Second Chances: Batwoman

Chapter 23

"You got something?" Kate asked Luke after he called her back into the Batcave.

"Yeah. I managed to trace that money trail to the vendor back to its source." Luke said.

"Okay, who's head am I bashing?" Kate asked as Luke brought up a picture of a woman who matched the description that the comic vendor had given her.

"Meet Candice Long. Aka, the Candy Lady." Luke said.

"A professional child abductor. She's lucky that I can't put her in Arkham for this." Kate said.

"Whoa, that is intense for you. You are planning on taking her alive right?" Luke asked, since not even Alice had made Kate this mad before.

"Sorry, but this is hitting way too close to home, since Ryan is around the same age Beth was when she disappeared and now I have a chance to keep that from happening to someone else." Kate said.

"Got it." Luke said, right as Kate's phone rang and she saw it was Helena.

"Hey, what's going on, I'm about to head out." Kate said.

"I know and normally I wouldn't bother you with this, but the DA's office just got word that the GCPD brought in a new found corpse." Helena said.

"So, hate to say it, but this is Gotham. That's not that out of the ordinary." Kate said, knowing this to be a fact about Gotham.

"And normally I'd agree with you, but Kate, this time it actually does require your attention." Helena said.

"Why, who is it?" Kate asked.

"It's the Mad Hatter. Jervis Tetch himself." Helena said and Kate was shocked.

"What, are you sure?" Kate asked.

"Kate, I'm at the coroner's office right now, looking at his body and I've had every test I can think of run on it and it confirms that it's him. He's dead." Helena said and Kate sighed.

"Have you determined the cause of death?" Kate asked.

"Stab wound, still trying to determine what kind of blade, but I think he was literally stabbed in the back, which suggests that one of our recently released lunatics is responsible." Helena said.

"Keep looking into it, I need to finish dealing with this Candy Lady thing and then I'll give Hatter my full attention." Kate said.

"Copy that. Put Luke on this too, I could use his big brain." Helena said.

"Done." Kate said as she hung up.

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"Mad Hatter's dead. Literally stabbed in the back." Kate said.

"Kind of a cliche, even for Gotham." Luke said.

"Tell me about it. But anyways, tell me where I need to go to kick Candice Long's ass and then go help Helena. She needs you more than I do now." Kate said.

"Copy that." Luke said, since he agreed as he gave Kate an address as she went to suit up, since while Kate Kane alone would probably be enough to handle this situation, Batwoman would scare this woman a lot more and considering what she was doing, she deserved this.

Batwoman landed on the roof of Candice Long's house, trying to decide the best way to do this, since as much as she wanted to scare the living daylights out of the woman, finding Ryan Wilder was her top priority.

Which was why she lowered the lenses of her mask and used its infrared tracking capabilities to look inside the house and her blood boiled when she saw the heat signature of a young girl lying on what looked like a cot and crying in the attic.

"Time to save the kid." Batwoman said as she made her way over the window of the attic and used her grappling hook to swing in through the window, shattering it and causing a young Ryan Wilder to shoot up and stare at her in shock.

"Batwoman?" Ryan asked her.

"I'm here to rescue you." Batwoman said.

"Why?" Ryan asked and it pained Batwoman to hear the young girl ask her that question.

"Because I care. I'm gonna get you out of here, but first, I need to have a very painful conversation with the woman who brought you here." Batwoman said and Ryan actually looked very pleased to hear that.

"Can I watch?" Ryan asked and Batwoman chuckled.

"As much as I'd like to say yes, stay up here until I come for you. I don't want you to get hurt." Batwoman said.

"If you can close up your face mask, that would be a good idea, since she has some kind of spray that knocks you out and disorients you." Ryan said and Batwoman nodded, since she always came prepared as she used the nanites Brainy had built into her suit to develop a mask for her face.

"Thanks for the tip. Time to go beat up the bad woman." Batwoman said as she then went to kick the door to the attic down.

To say Candice Long was surprised when Batwoman came charging down her steps was an understatement, though that surprise quickly turned to fear when she saw the look in the caped crusader's eyes and knew that she was busted.

"Candice Long, you have failed this city." Batwoman said, since she finally understood why Oliver had always said that to his targets. She wasn't looking to steal his catchphrase, but she couldn't deny that it was appropriate in this case.

"Wait, you don't want to do this. I'd never hurt anyone." Candice said feebly as she tried to figure out if she could reach the door before Batwoman reached her.

"You call abducting innocent kids not hurting anyone?" Batwoman snapped.

"It's not like anyone was going to miss them and honestly, the kids I take in turn out better than they would've otherwise." Candice said, only to have Batwoman punch her.

"You're lucky I don't believe in killing, since you're despicable." Batwoman said as she threw Candice to the ground.

"Please, don't." Candice said fearfully.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you, but I can't say the same thing about what all the crooks in Blackgate are going to do to you, since what you're doing is low, even for Gotham." Batwoman said, very eager to put this woman behind bars and get Ryan Wilder to the precinct where she'd be safe.