thanks for the reviews. i'm sorry about the cliffhangers, i hate reading them too but i just can't resist. :)

Chapter 3

Helena struggled to maintain her composure as she walked away from Vic. The overgrown toddler known as Yuri seemed to have five hands and he was running them all over her. She fought the urge to kick him where it would really hurt. She knew she couldn't, of course. Yuri was the son of an incredibly important Russian minister and Helena was his glorified baby sitter. His life was in peril as long as he was in the United States. Various political activist groups wanted him dead and had started sending death threats every day. If Yuri was killed on American soil his father could, and would, declare war. The Justice League had sent Flash and Booster Gold to be bodyguards (much to Flash's chagrin: 'Babysitting!') but they had been promptly rejected by Yuri. He thought having security was weak and weaknesses would drive away the women. A more subtle plan was then formulated. A female member of the Justice League would hang around Yuri and pretend to be a civilian, rather than a bodyguard. Yuri would have no idea he had security and he would be safe. The plan was deemed foolproof and Wonder Woman volunteered to take on the mission.

Within hours, the League soon saw the gaping hole in their plan. Yuri's main objective in life seemed to be to sleep with everything that had an X chromosome. Calling his behaviour towards women degrading would've been the understatement of the decade. This didn't bode well with an Amazonian princess who'd been brought up to view men as scum. She lasted two days before she'd snapped after Yuri had called her a 'hot chick' and slapped her butt. Superman had had to be called in to restrain her. Black Canary's stint as courter/bodyguard had ended similarly; Yuri now had a constant, inexplicable ringing in his ears. Vixen had refused outright to take part in the mission after hearing about Yuri's behaviour towards women. Shayera's wings made her too distinctive to go undercover. During Zatanna's brief period of body guarding, Yuri's eyes had been glued to her legs for two days and she'd blown her cover after Yuri's hand crawled too high. Her magic had exploded out of her, sending out of control spells in all directions. It had taken a mammoth effort from all the magical members of the League to reverse the spells and Zatanna had been taken off the mission. So far Huntress had lasted four days on the job, which was practically a world record considering Black Canary had snapped six hours after meeting Yuri. Helena could put up with his slimy hands, and his grimy leer, even his constantly garlic flavoured breath; it was nothing she wasn't used to from her nightly patrols. But the look on Vic's face when he saw her with Yuri had just about broken her heart.

I'm sorry you had to see that. Room 159 at Hilton Gotham. I'll explain everything.

The note had been scrawled on the back of a brochure in what appeared to be eyeliner. Vic turned on his heel and stalked out of the ballroom. The article he had to write was completely forgotten. He had some hacking to do...

Three hours later Vic knew every detail about Helena's mission (thank you hacking into Batman's private files) and everything about Yuri Aleksandrov (thank you hacking into a top secret Russian military database). By his calculations the mixer party would end at 11:30 pm, leaving him an hour and a half to burn. He was more relaxed now; he was fully up to speed and in control. He pondered whether to stay at Helena's apartment or go back to the party. He sighed. Opening a new Word document, he started writing an exceedingly dry article about the mixer party. He made sure to refer to Yuri only as the 'spoilt, womanising brat with garlic breath and greasy hair'.

Helena was near breaking point. Three hours of listening to pompous old men talk about politics while Yuri touched and groped and kissed her. If that man called her Val-Val one more time she would—

'Val-Val,' he cooed, 'Give me a kiss.'

Helena gritted her teeth and contorted her face into what she hoped was a smile. He smiled too and put his mouth on hers. It was beyond disgusting, did this guy eat garlic with every meal or something? Helena clamped her hands firmly on his face and removed it. Garlic aftertaste; the things she did for the League...

'Yuri, I thought told you to get breath mints.' She tried to keep her voice light and playful but from the look on his face, he was hurt. God, she thought, he looks like a kid who's had his candy taken away.

'Fine,' he said sullenly, walking away.

Helena sighed. She knew she would have to go running after him like a needy, clingy stupid little bimbo. She couldn't flush four days of hard work down the drain. He was completely infatuated with her. Whether it was desire to get into her pants or love, she couldn't be sure, but Helena was counting the days until he went back to Russia.

hope this was long enough for you guy ;) keep reviewing, im not sure where i'll take this. any suggestions?