Note: Well, after more than a year's absence I have returned yet again. I never intended to leave for so long, and I want all of my readers to understand that. Something just happened, and I would find myself staring at my story unable to write even a single word. I don't know why it happened, and I can't guarantee that it's over or that it won't happen again. But, I have been trying very hard for the past few months to get over this block, and I think that I have finally made some progress, and I hope that I will continue to make progress for all of our sakes. After all, I want this thing finished as well.
Disclaimer: You know the drill. Not mine.
Walking down the stairs Reese proudly showed off his prize, a nude Dinah who was only faintly covered by a towel. He grinned wolfishly at Helena as he tossed her onto the couch. "Look what I found." He stated, proudly laughing.
"Damn it Reese. You could at least put some clothes on her." Helena grabbed the towel that had fallen to the floor and draped it back across Dinah.
"What? Seeing her naked too tempting for you?" Reese asked bitterly. Helena merely glared at him and went upstairs to find some clothes. Scratching the back of his neck Reese stared after her realizing that perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say. After all, he couldn't make himself out to be the bad guy.
As things were, Helena was too attached to Dinah. Reese knew this even though he had employed his abilities. So the question had come up of what to do with her? What to do with the woman who had stolen his love from him? The immediate thought was to simply kill her. But no, that wasn't good enough. Plus he knew that it would trigger a reaction from Helena, and although he was sure that he could erase that eventually, he decided that maybe keeping Dinah around Helena would be more torture for Dinah than for him.
At that moment Helena decided to come back down the stairs, clothes in hand. It was something simple, loose pants, and shirt along with a bra and panties. Helena looked at Reese with a pointed look as though daring him to say anything more on the subject of clothes; wisely, Reese held his tongue. With that settled for the time being Helena began to dress Dinah, awkward as it may have been. When she noticed Reese watching a slight clearing of the throat got him to turn around however reluctantly it might have been. "What are we going to do with her anyway?" Helena asked, trying to get Dinah's arms through the sleeves of the shirt.
"I hadn't fully decided yet. She is the enemy, and I do want her to suffer for what she did." Reese put on his best 'I'm trying to be diplomatic' tone, as he tried to pull off his idea.
"So, what do you want to do? My guess is kill her." Helena stated annoyed as she now tried to navigate the other arm through the other sleeve.
"I had considered it, but that seemed too … I don't know, evil dictator." Now he put on his 'slightly remorseful, but willing to make a joke' voice. "You seem to care about her an awful lot despite everything she did to me…to us." Just enough to drive a bit of guilt, just enough to make her agree with whatever he wanted.
"That's not true!" Helena shouted vehemently just now finished dressing Dinah. "She deserves whatever she gets." She wasn't entirely sure why she said it though. It was like something was nagging at the back of her mind trying to tell her something about the whole situation; it passed after a moment, and her anger returned. "Kill her if you want, I don't care."
Reese smiled with his back still turned to her. Sure, he could easily do this by simply looking into her eyes, but the control he exerted this way was simply intoxicating. Turning around, "No, it's all right. I think I have a better idea anyway."
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Steam rose from the mug she had her hands wrapped around. They had finished watching the tapes an hour ago, and yet Barbara still had trouble wrapping her mind around it. Reese had their home, Helena had helped him, and Dinah was their prisoner. How did things get so fucked up? How had she let things get so fucked up? All the hints had just passed her by. Even now she couldn't remember any clues that might have helped her piece it together.
As of now she supposed it didn't really matter even if the detective in her was dying to figure it out. It wouldn't change their situation any. All she could do was try to fix things, and hopefully in trying her questions would be answered. Hacking DELPHI was a good start, and hopefully they had hooked up their computers to her's. If they were in a network, then she would be able to glean a great deal of information from their database, and hopefully a great deal of answers.
Maybe then she could figure out what part Reese played in all this. He was clearly not on Barbara's side, but he didn't seem to be an underling of the other three she had seen on the tapes. If that were true, then it meant that some how, Reese had obtained a decent amount of power, which worried Barbara considerably. For the past while he had been acting oddly, ever since the girls had been stranded by the plane crash. It seemed that he had a growing obsession with Helena, which grew from annoying yet cute at first to really creepy.
