DISCLAIMER: Birds of Prey and its characters are the property of Miller/Tobin Productions, Warner Brothers and DC comics. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Edited by Aussie & nightstorm.
FEEDBACK: To jagurin[at]gmail.com

The Thin Line Between Love & Hate
By Jaguarin

Part 5

Barbara walked inside the clock tower and threw her cowl on one of the tables, in a bad mood. She let herself fall on her chair in front of the main monitor.

Dammit. Why was Helena so damn closed off?

She rested her left elbow on the arm of the chair and rubbed her chin, lost in her thoughts.

"No luck?" Alfred asked, walking inside the platform with a warm cup of coffee.

"That girl is so hard headed."

"I suppose, then, that you couldn't convince her."

"She thinks this is a game," Barbara said angrily. "She doesn't see that the situation is really bad."

"I suppose you will be working extra hours, babysitting her."

"You suppose well." The redhead took the warm cup of coffee. "I don't want to see her with a hole in her head."

"If she finds out you are following her, she will be pissed."

"She always is, so I'm not worried about it, Alfred."

"True."

"These people are very serious." She looked at him. "It seems Helena has been blocking some drug deliveries. They have lost millions of dollars and are not exactly happy."

"She is doing an excellent job."

"I know, but she still is so impulsive. She really will get herself killed during one of her outbursts." Barbara sipped a bit of her coffee.

"Are you going to work late tonight?"

"Yes, I'll work on the Delphi trying to find more info." She put the cup to a side. "I'm sure that whoever is behind this is connected with the police."

"Why do you think that?"

"It's a feeling. It's curious that the police still don't have anything on this case, and the only evidence obtained was lost."

"It's not much."

"But it's all I have," the redhead replied, resting her chin on her crossed fingers.

"I hope you find who is behind this, soon."

"I was at her apartment today, Alfred," the redhead said.

"I know, you told me you would find her there." The butler crossed his hands behind his back.

It's a real mess. She needs you."

"I know, but when she discovered you were Batgirl, she moved apartments and she didn't tell me anything, so I guess it would be imprudent to appear if she doesn't call me."

"But she has gone to visit you at the manor."

"Yes, but we talk about everything except you or her father."

"She is so hard to read." The redhead stared at the screen of her monitor.

"At least she talks to you."

"She just wants to annoy me and starts her verbal combat with Batgirl."

"But she still talks to you."

"I don't know if that is an advantage or a disadvantage."

"Time will tell," he responded

"Yes." She leaned over her computer and began to type at her keyboard.

Barbara worked at the orphanage. She hadn't expected to be there for so long, but there were many things to do. She had arrived early, almost at eight and now it was close to two pm. The director of the orphanage was talking by phone, making some appointments.

Suddenly, a child walked inside the room, crying and all wet.

"What happened?" Barbara asked, worried. She stood up and walked to the girl.

"They threw water balloons at me!" she sniffed. "It was my new dress!!"

"Who threw water balloons?" the redhead asked, wiping the girl's face with a tissue.

The girl cried, "I dunno."

"You don't know?"

"No."

"All right, let me see. Where did it happen?" the redhead asked.

"Outside." The child pointed to her back.

Barbara moved her head and made a sign to the director. "Let me check. I'll be right back." The other woman nodded.

It was common that kids loved to play tricks on and abuse the smaller ones. She took the girl's hand.

"Show me where," Barbara said.

The girl walked with her to the back door and stopped there. She lifted her arm and pointed to the garden.

The redhead walked outside, noticing the floor close to the door was wet. As soon as she crossed the door frame, three water balloons hit her.

"What the…?" she growled, covering her head.

"Oh fuck," Helena mumbled.

She was sitting with Justin, the little kid that had become her friend, in a big tree next to the door.

Barbara looked up, annoyed. Justin and Helena were at the top of the tree.

"It was her!" Justin shouted, pointing at the brunette.

"Traitor." Helena glared at him. "I will leave you hanging here for life."

"Justin and Helena, come here right now!" Barbara shouted wiping her face.

"She is pissed," Justin whispered.

"I know, genius." The brunette sighed, "Come on."

Barbara shook her hands to in an attempt to dry some of the water on her. Helena landed smoothly on the floor a few steps from her holding Justin and a pail filled with water balloons.

"Helena," Barbara glared at her "Why do you give Justin these ideas?"

"It was his idea, not mine," the brunette replied placing Justin on the ground.

"What?" Justin said. "You told me it would be fun! You brought the balloons!"

Barbara lifted her eyebrow and cocked her head at the younger woman.

The brunette glared at him.

"Justin," the redhead scolded.

"I know," the kid grumbled, walking inside the home. "No TV all afternoon."

He left the two women alone. Helena shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't look at me. I didn't know you were here," Helena said.

"That is not an excuse." Barbara removed the band from her hair "Do you think it is nice that you show this to the kids?"

"Have you considered entering a wet t-shirt contest?" Helena asked, looking at the redhead's chest.

"Why?"

The brunette eyed her and smirked. "Because you look damn good." And she really meant that, Barbara always had a great body.

The redhead lowered her head, she hadn't noticed her bra was visible through her white blouse.

"Wonderful." She covered herself; there were kids around.

"I didn't know you were shy," Helena said sarcastically.

"You are not funny. Come with me." She turned and walked inside the house. "I need to change."

"You know I don't like to talk with you." The brunette sighed and followed her.

"Don't worry, I'm not planning that you break your code of stubbornness. It's not a social conversation." Barbara walked inside a small room where she had left her bike jacket.

Helena closed the door behind her.

"I'm not stubborn."

"And I'm meta." Barbara retorted.

Helena rolled her eyes. Now she'd have to endure Barbara's 'be nice' lecture.

"I know you spend time with the kids," the redhead said, removing her blouse, "and I'm really happy for them. They appreciate your company, but you must behave, don't show them these things."

Helena's attention was caught by the white skin of the redhead.

"Wow," she mumbled with a whisper. She was wrong, Barbara had improved her figure. She looked amazing. She wondered what it would feel like to touch her skin, trace her muscles. She had really firm abs and a great waist.

"Hel?"

Barbara's voice made Helena blink. She lifted her eyes and found Barbara looking at her, just with her bra and her tight jeans. She felt her mouth dry and swallowed.

"Are you listening to what am I saying?" Barbara frowned, for a second she thought Helena was staring at her body.

"I'm, I'm sorry…" she mumbled. Crap. Why did she always catch her?

"Sorry?" Barbara rested her hand on her waist. "I was saying that it is great that you give them your time."

"Sorry…. for the water balloon thing...." Helena hurried to say. She lowered her head and scratched her ear.

Barbara always turned on her libido, it pissed her off.

Barbara observed her. Was she blushing? "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." She saw the redhead's jacket close to her. She took it and threw it to her. "You are looking for this."

"Thanks." The redhead took it. "As I was saying, I really love what you do for kids, but please, don't show them these things."

"They are kids!"

"And you are an adult. Be a good example."

"Now, that is not easy." Helena lifted her index finger.

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Just try to not incite them to do things that will get them in trouble."

"Okay, okay."

The redhead put her jacket on.

"You looked much better without it," the brunette said.

"Sure." Barbara closed the zipper. "Have you thought about our last conversation?"

"To be honest, no."

Green eyes locked on her with intensity, Helena felt a shiver down her back.

"I would like it if, just for five minutes, you could move away from your hate," she said softly. "Your pain doesn't allow you think clearly. It will cause you to commit a fatal mistake."

Every time she talked with that tenderness, Helena felt herself hesitate, felt that her determination would bend.

Maybe one of the reasons that had made her move away from Barbara was that she really felt affection for her and that she surely would trust her again. She didn't want to trust her. Not anymore, she was not going to believe in her again.

"I can take care of myself," Helena whispered.

"I know." The redhead nodded. "You are an amazing fighter," she looked at her and lifted her fist, showing it to her, "but when you let your emotions control you, you are weak. That's when you are most vulnerable. If you want to live, don't let your anger control your mind."

Helena lowered her head and brushed her hair back. "Why do you tell me these things?"

"Because you are important to me." She waved her hand asking her not to protest. "I know you don't believe me, but you can be sure that I don't joke when we are talking about saving a life, especially yours." She sighed and walked to the door.

Helena kept sitting there, not knowing what to think. This was so unexpected. She didn't know what to think. And damn, Barbara really was hot.

"And, please," Barbara pointed her with her finger before leve "clean the mess you made at the main door."

Helena smiled lightly. She didn't want to accept it, but the truth is that Barbara liked her, she liked her company, she had missed talk with her.

"Did she scold you?" Justin asked, appearing at the door.

"What?" Helena asked.

"She scolded me and I can't watch TV today!" he said, walking toward her "What's your punishment?"

"None. I distracted her with other things."

"What? That's unfair!" he said.

"No, that's smart." She hit him gently on his head.

"Ouch!" Justin took his hands to his head "What was that for?"

"You are a tattletale," Helena said, standing up. "Come on. We need to clean the water from the front door."

"I heard rumors that today they will be at the dockyards," the detective said.

"Are you sure?" Huntress asked.

She had been working with this cop the last few months. She was not used to working with other people, but he had access to information that she couldn't get. She knew Barbara had fantastic equipment too, but there was no way she would ask her for help. She had promised never to ask her for anything, and besides, she could do it all on own.

They were walking outside a coffee shop.

"We haven't failed the last two times." He smiled and offered her a cookie.

"True…" She took it. "Okay, so it will be tonight."

"It's a big one."

"Why you don't go there?"

"We don't have evidence. We need to find it first and they will leave tonight. We can't let them go."

Helena looked at the cookie and finished it. "Hey, it's pretty good."

He smiled and gave her a small bag with cookies. "Finish them. I'm ready."

"Great," she said, taking another one and biting it.

"Have you thought about my proposal?" he asked.

"Sorry." She winked. "Not interested."

"You should think twice, I'm handsome. It's hard to let me go."

She patted his arm. "Yes, but life is hard." She smiled and jumped toward the building behind her.

He put his hands on his pockets and smirked.

The worst part of being a vigilante was the waiting. She was not good at waiting. Luckily, this time it seemed she didn't need to wait.

He had pointed her in the direction of an abandoned home near the center of town. The place was in ruins. She noticed a man outside the house, but, well, she didn't need to use the front door. She landed smoothly on the rooftop. She lost her equilibrium and it took her a few seconds to recover.

She shook her head.

Walking toward the stairway, she opened the door and walked inside carefully. She looked around and, suddenly, she didn't know where she was. It was weird.

She felt her heart beating faster, very fast, it was not normal. She closed her eyes for a brief second and rubbed them with her hand. She cleaned the sweat from her face.

Sweat?

Was she sweating? Why? Where had she been? Or better yet, where was she now?

She heard a loud noise to her left.

This didn't look good.

She felt her senses out of control. It was weird her that her hearing was picking up any small sound, the loud sound she had heard, had been a small rat hitting a piece of wood in its crazy haste to hide from her. Her eyes were feral and she felt very disturbed.

What was going on?

She felt a hard blow on her back that made her hit the floor.

"Hi, flower," the man said.

She rolled on her back and looked up. The man looked like a giant - black and drooling blood. What was that?

She kicked him back and stood up. She shook her head again. What was happening?

"We will earn good money for you," she heard a man saying.

From nowhere appeared three more monsters. They looked distorted and threw flames from their mouths. That was really creepy.

She tried to stand up, but she felt dizzy. A hard kick hit her in her ribs. She stood up, trying to defend herself, but it was useless. They restrained her easily and one of them hit her head with his fist.

She managed to punch one of the monsters, but one of them slammed a fist into her gut.

Shit, that had hurt. It felt like a hammer. Her knees buckled and someone grabbed her and threw her against a wall. It broke under her weight.

This was serious.

She barely could see a window in front of her. She ran toward it and jumped, covering her head with her arms.

That was first time that she hadn't landed on her feet. She growled when her side hit the ground.

"She is there!" the man shouted.

Huntress stumbled, trying to stand up. Fuck, it was hard to move. She needed to run away.

She held her side as the street moved around her. She used the wall as support as she moved toward an alley.

A light from above shone on her.

Crap. Just what she needed. A helicopter.

Using the rooftops would be useless with that thing flying around. She looked to her left. There was the bay.

Cats hate water and more so when it was cold, but she didn't have any other options.

She ran toward it and jumped into the river.

She didn't know how long she swam or what had happened, but when she opened her eyes she was at the riverside, she couldn't figure out where. She was freezing, she was shivering. She turned to her side holding it, it hurt like hell.

"Helena, are you okay?"

Her mother was there with a worried look. Damn. She was dead.

"Come on, Helena, you can do it, stand up." The blonde was in front of her, looking at something. Huntress lifted her head. Everything around her had changed, she was in the backyard of her home. She could see herself on the ground with a bike over her.

Yes, she remembered that day. Her mom was teaching her to ride her bicycle. She saw herself climbing again on the damn thing and she fell again to the ground.

Yeah, it had been a really hard way to learn.

Selina laughed. The brunette loved to see her laugh again. She was so beautiful. A light surrounded her. Selina turned her head and looked at her.

"You must go," she said.

Huntress blinked.

"You must go, hurry."

The image of the woman disappeared. Huntress noticed, then, the light of the helicopter that she had seen before close to the place where she was. She stood up, hesitating, and moved toward the city in front of her.

She ran again and she didn't know where she was going, she just knew she needed to escape. She rested her back on the corner of a dark street and lifted her head.

The Clock Tower was visible in the distance.

Clock Tower. Barbara.

She felt great hatred for her, she had abandoned her, she had lied to her. Huntress closed her eyes. She could see, then, the redhead laughing, looking at her with such tender eyes. It was hard to hate her when she loved her so much.

It had been so hard to be far from her these past years.

She was the person closest to her, the only person that made her feel safe. The image of her in just her bra at the orphanage made her feel excited, she was gorgeous. Her skin white as porcelain.

She could feel every sensation of her hands on her, she could see the movement of her fingers healing her after she was burned in the fire.

She liked that woman.

She wanted that woman.

What was she thinking? She shook her head.

When she opened her eyes, she was in Barbara's bedroom. The redhead was sitting, nude, on her bed. Yes, she was really hot. She lifted her hand and felt it touching the redhead's bare back, it felt warm, it felt so soft. Barbara turned lightly to her left and she could see the side of her breast.

Her mouth turned dry. She tried to touch her, but she stood up and she walked toward the corridor of the house. The redhead stopped at the doorway and beckoned her with her index finger, asking her to follow.

She didn't think twice.

She didn't know how long she walked.

What the fuck was happening with Barbara? She had made her follow her to so many unknown places in her home. She found she was now in the street in front of Clock Tower.

She bent over and hugged her side. Dammit, it hurt. She closed her eyes a brief second and when she opened them, Barbara was on the sidewalk, smiling at her, wearing a tight t-shirt and shorts that made her crazy.

The redhead slowly crossed the street, moving her body slowly, as if she was walking over clouds. Barbara stood in front of her.

She could smell her perfume, her marvelous green eyes looking at her so tenderly, not saying a word. Barbara wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her.

The dark haired woman was in heaven. She kissed her back, feeling her heart explode with joy. Her libido kicked in; the other woman felt marvelous in her arms.

Barbara's hands on her made her body shiver in desire.

"I want you," Helena mumbled.

And she had gone.

She looked around, confused. Where was she? She lifted her head. The ClockTower was in front of her. Not thinking twice, she began to climb by the wall.

In her room, Barbara dried her hair after a warm shower. She still had work to do at the Delphi, but she really needed to relax a bit. She put on a sports bra and red pants and walked out of her bathroom with the towel in her hands.

She froze when she saw Helena standing at at the door of her balcony. She was bruised and soaked. The brunette was staring at her with intense feral eyes.

"Helena?" she asked in surprise. "What happened to you?"

The brunette didn't say a word, she slowly walked toward Barbara, limping lightly, her breath heavy.

"You are hurt." Barbara noticed a cut on her eyebrow and a bruise on her face. "What happened, Helena?" she asked softly.

The dark haired woman stopped in front of her, looking at her. She cupped Barbara's cheek with her hand. The redhead's face was stunning.

"You are so beautiful," she mumbled.

Barbara shivered. Helena looked at her with a loving expression and the redhead was trapped by those amazing golden eyes staring at her. The young woman's fingers moved up slowly, tracing her eyebrow.

"I have missed you so much." Not saying anything more, the young woman leaned in and pressed her lips against Barbara's, surprising the red head. The touch was gentle, tender, soft. Barbara felt her tremble. She gasped in surprise and the brunette asked for access, wrapping her arms around her waist.

Barbara melted under the caress, it was an intense and deep kiss. She felt her body shiver and her knees weak. It was an incredible kiss and she felt surprised by her own reaction.

"I want you." Helena whispered.

Barbara tried to clear her mind but it was hard under Helena's heavenly touch.

"I want you so much." Helena pressed her thigh against her and gently bit her shoulder.

"Hel…" the red head cleared her throat trying to organize her thoughts. The brunette looked her then. Barbara noticed Helena's eyes had turned red. It was not normal.

"Helena, Do you feel okay?"

"You are mine." The brunette whispered cupping her cheek with shacky hand. "If he touches you again I'll kill him."

"Are you okay?'"

The brunette's hand traced the contour of her face, her shaking was most evident.

"Helena?"

Helena leaned and hugged her. Barbara felt the young woman faint. She barely had time to catch her to prevent her from crashing to the floor. She kneeled on the floor with her.

"Helena?" She touched her cheek. "Are you okay?" Barbara asked.

The young woman winced, holding her side. Barbara touched her side and the brunette growled. Her shaking turned worse.

"You are hurt." Barbara lifted her head and shouted: "Alfred! Alfred, I need you here!"

The brunette opened her eyes slowly, her pupils were red and her gaze lost. The older woman knew that was not normal.

"Helena? Can you hear me?"

"Where am I?" the thin young woman mumbled.

"You are home, you are safe."

"Home?" Helena asked, dazed. "Mom? Where is mom?"

Alfred opened the door. "Oh my God," he said looking the brunette lying on the floor "What happened?"

"I need to go…" the brunette mumbled, lost trying to sit. "Mom says I have to go…"

"Easy," Barbara said, holding her down. "Help me get her to the lab, Alfred."

"Sure." He placed the brunette's arm over his shoulder to help her to stand up.

"Easy," Barbara said "she is hurt."

"She was in a fight," Alfred said.

"A big one…." Barbara cleaned her hands with a towel as she walking inside the lab. "Someone broke her rib. The test is ready?"

"Yes, it seems the cookie you found in her bag was laced with Memantine." The butler sat at the center of Delphi at the top of Clock Tower. "It is the same substance that is in her blood."

The redhead frowned and stood next to him "Isn't that a drug approved for treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease?"

"Yes," he gave her a print out. "Look at this."

She took the paper and read it. It had a lot of numbers and statistics. "This is crazy. It seems that the drug in Helena's system was altered to increase its side effects."

"Exactly. Confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, insomnia, agitation, and/or hallucinations, vomiting, anxiety and increased libido."

"Libido? That would explain…" the redhead mumbled to herself, remembering Helena's reaction to her.

"Excuse me?"

"Forget it… How is her blood?" Barbara leaned over the monitor.

"Her system is full of that compound. She consumed a large quantity of cookies."

"Typical..." The redhead looked him "I already pumped her stomach."

"She will be very angry."

"Well, she always is." The redhead smirked. "Now we just need to wait for her to expel the remaining drug from her system."

He kept silent a few seconds before speaking. "It worries me that someone that knows Miss Helena, gave the cookies to her…."

"Yes, it's worse when you have an enemy that pretends to be your friend." The redhead tapped her chin with her fingers. "But I'm sure she will remember who gave her those cookies. I need her to wake and understand what happened. She was soaked, bruised and drugged. She is lucky to be here."

"Why did she come here? She always says she hates you."

The redhead remembered the sweet kiss Helena had stolen. She touched her lips with her fingers.

"I don't know," she whispered, "but I'm grateful that somewhere, the deep part of her incoherent mind knew this is a safe place for her."

After a couple of hours, the redhead moved the girl to her bedroom. Helena was delirious all night; restless, talking to her mother or mumbling incoherent phrases.

Barbara sat next to her on her bed and the girl immediately curled up close to her. She cleaned the sweat from the brunette's forehead and talked softly to her, it seemed to calm her down.

Barbara rested her back against the headboard, brushing back the girl's damp hair. She studied her delicate features, she had a pretty face, she always had.

She remembered the erotic dream with her… and the way she had kissed her.

She couldn't forget the kiss. She had never kissed a girl before. In fact, she never thought about women, she'd always thought about men.

Why had Helena, in her drugged state of mind, come to her? Her fingers traced the brunette's lips. Helena had told her that she was beautiful before kissing her.

Why had she kissed her? Helena always said she didn't want anything to do with her and she refused to talk to her. The few times they had talked it was just to fight with Batgirl.

Barbara's fingers stroked the girl's cheek. Helena purred.

She smiled. Helena purred when she was happy, she knew that. It was nice to know that her touch made the younger woman happy.

It had been a sweet kiss.

She had liked it. She felt so happy everytime she was with Helena.

It was weird.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't fall asleep until almost dawn.

The brunette woke up with a terrible headache. Everything was confusing. Her eyes opened and she shivered.

She was in Barbara's bedroom.

"What the fuck?" she growled. She tried to sit, but her side hurt like hell. She took her hand and laid back down on the bed, noticing she was bandaged.

"Dammit." She winced.

What was she doing here? She couldn't remember a fucking thing.

Why she had ended up…. of all the damn places in the world… why had she ended up here? She hated to thank Barbara or ask her for anything.

She sat up slowly. Oh shit. Her entire body was sore.

She looked at herself. She was wearing Barbara's clothes, a t-shirt and shorts. She moved her arm to her nose and smelled. Yes, it smelled like Barbara.

It was a nice smell.

But… crap.

She walked outside the bedroom and looked around. She heard a noise in the living room and walked there, in her bare feet. Alfred was cleaning the living room table.

He smiled when he saw her. "I'm glad you are doing better. You did not have an easy night."

"What am I doing here?" she asked, still feeling confused. "Why did Barbara bring me here?"

"Well, she didn't do that. You came here of your own free will."

"Me?" she growled. "Why?"

"I don't know. It seemed you were in a fight and you were affected by some kind of hallucinogenic substance."

"Hallucinogen?"

"Yes, you were totally out of it."

"I can't remember." She sighed dramatically. "Where is Barbara?"

"Working at the Delphi." Alfred wiped his hands with a cloth.

"Where is that?"

"Upper floor."

"Upper floor? There is an upper floor?" She narrowed her eyes. "Up there is just the Clock."

"That's what everybody thinks. She has her headquarters up there." Alfred walked past her and went toward the secret elevator.

"Headquarters?" She followed him "Are you smoking something?"

"No," he chuckled and walked inside her library. "I don't smoke."

He opened a secret panel and walked inside a hidden elevator.

"What's that?" she asked.

He looked around. "Well, it's a vertical transport vehicle that efficiently moves people or goods between the floors of a building. They are generally powered by electric motors that either drive traction cables and counterweight systems, or pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston... commonly known as an elevator."

She rolled her eyes and walked inside. "Very funny."

When the doors opened again, Helena couldn't believe her eyes.

"Fuck," she mumbled.

The place was huge, surrounded by computers. It had a second floor where she could see a kitchen, a living room, and a library. She never imagined a place like that could exist behind the clock.

"Miss Helena is awake," Alfred said, stepping out of the elevator.

Helena noticed, then, that Barbara was sitting in front of one of her monitors with those fucking glasses that made her look so sexy.

She closed her eyes a brief second.

She couldn't be thinking she was sexy. It was a wrong thought, maybe she had suffered a hard blow to her head that was still affecting her.

"Helena, I'm glad you are awake," Barbara said, standing up and smiling. "But you should be resting. Did you tell her, Alfred?"

"I didn't see the point, she never listens anyway," he said, walking toward the upstairs kitchen. "I imagine you will want lunch here, now that she is awake."

"Yes, please, Alfred." Barbara stood up in front of the brunette. "You like the room, I assume."

"It's fantastic, but…" she looked at the big screens around the platform, "what is this place?"

"My headquarters. I can see what happens around the city and I can do research in any part the world."

"Can you get information from the police? Banks?" Helena asked curiously.

"Yes."

"So, you are a hacker."

"I'll prefer to call myself a detective."

"But that is not legal, right?"

"No comment." The redhead turned and sat on her chair.

"Do you watch porn movies here?"

"What? No. How do you feel?"

"Now, I don't know," the brunette responded. "Why didn't I ever know about this?"

"You never asked. Now, sit down, please, and tell me what happened last night."

Holding her side, she sat on a chair close to the redhead. She was still marveling at the place.

"I don't know." She looked at Barbara "Alfred said I came here, but I can't remember anything. What happened?"

"Well, you were pretty drugged, you broke in to my room…" she hesitated, better not to reveal the details, "and you fainted."

"Drugged?"

"Yes, you were out of your mind. Are you sure you can't remember anything?"

The brunette shook her head.

"Memantine," Barbara said feeling a bit sad, she opened a window on her computer. "They gave you a drug approved for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. It induces confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, insomnia, agitation, and/or hallucinations, vomiting and anxiety."

"How? I don't understand," the brunette mumbled.

"The cookies that someone gave you." She showed her a cookie. "This. Inside each one is a high dose of the drug. I don't know where you were or what happened. I was hoping you could tell me. You were very bruised and had a broken rib. It seems you were in a fight."

"But it didn't worry her too much, you are always in fights. It's normal," Alfred commented, walking onto the platform and giving Helena a glass of milk and a sandwich. "I assume you are hungry."

Helena nodded and bit into the sandwich.

"Do you remember who gave you the cookies last night?" Barbara asked.

"A friend."

"Well, I suggest you stop pissing off all your friends," the redhead looked at her, "this one drugged you."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. Who was it?"

"Fuck." The brunette growled. "A cop. I'll kill that son of a bitch."

"A cop?" Barbara leaned back in her chair. "Give me a name. Where does he work?"

"It's a detective, John Feder. He was helping me to stop the drug dealers. Why did he do that?"

"How many times did he give you leads on the dealers?"

"Two. Both times, things were fine."

"I think he was trying to earn your trust…. and he did."

"Son of a bitch!"

"I think I'll visit your friend tonight."

"What?" Helena frowned.

"I need to find out who is behind all this. Maybe this will take us to the person who is trying to kill you."

"No."

"No?" Barbara parroted in astonishment.

"This is my war and I'll fight it alone."

"Helena, are you crazy?"

"No," the brunette said. "I can deal with this."

Barbara turned her chair to the younger woman. "You should have seen yourself last night. They were pretty rough on you. Your rib is broken and you were very lucky to escape with that dosage of drug in your system."

"I said no."

Barbara glared at her angrily. "Why not?"

"I don't want to work with you." The brunette stood up. "I don't want anything from you."

"Could you please try to think straight, just once in your life?"

"I can't think straight," Helena smirked. "I'm gay…"

"This is not a joke. It's about your life." Barbara couldn't believe that she was so close-minded. She pinched the bridge of her nose. This was so frustrating.

The brunette stood up slowly, holding her side. "I'm not stupid. I can take care of myself. I must go now."

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"You know why!" Helena growled.

"Because you don't know how to forgive a mistake? You have made many more mistakes with me and I have always forgiven you! Why can't you do the same?"

Helena fixed her eyes on the redhead. "Because I'm not you." She turned and walked toward the elevator, limping.

"You say you hate me?" Barbara stood up and followed her. "Then answer a question."

The brunette turned and glared at her.

"Why did you come here last night?" the redhead asked.

"I don't know! You said I was drugged!"

"You came here because you know you know this place is your home too…. because you know you are safe here."

"Please!" Helena laughed.

"Why did you kiss me, then?"

Helena opened her eyes wide. "What?"

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Don't fuck with me." The young woman chuckled nervously.

"You said I was beautiful and you kissed me." Barbara crossed her arms.

"I'm sure it was a friendly kiss!"

"On the lips? And… tongue?"

Helena needed a few seconds to react. Her face turned pale."You are joking."

Barbara didn't answer; she just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Helena understood she was not joking, oh crap, what had she done?

"Fuck." She growled covering her eyes.

"Well?" Barbara shouted.

"I don't know! I was drugged!" Helena responded in exasperation waving her arms.

