Second Chances: Batwoman

Chapter 29

When the Huntress arrived at Stephanie Brown's apartment, she was only half surprised to find that the door was open and she quickly raised her crossbow as she entered the place to find signs of a struggle.

"Damn it." Huntress said as she lowered her crossbow, only to raise it again as she turned around in time to dodge some random thug who'd clearly been left behind in case either she or Batwoman showed up, attempting to attack her, though the Huntress quickly dodged.

"You really want to do this? Did you draw the short straw or something?" Huntress asked him as she easily knocked him on his ass.

"More like I wanted the pay raise that comes from taking you or your partner out." the thug said and Huntress chuckled.

"Really, then why am I knocking you on your ass so easily?" Huntress asked as she kicked the switchblade knife out of his hand and quickly put in a very painful position. Particularly with where her crossbow was pointing.

"Talk or else I'll make sure you never have kids if some woman is unfortunate enough to be with you." Huntress said, pressing the crossbow in deeper, just to drive her point.

"Okay, my crew and I were hired to grab the woman who lived here." the thug said.

"But why did you stay behind, since I doubt it was for you to get your ass kicked. So what is going on?" Huntress asked.

"You're right, the nut who hired us told me that either you or Batwoman would likely show up here sooner or later and that after I made a fool of myself trying to get a bonus I'd never actually get, I was to give you a message. I guess you could call it a clue." the guy said.

"What is it?" Huntress asked.

"I think it's the location of where my crew took the girl, but I don't know where that is, the guy said that I couldn't know exactly where so you couldn't force it out of me and my crew wasn't informed until after they made the grab." the thug said.

"Okay then, what is it?" Huntress asked.

"He said to look in a place that this city knows well and where two of Gotham's finest were killed in their tracks, leaving behind a child who's recently left Gotham as well." the thug said.

"What?" Huntress asked, wondering what that could possibly mean.

"That's all I know." the thug said.

"Then you'd better hope we figure it out before anything worse happens to the girl because if it does, you'll be lucky to ever see the outside of a prison cell again." Huntress snapped as she knocked him out.

After she dropped the scumbag off at GCPD, Huntress returned to the Batcave to find Luke and Kate waiting for her.

"How was your meeting with our inside Crow?" Helena asked Kate as she removed her mask.

"Good, tell her what we know, but I'm assuming that if you're already back, that means that Cluemaster already arranged a family reunion." Kate said.

"Pretty much, though I did get the first clue in his twisted game." Helena said as she told Kate and Luke the clue she'd been given.

"Two of Gotham's finest, you think that means two of GCPD's officers?" Luke asked.

"No, that's too obvious. I may be new at this, but I know that Cluemaster would never make one of his puzzles that easy." Kate said and Helena nodded.

"He said it's a place that this city knows quite well. Meaning that it's a famous location and we know it's not Wayne Tower or the Wayne Manor and I doubt he's dumb enough to do something at Crow's HQ." Helena said.

"Well, one thing for sure is that the two people in the clue were a couple and it sounds like they're no longer with us and their kid left town recently." Luke said.

"Wait, what if the kid was actually all grown up now." Kate said.

"What are you thinking?" Helena asked.

"What's the one place Bruce took you too more than any other when you were growing up?" Kate asked her cousin.

"Shit, Crime Alley." Helena said.

"Exactly. The place where his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, two of Gotham's most upstanding citizens, were gunned down in cold blood. Bruce paid over half a million dollars to preserve that area as a tribute to his parents and Bruce did recently leave Gotham. It all fits." Kate said.

"Damn, I guess I'm not the only one who took Bruce's master class on being a detective." Helena said and Kate chuckled.

"He's a good teacher. Suit up, we need to get there before time runs out." Kate said as she activated her watch, which materialized her suit.

"I really need one of those." Huntress said as she put her mask on.

"I'll take my bike, you get the Batmobile." Batwoman said with a smirk as they headed out.