Helena sat on the edge of a building, holding her knees against her chest. Her eyes were lost in the bright lights below her. The city was alive, breathing. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, feeling the cold wind across her cheeks.

Shit, she had been so rough with the blonde. She had outdone herself, but it was hard to contain herself when the topic was her mother. Barbara had lectured her so many times about control. Control.

The yoga and Zen thing were a crock. It didn't help her. Lost time. She told the redhead that after she spent more than three months teaching her, but she had insisted.

A good fight worked much better and Barbara knew it. She could intimidate anyone except her. Babs was a good fighter, she couldn't avoid smiling to herself. She was damn good. She had made her sweat.

Barbara.

She disconcerted her many times, her analytical mind was so rigid sometimes that it didn't allow her to understand the feelings of the people. Her mother had quit everything for her. She had talked about it so many times with the redhead, Selina had proved it and helped Barbara solve crimes afterwards.. The own Barbara had told it to her.

It pissed her off that Barbara would think, even for a moment, that her mother had stolen that necklace. But the worst part was that she knew that Barbara was afraid of her too.

Barbara had trained her, taught her… everything she was now was because of Barbara. But she had hesitated. ,She accepted it, she had a dark side, and her character was a bit difficult…

Well, very difficult.

Whatever.

:Helena: the soft voice of her mentor interrupted her thoughts. The brunette sighed. :I know you are listening to me, we need to talk.:

The young crime fighter remained silent.

:I know I hurt you, I'm sorry, I didn't mean your mother…:

"Don't talk about her!" abruptly Helena interrupted her mentor clenching her jaw. It didn't matter that it had been a long time. Talking about like her mother was like touching an open wound that never closed.

:Helena, you are misunderstanding us! And you hurt Dinah! We were thinking about possibilities, we were analyzing facts; there are many unknown things about your mother's past…:

The brunette stood up, abruptly. "You thought it! You thought she stole it! How could you…?" Her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists. The brunette could clearly hear a deep breath, she could almost visualize Barbara touching her nose.

:Helena, calm down…:

"I trusted her, her word, she quit everything for me! And now you are…" The brunette lowered her voice. "She trusted you, Barbara… But I can see you never trusted her… or me…"

Her words disconcerted the red head. :What:

Helena lowered her head and bit her lower lip, a nervous tick that she always had. "You have always been scared of me, that I would be a burglar like her, that my "nature" would drive me to follow in her steps…"

Barbara kept silence; she wasn't lying, but… she had hid it from her, how could she…?

"Alfred told me…" Helena sighed, "about that talk you two had when I was investigating the Animal Gang."

At the Clock Tower, Barbara closed her eyes and covered them with her hand. Her mind traveled months back, she was in the gym, talking with Alfred.

"Honestly ... I think Helena and Reese are going to kill each other." She said to her loyal butler "The more frustrated she gets, the more tempted she is to have a little too much fun in the underworld."

The old man followed her with his gaze "The vigilante working with the policeman? Never an easy alliance. Certainly Master Bruce had his disagreements with your father."

"Ah, you see, Batman and Commissioner Gordon -- that was a team. I just don't know if Helena and Reese are going to be able to work together like that."

"Hmm, their differences are great."

"She's part Batman, but she's part Catwoman as well."

"I've always found it interesting that the woman Master Bruce chose as his greatest love -- that part of him was lured, seduced, by her lawlessness."

"You think it runs in the family?"

"The appeal of life outside the law?... Always." Alfred sighed enigmatically. "She is her father's daughter, after all."

The young crime fighter looked down at the street. The silence at the other side of the line confirmed that Barbara had doubts about her. She put her hands in her pockets and lowered her head. It hurt her, to know that Barbara could think she would fail her. "If you don't trust me… I don't know what are we doing working together." She turned off the mic and jumped off the building.

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"Helena…" The sound of the mic being shut off echoed in her ears. Frustrated, the redhead put her elbows on her desk and covered her face with her hands, "Damn…"

On the upper level, Dinah observed the scene in silence. She felt guilty, she hadn't heard her mentor. Everything had been her fault. She lowered her head and walked toward the elevator without Barbara noticing.

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The brunette lay on her back with her arms crossed behind her head, looking at the stars. She couldn't sleep, that discussion about her mother with Barbara had put her in a bad mood, not that she slept much at night anyway.

Barbara knew her better than anyone. She sat on the cornice, her mind went back months ago. She was digging in the back of the lower cabinet looking for a pop-tart. Barbara appeared in her robe, suddenly, turning on the lights.

"What are you doing?" Barbara asked, glaring at her.

"Looking for a pop-tart. What are you doing up?" She turned to keep looking inside the cabinet.

"I thought you said you'd be here for dinner."

"I had to go blow off some steam, so I went out with the guys."

"The "guys" ..." Barbara sighed, "as in the criminals we're in the middle of pursuing and trying to put away."

"Yeah, them." Helena found the box of pop tarts and stood up. "I found something out. Something serious. There's a big boss taking all the profits from the animal gang. They're just foot soldiers. Sound familiar?"

"Do you think this could be the woman that we've been looking for?"

"Seems like a real possibility." The brunette walked over to the refrigerator, "... cash-heavy crimes, mysterious unseen boss, big and conveniently vague master plan." She opened a bottle of milk. "It's got to be her." She took a sip of the milk.

"Do you think the gang could lead us to her?" the redhead frowned.

"Yeah, I do, so I lied to Reese. Didn't tell him about the next target. I mean, if he arrests them now, then we lose our chance to follow them to the boss."

Barbara didn't appear to like the plan, "…And you think that's a good idea."

"What's the big deal?"

"So it takes the man a little bit longer to get arrested."

"They're not all that dangerous," Helena explained.

"And you're basing this on, what? How much fun they are to party with?" Barbara said, unable to hide her annoyance.

"They're harmless. All they do is steal from rich people that blow their money on raw fish. No one gets hurt."

"You're defending them."

"We're not that different. We all live outside the law. At least they have fun. And Reese makes everything so dire. Why does crime-fighting have to be so serious?"

"It's not serious. I mean -- I mean, it is serious, but it's not –"the red head muttered, trying to explain herself.

Helena sighed. The last words of Barbara echoed inside her head, "You're defending them." Was Barbara thinking really she could…?

"Helena…"

"Shit!" The brunette jumped in her place and turned, crouching over the edge. She was so lost in her thoughts that she had been caught.

Dinah was standing there.

"Damn." The brunette growled lowering her head, pissed that she'd been surprised.

"I didn't mean to…"

"What are you doing here?" Helena glared at her.

"I was looking for you."

The brunette crossed her arms and raised her brow, "Barbara sent you? I don't wanna talk."

Dinah walked toward her "No…" She showed her neck, "No comms."

"What do you want?"

"I feel bad because I caused a fight between you two, it wasn't her fault. I was the one..." Dinah noticed Helena's eyes change to feral. The young woman jumped on her. "No, Hel…"