Chapter 9

Five years later

Helena looked up at the sky, scanning it for sorties. She didn't see anything, but from experience she knew it didn't mean there wasn't anything there.

Helena touched her communicator in her ear and spoke, "J'onn, its Helena. I'm on the ground down here and I need you to scan the sky and see if you can spot anything flying around." While the orbiting Watchtower was no more, the Justice League had several small satellites for surveillance. A few of them even carried weapons similar to the old laser on the old Watchtower.

"The satellite scanners aren't picking up anything," J'onn replied.

"Good," Helena replied. "Continue keeping watch, though. I have a feeling somebody is going to try something."

"I'll keep an eye out?" J'onn replied. "If you want, I could shoot down anything suspicious."

J'onn mentioned shooting down the helicopters in a monotone voice, but Helena knew he was really being sarcastic. "I don't think that will be necessary," Helena replied in a joking tone. "We've got other people to help take care of any trouble."

"I'll keep the guns loaded," J'onn replied. Helena thought she might have actually detected a hint of inflection in the alien's voice. "One more thing, Helena, have fun."

"Thanks," Helena said with a smile, even though he couldn't see it. "Out," she added as she turned off the comlink.

Helena looked at the sky again. This time, she wasn't searching for helicopters; she was admiring the beautiful weather Olivia and Richie had for their wedding. Flash had joked that if the weather looked bad at the beginning of the day, he would break Weather Wizard out of jail and force him to make it clear and sunny. The weather ended up being perfect on its own. If Helena knew Wally, he was most likely disappointed he wouldn't get to be the hero and save the day.

"Checking the sky for paparazzi helicopters," Helena heard Dinah Queen say behind her. She turned around to see Olivia's mother walking towards her with a box of flowers.

"I was actually admiring the weather. There isn't much use in looking for helicopters. I don't have my crossbow with me, so I couldn't exactly shoot any down."

"Don't worry, if any do show up Olivia will knock them down with her scream," Dinah pointed out.

"She almost took me out with her scream," Helena revealed. "She's so nervous about having everything be perfect."

Dinah giggled along with Helena. "If you don't mind me asking, why did she kick you out?"

"I was trying to help her with her veil, and I just couldn't get it right. She yelled at me to leave and that she would just do it herself."

"You got out at just the right time. The veil messed up her hair ever so slightly. I was trying to help her fix it, but couldn't get anything right. When the flowers came I saw my opening and told her I needed to take the bouquets to you and Maril."

Helena looked at the flowers in the box, trying to see if there was any difference between the two. As the Maid of Honor, she thought her bouquet might be a little fancier.

"They're the same," Dinah said as she picked up on what Helena was doing. Helena started taking one out, and then grabbed the other one as she realized she hadn't seen Maril for quite a while. "I don't think anyone's see Maril for a while," she told Dinah as she took both bouquets out of the box. "I'll try and find her and take her bouquet to her."

"So you're going to leave me to deal with Bridezilla," Dinah said with a smile. "I thought the Wayne's had more courage than that."

"I'll trade with you if you really want me to. I am the Maid of Honor after all."

"And I'm the mother of the bride. Olivia is my only daughter and I should be helping her get ready, no matter how much it might destroy our relationship."

"Good luck," Helena told Dinah as she walked away.

"You too," Dinah replied.

Helena tried to think where Maril might have run off to. She knew this day was going to be tough for her. She and Rex were supposed to be the first ones to get married. Instead, she was trying to get through life without him.

Helena racked her brain, trying to think where on the Queen estate Maril might have run off to. Think, she said to herself. You're supposed to be a detective. You should be able to track down a young woman merely trying to hide.

As Helena thought about the best place to hide on the estate she remembered back to how they used to play around in the maze Mr. Queen had set up for his children. In the center of the maze was an ornate gazebo, where they would always sit and rest after a long day of playing. It was the only good hiding spot Helena knew about and she figured it was the only one Maril knew about as well.

Helena's bridesmaid dress was a little long and she grabbed it around her waist and held it up as she walked so it wouldn't get dirty. Olivia had actually kept things simple with the bridesmaid dresses she picked out for her and Maril. They were plain satin dresses colored metallic silver. They were long in the leg, but cut short around the bosom. Neither Helena nor Maril minded, as they were more than able to fill out the dresses.

The maze was in an out of the way corner of the Queen estate. Helena didn't come across anyone else as she walked out there. The fact she wasn't seeing anyone made her certain Maril had come this way to hide for a short moment.

