Thanks for all your nide feedback!!!


"Huntress."

Im her confused mind, the brunette thought she had heard her name, it was the name she had given to Batgirl.

"Huntress? Wake up!" A hand touched her face, some one as there, she half-opened her eyes, but she couldn't focus. The place was on fire and she felt hot, very hot.

"Huntress, I need you to help me push."

Someone was with her. Yes, who was with her?

"Huntress, push."

The dark haired woman closed her eyes. "The kid…" she mumbled.

"Push!"

"I can't…"

She felt a hand on her cheek again.

"Listen to me, Huntress."

The brunette tried to open her eyes, she couldn't see well, blood was covering her face.

"Huntress, listen to me, I need to get you out of here. I can't do it alone, this piece of wood is too heavy for me. Push and push hard now!""

The voice was demanding. She recognized it, it was Batgirl. She tried again. The brunette made an effort to remove the heavy weight over her again, but she fell to the floor coughing, she couldn't breathe and it was terribly hot.

"Push, dammit! Push!" the voice shouted.

In her confused mind it sounded so clear, hard. She put her hands over the floor and made a big effort, she pushed as hard as she could and she felt the heavy weight on her legs moving away, she rolled to her side. Her legs hurt, she felt them burning. She could barely see, but she noticed the shadow over her was removing her sweatshirt.

The sweatshirt.

She was wearing still her sweatshirt. She remembered she hadn't gone to change after her argument with Barbara. She had just been running around the city.

Barbara.

She wondered if she would see her again.

She had been so mad, so pissed. She had just been walking around, trying to clear her mind, trying to think.

Where was she now? She couldn't remember.

"Huntress,"

The brunette heard her name called from so far away. There were flames all around. She needed to help Justin.

"Justin…" she mumbled dazed. She tried to sat and felt a hand on her back helping her.

"We need to go," the woman's voice said, "Come on."

It was the last thing she heard before darkness enveloped her.


Barbara couldn't sleep. She had kept a vigil all night next to Helena, just to be sure she was okay. The sight of Helena cocooned in the covers reminded her of a little girl years before, innocent and sweet. Helena had stayed with her many nights when Barbara had done some babysitting for her.

Helena's sleeping face was a picture of calm, peace. Something that seemed to be absent from the young woman's waking life.

Looking through the window, she noticed the first snow was falling.

She had been looking for Helena when she saw the fire at the orphan's home. It was out of control when she arrived. It was a lucky the young woman had appeared at that moment, she helped her to save many kids trapped on the upper floors.

She went to check the upper floor before leaving, things were turning bad, really bad. It was a lucky decision as she had found the young woman lying on the floor, trapped under a big piece of wood in a room surrounded by fire. She had tried to move it, but was too heavy for her.

Helena was in shock, she had a pretty bad wound on her head. In a last effort before falling unconscious, Helena was able to help her lift the heavy wood and free herself. Barbara then had to get her and the child out of the place.

The brunette had second-degree burns on her right arm and legs. She had been lucky, it usually healed without scarring. She knew the burns were very painful and she had kept her drugged the last twenty four hours. She was healing, her meta skills were incredible. Normal people would take three weeks healing, but it seemed it would take her a week or less.

When she had returned home, she had needed to stitch the brunette's head. At the beginning, she thought it had been a piece of wood falling from the ceiling, but when she noticed a pretty bad bruise on her jaw, she knew something else had happened there. It was lucky that the impact hadn't broken her jaw. She hadn't move from the younger woman's side. She had been calling the hospital all night, too. Luckily, all the kids were alive.

It had been a long night.

Soon it would be morning, the sky was purple.

Barbara heard a soft murmur and turned. Helena was moving restlessly. She walked toward her bed and sat, touching the young woman's back. The blink of blue eyes was a relief, she was returning to consciousness. She went to her night table and prepared a morphine injection, she would need it.

"How are you?" the redhead asked,

Helena looked at her confused. Damn. What was Barbara doing here? She tried to remember where she was. Why she felt like shit and so dazed.

"What happened?" she mumbled, half asleep.

Barbara sat at her side. "You helped to rescue kids at the orphanage."

