Chapter 4:

            Dinah reached inside the car and grabbed hold of Helena as if to make sure she was real. "I should have trusted my dreams," she said.

"Why don't you get in?" Barbara said and tapped a key on the high tech dashboard that made the door behind Helena's seat open. Dinah slipped inside from the cold and sat with teary eyes looking from Helena to Barbara and back again.

"I thought you were dead. I thought you died. I've cried so many tears over…" The last was said in a tone of reproach as if she expected Barbara and Helena to have planned their disappearances.

"We were told the same as you Dinah. My dad decided that we would be secure by separating. I think he also wanted to reduce the risk of us jumping into his war with the Joker," Helena explained.

Dinah blinked a few tears away, while Barbara put the car in drive and headed for Dinah's apartment. "So how long have you been following me around," Dinah asked.

"Well I got the news that you guys were alive three days ago and I immediately went to find Barbara then we headed here to find you yesterday night. We've been following you since this afternoon," Helena explained.

"I am glad you came," Dinah said and put a hand on Helena's shoulder in appreciation.

"Me too, K…" Helena stopped herself. "Well I guess I have to change that habit don't I. I can't very well call you Kid anymore. You're nineteen and living by yourself," Helena said.

"I don't mind," Dinah replied and gave them a sunny smile.

"What was that about your dreams?" She asked, while guiding the car through the slush of melting snow.

Dinah flipped her hair back behind her left ear. "Well, even after I got well I was plagued of vision of you guys like you were still around. They just came every once in a while. There was a lot about you both lying in Hospital, of Barbara sitting at some version of Delphi and of Helena fighting. In the end I just convinced myself, I was seeing your past," she explained.

"I am guessing from what we just watched that your visions are more regular now," Barbara commented.

"Yes and no, they don't just come when I am asleep anymore and they don't always show me things that make sense or are meant to," Dinah explained.

"Your power has grown," Barbara said as the car slowly rolled to a stop outside Dinah's apartment building. Dinah didn't reply she just looked out of the window seemingly lost in thought.

Dinah opened the door and got out. She, automatically in routine learned years before when Barbara had brought her to school everyday, went around to the back of the car and got the wheelchair out and set it up for her immobilized former guardian. "Thank you," Barbara said with a smile as she lifted herself into the wheelchair.

"No problem, but you'd better let me help you inside, the building is not wheelchair friendly," Dinah commented and walked over to the small flight of stairs leading up to the front door. Helena followed with a bemused look on her face. Dinah tugged a recalcitrant strand of hair behind her ear and looked around. Seemingly satisfied with what she had been looking for, she walked forward up the stairs. Barbara and her wheelchair blithely floated at her side, while Helena walked behind covering for the violation of the laws of gravity.

The door to Dinah's loft slid open and Barbara drove inside the large apartment. Dinah followed her in holding a lit match, it floated from her fingers and flew gently around the room lighting the numerous thick candles. Soon a flickering orange light filled the warm room. Helena walked over and sat next to the cello case. Barbara noticed the slightly messy, but filled office space Dinah had set up as well as the cello case. "How long have you played?" She asked.

"Well, I took lessons back when I lived with the Redmonds. When I was sent to high school in Seattle you know after what the Joker did. I didn't really know many people and I wasn't feeling much like making any friends. I had enough trouble with losing you and my powers were fluctuating a lot, so I kind of focused on school and keeping up my training. My handler at the time Jonathan demanded I did something outside of school and training, so I placated him by taking up the cello again. It turned out that I really liked playing this time around. It is almost meditative to let the music flow through you," Dinah explained.

"So they sent you to finish High School in Seattle," Helena commented.

"Yeah it was okay, but I did miss all my friends in New Gotham a lot and they really put me in a place where I couldn't easily bump into them. I was practically on the other side of the US," Dinah said with a grimace.

"That is all behind us now though. The Joker is dead, Harley is behind bars and his organization is gone. We can go back to being ourselves again," Helena said.

"I've missed being Barbara Gordon," she said and watched her two charges smile in agreement.

"I hope you guys don't mind, but I think I will give up on Boston College," Dinah said.

Barbara and Helena looked at her with alarm. "You can't just give up on your education Dinah. I have regretted so many times that I never finished College. Don't repeat my mistakes please," Helena said.

