#[ THREADS ; helena bertinelli ]

[samuraiicecream]

⋆｡˚Batfamily on Halloween thread˚｡⋆

(5/5)🎃

(1/3 character, 2/3 his/her Halloween look, 3/3 Halloween meal)

.

Helena Bertinelli

Cool💅🏽

Kate Kane

Let's make some f*cking noise

[helenahxnts]

checkup ; sal&helena

[Click.]

“Hey, you. Where’ve you been?”*

“Hey! I just got back to home base, actually. How are you?” 

“I’m alright, same old. You’ve been away?” 

“Yeah. Went on a mission to Rome. I—”

“Hey, wait—you were in Rome and you didn’t come say hi? I’m kind of offended, cuz.” 

“Ha-ha. I was with Batman, actually, so, you know. Not much time to stop and chat.” 

“Yeesh, name-dropping the Batman like it’s nothing.” 

“Well, you know, I am kind of a celebrity myself...”

“Puh-lease, no one outside of Gotham or Palermo’s ever heard of you. You’re strictly small-time, little Huntress.” 

“Hey hey, and Star City.” 

“Ah yes, the hippies know you too, I’m so proud!” 

[Laughter.]

“Seriously, Sal, it’s good to hear you. I know you worry, so...”

“Yeah, I do, but I figure that you’ll always be fine. What had you in Rome?” 

“So... Tony’s wife took a hit out on me.” 

“... What?” 

“Yeah. I think she finally cracked after everything Tony’s—”

“Hey, go back. She still alive? What did you do? Do I have to—”

“Hey, absolutely not! I handled it. Sal, I handled it, don’t you go anywhere. She cracked from everything Tony’s been putting her through. Apparently he’s gotten worse now that I’ve skipped town and he can’t find me anywhere. And then apparently some people saw me in Palermo with another man and—” 

“Ah, fuck.” 

“Yeah.” 

“They get pictures? Is Vic gonna be okay? He’s kind of—well, he used to be kind of a big deal, I guess.”

“No, he’ll be fine, I made sure. None of them knew who he was, no one took any pictures. I, uh.” [Throat-clear.] “I made sure.” 

“You didn’t...?”

“Just some threatening, a little roughing up. Batman wouldn’t let me do any more.” 

“Do you want to? Do you—hey, I know you say no, but do you want me to?” 

“...” 

“Helena? Do you want me to?”

“... No. No. No, I’ll deal with it. I probably should’ve dealt with it a long time ago. But Abigail figured it out, she knew who I was, probably because she—she’s probably stared at my face more than anyone in the world, and. She figured it out. Saw a picture of the Huntress and she—she recognized my mouth, my hair. She had my same mouth, Sal, she looked so much like me, it was fucking eerie, she got fillers and...” 

“Christ.” 

“Yeah. I don’t know if she told anyone else before she...” 

“...” 

“She fell off a balcony.” 

“Shit. ‘Fell’?” 

“No, actually fell. She was getting all worked up, and she had a gun. Batman kept trying to talk her down, and I don’t think she’d ever used a gun before—she shot him in the shoulder—he’s fine, his armor took the impact—but it put her off-balance and—yeah.” 

“Hm.” 

“...”

“You didn’t catch her?” 

“The bullet put Batman off-guard. I caught him.” 

“Mm. Alright. Okay. And the hit on you?”

“Batman dealt with it. He took it as soon as it came up; scrubbed it after. Like it never was.”

“You sure you’re safe?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, safe as I’ll ever be. Unless she told anyone.”

“Alright. And Vic?” 

“He’s fine. He’ll be fine.” 

“He know about Tony?” 

“Enough. I've mentioned him in passing.” 

“You should probably tell him more. Everything. Especially if you two ever end up leaving that Dracula hellhole and heading back home. Hub’s not exactly mafia-free, Helena, and your boy’s got a long reach. How much longer do you think you can ignore a multi-millionaire stalker without anything bad happening?” 

“I’ll keep him safe, Sal. I can keep him safe. And he can keep himself safe, Sal, he’s dealt with much worse than the likes of Tony’s goons. Don’t worry.” 

“Yeah, alright.” 

“...” 

“...”

“...”

“So. Tell me more about this trip with Batman? He still a dick?” 

“Ugh. So...”

*Translated from Italian.

