Chapter 3: Out With the Old

COAST CITY
JULY 5, 08:16 EST

Three dials. After three dials, she'd stop calling him. Probably.

"Come on… pick up, pick up, pick up—"

Roy Harper's steely, surprisingly clear voice, answered the phone. "It's me."

Slightly taken aback, Tash raised a brow, curtly replying with, "Good morning to you, too."

"Sorry," Roy sounded just as exhausted as his not-girlfriend was. "Swell morning to you, Tasha. I pretty much pulled an all-nighter trying to solve my living situation, as well as keep worrying about you since you answered none of my calls or texts yesterday."

Ah. Tash could tell she was going to get a lot of the same phrase shot at her in the next couple of days.

"Yeah… I'm really sorry about that. If it's any consolation, a lot did happen last night which I need to fill you in on, plus I also need to check that you're holding out okay." The tired girl paced around the kitchen of the loft she shared with her mentor, which now was host to the sleepy young guest that was Brittany Summer.

Roy could be heard smirking over the phone at the fact that Natasha was genuinely worried about him since his own (ex)mentor was too busy to even check in on him. "Tasha, you know there's no point in worrying about me when you know I'm going to do just fine on my own. Besides, you need to be concentrating more on the 'a lot' part of last night that you haven't told me about yet."

The Green Lantern exhaled, a deep frown plaguing her features, as she sluggishly took a seat at the kitchen's breakfast bar, feeling sick at the thought of recounting the previous night's events. "Well… to cut things a bit short…" She raked a hand through her unkempt hair. "Basically, what happened was that after the… situation at the Hall yesterday…" She paused. "Well, do you remember my sister's adoptive cousin, Peter? Parker?"

"The guy who calls himself Spider-Man? Yeah, of course."

Tash rolled her eyes at the fact that Roy's hero name was, in fact, 'Speedy', reigning him a bit of a hypocrite. "Well, he called me up—way before the designated time I was supposed to be in New York for Fourth of July celebrations with my siblings—to ask me to help him out since he was fighting a bunch of Wilson Fisk's men with my little sister."

"Jesus… continue."

"And we—more like they—finished the job, going back to their aunt's apartment, as we always try to do every year, if all of us aren't busy on the fourth. Then, I decide to call Joseph back since you weren't the only one who busy trying to get a hold of me—"

"Mhm."

"And, just out of the blue, dearest Joseph lets me know that the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, paid him a visit at the X-Mansion. Apparently, the outcome of their little conference subsequently ended up being that the Kingpin of Crime himself, Wilson Fisk, wants to eliminate my family. Those not being the exact words he used. So, I left New York and brought Brittany with me to Coast City, and she's now crashing at my place. It was a wee bit of a challenge trying to explain the whole situation to her Aunt May and Peter, but Spider-Boy decided that he needed to stay in New York and try to do as much as he could to make sure Fisk stays in his lane."

The other line was silent for a strong moment before Roy finally said something back. "Jesus Christ. Are you all gonna be okay? Tasha, I'm telling you, if you need anything—"

"Roy, you're already going through enough as it is. I'd be asking too much of you to even touch this situation."

"Tash, you're not the one I'm mad at. I even spoke to Kaldur about it, I'll be fine. That, however, is going to change if I find out you're in a case where some assistance can really alleviate your problems."

The Green Lantern was so close to saying, "Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" but refrained from doing so; Roy's temper really got the better of himself these days and Tash had yet to know why. She didn't fancy prodding that particular bear with a stick.

"Roy…" Tash breathed a heavy sigh, dragging her hand down her face. "I know that you've said time and time again that you'll always have my back, and there have been a few instances where whatever's been going on between us has been more than just that, but—"

"Tash."

"—I think you've already done so much for me at this point in time, especially since we're both fresh out of high school—"

"Natasha Summer." Oof, he put down the full name card.

"If you think that I'm going to stand by and watch as you and your family get torn apart and terrorized from a dangerous threat like this, then you, ma'am, have got me all wrong."

Natasha breathed impatiently through her nose. "…are you sure you're willing to do this?"

"If I wasn't, then I wouldn't have said so in the first place."

