So here's chapter 7.. hope your liking the story so far!
I'd been in dozens of different beds in dozens of different houses. At first I hadn't been able to sleep. Then I got to used to sleeping in different places and could go to sleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.
So why was tonight so different?
I just stared up at the ceiling of my new room. I looked over at my alarm clock. It was 3 a.m. in Brantford right now. I had set it to match the time in my home town. Zatanna had teleported all of my stuff up into the Watchtower so now it felt like my old room before my parents had died. I had arranged it exactly like I remembered. I had been five when my parents died. They had gone on a trip to Africa and never came back. Ever since I had gone from foster home to foster home, but none had ever worked out.
I heard a light knocking on my door as I sat up. I got out of my bed, put a shirt on and answered the door.
"Hey." There was a woman standing there with short brown hair. She had a sweet smile on her face and had pretty brown eyes. "Can't sleep, huh?"
"Ummm… no… who are you?"
"Oh! Haha! I guess I would be hard to recognize without the mask and wings," she grinned.
"Hawkgirl?" I questioned. Wow, I had never dreamed she would be so hot under her mask. Not that I would ever tell her that.
"Yeah. Sorry about the confusion. And call me Kendra."
"Your real name?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yup. So can I come in?"
"Oh! Yeah!" I cringed. "Whoops…" I whispered.
"Don't worry. Red Arrow's a pretty heavy sleeper." She came into the room and looked around.
I closed the door and turned on the lights as she sat down in my chaise.
"So… is there a reason for you being here at three in the morning?" I teased.
"Yeah, there is. I couldn't sleep either. Thought you might want to talk if you were still awake…? Is there something bothering you?"
I looked down. "The Injustice League. I can't get them out of my head…. Them and what they want to use me for…"
"We don't know anything yet. Deathstroke being in charge is just a theory," she said in a comforting tone. She was trying her best to try and get me relax. "Besides, they can't get to you up here."
"I know… but still. It just freaks me out and scares me. Just by myself I almost killed three heroes… I mean, I don't even want to think about what they could make me do…"
"Hey. Don't think about it." Kendra smiled. "I think I may have something to help clear you head."
I looked at her puzzled. "It's not some bird thing right?"
"No. Change into something comfortable and meet me in the Kitchen."
"We're going to cook?" Now I was really confused.
"Oh, right. You haven't had a tour of the Watchtower yet. Okay, get changed and I'll meet you in a couple of minutes."
"Umm… Kendra? What are we doing?"
"You'll see. Just put on some slacks and a t-shirt. I'll be right back." The door slid open ad she left, then closed behind her.
"Y'know, I really like these automatic doors." I sighed. I hope whatever it is we're doing takes my mind off of the Injustice League.
A few minutes later, I heard a quiet knocking. I opened my door to see Kendra fully suited up as Hawkgirl.
"Let's go," she whispered. "Follow me."
We went down the hall out of the dormitories. Black Canary had assigned two Leaguers to be in the Watchtower each night, and apparently Hawkgirl and Red Arrow had gotten the first shift. We arrived at a giant door and Kendra tapped in a code. The doors opened as we entered.
"Welcome to the Kitchen Jamie."
"Whoa…"
It was huge! It was a large room with metal panels covering the walls and floor, and there was machinery hanging from the ceiling.
"In the Kitchen we create training simulations. It'll be useful for you to learn how to use your powers. You just train in here."
"Cool. So again, why are we here?"
"I find that sparring helps clear my head. So I'm thinking its worth a try to clear yours."
"Okay. Let's go."
Kendra unhooked her mace off of her thigh. "I'll go easy on ya kid."
"Bring it." I smirked as I backed off. I'd seen what Hawkgirl was capable of, and I didn't know how much she was going to be holding back.
"You got it!" Kendra ran at me, swinging her mace at my head.
I jumped back just as the mace was about to connect with my head. She flipped it around and brought the backend down on my head, knocking me down.
"Well that wasn't a long fight," Kendra grinned standing above me with her hand on her hip.
I looked up at her and everything changed. It was almost like I analyzed her. All of a sudden I knew how to fight. I didn't know I knew how at the time, but I knew that I could fight her.
I put my hands above my shoulders and pushed up. I back flipped from the floor to standing. My feet came up and smashed Kendra in the jaw. She grabbed her jaw and stumbled back.
I grinned. "Now what was it you said about a short fight?"
She smiled. "Don't know where you learned to fight like that, but all it does is delay your defeat." She flew at me, using her mace like a battering ram.
I jumped above her and slammed my feet into her back, pushing her into the ground. She flipped onto her back , making me fall off her. Before I could move she had gotten up and lunged at me. I kicked my feet into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and effectively stopping her. I rolled onto my feet as she crashed backwards.
"Good… shot…" She gasped between sucking in as much air as she could.
I reached out my hand. "I'm sorry Kendra! I didn't hurt you did I?" My eyes were wide with concern. My first fight with her and I had actually hurt her. Good job.
"No… I heal fast, don't worry. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
"You.. I think…"
"Me?" She pointed to herself. "But how could I..?" Her eyes widened. "Your powers! You can take skills too?"
"I guess," I shrugged. "When you knocked me down and I looked up at you, it was almost like I analyzed every move you've ever made. And I could suddenly picture them all… it was almost like you taught me in my head."
"Okay, but then why didn't you take Roy's skills when you fought him?"
"Roy?"
"Red Arrow."
"Oh. Um… actually, I think I did. When I slashed Flash across the chest with Vixen's powers, I hit where I wanted to hit. Perfectly."
