Sorry for the delay, my editor had been a little sick…

"She really is pissing me off," Barbara said, furiously hitting a punching bag in the gym in her Penthouse at the top of Clocktower. She was dressed with tight black exercise pants and a thin red t-shirt.

"Must be, I have never seen you so angry." Alfred put some clean towels in a cabinet.

"I try, Alfred, really, I try." She waved her hands. "She is very nice one moment and a complete asshole the next. She looked like frightened child and when I turn my head, that cute child has gone, and the rude young woman is there. She loves to taunt and offend me. I'm tired of her games!"

"She is doing what she does best."

"What?" Barbara took the towel from the bench and wiped her sweat.

"Pissing people off. That is how she keeps a safe distance form everyone."

"Really, she knows how to do it." She put the towel around her neck, took a bottle of water and opened it.

"She has been practicing for years and is a master."

"I understand she is hurt because of what happened with her mother. It's just…. just so frustrating that I can't find a way to get her to let me in." She looked at him, feeling frustrated. "How did you do it? How did you make her trust you and talk to you?"

"I don't know," he closed the cabinet and picked up the dirty towels, "maybe be because she doesn't see me as a menace."

"Menace? Do I look like a menace to you?" She extended her arms.

"For Miss Helena's heart, yes," he said. "You two were very close when she was a child. She is afraid to love and be loved, Miss Barbara. You have a special place in her heart. She wants to deny it and is refusing to accept you. She pushes you away with her abrupt mood swings. S0metimes she lets her heart guide her and, when she realizes it, she starts pushing away."

Barbara shook her head. She put the towel and water on the bench again; she turned toward the rings.

"Now, she accepted the job at the foundation, right?"" Alfred asked.

"I don't know if she will be there for a single day," she put powder over her hands. "Maybe now she changed her mind."

The phone on the wall rang, Alfred picked it up. Barbara put her hands over the rings and lifted herself on them.

"Sure, I'll open the private elevator," he said. "She will wait for her here."

The redhead stopped her exercise and quirked an eyebrow at him. Alfred hung up the phone.

"I'll wait for whom here?" she asked, jumping down.

"Miss Helena is here," he responded, walking toward the door with the dirty towels. "She will be here in five minutes via the private elevator. I'll open it now."

"What? What's she doing here?"

"I don't know. She is an enigma for me, too." Alfred walked toward the stairway "But if she is here, it's a good thing. See you tomorrow. I don't want her to see me here."

She picked up the towel again. Dammit, Helena really was a walking puzzle. She walked toward the rings and jumped up. Maybe she could finish her routine before she arrived.

She wondered what mood Helena would be in today or what new tantrum would manifest. She loved Helena, she had been a sweet child, and a charming teenager… until that night. She needed to be patient, she needed to think without emotion. She had an analytical mind and usually thought straight, but Helena seemed to know what buttons to push to make her lose control.

The elevator doors opened. Helena stepped out and looked around. Barbara's assistant had said she was in the gym, that it was the room at the end of the corridor. Barbara had a really nice place. She sniffed, her scent was everywhere; it was the same in her office, too. It was not perfume, it was different, but it was nice.

She noticed a picture of the Barbara and Wade on the table at the corridor. She took it in her hands and studied it. The redhead was smiling and Wade was hugging her from behind.

Yes, he looked dumb. It hadn't been her imagination. She put the picture face down on the table and walked down the hallway, admiring some paintings.

Barbara definitely knew how to choose art.

She heard metallic noises coming from the end of the corridor and walked toward them. The sight of Barbara doing some turns on the air just using her arms as support, holding the rings, was amazing. How could she do that?

Her balance was perfect and her muscles were visible on her arms. Her legs were strong and firm. The expression on her face showed she was totally concentrated on her routine. She followed each movement, each turn, hypnotized

Barbara jumped making an incredible flip, holding her legs against her chest and landed on two feet.

Wow.

The movement of her bending lightly, extending her arms, and straightening was in slow motion. Barbara looked beautiful in that outfit.

The redhead glared at her.

"That was amazing." Helena said.

"Thanks." The redhead picked up her towel and cleaned her face.

"I see you think of everything," Helena noted, walking toward the weights and examining them.

