Chapter one

Sins of the mother – The day the Black Canary died

* This story happens between Sins of the Mother and The nature of the beast

By Nightwing´s girl

Barbara rests her arms in the counter in front of the Delphi system. A wrinkle took shape in her forehead showing concern.

Poor kid – she thought – I hope Helena to arrive soon, we´re gonna have quite a night today. Another kid watching her mother´s death, right in front of her eyes... God, Dinah might be miserable.

Dinah had left the Clocktower around an hour ago. Helena had found out where Hawke had taken Carolyn to. Barbara knew she couldn´t deny Dinah the right to help her mother. Barbara took the car keys and handed them to Dinah.

This is the Job, Dinah. You know how to do the job. Belive it.

The blond left. Barbara knew the only thought that crossed the girl´s mind was she needed to save her mother. It was her mission, her first mission, and it was her mother. Barbara was worried. Dinah spent ten year without her mom and in a minute... she´s gone. For good.

Barbara hears an alarm and she heads to the security camera. Helena´s car had arrived the Clocktower´s garage. The brunet was back with the kid.

What am I gonna say to this kid. God, with Helena it was different, we just talked to each other weeks after Selina´s death...

The elevator door opens as Barbara wheels to it. Helena comes out first and exchange a look with Barbara. Right behind her stands Dinah, looking down with her arms crossed. Helena turns to her and touches the blond´s back.

_ Come on in, kid.

Dinah obeys and Barbara wheels in direction to her. Holding her hands she says:

_ Dinah, I´m so sorry about what happened.

Dinah doesn´t answer. Barbara can tell the girl cried a little before, but there aren´t any tears in her face anymore. Only an empty and tired look. Dinah takes a step forward and finally speaks with a weak and low voice:

_ Barbara... Are you sure she´s...?

Barbara looks at Helena and then looks back at Dinah.

_ Yes, Dinah, I´m sorry. The fire fighters... they find the body... It´s confirmed.

Helena and Barbara stare at the girl but as she avoids the other´s look. Barbara analyzes Dinah´s prostrated expression and says:

_ You must be tired. Why don´t you take a bath and go to bed, huh?

_ I ... I... need to sit down.

Dinah walks to a couch. When the blond moves away from the birds, Barbara notices a spot of blood in her jacket.

_ Dinah! Are you hurt?

Dinah sits down in the couch and instead of answering she sighs. The girl grab a pillow and hug it. She fixes her gaze in the floor and doesn´t say a word, not even when the other girls approach her. Helena notices the girl is shimmering. She gets near the kid and asks.

_ Did you get hurt?

_ I´m fine, guys, I just need to... to

Dinah doesn´t find the energy to finish her sentence. She removes the pillow away and runs her hand through her hair sighing again. Helena realizes the blood is coming from Dinah´s arm, but they can´t see the wound because of Dinah´s jacket.

_ Let me see it. – Helena asks.

Dinah doens´t say a word.

_ Dinah. Please, look at me.

Barbara touches Dinah´s chin with her finger and makes the girl face her.

_ We know how you´re feeling right now. Both me and Helena have already been through this, Dinah. You´re tired, you don´t wanna talk, all you want is to be alone. But we need to take care of you. Let me see your arm. It´s bleeding a lot. I take care of it and then we leave you alone.

_ it´s... not aching.

Dinah said almost in a whisper.

_ I believe you, but still I need to take a look. Please, honey, take off your jacket.

All Dinah wanted was to stay quiet and she realized protesting wouldn´t help. She took off her jacket so Barbara and Helena could see her wound. It was a big whole and it was bleeding a lot. Both Helena and Barbara knew Dinah´s arm was certainly aching a lot. It was hurt pretty bad.

_ What happened? – Helena asked looking at Dinah´s arm with a grimace.

_ I got cut when I fell down... when she... when my momm used the canary cry...

Dinah felt her eyes fogged and she closed them. Helena and Barbara knew she was trying to avoid crying.

_ It´s ok. We´re gonna take care of it, it looks pretty bad. Helena, please, take the first aid kit.

_ In a minute.

Helena left the room. Barbara stared at Dinah for awhile. The blond had arrived only six months ago but both Barbara and Helena already considered the girl part of the family. It was really nice to have a kid around. Dinah was always happy and willing, but now... she was hurt and prostrated. Barbara felt very sorry for the girl.

_ Dinah. I know it´s hard for you. It´s ok to be sad. If you wanna cry...

_ I don´t wanna cry – Dinah said rising her voice a little – I don´t. I lost her once, and I cried months, I´m not gonna suffer that all again.

Barbara decides not to insist. Helena arrives the room with the first aid kit.

_ Here. Do you need my help?

_ No, I don´t think it´s gonna be necessary. Why?

_ I need to talk to Reese. I wanna check if it´s everything ok with him. I´ll be back soon.

_ Ok. Did you take the ring?

_ Yes. I´m gonna give him the comunicator. Reese did a good help today, let´s give it a shot and see how we work as a team.

_ Good. See you later then?

_ Yeah. After I talk to him I come back, I think I´m gonna spend the night.

Helena gets in the elevator and leaves. Barbara turns her full attention to take care of the kid.

***

About two hours later Helena arrives the clocktower and joins Barbara who is standing in the middle of the main room. The redheaded looks at Helena with a tired expression.

_ Hi. How was it with Reese?

_ Fine... I guess....

_ You guess?

_ You know how things are with Reese, always asking way too many questions... but he took the ring and we both agreed to try. I also went to my place to take a few cloths.

_ Good.

