Bonding Time
Batman is looking over the report the Team had given about their last mission. From what he got was interesting. The advanced vehicles, the advanced weapons… Who the Team had encountered is obviously a threat and Batman is thinking the League should keep a close eye on this new secret group the Team has stumbled upon. He was going through the files until Robin entered the Bat Cave and asked,
"So, now what?" The boy wonder asked looking over his shoulder. Batman read the description of the people and spoke,
"So, the woman you've fought is Harley Quinn?" Robin shook his head but had to admit he didn't realize his description of the woman he fought sounded like Harley Quinn. The blonde hair, the red and black, but instead of wielding a hammer it was an axe. Batman decided to keep in mind to interrogate Harley about the woman Robin described, until then, he will inform the League of the new group. He then turned to Robin,
"We'll be taking it from here." Robin slightly frowns, but understood what he meant.
Mari couldn't help but feel the disappointment in the air after the Team returned from their mission. Everyone looks so tired and quiet. It's very evident in their faces, but mainly she could feel Conner's emotions the strongest since he's emanating his feelings a lot more. So, she decided to check on each of them. She started with Aqualad. She could see that he's training away his feelings and she could tell that he's feeling better every swing of his swords, so she left. She then went to check on Artemis and Wally. She could see the two of them in one room and entered greeting the two of them. Both Artemis and Wally turned to her. She smiled awkwardly at them and waved,
"Hi." she said as Artemis nodded to her, while Wally got up from his seat and went up to her with an exhausted smile and draped his arm around her shoulders,
"Hey, Mari! You came to check up on me?" Artemis crossed her arms and glared at him, Mari didn't really take notice by the fact that Wally's emotion is blocking Artemis' and just answered,
"Of course, you all came back either upset or disappointed, so I just wanted to check and see how everyone is." Wally smiled and nodded as well as Artemis so she spoke,
"Thanks. You really are like a mom." Mari's face turned warm and smiled to her. The three of them continued talking with each other until Mari told them she'll be checking the others and left. She then and went to check how Megan is doing, she decided to go to the kitchen knowing she would be there and sure enough, she sees her there baking. Megan noticed her presence and smiles to her,
"Hello, Mari."Mari waved to her and entered. She pulled a seat as Megan finished popping a tray of what she thinks muffins into the oven, Megan herself sat down from across Mari,
"So, what's up?" Megan asked her. Mari smiles and answered,
"I just came to see how everyone is doing." Megan didn't know what to say but smiles in response,
"You're really kind." Mari smiles back to her. Megan is now deep in thought wondering if she should ask her a question that's been bothering her for a while. The two of them didn't say anything for two minutes until Megan decided to speak,
"So, what do you think of Conner?" Mari was a little surprised by her question and asks,
"Um, why do you ask?" Megan didn't know how to answer to that and just smiled to her. Both Mari and Megan just stared at each other and she realized that she couldn't read Megan's emotions. She doesn't know what to do with that information.
Megan purposefully blocked Mari's powers from reading what she's feeling as she watched her ponder.
Mari thought about what Conner is and knows that he is a very kind guy for helping her out since the day they met, despite his age, he's shown her how responsible he can be, so she spoke up,
"Conner is a very good friend." Megan piqued her ears to that, Mari smile to her as she tilted her head to her then asked,
"So, is there a reason why you asked?" Megan froze and started looking everywhere but her feeling her face starts to heat up. Mari loped at her questioningly until Megan turned to her,
"Um… The reason is…" Mari piqued her ears in interest while Megan struggled finding words to say when suddenly Wally entered. Loudly,
"Hey, ladies. How's it going?" Megan turned to him and responded feeling relief,
"Everything is good." Mari nodded to him as well. Wally smiles to them then spoke,
"That's cool. By the way, I think something's burning."After he said that, both Mari and Megan quickly turned to the stove and sure enough, they smelled burning baked goods. Megan reacted by holding both her hands to her cheeks in horror, quickly grabbed the oven mittens and pulled out the tray. To her dismay, her muffins are burnt to black. Mari and Wally then went to make her feel better and she then goes to make a new batch of muffins.
Mari now decided it's time to go check up on Conner, so she left the kitchen and headed to his room.
