Tina frowned, a little confused on where Helena was leading with this talk of Bette Porter as a child. She nodded slowly to encourage Helena to continue.

"Bette was never raised by her father to know the distinction between the two. She was brought up to believe that because she is a Porter, everything she does is right.. and everyone who does otherwise and oppose her is wrong." Helena sighed. "That was the Porter way. And that was hammered into Bette’s head while growing up.."

"Umm.. why are you telling me this?" Tina asked as she eyed the brunette.

Helena sighed. "I’m not saying these things to defend her.. I know she gave you a very hard time and all.. but I just.." Helena bit her bottom lip as she searched for the right thing to say. "I just.. wanted you to know that she’s not really a bad person. She was just a product of an environment which nurtured and encouraged her negative traits to overshadow her good side."

"But Sam.." Tina looked down on her feet as she remembered how nice Sam Makavejev was to her. "..she came from the same background. But she’s not in any way like Bette Porter.. and so are you."

Helena smiled a little at the mention of Sam’s name. Her gut feeling told her that this blonde was somehow special to Sam too. "You and Sam.. are..?"

"Friends. Just friends." Tina quickly answered. She knew that Helena and Sam aren’t together but still she didn’t want to give Helena the wrong idea.

"Well as much as I love them.. Sam, Alice and Shane.. are no saints." Helena smiled as she played with the ring on her left hand. "While they are less hot headed and prone to confrontations than Bette.. they are actually no better than their leader." Helena saw the confused look in Tina’s face and continued. "They are what you call "enablers".. they are all witnesses to the horrible things that Bette has done but they do nothing to stop her nor condone her actions."

"Why?" Tina asked, feeling a little confused and intrigued at the same time. "It’s because they’re afraid of her right?"