She felt numb, her head throbbed. Pressure on her back made her slowly come back to her senses. Cold, her body felt cold. She opened her eyes, she was lying on her left side and her arms were wrapped around Helena, who had her head buried in her chest. A chill ran down her spine, she felt her heart stop, the child wasn't moving.

"Helena? Are you okay?" The crime fighter raised her hand and put it on her neck until she found her pulse; she sighed with relief and kissed her forehead. She was just knocked out, maybe she had pushed her too hard against the ground. It was good in a way; she would be scared if she knew she was trapped.

She tried to move, but the weight of the trash container was on her back, she turned her head back, the container was over them. She noticed a bent bench a few steps from where they were, which was preventing the big object from squashing them, but it didn't stop the part of the container that was pressing against her back. Her position was very uncomfortable; and the cold was terrible. The space where they were was small and the snow had formed a wall of ice around them. She could hear cries and yells outside. Barbara shouted, calling for help unsuccessfully. The noises outside were too loud.


The park was chaos; confusion was rampant and people were running around, trying to get far away from the place where Mr. Freeze had suddenly appeared. He stood up on a strange vehicle, similar to a tank, in the middle of the park, and around him were many weird men. The floor of the fountain was broken. He had traveled underground and exited through the base of the fountain, breaking the cement by using some gun. The force of the impact had launched the snow against them.

Freeze pointed at the bank, "Come on!" he shouted, "Hurry, time is short!"


She stretched her hand to scratch the snow wall and make a hole but she couldn't do it. She took a stick from the ground and used it to hit the wall. The snow easily fell down, she created a small hole. Barbara tried again to push up the container, unsucesfully, but it semed be stuck. She suddenly felt the container moving back a bit more. She grunted. Something was pushing it down and it was squashing her. She couldn't see it, but on the container was a tree that had broken and fallen on top of it. She supported her weight on her left arm to avoid squashing Helena. The redhead tried to think a way to escape. She shouted again, but no one heard her. She felt the kid moving under her... a bad moment to wake up.

Helena half opened her eyes, feeling warm arms around her, she was confused, it wasn't her mom's scent. She tried to move, but she realized she couldn't do it. There was a heavy weight on her.

"Shhh... it's okay," Barbara whispered, noticing she had woken up, "are you okay?" She brushed the brunette hair.

The kid raised her head, she recognized her immediately. "What happened?" she asked softly, "where are we?"

The redhead knew she was scared and tried to talk as soft as possible, "I don't know exactly, but don't worry, I'm thinking of a way to get out of this."

Helena tried to move again; the place was small and Barbara was almost squashing her. She tried to push her back and crawl, but she couldn't move very much.

"We are trapped, Helena," the older woman tried to calm her and supported her weight as much as she could on her left arm to give the girl more space. "Try to be patient."

"I'm cold..." the kid mumbled.

"We'll be okay, just hold on a second..." A noise outside made the redhead raise her head. Through the hole she saw the police had arrived and had blocked Freeze's way and the henchmen. The tall, crazy man took out a big gun and started to shoot everywhere.

Helena heard the shots, blue eyes turned to thin golden irises; she moved nervously, feeling danger. Feeling trapped, her instinct urged her to run away. Barbara watched her transform, marveling. She had seen her little cat eyes before, but never as they morphed. The redhead used her free hand and cupped her cheek warmly.

"Helena," she mumbled with a soft voice. "I'm here with you, I'm not going to let anything happen to you, understand?" Thin pupils fixed on her. "Anything," she said again. "Understand?"

The girl nodded lightly.

"Just give me a few seconds, it that an avalanche is over us, would you look at that?" Barbara showed her the hole with her hand, "We are close, see? I just need to find a way to free myself, the trash container that I ran to cover us from the avalanche turned and is over us, I can't move too much, but I'm trying to think of a way to get out."

"I'm cold."

"I know, I'm cold too; hold on." Barbara smiled; she knew she was cold. Colder than usual. A loud noise made the redhead look out again; the fight had turned into a big battle. Freeze was shooting his gun, freezing everything he hit. Barbara moved her hand down and began to make a bigger hole behind Helena.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked.

"Making a hole."

"Why?"

"Maybe if I give you space, you can move." She scratched the snow behind the girl's waist and pulled back, "Helena, when you feel a space, try to crawl back."


Outside the battle was easy for Mr. Freeze. He could easily control the police while his henchmen were assaulting the bank. The movement was fast, in five minutes they had finished their job. He had planned the moment great detail to avoid surprises; except one...

One of his henchmen fell, hit by a batarang. He turned his head, Batman and Robin had arrived. He grumbled.

"Your time is up, Freeze!" Batman shouted, standing a few yards from where he was.


