Savin Me

Aerothen

FANDOM: Birds of Prey TV

PAIRING: Barbara/Helena

RATING: R

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

SUMMARY: Based off of the same song by Nickelback. Each line or lines of the song will be a chapter.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: First thanks to my beta, Asher, who's been very helpful. Second all feedback is welcome and though I may not reply back, I do read it. Third I hope you all enjoy.

E-MAIL: halliwellmanor@juno.com

---

Cobalt eyes stared at the metal bars, hoping that maybe her stare would melt them. It had been six months since she had been brought here for a crime she wished hadn't committed. She didn't even want to think about that night.

It had been, in her mind, the answer to a great deal of her many problems. But now it seemed to have only created more. Being caged and under guard twenty-four seven was only a part of it. The other was not being able to see Barbara.

Helena had always thought that no matter what, she could always turn to

Barbara. Sure she had fucked up a few times, though nothing compared with the size of this mistake. But Barbara had been with her through thick and thin. Why not this time?

She closed her eyes. The reason escaped her.

Helena let that train of thought die and began to ponder other things. Like soft red hair and emerald eyes. Perfect luscious curves and ...

"You gonna stare all day Kyle or are you gonna move so I can get my time outside?"

Helena moved away from the cell door and allowed her cellmate to walk out with a guard.

Her name was Sharon and she was in for drug trafficking. Most of the time she rambled on about how her man would come to bust her out. He was the drug dealer that had put her in here in the first place and it wouldn't surprise Helena if he had already forgotten about her. She had arrested his kind many times over. If one of his girls was busted and got thrown in the joint, it was their own fault in his mind. Not his problem. Besides, there was always another one to take her place.

Helena could understand Sharon devotion to a lost cause. After being in here for so long, hope was one of the few things she had left. But she would not lose sight of some simple truths. If Barbara had wanted to see her she would have come already. Or at least have been at her trial. Or been there when she had been arrested. She closed her eyes again. That was what hurt the most. That Barbara had not spoken to her when she found out about the break-in at Arkham. Not even a phone call or a letter. She could feel the telltale prickle of impending tears and wiped her eyes before the tears formed.

She would not cry.

Across the way stood Bridget, a tall, thickly muscled woman who was in for brutal assault. When Helena had first arrived she had heard many rumors about what the woman could do. Break a man in half. Bend the bars of her cell. Then a guard had mentioned what the new arrival had done. Then they started whispering about Helena Kyle.

And Bridget, along with her close friends, started to stare at her too.

Helena knew what Bridget wanted. A fight, a chance to reclaim her title as being the baddest bitch in the house. Helena was not looking forward to it, if the chance ever came.

And her tears would not help matters at all.

Luckily, the guards had her practically in solitary confinement save for the shared cell. The guards never let her outside, and her meals were eaten in a visiting room under strict surveillance. That is, if guards watching her with their hands on their holsters qualified as surveillance. The only reason Helena wasn't in the Tomb was because she had cooperated with the police. Seeing that Barbara wasn't going to bail her out, Helena had figured she would have to do it herself. Which was more of a royal pain then she had thought it would be.

First, she had had to put up no resistance during her arrest, which was not hard considering that nearly ten cops had jumped her, acting as if she would kill them as well. Helena wasn't surprised. Blood had covered her face and hands.

Then came the bargaining to be sentenced without a trial. She knew the District Attorney wanted the crime be kept quiet as possible and was willing to do whatever it took. For her, this had meant talking hours on end with a shrink, showing him remorse in every form possible. Finally she had been sentenced and sometimes Helena almost wished she had been given the death penalty.

She shook her head.

She couldn't give up now. She had come this far. She had to see it to the end.

The cell door clanged open again and Sharon walked back in.

"Wishing you could go outside Kyle?" she smiled sweetly, enjoying the prospect of having one of the few privileges she was sure Helena wanted.

Helena flopped down on the bottom bunk. She had no desire to talk with the other woman. The only common link between them was a sore subject, and she was in no mood to share her feelings about Barbara's apparent abandonment.

"Okay. Ignore me. But sooner or later you're gonna wanna talk."

The cell door clanked shut.

---

"Hey Kyle, get up. Warden says your behavior has earned you outside time."

Helena rubbed her eyes clean of sleep.

"What?" she yawned.

"You heard me. You can go outside now and later you can eat with the rest of your friends."

"What friends?" she sighed, as she put on her boots.

"Bridget's been looking at you maybe she...you know...." The guard shrugged.

"Doubt it's for that reason." She smiled. Bridget was thick and brusque, not a yin to her yang. Besides she looked like she had been doing meth since she was ten.

"Oh?"

"You are supposed to lead me outside aren't you?"

The guard walked Helena down the row as other inmates leaned out, watching and whispering. Word had spread like wildfire about Bridget's grudge and everyone was eager to see the outcome. Bets had been laid with everything from drugs to clothes to paperclips once word spread from a guard that Helena might be let outside. Most were in favor of Bridget.

Apparently Helena was the only one not happy she was being taken out of her cell.

A buzzer sounded, the doors unlocked and Helena was led through the rest of the complex. It had now been eleven months since she had first been incarcerated here and it was only now that she saw more then her cell. She saw everything, from the mess hall, to the game room. It seemed like everyone was eyeing her and muttering something as she walked by. The guard picked up the pace a little.

Finally the last door opened and Helena scented fresh air for the first time since coming here.

Everywhere female inmates were making the best of their time outside. Some worked with the weights, some played basketball or wall ball, some walked around and talked, while others just sat or stood. All activity ceased when Helena walked out. All eyes were on her as she walked closer to the center of the yard where Bridget was watching her.

The clouds of the overcast sky began to darken and a small trickle of rain began to patter down.

Helena had been truly afraid very few times in her life. The first time was when her mom was angry with her for breaking a priceless 5th Century Greek vase. The second time was when her mom died and she had discovered Barbara had been paralyzed. The third was right now.

Everyone had their gazes fixed on her, trying to guess what her first move would be. If Bridget didn't hurt her the rest of the crowd might. The guards simply smiled from their posts and passed money between themselves. They too had bets on the fight and they had no intention of breaking it up.

The faint click of the door sounded and everyone left what they had been doing to encircle Helena. She kept walking. The sooner this was over the better.

Soon she was face to with Bridget.

"So you're Helena Kyle?" The muscular blonde crossed her arms, clearly less than impressed.

Helena only nodded.

"Heard what you did to get in here. Pretty nasty work."

Helena stared at her feet.

"Think you're tough?"

She shrugged.

"We'll find out won't we?" Bridget charged her and sent her to the ground.

The brunette didn't even bother the defend herself. She had no desire to fight and even less to lose what privileges she had gained.

The blonde's assault was endless. Punches landed everywhere. Helena swore she heard a tooth come loose. Thunder boomed and rain washed the blood from her face.

"Just as I thought." Bridget smiled. "You're a coward. A worthless piece of shit that got blamed for something you didn't do."

If only she knew, Helena thought.

Helena turned her head away to look at the crowd. A break had emerged in the circle after some of the spectators lost interest and went back to their own things. In the space was a fence in front of a walkway that Helena had walked down to enter this place. And rolling down it was a red head in a wheelchair.

"Barbara?" she breathed.

"You say something you..."

Abruptly, the brunette kicked out from her prone position, landing a solid kick to the blonde's stomach and knocking her back. Helena rolled to her stomach, making her way onto her knees.

She had to see Barbara. Before she could get all the way up, Bridget pulled her back down.

"Oh no you don't. You gotta finish what you start bitch."

Helena growled and punched her in the chest, sending the other woman back staggering.

"I don't have time for you." The brunette got up and began to walk away.

"You'll make time."

Bridget charged again and they were wrestling on the ground. Back and forth they tussled, neither woman prepared to back down.

Helena didn't know how long it had been but the rain had stopped and so had Bridget. The woman may have been strong, but she had no stamina. Finally the blonde was beneath her, panting. The brunette began to pay back every punch she had received earlier. She had to get this fight over with quickly.

Once she was sure the blonde wouldn't attack her, Helena got up and looked to the fence.

The redhead was gone.

---

Helena ran across the rooftops, putting every ounce of her frustration into each step. She was sick and tired of the situation at the clock tower. Barbara was quieter than usual. Dinah had lost her usual joyfulness, and Alfred had vanished altogether. Put it all together and you get a very quiet and a very sad crime fighter lair. Helena couldn't take it anymore.

She had tried her best to bring a smile on her friends' faces but it hadn't worked. All she got in return was admonishment for her behavior and an unexpected ass kicking.

She had to do something, anything, to break the tension.

 

Helena made one final leap over Arkham's walls and into the courtyard, easily dodging the cameras and the security guards. She crept like the cat she was across the grass to a side door used for bringing in food. She then easily picked the lock and slipped inside.

All was quiet save for the footfalls of a patrolling guard a few floors up and the snores of a few inmates. Helena walked soundlessly down the hall to a guard's station and began to search for a list of inmates and their cell numbers. Her prey's was number 157. She smiled at her success and grabbed a keycard.

The brunette slunk back out of the station and made her way down another corridor.

Soon, she thought, things will go back to normal. Or least better then what they were now.

She finally reached her target and swiped her card through the slot. The cell door opened and its occupant sat up.

"Helena," rasped Barbara. Cuts and gouges appeared on her face and neck. Bones began to pop out at odd angles.

The younger woman began to back out of the room but the cell door slammed shut. The walls began to close in, forcing Helena closer to the older woman.

"Why" The blood from the redhead's wounds began to pour down her neck.

Helena was now face to face with her mentor.

"Why did you kill me?"

 

Helena bolted upright and looked around. She was still in solitary confinement. No one else was around. She breathed a sigh of relief and began to focus on controlling her breathing.

It had been a month since the fight with Bridget, making it a whole year without any contact from the outside world.

Helena lay back onto her bed.

After that day there had been no further sight of Barbara and her mind once more posed the question: why?

Why was the redhead avoiding her? Why did she come and then suddenly leave?

It didn't make sense.

She ran a hand through her hair.

Maybe the rain had distorted her vision, tricking her into seeing what she wanted to see when it had in fact been someone else entirely.

Or maybe all of the blunt force trauma had caused her to hallucinate.