[zahri-melitor]

Okay, finished Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, and I am just so conflicted by this entire title. It’s not only extremely mediocre, but it’s uneven and it doesn’t quite know what its audience is.

The good:

Look, if you want to sample the best of what’s going on in this title, I am going to point you to issue #18, a one-shot in which the team infiltrate a tech conference in Paris together to track down some criminals. It’s probably the closest this entire title gets to either Vol 1 or Vol 2 of Birds of Prey, and it features the team actually using their networks and skill sets on a mission that they are especially suited to. Dinah even wore an outfit that gave me happy flashbacks to Chuck Dixon days when Babs used to pick her clothes and jewellery for missions. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

There’s a couple of other stories in it I don’t mind, but this was definitely the highlight of the lot.

If only the rest of this title was of similar calibre.

I also have to say that this title did in fact reunite Barbara, Dinah and Helena and get them back to being best friends based out of Gotham together, and return the Clock Tower, and acknowledge that Barbara used to be Oracle, including letting her actually use a computer to solve crimes and that’s not nothing to me. The general status quo trappings being reinstated are indeed valuable.

The rest:

Oh wow does this title want to make fun of fans who miss Barbara Gordon as Oracle. The entire ‘desperate Oracle fanboy who makes himself into a new Oracle’ plot is both pointed and painful. There are ways to do that story gracefully that actually respects Barbara and Oracle fans, and that was not it.

It also doesn’t really want to have the team leave Gotham, or even have many fights with actual stakes. There was definitely a preferencing of Grrlpower! aesthetics over actually telling compelling plots.

Literally having a plot where the “Daughters of Gotham” tried to wipe out all the men in the city with a virus targeting Y-chromosomes and so all the female heroes had to team up to defeat it sure was a decision that was made. As was acknowledging trans people exist in a single panel after the story finished, but not bothering to actually investigate or address this as a concern while the plot was ongoing, even though Alysia Yeoh is one of Barbara’s closest friends.

There’s also the running plotline threaded through n52 that got another showing here: all of Barbara, Dinah and Helena’s mothers are secretly alive and bad news.

I don’t hate that their mothers are used for plot instead of their fathers (though I really really really hate the Dinah Drake retcon in particular), but it was just so…oh. So Maria Bertinelli is also alive here? And even worse news than Huntress: Year One? Astonishing. So unusual given what’s been done to Barbara Eileen and Dinah Drake since Flashpoint.

I cannot in good conscience recommend this run, but there are in fact good aspects to it. You just really have to dig for them.

[havendance]

I finished reading Simone's run on Batgirl (2011) today, and it feels a bit like I'm reaching the end of an era for the new 52 between the upcoming change of directions for her and Dick and Birds of Prey coming to an end, so I figured it was time for another check in.

Batman -- I have already written extensively about Zero Year. I probably have another post or two in me about it if I can pull together the brainpower. It looks like there is ANOTHER Joker event coming up in Batman: Endgame soon. Woohoo. Sigh. Scott Snyder I do not actually dislike your writing, but why?

Batman and Robin -- The Two Face arc was fine. The thing that really through me off though was the fact that the description for the trade for this arc was like "what's the connection between Harvey Dent and Carrie Kelly?" and then Carrie Kelly didn't show up at all? Am I missing something? What is the timeline on this story?

Birds of Prey -- I am not particularly sad to see this one go. This whole series was just all pretty eh in my opinion. I didn't really care about most of the plot lines. I did like Strix, but I really don't have much else to say about this. The best Birds of Prey content honestly comes from whenever Simone dragged them into Batgirl which I think is not very surprising.

Batgirl -- Barbara's fighting Vampire's all of a sudden? Around the same time as Kate's Nocturna drama? It's not even October. Anyway, I did still enjoy the Batgirl: Wanted trade more than the Deadline trade, but this was still enjoyable enough. I really liked the second Annual with Poison Ivy (see my note about Simone writing the best new52 Birds of Prey content despite not writing Birds of Prey). I am of mixed opinions of Helena Wayne Huntress getting brought into the Deadline storyline because it's very much a 'we're homaging the Birds of Prey trio' storytelling decision, and like Simone created that trio, it's her final issues on Batgirl, she has the right to do that! But also they have none of the history and it makes me sad because I miss them and Wayne isn't Bertinelli :( The final confrontation with Knightfall also felt a little anticlimactic and I just know that the plot threads with Barbara's old roommate is about to get completely dropped which is a shame. I am also a little sad that it ends with Barbara asking Alysia to come with her when I know she's about to get stuck on a bus. Alas.

