"!" "BIRDS OF PREY - 1X00:" "PILOT [UNAIRED] !" "New Gotham Police have claimed to dismantled the largest organized crime ring... in the city's history tonight after a fire fight at the city's dockyards, in the city's history tonight after a fire fight at the city's dockyards," "resulting in explosions that were visible over miles." "Rumors persist that the real target was a shadowy madman known only as The Joker." "Mom!" "Mom, can you hear me?" "It's Helena !" "Mom, you... you have to!" "You have to !" "You have to hear me!" "Mom !" "Stop him !" "Somebody stop him !" "Somebody stop him !" "Somebody stop him !" "Mom !" "Mom, it's Helena." "Mom !" "No ..." "Mom!" "Mom, it's Helena." "... that this was an all out attempt to destroy his criminal empire once and for all." "Criminals at the scene insist they were attacked by a mysterious masked vigilante." "who they call BATMAN and his partner, BATGIRL." "Veteran New Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon refused to comment, only to say that two unidentified law-enforcement agents were responsible for bringing The Joker into police custody and denied reports that any BATMAN or BATGIRL at the scene." "We have a breaking story :" "A fatal stabbing in New Gotham Downtown New Gotham." "eports are coming in that the victim is the infamous Selena Kyle, the mysterious and beautiful businesswoman, once accused of leading a double life as the jewel thief called CATWOMAN." " Helena." " It is now confirmed." "She is dead at the scene." "Catwoman is survived by her only daughter, Helena." "Ms. Kyle has been romantically linked to the enigmatic millionaire Bruce Wayne." "This is..." "Helena !" "Knock, knock..." "Who's there ?" "Batgirl... past tense." " Dinah ?" "!" " She was stabbed !" "And the other one... he shot her." "I saw her!" "She fell down and the blood went on the floor." "Hush, Dinah." "Hush." "It was just a dream." "We've talked about this, Dinah." "You know how your father and I feel." "It's all your imagination..." "No, I saw it." "Two girls in New Gotham and..." "It's just a dream." "You've never even set off outside this town." "Whatever you think you see, none of it's real." "Are you listening to me, Dinah ?" "You didn't see anything, did you ?" "No, I didn't." "7 YEARS LATER" "To... or from ?" "Excuse me ?" "Are you running away from something or... or to something ?" "I'm not." "I mean..." "I..." "No, it's... it's cool." "You should be careful, though." "It's a big city if you don't know anyone." "Hey, I'm Jerry." " Dinah." " See ?" "Now you know someone." "To." "I'm running "To"... or at least I hope so." "There are a couple people in New Gotham that I sort of knew... or knew about, anyway." "Um, it's hard to explain." "Well, do you think they're still in the city ?" "I don't really know what happened to them." "Ah." "Here, Barbara." "These are more like you." "I stopped by your classroom." "Yeah, I, uh, had to take off early today." "A lot of work to do." "You've always had a lot of work to do." "Never mattered before." "Have dinner with me tonight." "Wade, I'm sorry." "I..." "I..." "I can't." "I can't." "All right, all right, then at least tell me why." "Tell me that I was wrong about the last six months." "Tell me it wasn't good." "Tell me it wasn't fun." "It's... it's... it's complicated." "I like complicated." "This is part of what makes you so attractive." "What, just part ?" "Well, see, I can't talk about the other parts right now." "Look, Wade, it's not you." "Please, I really have to go." "Okay." "So, it's not me." "Just tell me 'what' ?" "Then, what is it ?" "Hey, it's me." "Remember that suicide last week ?" "Well, there's another one that looks a lot like it." "Too much like it." "Huntress, it's Oracle." "Do you copy ?" "You've gone off-line again, haven't you ?" "Huntress ?" "It's called talk therapy, Helena, not stare hostilely at your psychiatrist therapy." "The court sent me here for anger management, right ?" "mm-hmm." "Observe the managing." "I'm cured." "You're a genius." "I know that seven years ago on this day, you watched your mother die." "A few months later, Barbara Gordon became your legal guardian." "Why did you move in with her and not your father ?" "Because at the time, I didn't know who he was." "And as it turned out, he didn't even know that he had a kid." "At least my mom tried to protect me." "He was just