Three Birds and a Baby Written by: David H. Goodman & Julie Hess | Transcribed by: Oracle | Status: Complete EXT. NEW GOTHAM - NIGHT We fly through the city, past tall buildings and through the darkness of night. EXT. ALLEYWAY - NIGHT Batman floats on his cape to the ground, moving in slow motion, cape flying around him. ALFRED. (V.O.) Legend tells of a caped crusader, Batman, guardian of New Gotham, and his one true love - Catwoman, the queen of the criminal underworld. EXT. ALLEYWAY - NIGHT A woman in a black leather costume leaps down into the alleyway and crouches. She tilts her head quizzically, like a cat. She leaps to fight Batman, and he matches and blocks her fists - then pulls the Catwoman close to him in an embrace. ALFRED. (V.O.) Their passion left behind something extraordinary INT. THE LAIR - DAY We see Helena standing and smiling, looking to her left. INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT Helena sneaks into the apartment through the sliding glass doors. ALFRED. (V.O.) - a daughter, Huntress. Half-metahuman, EXT. NEW GOTHAM - NIGHT A quick flash of Helena's eye changing to that of a cat's, and then of her flipping to attack someone. ALFRED. (V.O.) She has taken INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT Helena rushes onto the balcony, throwing out her arms and - leaping off. She soars out of sight. ALFRED. (V.O.) Up her father's mantel and under cover of the night INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT Helena trades blows with a man, flipping and kicking him, then punching him. ALFRED. (V.O.) Fights to protect the innocent and helpless. Helena looks up in slow-motion. INT. GIBSON'S BAR - NIGHT The elevator opens - revealing Barbara, looking pissed. ALFRED. (V.O. ) Joining her in this struggle, Oracle, who was INT. THE LAIR - DAY We flip through the window and spiral around Barbara at the computer. ALFRED. (V.O.) Once Batman's protege 'Batgirl'. INT. INNER TUNNELS - NIGHT We close in on Batgirls' mask in slow-motion. Then, she kicks out at someone, attacking. ALFRED. (V.O.) She was caught in the crossfire of the war between Batman and Joker. INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT Barbara flings open the front door and is shocked to find - a shadowy figure clutching a gun. The gun fires. She falls to the floor. INT. THE LAIR - NIGHT A circle of green light comes up around Barbara. It raises into a fully-shaped cylinder around her, graphed with lines and axes. ALFRED. (V.O.) Now she fights crime a different way - a master of the cyber-realms INT. KETTERLY'S HOME - NIGHT Barbara appears in the doorway in her wheelchair, holding a birdarang. She throws it. ALFRED. (V.O.) And mentor and trainer to heroes. INT. THE LAIR - NIGHT In slow motion, Oracle smiles while holding up a birdarang. INT. GIBSON'S BAR - NIGHT Dinah spins around, shocked - she's been caught. ALFRED. (V.O.) Together, they have taken in a young runaway, Dinah, a metahuman herself EXT. ALLEYWAY - NIGHT Dinah reaches out to stop Helena, grabbing her wrist, and sees a montage of images - the Clocktower, Helena entering the building and pressing her hand up on the wall, the dreamworld. ALFRED. (V.O.) with powers to open hidden doors to the mind - powers that she is only beginning to explore. INT. THE LAIR - NIGHT Dinah looks up at the brain scan machine as it whizzes past her face. INT. THE DREAMWORLD - NIGHT Barbara and Dinah clutch each others' forearms as Helena walks towards them. She extends a hand and lays it over theirs, all three women joined together. ALFRED. (V.O.) Together, these three are the protectors of New Gotham - the Birds of Prey. EXT. NEW GOTHAM - NIGHT The show logo circles on the screen as a bird flies by, screaming in the night. ALFRED. (V.O.) My name is Alfred Pennyworth, and this is their story. EXT. NEW GOTHAM - NIGHT We circle through the city and down towards a row of apartment buildings. Through an open window, we hear a woman screaming. WOMAN. No! Please, leave us alone! She comes out onto the fire escape, clutching a baby in her arms. A man in black chases after her. WOMAN. No, no! No! Get away from me! No! The baby cries loudly and continually. WOMAN. Leave us alone! No! Please! As she struggles to get away from him, she loses her grip on the child and he falls through the night air towards the alley ground. WOMAN. Nooo! Noooooo! no! Helena rushes through the alley and catches the baby in her arms. She looks up and sees the woman. WOMAN. Please! Help us! And suddenly, men in suits surround Helena. She grips the baby tight to her chest as she prepares to fight. She fends off a man with one arm. Another man comes up the alley and she unknowingly backs towards him, then spins and punches him out. She turns back towards the first man, as he comes at her with a knife - but is off-balance and she lets him slide past her, then elbows him into the wall. Another man swings around and she punches him, then kicks him in the stomach. The other guy comes up, she turns and hits him. She fighs them both off once at a time, ducking under their fists, and then kicks one guy in the knee, sending him down. She runs up a wall and jumps up, and the suit runs beneath her and past her. She hits him and he goes flying. Scared, the men run off, knowing they can't win. Helena, holding the swaddled baby, looks up towards the fire escape. HELENA. Sorry to keep you so long, here's your -- But her words