"You saw...a woman dressed as a playboy bunny." Helena repeated listlessly, blankly staring at Dick before adding, "I was kind of questioning why we should care about this, but first, I have to ask: are you sure you didn't have some kind of perverted daydream, Dick?"
"Wait, just hear me out!" Dick growled in frustration, dramatically slamming his hand on the table that surrounded the other members of the Birds of Prey. "I think this bunny woman is connected to one of the Arkham prisoners that escaped! Or even was the one who caused the breakout in the first place!"
"Now that's a stretch." Helena retorted back. "Can we go back to the part where you just admitted to having sex one of our escapees in the first place?"
"Yeah, I have some questions, too!" Stephanie Brown replied in agreement, shooting a confused glance at Dick, as if unsure what to think about him. "Aren't you in a relationship with Starfire?"
It was the following morning after his unconventional capture of Roxy Rocket. The Birds of Prey had convened to report on their individual progress, with Dick and Zinda being the only ones to successfully capture one of the Arkham inmates that had escaped that day. (Zinda had defeated Firefly by ramming him mid-air with her XF-90) Huntress had managed to gain a lead on Killer Croc's whereabouts, with Dinah and Stephanie actually fighting Nocturna--though the two supervillains managed to evade capture, with Helena notably being frustrated that Croc had actually broke out of the trap she'd laid out for him.
Dick, on the other hand, didn't leave out any details about how he had "defeated" Roxy Rocket. He also reported the sighting of the mysterious bunny woman he had seen shortly after apprehending Roxy, which is what started Helena's agitated commentary.
Clearly, the brunette superheroine was more bitchy than usual out of jealousy that Dick had fucked Roxy before her...and Zinda.
Regardless of this, Dick still opted to set the record straight with Stephanie first.
"My girlfriend and I have a unique kind of arrangement." Dick stated, ignoring Helena's spiteful glaring. "Kory- Starfire- is completely fine with me seeing other women, since she doesn't view casual sex or flings as cheating."
"So an open relationship." Stephanie remarked bluntly. "That means she can see whoever she wants too, right? Including guys? And you're just...okay with that?"
"Well...Kory only sees other girls whenever she's not me. Something about me being 'the only guy she needs.'" Dick admitted with a hesitant sigh. "Which she's totally fine with, by the way!"
"How convenient for you." Helena snarled resentfully, making a doubtful snort in response. Dick made a mental note to give the former mob princess a spanking session similar to what his girl did to Selina... "Your weird set-up with your girlfriend aside, we can't ignore the fact that you literally manipulated and hopped into bed with the enemy! Even worse, a mental patient!"
"I didn't manipulate Roxy!" Dick declared firmly. "And she's not crazy, at least not in the same way most of the people locked up in Arkham are. She has an addiction to risk-taking that I tempered with a little bit of roleplay, that's it! And it did way more than anything those 'professionals' could have done! It worked well enough for Ivy!"
"Did someone call my name?" purred the green-skinned woman's sultry voice, the voluptuous redhead sexily sauntering in the room a second later. "Oh hello, Dick...I was just taking a break from my work with Zatanna when I heard you mention Roxy--I'm presuming you had the 'sex therapy' with her per Kory's recommendations?"
"Aha! Well there it is, the truth unveiled!" Helena cried out sarcastically, shooting a venomous glare towards Dick. "He literally just admitted that he's here with his green side-hoe to 'tame' every Arkham escapee of the feminine variety into his personal harem!"
"I didn't say that." Dick said calmly as Ivy unhelpfully commented, "I'm Dick's Mistress, not his side-hoe, you slut!"
"That's enough!" Dinah cut in, causing all three of them to immediately shut up. "First things first--Helena, I understand your concerns toward Dick's questionable ethics in how he handles female supervillains, but at the same time, you have your own biases on the subject. Hell, all three of us do."
"Huh?" Stephanie murmured, looking between Dinah, Helena, and Zinda with a growing realization. "Wait, are you saying that you all--?"
"In the meantime, Dick's strategy of...seduction shouldn't be viewed any differently than how us girls use our looks to gain the upper hand over the enemy." Dinah added. "And his 'sex therapy' strategy has been successful so far--the fact that Poison Ivy is standing in this room with us is already proof of that--but also because of the notes Dr. Meridian gave me this morning regarding Roxy."
"Dr. Meridian?" Dick repeated curiously.
