Chapter 4

In the days that followed the brutality of Red Hood's crusade and also his having resigned himself to it in full were both readily apparent to all. Leaving crippling blows to criminal organizations and factions wherever he went, Red Hood was never difficult to find. The only problem was in how he was always able to outmaneuver everyone who ever went after him. He could run as fast as Nightwing and Robin and was almost as agile. Bruce could outfight him but never catch him during a chase, as Red Hood was younger and used that to his advantage.

Huntress for her part thought it better to bide her time and wait for when she could get Jason alone and continue her attempts to knock some sense into him. She knew she'd never be able to get through to him when any of the others were around, especially when they barely trusted her as was. Never mind that she was a saint compared to Red Hood and suspected that he had become even more brutal than she had been at her worst.

Hell he's worse than some of the villains too now. The worst Riddler and Selina ever did before going straight was steal things.

This fact had not gone unnoticed by others. The GCPD had since declared Red Hood to be a high-profile target that was to be treated with the same contempt and caution as the Joker, Killer Croc, Firefly, Zsaz, and Gotham's other worst of the worst.

But Helena knew Jason was different from them, even if no one else could see that. He was not a sadistic monster who killed for the sake of killing. He was a man clouded by anger and vengeance as she herself had once been and in a way as Bruce himself still was. The only difference was he took it too far. But that did not make him the same person as the Joker.

As Helena continued to grade the last of her student's papers for the night, she turned on the television to see if there was any news on Jason. Unsurprisingly, there was, but the exact nature of it was not something Helena had been expecting.

"...Tonight marks the twelfth attack on known criminal enterprises by the ruthless and brutal costumed vigilante known only as the Red Hood. Following the bombing of the Sionis Steel Mill, long a haven for criminals of all backgrounds, the following message was broadcasted on every channel:

And then Helena saw him, red helmet on and standing in front of a camera as he addressed the people of Gotham in a voice that spoke of his bottomless rage: "For years we've all suffered here under the heel of the corrupt and the sinful. That is something I will no longer allow. Batman may have made himself your guardian angel, but he's not what this city needs. Gotham doesn't need crimefighters. It needs crime killers!"

Deciding she'd seen more than enough just by watching that one video, Helena turned off the television and sat in silence contemplating what she would do.

Jason wasn't stupid. He must have known full well that every action he took only served to isolate him further, and more than that he was making it clear to Batman and his disciples that just as he wasn't exercising much in the way of restraint so too did he not want any restraint on their part. Helena for one was beginning to suspect that Jason wanted Batman or one of the others to kill him, just to prove a point. That some people could not be stopped from doing harm unless their own lives were ended.

Truth be told Helena did agree with that sentiment, but not to the same degree that Jason clearly believed in. And what was more, Helena did not want Jason to become a martyr for his own blood-soaked cause. And in the days that followed Huntress found that more and more she was killing even less than before. Part of it was knowing that she'd again have Batman going after her if so much as a single street thug ended up with one of her crossbow bolts in his gut. But another part of it was that seeing what Jason was doing through an outsider's eyes, Helena found herself more and more wanting to be nothing like that. She no longer had the taste for that kind of mercilessness and callousness that the Red Hood had embraced.

It was several nights later when Helena finally found him before Bruce of any of the others did. He was camped out on a rooftop taking aim at a drug supplier and his potential buyers. With his long sniper rifle he almost resembled Deadshot, a similarity that unsettled Huntress and made her more determined than ever to help him even when he didn't want it.

But before she could move in to stop him Red Hood opened fire and shot one of the men down below, the bullet killing him instantly. Cursing under her breath, Huntress shot at him with her crossbow. Clearly not expecting the shot in the back, Red Hood cursed and whipped around to shoot at Huntress, who had since moved out of the way of his sniper rifle. Circling around, Huntress shot at him from behind cover to keep him on his toes and also prevent him from shooting at any of the other criminals below, all of whom were now shooting at the rooftops Huntress and Red Hood were on.

"You idiot now we're pinned down by almost a dozen armed men. Way to look before you leap toots"

"They can shoot as much as they want, there's no way they'll reach us this high up. As for you and me, I've finally got you alone and I'm not wasting the opportunity"

"Opportunity to do what?" Jason retorted over the sound of the continuing gunfire. "You're not seriously still trying to 'save my soul' are you? You want me to confess to you or something? Because the list's pretty long at this point"

"And you're proud of that?" Huntress asked, her tone more curious than accusatory.

"That I'm getting rid of scum no one will miss and making this city a hell of a lot better than it was? Yeah I'd say I'm pretty proud of that"

"Don't you think it's a bit much though? All the people you've killed I mean. They couldn't all be that bad"

"Doesn't matter to me. They're all a waste of space who ruin the lives of others. And besides, today's drug dealer is tomorrow's murderer. I just cut it off at the source"

"Is that right? Well how about I cut you off at the source before you become something even worse than what you already are?"

Red Hood laughed at this. "Heh, after I kicked your ass the last time? Glorious ass it was mind you but still. We both know you can't take me"

Huntress was sorely tempted to lash out at Red Hood again but she knew Jason was trying to goad her again by making his lewd comments. And contrary to her usual tendency to let that kind of thing tick her off Helena chose to suppress it for a change and stay behind cover. Once Red Hood realized that his tactic had failed he was on top of her knife in hand. Ready for him, Huntress drew her staff and held it out to parry Red Hood's knife strike. So began an intense duel between them. With her staff in hand Helena at least had a greater range with which to keep Jason at bay, but even with that he moved and attacked with such speed and force to stagger her and force her back. Striking out with her staff to counter Red Hood's own attacks and hit him in the rare moments where he left himself open, Huntress took solace in the fact that she could at least keep him from overwhelming her this time, if only because of her aforementioned longer reach.

Finally Huntress swung upwards with her staff and managed to knock Red Hood's knife out of his hand, but Red Hood was able to then side-step out of the way when Huntress made a thrust with her staff. Moving before Huntress could pull it back in time he grabbed the other end and tugged on it as hard as he could, forcing Huntress forward and allowing him to strike her hard in the nose. Huntress grunted in pain as blood began to trickle out of her nostrils and down her face. Tugging again Red Hood disarmed Huntress of her staff completely before then grabbing her by the head and kneeing her in the stomach. Huntress gasped in pain and Red Hood then grabbed her by her hair and struck her in the back of her neck, which left her paralyzed and allowed Red Hood to finish her by smashing his helmeted head into her face, which finally knocked her out.

"You're still pathetic" Red Hood remarked matter-of-factly as Huntress' body crumpled to the ground.

By this point, the thugs who had been shooting in vain at Red Hood's position had desisted and fled now that they finally realized they were wasting their bullets. For his part, Red Hood was more than a little annoyed that all but one of them had gotten away. With police no doubt on their way, Red Hood decided it was time for him to leave as well. Before he did though, he stopped to look at Huntress' unconscious body again. Like last time he found that for all his hating her for getting in his way again he still felt something when he hurt her. Something he didn't like it.

Just another weakness. He told himself. I'll purge it like I did the others

Except it didn't come that easily he found. Instead he found himself wondering what might happen if the police came over here looking for the cause of the disturbance. What if they unmasked her?

That won't happen. And if it does it's not my problem

But he didn't believe that. Instead he found himself drawing closer to Huntress' body, and the next thing he knew he'd scooped her up in his arms, cradling her body and again noticing that alien feeling inside him that he was rapidly coming to despise.

"You owe me for this babe" Red Hood snarled as he ran off with Huntress as the sound of police sirens filled the air.