clueless." "I miss her." "And in that one moment, she was gone." "Everything changed." "I changed." "Into what ?" "Into someone maybe I wasn't meant to be." "This is... the, uh, address." "I'll see you tonight." " Okay." " Bye." "It's gonna be different here." "I know it." "Oh, no !" "No !" "No !" "No !" "Don't move !" "Just lie still." "Don't let them get me !" " Don't let them get me !" " Who's trying to get you ?" " Come on !" " We didn't know what was beneath... beneath..." "Phoenix." "I can't really describe him." "I never got a good look at his face." "So you say this guy didn't push the victim ?" "No, he wasn't anywhere near him, but, um..." "But ?" "What ?" "Miss... you saw something, didn't you ?" "Yeah, she saw a guy on a bench." "Come on, Mac." "Listen, if you think of anything else at all, and I mean anything, you can reach me at this number, okay ?" "Okay." "Good night." "What ?" " Don't start." " Start what ?" ""There's something prowling the night," that's what." "Of course not." "This is just your basic "normal guy freaks out, throws himself in front of a speeding vehicle for no reason" case." "It's totally routine." "Was that sarcasm ?" "'Cause you know I'm a sensitive man." "Seriously, Reese, you gotta layoff "The Twilight Zone."" "The guys are starting to talk." "McNally, you hear the same stories I do." "You see the same things we can't even begin to explain." "Freaks, weirdos." "Urban myths." "Myths are just the truth a few generations later." "Come on, McNally." "What are you so afraid of ?" "Being seen with you, getting carted off to the loony bin..." "I'm gonna make you a list." "There's something going on in this city after the sun goes down." "I intend to find out what it is." "Okay." "Oh, man." "You've got "Wade" face !" "This is turning out to be the longest break-up in recorded history." "I've been calling for hours." "See, the problem with you is that you only go out with one guy at a time." "Not effective risk management." "Don't change the subject." "Where have you been ?" "That shrink thing... remember ?" "Being punished for destroying city property while chasing down your bad guy." "Okay, well." "You could have gone around the fire hydrant." "Doesn't it ever bother you ?" "!" "We spend all our time trying to save the city fighting crime lords and super-villians..." "For what ?" "Lousy hours ?" "Nonexistent pay, no recognition, ...traffic tickets ?" "That's the downside of having a secret identity... the secrecy." "Anyway, I need you to go on sweep tonight." "There's been another death." "You mean another suicide ?" "No, it's murder... neither of these guys had any history of psychological illness, no reason to even consider suicide." "People can kill themselves if they want, it is a free country !" "Excuse me." "I'm telling you, there's something wrong here." "I can feel it." "Is your spider sense tingling ?" "Stop twitching and have a drink." "Could you focus for just one second ?" "I am focused." "I'm focusing on why we do it." "Why do we even bother ?" "We do it because it's who we are." "No, it's who you are." "My shift's over anyway." "It might be good for me to go kick some ass." "Hey, baby, you want to go out ?" "You want to go out tonight ?" "Oh, god." "You scared me." " Um..." "I thought you were... you know..." " Dangerous ?" "Um... well, it's kind of a weird place to party." "One thing you learn about New Gotham, Dinah... things are never what they seem." "Aahhh !" "Leave me alone !" "Oh, come on, don't be scared, Dinah." "Ugh !" "The lady isn't interested." "I was hoping you'd say something like that." "Who the hell are you ?" "I'm The Huntress, and you're the prey." "Warmed up yet ?" "Ohh !" "I hate a man with no endurance." "Really, what's the point ?" "You can just say "thank you." It wasn't that spectacular." "No." "It's... it's you." "I saw you in my dream." "I..." "You're really real." "Kid, you should go home." "Wait... where can I find you ?" "It's late." "There's a shelter on Durbin, a few blocks south." "You should get off the streets." "No, wait !" "I'm telling you, the word on the street are that these deaths are your garden-variety "goodbye, cruel world."" "Is there anything to eat in here ?" "It's almost as if they were running from something." "There's never any food in this place." "A gazillion dollars' worth of computer equipment and not one jar of peanut