“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Can’t-Trust-You-If-You-Won’t-Tell-Me-Your-Name.”<\/p>\n
Reese turned. He’d known Helena was standing there before she spoke, but the more-snide-than-usual tone in her voice was unexpected. “You got a problem with me?”<\/p>\n
She pushed away from the wall she’d been leaning against and approached him, her eyes glittering cold and angry like black diamonds. “I have a problem with hypocrisy, yeah.”<\/p>\n
He shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”<\/p>\n
“Don’t you, Detective Hawke<\/em>?”<\/p>\n Reese stiffened.<\/p>\n “All this time, all that crap about not being able to trust me if I couldn’t trust you with my real name…” Her voice was bitter. “Look who’s talking.”<\/p>\n “It’s not the same.” The words slithered out, not one of them making his jaw move.<\/p>\n “How? Because you’re ashamed of who you really are and I’m not?”<\/p>\n He recoiled. The words felt like a kick to the stomach, and from the look of triumph in her eyes, she knew it.<\/p>\n “Or because there’s a record at City Hall that says you had your name legally changed to Reese, your mother’s maiden name? Bullshit. It’s still a name you chose for yourself, just like Huntress is for me. But that wasn’t good enough for you. No, you had to constantly pressure me to find out the name I was born with when you didn’t even have the balls to tell me your own.”<\/p>\n For a moment, a sullen, stubborn silence hung between them.<\/p>\n “So, is he?”<\/p>\n “Is who what?”<\/p>\n “Is Hawke your father?”<\/p>\n The detective closed his eyes, biting down hard on his lip. She was right–he was ashamed of it. “Yes.”<\/p>\n Her voice was quieter now, almost regretful. “No wonder we butt heads so much. Barbara tried to tell me you and I were just too much alike, but I didn’t believe it.”<\/p>\n Eyes snapped back open and he blinked once in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”<\/p>\n “I’m talking about how the two of us could practically start the Adult Children of New Gotham Criminal Masterminds support group, that’s what I’m talking about.”<\/p>\n “What??”<\/p>\n The Huntress continued to watch him, but the obsidian-cold gleam of rage in her eyes had softened. Wow–there really was a first time for everything. She sighed. “Catwoman. Ever heard of her?”<\/p>\n Reese shook his head.<\/p>\n “They called her the queen of the New Gotham criminal underworld. I called her Mom.”<\/p>\n “Damn.”<\/p>\n The woman across from him took a deep, ragged breath, as if by doing so she could suck the tears right out of her eyes without letting them fall. “Funny thing is, she gave it all up for me. I never even knew who she’d been until after she died in my arms.”<\/p>\n He flinched. No wonder she’d held on so tightly to the girl watching a building burn down with her mother in it. “Then you’re the lucky one.”<\/p>\n “Maybe,” she admitted. “But I still know what it’s like to feel like you have to atone for everything they’ve done. Why do you think I started doing what I do? It’s wasn’t for the pay or the great benefits, that’s for sure. I’ll tell you something though…”<\/p>\n Instinctively defensive, the detective crossed his arms and stared at her defiantly. “What?”<\/p>\n “In the end, no one’s responsible for what they did with their lives but them. You can spend your whole life trying to make up for it but never succeed. Sooner or later, you have to find your own reasons for keeping up the fight, or you’ll kill yourself trying to undo the past.”<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t budge. “I’ll keep that in mind.”<\/p>\n She snorted. “No, you won’t. You’ll have to learn it the hard way, like I did. If you’re lucky, the lesson won’t be fatal.”<\/p>\n Reese sighed, dropping his eyes for a moment to search for a retort. “Look–“<\/p>\n When he looked up again, she was gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Can’t-Trust-You-If-You-Won’t-Tell-Me-Your-Name.” Reese turned. He’d known Helena was standing there before she spoke, but the more-snide-than-usual tone in her voice was unexpected. “You got a problem with me?” She pushed away from the wall she’d been … Continue reading