RhondaWeasley.com

[December 2002]

Fandom: Birds of Prey (TV)
Title: The New Canary Series – Stolen Innocence 
PenName: EV
Character(s):
Paring(s): Dinah/Helena
Rating: R
Summary: Meta-children are being kidnapped, but for what purpose? Oracle (Barbara), Huntress (Helena) and the New Canary (Dinah) investigate.
Notes: This story takes on the future beyond the TV series, but takes into account all episodes up to and including “Sin of the mother”. This is my attempt at a little adventure/episodic like story. It’s mostly a chance to reflect upon what I think Dinah would become with time. Mucho Thanks to my Beta Jaycee.
Warning(s): If girls having romances with girls is offensive to you, you might want to avoid this story
Disclaimer: The Birds of Prey TV series belongs to the WB and some other people that aren’t me.

It was pitch black inside the building, but she had been trained not to rely on her eyes. Her minds’ eye had grown in the last year and a half, so if this — whoever he was — thought he would get away with hiding in the dark, he was sadly mistaken. She could feel his presence in the room except it seemed to shoot around her and was hard to pin point.

“Canary,” she heard a voice say in her ear. It was still odd to her herself called that, even though it had been her codename for awhile. The voice that called her by her inherited codename was Huntress. “I lost the guy in the car, what about you?”

If young Canary replied now, she might reveal herself. She had to remain silent. She turned off her transceiver, it was too distracting. She had to keep her mind clear and she couldn’t do that with Huntress in her ear.

She felt his approach, swung back with her elbow and knocked the guy in the face. She thought she heard something break as he fell backward. But it was only a stun, the guy swung back at her. She dogged his swing, but then felt a sharp pain in her side. She had been stabbed. It wasn’t bad, but it gave him the escape window he wanted. She heard the offenders footsteps flee as she clutched her side. She turned her transceiver back on.

“Huntress, he’s on his way out,” she said. “I’ve been hurt.”

“I’m coming to get you,” she replied.

“No get him,” Dinah replied back.

“She’s right Huntress,” Oracle said.

“Do not underestimate him.”

“I don’t see him,” Huntress replied.

“Check it out and get back here as soon as you can,” Oracle said. “Especially you Canary. You need to take care of that injury.”

———–

An hour later the silence of the Clocktower was broken as the girls arrived back at Headquaters. Barbara heard the arguing take over the room as the elevator doors opened. Dinah was holding the side where she had been stabbed.

“Why did you turn off your transceiver?!” Helena yelled

“You were distracting me.”

“And minus my ‘distraction’ you got hurt anyway, didn’t you?” Helena told her

“I know you aren’t complaining about someone cutting off communications with you,” Barbara said with an amused grin.

“I couldn’t concentrate with her constant chatter in my ear,” Dinah said.

“Can you believe this girl?” Helena asked Barbara.

“Is it bad?” Barbara asked looking at the injury.

“I’ll live,” she told her. “Can you help me with this,” Dinah asked Helena as she pulled off her top and walking toward the first aid kit in the other room.

Helena shook her head in frustration but her eyes remained attach to the other woman as she left the room.

“I remember when it was her eyes following you out of rooms,” Barbara said.

“What are you talking about?” Helena replied defensively.

“Nothing.”

Helena rolled her eyes and followed Dinah into the other room. She grabbed the first aid kit and began pulling out what she needed. It was hard to avoid staring at Dinah these days. She’d noticed the girl was more toned than ever. And the muscles had developed along with … other things. She pulled out the antiseptic and began cleaning the girl’s wound. Dinah hissed a little when the burning liquid touched her. Her now bra-clad chest moved up and down as she did. It was kind of — sexy. ‘Concentrate’ Helena told herself.

“This is the job kid,” Helena told her. She said that the first time Dinah had gotten seriously hurt on the job. She’d been whimpering a lot more that day.

“Don’t you think I know that by now,” Dinah asked watching her bandage the wound. “And I’ll be 18 in a week, don’t you think it’s about time you stopped calling me kid?!”

“What the fuck you snapping at me for? You’re the one that nearly got yourself killed being stupid.”

Dinah stood up in front of her. Their faces were inches apart. “I knew what I was doing. Just back off!”

Helena didn’t know if she wanted to slap her or kiss her. Attitude always looked kind of good on Dinah, but she decided pain was a better lesson for now. She punched the younger woman’s injured side.

“Yeah, sure, you knew exactly what you were doing,” Helena told her.

Dinah grunted, grabbing her side for a moment. Then raised her hand to swing at Helena. Helena was still faster than Dinah, she quickly caught the hand, pinned it behind her back, and slammed her against a wall. This only made the pain in her side throb more.

Helena moved in close to her ear. “Listen, I know you’re all proud of yourself right now, finally becoming the big bad crime fighter you wanted to be, but don’t forget who you’re dealing with,” She told her.

Helena let her go. Dinah sunk into a nearby chair.

“Listen ki–Dinah,” Helena began. “There was a job to be done and I did it, alone, but you don’t have to do that. You have me. Don’t forget that.”

Dinah nodded.

————–

“Did you two break anything this time?” Barbara asked as Helena walked back into the room.

“I don’t think so,” Helena replied. “She’s so hardheaded. What happened to that innocent girl you took in?”

“You mean the one who lied, stole the car, and cut school to hang out in a meta bar?” Barbara asked. Helena didn’t reply. “She’s just going through some more growing pains right now. You were the same–”

“Don’t tell me I was the same way at her age again, please.”

