6 Justice League Darkness
Blackhawk and Galatea ate room service again. After finishing breakfast, they stepped out. Reaching the lobby, Tea was already drawing stares because of her skintight costume. Blackhawk was suddenly aware of the fact that he'd grown so accustomed to costumed folk that he'd forgotten how unusual it truly was.
Blackhawk himself wore a brown "bomber" jacket, a white shirt, khaki pants, and brown boots. He called it his "1930's" look. All he needed now was an Australian styled fedora.
The front desk had hailed them a cab and they went downtown. They got out at their first stop. Tea had insisted on going to a lingerie store first since she desperately needed a change of underwear. He felt comfortable enough to shop with her. After all, there wasn't anything in here he hadn't seen before.
His jaded attitude changed a bit when Tea started modeling for him. A few of her choices left him decidedly redder than before. She found it adorable.
Having selected her items she went up to pay for them. She carefully doled out the money and paid the clerk. The shopkeeper probably thought Tea was a little slow owing to her counting the money before and after the transaction. Blackhawk decided the young woman had nothing better to do so she could at least pretend to be considerate.
They headed down the street. Most New Yorkers didn't see Tea or they flatly refused to acknowledge her. After all, this is the town where the "Naked Cowboy" became famous. A woman in a skintight leotard wouldn't faze most of them.
"So how was it to have freedom of choice?" he asked her as they walked down the busy thoroughfare.
"It's amazing! If I like something, anything at all, I can simply buy it. Money is amazing!" Tea exclaimed.
"You can have it if you can afford it." Blackhawk reminded her, "Normal people have budgets. They have to work hard to get what little money that they have so they have to make their dollars stretch as far as they can."
Tea stopped. The man behind her ran into her. It was like walking into a tree.
"Hey! What are you? A nutcase? Get outta the way!" he yelled.
Blackhawk took her by the arm and ducked into Saks, "I'm not saying you shouldn't spend the money. You just need to get the best deal that you can."
"Deal?" she was horribly confused, "Like in cards?"
He bequeathed a warm smile to her, "Follow me. I was going to suggest coming here anyways."
They entered the women's department. He stopped and swept his arm around, "See anything you like?"
"Ohh yeah!" she was like a kid in a candy store. It soon became obvious she'd used her enhanced senses to spot the outfit that she was after. They came to it hanging on a rack. Coordinated pants and jacket were nearby.
"Okay, this is good." He grinned, "Tally up the total cost of this one outfit."
"It's $450.00." she said after a second's calculation.
"Now, follow me back into the rest of the department." He instructed.
"But…but…but…" she followed while he led her by the hand.
He stopped in front of a rack of pants, "See these? They're almost identical to those. They're of a similar quality and style. They're also just over half the price. See if they have a pair in a color that you want."
She quickly chose two in different colors. Next he suggested, "Why don't we find a blouse to match?"
Tea had already grasped the rules of the game and was eager to "save" some more.
When they left, they had several bags worth of clothes and shoes. Tea also had on a completely different outfit. Now she wore a cobalt blue cable knit sweater, black denim jeans, and pink and black checker-boarded Converse shoes. She was ecstatic.
"I still have a third of my money and enough clothes to wear for a week!" she proudly proclaimed.
"But you're shopping for a single season." Blackhawk warned her.
Tea's eyes went wide and he smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry. We'll take care of that when the fashion line-up changes."
Since he was being gallant and carrying all of the bags, she was free to wrap her arm around one of his, "Thank you for this."
"Don't thank me yet." He advised, "We still need to eat. But first, how does coffee grab you?"
"Sounds good." She grinned.
They exited the shop. The bags were now evenly divided between them so that they could each have hand free for their cup. Tea was delighted again.
"This is so much better than Bailya." She mused, "Paper cups! Who'd a thunk it?"
"What do they use in Bailya?" he wondered.
"Regular ceramic cups. You have to stay in the restaurant and drink all of your coffee there. There's no 'on the go' service." She said wistfully, "Besides I'm not Persian and I'm a woman. I'm really not welcome at any restaurants."