However, Reese also had played the part of a perfect ally and friend, something that made it impossible for Barbara to find a reason to sever all contact with him. Obviously he had been jealous of how close Dinah and Helena were, though he did know that Helena and Dinah were having problems. Perhaps he had used that to his advantage to manipulate Helena against both Dinah and Barbara. But how? Helena was not one to be easily manipulated, but from watching the tape, Barbara could surmise that Reese had gained a large portion of power, almost as though he were a Meta himself.
Wait, something about that thought began to stir the gears in Barbara's mind. What if Reese were now a Meta? That would explain at least a portion of what was going on. The obvious question was of course though, how? It only took a minor amount of consideration for Barbara to figure it out. Phoenix Inc. created false Metas not too long ago and in mass quantities. Reese had missed Phoenix Inc.'s initial phase of producing Metas, the one that Helena and Dinah had been a part of, but what if they were doing secondary testing and Reese had found out about it?
That didn't seem quite right though as the initial testing was a tremendous success in terms of it doing what it was supposed to, but also a colossal failure seeing as the lab was destroyed. The money lost during that first testing would have been several billion in all likely hood, which was not exactly a lump sum. It would have been impractical and nearly impossible for Phoenix Inc. to try again so soon. Unfortunately that left Barbara with one other conclusion; Reese approached Phoenix Inc. on his own and volunteered.
However, with the research lab destroyed it shouldn't have been feasible for Phoenix Inc. to help Reese in any way. Unless, of course, they had another lab somewhere else or even one prototype or experimental tank contained within the facility itself. If that were true it would have been easy for Phoenix Inc. to transform Reese. But then why did he appear to have so much power and why would Ms. Baxter, the owner of Phoenix Inc., agree to change him? Of course, Barbara realized, that might be her answer right there.
Reese had a lot of information. After all, he was on the police force, which not only provided him information, but also a certain amount of leverage with the general populace and even with his co workers. Then there was the fact that he had worked with the Birds on many occasions and had inside information on them. And judging from how angry and crazed he was about not having Helena, Barbara was sure that he would have betrayed them all in a second to get what he wanted.
Still though, Barbara was sure that even that wasn't quite enough for Ms. Baxter to help Reese with his problem. There was no way she would want another loose false meta running around causing problems for herself due to shortsightedness. No, she must have made Reese agree to work for her, which would explain the control afforded to him.
Nothing within Barbara's line of thought was good in any way, shape, or form, but on the bright side, at least she had a place to start looking. Hacking back into Phoenix Inc. would be a piece of cake as far as Barbara was concerned, however, finding confirmation of her suspicions would be a great deal more difficult. Well, no time like the present she supposed.
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Awaking from her nap, Dinah found herself abnormally tired. But then, that was bound to happen after the emotional turmoil she had suffered. There was no doubt that she had tossed and turned while she slept, and that unrest would contribute to her fatigue. She sat up stretching her sore limbs, and cradled her head as a head rush hit her. "Well, I can already tell that this is going to be a good day." Dinah muttered to herself sardonically. Her stomach rumbled at her angrily, and she briefly wondered when the last time she had eaten was.
Within her basement apartment was a kitchen, and Dinah made her way towards it hoping to find something in either the fridge or cupboards. Opening both she found each equally barren, and she slammed the cupboard doors shut out of frustration. Tears welled up in her eyes and began leaking down her face.
"Pull it together Dinah, this is just day one." She sighed rubbing a hand over her face. "They're going a little overboard though denying me food and addicting me to some drug. Ah, shit." Dinah turned around putting her back to the cabinets and slid down till she could rest her forehead against her knees. She could feel the tremors running through her body, and could only await the pain she figured would follow.
Soon her thoughts would become fogged, distant and slow, so Dinah knew that she needed to start planning now. This was really more Barbara's area of expertise, and Dinah desperately wished that she were here to give her some advice, to hold her hand and guide her through the situation. The collar was still a heavy weight around her neck, and if she were to do anything, Dinah figured that she'd need to get the collar off first, or at least disable it. But Reese was not a complete idiot, and she knew that it would be no easy matter.