Dinah came in the room looking apologetic.

“Listen Helena, I’m sorry. But it was pitch black in there. It was risky to talk to you. I needed all my senses tuned in on the guy.”

“And you still got hurt.”

“How many times have you gotten hurt? It happens. At the time, it was the best decision. I stand by it.”

“Fine,” Helena replied. “So we have any more clues on these guys,” Helena said turning to Barbara.

“Actually a lot,” Barbara told him. “Got something from Reese while you two were on your way back, unofficially.”

“Reese did something unofficial? Wow, A lot must have changed since we broke up.”

“He had a hard time with that Helena,” Barbara said a sympathetically.

“Well I had a problem with the fact he didn’t tell me Hawke was his father.”

“Helena, Reese not his father,” Dinah said. “I mean, I didn’t think you two made a good match anyway, but I don’t hate Reese for what his father did. Was it right when my mom took out her issues with Catwoman on you?”

“That wasn’t the same thing. His father nearly killed you.”

“Ladies, Can we stop talking about the past and get back to the present?” Barbara asked. She pulled up a picture of a young doctor on the computer. “I think this is one of our guys, Adam Hanover. The other one, I believe, is Colin Thompson.”

“Why are they kidnapping metahuman children?” Dinah asked.

“Some years ago Adam Hanover was doing research for the government. Specifically with kids who displayed mental abilities like yours, Dinah. They didn’t call them metahumans and most of the parents of these children were so scared of their children’s abilities that they easily gave them up. They shut down the project for unknown reasons and most of the children were reunited with there families. But one of these children was completely abandoned by his parents. Adam got custody him.”

“Colin? So what can this Colin do?” Dinah asked.

“It seems, at least from these records he has some limited mind control abilities. But the only picture available is this one.” Barbara pulled up a picture of a six-year-old child. “I have reason to believe that Adam has hired this boy’s abilities out to anyone willing to pay.”

“Let me guess,” Helena said. “Reese knew this because his dad used the guy once.”

Barbara didn’t answer that question and continued. “It’s possible he did this to fund an independent project. And now he needs children, metahuman children.”

“But Adam can’t be looking for more kids like Colin. Some of the kids he’s taken have abilities not even mildly related to mental abilities like mine,” Dinah pointed out.

“So here’s my big leap, my theory. This guy has survived by hiring out his adopted son’s abilities. Perhaps he sees the value of having children around with other abilities. Or perhaps he’s still interested in studying them, we can’t be sure.”

“So he’s stealing kids to either use them as test subjects or to train them to be thugs for hire?” Dinah asked.

“I don’t like either of those options,” Helena said. “So now we have names and a possible motivation, what about an address?”

“Still working on that,” Barbara replied. “And while I do, why don’t you get some rest Dinah? I know you have a test tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I do. But I can’t rest yet, I got something to do,” Dinah replied. “I got to change.”

Dinah headed toward her room. This time Helena realized her eyes were following Dinah again and she broke them away.

“You’re going to let her go out at this hour?” Helena questioned.

“I’m not her mother Helena. Besides, you use to say out later than this when you were 17. And late-night sweeps have gone on late at night.”

“That was work,” Helena said.

Barbara laughed to herself. “Helena why don’t you two just get it over with?”

“Get what over with?”


—————

Less than a half an hour later, Dinah reached her destination. She slipped through the door of a friend in an apartment building. It was cold inside and she turned on the stove to warm the place up. Then walked over to a crib across the room. Inside was a little baby girl, 6 months old with the faintest traces of red hair.

“Bet it’s going to be just like your mom’s,” Dinah said to the sleeping infant.

“She already looks just like her,” a sleepy voice said from behind her.

“Mike,” Dinah said shocked. She turned and faced a teenage boy with shoulder length dark hair and brown eyes. “I thought you were sleep, I was just going to put this away.” She held up a shopping bag.

He took the bag and opened it. “Formula,” he said. “Thanks.”

“I knew you probably were getting low. Your checks barely cover the rent and the babysitter.”

“A single father does what he has to do,” Mike said.

“It sucks, what she did. Just left her.”

Mike shrugged. “I should have told her, before. I mean it’s hard enough being a teenage parent, but the idea that one day our baby could … lets just say it isn’t a pleasant thought.”

Dinah reached out and hugged the guy. “At least she has you, if, you know, she is like us.”

“Yeah, I just hope I’m enough.”

“Listen, Formula isn’t the only reason I’m here,” Dinah said. She broke the hug and went to the couch that doubled as Mike’s bed and sat down. “I want you to watch out for this guy, Adam Thompson and his son Colin. He’s been taking metahuman children.”

Mike sat down beside her. “But we don’t even know if Nikki is–”

“How often has a kid with at least one meta-human parent not been a metahuman themselves?”

“Not often”

“This guy has amazing powers of influence,” Dinah told him.

“As hard as it is, I would never give up my–”

“I’m not talking about someone with fancy words Mike. He’s a metahuman.”

“Oh,” Mike replied. “Just what I need. As if my life wasn’t hard enough.”

“Just be careful, okay,” Dinah said touching his hand affectionately.

“I will,” Mike said. “Thanks. I don’t think I thank you enough.”

“No problem,” Dinah said. She gave him a reassuring kiss on the cheek then she got up and left.