"Dinah, there is no way I am going to allow you to give this up," she said with conviction.

Dinah just sat with a tranquil expression and waited until they had finished talking. "And there is no way I am going to remain Carolyn Desmond for another day if I can be Dinah Lance instead. I've never felt right after leaving New Gotham. I need to go back to being Dinah Lance fulltime and Dinah Lance would be going to college in New Gotham, so she could be close to her family and help them if they needed it. Listen I am not proposing to go full time heroine, I am doing fine as a half time one here. I want to finish college. I just want my diploma to read Dinah and for you two to be there when I get it," she pleaded.

Helena looked at her and she could see in her eyes the same wish that filled her at that moment. "Alright, I guess we need to arrange a lot of moving and for some kind of mass resurrection," she said and it felt good.

Helena and Dinah were talking in the background about how life had treated them, but to her they were clearly keeping the conversation in the lighthearted realm of funny comments, accidents and general happenings. She knew that it would take a few weeks of intense work for her to get everything ready for a move back to New Gotham. The thought of being able to see her family again, of being able to talk to people who knew her, made her feel really happy for the first time in years. For the first time since that grey weather morning two years ago when her and Dinah had made their way to the high school not knowing that the Joker had captured Helena or that what he was planning for them.

The black Hummer held for a red light, inside Dinah Lance and Barbara Gordon were once again discussing the feasibility of Dinah going to a party on a Thursday. "I say you're keeping a double standard. You trust me enough to let me go out and fight people who are out to kill me or put me in the hospital, but you don't trust me enough to let me go to a party. I am just saying it doesn't make sense from my point of view," Dinah said.

She almost caught herself smiling knowingly, but hid it well behind her well trained mask of sternness practiced through hours of high school teaching. "Dinah I trust you, it is not about trust. It is all about you going out to a party with people we hardly know on a School day," she argued as she put the car in drive and they continued on in the heavy morning traffic.

However the spunky blonde immediately caught on and looked at her guardian with a wide smile on her lips. "So if the party wasn't on a school day, it wouldn't be a problem. Because you trust me," Dinah triumphed.

"And you have earned my trust. However that trust could go away after a single misstep… like coming home from a party drunk," Barbara answered and quirked an eyebrow. The Hummer slowly rolled into the parking lot area around the high school. Dinah leaned over and gave Barbara a kiss on her cheek.

Dinah smiled and grabbed her bag. "I will fetch the wheelchair," she said and walked around back to hoist the electrical wheelchair out of the car. It was a routine that Dinah had chosen herself, as Barbara's car was fully capable letting Barbara leave on a ramp by herself. Dinah settled the wheelchair out front and waited for Barbara to get out by herself, something she insisted on doing alone. "I will see you in class later," Dinah remarked and walked off with a wave.

"Yeah, later," Barbara said and looked around. She had the strange feeling of being observed. She couldn't see anything more suspicious than a couple of clouds of smoke coming from the bushes where some stupid kids went to ruin their lungs. She skillfully navigated the high tech wheelchair towards her classroom.

She had a class coming next period, but she hadn't really gotten a chance to properly prepare for the day, spending all of last night sending out urgent messages too all of her old friends and contacts about the likely return of the Joker to New Gotham. Barbara closed the door to the hall and rolled her wheelchair towards her desk, when she noticed that the blinds were half-closed leaving the room darkened. Behind her she heard the door lock snap closed. Quickly she made her wheelchair spin around while she reached for the telescoping batons she carried in her chair. She came face to face with her demon. "Ah, Babs, it has been too long," the Joker walked out of the heavy shadows of the door. She brought up her batons in a defensive posture, while she frantically tried to think of a safe way out of her classroom and came up empty.

"It was so nice of my dearest Harley to spring me from jail, don't you think," he commented and walked over to sit on one of her students' desks.

"We will stop you, things have changed, we…" But she fell silent when he lifted his hand revealing a small transportable TV.

"Why don't you have a look at my newest find," he asked and switched it on. The screen was covered in static for a while then cleared to show Helena strapped to a wall inside a cage.