fall on ears that hear no more - the woman lays dead and bleeding on the fire escape, victim of a stab wound. HELENA. ...baby. Opening Credits EXT. THE CLOCKTOWER - DAY We zoom in the tower, glowing in the sunlight. INT. THE LAIR - DAY The upper level. Dinah, Helena and Barbara stand around where the baby lays on a table. HELENA. They were trying to take him aawy from her. I didn't know what else to do. BARBARA. No, you did the right thing, bringing... it back here. DINAH. Okay, you know what? Someone has to take the plunge - if only to stop the ranting pronoun abuse. She lifts the baby's blankets to determine the gender. Barbara and Helena peek too. DINAH. Ah. He's a boy. HELENA. Figures. Barbara gives her a look. HELENA. What? Men always need saving. BARBARA. Well. We should name him. HELENA. I'm good with boy. I was actually good with 'it'. Helena picks up a pencil and pokes the baby in the stomach. BARBARA. Helena! Don't poke the baby. She takes the pencil away. DINAH. How about... Guy? BARBARA. Simple, yet insightful. Guy it is. Okay, I'll hack into the coroner's database and find out who his mother was. Maybe it's a clue as to what the attackers were after. HELENA. Yeah, maybe you could find out where we return him. DINAH. What do we do til then? BARBARA. Well, take care of him. HELENA. Take care of him? I can't even keep a house plant alive! DINAH. No, this is great. I was like the babysitter at home. Kids love me. BARBARA. It's easy. It's all about efficiency and timing. Dinah picks up the baby. HELENA. Now you're doing that super-Barbara thing again, you know that makes me nervous. BARBARA. It'll just require a little creative scheduling, that's all. She and Dinah move over to the elevator and get in as Helena follows. HELENA. Wait. You two are actually serious about this. BARBARA. We vanquish the forces of evil every night, Helena. How difficult can it be to take care of one, small baby? Helena groans, rolls her eyes and gets in the elevator. The doors close behind them, and then re-open - only now we're downstairs. The baby is wailing. HELENA. What is wrong?! BARBARA. Here, here, let me try, let me try. She takes the baby from Dinah, and holds him in her arms. BARBARA. Hi! Hi! Helena. She hands the baby to Helena and wheels out past her. HELENA. It's like holding a sack of screaming cats. Suddenly, almost miraculously, the baby stops crying. HELENA. Did I break it? DINAH. No, he likes you. He's smiling. They head out of the elevator, Helena still clutching Guy in her arms. Barbara is in the computer ring of the lair, looking at one of her computers. BARBRA. Coroner hasn't been able to ID the woman in the alley. Neither have the police. Looks like you're gona have to go to work. HELENA. (To Guy) Sorry! Duty calls. She hands the baby to Barbara and heads back towards the elevator. BARBARA. Oh, and while you're out, you better pick up some dipapers. EXT. NEW GOTHAM - NIGHT We fly through the city, around buildings brightly lit in the inky sky. INT. OFFICE HALLWAY - CONTINUING Where the familiar door marked 'Dr. Harleen Quinzel' greets us. INT. DR. QUINZEL'S OFFICE - CONTINUING Inside, Dr. Quinzel slams a slightly tubby man with a pair of glasses up against the wall. His shoulder shakes her diploma, framed and hanging. HARLEY. Let me cut right to the chase, Dr. Melfin. She puts her hands around his neck and chokes him. HARLEY. I'm working on a tight schedule and can't stand for delays. I paid you good money to genetically engineer this baby for me, now where is he? I bought a cute little onesie for him. MELFIN. Uh, one of my assistants broke into the lab last night and stole the baby. Now the assistant has been tracked down and eliminated but the baby has fallen into third-party hands. HARLEY. (Shocked) Some stranger has my baby?! MELFIN. Someone quite lethal - my men didn't really get a good look. They were too busy, um... running away. She lets him go, then turns and surveys her office. HARLEY. Let me explain something to you, Dr. Melfin? I know I might look like the ultimate career woman, but all of this? It means nothing to me. I'm... unfulfilled. The joker and I always wanted kids. She crosses back over to him. HARLEY. Me and Mr. J. would've had such beautiful children... my green eyes and his green hair. She grabs his hair in her fist and yanks upward. HARLEY. Instead, the best I could do is to have you custom-make this baby for me and you lost him? My biological clock is tciking, Melfin. It's a bomb. MELFIN. I'll, I'll get him back. HARLEY. You'll do nothing of the sort - it's obvious the Pocket Protector Brigade isn't up to the task. I'm outsourcing. I'll bring in professionals for the retrieval and when I have my baby back... then I'll decide whether I'm gonna let you live. She walks away from him, and he turns to the wall and straightens her diploma. INT. MORGUE - NIGHT In the cold, dark morgue, Helena has pulled out a metal slab upon which lays the body of the dead woman from the teaser. She is snapping pictures with a small, rectangular efficiency camera. INT. THE CLOCKTOWER - CONTINUING Barbara sits at the computer as the pictures automatically scan into the system and appear on the screen. A program starts sorting through random pictures of citizens, trying to match. BARBRA. Facial recognition software is searching... Off-screen, Guy cries. HELENA. Is everything all right there, with you and Dinah? Sounds a little hectic. BARBARA. It's