Anyway, this also collected the Batgirl: Futures End issue which, uh, was a story.

Batwoman -- There is a clear drop in art quality when J. H. Williams left the title sadly. The Rafael Albuquerque covers are very good though. As I said previously, it's a shame that Andreyko is under marching orders to break of Kate and Maggie because I like the way he writes them together. I'm curious how the title's going to go for the final arc, because the plots that weren't the Kate-Maggie drama were less interesting and now that he doesn't have that. I suppose the title does end in like 6 issues.

Nightwing -- Nightwing's Chicago era was really fun and I am sad to see Kyle Higgins go. I may have had some beef with him over the fact that he burned down Haley's Circus twice in a row, but he wrote a good Nightwing. It's a shame he was stuck in thew new52 because I would've liked to see what he could do with a Dick Grayson who actually had all of his history.

[dailycass-cain]

Detective Comics #1082 featured a SURPRISE Cass appearance, but a welcome one always to have. So here are my thoughts on the Cass's showing in that.

I mean every issue of Ram V's Detective Comics is a treat, and this one is no different (even with the guest star that I just LOVE to talk daily about).

Like there are layers to the tale he weaves that not only continue threads from past Batman writers but does his own thing.

Weaving and spinning a story that feels like a natural progression of what was already told by others.

Bruce feels human here than say other comics which "try" to tell it through his thoughts, but man the artist talents have been selling this struggle.

Why the "reward" is all the more "rewarding" because Ram V puts in this "doubt" in prior earlier stories written that, there's that chance Bruce might lose.

I mean we know he won't, but it's that "DOUBT" planted throughout. It makes Bruce relatable.

Speaking of rewards. The B-plot returns us back to Gotham as the Question continues her case as again we see what an Orgham-run Gotham City is like.

How their Reality Machine has wiped the memory of the bat out. HOWEVER…

"The Batman YET haunts Gotham."

I honestly was expecting Jean-Paul (given he was rocking the AzBats suit when we last left him) but to see Cass the OTHER being Ram V continuing the crusade of the bat?

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!

ahem

I mean logically, I wonder where everyone else is. Dick. Babs. Jim. I know eventually we'll see. But to see Cass still as we lost saw her in 2023 fighting the Orgham and keeping the SYMBOL alive in Gotham?

I mean there's a certain POETRY at hand here as we have two bat suits that basically filled in for Bruce when he was away. Either due to being broken in Knightfall (Jean-Paul)--

--or trying via means as Bruce Wayne to get the government to lift Gotham from being labeled a "No Man's Land" (Cass's costume which Helena Bertinelli used to continue Bruce's crusade).

It's so SATISFYING to see these elements incorporated here. Just now, it's Cass continuing the crusade and making sure Gotham REMEMBERS the bat.

Because it is a characteristic trait that other than Bruce, Cass is one of the few who just understands WHY the bat symbol carries so much.

This exact DRIVE within her, is why she is just BUILT different than most folk in Gotham. Heck Renee struggles with the Realty Machine in places in her story.

Trying to remember what was lost.

Yet, we see Cass like she was ripped from when Jorge Corona drew her in Batgirls (very nicely done there whoever drew her like that). As described in the very comic, "a wraith."

It's that answer Cass gives Renee on HOW she's able to resist. The answer again showcases how Bruce/Cass are just so similar. People wonder why Cass is Bruce's heir to being to him as Batman?

Ram V is giving that answer to modern readers.

This "answer" is not new, I find it akin to what Andersen Gabrych came to in his run of Batgirl Vol. 1. Just not as restricting of characterization with Ben Turner who pointed this fact out, and kneeling.

That Cass was going down this path after taking a life, and saying NO to a life of being a killer. That she chose to use the tools forced onto her to become something else.

I think if we ever get time to see the "lost" era of years when Cass rejected her father and hadn't met Barbara Gordon.

I think Ram V would be a fascinating writer to do this. Will he? Oh, I wish! This year would be PERFECT for it for sure.

It's a "gap" that I feel a writer SHOULD farm. Cause I really don't want Gabrych being the only OTHER than Kelly Puckett himself. I feel the period is ripe to showcase how "bat" she was before becoming one.

