Helena Kyle awoke as the sunlight pierced the window blinds and slid across her face. She looked around and remembered where she was. They had spent the evening and night talking about the past, reconciling the lingering memories of their last days together. Helena remembered how she had told Barbara of her capture after they had shared half a bottle of wine. For her part Barbara had told of her viewpoint of that evening. Helena let the dark memories slide out of her mind and for a moment just focused on awaking. Outside a few birds were chirping even in the biting cold and somewhere in the house there was the sound of someone working on something. Helena walked over to the bathroom.
The bright light of the morning didn't shine in through the panorama windows of Barbara's living room, but it was still a bright place to Helena as she walked through it towards Barbara, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. "I always thought you looked out of place in the kitchen," she remarked as she stopped at the counter, where a small stack of pancakes was growing one at a time.
"The rumors of my inability to use a stove or oven are greatly overstated… Well they are these days, I have taken a couple of cooking classes," Barbara explained.
Helena smiled mischievously. "Really why then are you a regular customer at that restaurant I found you in," she remarked.
Barbara looked up at her from her seat at the low stove and gave her a sad smile. "Loneliness, I really haven't been making a lot of friends out here," she said.
Helena didn't say anything to that. For a while she just stood at the counter watching her former guardian work. Her stomach growled. "If you're hungry you can set the table," Barbara suggested and pointed at the small two person table out in the kitchen.
They were finishing breakfast half an hour later, when Helena suddenly asked, "If you don't spend much time in town, have many friends or fight crime, what do you do these days?"
"Heh, well I guess I'd better show it to you," Barbara rolled her wheelchair away from the table and headed for the bedrooms again. "Follow me," she said and Helena did. Barbara stopped at the end wall where she slid a panel away to reveal a biometric scanner that she pressed her hand against. Just besides the panel a secret door slid open to reveal a small elevator. Quickly they descended to the basement.
Helena's jaw almost dropped as she stepped into what looked like a cross between the earlier Delphi system at the Clocktower and an advanced electronics lab. "I thought you didn't do Oracle stuff anymore," she muttered.
"I don't really, but I am a bit too much of a girl scout not to be prepared. I have researched, hacked, constructed and invented a lot of stuff since our time at the Clocktower. I guess it was my way of trying to make sure nothing like that ever happened again. The only thing that frustrated me was that I couldn't directly help in the capture of the Joker, but your father was adamant to the point of threatening to have me put into protective custody that I didn't help. And I guess I am thankful in a way. It allowed me time to heal both physically and mentally. I have had time to reflect upon my life," Barbara explained as she rolled up to several big plasma screens mounted in a half circle. "But that doesn't mean I've been completely idle in the fight against crime. I've done my part in a small way. I've built a network of supported informants all over the world. I've gotten my bugs and programs into top secret criminal and government organizations all over the world. And I've established my own private fortune," she said.
"Your own fortune," Helena said in astonishment.
"Yeah, well I didn't have enough money to finance all the things I needed so I patented a whole lot of my inventions and licensed off the rights through my lawyers. I've got a rather healthy enterprise going there," Barbara admitted sheepishly.
"How healthy an enterprise are we talking about?" Helena sat down on the table next to the screens.
"Let's just say that if I never received another dime from the trust you father set up I would still be able to maintain my lifestyle and keep my network alive," Barbara said.
"Nice," Helena whistled.
"And you are I guessing finally using your trust fund too," Barbara said.
"I am," Helena answered. "I am also bringing back the Huntress and if the Oracle still exists the Huntress wouldn't mind having her as her partner," she suggested.
Barbara smiled, "As long as you need me Helena, I will be there."
"I knew you would be," Helena smiled widely as well.
"Helena I was thinking about contacting Dinah, but I am not sure I want to bring her back into this life," Barbara explained.
Helena nodded, "I've been thinking the same, but my heart also tells me that if she ever found out that we were alive and we knew she was too without contacting her, she would never forgive us."
"We are the closest thing to a family she has. It would be wrong not to at least find out if she is alright," Barbara agreed. "Do you know where she is?"
"Nope, and I only have what I think is her new name as a clue," Helena answered, "It is Carolyn Desmond."
"Delphi, I need to search for a person," Barbara said out loud.
"What is the person's name?" A computerized voice asked. Helena looked questioningly at Barbara.
"Carolyn Desmond, female, around 19 and limit the search to North America," Barbara said.
"Searching now," the computer voice replied.
"I've made some significant upgrades to the Delphi system including adding a simulated intelligence which will prevent people from using it for unethical purposes amongst other things," Barbara explained and added when Helena's look grew slightly worried, "and it is not sentient Helena so it won't turn into bad sci-fi book AI out to eliminate mankind."
"10 possible matches," Delphi's soft voice said. Barbara called up the extensive results and began looking through them. "This might take an hour or so," she remarked. Helena nodded and went over to fetch a chair that stood at a table full of unassembled electronic components. She sat down at the terminal with Barbara and waited with a patience that astounded her partner in crime-fighting.
