"Oh my God," Artemis says in dreamy horror when they make it back in the Bio-ship. Robin makes an odd croaking sound in something like reply, the zip-drive with the stolen plans on it still clutched to his chest.
"That was . . . that was more fun than I ever want to have again," Wally manages faintly, stumbling onto the ship, and Artemis and Robin both nod. Vehemently. Supergirl tries not to glow, but can't really help it. She did something right. She did something not punching right.
"I thought that all went very well!" M'gann volunteers brightly, clapping her hands together as they all take their seats, Supergirl relaxing into her own perfectly-fitted one in a languorous sprawl; She feels wonderful again, and refuses to feeling anything but. Wally said it: people are what they are inside. And Supergirl isn't a weapon, and she isn't a boy either. She isn't anything she doesn't want to be. Though M'gann didn't look at her when they got to the ship.
Her body just her body, and it can't change anything inside her.
"M'gann. Babe. Oh my God," Wally says, collapsing into his own seat and burying his face in his hands. "That was not well."
"But I thought you said human males like homosexual human females?" M'gann asks, giving him a puzzled little frown. She glances at Supergirl who gave her smile, and smiles back with a blush.
"Sometimes. Kind of," Artemis replies vaguely, still sounding between awestruck and horrified. Supergirl doesn't see the problem, personally; she thinks it went very well too. They distracted the target, got the information, and even got out without any punching or explosion for once. As far as she's concerned the only downside is that Artemis's borrowed lipstick tasted kind of bad, and that was gone pretty quick anyway.
"Why only kind of?" M'gann asks, still frowning. She kissed Supergirl distracting the target. And her male form returned the minute after Robin returned with the data as they left the club. Most likely her mind focusing on other things
"Ask your sister," Wally grumbles, not lifting his face from his hands.
"No, I', not even—ask Robin," Artemis groans, throwing an arm across her face and slumping over his chair. "He survived Bat-training, he can deal with this." Robin just makes a weird noise and curls up, hiding his face in his knees. Supergirl gives them all puzzled looks, wondering what's wrong, and glances over to Tula in expectation of an explanation. Tula seems to be oddly interested in fiddling with her seat-belt despite it already being fasten itself just right, though, and doesn't look askable. Also, her face is flushed, which is odd because she told them all not to drink anything at the club.
"Are you okay?" she asks, leaning over to peer at her. Tula startles, and almost manages to fall out of her chair despite the seat-belt. Supergirl blinks at her, bemused, and he stares back at her for a moment, then offers a hesitant but reassuring smile.
"I apologize, Superboy," she says quietly. "I was—distracted."
"Supergirl," Supergirl corrects. Tula's eyes flicker, and she frowns a little.
"What?" she asks.
Supergirl repeats what she meant. "My name is Super—" but she was interrupted by Red Tornado's voice coming across the commlink requesting their ETA and distracts everyone.
"Is Zatara back yet?!" Wally demands impatiently, head jerking up and shoulders hunching.
"He is not," Red Tornado says, and Wally and Artemis groan in audible pain, both covering their faces again. Robin slumps back in his seat, Tula bows her head, and Supergirl and M'gann both frown in confusion.
"I can't take this anymore, this is horrible," Wally moans. "Seriously, getting by lightning was better than this! Gym class is better than this!"
Supergirl starts to open her mouth again, starts to say, but there's nothing WRONG with this. Then she remembers what she feels like when she's not like this—what being in the wrong body is like when it's really the wrong body.
Supergirl is a girl, but Wally and Robin are not. And M'gann and Artemis and Tula, they're not boys. Supergirl is in the right body, but she's the only one. She's dreading the return of the same heavy wrongness that they're all waiting to escape.
She's happy while they're not.
"It's okay, Kid Flash," Supergirl says, looking down at herself, remembering both what Wally told her on the beach and what he said in the club. "Everything's going to work out in the end."
For them, at least. The others shouldn't have to keep feeling the way she's always felt.
She won't let them have to.
"Report," Batman says.
"The mission was, ah, successful, " Tula manages, her face all odd and flushed again, and Supergirl really does not understand why. Wally and Artemis are both hiding their faces, and Robin is wearing a weird, fixed grin.
Batman frowns.
"And?" he asks.
"And . . . the mission was successful?" Tula tries, looking embarrassed. Supergirl has never seen her so . . . flustered. It must be because her body is wrong, she thinks, like how everyone else has been so uncomfortable.
Batman's frown deepens, Tula's flush darkens, and Supergirl decides, in an echo of what she decided on the Bio-ship: she is the one who like it this way, so right now it is her responsibility to make things easier for the others. Maybe M'gann's a little too, but mostly hers.
