She arrived at dawn to prove she wasn't hiding from him.
No one was up. Not even the Martian.
She'd never been to Mount Justice without the rest of the team buzzing around. She tried to enjoy the silence, but her skin itched, and she jumped with every whirr and beep that the massive, ever-present computer system emitted. She felt a million electronic eyes watching her. Assessing her. Waiting for some sign of betrayal.
Might as well wait outside.
She liked the view of the harbor from the back of the mountain. She balanced on the railing and practiced her kata in the cool morning air. The regular movements always calmed her, and the gentle ocean breezes were particularly soothing. A sudden gust of wind startled her, stealing her breath and tickling her ears. It felt good. She laughed at the unexpected thrill and loosened her hair, hoping for a repeat performance.
None came.
She didn't see Wally until lunch. He was squabbling with Robin, gesturing madly, when he saw her. His expression blurred for a second before settling on a cocky grin.
"Nervous?" he teased, leaning against the kitchen counter…and putting his elbow in a bowl of guacamole. She laughed while Miss Domesticity simultaneously fussed over him and telekinetically scooped out the tainted dip. Wally glared at her, then murmured something in the Martian's ear. A gasp later, the bowl overturned on Wally's head, coating his red hair with green goo.
She laughed harder, wondering how he'd finally provoked a reaction from Miss Oblivious.
He darted in front of her. She meant to say something, really, but then a chunk of avocado dripped off his left ear and she totally lost it.
He flicked a bit of guac on her nose. She snorted it. That brought tears to her eyes, but it didn't stop her laughter. She doubled over, eyes squeezed tight.
"You," she wheezed, "are…the w-…orst…flirt!" Then, for good measure: "Fail!"
"Dunno about that. But I know I'm the best ninja."
She choked and straightened, hands searching her pockets. One, two, three. All present and accounted for. She breathed slowly and deeply, trying to calm her racing heart. He smiled at her—that strange, new, dopey smile—and cocked his head, shaking loose another dollop of guacamole. Her cheek twitched.
"Right. I keep forgetting how sneaky you are," she drawled.
"Yup. See?" He pointed to his head. "Camo. Stealth-mode."
She smothered another laugh. No sense in encouraging him. "I'll keep that in mind, if I go swamp-diving." She patted her pockets. "You are not winning this bet, West."
His smile faltered, and she thought he might speak, but then he was gone in a burst of wind and guacamole that left her shirt artfully splattered and her wind-chapped lips burning.
Not long after that, Batman came up with a weekend project that was "integral to Justice League operations." She asked if that meant they'd be cleaning toilets, which earned her a dirty look…she thought. The cowl made it hard to tell.
They spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday transporting physical evidence from one outpost to another by hand. She wasn't sure why they had to travel separately, and along different routes, but she also wasn't sure why Robin had to wear shades with his civvies. Either Batman was paranoid, or he still questioned her motives. Oh, yay.
She found she didn't mind spending all weekend on a motorcycle, though. Wally was given enough work to keep him occupied (i.e., most of the work), so she could let her guard down a little. The weather was nice, and she liked the way the wind played with her hair. She enjoyed the illusion of freedom.
Monday. Another new school. And a thunderstorm.
So much for freedom and the wind in her hair.
Her new classes were more engaging, but it still bugged her that someone had given her a scholarship completely out of the blue. She nibbled her chapped lips. The school was in Gotham, and Gotham meant Batman, and Batman meant more distrust and/or paranoia. Somehow. She wasn't sure how he'd conned Bruce Wayne to pay for her education. Her grades were okay, but didn't suggest much, ah, diligence. But Wayne seemed like a friendly, trusting, slightly-vapid guy, so it probably hadn't been too hard.
Hey, Bruce, old buddy! Don't you want to give this kid a hand? She's had a tough life—her mom's a cripple—but she's half-Asian, so she's got to be smart, right? So she'll do really well, which will make her sponsor look really good. Win-win!
She tried to imagine Batman saying this, and giggled very inappropriately in European History.
She wondered what Wally's classes were like. Then she frowned at herself for thinking of Wally. There wasn't any reason to think of Wally during a class on the Black Death. Then again, inappropriate laughter was a Wally-like thing. Rats, hahaha! Boils, teehee! Or something like that. He was such an airhead.
