Birds of Prey - Twisted Desire Ch. 06

Chapter Twelve

One Step Closer

The final bell rang. The students who had been running laps for the last forty minutes - at least, those that hadn't lost their breath - voiced their relief. A few of them sent sour looks Dinah's way but the blonde powerhouse didn't pay them too much attention. No, her mind was on other things. Darker, nastier things.

Every so often, the fraud gym teacher glanced towards the doors to the boys' locker room. She could only stand to look for a moment before averting her eyes. And she hated that feeling, the feeling of being weak, scared. And she hated him, too. For putting her off-balance.

"Are we going to do anything besides run laps, Ms. Blake?" A student's whiny voice cut through Dinah's thoughts. Dinah Blake turned and saw a short, scrawny young man. He had a tired, scrunched-up face and messy dark hair. Most tellingly, his small gym shirt hung loosely upon his wire-thin frame.

Stringbean's got a lot of nerve, Dinah thought with a frown.

"Endurance training is important." Dinah said flippantly, turning from the skinny geek. "Especially for young men. Trust me, kid. I'm doing you a favor."

"Uh... Right." The student didn't sound pleased. And Dinah couldn't have cared less.

"I could have you all doing push-ups the whole time instead." She told him over her shoulder, her voice cold and firm like metal.

"No, no!" The geek said quickly. Dinah heard him backing away, his sneakers squeaking against the gym floor. "Running is fine. Jeez."

Somewhere in the back of Dinah's mind, she felt bad. Even as a fake gym teacher, she didn't normally blow off her students like that. And she usually made an attempt to be friendly with the... less impressive boys in her class. But for some reason the pipsqueak's presence annoyed the hell out of her. She didn't even want to look at him.

The rest of the students filed out of the gymnasium, either into the locker rooms or heading straight out the door. Soon enough, Dinah was alone. For a moment, at least.

"For what it's worth, I agree with you on the endurance stuff." A familiar voice spoke up from behind her, banishing the silence. "It's sad to say, but I've had too many guys who couldn't keep up with me."

Dinah's eyes widened as she whirled around, coming face to face with...

"Helena." The blonde practically gasped. "It's been a while."

Dinah could scarcely believe it, yet the woman was right there in front of her. Sent by the King Creep himself, no doubt. Her friend was dressed sensibly enough, garbed in a purple, silk blouse and a dark gray skirt. Dinah could only imagine how angry she would have felt if the bastard had sent her off in a bikini. Or less.

"It has." Helena smiled warmly, approaching with open hands at her side to show that she meant no harm. "Our last chat got cut short. We never got the chance to really catch up."

"I've been a bit busy." Dinah said flatly. Dressed in baggy sweatpants and an old college t-shirt, the blonde felt the more exposed of the two. Reflexively, she backed away from Helena, her calves bumping into the bleachers behind her. "Teaching PhysEd isn't exactly a walk in the park."

"The normal courses aren't any better, I assure you." Helena laughed, overlooking - or ignoring - Dinah's clear discomfort. The woman continued to approach until there was only a couple feet of space between the two. Helena's smile remained, warm and friendly. But now as close as she was, Dinah could see her eyes. Bright as they were before, but also... glazed over somewhat. Clouded. And wild, too. And not in the way a crime fighting daredevil was, either. No, her eyes were hungry. Carnal. "As prestigious as Kingston is, certain students here can be more than a handful. But you already know that, don't you?"

Dinah's stomach sank. The memories she had been trying to smother and suppress broke free, filling her mind. A storm of images, scents, sounds, touches, racing across the synapses.

The taste of his tongue on her own. The scent of his bare skin. The feeling of his big fucking cock in her hands. Throbbing. Pulsing.

"What- What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dinah's voice cracked and she hated herself for it. The fear that she felt, the distress, the panic, those feelings didn't happen to the Black Canary. They just didn't!

"Don't play coy, Dinah. You're terrible at it." Helena gave a low, musical laugh. Her warm smile remained, but there was something underneath now. Something predatory. The Huntress reached out and began playing with a lock of Dinah's golden hair, humming as she twirled it around her finger. "My dear Matthew might be an insatiable young man, but he's also an honest one. He told me all about what happened in the locker room... And all the fun you two almost had."

