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I'd led the GL Kyle a merry chase, with lots of laughing — on my part — and swearing on his. But I finally stopped playing and led him to where I wanted him to be.

I was hovering over the building that housed the company known as Logistic Solutions and just stared at it as he swooped in with a crow of victory. “Got you now!”

Whatever he threw at me, I just batted aside. I don't know how I did it, I just did. Can any of you really explain how your nervous system works? Or how You breathe? I just did it, and looked at him.

“Fun and games are over for now, Kyle.” I waved to the building below us. All that was to get you here.”

He was still shocked that I just casually shrugged off what he thought was one of his best tricks, and shook his head. “Why?'

“Look.” I invited while waving a hand at the building.

“It's a fairly modern building, probably does something with tech given where it is, but so what? Why would I be interested in that?”

“Look inside.” I answered and pointed to a specific part of the structure. “In that part, and underground, there are at least three levels below ground.”

He did. I watched his expressions go from annoyed to surprised, to shocked, to rage.

“No Kyle.” I put a hand on his arm to keep him from charging inside and wrecking things. “That won't be enough.”

“But, that's — that's...”

“I know.” I told him softly. “I feel the same way.”

“That needs to be stopped!” He almost shouted and it took all I could do to keep us invisible for a moment, to contain his outrage, and rage. “That is...”

“Unspeakable, I know.” I kept my hand on his arm and gave it a little squeeze. “Given my nature I want to go in there and just kill every one of the ones involved with that human trafficking.

“But I can't.” I went on. “This is just one place, Kyle. They have more, doing things like this and worse. If you or I went in there and tore things up, arrested or killed people, the organization behind them would just set up somewhere else. Somewhere we don't know about.

“I need to find them all, Kyle. The money people, the brains behind this monstrous thing, the force that drives it. This is my only link to that and much as I want, NEED to go in and kill someone for what they're doing, as much as I need to release the poor souls they've ravaged, if I don't find the source none of that will do any good. They'll just start up again somewhere else.”

He reached out a finger and touched my cheek, pulling it back with a glistening gem of moisture in it. He looked at that, then at me and shook his head. “You're crying.”

“Surprised?” I asked bitterly. “Part of me is still human, you know.”

“Yes, I am.” He answered but didn't seem to be mocking me. “You have a reputation that would make people think you don't feel anything.”

“Oh, I feel.” I shot back. “That's part of my own particular Hell. I found one of their 'products'. Almost by accident a while back. The only thing I could do for the poor woman was give her enough will to overcome her programming and that damned chip so she could blow her head off. When that was over I screamed at God, the gods, heaven, whatever I could think of to rant at.

“Kyle, I have to find the source of this, and stamp it out.” I told him while staring into his eyes. “I have to.”

“Yeah, I see that.” He nodded with a sigh. “You're one contradiction after another, you know that? One time you're this merciless killing machine, another you're a giggling, maddening tease, not to mention having power that is enough to scare me when I think about it, and now I find that you actually can care about people.”

“Welcome to the real world, Kyle.” I sighed. “Everyone is full of contradictions.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right on that one.” He shrugged then looked back down at the building we were watching. “I have resources you don't. I'll do some digging and let you know what I find. But I want to be in on the end of it.”

“You will be.” I moved in to give him a hug, just a hug, nothing else. “Thank you.”

“But all I can do is arrest them if I'm involved.” He warned. “The Law won't allow me to kill anyone.”

“That's fine.” I smiled at him. “You do the Law stuff and leave the nasty things to me.”

“I can't just stand by and let you kill people, you know.”

“Who said I was going to kill them?” I said with a bleak expression on my face.

Taking another look at what was being done to innocents in parts of that place, he shuddered. “Maybe killing them would be a mercy, at that.”

“I can do Mercy.” I shrugged, then shook my head. “But not for these people. They need to suffer what they've inflicted on others.”

“Yeah.” Kyle let out a breath. “I guess if you aren't killing them, I could — sort of — look away.”

“Oh, don't worry.” I grimly told him. “These people are going to live for a long time.”

He shuddered at that thought. “No one deserves that.”

“Payment in kind.” I shrugged. “Part of me doesn't like that much at all. But that is what I do, after all.”

“What are you, Spectre?”

“My name is Diana.” I answered and managed to give him a smile even if it was a bit weak. “What I am? Well, I'm a Fury reborn. One of the mythological ones. Or at least her avatar on Earth.”

“I guess that explains some things.” He admitted.

“If you figure it out, let me know.” I had to chuckle.

“I've been trying to corral a force of nature here.” He grumbled.

Oh, don't let that stop you.” I managed to grin. “You chasing me has been the most fun I've had in a long time.”

“Oh yeah.” He actually laughed a little there. “In spite of the cussing, and everything else, chasing you has been fun. You stretch me, make me really work. But to be honest, the kisses and other things are a pretty good incentive to keep at it, too.”

