A few hours later Diana was closing her suitcase after unpacking her clothes lost in her thoughts. Between heroes, it was hard not knowing each other. She knew Oracle from many years ago, she had helped her many times with her cybernetic abilities. Batman had told her she was the best cybernetic hacker in the world, and he was right; Oracle was a cyber- genius.

Now she needed her help again. Circe was a dangerous enemy. She really worried her, she was not a typical enemy. Diana stood up next to the window and looked at the city. She would transform New Gotham into chaos, mixing her potion and transforming people into beasts. The day that her mother died, Circe had taunted her to kill her, but she had refused to give in to hate. She had offered the hand of compassion and mercy but Circe refused it. Circe's young daughter, Lyta, stopped the final battle. Remembering that day was painful for her. It was not easy live without her mother. She knew she was now with their Gods but, anyway, it wasn't easy.

"Diana?" Barbara knocked on the door that was half opened. It pulled Diana from her thoughts.

"Barbara, come in." she said, smiling "I just finished unpacking."

"I hope you feel comfortable, is not a big place but..."

"This place is really nice." She looked around "I love it."

"I know that it's late but I need to talk with you."

"Come in..."

Barbara closed the door and wheeled toward her. Diana took her suitcase and put it inside the closet.

"Thanks for saving Helena." Barbara said.

"You don't need to thank me. We were working, it's our job." Diana sat at the bed. "But..."

"But?"

"I think Helena feels that I'm invading her space. I was thinking about talking with her."

"About her I wanted talk to you." Barbara sat in front of her and played with her fingers as she always did when she felt nervous. She didn't know how to start. The amazon noticed her hesitance.

"What happened Barbara?"

"We talked about Dinah but... we haven't talked about Helena, you must know about her. I was waiting for a quiet moment like this one."

"You told me she is half meta, that she has incredible abilities to fight, senses like a cat."

"Yes, I told you general things about her life but... I think it's important that you know. Maybe you can understand better why she is like she is. Her life hadn't been easy... She is Selina's Kyle daughter."

"Catwoman?" Diana blinked.

"Yes."

"I read about her murder and about her having a daughter."

"That's Helena."

"How are you her mentor? I don't understand."

"Selina sometimes fought helping Batman or me, you know that. Strange but she had a great sense of moralality. It created a strange empathy between us."

"I fought against her once... it was so many years ago." Diana remembered.

"One day she disappeared. Many years later I found her shopping in a supermarket; when I saw her, she surprised me; I thought she was going to start her criminal career again and I warned her, but she laughed and told me she was retired and invited me to dinner. I went to her home without knowing what to expect. She surprised me again when I saw Helena, she was five years old. I couldn't believe it. She had retired for her daughter; she wanted to give her a normal life; not drag her inside her turbulent life as a criminal. Selina told me than when she knew was pregnant, she moved to Paris looking for tranquility."

"Oh... I didn't know..."

"I couldn't believe in the beginning that she would really retire, but..." Barbara smiled remembering, it was if that night had been yesterday. "I saw her interacting with Helena, it was lovely; she was a smart and charming child. Her eyes shone every time she looked at her mother; she admired her... Helena was warm, she had a lot of love to give; she was the princess of a castle and her mother was the queen. Her life was perfect-- she laughed all day and was friendly. She was a hurricane, well, she still is." The red head looked at her friend "But after the murder, her world collapsed."

"That must have been terrible..."

"Worse than that. One day she was sleeping under a ceiling and next one she was an orphan without a place to go. She was no longer a princess. I knew many weeks after my shooting that Selina had given me custody. Trying to find her was easy. Hard was trying to make her trust me and to avoid that anger that consumed her soul. She still has a lot of frustration inside her. Well... you saw her, she is not friendly, she's... grumpy."

"I understand..."

"Inside she thinks it's all unfair. She is not mad at you, she just... doesn't like people, I never could get her to open her heart again; she is still hurting, her mother's murder is a wound still bleeding inside her; she didn't want to accept it. She hides her pain behind a shield of coldness and fury. Convincing her to accept Dinah took me so many months."

"Big discussions?" Diana imagined the picture.

