"Hey kid," the woman known as Huntress said to Gabby. Though she didn't wear a mask in the night when she played with Batgirl, she seemed a lot different in the day. It could have something to do with the light blue sweater she wore with a pair of jeans and dark brown boots. It was a change from all the leather. "I needed to talk to Barbara about a few things. Seein' as she is avoiding me at night, I had to come to her in the day."

"She isn't going to be happy that you found her here."

"I know, but I don't know how else to talk to her. I saw you with that other little blonde and thought I would come and see how you're holdin' up. You look a lot better from that last time I saw you. You feelin' better too?"

Gabby looked surprised. This was the second time Huntress showed concern for her and they didn't even really know each other. It was this that made Gabby say, "Down the hall, 312, but I didn't tell you that."

"Tell me what?" Huntress asked.

"Exactly." A warning bell sounded and Gabby looked back. "Thanks for checking in on me, 'Melanie Freeman'. Tell Miss Gordon I'll be coming by after school."

"How can I when we never spoke?" Huntress asked.

"Touché'. Bye."

"Later Kid." Huntress watched as Gabby limped down the hallway, but stood straighter and walked painfully upright and slower so her limp showed once she passed a certain door. She narrowed her eyes at the man, who stood in the doorway watching her, but he waved to her in passing and Gabby returned the gesture. That seemed to be the end of it, but further down the hall, Gabby hurried, her limp visible again. Then, the teen turned a corner and was gone.

Huntress followed Gabby's directions and went down the hall to room 312. She was surprised to find that the redhead didn't have students in her classroom, but she was also relieved. She slipped inside and shut the door behind her. Barbara jumped when she turned and saw Huntress there, then her shoulders tensed and Huntress knew she had to talk fast. "I came to talk. Your secret's safe with me, I promise."

"What are you doing here?" Barbara asked thinly, her eyes steely as she looked Huntress up and down at the new outfit.

"I wanted to talk to you about what been going on in our... night life."

"Why don't you go ask your detective?" Barbara bit out.

"My De- Is that why you've been avoiding me? Are you jealous of him?"

"Absolutely not," Barbara said quickly.

"Liar. Look, there is nothing there with him, okay? I just talk to him to get information. I did it to help keep the city safe with you. If you think I am into him, you're wrong."

"Whatever you say, but I have a class coming in in about 10 minutes, so you need to leave."

Huntress took steps towards Barbara, but left a lot of room between them. "I am here because of you. I came back here because of you, and I am happy here... because of you. That won't change. I haven't been your problem for the last few days because I find more enjoyment fighting at you side than I did when fighting you, and I want to keep that."

Barbara was speechless, but the hard mask on her face didn't remove itself. Her mind whirred at light-years a second as it always did, but they centered over the woman before her and the words she spoke and how young she looked in the daytime. "Okay, well forget it," Helena said in a huff. "I'm gone."

"Who are you? In the day?"

"Helena. Helena Kyle, but something tells me that you already know that."

"I do. And I know you know me now, seeing as you're in my classroom."

"Yes, but I'd prefer to hear it from you."

"Barbara Gordon."

Helena took a few steps towards Barbara, still leaving space, but extending her hand towards Barbara, who took hers. Surprisingly, instead of a handshake, the younger woman placed a kiss on the back of her hand and said, "A pleasure to finally meet you. I hope to see you around." With that, the brunette was gone, and Barbara remained still minutes after she was gone.

Lunch with Dinah was a little bit awkward. Gabby found her right away in all of the lunchtime madness, but the girl barely smiled in a hello. Gabby felt bad again because she knew that the other girl must have been thinking about their talk that morning, but she had to stand by this. The two ate in silence for a while until about five minutes in, Dinah put her hand on the table, and gabby immediately placed her and over the other blonde's. They shared a look as gabby felt the fuzziness in her head again, and then went back to their lunches. It cut the tension a little bit. "I read your letter," Gabby said after a while of silence between them.

"Yeah?"

It was beautiful. Thank you."

Dinah wanted to say 'aaaaand?', but it looked like that was all she was going to get, so she shrugged to herself and said, "You're welcome."

Gabby made her way down the hallway at the end of the day. She was so glad that it was the end of the week. More than that, she was so glad that her winter break had officially begun. She had to stop at Barbara's classroom to say goodbye and to check up on her. Looking in the little window, she saw Barbara was getting a head start on grading papers, and her stack looked pretty high. The teen knocked on the door and watched as Barbara's face shot up. When she saw who it was, Barbara waved her in. Gabby opened the door slowly and let herself in. "You look guilty. I'm going to guess it was you who told Helena where I am," Barbara said, making a mark on a student's paper.

Gabby was a little confused by the name. She didn't know that Huntress' name was really Helena. "She was in the hallway with Dinah and me, Dinah left and then she said she wanted to check up on me since she saw me there."

"Well, don't stress. I'm not mad at you for telling. She would have figured it out if you hadn't told her. Her powers would have helped her, no doubt."

"What'd she have to say?"

"She wanted information from the night life. An update. I told her to ask the detective-"

"You didn't!" Gabby gasped out.

"She saw through me. She knows I'm jealous." Barbara told the teen the conversation with Helena, mostly because of the conversation they had a couple of days ago about being best friends despite the age differences. Gabby listened with an odd sort of look on her face, and when Barbara finished speaking, she was quiet for a moment.