She sighed.

Tomorrow she would be released from solitary confinement. And it couldn?t come soon enough.

She shut her eyes and tried to sleep.

The dream had no doubt been a product of being without human contact for a week. She had landed herself here after she broke a new arrival's arm. The little punk had been a prostitute and was aggressively eager to 'acquaint' herself with the infamous Helena Kyle. The feeling had not been mutual.

The brunette rolled over.

She felt like this place was driving her to madness. Nothing ever happened here save for new people and rotation of guards. Everything stayed the same.

Helena sighed and snuggled down into her blanket,

Maybe tomorrow something different would happen.

---

Helena awoke again to the sound of the door being opened and a guard walking in.

"Time's up Kyle."

"Really?" She yawned. "And here I was getting used to this."

"Come on." He rolled his eyes.

A change had come over the prison since her fight with Bridget and even more so with the incident with the new arrival. Everyone was quiet as she walked past them to the mess hall and no one stared at her for too long. Only the guards acted as if nothing had happened.

When she did reach the dining hall everyone moved aside to let her through to the serving line. Helena acted as if she didn't notice. It was no different than when she was on patrol and would-be criminals would turn tail at the sight of her shadow.

The cooks too showed their respect to her by giving her larger helpings and better pickings of the food.

Helena ate her food alone at an empty table. When everyone was sure that she was eating, they started talking again.

Same old same old, she thought.

After breakfast the guards led her and the other inmates outside. Normally she would have run around the yard and done her regular exercises but today Tammy walked up to her. The African American woman had been brought in for multiple counts of arson and had been one of the few who had placed their bets on her kicking Bridget's ass.

"Hey Kyle, wanna play ball with us?" she jerked a thumb over to the other players. Like her they were lean and looked like they had been in prison for a while.

"Sure." There was not much else to do. Besides, it couldn't hurt.

Though she didn't use her meta abilities, Helena proved more then a match for the opposing team. By the time the guard's whistle sounded, the brunette had scored several baskets and the tension that the other inmates had had in the beginning of the game had vanished. They smiled at her now and shook her hand.

"Same time tomorrow Kyle?" Tammy asked.

"Of course." Helena smiled.

The game had occupied her mind, letting her forget that she was in prison and had not seen Barbara in over a year. It had been a more than welcome respite.

The guards led the inmates back to their cells and she found on her bed a letter.

"Came in just now with the other mail." Sharon was laying on the top bunk reading a fashion magazine. "Looks like it came from Buddy."

"Buddy?" Indeed the letter did not have Barbara's address or any she recognized. However there was a strange smell about it.

"You know, a friend who can get certain 'things' for you if you get what I mean. Claire must have referred you."

"Why would she do that?" Last time Helena checked, Claire had been a member of Bridget's inner circle.

"Who knows why anyone does anything in here?" Sharon shrugged.

Helena set the letter back on the bed and turned to look out at the other inmates through the cell bars. There was no doubt in her mind that whatever was in the envelope was prohibited and she didn't need any more strikes against her. Thinking back, she had noticed the scent on several other inmates. Most of them would be getting out soon and all them were friends with Claire. The Huntress smiled, her plan taking shape as she as positioned her body to begin a series of push-ups. Lunch was only three hours away.

The cell door opened and its occupants followed the guards out. Helena hung back to toss the contents of the envelope into the cells of her targets. Soon guards were calling Claire and her friends back to their cells.

Helena restrained a giggle as she returned to her place beside Sharon.

"What you smiling about Kyle?"

"Nothing."

A saying of Barbara's came to her mind: Once a vigilante, always vigilante. She smiled even broader.

---

Helena leapt up high to snatch the ball from a Hispanic inmate named Josie. The crowds on the sidelines cheered. The brunette had forgotten when people started to show up to watch her play. She thought it was probably about the time her hair had grown long enough to be put into a ponytail.

Time.

She landed back on the ground and maneuvered through the opposing team using a series of pivots and passed the ball to Tammy.

Time seemed to fly by now since everyone had stopped treating like she was a goddess.

Tammy passed it back and Helena aimed the ball for the basket.

The prison now felt like home.

She threw the ball.

But one thing was missing.

The ball made a clear swish through the net and everyone cheered even louder. The whistle sounded and her teammates picked her up to place her on their shoulders.

Barbara.

As they moved to the door, they set her down and the bookies handed her share of money. Just like when the spectators started showing up, Helena had forgotten when bets had begun being placed on the games. Or when they had actual teams instead of people just showing up and playing.

Helena faked a smile as she took her winnings.

Everything felt so right but yet so incomplete.

Fellow jailbirds congratulated on her win and applauded her performance. The guards commented on how well she played. Some even said she could go pro.

At first she became so lost in it that she would go for days without thinking about Barbara.

Then one day she got a new cellmate.

Her name was Sam.

Three months earlier

Helena walked along side Ashley, a former banker, who was telling her about a plan to form an actual league of basketball teams. Lunch was over and she wasn't looking forward to sitting in her cell for five hours until dinner. The blonde filled with bubbling excitement was a little much right now.

"And so you and the other players will get a part of the winnings? So what do you say Kyle?"

"I'll think about it."

A guard opened Ashley's cell and waited for the blonde to enter.

"Okay," sighed Ashley. "But at least tell me what you think about it at dinner. You don't have to agree with it or anything."

She entered her cell and the brunette walked down to hers.

Helena shoved her hands in her pockets.

Every time she came down to her cell Sharon would be there waiting and ready to nag her about her playing. Somewhere Helena had heard that the woman had once played in high school; had even made the varsity but her life of crime had taken over after high school.

The brunette ran a hand through her hair. If she could hold her own against Bridget, tolerating her cellmate should be a cinch.

The guard opened her cell but instead of coming face with a displeased Sharon, there was another woman. One who looked quite surprised.

"Oh they said I would be sharing a cell with ... um you but ...um you look so different they you did…uh…" she tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear and turned her green eyes to stare at the floor.

Is she…? Helena licked her lips.

She tilted her head to the side for a sec to look at her new cellmate a bit a closer. No one in the prison she had seen had had green eyes or red hair, let alone both.

"Come again?"

"You look different then you did on the TV special," the redhead blurted.

Definitely not Barbara, Helena smiled.

"Ah so you've heard of me eh?"

"Yes." She gulped.

"Well I haven't heard of you Miss ...?"

"Samantha Kern or just Sam." She extended her hand nervously and the brunette shook it vigorously. "I ran over my ex-girlfriend."

"Why?" Helena sat down on her bunk.

Now that Sam was facing her, she could see that this redhead looked nothing like Barbara. This woman's face was still fresh and yet to have gained the look of someone who has seen too much. And her shoulders were far less tense.

"Caught her kissing a guy after she broke up with me. While I was I driving my car I saw her and I kinda stepped on the gas and here I am." The redhead sat down beside her.

"Well they gave you the right cellmate." Helena smiled.

"What do you mean?" Sam rearranged her legs to Indian style.

"We both committed a crime that involved our love for a woman."

"You mean you killed Dr. Quinzel because you loved someone?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Helena leaned back against the wall of the cell.

"You sure you want to know?" Blue eyes stared out across the way to Bridget's cell. When the blonde saw her looking, she turned around quickly.

"Why not? I mean we're gonna be here a while."

"What happened to Sharon?" the brunette tilted her head to look down to a cell next to Bridget's. Someone inside of it looked like they were snorting something. The Huntress may have to come out and play again.

"Dunno," The redhead shrugged. "But I did hear a guard say something about her 'hero' had come to rescue her or something."

Helena nodded.

Go figure that Sharon would be the one to leave first, she thought. And would get to see her dreams come true before me.

"Well," the older woman looked at her hands and licked her lips. She had never told Sharon why she had done it. Not even the shrink to whom she spilled her tears knew the real reason.

Cobalt eyes turned to look at emerald ones. Sam was too meek, too innocent to hear why. But then again Dinah was always a good listener.

"Quinn hurt my family really bad in ways that I can't even begin to explain. Especially the woman whom I love." Helena rubbed her right hand with her left. "At first after Quinn was put away everything seemed fine. But it wasn't, things began to get worse and soon I didn't even recognize the people I lived with. Barbara, the woman, had tried to kill Quinn before the cops got to her. I stopped her because she had always taught me to never kill."

Red brows furrowed.

"She used to be my guardian. After my mother died she took me in because my dad wasn't around." Sam nodded.

"But I felt that I had to kill Quinn because it felt like that her being alive was making Barbara miserable. And it would give me a reason to tell her that I loved her."

"You never told her?"

"No." Helena shook her head. "Barbara is as straight as they come."

"Oh."

"Yeah so I went to kill Quinn, hoping this would make things alright. Hoping that she would understand." The brunette tried to wipe away tears but they came anyway. "But she didn't or else she would be here."

The redhead leaned forward and hugged her as she sobbed.

"Hey it's gonna be okay." Sam ran a hand down dark hair.

"I'm sorry." Helena choked out.

"For what?"

"For letting you see me like this."

"Don't be." The redhead pulled back and brushed tears aside with her thumbs.

Helena smiled. It felt good to share her problems with someone again.

After that they spent most of their time together and she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. There was something between them. Something that the brunette couldn't put her finger on that kept her talking with Sam whenever she could.

As she walked down toward her cell counting her money, Helena thought about what she was going to do. There wasn't she much could do. Place a complaint and ask for a different cellmate but what good would good that do? They would see each other anyway. Besides she didn't want to hurt another redhead.

The guard opened her cell and Sam smiled at her entrance. Although Helena never actually seen the younger woman at the games, she knew Sam was there. Somehow she just knew.

"Hey." The brunette picked up a jar and placed the wad of cash inside. She wasn't sure what to do with the money. There was not much stuff for sale here that interested her. Maybe when she got out she would spend it.

"Hey." The redhead walked over to Helena and entangled her hands in hers. "You played great today."

"Yeah, you think so?" Blue eyes searched green.

"I know so." And soft lips met hers. When Sam pulled back, Helena had been completely robbed of thought.

It had been so long since something like that had happened.

The redhead smiled once more and repeated the motion, this time forcing her tongue inside Helena's mouth.

"Barbara ..." the older woman murmured and Sam pulled back, dropping her hands.