She doodled a giant rat, then a little Wally running away from it. It was so stupid that he was going to school half a mile from Mount Justice, while she'd have to drive half an hour each way for the whole week if she wanted to make the bet fair. It would make more sense to have him visit her most school days…but then her roommate would play matchmaker, and that was not happening. But driving her motorcycle in the rain at night would be…a training opportunity, she reminded herself.
She drew a rain cloud over Wally's head, then lots of little lightning bolts.
She was soaking wet when she arrived. Superboy stared at her. She stared at his biceps. They were very nice.
"It's raining," he finally said.
She normally liked the fact that he was a little stupid. It meant she could drool over his muscles without fearing negative consequences. He was too slow-witted to make fun of anyone, and there wasn't much chance he'd become emotionally attached to her. When he found out who she really was, he'd be (more) confused, but he wouldn't feel betrayed. He'd get over it, unlike Wally, who'd never forgive her. She reminded herself of all this whenever he acted really dumb.
"Yes," she replied. "It's raining." She pointed at the window. "It's raining a lot."
"I know that," he scowled. "So why did you come here?"
"Oh! I thought there might be a mission?" She mentally slapped herself. "Or training. Since we were on bikes all weekend, I thought it would be good to train."
"Oh." Superboy scratched his head. "Well, we're having dinner in a few minutes. M'gann's making lasagna."
"Oh." She squeezed water out of her hair, trying to think of something else to say. Sorry, I assumed you were being stupid. Can I make it up to you? What's your stance on nudity?
"Hey, big guy, dinner's almost…" Wally swallowed, staring at her.
"What?" she snapped. "Look, I'm not ducking out on our bet. I'm sorry that I forgot you can't go five minutes without stuffing your face."
He blinked, shook himself, and disappeared. The gust of wind left her teeth chattering.
And then, suddenly: towels. At least three of them bundled around her like a burka. Wally paused and tucked one under her chin slowly. Carefully. He bit his lip. "You hungry?" he whispered.
Her stomach lurched. "I think so," she heard herself say.
The lasagna was pretty good. It was probably three parts baked cheese to one part everything else, but baked cheese being tasty, she wasn't complaining.
Wally heaped on the praise. She hated his smarmy side. She contemplated a direct frontal assault, but she felt too full to move.
Superboy put an end to it all by smiling and declaring that he liked it. Flustered, Miss Martian raced back to the kitchen, a train of dirty dishes floating at her back.
She smiled, resting her chin on her hand. She liked the girl, despite her overwhelming perfection. She considered offering to help clean up. She imagined them standing in the kitchen, talking about their teammates until the dishwater turned cold. Like that could ever happen. The Martian's telepathy was dangerous. It would be so easy to share too much.
"What's wrong?" Wally asked quietly.
"What? Nothing!" She automatically checked for her thimbles again, then wondered when she'd lost her mind.
"You just…" He weighed his words. "It looked like you remembered something that made you unhappy."
She searched for an appropriate answer. "I realized tonight won't be very fair to our bet," she said, a little too flatly.
"Why not?"
"Because you ate a full tray of lasagna."
"You think that'll slow me down?" Dang, but he was perky. His smile went soft. "Maybe you're right. How about we play Halo until I feel less like the Fat Ninja?"
She agreed…apparently. It was all a little bewildering, the way his emotions bounced around. All she knew was that she was sitting at the table one moment, and on the couch the next. She wasn't great with video games, so Robin refused to play with her, but somehow she could have a satisfying argument with Wally even while her avatar got killed. Repeatedly. In embarrassing ways.
"You should be going home," he murmured as they finally reached another level.
She blinked. It was late. Really late. "Weekend restriction," she moaned thoughtlessly.
"What?"
"I'm living in a dorm with a ten o'clock curfew."
"So?"
"So I'll get demerits. Enough for weekend restriction."
Wally juggled their controllers. "No, you won't."
"Yes, I will."
"You'll be back in time."
"How?" she asked, even though the answer was obvious.
"I'll take you."
"What about my bike?"
"I'll take you to school in the morning."
"I can walk."
"Then I won't take you to school in the morning. Happy?"
"But…"
"I'll pick you up after school and bring you back here so you can get your bike."
She bit her lip. She really needed to get some lip balm.
"Look," he said, "it'll give me a chance to steal thimbles."
"You're a terrible ninja. You shouldn't tell me what you're planning to do."
"I'm an awesome ninja, so it won't even matter."
He lifted her and her bag—no time for protests—and off they went. She held him tight as they moved so fast the wind stole her breath.
