The problem, Dinah decided, with making plans was that people need at least a little information to start with. As she sat in the back of the classroom waiting for her detention to end and Barbara to pick her up, she vaguely wished that she had her guardian on her side. Then she sighed in frustration as she realized that she didn't even know whether Barbara was on her side or not.
'Even that would be enough information to make a plan!' she thought, running her hand through her hair. 'But I don't even know how much Gabby told her. She might not even be mad at me. If only there was some way to find out...'
'Oh, duh!' Dinah thought to herself, slapping her palm against her forehead. It made an audible thwack, and some of the people in front of her turned around.
Quickly, Dinah looked away and subconsciously crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning back against her seat. One of the football players who had given her trouble earlier flipped her off, carefully keeping his body in between the gesture and the assistant principal seated at the front of the class. The angle between Dinah and the teacher would enable him to see anything she did back, so she just ignored it.
After a few moments, everyone lost interest and turned forward again. The assistant principal watched for another minute, but when he went back to his work Dinah got back to her thinking... much more cautiously. The last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself and give them a reason to say something to Barbara.
'Okay, the plan's gotta be to find out what Barbara knows,' Dinah thought to herself. 'And if she knows everything, I'll...' Her thoughts trailed off as she realized sadly that she didn't know what she'd do. She didn't want to leave. She didn't have anywhere else to go... and she liked it there.
She used to be happy there.
Shaking the thoughts away, she tried to come up with a way to find out what Barbara knew without tipping her off.
Barbara was making a right turn near the cemetery when her comm went off. Before she could even reach up to turn the microphone on, her brain was whirring away recalling where her girls were. Helena was working a shift at the bar and would be at the clocktower for dinner. Dinah was still at the school waiting for Barbara to pick her up. Neither of those spots seemed to be inherently dangerous, but one could never be certain. The light ahead of her turned red, and after stopping her car, she reached up and turned the microphone on.
"Oracle here."
:: Hey, Oracle. It's Huntress.::
"Is everything all right?"
:: Yeah, fine. Okay, I just saw the funniest thing!::
"At the bar?"
:: No, at the police station. Of course at the bar! Where else have I been all day?::
Barbara rolled her eyes. "Well, you could have been-"
:: So, it must be the end of finals or something, because there are a bunch of college people here playing drinking games.::
"Well, at the university in New Gotham-"
:: Two of them decide to start taking shots,:: Helena continued, ignoring her mentor for the second time. :: So, this one guy is a little overweight and an obvious drinker, but this other guy is really small and skinny and already looks gone. They order a couple of shots, and I'm not even kidding, this skinny guy lost count of how many he'd had after one. He turns to his friend and says 'Hey, we've had three!' His friend sets him straight and says they've only had one so the guy says okay. Then after another few seconds, the guy says 'But at least I've had two!' His friend sets him straight a second time, and the guy says, 'Well... I've definitely had one!'::
Barbara chuckled and wondered distantly how much longer the red light was going to last.
:: Everyone in the bar was laughing at the poor guy by then. So, I pour them both a second one and both guys drink it, and then the skinny guy looks at his friend and says, 'The glass is crying!' His friend assures him that it isn't, but the guy says, 'Yes it is. See, it's all wet.' His friend starts laughing at him, and this girl feels bad for him and says that it's just condensation. The skinny guy just looks confused, so she sighs says, 'The glass is just wet. It's not crying.'::
Barbara said "Uh-huh," to show that she was still listening and secretly related to the girl who had to change her explanation.
:: I wanted to cut him off, but Leonard said to keep pouring, so I did. But the skinny guy just stared at the shot, without drinking it. After a while he got up and walked away somewhere. So his friend downs the shot. But then the skinny guy comes back and gets really mad. He says, 'Now we're not even!' His friend says, 'Yeah, you're right,' and then downs his own shot, too! And then the skinny guy was okay with it! It was like they were all even, then, even though his friend had downed twice as much as he had.::
Barbara laughed. "What are you doing now?"
:: Nothing,:: Helena said, her disgust carrying over the communication system. :: Some church group just came in, and they're not drinking anything.::
"Ah," Barbara said, finally understanding. "You called me over comms because you're bored."
:: Oracle, you don't understand!:: Helena insisted. She paused, and then almost whined, :: No one's even being annoying or rude.::
"You'd prefer obnoxious customers over boredom?"