"Yes," Barbara gave a loud sigh "and the worst was convincing her that she needed a partner; it was really difficult. But Dinah is smart, she has helped Helena to open herself up a bit more. She's like her little sister. Dinah deals perfectly with her bad mood and character. Now she knows how to manage her."

"Why did you train Helena as a hero?" Diana crossed her arms. The story was fascinating. "You told me Selina wanted a normal life for her."

"Helena is special. She has abilities; she had developed some of them when Selina was killed, she could see perfectly at night, jump high distances, she moves with grace and has incredible speed. But... I noticed she was starting to hate, hate the man that had stolen her life. Hate against life... and against her father... and that hate was destroying her. I needed to stop it."

"Her father?"

Barbara took a deep breath, this was the hardest part of her talk, but Diana needed to know. "Helena is the daughter of Bruce and Selina..."

The princess of Themyscira froze, that was an unexpected confession. "Bruce?"

"Yes, Bruce Wayne... Batman..."

Diana blinked and looked at Barbara, stunned. "That is..."

"I was waiting for the best moment to tell you this. It would help you to understand her and her attitude more. Just few people know that. Alfred, Dick, Dinah, I... and now... you. I'll ask you keep the secret."

"Barbara, be sure of that... but... him? Why didn't he take care of her?"

"Selina never told him that she was pregnant; she asked me to keep the secret. That day, the day that Helena lost her and that Joker shot me wasn't easy for anyone. I have been fighting against my demons since that night and helping Helena to face her own." Barbara could feet tears forming in her eyes, talking about his attitude still hurt her. "Batman just... just ran away, he didn't understand that he was not the only one that needed fight to against his demons. He just left us, I never could tell him who she was. I never had the opportunity. I confessed the truth to Helena almost a year after her mother was murdered. She needed to know that she wasn't an orphan... but, she always felt like one because he never came back." Barbara paused still looking at her fingers.

"She didn't understand him... I still don't understand him... her frustration and sadness turned into rage and fury. She says that she doesn't want to know him, that she doesn't need him, but I'm sure it's her shield against the pain. She has so much anger inside her. I chose to train her, to teach her to deal with her demons and to survive herself."

"And he knows now that she is her daughter?"

"I don't know, I hope he doesn't know... because if he knows... he is a coward... but inside, I'm sure he knows that Helena is his daughter." Barbara wiped a tear from her check with the back of her hand. "Funny, he could defeat the greatest criminals in Gotham City, but he isn't capable of facing a 23 year old girl, his own daughter. Maybe he is afraid, she is Selina's daughter, his daughter. It means he'd have a part of his biggest love alive. Maybe to see her would be like seeing Selina again."

"The dark knight always was mysterious." Diana kneeled in front of Barbara taking her hands. "You know him."

"I knew him..." Barbara locked her eyes on Diana. "But he forgot he is first a man, then a father, and at last, a hero. He is losing the opportunity to see his daughter grow. The time will never come back. Maybe the day will come that he wants to recover her, but it will be too late... Diana, I needed him, many times I felt desperate, I felt so afraid... so alone... so desperate watching Helena sink in her pain; she needed him too.... But he never appeared."

Diana didn't have an answer, she just lowered her head.

"She doesn't like to talk about him... I tried a thousand times but she closed all her doors. And I don't justify her attitude, but I understand her. Be patient with her, she is an excellent crime fighter but very temperamental, stubborn and obstinate. Being gentle is not one of her qualities..."

"Yes I noticed that." Diana smiled "But tell me, what super hero is normal or easy? Everyone of us has a secret behind us."

"Yes, true..." Barbara nodded. "I hope that knowing all of this helps you to understand her a bit more."

"Don't worry Barbara, she is a great girl. Just as you said, a bit difficult. Do you know what?" The amazon locked her eyes on her friend.

"No."

"I admire you even more now than before."

After that I not only understood Helena better, but Barbara too. Their lives hadn't been easy, her whole story surprised me. I never imagined that. I admired Barbara's ability to love and her strenght. She was amazing. After she left my room, I sat next to the window thinking of her, thinking of Bruce. What had been inside his mind? Maybe he knew that he had a daughter and avoided her to find some sense in his life. My mind kept working all night trying to solve the puzzle. Until fatigue enveloped me and I fell asleep.