Chapter 33

Helena made it to the control room just in time to see Lash break off a crystal shard from a larger rock. When she saw him standing over Superman she instantly knew what he was going to do. She pulled out her crossbow and thought of an arrow with a hook that could wrap around his arm. She saw her mother impaled on the computer near Superman and did her best to put her suffering out of her mind as she aimed her crossbow. She was able to hold her hand steady as she fired it and the end of her arrow wrapped around Lash's hand. She dropped the crossbow as she held on to her end of the rope and yanked on Lash's hand. She realized she was only able to pull his hand back because she had surprised him. He was not going to let that happen again, so she dropped the rope.

She started jumping from one crystal platform to another in order to make her way over to the computer. Lash flew directly at her, as she expected. She was in the air when he reached her. He held a hand out so he could grab her and drive her into the wall. Helena anticipated this and grabbed his hand and pushed herself onto his back. She knew she was at a disadvantage fighting him since he could fly and she couldn't. The best way for her to fight him was to hold on to him and never let him go.

Right before they hit the wall, Lash stood vertical and turned around so Helena slammed against the crystal wall. She hit it so hard so put a big dent in the otherwise smooth crystal surface. Lash flew out a few feet so he could knock her against the wall again. At the last possible second Helena slid around to Lash's front so he slammed against the wall.

Lash moved away from the wall again and Helena wrapped her legs around him and she began to squeeze with all her might. His body felt like it was made of indestructible steel, but from the look on his face Helena could tell she was causing him a good deal of pain. She gave him a good punch right in the forhead and saw a piece of Brainiac break off of his forehead and fall to the ground below.

Lash starting trying to punch her in the face as well. Helena was able to re-direct most of them, but he did land a few blows. She punched back and landed a few hits on him herself.

With her distracted, Lash thought he might be able to slam her into the wall again. Once again she flipped herself over him and held onto his back as he slammed himself into the wall. Helena grabbed a hold of his right arm and held it behind him in a manner that caused him great pain. She took advantage of the uneven wall they had created. She hooked each foot into an indentation in the wall while with her free hand she grabbed onto a short handhold in the wall.

Lash was in pain from his arm, but he still pushed against Helena with as much force as he could muster. Helena was trying to hold on in the hope Lash would eventually give up. She didn't realize how much force he could fly with. While Helena was able to maintain her grip on the wall, the crystal proved to be not so tough. The crystal that was anchoring her to the wall broke and the two of them together raced across the control room at great speed. Helena felt too exhausted to do anything else at the moment and let go of Lash and fell to safety on a ledge below.

Lash stopped above her. He appeared just as exhausted as she was. The two of them sized each other up for a moment before Lash flew away.

"We have everything we need," Brainiac was screaming in Lash's head. "We don't need to worry about her. Let's just get out of here." Lash did as he was instructed and flew away and to the entrance. He went through the pool and flew straight up into the air so he was far above the North Pole. He activated a Boom Tube and went through it as something started firing at him from the ground below.

When Helena saw Lash fly away she knew she had no means to chase him. All she could do now was try to save her parents and Superman. She knew where her mother and Superman were, but had not seen her father at all. He was obviously the most vulnerable and a million horrible things ran through her mind as she tried to look around for any sign of him.

She saw the grappling hook with half a rope attached to it and jumped over to the ledge near it. She looked over the cliff and saw her father holding on to a rock at the edge of a pool of water. She knew the water had to be ice cold and that her father was likely suffering from hypothermia. She had no idea how long he had been down there and she was so scared for him she jumped down to the water below without thinking.

She landed in the water and took note of how cold it was. She would be okay no matter how cold it was, but she knew it had to be wreaking havoc on her father's body. She swam over to him and yelled at him, but he was unresponsive and shivering.

She pulled him off the rock and then pulled herself up onto it as she held on to him so he wouldn't sink in the water. She then pulled him up onto the rock with her. His body felt ice cold against hers.

Helena reached for her crossbow and cursed herself when she realized she had dropped it. She knew she was going to have to get her father out the hard way. She worked her feet up on to the rock and stood up, still holding her father against her. She bent her knees and took a forceful leap straight up. She made it just high enough to grab onto the ledge with one hand.

The powers of her gauntlet gave her enough strength to dig her fingers into the hard Kryptonian crystal. She knew she could pull herself up, but was going to need both hands to do it. She looked at her father and hoped he would be okay if she tossed him up.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you even more," she said as she pushed him up and over the ledge. She then grabbed the edge with her other hand and pulled herself up on the top. Once she was out, she lifted her father up and jumped up to the computer, where her mother and Superman were.

