Chapter 7

As Helena rode her bike to the city, excitement surged through her, despite her previous misgivings about that feeling. As she thought about her father back at the cave she breathed a sigh of relief. He was done as a superhero, meaning she had accomplished the task her mother had given her when she sent her to live with him several years earlier: she had kept him safe.

Helena was eleven when her grandmother finally let her take part in the Amazonian sparring contests. Helena had been taught to fight ever since she was old enough to walk. By the time she was ten she could hold her own against any Amazon. After a year of pleading with her grandmother, she was finally allowed to enter into the contest and prove her mettle in real competition.

Her mother was extremely proud her daughter was a good enough fighter to enter into the competition. When it took place her father was invited out to watch and to her and her mother's surprise, actually came. Helena was seeded low, and thus had to match up against Artemis early on in the contest. While Artemis eventually won, Helena lasted several rounds and made the much more experienced fighter earn her win. Helena was thrilled with how well she had done and her mother was as well. Her father was a completely different story.

He had watched the fight with her mother and grandmother, but disappeared right after Artemis had been declared the winner. After she received her congratulations from her mother and grandmother, she went to find her father. Her mother had suggested she look around the fighting practice rings that were around the main coliseum.

Helena ran to the nearest ring and found her father moving around the dirt inside the stone ring. He was wearing his complete costume, including the cowl, even though everyone on the island knew who he was. He looked ridiculous to Helena the way he was dancing around inside the ring. She was reminded for a moment there were a lot of things she didn't understand and would probably never understand about her father.

Helena was standing on the edge of the forest, hidden by the last few bushes that separated the forest from the clearing for the practice ring. At least, she thought she was hidden. She knew she could be seen if her father had really been looking for her, but he was still moving around and not paying attention to his surroundings. She was proven wrong when he stopped instantly and looked at her.

"Are you just going to stand there all day watching me, or are you going to come out here so I can teach you something?" Helena was astonished he had noticed her, but she obediently walked out to the ring.

"What were you doing?" she asked in reference to the way he had been moving around just a minute earlier.

"I was going through your fight with Artemis," he replied.

It took her a while to understand what he was saying. "You were re-enacting my fight?" she asked, incredulous he could have actually remembered every step.

"Yes, if you knew how to read an opponent's style and look for patterns, you could have easily beaten her. She has certain moves she uses over and over. If you knew those moves you could have found a way to anticipate them and found a way to counteract them."

Helena was angry her father was implying she could have easily beaten the woman. Artemis was the strongest fighter on the island after her mother.

"How could you expect me to beat her, she's the-"

"The best fighter on Themyscira," her father said, finishing her sentence for her. "You need to learn there are much more powerful beings off the island. Losing to her in a play-fight is just a sign you would lose a fight to a lot of powerful beings out there."

Helena was really getting angry at her father right now. Nothing she did was ever good enough. "She's still a great fighter. One day, I'll beat her and then I'll beat whoever else is out there. I'm being trained to be a greater fighter than even my mother."

"You'll be better than your mother for sure, but that's still not the best you could be," her father said. "The Amazons have spent an eternity on this island having nothing but play-fights. Your mother is different because she got off the island from time to time. She was involved in real fights. The other Amazons have gone soft; they know a few simple moves which they use against each other from time to time. You have copied these moves and that is all you know. Anyone who knows how to study a fighter and follow their patterns could beat you easily."

Helena's nostrils were flaring and her chest was heaving up and down as she breathed with the most intense anger. Her father was calling her weak and a loser. She couldn't stand for that. "Do you think you could beat me?" she asked him.

"In a fight, yes," he answered her with confidence.

"How," she positively screamed back at him. "You have no powers, you're a puny human."

Her father was emotionless as he stared at her. It was hard to tell his feelings, but she had learned how to do it by watching his jaw. It stood unmoved at the moment, stoic as ever.

"You're right that I'm a puny human compared to you. But I'm a puny human who can read your moves and who knows how to use your own power against you."

