All of the characters and story lines and everything else I can think of are the property of DC comics and the WB network. The only bits that're mine are the words and the voice.
Chapter 3: Ward of the State
The friction of the rug against her face left a spot on her cheek that stung. Helena ignored the stinging and struggled harder against her captors to no avail. It was to date the most humiliating moment of her entire life. The one consolation was that this happened often enough around here that the other kids were mostly just going about their business without taking much notice—except, of course, for a handful who were making no secret about taking an enormous amount of satisfaction from seeing Helena Kyle taken down a peg or two. Helena's face burned, and she grunted and snarled as she struggled.
"Easy. Take it easy, Helena. No one is going to hurt you. Settle down, now. Take it easy." James, one of her houseparents, straddled her back, using all his strength to hold Helena's arms straight out and palms-up against the floor. In this position, Helena couldn't get the leverage she needed to break free.
"God, she's a strong one." Tony was having less luck holding her feet as she flailed and kicked. "Take it easy, Helena. Settle down."
"Looks like it's going to be a long night." Karen, the night administrator, squatted next to Helena's head, monitoring her breathing. "Come on, Helena, relax. Stop fighting. Settle down, now. You're okay." She glanced up to see three or four smirking teenagers looking on. "Miguel, Benjamin, Dominique…the rest of you—this isn't a side show. Get to your rooms." The kids didn't move. Karen looked around and spotted a houseparent from a different unit. "Becky, could you please round up some staff to clear the hallway? The audience is making it worse."
Within minutes, the hallway was clear of kids, and Helena, worn out from struggling and now not needing to impress anyone, was slowly beginning to settle down. Her fight, after all, was not with her houseparents. She liked them okay—and anyway, she could see that they couldn't just let her try to kill other kids without doing anything to stop it.
"That's it. Good girl. You're okay. Take a deep breath." Karen soothed. Helena took several shuddering breaths and allowed her tense muscles to go limp. "You calm? Can we let you up, now?"
"Yeah."
"You won't take a swing at one of us the minute you're up?"
"No."
"That's a relief," laughed James. "Dang, kid—you're a real fighter." He grinned at her as she got to her feet, and she almost caught herself responding in kind. She quickly repressed the urge…it wouldn't do to learn to like him. Besides, he had just completely humiliated her in front of a whole lot of people. Remembering this, she scowled.
Karen steered her toward her office. James followed. Inside, James and Helena sat in the chairs in front of Karen's desk and Karen rolled the desk chair out from behind the desk for herself.
"So…what was that about?"
Helena glowered. "Nothing."
"Right. Nothing. You jump on Robert and start beating him senseless, and it's about nothing. Wrong answer. Try again."
Helena squirmed.
"I'm waiting."
"He said something," she admitted in a low voice.
"What did he say?"
Helena could feel the anger bubbling up again. It was so unfair. Robert was the one who started it, and she was the one in trouble. "He said something about my mother."
Karen looked at her with real sympathy. "You miss her."
That caught her off guard. She'd been expecting the "No matter what he says, it still doesn't make it okay to beat him up and now there will be consequences" lecture. To her horror, she felt tears well in her eyes and her throat constrict. She sniffed and scowled—damned if I'm going to let this lady get to me. Narrowing her eyes, she glanced away and used her toughest voice to answer. "Yeah, so?"
"So, anger's a normal part of grief, Helena."
Helena dropped her head and scowled ferociously at the tops of her shoes.
"Look at me, please, Helena."
Helena kept her eyes riveted on her shoes. Karen allowed several moments to pass in silence, waiting to be obeyed. Unable to hold out any longer, Helena at last looked up. Karen and James were both gazing at her with eyes filled with concern. Karen leaned forward, "We know you're hurting. We want to help you, child, but we can't unless you let us. Won't you let us?"
For a split second, all of the emotions boiled to the surface. Helena longed to throw herself into those comforting arms and sob out all of the grief and confusion that she'd kept bottled up ever since…ever since… With a supreme effort, she regained her self control and looked quickly away, scowling as fiercely as she could. "Leave me the hell alone!"
Karen's eyes met James'. She sighed. Right. They needed more time to earn the girl's trust. She'd only been at the Northside Christian Children's Home for two weeks, after all. She just hoped they could do it before Helena's anger took her over and she did something she couldn't undo. "As you wish. You may go back to your unit."
Helena got to her feet. "What's my punishment going to be?" You really wouldn't have guessed that Helena's sullen, defiant tone masked a world of hurt and fear. The poor kid was so afraid to learn to care for anyone, she was practically begging to be punished so that she could have a reason to keep her hate and resentment alive. Karen wasn't going to give it to her.
"I sentence you to a good night's sleep and a fresh start in the morning," she said lightly. Helena stared. James steered her toward the door, suppressing the urge to exchange a grin with Karen.
"Oh, and Helena?"
"Yeah?"
"Make no mistake: Do this again, and there will be major consequences."
"Yes ma'am."
Helena made up her mind that she'd better run away that night. These people were way too damn kind. If she wasn't careful, next thing she knew, she'd be letting them in. The last thing she needed was to get all attached.