Granted, the redhead had a point. After a pause, Tash finally answered, "Fine. I'll let you help me. But only because I know you'll end up helping me anyway if I said no and also because you know your way around Gotham more than I do."

Roy would have predictably frowned in confusion at that. "Gotham? Why do you need me to go to Gotham?"

"Not you," Tash enunciated, "we are going to Gotham."

"May I ask why?"

"I do have three siblings, Roy. One of them is still dwelling in the depths of Gotham and—" As if right on cue, Tash's phone lit up with a text displayed on the lock screen, it being from Joseph, finally.

She paused mid-speech to put the phone on loud speaker in order to simultaneously read the extensive message:

From: Joe Summer
July 5, 08:26 AM

Joe: Hey sis, here's the address Selina sent me last night. Sorry it took so long. Needed to make sure I wasn't being tracked/followed. I mean you could just look up the address on google since it's technically a celebrity residence but it was still the safest place for Kat to go according to Selina. Don't be too long, I'm heading to CC soon. Later x

"—we've gotta get there as soon as possible. Roy, whereabouts are you at the moment?" Tash quickly slid down from her seat at the breakfast bar and went over to the coatrack near the front door to try and one-handedly shrug her brown leather jacket on.

"I'm still in Star City. What about you?"

"Get a Zeta-Tube to Gotham. I'll meet you there in a few. We're gonna visit someone you'd probably rather avoid right now, but if my sister's currently under their roof, we can't leave her be. It's not safe without us."

"And where exactly would we be going?"

Tash took her set of keys from the bowl sitting on the console table near the door; they jangled in her hand as she swiftly swung the door open and quickly locked it before slamming it shut. She took one last look at the linked location that her phone automatically set into a route in Google Maps, and turned her phone off of loud speaker.

"We're gonna go say hi to our good ol' friend, Bruce Wayne."

GOTHAM CITY
JULY 5, 09:10 EDT

Katrina Summer groaned inwardly as she primly sat, one leg elegantly crossed over the other, in one of the expensively fabricated chairs of the main living room in Wayne Manor. At her feet were a collection of (suspiciously) designer bags filled with her belongings. An uninterested-looking Dick Grayson sat across from her, intently trying to beat a level on the game he was playing on his phone.

The sixteen-year-old girl rolled her eyes, resting her head on her knuckles, bearing a disdained look of boredom, hearing the continuous zap! and pew! from Robin's game.

"Why are you so invested in playing that crappy game?" Kat looked past Dick's hunched form, opting to observe the overcast light spilling through the large paneled windows.

"I find it's better than talking to you," Dick replied nonchalantly, furiously tapping a spot on the screen with his thumb as quickly as he could, seemingly performing a power move that could only be played through a match in a particular fighting game.

The golden blonde narrowed her eyes at the twerpy form of the Boy Wonder and pondered whether Alfred or Bruce would be mad to find the bird-boy stuck to the wall covered in duct tape. Unfortunately, the girl could only dream since both Alfred and Bruce entered the living room, both with placid looks on their faces. Actually, scratch that—Bruce had a grimace going on, Alfred was the one who looked normal.

Bruce stood in front of the two teens, Alfred standing a way apart from him, ready for any form of service.

"Well, 'Trina, I think you'll be glad to hear that your sister is on her way here now, and you'll be free to go home with her as we try to sort out your situation along with S.H.I.E.L.D." Bruce had folded his arms in a relaxed manner, his true persona somewhat different from his other persona. Kat couldn't bother comprehending who Bruce actually was, whether it be Bruce Wayne or Batman, but she was too tired and bothered to care. She just wanted to get some decent sleep after the hectic night she'd had with Selina and Joseph.

"Cool," Kat answered equably, her ringed and acrylic-nailed fingers found themselves clasped on the chair's plush armrests. "Still. I can't believe Selina's not even here to see me off. Bitch."

Both Bruce and Alfred turned abruptly at Kat's sharp tone and language; even Dick managed to look up from his game, raising a brow at his former comrade. Bruce sighed, almost defeatedly, as if he were at a loss for proper words. "…Kat, you know she's had her hands full with everything that she's gotten herself into."