Helena tried to make her brain work properly, but it was not so easy. She closed her eyes, she remembered the room in flames, the little kid crying. The kid crying. She snapped her eyes open.

"Justin?" she tried to move, but her whole body hurt. She growled and stopped her movement.

Barbara held her down gently and helped her to lie back down on the bed.

"Easy," she said. "You are recovering; you are burned."

"Where is Justin?"

"He is fine, please stay calm…" the redhead whispered. "You will hurt yourself."

"How is he?" Blue eyes looked at her with anguish. "Please, tell me."

"He is in intensive care, but he will be fine."

"Burned? Is he burned?" Helena asked, feeling her heart thumping hard in her chest. "Please, tell me."

"The kid is at the hospital, he breathed in quite a bit of smoke and he has second degree burns, like you, but he will survive."

The young woman closed her eyes feeling tears flowing. "I failed him."

"No, you didn't. You saved many children."

"I failed him." She winced and tried to sit again. "I need to go to see him."

"Please, don't move." Barbara took the syringe with morphine. It appeared Helena would be hard to keep in bed. "You can't go out, you are hurt."

The brunette bit her lower lip to endure the pain in her limbs. She held her bandaged arm with her free hand.

"Helena," Barbara rested her hand gently on her shoulder, "you will see him, but not now."

"No." The young woman bent lightly to recover her breath, sitting had been a fucking painful movement.

"Helena, I need to give you this," she showed her the syringe, "it's the only way to help you with the pain. You are burned, and have a pretty bad wound on your head."

Crap. Helena pressed her lips. She didn't like the idea, but her body hurt like hell. She nodded, not convinced, but the pain was too much. The redhead sighed and cleaned the brunette's arm with cotton doused in alcohol.

The brunette looked around, not knowing where she was. "Where am I?"

"My place." The redhead gave her the shot of morphine.

"Your place?" Helena looked at her confused "Why am I at your place?

"Batgirl brought you here, you were hurt."

"Batgirl?" Helena mumbled.

"She told me you were helping her save children at the orphanage and," Barbara removed the syringe, "that she found you trapped in the fire. She helped you and the kid."

The brunette realized she her lower legs were bandaged as well. Everything was confusing. "What happened?"

"I told you, you were at the orphanage, helping Batgirl to rescue the children. It was on fire. You were burned. You need to lie down and rest, you are healing.

"Am I hurt?"

"Yes."

Helena looked at the redhead. "Did she save me?"

"Yes."

Blue eyes fixed on green not understanding her. "Why?"

"Why?" Barbara parroted in confusion.

"She doesn't like me and… we fight all the time and I…."

"Helena," Barbara spoke softly, "She does what heroes do, they save lives."

The brunette lowered her head, she was beginning to feel fuzzy. "But I'm not worth…"

"You are worth a lot."

"You don't know me."

"I know you well enough to know that you are a good person."

The young woman remained still, closing her eyes and hugging herself. "What did you give me?"

"Morphine, it will help you with the pain."

"I don't want to sleep."

"Don't sleep, just lie down and rest." Barbara pushed her back gently, taking advantage of the fact that Helena was under the morphine's effect. She didn't reject her touch.

"I don't understand." Helena mumbled. "Why did she save me? She doesn't know me… We fought."

"That's not important. The important thing is to save people." Barbara covered her with the blankets. "Batgirl told me you helped her save many kids last night. They could have died, but you risked your life for others, that was incredible."

"I couldn't help Justin…" Helena said, closing her eyes again. "I was distracted… you always tell me to focus, I didn't listen to you… he hit me… "

"Hit you? Who hit you?" Barbara narrowed her eyes.

"A man… we fought…"

"What man, Helena?"

"A man…" the girl mumbled sleepily. "A man dressed in black… he was there… I tried to stop him…"

"What did he look like?"

"Tall… he had a mask…"

The redhead took her hand to her mouth. The fire had been intentional? Why? It was criminal. It was a place full of children. She needed to go back there and look around. She would need to call Alfred and ask him to keep an eye on the brunette while she went to the burned house.

Helena had fallen asleep. She took her hand to her head and caressed her hair. It was so soft, fine. She wondered how things would be between them, if she hadn't been injured that night, or if she had known about her loneliness and called her more often, to make sure she was really doing alright.