Dinah felt a chill as she stepped outside. It was getting cold, so Dinah pulled her coat around her. Then she realized the cold wasn’t the only thing she felt as she stepped out into the New Gotham streets.

“You following me now?” Dinah questioned.

“I was curious,” Helena told her stepping into the light. “So who’s your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Dinah snapped.

“What’s your problem kid? I’m just teasing you.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just worried about Nikki.”

“Who’s Nikki?” Helena asked as the two of them began walking.

“A few months ago I met this guy Mike in Gibson’s and I recognized him from school. We kinda started hanging out. He had this girlfriend, Kelly. He wanted to tell her that he was a metahuman, but he wasn’t sure how she would react and then she got pregnant. Of course, there was every chance the kid had metahuman abilities too, so he told her. She freaked out, abandoned the kid and he’s been struggling to be a good dad ever since.”

“His parents help?”

“His father’s dead, his mom’s in jail.”

“And I thought my life was screwed up,” Helena replied. “Must be hard on the kid and his kid.”

“At least she has a father that loves her and is willing to sacrifice everything for her. It’s a lot more than some of us had,” Dinah stated. “You coming back to the Clocktower?” Dinah asked.

“Nah, I think I’m going to go home.”

They said good-bye with a friendly hug and parted ways.




———-


The next day, Helena felt like she had walked into the Harry Potter movie as she came in that evening. She saw Dinah staring hard at some dirty dishes in the sink. A rag seemed to float in the air scrubbing at a plate. It was followed by another, and then one more. One plate was moved into the dish drainer as another began to be washed. Barbara was sitting at the table reading something.

“You’re lazy,” Helena said to Dinah.

“Shh, It’s harder than it looks,” Dinah told her.

“This is good training for her,” Barbara said. “She’s focusing in on several things at once. It’s not magic, it’s work. If she lets herself get distracted for a moment, that’s it.”

“Really,” Helena said with a naughty smile. She leaned forward and blew in Dinah’s ear. Everything dropped. One plate hit the floor as the girl jumped. The other plate fell back in the sink and water spilled all over the floor. Helena laughed.

“I hate you,” Dinah said punching Helena in the arm playfully.

“No you don’t,” Helena said dropping down beside Barbara at the table.

Barbara smiled to herself again. “I really wish you two would just get it over with.”

“Get what over with?” Helena and Dinah asked together.

Barbara looked from Helena to Dinah and shook her head.

“How’s that going?” Helena said to Dinah nodding toward the injury of the day before.

“It’s healing,” Dinah said. “Barbara has new information on the kidnappers. We were just waiting for you.”

“I just found out, Colin’s parents are dead. The murders were never solved, but it seems they were quite wealthy, right up there with the Waynes and the Luthors. Someone claimed the estate recently. You two should check the property.” Barbara wrote something down on a piece of scrap paper. “Here’s the address.”

“Dinah’s still injured,” Helena pointed out. “Maybe I should go alone.”

“I’m fine! God, it’s just a cut, I’m healing. You’ve fought with much worse injuries.”

“You’re not me,” Helena told her.

“Of course, I’m just a little girl, I’m weaker than you, so I should stay home and watch TV. You never stop treating me like a little kid.”

Helena rolled her eyes and grunted in frustration. “That has nothing to do with it.”

“Dinah! Helena!” Barbara yelled. “Just go.”

Helena got the address from Barbara. They continued to argue on their way out the door.

———-

Meanwhile, Dinah’s friend Mike was making his way home. He was shivering as he stood waiting for a bus to take him there.

“Come on Nikki, stop crying,” Mike said bouncing the wailing infant as he stood on the bus stop. He had just got off from work and picked up the baby from her baby sitter. He still hadn’t figured out how he was going to make this month rent considering he owed the babysitter a double payment. She let him off last month because Nikki got sick and needed medicine.

“Must be hard,” a man in a business suit said lowering his newspaper.

Mike looked toward the voice and met the ice-blue eyes of a man in his late twenties. He was dressed well, Mike could tell the suit and coat he wore was expensive.

“I get along,” Mike said.

“It’s hard enough being an orphan who became the single teenage father to a little girl,” the man said reaching out to touch the baby. “But to know in a couple years you may have to deal with teaching a child to control and understand thier metahuman abilities must make it much more complicated.”

The man leaned forward and whispered in the baby’s ear while touching her. It made Mike nervous, the man made him uncomfortable in general. But Nikki stopped crying.

“How do you know so much about me?”

“That’s not important, what is important is I could help you Mike. I’m starting a school, a private, exclusive school, where it will be safe for metahuman children to live and share their lives and their gifts. They won’t have to hide or pretend they are normal. And you my boy, all your bills, your daughter’s lively hood would be taken care of. You’d never have to worry about anything again. Of course there are certain people who wouldn’t approve of such a school. So we must not talk about it. That’s why I take it upon myself to find those who need my help personally. Consider this offer. Here’s my number.” The man presented a card.

“Colin Thompson,” Mike said reading.

“Look at me,” the man said.

Mike looked up and met the man’s eyes. “You must tell no one.”

“I will tell no one,” Mike repeated.

———-

Huntress and Canary arrived at the address Barbara had led them too. Huntress had turned off the car a mile away from the property, not wanting to come to close and prematurely reveal them.

“You can park closer than this,” the young Canary said.

“You want to go right up to the front door, ask for a tour?”

“I’m just saying its dark,” Dinah pointed out.

“Ladies,” Oracle chimed in both there ears.