:: Hey, I'm a crime-fighter. My tolerance for rude comments is much higher than it is for boredom.::
Barbara laughed, shaking her head. "I know your tolerance for rude comments. Need I remind you of that ice cream man?"
:: Well... that just shows you how much I suck at being bored.::
"Any word from Detective Reese?" Barbara asked, making conversation as she waited at the stoplight. It was taking so long! Briefly, she considered digging her laptop out from the back seat and hacking into the city system to turn the light green, but she was always telling Helena and Dinah not to abuse their powers so she decided against it to set a good example.
That, and by the time she had finished, the light would probably already be green, anyway.
:: Not a peep,:: Helena said, bringing her mind back to the conversation. :: Still no leads, but no more missing kids, either.::
"That's good news. Maybe the added vigilance of the parents and teachers is paying off, and there won't be any more abductions." Barbara paused, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, and then added, "I talked to Gabby today."
:: Dinah's friend? Why? You know she's going to be pissed, don't you?::
"Gabby talked to me," Barbara clarified, a little insulted. "I wasn't trying to get information about Dinah. Why is that what you automatically assumed?"
:: Well, you are the Oracle,:: Helena reminded her.
The redhead started to retort, shrugged, and then mentally conceded the point.
"Gabby said that she and Dinah were planning on shopping this afternoon, but she had to reschedule for tomorrow."
:: At least she's getting out of the tower.::
"And that's not all," Barbara said, smiling broadly. "Gabby told me before she left that Dinah told her about Carolyn."
:: Hey, that's great!:: Helena said, sharing her enthusiasm. :: She's finally talking to someone!::
"It's definitely a step in the right direction," Barbara agreed.
Helena said something back, but Barbara couldn't hear it over a loud tap on her window. She looked out to her left, but all she saw was empty street between herself and the cemetery. It was more than a little ominous to suddenly realize that she was the only car on the road when something strange had just hit the driver's side window. Shaking her head, she looked forward and waited for a few seconds. When the tap came a second time, she caught a small brown blur out of the corner of her eye.
"Hold on a second, Huntress, something is hitting my window."
:: Do you need help?::
"I don't think so," Barbara answered. She immediately resented the question, but she knew that Helena didn't mean anything by it, so she didn't make an issue out of it.
She cautiously rolled down her window, and when the next projectile came towards her, she caught it deftly in her left hand. She brought it closer to her face for a better look. 'What the hell?' she thought in confusion.
Another blur came straight at her, and she dropped the first one in her lap to catch the second one before it hit her. Finally, understanding dawned on her and she leaned her head out the window to get a better look.
A small squirrel was standing on its hind legs, balancing on a branch hanging over the entrance to the cemetery. It chattered down at her angrily, and raised another acorn with its paws.
Barbara looked up at it and glared the look that she gave Helena when she touched the Delphi. "I wouldn't risk it!" she warned. "You should be ashamed of yourself. If you had waited another few seconds, the light would have turned green and I would have left anyway."
The squirrel dropped to all fours, the potential missile in its paws forgotten. It lowered its head and its tail drooped in obvious dejection.
The redhead was immediately remorseful. "I'm not angry with you," she added hurriedly. "But you could have hurt someone. And what if someone decided to throw something back at you and you were hurt?"
The squirrel seemed to brighten as it clambered away. Smiling, Barbara leaned back into the car and rolled her window up. She started when she realized that the light was green, and wondered how long it had been that way. It was a good thing there was no one else on the street.
"Okay, Huntress, what were you saying?" Barbara asked, pulling away from the light.
:: Just that some people are beginning to wonder why I respond to the voices in my head.::
"They're not wondering if you hear voices?"
:: Nah,:: Helena said. :: They know me too well.::
Barbara laughed. She briefly considered scolding her for using the communication system in front of other people, but decided that her friend was just joking. "We'll see you at dinner?"
:: 'Course. Alfred's cooking, right?::
Barbara started to take offense, and then decided that it wasn't really worth it. "Who else?"
:: I'll be there then. Huntress out.::
Barbara turned off the microphone on the communication system piece as she approached the school.
Dinah was just coming out of the school doors as the redhead pulled up. When she caught sight of her guardian, she hesitated for a split second before waving and continuing to the Hummer.
Barbara caught it and wondered if something had happened.
"Hey, Barbara," Dinah said as she opened the door and piled into the passenger seat, closing the door behind her.
"Hi," the redhead greeted, looking away to check traffic. As she pulled back onto the street, she added "How was detention?"
