking a massive flying leap between buildings here fifteen stories up. She dashed along the slim ledge and tripped to open the window to the living room, but she couldn't get it open. She pulled back as much as she could and launched herself through the glass.

Helena landed amongst the shards. She quickly jumped up to stand and found the man scrambling to slip a noose up over an overhead lamp. He had tied the cord to a statue and the chair to stand on was ready too. "No, stop," she commanded. The man didn't even look at her nor did he stop.

She quickly ran over and grabbed the man, pressing him to the ground. He started to struggle, trying to break her grip, while screaming in complete panic. "Hey, you stop it. There is no reason for you to do this," she yelled.

"You'll never be able to get me. I will make sure. I will go where you can't ever reach me," he yelled and then screamed wildly and thrashed even harder as he attempted to get free.

"Oracle, I can seem to snap him out of it. He is completely off his rocker," she said hoping Barbara could hear her over the noise.

"I've alarmed the police telling them that there is a suicidal man. I suggest you tie him up and leave at the last moment," her partner suggested.

"All right," Helena said, but as the guy continued his frantic struggle and wild screams she lost patience. Her fist pulled back and slammed down twice sending the business man to dreamland, allowing her to tie him with the cord he had earlier converted to a noose. She settled down to wait for the police.

Dinah studied the data; she had carefully lifted off her mom's system earlier, on her own computer after unplugging the network cable to prevent any kind of spying from her overzealous mother. There were loads of files dealing mostly with business dealings and flows of money. Her eyes started to water from the strain of the now late night computer session. She yawned and the screen seemed to get a bit blurry between blinks, so she decided to switch everything off. She popped out the CD, hid it in her school bag and put the network cable back in, before slipping back under the covers and soon falling asleep.

Meanwhile a few yards away Helena and Barbara were discussing the very same case. "I am telling you he was completely out of his mind. He really wanted to kill himself and when I tried to stop him he went really wild," Helena admitted.

"I know Helena, but when the cops questioned him, he was completely normal again. They did bring him to a clinic for evaluation. I guess we will know more tomorrow," she explained and rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Alright, come on, Barbara, you usually have some kind of theory in these situations. Why are these men trying to kill themselves?" Helena asked.

Barbara really wished she had a clear cut answer, but all she had was theories and a clear intent to not let any more of these businessmen kill themselves. "I think we might be dealing with a metahuman, who can invade people's minds and cause them enough fear or pain to make them kill themselves," she said.

Helena gave her a look. She knew very well that it was an easy answer. "I know. I know. We don't have any evidence of a metahuman yet, but it would explain it all. At least we're moderately certain that it is somehow tied to these four business men," she pointed at the computer screen, while she brought up a picture of the fourth man on her list. "This guy was out of town until today, but he might be next one you need to guard," she explained.

"I know that guy Mr. Ketterly. He used to live down the block from my mom and me," Helena commented.

"We need to find out, why these men are trying to kill themselves. So far all the attempts have been made after sunset, so I think if you could watch him tomorrow, we could probably prevent anything like today from happening again," she suggested.

"Or at least make sure he can't go through with it," Helena said.

"Are you alright?" She asked thinking about Selina's death tonight seven years ago.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you?" Helena replied.

Barbara knew she would never have gotten an honest answer to her question. Helena buried her grief, but she didn't want to ignore what day today was. She wondered for a moment if she should tell Helena about her worries, about her experiments, the wish she uttered as she got up every morning that maybe today a breakthrough or miracle would happen and she would be able to walk again. But then again she didn't feel like sharing that either. "I'm fine too," she said.

"And Dinah, she's usually a bit more fussy around the both of us on this day," Helena said, but Barbara could see in her eyes that she already knew the answer to that one.

"We haven't talked much today. She is still angry with me… us for not letting her help with this case," she explained.

"Barbara… Maybe we could," Helena started the old argument.

"No," she cut her off. The same cold shiver ran down her back as always and the image of Dinah being shot by some random goon flashed through her mind.

"I'll do a couple of sweeps then hit the bed," Helena said and abruptly headed for the door, while Barbara logged out of Delphi. She still had work tomorrow and Wade was also in the wings waiting for some kind of answer on his invitation. She stretched her arms and winced a little at the cracking noise of her back as she craned her neck.