"There are entirely too many stray kittens on the streets these days. As a concerned citizen I simply had to take one in. It's a nice specimen I can tell you, and very easy to catch too I just had to lay out a little bait at a warehouse and then sacrifice the blood of a dark horse to get it," he put down the TV, but left it running.

Barbara knew that her wheelchair wasn't fast enough to reach the door and unlock it in time. Still she carefully angled her wheelchair to point in its direction. The Joker took out a bag of candy. "Well Barbara I would love to stay here and chat with you, but I need to extend my zoo and there is still the chick of a certain Canary to catch now or maybe I should treat it to a duck shoot. Now that I have my very self-made paraplegic bat, I might not need a baby canary," he said with a wide smile and tossed a candy in his mouth. Green gas suddenly erupted from her desk and the ventilation grates. She commanded her wheelchair forward. She still felt the bump in the wheelchair as it slammed into the door, after that there was only darkness.

Outside the snow was gently sugarcoating the recently cleared paths as Barbara stared out into the night. A gentle and warm hand landed on her shoulder and Dinah stepped up to stand at her side. "You were thinking of what happened back then weren't you," she asked.

"It is just hard to let it go after thinking about little else for 2 years," Barbara explained.

Dinah sighed and stared out the window as well. "I know I had a hard time even accepting that it happened. I was really close to the edge for a while after my recovery. I think Jonathan spent a lot of time trying to make sure I didn't ruin my life," she admitted.

"I remember when your mother died you were so angry, I was afraid you would actually make me and Helena your enemies," Barbara said and looked up at the tall blonde.

She gave Barbara a self-deprecating smile, "I think most of my teenage issues are fading fast, so you shouldn't worry about more of that."

"Uh, that is worse, then all those really ugly adult issues are right around the corner," Barbara said with mock fear in her eyes and made moves like she was looking for an exit.

"You never really outgrow having friends and family around to take care of you," Helena surprised the both of them by saying. Dinah and Barbara turned around and gave the black haired beauty a brilliant smile. "So do you have anything edible in this hovel kid," Helena added.

She nodded and immediately made a few sandwiches in her kitchen corner. "It isn't Alfred's cooking, but it's the best I can do," she said and sat down the plate, which both Barbara and Helena immediately emptied. Dinah stepped back for a moment and looked at her friends eating and chatting. A warm good feeling filled her body as she turned around to make herself a sandwich. She was buttering the bread, when she remembered another place and another sandwich.

Dinah Lance walked into the cantina of her high school chatting with Gabby. She had brought her food from home, because Alfred had been so nice and made her sandwiches, which given the general quality of food in the cantina, were a no contest winners in her choice of lunch food.

"I am telling you, there were these three grown up guys just standing around and smoking on school grounds. They were weird looking too," Gabby explained as they sat down. "Wait here," she said and went over to buy her lunch. Dinah blithely unpacked the well wrapped sandwiches and was greeted by the pleasant smell of salmon, salad and dressing. She began eating, and was halfway through her first sandwich when Gabby finally dropped her tray on the table and handed Dinah a bottle of water.

"Thanks, that was really nice of you," Dinah replied between bites and put the bottle down in front of her.

"So as I was saying there were these three guys. And they were wearing like black suits and one of them had a make-up kit out. They looked really weird," Gabby explained. Dinah didn't have time to think about it.

"Hey, Dinah," a senior from one of her advanced placement classes walked up to them.

"Hi, what's up?" She asked.

"Is something wrong with Miss Gordon? We went to her class, but she had just left a note on the blackboard that she had been called away on an emergency," the girl continued speaking, but Dinah was already out of her seat, the sandwich on the way towards the ground and her hands frantically scrambling to activate her com.

"Oracle, this is Canary, please respond," she called out as she ducked and weaved through the crowds in the halls. She stopped at her locker and pulled out her reserve batons before barreling on heading for Barbara's classroom.

Dinah knew in her heart that Barbara was inside, but she still extended the telescoping weapons and opened the door using her telekinesis. A few kids in the hall stared at her in confusion. The Dinah they knew was a quiet type, who although increasingly self-confident had never made a spectacle of herself until now. She ignored their looks and headed inside. The room was empty as she expected. "Think damn it," Dinah told herself and looked around. After a few seconds she saw a small note scribbled on a notepad lying on Barbara's desk. She walked closer. It was a quick and simple drawing of a bird and a clock. "Either she's at the Clocktower or it's a trap either way I've got to go," she decided and rushed out to fetch the Hummer.