"I'm sorry, Hel…" she mumbled. "I didn't mean to hurt you so much."

She leaned and kissed her forehead before standing and walking to the door.

She still had work to do.


Barbara returned to her apartment late at night. She put her keys and her briefcase on the table in the living room and removed her coat. It was freezing outside. She had gone to the hospital to check the kids and had done some investigating at the orphanage. She had picked up some samples. She would analyze them on the Delphi, but she wanted to check on Helena first.

Alfred appeared in the corridor.

"How is she?" she asked him.

"Well, she has been sleeping almost all day and just had dinner.."

"She must feel really bad to not try to go out," Barbara said, removing her hat and brushing her hair. "I'm glad of it."

"You know her well." He lifted his brows. "How are the children?"

"More or less okay…" She couldn't hide the sadness from her face. "Fifteen of them inhaled too much smoke, but they will be fine. There are eight with minor burns and two in intensive care."

"It was a short circuit?"

"No, it was intentional."

"Pardon me?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing "It was a children's home."

"I know, Helena told me this morning that she fought a man dressed in black. I went back and picked up some samples. I don't have any idea as to who could be behind this, it's insane. I hope that when she wakes up, she can give me more info."

"You need sleep. You haven't slept well the last two days:"

"Yes, I'll take a warm bath, check on Helena, then sleep a bit."

"Do you want to eat something first?"

"I bought a sandwich, don't worry."

"All right, I'll be around."

"Thanks so much." The redhead went toward her room.

She found the brunette sleeping deeply. She put the items to clean and treat her burns on the night table before taking a warm shower. After, she changed her clothes and brushed her hair. She took a small jar and sat next to the brunette. She noticed she was awake.

"You are awake." Barbara said, smiling softly. She took a packet of pills from the night table.

"The noise of you brushing your hair woke me up."

"Figures." She extended the glass of water and pills to Helena.

"What's that?"

"Take this analgesic, will help you. I want to prevent an infection."

In bad mood, the brunette accepted them and swallowed.

The older woman took the bandages and a wet a cloth with cold water from a tray on the night table.

"How is Justin?" Helena asked.

"He is doing fine, I saw him this morning. He is a great kid."

Barbara took Helena's arm and felt her flinch under her touch, she noticed her muscles tensed. "I need to change the dressing on your arm and legs and apply an antibiotic ointment," Barbara said softly trying to relax her. She knew she didn't like to be touched. "I did it yesterday, but you were sedated, I need do it again to remove dead skin and the old ointment."

The brunette didn't like the idea. Was Barbara was playing to the good doctor, trying to make herself feel better after what she had done to her?

"Why am I here?" she asked, staring at the far wall.

"You told Batgirl your name is Huntress, but you didn't wear a mask and she recognized you as Helena Kyle. She knows who you are and that you work with me. It was this or lie alone at the hospital. I can take you to a hospital, but I know you hate them." Barbara sighed. "Helena, I need to clean your burns, I need to prevent an infection. Please."

The brunette closed her eyes. Going to the hospital was not an option she wanted to explore. It would be a trouble when the doctors discovered she was meta. Humans were afraid of people like her. She lived alone and, definitely, she needed someone helping her with this. Shit.

She felt Barbara resting her hand on her bandaged arm, she didn't move, she kept still. The redhead began to slowly remove her bandage. She took her time, trying to do it carefully.

"This looks much better," the older woman said.

She felt Barbara cleaning her arm with a cloth with cold water. Helena didn't like Barbara touching her, but at the same time… well, she liked to be spoiled and Barbara caressed her skin so smoothly and talked very softly to her. It felt good, but… it was a confusing mix of feelings inside her.

The redhead, very patiently, took care of the wounds on her legs, too. When she finished bandaging her, she didn't say a word and covered her again with the blankets. She stood up and went to the other side of the king size bed.

Helena watched her removing the covers from the other side of the bed. Was she going to sleep there? With her?

"What are you doing?" the brunette asked.

"I'm going to sleep; it's late." Barbara sat on the bed. "Why?"

"Uh…here?"

"Well, I slept here last night, but you were out of it and didn't notice. I also slept here the night before that night, and all last week. Oh! And the month prior to that, too." Barbara laid back on the bed and turned off the lamp. She turned on her side and covered herself with the blankets.

