Part 8
New Gotham...Two Months later
Because it was Saturday Dinah was at home, Gabby had training with the softball team and she wouldn't see her until late in the afternoon. She and Aiko were coordinating Barbara's 33rd birthday celebration, it was already fall, and a bit cold so a warm and comfortable place was the best option. While Aiko made the reservations and contacted Dick, Dinah escaped to her room. The day before a package had arrived in her name from San Francisco. She thought she knew what it was by the size. However, the letter that came with it explained it all.
Dinah,
I must say I am not surprised by your letter, what surprises me is that you were able to wait so long to tell me about Barbara, I didn't think you would be able too. Forgive me for making you keep the secret for so long.
I don't know what to think, I don't know what to feel Dinah. However, if your words are true I must admit that I feel a certain relief at the thought that Barbara not hating me for leaving in the way that I did.
You are right, we need to talk, but I'm not sure when I will feel able to do it. However, I am sending you Barbara's portrait, give it to her on her birthday. If FedEx delivers as promised it should arrive the day before, tell her...I don't know. Tell her I am fine, that you've seen me, that I have a life in San Francisco, and that I am happy to and not worry about me please.
Take care of yourself Dinah and thanks for being such a great little sister.
HK
Dinah was nervous, she didn't know when would be the right moment to give Barbara the gift from Helena however, after lots of thought she decided that the best thing would be to wait until that night, after they returned from a dinner in her honor. There were so many things to talk about and explain and to do it before dinner would ruin it. What concerned her most was Barbara's reaction when she'd tell her the truth. She was scared, she was sure Barbara would have many questions. Questions that she wasn't sure she would be able to answer honestly. Barbara surely would feel betrayed and that would be hard for Dinah to take knowing that Barbara would feel deceived by her.
In the morning when she and Aiko had taken her breakfast in bed, she noticed that Barbara's eyes kept filling with tears when Aiko mentioned that they had a surprise for her birthday. Dinah was sure she was remembering another surprise, one that Helena had given her just before her engagement to Wade Brixton, she had put all her energy to celebrating her 30th birthday in grand style, after all you didn't turn thirty everyday Helena said.
'Soon, Barbara' Dinah thought as she hugged her. It was inevitable for the telepath not to feel the redheads sorrow when she did. Nevertheless, she knew that soon, most of her sorrow, if not all would disappear when she told her the truth. Well not the whole truth, Helena was the only one that could tell her the real reason why she left. She was only a bridge. She was confident that after that night everything would be all right.
The dinner was a complete success. Barbara celebrated her birthday with Dick, Dinah, Aiko, Gabby, and Alfred in a fancy Italian restaurant. Barbara did her best to enjoy her birthday dinner, trying to be happy for them. When they returned, Dick offered to do the sweeps along with Aiko, since Dinah said she had assignments to work on. Gabby and Alfred said good night when they had left the restaurant and only Gabby knew the real reason why Dinah was not going out on sweeps that night.
As Barbara got comfortable in front of Delphi, Dinah went to her room to get the portrait. She took several deep breaths to calm herself and with the package under her arm, she came up to Barbara who saw her from the corner of her eye. She had a package with her; it was large and looked like a painting of some kind. It was still wrapped in its original wrapping and she turned to look at her questioningly.
"What do you have there Dinah?" She asked curiously, trying to sound happy, but she knew it was hopeless. Dinah could see the tears clearly.
"A belated birthday gift."
"Oh, thank you." Barbara said surprised; she thought Dinah had already given her, her gift.
"I hope you like it." Dinah said shakily, which Barbara couldn't comprehend.
"Whatever you give me Dinah I will love, what matters is the intention." She looked at her affectionately.
Dinah gave her the package and waited nervously for Barbara to open it. Carefully Barbara removed the wrapping. The gasp of surprise almost made her fall back. The painting fell from her hands. Dinah rushed to catch her. Her mind was in turmoil; Barbara couldn't understand quite what was in front of her eyes.