"I thought you couldn't remember what you did when you were overwhelmed by your powers?"
"Flash told me after. He also showed me the mark. It's a pretty nasty cut."
"Okay… so you take powers and skills. Good to know." Kendra unhooked her mace once again and swung it, catching me off guard.
I slammed into the wall, dazed. It was a pretty strong hit because the wall was about 6 feet away from where I had been standing. Kendra took flight and went up as I shook myself out of the daze. She was going as high as she could. What was she-? She whipped around and plummeted straight for me.
I flipped out of the way as she crashed into the floor. I spun around and tackled her, putting her in a headlock. She squirmed and tried to punch me, but I dodged her blows. She grunted and cursed as she tried to break my hold on her.
I just pulled in tighter.
Just as I thought I had won, something exploded on my back, breaking my hold on Hawkgirl and sending me flying forward onto my face.
"Lesson 1 of being a super hero: always expect the unexpected."
I picked myself up and turned to see Red Arrow standing there, looking smug. He had shot an arrow at my back. I was so busy keeping Hawkgirl in a headlock I hadn't heard him come in. Hawkgirl was just starting to get up. I grabbed a dagger from her and threw it at Red Arrow. The dagger met its mark perfectly. The dagger flew through the air and sliced the bow in two before dropping to the ground.
Red Arrow just stared at the bow, now in two pieces.
"Got it." I grinned triumphantly at him.
"You broke my bow!" He dropped the bow and grabbed two arrows out of his quiver. He ran at me, enraged.
"Whoa!" I rolled out of the way as he attacked. "Was that your lucky bow?" I mocked as he came at me again.
"Yes! It was!" He threw the arrow as I jumped back, dodging it. It stuck into the floor.
"Dang! Sharp arrows!" I poked it. It was stuck in the ground good.
Hawkgirl grabbed her mace off the ground and ran at me. "Roy! Double team!"
"Really? How is this even fair?" I complained as I flipped out of the way of Hawkgirl's mace and ducked as Red Arrow threw an arrow at me.
"Like I said, expect the unexpected! A team up counts as unexpected! Plus, I want revenge for my poor bow!"
I smiled. They wanted unexpected, I'd give 'em unexpected. I ran at Red Arrow. He grabbed another arrow out of his quiver as I jumped over him, flipping so I could grab an arrow out of his quiver. I landed in a crouch position behind the two heroes as they turned to face me.
"Now which arr… really? A handcuff arrow? That's helpful."
Kendra laughed. "That should teach you to- OW!"
I threw the arrow at her jaw. It bounced off and she rubbed her jaw where the arrow had hit. Red Arrow threw the arrow he had taken out before. I realized too late what kind of arrow it was. I grunted loudly as I slammed into yet another wall. It was amazing that in such a big place I could hit so many walls.
Hawkgirl lashed out with her mace once I had recovered. I ducked the blow and returned with an uppercut. Red Arrow came behind me, grabbing me and putting a pointy arrow to my neck.
"Yield," he hissed.
"Make me." I smashed his face with the back of my head, making him drop the arrow in surprise. I whipped around and swept his feet out from under him.
"RAHHH!" Hawkgirl tackled me from behind, pinning me down. "Does this count as 'making you'?"
"Mhmm." I could barely talk as she pressed my head to the ground.
"Good," she said as she got off of me. "We win," she gloated.
I stood up. "I dunno. I took him out." I pointed over my shoulder to Red Arrow, who was just getting up.
"You just caught me off guard."
"Uh-huh." Hawkgirl and I both laughed.
Hawkgirl put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's get you to bed." She winked. "If you know what I mean."
"Meet you there." He smiled. "Night Jamie."
"G'night Red Arrow."
"Hey, if you're going to be staying here, you call me Roy. It sounds less professional."
"Okay Roy." I laughed. "You guys have a kitchen, right? I need a drink after all this training."
"We're in the Kitchen." Roy grinned.
"Funny. Y'know, a real kitchen? Where you cook and have a fridge full of drinks?" I asked hopefully.
"Yeah, we do. Roy's just being an idiot. I'll take you there, but then you better get to bed. You have more training tomorrow."
Roy went to the dorm rooms while Kendra took me to the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of water and gulped it all down.
"Wow. Thirsty?"
"Heh. Yeah. Fighting you two was making me thirsty."
"You did a good job Jamie. Taking on two Leaguers in your first fight is pretty impressive."
"Well it wasn't really my first fight." I grabbed two more water bottles. "I'm gonna take these to my room, 'K?"
"Sure. Can you find your way back to your room?"
"I laughed. "Yes Juliet, go find Romeo."
Kendra just stared.
"Sorry. We're reading Romeo and Juliet at school, and it's not hard to figure out you two care for each other. It sounded better in my head."
"Hmm. Are you sure you didn't take Batman's detective skills?"
I grinned. "You never know."
Kendra smiled. "Okay Jaime. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."
"Night Kendra." I walked back to my room, thinking of Roy and Kendra. I wondered if I could ever ask Alexis out… probably not.
I got undressed and put the water bottles on my end table. I climbed into bed and closed me eyes. I laid there for a couple of minutes, thinking about Alexis. She was popular, yeah, but she wasn't some conceded jerk. She was kind, sweet… and had never noticed me before today. No surprise there. I contemplated asking her out when I got back to school when everything went black.
Longest chapter yet :P took a while to type out. hope you liked the chapter.. review and tell me what ya think!
