April 10th
Quraci/Bialyan Border
0109 AST

"Run!" Shield Maiden said, bringing her mystical shield up to deflect the ammunition being fired at them from the Bialyan soldiers. The shield, much more than simple wood and iron, seemed to not only stop the rounds coming in towards it, but also drawing strays towards it as well.

Behind her, Fractal and Fujin were dashing off towards the gate which meant entrance into Qurac. It left her covering their escape, which was just fine by her. The Maiden's Shield was a powerful artifact, and had its own bag of tricks. Through an act of pure will and determination, she mentally commanded her shield to extend its area of protection further out, effectively turning her into a one woman shield wall.

"Come on!" Fujin yelled out from well behind her. "I've got you covered!" And, indeed he did. In the dark of the night, it seemed like the hour itself came alive, shadows warping and twisting about. Several Bialyan soldiers lost their nerve and panicked, dropping their weapons and yelling something in their native tongue. With less weapon fire on her, it was less effort to maintain the barrier, which meant Shield Maiden could make an orderly withdrawal.

Ducked behind the guard shack, Fractal watched the scene unfold. With measured, almost casual steps, Shield Maiden backed further and further away from the Bialyan troops. Each step put her closer to their destination; all the while bullets struck her shield and stopped dead. When one of the Bialyan troopers calmly let his rifle hang from the sling, and grabbed something off of the pack of his partner though, a cold terror began working its way through Fractal's veins.

The rocket propelled grenade fired off, sailing true through the air. Catching sight, Shield Maiden brought her mystical artifact up and tight to her body, trying to hide her entire body behind it. As expected, the ancient runic sorcery which empowered the shield drew the explosive round, pulling it even more accurately onto a collision course with her.

When it hit, the impact was both deafening and blinding. Flying through the air on the wave of concussion from the explosion, Shield Maiden was still trying to collect herself when she hit the asphalt and began skidding. Before she'd even come to a stop though, she felt a larger hand grab her by the metal pauldron on her right shoulder and bring her to her feet.

"Gotcha," Mustang said, and signaled above him. Immediately, massive gouts of fire began springing up from the cracking and sundering Earth. The effect was both dramatic, and terrifying, causing the rest of the Bialyan soldiers to scatter for cover.

"Thanks." Shield Maiden said, heading towards the border checkpoint under her own power again, this time not bothering to make a tactical withdrawal. With Daeva's quite literal earthshaking threats and Mustang's telekinetic barrier, she was able to just bail on the situation and move to safety. In one last act of defiance though, she drew a seax knife from her belt and whipped the thing at the knockoff humvee's the Bialyan's were driving around in, puncturing one of the tires with an audible banging sound.

"We're clear!" Godiva yelled, ushering her teammates across the border into Qurac as quickly and efficiently as possible. Both Daeva and Mustang sailed backwards, covering the distance in the air, and once together, the lot of them backed well further away, not wanting to test the limits of their welcome in Qurac.

"Where's Scramble?" Daeva asked, once they'd ducked into an abandoned automobile repair garage. "He could have made much easier work of those Bialyan's than we did." It was plain by her tone of voice and expression that she wasn't exactly happy at the absence of their high-speed teammate.

"On mission." Fractal said, leaning against a wall and trying to catch his breath. "I hated sending him off, but it was necessary. The mercenaries that stole the missile trucks were Rhelasian military. Facial recognition placed them as former Northern special operations."

"So, what's he doing?" Mustang drawled, tucking a wad of shredded jerky in between his bottom lip and gum.

"Following a coded data transmission to its source, and placing a wireless interceptor on or near wherever it's being transmitted from." Fractal replied with a smirk. His team knew well and good just what exactly he was capable of doing once that piggyback signal went live.

"So, that's it then? We're good?" Fujin asked, so calm and cool despite everything that had just happened. Either he was just that kind of a professional, or he was extremely accustomed to being shot at by foreign militaries while spending time in their countries illegally. Or both; that seemed the most likely.

"Not quite. Mustang got you a present." Godiva said, looking directly at Fractal. "We had Pacifica rift it back to the Hacienda already. She's holding the iris open on the thing too, so we might wanna get there before her highness has a fainting spell."

"Spatial magic is difficult." Daeva said in an admonishing tone. "So yes, we should hurry. There's plenty of time to play with the missiles later."

April 9th
Destin Florida
1700 CST

Deke turned the water off to the shower, and leaned against the wall for a minute before moving. He'd gotten back to his room to see a message on his phone from his beloved, telling him that she wouldn't be home until later, but not to worry about her. So of course the first thing he did was worry about her. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, far from it actually. He just didn't trust Gotham.

Finally stepping out of the shower, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. If he ignored a shave for another day or two, he'd be wearing a legitimate big boy beard. "Fuck it." He muttered, his hand hovering over his razor before leaving it unused.

"Language mister!" he heard from outside his room, causing him to stiffen and pause. Her tone of voice was playful though, and it was, without a doubt, the love of his life.

Barbara giggled as the door to his bathroom flew open. Her face turned warm at the sight of him looking at her, his eyes so full of want and need. "Well, where's my love?" she asked in a pert voice.

"Right here." He said after clearing the distance to his bed in a single, telekinetically assisted leap. He wrapped her up in his arms and just held onto her, squeezing her warmly. "Your message said you weren't going to be home until later."

"I sent that at noon." She chided, nuzzling into his embrace and inhaling his scent deeply. "But I think I'm glad you didn't notice that."