"What?" the brunette had not wanted it end, at least not yet.

"You said her name."

"Whose?"

"The woman who never comes to see you."

Helena opened and shut her mouth.

"Sam I didn't mean to ..." the redhead crossed her arms.

"Doesn't matter." She sighed. "I thought you loved me but I guess you're still in love with her."

"Look I ..." But before she could finish, a guard came to the cell and motioned for Sam to come out.

The redhead didn't look back as she walked out.

"Shit." Helena fell onto the bed. What was going on with her?

"God Barbara where are you when I need you?" she said to the top bunk.

"Where are you!" she screamed.

---

Barbara stared at the empty needle. It had been attempt number ten. Ever since Helena had been incarcerated she had been trying to forget the brunette. Trying to escape her before she had to face her.

How could she tell the younger woman that she didn't deserve that kind of attention?

That she wasn't worthy of that kind of love?

And that was why she couldn't visit her.

Couldn't bear to see the face of the woman she loved just as much.

So she had tried to run.

But every time she reached the gates, they wouldn't open. No matter how hard she pulled or how loud she screamed they wouldn't budge. And each time she woke up with no one around her.

Which was implausible.

Normally when someone died, a person tried to bring them back. But the redhead came back of her own accord some how.

Maybe it was the angel, Barbara thought.

Each time she approached the gate she always saw someone near it. She had never gotten a good look at the person but the redhead was certain that was reason she couldn't die.

She sighed and got into her chair. Dinah had yet to notice her "escapades" and she wasn't ready to tell the blonde just yet.

Besides she didn't want to worry the child even more. Helena's imprisonment and Alfred's sudden disappearance still lingered in Dinah's mind. To know her guardian was trying to kill herself would not help her.

"Morning Barbara." The blonde was finishing unloading the dishwasher.

"Morning." The older woman wheeled over to pour herself some coffee.

"So are you going to fix your other chair today?" Barbara almost spit out her drink.

After Helena left, her back hurt each time she used one of her neural interface chairs. She had told the younger woman that it was because Quinn had sabotaged them. In reality she had no idea.

"Maybe. You have any homework this weekend?" She calmly took another sip from her mug.

"Already done." The blonde shut the dishwasher door.

Barbara nodded.

Now that Helena was gone, her second protégé had to do all the fieldwork.

"Well then let's get started."

---

Barbara sighed and removed her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose. What was she thinking? Dinah had only been a vigilante for two years and had a lot to learn. She shouldn't have sent her into the warehouse where narcotics cops were waiting for their perps.

The redhead had assumed the blonde had learned to recognize a wired location in all this time. Apparently she had not. And now the younger woman was in FBI custody while the real drug dealers were free to continue dealing.

Barbara groaned.

It seemed that ever since she had lost the use of her legs she failed more then she succeeded.

In eight years since becoming Oracle what did she have to show for it?

Her lair had been compromised.

One of her protégés was in jail.

Another was about to be.

And what could she do?

Nothing.

She leaned back in her chair.

Nothing, since the cops were desperate for someone to blame for the all the drugs being passed around and she doubted they would think there had been a glitch in their system.

God if only she could only walk again without the use of a neural coupler. The pain of using any device that involved her back had grown to the point that she had locked up all of the equipment and made the code change itself to another random number after every time it was opened.

Then green eyes widened.

Random.

That was the key.

The cyber genius turned back to the computer and hacked into the nearest vehicle with a GPS locater and redirected the driver to the warehouse.

Within minutes she heard the shouts of confused police officers and a very grateful Dinah.

She grinned to herself. Maybe falling with broken wings wasn't so bad. In doing so she had learned to swim with the big fishes.

---

Barbara was sitting on her bed, reading the latest issue of Wired when a towel clad Helena walked in.

"You know what I said about reading before going to bed." The brunette circled around and crawled on to the bed, the towel slipping off as she did so.

"What did you say? I forget." The redhead smiled coyly as she set her magazine on the nightstand.

The younger woman grinned back and made her way up Barbara. It was then that the older woman realized her clothes were gone too.

"That when you're reading you look like you're thinking about something else." A tan hand grabbed a pale one and Helena sucked Barbara's first two fingers into her mouth.

Barbara gasped.

"And I think that something else is me." The brunette guided the hand down in between her thighs

Emerald eyes dilated.

"And that turns me on." She pushed the two fingers past dark, wiry hair.

Barbara felt Helena's walls close around her fingers and tried to stifle her groan. God she was so sexy like this. The older woman began to stroke her while her other hand reached up to the back of Helena's head, drawing her closer and bringing their lips together.

Apparently the younger woman had heard the groan because Helena removed her guiding hand off of Barbara's and insinuated her knee between Barbara's thighs, bringing to bear a steady pressure where Barbara needed her most. Then the brunette began to kiss back, using the stud in her tongue to make Barbara want the other woman's mouth on her skin. Tan hands soon followed with soothing touches to her heated skin and pinches to her nipples

Barbara shut her eyes. No lover had ever made her feel this good. No one had even come close to making her reach this level of pleasure.

Not wanting Helena to miss out, the redhead moved her hand from the younger woman's head to her back and pressed their breasts together.

The brunette pulled away from the kiss gasping, her whole body shaking as she purred.

"Shit Red, the things you do to me." Helena placed her hands on the headboard, and began to rub herself against her lover like a cat in heat.

"Tell me about it Hel." Barbara began the kiss again and inserted another finger.

Back and forth they rocked, pleasure rolling from one body to another. The redhead's internal clock stopped and she lost herself in the other woman.

She was Helena's world.

Helena was hers.

Nothing else existed.

Not even being a vigilante seemed important anymore.

She couldn't see anything but the woman who was loving her and whom she was loving back.

Nothing else mattered.

Suddenly Helena was not there anymore and when she opened her eyes she saw her lover in a cage.

"Helena?" Barbara sat up.

"Tell me about it Red."

"Tell you about what Hel?"

"How much you love me."

 

Barbara awoke feeling very aroused and very frustrated.

She pulled herself upright and sat back against the headboard.

Why on earth did I dream about Helena?

She hadn't even thought about the younger woman the past few days. After that night with Dinah being almost placed in jail, they had been up to their eyeballs in criminals. It seemed that trafficking of goods was being stopped in the prison, forcing more out onto the streets.

Even then she hadn't thought about her first protégé.

Emerald eyes blinked and Barbara nearly smacked herself on the forehead.

Today was the two-year anniversary of the brunette's incarceration. And given her repressed feelings it was no wonder she had had that kind of dream.

She hadn't tried another suicide attempt in months. She had tried almost every possible method of suicide and it seemed virtually impossible to kill herself. The only option that remained was to jump off the clock tower.

Or fall rather, since I can't jump, the redhead smiled to herself.

The alarm clock sounded and Barbara pushed aside the covers.

Duty called.

---

Barbara sipped her coffee as she read over the morning newspaper. The front page read: Vigilantes: Friend or Foe?

The redhead sighed.

It was no doubt in response to last night's break out and recapture of some of Arkham's worst, if not most infamous.

An alert on her computer last night had said that someone was trying to break in to the asylum. In response, the cyber genius sent Canary in to investigate. Then, inexplicably, her ward had opened all the cells up and was about to allow the inmates to kill her when a desperate Oracle called in Reese to help out.

Barbara ran a hand through her hair.

It had taken all night and most of the morning to round up the escaped criminals. Granted they did not have poison in their blood, or know how to cause immeasurable chaos but it still left the pair exhausted. After everything was cleaned up, Barbara called in a sub and excused Dinah for the day. Her latest charge was so tired that she had to drive to pick her up.

The redhead released the brake on her chair and wheeled out to the Delphi and began her search again for an explanation for Canary's extremely out of character behavior.

The blonde still had no memory of why she did that or who coerced her into doing so. However she did describe a similar experience that Helena had had under Quinn's hypnosis.

Barbara nearly growled at the thought of the woman.

If it hadn't been for her Helena would never have been in jail. However…

The cyber genius leaned back in her chair as she waited for Arkham's surveillance footage to load.

However then she would not have known how the brunette had felt about her. Or how she had felt about Helena.

She took a sip from her mug. In any case, it was going to be harder to work in the city now that her one remaining operative's reputation had been stained. The Huntress had supposedly abandoned Gotham just as Batman had.

Barbara smiled and set her mug down. Helena would probably have said something about being nothing like her father. That was one of her more desirable traits. The way that she was willing to stick to her beliefs no matter what was one of the few things that Barbara still believed in. Then again hadn't Helena been one that had prevented her from killing Quinn?

Someone cleared her throat behind her, startling her from her thoughts.

The redhead spun around to see Alfred Pennyworth.

"Alfred!" Barbara smiled broadly and wheeled forward to hug him. It had been far too long since she had seen him last.

"Good to see you too Miss Barbara." The old man returned the hug. "I am sorry if my departure was abrupt."

"No it's completely understandable." The redhead pulled back. "After all that happened with Helena I could use a break too."

"Then why haven't you taken one?" In walked Bruce Wayne from the elevator.

---

"Well I ..." Barbara's usually inexhaustible vocabulary failed her. She was left speechless.

And why hadn't she taken time off?

The easy answer would have been to say that after Quinn's imprisonment all her henchmen were running amok and needed to be stopped. But knowing Batman, he would have already gathered information about her interaction with Helena and discovered their shared feelings.

And that was a subject the redhead wasn't really willing to broach with Batman.

"From what Alfred has told me you should have taken leave after that debacle with Quinn." The redhead paled. "If not then especially after my daughter was incarcerated."

Bruce strolled over to look over the Delphi. He appeared unimpressed by the computer set up, however his eyes did widen somewhat when he saw the amount of data displayed.

Alfred signaled for Barbara to follow.

"I needed to clean up what Quinn had left behind." Barbara wheeled over to follow her former mentor.

"And that took two years?" The dark haired man picked up a file and began to flip through it. "I trained you better than that Barbara."

"The job is not as easy when you have to sit back and give orders." And your field agent is still very new to this, the redhead mentally added.

"Touché." Bruce set the file down and made his way over to the lab section of the clock tower.

"So is there any particular reason you've come back?" Barbara continued to follow him.

He picked up a vial and tilted it, watching its contents move.

