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Renee is contemplating going home.

She is doing this contemplation by being at the lakeside, where the larger boulders are, standing on one hand and bending her legs back towards her occiput.

Hey, it helps her think.

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Renee presses her lips together, miming zipping them closed.

"I promise no spoilers."

"Which implies you know how it's gonna turn out," she says, smiling wryly.

"Don't worry, I won't press you for details."

Renee doesn't offer it, but it makes her happy, that Helena's found Oracle - and, she guesses, Black Canary. She knows nothing except that they work together for a while, but that's a stability she suspects will be good for Helena.

And the possibility of Helena being happy makes Renee happy.

Stretching an arm behind her head, she can use the action to distract from her smile.

"What else have you been up to?"

Yes the new pose is very, very distracting indeed...

'Um...' She says, forcing herself to look at Renee's face and not her body.

What has she been doing? Besides teaming up with Oracle and Canary and having an epiphany about her feelings for Renee?

'I'm teaching again.'

"Really?"

Just when you thought Renee couldn't get any happier for her, her grin breaks wider.

"That's great! I think. It's good, right?"

"It's more than great!" She says, grinning back.

"After how my last job ended... I thought I'd never teach again."

"How did your last job end?"

Does Renee remember that? She doesn't think she should. They haven't really talked about it.

Her face turns serius. This isn't a part of her life she particularly likes thinking about.

"I got fired. I was being framed for murdering some mafia guys, one of whom was my cousin. I had the cops and Batman after me so I went on the run.

"Turns out schools don't like it when teachers turn up on a regular basis covered in bruises and then disappear for months at a time without letting them know. Go figure," she adds with a shrug that tries to say 'it's no big deal' and doesn't quite manage it.

Renee offers the most rueful of smirks.

"Well, the new job is obviously good for you. You look great."

"... Thanks," she says quietly, as a faint red blush spreads across her cheeks.

"You look pretty great too."

She avoids Looking at Renee as the blush becomes deeper.

That response is kind of confusing. But there's no way to question it without sounding weird.

"...thanks?"

Damn it! She never had this much trouble talking to guys! Why the hell is the so difficult?! It isn't that different!

"I didn't mean..." She begins, becoming flustered. "I just meant... you look like you're doing okay too."

Maybe this is just difficult because she's never liked a guy as much as she likes Renee...

"I'm not doing badly," Renee admits. "Haven't run into the zombie versions of my dead best friends for a while, so that's probably enough."

Helena frowns.

"Zombies? Here?"

"No, at home."

Renee hesitates.

"I didn't tell you about zombie Charlie?"

"No, you didn't."

She would have remembered that.

"What happened?"

"Charlie's body got possessed by some Lantern thing," Renee explains. "Tried to kill me, and Tot and Lady Shiva. We stopped it."

"How did Shiva get involved?" she asks, frowning.

"She was in the middle of beating the crap out of me when he turned up."

It's the most casually given explanation ever.

That sound of silence? Is the sound of Helena's heart skipping a beat.

"... That woman's dangerous," she says quietly. "She could have killed you.

What the hell did you do to get on her bad side?"

"Yeah," Renee says, in a tone that says she already knows that.

"I didn't do anything. She just turned up and wanted to beat me up. I didn't exactly opt in."

"Look, don't take this the wrong way, I know you can handle yourself but... you know if you need help you can call me, right?"

She pauses briefly before continuing: "I mean it'll be future me but she'll help. I'll help. If I can."

"I know," Renee says quickly. "And I do - I will, I mean. But when crazy ladies turn up on my doorstep saying they'll kill me if I don't spar with them right now, I don't get a lot of time to break open my rolodex."

"Right, I get that. But if a case comes up. If you can. Call me."

"OK." She smiles. "I will. Thank you."

It matters, that reassurance. They can be friends again, and Helena doesn't hate her. It's important.

Except that maybe in this 'not hating her' thing, Helena's started acting weird.

"You're sure you're okay?"