"Anyone ever told you that you are hot?" A drunk man put his drink down on the counter looking lasciviously at Helena Kyle, who, at that moment, wasn't in mood to tolerate nasty comments from a customer with an excess of alcohol in his veins.

She glared at him. "May I help you?" She didn't know what was worse, staying there serving assholes or being at Gordon's party. It was a hard choice.

"I want a refill." He smirked looking her up and down. "Maybe we can do it together. What do you think?"

"I think..." she leaned next to him, "that if you don't get out of here, you will have a very bad time."

"What's going on here?" Leonard asked.

"This guy is leaving," Helena said.

"I'm asking the pretty lady for a refill."

"Helena?" Leonard looked at her.

"All right." She reached behind the counter and put a fresh pitcher on the counter.

"Thanks so much, sweetheart." He tried to touch her hand, but Leonard took his hand.

"The cost of the beer doesn't include annoying my girls," he said. "Leave her alone or I'll kick your ass out of here."

"All right, all right, easy man..." the drunk man slurred, walking toward his table.

"Thanks, Leonard." Helena looked at Leonard.

"Now show your best smile and make my customers happy," the owner of the bar said.

She took a cloth and cleaned the counter with it. She looked at her watch, 12:30 am, and she still had to work one hour more. She hoped Dinah was having a good time. Maybe she was, she was sweet and quiet. Sweet and quiet... What a boring girl she thought to herself.

"Hey girl, please, give me a scotch," a man said, standing up at the counter.

"In a second," she said, turning toward the bar.

She hoped James Gordon didn't she missed the party on purpose, it had taken both a long time to have a relationship without fights and discussions. Maybe it would be good if she called him. She walked toward the back of the bar and stood up in front of the phone nervously for long seconds. Would it be a good idea to call him? After all, he was Barbara's father. Dammit. Why was he so difficult?

Whatever. She looked in her pocket for some change and pressed the buttons. After seconds, that seemed like long minutes, she heard a voice at the other side of the line.

::Hello?::

"Jim?"

::Yes?::

"Eh, well, it's me, Helena..." She played with the cord.

::Hey, how are you?":: He tried to be nice, knowing it was as difficult for her as for him to call.

"I'm fine, thanks..." she hated feeling so nervous, he was just Barbara's dad... well, maybe that was why she felt nervous, "Happy birthday, I'm sorry, I couldn't go... my boss gave me overtime today."

::Don't worry, Helena. She told me.::

"It's just... I don't want that you think that I didn't want to go." She sighed.

::Helena... I understand. Hey, your present was incredible. Where did you find it?::

"Working in a bar has its advantages," She smiled. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Helena, Leonard is looking for you," a waiter said, walking behind her.

"In a second. Listen, Jim, I need to go. Have a nice Birthday."

::All right, thanks so much again.::

"Bye." She hung up the phone, feeling a big weight lifted off her shoulders. She exhaled and walked toward the counter, her hands were sweating. She wiped them on her pants.

James was having a good time. He was at his bar and gave Dinah a coke. He was curious to meet his daughter's newest charge. He thought Barbara liked taking young people under her wing because she didn't know if she would have a family. Maybe it was like having a daughter than she would never have. Dinah was charming, very nice, very different from Helena, she was strange, not friendly, closed. He always had thought she only had used Barbara, she didn't have interest in anyone. Just herself.

Barbara was talking with Rene. Her gaze turned sometimes to watch her dad and Dinah. He seemed to like her. He laughed so much, and Dinah was smiling too. That was good. She couldn't deny she felt a bit afraid that maybe he wouldn't like her. She knew Dinah was different from Helena, but she couldn't avoid be worried about that. She smiled, she was happy that he liked her. Maybe some day, he would accept Helena for who she was.

"High School is always a big headache for any teen," James said, sipping his glass of scotch. "I hated it too."

"I can't believe that," Dinah mumbled in surprise.

"Yes, it's true."

"Hey, Gordon," one of his friends said, hugging Barbara, "may I take this beauty to my home?"

"Take your paws off her," He growled, feinging annoyance, "I'll be right back, Dinah."

She nodded. Smiling, she sat on the chair at the bar. All her fear about him had disappeared. She had imagined him in a very different way; grumpier, colder, harder. She felt a heavy weight had lifted off her shoulders. He was nice. She watched him pushing his partner and hugging Barbara with one arm. She was his baby. It was nice, nice to see an unknown side of her, being a daughter, a loved daughter by a lovely father.

The young woman sat on a cornice. She hugged her left leg with her arms, resting her chin on her knee, while she balanced her right leg playfully down. The wind played with her hair, moving it softly on her face; but didn't seem to bother her. She was distracted in her own thoughts.

After finishing her work at the bar, she went out. At two in the morning, she wasn't sleepy. Perhaps Barbara was still with her father or maybe not. She hoped Dinah had a good time, she was a nice girl with just one problem, she was a teen, and usually teens were so annoying. She felt a bit bad that she couldn't go with them, but it wasn't her fault this time.

