Chapter Two
"Blackout? Blackout, can you hear me?" Talia's voice hummed in my ear through the small communicator.
"Loud and clear, ma'am," I replied tersely. I was in civilian clothes, and I hated it. They were loose and uncomfortable compared to the suit that I'd become used to. I blended into the crowd of tourists waiting to get into the Hall of Justice, sweating underneath the bright sun of the June day. I felt strangely exposed in the sunlight, like there wasn't a place for me to disappear into, a place for me to hide. A tall boy standing next to me gave me a strange look with his bright blue eyes, but I quickly brushed off the talking-to-myself bit by making it look like I was talking to a plump mother standing in front of me.
"Good. Progress?"
"Oh yay! The line is moving!" I answered Talia while also blending in with the normal people standing around me. The tall boy didn't look back at me this time and I couldn't help but smile a little to myself. This plan was going to go off perfectly.
It was another agonizing twenty minutes before I got into the air conditioning. By that time I was wet with sweat, my grip on my small bag slippery. Inside the bag was my suit, among other normal things a teenage girl would have on her person, like a cell phone and gum. In order to feel like I was doing something I pulled out a piece of gum. The boy with the blue eyes was looking at me again and I smiled shyly at him, wordlessly offering a stick of gum. He took it with a nod of thanks.
"Come here often?" He asked, popping the piece into his mouth. He shook some of his sandy blonde hair out of his eyes.
I shook my head. "It's my first time visiting. I'm on vacation with my family, but they all caught some sort of bug. They told me to come and take pictures for them." The lie flew easily from my lips about the fake family that I didn't have, waiting in the hotel room they never booked.
"Oh, well that's too bad. It's no fun alone." He gave me a flirty grin. My eyes flashed dangerously at him and I could tell he noticed.
"Actually, I'm finding it rather stimulating. Lots of time to think." We moved with the crowd, going further into the Hall of Justice.
"I never thought of it like that," he said. Some fat man pushed ahead of him, momentarily separating us but the boy quickly caught back up with me. "So, you have a name?"
"Maybe," I said with a slight frown. Of all the parts of my cover to forget, how could I forget my name?
"Maybe? Well that doesn't sound very promising. You here to see anything or anyone specific?" He asked. I silently thanked him for blowing off the name thing.
I blushed like the teenage girl I was pretending to be, and she was here for a specific someone. "Well, I've always had a thing for Flash. I hear he has a new sidekick though, and I'm interested to see how he turns out. What is he, Flash Boy? Flash Kid?"
"It's Kid Flash," the blonde boy said immediately. It was my turn to give him a strange look. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry, I just see a lot of him on TV. I live in Central City and that's where he and Flash operate."
"I know where they work!" I snapped, suddenly irritable. The boy didn't seem fazed by my reaction.
"Just checking. If it's any interest to you, I'm Austin Chase. Nice to meet you."
"Austin Chase? What a very American name," I commented with a slight smirk.
"Any better than yours?"
"Some people call me Nyx." I made up the name on the spot, knowing full well that it meant night. When I was younger I used want to have a civilian name, so I made up the one Nyx Jones, liking how the exotic first name was paired with the typical last name.
"Ok, you've got me pinned. That's about as far from very American as you can get," Chase commented.
"Tell me something I don't know," I replied, rolling my eyes. To my right about 30 feet there was a woman's bathroom. If I could get away from Austin Chase, then I could change into my suit, and probably use the air ducts to get a good lookout spot of the Justice League's meeting room. I would wait there until midnight when the meeting started and then I would collect their secrets for the League of Assassins, with my job well done. When I got back, I would be rewarded. How, I didn't quite know.
"Ok, a small Ruby Throated hummingbird can flap their wings 55 times per second and their normal flight speed is 25 miles per hour." Austin looked smug as he regurgitated the facts.
"Fascinating. Now it's my turn." I gave a smirk of my own. "For a large adult male, a blood loss count of 2 liters is considered fatal."
Austin looked slightly impressed. "You mind if I show you around?" My smile faltered for a moment. My mission was simple and clear: get a spot early and wait. Not look around the museum at the artifacts of the Justice League.
"I don't know…" I trailed off, slowly losing my cool.
"I've been here tons of times; I know all the cool stuff. C'mon, just trust me." Austin's eyes were sincere as he made a welcoming gesture to the museum that was now flooded with sweaty tourists.
It couldn't hurt… I thought to myself, giving a long sigh before looking at Chase expectantly. "You'd better not show me anything lame."