Schooled

Part 2

Disclaimer- same as always

Italics- telepathic communication

Dawn's POV

We'd just passed the Welcome to Gotham City sign when KF came running up.

"So you changed too," Robin said as he looked over at KF to see him in his Kid Flash uniform.

"You kidding? I feel naked in civvies. You still tracking the parts?" KF asked and Robin nodded.

"They were heading through Gotham but they veered. Wait, Shade they're at our school" Robin screeched.

This gave us extra incentive to pick up the pace and get to the school faster.

"If anything happens to Mrs. Blackburn's room or the gymnastics center I'm going to personally rip off the head of whoever is responsible," I growled as we pulled into the school's parking lot.

Robin and I parked our motorcycles before running inside. It didn't take us very long to figure out where Superboy was because immediately after we entered the building we heard noises coming from the gym. The three of us ran in that direction and burst through the doors just as the android, Amazo, was getting ready to punch Superboy who was lying on the floor defenseless. KF ran over and grabbed Superboy before Amazo could hit him.

Robin threw a batarang at the android, but it went straight through him when he used Manhunter's powers to density shift.

"Access Red Tornado" Amazo said in his emotionless robotic voice.

He then created a red tornado and sent a huge gust of wind at us. I deflected the wind and sent it back at him, but he dissipated the blast before it could reach him.

"Oh joy Shade's decided to join the party. I've heard a lot about you my dear, you have quit a reputation. This just might be worth my time after all. Your powers might be worth copying" Ivo said from his seat high up in the bleachers and I scowled at him.

"I can't use my powers unless I absolutely have to so Amazo can't copy them. If he copies my powers it will be bad for everyone," I thought to myself as Amazo accessed Captain Atom's powers.

He tried to shoot Wally with an energy beam, but KF ran out of the way just in time. He then accessed Black Canary and released a Canary cry at the floor. A ripple effect surged through the floorboards causing KF to fly through the air and collide with the wall.

"Ok, so maybe not using my powers will be harder than I originally thought," I whispered to myself as I ran towards Amazo and thought about my options.

He already has Manhunter and Tornado's powers so I can use my telekinesis and wind power without giving him an extra advantage.

Using my telekinesis I picked up broken pieces of the floor and threw them at Amazo forcing him to take a step back. I quickly ran up and lit my hands on fire before putting them on his chest to scorch the metal. Amazo couldn't see me because I was right up under him so he couldn't duplicate my power.

Amazo swung at me but I flipped out of the way just as KF came running back over.

"Access Superman" Amazo said as he grabbed KF and squeezed him.

KF struggled in the androids grip and cried out in pain as Amazo squeezed him tighter.

Suddenly Amazo called on Manhunter's powers as an arrow came flying through the window. The arrow passed straight through him, and since he had to become intangible for that to happen Wally was able to slip out of his grasp and escape.

Once Amazo became solid once again he flipped Superboy into the bleachers as Robin threw batarangs at him. I flew towards Amazo and we got into a hand to hand combat battle. He accessed Superman and tried to punch me, but I easily dodged his advances using my grace and speed to my advantage. I flipped out of the way when he shot an energy beam at me.

When that approach didn't work he decided to access Black Canary and as a result our fight got more intense. He started using Canary's moves making it harder for me to block and dodge his attacks, but since I've trained with her for years I managed to hold my own. After a few minutes of fighting I finally managed to sneak up behind him and kick him in the back forcing him to face plant on the floor.

"Impressive little girl" Ivo smirked from the bleachers.

"You know you're the only one in this group who actually interests me. Your team mates are all such poor copies of the originals, but you, you've got true potential."

I snarled at him and gave him a nasty glare.

"Ivo is seriously asking to get his butt kicked," I thought as I heard Superboy stand from the broken bleachers.

"So everyone keeps saying. It makes me angry! Want to see me channel that anger" he screamed as he jumped over to Ivo.

Ivo scrambled away and screamed in fear.

"He's gone ballistic again," KF grumbled.

"Maybe not" Robin trailed off as he glanced at Superboy.

"Amazo protect your master priority alpha" Ivo screamed as he jumped away from Superboy.

Amazo shot an energy beam at Superboy while Robin ran to Ivo.

"Anyone want to play keep-away," Rob laughed as he kicked Ivo away from his guard monkeys.

I grinned and cheered, "Oh I do."

I lifted Ivo off of the ground and into the air next to me while dodging Amazo's energy beams.

"Me, me!" KF yelled as he ran forward.

Unfortunately Amazo hit him before he could reach us sending him flying into me and we both crashed into the bleachers.

When Wally slammed into me I lost control of Ivo and he fell to the ground, but Amazo caught him in the air. His monkeys quickly flew over and grabbed him from Amazo before carrying him to the corner of the gym.

Robin threw a batarang at Amazo and he become insubstantial, but before he could re solidify Superboy put his fist in his head. When Amazo became solid again his head exploded and he fell to the ground with an echoing thud.

