The next day Helena and her duffle bag (acquired through means she doubted her father would approve of at any point in his life) were safely ensconced in a quiet apartment that gave her a good eye on the city. She'd been unable to fix the stone, but surely it couldn't have been the only piece of…whatever it was…that existed. She just hoped it wasn't alien.

At any rate, sneaking into Wayne Enterprises had to be easier now than it would be in the future. If she could hack into the tech division's computers, she figured she might be able to find something about the mysterious stone.

She knew the ins and outs of the place—the building's layout hadn't changed much over the years—but she had needed to ascertain current security, which warranted a closer look. She'd gotten herself some supplies to disguise herself enough to get in. She hadn't been sure how much she should change her appearance. Sure, she resembled both her parents, but even in Gotham, it wasn't like people were going around expecting to bump into their future offspring.

Still, sneaking in required some sort of physical alteration—straightened hair, a change in makeup—the little things always added up, and she hadn't planned on being memorable anyway. Very few people noticed the staff, especially the janitorial staff. At least, Bruce Wayne wouldn't have noticed her had she not spilled cleaner on the floor the moment she'd seen him in the hallway.

"Are you all right?" He'd asked, putting hand on her arm and helping her up after she'd knelt to the grown to pick up her mop. "Here let me—"

"Oh, no, I'm fine," she'd said quickly, glancing up at the two men he had been walking with, both with official-looking name tags and serious faces. She didn't recognize them, so they were certainly long gone from the company by the time she would walk these halls. "There's no need, really, Mr. Wayne. I'm sorry." She'd hoped her nervousness had come off as that of a lowly underling suddenly noticed by the king, and not anything suspicious. She glanced up at him, and as soon as he saw her eyes she noticed a strange flicker in his own- half confusion, half recognition.

"Do I know you?" He took a small step back. "I'm sorry, you just look a little familiar."

"Oh, I get that all the time." Helena said, gathering her emotions. "I just…have one of those kinds of faces, I guess." She shrugged, her arms full of cleaning supplies.

"Well, I'll leave you to it." He gave a small smile and a nod of the head before leaving.

Idiot, Idiot, Idiot, she told herself. Not only was speaking to her father in general a Bad Thing, but now he was certain to remember her face.

Helena unscrewed the electric lock outside the back door of the building and with a few alterations to the wires, got it open. There was only one camera down this hall, but it wasn't as effective as the ones in the future—she could easily bypass it simply by sliding underneath it, her back to the wall. She peeked around to the security office, where two men were watching the security cams. They didn't seem particularly enthralled. Normally, Helena would have had Barbara or Tim to help freeze the video screens, but she was on her own with this one, without any of the equipment she would need to do it on her own. Heck, half the technology she was accustomed to using didn't even exist yet. She rolled the small homemade gas grenade she'd made earlier into the room and shut the door. She heard a yell, and then silence. It would only knock them out for a couple of hours, but she figured it would be enough time get to the tech division and back.

Making her way through the halls and up to the higher levels of the building, she was almost worried at the lack of obstacles. Her dad really needed better security in this place.

It took only moments to find her way to the nearest computer in her dad's office (Was it her dad's yet? Well, it would be one day. She'd hidden under the desk enough times to know) and plug in the flashdrive she'd brought with her from the future. It was compatible with older systems, but it made it easier for her to hack into even the most secure servers. This dated computer security was a breeze. She bit her lip and glanced behind her as the info downloaded. As soon as it was completed, she leapt from the chair and was about to leave the room when she heard voices. She dropped to the ground as two security guards walked by, chatting softly. They were heading to the direction of the office she'd gassed. It was maybe a minute until they'd sound the alarm, and she did not need the GCPD on her back. As soon as the men were out of sight, she slipped out of the room and off to the service stairwell. Getting out of the building from the roof had always been her first choice. She climbed onto the roof and got out her grappling hook from her bag.

"What are you doing?"