As she drove hazardously through the midday traffic Dinah cursed once again that their com links couldn't make calls between separate units without Barbara at the controls in the Clocktower. Still from time to time she tried her com, reasoning that it was better to try than not to. Finally she arrived at the Clocktower and rushed inside ignoring the feeling that she was being watched. Carefully she checked that no one was near the secret entrance than quickly made her way up. "Please be there," she muttered as the elevator glided up the shaft.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal the pristine and unfortunately quiet headquarters. Dinah walked around to the terminals of Delphi. A single application window was blinking red on one monitor otherwise the computer system seemed switched off. It read, "Hacker intrusion attempted… Firewalls breached… Secure uplinks severed," and finally it said, "All data and backups destroyed."

Dinah gasped, when she suddenly heard a voice call. "Yo baby canary," the voice clearly coming from a megaphone was coming from outside the face of the clock. Dinah knew in her guts it was a trap, still she walked over and faced the threat by opening the small door anyway. She had felt it since hearing that Barbara had left school without telling her and taking the car. At first she couldn't make out anything in the sunshine, and then her eyes fell upon two men standing on a neighboring high rise building. "Try to fly for me little bird," a man clad in a purple suit said in the megaphone, while the one besides him was aiming something that looked like a highly advanced rocket launcher at face of the clock. Dinah didn't waste any time. She turned around and ran for the elevator.

The Delphi terminals and the short hallway passed almost in a blur. She could see the closed elevator doors from a far. Powered by her fear her mind easily reached out and pried them open. Behind her there was a massive roar. She threw herself into the elevator. The doors slammed shut.

Suddenly everything shook and Dinah had a strange feeling of floating. The elevator was thundering down the shaft uncontrolled. With a massive screeching the fall abruptly stopped. Dinah flew up and smashed into the elevator floor and everything became a blur for a while. Dinah fought to get up but really couldn't.

Then she was aware of voices. "Ah, it would seem my little bird is really as clever as I was told, well little songbird I guess that means you'll be getting your own cage in my zoo after all," the Joker said and laughed harshly. Dinah struggled to rise, but everything seemed to spin. Suddenly something slammed into the back of her head and everything went black.

"So Kid, is there anyone, who is going to be pining for you, if you leave Boston," Helena's voice called Dinah back to reality. She stopped making her sandwich and turned to face the pair sitting in her couch.

"What like a boyfriend," she replied and felt a small sting of another bitter memory. "Well, there was one."

"Uh, tell me all the saucy details," Helena commanded with a mischievous smile.

Dinah tugged a strand of hair behind her ear. "He left me, because I quote unquote freaked him out," she said and looked Helena in the eyes without changing her happy look or tone of voice.

"What was his name," Helena asked in the tone of voice, Dinah would associate with a predator hoping to be told where her prey was.

"Daniel, but I am not angry with him. He couldn't handle having me as his girlfriend. It is his loss, not mine," she explained and waited.

"We have other important things to discuss as well," Barbara interjected. "If we are all serious about going back to New Gotham there is a lot we need to discuss and plan about how we're going to live, by what rules and a lot of other stuff," she reminded them.

Dinah felt a little ashamed, but she knew that she needed to ask. "Well I am a bit ashamed, because I had kind of decided not to mooch of anyone ever again, but if I am to join you guys in Gotham I have to borrow some money or something. I can't afford to move there and if I am to go back to being Dinah I will have to give up the money I get as part of my cover," she explained.

Helena looked at Dinah and smiled, "Kid you'll never want for anything in your life ever again."

"Huh," both Dinah and Barbara echoed.

"Well I don't know how my dad found out about it, but there is actually a rather substantial amount of money lying around waiting for Dinah Lance. Your mother worked for the government as a spy and did a lot of other stuff as well. She left all her money and the sum from her life insurance to you. My dad didn't want that money to disappear, because he had hidden you, so he had his lawyers run interference until now. Dinah there is right now a substantial sum awaiting you as soon as you return to life so to speak," Helena explained.

