Homecoming

Chapter 4

The elevator was not going fast enough. Helena had raced back to the watchtower in record time, but the ride to the top felt like an eternity. When the doors finally opened, she burst into the room, yelling, "Barbara! It's a trap! He wants the Batman!" Barbara didn't look surprised. Then she realized that Bruce wasn't there. "Where's Batman?" she asked, though she suspected she already knew the answer.

"Reese called," Barbara said, "He was worried about you. He told us about the murder and before I knew it, Bruce was gone."

"No! I have to find him! The Joker's not going to stop until one of them is dead. I can't let him do this…Not alone. Not without me." She turned back toward the elevator.

"Helena, wait!" Dinah's voice shouted from above her, "You can't go."

"Try and stop me."

"Look, I know you want the Joker dead. But you are not ready for this fight," Dinah said as she descended the stairs.

"Maybe," Helena replied, "But neither is he."

"Since when do you care what he does? I thought you hated him for abandoning you! Why are you so willing to go and save him?"

"Because he's my father. And no matter what he did, nothing can change that," she explained, "You should be able to understand that."

Dinah realized that Helena was right. She did understand. And nothing she said was going to stop Helena from leaving. "So how are we going to find this guy?"

….

"Are you sure he'll be there, Oracle?" Huntress asked as she raced across New Gotham's rooftops. She was headed toward Barbara's old apartment – the one where the Joker shot her and put her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

"Yes. If he's recreating that night in an attempt to anger Batman enough to draw him out, he'll be there," she replied grimly, remembering.

"You got me there." Huntress was descending the stairs of the fire-escape, silently searching the windows for any sign of Batman or the Joker. About three flights down, she saw him. "Oracle? I got him."

…

Unconsciously, Batman had arrived at the apartment building where Batgirl had ceased to exist. He'd been chasing the Joker for so long that he knew how his twisted mind worked. He entered the apartment building concealed in its shadows and surreptitiously made his way to Barbara's old apartment. Without hesitation, he kicked the door open as the sound of breaking glass filled the air.

He looked up to see the Joker with gun in hand and Helena – no, Huntress – standing among the shards of a broken window. "Oh, good," she said, "I thought I was late for the party." Before he knew it, she had disarmed the Joker. If he didn't know any better, he would've sworn it was Catwoman. She was so quick.

"Naughty, naughty." The Joker's voice broke him out of his thoughts; "It's not fair to use your metahuman abilities against regular little me."

"Oh yeah? Well, I don't need my meta-powers to do this," she said as she kicked him and sent him flying into the wall.

"Ow, that hu…" he was cut off by Batman's fist in his jaw.

"It's about time you joined in on the fun," Huntress said to him. They looked at each other for a moment, realizing how much they had missed out on over all these years…

"Hahahaha!" the Joker's laughter penetrated through to them and they simultaneously turned to glare at him. "Oh, this is rich! Haha! Two bats for the price of one!"

"What are you talking about, nut-job?" Huntress demanded.

"Oh, it's really too much! Hahaha! The way you two move, your horrible attitudes…oh, it's just so obvious! Haha!"

Batman got right in his adversary's face. "What is?" he growled.

"You don't know?" the Joker asked, "Haha! This little pip-squeak, New Gotham's newest protector, is Batman's little girl! Hahahahaha! And I get to see them both go down in flaming glory! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Huntress looked over at Batman. "What is he talking about? Flaming glory? What does that mean?"

"Get out of here, Helena," he said, quietly.

"But Dad!"

"I said go!"

"Hahahaha! You really are too much! Hahaha!" the Joker continued.

Huntress did not want to leave. She couldn't handle losing another parent to that bastard.

"Helena, go!"

Reluctantly, so very reluctantly, she left the apartment out of the window she came through. When Batman could see that she was gone, he turned his attention back to the Joker. "What did you do?" he growled, grabbing him by the collar.

"Hahaha! You haven't lost your touch, Batsy, old boy! Hahaha!" Suddenly, his tone changed. He grew eerily quiet and severe. "I set a bomb in this apartment. It's set to go off in about…" He checked his watch, "Thirty seconds."

"Joke's on you, Joker," Batman said, "You'll die too."

"Hahahaha! Can't you see, Batman? That was the whole idea."

The Joker's words struck Batman hard. He couldn't give the Joker what he wanted. He wouldn't. Ever. He dropped the Joker back against the wall and headed for the window.

The Joker's victorious expression turned to one of surprise. "You can't just leave me here, Batman! You're not a killer!"

"Maybe not," he replied, "But that doesn't mean I have to save you." He entered the night air, barely hearing the Joker's still pleading words.

A pair of hands grabbed his arm as he heard the words, "C'mon! We have to get out of here!"

"Hold on," he told his daughter as he shot the grappling hook at the rooftop of the nearest building, carrying them away from the blast that finally ended all of their problems.

…..

Father and daughter sat on the rooftop, resting from their busy night. It seemed strangely normal to both of them, sitting together, high above the streets of their city.

"You came back for me," Bruce said.

"I never left," Helena replied.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you would never have left either," she said, "I guess I really am my father's daughter."