“Amateur,” Huntress mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing, lets go,” Huntress said, getting out the car.

The two slowly approached the mansion cautiously. The place certainly looked lived in. There was a car out front and a young man standing guard. As they got closer, they heard a car approaching and ducked behind some shrubbery.

“Mike,” Canary suddenly said as teenager carrying an infant emerged from the car. He reached the front gate and pushed a buzzer. A man in a white suit emerged from the mansion and greeted him at the gate.

“I’m so glad you decided to join us,” the man said. As the boy came in the man smiled to himself. “As if there were any other choice.”

“We got to stop him,” Canary said moving forward.

“Don’t be stupid,” Huntress said grabbing her arm and pulling her back.

“But I can’t let him have Mike and Nikki.”

“Huntress is right, revealing yourself now won’t do any good,” Oracle entered. “Don’t blow it.”

“We can save your boyfriend and his kid later.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Whatever, the point is we have even more of a reason to believe this is the place. Now let’s see if there’s a back way.”

The two women traveled around the property, surveying the area. Cameras and guards were all over the place.

“I think our best bet it to pick a weak spot and take out one of the guards. That’s the only way we’re going to find out what’s going on here.”

Huntress spotted a young man leaning against the gate. He looked around for spying eyes and then lit a cigarette.

“Good as anyone,” Huntress said to the young Canary. She walked up to the guy, catching him unaware. Her hands came though the metal bars of the fence. The cigarette fell from his mouth as she caught him in a sleeper hold until he passed out. Canary used a bird-a-rang to knock the nearest cameras off line. Huntress helped Canary over the fence and then joined her.

“So far so good,” Canary said.

“You know what that means,” Huntress replied.

“It can only get worse.”

Luckily, the property had more than enough shrubbery to provide cover. They made there way to what seemed to be the pool house and slipped inside. While Huntress was looking to see how many men stood between them and the main house, Canary noticed what seemed to be a textbook on the floor. She picked it up and opened it. At first it seemed to be a simple biology book, but in a few pages she realized the text was directed at something else.

“Hele– I mean Huntress,” Canary said.

“What?”

“Look at this.”

“It’s a kid’s school book,” she said glancing at it.

“Yes it is and I think we’re in the school.”

“What?”

“This book, it’s all about how Metahumans are superior. How regular humans don’t have the capacity to understand us. How we’re the next stage in human evolution and the non-metas need to be wiped from our race, that there time is over.”

“I guess this is worse than we thought,” Oracle chimed in through there transceivers.

“It’s clear,” Huntress said peaking out the window.

The girls exited the pool house and made there way toward the main house. They had to knock out another guard before slipping inside a side door. The door led to the kitchen, which was empty at the time. The sound of footsteps were heard soon enough and they slipped up a set of nearby steps, one watching up, the other watching down for anyone who might approach. At the top of a staircase it was silent, but there was a man checking bedrooms. He was with Mike who was still carrying his infant daughter. They slipped into what looked like an office. The girls cautiously crept down the hallway and peaked in the rooms. There were about 10 children all under 10 years old in one large bedroom. A peak in another room revealed half as many teenagers in a similar set up. There was a room labeled potentials that had four babies currently and a partially filed room of pre-teens and younger teenagers.

“I think he has a lot more than the 15 meta-children we knew about,” Canary whispered.

“I think we have the beginnings of some serious meta cult-worthy shit.” Huntress entered.

“How could he?” Canary said looking at the innocent faces sleeping in the beds.

“What are we going to do?” Huntress asked. “There’s no way to get all these children out without a disturbance.”

“And I have a feeling many of them would resist you anyway,” Oracle said in there ear. “And we have no clue what kind of powers and training we’re dealing with, even if they are children. Under the wrong influence they could inflict some real damage. Perhaps we could–”

“These children aren’t going anywhere,” a voice said to Huntress and Dinah, causing Barbara to pause.

“Huntress, Canary?” Barbara said. “What’s going on?”

“We got company,” Canary said.

“Looking pretty good for a girl I took a good stab at yesterday,” the young teenager said.

“Get out of there,” Barbara said.

“But the childr–” Canary began.

“You can’t help anyone if–”

Canary didn’t hear the rest; their visitor shot two electric shocks from his hands. Both Huntress and Canary barely dodged the lash of these. They were on the verge of counter attack when they felt two electric shocks to the back of the neck doubled by and attack to the front by the attacker they could see. The shocks continued, all over their body as there first and second attacker merged on them. They passed out and there communication line with Oracle was dead.


———-

The ground was cold and hard where Helena laid. It was the only thing she was aware of as she woke up. Then she saw the bars and knew she was in some type of a cage.

“Shit,” Huntress mumbled as she got to her feet. “Canary?” she said still half aware of the need to still use codenames.

She saw the girl was still lying on the floor, unconscious. She ran to her side and gently lifted her head.

“Dinah, Dinah,” Huntress said shaking her. “You are not dead, speak to me.”

Huntress laid the young woman’s head in her lap and took her hand.

“Come on Dinah,” she said rubbing her hand.

Suddenly it was like a shock wave went through her body. She could feel Dinah’s mind inside her own or was she in Dinah’s mind. In any case, she felt like she was in another place. It looked like the training room, but it wasn’t. Dinah, or at least a version of her that appeared in Helena’s mind, was kneeling on the floor. Helena approached her.

“You’re alive,” her mental self said to Dinah.

