Summary: Following a successful
mission, Dinah receives her next set of orders.
Disclaimer:
All the characters are owned by DC Comics and Time/Warner; this is an
original story that does not intend to infringe on their copyright. Feedback is
welcome!
Copyright February
2001
****
Friends 9: A Perfect Moment
by
Syl Francis
****
Dinah
took one last look around, feeling satisfied.
Perfect.
That
was the only way to describe it. For once, the entire mission had gone like
clockwork.
The chemical munitions were destroyed. The dictator and his cabinet were in the hands of the resistance movement. The final pockets of loyalists were being rounded up. And the democratic elections, demanded by the general populace for months, would soon take place.
Time
to go home.
"Perfect,"
she repeated, taking several deep, ragged breaths.
She'd
just gone one-on-thirty against so-called 'Loyalist' soldiers, well-trained,
well-armed members of the Elite Guard. Dinah noticed that her body ached in
more places than she cared to admit.
"I
must be getting old," she grumbled. She glared at her unconscious
opponents, her eyes narrowing dangerously. They'd given her quite a workout,
and she was paying the penalty--feeling bruised, battered and bleeding.
"Mercenaries!"
she spat in disgust. "Yeah, they're 'Loyalist' soldiers, all right. Just
your friendly, neighborhood rent-a-soldier--the best 'loyalty' money can
buy!"
Still,
she was the only one left standing. She grinned again, forgetting her aches and
pains.
"Like
I said--perfect!"
A
stifled groan escaped from one of the crumpled heaps at her feet. Without
hesitation, she kicked out.
The
groaning stopped. She activated her comlink.
"Mission
accomplished," she reported. "The world is once again a safe place
for truth, justice, and the American--"
"Spare
me."
Dinah
stopped, surprised by the deep growl that interrupted her. Batman! Her
heartbeat, which had already been hammering from her exertions, seemed to beat
a little faster.
The
next instant, she remembered that she wasn't speaking to him anymore, the
memory instantly dissipating her earlier exultant mood. In a flash, her mind's
eye transported her to a week ago...
****
"What
were you thinking?" Batman shouted. "You were little better than an
amateur. Even Batgirl knows to look where's she
stepping! And she's been on the job for less than a year!"
Dinah
stood, stunned by the verbal assault. She looked around, shamed by the averted
eyes of Batman's junior partners. Robin looked like he wanted to be anywhere
but there, and Nightwing--! Nightwing looked like he was biting the inside of
his cheek to keep from sounding off and coming to her defense.
She
faced Batman, her blue-green eyes suddenly glinting dangerously.
"Don't
you dare use that tone of voice with me. I'm not one of your
sidekicks. You said you needed my help, and you got it!"
"You
destroyed vital evidence--!"
"And
you can be so anal at times!" she returned. Robin snickered, but catching
the Dark Knight's glare quickly suppressed it.
"--You
stepped on the vial and shattered it!"
"So
what? The perp's in custody. Case closed!"
****
Case
closed, she'd said. Yeah, right.
Only
Batman hadn't been done with her. He continued with the butt chewing,
highlighting each of her mistakes, coldly, clinically, unyielding.
Finally,
Dinah had enough.
Livid,
she responded her way: She decked him! And demonstrated to all present exactly
why Ollie had always been just a little afraid of the Black Canary.
Dinah
walked away without a backward glance...
She
remembered the Bat-kids' initial open-mouthed gapes after she'd flattened His
Royal Batness. Their shock soon changed to snickers, which they quickly hid
behind heavy gauntlets. Recalling the image of Batman lying flat on his
derriere, Dinah laughed aloud, relishing the moment.
Coming
back to the present, her brief levity passed, leaving behind an empty hole.
Straightening her shoulders, she tossed her head and answered Batman with a
glibness she didn't feel.
"Well,
well, well. If it isn't the World's Greatest Grouch."
"...!"
Her statement was met by dead silence.
Pressing
a button on her belt she waited for her ride. Within seconds she felt
more than heard as a deep thrumming approached. Looking up, she
saw a black shadow appear overhead, the JSA insignia glowing softly in the dim
starlight. When the fully automated stealth craft was directly above her, a
rope ladder dropped down.
"Tell
me, Batman," she said as she climbed. "To I what do I owe this
honor?" Dinah's tone indicated that she considered it anything but.