"Sometimes your father is so clever he is positively nauseating," Barbara remarked as she closed a window on her desktop and spoke for the first time in two hours.
"What do you mean?" Helena leaned forward awakening from her catnap.
"Well it seems that he somehow managed to slip Dinah into something like the witness protection program. All these people have complete lives, social security numbers, school records and the like, so I had to look at their previous lives and only one stood out. There is a Carolyn Desmond, who goes to College in Boston. She has no family left due to an accident, however that her family's bodies seem to never have been examined by a coroner. I can't be one hundred percent sure, but I think this is where Dinah is," she said and indicated an address on the computer screen.
"Great… Now what do we do?" Helena asked.
"We arrange for transport of a special car to Boston, while you and I fly there," Barbara suggested.
Helena rose, while asking, "What special car?"
"A model like the one I have here just built for surveillance. I've had a couple made and one is in storage with a friend in New York, so it should be possible for me to get it moved to an airport in Boston with a single telephone call," Barbara explained and picked up a small wireless headset. "Delphi, call Faith in New York please," she said and a program sprang up on screen showing how the call was routed around base stations and satellites hiding the source.
"Then I will handle the air transport," Helena remarked and walked to the elevator as her cell didn't work in Barbara's shielded basement.
It was late in the evening as Barbara and Helena got aboard the private jet of Wayne Aerospace and flew for Boston.
As they came out onto the long term parking lot, Barbara steered them towards a green car, which looked like a cross between a SUV and a sedan. Helena had to help by stowing the wheelchair in the back, after Barbara slid herself into the driver seat. Helena seated herself and looked over at her. "So what is so special about this car?" She asked.
"Well it has an uplink to Delphi, surveillance equipment. It can change colors and plates. Also all windows can show a holographic image that would make the interior seem like that of an empty regular car even for someone standing next to us," Barbara explained.
Helena whistled appreciatively, "I would have loved to have this around these last two years."
"I would have loved to have been there," Barbara immediately replied as she drove the car out of the parking lot using the joystick like controls. They headed out onto the massive roads leading them through Boston and their hotel.
Next morning the car, now red because Helena liked it better that way, stood parked next to the curb outside the massive campus area. "Now all we have to do is find Dinah amongst a few students," Helena told her sarcastically.
"Have you gotten too early out of bed this morning," Barbara asked.
Helena looked at her and remarked, "I've gotten too early out of bed for over a month."
"And there is a reason we're standing here. The university administration building over there has a wireless local network, encrypted of course, but that hasn't stopped me from getting into their systems," Barbara commented and indicated the screen of the laptop that sat in her lap. Somehow Barbara had gotten onto the desktop of someone in there and was busying herself with searching for the personal information and class schedule of Carolyn Desmond.
"Here we are," Barbara triumphed as a schedule as well as a file full of information was loaded over onto the laptop. Barbara quickly ended her hack and leaned back to absorb the information in the files, while Helena again turned back to look at the students making their way in the snow that seemed to have followed them to Boston.
"So has she become the brainwashed slave of some sorority yet," Helena asked as a group of laughing young women passed the car.
"According to this, she lives alone in a loft off campus. She is paying her tuition herself and it seems she has been hiding some talents when she was still living with us," Barbara said.
"What kind of talents?" Helena asked.
"It would seem that Dinah is a musician as well as a genius student," Barbara explained.
"Now the kid was always pretty good at learning stuff, but I never noticed that we had another genius in our team," Helena commented.
"Helena, Dinah's mind was constantly developing during the time she was with us. There is no telling how much her ability, skills and powers in general have grown in the time that has passed," Barbara said.
"So where should she be now," Helena asked.
"Well she is in psychology right now, if she is here," Barbara answered.
"That is if it really is Dinah," Helena commented grumpily and adjusted her position to keep her butt from becoming more sore.
Barbara didn't answer instead she handed Helena the laptop and pointed at the top of the file where a digital image showed a smiling long haired Dinah looking almost exactly like they remembered her. "Well then what are we waiting for?" Helena asked. Barbara nodded and together they drove off.
They were waiting outside the building where Dinah was supposed to be to studying mathematics another one of her courses and the last one of her day. A few minutes passed after the class was supposed to end before the doors opened and a group of largely male students left the building and hurrying off in the cold weather. "I've activated the holograms," Barbara said and Helena nodded. They had decided on the plane that they would approach Dinah carefully and observe before they decided if they really wanted to involve her in their dangerous careers again.
"There she is," Helena said and she couldn't keep her happiness and anxiety out of her voice.
Dinah Lance stood out amongst the boys she was walking out of the faculty with. She was taller than them, her long blonde hair held in an elegant braid that gathered all her hair and tumbled down her left shoulder, her clothes a mix between style and practicality. She was smiling and talking with the boys. "She has grown," Barbara remarked and switched on the automatically tracking parabolic microphones.
