"I'm not saying 'yes' Helena. I'm just trying hard not to get mad at you for nagging me about it." Barbara decided it wouldn't hurt to do a little arm strengthening to prepare her for the trip to see Wade.

"Five…six…seven…Come on, three more Barbara. I guess I'm just confused. I thought you'd be thrilled when you found out Wade was alive."

Helena's words rang true and loudly in Barbara's head. "Don't get me wrong. I am. It's just overwhelming I guess. It's like I have to grasp it in a certain way and I just haven't found that way."

"That's probably the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Especially coming from you. If it were you and I had spent days mourning your death, which, by the way, I would, then I find out your alive… I would… I would be…" Now, as it came out of her mouth, Helena distantly understood.

"See." Barbara was making progress, both physically and otherwise actually.

"No. You are still wrong. I would run down to the hospital and throw my arms around you. Nothing could stop me."

"I bullet in your spine might slow you down a bit." Barbara tossed herself into her chair, wiped her face, stared Helena down, and then moved to the next machine.

"So, we are back to that…"

"Yah. The thing is Helena; I never get to leave 'that'!" She was still surprisingly calm as they argued back and forth using strenuous exercise to prolong the agony.

"You know what I mean. We are back to you not wanting to see Wade because you can't walk. It's not like you guys met on the internet and he doesn't know you are paralyzed Barbara."

"I know. It's just that we never really crossed that bridge. It's always been the elephant in the room I guess. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's been sweet about it. You know, his whole commenting on my hair and personality. It's just like with Dick. Things were never the same after I was shot because we never talked about it. I never talked about it."

"You and I never talk about it. Well, not until recently and it has never driven a wedge between us." Again, as the words exited her mouth, Helena began to see that Barbara was right.

"If we hadn't been forced to address my, 'limitations' recently, we wouldn't be having this talk and you know it. And one of us would more than likely be yelling right now. You up for giving me a couple tries on the bars?"

"If you are. So, you're just not going to see him?"

"Not now. Just not now. I at least want to have back what I did before. I want to use these." Barbara reached for the leg braces that were against the wall and threw them at Helena.

"To see Wade? You can't…"

"Now Helena. I want to do the bars with them. It helps me focus on my arms. Are you going to continue to inundate me with questions or can we just finish this tortuous work out?"

"Oh. Sorry." Helena bent down and helped Barbara secure her legs in the braces all the while feeling like something fishy was going on. First Barbara was being really open about her legs. Then she was voluntarily using the braces and working out on the bars. It didn't make sense. Then again, the way Barbara's moods were changing lately; it could just be a passing thing. Still, living with Barbara for seven years gave her reason to tuck this moment away for the puzzle that was shaping up.

The girls finished their workout, each wondering what the other was thinking. It had been a strange morning. Calm, deep, arduous. Had they moved forward or backward? Neither was sure, but Barbara was sure she'd successfully pushed Helena off the transponder snooping trail. Helena was sure Barbara was up to something and she was pretty sure it had to do with the transponder, but she'd give it time to make more sense.

…

"Mr. Brixton?" The nurse, expecting to see a weak and severely injured Wade lying still in bed catching up on his much-needed rest, was startled at the empty bed she now stood staring at. She rushed over and pulled up his chart to check and see if he had been released. He had not. Trying to keep her cool, she walked quickly to the nurse's station and asked if anyone had seen him. "He was here this morning."

"He checked himself out Shelly. Just about an hour ago. He wasn't ready, but we need the bed and…"

"You let him go? GCPD has been keeping tabs on him. I think he's a close friend of that detective that keeps coming in. If we hear it for this, it's your ass, not mine. I can't believe you let him leave!" Shelly was perhaps one of over a hundred nurses that had actually taken an interest in keeping an orderly hospital despite the chaos and desperate need for beds and supplies since the city had fallen under Harley Quinn's control temporarily weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Wade slowly walked toward the Clocktower, his mind made up that he would find Barbara waiting there for him. As he walked, people stared at his bloody shirt and sunken face. He was starving. His mind wandered through his short-lived relationship with Barbara as more and more details made their way back into his heart and mind.

My girlfriend, who I thought was a mild-mannered school teacher, is really a high-tech crime fighter and headquarters are behind the New Gotham Clocktower.

"Maybe I was too hard on her. Did we end up o.k.?" His mind was torn. He knew he loved Barbara, but was revisiting the instance when he first found out that everything he knew about her was a lie. Still, his mind was made up. She was worth it and he was going to see her again whether or not she wanted him back.

The same feelings were attacking Barbara as she, once again, readied herself to use the transponder. She put on her favorite jeans and green sweater, then carefully positioned the transponder and hid it under her oversized leather belt. "Now the hard part." Barbara took a deep breath and made her wade to the kitchen to convince Alfred she was taking the car to the hospital to see Wade.

"Alfred? I don't want you to make a big deal about this o.k.?" She chose to play the out of character card.

"I will do my best Ms. Barbara." He stopped what he was doing and made eye contact.

"How do I look? I mean really. None of your 'telling me what I want to hear British smooth talk'." She flipped her hair and smoothed the lipstick between her lips completely playing her role.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Reaching into the pocket of his overcoat, he pulled out a set of keys. "You look beautiful Ms. Barbara. I'm glad you are doing this. You have come so far in the last few weeks." He tossed her the keys.

Surprisingly, she threw her arms up, both quickly and accurately, to catch the keys. "Doing what Alfred?" She allowed a sarcastic smile to pass over her face.

"Tell Mr. Brixton I said hello and will be expecting him for dinner as soon as he feels up to it."

Barbara went with it. That was too easy. She thought. "You know me too well Alfred. Thanks."

"Do you need help into the … "

"No. I'm fine. That much I can do on my own. I hope." She laughed as she noted the worried look on Alfred's face as she left the room.

Once she was on the elevator, Alfred sighed and shook his head, "I hope you know what you are doing Ms. Barbara. Your body can only take so much." Still he knew he couldn't justify standing in her way.

…

"Man. These pills are killing me." Making sure her chair was secure; she stood up and got into the driver's seat. "It's certainly a lot easier that way." She took a deep breath and popped the wheels off her chair and placed them on the floor of the passenger side then, using the electric lever on the side of the black leather seat, she leaned back far enough to pull the rest of the chair across her lap to the seat beside her. "Reason 412 I hate this stupid chair. That experience makes walking seem like a piece of cake." The door closed, she was on her way to the hospital just as determined as Wade.