Broken Friendships & Returning Home
Lynx watched passively as the mysterious figure tailed Superboy. She was walking behind him at an average pace, casually looking ahead but turning when a noise was heard, even though she only needed to hear know what was going on. She adjusted her hat on her head as a breeze whistled past. She plastered a cheery smile on her face, walking normally but making sure to keep her targets in sight. She made a catty noise in the back of her throat that she was sure Superboy heard. It was her signal to him to veer off so she could take care of their problem.
Clearly hearing her, Super boy turned off into the woods, walking a somewhat well-trodden path. The assailant hesitated, looking around a couple times, trying to spot her. She pulled her hat over her face and walked past him noiselessly, headed away from her friend and the mystery man. Seeming satisfied with his visual search of the crowd, the man turned and walked quietly after Superboy. Lynx walked a few more yards before stopping, looking around to make she wasn't being watched, and disappeared into the forest after the clone.
She walked through the forest casually, tearing off some of her clothes. She discarded the hat on the ground, as well as her shoes. She untied her tail from its uncomfortable position around her waist, letting it fall behind her like the glorious furl of fur that it was. She arched her back and stretched, tearing off her turtleneck to reveal the camisole beneath. She didn't bother changing into her usual pants. It would waste time, she decided. Figuring she'd given them enough lead, she opened her jaws and made a noise like a lion's roar mixed with a human's yell. That was another signal to Superboy. It was time the follower lost his trail. She dropped onto all fours and sped off into the woodland. She moved almost silently, catlike grace allowing her to maneuver beautifully. She came to a halt when she heard Superboy approaching. He was being fairly quiet by his standards, and he leaked past her with relative ease. She waited patiently for the other figure to catch up.
She heard him coming long before she saw or scented him. He was making quite the racket, crashing through the brush, trying to catch up to the fleeing clone. Lynx waited until he was a few yards in front of the tree, then she sprang into action. Literally.
She bunched her muscles and leapt from the tree. She slammed into her opponent rather forcefully by any normal standard, but of coarse she had to throw that tackle. Had she really tackled him, she would have broken his back, and probably every other bone in his body. She brought her shoulder over, twisting in the air and using her mass to slam the man back against a tree. Getting over the initial shock swiftly, the man struck out at her. Not wanting to be caught on the camera she was sure he had on him somewhere, she ducked and head-butted him in the gut. He grunted and fell back, landing with a defined 'thud' on the grass. She spun around and kicked out at him, nailing him in the face, still holding back from using her full strength. He fell back with a moan. She quickly pulled forward and ducked down by his head to hide from cameras. She quickly identified the little pin on his shirt as said object and removed it from him without delay. She put her hand over it to hide herself from view and began to speak. "You can't find my on your fancy gadgets and such because I don't exist. You can't find me, or Superboy, if I don't want you to. Superboy is still recovering from his experience. I suggest you sod off until I think he's ready to be reintroduced to the stressful environment you put him in," she said, her voice calm, but her body on edge. Then she crushed the camera with her bare hands.
The Team walked into the briefing room to find Batman waiting for them. "What's the situation?" Aqualad asked, serious and ready for business.
"Our agent tracking Superboy was attacked."
The room was filled with gasps and stunned silences. Batman ignored this, and turned to pull up a video on the holoscreen. A video popped up of the person following Superboy through a forest. "Where is this?" Robin inquired, eyes never leaving the screen.
"Ann Arbor, Michigan."
"Now what would they want there?" Robin muttered to himself, face darkening as he continued to watch the film.
The agent followed Superboy for several minutes without incident, when suddenly a strange, yowling scream cut through the paper-thin silence. A moment passed, before Superboy bolted. The agent started, and went after him. In his haste, he forgot to conceal himself, and the noise of him crashing through foliage was evident. Superboy passed under a tree a considerable ways ahead, but when the agent got to the tree, something slammed into him and smashed him into another tree. The agent stuck at his assailant, the figure ducked and appeared to head-butt their agent in the stomach, evoking a loud, painful vocalization before he fell back onto the grass. A shadowed leg came in a blur and nailed the agent in the face. The mysterious attacker blurred by the screen and ducked down, out of the range of the videotape. A hand covered the lens, and a feminine voice crackled in on the audio receiver. "You can't find my on your fancy gadgets and such because I don't exist. You can't find me, or Superboy, if I don't want you to. Superboy is still recovering from his experience. I suggest you sod off until I think he's ready to be reintroduced to the stressful environment you put him in." The camera caught a snapping sound before it cut off and the Team was left staring at nothing but static.