"Help me disassemble him now!" Robin yelled as he ran to Amazo's body and started pulling it apart.

"Dude, the guy has no head," Wally said as he pointed at the headless android.

"Don't take any chances," Aqualad said as he and Megan ran in.

"Superboy are you alright?" Megan asked as she walked in.

I silently laughed and smirked discreetly.

"Of course, even though we were all in the fight the first person she asks to see if they're alright is Superboy" I thought.

"I'm fine, feeling the aster," Superboy said while smiling at Robin who returned his smile.

Once their conversation ended Megan and I flew over to the Android and used our telekinesis to pull him apart and float the pieces into the crates Aqualad and Megan brought.

"Hey, where's Ivo" Wally asked as he looked around the room for the crazy scientist, but Ivo was nowhere to be found.

"Dang it" I growled and stomped my foot in frustration.

"Uh Shade" Wally muttered nervously while glancing in my direction and taking a step back.

"What" I asked impatiently.

"Your hands" he said while pointing.

I looked down at my hands and saw that they were on fire even though I didn't tell them to.

"Oh sorry" I quickly apologized while making the fire disappear "that happens sometimes when I get really angry."

After all the android pieces were dismembered and stored we all left the gym and walked out of the school. Robin, Aqualad, Wally, Superboy and Megan got on their bikes so we could drive the crates to their designated STAR lab facilities. I let Superboy use my bike since his was trashed and I could fly.

"You break my ride Superboy and I break you," I warned him as he got on the bike and turned it on.

"Understood" he said as we left the school.

Later on that day

We were all back at Mount Justice debriefing Green Arrow, Canary, Red Tornado, Batman, and Martian Manhunter.

"The Amazo android is in pieces again safely being analyzed at the two separate S.T.A.R labs, but Ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech he's arguably more dangerous than the android," Aqualad informed them.

"Capturing the professor will be a League priority," Canary said.

"But we understand your mission encountered…other complications" Manhunter slowly declared.

The team glanced at each other, but remained silent.

"Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League" Batman said in his usual monotone voice.

"The whole League" Superboy hesitantly asked.

"Given time yes. Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads" Batman stated.

Bruce almost cracked a smile when he saw a tiny grin creep onto Superboy's face; key word being almost.

"Of course there's no shame in asking for help. That's why the League exists because there are some problems even we can't handle individually" he continued.

Robin scoffed "please, if we needed your help we'd never get the chance to ask."

He pulled out the arrow that saved Wally's life and held it out to GA who took it from his hand.

"Look familiar?" he asked before getting irritated" you were following us! Babysitting! You still don't trust us!"

Batman remained calm despite Robin's accusations.

"We didn't follow you" he stated calmly as GA took out an arrow from his quiver and compared the featherhead of both arrows, but they were noticeably very different.

"And...that's not your arrow" Robin said slightly embarrassed that he'd jumped to conclusions and gotten it wrong "but that means…"

"Speedy!" KF and I finished for him.

Aqualad smiled "He has our backs."

We all missed the skeptical look Bruce and Ollie gave each other.

KF ran up to GA and grabbed the arrow from his hand.

"Souvenir" he grinned.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Superboy walk over to Canary.

"I'm ready," he told her softly.

"Good because I'm here" Canary responded with a soft smile.

The debrief ended and everyone spread out around the room to talk.

I was off to the side leaning against the wall when Superboy walked over.

"Uh Shade, can I talk to you for a minute" he asked quietly so no one would hear.

I pushed myself off the wall and stood up straight "sure SB what's up."

"Can we talk somewhere where there's no…spying eyes" Superboy asked.

I raised an eyebrow and inconspicuously peered around him to see Robin, Batman, Wally, and Canary looking at us out of the corner of their eyes trying to hide the fact that they were watching even though Superboy and I both knew they were.

"Yeah sure" I answered before walking out of the room and down the hall."

We came to a stop once we were out of earshot and I turned to face him.

"What's on your mind Supes" I asked him.

He looked nervous as he rubbed the back of his neck, but I didn't rush him.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did in Metropolis and helping me understand Canary and what she was trying to teach me. You were a true friend and that means a lot. Unlike most people you don't pressure me into coming out of my angry moods. You talk to me instead and let me work it out on my own. You call the team your family and at first I didn't completely understand what that meant because I've never had a family before, but I think I'm starting to understand. You're one of the first people I actually consider family, along with Megan and Aunt Sue, but it's kind of impossible not to love Sue," he grinned before getting serious again "but seriously I want you to know that I truly am grateful for all you've done for me."

I smiled at him and placed a hand on his arm.

"SB you don't need to thank me, we're family and family doesn't need a reason to help each other or a thank you for doing it. I know you don't like being told what to do or pushed into doing something you don't want to, so I don't do it. It's kind of my job as a friend to be there whenever you need me and to help you whenever you need it."

