The blonde turned her head slightly and stared down at the little bald man. "I don't like excuses," she reminded him. She tapped her wrist, indicating an invisible watch. "Time."

"Yes," he stammered. "I know."

"Yes what?" she demanded. She glared at him. "Yes what?"

"Yes ma'am?"

Doctor Harleen Qunizell shook her head. "No, that doesn't work for me. Yes Master. Try that on."

"Yes Master?" the bald man said haltingly.

She brightened considerably. "Yes, I like that." She brushed her hair away from her face. She touched the little mans' head and rubbed her fingers over the smooth skin. "Did you talk to Boyd?"

"Yes," he replied. "Yes Master," he quickly added.

"What did he say?" Harley asked, still touching the man.

"He said he'd do it. He said he'd do it cheap. That girl...the one you want him lie to...she pissed him off."

Harley grinned. "She does that to a lot of people." She chuckled and moved away from him. "But not for much longer."

"Uh why?" he asked, not sure he wanted the answer.

She wrinkled her nose and giggled. "Because I'm gonna break her."

"Oh," he said, stepping away.

She sigh, exasperated and annoyed. She shrugged. "I don't need you anymore." She spun back towards him, a pistol in her hand. She fired two shots. The first one ripped into his shoulder, knocking him back. The second one tore through his skull, killing him instantly.

She just laughed and clapped her hands.

"Now that was fun."

* * *

She crouched down low against the asphalt of the rooftop. Narrowing her eyes she peered out over the city, searching desperately for her target. She had been looking for him all day but to no avail. He usually wasn't quite so adept at hiding from her and it was really starting to annoy the hell out of her.

Rain slopped down around her, pressing her hair to her face. The leather she was wearing stuck to her body, almost like a second skin. Just the same, she enjoyed the coolness of the night. It was refreshing.

"Huntress?"

Helena pressed her fingers against the earring in her left ear. "I'm here, Oracle. What's up?"

"There are alarms going off at 3rd and Cortez. Down by the Uniform Depot."

"What the hell would someone want from there?"

"Service uniforms. Police. Fire. EMT."

"Dress-up?"

Barbara laughed. "Wherever you're going with that, stop."

"Wasn't going anywhere," Helena grinned deviously. "Shows how much you know me."

"Uh huh," Barbara snorted. "Should I call you a liar now or wait until we're face to face again?"

"Eh, you decide," Helena said lightly, her eyes still scanning the night. "Okay, I guess I'm on my way then."

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"Try again."

"You're such a pain in the ass, Gordon."

"Uh huh, what's wrong?"

Helena sighed. She took a deep breath. She had never been much for the whole talking thing but somehow she felt like she owed Barbara. "Reese," she said, her voice low.

"No luck finding him?"

"None," she muttered as she sped towards a rooftop across from the one she'd been on. She jumped and easily cleared the gap between the two, landing on the balls of her feet. The hangover that she had started the day with had long passed and now her mind was just buzzing apparently for the hell of it.

"That's strange," Barbara admitted it. "Do you want me to check on it?"

"No," Helena said quickly, perhaps too quickly. She took a breath and then continued. "No, I can deal with this. I'm sure it's nothing. He probably just went to see his mother."

"Okay," Barbara said cautiously. She didn't want to push but she could tell that Helena wasn't as confident about Reese as she was trying to suggest. "Are you sure? It's really not a problem..."

"It's never a problem for you to snoop," Helena laughed. "Okay, I'm right above the Uniform Depot."

"What do you see?"

"Two...no three...yeah, three guys."

"And?"

"Impatient aren't we?"

"Huntress, what's going on down there?" Barbara asked, irritation in her tone. Usually she was fine with playing games with her young charge but her nerves were on edge right now. Any and all crime around New Gotham right now had to be viewed as suspicious, especially with Harley free. In fact, rather because Harley was on the loose.

"Dunno," Helena replied curtly. "I'm dropping in."

She bounced down from the roof and dropped in front of one of the men who was exiting the store. A loud alarm echoed through the night, assaulting her ears. The man who was wearing a mask with four holes in it jerked his head up at her. She could see his eyes widen. She smiled. "Having a good night?"

The guy grunted. He dropped the white boxes that he had been carrying and swung at her. She stepped back, easily evading the blow. She let him try again, this time laughing when he stumbled forward, his balance hopelessly lost. She pressed the toe of her boot into his back and gave him a hard shove, pushing him into the mud. Water splashed up around him, disturbed by the hard impact of his oversized body.

He flailed his arms, trying to get back up but she kept him down, pressing her boot into the back of his neck. "You should see this guy," she commented into her comm. "He looks like a fish."

"Don't play with your food," Barbara scolded even though it was obvious that she was amused. "What about the other two?"

"Hang on," Helena replied. She kicked out and nailed the thug in the face. He grunted and then fell unconscious into the mud. She moved away from him and went over to the discarded boxes. She opened the first one and looked in. "Police uniforms."

"That's what I suspected," Barbara commented. "Okay, round up the other two."

"On it," Helena replied. She dropped the boxes and move quickly through the shattered glass doors of the Uniform Depot. The store was dark but she could still plainly make out the large form of a big man leaning over the cash register. Looking around she noticed that the three cameras scattered around the store had already been shot out. Well that was certainly helpful.

"Mommy didn't give you an allowance this week?" Helena taunted, easily settling her body into an aggressive posture.