She stood in front of his door, about ready to knock when it opens with Conner standing there. Mari just stood there with her hand raised and knuckles turned towards him, she couldn't help but blush by her slow reaction and quickly dropped her hand. Conner
Looks at her questioningly. Mari smiles to him,
"Um… Hi. I just wanted to see how you are doing." Conner's gaze softens and returns a smile,
"I'm fine. I guess." He then rubs the back of his neck feeling bashful. Mari nodded to him,
"Okay. Though…" She wonders if she should pry when Conner spoke,
"We can talk for a bit. I kind of want to talk to someone." She didn't know what to say and just smiled in response.
The two of them then walked around the cave and talked. He talked about what's been bothering him, he talked about the last mission and the person he faced. He said the woman could go up against him with a strong axe and managed to knock him off the truck. She even got him to question himself. Mari thought for a moment and turned to face him fully. Conner looked at her questioningly as Mari looks him in the eyes,
"Conner. Is it okay to ask a few questions with you?" Conner then gave her a confused look after that, she then explained,
"Is it okay to ask personal questions?" Conner froze after hearing that and Mari could tell right away and raised her shoulders in a regretful manner, her hands above her chest then started looking anywhere but him,
"Um… It's okay if you don't want to; I just wanted to know if it's okay." He relaxed his shoulders and looks at seriously. It's almost been half a month and she has been patient with him all that time, so he let out a relaxed sigh and nodded to her,
"It's okay. You can ask." Mari turned back to him with wide surprised eyes then smiles to him,
"Okay. So…"
They first started with his name. Mari is surprised to learn that the reason Conner was hesitant is because he didn't have a name at the time. He was only known as Superboy and the reason was also because he is cloned from Superman. Mari should have assumed a long time ago, but she isn't really as perspective as anyone thought, also she just assumed he was either the son of Superman (Now that she thought about it, he technically is.), a relative (Which again, he technically is.) or just has similar super powers as Superman.
Conner didn't say anything as Mari just nodded to what they talked about. She crossed her arms in thought and then looked back to Conner,
"So, you met Superman?" She asked him. Immediately she could sense his anger rise and she didn't know whether to continue or not.
Conner couldn't help but feel angry whenever Superman is mentioned, he could see Mari hesitate to ask him about the famous super hero, but to be honest with himself, he doesn't feel ready. Conner closed his eyes and tried to calm himself,
"It's okay. You don't have to force yourself to tell me." He looks back to Mari and relaxed his shoulders,
"Sorry." He told her. She shook her head and smiles to him,
"You don't have to apologize, I understand." Conner smiled back to her,
"Thanks. You know, you're really good at this." Mari looked at him questioningly,
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Well, uhh… You're good at making people feel better and it's nice."He cringed at how awkward his wording is as Mari blushed by the compliment,
"Thanks, I guess it's one of those things adults have to do."She barely caught Conner's sad look as he turned away from her,
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" She asked him as he inwardly cursed himself to be easily read by the older girl,
"It's nothing, don't worry. I'm just… Feeling… Umm." He then quickly got up and spoke,
"I… Uh… Got to do my homework. Since school needs me to do it, you know?" Mari's eyes follow him questioningly as he got to the door,
"Um… So goodnight." He then left without her responding back. Mari crossed her arms confused,
"What was that about?"
The team and Mari are in the training room with Green Arrow, he and the team are training from one side of the room as Mari stood on the other side practicing manipulating her shadows, waiting for Black Canary. As usual she shapes her shadow into a ball. She then starts wondering if she could form her shadows well enough to make something else. So she tried something simple other than a ball and tried making a heart shape. She pulled at the shadow as if it we're clay (which obviously doesn't feel like clay) and is impressed by how it's turning out. After that, she tried making a flower and it turned out okay.
Conner just finished sparring with Aqualad then turn to see Mari doing something. He could see how concentrated she is as she starts shaping her shadows; he watched her for a while then turned back to the team until suddenly he heard her make a cry of pain. He quickly turned back around to see Mari falling to the floor,
"Mari!" He ran to her aid and held her up. The Team and Green Arrow stopped what they were doing and ran to see what happened. Conner could see that she's crossed her arms, attempting to hold pressure to her wound as blood flowed down to the floor. He could see a deep cut was almost near her throat as well as several cuts around her shoulders and shallow cuts on her face as if something exploded or some other, in her face. Black Canary had just arrived when she sees everyone in one part of the room, she joined them wondering what happened until she saw Mari in Conner's arms. She let out a small gasp and went up to the both of them. Green Arrow was already at the girl's aid as he examined her wounds, he's relieved that Mari is lucky she didn't accidentally cut her throat or else it would have been even worse,
"Conner, I'd like you to lay her head on your lap and put pressure on her wounds with this." He then gave Conner some towels and continued,
"I'm going to call Red Tornado and have him set up a room for her. You guys." He then turned to the team as he could see that Wally and Robin are already way ahead in setting up the stretcher,
"Yes, that. Alright! I'm going now! You hurry, alright?" He then got up and ran out the room as he called Red Tornado.