"I like to be organized." Barbara put the towel around her neck and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Your home is fantastic, very nice taste." Helena lifted a weight to test it. "It's lucky your office is in the same building as your home."

"Thank you. Coming from you, it's a real compliment."

"It's just…. something doesn't fit with you." She put the weight in its place again.

"Oh yes? What's that?"

"Forget it." The brunette turned and looked at her.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Well, I said yesterday I would work with you at the foundation and I wanted to know how can I help?" She shrugged her shoulders. The truth was that she had been thinking of her all night. Barbara was nice, smart, intelligent, brilliant, she really liked her. She knew she had been very rude to Barbara last night, but she was pissed every time she remembered that the older woman had forgotten her when she needed her. She didn't want to feel that again, but, well, whatever… She knew she needed to apologize, but she didn't know how. "I didn't know Saturday was your day off."

"It's not. I just like to train on Saturdays, early."

"So… I'm not interrupting you? I told your assistant I could come back later, but she said no, that it was fine if came here."

"No, it's fine." Barbara wondered where Helena was going to take this game of back and forth with her. She was being pleasant again, maybe it was time to give her a lesson. "Remove your shoes, let's have a bit of workout."

"Excuse me?" the young woman asked.

"I want to see you fight, so I can tell you how to improve." Barbara decided she wouldn't give the brunette a chance to refuse.

Helena narrowed her eyes. "Are you serious? I thought you were joking at the bar."

"No, I'm not joking." The redhead walked toward the training floor on bare feet.

"I'm half-meta, Barbara."

"Are you scared?"

Helena frowned. Was she boasting?

"I'm waiting for you, come on." Barbara stood at the far end of the training room, rubbing her hands.

The young woman removed her shoes and her belt. She walked toward the redhead.

"Okay, what do we do?"

Barbara bent her torso slightly and opened her arms. "Fight, are you ready?"

Helena shook her head. "I'm not sure, I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't worry," Barbara winked, "you can't."

The brunette tried to grab her arm to throw her to the floor and finish this stupid session, but before she knew what was happening, she found herself on the floor, with Barbara's knee over her throat.

"All right, first lesson. Don't underestimate your opponent." The redhead stood up and assumed a defensive position.

Helena stood up brushing off her pants. "All right, I get it." It seemed Barbara wanted to play rough, she liked it.

She prepared and turned to kick her. The movement was fast, but Barbara seemed to read her mind and she turned at the same time, sweeping Helena's grounded leg and sending her falling, flat on her back.

"You telegraph your moves before attacking," Barbara explained, stepping back. "You can't show what you are going to do. It's like when you are going to kick a penalty in soccer, you need to fake out your opponent, making him think you will kick to the right when you really are going to kick to your left.

Helena rested her elbows on the floor looking up at her. She was beginning to get pissed. Barbara was being a smartass. She stood up again.

"Just fight, okay?" Helena grumbled.

"Let's make a deal, Helena." Barbara was tired of her bad moods. She put her hands on her hips and walked to her. "Let's have a match of three rounds, okay? If I win two, you will let me train you and you will promise to listen to me and follow my directions with no complaints. Plus, you must promise to talk to me with respect, no more sarcasm or insults, all right?"

Helena stoop up, listening with attention. That was interesting. "And If I win?"

"You can ask to me whatever you want."

Helena smirked mischievously. "Whatever I want?"

"Yes."

Helena thought that was a good opportunity for her. "No matter what I ask?"

"Right."

"Deal." Helena readied herself to attack. If Barbara wanted to play rough, she was on board with that. "Let's play, then."

Barbara positioned herself, too. Helena waited, this time, for the other woman's attack. Barbara moved with a flurry of punches and Helena ducked, avoiding her fists and hitting her hard in her gut with her elbow. She turned and crouched to sweep her feet. The redhead fell heavily to the floor. She twisted her arm back, immobilizing her. That had been easy.

The redhead, breathing heavily, said, "Nice move."

"Yeah." Helena smiled, admiring the woman below her. She was amazing, she had never met anyone like her. She liked her style and the way she challenged her.

"Helena," Barbara said.

"What?" Helena tilted her head curiously.

"Move!"

"Oh…" the brunette released her and stood up.

"All right," the redhead prompted, "try again."