Robin was first to speak. "Rewind that," he ordered.
Batman more than likely wasn't pleased at being ordered as such, but he gave no complaint or sign that he'd even noticed. He did as his protégé ordered/requested and rewound the tape until Robin shouted, "Stop!" The tape paused on a blurry picture of the villain. The young bird pulled up a holopad, typed a few commands, and hit a key. The picture refocused several times. The Team found themselves staring at a picture of a teenage girl with a scar over either eye. The hat was gone, as was the turtleneck shirt, revealing a white camisole beneath. The fur belt turned out to actually be a tail, and her pale face was contorted, baring her fangs, pinning her cat ears back, and giving her violet eyes a dangerous, feral look. Robin observed the picture for a few seconds, then zoomed in on the girl's shoulder. He refocused the picture again until the entire Team had a clear view of the number branded onto her shoulder. Robin put his face in his hands, Kaldur and Wally shook their heads, Artemis sighed, and M'Gann covered her mouth with her hands in horror. "Looks like she's from Cadmus," Robin muttered. "Apparently they want him back more than we thought."
"Why did you do that?"
Lynx turned around at the angry exclamation. Superboy stood at the other side of the clearing, glaring at her crossly. She stood up and spread her hands out before herself in an appeasing manner. "What did you think I would do? I told you we were being followed," she replied, her tone soft but firm. She wasn't going to budge about this.
"You never said by who!" her friend snapped.
She flinched.
"If I'd known it was by the League, I'd have gone back!" he growled. "Don't you think I miss the Team?"
Lynx's eyes hardened. "Don't you think I missed you? You were technically dead to me for, like, six months. I'm your best friend! You've barely been missing for a few days!" she exclaimed, her temper beginning to flare. "I don't get what they're so worried about!"
"I've been 'missing!' They think you kidnapped me, Lynx!" he barked, he, too, growing angry. "I don't want to run like I'm a fugitive! It's me they're looking for! I'll leave the running to you."
Lynx parted her jaws in shock, eyes widening, but brow remaining furrowed. Her eyes swam with hurt, anger, and defiance. She closed her mouth wit a audible 'snap' before freezing her gaze into the coldest, most wrathful glower she could muster with her heart literally falling apart inside her chest. "Fine then! I'll run away and you'll never see me again. You go back to the friends that tease you, and bait you, and make you do things that could eventually get you killed!" she shouted, voice rising in pitch and volume until she was screaming at him. "Leave me, the one who rescued you, the one who's been there for you since the start, to run from your people and die alone! Go ahead! Go back to your precious Team!"
Superboy's jaw had dropped about halfway through her rant. He looked shocked, more with himself than with her, and he looked like he was about to say something when Lynx threw up a hand and turned away. She shot a glare over her shoulder at him before jerking her face away from him, clenching her fists, and leaping into the air. Panicking, Superboy yelled after her, "Lynx!" But she was already flying away.
'Access: Superboy, C09.'
The entire Team did a double take. Superboy (clear as day, in the flesh, etc.) came sulking through the Zeta-Tube with a drag in his step and a dejected look on his face. He stopped only a few steps into the cave, head still hanging, just barely managing to greet his friends. "Hey," he muttered.
They all stared at him for approximately ten whole seconds before M'Gann decided to get up, fly at him and hug him for all she was worth. That seemed to get the rest of the Team out of their dazed states, and they, too, came to him to welcome him back. The elephant in the room was still very much alive, as the Team noted how forced his smiles looked, and how much pain was bottled up behind his eyes. It didn't take a genius to tell something was wrong.
Aqualad asked first. "What happened to you, my friend?" he inquired, firm but calming at the same time.
Superboy shook his head. "She didn't kidnap me," he stated.
"She?" M'Gann echoed, jealousy in her voice. Superboy took no notice.
"She rescued me. Her name was Lynx," he murmured. His gaze hadn't lifted form the floor.
There was a long silence, but Robin stepped forward. "What happened to her?" he prompted.
Superboy shook his head again, letting a sigh escape his lips. He pushed past his friends, replying as he went, "I lost her again…"
