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"Oh my God." Alfred exclaimed, not hiding his surprise when he noticed Helena's bruised nose and eye. "What happened to you?"
"Don't ask," the brunette grumbled, annoyed, lying on a small sofa in her living room.
"Someone kicked your ass last night, I see." He closed the door behind him and walked toward the table with several bags full of groceries.
"Not funny, Alfred," Helena responded, covering her face with a small bag of ice. "What are you doing here? It's Monday, not Wednesday."
Helena couldn't get the image of Batgirl standing in front of her with that costume out of her mind. She looked like a warrior, so confident, so proud. She couldn't deny it, she was attracted to her strong personality. She had never met someone like her and she wouldn't deny that Batgirl had a great body, too.
"I had a free day today so I chose to come today instead of Wednesday." Alfred took out a steak from one of his bags and he extended it to her.
"What's that?" she said, looking out of the corner of her eye.
"Put it on your eye. I knew this would happen sooner or later. I'm glad I came today."
Sometimes she hated him when he had that know it all attitude. She took the beef and rested it carefully over her nose and eye.
"It was Batgirl, right?" he asked.
"How do you know?"
"You are annoyed," he answered with a calm voice. "It means you couldn't hit the person that did this to you. So, it must be Batgirl. She is skilled enough to hit you right in your face and not be killed."
"You are smiling." She groaned, feeling her head throbbing.
"No, I'm just happy that you survived her." He put some cans in the cabinet. "She usually beats people that annoy her pretty bad. What did you do this time?"
"I didn't do anything." She sat up on the couch.
"You always say that."
"Hey, are you on my side or not?" she growled at him.
"Considering I know you both," he walked over to her and gave her two pills and a glass of water, "I want to be fair in my judgment. Take this. It will help you with the headache."
"What judgment?" she sat slowly and took the pills.
"You are asking me questions and I am trying to offer you advice."
"You say she just beats people that annoy her." Helena swallowed the pills and some water. "What if she annoyed me first? Did you consider that?"
"I find it hard to believe, knowing you. And I know you much better than her."
"What?" She glared at him. He was supposed to be her friend.
"Batgirl is a fair person, I know her as a hero. She never lies or attacks people for no reason."
"Me neither, people usually piss me off first." She gave him the glass of water empty.
"And it's usually very easy to do," he said in amusement, taking the glass to the counter.
"I don't want to talk about this." Helena turned her head and winced.
She was not going to discuss this with him. He thought he always knew everything. She was in a bad mood, sure, but this time Batgirl had started the fight. Shit. She was going to need another steak. This one would thaw very soon. She looked for her makeup mirror she had on the table and opened it to look at her face in the mirror.
Shit, she would need a lot of makeup. Her face was swollen and she had black rings under her eyes. She wanted to kill that woman.
"I suppose, then," Alfred said, turning to look at the brunette, "she was right to hit you."
"What?" The brunette couldn't believe what she was hearing, She sat up, wincing again, feeling a sharp pain in her head.
"If you were right," he said walking to her, "you would surely defend your point of view."
"She said she could kick my ass." Helena closed her eyes, with the steak still on her face.
"See? She doesn't lie. She did it."
The girl lowered the beef and glared at him. "Are you my friend or are you an impostor pretending be my Alfred?"
"She did it, no?" He pointed at his own nose.
"She was lucky last night."
"Oohh, I see."
"Is she meta, Alfred?"
"No, she is human."
"How can she fight like that? I didn't see her." The brunette still couldn't understand what had happened.
"I told you to be careful. She is very skilled, but you didn't listen to me."
"She impressed me."
Alfred lifted his brow. He had never heard her say that she admired someone.
"She is incredible," the brunette continued. "She moves like lightening and she looks so controlled. She doesn't show fear; I yelled at her, I shouted at her, I threatened her, and she didn't blink. It was as if I was just a fly. She talked to me as if I was just a spoiled child!"