nothing we can't handle. Okay, search came up negative. So have the fingerprints. You know what, try the resonant image scan. INT. MORGUE - CONTINUING Helena pulls out a long conical bar and turns it on. A fluorescent light shines out and she waves the bar over the woman's head and neck. INT. THE CLOCKTOWER - CONTINUING On the monitor we watch the results of the scan appear like a three-dimensional X-Ray. We are seeing the woman's jaw and neck from the vantage-point of her stomach. The Delphi system beeps and pops up a window that says 'Delphi has information. Download?' and presents a no and yes option. Barbara clicks yes as the bones continue to scan. BARBARA. No significant dental work, no broken bones. Oh, oh, back up. Scan it back over her shoulder. (Off screen) There's something under her skin, like a biochip. INT. MORGUE - CONTINUING Helena runs her hand over the woman's shoulder. HELENA. I can feel it. BARBARA. (V.O.) Good, cut it out. HELENA. I don't get paid enough for this. BARBRA. (V.O.) Look, that chip may be the only way we can tell who she is. Helena pulls out a long rectangular tool with a sharp blade at the end, like an oversized artist's knife. HELENA. All right. Cutting. (Senses) You know you really shouldn't sneak up on people like this. She turns around, where Reese is standing in the hallway behind her. REESE. You're one to talk. You've been sneaking up on me for weeks now and all I seem to know is you call yourself 'huntress'. HELENA. Are you angling for a phone number, Detective? REESE. Would it do me any good if I said yes? HELENA. I doubt it. But I'd enjoy watching you try. REESE. You know I have to admit I'm not surprised to find you standing over a dead body. I'm not even surprised that you're cutting into one, but, um... He reaches past her and grabs a plastic bag, and pulls out a package of diapers. REESE. What are you doing with these? You don't exactly strike me as the motherly type. HELENA. I thought you'd be a little less quick on your judgements - worked so well for you last time. She takes the diapers from him and sets them back down. REESE. Huh. You're still mad. HELENA. That you called me a thing and tried to shoot me? Why would I be mad about that? REESE. Okay, can we be really clear about something? I didn't actually shoot at you. HELENA. Because you got shot at first. REESE. I'm not gonna win this one, am I? HELENA. Uh-uh. BARBARA. (V.O.) Helena, I need you back here now. We have an emergency. HELENA. On my way. Sorry, gotta bolt. She grabs the diaper package and breezes by him. He notices something on the table and grabs it, turns to her -- REESE. Wait a minute, wait, Huntress -- And she's gone. He holds up the object and looks at it in wonder. REESE. You forgot your... pacifier. INT. THE LAIR - NIGHT In the upper level, Helena comes out of the elevator with the diapers in her arms. She walks into the kitchen area, where Barbara is trying to diaper Guy with a roll of paper towels. Glasses, napkins, silverware and other odd assorted items clutter the table. Dinah is at the stove with a pot. DINAH. Oh, it's boiling over! HELENA. What? What is the emergency? BARBARA. (Indicates towels ) These are not ultra-absorbent. I really needed thsoe diapers. DINAH. Where have you been? She turns to Helena with the pan, handing it to her. It sloshes over onto the table and onto Helena's jacket. HELENA. I ran into Reese, we were talking. Dinah takes a napkin and wipes off Helena's jacket. Barbara takes the diaper package and takes on out to change Guy. DINAH. Well, as much as I'd love to stay here and hear the latest chapter of how you two look longingly into each other's eyes but actually didn't get anywhere, I have to get changed. I was bouncing him to quiet him down, and he barfed on me. She indicates her shirt, which is indeed stained. Helena looks disgusted as Dinah heads by her and past Alfred, who has come over to them with a cup of tea in his hand. ALFRED. I believe the correct term is 'spit up'. HELENA. What are you, off duty? ALFRED. Might I remind you, Miss Helena, I'm a butler, not a nanny. BARBARA. I thought you raised Bruce Wayne from the time he was little. ALFRED. Oh yes indeed. It does seem I have been taking care of children - and everyone else - for more years than I can count. Still. It's nice that you're developing an appreciation of my work. He turns and starts to walk away. HELENA. Where are you going? ALFRED. To get a biscuit. Barbara wheels around the table, finished diapering, with a towel over her shoulder and the baby in her arms. BARBARA. Take him. She hands him to Helena. BARBARA. Just for a second. Just gotta burp him. And once he's in Helena's arms, he stops crying. HELENA. Huh. Yeah. See, you were doing it all wrong. What? It's obvious. Here's the biochip. She pulls it out of her pocket and deposits it in Barbara's hand. Barbara gives her the spit towel. HELENA. Guy looks tired, shold I take him to the penthouse to sleep? BARBARA. Uh, no, Alfred brought over a bassinet from the Manor, it's just over there. Helena turns and follows her gaze, sees it. Barbara wheels herself over to the elevator and Helena goes over to the bassinet and lays Guy down. HELENA. Come on, you gotta sleep. He starts crying, and she looks around to make sure no one is watching, then sings softly to him : HELENA. Rock-a-bye baby, in the tree top... when the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall - and down will come baby, cradle and all. He giggle and smiles sweetly. HELENA. You know this doesn't meant that I like you. She grins and laughs at him. Downstairs, in the computer ring, Helena joins Barbara. HELENA. He's asleep. BARBARA. I always thought I would be the maternal one. It's nice to see how you're... well, you know. Taking to a baby. HELENA. I'm not taking to anything. The sooner he gets back with his family the better as far as I'm concerned. BARBARA. Yes! HELENA. What d'ya got? She comes around to stand next to Barbara. BARBARA. The biochip you retrieved? Was some kind of heavily-encrypted high-tech electronic passkey. I just broke the code. HELENA. And? BARBARA. And it's from a biotechnology laboratory... Simcron Labs. Guy's mother must've worked there. HELENA. Huh. So we should probably pay 'em a visit. BARBARA. I wonder what was so special about her that those thugs wanted her dead. From upstairs, Guy starts to cry. Helena moves swiftly across the room and up the circular iron staircase. She comes over towards the bassinet. HELENA. Shhh. Shh. Don't cry, Guy. What in the world is... She stops when she sees that Guy is no longer a baby, but rather a toddler, four or five years old. HELENA. ...wrong? GUY. I had a bad dream. Helena looks at him, confused and unsure of what to do. HELENA. ... Okay. Commercial. EXT. NEW GOTHAM - DAY We swoop through the city, towards the Clocktower. INT. THE LAIR - CONTINUING Upstairs, Guy sits at the table, eating macaroni and cheese from a bowl. GUY. Macaroni is good. HELENA. He sure knows how to eat. DINAH. The thing that's freaking me out is how did he learn to talk? GUY. Why do we live inside a big clock? DINAH. He has a point. HELENA. Hey, don't look at me, I didn't pick it. Senior superhero chooses the lair. DINAH. You know, maybe he's an alien. Or an android. Or maybe he's an alien-android cross. HELENA. He's not an alien. (Shouts) Is he? She comes down the stairs again and into the computer ring. BARBARA. According to these readings, he's human. Metahuman to be more precise, and with a tremendously fast growth rate. HELENA. How fast? BARBARA. Well based on height, weight, bone density -- A chunk of macaroni hits the back of the monitor, and Helena and Barbara peer at it, disgusted. BARBARA. -- and behavior... Helena pulls the noodle cluster off with her hand. BARBARA. He's about four. If he keep saging at this rate, he'll... D-I-E of old age in a few days. HELENA. We can't let that happen. BARBARA. I thought you didn't like him? HELENA. I don't. BARBARA. Hmmph. In the upper level, Dinah comes over to Guy and kneels down, picking him up. DINAH. Hey. Let's go get some more macaroni. Back in the computer ring, Helena crosses behind Barbara. HELENA. I just wanna help him. She scrapes the macaroni off her hand, onto a compact disc. BARBARA. Hey! She takes the disc from Helena and sets it down. BARBARA. I'm not sure we can. Take a look at this. She indicates the monitor, where a picture of a brain with tons of lines running over it is displayed. BARBARA. These lines are some kind of neuromesh that have been surgically grafted onto his brain and major nerves. HELENA. Neuromesh - can you take that out? BARBARA. It would kill him. And even if we could remove it... I'm not sure we should. Think of him as a computer. The mesh is software. HELENA. It tells him what to do. BARBARA. From my analysis it's more like it tells him how to do things - how to walk, talk, eat. HELENA. So he's like a robot? BARBARA. No, not at all. He gets the skills from the mesh but what he does with them seems to be entirely up to him. He's, uh... got his own personality. She looks up towards the upper level, smiling. HELENA. Yeah, I noticed. She too looks up and smiles. BARBARA. Oh, I also found a passkey biochip embedded in the mesh. Just like the one found in the dead woman. HELENA. Meaning they've both been to Simcron. Well, we can make a pretty good guess of who put the mesh in. But why go through the trouble if he's just gonna die in a few days anyway? He's just a kid. A kid who doesn't know what's happening to him, or why. He doesn't understand that he's different, he's a metahuman. BARBARA. All three of us know what it's like to discover you're different. HELENA. And I know what it's like to be a kid and lose your mother. This whole thing's gonna send me straight to my shrink. They smile at each other. INT. OFFICE HALLWAY - CONTINUING We rest on Dr. Quinzel's door. INT. DR. QUINZEL'S OFFICE - CONTINUING Where she is sitting across the desk from a handsome man dressed all in black. Three men in black stand at the back of the office behind him. HARLEY. I'm so glad you could come in. Why don't you tell me a little about yourelf - and your 'friends'. MERCENARY. I'm a little confused. You're a psychiatrist? HARLEY. Well, that's part of who I am. I don't suppose you tell people at cocktail parites that you're a mercenary for hire? Willing to kill as brutally as necessary if the price is right? MERCENARY. I usually leave out the killing part. HARLEY. Precisely. Just as I usually leave out my plan to take over all of New Gotham and bring the city to its knees. But that's why you're here. Due to a regrettable level of incompetence among the scientific profession I seem to have lost an integral part of my plan. I need you to bring him back. MERCENARY. Him? HARLEY. My baby boy. So, convince me - why are you and your men right for the job? He picks up a letter opener from the desk and throws it over his shoulder at his men with deadly accuracy. Before it can hit the third man in the face, he reaches up and catches it. HARLEY. Consider yourself hired. INT. THE LAIR - DAY The upper level. Dinah sits in a rocking chair with Guy on her lap, reading to him from a book. DINAH. 