Superboy didn't say anything for a minute before finally speaking.

"You were right you know."

"About what" I asked slightly confused by his comment.

"About not being able to rely on your powers all the time" he responded and I raised an eyebrow silently telling him to explain further.

"During the fight you couldn't use all of your powers or else Amazo would have copied them, so you had to rely on your wit and combat skills. During the fight I couldn't just rely on my strength and anger to punch my opponent, I had to use my head instead of my fists" Superboy said.

"See, now you're starting to sound like a real superhero," I told him as I placed a hand on his shoulder.

Superboy smiled and did something that caught me completely off guard; he grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. I was shocked for about half a second before I came back to reality and returned his embrace.

"You're a cool little kid you know that Dawn" he said as he released me.

"Who you calling little? I'm not little SB," I told him sternly.

He laughed as we returned to the debriefing room and everyone turned to face us.

"Whatever you say Shade."

"What's so funny, I wanna laugh" Wally said as he ran over.

"SB just called me little," I told him while crossing my arms.

KF glanced at Superboy, then me, then back at Superboy. He laughed and rubbed my head messing up my hair.

"Shade to him you are little" he stated agreeing with Superboy's statement.

"Hey hey KF! Don't mess with the hair!" I yelled and pushed his hand away before coursing my fingers through my hair to fix it.

I huffed and walked away from the two boys as they chuckled to themselves before making my way over to Batman and Robin.

"You guys ready to go" I asked them.

"Yeah we were just about to come get you" Batman said.

His cape silently flapped behind him as he turned away from the group and walked towards the zeta tubes.

"Bye guys" I yelled at the team as I followed him.

Back at the Batcave

The three of us arrived at the Batcave a few seconds later. Bruce was still in his uniform but his cowl was down revealing his face as he typed on the computer. Robin and I were in civvies sitting in our chairs behind him while munching on the apples Alfred brought us from the kitchen.

"So what was that all about with Superboy" Robin finally asked me before taking a bite out of his apple.

Batman perked up slightly at this. He continued to do research on the computer, but listened closely to our conversation.

"Nothing he just wanted to talk," I answered honestly as I leaned back in my chair and took a sip of my water bottle.

"About what" Robin pressed.

"Just about the mission and what he learned" I answered smoothly.

Technically I wasn't lying, but I wasn't exactly telling him the whole truth either. I know Superboy wouldn't want me to broadcast to everyone what he said. He's a very conservative person and I wasn't about to betray his trust by telling someone about the only moment so far that he's actually opened up and trusted someone.

"He took you out of the room to talk about the mission?" Robin said sounding a little skeptical "he could've done that in the debriefing room with everyone else."

"It was loud in the hanger and he has super hearing which he doesn't have full control over yet so he wanted to go somewhere a little more quiet," I answered quickly as I stood.

"I'm tired and I'm going to bed. I'll see you two in the morning," I told them as I walked up the stairs and out of the cave.

Robin's POV

I watched as Dawn walked up the stairs and out of the cave. I have a feeling that she's not telling me the whole truth about what happened, and that bothers me just a little since we rarely ever keep secrets from each other.

I sighed and stood from my chair.

"Yeah Bruce I think I'm going to head in as well, its been a long day" I told him as I stood.

"Night Dick" Bruce said as he continued to type on his computer.

I walked out of the cave and went up to my bed falling asleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

Bruce's POV

"Night Dick" I said as he walked out of the cave.

"I know Dawn isn't telling us the full truth about Superboy, but luckily I know a way to figure out what she's leaving out," I thought.

I typed a code into the computer and pulled up the mountain's security cameras going back to the time where Superboy and Dawn left the main hanger.

"This is why it comes in handy to have security cameras everywhere in the cave except for the bedrooms and bathrooms" I whispered to myself as a smirk formed on my face.

"You aren't planning to spy on mistress Dawn are you Master Bruce" Alfred said as he walked down the stairs and saw the camera feeds.

"I'm not spying Alfred, I'm gathering all the facts," I defended as I pulled up the video I wanted.

"Well in that case you wouldn't mind if I joined you. You might need some help gathering those facts" Alfred interjected while pulling up a chair.

I cracked a tiny smile as I turned to Alfred. He's like a grandfather to Dawn and is just as protective of her as I am.

"I wouldn't mind at all Alfred."

I then turned back to the computer, clicked the play button, and we both watched the video of Dawn and Superboy's conversation.

Just so everyone is on the same page Superboy and Dawn are like brother and sister; they do not like each other more than sibling's. Megan, Dawn, and Aunt Sue are the only people so far that Superboy sees fully as family. He likes the rest of the team, but he doesn't completely trust them like he does M'gann and Dawn.

Artemis arrives in the next chapter (cue happy dance). I love Artemis, she's one of my favorite characters in the show so I'm super excited to have her around. Plus I'll be adding some surprises and twists next chapter.