"My theory is that you feel affection for me, but your damn pride won't let you admit it."

"I'm not in love with you! That is stupid! You could be my mother!"

"First, I didn't say love, I said affection." Barbara was annoyed by the comment. She pocked Helena in the chest with her index finger. "Second, I'm not that old. As I recall, I have kicked your ass by myself, with no meta-powers, young lady, so watch your words."

"I can't feel anything for you!!"

"Why not?"

"Because…" Helena muttered, trying to think of a good answer, "because I hate you."

"Fuck that, Helena! It's bullshit and you know it!" The redhead rolled her eyes. She was tired of this. "I quit. Do whatever you want."

"What?" Helena asked quietly.

"I promise to never look for you again. I promise that if see you in a street fight, I'll let you fight 'your war' and not interfere. I'm tired of your mood swings and your insults. I'm done. Good night." She turned her back on the younger woman and walked toward Delphi.

Helena was confused. She watched the redhead go, then turned and walked inside the elevator.

Barbara leaned back in her chair and stared at the elevator door. Helena was confused, well she always had been, but now it was most evident. The fact that she had come to her last night and that she had kissed her, proved that Helena had feelings for her. Not exactly love, but her survival instinct had guided her to the Clock Tower. She was sure of it.

She could say many things, but they were just words.

Barbara closed her eyes. She couldn't forget the feeling of Helena's lips on hers.

It was something…

Dammit.

Helena landed on the balcony, she opened the big window and walked inside Barbara's bedroom. The redhead was there, she turned and looked her. Barbara was so beautiful; she walked toward her.

The red head unmoving stared at her.

Helena stood up close to her and leaned in and kissed her. Barbara kissed her back. Her lips were so soft, she was lost in her taste.

"Fuck, Helena!" Barbara suddenly shouted moving back. "I don't want to see you ever again!"

Helena snapped her eyes open.

What the hell was that?

She noticed she was surrounded by the darkness of her own room.

A dream… But the kiss had been so real, she could still feel it. She rubbed her eyes with her palms. Man, she really had kissed her. Why had she felt that impulse? She remembered feeling anxious while she ran through the streets, her mind just focused on finding the redhead.

She turned to her side, holding her pillow.

Barbara had said she quit, that she was tired of her. And she had been very serious. She'd said bad words.

Barbara never said bad words.

Barbara was a very self-cotroled and tolerant person, she was the personification (embodiment?image?picture?) of respect and courtesy. For her saying a bad word was like killing her self.

If she had said it it was because she was tired of her, maybe Helena had pulled the rope too much.

Even though she'd been pushing Barbara away, the redhead had been there, chasing her…

The idea that she wouldn't be in her life anymore scared her. She realized that she didn't want Barbara not being there

But she hated her, why did she feel that if she hated her?

She sighed.

She was so stubborn. The truth is that she couldn't hate her, she had been lying to herself, pretty unsuccessfully.

She felt something for her.

She didn't want to be close because she didn't want to be hurt, but, at the same time, she didn't want Barbara too far away.

It was a strange feeling of emptiness. At least when she was on the street, she knew she could find her as the irritating Batgirl. In the end, though, she could be with her for a few minutes.

She sat on her bed and rubbed her eyes.

Why had she kissed her? Well, the truth was that she had admired her beauty and fantastic body. She always had been an admirer of women, but Barbara was different, she really made her drool.

No, she was mixing her feelings. She loved Barbara because she had always been there when she was a kid and, years later, because she had always been patient with her… because she never had quit on her. She always listened, she made her laugh, she supported her. Barbara was a very nice friend.

She hated to admit it, but, yes, Barbara was her best friend and she had been pushing her back because of her insecurity, her fear.

She had been rude, again, when Barbara had tried to help. She hadn't been decent enough to say thanks.

Helena sighed, she felt like a rat.

Damn.

Barbara always made her feel like a rat. And a jerk.

Fuck, she needed apologize and it was not going to be easy.

She turned and buried her face in her pillow.

Crap.

Life just sucked.

Barbara took a bath. She had several candles around her and soft music played in the background, it was perfect. A vanilla cinnamon scent filled the place. It helped her to relax, to have a peaceful moment. She loved her long baths. She needed these quiet moments to clear her mind and kill her stress.

Classical music was a good option in these minutes where she spoiled herself.

She felt, then, that someone was watching her.

It was weird. She was alone in her home.

She half-opened her eyes and found Helena looking at her. She was seated on her bathroom bench, with her legs crossed and resting her elbow on one of her legs, her chin on her fist. One night and one day… That was quicker than she thought it would be. She took a deep breath before closing her eyes again and resting her head back against the wall.

"Do you like what you see?"

"Very much," Helena said.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was returning the favor of your visit to my home the other day."

"I didn't interrupt you while you were naked and bathing."

"You should have," the brunette winked at her, "I have a great body."

Barbara chuckled. "No, thanks."

"Your loss."

"All right, you win. I'm curious, Why are you here? As I recall, the last time I saw you, and every time I find you or I save your ass, you say you hate me, but you always come back. I'm beginning to think you are sadomasochist."

"A bit.. I like cuffs during sex."

"Christ Helena! Come on! I did not need to know that." Barbara stretched her legs.

"Of course, it depends on who is cuffing you," the young woman explained.

"Helena, that is just kinky."

"Look who's talking," the thin brunette crossed her arms. "The one that runs around in tight latex at night."

"That's not a reasonable comment." Barbara closed her eyes again.

"You are inherently kinky."

"I'm what?" the redhead lifted her head.

"Batgirl makes you inherently kinky."

Barbara took a deep breath. Patience. She needed to be patient with this woman that changed her moods even more frequently than she changed her clothes. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

Helena looked at her with no expression, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Barbara lifted her head to look at her.

"No, I don't know. You said I kissed you I can't stop thinking about why I kissed you." Helena couldn't admit that she liked Barbara. "I hate you."

"You kissed me because you were drugged and, inside your big pig head, you know I'm the person that knows you best and the only person that you can trust."

"But I hate Batgirl!"

"You hate everybody, God!" Barbara pinched the bridge of her nose "Fine, now tell me, why do you hate Batgirl?"

"She pisses me off." Helena waved her hands.

"Well, you are not a piece of cake. You piss her off, too." Barbara moved her head.

"And I thought about you," Helena waved her hands, "and I found that I hate you, but it's not hate. Do you understand?"

"Try explaining it to me it as if I were a five year old."

"I can't love you. You lied to me!"

Barbara lifted her index finger. "Technically, no. You never asked me if I was Batgirl. And if we are going to talk about lies, might I remind you that you are a compulsive liar…. And a pretty bad one." Barbara began to feel amused. Helena was stubborn and she didn't want to accept that she really didn't hate her. She had been having this fight for years.

"It was just once." Helena sat on the bench. "And if Gibson hadn't opened his mouth, you never would have known who broke your porcelain doll."

"Hel, even before he talked, your story about a giant bird flying inside the house to steal your Twinkie wasn't credible."

"It was."

"You can't always live in the past." The redhead stood up from the bathtub. It seemed she was not going to go and that they would be talking for quite some time.

Shit. Helena frowned. She felt her mouth go dry. Barbara was gorgeous. The redhead was doing this on purpose.

She wanted to distract her.

She was a bitch.

"You must move on." The redhead picked up her towel and covered her body. "Your philosophy is absurd. You can't forgive others for their mistakes, but you commit a lot and you think everybody must forgive you."

"Hey, don't do that," Helena said.

"What?"

"I liked the view without the towel."

Barbara lifted her eyebrow. "First, I'm straight. Second, I don't date women. Third, you hate me."

"Oh true," Helena said, "but my conclusion is that I don't hate you, I hate Batgirl."

Barbara sat on the edge of her tub and began to dry her legs. The dark haired woman found her eyes glued to the movement of the redhead's hands on her legs.

"Must I remind you that I am Batgirl?"

"I know, but every time you wear that cowl, you change. You turn into a very nasty person."

"Nasty? Hey, that's rude and look who's talking." Barbara straightened. The redhead noticed the brunette had her eyes fixed on her chest.

"Helena," she asked, "are you really gay?"

"Yes, and one of the hottest bachelorettes in the city."

"Modest, too. Well," Barbara stood up, looking for her underwear, "I suppose this is not a social visit."

She had a very nice ass, much better than her dream.

"Helena? Are you listening?" Barbara turned and looked at her.

"I am!" The brunette extended her arms.

Barbara shook her head "I think the drug is still in you."

"Not my fault. Could you just please just dress and so I can talk to you?"

"We are talking!"

"But you are distracting me!" She waved her hand at the older woman's nude torso.

"Well," Barbara put her hands on her waist, "I was having a bath. You interrupted."

Helena sighed. "Okay, be naked. I love seeing you naked, but don't blame me if I'm distracted.

"Get out of here," Barbara sighed. "I need to dress."

"What's the problem?" Helena protested. "I've already seen you!"

"You are still under the effects of that drug!! Christ! Try to calm your hormones." Barbara went toward her and pushed her out. "Just wait for me in my room, okay?"

The redhead slammed the door behind her.

"You are mean," Helena shouted.

"All right, yes, you still have traces of the drug in your blood," Barbara said, checking a sample under her microscope. She moved back in her chair. She had just finished the test of Helena's blood.

She was happy. Helena had come back. Her suspicions were correct. Helena didn't hate her as she always said.

The truth was that the girl felt affection for her.

"But I don't feel high," the brunette said sat on the desk next to her.

"But your libido is high," the redhead explained, showing her a screen. "Those blue lines show it is above normal levels."

"Oh…" Helena leaned toward the screen and looked at the graphic "Damn… and it's not even a full moon."

"They wanted to daze you," Barbara explained. "They know you are not exactly human, so the amount of drug in the cookies was enough to knock out an elephant." Barbara opened another window and showed it to the brunette.

"Shit…" Helena mumbled when she saw the image on the screen.

"Some drugs are focused on certain zones to affect people. They have side effects. This one attacks zones of the brain linked with headache, insomnia, agitation and libido."

"Is that bad?"

"I don't think so. Libido just refers to a baseline interest in sex and might be redefined as sexual appetite. Arousal refers to the physiological response to sexual stimuli. Women with higher libidos generally have a greater response to sexual stimuli, or greater arousal. You just could be," Barbara waved her left hand trying to explain, "a bit…. How can I define it? Well a bit keyed up."

"It's bad, then." Helena moved back. "The effect will disappear soon?"

"Knowing your metabolism, yes." Barbara moved back and tuned her chair to see the brunette. "Now, Helena," she said looking at her, "help me to understand this. You have been refusing my help all this time and, suddenly, you are here."

Helena played with her tongue inside her mouth a few seconds, thinking.

"Side effect?" she asked innocently.

Barbara shook her head and smiled lightly. She knew Helena's pride was enormous and she could rarely accept that she had made a mistake. But if she was here, it was because she knew she needed someone with her because the situation was dangerous. Maybe she could help her a bit.

"I'd like to propose something," she said

"Propose?"

"Yes, a deal."

"A deal?"

"I propose that we work together to find out who is after you. When we catch him, everyone can go their separate way."

"But…" Barbara lifted her index finger.

"Oh God," Helena narrowed her eyes, "I knew there was a catch."

"If you want to live, you must follow my orders."

"Why do I…?"

"And no arguing," the redhead interrupted. "I don't want to see you dead. Those men are not playing around. You know that. They will not stop until they kill you."

"All right." Helena rested her hips at the desk. "What's your plan?"

"First, I'm going to give you a comm unit."

"A comm unit?"

"I have been working on one." The redhead turned and walked toward her lab. "We will be in contact all time. You can listen and talk to me and vice versa."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Helena followed her.

"Be careful with this." Barbara opened a drawer and took out a black box, she gave it to her.

"Why?"

"It's more expensive than a car."

"BMW?"

"Ferrari." The redhead walked toward Delphi.

"What?" Helena stared at the box.

"Second, you must trust me." The older woman said. "If you don't trust me, this will not work."

"Well, why else would I be here?" Helena opened the black box. Inside, there was a necklace with a bird and earrings that looked like bats.

"Side effect?" Barbara smirked, turning to see her.

Helena faked a smile. "Funny."

"The necklace has the mic. It also has a tracer."

"Why do I want this?"

"So I will know where you are, and the earrings will let you hear my voice."

"Oh, I get it, you will be like Jimmy Cricket… my conscience."

"More or less." The redhead rested her hips on the edge of her desk. "I need to give you a code to use the hidden elevator and show you how the system works."

"Okaaaay."

"Third."

"There is a third?"

Barbara crossed her arms on her chest. "You must stay here."

Helena frowned. Now, she didn't expect that. "Why?"

"Your place is not safe." The redhead pressed a button on her keyboard and all the screens showed images of the tower from different places and angles. "I have a complete security system here. No one can get in if I don't approve it."

Helena whistled. That was really amazing, but staying with Barbara wasn't in her plans. She knew perfectly well that Barbara was the only one that could help her, but the older woman had asked her to trust her, and it was clear she meant: Follow my orders. Barbara was a methodical woman and Helena was used to working on her own, with her own rules. The first of which was: Do not follow rules.

"Well?" the redhead asked, pulling the brunette out of her thoughts.

"When you say I must stay here," Helena waved her finger, "you mean I must stay 'here'?"

"Yes."

Helena was not sure if she would regret this, but she didn't have any options. And, after all, being with Barbara didn't sound like a bad idea. In fact, she liked it. Suddenly, an idea came to mind.

"I want to put my conditions in, too," the brunette stated.

"Oh…" the redhead replied. "And those are?"

"I want to go out to look for those guys, too. No way I'm gonna sit around and wait here."

The redhead looked at her in silence a few seconds.

"All right." Barbara allowed.

"Second, I keep working at the bar…"

"Why do insist upon working at a bar if you are millionaire?"

"You know why… And third…."

Barbara lifted her eyebrows in amusement.

"I want to watch movies on the big screens." She pointed to the screens at the top of the lab.

"Oh, no…. no way." Barbara shook her head emphatically.

"I'll watch at night when you go to sleep."

Barbara glared at her. She definitely didn't like this idea.

"So?" Helena asked.

It seemed she didn't have so many options. Barbara sighed. Well, a small sacrifice was worth it, if she could keep the younger woman alive.

"No porn." She stood up.

"Oh, come on!" the girl whined.

"No." Barbara picked up her jacket.

"Why not?"

"No! Dot." She walked toward the elevator. "Let's go. We must pick up your clothes."

Helena put her index on her lips, thinking a few seconds. "What if I mute it?"

All right, no one had told her about this before she accepted. This was simply not acceptable. She turned on her side and covered herself with a blanket. She adjusted the pillow under her head and lay back down.

Barbara needed to buy another couch. This one just sucked.

Why had she opened her big mouth? Barbara had told her that she could sleep with her and she had refused. She had said she would sleep on the couch.

Sometimes she hated her pride.

Barbara had said she would buy a bed tomorrow, but tonight she needed to sleep on the couch. She didn't like the couch so much. Okay, it was comfortable, but… she stared at the door of Barbara's bedroom a few meters from her. It was nicer when she was with Barbara and besides, her bed was warmer and softer than the stupid couch.

She buried her head in the pillow.

Barbara woke up early. She had work to do at school. When she opened her door, she found Helena sprawled on the couch. She chuckled. Definitely, the elegance she had when walking and moving disappeared when she slept.

She walked toward her and kneeled to take the bedspread from the floor. She covered the younger woman with it. As she did so, she observed her. Helena had the beautiful features of her mother. In fact, she was a beautiful woman. She was glad Helena had come to her when she was stunned by that drug. It meant that inside her heart, she knew she could trust her.

She shook her lightly. The brunette wrinkled her nose. The movement was adorable.

"Hi," Barbara said, smiling lightly.

"Mmm?" Helena half opened her eyes sleepily and moved her head back.

"Why don't you go sleep in my room? You will be more comfortable."

"I'm fine."

"This is uncomfortable." She patted her side. "Come on. I need to go to work, so the place will be empty."

"No, no, seriously. I'm fine."

Barbara stood up. "Okay, then. See you later."

The brunette closed her eyes and Barbara walked toward the elevator.

As soon as the doors closed, Helena jumped off of the couch and ran toward the bedroom.

Barbara worked for hours. Helena watched her from the upper floor, lying on the couch. She was watching TV, but she often gazed down to look at the redhead.

She had been out almost all day, and when she had returned, she had sat there and not moved. Helena checked her watch. Barbara had been sitting there for almost three hours.

The redhead really worked hard and it seemed she was not a social person. She often went out to attend Foundation events, but almost all her mind was focused on crime fighting. She couldn't understand how such a woman could only be thinking of helping others when people usually sucked.

She had agreed to stay with the older woman, but she still felt a bit "stiff". There was a thin line between them that she couldn't cross. Barbara was nice, but she still couldn't open up to her. Helena had closed her heart to everyone so many years ago.

The brunette had felt fine, she didn't want feel that pain again… It was still confusing for her because she also felt like she wasn't alone when she was with the redhead. She liked spending the day with her, staying at Barbara's apartment. It was like being home.

She looked down again to where Barbara was. Tired of inactivity, she stood up and walked downstairs.

"What are you doing?" Helena asked when she stepped onto the platform.

"Trying to find a connection between the chemical compound that was in your blood and the factories that produce it."

"Wouldn't it be easier to ask my 'friend' the policeman?"

"I don't think so," the redhead said, turning to see her. "He disappeared."

"What?"

"No one knows where he is. He hasn't been to work in two days." Barbara moved back in her chair. "I think that when you escaped, he thought you would search for him and he vanished."

"Shame…. I wanted to kick his ass," the brunette grumbled.

"Well, it seems you must wait."

"Waiting here is boring. What if I go out and find for someone to kick?"

"You know it's dangerous."

"I can't hide here forever."

Barbara looked her in silence.

"You know, you can't force me to stay here, just waiting. I need to find out who is behind this."

The redhead sighed and gave her the necklace and the earrings. "I have a better idea. Don't forget to use these."

"What's your idea?" Helena took the comms.

"I need some info that is inside Brixt Labs."

"Am I going to break in?"

"Yes, but follow all my instructions. I'll guide you. Call me Oracle."

"Ok, but you must call me Huntress."

"Did you find something?" the brunette asked.

"Not much. But it's something," Barbara replied. "I thought that this would help, but it doesn't."

Helena moved back and sat on the desk. "What was the scan I took?"

"It was information about which enterprises produce the chemical I found in your blood."

"It's not on the system?"

"That info, no." Barbara shook her head. "I need to keep working on this tomorrow. Let's go to sleep, it's late."

"All right." The brunette hopped to the floor.

Barbara looked at the younger woman. She liked Helena's company, maybe much more than she wanted to admit. Helena was funny, she liked her smile, she liked to hear her laughing. She liked to argue with her, too. She always had a smart answer.

"Are you sleeping on the couch again?" Barbara asked.

"Yes."

She felt it was a hard place to sleep, and the box spring wouldn't arrive until Monday.

"Don't you want to stay in my bedroom? The bed is plenty big enough."

"Oh no, I'm fine." The truth was that her back was killing her, but well…. She preferred to keep her distance from the redhead. She really was hot and made feel her very bervous.

"You don't look like it."

"I'm fine, seriously."

"Okay, as you wish." Barbara stood up and walked toward the cabinet.

"What if tomorrow I go out to do some sweeps and see if I can find some information."

"I think it's a good idea. I was thinking the same." Barbara picked up something and returned to the platform. "I'll go with you."

"You?"

"Yes, I don't want you to be alone." the redhead explained. "If he knows you are asking questions, he might try to ambush you." She gave a container to Helena.

"What is this?"

"I'm sure your back hurts. So use it, it's an ointment."

"Oh no, Barbara, I don't need it." The brunette tried to give it back to her.

"Keep it just in case." The older woman went to the elevator.

"I want to go out tonight." Helena followed her.

"It's not a good idea."

"l'd be happy enjoying some good scotch and looking at hot girls."

"Do you really like girls?" Barbara asked. "You talk about it, but I never know if you are bluffing or if you are telling the truth."

"Well, it's the truth, I prefer girls." The brunette smiled.

"Isn't it more difficult?" The redhead walked out of the elevator into her penthouse. "I mean, usually you flirt, as a woman, and then you choose."

"I just invert the order, I choose and I flirt. I please women very well and I'm always on demand. Dating a woman is easier, a woman knows what a woman wants."

"I understand that, but…" Barbara fixed her green eyes on her "What do you want?"

Helena felt those deep pupils burying in her soul. She didn't know what to answer, no one had asked her that before. "What… I want?" she mumbled.

"Yes, it seems you please women and women look for you, but what do you want?"

"I don't want anything."

"Nothing? You don't want anything back? What about love Helena?"

"That's bullshit." The young woman shrugged her shoulders. "I just have a good time and that's all."

"No one has ever wanted more than that later?"

"Sometimes, but I'm very clear, no relationships."

"Have you ever been in love?"

"That doesn't exist, Red." she replied.

The older woman noticed a hint of sadness in her voice. It caught her attention that she had called her Red.

"It's best just to have fun," Helena said. "Enjoy the moment and keep going."

"You must have an empty life."

The comment pissed Helena off; she crossed her arms. "I'm not boring as you."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just saying…" Barbara said.

"I know what you are saying," the brunette interrupted her.

Barbara sighed and walked to her room. "Ok, Helena. When you grow up, maybe we can talk."

"Oh… I'm sorry, I forgot I was talking with 'The Oracle'. "

"Don't be childish." She stopped and turned to see her.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Maturity, if I offended you."

"As I see it," the redhead said with a calm voice, "the only one offended here is you. I was just trying to say that it's sad that you don't believe in real love."

"I don't need it, I don't need anyone."

The redhead lifted an eyebrow. She had heard her say that so many times that she didn't believe it. She was sure

Helena just said that to convince herself.

"Yes, true," Barbara lowered her head and looked at her feet, "maybe that's why you came to see me when you were drugged."

"You said it, I was drugged." Helena waved her hands. "I never would have come here, had I been in my senses."

"Sure and you wouldn't kiss me neither."

The brunette stared at her not knowing what to answer.

"Why don't you try to be honest, just once in your life?" Barbara exhaled loudly "You know you can trust me."

"Looks who's talking about being honest," Helena growled.

"Helena, stop, please! I'm trying to help you! Help me, too. Stop fighting everything."

"Why do you follow me?"

"Excuse me?"

"All my life, since my mom died, you always try to be close to me, why? What's your interest? What do you want?"

The redhead shook her head. It was a shame. Helena couldn't understand and, as always, she was changing the subject. She was avoiding talking about her own issues.

"You will never understand," she answered. Helena was so hard headed that she didn't want to understand that she had loved her since she was a child because she was family.

Helena smirked at her when she didn't answer. "Interested?"

"You are not my type." Barbara wanted to slap her. She was trying to piss her off.

"You wish."

"My interest is in men."

"I think you are afraid to experiment."

"I don't need to experiment, I found what I want."

"What's that?"

"Wade."

"Oh, come on, you can't still be dating him."

"I am." Barbara confirmed, smirking.

"I haven't seen him." Helena tilted her head.

"He is in France, working on a master's degree. He will return next month. He has been there a year." The redhead rested her hips on the couch behind her.

"What do you see in that guy?"

"Many things. What's the problem? He values me, unlike you. As I recall, you said once I could be your mother."

Helena gave an exasperated sigh, irritated with herself.

"He doesn't see me that way," Barbara explained. "He looks at me as a woman. I wouldn't want to be like you. It's a shame that you, being a woman, disrespect women."

"I don't disrespect women! I love them!"

"And, after using them, you throw them away as if they were nothing. You must feel ashamed of yourself."

The comment made Helena flinch. "Love doesn't exist. It's a fact, you can't judge me for my beliefs, you deny your feelings, too."

"I don't deny my feelings, I control them."

"Control is not avoidance?"

"No, if you let your feelings control your actions, in this business, it means getting killed."

"Why are you helping me? Out of love or out of obligation?"

"I'm not helping you, you don't need anyone's help. I'm working with you to catch the criminal that is behind this," Barbara said sharply, sometimes the girl made her lose control. "Now, if you will excuse me, I'm tired. Good night." She turned and walked to her room closing the door behind her.

Helena sighed. She was doing well, first calling her old and later saying that she didn't need anyone. Dammit. She looked at the couch where she would sleep and then the container in her hands. She would need a gallon of that stuff if the box spring didn't arrive soon.

Part 6

Huntress crouched on top of a building. She had been hunting the detective that had given her the cookies. He had disappeared, but tonight Oracle had found him. He had used his credit card. Huntress had moved as fast as she could to intercept him.

The redhead had checked her system as soon as Helena arrived. He had opened an account and still hadn't closed it. She had waited patiently for him.

Almost an hour.

The problem was that keeping vigil in a place like this in winter was hell. She rubbed her hands.

The discussion with the redhead two days ago was still in her mind. She didn't like to argue with her, but they definitely had opposite points of view. She was not going to change her lifestyle just because Barbara didn't agree with it.

She felt uncomfortable with some of Barbara comments, like she was not a person that the redhead would like to be.

She thought she was a cold person, not caring about the feelings of others. She was wrong, she just didn't want to be hurt again.

Was it so bad?

"You really want yourself dead," the redhead said from behind her.

Helena squeezed her eyes shut. Oh crap. Why did she always catch her off guard? Why couldn't she feel her presence?

"You need to watch your back," Batgirl said, standing at her side.

"Weren't you supposed to be guiding me?"

"I wanted to keep an eye on you, and I'm glad I did."

"I know how to take care of myself."

"Sure," the caped woman looked around, "with your entire back working as a giant target."

"Don't you have anything else to do?"

"Yes, but now I just want to be sure you will survive yourself." She winked at her.

"Survive myself?" Helena repeated.

"Yeah." The redhead walked toward the cornice. "You are pretty careless."

"What?" Huntress asked, surprised and annoyed.

"Look at you now, in the open field, not taking precautions."

"Maybe I want to be shot."

"I don't think so."

"You can't be sure."

"I'm sure."

"Yes?" the brunette stood up and faced her. "Why are you so sure?"

"Your boots are new. Someone that wants to die doesn't buy five hundred dollar boots just to get shot."

The young woman looked down. Shit. Yeah, she had just bought her boots that afternoon. She was angry, why the fuck did Batgirl think she knew everything?

"You should be grateful," Batgirl turned to look at her. "I don't usually babysit anyone."

"Babysit?" the brunette growled. She didn't know why that costume brought out the worst in the redhead.

"Well, you said I'm old enough to be your mother." Batgirl said, looking down at the street. The door of the hidden bar was guarded by two big black men.

"Why do you keep bringing that up?"

"Well, you always say you don't need help and I don't complain."

"God, I hate you!" The brunette turned her back to the caped vigilante.

"So, you say…" Batgirl waved her finger at her.

"Yeah, yeah, I say it often and you don't complain." Huntress waved her hand. "Why don't you go away?"

"Because our target is now walking out of the club," she pointed down with her finger, "and you have been so busy talking to me that you didn't notice him."

"What?" Huntress turned and ran toward the edge of the building. She stood up next to the redhead.

The man was walking down street. She ran to the opposite side of the building.

"Your friend, the detective, is going out now."

"Good," the brunette looked down, feeling she had been saved by the bell. "I want to kick someone. He is lucky."

"Lucky?"

"He will have the pleasure of seeing me again."

Batgirl walked slowly behind Helena, covering her back, she was alert, she didn't want to be surprised by anyone. The brunette was too impulsive.

The man walked down the empty street.

He cleaned the sweat from his face with his handkerchief. Checking his watch, he noticed it was late. He turned a corner and he felt a hard blow on his face that made him fall backwards. The man yelled, holding his bleeding nose.

"Miss me?" the brunette grinned.

"What's wrong with you?" he shouted "Are you crazy?"

The young woman lifted him by his lapels and smashed his back against the wall.

"Who gave you the cookies?"

"What?"

She punched him in his face. He howled.

"All right," Helena said "Let me ask another way, who are you working for?"

"I don't know what you are talking about!" he shouted.

The brunette hit him twice with her fist before ramming her knee in his gut. He fell to his knees, stunned and coughing. He spat blood from his mouth

"Maybe you don't know," Batgirl said, landing on the ground, "but it is difficult to get a confession if you knock him out before letting him talk."