When Helena reached the maze she was a bit surprised to see it was still in immaculate condition. Oliver had joked he was keeping it up for when Helena and Connor or Olivia and Richie blessed him with grandkids. She had never come out here to check if he was truthful or not, but now that she saw how beautiful everything was, she was sorry this was the first time in a long time she was getting to see it.

Helena entered the maze and immediately recognized it had not been fundamentally changed since the last time she had gone through it. Her superior memory allowed her to work her way through with only making a few wrong turns. Despite breezing through the maze she was still jealous she couldn't simply fly over it. In a short time she was at the center garden and saw Maril sitting in the gazebo.

Maril was on one of the benches, staring out and away from Helena at nothing in particular. Helena could tell from her pose the girl was feeling sad.

Helena walked over to the gazebo and slowly walked up the stairs. Her high heels made little sound as they touched the wood steps. Maril made no sign she knew Helena was there.

"I really hope you sensed me and know I'm here," Helena said as she tried to look around at Maril's face. "If your senses are that bad my father may have to kick you out of the Bat-family."

Maril turned around and looked at Helena with a strained smile on her face. When she turned around, her hand darted up to her chest and she started fiddling with the engagement ring hanging from the gold chain around her neck. It was the ring Rex had given her five years ago. When Rex died, she knew she couldn't wear the ring like a normal engagement ring, but she couldn't give it up entirely either. The ring around the necklace was a compromise she had reached.

In the five years since Rex died, she had never even contemplated dating again. Her head knew she had to move on, but her heart wouldn't' let her do so. She felt it would be a dishonor to everything Rex had meant to her.

Helena felt Maril was missing out on a lot by not even dating, but she knew she could never push her friend like that. She realized Maril would find someone special when she was ready.

As she looked at Maril she was reminded of just how beautiful the girl was. Maril's skin had a slight orange tint to it that made her look exotic. Maril was wearing her long, black hair back and it made every inch of her face visible to Helena. Even with the pained look on her face, Helena could see the beauty and elegance of her facial features.

Maril noticed Helena's glance and stopped fiddling with the ring. She looked at Helena and saw the bouquets the girl was carrying. Helena noticed her stare and handed one of them to her. As Maril grabbed it, she spotted the huge rock on Helena's finger. Helena noticed this and brought her hand next to her body to hide her engagement ring as she sat down next to the girl.

"Don't take offense to this," Helena began speaking hesitantly. "I care about you very much, and I just want to know if you're feeling okay about all this."

Maril forced a quick smile and looked down at her feet. She fiddled around with the bouquet again as she looked up at nothing in particular in the gazebo ceiling. "I'm not taking offense to what you said," she began. "The truth is I'm not completely okay with all this. I keep thinking how this was supposed to happen for me and Rex, and it never will."

"You need to stop thinking like that. There is someone else out there you can love."

"I know that's probably true, but I don't want anyone else. I had a love with Rex I don't think I will be able to replicate with another person."

Maril paused for a moment. Helena didn't jump in as she could tell Maril had more to say. "My mother has been suggesting more and more that I go to live on Tamaran. I am most likely going to be queen there one day, and I should probably get to know the planet more. I always knew I would have to leave Earth for there one day, but I always thought it would be later in life. Now, I'm feeling like I need to leave Earth so I can put Rex behind me. I'm thinking I should go there and start over. Accept my role as princess and find a good Tamaranean man to marry."

Maril looked over at Helena. Helena expected to see tears in the girl's eyes, but instead saw only resolve and strength. "It's going to be hard to leave here, though. There are so many people I'm going to miss."

"Don't worry about me," Helena said, trying to sound cheerful.

Maril glanced over again at Helena's engagement ring. She could tell Maril was thinking about something and was wondering what it might be. "Can I ask you something?" Maril finally said.

"Of course, anything," Helena replied. Helena found Maril's question strange. The two of them had always been close and Helena saw no reason why Maril would need to ask for permission to ask something, no matter how personal the question might be.

Maril glanced at Helena's engagement ring again. "I know it's been five years since you and Connor became engaged," Maril began as she looked at her feet and talked in a low voice. "The two of you are still not close to actually walking down the aisle. I just want to know. . .I just need to know that it's not because of me. I need to know that you haven't delayed your marriage because you're afraid of how I would feel."

Helena was immediately saddened by the news. Fear of Maril's feelings had nothing to do with her delay in getting married. There were a host of reasons; reasons she didn't want to get in to right now, even though Maril seemed to be exposing her feelings to Helena.