Helena moved to the middle of the training floor, waving her hands. Barbara circled her, the young woman threw a punch that the redhead blocked. She lifted her other arm to stop Barbara's blow. The impact was strong. Wow. She knew how to hit. They began to move, trying to hit the other.

She finally managed to connect with a kick that made Barbara stumble back. But when she tried to jump on the older woman, she rolled and kicked her back.

The brunette tried to hit her again with several fast movements, but the other woman had incredible reflexes; she avoided all her moves. Suddenly, she jumped on Barbara, trying to surprise her, but when she landed, Barbara was expecting her and she caught her in mid-air and threw her to the floor. In a blink, Barbara twisted her and put her arm around her throat. She tried to free herself, but Barbara's grip was hard.

"Surrender?"

"All right." She was pissed. How she could catch her like that?

Barbara released her and the young woman walked toward the other side of the gym rubbing her throat.

"Listen to me," Barbara explained, "you need to focus. You have a great strength, but the most important thing in a fight is not your strength. It's to use the strength of the other person against them. I let you win the first round and you were very confident, don't do that again."

"Let me win?" Helena growled. "I won!"

"If you say so." Barbara moved back.

Helena tried to land a kick, but Barbara grabbed her leg at mid air and flipped her over. She lost her balance and hit the ground.

"I read your movement again." Barbara smiled, walking around her. "How can you win bar fights? You are pretty bad."

Bad? She was going to show her what it was to be bad. Helena pushed herself up and charged at the redhead. Her fist missed the other woman's head and she felt a hard blow to her gut that knocked the air out of her. She tried to hit her again, but Barbara grabbed her neck as she put her feet behind Helena's and used it as lever to push her back. Helena found herself lying on the floor again, with Barbara's knee pressing into her chest.

"Anger… don't let anger control you." Barbara said, "It blinds your mind and you make mistakes in the fight." She stood up.

"Do you think you know everything?"" Helena sat up, groaning and angry.

"I won," Barbara picked up a clean towel and threw it to the young woman. "You promised to respect me and let me train you. So keep your mouth shut from here on out." Barbara took her towel and walked toward the exit.

Helena, still on the floor, glared at her. Fuck. She was really annoyed. How could she do that to her? She was a damn hurricane. She was not used to losing and Barbara had easily swept the floor with her ass. And Barbara was a human, she was not meta! That was the worst!

"I'll see you at nine o'clock on Monday at the office," Barbara said from the door. "We will train weekdays at five, before your work at the bar."

Helena bent her knees and held them between her arms, resting her forehead over them. She still couldn't believe it. She never thought Barbara could fight like that.

She was thoroughly pissed. She had lost to Barbara, the woman she could never forgive for forgetting her. It had been so painful to be alone those months, feeling betrayed by the person you thought loved you.

But at the same time, the fight really had been so exciting for her, Barbara was incredible, her movements, her reflexes, she couldn't deny she would be waiting anxiously for Monday to see her again.

Her feelings were so mixed up that she couldn't understand them.

New Gotham was a beautiful city, the blue sky, tall buildings. The view was magnificent from that point. It was hard to imagine that, like wolves, criminals were hiding, waiting for the night to pounce on innocents.

She knew she could learn so much from the redhead. It would help her to catch her mother's murderer; she still had that goal in her mind. She would never rest until she saw him dead.

"I see you arrived early," Barbara said from the doorway.

"Well, I don't want to lose my punctuality bonus," Helena turned, "because I have punctuality bonus, right?"

"Yes, you have one." The redhead smiled slightly, removing the bag over her shoulder.

"Great, so…" Helena sat in Barbara's chair and started spinning. "What am I supposed to do here?"

"Well, first you need to know the Foundation." Barbara stopped the movement of the chair and waved her hand, asking her to stand up.

Helena stood up with a jump and sat on the desk. "Okay, and then?"

"Then, I would like you to choose where you want to be involved." Barbara sat in her chair and leaned back, crossing her legs. "We have the scholarship division, the AIDS division and the orphans division."

"Got it."

Barbara turned and put on her eyeglasses. The brunette didn't know why she found that movement so charming.

"Then, you will be in charge of that division, help to raise funds, and get people involved in our Foundation so we can grow." Barbara took a pen and signed some papers on her desk

"In charge of a division?" Helena laughed nervously and stood up "Wait a minute, you're joking, right?"