Helena tried to keep her emotions together as she saw how much the two of them were suffering. Superman appeared to be suffering from the presence of Kryptonite. Helena breathed a slight sigh of relief as she thought he would be easy to take care of. Once she had thrown away the rock he would be okay and he could help her get her parents out.

She gently laid her father on the ground, and then ran over to Superman. She frantically looked around, but couldn't find anything. "Where's the Kryptonite?" she yelled at him as she began to panic. "I need you to help me get my parents out of here."

"It's. . .inside. . .me," he said in a voice so weak it shocked her. "Dust. . .in. . .my. . .lungs."

Helena didn't know exactly what happened to Superman, but she had a good enough idea to realize he was not going to be able to help her. She was filled with terror for a moment as she realized it was up to her to get all three of them out. She pushed it aside as she remembered her father's training and how she had been taught to push all fears out of her mind if they interfered with her ability to do her job.

Helena made the decision her father would have to go out first. He would gain the most by being taken out to the warmth of the invisible jet. She should have left immediately with him, but she had to see how her mother was doing. She tentatively walked over to her mother, who heard her coming and rolled her head in her direction. She meekly opened her eyes as she looked at her daughter.

Helena scanned her mother's body, taking in each wound she had. Her mother closed her eyes again. Helena took off a gauntlet and started stroking her forehead, just as her mother had done when she got sick as a young girl. Her mother opened her eyes again and closed them quickly.

"Get your father and Clark out of here," she said in voice almost as weak as Superman's. "They can still be saved."

"You can too, Mom," she replied. "I'm taking Dad out right now, but I'll come back for you."

She put the gauntlet back on, ran over to her father and picked him up in her arms. She jumped over the ledges until she reached the hallway she had come in from. She ran down it towards Kara's room and out the still open door. She was on the ledge on the southeast side of the fortress. She didn't think she could make her way over to the jet. She needed Lois to bring it over, but she was hesitant to tell the woman what was happening.

"Lois, I need you to bring the jet over to me," she said into her communicator. I'm on the southeast ledge."

"Okay, how are they?" she asked. Helena had hoped she wouldn't ask that. She wanted the woman to concentrate on her flying and not be thrown off by fear for her husband.

"Bring the jet to me and you'll see," she replied to Lois.

Helena held her father tightly, trying to keep him warm. She scanned the sky for the jet even though she should have known she wouldn't be able to see it. She needed to do something to avoid looking at the comatose body of her father.

A door appeared in the middle of the sky. Helena made it inside in one leap. Lois was already running down the stairs from the cockpit when she made it inside. She didn't say anything as she looked at Batman's limp body. Helena guessed she was either too fearful or too shocked to say anything.

"They're all hurt bad," Helena said. "My father was trapped in ice water. Get all the blankets we have and wrap him in them. I'm going back for your husband."

Helena jumped back out of the jet before Lois could say anything to her. She couldn't waste a minute telling her what happened. The way Helena could run she would have Clark in the jet quickly enough for her to see his condition.

She made it back to the control room and made it back over to the ledge with the computer. She tried to avoid looking at her mother as she couldn't stand to see how bad off she was. She hoped that if her mother was conscious she would understand why she was taking Clark first. She had actually told her to do so.

Helena made it back out of the fortress in no time at all. She leaped into the jet and laid him next to Lois. The look of heartbreak on Lois's face was almost too much for Helena to bear. "He ingested Kryptonite," she said to the woman. "See what you can do."

Helena leaped back out of the jet and ran to the control room again. When she reached the ledge she took a good look at her mother while she stood a few feet away from her. Her mother's blood was flowing off the console and onto the floor. Her skin was losing its color. Tears started filling her eyes as it hit her that her mother might die. The tears made it hard to see with the mask on so she took it off and let if fall to the ground.

She took off her cape as she thought it would be good for wrapping up her mother. She took it off and laid it on the ground. She walked over to her mother and started feeling better when she saw her mother open her eyes.

"You can't save me, dear," her mother said. "Get Bruce and Clark back to the cave. They still have a chance."

"I'm getting you out of here, mother," she said to her sternly. "I don't need you thinking you're going to die. That won't help at all."

Her mother closed her eyes again as she let out a labored breath. Helena tried to concentrate on the task at hand. She looked her over and felt she could free her mother's ankle and left arm at least before everything else. She pulled her ankle free from its crystal shard and it immediately started gushing more blood. Helena tore off a piece of her cape and tied up the wound. Helena got her left arm free and treated that wound in the same manner.