Helena cocked her head, looking at the man. She lifted him by his shirt and put him against the wall again.

"Okay, detective," she frowned, "last chance. You are helping someone, and that someone is not very nice. You tried to drug me with those cookies, why?"

"I… I…" he gasped.

"Think twice before you lie to me again." She lifted her fist.

"All right, all right…"

Batgirl had a bad feeling, she looked around. There was a glint of metal from a window on the fourth floor of a building to their side.

Huntress' senses were alert, she felt danger close. She snapped her head to her right as Batgirl pushed her down. They hit the ground.

"What the f…"? The brunette growled, feeling herself being pulled behind a container by the redhead.

"Don't move," Batgirl said.

Huntress noticed half of the detective's head had been blow off. The wall was covered in blood. "Shit… That was a cannon, not a bullet."

"It's a sniper," Batgirl said, "and he must be using a .45. Be careful."

Huntress took a piece of mirror from the ground and pointed it up. She looked at it. "Fourth floor, third window."

"How do you know?" the redhead asked.

"I have my secrets too."

"Does he have night vision? It will look like a kind of binoculars over his eyes?" The redhead looked for something on her belt.

The brunette narrowed her eyes. "Looks like it."

"All right, he wants you," the redhead mumbled. "So, let's give him what he wants."

"What??"

Batgirl didn't answer. She took a ball from her belt.

"What are you doing?"

"This is the plan. I'll throw this, it will produce a light explosion. He will be blind. You jump to that container and hide behind it." She pointed to the opposite side of the street. "He wants you. He is not interested in me. While he is busy trying to shoot you, I'll catch him."

"Am I the bait?"

"Yes, you said you wanted to be shot, congratulations," she patted her shoulder "your dream has come true." Without another word, she stood up and threw the ball in the air. Another shot was heard. "Now!" she shouted.

The brunette ran to the other side of the street. "You are nuts!" she growled.

A bullet whispered close her ear. She rolled and hid behind the metal container. Another shot was heard hitting the metal.

"Shit." She covered her head with her arm.

That man was definitely determined to kill her. She looked around. She was in a corner, no way to move to another place.

Where was Batgirl? She tried to look back again, but as soon she moved, another shot was heard. She ducked her head.

Well, she was trapped.

Brilliant plan the redhead had, now she was stuck in a very uncomfortable position, with her back against a smelly trash container and her butt on the cold ground.

The worst was, of course, that her ass was freezing.

She had been doing just fine – more than fine – alone, until Batgirl had appeared. Why the hell had she appeared?

She could handle this by herself. This was the last time she would listen to her. This was the exact reason she loved to work alone. It was much better.

She looked at her boots, crap. What the fuck had she stepped in? That stuff on her boot didn't look good. Seemed it might be gum. She hated gum. It was nasty and difficult to remove. She would have to use petroleum and it smelled horrible. Maybe she could get Alfred….

"Having fun?"

She snapped her head up. Batgirl was standing there. Shit. How did she do that? She was silent as a damn cat too.

"What are you doing here?" she said, looking toward the building

"Coming to rescue you."

"Very funny." The brunette stood up. "Where is the sniper?"

The masked woman looked toward the building. "Dead. I surprised him and disarmed him, but he pulled a capsule out of his pocket and swallowed it. Seems it was poison."

"What? That is crazy."

"No. This is serious. More serious than I originally thought. I took some pics, digital prints, I'll check them at the Clock Tower." Batgirl turned her back to the younger woman and walked towards the street "We must go now; the police will find us here and that will not be good."

Huntress frowned, she was wincing. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing, just a scratch."

The brunette grabbed her by her arm and turned her around. She looked at her waist. "You are hurt."

The redhead looked down. "It's nothing. Just a scratch from a bullet."

"Not a scratch, it broke the fucking kevlar! What kind of fucking bullet was that?"

"They really want to see you dead."

"Dammit, you are bleeding."

"It's nothing, the bullet that killed the detective scratched me when I pushed you down. I'll be fine."

"I'll drive."

"What?"

"I'll drive the bike."

"You don't…" Batgirl protested.

"I'm not asking." Huntress said with a firm voice that surprised the red head.

The ride back home was the longest Batgirl had ever experienced, she felt numb. When she arrived at the Clock Tower, she felt very dizzy. She removed her cowl in the elevator and wiped her face with her glove.

"Are you okay?" the brunette asked, noticing she didn't look well.

"I'm tired, that's all," Barbara responded.

"You are sweating. We need to check that." The young woman pointed at her waist.

"It's just a scratch," the redhead insisted.

"Scratch, my ass."

"I'll be fine Helena."

The elevator doors opened and both walked out. Alfred was at the upper floor.

Barbara tried to step out, but her knees felt weak. Helena held her.

"Let me help." She took Barbara's arm and moved it around her neck. "I need help here, Alfred," she shouted.

When she put her hand on her waist, Helena's fingers felt a sticky warmth. It was blood. They went to the lab slowly, she sat the redhead on the medical table.

Barbara couldn't understand why she felt so dizzy. She hadn't lost that much blood.

Helena removed the cape and the locks on the body armor. She helped the redhead to remove it carefully. She froze when she noticed Barbara's t-shirt was torn and covered in blood. She hadn't seen so much blood since her mother had died years ago. She stared at the blood staining the redhead's clothes.

Barbara looked at her side. The bullet must have had been very powerful to break her armor and scratch her skin.

Helena remembered her mother's blood, she remembered the pain and the frustration she felt that night. Her eyes fixed on her hand, there was blood. She closed her fist, her hands shaking.

"Helena?"

Blue eyes blinked. She opened her mouth and noticed Barbara was talking to her, she tried to say something, but she couldn't find the words.

The redhead noticed that she was upset.

The girl looked at her bloody side and then her hand.

Barbara understood. "I'm fine, Helena, It's just a…" Barbara swallowed and closed her eyes a brief second. She felt really dazed. "It's just a superficial wound."

The brunette felt fear. Fear that she thought she would never feel again.

"Helena, please." The redhead took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm fine."

"You are hurt," the girl mumbled.

"It's nothing… the bullet just scratched me."

Alfred arrived at that moment and looked at the redhead. "Oh my God, what happened?"

Barbara turned to her side and examined her wound.

"It's a scratch."

"A bad one," he noted.

"I'm fine. Call Leslie, she can help," Barbara responded lifting her shirt. Shit, that was a nasty wound.

Alfred turned and went to the phone.

Barbara looked at the brunette. Helena was paralyzed. Barbara tried to say something to her, but her tongue was stuck. Her mind blurred, she rested her hand on the bed to avoid falling.

"Red?" Helena took a step toward her, Barbara's obvious distress moving her to action.

"I…" the redhead tried to speak, but she passed out and fell forward.

The brunette hurried to catch her before she hit the floor. "Barbara!"

She felt panic. Barbara was bleeding. Moving her carefully back to the medical table, she laid her down.

"Barbara?"

"What happened?" Alfred asked, after hanging up the phone and walking in with a tray of medical equipment.

"She fainted," Helena said, worried. "I'll take her to a hospital."

"No, Leslie will be here in a few minutes. I'll clean the wound before she arrives." He gave the brunette a cold cloth. "Keep her cool with this."

"Who is Leslie?"

The young woman took the cloth and wiped Barbara's forehead.

"She's an old doctor, a friend of the family. You should know her, sometimes she kept an eye on you when you were a child."

After a few minutes, the doctor arrived.

Helena sat in a corner and watched the old doctor working on the redhead. Yes, she had seen her before, and it seemed she knew about Barbara's secret life. She had walked into the Clock Tower and she hadn't been surprised by the place nor had she asked questions about Barbara's black costume.

She turned and asked something of Alfred. He responded to her and the woman turned, looking at Helena.

"Kid, come here," she said.

The brunette went toward her.

"Tell me what happened."

The young woman looked at Alfred, not sure is she should tell the truth. He smiled and nodded.

"We were on a sweep and I trapped a guy. Suddenly, we heard a shot gun and she pushed me to the side. The bullet killed the criminal. She told me the scratch had been made by the same bullet that killed the man."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I need the bullet, just don't touch it," Leslie explained. "And I need it now."

"The police will be there now," Helena said, not understanding.

"Barbara has been poisoned, the bullet that hit her was coated with some kind of poison."

"Poisoned?" the brunette mumbled.

"I need an antidote," the doctor said, "and the antidote can only be created if I have the poison. Try to recover that bullet."

"It was for me…" the brunette mumbled. Barbara had saved her life and now she was on the edge of death.

"We don't have time. Just a few hours. Hurry."

Helena understood, she turned and ran to the elevator.

The woman curiously watched her leave. "Is that Bruce's child? Selina's daughter?" she asked.

"Yes," Alfred said.

"She has grown up so much. The last time I saw her was when she was a child," she smiled "and what a child, she was a demon."

"She is a woman now."

The doctor took a wet cloth and cleaned the red head's forehead. "What is she doing with Barbara? The last I heard, the girl didn't want anything to do with Bruce or anyone who reminded her of him."

"Long story."

"If Barbara lets her work with her, it must be because the girl is very good."

"She is indeed."

"I hope so." The old woman looked at Alfred. "She needs to be good now. Barbara doesn't have much time."

The detective walked to his car with all the evidence he had collected from the crime scene. He adjusted his jacket. It had been a weird crime. It seemed a man had shot another man in an alley and, afterwards, he had killed himself. He couldn't find the sense in it.

Lately, so many weird things had been happening in the city.

He opened his car door.

Suddenly, he felt someone pushing him against the car. His arm twisted behind his back.

"Easy, don't move." A female voice said from behind him.

She began to check inside his pockets, He tried to move and he felt a blow on the back of his head and an arm pressing against his neck.

"I'm sorry, detective," Huntress said from behind him, "I don't want to be rude. Just don't move."

"Who are you?"

"An old friend."

"Friend?" he asked "I have never seen you."

She found his police ID and, curious, she opened it. "Yes, Detective… Reese, I have always wanted to know your name."

"You…" he tried to move, but she kept him immobilized.

"Please." the brunette smiled, taking the evidence bag she found in his pocket, "behave, I don't want to be rough."

"That evidence is police property," he growled.

"I know," she checked inside the bag, "but I'm trying to save a life now."

"By stealing?"

"Borrowing. I'll bring it back to you." The brunette found it, a bloody bullet and what seemed to be the other bullets from the sniper's gun.

"I'll catch you."

"Dream on." She took his gun and threw it several meters away from them.

She stepped back, releasing him. He turned angrily and tried to attack her, but she ducked and put him against the ground.

"Don't try to do that again." The brunette put the two bags inside her pocket. "I'll take this and I'll give it back to you tomorrow."

"That's against law," he growled from the ground.

"Someone dropped the Hermez shooter off at the precinct doorstep last week, right?" she said "And the Dorsett kidnapper? I practically gift-wrapped that one for you."

"Who are you?" he asked standing up. How did she know about that?

"Someone who helps you at night."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't have time to explain," the vigilante responded, "but I promise to give this back to you tomorrow. It's important, a person's life depends on it."

She ran and jumped to the building.

Leslie Thompkins was the woman that had helped Barbara. According to Alfred, Leslie had been a close friend of Thomas Wayne, her grandfather. She took it upon herself to look after Wayne's son, Bruce. She used to help him when he was seriously injured after a fight. She ran a clinic for criminals and drug addicts in the city.

Helena remembered now that she had seen her sometimes at the manor, but she didn't pay her much attention because she had been so consumed by her pain.

She closed the curtains in the room. The lamp at the night table lit the room. She turned to see the redhead deeply asleep in her bed. The doctor was able to find a sample of the poison on one of the bullets and work on the antidote.

She sat next to her. Now she could only wait.

Leslie had gone outside with Alfred, but Helena didn't want move from Barbara's side. She was afraid that if she left, Barbara might die. She would be there until she knew Barbara would be fine.

She picked up a wet cloth and cleaned the older woman's face.

She checked the IV in her arm, it was working well. She sat next to her, she still was sweating so much, her temperature high.

Leslie had said she would be okay, but she wasn't taking any chances. She wanted to be there if she needed anything.

She leaned over and kissed her n her lips lightly.

It was weird. Se realized how much she loved her and how that feeling scared her. It had been the main reason that she had pushed her away all those years. The fear of love and loss.

She was scared as hell, seeing her covered in all that blood. She didn't think she'd ever feel that kind of fear again.

And now Barbara was lying there, fighting to survive, poisoned with the bullet that was meant for her. She had saved her life. Those bastards really wanted to see her underground.

She had been a moron with the redhead all those years. She promised she would change if she would just be okay.

"Helena?" The redhead stirred

"I'm here," the brunette hurried to say, taking her hand.

"Careful…" the redhead mumbled.

"We are home, Red."

"The gun… he has a gun," Barbara whispered moving restless.

"It's okay, we are safe."

The older woman opened her eyes and looked around, disoriented and agitated. Helena wet the cloth again. She cleaned the redhead's forehead.

"He has a gun." Barbara looked at the brunette.

"He is dead, don't worry," Helena said softy.

"He wants to kill you."

"No, no, we are safe now. Calm down, please."

"He has a gun!" The redhead sat up and tried to push her down. Her movement was fast and surprised the brunette.

The young woman had a hard time trying to control her, she was strong and she didn't want to hurt her. She hugged her.

"Barbara, look at me." Helena took her the redhead's face in her hand and forced her to look at her. "Barbara, it's me."

Green eyes stared at her, confused. "Helena?"

"Yes, I'm safe, we are safe, we are home. Look around, it's your room."

"My room?" Barbara was sweating.

"Yes, your room," Helena confirmed.

"Home."

"Home."

The redhead closed her eyes and rested her head on the brunette's shoulder. Helena cleaned the sweat of her forehead with a napking carefully.

Barbara kept still. After a few minutes, Helena noticed she had fallen asleep. She rested her chin on the redhead's forehead and stared at the far wall.

She couldn't move out of her mind the blurr memory of her kiss to Barbara, it hand't been a dream.

She didn't believe in anything, but in that moment she felt she wanted believe. She closed her eyes, praying.

She didn't know how long she stayed there with her, but it was a long time.

She touched her forehead. It seemed her temperature wasn't as high as a few hours ago. It was a good sign.

"You are better," she whispered and laid her down on the bed. She heard the door opening and turned her head.

It was Leslie.

"How is she doing?" the old doctor asked.

"The fever is down," Helena answered, moving back. "She doesn't feel as warm."

"Let me check her."

"She woke, but she was delirious."

"How long ago?" Leslie sat next to the redhead.

"Maybe two hours."

"All right. Go to sleep, Helena. You are tired."

"No, I'm fine."

The minutes Leslie took examining Barbara were hours for Helena. She sat on a chair at the other side of the room, observing her. She didn't want to think what would happen if Barbara died. It was her fault, she was so stubborn, she didn't want to listen her.

Helena covered her face with her hands. She never would forgive herself if something happened to her.

She felt it then, a hand on her shoulder. She lifted her head and looked up. Leslie was smiling at her.

"She will be fine," she said. "The antidote worked."

"Oh thanks." Helena couldn't hold back and stood up, hugging the doctor. "Thanks so much."

"It's okay," Leslie said and moved back. "Now, go to sleep, I'll keep an eye on her."

Helena looked at Barbara. She lowered her head and bit her lips. "I'd prefer to stay," she said with a low voice.

Leslie understood and she nodded. "All right, I'll be in the guest room. Call me if she needs anything."

Helena smiled lightly.

Leslie left the room and closed the door behind her.

Helena removed her coat and sat on the bed. She had never seen Barbara so vulnerable as at that moment. She always was confident, secure, strong. She had seen an unknown part of her that had moved her deeply.

She rested her head on the pillow, observing her.

Her breath was peaceful, soft.

It was so beautiful to see her breathe. She let her index trace her nose, it had a wonderful shape. She loved it.

She caressed the red hair. It was soft. Very soft, her fingers played with her long hair.

She could smell her. It was a special essence, so familiar that she could recognize it everywhere.

She didn't realize when she fell asleep.

Barbara woke with a big headache. She winced, feeling a sharp pain at her side. Oh damn. Yes, she had been hurt. She remembered she fainted in the lab and… took her a few seconds remember what had happened.

A bullet had scratched her side and she had fainted at the lab.

She felt a purr at her left side.

She was not alone.

She opened her eyes, still a bit numb and looked down.

Helena was sleeping with her head resting on her arm.

Helena? What was she doing here?

The brunette snuggled closer and buried her nose in her side. She had her arm around her waist, but she didn't touch her bandaged side. She seemed to unconsciously know she could hurt her.

Helena didn't usually to stay with her, in fact she refused to be so close. She was dressed and, given the items around and the IV in her arm, it seemed she had been in critical situation and that Helena had been taking care of her and had fallen asleep. It was completely charming.

She never expected it of the brunette. She moved her hand and brushed her hair back. Helena had her moments. Inside, she was still the sweet girl she had known years ago. Her rude moods and her coldness were just shields that she used to protect her heart from being hurt. She had suffered a lot after her mother's death. Barbara still felt bad for not being there when she needed her.

The brunette stirred and sleepily opened her eyes.

"Morning," the redhead greeted, smiling.

Helena jerked back abruptly, noticing where she had fallen asleep.

"It's fine, Helena," Barbara said, reassuringly.

"I'm sorry…" Helena mumbled, ashamed. She sat up on the bed and rubbed her eyes. "I fell asleep…"

"Don't worry."

The brunette stood up, arranging her clothes. "How do you feel?"

"A bit numb," the redhead said, brushing her hair back. "I guess I passed out, maybe I lost too much blood." She removed the covers and checked the bandage on her waist.

"You were poisoned," Helena said with low voice.

"What?" the redhead lifted her head to look at the brunette, she thought she hadn't heard clearly.

"You were poisoned. The bullet that hit you and killed the man was poisoned."

Barbara frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Doctor Thompkins checked you."

"Is Leslie still here?"

"Uh… yeah… I guess…."

The door opened at that moment. The doctor appeared.

"Hey, morning. It seems you are doing much better," she said.

"Hi Leslie." Barbara smiled at her.

"I left you in good hands last night, but it seems she was tired." She winked at Helena, who blushed. "When I came to check on you, you were both sound asleep."

"She took care of me very well, Leslie."

"I know," the doctor said, standing next to her.

"Was I poisoned?"

"Yes. The scratch was not serious, but the bullet had a potent poison. Luckily, your body just absorbed a small bit. Most of the poison was on your armor. Helena told me everything last night. It seems someone really wants to see her dead."

"I'm trying to investigate it," the redhead explained.

"You must be careful, kid." Leslie said to Helena.

"I know." The brunette stretched and yawned. "I'm gonna take a shower."

"All right, I'll see you for breakfast," Barbara said looking the brunette. "And, Helena?"

The young woman opened the door and turned back to look at her.

"Thanks." The redhead smiled.

"Any time, Barbara," Helena responded, closing the door behind her.

Leslie sat on a chair. "I haven't seen Helena in years. I'm glad she has accepted your help. Alfred told me the story."

"It has not been easy. Helena is so difficult," Barbara explained. "It is back and forth with her, all the time. But I think that she knows, deep down, that she can trust me. Now she is in therapy with a shrink, I hope it helps her."

"Therapy? I don't see Helena as someone who would go to therapy."

"The court sent her, anger management."

"What did she do?"

"Long story."

"Why, with Helena, is everything a long story?" Leslie crossed her arms.

"Well," Barbara laughed, "long story."

Detective Reese opened his trunk and took out a bag. As he closed it, the mysterious woman that had surprised him a few days ago was standing there. He jumped back, startled. She smiled at him.

"Hi!"

"Fuck! You scared me."

Huntress looked at herself. "Is my outfit that bad?"

He took out his gun and aimed it at her.

"Hey, that is not nice. I came to visit you." She frowned.

"Don't try to escape."

<I told you this would not work.> Oracle said in Huntress' ear.

The brunette tilted her head and touched her ear. "I have everything under control," she mumbled.

<Sure.>

"What?" Reese asked.

"I said that I came here to return this to you." Huntress turned to look inside the pocket of her long coat.

"Don't move!" Reese shouted, still pointing his gun at her.

<I told you.> Oracle said, amused <Why don't you ever listen to me?>

"Don't be stupid," Huntress said. "I would have killed you before now. I want to give this back to you."

She showed him the top of a plastic bag.

She took it out slowly.

"See?" Huntress said. "This is yours. Could you please put down your gun?"

The detective hesitated a few seconds, but she was right, she had surprised him. If she wanted to kill him, she already would have done it. He reluctantly put his gun down.

"Why did you take this? It is police property," he said, taking the bag. "Did you touch anything?"

"No, it's all there. I just took a sample from one of the bullets. Careful, they are poisoned."

"Poisoned?"

"Yes."

Reese looked at her curiously. Helena grinned, he was fun.

"I just came to give it back to you, as I promised," she said. "I needed to make an antidote with it. The man that tried to kill me, hurt my friend instead."

"You and another person were at the murder scene?"

<You talk too much>

"Shut up," Huntress growled.

He pulled his gun again and pointed it at her. "Hands up!"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Here we go again," she mumbled, shaking her head and raising her hands.

"Who are you? Who is your friend?"

"Detective, we have already been through this."

<I told you this wouldn't work.> noted Oracle.

"Ha, ha, ha."

"How do I know," he lifted the bag, "that you didn't switch the evidence?"

"Why don't you put that gun down and we can talk?" She moved fast and kicked his hand, making him throw the gun. She caught it in the air.

"What the…?" he growled.

Huntress opened the gun and emptied the bullets onto the ground. She gave it back to him.

"All right," she said smiling, "now we can talk."

"You…." Reese pointed at her with his index finger.

"Come on, relax, man!" She showed him her coat. "I'm unarmed! Are you afraid of an unarmed girl? You want to talk or not?"

He sighed and glared at her, resting his hands on his hips. "Yes."

"Good." She sat on the front of the car and patted the hood to her side. "Come here."

"I'm fine where I am, thanks. Why did you kill my friend, the detective?"

"First, I didn't kill anyone," she said, amused, "and second, you must choose your friends better. That one worked for the bad guys and tried to kill me."

"You are lying. He was a good cop." Reese looked at her with distrust.

"Sure and I'm Wonder Woman. Your friend drugged me to help a criminal catch me."

"Catch you? Why?"

"I fight at night as a crime fighter," Huntress explained, waving her hands. "Seems I have been interfering in the activities of some drug lord. He is pissed and now he is hunting for my head." She cocked her head. "Do you remember the guys tied up at the dockyards a few weeks ago with the drug bags next to them? I broke the arm of one of the guys. And the ship that sank in the bay with drug containers inside? One of the thugs threw a grenade at me and it blew up the front of the boat."

"Yes… They said a shadow had attacked them."

"It was me," she smirked. "Nice job, eh?"

"You are… one of them?" Reese hesitated before asking.

"Them?"

"Those people…. you know, people that can do things that no normal person could do."

"Metahumans, Reese."

"Metahumans?"

"People with exceptional skills, like me." Helena lifted her leg and hugged her knee.

He was not sure whether or not she could be trusted. But she hadn't lied when she had described the people they had found with drugs. It hadn't been published in the press. Maybe he could ask questions

"What happened that night?" he asked.

"Well, I went to ask him who sent him to drug me. A sniper tried to kill me, my friend pushed me down and the bullet killed your friend. He was not the good guy you think. My friend was hurt, the bullet was poisoned, I needed a sample to make an antidote."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"I need your help."

"My help?"

"Many police officers are involved. They are protecting them."

"Why should I believe you? I don't know you."

"Because you don't have anything else and you want to know who is behind this."

<Give him the names> Oracle said.

"Oh right," she jumped off the car and took a piece paper out of her pocket, extending it to him. "Take this. It might be interesting for you to check out these guys. All are policemen, we suspect they are involved with this drug lord."

"We?"

"Just check it," she said, winking. "I'll find for you later."

"I don't understand."

"You will when you check when and where those guys have been." She walked toward the corner.

"What's your name?"

She turned, but kept walking, backwards. "For you, Huntress."

"You did what?" Barbara asked in disbelief, removing her eyeglasses.

"I was chasing down your bad guy." Helena sat on a chair and put her feet on the table. "Now the court called me. I must be there tomorrow."

"You could have gone around the fire hydrant!" She put down the papers she was working on the kitchen table. "Hey, feet down."

The brunette obeyed and crossed her arms over the table. "I fight against crime and I'm punished for destroying city property while chasing down your bad guy. Life sucks. Lousy hours, nonexistent pay, no recognition ... traffic tickets? How could you love this life?"

"That's the downside of having a secret identity the secrecy."

Helena glared at her. "I'm not going to wear a mask."

"How is your therapy going? Is it a good shrink?" Barbara sipped a sip of the coffe in front of her.

"For me, all shrinks suck. It's a woman. Maybe thirty, thirty three."

"What's her name?"

"Quinzel, Harleen Quinzel." Helena scratched her head "She asked me about my life, I told her about you, and she told me that if you take care of a hell-bent girl like me, you must be a saint or a closet masochist. She says you might be the one who needs the therapy."

"I must be a masochist, then." Barbara smiled.

"I thought the same."

"Well therapy seems not to be so bad."

"It's not bad, it sucks," the brunette grumbled.

"Come on, maybe it will help you"

"Help me?"

"Yes. The court sent you there for anger management, right?"

"I was chasing your bad guy! I told you!"

"You are easily distracted and that is not good. It will help you, seriously."

"You are distracting me."

"I shouldn't be. It's part of your training. I can say many things, but that is not a reason to be distracted. All right."

Barbara said standing up "Take the Hummer to court."

"That sounds good."

"No more than 40 miles per hour."

Helena sighed dramatically.

"Well, now go." The redhead walked toward Delphi. "We need to find that info."

"All right."

"Turn on your mic."

"Yes, mom," Helena said sarcastically, walking toward the elevator. It was weird hearing Barba… Oracle's voice while she ran between buildings. She was not used to being "guided." She was always her own.

Barbara sat in front of the Delphi and began to work. It was good that the stubborn brunette agreed to stay at her home and had accepted her help.

She followed her movements using the transceiver.

The young woman moved incredibly fast. She was agile, strong and very skillful fighting. Her main problem was that she didn't stop to think.

"Go to your right." She said over the mic.

<Excuse me?>

"Go to your right, to the Bullock building. Your view will be much better there."

<How do you know where I am?>

"I told you. I can trace you with the necklace."

<That sucks. I can't do anything bad.>

"That's the point." Barbara said, amused. "All right, I blocked all the security cameras and alarms. There are guards on the top floor, so go inside and turn to your left," Oracle said.

<To my left? This thing is weird.>

"Just do what I say." She sighed. Helena was so difficult. If she didn't explain something, she didn't want to do it.

"Remember our deal? Trust me. You will find a door, open it. Inside you will find an office full of file boxes."

<Wow> Helena couldn't hide her surprise. <How did you know that?>

"I have access from my system to maps, files, data from many places."

<Is that legal?.>

"Don't ask"

<I told you, you are kinky.>

Barbara frowned. She moved her head and typed at her keyboard. "I'm not kinky," she said. "That's not even an appropriate context for that term. Look for the file."

<I'm on it, don't be grouchy. It might be appropriate, depending on the data.> Huntress answered, ignoring the long suffering sigh. <What are you doing? I hear your keyboard.>

"Blocking alarm systems for your exit." Helena was very good, but she couldn't risk anyone seeing her or the guards surprising her. It was not nice to have the police department hunting you.

<I think we will be good if we rob a bank.>

"Forget it."

<A jewelry store?>

"Do I really have to remind you that we are the good guys?"

<But still I think it would be fun.>

"Mind on the mission. Look for box 345. It should be to your right, in the corridor."

<Could be fun. How the hell do you know where I am?>

"I'm the Oracle and Delphi helps."

<Oh, right… That Delphi is cool. Can you get inside the Pizza Hut system and order pizzas for free?>

"Yes is the answer to your first question and no to the second," Oracle said.

<I found it.>

"Perfect. Look for the file. It should be stored under the name of: ADF-1290. When you find it, scan it and get out."

<Got it.>

"It's called talk therapy, Helena, not stare hostilely at your psychiatrist therapy." The blonde doctor said in a calm voice to the thin brunette sitting in front of her.

Helena glared at her, she was not crazy. Therapists worked with crazy people.