Black Canary didn't know what to think at that moment, but she quickly shook off her shock and told the team she'll be helping Green Arrow and Red Tornado to set up the room.
Conner looked at her with extreme distress as he helped her lay on the stretcher. The all then raced her to the room.
The team waited outside as a special doctor from Japan who is called by the League to take care of Mari's wounds. At first, the Team thought he was a girl, but the doctor smiled to them and calmly told them,
"Don't worry. I get that a lot. It's not your fault." The team couldn't help but still felt some sort of awkward bad feeling in the air as the feminine doctor just continued to give them a smile.
Conner paced around the room, turning his head to the door every few seconds. Wally and Robin watched him, amused while Megan just looks down at the floor sadly. Artemis could seriously tell Conner has a huge thing for Mari even if he realizes it or not. She feels a little disappointed because she kind of had a thing for him herself.
Conner continued pacing around until he finally hears the door open and out came the doctor. Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary arrived at the right time after they've finished discussing what happened today. The doctor turned to all of them,
"She will be fine. Right now, she needs a lot of rest, and someone needs to look out for her for a few weeks until she has fully healed all of her wounds." The team talked amongst themselves as Batman spoke to the doctor,
"Thank you for lending your service." The doctor smiled to him and bows slightly,
"It's a pleasure. You know how to find me if you need me again." After he said that, he left. The team watch him go wondering why the doctor himself seems so weirdly sketchy. They didn't say anything until Batman spoke up,
"It was unfortunate that this happened, but you must know that it's no one's fault for whoever is blaming themselves for this." Green Arrow then glances to Black Canary after his speech as she turns away from them with an unreadable expression on her face.
Megan looks to Conner as she knows for sure he's beating himself up for it. The team then entered the room seeing Mari lying in bed with bandages around her neck to her upper torso. They can also see that she's sleeping right now as well. The team decided to leave the room while Conner stayed behind watching her until he went as well.
Mari slowly opened her eyes to see the white ceiling in her view. She looked around slightly and got up now regretting it quickly as she felt a sharp pain shooting to her collarbone. She then place her hand to it,
"Don't move, Mari. You're hurt, remember?" She turned to whoever said that and could see that it was Megan. The two of them didn't say anything else and Mari set herself down. The two of them silently sat there for a moment until Megan spoke again,
"That was quite a scare back there." Mari gave her an awkward smile and then looked away from her feeling bad for making everyone worry,
"I didn't mean to scare everyone. I… Should have waited for Black Canary, but I was too impatient and dumb. I'm sorry." Megan shook her head,
"No, you shouldn't say that. We are still responsible for you and we didn't watch over you like we were supposed to." Mari turned back to her and gave her a regretful smile. The two of them then returned to silence. Mari then realized that she hasn't really talked that much to Megan. Not alone at least. The only time was when she went to check and see how everyone was but even then, the two of them still fall into silence.
Megan watches Mari as she move around in her bed. She spoke again,
"By the way," Mari turned to her giving her attention,
"We promise to look after you until you've healed all of your wounds so; we decided to each of us take care of you. Right now I'm watching over you."
And just like what Megan has said they looked out for her. When she was finally out of bed, they are very attentive. Conner especially. Mari couldn't help but feel happy to have someone to make sure she's okay again. Before her good friend has died, he used to look out for her and her little brother, who wasn't her brother at the time, so much; she couldn't help but rely on him all the time. And since he's gone, she was forced to rely on herself even though she has a lot of doubt in her ability to live on her own and to take care of Cole.
Artemis, Wally and Robin watch Conner hang around Mari constantly. They're surprised Mari hasn't even caught on yet even though she has the power to read people's feelings. They just stared blankly at the two of them in disbelief on how obvious it was and yet there they are, completely oblivious.