“I feel so drained,” the Dinah in her mind replied. “I can’t wake up.”

“Yes you can. I did.”

“I’m not as strong as you,” Dinah lifted a hand that had been attached to her side. There was blood on it. “See, I just get hurt. I just get in the way.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m not as strong you. I never will be, I’m just a silly little girl.”

“I don’t know what part of you this is Dinah, but let it go and open your fucking eyes.”

Suddenly Huntress was aware of herself again in the real world. The eyes of the girl in her lap slowly came open. “Hel– Huntress?”

“Yeah,” she said with a relieved smile.

“Don’t scare me like that again.”

“I won’t,” the younger woman replied.

“Good you’re awake,” a voice said. “I thought maybe the boys had given you a little to much of a shock.” They both looked up into the coldest blue eyes they’d ever seen. He had a young man on either side of him, neither older than 16 or so. But the odd thing was they were the same young man and both were the ones who’d sent those electric shocks though her body. They noticed one of them had a broken nose. Dinah now knew why she had been caught off guard; there were two of them. “You don’t even comprehend all the possibilities of your metahuman gifts. To busy running around playing vigilante with this one. I could offer you so much young Miss Redmond.”

“How do you know my name?” Dinah said getting to her feet.

“Records from your school, before you ran away. I was … disappointed to find you had gone. You were such a sweet specimen. Almost as exceptional as these boys here.”

“What are they, clones?” Huntress asked.

“Natures clones, natures perfect clones, twins. Identical twins with identical DNA down to the meta-gene. Believe me, science has tried in secret for years to produce two specimens like this. They even tried to clone me–”

“We know what Adam Hanover did to you,” Dinah said to him. “Adopted you only to hire you out for jobs and–”

“Hah, Dr. Hanover was a fool. He had no idea what he was dealing with. He was a puppet. Before I turned 12 I knew how to make him do anything I wanted.” Colin smiled slyly. “No one would listen to a kid, so I needed him. And now I don’t.”

Colin pulled a remote from his pocket, hit the button, and a metal door slid open across from them. A very sickly man lay in a cell opposite them. He was old and thin.

“Can’t decide if I should kill him or let him die naturally. Eventually controlling a man to the extent I controlled him eats away at the man inside. Soon he didn’t even know how to eat unless I told him. Which is why I don’t inflict as much control on my children. Only a little to open the door to the truth.”

“And what truth is that?” Huntress asked.

“That we are the future. That the time of the simple human has… passed.” He looked at his shriveled former doctor.

“These boys,” he said touching their faces. “Were abandoned by there parents because they were afraid. They made the boys ashamed of what they are and I made them proud of it. These two are a miracle even among metahumans, yet there parents and many others never appreciated it.”

The twins smiled just as the alarm on Colin’s watch went off.

“Breakfast time,” he said. “Awake the children my boys.”

The two boys left.

“You’re brainwashing innocent kids. Do you realize how sick that is?” Huntress questioned.

“How sick is the world for the way they treat them?” Colin fired back.

“Screw the world. I’m damn happy with who I am. I don’t need the world to say it’s okay. And I don’t need you to validate me.”

“Ditto” The younger woman said.

“Ditto? Perfectly explains the sidekick, a ditto, and a younger copycat. Don’t you understand Dinah, I could give you purpose beyond sidekick to this thug,” Colin told Dinah. “You are the first one I have known as powerful myself. So much untapped potential. You have no idea the things you could do. Yet you waste your time with fancy gadgets, and costumes and fake names.” He turned with a disgusting look on his face and stared at Helena. “And her. She should be working for you, not the other way around. My boys, they were meant to fight the way they do. Meant to be foot soldiers. But I need someone suitable to lead. Someone with power here…” Colin pointed to his head.

“No thanks,” Dinah said meeting his eyes. “I’m taken.”

“I think your smarter that that, but if your not–” He smiled. It sent chills up Dinah’s spine. “Well I can’t miss morning lessons, we’ll continue this later.”

Colin turned and went upstairs.

“He knows who I am,” Dinah sighed. “What are we going to do?”

“Get out of here,” Huntress told her. “Communication with Oracle is obviously dead, so we’re on our own.”

“What about the kids?”

“We can’t do the kids any good until we save ourselves.”

“He was trying to get in my mind,” Dinah told her. “It was familiar.”

“What do you mean familiar? You know this guy?”

“Maybe. Once I was playing on the playground. Maybe I was about eight. It was right after my foster parents dragged me to this doctor and that was the first time I went into ‘I didn’t see anything’ denial. I said I made it all up. They let me play on the playground when I got home and while I was out there it was like someone speaking from inside me, asking me to come to them. I was so afraid I ran in the house that second. I think he wanted me to hear it, but he didn’t expect me to really hear it.”

“You’re saying this guy may have come to you before.”

“I could be one of those kids upstairs.”

“Okay, you’re ability to resist the call can be explained by your abilities being similar, I guess. But why didn’t he have me kissing his ass.”

“Well, like Barbara said, it isn’t magic, its work. He still has to get at a reason already inside you to manipulate you. Someone like Mike, always at the end of his rope, he can offer him food, shelter, everything for him and Nikki. You he doesn’t know enough about you yet and he doesn’t consider it worth the effort obviously.”

“Unlike you,” Huntress replied. “He looked like he was ready to ask you to marry him,” Helena said annoyed. “Maybe we can use that, could you fool him?”

