I have decided to not do designations because it is getting freaking difficult to remember that I changed the numbers, so I will just be doing Recognized and then the character's name or hero alias.
I own nothing except for Kid Martian, Spirit, and Snow Fenton; Private Atom and Dawn DeLauro are accepted OCs.
Star City
August 23, 16:32
Dawn DeLauro's adventures with the team started just before the earth was almost destroyed by the Reach. That was two months ago, and according to Bart, the Reach had been what caused his horrible future. Ever since the Reach had been stopped, Dawn made a point to spend as much time as possible with her boyfriend. Her reasons for this, nobody knew, but it had Impulse, well Kid Flash now, worried, and he voiced so on one of their dates.
They'd just seen a movie, one of Dawn's favorites; the latest Naruto film, and they were about to kiss when Bart pulled away.
"Bart, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Dawn, that's what I need to ask you. You've spending as much time as possible with me, and it's like you're afraid I'm going to drop dead any second. What's got you feeling the mode?"
Dawn looked down, not wanting to answer him.
He lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."
She evaded his look once more, for a reason he didn't understand.
"Dawn, just tell me what's wrong; please." he kissed her cheek and then looked into her beautiful green eyes.
"... Have you seen Back to the Future?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yes?" Bart said in more of a question than a statement.
"And you remember what happened to Marty McFly after he changed the past?" the redhead added nervously.
"Ye- Wait, is that what this about? You're worried about me fading, or at least this version of me?" he whispered.
Dawn nodded, beginning to cry. "I don't want to lose you."
He smiled and then kissed his girlfriend's cheek. "Dawn, that isn't going to happen. Since so much has changed from what it was inmy timeline, I'm from an alternate future now; not the future that's to come. I may not know what's coming, but what I do know is that I'm not going to leave you."
They hugged until Bart pulled away, throwing his hands into the air. "Besides, those movies are completely scientifically inaccurate!"
Dawn chuckled and shook her head. "I'll pretend that I know what you mean."
Bart smiled before proceeding to pick up his girlfriend bridal style. She frowned. "I can walk y'know; I'm not paralyzed from the waist down like Athena."
"I know, but I want to carry you."
The girl shook her head until Nightwing called in.
"Impulse, Silencer, we need you both back at the Watchtower; mission briefing." the two shared a disappointed look before going to the nearest zeta tube.
Once they arrive, they see Kid Martian, Static, Spirit, and Private Atom, all of whom were in full-gear and ready for action.
"We've recently received Intel that Bane, and Sportsmaster are working together to put Venom, a strength enhancing drug, back on the market. This squad, Alpha, will go in to see if this true. You'll gather the neccessary Intel, and then leave. If there are any problems, Beta squad, consisting of Artemis, Miss Martian, Wonder Girl, Superboy, Blue Beetle, and Nightlight, will act as your backup. Any questions?"
There were none, so they all began to leave.
Dannie grinned. "We can take the Specter Speeder."
Nightwing chuckled. "I figured that you would. Good luck alpha."
They all nodded, and made their way to the Specter Speeder, climbing into various seats.
Noticing that Static seemed nervous, Silencer gave him reassuring smile.
"Is it natural to be this nervous on a first mission?" he asked.
"Totally." Kid Flash replied. "We all were our first time."
"I wasn't." Dannie shrugged.
Private Atom gave her a deadpan look. "You were still blocking out all emotion on your first mission; You don't count."
The halfa shrugged. "My first mission wasn't with the team, remember? It was just me, my brother, my sister, and my best friends. My first mission was against the Lunch Lady ghost. I didn't eat meat for a month."
"What Spirit and Private mean to say is that you should just relax." Kid Martian reassured Virgil. "It's a small recon mission; everything will be fine."
"Yeah," Dawn laughed, "At least you won't be facing possible Armageddon for your first mission like I did."
Bart laughed at his girlfriend's joke. She placed her head on his shoulder and sensed something. She sensed that he was sad because he was remembering someone he loved dearly; someone he'd lost. She chose not to delve into it, and question him about it later.
"What Silencer said; this'll be the easiest mission that the team has ever had." Spirit promised.
"I can't believe we screwed up on the easiest mission the team has ever had!" Silencer moaned as she picked clay out of her hair.
The mission had gone haywire when Clayface showed up, and to make a long story short, they managed to get the Intel, but received wads of clay all over their suits, and in their hair.
"Agreed." Bart said as he wiggled some clay out of his own auburn mane.
"I need a long, hot shower." Dawn said as she took her black over-shirt off.
Bart flashed a flirty smile as he said, "May I join you?"
She smiled sympathetically and said, "No going to third base quite yet babe. Maybe when we're older."
