Chapter 3

Following his unmasking Huntress had had to ask him a lot more about himself, as she had only heard of the second Robin a few times before and it wasn't something she kept at the forefront of her mind. So it was that Jason went on to (albeit quite begrudgingly) tell her his entire story. The whole thing. From his discovery by Batman, to his death, and finally, to his resurrection and return to Gotham City. He held nothing back to her, and so she just absorbed it all in. Finally, once he was done venting, she, very calmly replied:

"So now you're looking for payback?"

"You're damn right I'm looking for payback. And it's not just against the clown either. No, he's just the start. I'm cleansing this city in the blood of it's low-lifes"

"Well, I can't say I blame you for wanting to kill that monster, but you know he's not going to put up with your vendetta..."

"I'm aware. I've got plans for him too. He and I are going to have some...shall we say 'words' before all is said and done"

"You sound like you blame him for what happened"

Jason chuckled and shook his head. "No that's not it. I forgive him for failing to save me. I'm pissed at him for a different reason. Namely that I was left un-avenged, and as my successor shows, forgotten" Then, his up to that point calm voice rose in anger: "I got murdered by that death-worshipping sadist and he did nothing! Nothing!"

"He doesn't kill remember?"

"Oh I remember. I always thought he was a fool to think like that but I never said so to his face. Now I think I will. And he will either do what he should have done years ago, or I'll do it for him. Doesn't matter much to me. I get revenge either way. And maybe Bruce will be forced to kill me to save the clown. Who knows?"

His voice rose in anger again as he vented out to her once more: "I mean, ignoring what he's done in the past...the fact that he's killed dozens, if not hundreds, the friends that he's crippled..."

Huntress couldn't help but wince at that. She had a feeling who he was referring to...

"...And then me. Me, his sidekick, his protege, his son, murdered. And here I thought my death would be the end of it. Here I thought that I could rest easy with the knowledge that he would never let that bastard hurt anyone else ever again...but I was wrong. Heh, guess I wasn't so important to him after all..."

Huntress, though it was against her better judgment, placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at him hard.

"You were important to him, trust me there. Yeah, he didn't kill the Joker, but he buried you. He mourned you. Hell, he framed his costume in his cave, I've seen it! And now that you're back...I'm sure he'd be happy to see you again...or he would have been had you not started killing people"

Jason smiled. "Exactly. After what I've done if I showed my face to him it wouldn't change a thing. He'd still go after me like he would any other criminal. And honestly I'd be disappointed if he didn't. And even if he did forgive me, he wouldn't trust me to put on a costume again. Any costume"

"...Do you really need his permission?"

"No. Which is why I'm going to do what I need to do."

"Do you need to do this though? Look, I know what it feels like to be scarred" Huntress hesitated to say more but as Jason had trusted her with his life-story she felt she could trust him with hers. "My family was killed by mobsters. All of them, shot dead right in front of me while we were having dinner. For years, I've wanted to punish everyone who was involved. For years I wanted to kill them all. Make them pay for what they did..."

"And did you?"

Huntress nodded silently. "Yes, yes I did. I tracked down and killed the man who pulled the trigger and then the slug who ordered the hit. And you know what the honest truth is? I didn't feel any better afterwards. At all. Their deaths did nothing to ease my pain, and did nothing to make me stop wishing every night that my mother and brother were still alive. I even miss my father some nights and he wasn't a good man by any stretch. But killing their killers didn't bring me any happiness at all. In fact I found afterwards that I felt worse. I felt like I'd damned myself to the same hell those men are burning in right now"

"Oh spare me the sermon lady..."

He tried to move off but Huntress tightened her grip on his shoulder to make sure he stayed put.

"Listen to me: I've felt the way you have, I've wanted to do the things you want to do...I have done the things you want to do. But now that I see you and I really think about it...it hasn't really done anything for me, hasn't gotten me anywhere I want to go. All it seems to do in fact is bring more pain. And now after everything you've told me about you, do you really want to bring yourself more pain?"

"You sure you're not preaching to me?"

She gave him a smug smile. "I was raised Catholic. Trust me, if I really wanted to preach to you I could and would"

Her smile faded and her serious demeanor returned.

