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(no subject)

WHO: Helena, Stephanie, Charlie, and Cassandra (posting order if that's okay?)
WHERE: The girls' residence
WHEN: Late Saturday night/Sunday morning
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: After hearing that Oracle is gone, Helena stops by to talk to the girls
FORMAT: para to start, then whatever

Helena had mixed feelings about Babs leaving the City. While she hadn't been even remotely close to the woman here, it was still Babs, the woman who had raised her since she was 16, after her mother had died.

She didn't really know the other girls' stories that well, but she knew the type of girls that Barbara helped and she knew what it was like to be one of those girls. Hell, she was still dealing with all sorts of issues despite her mentor's guidance. Maybe Charlie, Cass, and Steph didn't need that kind of help or guidance, but Helena thought she would offer. Maybe she wasn't the best choice for that sort of thing, but she was willing and she liked the girls.

Not only that, but she had sworn that after her mother had died, she would do all she could to prevent anyone from feeling that kind of loss again. Usually that meant hitting the streets and protecting civilians, but she wondered if this might be an extension of that. The girls didn't have to feel alone, like no one was there for them. God, when did she suddenly become responsible?

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door to the place Babs and the girls shared, hoping one of them would open it before she lost her nerve and ran off.

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Steph took to O's vanishing by trying to play mom. It wasn't like she had the best role model, but Charlie needed someone and Cass was...Cass.

Walking down with a basket of laundry she was surprised to hear their door. Few people knew where they lived and even fewer actually came over. Setting the basket down she warily opened the door.

"Helena?" Seeing the woman, Steph smiled and thew the door open wider. "Hey, what's going on? Come in."

Charlie had been distracting herself by learning to use Barbara's computers. She'd known before, in a general sense...okay, about half the time she ended up ruining everything...but most of the time she could manage. And whatever these safeguards Babs had left behind to make it easier to use were certainly just that. She was practically breezing through them, really. Mostly just reading, now.

The knock on the door was puzzling though, and she poked her head out of O's command room, eyes wide as she peered down the hallway to where Steph was talking to...Helena? Huh.

"Hey!" She waved.

Cass reacted the same way she always did when she was upset: she threw herself into her training even more than usual. Helena could probably hear the loud banging of her punching bag when she entered the house. After one particularly loud slam, the sound ceased, and Cass appeared from her room, bits of sand covering her workout clothes.

"Oh. Um. Hi," she said, a little surprised to see Helena. It was weird not having Babs around to alert everyone of visitors before they ever arrived.

Helena smiled at Steph and headed inside at the invitation. It was still a bit odd seeing the blonde a few years older than when she had first met her, but Steph looked good, like she had been keeping up with her training.

When she spotted Charlie, she turned and waved at the girl down the hall. She still thought the redhead looked a bit like the younger pictures of Babs she had seen.

The sound of someone hitting a bag let her know that Cass was around too, and a moment later she stepped out of her room. Helena was glad they were all here, it would make the talk easier if she only had to say it once. The enormity of the responsibility she was about to offer up was made more real now though, seeing them all here.

"I heard that Babs is gone," she said, using her "civilian" name. Barbara had always been a person to her first. "I just came how to see how you all were doing. And I know you're not fine, so you can just skip that part right up front."

She said the last little bit with a smile, hoping they would know she was just here to help.

Babs leaving wasn't something Steph really wanted to be reminded of, but she wasn't going to toss Helena out on account of her wanting to talk about it.

"We're working it out."

Charlie's face fell a bit as their visitor brought that up, and she leaned against the doorframe into the computer room, her fingers drumming lightly against the woodwork. After Steph spoke, Charlie just nodded along.

"She'll be back, anyway." She pointed out loudly...and then vanished back into the computer room.

You weren't expecting this to be easy, were you Helena?

Cass only frowned slightly. She could tell that Helena had good intentions, but... she just didn't really want to talk about it. She disappeared into a storage room and emerged a few seconds later with a new punching bag in her arms and retreated toward her room. Steph and Charlie were the more sociable ones and could entertain Helena while she trained.

Helena hadn't expected this to be easy, and honestly they all reacted better than she probably would have in the situation. She'd definitely have told off someone by now. How did Barbara ever put up with her?

"Look, I'm not here to force hugs on everyone and have them share their feelings. I suck at that sort of thing," she said. "What I want to talk about it what happens to the three of you and how you intend to keep fighting crime. I assume you all aren't going to stop doing that, right? I could never fill Barbara's shoes and I don't want to. But I'm here to offer some advice and guidance if you want it. That's all."

Cass' reaction was far from surprising, Charlie on the other hand...

