Night turned into morning and morning turned into day by the time Helena had awoken from her painkiller-induced haze.
She shook the cloudiness from her mind and noticed Dinah sitting by her side, watching TV with the volume down.
"Hey," Dinah said as she noticed her friend waking up.
"How long have I been out?"
"A while."
It took a few minutes for Helena to fully wake up and when she did she got right down to it. "You go see those guys that I told you about?"
"Yeah," Dinah whispered. "Zen was the only one with info. He told me the guy's name is Henry Bloomington, but everyone knows him as Boom Boom because he used to be a boxer or something back in the day."
"That fat fuck was a boxer?" Helena laughed and then grimaced in pain.
"Doesn't seem possible does it?" Dinah agreed.
"So where is he?"
"I'm supposed to go see Zen tonight to get more info. He had a few people to check with and he told me he'd have more info for me tonight."
"You didn't tell Barbara about any of this right?"
"Not a word, but I noticed that she's got a hefty investigation going on herself. She was up all night last night. I'm kinda worried about her. She's really been on edge these past few days."
"What about the other guys that were there?"
"Zen said that Joey is Henry's right-hand-man, been employed with him for a few years now. No last name on him and not much info. It's like he came out of nowhere."
"And the players?"
"Well, unfortunately I don't have any names but the police have the two men in custody. When they ran from the scene they ended up in an alley and beat the shit out each other."
"What about the third guy?"
"He's dead. I saw one of the guys kill him when we were down in the sewer."
"Great, so the police are going to be hot on Henry's heels too."
"Look at it this way, at least he'll be off the streets."
Helena shook her head. "I want him, Dinah. I want to make him feel the pain that I felt. I want him to beg me to spare his life."
Dinah felt a chill run up her spine. "I understand your anger but..."
"But nothing. You're starting to sound like Barbara!"
"And that's a bad thing?" Barbara said as she entered the room.
The two girls looked towards their mentor, surprised at her sudden appearance.
"You two arguing about something?"
Dinah looked at Helena and then back at Barbara. "No...I...I was just telling Helena that she shouldn't be getting out of bed just yet. She's a little stubborn if you haven't noticed." Dinah looked at Helena and smiled sarcastically. "I have some homework to do before I go out. I'll see you later."
Barbara wheeled over to Helena. "You okay?"
"If you've come in here to pump me full of more drugs you can forget it."
Barbara held up her empty hands. "I come in peace," Barbara joked. "Seriously, are you feeling any better?"
"A little."
Barbara began checking on Helena's wounds, surprised that Helena wasn't protesting.
"I'm sorry I had to do that to you, but..."
"It's okay. I deserved it. I guess I'm just a little frustrated with being cooped up."
Barbara continued checking Helena's wounds. "You're healing well, even despite yesterday's tumble."
"Ow! Easy!"
"Sorry."
"So do we have any leads on our game man?" Helena thought she'd do a little fishing to see what info Barbara would be willing to give up to her.
"Mmm, not much. Still working on it. You shouldn't be worrying about that, let Dinah and I take care of it."
"I just feel so helpless lying here! I want to be involved somehow."
"Your focus needs to be on healing, nevermind anything else."
"This sucks."
Barbara felt her emotions begin to leak out. "No, what SUCKS is finding your friend bleeding to death with five bullet wounds in her body. Or what's worse is that you thought everything was okay because you'd just talked to her, but then you find out everything's NOT okay and that if you had only known you could have helped and she wouldn't be lying here right now hurt and in pain." Helena was blown away by Barbara's response and remained silent. "I sat by your side through your fevered dreams and watched helplessly as your body fought off the infection. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether you'd be able to, you were hurt that badly. So don't talk to me about feeling helpless, Helena."
Barbara wheeled away to wipe her tears and get more gauze.
"Barbara, I'm sorry."
Composing herself, Barbara turned back around, clearing her throat. "Please, just let Dinah and I take care of this."
"Okay," Helena said softly. She honestly had no intention of staying out of it, but it's what Barbara needed and wanted to hear.
***
Later that night, Dinah was out on sweeps and had gotten more information from Zen. Henry was supposed to be meeting Joey at a bar on 8th to discuss their next venture.
Wasting no time, she headed over to the bar and waited outside to see if they'd show up. She pulled her hood over her head and close to her face so they wouldn't recognize her.
After about an hour, the two men pulled up in a limo and went into the bar.
Dinah felt like she had to tell Helena what was going on, but she really didn't want to see Helena coming out here in her condition and injuring herself further, so she tailed them alone.
The men sat in a booth at the back of the bar and she got as close to them as possible.
Henry looked over in her direction and she quickly turned away.
Slowly glancing back over, she saw that he was no longer looking at her but the two men were getting up to leave.
She went back outside and duck into a nearby alley to watch for them.
A few minutes passed and she didn't see them. Confused, she walked further out to see if she'd missed them, but she was suddenly struck from behind with a 2x4.
Dazed from the blow, she struggled to remain upright.
"Foolish little girl," Henry spat as he watched Joey lash out towards the blonde, striking her in the face and sending her to the ground.
"What do you want me to do with her, boss?"
"Kick the shit out of her. I think it'll be entertaining to watch."
"I wouldn't if I were you!" a female voice said from a few feet away.
Henry looked up and found a Birdarang flying towards his head. The flying disc smacked him right in the side of the head, sending him crashing to the ground.