"I asked Alfred to watch over you and my daughter. To make sure you two could handle protecting this city." His cobalt eyes never left the vial. Bruce then put it down and peered down into a microscope.

"So you left to test us?" Barbara gripped the armrests of her chair.

She had thought maybe he couldn't handle the thought of losing Selina and having to meet a daughter he never knew about and needed time to think. Or maybe there were pressing matters elsewhere. But he left for nine years just test them? A slew of possible tirades flooded through her head but the redhead dismissed them at once. It would be pointless to yell at him. Bruce had long ago mastered the art of being emotionless.

"Yes." He twisted a microscope knob to zoom in on the specimen. "A child of mine should be able to defend Gotham without my help." He paused. "Especially with the tutoring of one of my former students."

"I did the best I could."

"And I thank you for that." Bruce turned around to face Barbara. "But now I must ask you to relinquish your role as Oracle."

Barbara's eyebrows shot up, an outburst on the tip of her tongue.

"Master Bruce, are you sure that is a good idea? Miss Barbara has done very well on her own along with the aid of your daughter and Miss Dinah, despite last year's incidents." Alfred stepped in between teacher and pupil.

"I know she can do well Alfred." The billionaire crossed his arms. "But I feel that Barbara needs to take some time off to think about those incidents."

"And Dinah?" The redhead asked.

"Same for her."

Barbara ran a hand through her hair.

"She isn't going to take this very well you know. Ever since she got here all she has wanted to do is to help in our fight."

"Which is good for an up and coming vigilante but events such as these leave wounds which take time to heal."

Barbara nodded.

"Very well then. I suppose you will be using clock tower."

"No. I'll use the manor's resources but you and Dinah can still live here."

"So you'll be patrolling Gotham alone?"

"No, I've called Dick and he will come by tomorrow."

Again Barbara felt the urge to pound her former mentor senseless. Dick had left for Bludhaven long before her encounter with the Joker and had never once came back to see how she was doing. Granted he may have been busy but still, was a phone call too much to ask for? And now he was coming back? To take over her job?

"Is there any chance I can make you change your mind?" Barbara asked through gritted teeth.

"No." Bruce's eyes closed in a slow blink. "Look, after that night I needed some time to clear my head as well as make sure my daughter was ready to receive my mantle. After all that you have been through you definitely need the same."

"And what will you do if I don't let you take over?"

"I will have Helena removed from prison and placed so far away even you won't find her."

"Master Bruce!"

"Alfred, Barbara has placed Dinah in situations that are over her head and Dinah herself needs a reprieve from the job for a while. I will do what I must to protect my family." Cobalt eyes gleamed with tears.

He's trying so hard, thought Barbara, to save what he has left.

"It's ok Alfred. He's right, Dinah and I could use a change of pace."

Bruce nodded.

"Then I must be going."

The billionaire then turned and walked out the way he came in.

"I apologize Miss Barbara." Alfred rested a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I should have told you the real reason I was here..."

The redhead wheeled around to face him.

"You did what you thought was best. Just as he is doing." She touched the side of her head where a migraine was beginning to form. "I should be getting to bed."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Barbara smiled.

However, sleep did not come easy for the redhead. The conversation with Bruce rolled over and over in her head. The fact that the next morning she would no longer be Oracle haunted her. She had been a vigilante for so long that losing her calling hurt just as bad as losing the use of her legs.

Barbara's thoughts then turned to Helena. It had been a week and a day since the very sensual dream and still she had not gone to visit her.

However she may have no choice.

Finally, the redhead sat up in her bed.

But not today.

Dawn streaked in through a crack in the curtain and the smell of Alfred's cooking filled the room.

Barbara sighed and got into her chair. Might was well get up.

The redhead rolled out to the balcony. She noted that Bruce hadn't taken any of her equipment nor unplugged anything. He really had meant what he had said last night.

All he wanted was to protect what he had left.

As the sun came up, Barbara wished Helena was with her.

Tears slid down her face and the redhead didn't bother wiping them away.

Granted, the brunette would have fought tooth and nail for the clock tower but she would eventually come around to see Barbara's point of view. And still disagree.

Barbara grimaced. Another one of the many desirable traits of Helena Kyle.

"God Helena, why?" She whispered. "Why did you have to leave?"

Green eyes looked up to heaven.

"Could you please send her home?"

The tears dripped onto her lap.

"Send Helena home!" She screamed to rising sun.

---

The redhead's internal clocks seemed suspended in time as she sat there, letting her emotions pour out with her tears.

"Umm... Barbara?" Dinah walked out on to the balcony.

"Yes," the older woman choked out without turning around to face her charge.

"You coming inside to eat breakfast?"

"Yes, just give me a minute."

Dinah shifted uneasily on her feet.

"Umm... there's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead." Barbara wiped her eyes,

"I know you've been trying to kill yourself because you don't want to face Helena. And I just want to say that it's been me that's been stopping you."

The redhead turned around.

"How?"

"I discovered how to read people's mind without touching their skin when me and Gabby went out last year." The blonde blushed as she stared at her feet.

Barbara smiled. No doubt it had been an unexpected event under less than desirable circumstances.

"Go on Dinah, we can discuss your personal life later."

"So one day I tried to read yours and you were floating away to those golden gates. So I tried to pull you back and it worked." Dinah smiled. "However it left me unconscious."

The redhead nodded. She remembered that morning. Attempt number one had been an overdose of Tylenol and a dash of scotch. After she came back she found Dinah out cold in the training room. The younger woman had then said she was trying out some of her abilities on a punching bag and had overexerted herself. It was mostly true.

"And since then you have refined your ability?"

"Yeah and let me say that I was glad when you stopped."

The redhead glared at her.

"Seriously Barbara. Helena loves you back. She loves you so much. So why can't you go visit her?"

"I don't deserve her." The older woman turned away.

"Of course you do. After all that you have done for me, for Helena, for this city, you deserve something back." Dinah walked over to face her mentor. Cornflower blue eyes searched for green.

It was not until now that Barbara realized how far the clock tower was from the ground. A fall from this height would result in instant death. She had give up after attempt number ten. There had been no further reason to try unless the angel could be stopped. Now that she knew, Dinah had given her the motivation for one last try.

"Here goes number eleven," she muttered to herself.

"What ..." Barbara's strike was lightning fast and delivered with near surgical precision. Dinah slumped to the ground unconscious.

Barbara then rolled herself out to the edge of the balcony and seated herself on top of the ledge.

There was a moment of hesitation.

Was this really worth it?

To die to just escape not telling someone that you loved them back?

Green eyes looked over Dinah's unconscious body.

Her charge was right but with Bruce back ...

He understood that she loved Helena but would he really allow her to date his daughter? After what had happened last night?

Barbara leaned forward off of the clock tower still pondering the question.

Helena walked down the street with a bag of her things slung over her shoulder. She was amazed that nothing had changed since she left. Same old rank Gotham smell. When she caught sight of the clock tower, she picked up the pace a little.

Sam had been visited that day by her victim's parents and an all out brawl had ensued in the visiting room. The redhead was relegated to solitary confinement.

It had given the brunette the time to sort out her feelings and she had come to the conclusion that she was still in love with Barbara. Until she told her former mentor that, she wouldn't be able to love someone else. That particular redhead had captured heart and wouldn't let go until Helena found out if Barbara felt the same. In order to move on with Sam she would have to settle things with Barbara once and for all.

And her parole couldn't have come at a better time. However it still remained a mystery as to what had caused the parole board to set her free.

Then the brunette dropped the bag and leapt up to the nearest rooftop.

Her eyes had caught sight of Barbara falling.

---

Helena bolted from the ground and jumped as high as her metahuman abilities allowed onto the nearest fire escape. Once there, the brunette kept jumping up buildings, pushing herself harder than she had in years.

If Barbara died, so did her desire to be Huntress.

And to live pretty much.

God if she couldn't get to Red before she could tell her how she felt ...

The brunette shook her head. She couldn't think about that now.

Soon she made the final leap from a building to the side of the clock tower and reached for the redhead.

At first when Barbara felt something hit her back she thought that she had hit a gargoyle or some overhang.

Then she turned to meet cobalt eyes.

"Helena?"

"Heya Red hold on tight and I'll take care of the rest." The older woman wrapped her arms around the brunette's neck as her former charge suddenly twisted herself around to jump off of the side of the clock tower.

Barbara gripped a bit harder than was necessary. Sure she had done some dangerous things in her career as Batgirl, but nothing even came close to what had just happened.

Once they were safe on a building across from the clock tower, Helena set Barbara down on the rooftop and then turned to look at the clock tower's face.

"So what happened?" Feline eyes searched the balcony for any sign of an intruder but all she saw was Dinah getting to her feet.

Barbara let out a breath.

Well this was unexpected. The redhead had forgotten to add in the fact that Helena might get out of jail before she had killed herself.

Might as well tell her now. No doubt the brunette had already seen that was no one at the clock tower who would push her off the balcony.

"I tried to kill myself," Barbara said dejectedly.

Helena turned around to stare at her former mentor a second before answering.

"Why?" Red tried to commit suicide? That hadn't happened since they had moved in together after that night when Barbara lost her wings. This was not like her at all.

Did the Joker get out and do something so terrible even Oracle couldn't stand it? Did Dinah betray them? Did something happen to Alfred?

"I was ..." The older woman licked her lips nervously. "I was trying to avoid talking with you."

A dark eyebrow rose up in confusion.

That was it?

Wait did Barbara say she wanted to avoid her?

The redhead let a breath. This was not going to go over well. The younger woman was sometimes very pigheaded.

"You wanted to ...avoid ...me?" Why would Red want to stay away from her?

Helena took in a breath and began to pace back and forth in front of the older woman. She began to do a mental rundown of things she had done to deserve this. Most of them had happened when she had been the redhead's charge.

"Hel please sit. I'll explain everything."

The brunette didn't reply and continued to pace in front of Barbara.

Barbara sighed.

"When I started to date Wade I knew that he wasn't going to fit into our lives."

The brunette brushed that thought aside. No duh. He probably would have freaked out at the thought of people who could shoot laser beams from their eyes being the students he counseled.

'I fooled myself into loving him because it had been so long since anyone had made me feel that way." The redhead swallowed the words hard. Knowing them to be true was one thing but it was another to admit them out loud. "And he died because of my foolishness."