"We used feminine wiles," she says calmly like Tula, raising her hand, and the others make simultaneous choking noises, except M'gann who nods politely. Batman just looks them.
"Mine's, Aquagirl's, Artemis's, and Superboy's!" M'gann says, rubbing the back of her neck. "Aquagirl and I was the distraction and Artemis told us what to say to be sexually attractive, and Superboy was his backup."
"Backup," Batman repeats, slowly. M'gann beams, and Supergirl too beams for once she did something smart and subtly and didn't just punch something until it stopped punching back; for once she's being looked to explain success and not failure (and she will remember that, she whispers to herself, when she is heavy and wrong again she will still have that memory to hold onto).
"The target thought we were gay, but thought Aquagirl was uninteresting to him, while he thought I was interesting, so we decided to make Tula interesting in a way," Supergirl clarifies, and she and M'gann blush at each other.
Batman looks at them.
"Whoa! We didn't decide on anything, this was not my idea at all," Robin says quickly, bright red behind his hands. It's the first time he's said anything coherent since they left the club.
"It was Artemis's fault!" Wally accuses, pointing at her, and she glares at him.
"My fault?! You were the one who wouldn't help!" she shoots back, and he gives her an outraged look.
"Because it was a stupid plan!"
"It worked, didn't it?!
"Hey!" Supergirl yells, causing both Wally and Artemis to stare at her with surprise. Batman folds his arms, as the argument was instantly cut off. Supergirl gives the two a weird look. She doesn't want to yell at them, but someone had to, or needs to, raise their voice to have order, and it's apparently has to be her. "We got the got the information successfully in one piece. So who did think this or who did what doesn't matter!"
The plan did work, and they got the plans and got out clean and with no even the wiser about them—and no magic curses this time, which means this mission went even better than the last one. How is that supposed to be scarring?
"Why don't you clarify that for me," Batman says, his mouth a thin line. Robin covers his face again, and Wally and Artemis both cringe.
"Ah . . ." Tula starts, then trails off helplessly. Supergirl given M'gann a puzzled look, and gets one in return. She still doesn't understand the problem, but if they're too uncomfortable . . .
"Nobody got scarred, we didn't even fight," she says, tugging her hair over her shoulder to stroke. "Aquagirl's flirting didn't work because she wasn't girly enough, so Robin suggested Kid Flash to try, but he didn't think he could flirt with a guy either."
"Then Artemis said he should pretend to be Aquagirl's girlfriend and be jealous because that's be easier, Wally still wouldn't do it either because she's really pretending to be a girl and that boys aren't the same as lesbians," M'gann adds.
"So I did it," Supergirl finishes, gesturing at Tula. "I went over and hugged Tula and Artemis told M'gann to yell in front of the target to make a scene, and then we kissed."
M'gann beams at Supergirl. "And I did make a scene while Robin stole the plans, about how my girlfriend just kissed another girl in front of me."
Tula's face turns pale, and Wally and Artemis makes a horrible choking noise. Batman . . . looks.
"I see," he says finally.
"I am so sorry," Tula says, looking mortified.
"But we got the plans," Supergirl says, confused.
"So sorry," Tula stresses. Supergirl just frowns in frustration, folding her arms beneath her breasts.
"But we got the plans," she stresses back. Batman tilts his head slightly, expression turning considering, and Robin and Wally both immediately hide behind Supergirl.
"I'll explain to Superboy," Tula blurts, quickly.
SuperGIRL, Supergirl opens her mouth to correct—again-in vague annoyance, but Wally and Robin grabbing her arms and tugging really insistently at her and Batman is just eying them all resignedly, and then Artemis and Tula start pushing, and they all end up in the hall with M'gann floating after and Supergirl feeling markedly disgruntled.
"I don't get it," she says, scowling at them even as they keep jostling her down the hall, and she goes with it because everyone not Tula or M'gann would get knocked over is she didn't. "What's wrong? We did great."
"Your explaining why the matching underwear and little sundresses are a bad idea too, right?" Wally asks Tula, who just looks embarrassed.
"I do not think the dresses are really the problem—" he starts uncomfortably.
"I like the dresses!" Supergirl cuts in indignantly, and Artemis and Wally both groan like they're in pain but M'gann looks indignant too, mostly. Oh, she thought, soon you'll be back to old selves soon.
"You're the leader," Robin accuses Tula, ignoring Supergirl, who scowls. She doesn't care about flying or fighting in dresses being inappropriate, she likes them —and she still doesn't see what it has to do with anything, anyway.
"We'll . . . figure something out," Tula manages, not quite looking at Supergirl for some reason.
For all the things having the right body has fixed, she really wishes it could've made her teammates make a little sense.