She didn't feel comfortable here. She hated answering questions and this whole damn hour was about answering questions.

Damn fire hydrant. She would kick the ass of the genius that had installed it in that part of the street. This was her fifth appointment and still she had seven more.

Crap.

"The court sent me here for anger management, right?" Helena said, cynically, and lifted her leg resting it over the arm of the couch. "So, cure me."

"I'll do it, if you help me." Quinzel crossed her leg. She moved her hand and opened a bit more the cut of her skirt revealing a more skin.

Helena noticed the movement. She looked at the blonde in her eyes.

The blonde smiled at her.

Was she flirting?

"I know that seven years ago," Harleen said, "you watched your mother die."

Helena moved uncomfortably in her chair. Hearing it still affected her, she tried not to let it show.

"Your father appeared and became your legal guardian. Why do you have issues with him? He gave you everything, cars, luxuries, travel…."

"Money isn't everything," the brunette interrupted.

"No?"

"No, I found out more than just my father's identity. I discovered he had a whole other life."

"You mean, another family?" Quinzel asked curious.

"More like a really aggressive hobby."

Harleen Quinzel nodded, but remained silent. The girl fascinated her. There was something mysterious about her, a darkness that she couldn't understand, but that attracted her. She had a wild beauty and her insolence made her a challenge. She wanted to know who was hiding behind that strong personality. She had only had a few appointments with her and the younger woman had caught her attention.

"I blamed him for what happened to my mother." Helena said. "He didn't do anything to look for her murderer… he could have done it."

The brunette observed her nails.

"I just waited until I was twenty one, so I could live on my own."

"But you spent his money," Harley pointed out. "I remember something about the crazy nights of the daughter of Bruce Wayne."

"I hit him where I knew I would hurt him." Helena sighed "It was my small revenge. He never could control me."

"Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?" Quinzel rested her elbow on the arm of her chair and touched her chin with her index finger, "You are a beautiful woman, Helena, you could do a lot of things living as the daughter of a millionaire."

"I know."

"More than one man would love to be your boyfriend."

"I don't like guys." The brunette scratched her head and lowered her eyes, checking her shoes.

Quinzel couldn't hide that Helena's words held her full attention. She was grateful that the young woman wasn't looking at her. That was wonderful. The first time she had seen her she had been stunned by her personality and her beauty. She didn't usually date patients, but, in this case, she would make an exception. The brunette had caught her attention strongly and the possibility of being with her was very tempting.

"So you like girls," she repeated.

"Yes."

"Fascinating," she mumbled.

"What?" Helena leaned back on her chair.

"I thought you would be a woman that loved to hunt men."

Helena chuckled and winked at her. "I love to hunt, but women."

"What kind of women do you like, Helena?"

"All women are beautiful."

"Do you think am I beautiful?" the blonde asked curiously, waiting for her reaction.

The question surprised the girl. "Excuse me?"

"I want to know your taste in women."

Helena smirked. "You are a beautiful woman, interesting, intelligent."

"Do you think so?" Quinzel was proud of herself. She wanted to know more. "Do you have girlfriend? We have never talked about that."

The brunette shrugged her shoulders. "No."

Quinzel draw a big smiley face on her notebook. That was a good thing, she was free. Now she wanted to know more about her.

"The person closest to you," the blonde read her notes, "was shot and she left for almost two years trying to recover and walk again."

"I'm not paying you to tell me what I already know." Helena sighed, feeling really bored.

"The state pays me," Quinzel smirked.

"Whatever." The dark haired woman turned her head and looked through the window.

"You said that this "Barbara" forgot about you and it hurt you. Why did it bother you so much?"

Helena shrugged "I don't know, maybe because I've known her since I was a kid, maybe because I trusted her and… she… she just wasn't there when I needed her."

"And she has been trying to get close to you all these years since she came back. You have been refusing her because you hate her. So, "Barbara" is always there to help you a rebellious, hell-bent young woman that pushes her away every time you have the chance." Quinzel leaned back in her chair "She's either a Saint or a closet Masochist. I think she might be the one who needs therapy."

"I didn't think shrinks were supposed to make jokes," Helena chuckled.

"You say you have resentful feelings against Barbara, so why are you living with her now?"

"I'm not living with her."

"You have been there for a several weeks. What's that then?" Quinzel said, looking at her curiously. It seemed Helena's feelings were deeper for that woman; more than she originally thought, and it was not good.

"My place is being remodeled now." Helena tried to find a good excuse. She couldn't talk about her secret life. "It'll be finished in a few more weeks."

"I see…" Quinzel leaned forward, biting her pen. "But why are you living with a person that you said betrayed you? Why not another person? A friend?"

"I don't have any friends."

Quinzel observed Helena. It was hard to get the girl to open up, even more than she thought the first session. She played with the pen in her fingers for long seconds before fixing her blue eyes with intensity on the brunette.

"What's Barbara to you?"

Helena lowered her head. It was something she had asked herself many times.

"Do you feel comfortable with her?" the doctor asked, before she had time to answer.

"Yes. She is nice," she said. "She is smart. You can talk with her about anything." Helena made paused. "But it's sometimes so difficult talk to her. Often we end up arguing. I don't mean to, but it just happens."

"Why do you want to talk to the person that betrayed you?" Quinzel smiled and showed her notebook to her. "You said it, not me. Why do you trust her? You said…"

"I know what I said," Helena growled.

"So…" Quinzel insisted, "you hate her because she abandoned you when you were a child? Have you stopped to think that you are selfish?"

"What?"

"You said she was recovering from being shot. She was trying to walk again. Is that bad? She was trying to survive, and you blame her for it?"

The brunette clenched her jaw, she hated when people tried to corner her.

"For that reason you hate her?" Quinzel insisted.

"You don't know!"

"Why do you keep hanging around her, if you feel that she failed you?" Quinzel cocked her head.

Helena remained silent. She couldn't explain what she didn't understand.

"Have you considered that maybe you love her?"

"That's absurd!"

"Do you love her, Helena?" Quinzel asked, she wanted to know what was inside the young woman's heart.

"Of course not!" Helena growled.

"There is a thin line between love and hate. Maybe you are confusing your feelings and you don't hate her, maybe you are in love with her."

Helena straightened in her seat and turned to glare at the doctor. She really was testing her limits.

Quinzel smiled at her. "Time's up. I'll see you on Monday."

Annoyed, the young woman stood up and exited the room.

Quinzel followed her movements with her eyes. Helena really was a very fascinating woman attractive, young, sexy. It would not be so difficult to get her.

Barbara read a book in her room. She usually worked nights, but tonight she had chosen to rest. Helena was working at the Dark Horse bar. It was okay, the man that was looking to kill Huntress was searching for a dark shadow on the streets. She had intercepted a radio call, she couldn't recognize the voice. The voice demanding Huntress' head had been distorted by some kind of technological equipment.

It seemed the detective that had betrayed Huntress had just told the criminal that he knew her, but he never gave a description of her.

She checked her watch. Midnight. Helena had said that she would come back at midnight.

Leslie had told her that Helena had been really worried about her. She smiled, it made her feel happy. She was more certain than ever that Helena didn't hate her, that she still felt love for her. She just didn't want to show it because her fear of being hurt was too great.

And… she liked the brunette so much.

She couldn't stop thinking about her, and more so after that erotic dream. The memory of the kiss she had give to her was still on her mind. It was the most amazing tender caress she had received. She couldn't deny she was nervous about Helena staying with her. It was… a weird feeling...

Soft knocks on her door caught her attention and her heart jumped.

"Come in."

The brunette walked inside, hugging a pillow under her left arm. "Hey, how do you feel?"

"Oh fine, a bit sore, but fine." The redhead put her book on the night table. "I was ready to sleep, but I was waiting for you."

"For me?" Helena asked in surprise, standing next to the bed.

"I will sleep better knowing you are here, safe." Barbara smiled, noticing the expression on the girl's face. Helena blushed.

"How was work?" She patted the bed. "Come on, sit."

"Fine. Thankfully, it's Wednesday. There weren't so many customers."

"Do you really like that work?"

"Yes, it's nice." She grinned. "And I get free drinks."

Barbara looked at her. She really wanted them to stop fighting and be friends.

"Thanks for last night. You saved my life."

"Oh no, Barbara," Helena moved her head. "You've done much more for me."

"I'm alive thanks to you."

"I have been rude to you all these years." Helena took a deep breath, this was not going to be easy. She had been so afraid of losing Barbara the night before. The doctor made her open her eyes to things to which she had been blind. She felt like a sewer rat. "I… I haven't been the best person with you and you have always been there for me. I was selfish, you were trying to walk again and I felt you abandoned me, I couldn't understand that… I was so angry at my dad, at everything." The brunette lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Barbara."

"For what?"

"Everything."

Barbara took the young woman's hand. This time Helena didn't pull away as she always did. It was good, her fingers were small and soft. She enjoyed the contact.

"Let me be your friend," she said.

"Why?" Helena looked at her fingers. "Why do you want to be my friend?"

"You are family, Helena." The redhead said, "I'm not perfect and Batgirl doesn't help so much."

Barbara chuckled.

Helena chuckled back. "Yeah, she is a pain in the ass."

"But you are, too - a big one."

Helena laughed lightly, she couldn't deny it, she was right. "Oh well…"

"Do you want dinner?"

"No, I already ate, thanks. I'll take a shower and…" She waved her hand at the couch in the room. "I was thinking about sleeping on the couch in here, maybe… you might need something, and Leslie told me you might need to take pills at night."

"Thanks, that will be nice, but… why don't you just sleep here in the bed? It's big enough." She liked Helena's company. When she was in good mood, she was funny, the hours flew by when she was with her.

"Oh no," Helena shook her head. "I don't want to bother you."

The brunette realized the thought of being that close to the older woman made her nervous. That was absurd. She had realized it before, but she hadn't stopped to really think about it. Crap. Those therapy sessions were really screwing with her mind.

"You don't. In fact, I appreciate your help." The redhead smiled "It still hurts a bit to move, I don't have meta healing, like you."

"All right." The brunette stood up. "I'll take a shower."

"Okay." Barbara picked up her book and opened it.

She felt things would be much better now, and she really felt happy for it. She felt relieved that the rebellious woman accepted her help, the killer behind her was not playing and he would try to attack soon.

At the same time she was happy to have her close; Helena never would feel anything more for her than just friendship, but that was enough.

"So, tell me, Helena, have you thought about our last talk?" Dr. Harleen Quinzel asked, looking at the young brunette, whose mind seemed to be far away.

"What last talk?" Helena looked at the blonde with a bored expression. She didn't want to be there. She wanted to be with the Barbara. She was hurt, still recovering. However, if she didn't attend the therapy session, the court would make this longer and she didn't want that. She wanted to finish as soon as possible.

"About Barbara and you, about the thin line between love and hate."

"I told you, that is absurd."

"Why absurd? You have talked to me about your life and how hard it was after your mother's death. You said you felt she abandoned you and you couldn't forgive her for it."

"But I finally did."

"Then later, you said she betrayed you again. She hid a secret from you and it hurt you."

Helena sighed, maybe she had opened her mouth too much.

"It didn't hurt me. It disappointed me," she mumbled.

"If she disappointed you," Quinzel said, "it means she hurt you. If not, you wouldn't care."

The brunette didn't answer, she stared at the floor.

"So, she has twice betrayed your trust, and yet, you are now living with her…"

"I'm not living with her."

"All right, but in any case, you are with a person that hurt you. Why? Is it not because you feel something for her?"

"You don't understand." Helena shook her head. She realized now that she had been selfish, so buried in her own pain that she was blind. She had been misjudging the redhead all these years.

Quinzel leaned over and touched the brunette's hand. "Help me understand, Helena."

Blue eyes fixed on her as a challenge. She didn't like to be touched, she moved her hand back.

"I don't want to."

Quinzel chuckled. It seemed Helena still had issues about people being close to her. What was not good, was that their conversations were always about Barbara. She thought so much about the redhead.

"Who is this Barbara that causes such tumultuous feelings? Could a person that really cares about you so much, disturb you to this degree?"

"She doesn't disturb me," the young woman said.

"No? We talk almost all the time about her. About how she hurt you, about how she pissed you off. Who is she?" Quinzel locked her eyes on the brunette.

The young woman didn't blink. She was not going to make her blink.

"Barbara Gordon," she finally said.

Quinzel smiled. Oh, how she liked this woman in front of her.

"I remember her." The blonde leaned back in her chair. "Barbara Gordon is in charge of your father's foundation. Beautiful, very smart, elegant… a powerful woman.

"Barbara is nice," the young woman mumbled, "she cares about me."

"Why do you think she cares about you after everything that has happened?"

"She does. Every time I need her, she is there," Helena said, defending Barbara. "She doesn't ask for anything, she accepts me as I am." It was hard to admit, but Helena couldn't keep lying to herself. "I was wrong to judge her, I was young, hurt. I needed to blame someone."

"And you discharged all your anger against the person you loved the most, after your mother, Barbara."

"Everything was confusing. I miss my mom," Helena mumbled "And, in that one moment, she was gone. Everything changed. I changed."

"Into what?"

"Into someone maybe I wasn't meant to be."

The blonde noticed Helena couldn't hide the shadow of sadness on her face.

"What do you feel for her now, Helena?" Quinzel asked softly.

"She is my friend," the dark haired woman answered.

"No, I'm not asking that," the blonde said, with a gentle tone, leaning toward her. "I'm asking what you feel for her."

"I appreciate her."

"Just that? You don't feel anything else?" the doctor asked quizzically. "I have seen Barbara Gordon's picture." Quinzel observed the girl's reaction. She was avoiding her gaze. "You told me you prefer women. Have you noticed that Barbara is a beautiful woman? Elegant, smart? She is one of the most desired women in the city. Is it possible, Helena, that you are in love with her and you don't realize it?"

"I have noticed that Barbara is a wonderful woman, but she is just a friend, nothing more." She made a face. "In fact, I told her once she could be my mother and it pissed her off."

"Why did you say that?"

"I was angry."

"And now, given the chance, would you say it again?"

The brunette fixed her eyes on the blonde. "Never."

Quinzel rubbed her chin. There was a deep silence in the room. The blonde adjusted her notebook on her legs.

"What do you think about me, Helena?"

"Well… you are a good therapist and…"

"I mean physically, Helena."

The brunette lifted her eyebrow. "What kind of question is that?"

Quinzel stood up and walked toward her. Helena really pushed her libido to high levels. The brunette was sexy and her stubborn attitude made her most attractive.

She wanted her.

She put her hands on the arms of the couch and leaned forward, bringing their faces close.

Helena's nostrils filled with her soft perfume, a bit sweet for her taste.

"Do you find me attractive?" the doctor whispered with a smooth voice. She was sure that if Helena looked at her, she would notice she was a very attractive woman.

The brunette's eyes traced the other woman's body. She had, in fact, a great body, she dressed elegantly and conservatively, but she didn't hide what she had. Her skirt had a long slit up the side and her cleavage was really tempting. Her eyes were fixed on it, maybe longer than she wanted.

She lifted her head and looked at the blonde. She had short hair and a nice face, not as beautiful as Barbara, but it was nice.

"Yes, you are," she finally said, amused. "Are you trying to seduce me? Isn't that against your ethics?"

Quinzel laughed and moved back.

"No, of course not. I was checking your reaction. You are right, you like women. Some of my patients like to lie. Not you, I see."

Helena eyed the doctor. "You are really attractive."

"Maybe your kind of girl?" Quinzel sat on her couch.

"I'm sorry." Helena smiled. "No."

"Why not?"

Helena narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not flirting, Helena." The doctor grinned. "I'm trying to understand you."

"I don't want to offend you…" Helena nodded, "but I like other kinds of girls."

Quinzel exhaled and checked her notebook. That was bad news, yet not an insurmountable obstacle.

"Like Barbara?" she asked.

Helena didn't answer. Sometime the doctor's questions made her feel really uncomfortable.

The blonde felt she that was another point for her. The girl's silence meant she had, again, hit the mark.

"Tell me, Helena, Why did Barbara keep trying to be your friend all those years? You were very rude with her."

"I don't know."

"Maybe she tolerated your bad mood, your insults, because she knew she had committed a mistake? Maybe inside, she knew that she really did forget about you. She felt guilty and wanted to repair the damage she did to you." The blonde crossed her hands and held her knee "Did she do that for you... or for herself?"

"We had a deal," Barbara said furiously, walking into the kitchen.

"It was awesome!" Helena said, following her.

"Awesome?" Barbara glared at her "That was disgusting! And you left my entire floor covered in popcorn crumbs. How could you eat while watching that?"

"Well, you didn't say anything about eating popcorn while watching movies."

"But I said, very clearly, NO porn!" The redhead set her briefcase on the table.

"I didn't mean to do it… I was changing channels and it just appeared!"

Barbara narrowed her eyes. "I don't subscribe to porn channels. How could it just 'appear'?"

"Well, an announcement about a pay per view show appeared and I bought it!" Helena shrugged her shoulders.

Barbara opened the briefcase and removed her eyeglasses, adjusting them on her nose. "Why do you use your credit card to buy those things?"

"I didn't use my credit card," the brunette opened the fridge and took out a milk carton. "It was yours."

"What?" Barbara stopped what she was doing and glared at her.

"It was already registered there!" Helena said, defending herself.

The redhead covered her eyes, how did the zen thing go again?

"Yes," she said, trying to be calm, "I have it registered there to pay for my satellite service and some special events, like concerts, not porn movies."

"It was a good offer," Helena noted. "You can watch it any time for rest of the month."

"I don't watch porn, Helena."

"No?" Helena frowned.

"Not everyone likes porn." Barbara took some exams and began to check them. She had a lot of work to catch up on at the school.

Helena sipped a bit of milk and kept thinking in silence. She looked curiously at the redhead. "Not even a tiny bit of a porn movie?" she asked.

"No."

"That is weird."

"Why is it weird?"

"People like porn. It's educational."

"Educational?" Barbara couldn't avoid laughing lightly. It was so difficult to be angry with her. She lifted her head and looked at the young woman.

"Yeah, it's like taking classes at home about how to please your partner."

Barbara made a face. "Helena, love is not like that."

"I know, but it helps a lot." She grinned and sipped a bit more of her milk.

Barbara shook her head, amused. She had an answer for everything. Sometimes she had strange ideas, but, in general she was fun. She spent hours talking with her and discussing different topics. They had been working together and they had designed some good equipment. She was still stubborn and sometimes liked to act on her own, but it was part of her personality.

"How do you feel today?" the brunette asked.

"Better, I think I'll go back on sweeps next week."

"Okay."

"Reese needs help outside," Barbara said, checking her student's exams. "He wanted to kill you."

"Oh, it was fun."

"You were lucky he didn't shoot you."

"Nah, he never would do that." She sat on a chair in front of the redhead. "He is the 'good' cop… and handsome."

"I thought you liked girls."

"I like girls, but he is handsome. Maybe I could turn straight again for him."

Barbara laughed. "You are nuts."

"How are your therapy sessions?" the redhead asked.

"Boring," Helena responded, lifting her legs and moving them over the seat of the next chair. "I don't understand why people pay to have someone listen to their crap."

"Many people need someone to listen."

"Therapy sucks. Why do people think it helps?"

"A therapist gives you council about what to do. It usually does help people."

"I don't think it works for me." Helena sipped more of her milk.

"Why not?" the redhead asked curiously.

"If I tell my therapist that I jump between buildings she would send me to Arkham." Helena crossed her arms over the table looking at the older woman.

"Point for you," Barbara said in amusement, and returned to her work.

Blue eyes remained fixed on her. The brunette took her time observing her. She was really a beautiful woman. Well, as an admirer of her sex, she recognized beauty. However, acknowledging that Barbara was beautiful and that she liked her company, didn't exactly mean that she was in love with her.

"Barbara, have you dated many guys?" she asked suddenly.

"I guess five or ten… nothing serious."

"Five or ten?"

"Well," the redhead removed her eyeglasses and bit the ear piece, thinking, "there were twelve, to be exact."

"Twelve?" Helena said surprised, she hadn't expected the number to be that high.

"As I said, nothing serious, sometimes it was only for a few days or weeks. Depended on the guy."

"You dated Dick."

"Yeah, he was one of my longest boyfriends," Barbara smiled and put her eyeglasses on, returning to her work. "Almost five years."

"How could you be with that moron for five years?"

"He is not a moron, he is a great guy."

Helena drummed her fingers on the table. She bit her lower lip thinking. "Good lover?"

"Sorry?" Barbara lifted her head and looked at the brunette, raising her eyebrow.

"Was he good? I mean, well, you two must have… you know."

"He was good." The redheard lowered her head and wrote something on the paper in front of her.

Helena stared at her. She crossed her arms. "Just good?"

Barbara lifted her head and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She kept silent a few seconds before smiling, "Really good." She shook her head, amused, and looked back at her papers.

Blue eyes blinked, interested. "What happened?"

"What happened?" Barbara finished checking the exam in her hand and she took another one.

"Yes, why did you break up?"

"We had different points of view, interests… we talked and we made the decision to just be friends."

Helena crossed her arms over the table. "And Wade? You are still dating him, no? You said that."

Barbara removed her glasses. It seemed Helena was in a talkative mode. She removed her eyeglasses and set them on her notes.

"I met Wade working at the high school," she said. "He is a nice man and a gentleman with me."

"He looks boring."

"He is not, believe me." Barbara chuckled.

"Why did he leave you?"

"He didn't leave me. I told you, he is in France getting a master's degree. He will be back next week. He was there a year. He came to visit me twice and I went there once."

"You went to visit him?" Helena frowned.

"Yes, at the beginning of this year," Barbara said. "I was there two weeks."

"How long have you been dating him?"

"Two years or so. Now, it's my turn."

"Your turn?" the brunette cocked her head.

"How many men have you dated?"

"Two."

"Girls?"

"One?"

"Helena, please." Barbara glared to her.

"I have just dated one," Helena said. "I only had one serious girlfriend."

"And all those other girls chasing you?"

"Well, I'm not so bad looking," the brunette smirked. "They look for me when I go to bars. I flirt a bit, but that's all."

"You said you are a hunter," Barbara smiled in amusement.

"I am, but I don't take everyone to my bed." Helena didn't know why it was important that Barbara know she was not some sex-crazed teenager.

The redhead didn't say a word, just looked her.

"Seriously," the dark haired woman mumbled, staring at her shoes.

"I believe you," Barbara said softly, fixing her eyes on the younger woman. Knowing Helena, how she refused to be touched; avoiding love and being loved so as not be hurt; she was not lying.

Helena lifted her head. Was she saying?

"I believe you," Barbara said again, seriously. Helena was opening to her and she didn't want her to feel she was mocking her. "I think you are rebellious and stubborn, but I don't think that you play with people feelings after everything you've been through. When you were a child, you were a sweet girl with a big heart. I don't think that you changed." The redhead touched the brunette's hand. "I saw you playing with the children, I saw you helping people. You still have that big heart, but you are hiding it to avoid being hurt."

The redhead noticed the brunette was embarrassed, but she didn't move her hand back.

"You are a great person, when you are not grouchy."

Helena looked up at her and smiled lightly.

"What happened with your girlfriend?" Barbara asked.

"I was young." Helena took a deep breath "And…. I think I was just didn't want to be alone. I had many things going on. I was not sure if I wanted to be with her. It didn't work." She smiled to herself and shyly looked at the redhead. "I'm not easy, you know?"

"Tell me about it." Barbara made a face and moved back.

Helena chuckled.

"And now?" the redhead asked curiously. Helena looked cute when she smiled.

"Now?"

"Are you dating someone?"

"No. I'm free." Helena winked at her. "So, now's your chance."

Barbara laughed. "Too late, Helena, I'm taken.

"But I'm not jealous," the brunette hurried to say.

Barbara slapped her arm playfully. "Let's go to work."

Reese waited at the dark street. He looked around. The place was quiet, except for some sirens that could be heard in the distance. He was still not sure if she could be trusted, but everything she'd told him so far was true.

He looked at his watch. It was eleven. She said she would see him at eleven.

"Hello, Reese," a voice said from behind. He jumped in his place.

"Dammit, you must do that?" he asked.

"I'm good, eh?" Huntress grinned.

"Why don't you walk up to me like a normal person?"

"It's not so exciting."

He shook his head and extended a piece of paper to her. "You were right, the names of the people you gave me were assigned to drug cases. The commissioner assigned them."

"Aren't all of these people close to him?" Huntress checked the names.

<The commissioner is probably involved. Let me check.> Oracle said over her mic.

"Why?" Huntress asked.

<Maybe he is receiving payment to protect them.>

"Yeah, that makes sense. Could you check his bank accounts?"

Reese looked at her scratching her head. "Have you noticed that you talk to yourself?"

"Have you considered that the commissioner may be involved?" she asked him.

"The commissioner?"

"Do you know him?"

"He came here two years ago." He crossed his arms. "But no… we are not friends."

Huntress bit her lip. "I started stopping the drugs shipments a year ago."

<I found something interesting.> Oracle said <Could you please check your cell?>

"I don't have…" Huntress said, at the moment that she heard a beep in one of the pockets of her coat.

<I gave you one, since you occasionally don't answer me on the mic.>

"I'm busy fighting." The brunette looked inside her pocket.

"The voices that you hear inside your head are a serious problem, right?" Reese asked.

"Don't ask," the young woman said looking at the mobile.

<Open the picture I just sent.>

"I'm on it." Helena pressed some buttons "How the heck does this work?"

Reese extended his hand. "May I?"

She gave it to him. He took the phone and opened a file.

"Oh my…" he mumbled as he gave her back the phone.

<I found a picture with the commissioner,> Oracle explained <the detective that was killed and two of the agents that were assigned to keep an eye on the drug dealers.>

"When was this picture taken?" Huntress asked.

<High School, twenty five years ago.>

"High School, twenty five years ago." Huntress said to Reese.

"So they know each other. This is interesting." The detective moved his head.

<Want to hear something interesting?> the redhead's voice was heard again in Huntress's ear piece. <I discovered that the guys that you and the police trapped are out of jail.>

"What? Why?" the brunette grumbled.

<No evidence.>

"That's absurd!"

Reese observed her. He crossed his arms and rested his back against the wall.

"Dammit." Huntress mumbled, annoyed.

"Are you sure you are not crazy?" he asked.

"This is insane," the brunette paced irritably. "The criminals we sent to jail are free."

"Excuse me? How do you know that?"

"I told you," she grumbled, "I work with another person. She just told me."

He pointed to his ear with his index. "The one that talks to you and makes you look like a crazy woman?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Reese scratched his head. This was nuts.

<Could you please come back?>

"I'll see you later," she said, looking up as she prepared to jump.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I need to find something that connects the criminals with him, so we can stop the drug dealers and trap the lunatic that wants my head."

"When will I see you again?"

"Soon." She winked at him.

The police commissioner walked inside the dark office. His cell phone rang. He checked the number and answered immediately. He listened carefully to the voice on the other end of the line. Taking a handkerchief, he wiped his face.

"Do it, and do it now!" he shouted angrily.

He hung up the phone and looked through the window.

"Angry?" a voice behind his desk said.

He turned his head. The chair at his desk turned. A woman dressed in black was there, but he couldn't see her face because the room was shrouded in darkness and just a bit of moonlight illuminated the place.

"Hello," she said. "Looking for me?"

"Who are you?"

"Well, you have a price on my head, so I decided to come here and ask you for the reward," she smirked, leaning back on the chair, "and everything is here, not just my head, so you must pay more."

"You?" he growled, recognizing she was the person that had been screwing up his business. "What are you doing here?"

She lifted her hand and showed him a USB drive. "Just looking for something like this."

"What is that?"

"I hacked your email." She took the laptop computer on the desk and turned it towards him. It was on. "I have copies of very interesting emails to people you have been selling the drugs to."

He shook his head in annoyance. "I think you are a very stupid woman."

"Look who's talking." She put her feet up on the desk. "I have a nice care package for the police, complete with pictures of you and some of your fellow officers, as well as recorded phone calls, copies of bank statements…. Who's stupid now?"

"You don't have anything!" he shouted.

"If you say so." She stood up.

"What do you want? I can give you enough to live the rest of your life as a queen."

The brunette kept still.

"I can give you some of the money now," he said, "more that you could ever dream of."

"Interesting." The brunette sat down again. "And what I must do?"