Mari and Megan are now closer. The two of them talked about what they've done recently as they sat in the living room. Megan told her about school and told her how fun it was. Mari just smiled to her and asks her what its like,
"Well, the classes are fun and the students are lively. Also cheerleading is great." Megan told her. Mari learned that some of the team go to the same school so she asked her,
"So, anything interesting happen at school?" Megan then told her about what happened to Wally a few months ago during summer, he got held back for Summer school and the last day he was geared in his swim suit, a floaty and a beach ball as he entered the cave missing everything. Mari then laughed at that, apparently it was also when he first met Artemis. Then she went into detail of when Conner went to school. He was so serious; he didn't realize how uncomfortable he made the teachers as he just concentrates on everything they say by staring intensely at every move they make.
Mari laughed after Megan was done telling her story,
"Haha! It sounds like a lot of fun! Oh, now I wished I could go back to high school to hang out with you guys." She then started thinking about college and what she will do when she comes back from being 'missing' for a month or so. The two of them then changed topics to when Mari can finally continue her training,
"So what do you think how I'm doing with my training? Am I close to controlling it better?"She asked her. Megan thought for a moment,
"Well, I think you do need more work."Mari then gave her a sheepish smile and nodded to,
"Yeah, you're right. I did after all accidentally hurt myself." The two of them then awkwardly didn't say anything for a while until Robin entered the room,
"Hmm? Oh, hey. I didn't realize anyone was here." Mari and Megan turned to Robin and could see he's carrying a case,
"Hi, Robin. What brings you here?" Megan asks him referring to his suitcase,
"Oh, just thought I could work on my gadgets here." Mari and Megan nodded to him and he then set his suitcase on the coffee table and the three of them started chatting.
Mari is now well enough to continue her training. Sure she still needed to keep the bandages on, but she's well. Black Canary is now more attentive, watching her train and giving her pointers about her powers. Mari still couldn't help feeling really bad over what happened and tried apologizing to her a few times, but she insisted.
A month has finally passed. Mari can now fully control and understand her powers enough to finally go home. She is so happy to hear the news she didn't know what to do with herself. The first person she told is Conner.
Conner was just about to do his homework when he heard a knock on his door.
He watched her talk about what she will do once she gets home,
"I can't wait to go home! Once I get home I will be making dinner for my brother and me. Also… I wonder what the school will react when I come back?" Conner watches her for a bit and couldn't help feeling sad. Mari stopped what she was doing feeling his sadness,
"Conner, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly now feeling sad herself,
"Are you going to forget about us?" He asked her then realized how much he sounded like a child then and there. He then turned away feeling embarrassed, Mari widens her eyes a little taken aback by his question then gave him a reassuring smile,
"Conner, you know I won't forget you guys. If anything, I will always remember all of you." He looked to her direction without moving his head still kind of embarrassed. Mari went up him and spoke,
"You and everyone can always visit us, just knock on our door and I'll always answer." Conner turn back turn her and nodded,
"Yeah." The two of them then looked at each other feeling content. After their talk, she then decided to go back to her room.
After she left, he still couldn't get over what he said earlier and decided to sleep on it, forgetting his homework all together.
The day has come. Mari is with the things the Team and the League gave her during her stay at the Cave. The Team gathered around the entrance gates to see her off, she hugged each of them,
"We're going to miss you, Mari." Megan said hugging her,
"I'll miss you guys, too." Mari responded now looking at each of them. She really will miss them. For all they've done for her. She will especially miss Conner, the one who saved her. She smiled to them feeling sad... Batman finally arrived and turned to her,
"Are you ready to go?" She turned to him and nodded in response. Conner took a few steps and spoke,
"Mari." She turned back around to face him as he called her name,
"We'll visit you so; don't think that this is a good bye, okay?" He told her. She didn't know what to say and felt her eyes stinging. She nodded to him in response with tears now going down her face,
"Okay."
She said goodbye to all of them one more time and finally left the cave with Batman to her home where her brother is waiting.
AN: Chapter done! Here you go! ^w^ Also, did you catch what I did in this chapter? :3 If so, I tried sort of crossing my characters around my stories. XP Mainly I just thought it would be cool the have character from a different story cameo. 3
And yeah. :)
