Barbara, as Batgirl, worked in the street looking for any sign of Curaré. She had just found some clay residue from one of the shoes of the thugs that had tried to kidnap Helena that morning. Nothing else. An unusual clay that was usually found near downtown. She kept watch outside a building; in front of a bar that was known to be a place where less that upstanding citizens liked to hang out. She waited patiently.

Suddenly, she recognized a guy that walked out. Yes, that was the driver of the car. She moved down as fast as she could.

The man walked down the street, when a black shadow fell from the sky.

"Hi..."

He recognized her. This was not good. He tried to run. She took out her batarang and threw it at his feet. The man fell to the floor. She went to him. He turned and tried to kick her, but she moved back and smashed her fist against his face.

"Where is she?" she shouted, taking him by his lapel.

"I don't know... she just paid me to try to kidnap the kid," the man said, trembling.

"You are lying!!!!"

"No, no!" He covered his face with his hands. "I'm not lying!"

Batgirl threw him against the brick wall, angrily. He fell unconscious. She sighed, that was unsucesful, Curaré had hidden very well. No one knew anything about her; she shook her head and she saw a phone booth near her; she went to it and after closing the door; she put a coin in and dialed a phone number.

"Hi ,Mrs. Francis, this is Barbara Gordon... Is Helena there?... Thanks..." She looked around waiting. It was a peaceful night; the moon was beautiful. An ideal night to patrol the city. A few seconds later she heard the kid's voice.

"Hey Hel... How are you?..." she said. "How is the party?... How much candies? Wow, that is good... Yes..." Batgirl saw the thug begin to recover his senses. "Wait a second Hel..." Batgirl put the phone to the side and opened the door. She took him by the back of his shirt and slammed his head against the wall again.

She cleaned her gloves and went back to the phone booth. She picked up the phone. "Sorry, Hel, I was cleaning my desk; are you ready?... I'll come for you in a few minutes, okay... I'm hungry, would you like to get a pizza?... No, I didn't burn dinner, I'm just inviting you... watch your mouth... okay, don't go there or your dinner will be just a glass of water... I'll see you in 20 minutes."

She hung up the phone and walked to her bike. She was tired of look for clues; tomorrow would be another day. She needed to keep an eye on Helena, so why not have a bit of fun with her.


The next day was quiet. Barbara had been trying to find information about Curaré all morning. She went to her father's office to look through the old files and she had copied some of it to analyze, but there was little information. She had asked Helena's teacher not to let her leave school and to keep an eye on her. Barbara's dad had helped her by sending a detective outside the school. She wanted be sure that the girl was safe.

Helena stayed at school all afternoon, in a tutorial. Barbara brushed her hair and took off her glasses; she looked at her watch. Six-thirty, Helena finished her class at seven-thirty, but she wanted to be at school before that. She opened her briefcase an put some folders inside. She closed it and took her coat. The phone rang. She picked up it, turning off her desk lamp.

"Gordon here... "

::I've arriving in Gotham.::

"Hey, Selina, I was going to pick up Helena, she has tutorial classes. Do you want us to pick you up at the airport?"

::At school?::

"Yes, with Miss Garret."

::Let me go get her and surprise her.::

"I need to go anyway, the library is making a big donation to the school and I need the pricipal to sign the approval letter. I told him I'd see him when I picked up Helena. What do you say we meet there and then go to dinner?"

::That sounds good. I'll take a taxi and see you there. Any news about Curaré?.::

"I have been looking for information about her. She hides very well. The guys that tried to kidnap Helena were killed. I think it was her. The police reported that they were executed with a large blade. She doesn't like her people to fail; I couldn't do an exhaustive search because I preferred to stay at home at night with Helena; but now that you are here; I can start looking for her."

::Agreed... see you in a few?::

"Right... I'll be there in thirty minutes."


"Okay, take this one." Helena was with some of her friends in the garden at the school; the class had finished thirty minutes before. A fence separated it from the street. She and her friends were exchanging cards from a television show. "But you give me two."

"Two?" the other girl asked.

"This one is hard to find." Helena raised her card.

"Okay." The girl gave her the cards and Helena gave her one of hers.

"I like that one," the other girl said, pointing at one of Helena's cards.

"Okay, but you give me that one."

A car wheeled inside the parking lot. The driver looked around and noticed the girl was in the school garden behind the fence and a few girls were around her. The car parked in front of the school.