Helena paused to stare at her former mentor. Here we go again Red blaming herself for the world's problems.

Barbara held up a hand.

"Let me finish." The hand fell but Helena did not resume pacing.

Green eyes looked away from the younger woman.

"I wasn't sad during that time after Quinn's imprisonment because she was alive. I was sad because I had finally realized how much you loved me and I you." Barbara gripped her knees in an attempt to feel some sort of pain. "I don't deserve that kind of love Helena. Not after I had let Wade die and I ..."

"Oh Red." The brunette moved closer so she could hold her former mentor.

So it wasn't my fault at all, thought Helena. Then she frowned. And I murdered a person thinking that it was.

The redhead felt strong shoulders tense up and hugged the younger woman a little tighter.

She had killed a bad guy once or twice in her career but it had never been murder.

"I forgive you if you forgive me?" The older woman choked out.

"Of course." Helena smiled. If Red could forgive her for killing Quinn, the brunette had no problem forgiving Barbara for anything.

The redhead let out a content sigh. If the younger woman would kill for her, she would also over look her foolishness.

Then the reality of what had transpired earlier hit her.

"Hel," Barbara pulled back to look into cobalt eyes. "We need to go back to the clock tower."

The brunette nodded. No duh. Red was still in her PJs.

The younger woman picked up Barbara with ease and leapt down to the street level. It was a long jump from where they had been talking to the clock tower's ledge, too far for even the Huntress to jump. However there was a large crowd on the ground. Helena picked up bits about a woman falling of the clock tower and a figure jumping rooftops. And the police had been called.

So Helena slipped in between alleyways to avoid the crowd's eyes. No telling how much some of them had seen and could remember.

All the while Barbara snuggled down in the younger woman's arms. It had to be the most comfortable place on earth. Strong arms holding her back and legs. Soft breasts pressed against her side. Maybe she should fall off the clock tower more often just to get Helena to hold her.

Soon they had reached the secret elevator that lead up to the clock tower.

"Did you change the code Red?" Helena looked down into the older woman's face.

It felt right having Barbara in her arms and her nose said that her former mentor felt the same.

"Yeah. You need to ..." The brunette shifted her arms so that the redhead was sitting on one hand while Helen's other hand was wrapped around Barbara's stomach.

Barbara punched in the code and Helena stepped into the elevator.

"Uhm Helena?" The redhead figured if she was going to reveal her feelings for Helena, she might as well say what happened last night.

"Yeah?"

"Your father came back into town and he wants us to stop our little midnight escapades."

"Really?" Well wasn't that grand? Daddy's come back to take his city and he wasn't gonna share it. Once Red was settled she was gonna march over to the manor and kick his ass.

"Don't Hel." Barbara touched the brunette's arm. "We'll figure something out. But please don't hurt your father. He only wants to make things right."

Once again one dark eyebrow was quirked up in surprise.

"You sure about that Red?"

"Yes I'm sure." Barbara smiled as she gazed into the younger woman's eyes.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Honestly sometimes Barbara kept way too many secrets.

The older woman chuckled.

"Only that Dinah has refined her telepathic abilities to read minds without skin to skin contact."

Helena groaned. Just when she and Red finally were finally in something close to a relationship, the Kid could read their minds without touching them. Great. Just effin great.

Barbara smiled even broader. Yep, it was definitely great to have Helena back.

The elevator doors opened and it was an unexpected sight. Dinah was firing TK blasts at masked men who were clearly better skilled then she was. Some of them were trying to access the Delphi, while others were trying to open up the safe where Barbara kept some of the more lethal chemicals.

"You still keep a spare chair in the training room?"

The older woman nodded. What the hell had happened?

Helena danced through the men with ease and quickly she set the redhead in a wheel chair.

"I see you use manual ones now." The brunette grinned.

"It was you who sabotaged my stuff?"

"Well I couldn't let you keep hurting yourself so I tossed all the important stuff into the river."

Barbara groaned.

"We'll talk about this later."

Helena smiled before she dashed back out to the main area.

The redhead shook her head. The younger woman could be such an ass sometimes.

However Helena did have a very fine one.

Once Helena and Barbara joined the fray, the fight ended quickly and all the masked men were soon rounded up.

"Helena would you please interrogate our 'guests' while I tend to Dinah?" The redhead put her escrima sticks back inside of the compartment underneath the seat of her chair and wheeled toward Dinah, who had fallen down during some point of the fight and had not gotten up since.

"Sure Red." The brunette turned to one of the men and removed his mask as Barbara helped the blonde into her lap and wheeled them both over to the medical part of the clock tower.

"So does she know?" Dinah whispered.

"Yes." Barbara helped the younger woman up onto the table. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier."

"It's ok. At least Helena got to you in time." Barbara looked out to the main area to where the brunette was talking with the men.

If Helena had not been there she would have been street pizza. And she would not have gotten a chance to say how she felt.

Barbara sighed.

There would be time later to think about that later.

"Yeah it is. The redhead put on some gloves and began to examine her charge's legs. "It looks like both of your legs are broken."

"So does that mean I can use your mentally powered chairs?" The blonde asked hopefully.

"No." The redhead smiled as she wrapped the younger woman's legs. "Helena sabotaged them so they are junk now."

Dinah grimaced as Barbara set her bones straight.

"Damn it why does she always ..."

"Why does who do what?" Helena walked in.

"Never mind," the blonde grumbled.

Barbara grinned and began work on the other leg, which made her charge yelp. Helena chuckled.

"So did they say anything?" The redhead finished wrapping and tossed her gloves away.

"No. In fact they couldn't speak at all." The brunette hopped up to sit beside Dinah.

"Looks like someone cut out their vocal cords or something."

"All of them?" Emerald eyes scanned the Delphi area. There had to be at least thirty men out there.

"Yeah but I did find this on one of them. Helena pulled a business card.

It read Wayne Enterprises.

"Wait why would your dad send thugs to attack us?" Dinah looked at the two older women. "Barbara you said that he only wanted to help us."

"He did."

"But then why are there thugs out there Red?" The brunette gestured to the men. "And this in my hand." Helena waved the business card.

"I don't know Hel." The redhead rubbed the side of her head. "I don't know."

A silence filled the room as the three women sat there.

"Hey Dinah where's Alfie?" Helena asked.

"Oh he's tied up in the closet." Dinah answered.

Red and brown eyebrows rose up in surprise.

"Look after you fell Barbara I went inside to go down and help but Alfred came out and tried to shoot me so I knocked him out. And then ..."

"The thugs got you."

The blonde nodded.

Barbara let out a breath. This was shaping up to be one hell of a day.

Suddenly Helena smacked her forehead. Talking about Alfred had made her think of laundry.

"Shit!" she cursed.

"What?" Barbara asked.

"I left my stuff from in the street. I'll be right back." The brunette dashed to the elevator before the redhead could say a word.

"Well she's definitely back." Dinah tried to reseat herself but only grimaced in pain.

"Yeah she is." Barbara looked from where her former ward had been to her current charge. "Here, I'll get you a chair and we can look at surveillance."

Although it had felt like hours since she had first been making her way to the clock tower, the sun was still high in the sky.

Also there was still a crowd huddled around where she had leapt up to the rooftops and where Barbara had fallen. Now among the crowd were news teams and cameramen interviewing witnesses and cops.

What she heard wasn't even remotely close to the truth.

Even for Gotham a person who could meld into shadows was pretty odd. Wait hadn't there been a meta that she had arrested who had had that ability? Helena shook her head. She had to find her stuff before the ...

Feline eyes caught sight a cop going through her bag.

"Oh shit." The brunette slipped back into the shadows of the alleyway. Well what did you expect would happen? Helena thought.

Helena peered out from the alley and watched the cop sort through her things. There was no ID in there. The brunette's method of commuting did not involve vehicles and she didn't keep her bartending license on herself.

The only things in there were some clothes, cash, and keys.

Soon the cop discovered that was all there was and forced the contents back in before walking over to a fellow officer to report his findings.

Now or never.

Helena slunk out, grabbed her bag and leapt onto the nearest rooftop,

"Did you find anything?" Barbara asked as she hacked into Wayne Manor's security system.

"Nope just Alfred letting the thugs in." Dinah wheeled over to watch her mentor. "Why are you hacking into Bruce's place?"

"To see if he really did send those thugs." Bruce was usually a man of his word. It wasn't like him to do something like this.

Dinah nodded and the elevator dinged open.

"That's your stuff?" The blonde looked at the small carry-on the brunette had gone to fetch.

"Yeah they don't let you keep much in prison." Dinah winced.

"I'm sorry Helena it's just ..."

"It's ok kid." The brunette tossed her stuff onto a couch before coming over to the Delphi. "What is done is done."

Barbara smiled. Helena may have stayed the same, but she had apparently gained a little wisdom.

"Find anything Red?" Helena leaned in behind Barbara, her hand sliding down to the redhead's lower back.

"Just that your father and Alfred came to the manor with someone two days ago." Barbara pulled up the image of someone wearing a hooded sweatshirt walking with Bruce and the butler as she entangled her free hand with the younger woman's. "And that last night when Bruce returned to the manor the same person knocked him out and dragged him down to the cave."

"Isn't there surveillance in there?" Dinah asked.

"Yes but it must be disconnected because I can't get to it." Barbara leaned back to look into cobalt eyes.

"And you want me to go down there and take a look." Helena smiled.

"Well you are the last one standing Hel." The redhead grinned back.

The brunette sighed and released the older woman's hand to grab her comms.

"I better get some reward for this." Helena put on her comms and pecked the redhead on the cheek before she left.

"Do you two mind?" Dinah glared at Barbara.

---

Barbara had at some point acquired her old motorcycle, thinking that she could ride it when she finished her neural coupler thingy but since Helena had managed to foil that little scheme, the brunette had decided to use it ride up to the manor.

It rode pretty well considering it had been sitting around in the Batcave for quite some time with Red and Alfie only doing minor work on it.

"Looks like there's nobody home but in case the police ..."

"Find out that Bruce Wayne has been some how hypnotized? Oracle they were still questioning witness when I pulled this heap out of the garage."