Though ironically, it isn't lost upon anyone seeing the heir to Vic Sage and well the daughter of a certain someone.

Again, the themes and poetry of what was told in the past. Just with new layers put in. This "interlude" makes me hunger for a Question tale with Renee and Cass being teaching her like Shiva taught Vic.

If not, well we got that here. Somewhere. Someplace both Vic and Shiva smirked at what occurred in this issue. Renee/Cass doing both proud.

I could gush all day and night on this issue. This was something that was TRULY needed. Or at least told again. To remind folks why Cass is different than Jason, Steph, Tim, Duke, and even Damian.

This issue felt like a 25th-anniversary gift Ram V gave to Cass fans. Even though we have 0 official stuff (we could use some DC).

Cass's portion of Tec #1082 felt like a celebration of why the character has lingered so long.

So thank you to all creatives in this issue. To the writer, artists, inkers, colorist, editors. All involved. 🙏

[graunblida]

the vigilante gracefully sheaths her blade and then scoffs. “ it’s a good thing i have no friends then. ”

@graunblida ♡'d

"in this town, your worst friends can be your best enemies."

[crazycatgirl420]

CrazyCat's WIPs

Mostly DpxDc Fanfics, with some original writing too

I added a part

Magic Bat (harry potter & DC)

Part 1

Soulmate Dead on Main (dpxdc)

Just A Game Promt

It's Not Magic, It's Science

Start

Part 2

Part 3

Handmade Gifts - (OHSHC)

Part 1

Fuck Around, Find Out (dpxdc)

I Added A part

Part 2

Part 3

Saving Daylight (dpxdc)

Part 1

Part 2

Gotham's Black Rose (dpxdc)

Chapter 1: In My Head

Chapter 2: Comfort and Planning

Chapter 3: Revelation

Chapter 4: Gala Meeting

The Fine Print (dpxdc)

Part 1

Grandma Xandu

Mama Helena Bertinelli

Part 2

Part 3

Project R

Part 1

Out Of Options, Threads of Hope

Part 1

Just A Dream

Part 1

Part 2

Reincarnated As Danielle Fenton-Masters (Oc DP)

Part 1 (was found!)

Part 2

Batman: Away From Home (dpxdc)

I Added A Part

Ones I Consider Done?

You Cannot Kill Me In Anyway That Matters

Serious Chaos Prompt Fill 1

Extra Odds And Ends

King Killed in Gotham

Prompt 1

Consequences of Time Travel

I Added A Thought

I Added A Thought - Time Travel

I was here! Danny working on the Kent's farm

Don't Meet The Parents

Arsenal Dad of Underage Ghost King

Just some Nightwing talking to Green Arrow

Original Projects

Prompt 1

Promt 2

Stolen Crown

Story Notes

Wip game reference

The Lesbian Romance That Saved The World

Bouquet of Knives

If you love Her, send her home

Have Love Not War

[lonniemachin]

top five az MOMENTS <3 (or alternatively top five fave az/jpv panels :])

i’m going to go with the character this time! well-deserved az-specific discussion.

- the end of the original sword of azrael miniseries is somewhat small, but really monumental in what it says about azrael’s character, i feel. azrael chooses to save bruce despite insistence from those that brought him forward that he does not rescue or protect, and subsequently gets “cast out” from the order (let’s see how long that lasts LMFAO), and while he does leave lehah behind to die which cements a core difference between he and bruce (az and jp will not offer or consider not offering their “enemies” grace if said person or people have tried to/successfully hurt them, etc., before) it also cements a foundational aspect of him that threads through the background of the story & tragedy of the story of he and jean-paul: his own brand of compassion. hell, an editor letter response calls back to it when mentioning azrael showing compassion. a moment of compassion for a decent man that started one of the most insane domino effects i’ve read in comic books.

- of course. of COURSE. azrael (1995) issue #42, specifically azrael’s role in it. not only do we get to see him talk more, but what it says about him (him telling a man that he did not want to hurt him, but would — badly — if he had to, plainly, and the. offering his hand to help the man up, threatening his enemy in dramatic language, etc.) his view on his relationship with jean-paul, his thoughts on how he views his role alongside jean-paul (azrael as the avenger of victims and jean-paul as the helper), and another show of personality and his flavor of compassion make it an excellent issue to build az as his own. the rest of the issue… mixed opinions. he’ll beat your ass bloody if he needs to and feel little to no remorse for it, maybe even enjoy it, but if you’re genuinely trying to do what he sees as good or don’t give him reason to, he’ll aid you. if he doesn’t kill you.