butter." "This doesn't make any sense." "I mean, if I were gonna kill myself..." "You wouldn't." "What ?" "Kill yourself... you wouldn't." "Do you know how old these are ?" "Wait... what do you mean, I wouldn't kill myself ?" "It's just not your nature." "I resent that." "I'm as broody and romantically self-destructive as the next girl." "Yeah, in a "let's go get the bad guys, let nothing stand in the path of the mission" sort of way." "You know, I'm the one that does all the night sweeps." "I'm the one that does all the fieldwork." "I'm the one with bruises in really embarrassing places." "Would it kill you to go to the grocery store every once in a while ?" "What is this obsession with food ?" "You try fighting the force of evil when your blood sugar's low." "Perimeter breach !" "Inside, near the elevator, sector two." " I can't get a good visual." " I'm on it." "What are we gonna do with her ?" "She knows how to get in." "What if she knows who we are ?" "We could kill her." "Look, we're the good guys." "We don't kill innocent people." "We don't kill anyone." " Speak for yourself." " How did she find us ?" "She must have followed you." "Nobody follows me." "Well, she's here." "I mean, this place is supposed to be a secret... that's the whole point of a "secret lair"." "It's not her fault." "I followed her." "She didn't know." "It's you." "I should have known you two would be together." "How did you get in here ?" "Look... sometimes... when I touch people, I see things... things that, um, that only they know... and sometimes when I dream things... they come true." "So, um, what does this thing do exactly ?" "This machine will tell me if there's any biological evidence of the abilities you say you have... in other words, if you're meta-human." "Meta what ?" "In most people, less than five percent of their neural cells are active." "Your cerebral-cortex activity is... over fifty percent." "So it's true..." "I'm officially a Freak." "Hey, watch it with the "F" word." "There are people in the world, Dinah... a lot of people, with abilities beyond what we think of as human." "Um, not too many humans have the same gifts." "Don't ask me where the powers come from." "No one knows." "Natural mutations, biological experiments..." "There's been some weird stuff from meteor showers." "The point is, you're one of a long line of people who had to hide what they are." "So, I'm like you ?" "Uh, like Helena, technically." "I'm not meta-human." "But you're both heroes and you save people." "Right." "I want to join !" " What ?" " No." "Why not ?" "Sorry, we don't have an opening for "junior supergirl"." "You can't stay here." "You have to go home." "Do you honestly think I'd get on a bus and... come to a city where I didn't know a soul, with no money and no job, if I had a place to go back to ?" "I mean, I came to New Gotham looking for something, and I didn't even know what it was, but now I do." "Can I talk to you... now ?" "You can't seriously be considering this." "A few hundred years ago, a girl like that would have been burned at the stake." "Yeah, she's freaking me out right now." "It's just one night." "One." "I remember another girl with no place to go who fell asleep on that couch." "I gotta go." "Helena, wait." "Good morning, miss." "Alfred Pennyworth." "How do you do ?" "I've brought you an assortment of clothes in your size." "I trust you will find them adequate." "Thank you." "Perhaps a shower and change ?" "Sure." "How do you prefer your eggs ?" "Um... scrambled." "I've restocked the refrigerator in your apartment." "It was rather alarmingly empty." "So I hear." "Thanks, Alfred." "You're a lifesaver." "No bother at all." "There's little enough to keep me busy at the manor." "I keep hoping that Miss Helena will change her mind and come live there." "After all, technically it is her birthright." "She's not going to accept anything connected with Wayne money." "I mean, I'm lucky she can handle the trust paying for the equipment in here." "This time of year is always difficult." "Oh, I don't know what to do." "She just won't let me in." "I meant for both of you." "Me ?" "Don't be ridiculous." "I'm..." "I'm fine." "Dinah is a very gifted girl, if I'm not mistaken." "Quite interesting." "It's temporary." "You're being superior again." "Oh, perish the thought." "I mean, Helena's right... she can't stay with us." "This is