Title: Long Time Lonely
Rating: PG-13
Femmeslash content
Characters are note mine I am just borrowing.

There was a part of Helena that never expected to see her one night stands again. It never surprised her if she ran into one, and honestly there were not nearly as many as some people thought there were, but there were enough. It only took a few good stories to start terrible rumors, and she never felt like she had to defend herself in that regard.

Sometimes the unions between one night stands were messy, sometimes they were regretful and uncomfortable, and sometimes they were just, they were just. They were moments in passing a smile as the two walk by, a shared secret never told.

The current encounter, however, was just confusing.

She was not quite sure she was right yet, but there was something, something familiar about the woman who was the new Question. It was foremost in the way the woman stood, the gaunt of her hip, the placement of her hand, the curl of her fingers, and the voice, though muffled, that hit particular buttons.

Helena was not absolutely certain though. There was something missing from the overall picture that the facelessness of the Question would not allow. She thought for a moment and recognized that it was the smirk. If she could see the smirk then she could be absolutely certain. For now she would just remain, curious and adamant that her educated guess was correct.

There was a part of her that was laughing at the predicament. There was a part of her wondering why, even if they weren't masks when they had originally met, all her best lovers were costumed vigilantes. It was almost a curse, and not really terrible so far as curses went.

"Is that right, Huntress?"

"Huh?" She was pulled from her thoughts by Oracle's voice and then recalled the question. "Oh, yes, that's what I found. Sorry. I was thinking."

She looked back over at the Question, and wished she could tell if the woman was actually looking at her or if she were looking at something else.

The gathering ended, and the mission was fairly cut and dry. Things needed wrapping up and the two new masks in town were offering a hand. The Question made it perfectly clear to Oracle, though, that she wasn't a permanent agent. Helena wondered if the woman could make that statement last, and then reconsidered when she recalled who she thought the woman was.

Once things were fairly cleared up, Helena decided there was really only one way to prove her theory. She went back to the place were she was certain they had really met before.

The bar was secluded from the street with the entrance down the alleyway. The last time Helena had gone there it was because she was trying to avoid falling prey to a slight addiction that had earned her that handful of one night stands she had. She always went out in search of that when she needed release, when she needed to fill up an empty space that sat in her gut that was only ever temporarily filled.

That first night, she was a stranger in a strange land. She thought, almost naively that it would be safe place for her to spend an evening and have a drink. How wrong she had been?

Helena ordered a drink from the bartender who didn't seem to recognize her from before, but then, she wasn't a regular and it had been a few years passed now. She took a seat at an open table and watched the goings on in the bar.

It was a small place, cramped, like a closet, and took its name from that though it was one of few gay and lesbian bars that did not openly advertise itself even during pride month. It was the way Gotham worked though. There were always people and places that did not want to be seen out in the open, that wanted to keep their secrets because of fear, and unlike a lot of those other types of places in Gotham this was all perfectly legal.

The lights were a dim and orange-red causing a certain type of color blindness that was intriguing. The music was a little louder than she recalled, but apparently she had come back to the bar on a club night, though there wasn't very much dancing going on in the small square etched out near where the DJ was set up.

Helena was ready to leave when she chanced to look up and saw a familiar smirk. That smirk, that grin, that smile that years ago had reminded her of Dick, but was quite possibly ten times more attractive. She blamed that smirk for the other things that transpired during that evening.

"Mind if I sit," the woman asked.

"Not at all, Renee," Helena stated. "I was hoping I'd run into you.

Renee chuckled. "I bet you were."

Helena watched her, the way she moved as she took a seat across from her, the way she placed her hands at the table, the way her fingers curled around her glass, and she knew her guess had been correct.

"So, you figured it out, then?" Renee asked. "I figured you would. There are certain things masks can't hide."

"Did you know about me the entire time?"

Renee shook her head. "No. I knew you were a mask. I just didn't know which one until recently. I also didn't want to know which one you were, or I would have found out already. I am a detective, after all."

"I see." Suddenly, Helena didn't know how she felt about everything.

"Bodies don't lie, Helena." Renee stated softly.

"Yeah, and for one night you got to know mine pretty well."

That smile again, that smirk rose on the Hispanic woman's lips. She took a sip from her glass of ice water and nodded. "This is an odd place for you to return though. Trying to fight off old addictions?"

"No, I was following a hunch. What about you?"

"After that night I figured you might stop by here. I haven't been here in a while, myself."

"Oh?"

"I had to…rid myself of some bad habits." Renee offered.

"And learn some new ones." Helena added under her breath. "You've changed."

"Suddenly, you're an expert on me?"

She shook her head. "You just seem harder, angrier."

Renee held out her hand and said, "Hello pot, I'm kettle."

"Cute."

"I'm just saying."

Helena sighed, and looked at her drink. She wasn't sure what else she could say, or even do. There didn't seem like there was much left. She took a breath and then asked, "So, you and-"

"We aren't together." Renee cut in.

"Masks will do that."

"Indeed, but not like you think, at least not in my case." She stood up. "It was nice to see you again."

Helena stood up too. "Yeah, it was."

She figured that was the last of it. She figured, and then there was that smirk.

Damn, Helena thought and then moved around the small table. She stared into Renee's brown eyes for a moment and then she kissed her.

"Bad habits," Renee said as she pulled away. She looked over at Helena and shrugged. "Sorry, Charlie." She muttered and pulled Helena back towards her.

End.