Helena took a moment to pause as she knew the hardest task was ahead of her. She was going to have to yank her mother up off the console in one swift movement. She looked at the shard going through her mother's leg and thought once again whether or not she could free her leg by itself. As she looked at it again she realized the shard was too long and it was to far up her leg for Helena to be able to work it out.

Helena didn't want to just yank her mother up without her knowing. This time she thought it would be best if her mother was bracing herself for what was about to happen. She removed her gauntlets and once again put her hand on her mother's forehead and pushed the sweat soaked hair off her face.

For a moment their roles were reversed and Helena talked to her mother as if she was the mother and Diana was the daughter. "Mother, I am going to get you out of this, but I need your help." Her mother opened her eyes and looked at her daughter for a sustained moment. "I need you to stay calm. There's going to be a lot of pain, but I know you can handle it. Now I'm going to put my arms under you and lift you up slightly. You're going to feel you're body moving through the shards. It may hurt a lot but it will be okay."

Helena took a deep breath before she started. She gently pushed her hands under her mother's body. She could feel her mother make a few grunts as her body moved up the shards ever so slightly.

"Are you okay, Mom?" she asked.

Diana nodded with gritted teeth. Helena knew she wasn't being truthful, but she couldn't stop and just leave her. "I'm going to count to three, and on three I'm going to lift you off this."

Her mother nodded as she understood. Helena counted to three and yanked her mother off the console and the crystal shards that had torn through her body. Her mother yelled so loudly Helena was surprised she didn't bring down the Fortress.

Diana gritted her teeth and held in her screams of pain as her daughter gently laid her on her cape. When she was on the ground she wrapped her mother in the cape and tried to press it against her in order to soak up the blood that was coming out of her wounds. Her mother was convulsing and that it made it harder to hold the cape against her to try and put pressure on the wounds.

Helena soon realized there was going to be nothing she could do for her mother until she got her back to the Batcave and could use the Themysciran clay to heal her wounds. She gently lifted her up and headed back outside. This time she moved a little slower so as not to agitate her mother so much.

She leapt into the jet and gently placed her mother on the floor. Lois saw how Helena was handling her mother, saw the lifeless look on Diana's face, and immediately knew she was by far the worst off of the three. Lois was so taken aback by what she saw she left Clark alone and ran over to help Helena with Diana.

Lois knew Helena was too broken up by her parent's condition to give them the help they needed. "Fly us back to the Batcave. I'll look over your mother."

Helena was glad to be relieved of the burden. She ran up to the cockpit and seated herself at the controls. Having another task to focus on was a big help and she calmed herself down. She got the jet moving and headed for the Batcave.

As they flew she accessed all the Wayne satellites and read the readouts of their scans of Earth. She was not afraid of being tracked as she had a feeling the Apokolips forces were no longer around. She looked at the satellite readouts and found her hunch was correct.

She focused a satellite on Wayne Manor. The readouts showed the Tamaranean and Thanagarian ships were congregating there. Helena knew Barbara had likely offered the Manor as a field hospital. The rest of the League was probably there as well. She knew the morale of the League would plummet if they knew about the condition of the triumvirate. She was going to have to keep things a secret. The invisible jet would allow them to get there without anyone noticing. She could take them to the cave and keep it closed off from the rest.

Helena needed to be sure the cave would be off limits when they got there. "Barbara," she called on the intercom.

"I'm here, Helena," she replied.

"I need to know if you're in the cave, and if anyone is with you."

"I'm alone. The rest of the manor is crawling with superheroes and soldiers, but I have the Batcave off limits. I know Bruce likes to keep it restricted in these situations."

"I need you to keep it like that, and I need you to keep a secret. My parents and Clark are injured badly. They're going to need to be treated in the cave, but I want it kept quiet from everyone."

"I can do that," she answered. "Everyone is so busy treating the rest of the wounded they won't pay much attention to the fact they are not around."

Helena reached the manor and landed the jet in the backyard, right next to the hidden opening. Even though she didn't have the time to pause, she did so as she had to gather herself and get control of her emotions. It only took a couple seconds and she ran down to the deck below.

"Your mother needs to go first," Lois said to her. Helena grabbed her mother out of Lois's arms and jumped out of the jet. With another step she was falling to the Batcave below. She ran her over to the hospital area and found Barbara waiting for her. She ran to one of the beds and placed her on it. She pulled back the cape and looked over her mother, overwhelmed as she didn't know what to do. For the first time in her life she was frozen with indecision.

