"Come on Felicity! Don't look down, besides there's the net if you do fall!" The boy encouraged his friend from the opposite pole, holding the bar to the trapeze in one hand. At his words the blonde girl's eyes grew wide.
"I'm going to fall?!" She suddenly crouched down and grabbed the high wire with her hands, in front and behind her, anchoring herself on it.
"No, you won't. Look just stand up, get your balance and do it!" She raised her eyes and met his. "The net's up Flick, you'll be alright if your brother's don't catch you."
"This is the last time I'm letting you talk me into a rehearsal without the grown ups!" Nevertheless the girl closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, opened them and stood up. "I've been practising the move on the ground, so fingers crossed -"
She let her voice trailed off as she pulled herself into an arabesque before straightening up, tucking one leg into her body, pirouette-ing and finishing back in an arabesque again.
"You did it!" The dark-haired boy grinned at her.
"I did! Yay!" She pulled out of the pose, leaving her arms outstretched for a moment, keeping her balance before relaxing on the wire.
"Felicity?" The woman's voice snapped her out of her reverie.
"Huh?" Real great, Flick. Zone out on your first training session really willing!
"Were you paying attention to anything?" Black Canary asked slightly annoyed. Flick simply shrugged in response and pulled her cowl up, taking a fighting stance. "Ah, no masks please Flick. Remember what the league said?"
Of course she did. They didn't trust her. She was to be home-schooled in the cave, only going somewhere pre-approved and with someone who could keep an eye on her. In other words - no secret identity.
Grudgingly she pulled her cowl back but kept the sour expression on her face. She wasn't going to bite the hand that fed her, but she was certainly not going to like it.
"We going to spar or what?" Flick crouched slightly and refused to look Canary in the eye.
"Chin up kid, it won't be forever. Sweet sixteen?" The woman didn't move from where she stood and just placed a hand on her hip.
"That's still over a year away! I have to live here for all that time under the League's thumb and they won't trust me!" She pulled up to her full height and folded her arms.
"Well, they don't all feel that. The decision wasn't unanimous, a lot of them felt that it was too harsh-"
"Is," Flick corrected, "And how divided was it? What was your vote?" Black Canary didn't answer her. "I thought so." Flick turned to leave when Canary spoke up.
"Felicity, where are you going?"
"Where can I go? My room, where else?!" Flick turned momentarily to raise her arms in frustration, but continued walking backwards. Those three seconds were all it took to feel something warm and hard press into her back, and topple over, onto it.
"Ow," Robin pushed up as best he could with his friend laying sprawled across his stomach. "You alright?"
"Rmmmg," Flick grumbled from where her head was hanging over his shoulder. "How'd you get there?"
"Heard you were shouting. Approached with caution, trained by Batman. Although you must be losing your touch if you didn't have any idea I was there!" Robin frowned worriedly. He looked up at Canary as she approached them.
"Which is why you should be training. If you like, I can watch you spar with Robin?" The elder asked, holding out her hand to give the girl a hand up. Flick begrudgingly took it and hauled herself up, taking pains not to place her boot heels on her friends legs.
"Nah, it's alright. Not really in the mood anymore," She quickly removed her hand from the other woman's and began to walk off again.
"Felicity," Black Canary called after her, Flick didn't stop however, "training isn't a choice." The girl stopped and turned. She looked forlornly at her friend. Robin, in response simply shrugged and cocked his head at her, indicating she should do as Black Canary had asked.
Reluctantly, she walked back to the training area and braced for a fight.
"Actually, I think we should talk first. What are your perceived strengths, weaknesses? We could test them then make a training plan for you." Flick faltered for a moment. Did the woman actually want to help her? "Felicity?"
"Sure, I can do that." She took a seat on the ground and took of her utility belt, disassembling her homemade gadgets tools that were so over used many of them were held together by duct tape. "Well, basic fighting. But I tend to avoid that because I'm not that good really. Catwoman tended to use me as a distraction while she grabbed the loot, then beat their asses while I cleared an exit.
"I'm good at that: ways out. I always find an escape route where most people can't. Not necessarily for everyone, but I can get out of usually almost situation. In fact, Robin was the first time I've been caught without an escape route-"
"This is your escape route from jail though remember," Dick did not want his friend to start feeling like she had failed, when she had yet to start.
"Yeah, I suppose. Anyway, always been a good gymnast and acrobat- thank the circus. And, erm, I suppose you could phrase it as, light handed. There's no real way to be sure it was me, that I took it, I mean... I hope."
"That much I believe, we were only 80% sure that those thefts were you, and that was only because it seemed recently you were getting reckless," Black Canary agreed. Flick nodded her head in response. "I suppose that was lack of training recently?" Flick paused for a moment before reluctantly mumbling:
"I guess," She crossed her arms again. "Well, I don't really know what else you want me to say. Good at keeping to the shadows, but sometimes I forget to tidy up."
"Understatement," Robin coughed under his hand. Flick amusedly rolled her eyes at him in mock annoyance.
"Whatever Boy Wonder," she said giving him a light shove. She turned back to Black canary saying: "you'd probably get a better idea seeing me in action!" Flick leaned towards Black Canary, hinting heavily.
"Nice try. But you're not going out yet."
"She may not need to go out. Why not try a telekinetic exercise?" Manhunter said, coming towards the trio stood in the center of the training area, from what Felicity presumed was the zeta tubes.
"Are you sure that's wise J'onn?" Robin asked, carefully folding his arms in front of him as the memories of the last time they had a telekinetic exercise flashed before him.
"It will probably only contain Felicity, to demonstrate what she can do," the martian answered.
"That's actually a good idea J'onn, are you comfortable with that Felicity?" Black Canary asked, turning from Martian Manhunter back to Flick.
"Only if the big weirdo on my left can join me," Flick indicated she was, in fact, referring to Dick, who was, for some reason, closely inspecting something on his utility belt. The two adults looked at each other for a moment before nodding. "Oh, and could you stop calling me Felicity? No one ever calls me that anymore." Just her parents, and Haly. But they didn't even know if she was still alive anymore.
A/N So another chapter...
How am I doing? As advised I'm trying to give a bit more about her costume and life at the circus...
I am trying to "show not tell" (pardon the cliche...), because in other writing I've done that's been one of my biggest faults...
I also have a few chapters in queue for this story, but I got some bad news this morning so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to get online.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! They are very helpful and make me smile:)