“I thought you were holding back when I did that kind of thing.” I patted his cheek then let my hand rest on it for a moment. “You're a good man, Kyle Raynor. Just a bit crude at times.”

“I'm a guy.” He shrugged. “We fart in bed, belch, sit in front of the television watching other guys beat each other to a pulp in what people call games, and tend to be insensitive. You have your things that people have problems dealing with, I have mine.”

“Good point.” I admitted, since I knew what he was talking about first hand but wasn't about to tell him I'd been a guy not so long ago, too. “So now what do we do?”

“I'll use my resources to help you on this one, I'll be in touch when I find something.”

“Just don't charge into my bedroom or anything.” I winked. “We'd never get anything done if you did that.

“Seriously, I'll give you an email address where you can reach me and trust me it isn't hackable unless you have supernatural powers.”

'Spectre.com? He shook his head once he read the email I'd written out and handed to him.

“A friend's idea, actually.” I shrugged. “But that goes somewhere that isn't physical. I don't think you'd like what you found there if you traced it, by the way. It isn't a nice place.”

“Whatever.” He shook his head then gave me a grin. “Are you still going to tease me into chasing you?”

“Oh, yeah.” I nodded. “Everyone needs to have some fun, after all.”

“What happens if, when, I catch you?”

“Use your imagination, big boy.” I grinned.

“Okay, done deal.” He nodded. “You want chased, I'll chase you.”

“You're not a jerk at all, are you?” I patted his cheek then kissed it. “It's all an act.”

“Got an image, just like you do.” He grumbled.

“Ohh, I can see more to this thing between us than I first thought there'd be here.” I laughed.

“Probably.” He shrugged. “But only if you let me catch you once in awhile, you know.”

“Smart man.” I kissed his cheek again.

Wow, I'd just taken a potential enemy and turned him into a friend, mostly. The with benefits thing? Later.

More importantly, I had another powerful ally.

Yeah, I know I teased him, belittled him, made promises I might or might not keep in the interpersonal aspect of things, but face facts here. Having a real live Green Lantern on your side and working on something you want to happen is no small thing.

The people doing these chips were going to go down. Hard.

And I fully intended to stamp out the tech that made the damned things possible in spite of the good the things could potentially do. Sometimes, humanity just isn't ready for something. Much as I hated the idea, I thought this was one of those times.

“Hey, Lena.” I said as I materialized in her sanctum then noticed the other person there She had been kind of hiding in the shadows, like that would have kept me from seeing her . “Hi Doris.”

Giganta walked out of the shadows, grew to about twelve feet high ( that was all the room would allow without her breaking the roof and bluntly questioned. “Why should we trust anything you do, Spectre?”

“My name is Diana.” I answered and shrugged. “If you've been following what I do, you know I don't lie to people. Why would I start with you?”

“I've looked at the files Lena has hacked from that place you sent her.” Doris answered without answering. “What the Hell have you got my girlfriend into here?”

“Delores times ten.” I shot back. “What? You think I'm going to expose anyone to that kind of thing without needing to do it?

“I really had to have those systems hacked.” I whispered. “People who don't deserve it are suffering and people who should suffer are getting away with it. I need to know all I can about that so I can stop it.”

“You, alone?” Doris questioned, then amended that. “Oh, I know you're some fearsome retribution from Hell or something, but even some supernatural entity couldn't stop that kind of thing alone. As I said, I've read those files.”

“I know.” I nodded and sat down, then changed into my Deena form. That took Doris by surprise and I just grinned at her. “I'm human, too, at times. And yes, I know I won't be able to do this alone, so I'm finding people who can see past the vigilante aspect of my other self and will help me do this. Trust me, I've seen the results of what these people can do, in the poor victim's minds. So what are you going to do with knowing what you've seen on those files, Doris?

“Try and arrest me?” I asked tiredly. “Or help me stamp this abomination out?”

“If you had to ask that,” she shook her head, “You haven't been watching me that closely.”

“Yes I have.” I grinned and shrugged. “But I had to have you tell me. Even if it was in that roundabout way. We have other allies now, too, for this, by the way.”

“We need to get rid of these chips, and the person or people who are making them.” Doris looked at me and added. “By they way, you're human form is really cute.”

“I know, I know.” I waved that off. “I won't tell you what I do for a living in this form, but trust me, I know. Now, as for allies on this...

“Phoenix?” Doris gave me a look that was telling me she was having trouble believing that, then added, “And a Green Lantern?”

“Phoenix came to me.” I answered. “And offered her help. I had to kind of tease the Green Lantern into following me so I could show him.”

Both Doris and Lena looked at me, then considered how I looked in my specter form and both of them chuckled.

“Bet that was fun.” Doris grinned.

“Oh yeah.” I grinned back.

“And?” Lena questioned.

“Now I have him looking into things, too.” I shrugged. “So between you and him, we should have a pretty complete picture of what we're after pretty soon.”

“Oh, I know that.” Lena gave me a look usually reserved for total idiots. “But are you going to let the poor guy catch you?”

