When Weiss woke up again, it was to a warm sunrise that bathed the city of Gotham in a golden light, amber rays of light filtering in from the windows, making the predominantly white living room glow.
She had awoken an hour before Conner and Damian had set their alarms, meaning that she had exactly an hour to pace around the room nervously and figure out how she was going to explain to them that not only had she gotten in the middle of a fight between a hero and a villain, but that she had fought Damian's mother of all people.
When she heard a door creak open, she immediately sat back down on the couch, focusing on putting her loose hair back in its usual ponytail.
When Weiss turned to see who it was, her face turned pink when she saw Damian walk out of the hallway, clad in only a pair of black sweatpants, revealing his muscular torso, chiseled and scarred from years of martial arts training. On his left thigh there was a red bat emblem, much like the Bat Signal that she saw in the sky.
Damian, half asleep and reminiscent of a living zombie, walked into the kitchen completely unaware of Weiss' presence and proceeded to take out a bowl, a gallon of milk, and a cereal box.
He took one look at the bowl and the milk, and as if deciding that it was too much work to pour the cereal and then the milk in the bowl, Damian reached into the cereal box and started to eat the sugary flakes by the handful.
He continued to do so, taking a swig of milk straight from the gallon at three minute intervals until he decided that he had enough. With a contented sigh, Damian burped rather loudly, much to Weiss' dismay.
Smacking his lips a few times contentedly, Damian finally pried his eyes open wide enough to see the refined huntress sitting on his couch, the blanket he lent her folded to perfection next to her, the morning light streaming in from the window making her silver icicle tiara glint gold.
Damian's face turned bright red in horror as he realized that not only had he just acted like a complete slob in front of Weiss, but that he was half naked to boot.
"Uh, sorry about that...I-uh, didn't see you there." Damian scratched the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed.
She gave him a reassuring smile, having had to endure Nora's own disgusting habits before. "It's fine. My friends back home can be pretty gross, too."
"Oh, uh-"
Relieved, Damian was about to respond, but he was cut off by the sound of a door opening from the hallway, followed by heavy footsteps which revealed none other than Conner himself.
He walked into the living room with a scowl on his face, his clothing, or lack thereof, consisting of a pair of electric blue sweat shorts with his emblem in red on the left thigh, matching the red drawstrings he had hanging out. Like Damian, he had chosen to not wear a shirt, revealing his broad, muscular physique that Weiss was all too familiar with.
Conner's jaw clenched at the sight, fighting the urge to chuck a pillow at Damian.
He was already irritated at having to wake up at eight o'clock in the morning, but to find Damian half-naked and five feet away from Weiss made his blood boil for reasons it was too early in the morning to think about.
"Forget something?" He asked dryly, referring to Damian's lack of shirt despite not having one on himself.
In an instant, Damian went from embarrassed teenage boy to crime fighting vigilante, making Weiss stiffen as she felt the sudden change in atmosphere.
Damian smirked, itching for a fight with his long time friend and rival. "Could say the same about you."
Conner walked over and stood in front of Weiss, crossing his arms to make himself look bigger, much to her annoyance. "Trying to impress the pretty girl, are we?"
Damian's eyes glinted mischievously. "You've been following her around for what- two weeks? And you still haven't made any progress. Thought I'd give it a shot."
Weiss' jaw dropped at Damian's sudden cockiness, though luckily Conner was facing away from her so neither of them could see her flabbergasted reaction.
She wasn't too happy with their asinine conversation and Conner's unnecessary jealousy, but she was far too surprised to do anything about it.
Conner's back muscles tensed, but he didn't move, standing like a stone wall between her and Damian. "You-"
Conner was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing, making Weiss sigh in relief as she didn't want to have to break up a fight between two guys who were both more than a foot taller than her.
Weiss stood up and quickly placed herself between Conner and Damian, facing the doorway so she could talk to them at the same time. "Why don't you two go get dressed and I'll answer the door?"
"But-" Conner began to protest.
Weiss picked up Myrtenaster and gave the revolver a good spin. "Go." She pressed, not wanting to deal with the testosterone filled idiots anymore. "Don't forget I can turn you two into hero-cicles if I feel like it."
Thankfully, the idiots relented and trudged back into their rooms, leaving Weiss to answer the door, hoping that it was Black Canary and not some random friend of Damian's.
She hooked Myrtenaster to her side and opened the door, smiling when she saw the Black Canary with a man behind her, presumably the friend that she had spoken about previously.
They both were wearing casual clothing, Black Canary dressed in some black boots, skinny jeans, and a cute black shirt with a white canary design on it.
