I'm so sorry this is late, don't hate me? Okay on with the story, I own nothing apart from the plot.
Roses Have Thorns – Chapter 12
Saturday Night's
He'll be here, he'll be here...
Cassie played with her blonde hair that was currently falling loosely over her shoulders. She was waiting for Jamie to show up for the movie that they had agreed to go and see; in the end they had picked some action flick. She was happy about that. She was an Amazonian, she'd be damned if she was going to sit through some mushy romance! If her fellow sisters could see her now, waiting for a boy, she was sure she'd be burned. Diana didn't even know she was here. Was she really doing the right thing being here? She checked her watch he was going to be late at this rate. She decided to cross the road to leave when...
"Cassie!" She spun quickly on the spot to find Jamie in a pair of canvas trousers, a hoodie and carrying what looked like a plastic bag. She approached him with a smile. "Jamie, thank the goddess, I thought you forgot had about tonight." A shocked expression crossed his tanned face, "What?! Oh no! I could never forget about you Bonita." There was a slightly awkward silence as they stood outside the cinema entrance. "Shall you go in then?" She nodded and held the door open for him as they walked in. With the tickets bought the pair waited by the doors. Cassie kept eyeing the bag, wondering what was inside it. Jamie caught her looking and with a sly smile opened the bag to reveal a selection of chocolates and sweets and a couple of bottles of coke. "Can't go to a movie without sweets now can we?"
"Screen five now ready for viewing." A spotty teen in a uniform called out, Jamie looked down at the ticket. "That's us Cass, ready for this?" She laughed good naturedly, "After everything we've done I'm sure I can handle an action movie. Come on!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him through the crowds, "I want to get a good seat!"
-Y.J-Y.J-Y.J-
She watched him push his pasta around his plate; he literally had touched nothing all night. She was getting worried. She leaned across the table sliding her hand across to clutch his wrist, enabling her to play with his fingers. He stopped playing with his food but she could now feel his leg pumping up and down underneath the table instead at an unnatural speed, the only thing stopping the action from being viewed by the other people in the room was the thick, white table cloth draped across the table. "Wally?" He glanced up momentarily, "Y-yeah babe?" She smiled a small yet concerned smile. "Are you okay? You've hardily eaten anything all night." He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his toned neck as a slight blush crept across his face.
She settled back into her chair trying to figure him out. Come to think of it, he hadn't been acting right – well, as right as Wally could act - for a while now. "Just, thinking beautiful, that's all." Knowing that he wasn't divulging all she decided to drop the subject for now. Perhaps she'd try again at home, away from other's eyes. "Well, you can't think on an empty stomach, now can you? So eat up." She disentangled her fingers in order to allow him to continue to eat.
The rest of the meal went uneventfully; they talked exchanged a story here and there. All the while she kept an eye out for any telling sign that he may reveal to her what he was actually thinking. They finished their meal and Wally got out of his seat and offered her his arm, leading her on to the dance floor not too far away from the tables, where other couples were twirling and twisting. Although far from the expert in dancing she allowed Wally to spin her around. Surrounded mostly by the elderly upper-middle class, it was easy to say she felt out of place. She focused on the one thing that distracted her from all of this, him.
They weaved their way through the couples into the middle of the floor, "I was happy staying on the outskirts." She pouted as he chuckled, "I want nothing but the best for this moment, the 'outskirts' Artemis Crook won't do." He pulled her tightly to him, burying his face in her hair as he began to talk. Do you remember when we first meet…?"
-Y.J-Y.J-Y.J-
They stood the pair of them, as still as statues on top of the police building. The signal hadn't been activated, but they knew that there was always some small scale crime stuff they could stop in Gotham. A mugging, a stabbing. He sighed inwardly, trying to pin point the exact moment in his career when stabbings had become a minor crime.
"You alright there 'Wing?" Maybe that sigh hadn't been as inwardly as he thought. He turned to his partner for the evening taking in everything. Her strong posture emanating a feel of power around her. The way her belt always sat slanted on her hips, for better access to the grappling hook and the Bat-a-rangs she said. His eye lingering, to long he knew, at the way her uniform clung to her, especially on the top half of her… 'WOW! NO DICK! Don't go there; you're happy in the friend zone.' He was of course lying to himself. He refocused to find Babs smirking at him. "I was just trying to pin-point when in my life this just became… normal. You know, when the novelty if you like, wore off, just making it every-day." She stayed silent for a while as he watched two guys walk passed the police station and around the corner towards a jewellery store. "I can see where you're coming from, but for me, no matter how many times I do this, there'll always be that element of going into something blind, and that gives me a rush. A feeling I wouldn't trade for the world." He could also relate. The idea of him dying in the mask, dying doing something heroic, had always been the way he wanted to go.
"I know, and I get it, I really do. I was just wondering when I starting regarding mugging and stabbings as minor things?" She laughed flicking a piece of her fringe away from her eyes, the wind had caused it to escape from her tight ponytail.
"For me? It was I think my sixth week on patrol. By that point I think I had seen enough stab wounds and crying women to get me used to the sight." He stood astonished. She actually remembered exactly when stabbings had become minor for her? How in the hell? The only really clear thing he remembered from his early days was his first night on patrol. Terrified of disappointing Batman, scared that he wouldn't let him do it again.
