Bruce Wayne stepped out of the elevator and sighed to himself softly. "You know that you're allowed in the cave, Helena. So why do you keep insisting on sneaking in?" he asked as he walked to the young woman lounging in his chair. "The challenge, I guess," the black haired girl shrugged. Helena was a bit dusty, especially around her knees and elbows. "How did you break in this time?" Bruce asked her with a sigh. The monitors in front of them were showing images of the new Supergirl and Steel in action, as well as a few other heroes who had recently returned to action. "I used the caves that opened up after the Cataclysm," she shrugged, "you haven't been able to seal up all of them." "I thought the remaining ones were too small," Bruce looked over at her thoughtfully, "I guess I was wrong." "Keep trying, Gramps," Helena Wayne grinned. "What do you think of them?" she asked, waving at the monitors. "Not enough discipline," he noted, "but they do have potential." "Potential, right," she smiled. Helena took a breath, "Would you object to my becoming involved with them?" Bruce raised his eyebrow, appearing mildly surprised at his notoriously independent granddaughter, "I absolutely forbid it." "What?" Helena looked surprised. "And why not?" she demanded. "You're still far too inexperienced," Bruce said to her levelly, "and I doubt you could handle the responsibility." "You're wrong," Helena scowled, "and you know it!" She picked up a black and purple costume from the floor, declaring, "I've been operating as Kestrel for over two years, now. When are you going to start treating me like an adult?" "When you start acting like one," Bruce answered calmly. Helena growled something incoherent, and turned to stride to the elevator. The door slid open then shut right behind her, cutting off her fierce glare. The elevator rose silently, while Bruce settled down into his chair. "That was a fairly blatant use of reverse psychology," Oracle noted, her holographic image materializing beside him. "Maybe," Bruce actually smiled up at her impishly, "but with Helena it's one of the few things that usually works." "I remember," Oracle smiled slightly. Bruce actually looked a bit uncomfortable, "I don't think I ever thanked you, for helping raise her after her father died." His eyes darkened with remembered pain, "My son..." "You should really be thanking Barbara and Dinah," Oracle reminded him gently. She flickered a moment, "Sorry, duty calls." With that, she was gone. Elsewhere in the city, later that day, Helena paced the small apartment while waving her hands in the air, "I can't believe that man!" She had changed to a black T-shirt and jeans, and made quite the striking figure. Dinah Lance and her wife, Barbara Gordon-Lance watched her with a parent's fondness. Dinah's blonde hair was lightly touched with gray, but other than that she was young and vigorous due to a bath in the life- extending Lazarus Pit. Barbara's fiery red hair flowed over her shoulders as she carefully walked across the room carrying a tray of coffee. The metallic braces on her legs allowed the formerly crippled woman to walk, a gift of Wayne enterprises and Bruce himself. "Trust me, I know how irritating your grandfather can be," Dinah grinned. "So what did he do this time?" "Said I was too immature to try to hook up with Supergirl and Steel," Helena scowled. "Don't make that face too long, it might stay that way," Barbara set the cups down, sitting down to snuggle with Dinah. Helena blinked in surprise, then laughed softly, "Thanks, Mom." She flopped down in the chair opposite, "So what do you think?" "You can do this," Barbara nodded firmly. She was almost as youthful as Dinah, due to an emergency blood transfusion Dinah had given her. Somehow, the effects of the Lazarus Pit had been shared between them both. "You are as good as I ever was," Dinah agreed, "maybe better." She shook her head, "I just don't understand the man's problem." "I think I do," Barbara sighed. "What?" Helena sat up, looking at her curiously. "Back when I started out as Batgirl, it took a lot of doing to prove myself to Batman," Barbara explained, "and I think it was because, as heroic as Bruce is, he has an old fashioned view of women. Ladies should be protected, not out doing the fighting." "Well, I'm not going to get a sex change," Helena scowled, Dinah nearly choked on her coffee on that, and Barbara snickered. "Don't do that, you'll disappoint all the girl's who haven't gone out with you yet," Dinah grinned. "That's the truth," Barbara agreed. She leaned forward, "But if you really want to do this, then go for it. Bruce will approve or not, but don't let that influence your decision." "I do want to," Helena nodded. She frowned, "Now how do I get up there? Could always sneak in..." "I think there might be a better way," Dinah said, looking thoughtfully at Barbara. Barbara nodded thoughtfully, "Help me up." With Dinah's aide she got up out of the couch, then walked over to the antique computer system she had set up in the corner of the living room. "You don't mean to hack them with that piece of junk?" Helena exclaimed. "Watch your tongue, junior," and Barbara's tone was actually scolding as she added, "this was state of the art in it's day." She typed furiously, activating subsystems until she was asked for a password. She typed it in, blushing faintly, 'Babs loves Dinah.' "Aww," Dinah smiled. A soft hum, and a three dimensional hologram appeared in their midst, looking like a younger version of Barbara herself. "Oracle access granted," Oracle declared. She looked around thoughtfully, "Hello Barbara, Dinah." She took a moment, "Helena! You've grown since I last saw you." Helena gaped at her in surprise, and Dinah looked at the hologram thoughtfully. "Hello, Oracle," she said quietly. "Dinah," Oracle nodded, a deep emotion flickering in her eyes. "Hello, Oracle. Helena is interested in joining this new Justice League you and the others are forming," Barbara smiled. Oracle chuckled softly, "Supergirl and Steel were looking into contacting her, actually." She looked at Helena thoughtfully, "Do you have your costume?" Helena picked up her backpack from beside her chair, "Now I do." "Step near me," Oracle said. As Helena did Oracle declared, "Transmitting coordinates," and they both simply disappeared.
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