"Sounds rough." Blackhawk had to admit.
"Yeah, but we just got a new HQ in Brussels. Vapor's been handling the move. Jack'll take care of the final details when he and Wenonah get back from vacation." She stated.
"What final details could there be?" he wondered.
"Jack's gonna destroy the Dome." She revealed, "We discovered the self-destruct just before this Darkseid business began. Now that everyone is moving out, he's gonna use it and blow the Dome to bits."
Blackhawk had a peculiar look on his face, "Has anyone told Black Adam about this?"
"No." Tea became very quiet.
"And no one is going to tell him. Right?" he asked.
"That's the plan." She sighed.
Blackhawk realized that there was no point in pursuing what was obviously a sensitive topic, "So why Brussels?"
"We're the new NATO deterrent." Tea smiled again.
"Why does NATO need a deterrent?" he asked.
"Why does Russia need the Rocket Red Brigade?" Tea asked in reply, "Basically, Europe needs more heroes and since most of them are already with the Global Guardians we got elected to fill the void. The EU and NATO also want a peacekeeping force they can deploy around the world. Sorta like goodwill ambassadors. Add it all together and the Guardians look pretty appealing. We've got Middle Eastern cred and we're familiar with Europe. Or at least half of us are."
Blackhawk thought she was placing a lot of naïve trust in the Europeans' propaganda but the group needed hope. Tea in particular needed hope. He wouldn't debate the issue with her. It wasn't worth it. Maybe she'd be proven right in the end.
"Uh oh." She said softly.
"What is it?" Blackhawk asked, senses suddenly alert for trouble.
"There's an alarm going off in that building up on the left." She explained, "Men with guns and bags of cash are inside."
"It's a bank robbery." Blackhawk said grimly, "There'll be a getaway car outside. Can you spot it?"
"Yup. He's double parked." She said and then she handed him her coffee and sat the bags down, "Wait here."
She flew into the air and he thought, This should be fun to watch.
Hephaestus "Hep" Grimshaw sat in the 70's-era Lincoln Town Car outside of the bank. People were honking and yelling at him but he was serving two purposes. He was waiting for the inside men and he was clearing a lane of traffic for the actual getaway.
Hep had grown up in a middle class family in the suburbs and had attended the best schools. He was just lazy. He couldn't see the point of being a wage slave when you could score a few grand from 15 minutes worth of work. If you got caught, well then you enjoyed free food, free clothes, and free shelter. The jails were so overcrowded with mad dog killer types they always let a minor offender like him walk.
This particular score was his second bank job. The FBI was still investigating the first and hadn't caught wind of him yet. The crew he belonged to was really tight. Heinrich wouldn't let anything happen to his boys. No sirree. Not Heinie.
Hep suddenly bounced off of the steering wheel as the front end of the car was smashed flat by Tea's landing on it feet first. It had become a favorite move of hers in recent months. Of course there aren't any friggin' air bags, he thought as the driver's side door was ripped off of its hinges.
Tea pulled him out of the car and then punched him. He bounced off a nearby wall and slumped to the ground. Just then his two compatriots made their appearance. They wielded assault rifles. She rushed the closest one and hit him in the head with his own rifle. Bending it into a semicircle, she cast it aside.
Tea turned to face the last man, "And what about you?"
His knees started knocking and she spoke again, "I wouldn't try shooting me. All you'll do is ruin my clothes and then I'll be mad."
He dropped the rifle and put his hands above his head. Tea smiled, "Smart boy."
Sirens and flashing lights announced the arrival of the NYPD. The cops took one look around and could easily deduce what had happened. The OIC, a Sergeant McLachlan, approached Tea, "Excuse me miss, but are you responsible for foiling this robbery?"
Her smile beamed, "Yup."
"Has anyone ever told you that you look like Supergirl?" he asked.
"No. Never." She sardonically replied.
Detecting her sarcasm, he changed the topic; "Do you have a name we can call you by?"
