July 17th
Destin, Florida
1700 CST

Deke couldn't ignore a direct order from a senior team member, so he'd immediately changed out of his costume. He didn't want to be standoffish, but with so many people in the main portion of their small base, he was starting to burn up, so he was lurking in his bedroom to cool off for a few. He still felt uncomfortable around large groups too, but he was firmly sure it was just too warm in there, that's the only reason he was in his room.

His door slid open, which was nothing surprising. He kept his door unlocked on purpose. When he opened his eyes, he saw his beloved slipping into his room. "Hi Cowboy." She said, sounding a little worried. "You getting spooked out there?"

"Nah," Deke said, scooting into a sitting position to give her room. She pulled her cowl down and sat with him. "It was getting too hot out there, but then all of a sudden, there's a Batgirl in my room, and now it's hot in here too."

Barbara showed him the tip of her tongue. "Thank you for compartmentalizing our relationship, I meant to say it earlier, but I've been distracted." She assumed it was due to his psychic gifts that he realized she had a separate persona when the uniform was on.

"No problem. I take it, speaking of compartmentalizing; I should behave myself at the moment?" Deke asked, and he really didn't want to. No matter what she wore, she stole his breath, and if he was being honest, she looked damn hot in suit.

"For the moment." She said with a wink. "We actually have to Zeta to New York tomorrow morning. We've got to get proper clothing for our job, and I've got a wonderful credit card, courtesy of someone on the League."

"So, big group outing to the Big Apple?" Deke said, watching her dig through her small overnight bag for her glasses.

Barbara triumphantly pulled her glasses free from her things, and then leaned in to steal a quick kiss from her boy. (the cowl was down, it skirted the rules.) "Yep, me, you, Cassie and Godiva. People might think you're some kind of baller."

"That's something I never in my whole entire life expected to ever be called." Deke said with a bashful look on his face. "So what do I have to wear to this thing?"

Barbara didn't hesitate. "Tuxedo or three piece from a big name designer. There's no way around it for something like this. Ever worn either?"

"This'll be the closest thing to a prom I ever attended." Deke said honestly.

"We can play with the details later." Barbara said. "I'm going to see the team off, you coming?"

Deke stood up with her and swapped his shorts for pants before tossing on his longrider coat with that same swirling motion. Barbara immediately knew who taught it to him, having a laugh to herself about it. She handed him his hat, and the two walked back out.

The parting wasn't as quick. M'gann could make friends wherever she went, and even in an emotional low point, she'd managed to click with the other team pretty well. Cassie had too, especially with Godiva, which to Deke did not bode well. Koa, of course, hugged everyone. Cassie twice actually, since he could give her a proper squeeze without crushing her.

"Hey, we cool?" Deke finally mustered up the courage to ask Superboy. There was something profoundly different about the guy. He didn't have that same anger showing, but all the same, Deke had fortified himself with a layer of telekinetic force at the dermal level.

"Yeah, we're cool." Superboy replied, shaking hands. He seemed like he wasn't sure why he was being asked, but he'd just decided to go along with it. It didn't take a psychic to realize he was in pain, but Deke wasn't about to get involved in that.

Nightwing made quick rounds, but Deke took the time to speak to him quietly. "She told me about the car, thank you. That means a hell of a lot."

"It's no big deal." Nightwing said. Truth be told, it really wasn't. Bruce was only vaguely aware that he'd even gotten the thing to begin with, and only really paid attention when it was shown in use when Dick was in the cave with him. "Keep her safe."

"We still talkin' about the car?"

Nightwing just gave a cryptic half grin, before his team got recognized. Once they departed, Koa beelined for the kitchen, with most of the team hot on his heels. Only Barbara didn't dart that way, instead headed towards the bedrooms.

"You uh, you wanna hand getting out of all that?" Deke asked her, trying to sound smooth, and not at all sounding smooth.

"Not this time Cowboy. You gave me an idea about this but now it requires the right timing. You can help me out of my regular clothes tonight though." She said with a wink.

Now that had made him curious, but he respected her wishes, so he instead he tossed his hat and coat, and headed to the kitchen to help with dinner. It was Koa's turn to cook, and the man could most certainly cook. Tonight, it was fresh caught mahi mahi, because having an Atlantean around always made for fresh fish, with coconut rice and roasted green beans at the insistence of Daeva that they at least try to have a vegetable on occasion and no, macaroni and cheese wasn't a vegetable.

Barbara joined them shortly, dressed in her comfortable civilian clothes, and sat at the dining table playing cards with the four hungry team members while they waited on Koa and Deke to make food happen. Like Mount Justice, this place had a massive television, but also like Mount Justice, it seemed like it didn't get much use.

Dinner was short in coming though, which was a mercy. The team's rice cooker had a timer, which Koa had set that morning. Once the bell was figuratively rang, they gathered and enjoyed a meal together. "You know, I don't think the League does this. Miss Martian does for the team whenever she can, and you all take turns, but I don't think the League does at all."

"That's because they ain't got cooks like us Sistah." Koa said, adding more food to Barbara's plate. "Lady G our weakest cook but she still know a thing or two." He added, getting the no-look fist bump from his teammate.

"It's true." Fractal said. "We eat very well here."

"Me and your boy the best though." Koa said proudly. "I bet he never cook for you either."

"Not true." Barbara replied between bites. She had to stop herself from getting more of the coconut rice. "He's cooked for me several times."

"Then why ain't you feedin' her right brah?" Koa said, scolding Deke. He went to give Barbara more to eat, but she managed to put her hands up. With a shrug, Koa dumped the scoop of rice on Daeva's plate.

