Chapter Six

            "That's when your mother joined us," Barbara said. "Along with Nightwing, that made five of us to dive into the deep end."

            "But why did Batman call her? I thought they were enemies."

            Barbara held her hands out, palms up, and shrugged. "I don't know. I've always assumed that he did it because he couldn't get the other Robin here. The family of that Robin moved to the other side of the country after the quake and there was no way to get him here."

            "Why not ask any of his super-hero buddies to help?"

            Barbara laughed. "You have to understand, Batman rarely asked for help from anybody, especially if they weren't from Gotham. He made it clear long ago that Gotham was his and everyone else was to stay out. Period. He even got a bit miffed when I started working with Dinah, but he got over it."

            "Nice guy."

            "His town, his rules. But he did need that extra muscle. That's why I think he contacted Catwoman. He needed someone else who could hold their own against the types of people we were going up against, someone he didn't have to keep an eye on the whole time. I thought we should just let the Guard handle it, but Batman insisted that it was our responsibility. He really shouldn't have taken Jason along, but Jason had proved himself to be an adequate fighter, so he went."

            "How many Robins were there, anyway? You keep adding more and more to the tale," Helena said. She'd curled up on the couch (cat-like, Barbara noted) and was looking at Barbara over the rim of her glass.

            "Three," Barbara said, using a finger on her right hand to tick off each of the three upraised fingers on her left. "The first one moved to Bludhaven and changed his name to Nightwing. He was Robin for over eight years and eventually grew too big for the green shorts.

            "The second one, as I said, moved to the west coast with his family after the Quake. He still fights crime and has also changed his name. He calls himself Hawk now and has a partner named Dove. They were engaged, last I heard."

            "Is Dove a woman?" Helena asked. Barbara peered briefly at the girl over her glasses, gave a sly smile, and then ticked off her last finger.

            "Jason was the third and last Robin. After what happened, Batman never talked about having a partner again."

            "That bad?"

            "That bad. I really try not to think about it but there's no way to tell the story without Jason. We lost so much that night…"

            Barbara suddenly snatched her glasses off and rubbed at her eyes. She caught the tears before they fell, but just barely. Helena started to get up but Barbara waved her back down.

            "I'm fine," she said, then shook her head. "No, I'm not. I've done everything in my power to forget that night. The pain, the fear, everything that happened. I just want to erase that grinning jackass's face from my mind, but it's branded there. I'm so scared that the last thing I'll see before I die is his face. I'm sorry; I've never talked to anyone about this. About that night. Not even with the people who were there."

            "If you don't want to continue-"

            "No, I'll be all right in a minute. I think you deserve to know everything. If nothing else, I think you deserve to know your mother wasn't just the criminal everyone makes her out to be."