"This gift isn't from me; someone else sent it to you." She paused. "I know where Helena is Barbara." She said softly almost terrified, Barbara's legs collapsed and she fell hard into the chair.
"Helena, my Helena." She whispered with teary eyes.
Dinah held her until Barbara was able to stand and looked at the portrait again and then at Dinah questioningly.
"Have you known where she was all along?" She asked her incredulously looking at her with painful disbelief.
"No, no." She hurried to assure. "It was all just by luck Barbara, you have to believe me. I didn't have any idea where she was. I was as surprised as you are when I saw the portrait for the first time."
"You saw it?" She asked in shock. "I don't understand." She sat down; her legs couldn't hold her up any longer. The emotions were bombarding her. Her eyes tracked from the painting of herself to Dinah, not understanding what Dinah was trying to say.
"Well, it's complicated", Dinah blushed furiously "she's in San Francisco and I found her just by chance".
"San Francisco!" Barbara almost yelled disbelievingly. "It's been two months that you were there, you've known since then where Helena has been, and you didn't tell me! How could you Dinah! How could you keep that information from me?" she accused "Don't you know how worried I've been?"
How much I need her and miss her. She said to herself.
Dinah looked very uncomfortable; she had that deer caught in the headlights look.
"I told you it was complicated Barbara, Helena was hesitant to speak with me, she already has a new life in San Francisco."
"What does she do? How is she?" She held back the questions that were barraging her head; she sensed that there was more than Helena's reluctance.
"Well" she started to explain "two days before we were to return, I read the paper during the morning and I saw that there was an exhibit for a new unknown artist that was gaining a lot of recognition for their talent. What most caught my attention was the refusal of the artist to reveal their identity or do interviews or be present at the exhibit."
"Artist?"
"Helena is a painter, and a very good one." She declared with pride.
Barbara was left speechless, "Helena a painter?" She looked at Dinah insisting she continue.
"Well as I was saying, it caught my attention and since I was going to be in the area I went to the gallery. From the first moment I saw the paintings I felt a sense of déjà vu you know. They seemed to be familiar; was something I couldn't quite put my finger on." She gesticulated with her hands "Anyway I continued viewing the exhibit but when I arrived at the main exhibit there were three paintings, two with a woman facing away with her back to the viewer and that one" She indicated what was now in front of them. "As you can imagine I was stunned when I recognized you. For a moment, I wasn't sure how to react. When I finally came out of my stupor I got closer and studied the painting, in the corner..." Dinah indicated the painting and Barbara followed her gaze "Was the artist's initials" Barbara took in the initials HK. She gasped as she recognized Helena's distinctive bold strokes.
"It's her."
"Yes, you can imagine my shock when I discovered it, I began to examine each of the paintings and they all had the same signature. I must have been there well over an hour walking through the gallery and at least twenty minutes staring at yours when the owner of the gallery approached me. She commented that it was "Impressive". Moreover, I agreed with her. When I asked about the painting, she made it very clear that it wasn't for sale, that it was part of the artist's private collection. I insisted that I needed to talk to Helena, but she refused out right, she told me that she couldn't give me any information, that she was a very private person. She didn't seem to be very surprised to know that I knew who she was or that I wanted to see her. However, she did seem to be a bit regretful that I had seen and recognized the portrait.
"I think I need a drink." Barbara got up and headed for the kitchen where they had the liquor bottles and poured herself a glass of bourbon and asked Dinah if she wanted one too. Dinah accepted mostly because she was surprised that Barbara was letting her take one and with the bottle and two glasses they returned to Delphi because after all Lotus and Nightwing were still on sweeps.
Once they were in front of Delphi, Dinah continued her story.
"It didn't matter how much I begged Kate Spencer, which I found out after, was the owner of the gallery and a good friend of Helena's as well as her old boss. She told me clearly that she could not help me. Disappointed and saddened I left but not before leaving information as to where I was staying and for how long and asking her to pass the information along to Helena. I returned to the hotel in complete shock and waited for Gabby. Helena was in San Francisco, she was an artist that was earning an excellent reputation, and I didn't know if she was going to agree to see me or even talk to me. When Gabby arrived she found me curled up in the rooms sofa crying, and even though I didn't want to give her any specifics I told her I was fine, that I had seen a ghost from my past and didn't know what would happen next.
