"I can't believe we didn't know we had missed your birthday!" Lois apologized as she and Helena walked side-by-side back to the Daily Planet. The occasional flash of a camera and the more frequent glances and whispers from passers by didn't faze either of them after their outing in the reconstructing city. Each was carrying shopping bags in both hands, full of new outfits for Helena (and a few for Lois as well). "Consider this a belated present."

Helena smiled happily up at the woman. "It's okay; this was fun!" She shrugged. "Besides, Bruce said that I needed to pick out some clothes for myself instead of Alfred doing all the work." Her grin faded a bit. "Him and Dick had an argument the other day; I think he wanted me away from the manor for a while."

Argument was a bit of an understatement. The two men had shouted at each other over what seemed to her like unimportant things for the most part, until the real issue boiled up to the surface: Bruce wasn't happy about Dick teaching her his gymnastic skills, for whatever reason. Helena had hid herself in the kitchen- she was safe in Alfred's domain. Her tree-climbing experience enabled her to get up onto the top shelf in the pantry, which is where the butler later found her, with an almost-empty box of Oreos in her lap. It took another box to coax her down.

"You must understand, Master Bruce reacted only because he wishes you to be safe," he said gently as she swung her legs freely from her seat at the counter.

Helena rolled her eyes, trying to ignore how sad she felt over the event. "Dick was making sure I was safe," she muttered. "I never even went down there without him."

Alfred hummed understandingly. "Perhaps you'd like to spend tomorrow out in the city? A day out can help clear both of your heads."

She had to admit, shopping with Lois had been a fun distraction. And a bonus for her: Metropolis seemed too busy to care about the young Wayne's presence among them. Besides, Lois seemed to enjoy her presence, and even though she now looked forward to her coffee-shop meetings with Barbara, it was nice to hang around another woman for a change.

"Can we do this again?" Helena asked hopefully, glancing up at the reporter. She let out a sigh of relief as she received a nod in return.

"I would stay out with you longer today, but I have to get back to work on an assignment." Lois gestured towards the doors of her office building as they paused their walking. "Besides, Clark wanted to say hello anyways, so you can stay with him for a bit until you have to go…"

She trailed off as a trio of black SUVs stopped suddenly in front of the Daily Planet, effectively trapping the two on the sidewalk between the street and the skyscraper's entrance. Several figures clothed in black exited each vehicle and a fleeting thought had Helena thinking they all focused in on her.

That idea was validated only moments later as one pointed at her and their comrades began to move in. The girl glanced up at Lois to see a fearful shadow cross her face. "Maybe we should get inside- Helena!"

Helena didn't hear her, as she was already sprinting away from Lois and the other innocents close to the building. The thud of several pairs of heavy boots behind her urged her to run faster, brushing past people and vaulting over fire hydrants and bike racks. The block ended sooner than she would've liked, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and Helena ran into the busy city traffic.

"Do not let her get away!" She heard one of the men shout, and cringed as she thought she heard the sound of guns cocking. The other side of the street was so close, she could make it-

Her world drastically shifted as Helena felt something strong wrap around her waist; she hardly had time to widen her eyes before she felt herself rising through the air. A shriek escaped her mouth and she began to kick wildly, finally shutting her eyes tight when she realized how high up she was. "Put me down put me DOWN!" It was only a few moments later before she felt herself being place on solid ground.

Well, solid was correct. A quick glance at her surroundings showed she was on the roof of the Daily Planet, alone. She sat down hurriedly in order to keep herself grounded.

Grounded. She weakly laughed at her thought process.

"Are you okay?" Helena jumped and yelped as a voice spoke up from behind her. She whirled around to find the person she was angry at the most in the world standing before her. She narrowed her eyes cautiously.

"I'm fine," she replied curtly. She stood up, combing her fingers through her brown hair as she did so.

The Man of Steel took a step towards her. "Are you sure? Those men could've killed you…"

Helena stared him dead in the eye. "They wouldn't be the first." You were, she left unspoken, and yet it seemed that he had heard it anyways.

"I'm sorry…" he said softly, reaching a hand out to rest on her shoulder, but Helena (tried to) smack it away.

"Don't touch me!"

"Helena, I-"

"NO!" Helena finally snapped and began to shout at the man, tears escaping her eyes. "You're the reason Metropolis was destroyed! You're the reason my mom is dead! You're the reason there's so many of us 'battle orphans!'" She panted heavily as she finished speaking.

The girl was slightly taken aback by how defeated the alien appeared. His shoulders slumped after every accusation she hurled, his eyes were duller, even his hair looked droopy. A pang of guilt stung in her chest, but Helena didn't flinch.

"I know," he murmured. He moved to sit on the ledge of the roof. Helena wasn't entirely sure it was safe (but then remembered he could fly) and joined him in his quiet thought. "My actions hurt so many," he spoke up quietly. "I hurt so many. I killed so many. And yet so many still look up to me like… like a god of some sort." He lifted his gaze to blankly watch the horizon. "But Ma doesn't hate me; Lois doesn't hate me, and I don't know why." Sigh. "And I can't just up and disappear either. People still call to me for help… I can't just not help."

Helena stopped listening after that as her attention went back to one of the names he had said. "Wait: Lois?" She leaned away from him in shock and her face went pale. "Waaait… Clark?!"

Superman looked like a deer caught in headlights. Shit. "Uh… hello."

The two sat in silence for a while, intent on ignoring the busted secret by watching the people on the street below.

"So..." Helena looked at him eventually, cringing awkwardly. "You're Superman."

Clark sighed, dragging his fingers sluggishly through his hair. "Yeah."

"...Superman is a reporter."

He squinted at her. "Problem with that?"

"No," she lied smoothly. "I'm just surprised no one else has noticed."

Clark shrugged and sat down next to her, both their legs dangling off the side off the building in the air. "I've found that people can be extremely oblivious when they want to."

"Like you said: people are looking for a god, not an average guy."

She didn't notice his surprised gaze turn on her, instead preoccupied with watching the sunlight sparkle off the water in the distant horizon. Neither of them spoke again for several moments, instead focusing on the relative peace they found high above the busy streets of Metropolis. Helena used those moments to try and process what exactly had happened.

"I hate Superman," she whispered. "You took my mom. You hurt a lot of people." Another group of tears rolled down her cheeks. "But I like Clark." She crossed her arms stubbornly. "I like part of you. But don't expect this to be magically fixed soon. I can't forgive you totally just yet. It hurts too much." He nodded solemnly.

"So Lois knows?" She finally asked, feeling relieved when Clark let out a breathy chuckle.

"Oh yeah."

"Hmm. Well, you two are cute."

He ruffled her hair in amusement, grinning at her whiny protests. "Glad someone's rooting for us."

Helena looked at him oddly. Was no adult capable of reading news sites online? And he even works for one! "Clark, the entire world is talking about it. Well, also about her supposed connection with Superman," she eyed his crest, "which doesn't seem to be much of an issue anymore."

He stared at her curiously before laughing again. "You're a weird kid, y'know?"

She shrugged. "I know."