"I'm Galatea and it's the only name I have." She said as she began to float into the air.
"Wait!" McLachlan called out, "Are you with the Justice League?"
"Nope. I'm with the Global Guardians. Watch for us!" she announced and then flew off to rejoin Blackhawk.
"I take it things went well?" he smirked as she landed next to him.
"It was great!" Tea enthusiastically answered, "First I…"
"Excuse me, Miss." A man with a notepad came running up to them. With him was a woman with a camera, "My name's Doyle and this is 'Clicker.' We're with the NY Times. You just stopped that robbery. Can we interview you?"
"No." Tea succinctly replied.
"Is this your boyfriend?" Doyle turned to Blackhawk, "Do you have any comments?"
"Just one." Blackhawk replied, "Go away!"
"You can't keep the press out." Doyle rebutted, "We'll find everything out eventually."
Clicker took Tea's picture. Red beams flashed out of Tea's eyes and Clicker's camera suddenly became too hot to hold. She dropped the camera and it melted into the sidewalk.
"Hey!" Clicker protested.
"Here." Tea handed Doyle her and Blackhawk's coffees. She picked up her bags with her left hand and wrapped her right arm around Blackhawk's waist. "Take hold of me." She instructed him. He wrapped his left arm around her and she lifted off of the ground.
Tea looked to Blackhawk to see how he was doing. His expression was rapturous. She'd managed to forget that he was a pilot. He literally lived to fly. This up close and personal approach was undoubtedly a dream come true.
She'd flown with him before but that time he had worn a harness and been lugged around like luggage. He'd enjoyed himself but that experience was nothing like this. This was almost the same as doing it himself. What she didn't realize was that having it be a shared experience made it even more special.
They were both grinning like kids when they swept down into the front steps of the Ritz Carlton. The doorman was stunned and merely stood by and gaped as they entered into the foyer. Those in the lobby that had witnessed the dramatic arrival pointed and used their mobile phone cameras to snap pictures. That had happened at the bank as well but Tea didn't feel like melting everyone's phones. A nosy reporter's camera? Sure. Why not?
They made it back to their room and dropped off the packages. Now, Tea and Blackhawk were hungry. He inquired as to her tastes.
"Do you like Chinese? Indian? Thai? Latin? Fried chicken? Old fashioned hamburgers and Coney dogs?" he asked.
"I don't know. I've never had any of it." She revealed.
"You've never eaten ethnic foods?" he was astonished.
"At CADMUS, they served meat and potatoes. Nothing but meat and potatoes. With the Legion it was mostly living out of a can. I'm tired of both." She sighed.
"Surely you eat native foods in Bailya?" he ventured.
"Do you know how sick I am of humus?" she asked. She sounded like she was clearing phlegm from her throat when she punctuated the h in humus.
"Okay." He laughed, "No humus. How about Chinese? Do you like rice?"
"I sure do." She eagerly nodded.
"Then we have a baseline and a winner. We'll do Chinese. I know a great place. It's about as 'average New Yorker' as you're going to get."
"It sounds wonderful." Tea enthused.
"Don't thank me yet. You may not like it." Blackhawk warned.
"I'm gonna love it. I just know it." She promised.
"Well, if you don't, tell me and we'll try something else." He requested.
"Sure." She blithely replied.
"Promise?" he pinned her down.
"Of course I promise." Tea was a bit meeker now.
"Good. You do whatever you need to do while I call for a cab." He suggested.
She stopped before she reached the bathroom, "We could fly. You love it."
"So do you." He reminded her, "But we're trying to blend in and not get noticed."
"Like at the bank?" she guessed.
"The bank was a good thing. You helped people then. First rule of heroing is always help people when you can." Blackhawk added.
"Yez Boss." She snapped off a salute and then entered the bathroom.
Now if we could just do something about her enthusiasm. He jokingly thought to himself. Galatea was nothing if not unbridled enthusiasm. He just hoped she could stay this way and not become disillusioned. Once again, only time will tell, he forlornly realized.