"I can take care of her," Barbara told her. "Get Bruce and Clark."

Helena ran out again and ascended through the hole to the back yard of the manor. She jumped in the jet and grabbed Clark. She paid little attention to Lois as she was in a hurry. She jumped back through the hole and ran Clark over to the sun lamps that had been put in place for him years ago. She laid him on the metal slab and turned on the lamps as she ran out. She knew they would at least keep him stable for the time being.

Helena didn't let up at all even though she knew her father was likely not in as dire a situation now as the other two. She ascended back up the hole and into the jet; finding Lois tending to her father.

"If you can hang on to my back I can take you down to the cave," she said to Lois as she picked up her father.

"It's been a while since I've had to cling to a superhero, but I think it's like riding a bicycle. You never forget."

Helena walked to the edge of the door and Lois wrapped her arms around Helena. She took a leap to the ground and then through the opening into the Batcave. When they hit the floor of the cave Lois let go and ran to where her husband was. Helena carried her father to the hospital room.

Barbara was carefully applying the Themyscaran clay to each of the wounds on her mother's body. Helena glanced at the monitors her mother was hooked up to and saw her vitals were weak, but okay enough for her to pull through until the clay started working. She wanted to see if her mother was beginning to heal, but knew she had to tend to her father first. She also didn't need to get her hopes up, it was early and she knew it would take them time to heal.

She laid her father on a bed. Lois had wrapped him up well with all the blankets from the jet. It was unlikely any more would do any good. She grabbed an IV as she knew he would need it to rehydrate. She hooked him up to several machines so she could monitor his vital signs. She was pleased to see they were quite good.

She looked at his face and could see his eyes fluttering. She reached under the blankets and grabbed a hold of his hand so he would know he was safe. His hand felt cold to her, but not as much as she feared. He managed to open his eyes and they darted all around so he could see where he was. "Am I in the Batcave?" he asked.

"Yes, Dad," she replied. His hand still felt cold to her and she rubbed it to try and warm it.

"I guess your mother saved me and brought me here." His voice was weak and he was talking in little more than a whisper.

Helena took a deep breath. Her father was weak and she wasn't sure how all the bad news would affect him. She tried to reveal the news as slow as possible. "Mom didn't bring you here, I did. Mom is injured as well."

Helena was surprised to see her father crack a slight smile. "I should have known you wouldn't let us out of your sight. You take after me too much. Don't worry about your mother. She'll be fine. She's stronger then you know, there is almost nothing that can destroy her."

Helena found it endearing that even in his injured state he was trying to be the reassuring father and tell her that her mother would be okay. She wondered if he would feel the same way if he could see the injuries she had actually sustained. "She was pretty bad off when I found her, but I think you're right. I think she will pull through just fine. It will take some time."

"What about Superman? I know he was being hurt by Kryptonite."

Helena wanted to avoid giving him bad news about the others as much as possible; she thought putting him adjacent to her mother wasn't such a good idea. "He wasn't well off when I found him, but he's okay now. He breathed in some Kryptonite dust, but we'll be able to get it out." She lied a little as she wasn't quite sure just how they were going to heal Superman.

"What about Lash? What happened to him?" Despite the weakness of his voice, Helena could detect the gravitas in it.

"He got away, father. I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't apologize; we're the ones who failed. We're the ones who let him get what he wants. I saw him at the computer. You have to find out what he wanted."

Helena knew her father was right, but he was forgetting she wouldn't be able to access anything. "I can't access the computer, Dad."

"Clark set up a password for your mother and I. Just say KaraogLara when it asks who you are."

"I'll do that as long as you do something for me. Put everything out of your mind and fall asleep. You need to get some rest if you are going to heal."

"Okay honey," her father said as he closed his eyes to signal his willingness to comply. She was glad he didn't look over at her mother. Helena laid his hand down on the bed and tucked it under the blankets. She kissed him on the forehead before she walked away.

Helena looked over at her mother. She didn't want to ask Barbara anything as she didn't want her father to hear anything about her condition. Her vital signs were unchanged from a moment before. Helena looked over her mother's body and concentrated on the wounds. They were looking better and Helena hoped her overall health would soon follow.

She left her parents in the care of Barbara. She had a tinge of guilt over doing it, but she was the only one who could figure out what Lash and Brainiac were doing and she had to do it. She knew her parents were in good hands.

As she walked by Superman's sun room she checked in on him. "How is he doing?" she asked Lois.