Okay, sometimes people came back. Stephanie had come back, so it was very likely Barbara would return too, but if she didn't Charlie would be even more crushed.

Steph nodded to the kitchen area and picked her basket back up. "Come on, we'll talk, I'll wash."

She tossed things into the laundry room and then handed Helena a coke from the fridge. "I haven't been out in a few nights, but I'm not giving things up, I just...It's not the same without Babs and there's Charlie who doesn't even have any real experience. I'm not exactly a great role model on how to be a good hero."

"I've got lots of experience! Boatloads, even!"

Just because Charlie was playing with the computers didn't mean she wasn't eavesdropping, after all. She shouted this from her chair without coming out.

The rhythmic thumping of Cass' punching bag began again, but just a few seconds later there was a loud tear and the sound of sand spilling out on the floor. She emerged again from her room and peeked into storage. Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she sullenly marched toward the kitchen. She'd managed to break all the spare punching bags in the time since Babs' disappearance, so she'd have to indulge in some comfort food instead.

Helena nodded to Steph and followed her into the kitchen, taking a drink of the offered Coke while she listened to Charlie shout from the other room. She reminded her a bit of Dinah just then.

"I'm not exactly the best role model for anything," Helena admitted. True, she'd been getting better with her anger issues, but she was far from good at controlling her temper.

"But what you do, what we all do, it's important. And I know it's... better if you do this sort of thing with someone, if you have a group to help. That's why Babs leaving is hard, because she held us together. But it's time for us to be there for each other."

That sounded so trite to her ears, even if she meant it, it still sounded so trite, she just hoped they could tell that she was being honest, that she cared about them.

She rolled her eyes at Charlie's input, but in a sisterly way.

"You're talking a team up?" Funny, Steph had never really been allowed to play with others until she became Batgirl. Had she proven herself to these people or were they just that used to there being a Batgirl that they didn't question who was behind the mask?

Cass' arrival gave her a bit more time to think. This could be good. It was easier when someone had your back.

Well it was true. Charlie'd been doing this for almost two years now! That totally counted. Just because the first year had been her sneaking off whenever Babs tried to stop her still mattered. And the second year was here, which was...well...

It still counted!

Eventually she seemed to realize everyone was congregating in the kitchen and she finally logged off the computers and padded into the kitchen, plopping down in a chair without say anything.

Cass rummaged around in the fridge, eventually producing all the ingredients for the world's most excessive sandwich. Which she proceeded to make. She sat down at the table and took a big bite, crunching loudly for a few seconds.

"Already a team," she finally muttered, maybe a bit indignantly. Just because Babs was gone didn't mean they were all going to go their separate ways. And Babs left big shoes to fill. She couldn't just be forgotten or replaced this easily.

Even if none of them said it, Helena knew what they were thinking, that she was trying to replace Babs. But Helena didn't want that, she knew that it wasn't possible, no one could replace Babs, no one could even come close.

"Look, Babs raised me ever since I was sixteen. Not the same Babs, but enough to know how irreplaceable she is. She's mom, mentor, big sister... she has to be it all. I can't do that and I wouldn't even try to fill her shoes," Helena said. "But I can be... here. Literal and metaphorical. I can help you be heroes and whatever else you want. I can't be Babs but I am a pretty damn good Helena."

"Team up," she reemphasizes. Steph was good with change, but the others...Cass was causing a little stress because Steph believed there was more she could do to help, which in turn led to her bossing Charlie around more than usual.

Charlie was oddly quiet, although because she was still her, couldn't sit still. Tapping fingers against her knees and a bobbing foot as she listened. She wouldn't mind working with Helena, really, but...there was this overarching issue that she had a problem with.

"She's gonna come back, you know."

Cass munched on her sandwich, glancing between the three other girls. While she might have resented the implication that they couldn't take care of themselves a little, she did like Helena and wouldn't necessarily mind a team-up, at least temporarily if Babs did return. She remained silent, but nodded slightly to Steph, her way of saying if you think it's a good idea, I'm not totally opposed.

"That doesn't mean we can't do this in the meantime," Helena said. Trying to argue with Charlie that Babs might not come back was fruitless right now, she could tell that. Especially when they didn't really know if she would or not.

"If she comes back, I think she'd be proud of us all helping each other."

Steph shrugged and gave a nod back at Cass. Team ups were always a plus and being down a member meant that was just one less pair of eyes on them, but not in a good way.

"I'm game. She comes back we'll simply have an easier time updating her on the happenings, plus she'll be a sucker once we hit her with all this responsibility stuff." Because like it or not they weren't best known for working well with others here. Maybe more than a few minds would change in their favor.

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