"And it didn't piss you off? That's amazing."
"Of course she pissed me off. That was when the fight started." She looked at him. "Are you really sure she is not meta?"
"Maybe you should be more prudent and talk to her. In my opinion, you are committing a big mistake by fighting against a legend such as Batgirl."
"She is fucking annoying."
"And you are pretty impatient and disagreeable."
He was impossible today. It was a shame she was not in the mood to argue. Helena leaned back slowly against the couch. It was a lucky he was there. She doubted she'd be able to move today.
"Maybe I can find more about her by checking in my father's computer."
That was not good,. He stood up in front of her, crossing his hands behind his back. "Could be. But computers are not your strongest area."
"Can't be too difficult. Any kid can handle a computer." She waved her hand.
"You said it, a kid." Alfred said, walking to the fridge "She is very skillful, she is smart, she has more than ten years of experience fighting on the streets. This is just your sophomore year, Miss Helena. Why don't you try talking with her?"
"I tried, but she is so difficult! She is always mocking me! I feel she just uses me to have fun."
"That sounds bad. I don't think she can do that." He took another piece of beef from the fridge.
"You said you didn't know her," Helena grumbled from the couch.
"I said I don't know her secret identity. But I know her as a crime fighter, and I'm sure you will learn a lot from her and improve your skills."
Helena sighed and removed the steak from her face.
"How do I look?" she asked.
"Do you really want to know my answer?" he responded, offering her a second cold steak.
"No." She switched the steaks and put the new one on her face as she rested her head on the couch, closing her eyes. She hated to admit it, but it was really lucky he had arrived. She didn't want to move for a long time.
Alfred smiled and walked back to the kitchen.
"Barbara offered to train me."
"Miss Barbara?" He feigned surprise and turned to look at her. It was hard not to laugh, looking at her lying on that couch. She was a spoiled girl, that one. For the first time in many years, someone had finally taught her a lesson. "Why?"
"She saw me fight at the bar the other night. She says I'm good, but that I need technique."
"She really is skilled in martial arts. It's a sport she loves." Alfred rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.
"Where does she work, Alfred?"
"The Foundation's offices are in the Clock Tower, on one of the middles floors."
She kept silent a few seconds. ""I never thought she would be into martial arts. She seems so focused on the foundation."
"I saw her in some tournaments and she was very good. You should accept her offer."
"No. She started to give me some advice and I left her at the table. I don't need any advice. I don't need anything from her."
"You always say that." Some days, he really wished he could spank her. He picked up a broom from the cabinet. "Your denial just means you are just trying to convince yourself that you are right."
"Are now you are analyzing me?"
"No," he said gently, "I'm trying to provide information not known by you, which would help you make the correct decisions that you always make when you have the proper information."
"English, please." She raised her left hand.
"You are committing a big mistake by fighting Batgirl. She has always risked her life to fight against crime and violence. Your goal is supposed to be the same -- maybe different techniques, but not different goals." He said looking at her, "Then, Barbara offered, very nicely, to help you and you reacted like a cavewoman, as you always do with people that want to help you. You have a strange tendency to push away all the people that try to be nice to you. In simple words, you are really pig headed."
"What?" Helena lifted her head looking him, astonished.
She couldn't believe it. He had just called her pig headed. How could he….?
"But you are smart, Miss Helena." He continued and smiled, "I know that soon, you will go to Barbara and rectify the situation. Accepting our own limitations makes us wiser. And you are very wise. Impressive for someone of your age." He walked toward her room. "Now, if you excuse me, I have work to do."
"How do you do that -- support me and undermine me, all in less than twenty seconds?"
"It's a British thing." He smirked, disappearing behind the door.
Helena rolled her eyes and leaned her head again on the couch. Well, that was further confirmation that it was not good to argue with him.
She didn't know how, but he always won.