"You lie, old man," she snarled at him. She began to turn to walk away, but he wouldn't let her go so easily.

"If you think I'm lying, attack me and prove it," he told her.

Helena was going to continue walking, but she couldn't let her father off like that. There was a stubbornness inside her that made her want to prove him wrong. She thought for a second about what to do, glanced over at him, and decided she should just run and punch him. She was too fast for him, and she knew it. He was so weak he would go down with one punch.

She charged at him with her fist pulled back, ready to strike the moment she was close enough. To her surprise he easily sidestepped her, grabbed a hold of her and pushed her forward and into the ground.

"You telegraphed your move when you were ten feet away from me," he yelled at her. "I easily used your momentum against you there. Think of ways I could keep from doing that," he instructed her.

She didn't want to listen to him on anything. She decided to try a different tactic and launched herself at him, trying to kick him in the chest and knock him down. He moved out of her way, but was able to grab her in mid-air and throw her towards a tree outside the ring. She hit it so hard the trunk split in two."

"You could have hurt me," she yelled at him when she jumped up and stood.

"I'm just a puny human. How could I hurt you?"

The words he said infuriated her even more, which she wouldn't have thought possible just a moment earlier. She was determined to get the better of him. She attacked him again and again. Each time she did her father was able to avoid her moves and find a way to counteract her attack and throw her to the ground. After several attacks her armor was covered with dirt, while his costume stood untouched as she had yet to lay a hand on him.

After several failed attempts she finally started thinking like her father. She thought about how he was throwing her around and realized she might be able to attack him while he was doing so.

She charged at him much the same way she did in her first attempt to hit him. As before he used her momentum against her and grabbed her and began to throw her away from him. This time, when he still had a hold of her, she gave him a swift kick in the ribs. She knew she connected well as she heard a loud 'crack' as she flew past him and landed on the ground.

Helena was extremely proud of herself and began to cheer when she stood. Her cheers quickly subsided when she saw her father hunched over on the ground. He was clutching his side where Helena had kicked him and was grunting in pain.

Terror started gripping Helena as she realized how badly she might have hurt her father. She walked over to him slowly, afraid of finding out the extent to which he was really hurt. His grunts of pain grew louder and louder the closer she got to him. Tears started welling up in her eyes as she grew even more afraid.

When she was standing over him she was able to hear his labored breathing. "Dad," she muttered with a cracking voice as she kneeled down to see him even closer. She leaned over to look at his face and could see the pained expression on it. She looked at where he was holding his side and saw blood spewing up from a wound caused by a protracted rib that had broken through the skin.

"Dad, what's happening?" she asked him. She had never seen anyone wounded like that before and she had no idea what to do.

"Go. . .and get. . .your mother," he said with a large amount of effort in between his grunts of pain.

Helena started to move, but soon stopped. She was afraid to leave her Dad alone. "I don't want to leave you," she pleaded with him.

"You have. . .to go," he deplored. This time she summoned the strength she needed and took off running into the woods. Tears ran down her cheeks and her mind raced with what was happening to her father. She had images of blood gushing out of him as he stopped breathing and died.

The images she had in her mind of her father dying spurred her to run as fast as she could. Unfortunately, they also clouded her mind to the point where the familiar forest looked strange to her. She wasn't able to recognize anything and soon found herself running in circles. She tried to get her bearings, but she was constantly questioning herself and constantly changing directions when merely staying on one path would have taken her somewhere she could find help.

Helena ran around for what appeared to be an eternity until she ran right into Artemis. The force of the collision sent both of them sprawling to the ground. "Watch where you're going," Artemis yelled at the girl. As she stood up she had a look of disgust on her face. The look changed to one of sympathy when she saw the pain on the young girl's face and the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Is something wrong?" the woman asked.

"I hurt my Dad," she yelled as she finally remembered why she was running. She stood up and ran to the woman. "He needs our help. We have to go to him now," she yelled as she tugged on the woman's arm.