"I won't accept it. How would that help me in life if I just let my mother pay for my life," Dinah said.

"Dinah, it is not about buying you off. I thought that I didn't want my trust back in the old days, because they were my father's. But I was just being emotional not rational. If you need to then think of it like Nightwing thinks of his money, think of it as a means to an end, as a way for your fight against crime to continue unabated. Is that reason enough or do I need to keep talking," Helena asked.

Dinah looked at her, her enhanced sensibility easily picked up Helena's sincerity and absolute belief in her words.

"Besides what good is money, if you can't put it to any other use than to accumulate more and that is what will happen if you don't accept your inheritance," Helena said.

"I am still not sure it would feel right," Dinah looked to Barbara for advice.

"Don't look at me. We were using Helena's money back at the Clocktower too. There is nothing wrong with accepting money if there are no strings attached to them and if you at some point feel burdened by it, you can always give them to charity or use a little of it at a time to help some people," Barbara suggested.

Dinah nodded, "alright I will accept it." Helena smiled in victory and turned to talk to Barbara about practicalities like moving and what kind of organization they wanted to set up. Dinah finished making her sandwich and went over to give them her suggestions. After a while Barbara yawned. "I guess you'll be going back to your hotel now," Dinah said.

"Yeah, but first I want you to do me a favor," Barbara argued. Helena gave Barbara a curious look as did Dinah.

"I would really love to hear you play before we go. If we're to move back to New Gotham I need to leave for my home tomorrow and so will Helena. It'll be a couple of weeks before we can see each other in person again, so I'd really like to hear you play now," Barbara asked.

Dinah blushed, nodded and rose. She didn't notice the surprised looks on the faces of both Barbara and Helena as she without batting an eye telekinetically moved a chair out by the metal plate in the floor, and at the same time opened the cello case and floated her instrument over to the chair, while walking over to sit. She picked up the bow from the air and let the large instrument rest against her. Promising herself to give her adopted family a good show, she focused inwards and recalled the song she knew best these years. Soon the sad and beckoning sounds of her instrument flowed around her and she let herself get lost in the music. After nearly ten minutes she let the last note die away and opened her eyes. Helena and Barbara sat watching her with appreciation.

"Did you like it," Dinah asked with a shy look in her eyes.

Helena nodded mutely, while Barbara looked almost tearful. "I think you could make a career out of that," she said without any indication of mirth.

"Nah, I am too shy," she replied honestly.

"Shy? I've seen what you're willing to wear to impress a guy or maybe it was to scare villains I forget sometimes," Helena commented with a wicked smile. Dinah smiled, but didn't reply instead she also yawned.

"We'd better go though. I will keep in contact Dinah so we can arrange all the details," Barbara said and lifted herself back into her wheelchair.

"I will get you back down again," Dinah said and followed them down, levitating Barbara down the stairs.

"When you're back to being Dinah Lance again, a couple of my dad's lawyers will probably be contacting you, so don't mistake them for some kind of villains that you have to punch out okay," Helena said with a grin through the open car window, while Barbara started the car's engines.

"I promise I won't," Dinah replied and watched the car roll of into the dark night. She glanced at her watch and winced, it was long past midnight and she had an early class tomorrow. She decided to get a good night's sleep instead and quickly got back inside to get out of the cold night.

In the car as they drove off Barbara stared out of the windshield as she said, "I am not sure, why you lied to Dinah, so I would like you to explain."

"Lied about what?" Helena said with fake innocence.

"About her mother's so called inheritance. Carolyn never accumulated any kind of fortune nor did she have any life insurance and there is sure as hell no way even Bruce's lawyers were able to stall the handlers of Carolyn's estate until now. I checked rather thoroughly when Carolyn died. She left Dinah penniless," Barbara explained. "So whose money are we talking about?" She asked.

Helena looked out the window for a moment then answered, "I don't see why Dinah shouldn't be allowed the independence coming from being wealthy, when I am in a position to make her rich. I am going to arrange for her to receive ten percent of my trust fund. It is ridiculously huge anyway, so I might as well do some good and make sure Dinah can have a good time going through college and life in general."

"And you knew she would never have accepted money from either of us. I like it," Barbara agreed as they headed for their hotel.