"Calling to check up on me? Afraid I might've stepped on something else I
wasn't supposed to?"
"No,
I'm covering for--"
"Where's
Oracle, anyway?" Dinah interrupted, cutting him off.
"Date,"
Batman answered curtly.
Dinah
scowled, feeling envious. Strapping herself into the pilot's seat, she adjusted
her instruments and banked the highly maneuverable aircraft into a
ninety-degree turn. She then hit the thrusters and roared into the night.
Activating
the head's up display, Dinah monitored the instruments as she flew the small,
stealth jet low to the ground.
"So,
she's got a date, huh?" Dinah muttered.
"Yes,
she's--"
"Lovely,"
Dinah interrupted. "She's probably out with that hunk, Nightwing."
"Hunk--?"
"Oracle
sends me on another Mission: Impossible--"
"Actually,
she's with her fa--" Batman began.
"--Where
I have to sneak into yet another ex-Soviet satellite
country." Dinah continued as if she hadn't heard him. "Topple yet another
bullyboy regime. Stop the proliferation of yet another
never-heard-of-before chemical weapon. Sneak back out of said country. And do
it all within yet another of her impossible-to-keep-to
timetables!"
"That
was my timetable--"
"And
she's out on a date!" Dinah finished in disgust.
"No,
she's with her fa--"
"Sorry.
Can't talk. Approaching the southern border." Dinah abruptly cut
transmissions while she concentrated on avoiding their air defense batteries.
At twenty miles out, she deployed radar countermeasures. Instantly, a stream of
glittering, metallic strips shot out of the jet's aft section. The filaments
would effectively cancel any radar tracking her.
"There!
That oughtta be a hard poke in the eyes." Within moments, Dinah's
instruments indicated that she'd safely crossed the border into the neighboring
country. Gaining altitude, she achieved cruising speed, and then settled back.
She re-activated her comlink.
"This
is Black Canary. I'm home free."
"What's
your ETA?" Batman asked.
"Approximately
eight hours," Dinah replied. "Seven if I push it."
"Excellent.
I have another mission upon your return."
"What--!"
Dinah shouted. "Hey, listen here, Mr. Grim and Grumpy. I have a life
you know! Today's February Fourteenth--Valentine's Day! And this
superhero is gonna stand down tonight."
"You
have a date?" The 'Voice' sounded even colder than usual.
"Well...um,
no, but--" Why did that 'Voice' always evoke such an icy feeling in the
pit of her stomach?
"Good.
I'm transmitting your instructions to your onboard computer--now!"
Dinah
sighed. She'd been about to say, 'No, I don't have a date, because a certain
billionaire playboy's too busy busting heads at night and isn't interested in
dinner and dancing. And because I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last
man on earth!'
But what was the use? Ever since she'd hooked up with Oracle it seemed that Dinah never had time for dates anyway--or anything else, for that matter. As for Oracle's enigmatic Bat-boss...? At times Bruce Wayne seemed almost human enough to touch, but then he shoved her into a forgotten corner. Apparently this was his way of handling anyone who dared get close to him.
Only
this time, she'd shoved back. And walked away.
A
cold blanket descended on her, dampening her earlier triumphant mood. She flew
in silence for several minutes. Abruptly, she shook herself out of her funk.
No! She would not allow a man to control her life anymore. After
all, wasn't she an independent, self-confident and proven superhero?
A
date? That was something other women indulged in--women who
needed the approval of a man with which to measure their worth.
"Well,
that's no longer me," Dinah said, nodding empathically. A blinking, green
light caught her attention. Batman's in-coming message, probably. Ah, well. No
rest for the weary, she decided philosophically.
Punching
her onboard computer, she read her mission operations order. A puzzled look
came over her, and she reread it. Finally, her lovely eyes brightened in
jubilant glee.
MISSION: MEET ME AT
GOTHAM CITY SKYLINE RESTAURANT 2000HRS. DINNER, DANCING, CHAMPAGNE. HAPPY VALENTINE'S
DAY. BRUCE. PS YES, I'M GROVELING.
"Oh,
no, Mr. Wayne. You have not yet begun to grovel!" Settling back into the
pilot's seat, Dinah smiled to herself.
Yes,
she thought. Everything was perfect.
The
End
####