“I doubt it. I think he would know deception.”

“Then it’s back to trying to find a way out of here.”

Dinah surveyed the room for any tool that she could use to her advantage. The room was bare and the lock was obviously powered by that remote Colin carried. Huntress tested every bar for a lose one or weak one.

“He keeps a tight ship,” Huntress said.

Suddenly a hole opened in the wall beside Huntress. She didn’t see it. A round tube came out. Dinah was on the other side of the cell and a wall emerged from the back wall, separating them.

“Helena!” Dinah called.

“What the–?” Huntress began.

No other words were spoken as gas began to leak into Helena’s side of the cell.

———-

Meanwhile…

Barbara and Detective Reese approached Colin’s property at a safe distance. She had contacted the cop after it was clear she’d lost communication with both Huntress and Canary.

“You have no idea how many are in there?” Detective Reese asked. “Or if there are any weapons.”

“I think Huntress said a couple of the guards were carrying weapons. But of course, there are several metahumans in there with abilities as dangerous as any weapon. There’s Colin Thompson and Adam Hanover, who isn’t a meta human. There’s the guy that attacked them and a handful of children from teenagers to infants. I know for a fact there’s a 15 year old in there that can run at super speed, there’s a nine year old who can blow fire, an eleven year old who can blow a wind strong enough to destroy a house, a 13 year old who can walk through walls–”

“What?”

“And these are just the kids I know about. With the brainwashing… I just don’t know how big of a threat they are.”

“So if I call for help I could end up killing a lot of innocent kids.”

“Or end up getting killed by a bunch of brainwashed kids.”

“Any ideas?”

———-

Huntress felt herself coming awake in another strange place. She was still caged. She hated it; she wanted to snap the bars in half. But she wasn’t the incredible Hulk and she knew it. This time she was alone in her cage. But when she stood up and turned around, she saw Dinah lay locked outside of it with a funny looking computerized helmet on her head.

“This guy is straight out of the super villain handbook with this crap.”

“Completely,” Dinah replied. “He even gave me a choice. Put on the helmet or watch him kill you.”

“Enough of the chatter,” Colin said entering the room. “It really is a waste. You could have been my perfect mate. But as it stands, your DNA will have to be enough.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought maybe I was reading to much into that little moment in the cell when she thought you were dead. But they way you looked at her when I threatened to kill her if you didn’t put on the helmet, what I felt from you.” Colin sighed. “Well let’s just say it ruins all my plans. However, if I can not have my queen, at least I can have my prince.”

“What?”

“Your eggs. Your DNA and my DNA. I have my warriors, now I need my general an heir to carry on after I am gone.”

“Even with this thing on my head, do you think I’d let your ‘DNA’ and anywhere near my…’DNA’”

“You need not say it with such disgust,” Colin said. “I wouldn’t think of touching you, but I have some doctors who will.”

Suddenly there was a loud bang on the metal doors. Colin opened them.

“Professor,” one of the twins said running inside.

“What is it?”

“There’s a woman at the door. She says she’s selling something. Says she wishes to speak to the man of the house.”

“Get rid of her,” Colin said turning away.

“She’s kind of persistent, especially for a woman in a wheelchair.”

“Fine, I’m coming.”

Huntress and her young friend shared a knowing glance as Colin left the room with the boy. A woman in a wheelchair, could it be Oracle?

“You think?” Dinah questioned.

“I know,” Huntress replied. “Don’t say to much, I have a feeling even when we’re alone.”

“We’re not alone.”

“I’m going to try something.”

“What?”

“Well, this thing is suppose to block me from using my gifts on anything outside of it. But I wonder… just give me a minute.”


———-

Barbara saw the doors open again and this time a man came out. He was well dressed and seemed sophisticated, but his eyes were so cold.

“Miss,” Colin said. “I assure you whatever you’re selling we don’t need it.”

Barbara caught sight of a little boy and girl peaking around a corner.

“Well I see there are children in your home,” she said.

Colin turned and shooed the children. “They are my foster children. They’re home schooled.”

“Well perhaps then you’d be interested in the Phonics Fun Package.”

“I assure you, all of my children are well educated.”

“Surely they could–”

“Miss, I hate to be rude, but you’re going to force me to take extreme measures to remove you from the property.”

“Actually, I think you’re the one who should be removed from the property,” a female voice said behind him. “And put in jail.”

Colin turned and a metal box smacked him in the face. He fell to the floor. Dinah had obviously ripped the thing from the wall and thrown it across the room. He looked up to see his former prisoners were holding each of the twins. There hands bound so that there powers were useless.

“They’re pretty good at sneaking up on people,” Huntress told him. “But otherwise pretty useless.”

He started to get up when the woman in the wheelchair pulled two fighting sticks out of nowhere and struck him down, keeping him grounded.

“How did you get out of the helmet?” Colin asked.

“Well it blocked me from using my powers on anything else, not on the helmet itself.”

“So you used your telekinesis to remove the helmet,” Colin grinned. “Brilliant.”

Children emerged all around him. From upstairs, downstairs, and other rooms. Obviously drawn by the noise, somewhat. But Dinah got the feeling he was calling them.

“No matter. My future is still here, all around you. You’ll never get them to leave.”

“Dinah,” Mike said as he came down the stairs. What are you doing to Sean and Dean?”

“Where’s Nikki?” Dinah asked him.

“In the Nursery, why?”

“We need to get out of here,” Dinah told him.