She knows. She knows and he told her!

"I..." Dinah could hardly speak. For a moment, it was as if all sense had left her. Her stomach lurched and she felt like she was going to vomit.

But in the end she managed to hold it together. Somehow. Flattening her lips into a line, she glowered at the woman wearing her friend's face. This wasn't the day the Black Canary came undone. There wasn't a chance in hell.

"He also told me about how you belted him a good one. Right across the face." Helena smirked, letting go of Dinah's lock of hair. Now, she entertained herself by tugging lightly on the hem of the blonde's shirt. "Now I could be wrong, but it seems to me that you're playing 'hard-to-get' with my boyfriend."

Helena's smile faded a bit as she gave Dinah a pointed look then.

Is she here to fight?

"Helena, I can explain-" Mind controlled or not, Dinah had no intention of fighting Helena. She wanted to put the hurt on some sex-pest freaks, not the very woman she came here to save. But it turned out her fears were unfounded, as the raven-haired beauty held up a hand to silence her.

"Relax. I'm not here to fight. I'm not mad." Helena calmly told her. The woman took a step back and straightened herself out, smoothing the wrinkles out of her skirt before tucking a lock of black hair behind her ear. "I'm here to deliver a message from the man himself."

From Reston, Dinah knew.

"...I'm listening." The blonde crossed her arms, frowning. The worry and anxiety were gone. Replaced with calm fury. Now, Dinah didn't want to take a message from some rapist creep. But she would. For the sake of the mission. For the sake of Helena. Because somehow, in some way, this would ultimately help. That's what Barbara had told her.

"Matt wants to bring you into the fold. Better late than never, in my opinion." Helena clasped her hands together, smiling brightly. From the look in the woman's eyes, it was possible that she expected Dinah to be as excited about that announcement as she was. When hell freezes over, maybe. "You've impressed him. Which means you've impressed the Brotherhood."

There it was. The jackpot that she and Barbara were looking for. A path into the Brotherhood.

Maybe I spoke too soon, Dinah thought as a genuine shock of excitement shot through her body.

"Is that so?" The blonde pursed her lips, keeping her voice neutral.

"Your strength, your spirit, your attitude..." Helena chuckled. "You're exactly the kind of woman that drives him wild."

"Is that why he chose you?" Dinah spoke with muted distaste. She fought hard to keep her face from twisting into a sneer. If Helena caught her friend's negative reaction, she didn't show it. The woman's smile only widened, her hands unclasping before re-clasping behind her back.

"Well... I like to think my boyfriend has good taste." Helena rocked girlishly on her feet, a soft giggle bubbling in her throat. A moment later, she was back to business, her posture firm and straight. She leveled a hard stare at Dinah, her voice turning solid, unshakeable. "But he's done playing games with you. So he's extending an offer: Become his woman. Step into the Brotherhood's shadow and under his protection."

Dinah felt as if she had been struck, taking another reflexive step back and nearly tumbling over the bleacher steps. She stared back at Helena, her mouth dropping open in shock. The blonde shook her head, aghast at the words spewing from the other woman's lips.

"His protection?" She nearly shrieked. "Helena, he's a teenager!"

"He's a man." The Huntress bit back with such zeal that killed a part of Dinah's spirit. "And more than capable of taking care of his women. Believe me, I know."

Dinah desperately wished she hadn't heard that. Ever since she and Barbara had arrived at this nightmare campus, she'd been trying to scrub the memory of the horrid video footage Barbara had shown her that fateful night in the Clocktower. But every facet of their undercover mission seemed intent on reminding her of the awful, wicked things Matt Reston was doing to her friend.

Try as she might, Dinah couldn't stop the mental image of the young man pawing at Helena's body from taking space in her mind. The grainy footage played in her head, showing Helena on her back, her tits shaking and wobbling as Reston thrusted savagely between her legs. His strong body loomed over her, the muscles on his back shifting and stirring beneath the skin, his bare ass swiftly rising and falling as he drove his cock into her wet cunt. Then there was the unmistakable sound of his balls slapping against her ass...

Dinah shook her head, groaning in disgust.

"If he's so great then why isn't he man enough to do this himself?" The blonde snapped, glaring. But still Helena smiled. It was becoming an infuriating sight.