"Nothing."

"You are joking right?" Huntress laughed. "I don't want to be involved."

"No, just let my kids work," the commissioner said. "You will not be involved, just ignore them. I'll pay you to ignore them."

"Ignore whom?"

"My men, the police officers behind this. You know them - Mc Coy, Johnson, Stevens. Customs personnel. Leave them alone, you have been pissing them off."

Huntress played with her fingers, thinking. After long seconds, she mumbled, "Just ignore that fact that they are smuggling drugs into the city and do nothing, right?"

"Right."

"Do you think your boss would approve this?" she said, standing up.

"Here, I'm the boss, I have control of this entire operation. My boss controls much more, I'm in charge of this part. I work in five states and it's growing." He pointed to his desk. "Open the first drawer, everything inside is yours, your first payment."

The young woman lowered her head and opened it. She whistled, it was full of one hundred dollar bills.

"What do you say?" he asked her.

Huntress threw the USB to the floor and stepped on it with her foot, breaking it. The commissioner smiled.

"We have a deal." He smirked.

"No, I have a confession, right Reese?" She turned the desk phone to him, it was on speaker mode.

"Right, Huntress."

"The USB was empty, your data was clean."

"Damn bitch." He growled, annoyed, and tried to hit her, but she turned and pushed him back with a fast kick. He crashed against the wall, she grabbed him by his lapels.

"I'm not a bitch, get it?" she grumbled. "Who are you working for?"

He could see her features clearly, now that she was under the moonlight.

"You?" he mumbled in surprise. After a few seconds he started to laugh. "I should have known it was you."

The brunette was disconcerted. He kept laughing and slipped to the floor.

"Do you know me?" she asked.

"Of course I know you, dammit. Why didn't I figure it out before?"

"You will have plenty of time to think about it in jail," Huntress said.

He kept laughing and looked at her.

"You never could find your mother's killer, right… Helena?"

She felt anger boiling in her veins. She took him by his neck and lifted him off the floor. "Who are you?"

"He is closer than you imagine." He grinned. "He could be anyone…"

"What are you talking about?" Huntress pushed him harder against the wall "You are going to talk, and talk now!"

He took out a gun.

"NO!" the brunette yelled, as a gunshot rang out.

Part 7

"Huntress!" Oracle shouted into her mic when she heard the shot. She felt a shiver down her back. "Huntress, are you all right? Please answer me."

She was panicked, thinking something had happened to her. The seconds were eternal. The brunette's signal was still on the screen, unmoving.

She had just found her again, she didn't want to lose her. Not like this.

Not now.

She pressed a button and tried again.

"Huntress, what happened?" the redhead felt her heart beating faster in her chest.

<He is dead.> Huntress' voice was heard, almost as a whisper.

"Oh, thank God. Are you alright?"

<I'm fine.>

"What happened?"

<He blew his head off. He had a gun… Fuck… It's disgusting… There is blood everywhere…>

"Come back, please," the redhead requested. The younger woman seemed to be disturbed by the evening's events. "Let Reese finish the job."

<He said he knew me, he knew about my mom…>

"I heard that." The redhead stared at the monitor.

<He knew who killed my mom, why?>"

"Please come back."

The brunette didn't answer.

"Huntress…"

Suddenly, the communication was cut.

<I'm fine… I'll see you later.>

"Huntress," Oracle pressed some buttons at her keyboard "Huntress!"

Helena sat at the cornice of the rooftop above her apartment. She had walked for hours. The mention of her mother's murder had disturbed her in a way that she couldn't have predicted. The worst part was that the commissioner had blown off his head with the fucking gun.

He was close. He had said the killer was close and that he could be anyone.

"I have been looking for you," a familiar voice said from behind her.

"I needed to be alone," the brunette mumbled.

Barbara, dressed as Batgirl, sat next to her. Both looked out at the city below them.

"You scared me." Batgirl said, "When I heard the shot I thought he had shot you."

"He blew his head off in front of me," Helena whispered. "His brain just disappeared… everything was covered in blood… I couldn't stop him."

"There was nothing you could do. You did your best, I'm very proud of you." Batgirl put her hand on her shoulder.

"Your main goal was always to stop the gang, you did it."

"You helped me a lot."

"But you worked hard on it, so hard that he wanted to see you dead."

Helena took a deep breath, she lowered her head.

"He knew me. I have been thinking about it and I don't remember him." The brunette looked at her masked friend.

"He said he knew my mother's murderer. He knew her, too. Why?"

"I heard him say that," Batgirl said. "I did some research on the Delphi."

"Did you find anything?"

"No, your mother was a socialite; maybe he met her at some party or reunion."

"He knew me, too."

"I know, I left the Delphi working to check if he had any connection with your dad. Maybe he was a friend of your dad, and met you and your mom when you were a kid."

Helena sighed and looked again toward the city.

"We never talked about her." Barbara removed the cowl from her head. "Do you want do it now?"

Helena took a deep breath and exhaled through her mouth.

"No."

Green eyes regarded the young woman. She seemed so vulnerable, so tiny. When Helena opened her soul, Barbara discovered an incredible and very sensitive woman, whose heart was as fragile as a piece of glass. It touched her. She extended her arm and squeezed her hand.

"It still hurts you."

Blue eyes fixed on her. "It never will stop hurting, Barbara."

"I'm sorry for not being there."

"It wasn't your fault." The brunette squeezed back, gently "You were hurt and I couldn't see that."

"But I could have done more."

Both were silent for long seconds, staring at the dark horizon. A question had been inside Helena's mind for so long, she thought it was the moment to ask.

"Why didn't you ever quit on me?"

"Your doctor said it, I'm a masochist."

Helena laughed lightly.

"Seriously," the redhead said, smiling at her. She had wonderful blue eyes. "I love you, you were a pain in the ass as a child, but I love you. I met your mother years ago and our 'differences' didn't matter, I respected her so much. She helped your father and me many times to trap criminals."

"Why? She was a burglar," Helena asked curiously.

"Because she respected human life. She helped us to save many lives, you said it, she was a burglar, but never a murderer. After her retirement, we became very good friends. We had many things in common, I could talk with her about things that I never could with my other friends." Barbara smiled at the brunette "You and your mom became my family, too. She was the big sister I never had."

The dark haired woman lowered her head.

"I lost my mother when I was a child, I was ten. My dad was an alcoholic and he died a few years later. My Uncle Jim took me in and he is like my father."

Helena listened to her. She didn't usually talk about her own past. Barbara seemed to always be in control of everything, even her own emotions. Something Helena couldn't say was one of her own best qualities.

Barbara must love Jim so much, her face changed, it was bright.

"He is marvelous with me." The redhead looked up. "An incredible dad."

The brunette cocked her head. "Does he know what you do?"

"No, I don't think he would sleep at night."

"And Wade?"

The redhead kept silent for a moment. "No…"

"Will you tell him?"

"Not yet, I don't know how he will react." Barbara bit her lower lip.

"You said he is your boyfriend." Helena observed her.

"Yes."

"When you love someone doesn't that mean you must be yourself with that person?"

"I am."

"I don't think so." Helena moved her arms behind her and rested her weight on them.

"What?"

"You are not being honest with him. He doesn't know who you really are."

"I can't tell everybody in my romantic life who I am."

"Why not?" Helena chuckled. "The entire city would know who you are?"

"Oh come on, I haven't had that many boyfriends."

"But you are planning tell him," the brunette said.

The former Batgirl shook her head. "Not now."

"Why not?"

"I don't think it's time yet."

"You have been with him for two years, what are you waiting for?"

"The right moment." Barbara turned to look at the girl. It seemed she was in 'asking' mode.

"And when is that?"

"You feel it… you just feel it."

Helena lifted an eyebrow. "It's weird."

"What?"

"Being in love with someone that doesn't know who you are."

Barbara felt that statement deeply, but the dark haired woman didn't seem to notice it. She was leaning forward, looking at the street fifteen floors below them.

It was true. Wade didn't really know who she was. He had fallen in love with the school teacher, the director of the Foundation, but… not with the crime fighter, the detective, Batgirl. She was not the woman he thought her to be.

She looked at the brunette. She was as breathtaking as always, her thin frame so sensual, her smile so beautiful. The truth was that the only person she felt comfortable with was Helena. She liked to spend her time with her. But she was dreaming.

"He said he knew her murderer," Helena said, interrupting the redhead's thoughts, "that he was close and that he could be anyone."

"I heard that."

"I'll kill him, Red," Helena took a deep breath. "If I find him, I'll kill him. I have been looking for him for years."

The redhead shook her head. "That is not what we do."

"You, that's not what you do." The girl pointed out. "I'm not like you."

"Don't disappoint me, Helena."

"Would I disappoint you if I kill him?"

"Very much so. Killing him won't change things."

"I don't care. I want him dead."

Helena's cold gaze made Barbara shiver. She was not joking.

"You will destroy your life Helena. Is killing him worth it?" the redhead asked.

The brunette lowered her head and looked below. "My life is already destroyed. I don't have anything to lose."

"Your life is not destroyed, you have a lot to lose."

"I lost my world, Barbara," Helena said angrily, as she stood up. "He stole my life, he left me empty, I don't have anything."

"And your father?"

"He is not my father. He never was," the brunette shouted.

"You never gave him a chance." Barbara stood up and faced her.

"I don't want it, I don't need him."

Barbara felt sadness for her. She thought her resentful feelings had gone. The silence filled again the moment. A cold wind moved their hair..

"You have me," she whispered. "I'm your family."

"You don't understand," the brunette said, trying to contain the anger and pain inside her.

"I understand more than you can imagine." The redhead touched her arm. "It's over now, you are safe. I still think it's a mistake to go looking to kill someone, but I'll always be your friend, my home is your home."

Helena lifted her head and smirked, trying to break the coldness that she had built with her reaction. "I like the new bed."

"I was going to ask you if you want to work with me."

"Work with you? At the foundation, again?"

"If you want, but I meant as a team, at night."

Helena grinned. "You are naughty now."

Barbara glared at her "Fighting crime, genius."

"Sounds cool. But you know Batgirl pisses me off."

"Don't piss her off first."

"It's my nature."

"Then don't complain." The redhead fixed her attention on the young woman. "So, what do you say?"

"Good pay?" the brunette asked playfully.

"If you like stale cookies, but the job is nice, being outside on cold nights, fighting against big thugs, getting beaten up, having nasty bruises in unmentionable places…."

"Sounds like rough sex."

"Just that with no sex. What do you say?"

"Can I watch the big TV?"

"No porn movies," Barbara said, adjusting her cowl on her head.

Helena rolled her eyes. "All right."

"So?"

"All right, deal." She extended her hand and shook the redhead's.

The blonde observed the brunette, who couldn't hide her happiness. She'd never seen her in that mood. She was always closed off, and often answered with sarcasm. She was dressed in a short black skirt and a sleeveless blouse. She looked stunning.

She looked incredibly beautiful.

Maybe she needed to change her tactic with the girl. She liked girls. She had said that, but she hadn't flirted with her, not even a bit. Perhaps she hadn't impressed her as much as she thought.

It crossed her mind to invite her to go out, but it would be pretty obvious.

Helena stood up at the window of her office, looking out over the city. It was a cloudy day.

"So, things are going better with Barbara?" she asked, checking her notes. She needed to know how deep her emotional involvement was with 'Barbara'.

"Incredible." The dark haired woman smiled, turning to see her. She really felt alive, with the courage to face everything. It was the first time in years that she'd woken up feeling like life was good.

"Are you still living with her?" Quinzel asked, biting her pen. She crossed her leg. She wanted to know, really she wanted know everything about her.

"I told you I don't live with her," the brunette said, walking to her seat and sitting. "I'm back at my place. I was fixing it. But I go to her home every day. We… work together now."

"Work?" the doctor asked with interest "What kind of work?"

"Pastries?" Helena took a second before answering.

"Pastries?"

"We… uhh… sell pastries online."

"I see…" she smiled. "Strange hobby for a woman with your temper, Helena."

"Barbara was good at convincing me."

"And you are happy now."

"Yes."

The blonde moved her skirt up a few inches and looked at the younger woman.

"Tell me, Helena," she said with a soft voice. "Are you in love with her? Have you considered that?"

The brunette's expression changed. Harleen always asked her questions that made her uncomfortable, that invaded her most intimate thoughts, and it was not nice. She wasn't used to sharing with anyone.

She hadn't stopped to think about Barbara, but, at the same time, she had been avoiding thinking about exactly that subject, afraid to face her own feelings.

Barbara was nice, she felt so good with her and she didn't want to screw it all up.

"She is beautiful, but I can't love her," she finally said.

"I didn't ask that." Quinzel was annoyed that her movement hadn't caught the attention of the brunette.

Helena sighed. It seemed she didn't have any options. She rested her arms on the arms of the chair and looked at the blonde.

"I like her," she said.

"So?"

"She is straight."

"I don't think that being straight is an impediment for you."

"I don't want to talk about her," the brunette said. The doctor was trying to go to a place she didn't want to go. She wasn't a fan of letting people look inside her.

"We are not talking about her, we are talking about you," the blonde pushed again.

"It's the same. I don't want to do it," Helena answered with a cold voice, not caring about being polite.

"Why not?" Harleen stood up, walked over to the brunette, and touched her arm, caressing it. She had smooth skin. "Let me help you, Helena. I'm your friend."

"It's not your business."

Quinzel smirked, "Oh, rudeness. That was unexpected. How can I help you if you don't help me?" She moved back to her chair.

The brunette smirked. "Maybe I don't want you to help me."

Quinzel confidently took her hand to her leg and rubbed it smoothly. She looked at the brunette with a light smile. Helena didn't know why, but she didn't like that expression on her doctor's face. The blonde wanted to show that she was in control. No one controlled her. There was a deep silence between them for long seconds.

"And how do you expect me to send a good report to the court if you don't let me help you?" the doctor asked.

"The report is not about my personal life," Helena said, annoyed at the threat.

"You are wrong, it's about what motivates you… and your feelings motivate you," Quinzel said calmly. "Your feelings make you aggressive, angry."

Helena glared at her.

"My time is up," Helena responded, standing up. She didn't wasn't to discuss her personal life with her…. or anyone else.

"All right, but remember," Quinzel said in amusement, "I'm always here to listen to you when you need it."

She watched the young woman walk out of her office.

She liked her.

She wanted her.

She would have her.

"Barbara, there is no TV service!" Helena yelled from the upper floor. She was in the living room trying to watch movies.

"I canceled it," the redhead replied from the Delphi.

"Why?" a dark head appeared from behind the sofa.

"You keep watching porn." Barbara adjusted her glasses and leaned over her computer.

"Me?"

"I saw the charges on my credit card."

"I pressed the "buy" button by mistake."

"Mistake, sure." Barbara smiled to herself. Helena had moved to her own place again, but she usually spent most of the day at the Clock Tower. Barbara liked it. She liked the company of the young woman.

"I'll pay it to you."

"That's not the point."

"Did you really cancel it?" Helena's voice, next to her, surprised the redhead.

Dammit, she was as silent as a damn cat. She was at her side. She never heard her moving down. She looked at her, then returned to her work.

"Yes," Barbara affirmed.

"Come on!" the brunette whined "You can't do that! There were 800 channels!"

"Oh I did it, believe me."

"That's evil."

"That's wisdom," the redhead refuted.

Helena stood there and crossed her arms. She sighed dramatically. "What are you doing?"

"Working, I have detected some minor robberies, but all have the same 'modus operandi.'"

"You are thinking there is some new gang in the city?"

"I'm thinking a new bad guy is trying to take control of the city."

The brunette looked around. "Can I play Sim City here?"

"Forget it." The redhead said, opening some screens on her computer.

"Why not? I can use a computer you aren't using." She looked up and pointed. "Maybe one of those screens. They're cool."

"Nope." The name she was looking for, finally appeared, Barbara saved the info in her database.

"Why not?"

"The equipment is for work, Helena."

"Mmmmm." The young woman sat next to her, balancing her feet on the desk. She looked around at the equipment. "Can I download TV shows?"

"No." Barbara typed on her keyboard, the FBI web page appeared. Now, she just needed to get inside, it should be easy.

"Why not?"

"I can imagine what you want to download."

Helena watched Barbara's screen. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get inside some FBI files." Barbara opened another program and started typing.

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Let's say that I'm helping the community." Several codes began to appear, moving at high speed across a black screen.

"So you are a hacker." The brunette cocked her head.

"I'm a detective."

"It's an elegant way to say hacker." Helena grinned.

"Why don't go you to check to see if it's sunny outside?"

"Why?"

"It's an elegant way to say 'go away'."

A few hours later, Alfred walked onto the platform with a tray with cookies and some tea. Barbara kept working at her Delphi system.

"Good afternoon, Miss Barbara." He looked around. "Miss Helena is gone?"

"She is upstairs watching TV," the redhead said, focused on her job.

"I thought you cancelled the service."

"I ordered it again."

"What happened?"

"Believe me, Alfred, it is much better this way."

He chuckled.

"You have been working so much on that, maybe you need a distraction."

"Maybe." She stretched her arms up and, taking her hand to the back of her neck, she rotated her head in circles.

"I'll be back shortly," he said, stepping off the platform. "I need to go shopping."

"Fine."

"Bring beer!!" Helena yelled from the upper floor.

"Cat hearing," Barbara said, amused.

"I already noticed it."

When the elevator doors closed. Barbara stood up and stretched her body, she really had been sitting there a long time. She put her hands on her waist and looked up.

Maybe Alfred was right, she needed to be distracted.

She walked to the stairs and climbed to the upper floor.

She stopped at the entrance of the living room.

Helena was dressed in shorts… very short shorts and a t-shirt that revealed a significant amount of skin. She was stunned. Her first thought was that Helena was incredibly beautiful.

It took her a few seconds recover her breath.

"Hey, Barbara," Helena said, taking a hand full of gummies and putting them inside her mouth "Are you finished?"

"Did you…?" Barbara cleared her throat before continuing. "Did you change?"

"I took a shower. I used your Jacuzzi…. I like the bubbles."

"No, no, it's okay," the redhead said.

"How is work?"

"Fine, I'm still doing some research." She turned to see the screen. "What are you watching?"

"Two and a half men. Love Conchata Farrell."

"Oh, I see."

"Sit." Helena patted the empty seat empty at her side. She had her legs over the coffee table. "This episode is good, her daughter is dating Charlie's moronic brother."

The redhead sat and fixed her eyes on the screen. The show was good and she laughed. Her arm rested on the young woman's. The younger woman didn't object.

Helena had an open laugh.

She liked it.

"I have an idea," the redhead said suddenly.

"Uh oh…" Helena mumbled with her mouth full with gummies.

"Uh oh?"

"Every time you have an idea, it means work."

"Come on," the redhead stood up, patting her leg, "let's go have some fun."

"A bar? I never thought you would be a bar girl," Helena said, taking a sip of her drink.

"I love bars. But work is work," the redhead said, lifting her glass and making a toast.

Helena chuckled. Barbara's invitation had surprised her but it was nice. It was nice to share time with her. She couldn't explain why she had felt so proud, walking with her inside the bar. She was proud she was her friend, she was with her. Barbara could be with anyone, but she had chosen to be with her.

Every day she was enjoying her company more and more. She went to sleep at night, wanting tomorrow to come just to see her once more.

"Is there anyone that has caught your attention?" the redhead asked.

"Uh?" The brunette blinked in confusion.

"To hunt, you are a hunter."

"I'm fine now, not interested in anyone." Helena leaned back in her chair. The truth was that Barbara interested her, but the older woman would surely think she was crazy. Helena fixed her eyes on her, she looked so damn beautiful. What if she tried? She knew Barbara enjoyed her company, they spent a lot of time having fun. She had told her that time flew when she was with Helena. That was a good sign.

"Have you ever been with a girl?" the brunette asked curiously.

"No," the redhead laughed. "Of course not."

"Why not?"

"I don't like girls." Barbara heard her own words and wondered how true they were, and more so as she found herself attracted to the young woman in front of her.

Helena moved forward, holding her cup with both hands. "How do you know you don't like something, if you haven't tried it?"

"Good question." Barbara knew she had caught her. "Must I answer that?"

The redhead wondered for a second what it would feel like to kiss Helena.

"Yes." The brunette grinned. Her smile vanished when she saw a familiar person behind the redhead.

Wade.

"Hi, love," he said.

Fuck. Helena cursed silently.

"Wade?" Barbara turned, surprised.

"Hi."

Helena saw the big smile that filled the other's woman face and felt a hit in her gut. The redhead stood up and hugged him, giving him an enthusiastic kiss on his lips.

"What are you doing here?" Barbara asked, taking his hands "You said you would be back tomorrow."

"I wanted to surprise you," he smiled back, "but you surprised me. You weren't at home."

"Helena and I have been working hard," she said, extending her hand to the brunette. "So we decided to go out and have some fun."

"Hi, Helena, how are you?" he shook the brunette's hand.

"Hi, Wade," she faked a smile. "How are you?"

"Very well and happy to be back."

"Good," Helena said.

Barbara bit her lips, feeling uncomfortable. This was not what she had expected. She had planned a nice evening with the brunette, and this, this was so unexpected. She found herself quite disappointed.

"Want to dance?" he asked Barbara.

"Sure." She left her glass on the table and followed him.

"Want to dance?" Helena grumbled to herself. " 'Sure' Bah…" She watched them moving through the crowd. Wade was holding her hand. He looked proud to be with her.

Anyone would feel proud. She'd felt proud too. The brunette sighed and swallowed her drink.

He had fucked up everything.

When Barbara returned to the table minutes later, she had gone.

"Where is Helena?"

"No idea," Barbara said, looking around. She sat next to the table.

"I'm so glad to see you," Wade said.

"Me too."

He leaned in and kissed her.

"When did you arrive?" she asked

"Just this afternoon."

"That is excellent." She smiled at him, touching his face. Her eyes found Helena, she was at the back of the place, flirting with a gorgeous blonde. The woman seemed to be interested in the young woman. Barbara didn't take her eyes off of her friend.

"Barbara?"

The redhead blinked. "Excuse me, Wade, I was distracted."

"Looking at a handsome man?" he joked. "I'd be jealous."

"No, just finding Helena." Barbara smiled. "Seems she found a distraction."

He turned his head. "Oh… I see." He took her hand, smiling "Has she ever tried to flirt with you?"

"Me?" the redhead laughed "Of course not, she is family."

"Well, she looks like a serious hunter of girls, and you are so beautiful."

"Nah, forget it." The redhead rested her head on his shoulder and kept her eyes on the brunette.

She remained busy all night with the woman, being friendly and dancing with her. Another two girls came over and stayed with her for the rest of the night.

She was pissed, they had come together. Why had she left? At a certain point during the night, she didn't see the brunette. She felt a strange sensation in her stomach, thinking she had gone home with one of thse girls.

She couldn't explain it, after a few minutes she excused herself and went to the front door. The guards at the entrance knew Helena, they had been friendly with her when they had walked in. She asked them about her.

They informed Barbara that Helena had left a long time ago but alone.

"She left alone?" she asked them, surprised

The redhead couldn't explain it, but she felt both relief and sadness. Relief because she hadn't gone with the blonde, and sad because she hadn't said goodbye.

"She often leaves alone," one of them said. He was a big muscular man.

"She is very popular," The other one said, "but hard to catch."

"She is very good at running away." The man laughed.

She smiled at them and walked inside the club again.

The woman's fist hit him with such force that it sent him flying across the street and crashing against a car. Then woman then bent in time to turn and kick the man behind her. He gasped and she turned and hit him before taking him by his shirt and smashing the thug inside a trash can.

She arranged her hair, a whistle was heard.

"That was rough," Huntress said, walking toward her and looking at the unconscious man lying at the ground. "And you complain that I'm the overzealous one."

"He was going to hit me." Batgirl bent over and picked up a baseball bat. "Not nice."

"Now I know why you are not married yet."

"Why? Are you interested?" Batgirl winked at her.

"I don't like girls in uniform." Huntress moved away.

"Weird. Some people find it exciting." She walked behind the dark woman, noticing that when she flirted with her, playing Helena's game, Helena avoided her. "I have the feeling that we are after some crime lord."

"Why?"

"I don't know. It's just a feeling."

"Maybe we need to make another sweep."

The GPS on Batgirl's belt made a soft "beep." She took it and read the message.

She wished she could cancel it. She was not in mood to see him tonight. But she couldn't cancel it. It was a dinner with the mayor, to discuss the support he would give to the foundation.

"We'll have to do it later," she sighed. "Wade. I forgot we have a dinner."

"Okay." The brunette shrugged her shoulders. Fucking Wade.

This irritated the redhead. The last week, she was only able to see Helena at night on sweeps; she worked all day and Wade demanded her time too. They talked just for a few minutes and didn't spend as much time together as before.

Huntress was going to jump off the building.

"Wait!" she shouted.

"What's wrong?"

"Have you thought about working at the foundation again?" the redhead asked, walking toward her.

"Why?" Huntress said.

"You have great ideas," the redhead waved her hand, trying to find a good answer, "and we have a nice time… and I have fun with you."

"No," the brunette shook her head "I hadn't thought about it."

"Maybe you should. I really would love for you to come back."

The brunette smiled lightly. "I'll think about it."

"Promise?"

"Sure." The young woman jumped down. Helena needed a cold shower, Barbara's smile made her crazy and enflamed all her hormones.

Batgirl watched her and turned, she had to get back to the ClockTower.

Helena couldn't sleep.

She wanted to see the redhead. She was so lonely there, in her room.

She got out of her bed and looked through the window. She could see the ClockTower from there.

Barbara was there, sleeping.

She wanted to see her.

The clock blinked one am.

It was late, but her need to see the older woman was stronger than her reason.

She grabbed her pants and dressed as fast as she could before jumping out of the window and heading toward the clock tower.

The night was clear, the sky was full of stars. It took her a few minutes to arrive at her destination.

She landed smoothly on the balcony of Barbara's penthouse. Opening the window of Barbara's bedroom carefully, she peeked inside, her bed was empty.

Where was she?

She heard the television in the living room and jumped inside the room. She went toward the door and opened it slowly.

The room was dimly lighted, the big screen had an old movie.

She felt a stab in her chest. Barbara was lying on the couch over Wade, kissing him. He moved his hands over her body which such confidence that she wanted to kill him.

She checked her impulse to run inside the room and pull him off.

She wanted to yell at him not to touch her.

She wanted to beat him and kick him out of the room.

She lowered her head. Fuck.

He was Barbara's boyfriend. She had chosen him… she wanted to be with him.

She lowered her head and closed the door.

Resting her back on it, she felt her heart breaking.

Fuck, she loved her.

She was screwed.

She heard her laughing.

Her laugh was marvelous. She couldn't stand it. She jumped through the window to the dark night.

Barbara lost track of Helena again a few days later. She looked for her unsuccessfully at the bar and her home. She had vanished.

She Helena was in a bad mood. Why did Helena always do that? She hated these disappearing acts. She was so childish sometimes. But, she didn't know why she had disappeared.

She hadn't seen her the last two days and it felt like weeks. She wanted to see her, it was incredible how much she wanted to see her.

She couldn't concentrate on her job at the Foundation, wondering where Helena could be. She worried that she was sick or hurt, she couldn't find any reason for her absence.

"Barbara?" Wade asked.

"Yes?" She blinked, noticing she was distracted.

"I asked you if you are not hungry. You didn't touch your salad and now you haven't touched your dessert."

They were in a restaurant at the center of town, one of the most popular. The handsome man had invited her to lunch after going to see her at her office. It was a cloudy, rainy day. It had rained more that day than in the last five months.

"I'm sorry, Wade." She put her napkin over her knees and touched his hand, feeling guilty for not paying attention to him. "I'm still thinking about office business."

He gave her a soft kiss on her lips. "Don't worry, love."

"I feel I hadn't given you the time you deserve," she apologized, "but I have been so busy."

"And in a very bad mood," he pointed out and took her hand in his. "May I help?"

She took a deep breath. It was hard to answer that question when she didn't understand her own reactions.

"It's just a bad day, Wade," she responded, moving back in her chair. "Don't worry. Everything will be much better tomorrow."

"I came back a month ago, and I feel your distance. I'm thinking that maybe we need to take some time off together." He smiled at her and showed her an envelope "Why don't you ask for a vacation? We could go to Bermuda."