"Man, Barbara. That sounds like the superhero equivalent to 'I love you' if you ask me."

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that," Barbara replied. She shut her eyes and seemed to shake away a thought. "I don't want to feel this way," she said, repeating her words from a couple of days ago. She then looked up. "You said that you were with Dinah this morning. How is that friendship going?"

It was Gabby's turn to sort of flinch, but she told Barbara about dinner with her mother the night before. When Gabby got to the part where Dinah touched her and Gabby felt dizzy, Barbara's face changed, but the teen couldn't figure out what it meant, as it shifted back so quickly. Gabby continued on, telling about the kiss and the talk they had that morning. Barbara stayed silent after Gabby was done, at first because she wasn't exactly sure if the teen was done, and then because she was surprised by all of the information Gabby had given her. She supposed she DID ask.

"So you're more than friends?"

"Um... It's complicated."

"Ah. We both know complicated. Speaking of, I wanted to let you know that I tested the device I was working on, and it works. I was even able to make a duplicated for both of our tool belts."

"I don't plan to go out there in the costume again," Gabby said.

"I know, but I like the idea of the suit being there, just in case."

Gabby groaned. "I don't even have a name for that character."

"You don't have to have one. That could be the best thing about it. It is seen so rarely that no one will ever know what to call the figure. Don't lie, you like the thought of it being there in case no one else is there.

Gabby didn't say anything at first. "It was a bit of a rush," she admitted.

"I know you're not a fighter, and I promise to do what I can so you won't have to go out there like that again, but I also promise to teach you the basics in defense in case something happens and you just have to, with or without the suit, okay?"

"So I'd be taking karate for real?"

"Kind of."

"Cool."

Barbara looked at the clock on the wall and then took her glasses off to rub her eyes. Gabby knew that her mentor was in for a long night, not just from the grading of papers, but she had to be Batgirl that night as well. The teen wished she could be Oracle that night to at least help make it better for her, but she knew that Barbara would want her to go to bed and rest. Plus, she had to trust that Alfred would do the job better that she ever could. "It's nearing 4:30. Are you going to need a ride?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Go to the Northfield Boulevard tunnel and I will pick you up there and drive you home." Gabby was about to ask when Barbara said 'Loving Annabelle, remember?"

"Oh- right. See you in a bit." Gabby picked up her back pack and walked out of the door and out of the school. She didn't seem Mr. Brixton everywhere, and hated that the average but otherwise nice man had become more like a boogeyman to her. As Gabby made her way down the block a ways, she saw that the snow was starting up again, this time with larger snowflakes. Gabby was glad that she was getting a ride home. She stood at the corner of Northfield Boulevard and 42nd Street, where there was an entrance to underground Gotham City, where some people have dwelled after the earthquakes. Gabby found herself bouncing from foot to foot by the time she saw Barbara pull up beside her. The teen jumped in as quickly as she could and Barbara was quick in getting her home. You know the drill. Bed. Rest. Read. Get well." Barbara said as she got to Gabby's curb.

"Yeah, I know. Thank you for the ride Barbara. Will I see you before Christmas?"

"I think so, if only as Oracle. We can exchange gifts then if you like."

"Good, because I still have to get you a present." Gabby teased, but she was really still thinking on what to get someone like Barbara who had or could make anything he wanted already. Gabby then got out of the car and waved Barbara off. She watched her round the corner and was gone. Then she hurried into the house just in time to see her mother. She didn't look angry or upset, and Gabby greeted with a wave. "Sorry I am late getting home. I had to talk to a teacher after class before I didn't get a chance to because of the break."

"That's fine. What are your plans for the evening?" her mother asked casually.

"It is too cold to do anything more than to take a hot shower, changed into pajamas and long john, and watch V or read fanfiction. You?" Gabby asked.

"I have a 14 hour shift tonight."

"Fourteen hours? Dang. Are you going to be okay in the snow?"

"If I leave now, I should be. You're staying put?"

"I promise you, I am staying put."

"Alright. I put a frozen pizza in the oven. It should be done in a half an hour. I gotta go. Be good," Gabby's mother stressed. She kissed gabby on the forehead, grabbed her keys and went to the door.

Gabby wanted to say that in her shenanigans she's always good, but she nodded. Bye Mom. Have a good night." Gabby watched her mother leave, and then she headed for the shower. She gathered her clothes and took them in the bathroom with her, as was her habit. The shower, as she promised, was long and hot, and her whole body seemed to love her for it. As she soaped up and shampooed her hair, she thought about Dinah and what was going on between them. Even though they weren't together, they still seemed so close, and they still held hands. Gabby was certain that this would only confuse things between them, but she knew that both of them seemed to want and need that contact. If that line she tried to draw got blurred, she knew she would have to back away from it as much as she didn't want to but she had her responsibilities to think on, and she wasn't going to let Barbara down. Gabby dried and dressed quickly as it was cold, and then took her old clothes back to her room, and she stopped.

She felt the breeze even before she entered her room. Right away as she looked at her open window, she knew something was wrong. She hadn't opened it. It was snowing out there. She wasn't crazy! Gabby backed away a few steps, intent on calling the police, but she bumped into something. No. Not something, someone. Gabby stiffened, and slowly, she turned. She found herself face to mask with the mysterious figure she had fought the other night.