The guy glanced behind him and Helena saw another man appear. Thug Number Two then. This one was smaller and skinnier but beyond that a mask hid his facial features. "Shoot the bitch," he growled, his voice muffled.

The big one lifted up a pistol and fired. Helena groaned and then jerked her body to the side, doing an easy back flip.

"Huntress?"

"Fine, fine," she muttered. "It's always about the guns. Men and their penis metaphors."

"That was bad even for you," Barbara chided. "Entirely too obvious."

"Sorry," Helena said as she launched herself into the air. She came down atop of the big mans' shoulder. He shrieked in protest as she used her legs to cut off his oxygen. She spun him around under her and dropped him like a sack of potatoes. One more kick to the gut and he was out.

She turned towards the little man and grinned, a surely predatory thing. Her eyes dilated. "Come on," she rumbled. "Give me a fight."

The guy picked up a box and threw it at her. It fell open as it took flight, clothing dropping out of it and thudding against the ground. A blue blazer stared upwards, one of its buttons broken. He went to his gun next and began to fire off shots.

"I think I pissed him off," Helena quipped, dodging behind the counter.

"Yeah, what else is new?" Barbara asked. Helena could hear the sound of typing in the background.

"I don't always piss everyone off," Helena protested. She reached down and picked up a gold plated ashtray that was sitting on one of the shelves in front of the counter. After momentarily wondering what it was doing in a store for uniforms, she then decided that it would make an adequate weapon.

"No, just everyone you've ever fought."

"Oh, I'm just heartbroken," Helena drawled. She waited until the gunfire had stopped and she could hear the little man moving around towards her. She stood up abruptly and tossed the ashtray at him. It hit him right in the throat and sent him gurgling backwards. He fell to the ground, eyes wide in horror. He put a hand over the wound, blood seeping between his fingers. He moved his mouth like he was trying to say something but nothing came out.

Just the same, a creative reading of his lips told her everything she needed to know. "That's just rude," she laughed. "Oh you'll live," she added as she stood above him. "Live to get your ass kicked by me another day I imagine." She turned away from him and touched her earring. "I'm done here. Are the blue and whites on their way?"

"They should be just about on top of you," Barbara replied. "Time for you to make an exit."

"Right," Helena agreed. She glanced back down at the gasping thug on the ground. He was still breathing and still trying to curse at her. He wasn't doing either very well but with help for him just moments away, he looked like he'd be okay.

She stepped out of the store and slid into the alley next to it just as three police patrol cars pulled up in front of the store. Several officers filed out and into the vandalized store, all of them with guns drawn.

She smirked, satisfied. "We're definitely done here," she said into her comm.

"Then get home. It's pouring out there and the last thing we need to deal with is you getting pneumonia."

"I never get sick," Helena grunted. When all she heard on the other side was laughter she decided that it wasn't a battle she was likely to win. "Fine, fine. I'm on..."

"Huntress?" Barbara called out, alarm in her tone. "Are you okay?"

"Reese," Helena breathed, turning hard into the dark cops' chest. Water dripped down his head and onto his leather overcoat. He was gazing at her pensively, a strange expression in his eyes.

"He's there?"

"Yes," Helena said curtly, still looking up at her handsome boyfriend. She didn't like the expression he was wearing. It was too cold and distant. Utterly unlike him. "I'm going off..."

"Helena, wait..."

"Not now..."

"Wait, I want to ta..."

Helena reached up and clicked off the comm. "Hey," she said to Reese, trying to be casual but failing miserably. Finally she settled for just smiling at him. That usually worked wonders.

He didn't smile back.

*** "What's wrong?" Dinah asked as she limped over towards her mentor. The redhead tossed her an icy glare but Dinah waved her off. "I'm down," she insisted as she dropped into a chair next to the switchboard. "But I can only spend so much time reading John Steinbeck before I want to blow out my brains."

"Steinbeck's a classic," Barbara muttered.

"He sucks," Dinah shot back. "Ask me if I care about a damn basket."

Barbara grimaced. "You sound like Helena and that's not a good thing. I was hoping one of you would be at least remotely literary."

"I like Catcher," Dinah responded.

Barbara snorted derisively. "Everyone your age loves Catcher. Be original. Like Steinbeck."

"Yeah, I'd need a lobotomy first."

"Great, wonderful," Barbara muttered, her fingers still flying over her keyboard. "Damn."

"What?"

"Reese," Barbara said, more to herself than to her blonde companion.

"What about Reese? Come on Barbara, share. Share the smarts."

Barbara lifted an eyebrow. "I'm so not even going there."

"What? The smarts or Reese?"

"The uh, smarts. Reese, I'm not sure on."

"Well...."

"Oh," Barbara said, suddenly realizing what Dinah was asking for. She turned towards the girl and smiled. She removed her glasses and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "Something's not right."

"I'm getting that," Dinah drawled. "Details? Come on, you can do it. One word in front of the next..."

"Tell me," Barbara said with a grin. "Were you always like this or did Helena turn you into a sarcastic brat?"

Dinah winked. "A little bit of both. I've always been a brat but Helena gave me that wonderful thing known as sarcasm."

"Oh joy," Barbara quipped. Then she sighed. "Reese never showed up for work today. In fact neither did his partner. The police database shows both as being AWOL."

"Now that's weird..."

"Very. Helena just bumped into him so we know he's okay."

"You're not sure he's okay are you?" Dinah asked quietly.

Barbara pursed her lips. "No," she admitted. "I'm dead certain he's not."

*****