"Maril, Connor and I care about you very much. While we know our wedding will be hard on you in some ways we also know you're strong enough to put your own pain aside and be happy for us. In any discussion we had on our wedding, we never felt we had to delay because of you. The reason it's taking us so long to get married is just. . .well, commitment phobia is in my genes. I guess I should. . ."

Helena was saved from having to explain more by the sudden appearance of Connor. "There you two are," he yelled at them. "Haven't either of you ever heard of a watch. We need to be walking down the aisle in a matter of minutes."

"How did you find us?" was Helena's first reply. She was a bit startled that he seemed able to do it. Helena had to put a lot of thought into finding Maril, and while she respected her fiancé's brain, she didn't think he would have been able to figure things out better then she had.

"You're not the only detective in this couple," he said to her with a sly grin on his face. Helena and Maril both stood up. Helena noticed something in the way Connor talked, she could detect he was leaving something out. She gave him a look as she walked over to him. He knew the look; it told him she was skeptical of what he was saying.

Connor's expression immediately changed when he knew he had been figured out. "My mom saw you head this way," he admitted to his fiancé.

"I knew you it," Helena said as she playfully hit him in the stomach. Connor rubbed his stomach, feigning pain.

"We don't have any more time to waste," he said to the girls. "We should head back now. Do you mind if I lead the way?" Connor held his arm out for Helena to take. She glanced over at Maril. She thought about the conversation they had just had, and knew Maril didn't want her friend to act differently out of deference for her pain. Still, Helena didn't want to walk back hanging on the arm of her fiancé while Maril was alone.

"I can walk back myself, without any help," she said to Connor. She hoped Maril would think she was trying act independent and not trying to avoid hurting her feelings. The girl seemed in good spirits as she lifted up her dress like Helena and followed her out of the maze.

Teddy was pacing like mad when they reached him. From the look on his face, they could tell he was mad at them. He didn't say anything as he saw no need to cause a scene on his sister's wedding day.

"Nice to see you guys could make it," he said with a rather snarky tone, keeping his anger in check. He looked at Connor and Helena as he spoke. His demeanor changed when he saw Maril, though. "Are you ready," he said cheerfully as he held out his arm for her, even though she was a good distance away from him. Maril hurried over to him and took his arm. Ted looked for the bandleader and waved to him. The man signaled back and started the string quartet. They immediately started with the processional music.

Maril and Ted started walking down the aisle. Connor and Helena moved in position behind them. Helena had a hold of Connor's arm now.

"Are you thinking about walking down the aisle, but in a different context at all?" Connor asked her.

Helena didn't like being put on the spot like this. She had an idea for making him pay for bringing it up. "Yeah, I'm thinking about walking down the aisle in a wedding dress, my dad with me, giving me away. I'm also thinking about the handsome black haired man waiting for me at the altar."

The blonde-haired Connor was not amused. "Very funny," he said under his breath.

"Come on, lighten up," she said as she him gave a quick and light jab in the ribs with her elbow.

Connor noticed everyone looking at them. "We're up," he said as he started leading her down the aisle.

The two of them made their way slowly down the aisle. The seats all around them were full. Helena scanned the crowd, looking for her father. She immediately spotted him. He was sitting in the back, of course. He didn't exactly look to be enjoying himself. He wasn't much for weddings, or celebrations of any kind for that matter. Still, he was doing his best to show support for his adoptive grandson. Helena made eye contact with him and smirked. He smirked back at her.

Connor and Helena reached the makeshift altar and bowed. They then separated and took their spots. After a short while the music changed, and Olivia and her father took their spots at the other end of the aisle.

The ceremony Richie and Olivia had was beautiful. Their vows were so good even Bruce, with his cold heart, found himself getting choked up over them. When the ceremony itself was over everyone moved on to the huge blowout of a reception the Queens had set up for the couple. Bruce was seated with many of the other billionaire couples at the wedding.

When the dancing started all the couples got up to dance, leaving him alone. It was a situation which actually pleased Bruce. He started scanning the crowd and people watching.

Eventually he came across his daughter sitting at the head table and talking with Maril Grayson. He couldn't help but look at her with pride. She looked exceptionally beautiful today. He knew most of the other people at the wedding wouldn't see her as much more than the slutty heiress she played for the press. It didn't matter to him; he knew how much she was admired around the world for what she did as Wonder Huntress. He knew one day she would be far more admired then he ever was.