- azrael using his body to shield cassandra and another from an explosion. it’s kind of simple but i like it because it works in contradiction to jean-paul claiming that while he cares about cass, azrael doesn’t, though i suppose that could be true and it could be both who chose to do so. still. also adding on the little moment where azrael is being framed for murder for like the 3rd time and his first instinct is to immediately seek out oracle for what helena bertinelli calls “tlc” and when he refers to lilhy and brian as his friends to ra’s al ghul while threatening to kill him.

- i’ve posted this before but it’s the sound of the fucking summer:

also special shoutout to when he(? he and jp? jp?) ate viscera that one time. sighs wistfully.

- him leading jean-paul to one of their old schools after fleeing gotham after the events of arkham city: the order of the world (another great az-specific comic with a lot of great azrael moments, i enjoy when he shaped the ex-arkham…ites? he was confined with into a living piece of religious art. i mean it was fucked up how he was essentially being treated as an animal beforehand but it sure was cool) uncovering a repressed memory of childhood abuse, azrael being coaxed out to protect he and jean-paul as a “test” for him, that drew them closer together.

not nearly all my favorites (this doesnt even touch on soa2022, azrael’s very first on-panel discussion with jp where he’s visualized in their headspace, or him basically telling jp he’s annoying) but a good sampling! thank you north!!

[catastrophicalcat]

Love this thread for disproving one of my most hated Batman hottakes. Kudos to everyone involved for putting this together.

Side note - I really like the bit at the end about how hard it is to write Stephanie, and characters like her who are "different from Batman" as actually different from his (without making them murderers a la Helena Bertinelli and Kate Kane and Jason Todd), and I appreciate Tynion acknowledging it head-on here.

why does anyone in Gotham even bother doing crime like you KNOW the second you leave the bank with the money you just stole Bruce Wayne is gonna be chilling on a bench on the other side of the street in his bat fursuit like “hey bitch u better not be breaking the law”

[medicinexforxthexsoul]

[ perenna -> unknown ]  :  i think i found your day planner, helen. [ perenna -> unknown ]  :  shit, helena*** sorry! [ perenna -> unknown ]  :  anyway, it was on the seat in my cab and figured it was easier to get a hold of you directly, rather than trust the cabbie who i’m quite certain tried to hit on me. yikes.

@helenahuntress​

[etherealperrie]

this thread was a trend on Twitter today so naturally I had to play along & now I’m emo 🥺🤍💫

[desxtruction]

@dontstepinmypuddle liked the starter call

“OPTION TWO — I drop kick you in the balls. Which I have to admit is more fun than a peaceful resolution.” 

[kryptonsxlastxson]

@helenahuntress​ || CLOSED.

Clark’s stomach twisted as he approached the lofty manor, his thoughts jumbled as he attempted to get his questions in line. He hated that Perry was so adamant about the up-and-coming reporter pushing a more controversial story, but couldn’t find it in him to say no. It was experience, after all. Though, this was the opposite type of reporting that he wanted to do. Sure, he could chase a story through every avenue, but something that sat so high in terms of potential controversy? No thanks. He wasn’t even sure Miss. Bertinelli would see him. Did he need an appointment? Should he have called ahead? God, what would Lois do?

While it typically wasn’t difficult to keep his abilities in check, the anxiety that rose in his frame caused him to hyper-focus on his enhanced hearing. Shoes crunching the miniscule grains on the pavement, a sneeze could be heard from a few miles away, and heartbeats were scattered through the house. No doubt a security team, and Clark wasn’t quite ready to stumble over his words trying to explain his presence. His right hand moved absentmindedly to his lapel, ensuring his Daily Planet reporter badge was clipped on securely, as he closed the remaining distance between himself and the front doors. Before he could raise his hand to knock, he was greeted by another in a crisp black suit. “Hiya! Clark Kent, Daily Planet. Is Miss Bertinelli home? I have a few questions for her regarding a story I’m working on.”

“Miss Bertinelli isn’t taking visitors at this time.”

“It’s just a few questions, really. It’ll only take a small moment of her time.” Clark flashed his smile once more, pushing up his glasses before spotting Helena crossing the foyer. “Miss Bertinelli!�� He called out, waving his hand. “My name is Clark Kent, do you have a moment to chat?”