'It's your birthday,' said the Big Hippo. 'My birthday?' asked the Giraffe. 'How do you know?' The Hippo replied, 'I know because of all these presents I bought for you.' GUY. I never had a birthday. DINAH. Guy... GUY. Am I different than other kids? DINAH. Yes. You're different. And so are we. GUY. Okay. INT. SIMCRON LABS - CONTINUING Melfin is staring at a large screen while talking on the phone. MELFIN. We've been frantically searching for 'Guy' as you call him since he was abducted from our lab. He has a rare aging disease, he's a very special child. INT. THE LAIR - CONTINUING Barbara and Helena are perched next to each other, listening to a speakerphone. BARBARA. So we've seen. MELFIN. He was scheduled to undergo an experiment treatment to slow the aging process when our lab was broken into. Industrial espionage. BARBARA. People are trying to steal him? MELFIN. Well, the boy is an orphan and his unique condition makes him very interesting to less principled scientists. My assistant attempted to save the child... I'm very sorry to hear what happened. BARBARA. So there's a chance you could cure him? MELFIN. Well, like I said, the treatment is experimental, but without it he'll die. Now I need you to get him to me right away. Time is of the essence. HELENA. We'll be right there. Barbara clicks the speakerphone off. HELENA. I'll get guy. BARBARA. Wait. We don't know enough to bring him right to them. HELENA. Barbara, he's dying. We don't have a choice. There's no time to argue strategy here. We can't afford to lose him an hour. We have to take a chance. BARBARA. It's too dangerous to go in there blind. HELENA. Then we won't. She looks over at Dinah, who is holding Guy and smiling. EXT. STREET - DAY The girls' Jeep comes to a screeching halt near the Simcron building. HELENA. Slow down, you're driving like a maniac. BARBARA. Since when did you become the backseat driver from hell? HELENA. You really should check all three mirrors when you're changing lanes. BARBARA. Look, I got us here, didn't I? HELENA. Who wears these straps so tight? Dinah looks over and notices something odd : DINAH. Uh, guys? HELENA. Yeah? They turn around to see Guy is now five or six years older than previously, and his clothes are ripped and do not fit. He's looking around in wonder. Barbara and Helena are shocked. GUY. Where are we? BARBARA. When did this happen? DINAH. I don't know! One second I'm looking out the window and the next thing I know he's like the growth spurt from hell! HELENA. Hey, don't swear. DINAH. Oh, sorry. HELENA. How old do you think he is? BARBARA. Ten, eleven, maybe? HELENA. Which means he's aged six or seven years. DINAH. Yeah, and slept through the entire thing. BARBARA. Sleep. Both times he's taken naps he's gotten older. That must be why he ages. HELENA. Hopefully Dr. Melfin will help stop that. BARBARA. You stay here with Guy, I'm gonna take Dinah in and suss things out. If there's a problem, we'll signal. INT. SIMCRON LABS - DAY A frosted glass door slides open and Barbara wheels herself through it, followed by Dinah. Melfin comes to greet them, extending a hand. MELFIN. I was so relieved when you called, Dr. Lewis Melfin. BARBARA. Barbara Gordon. They shake hands. MELFIN. It's a pleasure to meet you. DINAH. (Extending hand) It's - She grabs his hand, and gets a flash - in inverted contrast, she sees him loading a gun. She pulls back and turns to Barbara. DINAH. - a trap! All of the men around them, including Melfin, pull out guns. Melfin's has a laster target. MELFIN. Not at all wrong. Now, where's the boy? It feels like years since I've seen him. He points his gun at Barbara's chest, the laser pointer over her heart. She presses a button on her chair. INT. THE CAR - CONTINUING Helena stares at her beeping pager. HELENA. Wait in the car. Don't move. And please, stay awake! She tosses a jacket at Guy and heads off. GUY. Okay. INT. SIMCRON LABS - CONTINUING Barbara and Dinah stare nervously at each other. MELFIN. Oh, come now, don't make me do something unpleasant. Where's the child? BARBARA. How about this? You tell us what you created him for, and we'll tell you where he is. Deal? MELFIN. Uh... no. See I have a reputation to rehabilitate. How about this? He aims his gun at Dinah's forehead, the laser resting above her eyes. She looks up at it. MELFIN. I shoot her in the head, and you tell me anway. HELENA. How about not. Helena leaps down from the upper railing. She knocks one guy out. Barbara pulls out an extending baton from her chair and knocks a guy in the head, then in the knees, and then in the head again. He goes down. Helena kicks a guy, then tosses another on a table. She turns to Melfin. HELENA. Hope I'm not interrupting. He draws his gun on her. MELFIN. Very impressive - but are you faster than a speeding bullet? Let's see. Suddenly, Guy crashes through the glass door. He kicks the gun out of Melfin's hand. Helena, Barbara and Dinah are astonished. HELENA. That's my boy! Guy kicks Melfin, then turns him around and kicks him in the stomach, sending him careening into a large