Barbara took a drink from her glass and listened attentively to everything that Dinah was saying, her mind still could not believe that somehow Helena was now back in their lives, at least now they knew where she was but the question was, would she her again? Something didn't seem right to Barbara, not completely. Why didn't Dinah touch Kate to get the information about Hel's whereabouts? Something didn't smell right in all this; however, Barbara didn't voice her thoughts. She needed to analyze things and from Dinah's attitude until now, she wasn't sure she would get the answers that her analytical mind demanded.
"I was so full of adrenaline at knowing where Helena was that I couldn't sleep, Gabby went to bed around 10 because she had to be at University of San Francisco at 9 a.m., but I couldn't sit still so I went to the living room and watched TV. I was channel surfing when the phone rang and I ran to answer, hoping that it was Helena, I mean it could have been you after all. When I answered a bit breathless and shakily and heard Helena's voice I nearly fainted from emotion. She must have sensed something was odd because she asked me in a worried voice if everything was fine. Oh Babs, when I heard her laugh it made me cry even more." She gushed, "Helena, our Helena was on the other end of the phone".
"Hey D." Helena's voice greeted her sounding happy but reserved. "How have you been?"
"Oh for God's sake Helena, I have missed you so much, how are you? Where are you? Can I see you? I need to see you Hel, please." She shot out in rapid succession. "I'll be here for a couple more days, but if you aren't here I can wait, I want to see you Hel."
"Slow down D, yes, I'm in San Francisco, and yes, we can see each other." She let a small sigh escape. "Who are you with?"
"Gabby, she came to a seminar and I came with her sort of like a vacation."
"Ok, well there is a Café two blocks from the gallery, it's called La Rose, I'll see you there around 10 a.m., how does that sound?"
"Yes of course, I'll be there Hel. You don't know how happy I am to know that you are fine and that I'll be able to see you." She said happily.
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow." Helena said goodbye. "Hmm, Dinah, please..." She didn't say anything else, but it was clear what she meant.
"Don't worry Hel, I only want to see you."
"Thanks, we'll see each other tomorrow then, rest up. Good night."
"Good night Hel, and thanks." The tears began to fall once more. Then she heard the click of the call was disconnected. Dinah stayed on the phone for a moment longer still in shock. She had just spoken with Hel, her sister that she hadn't seen in two years, who had disappeared without a word. Oh God, Hel.
Barbara closed her eyes, she could imagine Dinah's excitement when Helena did call but it didn't compare in the least to how she felt at that moment. It was as if her whole being vibrated from happiness and fear at the same time. Dinah's trip to San Francisco had been two months ago, why did Helena wait so long? Why did Dinah wait to tell her until now?
"After talking to her I went to bed feeling much calmer. The idea of seeing Helena was comforting. I had imagined the worst scenarios or that she would refuse to see me outright. Knowing that, that wasn't so was exciting but at the same time I felt at peace."
"There is something that bothers me Dinah. Why didn't you call me right away to tell me that you had found Helena, even if it was just by chance, it doesn't change the fact that you didn't tell me but, you waited two months before you did say anything" she faced her daring her to lie with her eyes.
Dinah reddened and suddenly her glass looked very interesting, Dinah pushed some hair behind her ear, something she did when she was nervous.
"Dinah?" Barbara insisted.
The young woman let an audible sigh escape before turning to look at Barbara furtively and lowering her gaze once more, this time locking her gaze on the portrait.
"When...when Helena left you and she had fought, I never found out what happened after that. The next thing I knew was that she had left New Gotham without a trace, a note and two boxes was the only left from her Babs. I knew you would have wanted to know that right away the moment I ran into her but at the same time I needed to respect Helena's wishes. You have to agree that Helena left and deliberately left no trace so that you specifically could not find her." She looked at her cautiously "It was obvious that she didn't want that. For whatever reason it was Barbara, Hel left New Gotham after the fight with you and I did what I thought was right given the circumstances."
