Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to the WB and DC Comics.

Author's note: I wrote this story some time ago, but never posted it. It's set before Reece finds out Helena's identity.

"Oracle, you there?"

"No, just me," came the voice in Helena's ear. "It's Oracle Jr."

"Dinah? Where's Oracle?"

"She went to some teacher get-together. I think they were going out to dinner for someone's birthday. She said she'd be done by ten, but that she needed to pick up some things from the grocery store."

"I hope she picks up some more peanut butter. I can't live without that stuff. Anyways, I'm working until eleven and then I'll go on sweeps. I'll talk to you later."

********

Barbara looked at her watch as she waited for the man ahead of her to pay for his frozen dinners and six-pack of cola. It was quarter to eleven and she was tired. She hadn't been home since leaving for work at seven o'clock this morning. All she wanted to do was climb in to bed and sleep. The man ahead of her was now searching his pockets for some change so that he would not have to break his dollar bill. He pulled out handfuls of candy wrappers, and used tissue. Finally, he found two pennies at the bottom of his pockets, paid for his stuff and left. Barbara watched as the cashier scanned three jars of peanut butter, a box of tea bags, and a bag of pasta. It amazed her how quickly Helena could go through the jars of peanut butter that she bought. It was the second time this week that Barbara had to buy some. The cashier packed her groceries into one bag and handed her the bag as Barbara paid for her purchases. She placed the bag on her lap and headed out to the parking lot. To add to her already tiring day, her motorized wheelchair had a short-circuit and there had not been time to fix it this morning, so she was in the manual chair, propelling herself over the uneven pavement outside the grocery store.

She made her way left out of the store toward the parking lot. Buildings surrounded the parking lot on all sides except for the driveway to the street. None of the buildings had any windows that faced the parking lot. The lot had been full half an hour ago because of a meeting in one of the other buildings, but now it was deserted except for a few cars. She had been forced to park in the corner of the lot furthest from the grocery store. It was a little creepy in the large, empty parking lot, and the light in the corner where she had parked was of course not working.

She made her way toward the car. She was a couple of metres away from the car when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. Hers was the only car in this part of the parking lot. Discretely, she reached under the armrest of the chair with her right hand and pulled out the collapsed escrima stick. She quickly brought the chair to a stop and spun around.

A large man was coming at her. She brought the escrima stick up and swung down hard and fast, expanding the collapsed baton, and connected with the outside of the man's left thigh. He cried out in pain and dropped to the ground holding his leg. Barbara activated the mike in her necklace with her left hand.

"Dinah, are you there?" Barbara spoke as she kept an eye on her attacker.

Dinah hurriedly left the television and went to the centre of the tower. She activated the mike near the main computer.

"What's up, Oracle? Good thing it isn't a school night, because you're out past curfew, missy."

Before Barbara could answer, the man yelled, "I'll get you for that, b****!"

He started to get up, favouring his right leg. Barbara brought the escrima stick down towards his leg again, but he was ready and caught her wrist with his left hand. He was strong. She tried to break his grip, but she could not get any leverage. With his right hand, he grabbed her throat. His burly hand pushed the chocker with the mike into her neck. Barbara was finding it hard to breath. She needed to do something now before she passed out. Quickly, she brought her left hand up in a fist and connected with his jaw. It was a solid hit and his grip loosened so that she could breath with more ease. Unfortunately, he still held her by her arm and throat. He was totally enraged now.

"Why are you fighting me?" he asked in an angry voice. "It isn't like any other man is going to give it to you."

He lifted her by her arm and neck out of the chair and threw her toward the two-meter gap between her car and the wall of one of the building. The chocker caught on his fingers and was ripped from her neck. Time seemed to slow down, as she fell through the air. She saw her grocery bag fall to the ground and heard the jars of peanut butter crack as they hit the hard asphalt. Time sped back up as she came crashing to the ground. The last thing she was aware of was the thud the back of her head made as it connected with the ground.