rectangular glass sheet with the Simcron logo on it, backlit by fluorescent light. Melfin hits it and crashes through, electrocuted. He falls to the ground. BARBARA. Well, uh, you said he was your boy. They look at each other, stunned at his kill. Commercial. INT. SIMCRON LAB - NIGHT Harley walks into the room, followed by her hired mercenary. She stares around at the darkened room, the electric Simcron light buzzing, and Melfin's body laying on the ground. HARLEY. Isn't this delicious. He came home to his daddy. Now this, I find nice work. She kneels down next to the body, and feels for a pulse. HARLEY. Quick, precise... perfect. You can see why I'm so anxious to find him. MERCENARY. A baby did this. HARLEY. My boy's growing up. Where has the time gone? He was designed to go through the entire human life cycle in three days. I mean really, he is the perfect child for the busy career woman. Low maintenance, no sleep deprivation. They won't even live long enough to borrow the car. MERCENARY. Well if he grows so fast, why not just get another one? HARLEY. He is a prototype. A blueprint for my family of baby assassins. Completely loyal and ready to do Mommy's bidding. MERCENARY. Loyal. You mean you programmed him to do this? HARLEY. No. This he did on his own. Free will. Pesky... told Melfin to bioengineer it out of the boy. Obviously one more thing he didn't manage on the to-do list. But... the child is still controlled. That's why we're here. She turns his body over, then pulls out a black box from his jacket pocket. HALREY. Mine... this. The trigger. It's like a remote control. It turns on his programming to destroy. Now all we have to do is track down my baby. EXT. NEW GOTHAM - NIGHT We fly through the city's dark streets and narrow corridors. We stop at a park, where Helena is pushing Guy on a swing. HELENA. Guy, we need to talk about what happened at the lab. GUY. I saved you. HELENA. Yes, you did. How did you know how to do all of... the fighting? GUY. I just knew. Why am I like I am? She stops pushing and kneels next to him. HELENA. Look up there. She points to a brightly shining constellation in the sky. HELENA. That's Orion, the Hunter. Guy. You're a hunter, just like me. You killed a man. Even though it was an accident, you can not do that. GUY. Why not? He was bad. HELENA. Good point. I ask myself that same question all the time. We have to try not to hurt people. GUY. Even bad people? HELENA. I know it's hard. Sometimes I wanna hurt people too. A lot of the time, actually. But we can't. Because we're strong. We have to be responsible with our power. Because that's what being strong is all about. GUY. Are you sure? HELENA. I'm faced with that choice every day, but you can't give into it, no matter how much you want to. Otherwise... we'd be just like the bad guys. GUY. Okay. Hey. Am I ever gonna have a birthday? HELENA. Of course you are. (Grins) With cake and candles and everything. GUY. Cool. HELENA. What d'you say, we go home? GUY. Okay. HELENA. Okay. EXT. THE CLOCKTOWER - NIGHT We zoom in on the tower's clock face. INT. THE LAIR - CONTINUING On the upper level, Guy is asleep on a couch, a blanket pulled up over him. Helena kisses his forehead, eases his hair back. She stnads up and moves to Alfred, who stands with a pile of clothes in his arms. ALFRED. For Master Guy when he wakes. Children grow up so fast. Even at a normal pace it's never long enough. HELENA. I don't know what to do, Alfred. ALFRED. Welcome to parenthood. HELENA. I understand exactly what he feels. Not knowing who you are... being pulled two ways so hard you feel like you're gonna split in half. ALFRED. Indeed. When I look at Master Guy, there's much that reminds me of you. When we look at our children, the hardest thing is to see ourselves. All the struggles and wrong choices. All the mistakes we want to help them avoid. But we can't. He has to find his own way, just as you did. And you turned out rather well, I think. HELENA. I had time to make mistakes. When I was a kid, Barbara never gave up on me. I won't give up on him. EXT. THE CLOCKTOWER - NIGHT On the baloncy, where Barbara wheels herself out to find Helena, sitting on the ledge. HELENA. You haven't found any answers, have you? BARBARA. Well actually i've been analyzing the neuromesh. Looks like it has two modes. The passive mode has been giving him skills as he grows, things like combat expertise. The active mode on the other hand... HELENA. That's the one that stops aging? BARBARA. I don't think so. It's programmed to tap directly into the part of the brain that regulates violent behavior. It's obvious that he's been designed as some kind of assassin or warrior. HELENA. Warrior, yes. Assassin? Still haven't proven that. BARBARA. You see what he can do. Now the only question is -- GUY. (O.S.) Who I'm meant to kill. HELENA. Guy! She and Barbara look and see that Guy has aged another four or five years. Helena stands and crosses to him. GUY. What am I, huh? What the hell's wrong with me? HELENA. We're gonna find out, Guy, everything's gonna be fine. GUY. You don't know that. You don't have a clue. I'm just a freak. HELENA. No you're not. GUY. Yes, I am! HELENA. Calm down. GUY. You friggin' calm down, all right? You're not the one this is happening to. Why did you save me if you can't do anything to help me? I hate you. He storms off. Helena turns back to Barbara, shocked. BARBARA. He didn't mean that. He just