Barbara closed her eyes when she Heard Dinah's words, feeling as if she had been hit right in the solar plexus, it was true, Helena had been furious with her when she left. The pain of this fact was too much. She made herself take a deep breath to try to control the wave of tears that were pounding at the back of her eyelids. She squeezed her fists, trying to calm down.
Damn, why does this hurt so much?
"Please go on." She said in a tortured voice, Helena didn't want to know anything about her. Her heart was breaking if that was possible.
Dinah nodded and took a deep breath before continuing. "The next day as soon as I entered the café I found her, it was easy, she was laughing with someone, and when she stood to say goodbye to the woman, she kissed her and once the blonde woman left I ask her if she was her girlfriend. Helena laughed and said she could be."
Dinah did not miss how Barbara drew back as she had been struck and how she paled when she heard that. Dinah felt bad for saying it but she had to be as honest as possible. She didn't know if Helena and Leah were a couple but everything appeared to be that way. Helena had passed the last two months with her in her cabin in Colorado. Perhaps it was already too late for Barbara, maybe not, but at least she could tell her what she saw.
"I hugged her happily and then after a few minutes she told me that we would be going to her apartment so we could talk peacefully. She lives right above the art gallery; I teased her about it, since as you know at her last job she lived above the Dark Horse. Moreover, the gallery was where she worked when she first got to San Francisco. Kate hired her almost immediately and took her under her wing. I know she is a great friend to Helena almost like a foster grandmother. She's very protective of her. She even showed her how to cook and she was the one that pressured Hel to do an exhibit of her works. When the exhibit turned out to be a success, Kate refused to keep Helena on as her assistant in the gallery and encouraged her to paint full time. That was when she began to travel. This past year Hel was all over Latin America. She has some incredible pictures of her trips."
Barbara smiled slightly at Dinah's surprise, but for her, on the other hand, it wasn't unusual that Helena enjoyed traveling; it was something that she learned and enjoyed doing during her life with her mother Selina. Helena had traveled all of Europe and the Orient for God's sake! Helena was French by birth. She knew that even before her mother's murder, for her it had been normal to travel for one or two months at a time. Selina loved to travel on European vacations, especially to Paris.
"And her apartment Barbara, you wouldn't believe it if you saw it, it's totally opposite from the Helena that I knew." She gushed, "Do you remember that in the apartment over the Dark Horse was totally Spartan? In San Francisco is totally the opposite, it's beautifully decorated in a minimalist style, but not cold, you know?" She looked thoughtful as if searching for the right words. "It feels warm and lived in. She has pictures of her trips, magazines from all over the world, art, and a home theater system that's...WOW." She got excited just mentioning it. "And a computer, can you believe it? You know that Helena hated them but now she has an HP Pavilion Elite d5000t ATX series, and that's only the one she has at home. Her laptop is a 17" MacBook Pro, when she took it out to make me a disk of her portfolio I almost drooled. I couldn't believe it." Dinah said enthusiastically, as if she were only speaking of all of Helena's new toys without realizing that each Word that she said was a small knife wound in Barbara's heart. Helena was happy far from her, far from New Gotham, no longer Huntress. And you know what the best is? You'll never guess Babs, Helena has a degree in Art, Art History!" She exclaimed.
"WHAT!" This was something she never would have imagined, not after Helena was always saying she'd die first before going to the university, that it was boring, and that it just wasn't her. Barbara's head was spinning. Dinah was describing a Helena that was totally unknown.
"Yea I was shocked too when she told me, but that was a secret she never shared with anyone Babs." She said seriously almost afraid to say it. "Helena had been enrolled at the university here in New Gotham for three years, but she never told anyone Barbara. She did it on the sly. It was one of her mother's dreams, only she would be able to explain it to you. But she made it seem that without her mother she didn't have the urge to do anything but a part of her did it to be close to her. But because the life of Huntress was so demanding she quit, and besides her head wasn't in it anymore."