The man that she was with was with, on the other hand, was rather handsome with short, blonde hair, light blue eyes, and a neatly trimmed beard which he wore well. He appeared to be in his early to mid-thirties and like most heroes, he was muscular. As for his attire, he wore black combat boots, black jeans, a gray t-shirt, and then to top it off, a black leather jacket with a green hoodie underneath.
"Took you long enough, Snowflake." Black Canary smiled warmly, despite her teasing tone.
"Sorry." Weiss smiled apologetically, opening the door wider so that they could come in. "Damian and Conner were being immature, but they should be out pretty soon." She explained as they walked in.
"Snowflake, this is my husband Oliver Queen. Ollie, this is Weiss Schnee." Black Canary introduced. "Oh, and my name's Dinah Laurel Lance, but I go by Laurel." She added, reminding Weiss that she didn't know her actual name.
Oliver extended his hand towards Weiss. "It's a pleasure." He gave her a charming smile, though it seemed practiced, much like Weiss' own smiles whenever she had to be in the presence of one of her father's associates.
Oliver and Laurel both went to sit on the couch and Weiss followed, taking a seat on the big recliner that was across from the couch, a glass coffee table separating the two.
"Laurel tells me you're quite the fighter. That you even stood up to Talia al Ghul of all people?" Oliver asked, getting right down to business.
Weiss laughed nervously and fiddled with her hair, embarrassed by her brashness during yesterday's events. "I admit that I wasn't really thinking last night when I jumped into the fray. Normally, I'm much more composed when I'm fighting."
"I can attest to that."
Weiss turned to see Conner and Damian, both now wearing their usual clothing, walk out from the hallway. Instead of sitting down on the couch like normal people, they both stood on either side of her chair like bodyguards, annoying her to no end.
"Conner, Damian, good to see you." Laurel's blue eyes flickered between Conner and Damian, inwardly rolling them at their protective stance over Weiss.
She's the last person who'd need their protection.
"So, what're you doing here?" Damian asked bluntly. "It's rare to see you guys outside of Star City nowadays."
"We have a problem and we need Weiss to help us out." Oliver explained, also speaking bluntly since he knew it was the only way to properly communicate with Damian.
Conner crossed his arms, not liking what he was hearing. "And what kind of problem are we talking about?"
"Let the girl speak for herself." Laurel chided. "After all, we're asking her on a mission, not you."
Conner grumbled something unintelligible, but said nothing. Damian didn't look too happy either, but unlike Conner, he kept a stoic face.
"What kind of mission? And what for?" Weiss asked, ignoring Conner's grumbling.
Oliver rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, knowing that Conner and Damian wouldn't like what he was going to say next. "It's my son. He's joined the League of Assassins and he refuses to go back to his mother."
Damian gripped the back of Weiss' chair tightly, his knuckles going white. "Connor joined the League?"
Weiss looked at Laurel and saw her expression harden, her posture turning stiff. She recognized that look.
It's the look that Winter has whenever someone mentions Father.
Laurel cleared her throat and adjusted her posture, trying to shake off the stiffness that had overcome her. "His son, Connor Hawke, already knows all of Oliver's allies. If he sees any of us, he'll leave before we get the chance to talk."
"Is that why you were fighting with Talia yesterday?" Weiss questioned, the dots finally starting to line up together.
Laurel nodded. "I went to ask her if I could see him, but as you saw yesterday, that didn't go so well."
"We know that we're asking a lot of you, but you're the only person who won't scare him off." Oliver explained.
Weiss shifted in her seat, not knowing how to feel about this sudden turn of events.
On one hand, Weiss could see that they were very concerned about Connor's well-being, but on the other hand, she knew all too well what it was like to run away from home.
"Why did he run away?"
Oliver looked down, reluctant to respond.
"The League promised him power, right?" Damian guessed. "Gave him an offer he couldn't refuse and then brainwashed him?"
Oliver nodded, trying not to break his composure in front of the young heroes. "Connor's always been volatile since he was little. Always trying to prove himself because he wanted to live up to my alter ego. Said he wanted to be the next Green Arrow."
"But Oliver didn't know that Connor was his son until just a few years ago." Laurel continued. "By then, Connor had left his mother and could already fight. He wanted Oliver to train him to be his successor."
"And you said no." Weiss gathered, already knowing where the story was headed.
"No one wants to put their kid in danger." Oliver's eyes flickered to Damian. "At least, no decent parent wants to."
Damian just shrugged.
"So, he went to the League of Assassins for training and they gave it to him. He's been doing missions for Talia ever since." Laurel finished, her cold anger subsiding.