"Let's get serious here: if you start down this little crusade, it isn't going to end well: trust me. I mean, I'm not against killing criminals if I think they have it coming, but that's because I believe in protecting these people in a way that works, not just because I want revenge. Revenge did nothing to satisfy me, it won't do anything to satisfy you"

"But that's just it: I also want to help this city, in a way that Bruce never could. I want to clean this city up as the angel of death Gotham's always needed. That is my purpose now. Nothing else"

"If that's true then you won't go after Bruce. And if you do I'll fight you alongside him"

"I thought you said you weren't part of his little family?"

"I'm not, and I don't agree with his way of doing things. In fact the feeling is mutual. But I still know that we're both fighting the same evils and I know that he helps this city. So much as I hate the man sometimes I always respect the symbol. And I won't let you destroy it"

Jason said nothing in response and again Huntress looked him dead in the eye. "Please. I know how you used to be a hero Jason. I know that you've done good things before. And I know that you can be a good person again."

Jason lowered his head solemnly

"It's too late for me gorgeous. Bruce had his chance, and me, well I'm just getting started. This is all I have left now"

"I wouldn't say that...you know I'd vogue for you."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"The only reason I'm not in jail right now is because Nightwing convinced Bruce to forgive me, or at least just enough to let me stay here in Gotham so long as I behave myself. I can convince him to do the same for you if you just stop the killing"

Jason shook his head. "No, I can't stop. Not now, not ever. Like I said I'm what this city needs. The merciless executioner, the thing that will clean up Gotham more than Bruce ever did and haunt the minds of every criminal in this city every waking hour of the day. I'll never stop until I go round two with the Grim Reaper."

"It doesn't need to be like that Jason" Huntress said. She wasn't against someone who would go the extra step against criminals, but what Jason was planning amounted to a prolonged suicide, and as someone who had done similar things for very similar reasons, she could empathize with him in a way that she never did with anyone else. That Jason had been given a second chance at life made Helena feel all the more compelled to convince him not to waste it. She was already probably damned for the vengeful and murderous actions of her first years wearing the costume. She didn't want to see this man who she could relate to be damned alongside her.

But the young man in question was clearly set on his path. He shook his head sadly. "You're wasting your time" then, in a more hostile tone: "It's time for you to go"

"You know they'll all be after you. Not just Bruce and his family. The police, the gangs, everyone. You'll have most of the city against you, and you won't have anyone helping you. You'll never make it"

"Then maybe that's my fate" Jason said coldly. "Now get out of here"

Huntress sighed and turned her back to Jason, making her way back to her motorcycle. As she did she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head before he walked off in the opposite direction. There was as much sadness to the man as there was rage, and that was yet one more thing he and Helena had in common. More than her bottomless hatred and fury towards those who had destroyed her world Helena felt sad. Sad at being alone, sad at being without a family, sad at being the sole remaining member of her family. The Bertenelli family has shrunken considerably over the years, to the point that by the time of Helena's parents it was a shadow of it's former glory that Helena's father had desperately attempted to hold onto. But he was an only child and any outsiders from his wife's side of the family would never be allowed to take over by the family's allies. This was why the hit had happened in the first place. It was figured that if the whole family were to die there would be no proper heir to take over and those who wanted the family's wealth and power could take it at their leisure. And they did. Their fatal mistake was in leaving Helena alive.

But as such Helena was isolated and she could see that in Jason too. They were both alone in this world, with no one they could call friend. And in a way Jason had it even worse. At least Nightwing, Robin, and Oracle all tried to build bridges with Helena. Dinah too when she wasn't coming to blows with her. But that was just it: none of them approved of her way of doing things and even among these people who tried to be her friends she was still seen as an outsider. Someone who had to be reformed, changed. But Helena wasn't sure she could change, at least not to the extent that they all wanted.

And as she thought of all of these things, and more and more likened herself to Jason, Helena realized that she could not give up on him. Anymore than she would just give up on herself, much as she had considered doing that many times. No, Jason could still be saved. She knew it. And if no one else would try to save him, she would. One troubled soul to another.

So it was that Huntress returned home with a new mission.