"Because when she says she's done eating, I stop feeding her?" Deke drawled, absently gnawing at a green bean. While she was more than happy to enjoy decidedly unhealthy food, he knew his girl tried to limit it.

"That's a pretty clear indication." Daeva remarked. "Speaking of, I think I'm good."

"Don't nobody know how to eat around here." Koa grumbled. To make a liar of him, Godiva added more to her plate and just gave an out of character sweet smile to her teammate. "Okay, Lady G does."

"Yeah, because it all goes to her boobs," Daeva groused as she collected the empty plates. "How, I will never know." Even that sounded classier, due to her accent.

"Trade secret. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Godiva said, handing her now empty plate to Daeva as she passed. The truth was, it was pure winning the genetic lottery, but she wasn't about to say that.

Barbara just looked at Deke, amused at the lot of them. He grinned back and made a rather grandiose gesture with his hand, causing all of the plates Daeva was carrying, plus all of the dinner dishes to float into the air, and then into the kitchen. With a few more flicks, looking like an orchestra conductor, the dishes found their way into the dishwasher, and one paper napkin rose settled in front of Barbara.

"Thanks for getting the dishes, you bloody showoff." Daeva said. Why Batgirl had such a proud look on her face was beyond her. All he'd done was clean up. "And why don't we get paper flowers? What's all that then?"

"Daeva, honey, I'll tell you later." Godiva said, getting up from the table. "But it might give you nightmares. If it does, you can sleep in the bed with me."

Daeva just shook her head and flopped down on the sofa, she'd tried to rib her teammate, just some good natured poking, and of course Godiva had made it dirty. Fractal gave Koa's shoulder a squeeze. "Thank you for making dinner." He said, even though it was Koa's turn, it still needed said.

"Yeah, Mahalo." Deke said as he got up with Barbara.

"Shoots fam." Koa said with a bashful grin before he rose from the table. "I'm going fishing; call me if you need me." He said, and on his way out the door, he paused to get into a coat closet, but instead of getting a coat, he produced a speargun.

Fractal approached Barbara, who just removed her glasses and handed them to him. "I should be good for tonight; I don't expect I'll be doing any heavy reading."

"They'll be in excellent hands, I promise you." He said, and walked away, leaving Barbara with her boy. She looked at him and winked before taking his hand and walking to his room with him.

Once they were inside his room, Barbara placed a kiss on her boy's nose. He wasn't a whole lot taller than her, but he was tall enough she had to get on tiptoes to do it and damn if she wasn't cute as hell when she did stuff like that. Deke cupped her face and placed a kiss on her lips, which she leaned into for a moment before pulling away. "Can I see your laptop?" She asked, and immediately Deke's mind went to some very strange places.

"Sure." Deke said, making a gesture and causing it to slide out from under the bed. Barbara picked it up, plugged her phone into it, and after messing with it for a few moments, music began to fill the room. Deke didn't recognize it, to be honest, it sounded like coffeehouse stuff, but it was pleasant at least.

"So, what do you want to do Cowboy?" Barbara asked, sliding back up against him to give him a look with those gorgeous blue eyes.

Deke had to resist the urge to just take her there and then, if she was giving him the go ahead to do what he wanted. No, it wasn't even seven in the evening, they had all night. "Sit." He said to her, giving a welcoming gesture. "I want to tell you something."

"Okay, what is it?" She asked, sitting on the bed with her legs crossed under her. Her face was so bright, he was glad he was going to tell her something good.

"So, this morning, when I got dressed and ready for the day, I was in the locker room brushing my teeth, and the damndest thing happened. I looked in the mirror, and I wasn't sure who I was looking at." Deke said. Barbara just leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands and looking too damn adorable.

"And I was like, who's this smug lookin' asshole?" he said. When he continued, his tone was quieter. "And, I realized, it was me. And I didn't hate it."

"I could tell." She said, reaching out and ruffling his mane of hair before bracing on him and leaning in for a kiss. It was tender, and sweet, and it even sounded like a Hollywood kiss when their lips parted. "And I'm happy I was here for it."

On a whim, Deke took one of her feet. He wasn't a foot guy, but he had an idea he wanted to try. Before Barbara could say anything, he began kneading up against the ball of her foot. "Ok, that can keep happening." She said, laying back and relaxing. "Are you going to ask me for something we haven't done before and you think I'll say no? Because depending on what it is, this might actually get you a yes."

"I dunno, maybe, I hadn't thought about it." Deke said, still massaging her foot, using one hand to work around her toes while he used the other to apply a little more pressure around her heel. He could feel her metaphorically melting at his touch. He wondered if this was due to beginner's luck or if she just really needed it.

Barbara just enjoyed his attention, letting him go to work on her feet. An occasional soft moan escaped her lips, though she tried to keep her volume in check, what with most of the resident team still at home. She especially didn't want to draw Godiva's attention, though Barbara was certain that girl was a lot more bluster than anything else.

She was mildly disappointed when he switched feet on her, because she knew her rough halfway point. Six songs for her right foot, at around three minutes a pop, so eighteen minutes give or take, which actually wasn't that bad. It seemed like he was timing himself to the music too, as he switched where he was focusing about every change of the song. Barbara couldn't resist calling him out on it.

"I'm making a playlist with much longer songs the next time you do this." She said, her voice content and pleased.

"Go for it, I probably wouldn't notice anyway." Deke said, working on her Achilles tendon and the arch of her foot.

"You still trust me, right?" She asked. When he nodded, she continued. "I don't abide just taking, so when you're done, lose the shirt and lay face down on the bed." She instructed. "I still have another couple songs left though, so no hurry." She added with a wink.