"Detention," Dinah said succinctly, putting her seatbelt on. Based on the short answer, Barbara thought that her charge was going to avoid discussion, but was pleasantly surprised when the teen turned to her and asked, "How was your day?"
"Uneventful," Barbara answered. "Helena says that there aren't any new leads on the abduction cases, but no more children have gone missing, either."
"That's good at least," Dinah said, her voice full of relief.
Barbara, encouraged by how talkative her charge suddenly was, continued. "And Gabby stopped by my class after school to give you a message."
To her surprise, Dinah started and then looked away.
"She said to let you know that she can't go shopping this afternoon, but the two of you can go tomorrow."
Dinah frowned and looked straight ahead without responding.
The second sudden change in her charge's behavior confused Barbara. Until a minute ago, Dinah had seemed to be making progress. She had opened up to Gabby and was actually using complete sentences without seeming angry or nervous. Was she this saddened by a rain check? Or had something else happened?
"Is everything okay?" the redhead asked concernedly.
Dinah's gaze jerked back towards her and the teen said a little too quickly, "Yes. It's just... I already said that we should go tomorrow night... because it's not a school night... and she said that she couldn't go."
The hurried and disjointed answer suggested that it wasn't true, yet Dinah certainly did look a little bewildered which supported the answer.
"She probably got her days confused," she finally commented. "She told me that she had just realized that she was supposed to help her mother with something right after school, so she couldn't meet you like the two of you had planned."
Dinah was quiet for several long moments, and then Barbara heard her ask tentatively, "So, she stopped by your classroom?"
Barbara frowned. Hadn't she just said that? Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that her charge still wasn't looking at her, and the frown eased into a look of concern. "Yes. I take it that the two of you have made up."
The long pause before Dinah's answer spoke volumes.
"Yeah," the answer finally came. "You were right. She accepted my apology."
Barbara stole a quick glance at her charge and started. It could have been Helena, at that same age, sitting there. The guarded expression that was an obvious poker face and the tentative questions were what she and Alfred had secretly dubbed "target questioning."
It was what Helena did when she wasn't sure how much her guardian knew. She would ask questions, dancing around the actual topic. It had reminded Barbara of a target, due to the concentric circles that gradually got smaller as they moved towards the center. But, the center was always something her protégée didn't want to admit to, so it always remained blank. The trick was to keep Helena talking and try to find what the questions were avoiding.
"Gabby said that you told her about Carolyn," Barbara said, repeating the only information she knew in an effort to continue the conversation. "That the two of you talked and then decided to go shopping."
"Yeah," her charge said, much to Barbara's chagrin still looking out the window and absently fingering the zipper on her backpack.
"Did you tell her everything?"
Dinah shrugged, but seemed to relax at the question.
'So, she was wondering how much Gabby told me,' Barbara realized, relieved that she had pinpointed the source of her charge's sudden discomfort. 'It must have been a very unpleasant surprise when I said that Gabby came to my classroom.'
'But what could Dinah have possibly told Gabby that she didn't want me to know?' Barbara wondered, purposely not frowning and keeping her body language neutral in case the teen happened to glance over. If she was already nervous, it wouldn't do for her to think that Barbara was angry with her.
And she certainly had been nervous about something Gabby now knew, but neither Barbara nor Helena did. It couldn't have been any of the details of her mother's murder; Helena had been there and Barbara had heard it all over comms... But it must have at least been related, because that's what Gabby had said the two of them had discussed.
All of a sudden, Barbara realized that the blank spot at the center of the target had to do with the reason Dinah had seemed so upset. And that reason was one that Dinah had admitted to Gabby but was apparently terrified to let Barbara, Helena, or Alfred find out.
Barbara struggled not to frown as she thought that through. It was true that Gabby was Dinah's peer as well as her friend, but the redhead had a gut feeling that wasn't the only reason Dinah had opened up to her. Gabby was separated from the happenings at the tower and was most likely not to have the power to hurt her with the information. It was the same reason people tend to open up to complete strangers on planes or in waiting rooms; they think that they will never see those people again.
But that implied the reason Dinah was upset was such that she expected it to hurt her if Barbara, Helena, or Alfred knew. It very likely had to do with a member of their unorthodox family. Even if the only way it involved them was the fact that Dinah believed they would judge her for it.
She considered her next course of action as they pulled up to the clocktower. Dinah was currently having problems functioning under whatever issue she was dealing with and the fear that this issue would be discovered. The obvious solution was to confront Dinah about it and help her with it. But, on the other hand, pushing too quickly would only discourage communication by setting the precedent that it was an unpleasant experience. And, if Dinah had been that fearful Barbara would find out what was wrong, she was likely to become defensive if the redhead prodded for information.
