CHAPTER 3

Barbara was in the kitchen, brewing up a cup of coffee. She was just waiting in the kitchen and relaxing until the coffee was done. Alfred entered the kitchen after climbing up the spiral staircase. "Master Barbara, I would have made you coffee if that was your desire."

"It's okay, Alfred. I felt like doing it on my own." Barbara said as she began to pour herself the coffee.

"Very well," Alfred said. "If you will excuse me, I am going to my quarters to do some reading."

"Sure, Alfred," Barbara said taking a sip of her mug of coffee. Barbara found herself drifting through her thoughts. She replayed the memories of the events earlier this after noon. Dinah did not seem to want her to meet her boyfriend; why? Helena was right, Dinah did have a boyfriend, but there was something between Dinah and herself? Was she embarrassed about her? Why the sudden change?

"Hi, Barbara!" Helena said, as she came walking through the door.

Barbara put the mug down on the island, and was about to turn herself around to say hi to Helena but she had accidentally put the mug only half way onto the Island and it fell onto her lap. "Ah, shit!" Barbara screamed in pain.

"Barbara?" Helena ran to the platform and leaped and bounced onto the computer station. She went flying up onto the platform as if she had the power to fly. She landed onto the second level and ran to Barbara. "What happened?"

"Damn it, I…" Barbara stopped in mid sentence. Her face was painted with confusion.

"Barbara, are you alright?" Helena slowly approached Barbara.

"I spilled coffee, and…I burned myself." Barbara looked down at herself, still with a puzzled look on her face.

"Where did you spill the coffee?"

Barbara looked up at Helena. "On my lap." There was a very awkward silence for a few seconds before Barbara was managed to get out what she was thinking. "The coffee spilled on my lap, and it hurt like hell."

"Spilling hot coffee on you tends to do that," Helena grinned.

"You don't understand, Helena. I'm supposed to be paralyzed. I am not suppose to have any feeling in my legs whatsoever?"

"What are you saying?"

Barbara didn't reply. Instead, she looked down to her feet and concentrated harder than Helena had ever seen her. Helena looked down at her feet, not sure what Barbara was trying to do. Both women were taken back when Barbara's right toes slightly moved, causing the bones in her toes to crack. "Did you see that?"

"Barbara…" Helena was beyond words. "You moved your toes."

"Yes," Barbara's puzzled looking face began to show signs of joy. "I have feeling in my legs again. I'm going to be able to walk again!"

"Is everything alright, Master Barbara?" Alfred came rushing out of the room, hearing her scream.

"Everything is wonderful, Alfred! I spilled coffee on my legs and it hurt like hell!" Barbara said cheered.

Alfred was puzzled by her cheerfulness over being burned by scalding hot coffee. "Of all the expressions that is displayed when one is burned by spilling hot coffee onto one's self, joy is not commonly one of them."

"Alfred, I spilled the coffee on my legs, and felt it. I have feeling in my legs again!"

"By the maker, that is indeed outstanding news!" Alfred said excitedly.

"Do you think you can get up and walk?" Helena asked.

"Helena, it's been years since I took my last step. I have to rehabilitate myself. It'll be close to a year before I will be able to walk perfectly normal like I once did. The rehabilitation would be a very tedious process."

"You're not talking yourself out of doing this, are you? You're the toughest person I have ever known; you don't know the meaning of the word tedious." Helena asked

Barbara laughed. "No, I'm talking myself out of this."

"If I may ask, what had happened to you to cause this change?" Alfred asked.

"Nothing that I can think of. I had a run in with Dinah's new boyfriend who happens to be in one of my earlier classes."

"See, I told you she had a boyfriend," Helena smirked.

"Anyway, he handed me his homework and then I got unusually lightheaded. I went back to my classroom to take some Tylenol, but I was fine by the time I got back and have been fine ever since then."

"Do you think it's related to this?" Helena asked.

"I don't see how," Barbara replied.

"Has anything else happened to you that may explain why you have regained the feeling in my legs?"

"Nothing stands out," Barbara replied.

"Something like this just doesn't happened for no reason. We need somewhere to start investigating. This kid you're talking about may be a good place to start."

"You mean, find out if he's meta or not?" I don't know, how would Dinah react if she seems me investigating about her boyfriend?"

"First of all, take it from me, you're relationship is not on rocky ground; it's just a typical teenage phase. She's just too cool to be seen in public with someone she sees as a parent. My mother went through it with me. All mothers do."

"I've never been a mother, Helena. I don't know a thing about raising a teenage girl. All I know is how to train people into superhero's."

"You're doing fine. You're not trying to be her mother, just like you never tried to replace my mother, and that last thing she or I would ever want after loosing a mother. You treated us more like friends, yet in a parental way. You will make a good mother someday."

"I appreciate that, Helena, but we're getting off the subject a little bit," Barbara said.

"Anyway," Helena changed the course of her conversation. "We're not investigating him because he is a villain. We're only trying to explain why you have regained the use of your legs and if it's going to be permanent. I'm sure Dinah will understand that."

"Perhaps," Barbara said. "We have a lot of work to do in the next couple of days. If I am going to begin rehabilitation, I will eventually need an exercise area with two guardrails to hold myself up."

"I will work on that the first thing in the morning, Master Barbara," Alfred volunteered.

"Thank you, Alfred. I am going to go put on a new pair of pants and some ice on my leg before I do anything else. What are you going to do, Helena?"

"No plans for tonight. Reese is working overtime tonight. I might as well get ready to take a stroll through New Gotham."