"Ha! You lose, Wally!" Robin exclaimed, smiling smugly at his friend. Wally gave him a death glare, but reluctantly pulled some money out of his back pocket, muttering, "Never make a bet with a Bat..."
Cecilia didn't really pay them any attention, instead focusing on the "Green Lantern" in front of her. She wasn't sure who was supposed to speak first. How long has her new mentor been staring at her, probably waiting for her to say something? Half a second? Well, to her it felt like five, and five seconds of trying not to show any timidity under John Stewart's assessing gaze was way too long. She could feel her face turning an uncomfortable shade of red and nervously broke the fleeting silence to hide it, "It is nice to meet you, sir."
'Sir? Really? Did I really just call him "sir"?' Cecilia ridiculed herself, cringing internally. This wasn't going well. Still, she tried to behave as if the introduction was unfolding perfectly, like a few of the stories Felix used to tell her.
Unfortunately, those were stories.
But she was trying, and that was all she could do. John Stewart didn't seem to care and smiled politely, "Nice to meet you, too. Now what can you do so far?"
Definitely military. He was all business, and Cecilia was certain that he didn't smile too often, although he was certainly more emotive than Batman. She hesitated at having to demonstrate her powers in front of everyone again, but if that was what was asked, then she would deliver. Doing her best to ignore the butterflies that seemed to have trapped themselves in her gut, she closed her eyes and focused on that elusive, flowing energy dancing through the room. She held out her hand and, like she had practiced so many times before, created a rather large stone of solid white light, about the size of her fist. Proud at her accomplishment, Cecilia beamed up at the two adults, waiting for their judgement.
Instead, Wally whistled, "Wow, that's a lot bigger than the first time. Still not very big, but bigger."
"Well, she has been practicing," M'gann reminded him kindly. Cecilia turned her eyed back to her little creation, ashamed at Wally's comment. It wasn't very big, true. But she had thought that it was impressive. Wally's statement and the Leaguers' lack of any immediate reaction only confirmed that she still had a long, long way to go. A sense of failure was quick to infiltrate her insecurities, but she stopped herself before any tears could manifest. 'I am not a failure. I have just begun to learn, so I can not fail yet. But... if it took me this long to make a stone this large, how long will I have to train? When will I be ever helpful?'
Green Lantern stepped forward and curiously picked up her crystal, examining it thoroughly. Cecilia worriedly held her breath, waiting for his judgement. She was certain that he wasn't scrutinizing her ability, but rather the crystal itself now. Hopefully, it met his expectations.
"Batman said that you could create other shapes as well," John Stewart - Green Lantern - whatever she was supposed to call him stated unexpectedly. Anxiety morphed into brief panic. She didn't know how to do that! She didn't even know that it was possible until yesterday, and that was a complete accident!
"I- I'm not sure that I...," Cecilia began, protectively crossing her arms in front of her and avoiding their eyes. Her gaze involuntarily flickered to, of all people, Connor. The raven-haired teenager looked as stoic as ever, but his blue orbs softened fractionally in what might have been sympathy, and the corner of his mouth inched upwards momentarily. Then she looked at M'gann, who was standing beside him and smiling encouragingly.
'I can at least try,' Cecilia thought, fully aware that the entire Team was watching her. She closed her eyelids and concentrated on how, exactly, she could pull this off, preferably without encasing her appendages again. Only one logical thought made itself known, so with a nervous exhale of baited air, she held out her hand and "winged it". Since she seemed to be able to make the crystals by condensing that dancing energy into a small area, she tried to now condense it into a line, molding and guiding the energy into the shape she wanted.
It only took a few seconds, and when Cecilia opened her eyes, she couldn't stop the triumphant "Ha!" from escaping her mouth. There, resting in her hand, was a stick of solid, white light. Well, it actually resembled a twig more than a stick, but it was still there and not a sphere. She almost felt smug at how cleverly she had deduced how to accomplish such a feat.
But all smugness vanished at the utterly stoic faces of Batman and Green Lantern. It was as if she hadn't done anything at all. Her hopes fell a bit; she hadn't been impressive enough. Her best hadn't been sufficient. Then Green Lantern smiled abruptly, "Good job, but there is much to improve upon. I will be training you regularly, starting tomorrow. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir. Were you in the military?" Cecilia asked, only realizing afterwards that she had spoken out loud. Her heart skipped a beat as his smile slid into a frown. She felt her face turn red at her mistake. 'Oh no, he does not want to talk about it! Or maybe he is just hard to read? Ugh, stupid, stupid...'