Barbara paced nervously in her office. She played with a pencil between her fingers. She was worried; she had been very rough with Helena the night before. She didn't want to beat her so hard, but she had been so aggressive. She couldn't find another way to stop her. She had seen her fight before -- she was half-meta, faster, stronger, lethal. Not an easy adversary. The most dangerous part was that she didn't know her own strength and could easily kill someone without thinking. Her anger and ego were too great.
She lifted her hand and chewed a nail.
She had taken her to the top of a building to avoid the police finding her. She had tried to wake her up, but she was knocked.
Afterwards, she had kept a close vigil from an adjacent building until she woke, just to be sure she could get home safely. Helena was a big child.
Early that morning, she had called Alfred and requested he keep an eye on Helena by giving her any excuse he could think of, knowing the girl was hurt and she would not be able to do anything.
The phone rang, she picked it up, not giving it time to ring a second time.
"Barbara Gordon…"
She felt the air coming back to her lungs when she heard Alfred's voice at the other end of the line.
"Thank God, Alfred," she hurried to say. "How is she?"
:Oh, she will survive.: Alfred replied, amused.
"I'm serious, Alfred." She brushed her hair back.
:Well, you really gave her a thorough beating.: he explained :You hit hard.:
"I didn't want to do it." Barbara said, covering her eyes with her hand, feeling ashamed. "Really I didn't want to. She pushed me."
:You don't need to tell me, Miss Barbara. I know her, she is very impulsive.:
The redhead stood up in front of one of the windows and looked at the city below.
"Is she badly hurt?"
:Her face is very bruised and swollen, but don't worry, she heals quickly thanks to her meta-genes. She will be fine in a couple of days.:
"I didn't want to hurt her, but she turned very aggressive. She is strong, but doesn't think. Is she angry?"
:Not angry. Pissed. Mostly because she will need extra makeup and the kind she uses is very expensive.:
The redhead covered her face, "I screwed up everything, Alfred. I tried to get close and I failed again."
"Well, let me tell you, she doesn't make socializing easy. But let me tell you something good, she is impressed with Batgirl."
"What?" Barbara couldn't believe what she was hearing.
:Batgirl impressed her with her fighting skills and her controlled temperament. She said she has never met anyone like her. I think that she is intrigued with her. She told me she was thinking about looking for information about her on her father's computer.:
"Thanks. I'll connect to Delphi and delete all my info, just leaving what I want her to see." It was lucky she had installed her crime fighting lab at the top of the Clock Tower. Bruce had given her the penthouse and the top of the building, where the Clock Tower was, she had built a complete laboratory with a sophisticated computer system that she called Delphi. She helped the Justice League and other heroes, like Dick and Superman, to fight against crime. She could hack any system or computer.
:I'm sure she does not want to be beaten by Batgirl again, so…: Alfred pointed :I'm sure she is now reconsidering the offer that Barbara Gordon made to her a few nights ago.:
"Do you mean…? Do you think she will let me train her?"
:Miss Helena doesn't like to listen, but she hates to lose even more. So, I'm sure she will suck up her pride and ask you to train her before letting Batgirl kick her ass again.:
"Ass?" she smiled "You never say that."
:If you could see her now, you would agree that there is no other way to describe the beating you gave her.:
"Maybe I should visit her again."
:I'm sure she will come to you.:
"How do you know?"
:She asked me where you work. She never asks anything, if she is not thinking of doing something.:
"So… your advice is…?"
:Give her a couple of days. I'm sure she will surprise you in your office soon.:
She bit her lower lip. "All right, I'll wait a few days.
:How is it possible that she didn't recognize you?: the old man asked.
"Well, Batgirl is very different from me and… she is pissed with her for challenging her. I've never tried to challenge her. I also used a bit of gasoline before going out. I cleaned my armor with it because I didn't want to risk her recognizing my scent. I know she has a pretty good sense of smell." She laughed lightly. "And I was right. You should have seen her face when she stepped close to me and smelled breathed in the gas fumes."