"He's at a stable equilibrium," she told him. The energy from the sun lamps is canceling out the harm being done to him by the Kryptonite. He is going to be like this, though, until we can get the dust out of his lungs. I think we're going to need the Atom for that."

Helena had wondered why she hadn't thought of getting the Atom. She just hoped nothing had happened to him during the invasion. "I'm going up top; I'll ask around to see if anyone knows of his whereabouts."

Lois didn't say anything to her as she left. She walked up the steps and opened the metal door just enough to fit through. She wanted to be inconspicuous so no one who happened to be on the other side would see her and immediately start peppering her with questions. She opened it a foot, slid through quickly with her front against the wall, and shut it again.

Helena turned around to see the study empty. The hallway, on the other hand, was bustling with activity. Superheroes and soldiers from Maril's army were all running around. Helena went to the doorway and simply watched it all for a while. She was trying to get an idea of just what was going on in her house.

Helena saw a Thanagarian soldier limping down the hallway. His wings looked like they had been singed by a laser blast or two, which was why he couldn't fly. He looked like he could use some help so Helena went up to him, grabbed one of his arms, and hoisted him on her shoulders.

"You look like you could use some help," she said to him. "Are you headed for one of the hospital rooms?"

"I was told there was an open bed in the Party Hall. I declined help as I felt there were others who could use it more. It turns out I might have been wrong."

"I've been otherwise disposed for the last few hours," she said to him. "Would you mind telling me how the battle is going?"

"We won," he said with an obvious beam of pride. "Almost two hours ago they had enough and started retreating through their Boom Tubes. I have heard that the same thing has happened all over the world. They are in retreat everywhere."

Helena realized instantly the soldier's bravado was unwarranted. Two hours ago was around the time Lash had made his escape. He had what he needed and was retreating with all his force to Apokolips in order to make use of whatever it was he had found. Helena had to keep the information to herself until she knew more.

She walked the soldier into the hall to find it filled with the Justice League. Almost all the beds were filled by a superhero that was surrounded by his superhero friends and family. Helena looked around just enough to find the open bed and walked the soldier over to it.

"I'll go and find a doctor to attend to you," she said as she helped him onto the bed.

"You probably have other things to worry about," he said. "I'm sure someone will be by soon to ask me how I am."

Helena would have ignored his request and brought the doctor, but as she scanned the room for one she found Olivia and Theodore sitting beside a hospital bed. Her breath stopped for a moment as she saw Connor lying unconscious in it. His head was bandaged and she could tell he had a cast on his right shoulder that ran down his right arm.

Helena looked back to see the soldier was okay, and then walked over to Connor's hospital bed. Olivia spotted her as she walked over and was relieved to see her.

"Helena!" she yelled as she stood up and embraced her. "I'm so glad to see you. No one knew what happened to you."

"I had to help my parents and Superman," she said as Olivia broke the embrace.

"Where did they go? Where are they now? Everyone has been going crazy wondering what has happened to them."

Helena looked around to see if anyone had taken notice of her. She was getting a few glances, but it didn't appear anyone was going to be accosting her about what her parents were doing. "They had a fight with Superman's son," she began. She tried to choose her words carefully. "I don't have time to explain everything so ask around, but he escaped and we are now trying to figure out what his next move might be. My parents and Supeman will be occupied in the Batcave for a while and won't be able to come up here. If you can do me a favor spread the word around. If everything is running okay up here, then it will be best if they keep up with the task they have at hand."

"I understand," Olivia said as she nodded. Helena looked past Olivia to see how bad her fiancé looked.

"He had a robot pick him up and slam him against the ground pretty hard. Mom saw everything. The scream she let out obliterated the robot to dust and took out ten others."

Helena kneeled next to the bed and ran her hand along his face. He felt warm at least, which was a good sign of health. She inspected his body and noticed his right leg was in a cast as well.

"How's the rest of your family?" Helena asked with trepidation.

"Dad's a bit shook up as well. He's unconscious too, but in better physical condition. Ted took Mom over to be with him as she was just too broken up staring at Connor."

"And Richie?"

"He's outside helping Maril and Rex set up a field hospital for the army."

Helena looked back to Connor. She wished she had the option to stay by his side and be the first person he saw when he awoke. She had other people and a mission to attend to. She leaned over him and kissed him on the lips, hoping it wouldn't be the last she ever got to give him.

"I hate to leave him, but I have a mission to complete," she said to Olivia.

"I understand," she answered. "I'll let you know if he wakes."