"A real man makes the world bend to his desires, not the other way around. Plus, he wants to make sure you're serious about this." The raven-haired beauty answered calmly. She must have mistaken Dinah's loathing towards Reston for a jilted lover's annoyance. Like Dinah was one of the young man's playthings that he had emotionally neglected. And that just pissed her off even more. But she made sure to keep a lid on it. Angry as she was, a lead was a lead.

And this will bring me closer to finally pounding the fucker...

"How do I prove that? Does he want me to send him a pair of panties?" Dinah scoffed.

"There's to be a Brotherhood initiation ceremony this weekend. New Brothers will be inducted. New girls to be added as charges." Helena held her chin high, like she was proud of what was to happen. Dinah fought the urge to slap the woman. She argued with herself that it might knock some sense into her, but in the end she stayed her hand. Helena brought her hands back around to join together in front of her. Dinah noted how she ran her thumb softly over the black ring.

The raven-haired woman continued, "Tomorrow evening, you will accept your formal invitation in person. Benes Park, north side of campus, eight PM. He'll be waiting."

"And then?"

"And then you will make an exchange." Helena smirked then and Dinah saw a tiny flare in the woman's eyes. It sent a shiver down the blonde's spine. She hated the feeling. "You want an invitation into the Brotherhood? Then you will finish what you started."

Dinah narrowed her eyes. "Finish...?"

"That fun you two almost had in the locker room."

"Oh." Dinah blinked. Realization didn't just strike her. It ensnared her. A white hot coil sending her blood into a boiling frenzy and her mind into a wild storm once again. "Oh God."

The blonde felt her legs turn to jelly. Whatever angry words she had in mind died in her throat as she planted her ass on the bleacher seat. Her belly was doing flips, her heart thundering in her chest.

No. Please, No!

Dinah felt a hand gently fall upon her shoulder. The blonde shuddered under her friend's touch, but felt too weak to slap it away. Too resigned to escape.

"I hope you go through with it, Dinah." Helena said with sincere delight. "We've fought together for years. Hell, I think of you as a sister. I would be honored to share Matthew with you."

- - -

Chapter Thirteen

Resigned to Fate

Dinah felt numb. She had spent the last hour walking aimlessly around the Kingston campus, Helena's words playing over and over again in her head. Eventually, when the feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach, the blonde decided it was time to turn in for the day.

The trip back to the dorm room felt long, sluggish. It was like her feet had been turned into cement blocks. Barbara was waiting for her there. And despite the frightful nature of Helena's message, it was still juicy intel. And Dinah really didn't look forward to sharing it with her red-headed friend.

When Dinah arrived at their room's door, she simply stared at the wooden slab for a moment. She knew the moment she walked in there, she'd have to share Helena's message. She had to. She couldn't keep that kind of lead to herself. Not with Helena and so many other innocent girls at stake.

...But once she told Barb about the planned meet-up, then it was no longer a what-if. It was real. As real as the incident in the locker room.

She had Matthew Reston's most prized possessions in the palm of her hand. And it felt good.

Dinah shook her head and forced herself into the room. There she found Barbara waiting for her, the red-head sitting at her desk, pouring over a mess of notes. Beyond her, the bright glow of her computer screen.

Barbara threw a quick glance over her shoulder then, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her friend. She swiveled around in her chair next, facing Dinah completely.

"Dinah, where have you been? I've been worried sick!"

The blonde frowned, confused for a moment. But then she looked past Barbara at the room's single window and saw the orange glow of sunset.

Oh, Dinah thought. I must have been wandering longer than I thought.

"I've been out. Walking." She told Barbara then, her voice low and flat. She tugged off her hoody and tossed it onto her bed. She sat down beside it and let herself fall back onto the mattress. Letting loose a decidedly unfeminine groan of combined exhaustion and frustration, the blonde brought her hands to her face in a half-hearted attempt to smother herself.

That would solve my problems, wouldn't it? I wouldn't have to deal with this Brotherhood bullshit.

Beyond the veil of her thoughts and private misery, she heard Barbara speaking.

"Walking." The other woman repeated in muted disbelief. "Well, now that you've gotten some fresh air, we can go over the new intel I've gathered."