"It's not a heap." Helena visualized the older woman pushing her glasses up her nose and glaring at her position on the map. God she was cute when she was annoyed.

"I meant it looks like a heap." It really did.

Red had been in the process of replacing the bat coverings with normal ones when Helena had thrown all that neural stuff out. And with the recent goings on at the clock tower, well let's just say the bike was what Helena wanted Barbara to be right now. Purring underneath her for a start.

"Is it running alright?" Helena revved the engine up into the next gear as she went through a tight turn.

"Never mind. Just bring it back in one piece okay?"

"Will do." The brunette smiled.

Helena revved it again and continued her trip up the hill. It was no surprise that there was no one out here. Her father only had time for the bad guys of Gotham.

Quicker than she wanted to, the vigilante passed through the gates of Wayne Manor.

The two-story mansion sprawled out over the hilltop overlooking Gotham Bay. It was built in the style of a castle with its high walls that surrounded the grounds and its back to the sheer cliff. How anyone could live out here so isolated and with next to nobody living with you was beyond Helena' comprehension.

Oracle had mentioned beforehand that their hooded friend had not left the cave since last night and neither had Bruce. Therefore it was no surprise that only Alfred' car was missing from the several cars parked in the back.

"Wow daddy loves his toys." From Ferraris to Lamborghinis, it was all here.

"Bruce always had an affinity for cars."

Helena rolled her eyes. Typical guy thing.

"Hey where's Canary?" She had not spoken to the blonde since she had left the clock tower and by now the kid would have piped in about something.

"She was complaining that she was in agony so I gave her some pain meds. She's asleep out on the couch." Helena walked in through a back door into a hallway.

"So does that mean once I get back ..."

"I'm entertaining the possibility Huntress." There was a hint of amusement in Red's voice.

"Any place particular I should check out before I head downstairs Oracle?" The brunette had reached the front hall.

Her eyes roved over the 'majesty' of the place. Authentic suits of armor lined up like you would expect along with a velvet carpet going up marble stairs. And what manor would be complete without a gold chandelier? Sure her mom had decked their home with spoils of her work but there was such a thing as too much.

The muted click of fingers running over keys sounded.

"In the study on the second floor there are a few papers scattered about as well as the sweatshirt that Bruce's new friend was wearing."

Helena nodded and ascended the staircase.

"Hel- Huntress I know how you feel about Bruce but he does give a portion of his money over to charities. And he has taken many under his wing like ..."

"I know Oracle. But ..." He abandoned my mother and me, Helena finished mentally.

After her mother died, Bruce did come to the funeral but the brunette only took one look at him.

Surely he must have known what it was like to lose a parent and how much she had needed support. Sure Barbara had been there and so had Alfred but you just don't turn your back on your only daughter.

"He said he left to test us." The stiffness of Red's voice indicated their feelings for Batman were mutual. "When he spoke to me last night, he did seem sincere about making up for lost time."

Helena let out breath.

She could be right. After all, Barbara had known Bruce a lot longer then she had.

"Yeah maybe." Helena had reached the top of the stairs.

"Down the left and second door on the right," Barbara said absently. No doubt she wanted to ask about what had happened in the clink. But her superhero edict said that you didn't mix personal issues with work.

Then where did that leave their relationship?

Red said that she loved Helena and Helena knew that it was not a lie. Hell, she felt the same but how would the older woman deal with this? With them?

Helena ran a hand over her face.

There was no need to worry. Barbara had dated Dick and they had worked together and it turned out all right.

Then why hadn't he come back from Bludhaven after that night? Not her problem and besides if this all fell apart there was always Sam to turn to.

"Anything there Huntress?" Barbara's voice woke the brunette from her reverie and she looked around the study.

Like the rest of Wayne Manor, the study was furnished with all the needs of a rich guy in mind.

A large desk, bookcases on every wall filled with all sorts of works, leather backed chairs and all that jazz. However she doubted Alfred would have overlooked the mess of papers scattered about the floor.

Helena picked up a paper and skimmed it. Dates and times of ships arriving and leaving

New Gotham filled the page. The vigilante reached for another one. This one entailed the names and numbers of doctors who specialized in odd diseases. A third revealed the transactions made in and out of Bruce's personal accounts, another paper with a patient's diagnosis.

"Well looks like someone is using Mr. Wayne's money to run a crime ring but also someone who wants to cure someone of a paranormal disease or something." She set the papers on the desk and picked up some more.

"That's unusual." No shit Red. "What particular ailment Huntress?"

"Uhh let's see ..." Helena leafed through papers. All the doctors seemed to be experts on everything but there were a few symptoms that kept coming up. "A vegetable state plus lots of brain activity that resembles rum sleep."

"Vegetative, Huntress, and REM sleep my dear." The brunette smiled at the endearment. It felt good to be admonished by her favorite redhead. "All I'm getting is a woman named Emma Thomas. She was transferred to New Gotham General just three days ago from Montreal. Apparently Bruce was interested in her case and had her brought here."

"Are there any leads as to what caused her condition?" The vigilante set down the loose papers and picked up a couple of files.

"No. Maybe the person who rendered Bruce unconscious is a relative of Mrs. Thomas and was a little impatient with him." There was a pause. "And then that person took over Bruce's mind, which would explain his recent behavior."

"Then what's with all the shipping documents?" Helena turned the page of a file. "And a list of people who have access to illegal drugs."

Then something struck her.

"Hey Oracle can't you hack into Wayne Enterprises and look all this stuff up on your own?"

Her eyebrows went up at a particular address. It was the same as Buddy's.

Barbara had still not answered.

"You still there?"

"I designed the firewalls for them so well that I can't break them." Red's voice sounded none too pleased.

"Oh." Helena set the files down.

"After Bruce left, I thought it best to secure his assets to make sure no one could mess with them. Not even me."

The brunette nodded. Made sense. Red would do whatever she could to protect her former mentor. Just as she had.

"Okay so maybe our perp needs the extra cash so he organized an a little bad guy business to get some more dough."

"Probably Huntress."

"Well looks like that's all I can find so should I head down to the basement?" Helena began to walk out.

"It looks like it Huntress. The rest of Mr. Wayne's files are at Wayne Enterprises."

"So how do I get down there?" Helena vaulted over the staircase and landed on the ground floor.

Somewhere she had heard Alfred mention a grandfather clock. Speaking of which what was up with the Bat Family and clocks?

"The grandfather clock in the parlor room. Set the hands to six o'clock." The sounds of Red typing clicked away. Oh how she could not wait to back to the clock tower to have those nimble fingers doing ...other things. "Watch out Helena. We don't know who or what took down Mr. Wayne."

"Yeah I know." Helena opened the glass door and turned the hands.

The grandfather clock moved inward to reveal an elevator and the brunette stepped inside.

Once she had, the doors closed and Helena felt herself descend into her father's lair.

"There any traps down here Oracle?"

"No. Bruce disarmed them before he was incapacitated."

"Maybe someone is making him do this."

"Well we can definitely rule out Quinn and all the other hypnotic metahumans are all incarcerated or under the government's protection."

Helena nodded. No doubt Red had a hand in putting some of them there.

"So it might be a metahuman that's not in your database, like Canary?"

"I've improved my system since then Huntress. This guy would have to be born in a place that is totally isolated from the rest of the world for me not know about it."

The doors opened.

"We'll find out soon enough."

Helena stepped out and immediately dilated her eyes, as far they would go. There was next to no light down here. Even with her enhanced sight, it was still pretty dim.

What little light there was came from the huge computer against a wall and fell against the trophies her father had collected over the years.

She knew all the stories behind them from what Barbara and Alfred had told her: a huge coin from Two-Face, a gangster puppet from the Ventriloquist, a playing card from the Joker ...she could probably recite the stories just as well as her father could.

But she wasn't here to admire her father's trophies. Heck, to her they weren't that impressive.

No the only important thing here was whoever was behind the chair in front of the Batcomputer.

"See anything Huntress?"

"Nah just someone at the computer," she whispered. No telling what kind of powers this person might have.

"Be careful." Jeez, when did Red not worry?

Helena walked as quietly as her catlike feet allowed toward the console.

Streams of data flooded the screen, faces of criminals and what they were doing, GPS locations of ships and aircraft, how much money was lost and gained, and out of place were the reports of a few doctors' diagnoses of Emma.

"Interesting case." The chair moved slightly as its occupant jumped.

"Look I don't care how you got in here but you should probably leave." The chair spun around to reveal Bruce Wayne. "Helena!"

Indeed he had the brunette's eyes. They roamed over his daughter.

"Hello daddy."

"I guess Barbara told you the way in?" He pressed a few buttons and the place lit up.

Helena blinked at the brightness as her eyes readjusted

"Yeah." Bruce's eyes kept looking over Helena's shoulder as if expecting someone. "You waiting for someone?"

"Well more like ...?"

"Who is she?"

Two sets of cobalt eyes turned to look at a boy walking in from a deeper part of the cave.

He wore unwashed jeans and a T-shirt but besides that there was nothing normal about him. His eyes were pure white as was his hair and a mist seemed to float around him, passing through him. Not mist, Helena realized as her mind registered that part of the mist resembled a woman. Ghosts.

"Michael, this is my daughter Helena. She was just worried about me and decided to come up here." Bruce sounded scared. His scent confirmed it. What on earth could scare the Batman?

"You said she didn't want to talk with you after you left Gotham." The figure near Michael morphed into her mother and her father began to tremble.

"Holy ..." Barbara gasped. The lights must have also turned on the surveillance.

"I changed my mind." Helena licked her lips nervously. Her mother was here. After all this time ... "When Barbara said that he was back in town ..."

The white eyes pinned Bruce and Selina became clearer.

"I thought you took care of this last night." Michael balled his fists at his side.

"I did my best Michael, I swear, but Barbara never really listened to me ..." The figure of Selena winced as if in pain and Bruce was thrown against the wall.

"Wait if he can control ghosts then maybe ..." Barbara typed vigorously.

"Maybe what?" Helena tried not to move her lips. What was this guy, a ghost whisperer or something? If he was forcing her mom to do stuff after she died ...

"Maybe his mom died and he tried to put her soul back into her body. But it didn't work completely. That's why he needed Bruce's finances and doctors and the crime ring."