"It's mom!" said one of the kids. "Let's go!"

"Bye, Helena," said another girl.

"Bye..." the brunette answered, looking at her cards. She had ten new ones. That was good for her.


"There?" the driver of the car pointed at the girl.

"Yes," the woman in the back seat said.

Barbara drove her car down the street. She tried to get to Gotham School as fast as possible, but the traffic was terrible. She looked at her watch, maybe it would take her ten more minutes to get there.

Helena studied her cards, distractedly. Those last ones were excellent, she had been looking for them for a long time. The car parked. She didn't notice it; her back was to the street.

The woman in the back seat put a mask over her face and stepped out. She moved toward the fence and, with great agility, she climbed the fence quickly and jumped to the other side of it, silently. The girl kept looking at her cards.

"I've got you!" the woman shouted wrapping her arms around her.

Helena giggled and turned her head; she saw a mask from "Scream" next to her face.

"Mommy!" she shouted, hugging her.

"Damn! How did you recognize me?" Selina was disappointed.

"You smell like mom." Helena removed the mask and kissed her repeatedly on her face.

"I can never surprise you."

I missed you so much!" Helena said.

"I missed you too!!" Selina kissed her.

A figure inside a car watched the movements of the blonde woman and the girl. It had seen the detective and had knocked him off.

The mission was easy. It was just necessary to wait for the best moment and knock out the woman. It seemed as if she had returned early, but that was a minor problem.

"Why you didn't tell me that you were coming back today?" Helena asked.

"It was a good surprise." Selina brushed her messy hair off her forehead. "A surprise can't be announced or it wouldn't be a surprise, right?"

"Yes!"

"When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago. My suitcase is in the taxi:"

"Are we going to go home? Barbara is going to come for me."

"I know, we are going to wait for her. I'll go get my suitcase."

"Look mom, I got new cards." Helena showed them to her mother.

"Oh, let me see." Selina took them, looking back ."Hey, this one is great."

"I got that one today. And this one too."

"They're nice... Hel, Where is your teacher? I want see how are you doing in tutorial."

"I'm doing okay." Helena lowered her head and played with her foot.

"Are you sure?" Selina raised her brow. "Barbara told me you are not doing okay in math. And tutorial is for that."

"Well... maybe a bit bad..."

"She said that you have trouble with problems and equations..."

"... Mom... I'm not Einstein," the kid protested.

"You do not need to be Einstein to do an equation. Let me get my luggage. Where is your teacher?" Selina questioned again.

"I guess in the teachers' room."

"Get your school bag and wait for me there."

Helena turned and walked inside the buiding. Selina smiled and went toward the cab. She went to it and opened the back door. She sat there and took out her purse.

"Okay, how much do I owe you?" she asked.

The man didn't answer. She raised her head and leaned forward, she took his pulse. He was unconscious. "What...?" she frowned, but before she could react, a hard blow on her head knocked her out.


Helena took her school bag and walked to her classroom. Professor Kerry walked by the corridor at that moment.

"Hi, Mr. Kerry; my mom wants to talk with Mrs. Garret. Have you seen her?."

"Your mom?"

"Yes, she just arrived from Paris."

"I guess she is in the second building, at the library." The main pointed to the next building.

"I'll go look for her." Helena began to walk, dragging her school bag.

"Helena..." the teacher said.

"I know, I know..." The kid picked up her bag. That bag was annoying, maybe she needed to install some wheels on it.


Barbara parked her car behind the yellow cab. She took her bag and some papers; the ones that needed the principal's signature. She stepped out and locked the door with her keys. She put her bag on her shoulder and walked towards the stairway.

It was good have Selina in the city, Helena would be safe and it would give her more time to look for Curaré at night. When she walked by the cab, she saw a piece of a coat trapped in the back door. She stopped, her sixth sense told her something was wrong.


Mr. Kerry turned a corner. A tall, beautiful woman with a robe was in the corridor looking through the windows of the empty classrooms. She smiled at him.

"Good evening, may I help you?"

"Good evening, profeessor, I'm looking for Helena Kyle? A small girl..."

"Yes, I know her, she went to the library looking for her tutorial teacher, Miss Garret. I just saw her five minutes ago." He pointed to the next building "It's on the lower floor to the right.

"Thanks. You are so kind." She bent down respectfully.