He held onto her for several long minutes, content to remain like that forever, but she had other ideas apparently. "Your hair is still soaking wet." She said, planting a kiss on him to soften the blow of her extricating herself from his grip. "And now apparently, so is my shirt."

"At least it's not white." Deke said sheepishly. He climbed off his bed and summoned a pair of boxer briefs to his hands, pulling them on under his towel. This wasn't out of any modesty, as she'd surely seen every inch of him by now, but out of a simple desire not to tease. After getting lectured about paying attention to what he was doing following his evening with Aasha, he was much more alert to his actions.

"This is true, but still." Barbara said, pulling her tee shirt away from her chest. "So, I'm not here purely for pleasure, I do have a little bit of business to do." She admitted, getting herself into a more comfortable position to watch him getting dressed.

Turning to look at her, his expression was quizzical. "What kind of business are we talking about here?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I come bearing some gifts, so get dressed. No rush though, please take your time." She said with a bewitching smile on her face. Blushing, he stepped into a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, this one dark purple with a graphic print of a yellow bat symbol. The irony wasn't lost either, as she showed him the tip of her tongue with a snicker.

"What? Just repping my favorite superhero." He said with a wink, before taking a brush through his hair. Barbara slid off the bed and walked towards him, a sway in her hips, and took the brush from him to handle the task herself. She motioned towards his small desk chair and waited for him to sit before beginning.

"Flatterer." She accused as she ran the brush through his mane. "I was going to get you a drying brush like mine, but it straightens too and I just can't have that. I love those waves too much." She admitted, leaning down to take in a breath of his sandalwood three-in-one. When she'd voiced her very obvious pleasure at his selection of a good scent, he'd immediately stopped using anything but that, something she fully appreciated.

"So, what was it you had to do that kept you out? Does it have to do with those gifts you mentioned?" He asked, eyes closed and focusing on the feeling of the brush bristles in his scalp.

"Part of it, yeah. What really matters though is, I think I found my place in the greater caped world." She said. "I turned the League down because Gotham needed me more than the rest of the world, and you were right, with school being the millstone that it is, the Zeta lag and everything else was taking a toll on my education."

Deke nodded to acknowledge that he'd heard her, allowing her to continue uninterrupted. "So, Artemis and I, along with Huntress and Flamebird, well, we're putting together a project of our own, and Black Canary is going to help us out on the League end."

"All-girl squad of vigilantes?" Deke asked. "Or, just a squad of vigilantes that just happen to all be girls?"

"The latter, Cowboy." Barbara said a bit dryly. "We're not hanging a 'no boys allowed' sign on the door of the clubhouse, we just happen to be the ones in a position to do something for Gotham, especially when Batman is helping the League."

"You needed the help, I'm not bitching." Deke replied. Batman had told him almost three years ago, point blank, to not patrol Gotham without being asked. He understood the reasoning of course. Batman was, ultimately, one man without superpowers. The moment that dynamic changed, so would Gotham, and not for the better. "Got a name for your crew?"

"We do. Artemis' idea actually. Birds of Prey. What do you think?" Barbara asked, leaning down to kiss him again, and quite intentionally resting her breasts on his forehead to do it.

"I think that's freakin' badass." Deke answered honestly, enjoying the comforting weight of her breasts on his head for the short period she'd left them there. "You patrolling tonight?" he asked, his tone making it clear why he was asking.

"Nope. Batman and Robin are handling that for the next few weeks." Barbara replied, setting the brush aside and stepping around the side of the chair to sit across his lap. "I'm sorry about yesterday." She added, kissing him softly.

"Don't apologize for that," Deke replied. "I mean, it's thoughtful of you to, but you were kind of busy saving lives. That's the woman I fell in love with."

Barbara's cheeks colored pink at his words, causing her to place another small kiss on his lips. "Speaking of love, by the way; I know we missed your birthday, but if we can put it off until the day after tomorrow, would you be upset?"

"You know me better than that. You have plans?" He asked, putting his arms under her and standing up out of the chair. She giggled and nuzzled into him again, just one of those Barbara things that had also heavily contributed to turning like into love.

"I do, actually. I've got a job I have to do tomorrow morning, and I was hoping you'd be willing to join me. It actually pays too, which is rare. I promise, once that's over, it'll be happy birthday to you." Barbara said with that intoxicating look in her eyes as she traced a finger across his chest, punctuating her statement with small taps of her fingernail. When the girl wanted something, it was obvious, and impossible to keep her from it.

"So, what are we waiting on?" Deke asked, setting her down by the door and taking a second to wrestle control of his body, so he could go downstairs without it being plainly obvious how he felt about her proposal.

"The presents. Q-Core donated a bunch of stuff to the Movers and the Titans. Q-Books, Q-Pads, and Q-Phones, all next generation stuff too." Barbara explained. "We're supposed to be testing them for durability and reliability though, so keep that in mind."

"I'd rather see how durable and rugged I am." Deke said, putting his hands on her hips and giving her a loving squeeze.

"Oh, that's definitely going to happen Cowboy." Barbara replied, feeling warm in her core at his touch. Her hips were a specific spot of hers, and he'd learned just how to put his hands on her the right way. "But not here, not yet."

Her tone said as much as what her words would have, so he removed his hands, albeit reluctantly, and slipped his feet into a pair of sandals before opening the door and making a gentlemanly gesture towards her. "After you." He said, though he swatted her bottom as she passed. There was no resisting it, that solid, bouncy round backside of hers, cultivated through years of hard work and exercise. While by no means the biggest ass in the world, she still had one hell of a booty.