"Hold on," Artemis said to her. "Tell me exactly what happened." From the look on her face Helena could tell Artemis was taking her seriously, she just wanted to know a little more information.

Helena was impatient and hurried through a quick description of events. "I kicked my Dad in the chest and hurt him really bad," she said in one breath. "He's in one of the practice rings; we have to go, now."

"Okay, which ring?" Artemis asked, staying calm.

Terror came over Helena as she realized she couldn't remember where she had come from. She started looking around, trying to see if she could remember.

"I don't know," she admitted as she started crying again. "It was the one with several broken stones in the ring. And there were several large trees around the ring."

The description Helena gave did nothing to help narrow down the number of rings Batman could be at. Artemis didn't let onto that fact as she kneeled down to talk to the girl.

"I can find which ring it is," she told the crying girl as she took her head in her hands and forced the girl to look at her. "I need you to go back to the coliseum and tell your mother what you just told me. When I find your father I will fire an arrow into the air to let you know where I am."

"I don't know how to get back," Helena pleaded. Artemis turned her head in the direction she needed to go and pointed that way.

"Just head off straight that way and you'll eventually reach it," she said to the girl. Helena obediently took off running.

She flew through the brush of the forest like she had never done before. In what seemed like no time at all she came out of the forest at the end of the coliseum opposite her grandmother's viewing box. There was a fight going on at the moment, but Helena paid no attention to it. She ran down the stands and onto the arena. She heard someone yell halt, but she had no idea who did it. She ran up the other end of the stands and jumped into the Queen's box.

"Helena, tell us what you're doing," her grandmother yelled at her. She paid her no attention as she ran to her mother and put her arms around her waist as she embraced her. After everything the girl had been through she needed the comfort that came from feeling her mother's warm body against her.

Diana could feel the pain her daughter was in and started gently rubbing her head to sooth her. Helena looked up at her mother as she told her what happened. "I hurt Dad, badly," she said through a cracking voice. "Artemis is trying to find him. I kicked him in the chest hard and now I think he's dying."

If Diana had been alarmed by what Helena said, she didn't let it show on her face. "Did Artemis tell you anything about how we are to locate her?" she asked as she wiped tears off her daughter's face.

"She-she said she would fire an arrow into the air when she found Dad," Helena replied. Now that she was with her mother, she was starting to feel that everything was going to be okay.

"It's over there, look," one of the Amazon's standing outside the box said as she pointed to a spot in the air. Diana, Helena, and Hippolyta all looked at the woman.

"It's in the direction of the Northwest practice ring," the woman added.

It finally dawned on Helena that's where she had been with her father. "That's where we were," she yelled at her mother as she jumped up and down. "We have to get there now."

"Okay," was all her mother said. She picked the kid up like the girl was still a toddler. Helena instinctively wrapped her legs and arms around her mother. "Hold on," her mother said as she flew out of the box, carrying Helena.

They were at the ring within a matter of seconds. Helena could feel a change come over her mother when they landed and she saw what condition her father was in. Helena let go of her mother and ran over to her father just as he started coughing up blood.

"Everything's going to be okay," she told her father as she kneeled down next to him. "I brought Mom like you asked."

Helena barely noticed her mother was standing over them. She heard her mother's voice as she spoke into her League comlink. "This is Wonder Woman. Lock onto my position and get a medical team ready. I have three to beam up."

The practice ring disappeared around Helena and she found herself in the Watchtower control room along with her mother and father. She looked around and saw Watchtower staff members in medic uniforms running towards them.

When her father was examined it was found Helena had gotten in a pretty good lick on him. When she kicked him she had completely shattered his ribcage. A good amount of the broken bones pierced his lung, causing it to collapse. The shattered rib bones also broke apart several blood vessels and caused him to bleed internally.