:That was smart.:
"Where is she now?"
:Snoring like a bear on her bed. I gave her the pills as you instructed and she fell deeply asleep.:
"They will help her with the pain. Take care of her please."
:Be sure of it.:
"See you later, Alfred. And…. Alfred?"
:Yes, madam?:
"Thanks."
The redhead signed the last of the papers on her desk and removed her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose. Sometimes this was really boring. She stared out the window, her thoughts flew to Helena. She wondered how she could help her. She wanted to do something for her, but the girl had built an impenetrable brick wall between them. She had tried for years to break it, unsuccessfully.
Alfred said he thought Helena would make contact, but it had been almost fifteen days and the young woman hadn't called or looked for her.
Barbara was afraid she would be hurt fighting, she was so impulsive.
She checked her watch, it was late, she had promised to go to the orphanage. The phone at her desk rang; she turned her chair around and used her pen to press a button and answer the call.
"Yes, Mandy?"
:Helena Kyle is here. She says you asked her to come here."
Barbara smiled, Helena had never wanted change her last name, she was very proud of it. "Sure, let her in." She stood up, arranging her dress.
Mandy opened the door and Helena walked inside. She was wearing tight jeans, a white, sleeveless blouse and had a big blue bag over her shoulder. She looked around curiously.
"Welcome, Helena," Barbara said, walking toward her. "I'm glad you came to visit me."
The brunette put her hand inside her pocket, looking around. "Nice place."
"Want something to drink?" Mandy asked the brunette.
"No, thanks. I'm fine," Helena replied.
Mandy exited the room as the brunette whistled, examining a painting on the wall.
"You like that?" Barbara asked.
"Joan Miró, right?" the brunette said, pointing at it.
"Right. You know about art." Barbara crossed her arms and stood next to her, very close.
"She liked art." Helena walked, almost immediately, to her right to look at another paint, not hiding the hint of sadness in her face. "She liked to take me to museums on weekends."
"Yes, your mother loved art. She had good taste." Barbara observed the younger woman. She had noticed Helena didn't like to touch or be touched. Since the redhead had returned to New Gotham, Helena had avoided any kind of physical contact with her, even a handshake, with the exception of the hug that first day. She wondered what was in the brunette's mind, how hurt she was after her mother's dead. She had definitely been deeply affected by it, but it seemed she didn't want to admit it or ask for help in dealing.
"I see you like modern art." Helena leaned over the painting in front of her. "You have good taste in art."
"I like any art expression. Look at this." She waved her hand to the opposite wall and touched the brunette's arm. Immediately, the young woman flinched.
Yes, she definitely didn't like to be touched, but Barbara had seen that some of her friends touched her at parties. She also noticed that the younger woman avoided talking about herself and rejected everyone that had been close to her; maybe she was trying to be distant from people that reminded her of her mother.
"This must have cost a fortune. It's Picasso." the girl noted.
"Yes, a lot, but it's Foundation property." Barbara smiled crossing her arms. "We often open expositions around the country and invite school students for free."
Helena narrowed her eyes. "Who chooses what to buy?"
"Me, most of the time," Barbara explained. "We try to buy art that has a special meaning, that gives a new vision of life or that could be valuable."
Helena nodded walking around the room. "Good investment and, as I said, you have great taste in art."
"Thank you." Barbara rested her hip on her desk. "I'm glad you finally accepted my invitation to visit us."
"Well, I came to visit you, not the foundation." The brunette observed her. She usually avoided looking at the redhead. In fact, she had been trying to avoid having any contact with her after she had abandoned her.
"To visit me? Well, thanks, that's a nice surprise."
Helena walked toward her and stood a few steps away, fixing blue eyes on green. She was a person who was ruled by her senses. If what she saw looked fine, smelled good and felt nice, she could go forward.
Barbara was good looking. In fact, she was attractive. The brunette couldn't resist her curiosity and lifted her hand to touch the fabric of Barbara's blouse, brushing the skin of her hip. She was soft, too.