Barbara decided to let her off the hook. "Well, it's good that the two of you are on good terms again. And it's good for you to get out of the tower every once in a while."
Dinah nodded distantly as the Hummer came to a stop, and tried not to look like she was totally confused. Barbara wouldn't make something like that up... so Gabby had obviously told her that they had planned on going shopping. And, knowing Gabby, she probably had asked Barbara ahead of time so Dinah couldn't make excuses. Shaking her head, she wondered why she had thought having a smart friend was an advantage.
But, at least that meant that she hadn't told Barbara everything.
The sudden absence of fear and the confusion about her friend's message made her giddy and it was all she could do to not giggle out loud. 'Well, it looks like I'm going shopping,' she thought, shrugging. 'Worse things could happen.'
Dinah opened the door and stepped out of the car. Putting her bag on her shoulder, she waited patiently for Barbara.
"Is Helena coming to dinner?" she asked, trying to change the subject.
"Does she ever miss a dinner when Alfred cooks?" Barbara answered, the lift lowering herself and her chair to the ground. "She's probably already here."
They entered the elevator together and as the doors shut, Barbara asked, "Is anyone giving you a hard time about the fight?"
Dinah started and felt herself pale as the fear washed back over her. Had the assistant principal told her about what happened during the detention? She looked away and shrugged noncommittally. As the elevator doors opened, she felt Barbara's hand on her arm and knew that her guardian was about to say something, so she jumped out to put physical and emotional distance between them.
True to Barbara's prediction, Helena was already waiting at the table. Dinah heard Barbara sigh, but she let go whatever she had been about to say.
"What took you guys so long?" the brunette asked in a tone of irritation that the teen knew was only half teasing.
"You two go ahead and start," Barbara said, ignoring the question. "I'm going to freshen up."
Dinah nodded.
"If you insist," Helena said, smirking.
Barbara wheeled out of the room and Dinah dropped her backpack in the middle of the floor. Then she remembered that it always made Alfred and Barbara mad, so she picked it back up and carried it with her to the table.
"So, kid. You in trouble?" Helena asked.
Dinah started and stared at her friend for a long time before answering. All of the terror came rushing back to her, and her stomach began to get queasy. What if Gabby had told Barbara everything and Barbara and told Helena and they were waiting to double team her?
"For what?" she asked timidly, her voice shaking a little.
"The fight!" Helena said, smiling enthusiastically. "Barbara says that you kicked ass!"
Dinah laughed in relief and raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Well, she said you did very well, and in Barbara talk it means the same thing," Helena clarified.
Dinah nodded; she had to give her that one. She grinned. "You should've seen it. I rocked!"
Helena laughed. "So how much time did you get?" she asked.
"Time?"
"Yeah, how long are you grounded for?" Helena asked, digging in to her meatloaf.
"Uh, actually," Dinah stuttered, "I'm not... I don't think. Barbara says it's a probationary grounding."
"What's that mean?" Helena wondered, cocking her head in confusion.
"I'm not sure," Dinah admitted, putting food on her plate as an excuse to look down. "But she's letting me go shopping with Gabby tomorrow. She says as long as I don't do anything else, it'll all be okay."
"That's so not fair!" Helena whined. "I got tons worse whenever I got into fights! Not only did she ground me, but she made me do katas the whole time instead of regular training."
"They were supposed to teach you control," Barbara said, wheeling back into the room. She maneuvered her chair to the table and made the transfer. "But it's not going to happen again, is it?" she asked Dinah pointedly.
The teen gulped and shook her head. But as she remembered the promise that the football players made to her, she knew she couldn't assure Barbara that it wouldn't. And what about what Helena said? Had Barbara really punished Helena for real? Why didn't Dinah ever have to do katas? Did that mean that she cared about Helena more than herself?
Dinah shook her head at herself ruefully, suddenly aware that she was upset that Barbara hadn't punished her worse. That didn't make any sense. She was a teenager, for crying out loud! And, anyway, the Redmonds had punished her lots worse, and they certainly hadn't loved her more, had they? At least Barbara and Helena didn't seem mad at her.
Unable to reconcile all of the different emotions she was experiencing, she stared at her plate and began pushing the meatloaf with her fork.
Maybe it would be nice to get out of the tower after all.