The doctors assured Helena they would be able to repair everything. They warned her the surgery would take a long time, though. Her mother suggested she get some sleep during the surgery, but Helena protested she wanted to stay awake until she knew her father was okay. There was no way she would have been able to fall asleep without knowing if he was okay or not.

Diana and Helena waited patiently in one of the recovery rooms until Bruce was wheeled in on his bed. He was still asleep from the anesthesia, but Helena was relieved to see the surgery was over and he was going to be okay. She then curled up on the sofa in the room, and using his cape as a blanket fell asleep.

When Helena woke up, she could hear her father and mother talking to each other. She was too groggy to make out what they were saying, but she didn't care what they were talking about. All she cared about was the fact that her father was safe.

She threw cape off of her, ran to her father's bed, pushed her mother aside, and threw herself over her father's body. She laid her head on his chest as she cried and apologized for what she did.

"I'm so sorry Dad. Please forgive me. I never meant to hurt you."

Her father started rubbing her back with the arm on his uninjured side. "I shouldn't have made you fight me like that," he replied. "I'm the adult and I should have known better."

She rested her chin on his chest as she looked at him. There was genuine sympathy on his face, the first she could ever remember seeing. She instantly started feeling better and wiped away the last few tears that remained on her face.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked.

"I'll be just fine," he said.

"Helena, some of your friends are outside, waiting for you," her mother told her as she got up off her father. "Why don't you go outside with them, I want to speak with your father alone."

Helena started to walk out, but wanted to say good-bye to her father. She ran back to the bed and put her arms around his neck. She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Get better, I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," he replied.

The second Helena walked out the door she was embraced by Maril. "I'm so sorry about what happened," Maril said to her friend. "Is your father okay?" Maril tried to look past Wonder Woman and see into the room while she was still hugging Helena.

"He's going to be fine," Diana told her. "Was your father concerned about him?"

"A bit," she admitted as she let go of Helena. "He was pretty sure the old curmudgeon would pull through it and be as charming as ever." She smiled as she said the last bit and everyone got the joke.

With Maril no longer in her way, Helena was able to see Rex and his mother standing off to the side. "Shayera," her mother said. "Why don't you take the kids to the cafeteria. Helena hasn't eaten anything in a long time."

Rex's mother led the kids away down the hall. Helena looked back to see her mother watching her leave. Just before she was out of eyesight, Helena saw her mother walk back in the room and close the door behind her.

Helena got a tray full of food from the cafeteria. She ate little of it though as she suddenly lost her appetite when she sat down. While she had initially been relieved to see her father okay, she started fearing for him as she thought about him going back out to fight crime.

Helena had never understood before just how vulnerable her father was. She marveled at the fact he had made it to this point in his life. She wondered how much longer he would last until somebody got the better of him.

Rex's mother tried to get her to talk, but Helena said little whenever she was asked a question. Pretty soon, Maril was dominating the conversation with stories about what happened to her the last time she had visited Tamaran. Helena didn't listen much, as she mostly played with the food on her tray. Maril didn't seem to notice as she was giving all her attention to Rex, who was listening very intently to all of her stories.

Helena's mother made it to the cafeteria just as everyone else was finishing up with their food. "Do you guys mind if I speak to my daughter alone?" she asked them.

"I'm sure the three of us can find something worthwhile to do," Rex's mother said as she got up and motioned for Maril and Rex to do the same.

"So long Helena," Rex said as he got up.

Maril got up and gave Helena a hug. "Call me if you need to talk," she told her friend before she grabbed her tray and walked away.

Helena continued moving the food around on her tray as her mother sat next to her. Diana reached over and tried to push back some of the stray hairs that were hiding her daughter's face from her. She watched as Helena continued pushing food around her tray.

"That food is not going to just jump into your mouth, Helena," Diana said, re-telling an old joke from the girl's early childhood. Diana was amazed to see her daughter smile and snicker a little over the joke.

"Are you actually laughing?" Diana asked as she leaned over to see her daughter's face. "You always used to get mad at me for telling that same joke over and over whenever you wouldn't eat."