"Nice fabric," she said.
"Thanks," Barbara responded, not knowing what to think. Helena wasn't a person that she could read…. But maybe she could take advantage of her five minutes of good mood. "I would like you to come with me."
"Come with you? Where?"
"To visit the place I want you to see," the red head explained. "I'll explain on our way."
The brunette looked at her, thinking. She still didn't know why she's ended up here. Barbara had said she would teach her to improve her fighting skills, but asking her for help would be like say she needed her and her pride was really strong. She knew Barbara knew she was hesitating, when she heard her next question.
"Do you distrust everything and everyone?"
"Just on weekdays and weekends." Helena smirked.
"I was thinking that." Barbara picked up her handbag and opened the door. "So it's my lucky day. You can come with me. Today is holiday and doesn't count as a normal weekday or weekend."
Well, that was a clever answer. The brunette followed her. "Where are we going?"
"You will see. On our way, you can ask me anything you want." Barbara walked toward the elevator.
"How do you know I want to ask you anything."
"You are not here on a social call, I know you." Barbara pressed the elevator button.
"It's good to interact sometimes with my dad's employees, don't you think?"
Well, it seemed Helena's good mood had been short lived. Helena loved to piss people off to show she was in control, but she was stepping in a wrong field. Her field.
"Yes, that's exactly why I wanted you to come here. It's good that you learn to interact, as well, with people that are here just to help other people. Volunteers that never ask for a penny to make children happy."
Barbara stepped inside the elevator. The brunette walked behind her.
"Are you implying that you work for free?" she asked. "And what do you do make money?"
"I'm not implying, I'm saying it, I work here for free and I try to convince investors to give us donations." Barbara pressed the button to send the elevator to the parking garage. "Maybe you don't know, but this foundation runs sixty percent on external resources. I work in the mornings at new Gotham High School and, on my free days or holidays, I work here. All day."
"I always thought you were my employee."
"You thought wrong. I work here to help your dad and help children."
"Why were you in the bar the other day?"
"We need your help."
The brunette nodded and waved a finger on the air. "Oh, I see. Just clarify for me… is it "we" need my help or "you" need my help?"
"Your foundation needs your help."
"My foundation?" Helena asked in a loud voice.
The elevator doors opened.
"Everything that is Bruce's, is yours too. You are his heir." Barbara walked toward a black motorcycle close the elevator. She took a helmet and turned, throwing it to the brunette.
"I'm not his heir," Helena said. "Maybe you don't know, but I have issues with my father and I renounced his fortune."
Barbara put the helmet on her head. "Did you give legal notice to an attorney?"
"Of course not." The brunette put the helmet over her head.
"Then, you are still his heir."
"I don't care about the legal shit, I don't want anything from him." She wanted to sit behind Barbara, but the red head stopped her.
"What?" the brunette growled.
The redhead pointed at a silver bike next to her. "You ride that one. Just be careful."
"Are you joking?" Helena looked in amazement at the wonderful bike. "That's the new Ducati Hypermotard 796."
"I see you know about bikes."
"It's an incredible machine," the young woman caressed it with her hand. "Two-valve-per cylinder L-Twin mill, it uses a brand new engine. It has a light action APTC clutch, and claims 81hp and 56 lb/ft of torque."
"Let's go," Barbara said. "It's late."
The brunette climbed on and followed her. That was fun, she really loved bikes.
That was a good thing about the redhead. Her taste for bikes.. and art.. and her clothes - those were cool, too. Barbara intrigued her, what was she doing working for free? She was smart enough to get a good job with good pay and… teacher? Being a teacher? That was really boring.
After twenty minutes, they arrived at an old house. Barbara parked her bike in front, at the sidewalk and Helena stopped behind her.
This was a really awful place.
"What is this?"
"An orphanage," Barbara said removing her helmet. "Come."
tbc