"She's a psychologist and consultant with the GCPD." Dinah replied, "Who's in regular correspondence with our team to give us advice on how we should handle specific escapees; Meridian informed me that Roxy had already made an impressive amount of progress in the last twelve hours since she's been recaptured, and that she wanted the chance to personally thank you for 'whatever you did' to help quell Roxy's addiction."
"She wants to meet with me in person?"
"Yes; mainly because Roxy herself requested 'regular visits' from you in case she 'relapses'" Dinah confirmed with a coy smile.
"So she basically needs her daily fix of Dick or she'll lose it, huh?" Helena interrupted rudely (and hypocritically).
Ignoring her comment along with everyone else, Zinda noted her own thoughts on the matter. "I don't really see the problem here...sure, I think sleepin' with the bad girls are a little odd, but it's not like Dick's shackin' up with them or letting them off with a warning--and if the end results are them bein' reformed, then by all means, keep doin' it!" The blonde pilot paused and turned to address Dick directly now. "Now let's get back to talkin' about that bunny woman you saw last night, flutter bum."
"I did a quick checkup on our criminal database of every criminal in Gotham, inmate of Arkham, and supervillains with an animal motif." Stephanie reported, stepping over to the nearby computer screen to display the evidence of her research. "There's no record of any women dressed in a skimpy white bunny outfit in any of them."
"Yes, I've known every female colleague in Gotham, (which is sadly a very short list) and I've never met any 'bunny girls'." Ivy stated in agreement.
"That just proves my point further--this is someone we know nothing about, it has to mean something!" Dick remarked fiercely, "Now I have two theories on who the Bunny Woman is connected to: either it's Mad Hatter, because of the whole 'White Rabbit/Wonderland theme--"
"-Who wasn't one of the fourteen inmates who escaped yesterday." Dinah pointed out with an expressionless voice.
"--Or she's connected to Calendar Girl, who is one of the fourteen." Dick continued. "Considering the fact that it was Easter Sunday two days ago, it'd make perfect sense for a bunny-themed woman to be working for her, and potentially be involved in the breakout."
"Potentially." Dinah repeated, giving Dick a thoughtful look. "Until that can be proven, however, we should prioritize finding this bunny woman if she's a lead on finding out what Calendar Girl is up to."
"That I can answer." Dick said casually. "When I was escorting Roxy back to the GCPD, I managed to get her to talk about her fellow inmates, and how one of her friends worked in Hollywood like she did...Paige Monroe. Roxy was pretty chatty, so she practically told me everything about what Paige~~Calendar Girl~~is up to. Something involving Janus Cosmetics' newest product that was released recently..."
Helena wasn't amused.
"You know what she was up to this entire time? Why the fuck are you bringing this up now?!?"
"Janus Cosmetics? Isn't that the company Black Mask uses as a front for his crimes?" Stephanie cut in, shuddering as she mentioned the skeleton-masked criminal. "That guy seriously gives me the creeps."
"I'm just glad Batman caught that creep and put him back in Blackgate weeks ago." Zinda replied, placing a reassuring hand on her fellow blonde heroine's shoulder, "We have enough on our hands as it is."
"I think I know what Paige was referring to." Dinah said suddenly, stepping forward and typing up the words 'Janus Cosmetics' on the computer Stephanie had used. "In Roman Sionis's absence his advisor Ms. Li became the interim CEO...and the product she released is an experimental new anti-aging cream that stirred up some controversy over its adverse effects on the modelling agency that made a deal with them with them--that's perfect!"
"Right?" Dick said with a grin. "It's the perfect motivation--there's no way Calendar wouldn't be there; her whole MO is being obsessed with her age and how she's convinced herself that she's hideous under her mask!"
"True, but I meant that it's perfect because Janus Cosmetics is hosting a huge gala tonight, and as a male model, Dick, it'd make the most sense for you to show up and scope out the area!" Dinah exclaimed brightly. "Plus it's a good way to dip your toes back into the water as Dick Grayson, let Gotham know you'll be here for a while."
"You're a male model?!?" Stephanie cried out in disbelief in Dick's direction, eyeing Dick up as if imagining the acrobat in nothing but his underwear, and immediately turning very red in the face. "What agency do you even work for? Wait, don't answer that--still, I feel like I've missed out on a lot of things that have been happening recently!"
"Trust me, you don't wanna know it all." Zinda answered in a hushed whisper before adding in an even smaller whisper. "The magazine he works for is Epiphany. You can thank me later, chickadee."