"You're telling me. I bet, she is 6 feet tall," Helena agreed.
Then suddenly a set of voices one, which was familiar, came out of the speakers.
"So Lyn, are you going to tell us how you solved that inverse transformation problem," one of the two boys asked Dinah.
Dinah smiled and nodded, "Sure but can't it wait until I get home, I will mail you a suggestion after I am done practicing."
"Okay, but don't forget. The last time you completely spaced it," the boy replied.
"I won't forget," Dinah promised as the group reached the curb. The boys waved and walked down the road, while Dinah looked around and crossed the street. As she passed near the car, Dinah stopped and looked around in confusion as if she had heard something then shook her head and resumed her path. Dinah took a bike path leading out of campus.
"We might want to change the plates and color again," Barbara suggested.
"This car is cool, but I keep expecting some guy with an English accent coming around to tell us to give his car back," Helena commented as they drove off. By the time they reached the end of the street the car was blue and the number plates different.
The car held a few houses down from the three story building, where Dinah had her loft. "I am getting stir crazy from sitting here doing nothing. I am going to get a bit of air in my face," Helena said and left the car.
"Helena, use this, if there is anything," Barbara said and handed her a small watch. "Press the knob to talk to me," she said.
"I know the drill," Helena commented with a grin and ran into an alley. A few powerful leaps later she was up on the snow covered roofs of the city. Helena quickly headed for Dinah's apartment. Flickering candle light illuminated the girl's windows as Helena made a soundless landing on one of balconies of the loft. Carefully she edged closer and looked inside. The apartment was huge for a student, yet there was only one door aside from the entrance, Helena guessed that led to the bathroom. The rest was an open landscape, ranging from kitchen, living room and bed room to office. In the middle there was a large open area covered in rugs. The room was only illuminated by candlelight and a computer screen. Dinah was seated in a chair, a cello resting against her. Helena could see that she was focused on playing the instrument. Then she marveled at the intense sadness of the song and instrument as well as at the perfection of Dinah's performance.
Suddenly Dinah stopped playing and put away the big instrument. She walked to her closet and changed some of her clothes. The girl put on a coat and went for the door. Helena quickly made her way back to the car.
"Dinah is going out," Helena explained. "Should we follow her?"
"We should decide what to do now," Barbara said as Helena got in.
"We can do it, while we follow her," Helena demanded.
"Alright," Barbara agreed and watched Dinah come out of the house. She headed away from campus. Barbara waited a few moments then slowly began to follow Dinah in the car.
They followed Dinah carefully for about half an hour, then she walked into a large abandoned factory the ground floor had only the main supports left and so they could see Dinah stop in the snow free and empty factory floor. She stood there staring to the south for a while as if waiting for something. Then a small group of people appeared from the south, two of them were toting shotguns and none looked very happy.
"What the hell is going on?" Helena asked and began unclipping her seat belt.
"Wait," Barbara said and placed a calming hand on Helena's thigh, while directing the parabolic mike towards the factory floor, where Dinah stood. The group walked up.
"Please wait," Dinah's voice came from the speaker, it didn't even waver. The group stopped and seemed to size her up for a moment.
"Who are you girl?" One of the smaller men asked.
"I am not anyone important. What is important is that you shouldn't go any further… Nelson," Dinah said in a calm voice. "Your rivals are expecting you. This entire war is a setup from a supplier you have in common. Mr. Singer wants you to fight, so he can sell you guns and weaken you, so his people can take over direct control of the arms sale in your hood. I just thought you needed to be told, before anyone died," she explained.
The group stared at her for a few moments. "I've heard stories about you girl. They say that your predictions are never wrong and I can see no fear or lies in your eyes. I think, we are out of here, and I hope you won't give Mr. Singer any heads up before the freight train hits him," the leader commented.
Dinah didn't reply, she just smiled and waited. Slowly the gangers turned around and headed back where they came from. Dinah breathed a sigh of relief and turned to stomp off in the wet snow. Helena and Barbara sat almost breathlessly in the car and watched her head towards her home. "Did Dinah just avert a gang war?" Helena asked.
"Apparently," Barbara answered in a far away tone.
"I guess she is going on in her own way," Helena said.
"Yeah, maybe we underestimated her dedication to helping the innocent," Barbara commented.
"So we're going to see her," Helena asked.
"Yeah," Barbara answered, when suddenly someone thumped Helena's window. Slowly their eyes turned and a pale and confused looking Dinah was standing outside examining the window as if she doubted her sanity. Barbara reached down and pressed a button, while Helena activated the electrical window openers.
"It can't be," a crying Dinah said as she could suddenly see what she had only vaguely sensed.
"Hi Dinah long time no see," Helena said as if they had just come home from a short trip.