After a few minutes of digging, the redhead felt her hand numb from the cold; her glove wasn't helping too much, but she couldn't stop. The theory about Freeze lowering the temperature was right. The cold that they were feeling wasn't normal.

"I'm cold," the little brunette mumbled again, shivering.

"Try to move now, Helena, to your right." Barbara felt the girl began to move. "That's it," she said, encouraging her, "move back. Push harder." After a few seconds, Helena was finally able to crawl back. The redhead relaxed her left arm that had been supporting her weight to avoid squashing the girl; it was practically numb.

"Barbara?" Helena asked, scared. She held herself tightly.

"Give me a second, I have to make the hole bigger to get out." The redhead noticed one of her legs was trapped, she pulled it and felt a stab of pain.


Freeze noticed that Batman and his friend were moving faster and knocking his men out. It didn't matter. He had the money from the bank, it was time to run away. He jumped in his vehicle and began to move back.

"He is escaping!" Robin hit the face of one of the thugs. He turned and saw, in the distance, a child crawling out of a hole. He felt a chill on his back, Freeze was moving in reverse toward her. "A child is there!" he shouted to Batman.

The Dark Night saw her and immediately ran in front of Freeze, he needed to distract him and try to make him follow him. "Help her!" he shouted.

The young man ran as fast as possible trying to get to the child.


Helena, kneeling, began to make the hole bigger and looked inside. "Barbara?"


Robin could just see a girl kneeled and shouted as he ran towards her. "Run, girl! Run!"
Inside the hole, Barbara felt her foot was trapped. "I'm stuck," she growled, pulling again and biting her lip to not cry. On her third try, her leg was free; she noticed her ankle was sprained. Walking would be a problem; Helena took her arm to help her get out. At that moment, horrified green eyes saw the big tank moving back toward them. She pushed Helena back, "Run Helena!"

Robin tried to move quickly, the child was helping some one... Barbara? That was Barbara, and the kid was Helena. He felt his heart beating out of his chest watching Freeze's vehicle so dangerously close to them. Freeze noticed that Batman was trying to distract him and noticed the boy wonder running to his side. Was he trying to surprise him? He wasn't a fool, he moved his gun from Batman's direction to Robin's.

The child turned and looked at the vehicle. It was just a few seconds that Helena was frozen, looking at the car; her instinct was more powerful than her fear; she couldn't leave her there; turning, she took Barbara's hands between hers and pulled harder. The red head was going to protest, but the kid's strength surprised her. She tried to stand up and walk, but her ankle hurted and she bent down.


Batman noticed the change in Freeze's movement, he had thought Robin was going to trap him and saw him aiming his gun toward him.

"Robin, watch out!" he shouted.

The young man turned in time and jumped back to avoid a blast of the cold weapon.


Barbara turned her head, the noise of the motor was too close. She turned and saw the wheels of the big tank close to them. She couldn't move, but the girl could. She stood up as quickly as possible, supporting her weight on one leg and taking the child by her waist, she threw her agains a bunch of snow a few feet away from herself and the tank. She fell to the ground and covered her head with her hands catching her breath.

"Let's go now!" Freeze shouted. Barbara saw the wheels stop a few inches from her face. The vehicle turned to her right, trying to escape through the hole that it had created in the ground under the fountain.

The redhead let her lungs take air; she felt her soul coming back to her body and let her head fell to the ground. That had been really close.

Batman sighed with relief too. Unintentionally, Robin had saved them. Seeing that the redhead was okay, he followed Mr. Freeze though the hole.

"Barbara!" Helena ran toward her. The older woman raised herself a bit and immediately felt Helena's thin arms wrapping around her neck.

"It's okay, Hel, it's okay." She hugged her back. "Are you okay?"

The child nodded. Barbara moved back a bit and looked at her, she was pale. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"Yes." Blue eyes turned moist, "...No..."

Barbara hugged her, trying to comfort her. She pulled her close and put her hand on the back of her head, trying to offer security; the child sobbed. "I was so scared."

"Everything is okay," Barbara whispered, realizing she was cold and soaking wet.

"I want to go home," Helena sobbed.

"Yes, yes, we will go... I need to change your clothes."

"Barbara!" Robin's voice made her turn, still holding the kid. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay, help him."

"Can you walk?"

"I'll be okay," the red head insisted, "help him."

He didn't want to leave them alone, but she was right. "I'll be back," he said.

The young woman waited a few moments until the child calmed a bit. She looked around; the place was full of policemen. The park was a disaster, the place where the fountain had been was now just a big hole. They were lucky, if she hadn't hidden behind the container, they would have been buried by the snow.

"Hey... Miss Gordon. " One of the policemen recognized her and went to help her. "Are you okay?"

"I'll need a bit of help," she admitted "I think I sprained my ankle."

