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ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Snarks and Insults
By Merfilly
After the night of dealing with the Not-Batgirl meta kid, and Oracle telling them to go home, while she handled talking to said strange meta kid, Dinah was jumpy. Of course, Helena was still shaken; their pursuit of the gunman had ended badly and Helena could not shake the image of the girl taking the shot for her.
"Hel…shake it," she urged. "The kid's with Babs, and we need to go think who wants you specifically hurt like that," Dinah said. "I told Josh and Gypsy to go home. Let's do the same and let Zinda off babysitting duty."
"I'll head back to my place," the brunette began, but Dinah latched onto her hand.
"No, 'Spinster', I think you need to come with me," Dinah insisted. "Consider it protective custody." She flashed a grin at the way Helena bridled to the insult.
"Look, 'Tramp', I don't need someone watching over me," the mafia daughter retorted, but she went with the pull, following Dinah back to where the woman had left her bike. As much as Helena liked her own motorcycle, there was a small thrill involved with riding Dinah's. The smaller woman was so much a part of her bike, that she was sure the younger Green Arrow would equate it as an exercise in Zen, the way Dinah coaxed the motorcycle through the streets of Metropolis to her flower shop, where she now lived above it with Sin.
"I have some leftovers in the fridge, or there's a Thai place that delivers," Dinah offered. "Twenty four hour living is good," she added with a grin, securing her bike before leading Helena in through a rear entrance.
"Only you would know the Thai place that delivers at three am…what's wrong with some good, old fashioned Italian?" Helena teased her, closing the door and running over the locks. When she turned back, Dinah was standing in her space.
"I don't know, some old fashioned Italian might be pretty damn nice," Dinah said, a gleam in her eyes that made Helena shiver. She tried to move away, and Dinah danced away with glee at having unnerved her. They made their way upstairs into the apartment, where Dinah hugged Zinda and then immediately went to check on her daughter.
"There's some really good chili in the fridge," Zinda told Helena, making the woman blanch.
"Chili?" Thoughts of all the tales of Oliver Queen Chili floated though her mind, and she wondered just what her partner was up to.
"Yep, got some real zing." The pilot left then, and Helena got into the fridge. Sure enough, the chili was homemade, and she had a sneaking suspicion the beer next to it was not Dinah's normal drink of choice.
The woman in question joined her, smiling softly. Helena had to admit, for all Barbara's misgivings, motherhood was truly agreeing with the blonde. She almost hated that she was about to stir the hornet's nest, seeing that look on Dinah's face.
"Talk to Queen lately?" the brunette asked, trying to keep a neutral tone.
"Not since he called to be sure I had all the papers for Sin," Dinah said, perplexed. "Why…Oh, the chili." She gave an embarrassed smile as she accepted the bowl Helena had warmed for her. "Roy stopped by, to see I was settling in, and to let the girls play. Lian is not so sure about me having another little girl in my life. And he had been through Star City, so he snagged the latest batch for me." Dinah ducked her head, blushing far too readily for a person who lived by making others walk a thin line between lust and love.
"Why don't you just admit what you want?" Helena growled impatiently, before trying the chili. "Damn…what does he put in this?"
"Trade secret…and I've never gotten it quite right, so Roy or Connor sneak it to me." She watched as Helena shook her head in amusement. "The stuff is addictive and I ate it for…" Her joking tone fell, and Helena could see it written across her face. Dinah Lance had been the butt of the hero community's cosmic joke, sticking with a man who cheated for longer than many had been heroing.
"Hey, Dinah…" Helena tipped the other woman's chin up when she tried to look down. "Don't make me call you Tramp again just to remind you of the fact you moved on." That got another chuckle out the blonde.
"Spinster."
The pair fell into hysterical giggles, trying to relieve the tension of the night, of the unknowns they had tried to solve and gotten nowhere on. They had to hold each other up, as the fit would not pass. Dinah could smell the heavy scent of her partner's cologne, and almost taste the dried sweat, and they were so close anyway….
Helena gasped as the blonde's lips locked on her throat, the flicking of her tongue doing a number on both her pulse and her breathing.
"Dinah?!" She tried to stop her, bringing her hands up to Dinah's shoulders, but the feel of that bare, smooth skin undid her resolve to not sleep with teammates anymore.
"Hmm," Dinah purred, moving closer, so that they were touching more fully, the chili forgotten, or nearly so. Helena eyed it one last time before sweeping Dinah to the bedroom, wondering if Queen's secret ingredient was an aphrodisiac.
The End