Eight o'clock, morning.

Dinah had had fallen asleep on one of the chairs and Barbara had her head resting on her hands, thinking. She was worried, they had been looking for Huntress all night unsuccessfully. She had been checking the police tv security cameras all over the city but it seemed as if she just had disappeared.

The balcony door opened, making her raise her head. Diana walked in.

"Did you find her?"

"No," the princess answered. "She isn't in any place I looked. I checked every place I could think of, and I couldn't find her." Diana knew how important the girl was to her friend. She touched her shoulder.

"We went to Dark Horse Bar... to her old house, to all the places where she usually goes and we couldn't find any trace."

"You look tired Barbara, you need rest."

"I am... but I need to find her." Barbara rubbed her eyes.

"We will. Just be patient."

"Why did the Bestiamorph affect her?" Diana asked. "She is not a man."

"But she is meta, and her meta side is like a cat. It's just a theory, but I think her primal instinct was be overwhelmed by the potion."

"That sounds bad."

"It is bad. I need a sample of that water. We need to find an antidote too."

"I brought it for you." Diana gave her a small bottle. "Look, go and rest, I'm sure she's sleeping now in some place. She surely will go out and, when she does, we will go for her."

"No, I need work on the antidote now."

"Okay, I'll fly a few rounds around the city. I have an appointment at one o'clock at the United Nations. I'll go and be back in a few hours. I'll be here at six o'clock."

"All right, thanks so much, Diana."

"I'll try to finish that meeting fast."

"Okay."

I didn't want to go to that meeting, I would have preferred to be with Barbara, helping her find Helena, but it was with the President of Rwanda. The land mines were a problem against which I had been fighting frequently.

She awoke, slowly she stretched and yawned, she had been sleeping almost all morning. The grumbling in her stomach was the signal that she was hungry. Sleeping on the floor of the old building was uncomfortable. At least the woman that had been following her had disappeared. She looked through the window. She smelled something. Something good, she looked down. Whatever it was, it was food. She jumped down.

Helena walked toward a store with roast chicken. She put her hands on the glass of the window. The smell was good. Inside there were too many people and the roast machine was facing the sidewalk. Without thinking, she smashed the glass and took one of the chickens. One of the owners shouted and ran outside his store. She growleded and ran, jumping to the next building.

Barbara slept just an hour and woke up at almost eleven. Dinah was at the Delphi.

"Do you have any news?" she asked.

"Yes, she appeared." Dinah watched the monitor and showed her some printed papers.

"Why you didn't call me?" Barbara felt her heart jumping. She took the reports and examined it. "Yes, it must be her."

"It was five minutes ago. I was going to call you. She broke a window and stole a roast chicken from a store. I was trying to find her using the security cameras, but she disappeared. I just got a very blurry image of her running on Oxford Street. She moves damn fast." Dinah moved back. "I called Reese too, I explained everything to him."

"What did he say?"

"It's not funny that your girlfriend is lost and acting like a big cat, what do you think?"

"He is worried."

"Yes, and looking for her now. "

"I'll be here, go and help Reese."

"Okay..." Dinah said, standing up.

She licked her fingers. That chicken was good. She sat in a corner in an alley. Around her were many trash containers and old boxes. The place was full of noises from the street, cars, people, seller.

"Helena?"

She crouched in a defensive position and looked up. A black man was standing in front of her.

He never had seen her eyes that way, they weren't her normal feral eyes. It was weird; her hair was messy. He felt his heart sink looking at her. It hurt him to see her in that way, like a scared animal. She looked around with her eyes looking for a route to run away. She tried to escape but he blocked her way.

"Helena, I'm Reese," he said softly.

The brunette hissed and moved back against the wall.

He looked at the chicken bones all over the ground. He took some soup crackers out of his coat. He opened it and showed them to her, kneeling in front of her. "Do you want it?"

She didn't move, just moved her nose smelling. He broke a piece off and threw it to her, she hissed again and moved back; she looked the soup cracker and slowly took it with her hand. She smelled it and eate it. It tasted good, she kept her eyes on him.