The policeman waved to one of the paramedics near them. "Hey, come here!"

The little brunette took Barbara's hand and never let go. The paramedics attended to her in the back of an ambulance. They covered the two with blankets. Dick arrived at the place after a few minutes; he walked around, looking for the red head. Finally, a policeman showed him where they were.

When he saw her, he ran toward her and hugged her. "You worried me. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, I'm okay, don't worry." The redhead smiled and moved back.

Dick took her cheek. "You are cold."

"I'm okay, Dick."

He realized her foot was bandaged and frowned. "You are hurt."

Barbara sighed, he worried so much. "Dick… Dick, please... I'm okay."

Helena snuggled against Barbara's arm. "I want to go home."

At that moment, Dick saw the child. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, help me get her home, she is soaked and I need to change her clothes."

"All right. Come here, Helena."

The brunette moved back, wrapping her arms around Barbara. "No." She was not going to move away from the redhead.

"Hel, I can't walk, let him help us."

"No."

Dick tried to take the child's arm, but Barbara stopped him, "It's okay, it's okay," she understood Helena, "just help me."


Dick waited in the living room while Barbara prepared a warm bath for Helena, she had chosen a big shirt and socks for her. She was seated on the side of the bath tub and the little brunette, with a towel wrapped around her, sat on the toilet, watching her.

"You haven't said a word since we got back," Barbara said. "Do you feel okay?"

"Why did you push me?" That question had been running through her head all thhe whole way back to Barbara's apartment afternoon. She didn't understand that.

"Why?"

"You did it two times, I tried to help you and you pushed me, why?"

The crime fighter smiled. "Because I didn't want to see you get."

"But you needed help. I was trying to help," Helena said with sadness.

"Thanks for that, Helena, I really appreciate that." She moved and took her hand, "but... you are too young; I would hate to see you hurt, and your mom would feel sad if something happened to you. I was trying to protect you."

The child cocked her head. "Why is being young a problem if I was just trying to help you?"

"It's not a problem, it's... your mom, me, Dick, people always protect kids first, always, before anything, the most important thing is the life of a child."

"Why?"

"Because children are the hope of the world. You are a hope, a little one, but a hope. Maybe your future will be brilliant; maybe you will be important and help people one day."

"That doesn't matter to me, I wanted to help you."

"You did help, you pulled me out of that hole." She took her arm and squeezed it gently. "You are really strong, what do you want to eat? Double pizza?"

Helena giggled.

"Okay, take a bath, I'll do the same. I don't want you to catch a cold. Understand?"

The child nodded.

After putting Helena in bed, Barbara put pants on and went to the kitchen, where Dick waited for her with a warm cup of coffee. He kissed her lightly on the lips. "I'm glad you are okay."

"I'm happy you are here." She winked.

"Sit, want something else?" He pulled a chair back.

"No, did you catch him?"

"No, he escaped again," Dick said, sitting next to her.

"Batman is worried, it's the third bank he's robbed. It's nothing good. He will use the money to pay for more experiments."

"He is making the temperature drop." Barbara took a sip of her coffee.

"We are sure of that, I told you."

"But why?" Green eyes locked on him.

"I have no idea. We need to investigate and figure it out, then maybe we will understand his plans." He took her hands, "I'm worried... for you."

"Why?"

"He tried to trap you the last time, your blood type is the same as his wife and he tried to use you to bring her to life, using your organs."

Barbara sighed and leaned in the chair. "Dick, that..."

He didn't let her finish, he moved down and kissed her. First, he just brushed her lips and later she slowly opened her mouth, letting him in. She let herself lost in the feeling; he always had been sweet and tender.

"Are you going to come to the bed?"

The sweet voice of Helena interrupted them and made them break the moment abruptly. They moved back, embarrassed and Barbara covered her mouth with her hand trying to clean it.

"Yes, yes, I'll be there in a moment."

Helena cocked her head and looked at Dick. "Are you her boyfriend?" The young man coughed. She had caught him off guard. "What?" Her blue eyes were fixed on him, he had never felt so uncomfortable, "Why are you ashamed that she's your girlfriend?"

Barbara, surprised by the question, opened her eyes wide and looked at him. Dick swallowed; he didn't know what to do.

"Well?" Barbara asked.

"It's, it's not that..." he hesitated, "we... never..."

Helena shook her head, "Men..." she said, walking back to the room.

Dick wanted to kill her, he turned his head to see Barbara, who was glaring to him. As soon as he heard the door close, he tried to defend himself. "We've never talked about this!"

"You could say something, at least."

"You've always told me that you like your freedom." He knew he was in trouble, nothing good.

"We have never talked seriously about this." Barbara crossed her arms.

"Well... I thought..." Dick stumbled over his words, nervously….