"I'm laughing over the fact you still think its funny," Helena replied, still looking down at her food. The sadness returned to her face as Diana continued watching her.

"You can't hold yourself responsible for what happened," she tried to tell her daughter. "You didn't know you could hurt your father like that. He was acting like a fool and he never should have made you attack him like that."

Helena thought about how vulnerable her father was. She broke down completely and started sobbing. Instinctively, she threw her arms around her mother and sobbed into her bare shoulder. Her mother wrapped her arms around her and did her best to try and soothe her daughter.

"It's okay," she told Helena. "I know you're scared about him."

Helena pulled back so she could look at her mother as she talked. "Don't let him go back out there," she pleaded with her mother. "Don't let Dad go back out, he'll get killed," she said through sobs.

Her mother had a look of sorrow on her face, but also a look of determination.

"I can't make your father give up his life as a superhero," she tried to explain.

"I can't do it," she tried to tell her mother. "I can't spend all my time worrying about what's going to happen to him."

"I know that," her mother said with a reassuring tone. "Your father knows that to, it's why he wants you to live with him."

Helena was taken aback by what her mother said and stopped crying. "Why does he think I need to live with him?"

"He thinks you will be more comfortable if you're around to see him every day. Also, he thinks you need to learn to fight correctly and control your powers. As with most things, he thinks he is the only person qualified enough to perform that task. On this occasion, I actually agree with him."

Helena was dumbfounded by what her mother said. She started wondering why her mother wouldn't want her around Themyscira or the Watchtower with her. Her mother didn't notice her discomfort as she just kept on talking.

"You need to learn to use your powers correctly and your father is the best person to teach you that. If you live with him, you will see he manages to survive because he has trained himself to be the best ever. You'll also see how intelligent he is and how great he is at making a plan and always thinking ahead. We think it will provide a lot of comfort for you if you are able to observe how your father works as a superhero despite not having superpowers."

Helena was listening and taking in everything her mother said. While part of her brain was listening to her mother the other part was wondering what life with her father would be like and why her mother would want to send her away. She was beginning to feel uneasy about what her parents had planned for her. She looked at her food as she mother continued talking.

Diana sensed the uneasiness in her daughter and began stroking her hair to try and soothe her. Helena remained unmoved and continued staring at the table. Diana continued telling her why she should go and live with her father.

"I know it must be overwhelming thinking about living with him permanently. You won't have much time to spend on Themyscira or the Watchtower. I know it might be hard for you to understand, but you need to live with your father and spend time in the real world. It was enormously hard for me when I left Themyscira permanently and had to live there. I didn't understand people at all. I don't want you to go through the hardships I did."

What her mother said to Helena made sense to her. It still sounded scary, though. She tried to focus on the time she would get to spend with her father. She tried to focus on how she would be able to see him come home safely every night. She thought about Maril, and how her father called her every night when he made it back.

"Are you okay with this?" her mother asked.

Helena wasn't sure if her parents were going to give her a choice in the matter or not. She didn't want to tell her father she didn't want to live with him, especially if her mother didn't appear to want her any more.

The thought that her mother didn't want her around anymore continued to bother her. She wondered if it had something to do with what she did to her father. Helena was afraid to ask her mother about it, but knew she had to do it.

"Mom, can ask I you something?" she said sheepishly.

"Of course, dear," Diana replied as she stopped stroking Helena's hair and rested her head on top of her hand.

Helena couldn't look at her mother as she asked her question. "Mom, do you want me to live with Dad because you don't want me around anymore?"

"Oh dear, of course not," her mother answered as she wrapped both her arms around her daughter and pulled her close. Helena could hear the pain and sorrow in her mother's voice.

Diana pulled Helena's head close to her chest and rested her head on her daughter's. "I don't know how you could ever think that. I love you more than anything." She kissed the top of Helena's head as if to prove her point.