Suddenly, she heard a kind of explosion, like a transformer exploding. The "buzz" of the electricity was unmistakable. She turned and stood up, looking around. The smell smoke arrived suddenly; she frowned. She hated that smell... roasted skin, but she was a crime fighter, she had chosen it.

She landed on the next building and went to the opposite side. The smell was strong. She stood up on the cornice and looked down. A man was lying on the ground.

Burned.

Yech.

She hated the burns. She jumped down: the vision of that poor man was nasty. It was the worst part of her job. Sometimes she asked herself why people were so violent. Maybe she would be unemployed without all that violence, but, it would be much better than facing situations like this one. She wrinkled her nose and covered it with her hand

He was dead, totally and completely dead. His skin was black, all burned. She kneeled and looked in his pocket. She took out a piece of a driver's license and kept it. She stood up looking for the source of the electricity.

The pager at her waist vibrated. She looked at it, it was a Delphi alert. She had taken it knowing that oracle was taking the night off and there might be trouble. It was Reese... there was a murder near the place where she was. mmm, that sounded good... after all, she could have a bit of fun that night. But before the fun, she needed to take some pictures of the place.

The young detective had his back resting on his car; he was examining the ring that Huntress had given to him a few months ago. It was nice and really sophisticated; he looked around, this time she had delayed more than usual. He looked at the pictures that he had taken of the man that the forensics team was examining a few meters from him.

Some police cars where nearby and they had closed off the area. That was the second murder this month. He rubbed his eyes, when he moved his hand back, Huntress was in fornt of him, smiling.

He jumped in his place. "Dammit," he growled.

"Hey, how are you?" He was funny. He always jumped, scared, every time she greeted him.

"Have you ever considered not doing that?"

"Reese, did you expect anything else?" Helena cocked her head, flirting with him. "You called me."

"You can't keep doing this all your life," Reese said crossing his arms.

"When have you seen a crime fighter that knocks on doors?" She grinned putting her hands inside her pockets. She knew that he liked her.

"True. Where where you? You are usually faster."

"I don't have a car, I walk." That was true. And parking would be a damn trouble, being a meta-vigilante.

"You walk?"

"Yes, being a crime-fighter doesn't pay enough money to buy a bike. I have to do extra-work to survive."

"You work?" Reese asked.

"I need to pay my rent." Huntress smirked. "And it's hard to find a bus at this hour." She looked at the police men and the forensics team working with the victim. "Second one."

"Second one?"

"I just discovered a body, fifteen blocks east." Huntress pointed back.

"Body?" He frowned.

"Some poor guy, electrocuted." She couldn't avoid watching him in silence a few seconds. Damn. He was very handsome. "I can't find the source of the electricity, but he was very dead."

::Huntress, everything okay?:: she heard Oracle's voice in her ear. It seemed she had come back from her dinner.

"Yes, how was your night?" She took her hand to her ear.

Reese looked at her with curiously. She was talking again to the "voice", her mysterious "associate".

::Fine, it was fun. Dad was really happy. He met Dinah and she had a great time too. We missed you.::

Huntres smirked. Sure, of course. "I'm glad for him and for you."

::I just arrived and noticed there was a Delphi alert that you took.:: Oracle said ::What's going on?::

"I'm with Reese... a murder. Let me check and I'll tell you. Investigate this name." She took the drivers license out of her pocket. It was inside a plastic bag. "John Michaels, 234 Street, Box 10034. I found him roasted like your beefs in the back of the glass factory fifteen minutes ago."

::I'll check it.::

Huntress gave Reese the plastic bag. "For you. It's from the guy that I found."

"Your 'invisible' friend." He raised his brow.

"Don't say 'invisible' friend as if I'm crazy. You have heard her too."

"Yes, but by phone, not in my head." Reese smiled. He was really happy to see her finally.

::Point for him.:: Oracle laughed.

"Don't start." Huntress growled.

"It's her, no?" the black detective asked.

"Forget it. Let's get back on topic. What do we have here?"

"A murder." Reese gave her the pictures. "I just prepared this for you."

"Want to see my dead guy?" Huntress asked.

"Sure."

She took a small camera from of her pocket and gave it to him, while she examined the pictures. She leaned on the car, next to him.

"Uhh... poor guy." Reese mumbled.

"Yours is not much better, this man doesn't have a face," Huntress mumbled, "What happened to him?"

"Someone hit him with something hard, maybe a hammer."

She shook her head and put the pictures inside her pocket. "Ideas?"

"No, nothing yet. Could you give me copy of your pictures?" He gave her the camera.

"Sure, I'll send to your email in a few."

"Mmmm... are you a cyber-girl?"

"No, that's Oracle. The boring part and making me crazy is her job." Huntres sighed.

"Boring job?" Oracle growled in the Clocktower "What does that mean?"

::Why are you always listening to my private conversations?::

"Maybe because we are working and you are flirting during work hours?" she explained, cleaning her eyeglasses.

"I'm not flirting.:: she whispered in the mic.

"Sure, sure." Oracle typed at her computer.

"He likes her." Dinah smiled.

"That will be big trouble." Oracle typed at the keyboard.

"For her?"

"No, for him." She grinned.

The blonde chuckled. "True."