"Yeah. 'Everything that she's gotten herself into' being the mess she's made with the Falcone crime family again." Kat's velvet red lipstick contrasted perfectly against her porcelain skin; the cat eye look she constantly wore accentuated her features beautifully. Those accents, however, were scornfully marred every time she put on a scowl. "I tell her every damn time to not keep getting involved with them. Jesus Christ…" The girl put her head in her hands, trying hard not lose it in front of the three males in front of her.

"Kat," Bruce walked over to the young girl, kneeling down so he was resting more at her level. He put a single hand on the edge of the armrest, looking up at Kat's deep frown. "You know she's trying to get this situation under control. In order for her to do that, she needs to make sure that you're safe, which isn't going to happen if you stay here in Gotham. As safe as the manor is, it can't protect you from yourself. And I, as well as Selina and Director Fury, think it's best if you go be with your family. They're what matters the most at the moment."

Wise words from Mister Wayne himself, Kat thought. Deep down, she knew he was right. If she kept staying in a town where she was famous for a myriad of things—whether they be legal or not—she'd be putting herself at risk, as well as everyone else around her. And as much as her conscience told her not to give a rat's ass about anyone else but herself—she wasn't a sociopath. She had people she loved and cared for, and she guessed making sacrifices were a big step in the right direction away from a life she'd rather not revel in anymore. Especially if that life involved being caught on the wrong side of Gotham 'politics' and underground warfare.

So, family, it was.

Before Kat could reply to Bruce's questionably heartfelt speech, a loud knock on the manor's oak front doors could be heard ringing throughout the foyer, echoing into the living room. There was only one guess of who that could be, and Kat was partially grateful that they arrived before she had to have a deep and meaningful with Bruce Wayne.

"I shall get that, sir," Alfred nodded his head and headed straight for the double front doors. Bruce, Kat, and Dick all stayed in the living room.

Alfred curtly opened the doors, to find the awaiting figures of Natasha and Roy, both standing awkwardly as they reacted to the butler opening the doors. "Ah. Good morning, Miss Summer and…" Alfred's gaze lingered on the unexpectant figure of the redhead. "…Mister Harper."

"Morning, Alfred," Tash greeted politely, grinning widely, waving a gloved hand in his direction; Roy silently gestured his hello by shooting him a small smile. Tash craned her neck to try and see if Kat was already waiting for her. "She all packed and ready to go?"

"Thanks to the lovely efforts of Master Bruce and I, your sister is indeed ready to embark on her journey from the manor, Miss Summer," Alfred bowed his head slightly, and courteously gestured for the two to go inside. Tash stepped across the threshold before Roy, immediately spotting the signature blonde ponytail that could only have been the back of Kat's head. She also spotted the two familiar figures of Bruce and Dick.

"C'mon, kitty girl, we're leaving straightaway," Tash called out to her sister; the golden blonde craned her neck around to give her older sister a venomous side-eye glare.

"'Sup, sis," the sixteen-year-old unwound herself back around and crossed her arms almost as petulantly as a five-year-old child would. "'Sup, Harper," she drawled just as maliciously.

The older girl sighed, her shoulders sagged as she did. "Come on. What's crawled up your butt?" She crossed her arms indignantly, Roy stepping up beside her, his expression seemingly indifferent to Kat's unfriendly tone.

"Hm, let me think…" Kat spoke sarcastically, carefully lifting herself off of her chair, facing the two young adults. "Maybe—just maybe—I might be a teensy bit aggravated at the fact that you, Selina, the Grim Reaper-slash-James Bond over here—" she pointed at Bruce—"and Nick motherfucking Fury are making me leave Gotham because of some stupid threat that never even applied to me and you, since we don't even live in New York!" The poor girl was almost out of breath by now, but everyone in the vicinity was now paying attention to the situation at hand, even Dick, who had stopped playing his game. "Like, what the hell, Tash?!" Kat's arms went limp with a smack, her exasperation very clear in both her voice and her actions.

Tash closed her eyes for a solid moment, biting her lip to save herself from retaliating with a response just as rude as her sister's. She quickly looked over at Roy, who immediately thought it would be a good idea to let her handle this one since this was clearly a family matter that he'd underestimated the severity of. He was silent, yet he gave Tash a clear look that said, 'You know what to say to her, you just don't want to in case it makes things worse'. The familiarity of his gaze made Tash think twice about what she was going to say, making her grateful that she'd brought the archer along with her.