“Mike wouldn’t leave me now,” Colin said.

“Professor Thompson is helping us,” Mike told her. “He’s going to help me bring up Nikki right. He knows so much.”

“There’s no reasoning with her. She was never your friend Mike,” Colin said to him. “She just pities you.”

“That’s not true Mike.”

“Let the children go,” Barbara said to him.

“They are mine.”

“What will it take to get them free?” Dinah asked.

“I’ll never let them go.”

“Then I’ll make you,” Dinah said moving forward and pushing the twin she was holding to the floor.

Dinah kneeled in front of him. She grabbed his clammy hand and held on tight. She focused harder than she ever had on getting inside of his mind. It was no easy task finding a place to blend her mind with his, but she found a way in. She didn’t recognize where she was at first. She knew she was inside now, on that other plain where her mind could merge with others. As for the place her mind chose, it seemed she was on the playground she was on the first time she ever heard Colin’s call. She was looking at a distance at Colin the man, but as he came closer he sunk to the size of a 6-year-old boy.

“Colin?” Dinah questioned.

“Are you here to play?” the boy asked.

“No, I want to ask you to let the children go.”

“The children don’t want to go, they want to stay with me,” The boy said turning away. “They share their mind with me.”

“Don’t you realize what you’re doing isn’t right?”

“I don’t want to be alone anymore,” Colin said. “Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t touch me, I scared them because I could make them do things. I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time, so I couldn’t fix it when–” Boy Colin started to cry.

“When what?”

“I got mad at my uncle. I said I wish you were dead. I didn’t know he was suicidal, I didn’t even know what that meant. I didn’t want him to kill himself and then they sent me away.”

“I’m sorry that happened.”

“I was happy with the Doctor when they gave me away. There were other kids like me and then they took them away and I was all alone again. I just wanted a family.”

“We all do Colin, but you could have let the Doctor be your family.”

“I didn’t care about him, he didn’t care about me. He just wanted to know how I worked so I showed him, by–” Colin began to cry. “I was angry. I could make them do anything, anything but really love me. After my uncle I should have known better, to watch my words.”

“What are you saying?”

“I killed mommy and daddy.”

The crying boy Colin wiped away his tears. Then man Colin turned back toward her. “You happy now. Now you know. We aren’t built for this world Dinah, we were built to change it.”

“What you’re doing is wrong.”

“No more wrong than what a thousand non-meta parents have done to meta-children.”

“Unfortunately, it’s a fact of life that sometimes parents can be cruel to their children. Sadly, it happens. People abandon children, abuse them, and it’s not exclusive to metas. Just like being a good person or not being one isn’t exclusive to metas or non-metas. Your logic here, the justifications you make for it, they’re not realistic. Many of these children have parents who do love them, who accept that they’re different, they deserve to go home to them.”

“I just wanted to be loved like that,” he said, his voice cracking into that of a little boy.

As Dinah returned to reality Colin’s hand slipped from hers. He curled up in a ball and he was crying. The children and teenagers stood dumbfounded watching him. Suddenly Reese appeared in the door.

“Gotham PD,” he said showing his badge.

“What are you doing here?” Huntress asked.

Reese glanced at Barbara. “Back up,” he replied.

The sound of sirens could be heard approaching.

“Thanks, Reese,” Oracle replied.

“Just a day in the life of a superhero informant,” he smiled. He turned to the children. “I’m going to ask you all to please peacefully exit the premises. This man is under arrest and can no longer provide you with care.” He put the cuffs on Colin and walked him outside. The children gathered and began to file out.

“Officer, my daughter,” Mike said.

“I’ll get her Mike,” Dinah said touching his shoulder. “We’ll meet up later.”
He agreed and walked out the door.

“I’m going to head back,” Barbara told them and went out the door.

“Well we’re still alive.” Huntress laughed. “And you still have your eggs.”

They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then they went upstairs, retrieved Nikki and slipped away from the prying eyes of law enforcement.


———-

A couple hours later, Mike was home again with his child. Dinah had met up with him as promised and the two of them went back to his apartment. Mike carried Nikki carefully over to the crib and laid her down. Nikki had gotten a cold, so she was just calming down after an emergency trip to the hospital seconds after Mike got done with the cops and met up with Dinah. He’d just taken her temperature and walked with her for a while. She seemed to be calm for now, but Dinah could see the worry in his face, which is why she had stayed.

“It’s not going to get any easier, is it?” Mike asked.

“Anything in life worth having takes a little effort.”

“I love her so much, but sometimes I feel like I’m not enough for her.”

“You’re everything she needs, a parent who cares about her. You always figure out how to get the other stuff.”

“I don’t know what I would do without you,” Mike said walking up to her.

“You’d do what you have to do,” she said with a smile. “You said it yourself. You love her.”

“Thank you again,” Mike said taking her hands in his. “You just get more and more amazing everyday.”

He leaned forward to kiss her, she stepped back.

“Don’t do that,” she told him.

“Why?”

She got free of his hands and walked across the room.

“I don’t feel that way about…”

“You have feelings for someone else?” he questioned.

Dinah didn’t answer.

“Who is he?”

“I want us to stay friends.”

“Okay,” Mike said obviously too tired to argue as he fell on his couch. “You can go, we’re okay.”

Dinah turned toward the door. She paused and turned back. “About the whole rescue situation–”

“Your secrets safe with me.”

