I slid through the shadows in Mount Justice. I was supposed to be in my room sleeping, but with Nightwing on a dangerous mission and it being the day of a certain anniversary, it was passed twelve, I couldn't sleep.
I wandered to the kitchen, thinking of making one of the things Dick usually would to comfort me. I wiped the tears from my eyes, hoping that the sunglasses would hide their presence. I entered the kitchen and started to make myself chocolate chip pancakes. Dick really was weird about comfort food, but I was just glad Beast Boy hadn't eaten all the chocolate chips.
I made way to many, as usual, but just left the remaining ones out after grabbing two or three off the stack. I heated up the maple syrup in the microwave and poured myself a glass of milk before sitting down on one of the bar stools. I saw the streak of yellow enter the room. He didn't notice me at first, but when he saw the still steaming pancakes, he turned on the light.
It took me a second to notice all he was wearing were pajama pants. Then another for me to see the scars. They covered a large part of his upper body. I was shocked for a moment.
Impulse said, "Sorry, I didn't know you were awake. Otherwise, I would have covered them up."
I said, "It's okay really. I see the same thing every time I look in a mirror."
He looked confused.
I stood up from my stool, and lifted my shirt just enough to reveal the mat of scars on my stomach, that a hero as young as me shouldn't have. I was thirteen. I had only gotten seriously injured in the line of duty three times. Impulse hadn't even gotten hurt bad enough to scar once. We both had scars we hid from everyone.
I put my shirt down and sat on the stool again. The anniversary of the first time always hit me hard. I wondered, if I had been better on that one day, would she have hurt me all the other times? I still didn't have an answer.
Impulse grabbed the plate that had all the extra pancakes on it, and sat down across from me.
I revealed quietly, "Today is the anniversary of the first one."
Impulse said, "I remember my first one to." He was so much more serious then he usually was. Then again, I was to. Usually, I was faster to prank and smile than I was to mourn and frown.
Impulse asked, "How did you get yours?"
I said, "You first."
Impulse, no, he was Bart right then, out of costume, not faking happiness, said, "The future isn't as happy as I made it out to be. It was ruled by a tyrannical Blue Beatle. It was bad, and I got hurt a lot."
I said fighting back my tears, "I got my first one when I was three. I still don't know what I was doing wrong. She, my...my mom...she hurt me. She kept hurting me until I finally got away from her."
Bart's hand covered mine. I looked at his eyes. I had avoided looking into them since I lifted my shirt to reveal the scars. They seemed to shine a brighter green then usual. Like his predecessor, he flirted with all girls everywhere, but he never looked at them the way he was looking at me now.
I almost didn't catch that we were both leaning forward until our lips touched. It wasn't like those movie kisses where the actors look like they're trying to eat each other. It was slow and sweet, with no tongue involved. It brought my small, real smile to my face for the first time in weeks.
Bart was smiling to. He used his other hand to gently wipe the tears off of my face.
I said, "Thank you."
Bart smiled wider and said, "Anytime."
We talked for a while after that. Mostly, it was about the various scars that riddled our bodies. Some of it was more about the good experiences that had worked their way through the bad. When we left the kitchen around five in the morning, we both wore our usual smiling masks.
Bart went to bed. I went to the training room. Being a Bat, I was used to staying up for days with little to no sleep. I went straight to the uneven bars and started joyously flying. Usually, I approached this day with depression, fighting back painful memories, but talking to someone who understood the kind of pain I had gone through helped more than I had anticipated.
Batgirl came in at about six, surprised to see how happy I was on today of all days. She was obviously glad in my change in demeanor. She went over to one of the punching bags and began a sequence of kicks and punches that had been drilled into every Bats head by one mentor or another.
Robin came in not long after her. He had had to spend the night in Gotham, since his father was getting suspicious about how much time he was spending out of the house. He couldn't be hanging out with me all the time.
He asked me, "Blue Jay, will you spar with me?"
I easily dismounted with a quad and said, "Just let me get a drink first." I went over to the supply of water bottles sitting out and drained one of them. I wiped the sweat off my body with a towel and joined Robin in the sparring ring. We started fighting almost immediately. We were still fighting when the Team came in for an 'early morning' training session. It was eight by then.
Black Canary was leading them. She wasn't the Team's trainer any more, but all the Leaguers taught the Team at some point or another. Robin and I weren't trying very hard to beat each other, and we were both trying out moves to see if they would actually work in combat.
I suggested quietly to Robin, "Want to show them what we can really do?"
Robin said slightly unsure, "I guess so." He was still the one to start a more aggressive attack.
We were moving faster, dodging better, and hitting harder. The first hit either of us landed would be the winning move. I cartwheeled over a series of kicks and punches, and managed to get behind Robin. I did a leg sweep, which brought him to the floor.
The computerized voice announced, "Robin: Fail."
I offered him a hand up, and he gladly took it. We both left the ring to get water bottles.
Black Canary called, "You three will be expected to participate in this training exercise."
I drained two water bottles before going to join the Team in the exercise. Robin and Batgirl weren't far behind me.
Black Canary said, "Alright, this is a silent movement drill. The goal is to stay out of the light for as long as possible. The person who lasts the longest gets a special prize. Enter the simulation room and we'll begin."
I smiled brightly. I had done this particular simulation on it's hardest setting and declared it boring. Hopefully, doing it with the Team would make it more interesting.