Tash's almond locks melded into a murky brown shade from the overcast sky that covered Gotham in its entirety. She took a deep breath before responding in an authoritative voice, "The threat that Wilson Fisk made was aimed at our entire family, not just Brittany and Joe. We might not live in Manhattan, Kat, but we have a younger brother and sister to take care of, and as the elder siblings of the fucked up quartet of kids that S.H.I.E.L.D. has produced, you should be more than willing to do something about a problem like this. Understand me?" Tash remained calm and maintained her composure the entire time she spoke.

For a second—only just a second—the scornful expression on Kat's face flickered into one of pity and guilt. However, the level of maturity that the feline protégé showcased was close to a small child's, and her pride got the better of her. "I shouldn't have to apologize for having a reasonable reaction to something I don't like."

This time it was Bruce's turn to sigh. Kat Summer was a handful and the direness of the debacle that was to ensue if the Summer sisters didn't depart soon-who knew what could happen the longer they stayed.

"Katrina, enough." There it was. The grave Batman voice. "Go with your sister. I'm sure Selina would be delighted if she found you running rampant near the Narrows instead of trying to do the right thing."

"As if I haven't done worse than that, Bruce," Kat snapped back. She wasn't intimidated by him one bit. The young girl walked right up to his towering figure over her, sticking her nose up in defiance; Bruce's piercing gaze left her completely unfazed, much to everyone else's surprise. "You know what, I think I will leave. Being in a place like this for too long makes me nauseous."

Without another second wasted, Kat quickly stormed over to her animal-skinned suitcase and Louis Vuitton carry-on bag. She firmly pulled up the metal handle of her suitcase with a snap, making it clear that she was angry. She began to click-clack her heels away from the living room, before turning around to the two residents of Wayne Manor, calling out, "Bye, Bruce. Bye, dickhole. Thanks for letting me stay. I hope to never come back." And with a flick of her ponytail, she whipped around to the manor's exit, wishing Alfred a much happier farewell, before clomping down the front steps.

Tash and Roy shared a look with each other, as well as Bruce and Dick. Well, that whole ordeal went less smoothly then they'd imagined, but at least they were free to leave now.

"Thanks, Bruce," Tash gave the man a hopeful look, as he frowned, yet nodded in return. "I guess I'll be seeing you soon. I'm really sorry about Kat—"

"Not to worry, Tasha," Bruce put his hands in his pockets, his matching grey waistcoat making him look impeccable. "Kat always comes around in the end. She just needs some time and space to process all this. She's not going to get that here."

"Let's hope you're right." As surprised as Tash was that Dick hadn't piped up to say anything for the entirety of this time, she figured it would be best if she said goodbye. "See you, Dick."

"Later, Tash," the raven-haired boy gave her a small wave, before inevitably turning toward the stoic figure of Roy. "Speedy—"

"We're leaving," Roy cut him off, as he himself turned on his heel to leave, stalking straight past Alfred, who by now looked exceptionally done with the whole ordeal.

Tash looked at him, to the two other males, then at Alfred, and just decided to mouth, "Bye!" and quickly rushed after her hot-headed companions.

She hastily ran down the steps, heading over to the two brooding figures of Roy and her sister. "Jesus Christ, you two couldn't be any ruder, could you?" Her coat flapped in the wind as she ran and slowed down to a walking pace, catching up with the pair.

"Don't be surprised, sister. There's a lot you miss out on over the span of twelve months," Kat stated, strutting alongside the taller girl, her eyes covered with the expansive size of her Gucci sunglasses.

"This was a really last minute job, Tash. You couldn't have expected me to play nice after what happened yesterday," Roy chipped in, his hands securely shoved within the pockets of his red and black jacket.