[helenahxnts]

bang, bang. | (vic&) helena

When: March 31st, evening. Where: The Mousehole; Helena’s room. Not Quite With: @noansweratall Warnings: Angst. Poor communication. Childhood trauma and insecurity that’s manifested into a crippling fear of commitment.  Plot: Sinatra sang on, low and mournful, and she felt—heartsick. Actually sick, her stomach roiling violently that she'd even considered being so callous. So cruel. So willing to crush that delicate spun-glass heart Vic had handed her, trusted her with, because she was scared of emotions that her own damn students could handle with more grace and maturity than her. 

Helena was being cruel. She knew it. 

It wasn't a word she had ever associated with herself. Not really. She might have been many awful things—impetuous, violent, even vicious—but she'd never been intentionally cruel. She'd never imagined that she would be, when she finally found a good man to love. Truly, Franco Bertinelli's daughter.

(Was it intentional, if she wasn't trying to hurt Vic? If she just couldn't help herself? And if she couldn't help herself, well. That was a whole different problem, wasn't it?) 

The night was heavy and Helena was alone, but he was still inescapable. The closed door of her room mocked her; the pillow that forever smelled of smoke and the herbal note of his aftershave was maddening. Her laptop was crooning Sinatra at her, and all she could hear was the curve of Vic's sweet-bruised smile. He was even where he wasn't, in the untouched winter-pale skin she spied when her eyes trailed to the mirror above her vanity, and—

And Helena missed him. She was halfheartedly trying to shut him out, but he was still there and she missed him. And she had no one to blame but herself, for... What, exactly? 

Helena closed her eyes, dipping her head against the book she'd been failing to translate, the busy work her mind didn't want. Frankie sang on. 

No one to blame but herself for shutting Vic out, little by little, hurting the both of them. For letting him in, in the first place. Into her bed and into her heart, she wanted to say, but that wasn't true, was it? It had been the other way around, before she'd even noticed. She'd been so frustrated after Gotham, so damn lonely, and he'd been so kind. It'd sparked something warm and needy inside her. She'd wanted that kindness for herself, had flashed her smile and batted her eyes to get it, had just about climbed Vic to force his attention where she wanted it, and now—

Now she had it, just like she'd wanted. Had him. 

Had all that passion and honesty and, yes, kindness laser-focused on her. Had asked him for it, had eased him into it. With whispered pillow-talk and lunchtime visits and smeared lipstick and the roll of her hips. Asked and eased, cajoled and soothed, until he gave more and more of himself to her. Until she had so much more than just what she'd coveted. Until she also had his secrets and his scars, had his soft spots and his insecurities. 

Had his love. 

(Yes, his love. Helena wasn't stupid. She knew what a man in love looked like; had to, since she avoided them like the plague.) 

What did it say, Helena wondered, that she'd basically strong-armed Vic into this relationship, knowingly plied a lonely man with all of her attention and affection to keep his focus... and that the moment things got difficult, she was ready to up and leave? 

Jesus Christ. Helena tossed her book away, reached up a hand to rake through her hair. 

Or: she was rewriting the narrative. Because she felt guilty. And it was easier to frame herself as the calculating seductress who'd gotten bored of her prey than to admit the truth of it. The truth she'd told Babs the other night before she'd gone back home to Vic, still-barely-warm crepes in hand from the late-night street vendor they'd discovered on their last patrol. 

She was in love with him. She'd been in love with him. And it scared the hell out of her. Because—and this was the part Helena hadn't told Babs, because it was just too pathetic—she was afraid of how it was going to end. 

It was easy to ignore that when they were curled up in her room or his, when he crept his way into the kitchen to stand at her back and rest his hands on her hips while she cooked. To live in the moment and enjoy it. But his bloodied eyes and the sick trauma-tremble of his limbs had reminded her, after the masquerade. The moments they were enjoying were nothing more than stolen snapshots, and—there was so much she couldn't protect him from. So much about him that she couldn't begin to understand. If he didn't leave her first (which was a distinct possibility, because, well, who wouldn't?) then she was going to lose him anyway. 