Weiss sighed, not wanting to get in the middle of their family drama unless it was absolutely necessary. Judging by their story, she realized that she didn't have much of a choice if the hopeful look in Oliver's eyes was anything to go by.
"I'll do it."
Oliver's face brightened. "Th-"
"But only if you promise to leave Connor alone if he doesn't want to leave the League."
Weiss put on the coldest, most stalwart expression she could muster on her face, not wanting to crumble in the face of two professional heroes who could most likely snap her neck in one move if they wanted to.
"You can't force Connor to come back to you if he truly doesn't want to. I don't know what brainwashing techniques the League has, but if he even went to them in the first place, that means that he wants to learn from them to some degree." Weiss sat up straighter and crossed her legs, resuming the perfect posture that she had learned all those years ago.
Oliver sniffled, but nodded anyways, knowing deep down that Weiss had a point. "Thank you."
Weiss nodded and smiled, happy that she could help these two heroes, despite their complicated family situation. "Of course. Now what exactly am I going to be doing?"
A dangerous twinkle sparkled in Laurel's eye, instantly setting Weiss and Conner on edge.
"How familiar are you with high end galas?"
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"Granny Goodness, come."
In the deepest recesses of the hellish planet known as Apokolips, Darkseid sat on his throne, trying and failing to locate the world from which the anomaly originated from.
The old lady with the malicious smile appeared, kneeling in front of Darkseid's throne. "Yes, milord?"
"What of Bernadeth's latest excursion to Earth?" He questioned, turning his focus to the leader of his guard. "And the human, Deathstroke?"
"Deathstroke continues his search for the human girl. His last report confirmed their arrival in Gotham. Should they stray from their hiding spot, he'll find them." Granny Goodness assured, her usually tidy perm, now featuring some stray strands of hair.
"And Bernadeth?"
Granny hesitated, knowing that Darkseid would not like what she had to report. "She was defeated by the girl and taken into custody by the Justice League. She hasn't reported back since."
She looked up at Darkseid, expecting to see him burst into a fit of rage, only to find a smirk on his face.
"So, the anomaly really can fight. I wonder if there are more like her from her world." He pondered, as if he hadn't just lost one of his strongest warriors.
"I suppose." Granny offered, trying to gauge Darkseid's reactions.
Darkseid continued to imagine the wonders that the anomaly's world contained. What it would be like to extend his reach past the Source Wall that blocked his influence from reaching past the extent of his own universe.
"If I may, milord," Granny Goodness started, "What of Bernadeth?"
His eyes turned red, shining with deadly power in a way that assured Granny Goodness that he did not like her questioning. "She was bested by the human girl and the Kryptonian clone. If she wishes to return, she must do so by herself."
His tone indicated that the discussion was over, prompting Granny Goodness to nod and move onto the next topic of her report.
"Of course, milord." She continued. "Sensors reported another portal opening to the world outside of the Source Wall."
Darkseid raised an eyebrow in interest. "Did anything crossover?"
Granny Goodness made a so-so gesture with her hand. "A dog crossed over."
"A dog?"
"A corgi, to be precise."
"And what of this...corgi? Does it have powers like the girl?" Darkseid questioned, now less interested in the recent turn of events.
Granny Goodness inspected the holographic file in her hands. "...No. As far as the sensors can detect, it has no powers aside from the same protective energy field that surrounds the girl."
"Then the dog is of no interest to me." Darkseid dismissed.
He waved Granny Goodness off, his patience having run thin with the failure of his subordinates. "Leave at once, Granny. The next time you return, I expect it to be with news of success, otherwise I won't be as forgiving of your failures as I am now."
She nodded, the fiendish smile on her face indicative of her plans to ensure that they didn't fail the next time the Furies tried to capture the girl from beyond the Source Wall.
"Of course. I'll see to it that the girl is captured soon. I believe Artemiz has been quite eager to return to Earth."
"And contact Deathstroke as well. If the girl's prior experiences with the Furies are anything to go by, it will take both of them to apprehend her."
Inwardly, Granny cackled with glee. She had always hated Deathstroke for his arrogance, and now she would get the delight of forcing him with her most wily soldier.
Oh! What fun it will be to see Deathstroke in such agony.
"The Furies will not fail you, milord."
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A.N. Things are finally starting to pick up for everyone in the story, and it looks like Weiss is going to have to return to her old life of galas and rich people for her next mission. I really had a hard time deciding whether or not I wanted to do a covert mission where Weiss would miraculously find a combat skirt that is the exact same as the one she wore during season two, but I decided that it would bring a little more to the story if I placed it in a gala instead.
As always,until next time!