The Green Lantern stalked a few paces ahead of the two, letting out an almighty groan that fully expressed the stress that she'd been experiencing for the past twenty-one hours. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

COAST CITY
JULY 5, 20:13 EST

"So… I get all four of you in my apartment, now?" Hal had his arms folded, as he paced back and forth behind his kitchen island; all four of the Summer siblings were now seated across on the other side. Aside from Tash; she stayed standing. "Great…" The thirty-three-year-old man immaturely groaned into his hands, covering his face from the children sitting in front of him.

The three younger siblings shifted uncomfortably in their seats, not really knowing what to say to a man who had next to no experience in dealing with a bunch of kids that had just been plopped into his home.

"What would Bruce do…" Hal's question got muffled by his hands over his mouth, as he leaned his elbows on the counter top, his eyes darting to each of the children (warningly at Tash).

"Well, Bruce kicked me out, so if you're gonna do that, too, I may as well sell all of my shit now if I'm gonna become homeless," Kat's shades were still on her face despite being indoors, her chin resting atop her hand.

Tash scoffed at her sister's bigoted remark. "Kat, you literally left at your own will. Bruce didn't make you do anything. Sure, he might've tried extremely hard to convince you to leave, but you were the one who made that decision in the end."

"I don't need you dictating how my life works, Tash. You're my sister, not my fucking mother," Kat spat back, her composure no longer relaxed.

"You better watch it before I knock those stupid shades off your face. I know you stole them, Kat—"

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP?!" The loud, masculine voice of Joseph broke the tension between the two sisters, who were still fuming at each other, yet surprised at their brother's outburst. "God…" he muttered. Now it was Joe's turn to put his face in his hands; he didn't feel like looking at either of the girls and blocking his gaze from them was the fastest solution to that problem.

"I think I'm starting to see why the four of us got separated from each other for so long," Brittany uttered in a small voice, her secretly dampened eyes were shielded behind her polarized sunglasses due to the photosensitivity of her condition.

The siblings stayed quiet after that, leaving Hal to lean on his hands, looking back and forth between each of them, really having no clue as to how this was going to play out. The man slowly dipped his head so the kids couldn't look at his hopeless expression, before thinking for a few seconds. If Batman wasn't willing to do squat about the siblings' living arrangements after having to deal with his part of the situation, where else could they possibly turn to without burdening Hal and everyone else? Anyone else's guess was as good as Hal's, but before he could even think of contacting anyone from the Justice League, his phone began to ring with an unknown number on the screen.

"Who could that be?" Tash asked, her brow furrowed at the unexpected call.

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" Hal replied, his voice laced with annoyance, as he carefully picked up his phone and swiped to answer it. "Hello, this is Hal Jordan speaking."

"Glad you could talk, Jordan." A familiarly gruff voice answered the call. "I have a proposal for you that you may not like, but as of this moment, it's not your life that is at stake here."

Hal looked incredibly confused a the cryptic statement the person had made. "Excuse me? Say what now?" Tash rolled her eyes at her mentor's bluntness.

"Bring the Summer kids to the S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ in Washington and you'll understand soon enough, Jordan. Don't be late." The call immediately ended, leaving Hal in a state of panic and ultimate confusion.

"What the hell just happened?" Hal asked more so to himself than to anyone else, yet Brittany was the one to answer him whether he was being rhetoric or not.

"The volume on your phone is really loud. That was Nick Fury. If he wants us at the Triskelion in Washington, D.C. then we should probably go ASAP." Brittany's mood had turned into one of focus and motivation.

"What the hell is a Triskelion?!" Hal asked incredulously, throwing his arms in the air.

"It's the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, calm down," Tash said curtly. "It's not exactly the most popular landmark in the country, but that doesn't mean it's not as important as a place like the Hall of Justice or the White House. We need to leave."

Tash quickly grabbed her car keys that were sitting on the bench and put her coat back on, not at all pleased that she had to go out again. She abruptly stopped in her tracks to see that no one else had moved, and her patience was slowly starting to slip away from her self-control. "Now."

End of the chapter! I know, my updating hasn't been very regular, but I'm not giving up on this story. Chapters are just hard to formulate sometimes. Never fear, I'm going to start working on the next chapter as soon as this one goes up.

Feel free to review, favorite or follow this story in case you want to keep up with what's going on! I know the Team hasn't even been formed yet, but trust me—we're getting there.

Happy Reading! XD