(AN: This is a spinoff based on the events of Reflections: Through the Looking Glass. However Halen and Victoria won't be making an appearance in this story.)

Bride Wars

Introduction

(Vic and Helena's Apartment - One week after they eloped.)

The light sound of panting echoed around the room in perfect harmony with the creak of a mattress. The source of the pants, Helena Bertinelli, was currently enjoying a rapturous romp with her new husband, Vic Sage.

Well…almost husband.

The couple had unofficially eloped more or less a week ago, and while in the legal sense they were married, it was the traditional one they were lacking in.

Getting hitched inside in a courthouse with no planning whatsoever had seemed like a fabulous idea in her drunken mindset, but now that she was sober the idea had lost its appeal.

"Good?"

Vic's question brought her out of her haze and but she quickly fell back into it. Sex with Vic had always been incredible, but there was something about knowing he was legally hers that just made it better.

What could she say? Helena liked making sure the things she enjoyed the most stayed hers.

A few minutes and groans later she lay next to her new husband in exhaustion and curled next to his side. As her head rested on his chest she felt him slip a hand on her back and soothingly begin to rub.

For a few moments they were quiet until Vic spoke into the darkness of the room and asked, "Are you still serious about an actual wedding?"

Helen understood his hesitation, or at least his reasoning for it. Everything was connected to the conspiracy in one form or another and Q firmly believed that marriage was no different. He was under the impression that it was a way of not only forming control over the populace, but that it was used to monitor the greater population of the planet.

And, not that he would ever admit it, the thought of marriage scared the hell out of him.

While Helen was willing to toy with the idea that part of what he said might have been true, that didn't mean she agreed to it. After all, how could the single most important day to a woman could be part of some evil scheme?

She tilted her head up and made sure her chocolate eyes were looking straight into his turquoise ones. "Of course I am, Q." She murmured before adding, "And I hope you are, too."

Vic hesitated. He knew that tone. That damned tone had gotten him into more situations than he cared to count. It was deceptively playful and flirtatious, but if you listened closer you could hear the undertone of malice it contained.

Understanding Helena was like learning a new language.

"I mean, you know I want something more traditional, right?" She continued, running her nails coyly down his torso. "As…interesting as eloping was I want a real wedding."

Vic froze and considered carefully what he should say in response. He knew, completely knew what she said was both an undertone message and a bit of a threat.

Vic hated nothing more than to give in to the temptation of the Conspiracy, but he also enjoyed having two balls. Depending on how he answered this he would either lose his balls to a crossbow or get to go another round with Helena.

He settled for the truth, "I'm serious about you, and if you want a wedding then I will be serious about it."

She nodded in approval. "Good."

"Indeed." Q agreed. "So…"

"So what?"

"So can we go again?"

Helen punched him in the arm and scowled. "What? So if you agree with me we automatically have to have sex?"

"No." A pause. "But that is a nice reward."

"You're a perv."

"So are you really going to tell me you don't want to go another round?"

"…I hate it when you're right."

"Fine." Vic shrugged as he pressed her against him and attacked her mouth with his own. "Just as long as we get to go again."

(Two hours later)

After she had showered, dressed, and called her best friend Dinah, Helena strolled down the street looking at the bridal shop Dinah had suggested.

Though her friend had suggested Metropolis fist, Helena had insisted on Gotham. The dress she was looking for had to be traditional, sexy as hell, but traditional. Gotham had many things, and traditional was at the top of the list.

When she reached the store she stood in front of the building and stared at it. She had to admit no matter how annoying her friend could be with fashion, she did have amazing taste.

The dresses shown inside ranged from breathtakingly beautiful to something Lady Gaga would wear. What really surprised Helena was the fact that Dinah seemed to know the dressmakers by name and was currently chatting it up with Robbie Laundis. Apparently when Dinah and Ollie decided to think about marriage (and put it off again) they shopped around quite a bit and became good friends with Robbie.