"Have you found a way into the Brotherhood?" Dinah let her arms flop to her sides, inhaling deeply through her nose. "Or anything that makes our job easier?"

There was a flicker of hope that maybe, maybe Barbara pulled some magic Batgirl shit and found them a new lead. Because if either of them could do that, it'd be the one trained by Batman.

"No." Barbara answered in a clipped voice, unknowingly snuffing out Dinah's tiny flame of optimism. The blonde felt the dread sink to the pit of her stomach all over again. "On the contrary, what I discovered today will probably only make our job more difficult. Unfortunately."

"Right." Dinah made a noise of disgust then, somewhere between a grunt and an angry curse. "Lay it on me, Barb. I could use more bad news."

"The Headmistress is under Brotherhood control."

Dinah shot up from the bed. She leveled a cold, hard stare at Barbara.

"You sure?"

"I saw her wearing a ring. Same look as the others." Barbara leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands.

Dinah frowned. Headmistress Kaplan had given off some strange vibes during their first meeting in her office, but they had initially ascribed that up to the usual upper-class Gotham snobbery. But looking back, it might have been the Brotherhood's doing all along. Molding her into some teen's fantasy of a sexy Headmistress. Not even a snotty blue-blood deserved something like that.

Huffing through her nose, Barbara continued, "She was probably theirs before we even got here. Before Helena even got here. And she said her husband gave it to her. I looked up her file. No marriage license, Dinah."

"So she was either lying or we've got a mystery man to deal with." Dinah sneered at the thought. "Great. A new target."

She was really getting tired of this web-of-conspiracy bullshit. She hated it almost as much as the mind control. And, of course, the rape.

There was really nothing else to call it, not when the Brotherhood had stripped these women of their free will.

"Potentially a new target." Barbara insisted. The red-head rose from her chair, hugging her arms to her belly. She paced a bit between their twin beds. "Honestly? I've got a bad feeling."

She's got a bad feeling? Feh.

"Barb, you don't know the meaning of the words." It was unfair. Dinah knew that. Barbara was on the frontlines right beside her, dealing with the same twisted, fucked up shit that she was. But that didn't stop the bitter words from spilling from her mouth.

"Is there something wrong?" Barbara asked after a short silence. The woman was a saint, something Dinah had come to know a long while back. She had to be in order to come out of the Batman's tutelage such a calm and reasonable person. Dinah wouldn't have lasted a day dealing with that kind of bullheaded stubbornness.

Barbara was a better friend than Dinah deserved, she realized. And that still didn't stop the next smart-ass remark from leaving her lips.

"Barbara Gordon, master detective." Dinah winced as she said it.

But Barbara didn't get angry, didn't lower herself to trade barbs. Instead, she crossed her arms and gave Dinah a look.

"Dinah..."

You have too much patience for me, girl.

Dinah leaned forward, averting the other woman's penetrating gaze. She bit her lip. She had to tell her. This wasn't something to avoid. Not when they were already deep in shit.

She had to get it over with. Like ripping off a bandaid.

Or getting a bikini wax...

"I've got an invitation to the Brotherhood ceremony." Dinah blurted out. She swallowed next, breathing deeply through her nose. Still she did not meet Barbara's eyes. Instead, she stared off into space, hoping she'd get lost in the emptiness.

"That's... That's great news. We've finally caught a break." Barbara's voice picked up, the girl clearly excited. And it came like a stab to Dinah's gut. "Where's the ceremony being held? What time?"

"I don't know. I don't actually have the invitation yet. I need to accept it in person. Tomorrow evening." a bitter taste settled in Dinah's mouth. She swallowed that, too.

"From who?"

This time, Dinah did meet Barbara's eyes. "Who do you think?"

A silence followed, a heaviness that fell across the room. Dinah spared another glance at the window and noted that the sun had finally gone down. The room's only source of light now came from the dim lamp on Barbara's desk as well as the glow from her computer screen.

"Oh." Barbara finally said after a long moment. Another quiet moment followed, but shorter this time. "I thought you said you weren't-"

"I know what I said." Dinah snapped, her jaw tight and clenched. "You think I'm looking forward to seeing that animal's face again?"