—Enough. Helena shoved herself off the bed, rubbed an angry hand under her nose to try to chase his aftershave away. God, she missed him. She'd been having these conversations with herself for days. Wasn't it enough? Hadn't she tortured the both of them enough with her incapability to be a normal goddamn person? She was sick of avoiding him because she couldn't seem to stop breaking her own heart, and even sicker of hurting Vic. He knew how brittle things were getting between them, with the way he watched her with those hangdog blue eyes and how his hands had grown hesitant when he touched her, and she—

She hated that he was probably right to think she was going to leave him. 

Helena swallowed. Exhaled. And walked to the door. 

The handle was cool under her palm. She wanted to open the door and cross the hall, drape her arms over Vic's shoulders and whisper for him to come to bed. She wanted to go back in time to December and never cross the hall in the first place. She wanted—and God, she hated herself for even thinking it, but it was such a seductive thought—to lock the door.

(Imagined the way Vic would freeze when the handle didn't turn in his grip. Imagined the way he'd reel, for a moment. Then turn around and go back to his own room. Didn't let herself imagine his face.)

She knew, in her heart, that if she locked the door Vic would never ask why. He'd never come by again. He'd tuck himself away, because he was kind, and because he'd seen it coming, and he would never make Helena feel guilty for breaking his heart. His love-marks would fade from her collar and his smell would wash out of her sheets, and it would be like they'd never been at all. And eventually, it'd stop hurting. It would be kinder than letting the feeling go on longer, letting it bloom between them until the roots were so deep in them both that their inevitable split would destroy them. 

Maybe...

 ... She didn't even say goodbye, she didn't take the time to lie...

Helena's hand jerked away from the door. She turned her stare on her laptop, blinking back into reality. Sinatra sang on, low and mournful, and she felt—heartsick. Actually sick, her stomach roiling violently that she'd even considered being so callous. So cruel. So willing to crush that delicate spun-glass heart Vic had handed her, trusted her with, because she was scared of emotions that her own damn students could handle with more grace and maturity than her. 

Helena swallowed past the lump in her throat, pressing her palms to her eyes. And breathed. (One. Two.) 

When the stars faded, Helena felt calmer. Not better, but calmer. Just enough. She walked back to bed and laid herself down on the sheets, breathing in deep. Let Vic's smoke and her perfume twine together in her chest. Tucked her hands under her chin and curled her legs up to herself, watching the hallway's light creeping in under her door. Settled in. And waited for her lover to come join her. 

When he did, she would wrap herself around him like a vine, same as she did every night. (That hadn't changed.) Tilt her face up for a kiss, press her ear to his heartbeat. It wasn't enough to get them through much longer, but it would be enough for another night. Just until she could unstick the words from her throat. And tell him.

One way or another. 

[iamtheniqht]

“to be honest i just need a hug.” + @ofhelenabertinelli​

Shoulders stiffening in surprise, Bruce slowly turned to his counterpart. Helena was not...emotional. Like most of his family, the young woman had been through many hardships -- had faced adversity and overcome it, but paid the price nonetheless. The walls around her heart were solid and cold, just as they were around Bruce’s. Still, it was odd to hear Helena say something so blatant, even within the confines of the manor. 

Cowl off, Bruce eyed Huntress, saddened somewhat by how broken so many of the people he considered his ‘loved ones’ really were. “A hug? I don’t think we’ve shared many of those,” he said softly, somewhat uncomfortable showing that vulnerability. But he’d made a vow (just as sacred to the one he’d made to the city) to his children, to become a better man, a better father. A figure that they could all look up to in their time of need, and good role models didn’t squash what little desire for affection they actually showed him.

Swallowing thickly, Bruce opened his arms in invitation, toes feeling oddly cold but brow somewhat warm. Nervousness? (What if he couldn’t do it? Be there for them?) Doubt? It was odd, considering. He rarely felt insecure.

[ratherbewild-a]

               continued from x // @irreplaceablescream

he’s a waste of both their time and their talents, a snivelling lowlife that only thinks he’s big and bad and   p o w e r f u l   until there’s so much as a HINT of a threat. she’s   a l l   too familiar with his type, spent YEARS working her way through them to get to her father, but it’s still a pitiful sight. could easily let black siren destroy him from the inside OUT without a second of remorse, and yet   ...

     “can’t ask him the important questions if his eardrums have imploded, can we?”

it’s a   l a z y   drawl, BORED, like she shouldn’t have to be saying it at all. 

     “we get him to snitch on the boss first   ---   t h e n   he’s all yours. got it?”