Helena spun in time to see a dark figure a few feet away from her on the roof. He was slight, maybe only a few inches taller than she was, and dressed in all black. A mask covered his face. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought—

"What were you doing in Wayne Enterprises?" He asked, taking a step closer.

She stuffed the grappling hook back into her bag and ran. Helena glanced back, wondering if he was keeping up. Taking a deep breath, she leapt across from the roof and caught the edge of the fire escape on the next building. Pulling herself up, she climbed down the flimsy ladder and leapt to the ground. She looked upward, but instead of jumping after her, he'd somehow already made it to the bottom of the building. How did he even-? She didn't stop to wonder. She just ran.

He was able to keep up. Darn it. Though Helena had no doubt she could take the kid in a fight, she didn't want to. She was nervous. Please don't be him, she thought, even as she knew it was. emPlease don't be him./em She glanced behind and didn't see him. She turned a corner and ran smack-dab into a hard body. Caught off guard, she fell to the ground. His fingers had caught up the edge of her ski mask, and the force of her fall assisted her pursuer in flipping it up, exposing her face. Her hair was loose now. She flipped her head up to get it out of her eyes.

"You," he said. "You were here earlier today."

She held up her hands as she rose from the ground. "I don't want to hurt you."

"What were you doing in Wayne Enterprises?"

"What's it to you?"

"You're breaking and entering."

"I'm not a criminal," Helena said. "Well, not usually." She sighed. "Look, I didn't take anything. I just needed to check something out. Just let me go, and there won't be any trouble."

"Who are you working for? Penguin? Barbara Kean?" His eyes darkened. "Jerome?"

"What? No! I'm not working for anybody."

"Then you can tell me what you're doing."

"If you don't ask me what I'm doing, then I won't ask what you're doing, Mr. Wayne."

He stiffened.

"You can take off the mask. I know it's you. Who else would be stupid enough to run around after dark apprehending criminals?" She mumbled the last sentence so he couldn't hear it.

He pulled off his mask and Helena could see his face in the orange glow of the streetlight. He looked so impossibly young. A lot like Damian, she thought. She could see traces of the father she knew, but it was more like meeting a completely different person. He seemed so much smaller. This wasn't the man who had read her every book of The Chronicles of Narnia every night before bed, or the man who taught her how to throw a punch but also bribed her into watching old black-and-white movies with him until she learned to love them like he did.

"Having a problem, B?"

Both Bruce and Helena's gaze shot up to see a leather-clad figure perched on a windowsill a few feet above their heads.

"Not now, Selina," Bruce said, turning back to Helena. "She was sneaking into Wayne Enterprises."

"Out of," Helena corrected. "You caught me sneaking out of the building. There's a difference. Maybe I just…napped in a corner during my break and forgot to leave." She shrugged. "It happens."

"She's the girl who stopped the robbery yesterday, so I doubt she's a hardened criminal." Selina hopped to the ground and glanced at Helena. "I mean, that's what I'm assuming. You match the description." At Helena's look, she pointed to the weapon on Helena's back. "Crossbow. If you're trying to be discreet, maybe pick a more subtle weapon."

"Was that you?" Bruce asked.

Helena shrugged, trying to show nonchalance. "I was bored. Seemed a good way to pass the time."

"If you're catching criminals, then why are you dressed like a burglar and breaking into secure facilities?" Bruce asked.

"Really?" Selina took a step closer to him as she looked him up and down. "You're the one asking this?"

"This is my family's company, Selina. I'm only trying to protect it."

They stared each other down.

Helena folded her arms. "Gosh. Just kiss already."

Both of them turned to glare at her, and it was so ridiculously and incongruously parental that Helena almost smiled.

Almost.

"Interrogate her, fine. But don't bring the police into this." Selina said, turning to face Bruce.

"I wasn't planning to. But—" Bruce began, turning to confront Helena.

But Helena was already gone. The breaking in? That was all her mother. But the disappearing into thin air? Dad had taught her that.

*I know that at this point Bruce hasn't seemed to be engaging in his vigilante activities lately, but it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up.