A/N I own nothing, all character belong to DC and Warner Bros.

Summary- A what if scenario. What if the JLU episode 'Double Date' had ended differently?

It had been a long night filled with fighting and the thirst for revenge.

Question watched wide-eyed as the masked vigilante known as Huntress circled around her prey. "I have special arrows too; the pointy kind that'll go right through you." She threatened while walking towards him.

Q waited patiently for what he was waiting for to arrive, then, "Papa!"

A look of confusion and shock flashed across Huntress' beautiful face. As Mandragora began to explain why Edgar was here and who he was, she regained her stance and tightened her grip on the crossbow. "Rest assured?" She repeated. "I'm about to teach you the same lesson."

"All I wanted was for my son and I to disappear together." He continued, hoping she'd change her mind. As she placed her finger over the trigger he realized that she wasn't going to budge. "Get behind me, Edgar." He ordered quietly. "It'll be alright."

Question knew she wouldn't do it; Helena was many things but she wasn't a murderer. However, when he saw Helen narrow her eyes, he began to get worried. "Huntress!" He called, cradling his bruised arm and taking a few careful steps towards her. His voice softened, "Is this really what you want?"

He watched as her gaze shift back towards the family as she seemed lost in memory. Her eyes suddenly widened before narrowing once more. "No." At the last second she adjusted her arm so the bow fired at the rope, snapping it and causing the crates to rain down on Mandragora. Q ducked slightly as ruble fell on top of the group. "That's not what I want at all."

A few minutes later the feds pulled up, removing Mandragora from the rubble and placing hand-cuffs on his wrists. The small group had reunited and were now discussing what was happening. "Mandragora never had any intention of cooperating with the police." Q explained. "He was just stalling until his son arrived."

He knows he shouldn't brag; after all, finding information on him was easy. Maybe he was just showing off, but he couldn't help but feel as though he had a right to be proud of what he'd accomplished. "Their new identities were already in place, not to mention a Cayman island account full of ill-gotten things to finance their new lives."

"You knew all along that kid was going to be on that crater." She stated simply.

"I do my homework." He smiled under his fedora, winking at her with a tip of his hat while wishing he could show her his face. He wished he were better looking; more to her standards then he really was. Maybe he could be the brains to her bronze.

"Then why go to all the trouble to help me? Why risk your life for me?" He froze; despite all of his knowledge and detective work he'd never thought she'd ask him that. In his mind he had rehearsed what he'd say a thousand times, 'Because I like you.' Such simple words that should have been easy to say. But now that he was here in front of Helena herself, he couldn't.

He wanted to so badly, but he couldn't. What if she didn't feel the same? He knew that a woman like that would have no real reason to like him, he was hardly someone you'd proudly introduced your parents too. He wanted to tell her how he felt, he really did. He just couldn't seem to get the words out. "Because...of the aglets." He said slowly.

"Huh?" Helena frowned. "What's an aglet?"

"The plastic tip at the end of your shoelace." He explained.

"And what does that have to do with helping me?"

"Mandragora and his men are in the Mafia, and those Italian leather shoes they like have the worst aglets of them all." He lied. "I needed to stop this and figured taking down one of the dons would help."

"Okay..." Helena looked at him in amusement. "Are you kidding me or do you really believe they're dangerous?"

"I never kid." He said honestly. "And yes; aglets are sinister."

She walked over to him and smiled, placing her hand on her hip. "You're crazy; you know that, right?"

"I am very well aware of that fact." He replied hoping she didn't think that for real.

"I feel like I should do something for you now." She admitted. "You helped me with so much and all I've done is help you with the uh, shoelaces."

"Aglets." He corrected her.

"Still..." She looked around in thought. "Wanna go grab a cup of coffee?"

He gestured to his mask. "I would, but..."

"Oh."

A slightly embarrassed look flashed across her face and he suddenly felt a tad guilty. "But I'd still like to go." He said quickly. "Just won't drink anything while we're there."

"Great." She smiled, gesturing for him to follow her. "Follow me."

"Hurm." He muttered. But he couldn't help but add under his breath, "I'd follow you anywhere."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Present Day (15 years later)

Question stole a look at Huntress lurched on top of the ledge on the building they were on out of the corner of his eye.

"I should've brought my winter uniform." She shivered. "It's freezing out here."

"Want to borrow my coat?" Q offered.

"Nah." She sighed. "So how much longer do we have on patrol?"

He checked his watch. "Seventeen more minutes and we're free."

"Thank God." Helena muttered. "I hate winter patrol; it's boring and I always freeze my ass off."

"It's better than summer patrol." Vic opined. "Hot and humid nights with no end in sight."

"I like summer." Helen frowned. "My outfit keeps me cool and I don't have any brats to teach until September."

"And I prefer winter because my uniform keeps me warm." Q finished. "Guess we all have times of the year when we have to be tough."

"I guess." She conceded, looking down at the city. "Isn't Gotham so beautiful at night?"

"You mean aside from the corruption, pollution, robbery's, rapes, and murderer's?"

She scowled at him. "Ha-ha."

"Yes, I think it is beautiful." He looked at Helena thoughtfully. "Very, very beautiful."

For a few moments a comfortable silence ensured until Q once again began to talk. "So, how are the kids?"

Helena thought of her three children and smiled. "Good, but they miss their Uncle Vic. You haven't been around as much as you normally are."

"I've been busy; tell them I'll come over this weekend." He replied. "Kind of surprised you let me near them, actually."

"Why?" Helena asked in surprise.

"Don't really know." He shrugged. "Not exactly a good influence. People in general don't really like having me around, much less around their kids."

"Well I do." Huntress murmured defiantly. "Screw everyone else."

"Have I ever told you how nice it is to have someone think that?" Vic chuckled.

Helena smiled at him and his head felt fuzzy. "Besides, Roger thinks it's cool you watch them for free."

He tensed up at the name of Helena's' husband but tried not to let it show. "He does?"

"Yep." She confirmed with a nod. "He does like you, you know. He just thinks you're a little too paranoid."

"With all the chaos and corruption in the world someone has to be." He looked at her curiously. "Do you?"

"Is that a trick question?" She teased. "Of course I think you're paranoid; but you wouldn't be the same if you weren't."

He ignored the warmth her answer gave him as it traveled through his body. "Glad someone thinks so."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." She scolded. "A lot of people like you."

"Hurm." He decided to change the subject. "I hear Batman finally is considering retirement."

"Yeah, right." Helena snorted. "Mark my words, he's just going to end up fighting crime in a new glorified bat suit."

"Probably." He conceded. "I don't think Bruce will ever fully retire."

"True, he'll probably be eighty and monitoring the new Batman from his house." A thought occurred to her, "Who told you that?"

"Oliver." He replied checking his watch. "4 AM, we're finished with patrol."

"Good." Helena replied standing up and stretching. She shot Vic a smile as she prepared to leave. "Bye, Vic."

"Goodnight, Helena." He replied quietly as she leaped off the roof and left him alone on the darkness, running home to her husband and children.

He fought back a longing sigh as he watched her go. She was beautiful, she treated him like an actual human being, and she had the most incredible right-hook he'd ever seen. That, among a million other things, made her the most incredible woman he'd ever met.

That's why he was secretly in love with her.

A/N Well I hope that captured your interest.

A/N Review please!