"To put her soul back," Helena finished. "And he wanted to make sure that we didn't get involved so he sent Bruce to detain us along with the thugs. But who cut out the tongues?"

"You say something?" The white gaze was now on her.

"I know what it's like to lose someone you love." The brunette swallowed something in her throat. "I know how much it hurts."

"No you don't." The vigilante's meta skills kicked in just in time to duck a swarm of flying weapons rushing for her.

"I lost my dad in a car crash when I was I six years old. He left to go down to the town for supplies and he died." Michael trembled with anger as a case that held Mr. Freeze's gun broke apart, glass flying towards her in the same manner as the various Batarangs and other assorted weapons.

Her mother's form bent over in agony and at the sight Helena growled. When she was done with this guy ...

"Huntress hold on. Nightwing will be over shortly."

What?

"When did the Boy Wonder suddenly get involved?" Helena danced out of the way of the projectiles in a series of cartwheels and flips.

He had no right to come back. Not after he had abandoned the person he said he loved. If Bruce's absence pissed her off, Dick's infuriated her. No one should treat Barbara like that.

Nobody.

"Bruce had sent for him after he decided to take the city back. Even he needs a partner."

"And you're telling me this now?" Helena leapt up and tried to land a punch on Michael's face, but was prevented by the parts of the now destroyed weapons case forming into shield of sorts. An anguished cry from the departed Selina Kyle made the brunette wince.

"I thought I could slow down his arrival, but he called me just as I began tracking him."

Barbara let out an exasperated breath. "I thought I could talk to him before he could find out about us."

"Why are you doing this? You're hurting your own mother." The brunette was hurled back toward the console but a quick cat leap ended that idea.

"No Michael, you're the one who's doing whatever you're doing." Helena straightened up to stare at him. "And since I don't know anything about losing someone, even though my dead mother is right there, why don't you tell me about losing a parent."

"Why do you care?" Selina's screams grew louder.

"Stop it! I won't hurt my family!"

"Shut up!" Sweat began to bead on the boy's face.

"No!" Selina's voice had now turned vicious, almost inhuman.

The figure of her mother transformed into a panther and attacked Michael. Scratches appeared on his chest as he fell to the ground. More appeared on his face as the boy tried to curl up in ball.

"Oracle what on earth is happening?" Helena tried to get a good look at what her mother was doing. Her form didn't touch the boy but wounds appeared nonetheless.

"I don't know Helena but I would advise against trying to intervene."

"No shit."

Soon more mist, more ghosts, appeared and assaulted Michael as well. Bruises formed and the sounds of bones breaking began. His screams were lost in the angry shouts of the spirits. When he finally stopped making noise, the ghosts disappeared.

All but Selina, who approached her daughter in her human form.

"Mom?" The brunette asked tentatively.

"Yes it's me Kitten." A phantom hand reached up to stroke her cheek, but it passed right through caramel skin. "I can't stay much longer but please tell your father I'm sorry for hurting him."

"Yeah." Helena licked her lips. "I'll do that."

"And forgive him Kitten." The former Catwoman looked back to the boy on the floor.

"You've already lost me. Don't lose you're father as well."

"I'll try." The brunette sniffed as she felt tears forming. God she had lost her once and now she was losing her again. Life sucked.

"Don't cry." Selina smiled. "One day we'll be together again." The older woman grinned wider. "But I think Barbara can help you with that loneliness problem until then."

And she was gone.

Helena laughed as the tears came out. Of course her mother would know about her and Red. Her mother could always see those things.

"Helena I'm sorry." Red sounded like she had cried too. "If there's anything I can do ..."

"Uh yeah." Cobalt eyes looked over Michael who was now moaning in pain. "Where's the first aid kit cause I think Mr. Spirit Master needs a little tending to."

"Of course. It should be over there by the other chemicals."

Helena nodded and got it.

As she began bandaging cuts, her father came to.

"Helena ..." He surveyed the damage and his eyes widened in astonishment. They widened even more when they saw Michael's condition. "Here let me help you with that."

"You sure you're up to that old man?" The brunette smirked.

"If I can handle a clown faced killer and murdering plants I think I can survive stitching up a crazed medium after being knocked out by my lover's ghost." Bruce pressed a hand to his head as he got up.

"Alright." Helena tossed her father some gauze.

"Good to see you guys getting along." The smile was more than evident in Barbara's voice.

"Don't be so sure of that Red."

"Talking to Barbara?"

"Yeah."

"Tell her I'm sorry about what I said last night. I was only trying to prevent you guys from facing him." He gestured to Michael. "If I couldn't face seeing Selina's ghost, you guys couldn't either."

"Tell him I hear him and say I forgive him. I would have done the same if it had been you Helena."

The brunette relayed the message and her father smiled.

"So how did this guy get his powers?" Helena asked.

"Apparently he discovered them a year after his father died in a drunk driving accident. They lived up in the mountains in Canada. His father left to go to the town to get supplies and wrong place, wrong time. On the anniversary of his death, Michael tried to bring his father's spirit back into his body but he was dead way too long."

"And the condition of his mother?" Barbara inquired,

"A year ago she got cancer. Michael sat by her until she passed and then he tried to bring her back. He almost succeeded but something went wrong and ..."

"She became a vegetable with dreams." The brunette finished

"Exactly, so he scared people into getting money any way he could to get the best doctors to fix her."

That explains all the illegal activity," mused Barbara.

"Are they close?"

Bruce shook his head,

"No matter what they pump into her, they can't get the soul all the way back in her body."

They had finished all they could. For a bunch of dead people, those ghosts sure knew how to beat a person down.

"So what happens now?" Helena packed the kit back up, her father cleaning up the mess.

"Depends on him." Bruce gestured toward Michael. "He's the only who can send his mother back and the only one who knows everything about the crime ring."

The billionaire began to walk over to the elevator but then turned around to look at his daughter.

"I think you should talk to him. Not because I can't but because Dick's going to be here any minute and I have a hunch that you two will not get along so well."

Helena smiled.

"But," he looked away for a moment. "There is one more thing I have to say. The reason I was so scared of your mother's ghost was because I failed her. I was so focused on being Batman that I forgot to be Bruce Wayne. Your mother wanted both and I failed to be that for her."

He smiled. Oddly, it looked right on him.

"I lied to Barbara when I said I left to test you two, and Dinah. I left because I felt that I had failed you too, just like I had your mother. But ..."

"But?" Wow her father was being, well, fatherly.

"But now I see that I haven't failed you. Or at least not yet if you will forgive me for being an ass."

"Maybe if you can get Dick to talk to Barbara. She and him need to smooth things over if me and her ..."

Bruce raised a hand. When did people start doing that? Did it have to do with being a mentor or something?

"Say no more. Just make sure our guest understands what needs to be done." And with that he went up the stairs.

Helena let out a content sigh.

"Well aren't you going to say something?"

"Like what Hel?"

"Like that I shouldn't be messing around in your life and I had no right to?"

A throaty laugh filled the brunette's ears.

"Actually I'm glad you handled that Hel. Dick can be, well a ..."

"A dick."

"Exactly." Again there was a smile in the redhead's voice. "And it looks like our little ghost friend is waking up."

Helena turned around and sure enough her white haired friend was sitting up, or at least trying to.

"Hey I would advise against that bub. Your little spirit friends did quite the little number on you, and me and my dad could only do so much."

"Why?" Gone was the anger in his voice as well as the white eyes. They were now a deep blue.

"Because it's part of my code." The brunette walked over and crouched down beside him

"Even the bad guy deserves to be tended to. Some less then others, but yeah."

"Even after I forced you and your dad to see your mom. After I used her energy to almost kill you both and I ..."

"You can stop at any time." Cobalt eyes closed for a moment. Okay it was nice for the bad guy to admit he was wrong but not when she already knew everything. "Look all you need to do is to let your mom go. I know it sucks but what you have done to her is a lot worse. I mean honestly you think she enjoys having dreams nonstop and being unable to wake up?"

"No I guess not." He sighed.

"But how do you deal with letting someone go?"

Helena paused before answering. Maybe she should have gone to talk with Dick. That couldn't have been as hard as talking with Michael about this stuff.

"You remember them every day and use what they taught you." The vigilante smiled briefly. "And do your best to make them proud."

The boy sat there a while, his brain soaking in the words.

"You were right earlier. You do know what it's like to lose someone." Michael closed his eyes and a ghost appeared.

"His mother," Barbara murmured.

"Bye mom." The mist disappeared.

The white haired boy closed his eyes again and Helena checked his pulse so make sure he hadn't killed himself with the exertion of releasing someone into the afterlife.

"I don't remember this being in the job description." Helena heaved a sigh as she picked up the boy to take him to a hospital.

"What do you mean Helena?"

"Teaching people wrong from right."

---

Well Helena certainly hadn't lost her touch, thought Barbara as she finished sending police down to pick up another bad guy bagged by the Huntress.

After getting Michael to New Gotham General, the boy had given up the names of all the crime ring bosses who answered him and surprisingly the brunette had agreed to pick all of them up that night.

Literally all of them and not once did she have to reprimand the brunette about being too rough with the bad guys. All that time in prison must have taught her that violence was not the only answer.

And the way that she talked with Michael with just Bruce's suggestion was just unbelievable. Would Helena never cease to amaze her?

"Are there any more out there Oracle?"

Barbara leaned back in her chair and let out a content sigh. With the sudden return of the Huntress, crime tonight had dropped dramatically and that made rounding up the crime bosses a whole lot easier.

"No Huntress, that was the last one. You can come in now." The redhead closed the windows and put the Delphi in standby mode.

"So I guess I'd better leave the before she finds out I'm still here?"

Dick said as walked up the platform.

"Yes you had better." Barbara smiled.

When Dick had first arrived at the clock tower, she had wanted to hurl all sorts of projectiles at him for abandoning her after the shooting. But apparently there had been a crime wave in Bludhaven during the same time period so it made things a little bit more understandable.

And he had apparently begun to see someone else during that time as well.

"Alright then, I wish you and Helena the best." He turned around and exited via the elevator.

Their relationship had begun to fall apart anyway after Dick decided to become Nightwing. The night of the shooting had just been the final straw.

So now that was taken care of, time to prepare for the bottomless pit of a stomach named Helena Kyle.

