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Threshold

By the next day, Barbara still couldn't get the image out of her head. She spent her classes in a haze, absently going through the motions as she was plagued with vivid thoughts of Dinah on her knees, taking that Reston boy's massive cock down her throat. The sight had been burned into Barbara's brain, just as the footage of Helena and Reston had been.

Now Barbara couldn't look at Dinah without visualizing her friend's lips wrapped around that punk's long, thick prick. And that made the meeting that was presently taking place quite awkward.

It was Friday afternoon and classes had been let out. The only thing that lay ahead was the Brotherhood ceremony - the ceremony that Dinah had been invited to attend. It was the big break they had both been working so hard for ever since they went undercover as Kingston teachers. But now, after having witnessed the degrading acts that Dinah had to subject herself to in exchange for an invite, Barbara started to wonder if this plan was truly worth it.

Rescuing Helena and all the other women victimized by the Kingston Brotherhood was a noble goal, as noble as anything the Justice League had ever done. But how much were she and Dinah supposed to sacrifice? Dinah herself had already given up her dignity…

Barbara frowned, her stomach curling as the memory of last night flashed clearly and viscerally in her head. Once again, she saw her dear blonde friend running her wet, glistening tongue up and down that vile boy's immense manhood…

The redhead shook her head, banishing the horrid thought from her mind. But she knew in her soul that the memory would return, soiling her thoughts like a festering wound. Barbara turned her eyes on Dinah, the friend she had so tremendously failed.

They were in their shared dorm room and Dinah was leaning against Barbara's desk, her sweatpants-garbed butt pressing into the rounded wooden edge. Dinah didn't know that Barbara had witnessed her "earning" her invitation. And Barbara didn't have the guts to tell her. What could she even say?

Was she supposed to thank her for the sacrifice she made to get their newest lead? Or apologize for sending her into that situation? Never before had Barbara felt like such a failure. She was the Birds of Prey's team leader. How could she have let these disgusting things happen to her own girls?

Maybe that was Batman's influence rearing its ugly head again. Or rather the more toxic side of it. The lessons that had stuck with her even years later, to be willing to do anything for the sake of the mission. Barbara had believed that when she let her own team she would be above that. But perhaps not.

"So…" Barbara finally spoke, breaking the unbearable silence. "Tonight's the night."

"The night of nights." Dinah agreed, inhaling deeply. She pressed her lips into a line, staring off into space. Barbara tried to gauge her friend's emotional state but found the other woman's eyes unreadable. It was… unsettling. Especially when Dinah had always been the more hot-blooded of the pair. The blond spoke again, her voice flat. "The grand finale of this twisted, fucked up nightmare."

The nightmare you followed me into... I'm so sorry, Dinah...

Barbara paced between their twin beds, hugging her arms to her belly. Briefly, she had the thought to cancel their op. Dinah had already done the unthinkable to get herself a Brotherhood invite. And tonight she would be going right back into that sick bastard's hands. But knowing Dinah, the tough honey would insist on seeing the mission through.

"The hard part is over." Barbara said, keeping up the facade that she didn't know just what Dinah had done. She hated herself for playing along. But a prideful woman like Diana would hate being pitied even more. "All we need now is confirmation on how exactly the rings work. As soon as we get that intel, handling the Brotherhood should be a cakewalk."

"Right. Simple enough." Dinah said after a moment. Her voice remained flat and impassive. Once more, Barbara could barely handle how wrong it sounded. Someone had snuffed out the Black Canary's fiery spirit. And it was Batgirl's fault.

"I know I'm sending you into a den of wolves, Dinah. But we need to know what we're dealing with. If I could trade places with you, I would." It was a paltry attempt to offer Dinah comfort. The words tasted bitter on Barbara's tongue.

But then there was a spark in the blonde woman's eyes. Dinah pushed off from Barbara's desk, her back going straight as she crossed her arms. Her face hardened, once more resembling the tough, no-nonsense heroine Barbara recruited years before. The Black Canary stood before her and in her eyes was a blazing resolve that would give even the Batman pause.

"No." Dinah said firmly. Her voice was like steel and Barbara knew she would not be able to argue against her. "The Brotherhood doesn't scare me, Barb. After everything we've done to get this far... Everything I've done... I can't back out now. I'm all in."

She was really going to do it, Barbara realized Dinah had already surrendered her dignity to Reston, got down on her knees and... And now she was going to go right back into his domain. Barbara had never before felt pride and fear in such equal fervor before. But that was Dinah, wasn't it? To just spit in the face of impossibilities.

Barbara was moved by Dinah's unshakable loyalty to her sister-in-arms... And shamed by it, too. A moment ago, she had thought of aborting their undercover operation, leaving Helena behind with these creeps while she and Dinah started a new plan from scratch. But Dinah? It was clear that Dinah never would have considered it. What kind of leader did that make Batgirl?

"Well... You won't be alone." Barbara told Dinah, finding her spirit again as the Black Canary had. She gave her friend a faint smile. "I'll be shadowing you as you make your way to the ceremony."

"As Barbara or as Batgirl?" Dinah asked.