"Ok, didn't actually need you to pin-point it. Geez, remind me never to have you as my doctor, your bedside manor sucks." She was just about to reply when the alarm for the jewellery store went off, shattering the otherwise rarely peaceful night in Gotham. "Really?" She asked exasperatedly, "They're going to hit a place this close to the station?"
People weren't half stupid sometimes, if they were going to steal, for god sake pick a target farther away. He hadn't done anything in the last couple of days and needed a challenge. This however was all he was given, "Apparently so."
They jumped off of the building with ease to catch the crooks. It didn't even take ten minutes. As the pair were tying up the criminals to walk them the not even five minute trip to the police station the one in Nightwing's grip said, "Here, the boss wants to give you something to pass on. A welcoming present to that pretty new bird of yours." He placed the memory stick into Nightwing's gloved hand. He glanced at Batgirl before they walked out to hand the two oh so intelligent men in to the police.
"What do you thinks on it?" Batgirl held out her hand, silently asking for the device, he dropped it into her palm. He watched as her nibble fingers passed over it, checking, he knew for anything unusual.
"I have no clue, but it involves 'The new bird' Shriek, so we better find out."
-Y.J-Y.J-Y.J-
He grunted as he got up from his place on the floor. Having been working on the bikes again for the best part of the evening and he had decided that enough was enough. Only in standing up was it revealed – not surprisingly – that he was covered in oil. The showed he decided, would be the next best place for him. "I'm done for the night sphere, you should power down or something." Lighting up the ball began to rotate, rolling back and forth while whizzing and whirring in response. "Yeah, you get a good night's sleep to buddy."
He took to wiping his hands with a rag as he left the room, heading past the living room door on his way to the showers, stopping as he heard laughter come from the room. He smiled when he found M'gann hugging her younger 'brother' apparently covered in what looked like cookie dough. He lent on the door frame joining in with the laughter as Gar turned into a kitten and began to lick away the sticky sweet dough. "Ewe, Garfield! What are you like?"
The green kitten meowed sweetly, pouncing on the girl and licking her nose, "Ah! Ah, Gar, stop that it tickles!" He pulled back, eyes wide, purring. "You're all sticky mister, either you go in the shower right now, or I'll dump you in the sink and wash you myself." He jumped from her arms and onto the floor. Morphing back into his monkey form he ran from the room at his top speed, "No I'm Ok, I can do it myself!" She sighed, smiling once she finally realised Connor was there. "Hey there."
"Hey yourself, what did he do?" M'gann laughed, "We were making cookies and it got out of hand, he wanted to like the bowl and somehow ended up in it!" Most of the oil now wiped from his hands he went and lent on the counter top, "The kids alright." M'gann shock her head playfully, "I'm glad he has your approval it's…"
She was cut off as Nightwing, seemingly pulling off an old Batman trick emitted his voice through the mountains speakers, "Team emergency meeting. Now!" The two looked at each other, "I'll try and get hold of everyone else, see you in a bit." She nodded and then he was gone.
-Y.J-Y.J-Y.J-
"Yeah sure thing Nightwing, we'll be there right away." Rose watched Robin shut of the communication as he got up from his crouching position he was in on the roof they momentarily resided on.
"Anything interesting?" He looked at her momentarily, "Emergency meeting, the entire team's been called in." Then he was gone and she scoffed at his antics, he just loved jumping off of buildings didn't he? She was close to follow hi though. Rushing to the nearby Zeta tube to catch him up.
When she got into the mountain, unable to find Robin she went straight to the gym where they usually received all of their mission briefings. She walked in to find the whole team – barr Wally nd Artemis, where ever they were - and a very grim looking Nightwing and Batgirl, they didn't waste any time. "Earlier tonight this came into our possession and on discovering its contents it's only fair that you all be present for this." Without another word Nightwing nodded, signalling for Batgirl to open the file on screen belonging to the memory stick. A face instantly appeared one Rose knew all too well.
"Well hello my darling daughter, if you're receiving this message then I can only conclude one thing, you have betrayed me. You know what happens to those who betray me. I would expect, accept even such behaviour from my colleagues, but not from my own flesh and blood." She could feel her anger rising, the intense need to punch something or someone, preferably him, she felt her teeth grinding together, she felt the pain the action caused but didn't care. "This behaviour as all of your other misbehaviour shall be dealt with according to its severity, which is very high indeed. In fact I'd be surprised if you and your new friend make it to the end of the week. Good-bye Shriek."
The message became nothing more than a fuzzy black and white blur as the whole team stood there in various degrees of loathing, none more than Shriek however, whose anger was so great a cry of purest hatred shattered the tension. "I hate him so much! I just want to…" She made repetitive twisting motions with he hands, the team could only imagine that the girl was holding an imaginary version of the man's neck and squeezing very hard. She stormed out of the room moments lter scarred that if she stayed with them someone may get hurt.
"He won't get away with this, I won't let him." Robin, knowing Rose needed to cool off had let her go without a word. Nightwing walked forward placing a hand on his shoulder while looking at everyone in the room, "None of us will."