_ Where is Dinah?

Barbara points to the balcony to Helena with her head. Out there is Dinah.

_ She´s still awake?

_ She wanted to be alone and before I could suggest her bedroom, she was out there. I thought it would be better to leave her there alone for awhile.

_ Poor kid.

Barbara nods.

_ I´m worried with her, Helena. She´s been out there in this same position for almost an hour. She doesn´t move, she doesn´t say a word, she doesn´t cry...

_ We need to do something.

_ There´s not much for us to say now. Her mother died in front of her eyes and there was nothing she could do about it. You know how it feels... She need to go through this to get over it. But she´s not doing it. She´s repressing her feelings, she´s keeping it bottled up inside.

_ Express feelings is never easy. We don´t wanna feel. It hurts too much.

_ I know. But she´s 16, it´s praticly the first time she suffers in her life which makes it really big. She can´t repress it. I understand she doesn´t want to cry in front of us, I understand she doesn´t want to talk to us... but look at her... she´s alone now.

Both the women look at Dinah seated on the balcony with her gaze fixed on the floor. She´s hugging her legs close to her body and she´s resting her chin on her knees.

Helena sighs.

_ It´s really cold out there, she must be freezing.

_ We can´t leave her out there all night.

_ Yeah.

The girls head to the balcony and join Dinah. The girl looks up at the others. Helena and Barbara feels the cold wind against their faces. It was really cold out there but it didn´t seem to bother Dinah.

_ Dinah – Barbara started. – It´s terribly cold over here, let´s get inside.

_ I need to stay quiet for awhile.

_ It´s ok – Helena said – we understand, let´s just get inside.

Dinah didn´t answer. She looked down and fixed her gaze on the floor again. Helena take a step forward and faces Dinah.

_ Dinah, we can´t leave you here. Let´s get inside. Inside there you can be quiet, you can stay alone, you can seat, you can lie down, you can do whatever, but please, let´s get inside.

The teenager ran her hand through her hair and stood up. The three of the them headed back inside. Dinah went straight to her bedroom. The others followed her. Dinah sat down on her bed.

_ How´s your arm? – Barbara asked

_ Better than my mother.

Helena and Barbara exchanged a concerned look.

_ Dinah, we know you want to be alone and we´ll let you rest. It was quite a night for you. But I want you to know two things: We´re here for you. Whenever you feel like talking come to us, Dinah. Do you understand it?

Dinah nods

_ And second... you did everything you could to save your mother. She saw you in action and she was very proud of you.

_ I said so many things to her...

_ I know. And Carolyn understood why. You haven´t seen her for ten years. Don´t feel bad because of this.

_ That... "man" took her after I left her alone, and when she needed me...

_ ...You were there – Barbara added firmly – you were there for her and about Hawke, he´s gonna pay for what he´s done.

Suddenly Dinah´s expression changes and she looks up at Barbara more alert than before.

_ He´s... alive?

Helena and Barbara look at each other.

_ Yes, Dinah – Helena said – I talked to Reese, he´s in the hospital. After that he´ll go straight to jail. Don´t worry, he´ll pay for what...

_ He´s alive? – Dinah interrupted Helena, with emotion in her voice.

_ Dinah... – Barbara started.

Dinah looked at Barbara and the older woman stooped talking. The teen´s face was completely changed. Before she was prostrated and tired. Now she was angry and motioned. A tear fell down and crossed the girl´s face. Barbara´s and Helena´s hearts were broken. They felt really sorry for the kid.

_ How... How can he be alive and...

_ Dinah, don´t think about it now. Try to rest a little bit. Don´t think about it.

Dinah rubs her eyes and wipes the only tear she had cried.

_ Thank you guys, but now, I think I want to be alone for awhile.

The other birds nod and they leave the room as Dinah watch them. The girl sees Helena close the door behind her and Dinah realizes she´s finally alone.

She looks round. The clocktower was the only place she´s ever felt at home in her entire life. But still, she couldn´t deny that to live inside a clock with the two women she dreamt about for years was quite a twist in her life and changes aren´t easy to deal with. What had happened to her life in the past 6 months? She ran away from an oppressive Foster family, almost was rapped as soon as she arrived New Gotham, got knocked inconscient by Helena, joined a crime fighting top secret equip, and this morning... the woman who left her ten years ago came back and sticked around just long enough to get herself killed.

Dinah felt her arm ache for the first time that night and her whole body was shaking. She was confused and the thoughts spun around inside her head. Dinah lied down on her bed and grabbed a pillow to rest her head on. So many questions with no answers, so many feelings with no reason...she was scared. And she felt alone.

Dinah hugged her pillow like it was the olny friend she had in life and cried all night long.

Hi there dear readers!

Thanks for read until here, very nice of yours!

It´s my first fanfic, I hope you all to enjoy it and please, review.

All comments are well received, just please, say something, if you hate, if you love... anything!

I´m not american, so my first language is not english, but if you guys have some grammar or spell tips, please, feel free to post them!

I´ll do my best to come up with chapter two as soon as I can. Just to spoil you guys a little bit, next chapter will take place a few weeks after Canary´s death. Dinah will have a hard time dealing with the loss of her mother, so expect a few conflicts and a lot of effort coming from the birds to make Dinah get over Caroly´s death. For those who like Gaby, she´ll show up ( Just to warn you guys now, no, don´t expect lesbian Sex, maybe I write some Sex scenes – I think I won´t, but who knows? – but if I do it´s gonna be the old and good heterossexual intercose we all know and love ) and Matt will also show up.

Thanks again for reading.

AND review!