Well, Dinah became good friends with Robbie. Ollie liked him well enough, but he didn't like how he couldn't explain Dinah pinching his ass when she was across the room and Robbie was standing behind him.

Helen walked towards the pair and caught snippets of their conversation.

"Let's see are you finally marrying that gorgeous beefcake?"

"I would like to, but I'm not sure if Ollie is really ready to settle down."

"Tell him to get his gorgeous head out of his you-know-what."

"I already ha-Oh, Helena!" Dinah exclaimed with a smile, "Robbie, this is my friend, Helena. We're here looking for a dress for her."

"It's true." Helen nodded.
Robbie looked her up and down. "Your figure is phenomenal. We should have no problem finding one that should suit you."
And with that said, they began to search.

XXXXXXXX

For three hours Helena tried on virtually every suggested dress that Robbie could find. The dresses all seemed to show off her figure, looked traditional, and each and every one of them almost looked like something straight out of a fairytale. Still, it didn't matter how beautiful the dress, how much it amplified her already beautiful figure, or how much she seemed to like it; none of them was what she wanted. Robbie sighed after showing her the last dress and then looked at the Italian woman.

"Darling, I've shown you everything that I have in the store." He sighed wearily. "Tell me what your ideal dress is."

Helena started to answer but then stopped. Her hand fished around inside of her purse for a moment before she brought out a small perfectly preserved - partially thanks to Vic – picture of her parents. It showed her mother and father on their wedding day with her mother dressed in a beautiful white gown. It seemed to hug her figure, yet at the same time the dress was classy and modest. "This," Helen answered, "I would have used her own dress if I could find but they lost it years ago."

Robbie looked at it and then at Helena doing a mental comparison of the unmasked Huntress and her mother.

"I'll have to get your measurements, darling, but we can most certainly create a dress similar to that one and at the same time make it in a style just for you. I hate to ask, but what is the cap off limit you want to spend?"

"Well, I have the money to spend, but what would a dress like this cost?" Helena asked

"Well, seeing that this was a very intricate and specialized dress I would say that it would cost nearly fifteen thousand." Robbie answered honestly.

Dinah expected Helena to say something, but instead her friend smiled and nodded. "That's fine."

After all, it wasn't like she had anything else to spend the money on.

(Dick Grayson's Apartment)

Galatea smiled as she lay next to Dick, her mind ablazed with images of pleasure. The last two hours Dick had demonstrated how much he loved her and then she swore that she told him she would marry him whenever he wanted.

'Tea didn't know where the hell the statement had come from, but it sounded right.

She didn't know what to say at first. It was technically possible for her to become married since Dick had helped set up her new identity. She wasn't exactly crazy about the name, but then again it could be worse than being known as Karen Starr.

…But Karen Grayson sounded better.

She could see herself as Karen Grayson, although when it was just the two of them she wanted to be called her real name. She felt him shift behind her and his arms - strong in their own right - pulled her closer to him.

" Love you." He mumbled sleepily.

Galatea smiled. He had every right to be sleepy. Dick had studied all day for the bar, patrolled all night, and then came home and made love to her like no one's business.

"Love you too. Dick... Did you mean it?" She asked quietly.

"Did I mean what?" He blinked.

"When you asked me to marry you."

" Of course I meant it." Nightwing frowned, "Did you mean it when you accepted?"

"Of course." She breathed, looking into his eyes and kissing him.

Sometimes she could swear they showed his soul.

(John and Shayera's apartment)

Shayera looked at her ring. For the last two months she had been Mrs. Stewart. It was a little odd at first since on Thanagar being married did nothing to change names, but she had adjusted quickly and easily. As odd as it was to be known by another name she accepted it, because as John and William Shakespeare said, 'A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet', or in John's case, 'Changing your name doesn't change you.'

She logged into her email and saw one from Diana. She read through it and gasped as she realized that her friend was asking her to be her maid of honor. It seemed as if Bruce was finally going to make an honest woman out of Ms. Diana Prince.

Soon to be Diana Wayne.