However, now that her thoughts were slightly clearer, Dinah remembered something odd about Helena and Reese's interactions. Well, aside from the sickening PDAs anyway. There was definitely something not right though. For one, Helena seemed far too… complacent. The Helena she knew would never have put up with someone using her to display power or superiority. Also, Helena's dislike for her seemed over reactive. Just before everything had fallen apart for no apparent reason, Helena had been steadily growing closer to forgiving her completely. Now there was a complete turn around, a change in dress, attitude, and actions and Reese just expected her to buy it at face value. Someone had grown overconfident.
That's what she would have to use to defeat him. So far, Reese had seemed overly fond of revealing his power, and Dinah was fairly certain that she could easily get him to reveal too much information through simple prodding or taunting. And with Helena's odd behavior, it might be possible to convince Helena to help her in small ways. Of course that part was theory and ran on the assumption that Helena hadn't intentionally betrayed her horribly. But at this point, Dinah could use what optimism she could find.
A headache began to assert itself behind her eyes just as she heard the elevator doors opening. Curiosity overwhelmed the pain as Dinah had suspected that she would be getting no visitors today, and so she pushed herself to stand, and went to investigate.
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"Are you sure that this is really necessary, Reese?" Helena asked from her perch on the corner of his desk.
"Of course it is." He answered not even bothering to glance up from his computer screen.
"Would you mind actually making eye contact while I try to have a conversation with you?" Irritation was evident, and Helena crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Reese.
Reese sighed. "Can't this wait until later babe? I'm kind of busy right now." He tried to appeal to her gesturing towards his screen.
"No it can't, especially if I'm supposed to be her caretaker. I mean what exactly does that entail. Frankly I think you're doing it just as psychological warfare, and I'm not sure I even know why anymore." Helena argued impatiently.
"I see. So what, Helena? You're taking her side over mine?" Reese tried to guilt her. Really it was a test to see how long his thrall could last. Its record so far had been a whopping twelve hours before changes were noticeable. He was only willing to go a certain distance in his tests though, and that was to the point where she became openly defiant like this, but today he thought that maybe he should test it a bit further. After all, she still believed that she was in love with him at this point.
"Honestly, I sometimes wonder why I picked you over her. At least she listened when I was talking to her."
Or not. Well, that was a good enough test and now it was time to fix things. "Helena, don't say things like that." He swiveled in his chair, took her face in his hands, and looked her straight in the eye. "I. Love. You. Helena Kyle. Who do you love?"
"You." She breathed.
Reese kissed her lightly and smiled internally; it was too easy sometimes. "Good. Now that that's settled, I'm going to go back to work."
"Wait. I'm still not exactly sure what it is that I'm supposed to do." Helena reminded him.
"Well, for now you'll just be checking up on her to see if she's ready to accept our bargain yet. If she is, come and tell me, if not, leave and go back later or try and talk her into it." Reese explained quickly wishing to return to work.
"All right, I'll go check on her now." She stood from his desk and began to leave.
"Oh, before I forget. You'll need to pick up some supplies for her apartment, food, toiletries, that sort of thing. Bye babe." He nodded in her general direction eyes glued to the computer screen.
"Bye."
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Sar rose from her kneeling position. It was disappointing, but not wholly unexpected. They would be unable to remain impartial during the coming conflict, and would have to choose a side. And so it would seem that it was time to make first contact.
Walking through a doorway, she greeted those whom she considered her people. "My friends, I have seen much in this short time, and I see great misfortune in the future. However, nothing is certain because there are outside forces that can influence all events. I have done my best to keep us from being one of these forces, and I am ashamed to admit that in my want of protecting you, I have inadvertently guaranteed great suffering for others. Though I am loath to ask this of you, we must intervene. To do otherwise would be a gross dereliction of our obligations to others, to life itself. I will not force anyone to participate, but I do extend my request to each and every one of you. Those who are with me, follow me to our new destination."
A cheer rises from amongst the group after a pause of deliberation. Sar can only smile at their bravery.
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Note: Well, what do you guys think? Hope it's not as confusing as the last chapters have been. Of course I also hope that I'll be able to finish this thing, and continue to pull out all the epic scenes and twists that I intended from back when I all but abandoned this. Well, here's to hoppin'. 'Till next time guys.