"Scanning for super villains?" a voice familiar to Bruce said from behind him. He turned to see his old ward and partner Dick Grayson slowly walking up to him. The younger man was finally starting to show his age with graying hair and a few wrinkles on his face. He also was beginning to put on weight, something Bruce had avoided despite being over a decade older. It showed how much Bruce still kept up with his workout regimen while Dick had lapsed.

"I'm not so paranoid to believe there is a super villain under every rock," Bruce replied.

"That's not the Bruce I once knew," Dick said as he took the seat right next to Bruce. He followed Bruce's eye line and noticed he was looking at their daughters sitting together.

"You ever wonder how they do it." Dick asked.

"How they do what?" Bruce asked.

"How they manage to have the kind of friendship the two of us were never able to manage," Dick answered.

Dick watched the two girls as they took notice of the fact their fathers were watching them. They leaned towards each other and started talking and giggling as they glanced at the two men from time to time.

"Helena's there for the people she loves," Bruce admitted. "That is one trait she gets from her mother. You would know that I have never been like that."

Bruce's admittance was something that Dick had been waiting his whole life to hear. As Bruce's adopted son and protege he never felt Bruce was there for him in ways a father and mentor should have been. Two decades ago he would have jumped with joy over Bruce admitting his failures. Now, he saw no reason to gloat. As an old man himself who had made numerous mistakes himself throughout his life, he couldn't hold it against Bruce for not being perfect.

"I don't hold anything against you anymore, Bruce," he admitted to his mentor. "Looking back now I see myself as a naive and inexperienced brat who should have been treated much more harshly then he was."

"If it makes you feel any better, I learned from my mistakes with you when it came to raising and training Helena."

"That does make me feel better," Dick said sincerely. "If I can say the mistakes you made with me helped you raise the girl who turned out to be my daughter's best friend, I'll have something to take pride in about that time in my life. Lord knows she is going to need a friend soon."

From the tone of his voice Bruce could tell Dick was not just making a figure of speech. "Why is Maril going to need a friend soon?" he asked.

Dick took a deep breath and sighed before he began to speak. "Kori is dying," he said softly. "She only has a few weeks left, and when she goes Maril will have to take over as queen of Tamaran."

Bruce was stunned by the news. This was the first time he had heard about any of this. "How long have you known."

"Kori told me immediately when she found out two months ago. We've stayed quiet because we wanted Richie and Olivia to enjoy their wedding. We've wanted Maril to have a little more time without the burden of having the weight of a nation on her shoulders. I'm starting to feel that keeping quiet was a mistake, though-"

"There is no right answer when you are facing a situation like this," Bruce told him.

Bruce's words gave Dick some comfort. He continued to watch his daughter with Helena. Helena leaned into Maril and said something that made the two of them both crack up with laughter as they glanced at their fathers.

"She's going to miss her life here, I'm sure," Bruce said. "You raised her well, though; she'll be a good queen."

"Sometimes I think she would have been better off under your tutelage. You might have done a better job toughening her up."

"Toughness is not something that can really be a taught," Bruce replied. "Events and our response to them is what make us tough. She's suffered tragedies that made her tough."

As Dick continued to watch the girls he saw Connor approach Helena and ask her something. Helena appeared apprehensive and turned to Maril. Maril motioned for her to go and Helena got up to dance with Connor.

"I hope you don't mind if I leave you," Dick said to Bruce. "I should probably go and keep my daughter from feeling alone."

Helena was paying little attention to the rest of the crowd as she finished her meal. Just when she was done Maril nudged her and leaned over to tell her something. "Look, our fathers are talking to each other."

Helena looked up and saw Dick sitting down next to her father. "Wanna make a bet on how this ends?" she asked Maril.

"I think it will end with an emotional hug and the two of them crying as they embrace for ten minutes," Maril replied sarcastically. She said everything straight but started giggling the moment she finished. Helena giggled along with her as she noticed their fathers looking over at them.

Helena and Maril both noticed their fathers returning their gaze. They quickly looked away and started talking to each other. "What do you think they're talking about?" Maril asked.

"My father is probably telling him yours how he can't stand retirement," Helena said. "Then he's adding that no one out there knows what they're doing. If he wasn't retired, he would have every super villain behind bars in a matter of seconds."

Maril tried her best to suppress her laughter over what Helena was saying to her. "My father is probably saying 'What about our daughters? They're the most powerful and well trained super heroes the world has ever seen. Do you really think you could do more then they are?"

Helena was able to keep from giggling too badly. "I guess my father would grudgingly agree with him, but he would say everything through gritted teeth." Helena did the best impression of her father's gravelly voice that she could. "You might be right," she said in the deep voice. "They are still only 5% the hero I was in my heyday."