"Good right?" he said. "Want more?" He broke another piece and threw it next to her again. She took it again and ate it as fast as she could, before the man could try to take it from her. He raised his hand and showed her the rest of the crackers. She slowly moved forward and smelled it. He turned his hand over and she moved her head back slightly. After a few seconds she smelled the back of his hand, her eyes watching him warily. She recognized his scent. She knew him. She purred and kept still. Reese smiled and with his other hand he caressed her hair. "Ok, Helena, I'm glad to see you too."

She moved toward him and buried her head in his lap, he hugged her and rubbed her back. It was strange to hear the sound of Helena's vibrating purrs. "Now we need to go home..."

"It's her!" They heard the voice of the owner of the chicken store, two police officers were with him. Helena raised her head and hissed.

"Wait!" Reese shouted. Helena moved back and crouched.

"She is a damn thief!" the man said.

"We need to take her to the police station," one of the police officers said.

"Stop! I'm a detective from the NGPD." Reese stood up.

Helena looked at one of the police officers walking toward her, she pushed Reese making him hit against the store's owner while she ran down the street. One of the police officers took out his gun and Reese jumped over him.

"Don't do that stupid!" he shouted, frustrated "I was going to get her and you ruined it!" He ran, following her, and shouting her name, but she was too fast for him.

Tired, he put his hands on his knees and breathed trying to take air to his lungs. He stood up and furiously licked a car parked on the street with his foot. "Dammit! I lost her!"

"Did you lose her?" Barbara asked.

::Sorry, Barbara, those unexpected policemen ruined everything.:: Reese said annoyed.

"Don't worry, I understand," she rubbed the bridge of her nose, this was an exhausting situation. "Dinah is in the Hummer looking for her in places near there. I'm working now on an antidote."

::She went north, but I don't know where.::

"She could be anywhere, I have been watching the monitors, but she is lost again."

::I'll keep looking for her.::

"Thanks, Reese."

Helena walked out of a fake cave inside the New Gotham zoo. She yawned, she had taken a good nap there and the sun was setting. It had been a good place to hide far from people. She heard a noise, she jumped over a tree and looked around. Her eyes noticed a man with a big plate of fruit walking outside a storage building. She waited a few seconds before going to the storage area. She sniffed, inside there was food. She tried to open the door but it was closed. She took the lock and pulled it, breaking it.

"Barbara?" Dinah checked the monitor.

"Yes?" the redhead answered, distractedly looking at the images of some security cameras in the street.

"The police got a report. A robbery inside the New Gotham Zoo. The door of a storage room was broken."

"What was stolen?"

"Food, fruit, bananas, apples..."

Barbara turned her head and wheeled towards Dinah. "Fruit?"

"Yes, the report said that whoever it was, stole fruit. Inside there are refrigerators but the thief just stole fruit. They found pieces of apples and bananas."

"Interesting. Today is Monday, the zoo is closed."

"They also found a vending machine broken near there. The thief stole bags of pop tarts and cookies."

"Let's go," Barbara said taking off her glasses. "Bring a tranquilizer, we will need it. I'll call Diana, she has a meeting at the UN, but she told me she would back at night."

"She flys fast," Dinah sighed.

"No, she has a plane." Oracle went toward her monitor.

"Maybe we could buy one."

"No parking near here for planes."

"A helicopter?" the blonde asked, hopefully.

"Too much noise."

Night.

Helena crouched in a tree. In the afternoon, there had been of a lot of movement there; many men running from one side to another. She had been watching them all afternoon, it had kept her distracted there. She finished the last bag of poptartss and jumped down, now she was thirsty. She walked looking for water. Suddenly, the cries of monkeys from insie a cage made her drop into a defensive crouch, eyes feral, she hissed.

She moved back and a street lamp revealed her.

"Hey you!" a male voice was heard. "What are you doing here? The zoo is closed!"

Helena growled and crouched again, ready for attack.

"I said get out!" the guard of the zoo shouted, lighting her face with his flashlight. "Are you crazy?"

She covered her eyes from the light. The guard walked toward her. Helena charged against him, sending him flying several meters against some bushes. She jumped over him, she grabbed him by his throat and growled. The man was scared, he took out a gun and shot at her.