“Oh.” I gave her a weak grin and a sort of shrug. “In time. He is really hot. But that isn't the subject here, my personal life isn't important given what we're looking at, you know.”

“Good point.” Lena nodded. “So now what?”

“I have a link with another one they've changed.” I sighed. “As much as I would like to release that poor soul, I need 'her' to link to other things that are important.”

I'd gone back to my Spectre form when I said that, and Lena still moved up and hugged me. “None of this is going to be easy, Diana. You can send her soul somewhere it can heal later, can't you?”

“Yes.” I shuddered and just let her hug me. “But the longer she is the way she is, the harder it will be to fix that, even once she's dead and her — his soul is free.”

“Much as I hate saying this.” Doris put in and moved in to join the hug. “I think she, he, wouldn't mind if the people who did that to him were punished, and the ability to do that again was wiped out so it wouldn't show up again until the race is ready to use it for people's good all the time.”

“But he'll be going through a Hell that you can't imagine in the meantime.” I whispered, then shuddered again. “And I could release him/her from that now. I was in the mind of another one like her, and hers. I just want to go in and kill people for that.

“But I can't.” I looked at both of them without flinching. “I have to learn all I can about this, and find where they get the bio-metal, and who is financing all of it. If I don't do that, this will will just resurface somewhere else when their present operation is taken down. And I hate myself for that.

“But if if do what I feel I should, they'll just start again somewhere else if I take out the facilities I've already seen.”

“Don't ever think you're not human.” Doris moved back and looked at me without even a little fear. “No matter what you are now — Diana, Deena, whoever you are — you haven't lost your humanity, I can see that now. When the time comes, you'll have my help, for what that's worth.”

“Thanks.” I let out a sigh and had to marvel that my Spectre form could even do that. “I — we — are going to take this bunch down, and eradicate their source for that damned bio-metal if I have to find some way to obliterate it to the point where normal humans won't be able to reach it for generations.”

“Yeah.” Doris nodded.

“A nuke would work for that.” Lena put in helpfully.

“Mitsuko.” I appeared to the poor soul in my scary form.

“What?” She pulled back, as expected and there was real fear in her eyes. “You that vigilante police look for!”

“Yes, I am.” I answered and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, she had been doing dishes when I appeared, and shook my head. “You have nothing to fear from me.”

“You bad thing!” She countered. “You kill people!”

“Yes I do.” I told her then shook my head. “But only really bad ones. You have nothing to fear from me. I don't harm innocents, and your are one of those. I'm here to help, but I need your help to do that.”

You no help!” She shot back and looked so lost when she said that. “No one able to help.”

“I can if you'll let me.” I said, and just sat there, letting her get used to the fact that an almost ghost with red eyes was sitting in her kitchen. “I want to, and I can help you.”

“No!” She shot back. “No one help, no one know. I Mitsuko, now and forever!”

“I know.” I countered. “I know what was done to you, what you went through, and why you're like you are now. I can free you, but I need your help if I'm going to do that. I want to stop what happened to you, Mitsuko, and make sure it doesn't happen again to others. But I need your help to do that.”

“What help I give?” She asked and I could feel as well as see the misery in her entire being as she said that. “It hurt to even think of things I not be now. It hurt bad.”

“I can ease that.” I told her and reached into her poor battered mind to deflect some of the impulses from that chip and made those a physical reality. “But you can't let others know I've done or am doing that. Can you go on awhile longer as you are?”

“I think so.” She tiredly answered. “I sex toy, housewife, soon to be mother. Not much time. I afraid.”

“Are you pregnant?”

“Yes!” she spat out. “I have baby in seven months! Not hurt my baby!”

“Never that.” I reached across the table to touch her cheek. “Your baby is safe from me, and from the people working with me. All we want to do is keep what happened to you from happening to others. For that I need to watch things through your eyes. Will you let me do that? I won't change you any more than you have been, but seeing things through your eyes and perceptions would help a lot in ending all this, at least you could help save others from what you've gone through.”

“I do that.” She nodded while protectively cradling her belly. “Just not hurt baby.”

“No, dear.” I sighed and stroked her cheek again. “I'll defend your baby with my life, such as it is.”

“Then I help.” She actually sat straighter and looked me in the eye. “This thing must stop. Not good. Not good at all.”

I know, I know.” I told her, hurting for what she was, and envious for what she would become in seven months. “I'll stop it. I promise.”

“Promise...” She looked at me and tilted her head. “Husband promise all time, no follow up, you different. I see that. I help.”

If you ever want or need a definition for courage, just look at Mitsuko. I felt small when I left her, and a little dirty for using her the way I was going to do. But she hadn't flinched over that, just so long as no one hurt her baby.

I went to my private place. I cried and I felt a sense of wonder at the same time.

Mitsuko had more strength of character and soul than I thought I could raise under her circumstances.

And that humbled me more than anything I'd ever come across in any of my lives.