"It's going to be hard for me to not see you every day, but living with your father is what is best for you right now." Diana rubbed her daughter's back. She stopped talking as she thought about something.

Diana broke the hug as she wanted to look her daughter in the face as she spoke to her. "I didn't want to tell you this because I didn't want to burden you with too much," she began. Diana gently pushed back the hair covering Helena's face and wiped away a few tears that had fallen on the girl's cheek.

"I think you should go and live with your father because your father needs you," she continued. "He wants to give you on the job training. He wants to make you his new Robin and take you out on patrol with him. I know this might sound scary to you, but you are strong Helena. You have powers and abilities your father could only dream of having. You can watch out for him. You can keep him safe."

Helena almost started hyperventilating over what her mother said to her. She couldn't believe her mother expected her to take care of her father. It just didn't seem right. She was going to have to tell her mother she couldn't do it. She was going to have to let her mother down.

"I can't do it," Helena said as she tried to hold back tears. "I can't be responsible for my own father like that."

The girl was glad there was no look of disappointment on her face. Instead, her mother had one of the most sympathetic, understanding, and caring looks she had ever seen out of her. When she spoke, her tone of voice echoed the look on her face.

"I know it's a lot to ask out of you," she began. "You are so young, after all. Still, I have faith in you, dear. You have the power, the intelligence, and the heart to be a great superhero. You can be a worthy sidekick for your father. The one thing you need to learn above everything else in order to become a great hero, is to learn to handle the responsibility you have to protect people. Watching out for your father is the best way to learn to handle that responsibility."

Her mother's words convinced Helena to go and live with her father. She assimilated into Man's world, as her Amazon aunts called it. She took up the mantle of Robin, and protected Gotham at her father's side. When she started, she was almost overwhelmed thinking about having to protect her father. She soon learned why her father was held in such high esteem among the league. He was cunning and strong in ways she had never known. He had taught her things no one else could have ever taught her. There years together had been harrowing, but she would not have traded them for anything.

Clark Kent walked along one of the many flat, dirt roads of Smallville. He was on his way out to the cemetery. He could have easily run there in a second, but he wanted to walk at a normal pace so he could think on his way. Growing up, Clark always knew he would outlive his friends and family. His father's death had been especially hard as he had come to be one of the few constants Clark managed to have in his life..

Clark reached the cemetery and walked through the gate. Several generations of the Kent family were buried here and he walked back to the large swath of land that served as their burial plots. He walked back to their corner and looked over the tombstones for his mother, father, and sister. He had planned on saying something to his father, but now that he was here he didn't feel like talking. He simply thought about everything his father had done for him in his life. That was enough for paying his respects.

Before he left, Clark spent a long time in front of the grave of Lana, his first wife. They had been high school sweethearts and she was one of the first people he revealed his secret to. They had married shortly before he started working for the Daily Planet and shortly before he became Superman. Their marriage was short as she was killed by some mobsters in revenge for a story he had written. The solving of her murder was the first time he had worked with Batman, and it began the friendship and partnership between the two.

As he stood in front of her tombstone he thought about how much different his life would be if she had lived. He never would have married Lois, and while he felt bad doubting Lana's love he wondered if she would have been able to stand by him through everything like Lois did. As he thought of Lois he realized it was getting dark and he needed to get back to the house to have dinner with his wife. This time he ran, and made it there in a second.

Lois had a romantic dinner prepared for them as it was one of the first quiet nights alone they had in some time. After dinner they headed up to their bedroom. Clark took Lois's clothes off her and then took off his own.

They started making love, and as they did so Clark started losing sense of his surroundings. For reasons he didn't understand, he found himself back on Apokolips. He was with Lashina, who had been his lover during the time he had been brainwashed. He kept finding himself moving back and forth between Apokolips and Smallville.

When Lois and Clark were finished, he ran to the restroom and splashed some water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror, wondering why he was having all these flashbacks to his time as Darkseid's pawn.