no place for a kid." "Are you investigating this ?" "Because I was there when he died, and it wasn't a suicide." "After my mother died..." "I found out more than just my father's identity." "I discovered he had a whole other life." "You mean another family ?" "More like a really aggressive hobby." "I blamed him for what happened to my mother." " And if Barbara hadn't taken me in..." " Why did she do that ?" "I've known her since I was a kid." "She was just trying to help." "So, this "Barbara" takes in a rebellious, hell-bent seventeen year old because... she's either a Saint or a closet Masochist." "I think she might be the one who needs the therapy." "I didn't think shrinks were supposed to make jokes." "Now, you say this Barbara "rescued" you." "But I ask you do you think did she do that for you... or do you think she did it for herself ?" "I couldn't tell the cops what I really saw... that he was terrified of these imaginary rats." "Well, maybe it was." "I mean, it sounds like a tailor-made illusion taken directly from the victim's subconscious." "What he feared most came after him." "Yeah, but what could make him see something that wasn't even there ?" "W-Well... a meta-human could." "But there are no meta-human criminals in my database with that ability." "Damn." "He said something about a... a Phoenix." "Fiery tail, rising from the ashes... that kind of Phoenix ?" "Yeah." "I know they're not real." "Phoenixes... aren't... real, are they ?" "Uh... not that I know of." "Okay." "Just checking." "Um, he said we wouldn't know what Phoenix was for." "Like it wasn't an animal at all." "I wonder..." "I wonder..." "Let's see..." "Phoenix Industries was formed in New Gotham a few months ago." "It looks like some kind of dummy corporation for real estate purchasing." "The old dockyards." "They bought every parcel." "All of it." "And that's bad because..." "But, it isn't, necessarily." "You buy the land cheap, then rebuild, and you can make a fortune... or... get complete access to the infrastructure of New Gotham... the sewers, the shipping lines, anything coming in and out of the city." "And you're not banking on the sunnier motivation, are you ?" "Let's just trace the tax filings to the actual owners." "Come on." "Come to mama." "A four-man consortium owns Phoenix... and of the four owners, two are dead." "Suicides." "There are two potential victims left." "Why are you so sure I should protect this guy first ?" "The other guy's out of town and not coming back until late tonight." "Our assassin's only killed in New Gotham so far." " Are you in yet ?" " Of course." "Are you sure he's here ?" "Uh, he ordered pizza on his credit card 40 minutes ago." "Once again, big sister is watching." "Okay... he's here." "Huntress." "There's something coming through on the police scanners." "You've got to get out of there." "Freeze!" "Don't move." "Detective Reese, Gotham P.D." "You're not going anywhere." "Okay, I really don't have time for this." "You're in the middle of a crime scene, lady." "You'll make time." "You can see it's a suicide." "Yeah." "There seem to be a lot of those going around lately, huh ?" "You know, my colleagues... they think I'm crazy." "But I'm beginning to wonder if somebody isn't giving these vics a little push." "You'd like this guy." "He's got your paranoid turn of mind." "Excuse me ?" "What was that ?" "I didn't say anything." "Neighbors reported sounds of a fight." "He must have been in the area to have gotten there so fast." "You have a few minutes before the black-and-whites show up." "Just get out of there." "So you know this man ?" " He was dead when I got here." " Really ?" "Oh, so then the best you can say for yourself is you were, uh, robbing a dead guy ?" "You're a detective... detect." "What was I gonna do... strap a few paintings on my back, take the elevator ?" "I don't have the gear for a heist, and I don't have any weapons." "What did I do... come in here and chat him into hanging himself ?" "Even if I were to believe you, you still haven't answered my question." "What are you doing here ?" "Same thing you are... just trying to save someone." "Guess we were both a little too late." "We're on the same side, Reese." "Now wait just a minute." "I know what I'm doing." "Back off." "Do you... hear voices or something ?" "You have no idea." "Someone dropped the Hermez shooter off at the precinct