"You bitch!" he gasped as he put his fingers to the bleeding wound.
Joey glared at Barbara as she took out another Batarang and let that one fly in his direction.
He snatched it out of the air and clenched it in his hand, ignoring the blood dripping from his palm as the sharp edges dug into his skin. In one quick movement, he hurled the disc back at Barbara.
The only way to avoid being hit was for her to lunge out of her chair. She landed on the ground with a thud and looked up as Joey headed her way.
He reached down and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her up. "What's the matter? Can't run away." He began laughing as he slammed her down to the concrete and gave her a swift kick to the ribs.
"Stop!" Dinah yelled as she turned her powers towards Joey.
Joey turned around, unaffected by her telepathy.
Dinah tried harder but it was no use.
Joey tapped the side of his head. "You're not getting in here ever again, little freak." He stuck out his tongue and showed her a flat piece of metal. "That's keeping you out of my head." He reached down and grabbed Dinah by the front of her jacket, hauling her to her feet before shoving her roughly against the wall. He pinned her there for a moment, watching her squirm, before lifting her and throwing her down onto the ground like he'd done to Barbara.
Barbara was still lying on the ground, unable to move. She'd felt a rib crack under the pressure of being hurled to the ground so she limited her movements.
Henry got up and smiled at the two women lying on the ground in obvious pain. "You two must be good friends with my latest prey. Tell me, did she survive? Huh?"
"Go to hell," Barbara said through gritted teeth.
"Did she tell you how they hunted her down like a dog and shot her like some wild animal? Huh? Did she tell you how much it hurt, the poor baby."
Henry didn't get another word out before he was knocked off his feet by a dark figure. They picked Henry up and flung him into the wall of the alley, kicking him over and over as he slumped to the ground.
Joey tried attacking the person from behind, but he regretted the attack as he soon found himself on the ground in a choke-hold. Joey gasped for breath and clawed at the dark figure's arm in an attempt at freeing himself. After a few moments, his clawing stopped as Joey took his final breath.
Henry jumped on the back of the dark figure and wrestled them to the ground. The two struggled for a few moments and then stopped as both of them became motionless.
The dark figure rolled Henry off of their body and moved away as Henry laid on the ground with a knife protruding from his heart.
The mystery fighter scooped Barbara up and placed her back in her wheelchair before running off into the night.
Dinah managed to get to her feet, fighting the dizziness that overwhelmed her mind, and got Barbara to the van that was parked further down the street.
***
When the two returned to the Clocktower, Dinah summoned Alfred's help in tending to Barbara's wounds.
"You need to have a thorough scan yourself, Miss Dinah."
"A little later, I need to check on Helena."
Dinah went upstairs to the loft's spare room and found it empty. Leaning heavily on the doorway, she shook her head. "I knew it. She never listens."
Dinah stormed downstairs back to the med lab. "Alfred, where's Helena?"
"Helena? Helena's gone?" Barbara asked through her pain.
"She was there earlier," Alfred insisted.
"Well she's not there now." Dinah went back to the loft and found Helena climbing back into bed.
Folding her arms over her chest, she walked over to Helena. "Where the hell were you?" Dinah asked.
"Whoa, I should ask you the same thing. You're bleeding." Helena reached out towards Dinah's face only to have Dinah slap her hand away.
"Why do you do this all the time! Why can't you just let me and Barbara handle things for once?!?"
Helena eased herself down onto the bed. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Where were you about twenty minutes ago?"
"Here."
"Give me a break. You're like a window, I can see right through you. Where were you, really?"
Helena took a breath and let it out. "Okay. Okay. I was downstairs on Barbara's computer."
Dinah hadn't expected that response. "What?"
"I was poking around to see what information I could find."
"Wait, so you weren't out following us?"
Helena chuckled as much as her wounds would let her. "Are you kidding? It took forever just to get downstairs without being seen."
Dinah put her hand to her head. "I'm...I'm sorry, Helena. I..."
"So what happened? You found him didn't you?"
"Yes. I followed them and Barbara showed up. We both got our asses handed to us. Alfred's down in the med lab with her."
"Is she okay?"
"She's got a cracked rib and maybe a broken arm. We tried to fight them off, but that Joey is friggin' huge."
"Tell me about it."
"Someone dressed in black came out of nowhere and took them both out. I couldn't see who it was, it was too dark. I...I assumed it was you."
"Well, I hate to disappoint you but it wasn't me."
Dinah looked at Helena's hands for cuts just to make sure, but she didn't find any.
"I better go back and check on Barbara. You stay put."
"Yes, mother. And, Dinah...don't tell her I was playing with her computer. She'll kill me."
"Your secret is safe with me."
***
Later that night, Barbara laid in bed as she rested.
Alfred entered with a cup of hot tea. "Here's your tea, as you requested."
"Thanks, Alfred."
"You also have a phone call that you should take." Alfred handed her a small cell phone.
Confused, Barbara took the phone. "Hello?"
"Barbara?"
"Bruce?"
"I just wanted to see that you were safe."
"Oh my God, that was you?"
"Is Helena okay?"
"She's fine. But...you killed those men. You...we don't kill."
"Those men tried to kill my little girl. I'm tired of letting those lowlifes get away with things like that. I've made that mistake already."
"But..."
"Give Helena my love."
The line clicked as Bruce hung up.
Barbara placed the phone on the small table beside the bed and drifted off into the numerous thoughts that roamed around in her head.
~ FIN