needs a little time. HELENA. He doesn't have any time. Neither of us do. I'm going to find him. INT. THE LAIR - CONTINUING Helena rushes up the metal staircase, but sees nothing. She turns and sees Dinah doing homework at the table.s HELENA. Have you seen guy? DINAH. No. HELENA. He's gone. Tell barbara I'm gonna go find him. DINAH. Can I help? HELENA. Do whatever you can. INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT The music plays loudly and teenagers roam all over, dancing, hanging out. We find Guy standing amidst the crowd. DINAH. (O.S.) I've been looking all over for you. Dinah touches Guy's shoulder and he turns and chokes her. DINAH. Killer, it's just me. He lets her go and walks awy. GUY. I'm not going back. DINAH. Did I say anything? GUY. No, you just feel sorry for me because I'm a freak. DINAH. Oh please, like the three of us are so agressively normal. You know the only one feeling sorry for you is you. Look. I know you may not believe me but I know how you fel. A buff guy comes up behind Dinah, grabs her attention. BULLY. Hey. Why don't you dump the punk, dance with some real men. DINAH. Well if you see any you'll let me know, right? He grabs her shoulder and she gets a flash of his mind. She pulls away. DINAH. You should wash your brain out with soap. A few other guys come up to the bully and Dinah. FRIEND. What's up with Blondie? He tries to grab her. DINAH. Get off! GUY. Hey. Get away from her. BULLY. Yeah? Make us. Guy fixes him with a deadly stare. EXT. NEW GOTHAM - NIGHT We glide through the city and fade to a street. Reese heads to his car and goes to open the door - and suddenly Helena is there. REESE. You know, I do have a cellphone. HELENA. I need your help. My... my nephew is missing. And I've gotta find him. REESE. Your nephew. Oh, right right, right, the diapers. HELENA. Can you help me or not? REESE. Sure. Of course i can help you. Any distinguishing marks? HELENA. Only that he's.. about fourteen. REESE. Fourteen? In diapers. HELENA. It's a long story, and I don't have time to explain it now, okay? You just have to find him. REESE. Okay, okay, easy, easy. You have any idea where we should start looking? HELENA. No. Suddenly, a dispatch comes through on Reese's radio. DISPATCHER. (V.O.) All units in the vicinity. Possible robbery at Club Slippery. Looking for a male caucasian, fifteen, violent and dangerous. All available units respond. Helena and Reese stare at each other and the radio. Helena nods. INT. DR. QUINZEL'S OFFICE - NIGHT The mercenary comes in and looks to Harley. MERECENARY. We just got a police scanner intercept. Sounds like some kid just tore up a teen dance club. Police are classifying him as extremely dangerous. HARLEY. That's my boy. EXT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT Firemen and police are running around outside the building as teens scatter. The side of the building is nearly ripped open as fire spread inside. Helena and Reese arrive and Helena looks all over. Dinah walks up to the scene, also searching, and locates Helena. DINAH. Helena! I tried to stop him but he wouldn't stay. HELENA. Do you know where he wents? DINAH. No, I don't know, he ran off towards Baker Street. HELENA. Okay, go home. Dinah gives her an uncertain look. HELENA. It's okay, I know where it is. And with that, both girls are gone, disappearing into the night. Harley comes around the side of the building with her mercenaries, and sees the crowd. HARLEY. Such a flair for destruction... we positively must find him! She stares into the fire, mesmerized. HARLEY. He was here... EXT. NEW GOTHAM - NIGHT We fly through the city and towards the park, where Guys lays on the ground. Helena kneels down next to him and lays a hand on his arm as he morphs into an older version of himself in his late teens to early twenties. HELENA. Slow down, Guy. I can't keep up. EXT. NIGHTCLUB - CONTINUING Helena presses a button on the remote control, activating Guy's mesh. HARLEY. Now. Take your men and go find my baby. MERCENARY. Move out. His men scatter in all different directions. Harley presses another button; the control's screen reads, 'Test Subject armed'. EXT. PARK - CONTINUING Guy wakes up, next to Helena. HELENA. It's okay. Everything's gonna be - Suddenly, she senses something. Her pupils change into their cat's form and she stands up. HELENA. Do you feel it? Something... something dangerous. Guy stands up and lays a hand on her shoulder. She turns. GUY. Yeah. Me. He punches her in the face and she goes down - then turns to look at him, shocked. Commercial EXT. PARK - NIGHT Helena looks up at Guy, then stands up. HELENA. Guy, what's happened to you? Why are you doing this? GUY. It all fell into place. I know why I was born. He swings, but she ducks. HELENA. Why? GUY. Kill! He punches and kicks her. GUY. And it feels good! Again, he punches her, and she punches him back. HELENA. Don't do this, this isn't you! GUY. Yes it is. He punches her in the throat and she reaches up to grab her neck. HELENA. No, it doesn't have to be. He slams his fists into her face twice, and knocks her in the stomach. Helena takes his abuse but doesn't hit him back. GUY. What are you doing, huh? Why don't you fight back? HELENA. Because the battle you should be fighting isn't between us. It's inside you. He punches and kicks her again, and she goes down to the ground. HELENA. You can fight what's in your nature, Guy, I know it. You don't