doorstep last week, right ?" "And the Dorsett kidnapper ?" "I practically gift-wrapped that one for you." "Who are you ?" "I'm not your enemy." " You're a friend ?" " I didn't say that." " I hate locks." " So you save people ?" "On good days." "Why don't you carry any weapons ?" "I am the weapon." "I can't believe you told him all that." "He chained me to a second-century Greek bronze." "Kind of classy." "Don't worry, he was saying anything." "If you would just listen to me and wear a mask." "You want me to dress like my parents." "Bring a crime fighter doesn't meant that I have to be a fashion casualty." "There's nothing wrong with wearing a costume." "Hey, can we say conspicuous ?" "Oh, and that outfit's low-key ?" "It's trendy." "I can go clubbing in it." "No, but that would involve having a life." "We have a life." "No, we have a job ... and maybe that's enough for you." "It's what you wanted." "You sought him out, convinced him to train you." "You chose your mentor." "I don't even know if I want to be in the family business." "It's not the mob, Helena." "No, they get to kill people." "You think this place... this chair... this life is what I wanted ?" "You can leave if you want... for a day... week, year maybe." "But you'll be back." "Because this is where you belong, this is where we both belong." "I, uh, got the stuff you wanted from the armory." "Thank you, Dinah." "Now, we have one target left and it's a safe bet that he doesn't have much time, so lets take care of this business." " Fine." " Fine." "Okay." "There's a ticking clock on our last victim..." "Larry Ketterly." "The businessman ?" "I know him." "Yeah, well, he's back in town." "We can only guard him for so long." "We need to find out who the assassin is... and stop him for good." "Which means check the dockyards." "It's the only lead we have." "I can go to the dockyards." "You can't be in two places at once." "Okay, so you take the dockyards, and I'll guard Ketterly." " I could go to the dockyards." " I don't like you in the field without backup." "You mean without looking over my shoulder ?" "Let me go to the damn dockyards !" "So, uh, why don't I get cool jewelry like Huntress ?" "Because the cool jewelry costs more than a new car." "Like, Buick-new or Mercedes ?" "Ferrari." "Oh." "And it doesn't transmit 3-D images in infrared." "Can we get started now ?" "Yeah, let's go." "Oracle, do you copy ?" "Yeah, I'm here." "I'm at the house." "He's home alone." " Are you getting all this?" " Yeah." "Doesn't look like anyone's been here in years." "No, not since... not for a very long time." "Wait... over there." "Check in there." "Okay..." "That's gross." " I've lost visual." " Well, find him." "We don't know how the assassin gets to his victims." "He could be in the house already." "Who the hell are you ?" "!" "Helena ?" "Hi, Mr. Ketterly." "Now, what exactly were you doing skulking around in my bushes ?" "Just wanted to drop by." "Lovely outfit." "Thank you." "I'm going dancing later." "Little Helena Kyle..." "Right..." "Okay..." "So, um... what exactly am I looking for ?" "I'll know it when you see it." "Dinah ?" "!" "Dinah, do you copy ?" "Oh, yeah." "I'm fine." "All right, go down that tunnel." "Over to your right." "That one." "I don't understand." "None of this is on the map." "You've been here before, haven't you ?" "It was a long time ago." "Another life." "Before I was ever Oracle, I had another name, another identity... another self." "I used to work with a man..." "Helena's father." "He was Gotham's Greatest Champion... and most people never even knew he existed." "The last time I ever fought at his side... was in this place." "We'd cornered the worst criminal Gotham had ever known, smashed his organization, and hunted him down." "I know Batman could have killed the Joker... but he didn't." "And his honor had a price." "The Joker got away from the police, if only for a few hours... just long enough to send a man to kill Helena's mother... and to come for me himself." "Why ?" "I think The Joker wanted to drive Batman mad... and maybe he did a little... because a few months later he left... left New Gotham... his work" "everything." "Even the daughter he never knew he had." "Barbara... someone's been here." "Okay... this is beyond weird." "Oh, my god." "It's Ketterly." "You really want to know what's under those dockyards, Helena ?" "A