“And we’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Mike yawned. “We’re okay, if you promise to tell me about this guy of yours at some point. I want permission to grill him, make sure he’s good enough for you.”

“Why do you assume it’s a guy?”

With that final comment, Dinah was out the door leaving Mike to debate that in his head.

“Her friend, what’s her name, of course,” Mike smiled to himself.


———-

Helena dropped by the Clocktower to see her young partner the next day. Helena entered the room just as Dinah was putting away the practice equipment. Even though the word ‘kid’ slipped from her mouth all too often when talking to Dinah, she no longer saw that kid in the alley. She watched her mature from that kid in the alley into this woman, never expecting to become so attached. Yet, today here they were.

“Hey,” Helena said. “What were you doing?”

“Practicing my telekinesis. I’m pretty good at throwing things across the room, knocking things over. Which was great a year ago, but you know I’m trying to get a little more control to it.”

“Like with the dishes.”

Dinah nodded.

“That’s good.”

“You know, I never really thought about how important it is to refine my gifts. I mean I work like hell to be able to throw a good punch, but I always sort of took my metahuman gifts as a given, at there surface value.” Dinah looked directly at Helena. “But Colin’s right, I never asked myself if there’s more to them. Maybe there’s a lot more to it that I don’t understand. If I am as powerful as he says and he could destroy a man from the inside, maybe I can heal them.”

“What? How?”

“I taped into something deep in Colin. I mean usually all I do is skim what’s on the surface, but there were so many things he banished from the surface I had to force myself deeper. It was voluntary. It was weird to see this little boy inside of him, this little hurt boy. I was just flying by the seat of my pants. I didn’t know what the hell to say.”

“Seem like you did pretty good to me.”

“It was luck. I don’t want it to be luck next time. My mind needs as much work as my body, as my throwing arm, as anything. There’s still so much I don’t understand about my gifts. All I’ve ever thought about is how to make myself a better superhero, but I never really thought about using them for any good otherwise. I do now and I want to refine my control of my gifts and not just because of this life, but in my other life.”

“Does little Dinah have a goal beyond the night time life of cleaning up Gotham scum? I can’t believe it. Can’t wait to hear this.”

Dinah smiled. “I think I’d make a pretty good psychiatrist or counselor. It would give me a chance to study the mind and really develop my skills up here,” Dinah pointed to her head.

“Actually, I think you’d be pretty good at that.”

“Approval and a compliment, wow. I don’t think I’ve had that in awhile. At least not from you.”

“You have to know you’ve become a little hard headed lately when it comes to our work. I’m just trying to look out for you.”

“I know that and it bothers me. It’s just, sometimes I feel like all you’ll ever see is that helpless little girl.”

“That’s what you said when you brought me into your mind,” Helena told her.

“That was real? Shit,” Dinah cursed to herself. She inhaled before continuing. “I think you know Helena, that for a long time now you’ve been my whole world. That’s why I train so hard. All I ever wanted to be was like you. I mean sure I want to live up to my mom’s name and all, but you were my first reason for wanting this life. That’s why I fight so hard to be independent. I don’t want you to worry about protecting me and the person we’re trying to save. Or protecting me when you should be worrying about the bad guy. I’m there to back you up, not be your baggage.”

“Dinah, first of all, at your worse you’re more controlled than I ever was at your age. I mean I’m just waiting for the day you outgrow me and the life. Second, you can’t stop me from worrying about you, no one can.” Helena touched her cheek gently. “I’ve tried, tried not to like you, tried to tell myself I don’t want you here, but I love you kid.” Dinah started to speak and Helena put a finger to her lips. “And don’t get mad at me for saying that, I don’t see you as a kid. It’s just like… a nickname.”

“Did you just say you love me?” Dinah asked when Helena was finished.

“Yeah, I mean we’re like family right.”

“Is that all we are?”

It was both a question and a challenge as Helena’s eyes remained locked on hers, as her hand continued it’s gentle caress. They had been pretending for months, pretending that it wasn’t happening, that they weren’t happening. But the pretending was over and they both knew it. There lips met each other and it topped every fantasy Dinah had ever had about Helena. She always imagined Helena different, the hard edges that had been her first impression of Helena were a lasting impression on her fantasies even as she learned that there was a softer side of the woman. But kissing her for real was like that m&m slogan, melts in your mouth, not in your hand. Beyond the hard shell was the softer center; delicious, sensual, exciting.

“Finally,” a voice said behind them, breaking the kiss.

They both turned to see Barbara coming through the door. Barbara didn’t hide the pleased grin on her face, so there was no reason for either of them to feel awkward about being caught.

“I guess you’re happy now,” Helena stated.

“Well it should make getting work done around here a whole lot easier.”

“I doubt it, you know how this one is,” Dinah teased.

“Me?!” Helena said in mock shock.

“Alright, Alright,” Barbara interrupted.

“Anyway, I got some studying to do,” Dinah said. She turned to Helena. “See you later.”

“Sooner than you think”

Helena and Dinah shared a quick kiss and then the younger woman left. Helena watched the door close behind her.

“You really don’t mind?” Helena asked. “I mean, because, well…you know.”

“I’ve seen it happening, watched it happen, after awhile I just knew.”

“Well I wish you had clued me in. How did you know?”

“She was the one thing you didn’t want to care about that you couldn’t help caring about.”

“What happened to that innocent girl I found in the alley?”

“She became exactly what she wanted to be.”

“A superhero?”

“The one you love.”


END

12-9-2002