"Very observant," Green Lantern praised, his face showing interest - not the annoyance or anger Cecilia had expected. She let herself relax, but this time didn't let his praise sink in, fearing whatever he was going to say next as he continued, "Yes, I used to be in the Marines. How could you tell?"
"Sir, I'm a Roman," Cecilia answered. That was really the only answer she had. Rome had a military - a phenomenal military at that - and there were soldiers everywhere in Rome. It was difficult not to figure out if someone was a soldier, to be honest. "It is just a skill we learn."
Batman and Green Lantern exchanged a look, some unidentifiable message being passed between them. Before Cecilia could decide what that meant, Green Lantern had focused back on her, "Until tomorrow, then."
It was a simple farewell, one that Cecilia returned with a hesitant nod, and then he had left, the computer announcing his departure. Whatever Batman was thinking, he kept it to himself and left as well, not bothering to announce his own exit. With the adults gone, Cecilia had no one else to talk to except the Team, who had been uncharacteristically silent during the entire introduction. They seemed to have barely noticed that they were the only ones left and appeared either deep in thought or spaced out.
"Did... that go as badly as I thought it did?" Cecilia asked everyone, dreading the answer. Wally's head snapped up impossibly fast, and he had a startled look on his face, "What was that?"
"You were not paying attention, were you?" It was more of a statement than a question, and Wally's slightly guilty face confirmed Cecilia's suspicions. Kaldur shook his head with an apologetic sigh, "Our apologies, Cecilia. We were busy discussing something important through M'gann's telepathic link."
Cecilia waited for a more descriptive explanation, but none came. She didn't pursue the subject, "Did anyone pay attention to Green Lantern and myself?"
The Team exchanged glances, with Artemis, Wally, and M'gann appearing slightly ashamed. The others, however, quickly assured her that they had been at least partially focusing on her conversation with her new mentor. The twelve-year-old crossed her arms over her chest, briefly allowing her insecurity to show as she peered up at the older children, "Well? How do you think it went?"
"I think that he was impressed," Kaldur stated warmly. Cecilia looked up at him hopefully, "Really?"
"Well, 'impressed' is a strong word. More like 'not disappointed'," Wally interjected. He dodged Artemis's warning-punch and sped over beside Cecilia, wrapping his good arm around her shoulders, "Still, it's a better reaction than some of us got. Uh..."
His voice trailed off at Connor's glowering glare. When he began speaking again, his voice had risen a few pitches, "Anyways, I... uh, you did great and... I'm hungry. Gotta run!"
"And that was about...?" Cecilia began once the speedster's blurry trail had faded. No one answered her question, but M'gann's meaningful look at Connor, who was now staring at a wall with his fists clenched, pretty much told her all that she needed to know: don't bring it up. She looked down and stared at her little light-twig, trying to think of a way to change the subject.
Luckily, M'gann was always good with others and piped up, "How about we throw a little party for Cecilia, since she's getting closer to joining us on our missions!"
"That," Artemis agreed, "and we should probably make sure Kid Mouth doesn't completely empty the kitchen."
Cecilia snickered along with the others at the thought of Wally consuming that much food, and M'gann laughed, "That, too!"
The Team, by some unspoken agreement, began to make their way down to the kitchen. Cecilia was among the last to exit the Mission room, but she stopped when a warm hand gently clasped her shoulder. Startled, her head whipped around to see Connor. For a moment, she thought that he was angry at her, like he was angry at Wally earlier. Then his expression softened, "You did good."
"Thanks," the twelve-year-old smiled. Perhaps he didn't hate her after all.
A/N - Another six chapters down! Only seven more to go. :) Thanks to Guest and Nightcat for reviewing!
To Guest: Yeah, I see where you're coming from (again, if you're the same reviewer). At the moment, she's not supposed to be anything more than a sibling to the Team, because you're right: she's way too young for a relationship. But she's not going to stay biologically 12 forever, thank goodness. I'm glad to hear that I've done well developing this so far, though. And you have an excellent point... Well, no love triangle for them, then. Thanks for pointing that out!
To Nightcat: Haha, glad that you can see them both working out! Also, not gonna lie, those are some pretty great names. I've already decided her sidekick name, which will be stated in one of these upcoming chapters, but I still haven't thought up a good superhero name for when she's no longer a sidekick, and what I have thought of were all complete garbage. I'll have to keep all of those in mind. Thank you so much!