"What is this?" Barbara frowned, looking at the envelope.

"Plane tickets. Next week."

Green eyes looked at him incredulously. "You are joking."

He kept smiling at her. The redhead took the envelope and opened it. Inside there were two plane tickets.

He was not joking.

"This is so sweet…" Barbara mumbled, not knowing what to do "But… I have work and…"

"Please." He squeezed her hand "Share a moment with me."

"I…"

"Just think about it and don't say no now. It's only Tuesday."

Suddenly, a thought struck her.

"What day is today?" she asked.

"Tuesday," he said.

"I mean, the date…"

"The seventh."

"Seventh…" she mumbled. She knew where she could find the brunette. "Heavens…."

"Something wrong?"

Barbara took his arm with her hand. "I'm sorry, Wade, I have to go."

"Why? What happened?" Wade asked surprised.

"I forgot something very important."

"But Babs…"

"I can't explain now. What do you think if we see each other later and we talk about this trip then?"

"All right. I'll call you."

She smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on his lips before standing up and heading for the door.

It hadn't stopped raining.

She was right, Helena was there. The place was empty; the rain had kept away all the visitors, except her. She lifted the lapels of her coat and walked toward the dark haired woman.

Wearing her usual black clothes, Helena sat in front of her mother's grave and didn't seem to notice the falling rain.

The young woman didn't know how long she had been there, she felt confused.

She couldn't remove the image of Barbara kissing him from her mind. The image of her on top of him, letting him touch her.

Crap.

She cracked, unable to hold it in any longer, and sobbed.

She missed her mother so much. She had needed her all those years, she had felt so alone. She wished she was alive so she could ask her for advice. Her world had broken and she had lost everything.

And when she was with Barbara she felt like she was home again, safe.

She felt like she had everything back that she had lost.

She knew she felt something for the redhead, maybe something stronger than she wanted.

Her heart raced every time she was close, she felt butterflies in her stomach when she was with her.

At the same time she felt panic, panic about those feelings growing inside her. It was not right, it was not fine.

Some days, she just wanted to leave and never see her again, but she was a coward, she couldn't imagine a day not seeing her.

She was not that brave.

Barbara meant so much to her - home, safety, happiness… she didn't want to lose all those things she thought she had lost forever.

At the same time, it was killing her to know she spent her time and… nights with Wade.

She wanted to kick his ass. Kill him, cut him in slices, yell at him not to touch her.

"Are you okay?" She suddenly heard Barbara's soft voice behind her.

"Yes," she said.

The older woman sat next to her, not saying a word.

She sat with her for a long time. She didn't say anything, but it wasn't necessary, it felt so good to have her close, be in her company.

But she belonged to him. She would lose her again, and it hurt, it hurt like hell..

They were there until the darkness began to fall.

"You are soaked," Barbara mumbled softly. "You will be sick. Let's go home."

The brunette nodded.

Helena's place was small. Barbara had been there just a few months ago. The brunette took a warm shower, reluctantly, but Barbara finally had convinced her to do it. She was soaked and cold. She had been at the cemetery for hours in the cold rain.

She had also insisted on going home with her. Helena was not the same radiant young woman she used to be. She seemed distant, sad.

Barbara removed her coat and shoes. She was all wet with the rain. She took a towel and dried her hair. She observed the apartment. Helena had good taste, the sparse furniture was stylish. The kitchen was empty and the fridge was full of frozen food, beer, water and milk. She avoided decoration like flowers and other items. She just had a medium size picture of her and her mother in her bedroom on her night table.

Helena adored her mother. She was her entire world and the memory was painful for the girl. She had seen such sadness in the brunette's face that she had insisted in accompanying her to her home.

The brunette, a person that loved to argue, hadn't objected. She must feel so bad.

She heard Helena finishing her shower, and took a cup of tea she had just prepared for her to her room.

"You are soaked, Barbara," the brunette said when she saw her walk in. "Why don't you take a shower, too?"

"I'm fine. I prepared some tea for you."

"No way." Helena went toward her closet and took out some grey pants. "These will fit you. Outside was freezing. I don't want you getting sick."

Barbara looked at herself, she accepted the pants.

"Yeah, you are right. Take your tea, I'll take a shower."

When the redhead finished the shower, she found the brunette lying on her bed watching a movie.

The redhead sat at the other side of the bed and laid down.

"This is wonderful, it is freezing outside," she said, closing her eyes and trying to sound light.

Helena would be grumpy, but she knew that, inside, she missed not having a family. She had never seen Bruce as her family. She was broken after her mother's death. She closed herself to everybody, even her; but she never had quit on her.

The brunette had such rage inside her that she could destroy herself. Barbara didn't want that for her.

She always kept trying and, slowly, Helena had been accepting her, coming to her and accepting her comfort. Accepting her as part of her life.

Just… sometimes she wondered how far things were going. How deep her feelings for her were.

"It's almost winter." The dark haired woman turned to see her.

"What are you watching?" the redhead asked looking at the screen.

"Indiana Jones. Old, but good."

"Cable or satellite?" Barbara crossed her arms behind her head.

"DVD, I have the collection. I don't pay to watch TV anymore."

"Why not?"

"I can go to your house and watch it for free." Helena grinned.

Barbara chuckled.

"Are you comfortable? This bed is not as big as yours."

"I'm fine, don't worry."

The brunette gave her a popcorn bowl. "I made this for you."

"Oh great."

Helena took a deep breath. They kept lying there, on the small bed.

Helena always felt alone on this date, but, today, with Barbara at her side, she felt she had everything, that she didn't need anything else. When the movie finished, she gazed at the redhead. She had her eyes closed.

"Are you tired?" she asked softly.

"Yeah…" the redhead mumbled "I have been working late, searching for that new crime lord."

"No clues yet?"

"No…"

The beep of Barbara GPS filled the small room. The redhead took it and read the message.

Helena watched her television. It was Wade, she was sure of it. He was looking for her.

"If you need to go, you can go," she said with low voice.

The redhead sat up on the bed and looked at her. "It's not a good time for you." And the truth was that she felt very comfortable at that moment. She felt relaxed and peaceful.

"Why don't you go with him?" Helena asked, sitting on the bed, too.

"I don't want to."

"You can go, seriously." The brunette took Barbara's hand, "Thanks for being here."

The contact, so gentle, made Barbara shiver lightly. Helena didn't usually touch her. She was looking for physical contact, she usually refused it. She smiled at the younger woman.

"I don't want to leave you alone," green eyes fixed on blue, "not today."

"Really, Barbara.."

"I'm fine, too. Right here, now," the redhead said lowering her head and looking at her fingers.

Helena looked their entwined hands, too.

"There are days that I miss her so much," she suddenly mumbled

"I felt like you when I lost my mom," Barbara said regarding her, she felt Helena pressing her fingers against hers, almost instinctively.

"You still remember her?"

"Every day. It's a feeling that stays with you forever."

The brunette inhaled deeply and moved her hand away. She looked at the screen.

"It was Wade?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Go with him," Helena said. "He wants to see you. I'll be fine."

Jade eyes locked on her. "Are you?"

Helena nodded and leaned back again.

The redhead bit her lower lip. Wade was waiting for her call. She was sure that Helena was usually alone on that day. The woman didn't trust on anyone and… Barbara had never had been with her on the anniversary of her mother's death.

She looked at her pager.

She pressed some buttons and put it on the night table next to her. She leaned back on the bed and hit the pillow with her hands.

"I hope you don't snore too much," she said.

"Uh..?" the brunette mumbled, not understanding what she was doing, "but…"

"I feel very comfortable here at the moment," the redhead closed her eyes, "and I'm tired."

"But Wade…" Blue eyes blinked.

"I already sent him a message. I told him I'll see him tomorrow." She opened her eyes and looked at the brunette "And I hope you have the pizza delivery number. I'm hungry."

A big smile filled Helena's face.

Barbara knew it was a bad day for her and she had preferred to share with her. To spend time with her and not Wade.

She loved her, she really loved her.

Harley Quinzel sat at the desk in her office; she was interviewing a group of hired killers. The lead mercenary sat at the desk while the other three stood in the back behind him.

"I'm so glad you could come in." She leaned back in her chair, a pen in her hands. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself and your friends?"

"I'm a little confused. You're a psychiatrist?"

"Well, that's part of who I am. I don't suppose you tell people at cocktail parties that you're a mercenary for hire, willing to kill as brutally as necessary, if the price is right?"

"I usually leave out the killing part." He smirked.

"Precisely. Just as I usually leave out my plan to take over all of New Gotham and bring the city to its knees. But that's why you're here," Quinzel explained. "Due to a regrettable level of incompetence among the scientific profession, I seem to have lost an integral part of my plan in the hands of two nasty ladies."

"I can help you to solve your problem."

"So, convince me –" she moved back in her chair "Why are you and your men right for the job?"

The lead mercenary casually looked down at the letter opener on the desk in front of him. He picked it up and in a single movement turned around and threw it at one of his colleagues behind him. The Man caught the letter opener before it hit his face.

An impressive move.

"Consider yourself hired." She smiled.

"Now I need you to give me all the details."

"Have you heard about a woman dressed in black that catches criminals?"

"Yes, I heard they call her 'Huntress,' but she sounds like a legend," the man said.

"And have you heard about Batgirl?"

"A legend too."

"Sorry to disappoint you, they are not legends." She took an object inside her desk and pushed it with her fingers towards him.

"What is this?" He took the small object in his hands. It seemed to be a bat.

"It's like a hook; she uses it to climb buildings."

"So, she is not a legend?"

"No, like Huntress, she is all too real. You job is to fix that situation and kill them."

"It will be an easy job."

She sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. "That what my last man said." She sighed, "And now he rests in peace."

"Did they kill him?" he asked, intrigued.

"No," she laughed sarcastically. "With their stupid 'hero' code, they are so dumb sometimes." Quinzel crossed her arms over her desk and winked at him "I'll just say that if you fail, you should pray that I don't find you. I hate mistakes."

Barbara awakened, feeling so relaxed.

It took her a few seconds realize she was not in her bed. She rubbed her left eye with her palm, thinking. The light purr at her side made her remember where she was and why. She turned her head to her right and noticed Helena was curled next to her, with her head resting on her arm. She smiled and snuggled her closer, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead.

She fixed her eyes on her face, she was so peaceful in her sleep. She was so beautiful.

That was when she realized it.

It hit her like a rock.

She loved her…

Great.

This was just great.

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

She was supposed to be straight and in a stable relationship with a handsome and incredible man.

This was not right. Helena trusted her, she was her family. But she really felt something deep for her. It was much more than a friendly love, it was a deep and strong feeling that made her heart jump with joy every time she saw her, that made her feel her empty every time she was far.

Helena mumbled something and wrapped an arm around her waist. She noticed then, her fingers were stroking the young woman's hair.

Helena didn't refuse her touch, or to be close to her; it meant she trusted her. She was sure of it, but the young woman didn't want to admit it.

She remembered the night the brunette had kissed her before falling unconscious, a question had been flying inside her mind since then: Why she had kissed her?

Helena snuggled impossibly closer to the redhead.

The brunette dreamed she was with Barbara under a tree, they were just lying there and she was resting her head on the redhead's lap, she was stroking her hair. Her mother used do it and she always loved it. She felt at peace.

Barbara always made feel her like that. It was weird. On one hand, she didn't want to feel anything for her, not feeling was the best way to not get hurt, but on the other hand, she was like a Siren's call for her, she couldn't avoid wanting to be close to her.

It felt so good, she wanted to stay there forever.

Only… she was not dreaming.

She remembered what had happened the prior night. Barbara had stayed with her and they'd talked until late.

It was pretty obvious that Babs didn't mind her being close. It felt so good to be loved, to feel someone really caring for her. Barbara had never quit on her, she had always been there, she had told her they were family.

God, she loved this woman so much, but the kind of love she offered was so different than sisterly.

"Morning, lazy cat," Barbara whispered softly.

Oh crap, Barbara knew she was awake.

She had been caught.

"I'm sorry," she said, blushing and moving back slowly.

"It's fine, Helena." Barbara kept her still, stroking her hair.

Man. It would be better for Barbara to stop doing that. Helena buried her face in the other woman's side. She now needed a good excuse to…

"Can I ask you a question?" the redhead asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Uhhhh?" Helena lifted her head lightly and looked at her.

"Why sometimes when I touch you, do you run away as if you've see a demon?"

"I don't…"

"I'd like you to feel that you can be close to me," Barbara said softly and smiling. "I enjoy your company."

"Me too—" the brunette sighed.

"What are you afraid of, Hel?" the redhead asked. "What do I have to do to earn your trust?"

"It's not that."

"What is it then?" Barbara kept her tone gentle and non-threatening, trying to encourage her to talk.

The brunette took her time, it was not easy.

"I don't want to feel that again…" she finally said.

"You need to give yourself a chance, you are young, you still have so much to live for."

"It's not so easy, Barbara… I can't do it."

Helena kept silence.

"Why not?"

"I need to find him."

"Find who?" the redhead narrowed her eyes.

"The man who killed my mom." The brunette sat up. "I need to find him… kill him."

The redhead pushed herself up and bent her knees, resting her arms on it.

"You don't know what you're saying. Killing will destroy your life."

"My life is already destroyed, Barbara."

"I don't think so. You have a life, a job, friends… You have a home."

"I don't have a home, that was gone long ago."

"I have offered my home as your home."

The brunette avoided her look. "I live fine on my own."

Barbara smiled. The last months, after they had become friends, Helena spent almost all day with her at the Clocktower. She didn't want to push her, she knew that the truth was that she was very afraid to lose any person she loved, as she had lost her mother.

"All right," the redhead said, "but my home is your home. Just…" she lifted her index finger.

"Just?" the brunette asked, intrigued.

"No chicks inside." Barbara stood up and went to the bathroom "I know your reputation."

"It's not so bad."

"I know. For that reason, I'm warning you. I'll take a shower. What do you think if we go to …" she checked her watch, it was really late. "…lunch?"

"But… Wade?"

"I'll see him later. In fact," she said and sighed, "he has invited me to go to Bermuda."

"Bermuda?" Helena felt a stab in her gut.

"I haven't spent that much time with him, so he thought it would be a good idea to spend a weekend alone." She looked at the brunette "What do you think?"

"It's fine." She shrugged her shoulders. It was something she didn't expect.

Barbara fixed her eyes on her. "Do you think?"

"Yes."

There was a deep silence in the room.

"So, what do you say?" the redhead said. "Want to get some lunch?"

"Sure." Helena nodded.

"Excellent." Barbara chuckled, closing the bathroom door behind her.

Helena stared at the door. Barbara was a wonderful woman…

She needed to stop thinking about her in that way. She was a woman with a very dangerous hobby, just like her father.

And her heart belonged to another person, to Wade.

She moved her head, she felt confused.

Helena sat on the sofa, with a leg over the arm of it and staring at the far wall silent. She was really annoyed. Since the night before, she had felt uncomfortable, angry. Barbara had left that morning to go to Bermuda with Wade. She said she would be back on Sunday, but what the fuck.

Why did she date that boring man?

They were totally different, Barbara deserved someone much better.

"So, Helena," Dr Quinzel said, seated on her single couch with her notebook over her legs. She was wearing a blue sleeved blouse, trying to catch the brunette's attention, rather unsuccessfully. Her mind was in another world. "You haven't said a word today. Has something happened?"

"You know I didn't want to come here today, doctor," the brunette said, glaring at her. She should shut her mouth "So, be grateful I'm here."

"This attitude won't help your recovery."

"The state pays you," Helena leaned forward, grabbing her hands. "So, why don't we just let the time run out and everybody will be happy?"

"Because I'm a professional Helena and I really want to help you."

"Sure," the brunette said, sarcastically.

"You have been making good progress," the blonde played with her pen between her fingers, "but I think that if you cooperate a bit more, these sessions will be more helpful."

The brunette sighed. "Do you want to help me?"

"Of course, Helena."

"Fine." She stood up and went toward the shelf. "Let's finish this stupid session right now."

The blonde chuckled. She observed the brunette's movements, she was tense and something was definitely bothering her.

"Is it Barbara again?"

The brunette didn't answer. It meant she had hit the point. Quinzel was bothered, why was the woman so obsessed with someone that didn't notice her?

She let her notebook fall to the side and went to her.

"You said she will never look at you, she is straight. And that you respect her too much. That you would never try… anything with her…. Or you were lying?" She stood at her side.

Helena turned to see her, not in a very good mood, by the expression in her face. "Don't walk inside a place you don't know, you will regret it, doc."

Quinzel smiled and fixed her eyes on her, the brunette had something that really attracted her, she loved her delicate features.

"Are you threatening me?" she said.

"I'm warning you."

"Tell me, Helena," the doctor walked around her and stopped at her right side. "Why do you deny that you love her? Are you afraid to love?"

"You don't know me," the brunette said. "I'm not afraid of anything."

Quinzel smirked and moved in front of her, closer. Closer than Helena would like.

"I think you are a young, strong… you deserve someone… powerful."

"Maybe you don't understand," Helena walked past her and went toward the far window, "I don't need anyone."

Dr. Quinzel smiled to herself and followed her.

"Is Barbara still with her boyfriend?"

Helena stood in front of the window and looked at the horizon. Quinzel walked to her slowly, giving her time to think, to answer. She was a challenge - an interesting and sexy challenge.

Helena remembered the nice weekend she had shared with the redhead. She had been so nice and gentle. Barbara had preferred her over him, knowing she was sad. She always was so tender with her. And now she had gone with Wade. She felt a deep sadness, she wanted scream, yell, hit the wall, she wanted to run and escape.

Escape her own feelings.

"She went with him to Bermuda," Helena finally said.

"So, she left you…" Quinzel stood close to her. She moved her face close to her ear and whispered "Again… she left you."

The brunette's eyes found hers.

"Love means pain, Helena," the doctor whispered, her eyes focused on red lips. "If there is no pain, love couldn't exist. You love, but you love the wrong person, she is confusing your feelings, she is not letting you breathe. You need to move away, she is hurting you."

Helena moved her head to the other side.

"She is nice with me."

"You said she betrayed you." Quinzel moved back and walked behind her. "How she could be nice with you?"

"She is…" Helena found herself suddenly pinned by Quinzel's eyes "She is nice, she is always there for me."

"Yes, I see," the blonde laughed, walking to the other side of the room. "Flying away to have fun Wade." She turned and looked at her "Why do you think she left you here… alone…?"

"Wade is her boyfriend… she loves him."

"So, you are in love with someone that doesn't know you exist." The doctor moved again to her and brushed her arm against her when she walked past.

Helena felt uncomfortable. Quinzel always made her feel unconformable when she moved that close to her.

"You need to move on, Helena," Quinzel mumbled softly. "You need to open your eyes to the world, to other people."

The brunette took a step back, but Quinzel didn't let her go, she kept moving close to her. The blonde took her hand.

"Let me help you. I can help you, do you know it?"

"Yes."

"So…" Quinzel moved her hand up and touched the fabric of the brunette's coat. She smiled and fixed her eyes on the woman. "I just need you to be honest with yourself. Tell me everything you feel, everything that is inside your heart."

The young woman pulled her hand back and stared out the window again.

"I have a professional interest in helping you."

"I guess therapy doesn't work on me."

"Oh? I wouldn't say that." The blonde rested her back on the window. "I was the one who made you see inside your feelings, that helped you express your rage. You have exposed yourself ... to me."

The brunette blinked. The blonde moved forward, again crossing the thin line and invading Helena's personal space.

"You've crossed over the threshold that was holding you back. You must now be defined by you. Not "the bartender," not "the daughter of Bruce Wayne", ... just you. Who are you Helena? What do you want?"

The dark haired woman stared at her, not knowing what to answer. It amused the psychiatrist, it confirmed that she had the ace.

Part 8

Batgirl stood at the top of a building with her arms crossed.

She had shared a good amount of time with Wade the past weekend, but it was as if the magic between them had gone. She found herself bored, just waiting for the time to pass so she could return and join the brunette for sweeps.

She had missed Helena.

More than she thought.

She inhaled deeply and lowered her head, observing the cars moving ten stories below.

She had been trying to tell herself that it was her imagination, that she was confusing her feelings, but it seemed her heart wanted to take her to other places.

It was not right. She was her best friend's daughter, she was younger than her, she was….

"….gorgeous," she mumbled when Huntress landed a few feet away from her.

She was wearing very tight black pants that seemed to be pasted to her legs and a sleeveless blouse under her short coat. The brunette brushed off her pants and walked to her.

The redhead felt her mouth go dry and cleared her throat. "You're late."

"Well, next time you take the guys in back and I'll break into a building, looking for information."

Huntress wasn't in a good mood. Who could be? Barbara had been gone all weekend with that moron Wade. She had been dying to know if she was back and she had called, all business, a few hours ago to work on their case.

"You are not as fast as I thought," Batgirl smirked.

"You want your ass kicked," Huntress growled at her.

"I missed you, too."

"Don't try to be funny with me."

"Wow, wow… Someone is in bad mood," the redhead noted, resting her hands on her hips.

"Someone is trying to be smart." The dark haired woman turned to see her.

Batgirl frowned. She stepped closer to her and leaned forward a few inches. She lifted her hand and touched Huntress' chin but the brunette moved back, rejecting her touch.

"You are bruised, it was a rough fight, eh?" Batgirl said, observing her.

"Just a bad move."

"Well, I'm glad you stopped them." The redhead turned and took out her batarang. "We still have work to do here."

"Where?"

"There." She pointed to the back, where there was a truck. Several men were moving big wooden boxes inside.

"Mmmm." The brunette gazed down.

Batgirl threw the batarang and grabbed the rope with both hands "Wanna join?"

She jumped down not saying a word more.

"Great." The brunette sighed and jumped down. Fighting was good, she loved fight, and more so when she was pissed.

Batgirl gazed to the brunette when she was fighting, she was agile, strong, a demon. The men could barely catch her.

But she was very rough, more rough than usual. It pissed her off, she don't need to be that violent.

When the fight finished. She tied up the thugs and turned, looking for the brunette. She was already climbing a building in front of her. She used her batarang to reach her.

When she landed on the rooftop, the dark vigilante was wiping her dusty hands on her pants.

"What's wrong with you?" Batgirl asked, annoyed walking to her.

"Nothing."

"You were pretty rough with those men, why?"

The brunette gazed down, where the men were tied up. "They are lucky."

"Lucky?"

"I didn't kill them," Helena said nonchalantly.

The redhead glared at her. "We don't kill."

"You, don't kill. Anyway, why do you care so much for those fucking bastards? They were going to sell chemicals illegally, the same ones used to create chemical weapons." The lithe brunette faced her. "Do you know what those weapons do to people?"

"I know it perfectly well," the redhead answered with calm voice.

Dammit, she liked her, she really liked her, but, at the same time, she pissed her off as Batgirl. She never could beat her – verbally or physically.

Batgirl lifted her hand and tried to touch the brunette, but her hand was pushed back.

"Why are you so angry?" the masked woman asked

"I'm not angry. It pisses me off that you think so much of the criminals." She paced and turned her back to her. "They hurt people! They don't deserve anything."

Definitely, Huntress was in bad mood. She looked cute, too.

She didn't love Wade, that was a fact. She loved Helena and every minute she shared with her, the idea of dating a girl seemed less crazy. Every time she went out with Wade, Helena was angry. Could Helena be jealous? Did she feel something for her?

"May I ask you something?" Batgirl asked.

"What?" Huntress turned, glaring at her.

"Why do you sometimes let me touch you and other times you push back?"

"I don't. And you already asked that."

"You do." The redhead walked closer. "Why?"

Helena could feel the warmth of the redhead's body close. It made her hormones boil, and she looked so damn sexy in that outfit. She didn't want her to get that close, she made her feel so nervous.

"You always have this 'back and forth' game. I don't understand why. Some days you seem very comfortable with me and other days you run away."

"I don't like Batgirl," Helena grumbled, turning to face the wall at her back.

The redhead stood at her side, close, very close with her eyes buried on her. The brunette was nervous, more than nervous.

"Why did you kiss me that night, Helena?" Batgirl asked in a very soft, low voice.

The question made the brunette shiver.

"Had you forget that kiss?"

The brunette swallowed. How foget it? That kiss had been haunting her everyday, every night.

"I was drugged," she hurried to say, avoiding her look.

"The truth, Helena," the redhead asked, again pitching her voice low.

She tried to move away, but the redhead blocked her way.

Helena's eyes turned feral, she growled and pushed the redhead to the ground.

The impact against the cold concrete was rough.

Heavens.

The redhead wondered if she had pushed her too much. She never thought she would react like that and attack her.

"What the...?" Batgirl's protest was interrupted when a rain of bullets hit above their heads.

"Shit," Huntress cursed, covering her head and lying on top of the redhead.

"Did you piss someone off?" the masked woman asked.

"Just you."

"I don't think so."

"Maybe it was you."

"I choose my friends well."

"I don't think so," Huntress said. "I'm your friend."

"Point for you." The redhead moved her hands to her belt.

"Hey, no touching!"

"You are on top of me."

"My favorite position." The brunette grinned.

"Very funny. When I say run, run." Batgirl took out a ball and threw it to the rooftop. A blinding light filled the place

"Now, run!"

Helena ran toward the door that led to the floors below, breaking it. Batgirl followed her. Both rolled over the floor and crouched.

"That was close," the redhead breathed heavily. "Did you see anything?"

"No, I was kind of busy saving my ass."

"Yeah, me too."

"It seems we have some new members in our fan club." The brunette stood up. "All right, now it's your turn to be the guinea pig."

"Me?" Batgirl asked.

"You distract them while I get behind them," Helena mumbled.

"This is not a democracy," the redhead said. "You play the role of guinea pig pretty well."

"Did I tell you that I hate you?" Fuck, really she pissed her off.

"Yes, thousands of times." Batgirl smirked.

"You are really irritating."

"Sometimes." Batgirl turned and moved downstairs "Let's go."

"Crap. I'll kill you." The brunette growled before running outside again.

This time the shots were not heard. She moved behind a water tank and gazed toward the building where the shots had come from.

She waited there a few seconds.

She looked around trying to figure out what was going on, at least her senses didn't give her any signal of danger. She rolled and hid behind a pile of old boxes.

No one shot at her.

She moved her head slowly out of the pile of boxes trying to look.

"Buh!!"

"Shit!" the brunette growled and jumped back. Why the hell hadn't her fucking sixth sense worked? She lifted her head and saw Batgirl laughing in front of her.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." The redhead smiled, extending her hand to help her stand up.

"Ha, ha, very funny." The young woman refused her help and stood up alone.

"There is no one there. They left." She waved toward the building.

"Did you find anything?"

"Yes," Batgirl lifted a plastic bag "Empty bullets, I'll examine them."

"Who the fuck could they be?"

"You are hurt." The redhead narrowed her eyes noticing Helena's back coat was torn. Maybe when she had pushed her back and covered her with her body, a bullet had scratched her.

"It's a scratch." Huntress turned her head, trying to see her own back.

Batgirl eyed her. She was really beautiful, she liked her.

"Let's go back, I'll need to treat that."

"I'm fine."

"I know, but I'd prefer to keep an eye on you. I don't want another poison bullet surprising us."

The brunette sighed and nodded. She was right.

The elevator doors at Clocktower opened and Batgirl stepped outside.

"Come to the lab," Batgirl said, stepping out and removing her gloves.

The brunette winced when she removed her coat, arriving at Clock tower. Damn. It hurt. She followed Batgirl and checked her coat. Shit. It was ruined and it had been very expensive.

Fighting crime sucked.

She sat on the medical table at the lab and examined her coat again, trying to determine if it could be fixed.

The movement of the redhead when she removed her cape was sexy.

That tight black costume fit her wonderfully.

And she had a pretty nice butt.

"Remove your blouse," the redhead said, turning to face Helena.

Helena glared at her.

The redhead arched an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to take your virtue if that worries you," she said sarcastically, grinning.

"I hate you," Helena grumbled looking at her.

"Old news." Batgirl put a tray with gauzes next to her. "Come on."

The woman took off her cowl, her long red hair fell gracefully over her shoulders.

The movement of her head as she brushed her hair back was sexy as hell. She then removed her upper body armor to have better mobility.

Helena's eyes opened wide. She felt her mouth dry. She was wearing a white top that made her look so hot. She felt her heart rate skyrocket.