have to be what people expect. I know how hard it is to choose not to hurt, but to love instead. He gets ready to whale on her, fist raised. GUY. Why should I listen to you? HELENA. You shouldn't. The only person you should listen to is yourself. It's not genetics or programming that defines who you are, Guy. It's you. I face my demons every day and there's only one thing I know to be true - you can be anything you wanna be. Anything. She puts her hand over his fist and they hug. HELENA. It's okay. It's okay. She looks over his shoulder. HELENA. And might've been a tad premature. Mercenaries run up towards them, through the night. MERCENARY. Kill the woman, we'll take the kid alive. HELENA. Run, I'll take care of this. GUY. No, I'm not gonna leave you. The mercenaries run up and start fighting. Helena trades blows with two men, punching them back and forth and ducking under their blows. She grabs one's fist and kicks the other. Behind her, Guy punches a guy, then tosses him over his shoulder onto the ground. He kicks and then punches the guy Helena kicked. Guy turns and pushes Helena out of the way, punches a guy; she spins around him and pushes him and leaps, kicking two men in the head. They fall and she falls to the ground on her back, then leaps to her feet. She does a sweep kick and knocks them down while Guy kicks a mercenary in the face. He and Helena run and jump on the ends of two side-by-side seesaws, knocking two guys in the faces. A third comes between the playground equipment and Helena kicks him; Guy flips him. Another guy grabs Guy and Helena leaps off the monkey bars, kicking him. Guy and helena punch and kick him, and he goes down. He gets up and comes back towards them. Helena leaps, wraps her legs around his head, and twists him around. He gets dizzy and goes flying under her and she lands. INT. THE LAIR - NIGHT On the couch, Guy is asleep. He ages rapidly to his mid-forties. Helena kneels by his side while Barbara and Dinah stand behind her. BARBARA. Once the attack mode was triggered the aging process sped up. I'm sorry, helena, there's nothing more we can do. HELENA. There has to be. He didn't complete his mission. He stopped. He changed. Guy opens his eyes and looks at her. GUY. It's okay. Just let me sleep. HELENA. No, you can't. You have to stay awake. I have something. Barbara nods to Dinah, who goes to the kitchen. Guy smiles and closes his eyes, aging again, to seventy. HELENA. Guy! Guy! Come on, wake up! Guy! GUY. I'm ready to go now. Helena is teary, and Guy is speaking in a near-whisper. Dinah comes back with a cupcake on a plate, a candle stuck in it. She hands it to Helena, who rests it on Guy's chest. HELENA. Look, look. Today can be your birthday. Make a wish. GUY. I wish for you to be happy... because that's what you gave me. Helena loses her smile, and almost breaks down... then forces another smile. Guy smiles back. Barbara and Dinah are teary. Guy closes his eyes as the candle flickers, and is gone. Helena is silent, rubs her eyes. INT. DR. QUINZEL'S OFFICE - NIGHT HARLEY. Just so I understand - the woman who is continually thwarting my plans is alive, and unidentified. The prototype has been completely lost. How is this possible? MERCENARY. They were fighting a coordinated attack. Like a team. HARLEY. He was programmed to kill her. He was programmed to kill anything in his path! She paces back and forth. HARLEY. How did she get in? Drugs? Some kind of counter-implant? What could she possibly use that was more powerful than a neuromesh. MERCENARY. It looked to me like they were friends. HARLEY. Oh, that's it. She overroode millions of dollars in bioengineering research and medical procedures by being his friend! She rests her hands on his shoulders and lowers her voice. HARLEY. Don't be insane. Well, I suppose there is an upside. She twists his neck, killing him. HARLEY. It left you for me to kill. She lowers him to the desk, then walks to window and looks out at the city. HARLEY. Whoever you are... I know you're out there somewhere.... and I will find you. EXT. PARK - NIGHT The swingset. Helena walks over and sits down, reminiscing. Over to one side, Reese walks up. REESE. Knock knock. Hey. Thought I'd track you down for a change. I didn't startle you, did I? HELENA. Not a chance. REESE. Well listen, there were no injuries at the club. Just a whole lot of smoke damage. You find your nephew? HELENA. He's gone. REESE. Gone, gone where? HELENA. Just... gone. He puts his hand on her shoulder. She leaves it, letting him touch her. After a beat, Reese walks away, turns back. REESE. Huntress. I'm sorry... about everything. He walks away. Helena looks up. EXT. THE CLOCKTOWER - NIGHT Barbara and Dinah stand next to each other, looking outwards. DINAH. What kind of a person would make a baby that's programmed to kill and die? BARBARA. Helena said she saw someone at the club, a woman. She didn't see her face though. DINAH. D'you think... BARBARA. I'm starting to get a really bad feeling about this. Like someone's trying to put the organized back into New Gotham crime. what do we do? BARBARA. What we always do. We find her, and we stop her. Helena walks up with cupcake, candle still lit, protecting it from wind. Barbara put an arm around her. Together, all three girls look up at Orion, high in the night sky. Dinah looks down at the candle, and then Helena and Barbara do. Helena blows it out, plunging us into darkness.