"No, I need help, we are expanding. It's too much for me."

"But I don't know anything about this."

"I'll train you."

"And I must keep my mouth shut, right?"

Barbara moved back in her chair, holding a pencil in her hand.

"I'd be happy if you respect me and talk to me as a friend and not an enemy."

That was a pretty direct remark. It seemed the redhead had noticed all her ironic comments in their last conversations. Helena put her hand on Barbara's desk and her other one on her hip looking at her. Barbara knew how to corner her and, she had to admit, the redhead was pretty smart.

"All right," she said sitting again on the woman's desk.

"And, I'd appreciate it if you don't use my desk as a seat." Barbara pointed at the furniture with her pencil.

The brunette stood up as if pushed by a spring. She stood up in front of her desk.

"Thanks," Barbara said, picking up the phone "I'll have my assistant show you the floors and the areas. When you come back, I'll show you how work each area. Connie, please show Helena the building. Yes, thanks, she will be with you in a minute."

Helena cocked her head and looked at her. She liked her dress. Barbara knew how to combine her clothes. They were casual, but looked great on her. Maybe she would ask the redhead to join her shopping, as soon as she paid off her debt. Her credit cards were maxed out.

Barbara noticed that Helena was staring at her and she didn't move.

"Something wrong?" She checked her skirt.

"Can I ask you a question?" The young woman cocked her head.

"Sure."

"Why are you dating Wade?"

"He is nice, handsome, fun and… he is sweet with me, very sweet. Why?"

Bingo. She hadn't said she loved him.

"Well," Helena sat on a chair in front of the desk. "You are brilliant, intelligent,"

Barbara narrowed her eyes. Helena noticed her face.

"I'm serious, " she explained. "You are elegant, beautiful, with tons of style and…" Helena waved her hands not knowing what to say.

"And?"

"I imagined you with someone different."

"Different?"

"He is a school teacher."

"So am I." Barbara crossed her arms over her desk and looked at the brunette curiously.

The brunette shook her head "I don't mean that, I mean… I was expecting someone with a stronger personality. Wade is like grey, yes, grey for you."

"Like Dick?"

"Of course not! He is an asshole."

"Dick? I thought he was like your brother."

"So? It doesn't mean he is not an asshole."

The redhead scratched her head, trying to understand. "Okay, so, according to you, I'm too much for them?"

"Yeah."

Barbara laughed. "Don't be silly."

"I'm serious."

Barbara remembered that she had found the picture of Wade and her face down at the living table the prior day. Helena had flipped it over? Why?

"Okay," she said "who is my ideal man?"

"I don't know…." Helena didn't expect that question "David Beckham?"

"He is married."

"Brad Pitt?"

"Angelina would cancel her donations to our foundation if she finds out I'm with him."

"I don't know, Barbara," Helena shrugged her shoulders. "I just think Wade doesn't fit with your personality."

"Helena," Barbara stood up and circled the desk. "I'm a normal woman, I'm not extraordinary. I just want a regular guy. Wade is a regular guy."

"Maybe too regular."

"Wade is sweet," Barbara rested her hip on the desk and put her hands to her sides. "He is supportive, a real gentleman. I think you don't know him well enough."

"Could be."

"All right," the redhead touched the young woman's shoulder and felt her cringe under the contact. She moved her hand back and looked at her. "Does it bother you when I touch you? Sometimes I notice you flinch."

Helena stood up and went toward the door. "I'll ask your assistant to show me this place."

"Helena, I'm serious. The fact that I touch you annoys you?"

The young woman took the doorknob with her right hand and faced the door a few seconds. She turned to look at the older woman with an unfriendly look.

"Barbara, let's have a professional relationship. Nothing more."

"All right." Barbara lifted her hands, placatingly. "Just remember you started with the questions and I was asking because I don't want to do anything that could annoy you."

"Okay, I don't like to answer questions."

"Perfect."

Helena opened the door and left the office. Definitely, Helena had serious issues, she turned very aggressive when she touched a feeling or awoke an emotion. She would need to work a lot with her to earn her trust. She really wanted it, she wanted her to be the happy girl she had known years before. She returned to her desk and picked up the phone, she still had work to do.

TBC