"I'll be suiting up tonight." Barbara held her head high, hoping the declaration of support would feed her friends' returning spirit. "If things end up going sideways for whatever reason... I'll jump in and pull you out of there."

Dinah uncrossed her arms and planted her hands on her hips. She pondered Barbara's contingency for a moment, pursing her lips.

"If things do end up going south and I haven't gotten the intel... What then?" The blonde asked pointedly.

"We've experienced mission busts before, Dinah." Barbara answered simply.

"Not like this." Dinah shot back, though she did not raise her voice. "What about Helena, then? Would we just leave her behind?"

"No. Never." Barbara spoke firmly, putting as much Bruce as she could into her words. "We'll drag her out of Kingston kicking and screaming if we have to. And then we'll come back with the Cavalry. We'll bring the whole fucking Justice League to deal with these Brotherhood creeps."

Dinah gave a snort.

"Maybe we should have done that from the start." She said to Barbara, turning away to stare out the window.

Her words were a stab to the heart. And Barbara knew it was deserved. If they had done it that way, Dinah wouldn't have had to... "convince" Reston of her worth. Barbara wouldn't have had to get familiar with Westfield. They would both have been spared of Kingston's vile influence...

But even with the misfortunes they had suffered, Barbara knew in her heart that there was still a way for the Birds to end this nightmare on their own. With victory so close, Barbara didn't have the nerve to turn them from their path. She just wasn't that kind of girl.

"It's a last resort." Barbara found herself saying, adopting the Black Canary's resolve that so inspired her. She stepped up beside the blonde brawler, setting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You and me, we've got this. This is the beginning of the end for the Brotherhood. We're the Birds of Prey, Dinah. Nobody does it better than us."

Dinah turned to regard Barbara, at first saying nothing. Her eyes were hard but otherwise she wore an unreadable expression. Then she gave Barbara a small grin and a short nod.

"Right." The blonde said. "Showtime."

The walk to Timm Hall felt almost endless. Dinah felt the same about the day itself. Ever since she awoke that morning with the taste of Matt Reston's big cock still on her tongue…

The young punk hadn't even been present at gym class that day, robbing Dinah of the chance for revenge. She would have had the fucker doing drills and exercises until he puked his guts out. It wouldn't have been enough to restore Dinah's dignity, but seeing the little shit in pain would have been delightful.

Little? Nothing "little" about him...

The thought had come without warning, a sudden pollution of her mind. Dinah shook her head, aghast at herself for thinking it. But a terrible truth was still the truth. Reston was gifted. Incredibly so.

And the Black Canary was soon to be reacquainted with the horny youth's gifted nature, if the Brotherhood induction ceremony was to be anything like last night's "audition".

Eventually, Dinah found herself standing in the courtyard of Timm Hall. Like many buildings on the Kingston campus, it was Neo-Gothic in its design, looming over her with its gray stonework and painstakingly carved gargoyles. It looked exactly like the type of building where a bad guy meet-up would happen, Dinah noted with a sneer.

The lone heroine walked up the steps until she came to a large wooden door, painted a dark red. At the center was a bronze knocker cast in the shape of a stylized heart. Dinah grabbed the bronze heart and rapped it against the red door twice.

A moment passed. Then came a woman's voice that Dinah did not recognize. The mystery woman spoke low and sultry, her honeyed voice pouring from an intercom off to the side. An intercom that Dinah hadn't noticed until right then.

"We've been expecting you, Miss Blake." The voice purred, smooth and sweet like syrup. "And early too! The Brotherhood so loves women who can follow instructions."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Dinah muttered. She narrowed her eyes at the intercom. "Are you going to let me in or do I need to do a special dance?"

"Such a fiery attitude." The voice mockingly praised. "I can see why Brother Reston is so enamored with you."

"Enamored? Is that what he calls it?" Dinah scoffed, incredulous. But the voice did not answer. The blonde waited. Seconds ticked by, turning to minutes. Losing patience, she rapped on the door with the bronze heart again. "Hello?"

There was the sound of turning metal and finally a click. Then the red door opened inward to reveal a large, empty foyer. Dinah stood there looking inside, seeing a black and white tiled floor and a large staircase leading to the second story indoor balconies. There were but a few, dim lights on and no people in sight.

The woman's voice came again, but not from the intercom. Now it came from deeper inside Timm Hall, echoing through the foyer.

"Take the first step of your new life, Dinah Blake." The voice bid her. "Step into the Brotherhood's shadow."

Everything about it felt wrong. Deep in her bones, Dinah knew she should turn away and leave. But something compelled her to step forward. Maybe it was the knowledge that Barbara was somewhere close by. Or maybe it was pride, her own unshakable confidence that the Birds of Prey would take down Reston and his Brotherhood.

The Black Canary stepped forward through the doorway and into the Brotherhood's Shadow… And the moment after she crossed that threshold, the massive red door shut behind her.

The blonde knockout stood alone in the empty foyer, with nothing but candlelight keeping her company. And despite her years of training and experience, she felt something she hadn't felt since she was a teen girl. A sense of being vulnerable.

A chill traveled down her back. And the tough honey ignored it.

You're all in, remember? Dinah told herself. No backing out now.