"Hel was attending the university? Hel has a degree in Art?" It was too much to take in.
"Yes, can you imagine Helena an expert in Art? Just like her mother." She said with her usual enthusiasm. "And not only that but she learned a bunch of stuff on her trips. Not only did she learn how to scuba dive, but she's an expert rock climber and I don't know what other outdoor sports, you know those extreme sports like rafting, kayaking, mountain biking. She always had an athletic figure, but Wow, if you could see her now she's all muscle, but hmm..." She gestured with her hands. "She's still very feminine, before she was thin and strong because of her meta genes, but now she's athletic. We trained for a bit, I think she only did it to see if I could really take care of myself. Since I told her about Aiko, I suppose she went into protective mode. I don't think she considers Dick good enough as a mentor, you know?" She looked at her. "And she has a super gym set up at her place, and a mountain bike, oh and a Liberty Jeep. It's so cute. She added a bike rack and another one for her kayak. She's really gotten into those outdoor sports; if she's not painting or traveling she practices her climbing or kayaking."
"I see and what about that painting? Did she tell you why she painted it?" She gestured at the painting.
Dinah looked a bit uncomfortable and smiled tensely. "It's difficult to explain; well she told me that she painted it because that was the Barbara that she remembered, her friend, her mentor, her companion in the fight against crime. It was the only thing she had left of the old life."
"I don't understand." Barbara murmured totally disconcerted. Why would Helena paint her like that? Could it be...the very idea was terrifying.
"Barbara, when I talked to Helena she was convinced that you hated her. I don't know maybe because she left or because she didn't do things, the way you liked, because you fought, I don't know. But she didn't want to talk about you." She confessed.
"Oh no...I." She babbled not knowing what to say.
"When I said goodbye she agreed to keep in touch with me, but she didn't say if I could tell you about her or not. And she never did tell me why you two fought. She only said to tell you about the portrait. I wrote her a letter and she received it two days after I returned to New Gotham, but she had left the day after my return for a trip to Colorado with Leah, and it was when she got back a few days ago that she read it. She asked me to tell you that she is fine, that she has a life in San Francisco and not to worry about her. And that the painting was a birthday gift." She finished hurriedly. "Oh and this is the disk of her portfolio. I'm sure you'll find it interesting."
She handed her a data disk that Barbara took and put at her side. Dinah watched her closely, after the unexpected revelation the redhead had turned quite serious, listening carefully to each word. Nevertheless, aside from the initial bombshell at what was now Helena's life, she had shown no emotion except when she had paled at the mention of the possible girlfriend. She looked lost in thought and too damn composed for her liking.
"Thank you Dinah. You have her information, right?" She added I mean to reach her?"
"Yes, of course." She pulled out a paper from her pocket; she had written it down positive that Barbara would ask her for it.
"Hmm, thanks, you can go rest now. Aiko and Dick should be along any minute."
"Ok, do you need anything?" she was a little bit reluctant to leave Barbara alone "Do you want me to help with something?"
"No, I'm fine Dinah, thanks anyway." She smiled slightly.
"Ok, I'll see you in the morning." Dinah left with one more look back at Barbara, leaving her to her thoughts. Her telepathic powers had allowed her to feel the happiness, pain, sadness, hope and at the same time despair, skepticism, and jealousy from the redhead as she listened, Barbara had been broadcasting her feelings without knowing. At first, she didn't want to mention Leah, but she figured after much thought that it would be the best. She didn't know for sure, if Helena was still in love with Barbara, but what she did know was that she was going out with someone else. How serious it was she didn't know but she did know that Helena had made a life for herself in San Francisco and she didn't think that she would be leaving unless it was for a very powerful reason to do so. Until Barbara and Helena cleared things up between them and they confessed their true feelings all bets were off. What she feared was that it might be too late.
Continued...