Dawn went to the showers and relished in the feeling of the warm water washing over her skin. She held her hair close to the shower head, and washed all the remaining clay from her hair. The steam felt nice when she'd turned the shower off, wrapping a towel over her body. She used a second towel to dry her hair, and quickly pulled it into a braid to keep it out of her face.
She pulled on a blue t-shirt, black jean shorts, black boots, and a red leather jacket.
She went out of the shower, and walked into Bart, who was wearing a white shirt accented with blue, jeans, and sneakers. "Oh, uh, hey Dawn. Listen, uh, I was wondering if you'd maybe like to go out to the movies with me, Nightlight and Arsenal on a double date."
Dawn smiled. "Since ours was so rudely interrupted, absolutely. I'd love to."
He scooped her up off the ground and ran to the theater at superspeed. When they arrived at their destination, Dawn gasped. "That was... There are no words." She then glanced at his shoes. "Your shoes are on fire!"
Bart looked at them and then stamped then on the ground, putting the fire out.
"And that is why I have a friction proof suit... Your jacket is also on fire!" he informed.
Dawn grabbed her jacket and threw it off, waiting until the flames went out. The jacket had been turned to charcoal by that point. "That was my favorite jacket." she whined.
"We'll get you a new jacket after the movie." Bart promised.
"Don't worry about it." the tele-empath replied. "I have three others just like it at home."
Bart smacked his forehead. "Then why was that one your favorite?"
"That one was the most comfortable." she informed.
"Come on, let's go watch the movie." Bart sighed, shaking his head.
They were seeing a horror film, and about halfway into the movie, Dawn was shaking, hugging her boyfriend for dear life.
"Don't go in the closet, don't go in the closet." she whispered in terror.
"Babe... She's gonna go in the closet." Bart informed.
"Don't spoil the movie future boy."
"I'm not; people in horror movies always do what they shouldn't, and since that girl shouldn't open the closet, she's going to anyway."
The girl in the movie opened the closet, revealing a giant snake-like monster, which lunged at her. Dawn screamed at the same time as the girl in the movie, and buried her face into Bart's chest.
Nightlight, or Dani, flung some popcorn at them.
"Would you lovebirds be quiet?" she asked. "We're trying to watch the movie."
"Not everyone can handle horror movies as good as you can Dani." Roy reminded her.
At the end of the movie, Dawn was shaking so bad that she couldn't move from her seat.
"Lesson learned today; don't take you to horror movies." Bart murmured as he picked up his girlfriend bridal style and ran her to Star City.
When they arrived Dawn's shirt was smoking, and so were Bart's shoes again. Dawn grabbed her shirt and threw it off. She grabbed a green t-shirt out of her dresser and said, "Next time, we're waking the zetas."
Bart laughed nervously. "Sounds good. See you tomorrow?"
Dawn smirked. "You tell me future boy."
He smiled and started to leave. "Bart, wait."
He turned back to her. "Something wrong babe?"
"One of my powers... If someone is upset, I can see why. You've been upset a lot lately, but because of your mental block, the most I'm getting is that you lost someone." Dawn admitted.
Bart stiffened. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you feel this way a lot. I feel like a bad girlfriend for letting you be sad all the time, and I really love being your girlfriend Bart. What's wrong?" she questioned.
Bart instantly became serious. "When I was a kid, well a younger kid, I did something stupid. My Dad had gone to look for some medicine, and I followed him The Reach fired missiles at the building once they realized that we were there. My Dad got stuck underneath a pile of debris, and when he realized that it was him or me, he chose me. I've spent the rest of my life knowing that it's my fault that my dad died."
Dawn cupped his cheeks. "It wasn't your fault; it was the Reach's. And you know what? It's okay to let it out."
"Where i come from, crying is a sign of weakness." the speedster said sourly.
The tele-empath kissed him before she said, "Bart, you are not weak. Where I'm from, crying means that you still have your humanity. And you're in my neck of the woods now. Go ahead and let it all out."
He hugged her and let tears spill. He cried for a good long time before finally letting go of Dawn and saying, "I don't feel so moded anymore. Thanks Dawn."
She smiled. "Of course. Go home and get some rest. I'll meet up with you tomorrow on the Watchtower."
Bart pecked his girlfriend quickly on the cheek before running off.
Dawn smiled. Ah, of love and speedsters.
This is the first chapter for Of Love and Speedsters, which centers itself around Dawn DeLauro; an OC created by Kyle West. She's a tele-empath(To understand what that is, read the character submission he sent in the reviews of Kid Martian.
I actually hadn't thought I was going to get this out so soon, but I did, so... YAY!
Signing off now,
-MckennaTennyson-Harper12