After Alfred had woken up again he had stocked the kitchen cupboards until they were ready to burst in penitence for his previous behavior. He said that he hadn't meant to do anything like that, but apparently Michael could also force ghosts to possess people and when the boy had released Selina he had also relinquished other ghosts as well. The same thing had probably happened with the guys who had attacked them earlier and Bruce slipped them a card to warn them as best he could.

The redhead gathered a box of strawberry Poptarts, a jug of milk, some brownies, and whatever else the brunette would gorge herself with after a long night of crime fighting on a tray and wheeled it out to the living room to wait.

No sooner had Barbara done so than did she feel strong arms wrap around her waist and soft lips kiss her cheek.

"Hello Hel." The older woman got out after a beat. How could one touch make her lose her mind so easily?

"Heya Red." Helena smiled. After a hard night's work there was nothing better than a little taste of her favorite redhead.

"I brought out some food for you to save you the trouble of sifting through the cupboards." Barbara gestured to the tray she had set on the coffee table.

"Oh Red, that's half the fun." The brunette grinned sarcastically as she moved around to sit beside her former mentor.

Barbara frowned in confusion.

"Well I just thought that ..." Before she could finish Helena kissed her.

Sometimes Red needed to not think so much.

The redhead let out a low moan, the feel of silken lips against her own was too much, and the younger woman seized the opportunity by deepening the kiss; her studded tongue mapping out the older woman's mouth.

Barbara reached for Helena's head and returned the favor. She was not going to let the younger woman off so easily. Helena smiled briefly into the kiss and placed her hands on the redhead's waist, gently running fingers over the muscles beneath her shirt.

The light touches on her abdomen made the older woman's skin burn even through the thin material of her shirt and she tentatively attempted to return the favor.

The callused hands on Helena's face ran over her neck and shoulders, sending a shiver through the younger woman. How long had she waited for Barbara to touch her like this?

When they finally came to rest on rounded breasts, Barbara applied her memories of past experiences with men and lightly squeezed the flesh between her hands.

Helena broke away from the kiss as her hands convulsed against the redhead.

"Shit," she breathed. No doubt if she opened her eyes Red would see feline eyes staring back at her, not human.

"Helena?" Barbara attempted to pull her hands away. Had she done something wrong? The brunette had stopped moving and was now resting against her.

"Don't stop." Helena kept the older woman's hands where they had been and pulled away to look into emerald eyes. "I like it when you touch me like that."

Barbara didn't know how long she stared into feral eyes. The need-filled gaze was impossible to look away from. Then she remembered there was another person in the apartment.

"We should probably move to bed Hel, the drugs I gave Dinah might wear off." Barbara felt her skin begin to burn again. "And I doubt she wants to see us participating in ... um ... personal activities."

Helena smiled and licked her lips. Yes the bed would most definitely be a better place to finish this.

"Okay." The brunette pulled back and saw that Barbara's chair was not too far away.

"I'd prefer you Hel."

The older woman grinned, she had seen cobalt eyes note the location of her chair and she kissed Helena again. She had waited too long for this and if the brunette was okay with her fumbling through the finer points of their changed relationship, then she could let go of her independence for a little while.

When the kiss was over, all Helena could do was nod and pick Barbara up. The woman had a way with words, and her mouth.

Emerald eyes stared up at the ceiling while callused hands traced Greek symbols against caramel skin. That whole saying about the original being the best was true in this case. The actual experience of sex with the brunette was way better than the dream she had had.

Helena seemed to agree judging by the sound of her purring contently.

"Hey Red there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

The older woman had admitted to falling in love with her and feeling not worthy of her love but there was just one little detail that was nagging at Helena.

"What?" Barbara looked down at the woman in her arms. No doubt it was a topic that other people abhorred the very idea of discussing.

"Did you come and visit me one day almost a year after I was booked into the joint?" If Red had been so against not seeing her then why did she come?

The older woman closed her eyes for a moment and used the free hand to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Do I really have to answer that?" The redhead was hoping Helena wouldn't ask about that, that maybe the brunette had forgotten all about that.

"Yes you will and if you don't ..." Helena shifted restlessly on top of Barbara. "Then I won't have sex with you again until you tell me."

Barbara's eyebrows shot to her hairline.

"You're kidding right?"

Here she was. The luxurious sensual Helena Kyle was lying on top of her and if she didn't answer a highly undesirable question, she would not experience again the glorious things that two women could make each other feel.

Some forms of torture were simply too great to name.

"Nope." The younger woman's smile resembled that of a Cheshire cat.

The answer was either a) very complicated or b) very embarrassing. In either case her mind could finally choose between Sam or Barbara. She had told the other redhead to call today and thus far she hadn't. Barbara had said she didn't want to see her but that day when she fought Bridget, Helena swore she had seen the older woman.

Barbara let out a breath. Heck they were already exposed.

"Yes I did."

"Why?" The younger woman gestured for more. There were no straightforward answers with Oracle.

"To prove my hypothesis that I was in love with you." Barbara paused as she reminisced that day. The way Helena had looked when she saw her and what she did to that blonde. .

"And it also confirmed that I didn't deserve you."

Helena nodded. Of course Red must have seen the fight and that only added to the lengths she would go to protect the older woman.

"Thank you for telling me." The brunette kissed a pale breast. "I needed to hear that."

Yep Red one, Sam zero. Game over.

"Okay ..." Barbara peered down at Helena curiously but decided to let it go.

Some things were just better left unsaid.

---

Helena yawned as she plopped herself down on the counter to enjoy her Poptarts and milk. Man, for someone who didn't get much action Red knew a lot about how to make someone feel good. After the brunette's little Q and A session the older woman had been relentless. Even with her meta healing some of those bruises were going to take some time to heal.

Helena smiled as she took another bite. Yep it was most definitely good to be back.

"Oh." The meta looked up to see Dinah sitting in one of Barbara's old wheel chairs in the doorway clad in her sleepwear. "I guess those pain meds Barbara gave me really worked."

"Yeah." The brunette smiled even broader.

"Did I miss anything?" the younger woman ducked into the fridge as a blush began to creep up her face.

Hmm let's see there was finding out about Gotham's latest crime boss who is also some sort of ghost talker and me and your guardian finally did it. Yeah you didn't miss much.

"Define anything." Both women jumped at the voice of Bruce Wayne.

"Hey Dad." Helena set down her breakfast to walk over and give him a hug.

Heck if she had been through what he had been through a hug would be much appreciated.

When the brunette pulled back there was a look of surprise in her father's eyes and a smile on his lips. And Dinah's jaw had probably fallen all the way through to the other side of the world.

"Since when did ...how did ..." the blonde kept looking between the two of them.

"Dinah don't worry I'll explain it all later." All three of them turned around to see Barbara wheel in.

Helena already munching on sugar, check. Bruce stopping by to see his daughter, check.

Dinah in complete confusion, check. Life was definitely back to whatever normal was for them.

"Okay." Dinah's voice was calm but her cornflower blue eyes didn't stop shifting between Batman and his daughter.

The brunette chuckled as she walked over to buss the redhead's cheek.

"Morning beautiful." Helena whispered into a pale ear.

"Indeed Hel." Barbara turned the younger woman's face towards hers for a quick kiss.

As she pulled back, emerald eyes met feral blue and the older woman felt the urge to pull Helena onto her lap but two people clearing their throats ended any chance of that.

"Well that confirms my suspicion of who Helena slept with last night." Dinah breathed as she pulled out a jug of orange juice from the fridge.

"And it seems that I can leave New Gotham's worst to three of the best crime fighters this city has seen." Bruce smiled.

"You're leaving already?" Helena asked. What the hell, just when her life seemed perfect it was falling apart again.

Barbara blinked in surprise. After all that had happened it had seemed like Bruce was finally going to understand the meaning of family. But then again, she had been wrong before.

"Just the vigilante lifestyle Helena." The billionaire suddenly found his shoes the most interesting thing in the room. "Being Batman has cost me a lot. Selina, you, and almost you Barbara." Bruce met their gazes again. "So I'm leaving that to you guys so I can get to know you better."

"Bruce ..."

"Dad ..."

And then Alfred walked in.

"Sorry I'm late Miss Barbara it's just that I went to ..." The elderly butler stopped as he realized what he was walking in on. "Oh dear ... Master Bruce I ..."

"Alfred it's okay." The billionaire chuckled and then looked at the Birds again. "So you are all okay with this?"

"Yeah," Helena said without hesitation. Now they could make up for all that lost time.

"Yes," Barbara said smiling. He truly had changed.

"Well looks like even if I were to object I would be overruled so my answer is the same." Dinah shrugged.

Bruce nodded.

"Then I'll see you around." With that he left.

Silence hung in the air as the realization that Batman was gone sunk in.

"So does anyone want some pancakes?" Alfred asked hopefully.

Helena was slammed into the ground with an audible thud.

"Huntress get up!"

"So I can get beat down again?" Feline eyes looked up, way up, into the eyes of her adversary.

Somehow Bane's venom serum had gotten onto the streets and now there were super strong steroid addicts running all over the place. And they were way stronger than her.

"Huntress we've faced harder situations. You know we have. Do want me to call Canary in to save your ass?"

The guy grabbed her neck and lifted her up.

"What got no fight left in ya little lady?" He grinned at her.

"Yeah you took it all out of me." The brunette gasped.

"Helena you had better find some more fight because I want you to come back tonight. You served two years in prison for us. Surely you can kick a pumped up addict back to Timbuktu?"

Finally, Helena thought. Was wondering when she would finally say it.

The brunette kicked the guy in the nuts, causing him to drop her. The vigilante wasted no time in seizing the chance to sweep his feet from underneath him.

Helena swore she felt the earth shake from the guy hitting the ground.

Barbara leaned back in her chair and let out breath of relief. Sometimes she loved Helena, other times not so much. But the times she loved the younger woman far out numbered the times she didn't love her quite so much.

Then a thump and rustle signaled said person's arrival.

The redhead smiled as she wheeled out to the balcony.

"Hey." Helena stared down at her shoes. "Thanks for the positive reinforcement even though I probably didn't deserve that."

"I knew you could do it." Barbara gestured for the brunette to come closer. "And you're always worth saving Helena. Now come here..."

FIN

---