Chapter Twelve
Barbara wheeled her chair to the elevator platform, keeping her movements as steady and non-threatening as she could. The girl's stance and quick, jerky movements showed she was as wound up as she could possibly be; ready to snap at any time.
"Helena, we're friends. We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help."
Helena's eyes darted back and forth between Barbara and Alfred, who was waling down the stairs next to the platform. As the pair reached the main floor, Helena moved to her right to add distance between them. The elevator closed with a sigh.
"Who the hell are you people," she asked again. "What is this place?"
"You're in the top of the clock tower," Barbara said. "It's a communication center. I've been helping the police and others track down the people who killed your mother. We're friends here. We're not going to hurt you."
"Why didn't your dad tell me who you were when he brought me here?"
"He doesn't know I'm involved. Someone else is doing the legwork. In fact, she's out there now trying to track down whoever is after you. You're safe here."
"So you're like, what, private investigators? Batman?"
"Something like that," Barbara said. "Just calm down and we'll talk. Alfred, can you get us some drinks?"
"Of course," he said and walked slowly towards the kitchen. Helena tensed as he left and Barbara raised her hands, palms out, in a soothing gesture.
"He's just getting some drinks. Just sit down and we'll talk."
Helena relaxed, but not completely. She sat on the edge of the couch, eyes nervously darting to the kitchen door, ready to spring up if anything weird happened. Make that anything weirder. Barbara rolled to the other side of the coffee table and stopped.
"Better?" Barbara asked. Helena nodded slightly. "Let's start with: How did you find the elevator?"
"My mother always told me to learn my surroundings whenever I was somewhere new. I found the latch in the hallway."
"I keep it dark there so the seams won't show but I guess your eyesight is better than most peoples." The girl nodded again. Alfred came back with a tray and set it between them; a glass of soda for Helena and a cup of coffee for Barbara on a saucer. Helena tensed again but, to Barbara's relief, didn't get up. Barbara picked up her cup and saucer.
"I don't know where to start," she said, taking a sip. Then she noticed the napkin that had been placed on the saucer. In Alfred's flowing script was written, "Perhaps at the beginning. Judiciously edited." When she looked at him, he merely raised his eyebrows at her.
"If you need anything else, I'll be in my room."
Barbara took another sip of coffee and looked at the pretty, dark haired girl. She almost felt pity for her but then she thought about her own life, and Bruce's and Dick's and even Dinah's. Like them, this girl was a fighter. It would take time but she would recover as much as any of them did. Perhaps more.
She started to say something but before she could, the elevator door opened and Black Canary ran into the room, eyes searching, battle ready. Immediately Helena was on her feet, ready again to pounce. Barbara held a hand towards each of them.
"Stop!" she said. She looked at Helena. "She's with us. She helped you out when Blockbuster attacked you." To Dinah she asked, "Did everything go okay?"
"Yeah," Dinah said. "Crane's taken care of. When you didn't answer your com, I thought…"
"I know," Barbara said. "We had a bit of a situation here but it fine now." She gestured to the blood on Canary's forehead. "Are you okay?"
"Bloodied, battered and bruised. Same old, same old. If you have everything under control here, I'm going to get cleaned up and go downstairs. We can debrief later."
"Fine," Barbara said and turned her attention back to Helena, who had sat back down. A little more at ease this time, Barbara noted. "How are you doing?"
"Still confused," Helena answered.
"Let's see what we can do about that." Barbara took a deep breath and looked directly at Helena when she said, "I used to be Batgirl and once your mother saved my life."
Helena's eyes widened.
It was going to be a long night.
End of Episode Two