Helena was stiff. She held her breath. Barbara really was going to sleep with her. Now, that was unexpected. They had fought, she had unintentionally opened up to the older woman and let her know it had hurt her that the redhead had forgotten her the years after her mother's death.

"Relax, Helena," she heard the soft murmur of the redhead beside her. "I'm not going to rape you."

Shame that…. Helena thought to herself.

Wait a minute.

What the fuck was she thinking? She hated Barbara!

Barbara turned to her other side, facing her.

"Sorry," she said sleepily, with her closed eyes. "I'm still fixing the guest bedroom, but you can sleep on the couch if you want."

"I'm sick." The brunette growled.

"Yes, I let you sleep here for that reason. Otherwise, I'd have already kicked your ass to the floor."

"That's not nice."

"I know," Barbara mumbled. "Wake me up if you need anything."

Helena remained in her place. She could smell her shampoo, she could smell her everywhere in that room. She had been smelling her there all day and… it pissed her off to admit it, but she felt safe there. The place didn't felt as cold as her apartment.

It was weird.

Surely, Barbara was taking care of her because she felt guilty about what Helena had said to her.

Yes.

But she couldn't change the past, or her feelings, she would never forgive her for what had happened.

She couldn't.

The brunette closed her eyes, she still felt tired. Not realizing it, she fell asleep.

Barbara noticed the younger woman had fallen asleep by the sound of her breath. Helena needed to be loved. She was a lonely person and she rejected anyone for whom she thought she might feel affection. She was grumpy and she was funny.

She wanted the Helena she knew back. She just needed to push her a bit until she got around a corner where she couldn't hide her feelings....


Alfred walked inside the bedroom with clean towels. He noticed Helena was dressed in short pants and was trying to move her feet to the ground. He stopped in the middle of the room and looked at her curiously.

"And you are….?" he asked, lifting his eyebrow.

"…leaving, obviously," the brunette grumbled, using her free hand to move her leg. Crap, it hurt. She would need some pain killers. She panted to take in air.

"Oh, I see.. Why are you leaving, exactly?" Unconcerned, Alfred walked towards the bathroom.

"I don't want to be here."

"Miss Barbara has been rude?"

"No, she is nastily nice," Helena responded, sulking.

"Nastily nice?" He stopped in front of the bathroom and turned to see her. "I have never heard of that concept. Is that bad?"

"Very."

"Odd." He walked inside the bathroom.

The brunette managed to move her left leg down. That had been really difficult. She still felt her skin stiff under the bandages and it hurt so much. It itched too.

"She is trying to be friends again, but that's not going to happen. I'm not falling for her tricks."

"I don't understand," he said from the bathroom. "Had she asked you to be her friend again?"

"No," Helena answered, holding her right leg to move it down.

"So, how do you know she wants to be your friend again?"

"I told you, she is being nice. I don't like that."

"Why not?" he questioned, walking outside the bathroom with the dirty towels.

"Because I am beginning to like her and I don't want to."

"Interesting," he commented, standing in front of her, "because I haven't heard her say she wants to be your friend again."

"No?" Helena frowned. She didn't expect that. Barbara was always trying to be her friend and she always had a lot of patience with her. What was happening now?

"No."

"So what does she want?" Helena asked, confused "No one is nice just to be nice."

"That is what you think. Maybe by working for the Foundation, you will realize that's not true."

"Why is she helping me, then?"

"Because she never denies anything to anyone who needs her, especially if she knows that person."

"I don't need her!" Helena yelled adamantly.

"I've heard that before." He sighed and opened the door to go to the living room. ""So are you going to run away now or are you planning to wait until after lunch?"

"I'm leaving now." The brunette had a hard time moving her other leg down.

"Oh, I see. That's too bad. I prepared a nice lunch for you."

"I can take it to home," she said, trying to stand up. She winced and sat again. "I want to be out of here before she comes back."

"I see. Well, I suggest you take a few pain killers before try to take a step. They are next to you, on the night table," he advised and exited the room.

Helena growled, annoyed. Why had this happened to her? She scratched her arm. Damn, the problem was that it itched, too!!


TBC