"All right," the redhead said, checking the items on the tray. "Turn around please."

Helena blushed, knowing the Barbara had caught her eyeing her.

"Is it necessary for you wear that fucking costume?" the young woman said annoyed, trying to distract her.

"You know the 'secret identity' thing." Barbara took gauze and poured alcohol on it.

"You are so fucking annoying as Batgirl."

"Well, you are not a piece of cake as Huntress. Remove your blouse."

"I prefer you as Oracle…" the girl obeyed "…or Barbara."

The redhead chuckled and began cleaning her back.

The touch of her soft hands on her back was magic. She closed her eyes enjoying the contact. Her fingers were delicate, soft, warm.

She wanted so much to touch her, feel her. Barbara was wonderful. Barbara's tenderness affected her in ways she couldn't understand. What if she opened her heart and told her about her feelings? No, she couldn't...

She didn't want to open her heart, it would mean that anyone could hurt her. She didn't want that and… what if she lost her as she had lost her mom?

She felt Barbara's fingers touching her face. It created an electric jolt inside her. It was hard to think when she touched her with such gentleness.

"Hel?" Barbara asked.

She opened her eyes feeling numb and dazed by the touch of her fingers on her skin. She found intense green eyes regarding her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm finished." She smiled.

"Yeah?"

Barbara nodded, amused. "I'm glad it was just a scratch."

Helena couldn't read her gaze. It was tender, curious, her eyes sparkled.

"It's done?"

"Yes," she pointed at her chest. "Cover yourself."

The brunette looked down and noticed she had dropped the towel.

"Shit." She hurried to pick up the towel and blushed, covering herself.

Barbara smiled at her in amusement, it was a cute reaction.

She lifted her hand with the gauze and moved it to her face.

"You are dirty," Barbara said, rubbing the gauze gently over her cheek. "It was a rough fight."

Helena kept still. She closed her eyes again under the soft touch. She loved Barbara's hand on her. The redhead brushed her hair back.

Helena half opened her eyes and found intense green eyes regarding her.

She was lost in them. Barbara looked so beautiful; the redhead cupped her cheek and caressed it tenderly.

It felt marvelous, she leaned her face into the touch and closed her eyes again.

She squeezed her fist. She wanted… she wanted so much to kiss her.

Suddenly, she felt soft lips on hers.

It was a brush at first, an electric brush that made her heart beat faster. The younger woman leaned forward, softly, lovingly brushing her lips against Barbara's. She gasped and felt Barbara demanding entrance. She surrendered, opening to her, tasting that lovely mouth. She was drowning in a sea of pleasure, her left hand coming to rest on the side of the redhead's face as Barbara leaned in towards her body.

As the redhead deepened the kiss, Helena panicked. She trembled, suddenly frightened by the intimacy and what it meant.

She pushed Barbara's away, ducking her head and blinking back tears. "Stop," she said.

"Helena?" the redhead looked for her eyes. Why was she crying?

"Just stop…"

"What's wrong?" Barbara took her chin gently in her fingers.

The girl stood up and took her blouse. "I'm sorry…"

"I'm not," Barbara said softly. "I love you."

The brunette turned to see her, scared.

"You can't!"

"Why not?"

"It's wrong…" Helena moved her head and hurried toward the elevator.

"Helena, come here." Barbara followed her.

"I can't, Barbara…" the brunette said.

The redhead didn't understand. She stopped in front of the elevator doors.

"We need to talk."

The girl just lowered her head. The doors closed.

Barbara felt her heart break.

The young woman exhaled deeply. "I know."

"She is straight." The blonde stood up behind her and crossed her arms. "She could be… just trying to have a new experience, but there is a big difference between that and love. Maybe you love her, but don't think she could love you."

The brunette stiffened.

Quinzel smiled. She put her hands on the back of Helena's seat and bent lightly.

"Tell me how she made you feel, Helena."

Helena inhaled deeply, this was not easy to talk about.

"Helena?"

"Full… alive…"

"Just that?"

"Yes."

"If you feel just that…" Harleen frowned, "why did you run away?"

Helena moved uncomfortably on her chair.

"Helena…" Quinzel leaned in and whispered close to her ear, fixing her gaze on the back of her head "There was something else, tell me, what else did you feel?"

The brunette bit her lips, she shook her head.

"What made you run away?" The blonde put her hand over her shoulder. "I can't help if you aren't honest with yourself… and me…."

Helena hesitated, she wasn't sure what to say. She was still confused by the events of the prior day. This was something she didn't expect. She didn't sleep the night before, trying to think clearly, trying to organize her ideas.

"You must trust me, Helena," the blonde talked with a smooth voice. "I'm the only one that can help you and you know it."

"Fear…" Helena finally mumbled, lowering her head.

"Fear? Why fear?"

"Of losing her… "

That was wonderful, Quinzel smiled, she had taken her to the point she wanted.

"Of losing her? As you lost your mother… right?"

"Yes, I don't want lose her, too." The young woman stood up and walked to the window.

"Helena, my dear Helena." Quinzel said gently, walking behind her. "Let's go back in time. You lost mother, the person you most loved. You gave her everything, and you lost her. She is the only person you loved, and you lost her. Yes, it's possible that you could lose Barbara too."

The blonde stood in front of her, moving her pencil between her fingers.

"But let's check the other facts of your life, your father never took care of you. He refused to take revenge on your mother's death. He didn't love you, either. Every time you love someone, you lose them or they betray you…"

Helena had her jaw clenched avoiding Quinzel's eyes; it was good.

"Barbara too, but she didn't betray you once, she did it more times. You told me that, right?"

The dark haired woman turned very angry. The blonde was sure she would hit her, but she didn't hold back. She was taking her where she wanted.

"She betrayed you," Quinzel insisted.

"Yes." Helena said annoyed.

"That is not good, Helena," Quinzel moved her face forward, trying to find the young woman's eyes. When the dark haired woman looked her, she raised her free hand and stroked gently at the satin skin of Helena's cheek.

Excitement began to edge out her feelings. She was so beautiful, she wanted so badly to kiss her.

She moved forward a few inches, but the brunette turned and moved to the center of the room.

"You are so good," Quinzel mumbled, regaining her composure, "but you are in love with someone that betrayed your trust and that just wants to have a bit of fun with you."

"She said she loves me," Helena grumbled.

"But she's still with Wade. She loves you?" She chuckled and moved back. "I don't think so. She just went with him to Bermuda the last weekend, no?"

The brunette sighed and her face expressed a deep sadness. Barbara was the only one that made everything better in her life.

The blonde walked to her desk and sat. She took a paper on her desk.

"The court reviewed the case and they think you need additional sessions."

"What?" Helena's head snapped up to her. "Why? Today is my last one."

The blonde extended the paper to her. Helena took it and read.

"Why?"

"You can't deny that you have serious issues to work through."

The brunette returned the paper.

Quinzel closed her notebook and crossed her arms over her desk. "Tell me honestly, how do you feel Helena? How do you feel now?"

The dark haired woman fixed her eyes on her and clenched her jaw.

"Tell me, Helena." Quinzel insisted.

"I'll see you next week," the brunette mumbled in bad mood.

"I want to help you. I can help you, you know," the doctor said. "You don't have anyone else."

The young woman picked up her bag and left, not saying a word.

Quinzel smiled, everything was going according to her plans.

Barbara sat on a bench with her arms crossed, looking at the main park in New Gotham bay. It was a cold afternoon.

She couldn't stop thinking about Helena. She had been on her mind all night, all day. She smiled remembering the brunette's smile, she loved her smile. She loved her tantrums when she tried to show her feelings but her pride didn't let her show it. She loved how Helena, despite her denials, always tried to be close to her.

She felt surprised at her body's reaction when she had kissed Helena, she couldn't hold back when she saw her so close. Every inch of her body had felt ready to explode in joy.

She had never thought about Helena as a possible love interest.

All her life she had dated only men, this was so unexpected… until Helena.

She had just realized that her feelings for Helena were deeper, more than just deeper. She was in love with her, and it was that kind of love that made people feel butterflies in their stomach and feel the days were brighter and full of life, looking at the watch waiting for the time to see her again.

She felt like a teenager.

With Wade, everything seemed to be different, it was gray. She didn't feel the same emotions that she had felt for him years before.

Many thoughts had run through her mind, that she had committed a mistake kissing Helena but she couldn't resist being so close to her, her lips so red.

She took her fingers to her lips, she could still feel Helena's trembling lips on her; the brunette had kissed her back, with such tenderness and love.

Love…

A smile drew in on her lips. Yes, it was love, she loved her back. She was sure of it.

But, why she had run away? She had seen fear in her eyes.

Helena was scared.

Why? She was confident, with a strong personality, determination.

She had been dying to call her but she felt it was better to give her time. Helena will back, she was sure of it, she felt it.

"Barbara, sorry if I'm late." Wade's voice made her turn her head.

"Hi." She greeted him.

He kissed her lightly on her lips and took her hand. "You said you wanted to talk with me, that it was important." He pulled a chair and sat with her in the restaurant.

"Yes."

The brunette cleaned some cups at Dark Horse Bar, the place was closed and it was her turn to clean up. It was so hard clear her mind.

Resting her hands over the marble bar she stared at the cups. It had been a long day for her and she couldn't focus on what she was doing, all day she had felt Barbara's mouth on her, that sweet and incredible kiss that moved all her senses, she had been thinking about Barbara and that kiss.

That fucking kiss that had left her dumb and stupid.

She threw her cloth to the bar. She couldn't think of anything, just Barbara's lips.

Why had she kissed her?

Barbara was straight, she dated Wade, but she had said she loved her.

She rested her back on the wall and touched her mouth with her fingertips.

Dammit

It was the best kiss she had ever had, no one had kissed her like Barbara. She never thought Barbara would kiss like that. She had almost combusted right there.

Helena sighed and lowered her head..

That was wrong, it was wrong.

She didn't want to love her, she couldn't. It would mean letting the redhead see her. She was not sure she wanted that. What if she was just experimenting like Quinzel had said? Looking for something new? Playing?

What if she gave everything to her and she lost her someday like her mom?

She couldn't handle it.

Not twice.

She turned and banged her head against the wall.

She was so stupid.

She straightened and, grabbing her coat, walked to the exit. She was not in the mood to stay and finish cleaning up, she needed a walk.

Closing the door she turned and took a deep breath looking up, it was a bright night. Barbara was her life, her world, her everything, she couldn't live without her.

She hated it.

She had promised she never would depend on anyone… and now, now she felt she needed Barbara as the air she breathed.

It was so confusing, the mixed feelings inside her. She had never felt like that before.

She began to walk to the corner lowering her head and put her hands inside her pockets.

Someone unexpectedly put a fabric bag over her head, blinding her. It had a cord around the bottom and whoever it was, had pulled it tight around her neck.

Crap, she was so distracted that she didn't see it coming.

She hit the man behind her and kicked another one that grabbed her arm. The sound of breaking bone and a yell meant she had hit her target well. Another man tried to hold her arm but she sent him flying over her. A hard blow to her head made her fall on her knees.

Damn.

The fucking guys surely had used a stick, it had hurt like hell.

Someone twisted her arm back and she growled feeling the cord pressing around her neck. Before she could react, she felt a gun over her skull.

"Don't move or I'll blow your head off." A voice shouted.

She gasped trying to breathe as the men restrained her hands behind her back with a rope. They lifted her by her arms and pushed her inside a vehicle.

She heard the doors of a van closing.

This was not good.

She tried to move but someone pulled the cord harder around her neck cutting off her oxygen.

"I said do not move honey." The man said "Now you will be a good girl and we will have a nice trip across the city."

The man released the grip around her neck and she coughed taking air into her lungs. Someone grabbed her by her jacket and lifted her.

"Now sweetheart," a man barked to her ear "be nice and this will be a pleasant trip."

Someone grabbed the damn cord around her neck and pulled her to the ground.

"Let's go." The voice said.

Helena heard a loud thud followed by the sound of a window breaking.

"What the fuck?" one of the men shouted.

Shots were heard. Helena felt a man next to her and she kicked him. She felt her blow impact and she heard him cry out.

"Keep her down!" a man shouted.

Helena couldn't see a damned thing. She was pulled back again by the cord. She gasped and struggled trying to free herself.

She heard the door of the van opening, followed by blows and yells.

The grip around her neck was released and the brunette coughed again resting her forehead on the cold floor of the van. She focused on her hearing, she noticed there was just one man next to her. It was easy to calculate how far away he was, as his breathing hard and fast, he was nervous. She hit him with her elbow and rolled.

She fell out of the van and hit the ground. She broke the ropes tying her hands back pushing hard and took her hand to her neck to remove the bag covering her head.

Shaking her head she saw that Batgirl was fighting against five men, two more were on the ground. What was she doing there?

Well, she could think about it later. She jumped over three of the men that attacked her and hit them punching them fast. She moved as fast as she could and soon she had them lying on the ground knocked out.

"Seems you can't be far from trouble." The redhead said smirking to her.

"No thanks to you." The dark haired woman glared at her as she punched a man in his face. He fell down.

"Hey, I just saved your ass, be nice." Batgirl turned and kicked a man that tried to attack her from behind.

"No one asked for your help, I had it all under control." Helena turned and hit another man on his jaw with her elbow knocking him down. She didn't know why Batgirl pissed her off that much.

"You're welcome." The redhead hit one of the thugs in his gut and pushed him back, "Your friends are pretty rude."

"Well, they are not my friends." Helena jumped over one of the thugs and hit him from behind.

Batgirl cleaned her hands "Did you piss off some bar customer then?"

"No." the brunette stretched her arm and crashed her fist against a man's face making him stumble back.

Two of the criminals stood up, ran to the van and left.

"Well, they are not friendly." The red head ducked and avoided being hit by a big stick. She gave two hard blows to the thug and he smashed against the wall.

"Maybe we can check who these new members of your fan club are." She bent and lifted a man by his neck and shoved him against a wall. "Okay, what were you planning do?"

He coughed and spat on her face.

"Uh, oh… thaaaat waaaaas ruuuude…" Helena whistled lifting her eyebrows. That asshole was in trouble, Batgirl was definitely all nice except when she was pissed..

The older woman closed her eyes for a brief second and counted to five.

"Do that again…." Batgirl said "And you will be sorry for it all your life."

"Bitch." He grinned and spat at her again.

"That will hurt." Helena mumbled knowing what would come and closed her eyes.

She heard a big noise. When she opened her eyes again the man was head down inside a garbage container. The masked woman cleaned her face with a napkin.

"I hate when they do this." She growled.

Helena grabbed the man trying to crawl away by the back of his pants and lifted him easily with one hand.

"All right, maybe you wanna tell us what happened here."

"Let me go bitch!"

"Why you were trying to kidnap her?" Batgirl asked walking to the man and looking him.

"Fuck off bitch!"

"He doesn't want to talk." The redhead said to Helena.

"He will talk." Helena hit him hard.

"Don't be rude." Batgirl scolded her.

"I never am." The brunette took the man by his lapels. "For the last time. Who sent you here?"

He spat her on her face.

Helena closed her eyes.

"What's the point of spitting on women?" Batgirl shook her head. "I don't understand."

The brunette glared at him with feral eyes. She growled and she hit him, hard.

He fell face down on the pavement.

Batgirl kneeled at his side. "I suggest you to talk, she in not in a good mood."

"I prefer to die."

"Okay." Helena smiled.

"Don't dare to think about it." the redhead glared to the brunette when she noticed the sparkle in blue eyes.

"He asked for it!!" the brunette protested.

"Don't…" Batgirl pointed at her, sometimes she really tested her limits with her reactions.

"Alright! Alright!" the man said scared "A woman contacted us, her name is Quinn."

Both women looked him.

"It's all I know, she paid us to kidnap her." He looked at the brunette.

"Why?" Batgirl asked

"I don't know, our orders were just to kidnap her. She will call us telling us where to take her. That's all."

The thin dark woman punched him hard on his face.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the redhead took her wrist.

"I don't believe it's all he knows." The young woman growled.

"I swear, it's all!" he coughed.

"It's okay, let him go." Batgirl said touching Helena's arm.

Helena threw him against a nearby wall and he slipped down unconscious.

"Helena!" Batgirl rolled her eyes.

"You said let him go! I let him go!" the brunette said angry.

"You need control your temper."

"You must stop being so complacent with criminals."

The redhead didn't pay attention to her words, her mind was in another place, the brunette noticed it and cocked her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Some one tried to kidnap Helena Kyle and I don't like it. You are vulnerable now. We need know why and who."

"That Quinn?"

"He said that." The caped woman kneeled and checked the pockets of the man lying on the floor.

"What kind of name is Quinn?" Helena moved her head.

"Much better than Huntress."

"Not as ridiculous as Batgirl. What are you doing here anyway?"

"You're welcome, it was a pleasure rescue you." The redhead took some digital prints of the man's hand.

"I didn't ask for your help. Did my father send you to look for me?"

"No, I don't usually work as babysitter in my free time." The caped woman turned and looked her. "And besides I think you are big enough."

Batgirl rose her eyebrow. Helena looked gorgeous in the outfit she had chosen for that day. "You look cute when you are pissed." She couldn't hold her words back.

Huntress didn't know what to say, she just blushed and turned her head.

"I didn't know you were a shy girl." Batgirl stood up smiling to herself, noticing Huntress had blushed under her comment. The guy she was checking was clean, the van had gone.

"Don't fuck with me." Huntress growled.

"Believe me," Batgirl said crossing her arms in front of her. Helena had a strange effect on her, the thought of ravishing her in some way, excited her. "I really would like to do it."

Helena felt a shiver on her back when those emerald eyes fixed on her, grinning. She felt warmth crawling on her neck and cheeks.

Dammit, Batgirl was flirting with her, and she had blushed again!

Fuck.

She had seen her blush!

She wanted to hit her head against the wall. What the fuck was wrong with her?

"What are you doing here? No one called you?" she asked annoyed wishing she hadn't seen the red color on her face.

Batgirl felt satisfied with Huntress's reaction. She cleaned her hands on her thighs.

"I came here looking for you," she explained "I saw those men pushing you inside the van. Do you know them?"

"No." Helena avoided her look and turned to where the men were lying.

"Why do you think they would want to kidnap you?" the redhead walked to her.

"No idea."

"Came on, we have work to do." The redhead turned and let her steps take her to the other side of the street.

"What?"

"We must go to the Clock Tower, to check this." She lifted her hand with the envelope with digital prints inside.

Helena knew what it could involve a 'talk' about what had happened the night before. "No."

"Helena, this is not a joke, someone tried to kidnap you."

"I don't like you."

"This is not about that. The person who tried to kidnap you tonight will try to do it again."

"I can take care of myself."

The redhead scratched her head. How could Helena be so confident with her as Barbara and be so hard headed with her as Batgirl?

"Sure, like you were a few minutes ago?" she exhaled "If I hadn't been here you would now be I don't know where."

Helena growled at her.

"Helena this is serious!" Batgirl said angrily, she pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to remain calm.

Helena sighed she turned her head and looked to the other side of the street, she hated to admit it but the redhead was right. She was scared to be alone with her and talk about what had happened the night before, about her feelings, she was damn scared to let her see her feelings. But someone was after her, first as Huntress and now as Helena Kyle.

An idea hit her mind, she narrowed her eyes and looked the masked woman. "Do you think someone knows who I am?" she asked.

Batgirl felt a shiver, that was an idea that hadn't crossed her mind. But if Helena's theory was right, she was most vulnerable now. "I'm not sure… could be." She said, "Please Helena, if what you are saying is true… you are in danger."

Helena exhaled and nodded. She was right. "Let's go."

In the distance, inside an empty room in an abandoned building, Dr. Harley Quinzel observed them with her arms crossed leaning against the frame of a small window. She was dressed in a strange red and white costume that fit her like a second skin. She narrowed her eyes watching the two figures walk away and be lost in the dark street.

"Interesting," she mumbled amazed, tapping her chin, having observed the incredible skills of her young patient, "Helena Kyle is not human…" she mumbled "She is meta… and seems be Batgirl's friend."

The blonde turned and walked around the room "They fought as a team…" she stopped and turned again to the window. Could she be…?

She walked to it and her eyes fixed on the street where the two women had disappeared.

Could she be the mysterious 'Huntress'?

Her eyes brightened with intensity.

Helena Kyle was the Huntress.

She laughed loud and clapped her hands.

"Helena, my dear Helena." she danced around the room. "This is so wonderful."

Her plans would turn out much better, this was something she didn't expect.

The door of the room opened, a man appeared, it was the man she had contracted, the leader of the gang. He had been beaten, hard.

"I'm sorry." He said "Batgirl appeared and…"

"Your mission was so easy." Quinzel inhaled deeply and closed the curtains of the window.

"But she is not human! You didn't say that! That girl, the one we tried to kidnap, is strong as hell."

Quinzel looked him and touched his chin with her index finger. "And I thought you were a professional ready to face any obstacle in your way."

"I didn't expect it…"

She paced around the room "It's the second time you have failed, and I'm spending a lot of money on you."

"I'll try again, I'll get her."

"Your mission was easy, kidnap that girl and bring her to me." Quinzel had decided she was tired of waiting until Helena looked at her, so she had chosen to trap her and give her 'private' sessions to deal with her issues and to show her who she was.

"I'll do it."

"I ordered you to kill them and you failed that too." She took her hands to her back "How many times will you fail before you follow my orders?"

"I…"

Quinzel lifted her arm from behind her back and shot him in his head.

The man fell heavily to the floor bleeding profusely out of his head.

"You disappoint me General," Harley Quinzel said humming "seems I must act on my own." She stepped over him and walked out of the room.

Things were turning interesting, the wild Huntress was the lovely Helena Kyle, she was not an ordinary woman, and that, in some way, excited her. Her kidnapping plan had failed, but it had opened a handful of other options about what do to her.

Helena was silent the entire ride back home. Batgirl could feel it, she had her arms wrapped around her waist but the girl was stiff. She wondered if kissing her had been a mistake, it couldn't be, Helena had kissed her back, she had been so sweet and her eyes didn't lie when she looked at her.

They arrived at the Clock Tower a few minutes later. Not saying a word, Helena dismounted the bike and walked inside the elevator.

"I was thinking," Batgirl said trying to break the ice "the one who planned your kidnapping may have wanted to demand money from your father."

"I stopped using his money years ago." Helena sighed not looking at her and stepping inside the elevator.

"Yes, but you still are his daughter." Batgirl followed her removing her gloves and pressed the button to go to the upper floor.

"I didn't ask be his daughter. I hate it." Helena rested her back on the elevator doors after they closed.

"But you are." Barbara looked her and crossed her arms. "Helena it's time to face it. He is your father, try to be closer to him,"

"You know I have issues with my father."

"But it must finish some day."

"Why?" Helena exhaled loudly. "He didn't lift a finger to kill my mother's murderer!!"

"We don't kill Helena." Batgirl removed her upper armor. "It's our hero code."

"It's a stupid code." The brunette grumbled looking the wall.

"You can't blame him for doing what is right"

"What that man did to my mother was not right." Helena glared at her.

"Killing him is not right either and wouldn't help to bring your mother back.."

"You don't understand…"

The redhead kept her gaze on her. Some topics were hard to discuss with Helena and even more when she was angry.

Her look made Helena feel nervous, she tried to ignore the strength of her gaze but it was impossible..

"Why are you looking at me?" the brunette asked finally angry.

"You must wear a mask."

"Oh come on!" Helena checked the light that signaled the floor they were passing, being so close to the masked woman made her feel uncomfortable.

"You need do it," Batgirl said "you don't have a secret identity."

"Masks itch."

The elevator doors opened and the brunette put her hands in her pockets and walked out. She stopped in her tracks. This was not the lab, they were at Barbara's penthouse.

Fuck.

She turned to walk inside the elevator again but found her way blocked by Batgirl.

"Wrong floor." She grumbled trying to walk past her.

"We need to talk." The former crime fighter said extending her arm to block the way inside the elevator.

"I don't wanna talk."

"Well I do."

"But I don't."

"We always talk just when you want and I accept it. Now, is my turn, I want to talk."

The brunette glared to her.

"Why are you so mad?" Barbara asked throwing her upper armor and mask to the side.

"I'm not mad!" Helena said in loud voice, she turned and paced, she felt caged.

"Alright" the redhead followed her "Why are you so angry with me then?"

"I'm not angry with you!"

"Is it because I kissed you? Is that it?"

"No! It is not that!" Helena replied, she looked around trying to find a way to escape, why the hell had she agreed to come here?

"What is then?" Barbara asked with soft tone. "Is it because I kissed you?" Barbara asked walking toward her "Was it that bad?"

"No." Helena mumbled avoiding looking at her.

"So?'"

The brunette felt Barbara standing close to her, so close that her body could feel her warmth. She closed her eyes for a brief second. Why the fuck she was nervous as hell?

"Forget it." She mumbled turning to see her. She understood then it was the wrong move, the other woman's face was inches from her, she was trapped in her intense gaze and felt her heart beating faster, flushed with deep emotions running through her body she was paralyzed for a brief second.. "Just was…" she babbled "something stupid…."

"It was not stupid for me."

"Barbara… you don't understand." the young woman whispered with pleading eyes, asking her not to go so far, she couldn't push her back.

"Help me to understand then." The redhead cupped her cheek with her palm "I want understand you, I want you to trust in me."

Helena shook her head. What the fuck was she thinking? This was insane.

She walked past her and tried to go again to the elevator but Barbara stopped her grabbing her by her arm.

The brunette exhaled feeling frustrated. Why was she doing this to her?

"Barbara!!!." Helena brushed her hair back with her hands feeling frustrated.

"Why?" Barbara asked "Why is it wrong to talk about us?"

"I'm not your fucking toy!" Helena shouted angry.

"I never thought that." Barbara said "Why do you think that?"

Helena felt pissed, she wanted move but Barbara blocked her way again.

"We are going to talk, you are not going to run away as you usually do." Barbara said with firm voice "I asked why do you think you are a toy for me. Where did you get that absurd idea?"

The brunette didn't answer, she looked like a cornered cat, trying a way to escape and not finding any way. The redhead was determined to not let her run away again.

"Helena I never will play with your feelings." Barbara whispered with soft voice. "You are very important for me."

"Yeah, keep saying that…" the brunette growled.

"Please tell me why you don't want talk? Why you push me back? I have seen how you look at me. No one has kissed me like you. What's happening?"

"You are with Wade!!" Helena shouted glaring to her.

There was a deep silence between them. Helena moved her head and walked to the elevator.

"Not anymore," the redhead said with calm voice understanding Helena's behavior "I just broke up with him."

"I'm not idiot!" The brunette turned staring at her with anger

"I know that."

"You spent the whole fucking weekend with him in Bermuda!"

"I needed to talk with him."

"In Bermuda? Sure… and surely 'having fun' with him."

"I needed be alone with him!"

"So why the fuck did you follow me??"

Barbara realized then something. "You are in love with me." The redhead said fixing her eyes on the brunette.

"I'm not in love with you!"

"You are jealous." Barbara waked toward her.

"You are dreaming." Helena growled.

"Every time I went out with him you were so angry. You were jealous…"

"You are an idiot!!"

"Why are you yelling then?"

"Leave me alone." Helena tried to move and realized she was cornered.

"You are jealous." Barbara give a step to her.

The brunette glared at her.

"Don't…" Helena warned the older woman.

"You love me…" the redhead moved closer again.

"You don't understand…" Helena protested and tried to push her back.

"I went to Bermuda because I needed be alone with him, Hel." Barbara said "I broke up with him."

Blue eyes blinked confused.

"It was not easy." The redhead said standing a few inches from Helena. "I don't love him… but I have loved him, he was marvelous, I tried to not hurt him so much, he is a good man."

"Barbara, I…"

Not saying a word more the redhead pressed the brunette against the wall and grabbed her hands over her head. The movement disconcerted the brunette who stared at her not understanding what was happening..

"I can't be with him…" Barbara mumbled fixing her green eyes on Helena's dark pupils. She was not going to escape this time. "when the person I love is you."

The redhead broke the distance between then and trapped her lips in a demanding and tender caress, giving the other woman the most soft and sweet touch of her mouth.

The sudden movement stole Helena's air from her lungs, her mind twisted and her knees trembled as thousands of butterflies took flight in her stomach.