Maril spit out a little of the drink she had in her mouth she laughed so hard over Helena's imitation of her father. She finally got herself under control and added in what her father would reply. "I bet my Dad would say we're more like 10% the heroes they were in their heyday."

"You ever wish we could go back in time and see what they were really like before we were born?" Helena asked her friend.

"Of course I would," Maril answered. "It would be nice to have personal visual confirmation they were never what they thought they were. Given the number of times I"ve had to save my father from near death, I've come to believe he wasn't quite as good as he remembers."

"I know exactly what you mean," Helena said. "Frankly, I don't know how those two ever survived without us."

The two both got a hearty laugh at the expense of their fathers. They had to stop when Connor came up to talk to Helena. "Would you like to dance?" he asked his fiancé.

Helena looked at Maril as she didn't want to leave her friend alone. Maril mouthed the word 'Go' to her and she went ahead and took Connor's hand. He led her out to the dance floor.

Helena and Connor glided along the dance floor. She enjoyed being close to him, but felt a little uneasy over the thoughts this wedding was bringing up about their engagement. Helena loved Connor, but was hesitant to make things official. There were a lot of complications with their relationship: at least that was what she always told herself. As time went by she felt more and more like her cold feet was due to the fact she just didn't love him that much instead of any external complications.

Helena saw her father alone and felt bad for him, even though she knew he was more than accustomed to being alone. "You don't mind if I cut our dance short, do you?" she asked Connor.

"Of course not," he replied. As always, he was understanding, even though he didn't know what Helena was up to.

She left him on the dance floor, trying not to think about the doubts she had about their marriage as she walked away. She thought back to when they got engaged in the wake of Rex's death. They had been set to get engaged, so it wasn't quite a situation where they got engaged merely because of the tragedy. Of course, her parents had believed the same thing when they got married in the wake of Jason Todd's death. It ended up they pushed themselves into a marriage they never should have.

Helena walked to the table her father was at and leaned against it. "Shouldn't you be dancing with your fiancé?" he asked her.

"I thought as the most beautiful girl here I should be dancing with the most handsome man here," she said to him with a smirk.

"You don't have to babysit me, I'm fine," he replied to her.

Helena practically pulled her father out of his chair. "Just let me have one dance with my father. Act like you're a normal human being who can enjoy life just a little bit."

"I guess we need some practice for when you marry Connor," he said.

Helena didn't like the needling about her yet to occur wedding, but she let it slide. She just wanted to enjoy the moment with her father.

Helena walked through the gardens of the Queen estate. She was happy to spend time with her friends, but she was anxious now to get back to Gotham and do some work. She walked to the large clearing between the Queen's gardens and the woods that bordered their property. She found Maril waiting for her as they had agreed.

Maril was walking around, apparently looking for something. "Trying to see if you can find it?" she asked her friend while laughing.

"I know it's around her somewhere," Maril exclaimed. "It's a pretty big jet, there should be some sign it's around here."

Helena's mother had lent her the invisible jet to fly back and forth to the wedding. With all the paparazzi helicopters flying around it was convenient for her to be able to fly something that was undetectable. She pulled out her controls and opened the landing door. When it slid down the opening became visible.

"I had a feeling it was there," Maril tried to claim as they boarded the plane. Helena went up to the cockpit while Maril stayed in the deck below to change into her costume. Helena lifted off and set a course for Bludhaven. As they flew away from the estate the sensors picked up a few helicopters flying around.

When Maril was in her costume she came up in the cockpit to join Helena. "It's actually kind of nice to get away from all that," she said when she came up.

Helena spoke without thinking, and would instantly regret doing so. "Thinking about Rex too much?" she asked.

The mood in the cockpit instantly changed and Helena wished she could take back what she said. "I meant that it was nice to get away from the large crowd and have some quiet. I meant that it was nice to not have to keep up the secret identity act around people. I wasn't talking about Rex at all."

"I'm sorry," Helena said. "I shouldn't believe that you're constantly thinking about Rex and forever damaged by his death. I guess I just believe that everyone is obsessed by the death of loved ones as much as my father is."

Helena was saved from having to do any more by the computer announcing they were approaching Bludhaven. Maril went below without saying anything so she could jump out when they were over the city. Helena passed directly over the city and Maril opened the door and fell to the Earth below. As Helena flew away she followed Maril's trajectory on the ship's radar. She watched as Maril fell to Bludhaven and then darted away in the direction of Metropolis.

"Maril," she said with a sigh as she realized where the girl was going.