Requested by Wingnut 2.0

Garfield was suddenly awake. "Wha? What's going on?" he asked an empty room. "Huh?" He scratched his head and lied back down, closing his eyes and snuggling back into the covers—only, naturally, to have them ripped off of him. "Okay, what is happening?" Garfield was getting annoyed and looked at the clock, groaning as it read two-thirty-six. Just then the teen bolted upright in bed and got dressed hurriedly, remembering Nightwing had told them there was going to be special training missions for each of them, starting this morning. Garfield knew this must be the initiating of his mission and sprinted into the training hall to see Nightwing standing there with his arms crossed.

"There you are," he said and began typing on a keypad. "We'll be heading out into the forest by the mountain, and you have one goal: to find one of my escrima sticks, without turning into an animal to help you. You have to be totally human. Got it?" Garfield nodded quickly, still embarrassed about being late. "If you can find it before the sun rises, you get… something. I haven't decided what it is, yet, but it'll be some sort of 'treat'. Understand?" Garfield nodded again. "Off we go!" Nightwing walked toward the exit next to Garfield.

"You're coming with me?" The green boy was shocked—he thought Nightwing was just going to let him loose, maybe spy on him.

"Yeah. You have to tell me what to do, like you're the leader. I'll follow your every command, except to go get the escrima stick. Oh, and I've told the others to try to attack us… Just so you know…" The older boy's eyes seemed to sparkle mischievously as he said the last part. Garfield warily changed back into a human and left the cave, already formulating a plan…

.3.

Garfield wiped the sweat from his eyes. They had been searching for about an hour and had yet to be attacked; but Garfield wasn't used to trekking around hilly landscapes. He usually flew or became a deer or antelope, some animal that could easily navigate the treacherous terrain. "Are you okay?" Nightwing asked him, a mocking tone clear in his voice.

"Shut up," Garfield panted. "You know this isn't how I usually do missions." Nightwing just shrugged. The two walked in silence for a time, Garfield wondering what to look for to hurry the search along. "Am I looking for clues or it is the type of thing where I'll just happen upon the escrima stick?"

"The closer you get, the harder the opponents will become. Miss Martian, Superboy, and Lagoon Boy are the three we'll have to fight. Now, you have to decide who the hardest one is, and go look for where they might be. That person has the escrima stick." Garfield nodded, thinking hard. Lagoon Boy wouldn't be very difficult; he would be unruly, not very strong, and couldn't be trusted to keep the escrima stick safe. Superboy was strong, and although he wasn't the most intelligent, he was extremely capable. However… Garfield knew Miss Martian had the escrima stick. She could easily become camouflaged in the forest, could attack from a distance, effortlessly hide the escrima stick; and she was his sister. A perfect opponent.

Garfield took them further into the forest. Lagoon Boy would obviously be near the beach; so, Garfield hoped Miss Martian would be in the deepest crevices of the trees. He was rewarded, for not a half hour later, a sudden thud echoed around them and Superboy came flying out of nowhere, landing a solid punch on Garfield. The boy blinked wildly, trying to recover, when he noticed Nightwing was just standing there. "Protect me!" he shouted and watched as his teammate at once jumped into action.

As the fight went on, Garfield got up and put a hand on his chest, feeling where Superboy had punched him. It was hard to breathe, but he knew he had to keep going. "Nightwing, take him down!" His comrade began attacking more fiercely, striking more often and taking more chances. Garfield tried to help, but he was moving slowly and failed miserably at hand-to-hand combat. Being human sucks.

After a time, Superboy fell, weakened by a glowing green essence, coming from Nightwing's belt. "Sorry… I didn't think I could beat you without it." Garfield immediately restrained Superboy and the two started walking away. "So, are you having fun?"

Garfield could barely make out Nightwing's expression, how black was the night. He again mourned the loss of his animal counterparts. "I guess. It's cool getting to order you around." Nightwing ruffled his hair and kept walking. "Are you having fun?"

"Sure. It's amusing watching you struggle."

"Nightwing's a sadist… Noted." Nightwing chuckled and the two continued traveling deeper into the forest.

.3.

The sky was getting a little lighter and Garfield was getting worried. He wanted this 'prize', whatever it was, and was determined to find his sister before the sun rose. "Will she attack us first?" Nightwing nodded.

"She should. I wanted them to act preemptively, going for the first strike. We should be getting close…" Garfield led them still, enjoying his time with Nightwing. They never really got to just talk to each other, and Garfield saw his elder teammate as more of an authority figure, as opposed to a friend. Lost in his own thoughts, Garfield didn't notice the breath of wind that was so out of place. Nightwing halted, though, and grabbed the younger boy. "She's close…" he whispered. Garfield stood totally still, heightening his senses as much as he could without becoming an animal. Silence was the only thing he heard, foliage the only thing he smelled; there was no sign of her. Except for…

"There!" he shouted, pointing right in front of himself. "She's right there!" Garfield at once leapt at the invisible space and collided with a solid figure that grunted. Garfield knew it was Miss Martian—he had caught a whiff of her cherry blossom perfume that almost faded in with the rest of the trees. "Nightwing, restrain her!" His companion jumped on the now perceptible green girl who was floating in Garfield's arms. However, before Nightwing could get close to her, Miss Martian levitated them both out of reach and threw them against the trees. Nightwing rebounded with grace, but Garfield was much more unlucky.

Taken by surprise, he let himself hit the large tree with an echoing smack. His back was throbbing, and he struggled to his feet. The sun was almost over the horizon, and he knew he needed to find Nightwing's escrima stick. While the two were fighting, Garfield climbed up on the nearest tree and scanned the leaf-ridden floor, looking for the small blue object. When it wasn't there, he hopped with ease to the next tree and continued the search.

After a minute or so, he finally spotted a glint of blue under a pile of leaves. Garfield slid down the slick trunk of the tree he was perched in and crept to the pile. "Got it!" he shouted, holding the escrima stick in the air. The fight going on in his presence ceased at once and they both smiled at the boy.

"Good job, Gar!" M'gann said, giving him a hug.

"Nicely done." Nightwing was smiling proudly. "Let's go back to the cave."

"Wait!" Garfield said, and the two veteran members looked back at him. "What's my prize?" he asked gesturing to the sky, in which the sun hadn't fully risen. Nightwing rolled his eyes.

"You get… One free day to do whatever you want, no questions asked."

"Noted…" Garfield replied, already knowing what he was going to use it for…

Author's Note: AH. I really had no idea where this was going to end up. I just sorta typed and… this happened. Who knows what Gar is going to use his day off for. I sure don't. XD Maybe I could continue this with what he's doing on his day off? Requests? XD

Anywhooo… I'll be doing another 'Rachel' chapter soon. Any ideas? I'm pretty stumped. Thanks for reading!

Cordially,

LadyFrederic

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