piece of Gotham's past." "A part of our history." "We lost a great leader, but from the ashes where he fell, we're going to rise again." "We're going to build an empire that will make the world tremble." "Or something like that." "I was always a little fuzzy on the details." "I'm more of a "big picture" kind of guy." "But enough about me and my little plans." "It's time to tell me, Helena... what are you afraid of ?" "He-le-na !" "She's not answering." "Just get there as fast as you can." "I'm on the way." "Helena, listen to me, concentrate on my voice... voice and it may interfere with whatever auditory-neural connection he's using." "I'm surprised at you, Helena." "It doesn't usually take people this long to open up to me." "You have an exceptionally strong mind." "But we have time." "Helena, I know you want to tell me." "Go ahead." "Let it out." "She died." "I lost her." "I lose everyone." "To love someone and to lose them... right in front of you..." "Okay, you want to fight bad guys, locked doors are gonna come up sometimes." "Helena !" "What have we here ?" "Just another little girl." "Oh..." "Not exactly." "Helena... it's all right." "We're here." "Let me take this." "Helena, listen to me... it's over." "No, it's not." "You're too late." "It doesn't matter what you do to me here." " Helena ?" " Part of me stays in there with her." "Where I've taken her, no one can follow." "I can." "No, you can't." "She won't hear me." "Not here." "But maybe she'll hear you." "Helena..." "I couldn't protect her." " You were just a kid." " No... she was all I had." "You were all I had." "No, Helena." "No." "It's... it's an illusion." "I'm not dead." "No." "I'm right here with you." "Heroes are supposed to save people." "I lose every person who needed me." "No." "You haven't failed me." "I chose this life and... and-and all of the risks that came with it." "You don't have to protect me, Helena." "Do you understand ?" "We... we have to protect each other." "I can't do this without you." "You don't belong here." "You don't have any legs." "You're not Batgirl anymore." "Neither do you." "Why bother, Helena ?" "Even if you kill me, you'll still be alone." "You'll always be alone." "Maybe... but it's my screwed-up life and I'll decide when it's over." "Welcome back." "What's wrong with him ?" "He said that some part of his mind was in yours." "It may be that when you killed him in that world you destroyed it... permanently." "Yeah, well... oops." "So, what are we gonna do with him ?" "You're finded him like this." "Actually no." "Somebody actually dropped him at the station with a bunch of well, pretty bizarre evidence." "We can't be sure he isn't dangerous." "That's why we brought him to you, Dr. Quinzel." "Oh, no." "Call me Harleen, Detective." "Harleen..." "I appreciate your time." "I'll be in touch." "Well, Larry ... this really is quite a disappointment, isn't it ?" "We needed those dockyards, Larry." "I had a dream of New Gotham and people writhing in pain... and dying on the streets and everything under my command." "You have... ruined my dream, Larry!" "At least temporarily." "Well, just goes to show you never send a Businessman to do a Psychopath's job." "It just feels wrong... no ticking bomb, no poison gas." "I mean, we usually save the city from some apocalyptic bad-guy plan." "Yeah, well, this time we saved ourselves." "It's a nice change of pace." "Except you know that "Rah Rah, Rebuild the Empire" speech Ketterly gave me ?" "He didn't say "I"." "He said "We"." "I know." "She's really terrible at those." "I was worse when I started." "You know, if it wasn't for her, neither one of us would be alive right now." "Yeah." "I know." " There are going to be ground rules." " I'll do it !" " I haven't even said what they are yet." " I don't care." "I mean, as long as I can stay." "I can stay, right ?" "She's not staying at my place." "As long as you go to school and work on developing your skills, both mental and physical... then you can stay." " Cool !" "Sometimes I close my eyes and I can almost feel it... what it was like to race across rooftops under the moon." "Cold, wet... and hell on your nails." "I guess I never really let go of who I was... before." "It's a hard thing to lose." "I can't ever be what you were." "Good." "Just be yourself instead." "You're way cooler than I ever was anyway." "I know." "!" "THE END !"