Barbara's tongue traced her lips, she gasped and opened to her, she let her tongue touch Barbara's lips, it was electric, overwhelming.

Helena couldn't hold her feelings any more and kissed her back. Barbara's mouth was heaven, was the air she needed to breathe. All the restrained emotions exploded clouding her senses. She was her world, her life.

The redhead let her hands go and circled her thin waist pressing her tight against her body. Helena wrapped her arms around the redhead's neck.

For Barbara, it was the most amazing kiss she had received, breathing in the sweet smell of Helena's breath, she knew there was nothing else around, just them.

Barbara finally broke the contact, breathless, wishing the kiss hadn't ended and resting her forehead on the young woman's.

"I love you Hel…"

Helena tried to catch her breath, her brain was so melted that still couldn't process what just had happened, what she had just heard, but it had been fucking good.

"Are you talking… seriously?" she gasped.

"With all my heart."

The brunette buried her head on the redhead's neck and wrapped her arms around her, she didn't want to let her go, she didn't want to wake up if she was dreaming. She needed her so much, she didn't want to let her go and at the same time she felt terrified.

"I love you." Barbara whispered in her ear and kissed it softly breathing heavily.

"This can't be..." The brunette said hugging her hard against her. She wanted keep this moment forever but felt it was impossible.

"Why?"

"You don't get it…?"

"No, I don't get it, tell me." Barbara kissed her head trying to comfort her, to make her feel confident, sure.

"I don't want to lose you…" Blue eyes turned glassy "It will hurt, hurt like hell."

"Why do you think that?" The redhead said with a whisper moving her head back and taking Helena's face between her hands. The dark haired woman just stared at her in silence.

"I just want be close to you," Barbara said with sweetness "Why did you tell me you are not a toy? Who gave you those absurd ideas?" her thumb traced the brunette's lips.

"I don't want lose you." the dark haired woman mumbled lost in those amazing green eyes.

"You won't."

"But…" It was so hard discuss with Barbara, she always had an answer for everything. Barbara's eyes were an intense green, they looked like two bright emeralds.

"Helena, love is a risk and yes, it is wonderful but too, sometimes it is painful, it hurts. If it hurts… that's how you know it's worth it."

"What if it hurts too much?" the thin woman asked softly.

Barbara smiled to her. "Means you love me as I love you: with all my heart."

"But I have been nasty with you, rude, rough..."

"Stubborn, grumpy, annoying." The red head smiled "And I love you as you are." She moved forward and captured soft red lips.

Helena kissed her back gently, exploring tasting, discovering new touches, textures, giving all she could in that caress. She never thought a single kiss could take her to another world, to feel the universe was incredibly bright and wonderful. She never thought a kiss could make her feel so alive, so full.

After long seconds she moved back and rested her forehead on Barbara's. "I always have loved you."

"I never have stopped loving you, I never forgot you… You didn't believe me, but you are the most important person in my life."

"Why Barbara?" she asked tying to understand. She had been a moron so many times with her.

The redhead caressed the brunette's hair. "Your therapist said it… I'm masochist." She made a light pause "I want be with you… Do you want try? To be together… Us?"

The brunette felt she was in heaven. "Are you sure?"

"I've never been so sure as now." Barbara took the brunette's cheeks between her palms and smiled at her. "Could you stay with me tonight?"

"Stay?"

"We have any things to talk about." Barbara smiled. "And… I just want feel you close."

Barbara felt Helena taking her hand and pressing it gently. "I want to feel you close too."

The brunette wrapped her arms around her and Barbara hugged her back.

The brunette awoke abruptly feeling aroused, she blinked and it took her a few seconds to recognize where she was… and who she was with.

Barbara's scent filled the environment, the blankets, the air… She felt the redhead's strong arms wrapped tightly around her torso.

Helena closed her eyes and tried to focus on other things. She took a deep breath and counted to ten slowly, she tried to remember some exercises that her mother had taught her to focus. It was not helping much with Barbara's warm body covering her back like a blanket. She could feel her nipples under her thin night shirt.

This was much better than an erotic dream but, damn, she shifted her legs and moved her hand between her thighs. Shit. She felt… itchy...

Barbara's hand pressed a bit harder above her stomach and she felt the redhead snuggling closer.

Oh man.

She really should have paid more attention to her mom when she tried to tech her that zen yang or whatever the fucking thing was named.

A soft kiss to her neck made her body tremble in excitement.

"Morning." Barbara mumbled into her skin as she rested her head on her shoulder.

"Morning." Helena whispered cupping Barbara's hand with hers.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Wonderful…"

Barbara's hand began to make soft circles on the brunette's stomach. Definitely not helping with the focus thing.

"Are you okay?" the redhead asked brushing at the dark and rebellious hair. She felt the tension in Helena's body.

"Yeah." The young woman closed her eyes and pressed her legs together. She sighed heavily.

"Something wrong?" the redhead asked.

"Just…" Helena mumbled. She didn't feel she could talk about this yet. Barbara was like a damn aphrodisiac to her.

"I would like you to trust me," Barbara mumbled.

"I do trust you…." Helena sighed and turned to rest her back on the mattress staring at the ceiling. Barbara bent her arm and rested her head looking at her. She gave her time knowing Helena didn't like open to anyone.

"I…. well…" Helena tried to explain not finding the words "I'm just trying to focus…"

"Focus?"

"Well… I like you so much…."

"I like you so much too." Barbara whispered brushing the brunette's arm with the back of her fingers…

"I mean… so much… and… I don't want…" Helena closed her eyes. God. She loved this woman so much. If she didn't stop touching her like that she would jump and ravish her.

The redhead looked at her with curiosity.

"I really like you Barbara… I had… dreams with you… and… when I have you so close… I mean.. I feel… and I want… to touch you… Do you understand?"

Barbara chuckled lightly, she moved forward to give Helena a tender kiss on her lips. The brunette kissed her back. Barbara was a wonderful kisser, she was in heaven.

After long seconds she moved back.

"You are not helping me much with the control thing…" Helena said.

"That's the idea." Barbara's fingertips tracing the fine arch of Helena's brow, stroking lightly. Helena's skin was soft, so white, maybe because she preferred the night instead of day.

"Do you want try it Helena?" Barbara's voice asked with soft voice "I mean… us?"

The brunette kept silent. She felt embarrassed by her own emotions, she was not used to showing them and it was the first time she felt so fucking in love like this.

"But?" Barbara continued gently petting her hair.

"I'm not sure if this would be good for you."

"Good for me? What do you mean?"

"You know… people…" Helena waved her hand "You are a role model for many people, the perfect woman."

"I'm not perfect."

"Many people think you are. I think you are perfect."

"But I'm not."

What would people say? You are the head of the most important Foundation in the country."

"That I'm in love." Barbara kissed the brunette's shoulder.

"But they will say you are gay,"

"So?

Helena sighed and lowered her eyes. "When they see you with me…"

"Well you used to be in trouble with the police often, but I'll survive" Barbara admitted with a wry tone.

"It was only four times."

"Five." A finger slid down Helena's nose, "Don't forget when police caught you trying to break into the manor."

"That does not count, I forgot the keys."

Barbara chuckled "It counts, you were under arrest." her fingers moved to trace the outline of Helena's lips.

"So…" Helena asked shyly "It wouldn't matter to you, that people see you with me?"

"I want people to see me with the most beautiful and amazing woman in the world." Barbara looked her with curiosity. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well… I… don't have a very good reputation, you know?" Helena let her fingers play with the blanket covering her waist. "And you are a respectable business woman and… I just work in a bar…"

Barbara's finger stopped tracing Helena's face and moved to the girls lips silencing her. She fixed her gaze on intense blue eyes.

"I know you. You don't need to say anything else. I love you as you are." She whispered.

"I was mean to you."

"You were hurt. Helena, you are an amazing human, you have a big heart. All that stubbornness and rude attitude is just a shield to protect yourself from being hurt again. I love the woman behind that mask, the woman that you are."

Helena kept staring at her, Barbara was offering her things she never imagined someone could give her, it was disturbing, confusing... She lowered her lashes.

"What's wrong Helena?"

"No one has told me that before…"

Barbara smiled, it had been a cute confession. Helena had always refused to love and be loved and so all this was new for her, she bent to brush her nose gently on the brunette's ear.

"It's because no one has loved you like me."

"Don't do that." Helena mumbled closing her eyes, Barbara made her hormones run at high speed...

"Why not?" the redhead smirked biting her lobe.

"Because—" Helena swallowed "I… I… it's not good Barbara… I'm a bit itchy… you know?"

"And that is bad?" Barbara whispered brushing her lips against her neck.

Helena turned her head and looked for the redhead's mouth. The redhead felt as if every single molecule of oxygen was drained from the room. Helena was so gentle, tender, smooth.

The brunette, breathing hard, pulled away before the kiss deepened; she was starting to lose control.

"You make me nervous…" it was a bit embarrassing to confess she felt excited as hell.

The former Batgirl lifted her hand and brushed her hair. She didn't want pressure her, Helena had many issues she was fighting; her fear to love and be loved, her fear to open up and be vulnerable.

"Okay." The redhead gave her a brief kiss on her lips. "I'll stop. But just for now. How goes your the therapy?"

"The court ordered me take more therapy sessions."

Barbara frowned "Why?"

"No idea."

"That's strange." Barbara rested her head on her shoulder and let her fingers trace the brunette's upper chest.

"It's fucking annoying." Helena closed her eyes under her touch. "Could you please stop doing that?"

Barbara chuckled. "No."

"Please…"

The older woman stretched her torso and yawned. Helena gazed at her. She felt her mouth dry, transfixed by the sight of Barbara's body stretching.

"When is your next session?" the redhead asked distractedly.

"Today… mid-day." The brunette cleared her throat.

"Perfect." The redhead said satisfied with the effect she had on the brunette, she sat on the bed. "What If I pick you up and later we go to lunch?"

The young woman didn't answer, she was still staring at her.

"Hel?"

The brunette blinked and blushed. Crap. She had been caught eyeing her.

"I asked you if you would like to have lunch with me," Barbara said amused "I can pick you up after the end of your therapy session. Your therapist is not far from the foundation."

"Sure…"

"Good." She leaned and winked at her "And don't worry, I like you watching at me."

Helena paced enthusiastically, she couldn't hide the happiness that filled her. She had been very talkative since she had arrived and it was bad news.

Quinzel fixed her eyes on the brunette while she talked about the 'marvelous' evening she had had the night before. Her plans didn't include a fucking happy brunette. She had always liked Helena, she had something mysterious that attracted her. Now she knew that she had an exciting and dangerous side she was not going to let her go.

An insipid redhead was not going to ruin her plans.

Helena was the Huntress who had been screwing her plans for months. She was the damn meta that had escaped from her unsuccessful attempts to kill her… twice.

She had also been the girl that had been under her care for the last few months and she had ignoredher her.

She could create a formidable crime team with her, but the only way to do it was for Helena to feel alone, abandoned and look to her as the only person she could trust.

The only problem now was named Gordon, Barbara Gordon.

Unexpectedly, the philanthropic woman seemed to reciprocate Helena's feelings, and it was not good. She checked her notebook, she raised her eyebrow, she had drawn a gun shooting and killing a stick figure woman. Her thoughts had betrayed her.

"So," Harleen said bordering the drawing "Barbara now says she is in love with you."

"Yes."

"And are you sure of it? Maybe she is playing with you."

"No, she would never lie to me."

"How can you be sure?" the blonde raised her eyebrow.

"I trust her." Helena said turning to see her.

Harleen patted her chin with the pen between her fingers. "How can you be sure she wouldn't betray you? She has done it before, first when she went away and left you with your grief after your mother's death."

"She was sick."

"And after that." the blonde stood up "She hid a secret, you told me… what was that secret?"

"It doesn't matter." Helena turned to look outside the window.

"What was the secret that annoyed you so much?" the blonde stood up at her side.

Helena's eyes locked on Quinzel's. "It's personal."

"May I know? I'm trying to help you."

Helena sighed. "You already have. I know Barbara love's me, I know I must not be afraid of that."

Well, that was not the idea she wanted give to her. She needed to try other options.

"Barbara said she is straight." Harleen said. "What if she is just experimenting Helena? What if she doesn't like being with a woman when she tries with you? Have you stopped to think about that?"

The young girl didn't answer, she just turned to look through the window again.

"It would break your heart, you are expecting so much of her and maybe… maybe it's just a dream."

The blonde smiled to herself noticing Helena was uncomfortable with her questions. Quinzel wanted to make her doubt, make her feel insecure. She wanted this amazing woman just for herself.

"But don't worry Helena," she touched her arm "I'm here to help, I'm here to listen to you, I always will be here."

"Barbara always has been nice with me," Helena mumbled "she really loves me, she never quit on me."

Helena hadn't rejected her touch, she moved her hand slowly down her arm and intertwined her fingers with Helena's. The brunette looked at their hands.

"Helena." The blonde locked her eyes on the young girl. "What exactly are your feelings for her?"

Helena didn't answer.

"What if you are confusing your feelings and you are just…" she moved closer and touched her cheek. "…feeling gratitude. It would be a terrible mistake Helena."

The brunette lowered her head and stepped back. She didn't like that the doctor sometimes was that close to her.

Quinzel cleared her throat and stepped back too.

"Let's try an exercise." Quinzel said placing an arm on her back "I want you to close your eyes."

"Oh," Helena shook her head "I-I don't do the closed eyes thing."

"Oh, you can trust me. You know that, right?" the blonde walked behind her.

"Yes."

"So?"

"I'm not used to it…"

"Helena, trust me." The doctor took again her hand and pressed it lightly. She talked with a soft voice. "I want to help you, you said I have done it before, let me keep doing it. Trust me."

Helena looked at Harleen, then closed her eyes.

"Alright."

"Good." She put her hands on her cheeks "Now I want you to not think of anything, just you and me, right?"

"Right."

"Answer, without thinking." The blonde moved back "Now, you're worried... very worried. You can't keep your finger in the dike forever." she walked around Helena "You need to let someone see what is inside you, your deepest feelings, your deepest… secrets. Do you have a secret Helena?"

"Everybody has a secret." The young girl said smiling.

"Have you some secret you want share with me? You can trust me, you know."

"No, I have a job, I have a good life."

"I think there is something you haven't told me yet. What is that?" Quinzel insisted, hands on her back…

"Well," the brunette smirked "there's a definite advantage to having an air of mystery. The less people know about you, the bigger the edge."

"Helena..." Quinzel moved behind her and asked "Who knows you best?"

"Oh, Alfred and Barbara."

"Alfred?" The answer piqued Quinzel's interest.

"Alfred Pennyworth. He was my dad's butler. Seems like he's been around forever. He's always keeping an eye on me and Barbara…"

"Why does he keep an eye on you two?"

"He takes care of us, helps us."

"And… he knows all your secrets?"

"Yes, and Barbara…"

"So…" Dr. Harleen paced feeling annoyed, she couldn't break the wall that Helena had around her "Barbara knows all about you… Do you have any secrets that she doesn't know?"

"No…"

This Barbara really seemed like a big problem. Quinzel sighed and stopped behind her, she moved closer.

"Your mom was Selina Kyle?" she whispered.

"Yes."

"And… your mother was Catwoman?" That legend could be truth, it was the only way to explain why Helena was meta.

Helena hesitated. That question was unexpected.

"Remember, there not must be secrets between us," the blonde mumbled close to her ear "I'm here to help you Helena."

"No… My mom never could be her." She shook her head.

Quinzel she pressed her lips in anger and glared at the girl that still had her eyes closed. She was lying.

"Remember, there must not be secrets between us."

"I'm happy now, like I never have felt before." The brunette smiled "Things are changing."

"Tell me."

"Well, I see things in a different way. I asked her that maybe people wouldn't like us being together and she said she didn't care."

"Do you think she's made a mistake?

"No. No, I don't. She said I make her happier than she's ever been and that if we are going to try, we must try hard and not hide. She will pick me up after our session, she wants us to go to lunch."

"I would like you to trust in me as you trust in her." Quinzel stood up in front of the brunette. "Secrets drain your soul..."

Helena opened her eyes and found Quinzel standing in front of her.

"...paralyze the body." The doctor mumbled in low voice, her eyes on Helena's lips "And I wouldn't be any kind of psychiatrist if I didn't do everything I can to relieve you of that burden."

Helena glanced down, then back at Dr. Quinzel.

"Thank you." She said.

"The best gratitude you will show me will be when you open your heart to me." She looked her watch "But we are out of time. Will I see you next week?"

"Yeah… sure…" Helena nodded.

Quinzel smiled at her and took again her hand. "See you then dear. I'll be waiting for you."

The brunette smiled and walked to the door. Harleen went to her window and stood there looking down. There was a square next to the building, the street was full of people and cars. It was Tuesday, a day of activity in New Gotham.

She needed to think of something to get Barbara Gordon out of her way, she was screwing her plans. She never expected that she could share the brunette's feelings.

Her eyes were caught by the thin brunette's figure walking by the street four floors below. A tall redhead intercepted her, Helena's face was bright with a big smile. The other woman took her hand while they talked and didn't release her.

Quinzel felt a stab of jealousy.

It was Barbara Gordon, she recognized her, she had seen her pictures in the newspapers. The woman really was stunning and beautiful. She understood now why Helena had been drooling over her for so long. The woman listened to what Helena was saying, they were very close and the redhead lifted her right hand and touched the brunette's arm confidently.

Both laughed.

Suddenly an image hit the doctor's head.

The redhead.

Her height.

Her movements.

The way she stood up.

Helena's confidence with her.

Both figures transformed in front of her eyes, she could clearly see Batgirl and the Huntress as she had seen the night before.

Barbara Gordon was Batgirl.

Her eyes were buried on the two women like knives, Barbara was being very tender with the brunette. She broke the pen she had between her fingers in two.

Her blue pupils followed their movements while they walked down street toward an unknown destiny.

After a few minutes they were gone. It seemed this part had been won by Barbara Gordon, but the game had turned very interesting.

She laughed and clapped.

Things seemed not to be as bad as she thought.

"Wow, wow…" she mumbled to herself, dancing around the room.

Barbara Gordon was Batgirl, she knew her secret, maybe that had been the secret that had pissed off Helena.

Yes.

Many pieces fell in place now.

Barbara knew about her meta skills, she knew about Catwoman, she knew that Helena had a big rage inside her. She knew that she was strong, that she would be dangerous out of control, for that reason she never had stopped following her. She wanted to guide her, take her under her protection, to make her into another fucking hero… and in the process she had fallen in love with the girl.

Now she could use her against Helena and use Helena against her.

Things were turning very interesting.

Helena thought Barbara would try to hide that they were having a relationship. She was known to be a woman free from scandals who dated men. Barbara was very well respected in the city for her work at the foundation and one of the most popular bachelorettes in the city. She knew Barbara didn't like all the attention around her, but she couldn't avoid it, the media loved her.

Contrary to her thoughts, Barbara seemed didn't mind, she always had a sweet word for her and was nice to her no matter if they were in public. She was the only person in the world who didn't blink when she was angry, she always knew how comfort her, what to tell her.

She loved to be with her.

The last few days had been incredible, everything had gone smoothly, easy. They worked together at nights and after some nice cuddling she usually returned home at Dark Horse like a damn teenager in love, dancing on the streets and singing, thinking life was wonderful.

But like everyone, Barbara couldn't be perfect, and sometimes she just screwed her.

Like that night.

"What happened to you?" the redhead asked looking astonished at Helena when she stepped inside Clock Tower.

The brunette glared to her. "You said jump and I jumped!" she waved her hands, stepping outside the elevator.

"Stop right there Miss Helena! You are covered in mud."

"Yes, I said 'jump' but you were supposed to land on a concrete floor." The redhead removed her glasses and put them on her desk at Delphi.

"Well, good news, the state is fixing the street, it's snowing and everything is covered in mud." Helena shook her hand and Alfred stopped her movement holding it and cleaning her fingers with a wet cloth.

"Hey! I'm not a child!" Helena protested and took the cloth from his hand.

"It doesn't look like it."

"It's not my fault! I didn't know there was a hole full of mud there."

"I'm sorry honey, I didn't know. The Google map picture must be old." Barbara said amused.

"Email them, they need new footage." Helena removed her boots.

Alfred put newspaper pages over the floor.

"Don't hurry me Alfred." She protested.

"I polished the floor this morning."

"Hey, I just survived an explosion and you are worried for your floor," the brunette said dramatically resting her hand on her chest "You should say you are happy to see me alive."

"I'm very glad to see you alive." Alfred said taking her boots and pointing at the paper over the floor "Now, put your dirty clothes here."

"Maybe you want to me to wash myself with the garden hose first to avoid ruining the bathroom, right."

"Good idea." Alfred smiled "I have one in the kitchen. Could you please wait for me outside?"

"You wouldn't dare." Helena growled.

"Alfred, don't bother her." Barbara smiled. Helena was not used to people showing affection to her or showing it to others. At first sight she could be a rude girl but she had sweet non-verbal actions, like cuddling next to her when they watched TV or holding her hand and caressing it with her thumb.

"He is mean to me." The young woman winced.

Helena looked cute with her bare feet over the old newspapers removing her coat. Alfred put a towel over the floor too. She stepped there and cleaned her feet.

"This is not the welcome a super hero expects." She mumbled.

"It's okay now." Alfred said "You can go."

The dark haired woman walked to Delphi where Barbara was working.

"Stop right there!" Barbara raised her hand. "Go and shower."

"Hey!"

"Helena, you are covered in mud. If this equipment is damaged it will be very expensive to clean."

"You are mean to me too!"

"Yes."

"What if I come closer?"

"Don't…" Barbara warned, "I'll kill you."

"You say we don't kill."

"I can make an exception this time."

Helena sighed and turned to the elevator.

Barbara amused observed her.

"Hel?" Barbara said.

"Yeah?"

"You have a great butt."

The brunette blushed glared at her, pointing at Alfred with her eyes.

"He knows you have a great butt, I already told him." Barbara rested her chin on her fist and winked at her.

Helena's incredulous face was priceless, but Barbara's view was cut off when the doors of the elevator closed. Barbara chuckled and put her glasses on again.

"You love to taunt her." Alfred said cleaning the floor in front of her with a mop.

"Oh, she is fun."

"I'm glad things between you two finally are going well."

"Yes," she said typing at her keyboard "I must work on her rejection of Batgirl, she really dislikes her."

"Have you talked to master Bruce about the change in the relationship between you and Miss Helena?" Alfred stopped cleaning and looked her.

She moved her chair back and removed her glasses.

"No, I don't think it's time yet." She took a pen between her fingers and played with it. "Helena still needs to work through many issues. She trusts me, but it is still hard for her to open up and let me see inside her."

"She is scared."

"Yes, afraid of being hurt…" she crossed her arms over the table and fixed her eyes on the butler "What happened Alfred? What happened those months I was in recovery?"

"Her world shattered. Her innocence was gone abruptly and she thought she was alone. That her father betrayed her mother by not killing her murderer, and that you abandoned her."

"Yeah," Barbara moved her head "she said she understands now why I couldn't be with her but… it's still hard sometimes."

"And how do you feel about this new change?" Alfred asked "You have always dated men."

"Well, I've known Helena forever… being with her has been easy. I thought I would have issues, but no. I like to be with her. I'm proud of being with her and I don't feel ashamed just because she is a woman. Everything has been perfect. We know each other, we don't have secrets from each other, we just are… ourselves. I feel happy Alfred. I'm really happy."

He walked to her "You are very well known as a conservative woman who cares about others and human rights. "Are not you afraid it will damage your reputation?"

"I admit it will be difficult for some people close to me deal with, but I don't care."

"And if master Bruce objects? What if he asks you break this relationship?"

Barbara observed him in silence.

"I think it's just my and Helena's decision, not anyone else's."

He inhaled a deep breath and took his time before saying "I think you should talk with him."

"I don't want to rush things. I want see how things move first. If we can do this right. I don't want Helena to feel I'm pressing too much. She… she is a bit scared."

"Scared?" Alfred raised his brow.

"She is afraid of love, of being loved… I have been thinking too, that she is younger than me… Do you think this is wrong?"

"I think, as you, that the answer is in your hearts. But you must be prepared for what will come. You are a public person, and she is too…" he raised his eyebrow "Of course, she is more used to being involved in scandals than you."

The redhead chuckled.

"Are you going to make it public?" Alfred asked.

"I'm not interested in advertising it. I'll let people discover it by themselves." She put her glasses on again and focused her attention on the screen in front of her. "I'm just interested in Helena."

He nodded. "If you ask my opinion, I think that you are the pair that have suffered the most I have seen in my life, but I'm glad that you could find support in each other. You two used to be alone, and you have been looking for a real family all your life too. I hope you finally find it in your hearts."

She smiled. "Thanks Alfred."

"Now, if you excuse me, I need to prepare dinner. Miss Helena will be starving when she comes back."

"Yes." The redhead chuckled. Helena always was hungry.

After a pleasant dinner, Helena went to watch TV. Barbara kept working at Delphi, she still was trying to find who was behind Helena's kidnapping. She didn't feel safe knowing that someone could try it again. She yawned and stretched her arms. She had been working there for hours. It was almost eleven. She looked upstairs.

Helena was there.

She turned off the computer and walked upstairs, she wanted to share some time with her. When she went upstairs Helena was half asleep, curled up on the couch wearing an oversized shirt and pants, the TV was on with one of those weird movies Helena liked to watch.

She sat next to Helena's head and brushed her fingers through her hair. She had a really beautiful face.

"What are you watching?"

"Revenge of the green tomatoes." Helena stirred and lifted her head to rest it on the redhead's thigh.

"How can you watch these movies?"

"They are fun."

"Tired?" Barbara asked.

"A bit…" Helena mumbled half asleep.

The redhead smiled and scratched her scalp, the brunette immediately purred.

"Don't do that…" she mumbled.

"Why not?"

"I'll fall asleep and I need go back home."

"Why don't stay? It's late and the snow storm is heavy now."

"No, I don't want to disturb you." Helena yawned and hugged Barbara's waist "I can be at home in ten minutes."

"Running through the rooftops." Barbara lifted her eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"No, it's dangerous. It's snowing, you will slip and fall."

"You always say that I am hard headed." Helena mumbled with her head buried in her side.

Barbara chuckled. "Yes, but I don't want to be patching your head at midnight." She let her fingers play with the unruly black hair. "Stay? Please."

Helena took a deep breath and sighed. "I want the right side of the bed."

"Alright. Just don't kick." Barbara patted her arm "Come on, you are tired and need rest."

"Anything else miss Gordon?" her secretary asked.

"No it's fine." Barbara said moving back on her chair "Write those letters and give them back to me when you finish."

"Sure." The young woman walked towards the door and exited the office, closing the door behind her.

The redhead stared at the windows of her office, it was a cold day, winter had arrived in New Gotham and it seemed it would be the coldest day of the year. She tried to focus on her work but she couldn't. She put her pen to the side and crossed her arms over the table.

Helena's reaction last night had been one of fear, she couldn't understand why. It was not the first time Helena had sex neither was it the first time she was with a woman.  She knew she was popular with people of the same sex. She didn't like that thought of course, but it was a fact that having an intimate relationship was nothing new for Helena. What had happened there?

The bell at her desk buzzed.

"Yes?"

"Miss Gordon, Dr. Harleen Quinzel wants to see you."

"Dr. Harleen Quinzel?" Barbara took a few seconds before she remembered she was Helena's psychiatrist. "Let her come in."

The redhead stood up.

The door opened and a graceful, thin and small blonde walked in. She wore a red suit and high heels.

"Miss Barbara Gordon, I am Doctor Quinzel, Harleen Quinzel."

"I know, you're Helena's psychiatrist." The redhead extended her hand for a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you."

The blonde examined the redhead. She had looked beautiful from afar, but now having her up close, she was gorgeous. Her long red hair fell over her shoulders and she wore nice black pants with a white turtleneck sweater. She had been curious to see her worst enemy face to face and maybe have some fun playing.

"Helena has told me so much about you." Quinzel smiled "It's so nice to finally put a face to the name. I'm sorry that I didn't announce my visit before."

"Don't worry, come in Doctor." The redhead waved her hand at a chair in front of her desk "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I must admit, I don't usually make these types of visits," the blonde smiled sitting on the chair "but I think this time I need to make an exception."

Part 9

Return to Bird of Prey Fiction

Return to Main Page