Epilogue

Sixteen years later...

Howler sighed as he watched the monitors on the Watchtower. It was his son's first mission as part of the team and it was an easy one to say the least. Shut down a human trafficking ring and bring the ringleader in. As he watched, it soon became apparent that the mission had deviated from its main goal. "You're worried about him too, huh?" Zatanna said walking up. "Just a little," he said before kissing her cheek, "You should be in bed."

"Can't sleep without my wolf," she said taking his hand in hers, "How's the mission going?" "They've deviated at least three times and the same two have gotten into at least twelve arguments," he said with a sigh. "What's the team size?" she asked. "Supposed to be? Four. That went? Five," he said as the heard the Zeta tube start up. "Recognized: Huntress, B Four-One; Wolf Knight, B Four-Two; Dove, B Five-Zero; Redwing, B Five-Three; Robin, B Five-Five," the computer announced as the four appeared in the Watchtower.

"They're back," Zatanna said before they hear one of them yell, "GET BACK HERE! I'M NOT DONE TALKING TO YOU!" "Not again," Howler said as the four entered the main hall. "You don't always get what you want," a teen wearing a suit of black and silver colored armor retorted before looking back at the others, "Besides, YOU were the one that was supposed to be guarding that lowlife, Huntress." "Don't blame your screw up on me," a girl in black and dark purple version of Tigress's gear said glaring at him. "ENOUGH!" Howler yelled. The five instantly flinched and looked over to see him and Zatanna looking at them.

"Fall in," Howler said crossing his arms, "Redwing, what happened?" The five lined up before the one wearing red and black gear said, "Located the trafficking ring as per mission statement. With the help of local authorities, we were able to shut them down five hours after mission start." "Then what, Dove?" Howler asked.

"Ringleader tried to escape via hidden aircraft that was not known at time of briefing," a girl wearing gear similar to Kid Canary's said, "Huntress and Wolf Knight took off in pursuit, not knowing that Robin had already snuck aboard the plane prior to its take off." Howler reached up and rubbed his temples as Zatanna asked, "Where is the target now?" "On the way to the city morgue thanks to Robin," Wolf Knight answered. "We had no more than gotten on the plane when Robin destroyed the control panel and yelled at us to jump," Huntress added.

"He would have gotten away if I hadn-" Robin started to say before receiving a double Gibb slap from Huntress and Dove. "Thank you," Howler said looking at them, "The only part of this mission was a success was bringing down the trafficking ring. The rest was a failure. You were to bring ringleader in alive. Everything that happened during the mission will be going in my report to Batman. Redwing, you and Robin are dismissed. I want to talk to the rest of you."

"Don't be too hard on them, Lance," Zatanna whispered to her husband as two of the five walked away. Howler stepped forward and pulled Dove's mask off before saying, "You're grounded until we go to Michelle's Rose." "Rose?" Zatanna asked stunned. Rose gave a weak laugh before saying, "Uh, hi mom." "Come with me," the magician said before walking towards the Zeta tubes. "As for you two," Howler said once his wife was out of earshot, "Fourteen times, seriously?"

"He started them," Huntress said pointing at her fellow teammate. "Can it, Jenna," Howler said glaring at her, "I don't care who started. Both of you; one, let the ringleader slip right past you. Two, argued so much I am surprised that you didn't blow your cover. And three; did not realize you had an eight year old, that just happens to be your little sister Devan Edward, tagging along with you." Devan's armor retracted as he looked at the ground and softly said, "Sorry dad." Howler knelt down and calmly said, "I don't know what is going on between you two, but it has to stop. You two were the best of friends until recently. I don't know what caused that to change, but until you can figure out your problems I'm withholding my recommendation to the Titans for you two. Understand?"

"Yes sir," the two said looking at the floor. "Good. Now I suggest you two start by figuring out what happened that caused the rift," he said before standing up and walking towards the direction his wife and daughter went. The two teens were silent for a few minutes before Jenna said, "I guess we screwed up big time, huh?" Devan slowly nodded before closing his eyes. She reached up and pulled her mask off saying, "What happened to us, D? We used to be best friends, and now we can barely stand each other." "Does it matter?" he asked quietly before he started to walk off. She grabbed his hand saying, "Oh no. You are not walking off till we get this figured out. I don't know about you, but I want my best friend back." "Figured out?" he asked as he slowly looked at her, "Figured out? You want to know why we haven't been getting along, let along why I haven't been talking to you? Well here it is!

"The day you found out you made the cheerleading team, I had half the football team throwing me into lockers like I was their personal practice dummy and it was game day. It wasn't until the end of the day that the head cheerleader walked up to me and threatened to hurt you if I ever talked to you again. According to her, nerds and cheerleaders don't mix unless it to get the nerd to do their schoolwork. If I told a teacher or a parent, she would make certain you were hurt to the point you could never be a cheerleader again."

"Y-y-you mean you've been protecting me?" she asked stunned after a few minutes. "Sense I was old enough to be able to," he said squeezing her hand. "Why?" she asked. "You're my best friend, Jen," he said looking at her with a smile, "That and I, kind of, love you." He looked at the floor, hoping she wouldn't hit him. She stepped forward and tilted his face up until he was looking her in the eyes and softly said, "I love you too, D." He smiled before pulling her into a hug and whispered, "I missed you, partner." "I missed you too, partner," she said returning the hug.

They started to pull away but stopped as they looked into each other's eyes. "I should have done this a long time ago," he said softly. "No kidding," she said with a slight giggle. They slowly leaned forward till their lips met in a soft kiss. They slowly broke apart after a few seconds and started to turn a little red at what had just happened. "We good?" she asked with a slight smile. "We're good," he said before they started to walk towards the Zeta tubes hand in hand.

"So what do we do about the cheerleading thing?" he asked. "I think it's about time she got a taste of her own medicine," she said smiling. "And how do you plan on doing that?" he asked intrigued. "Well, if you recorded that little speech she made to you about cheerleaders and nerds, we have an old friend hack the school news feed and broadcast," she said looking at him, "And while that is playing, I call her out on it in front of the school and resign from cheerleading. And if she sends someone after you, you know I got your back." "Just like I got yours," he said before pulling her close and kissing her.

End