Greetings, all! This is co-author Lois popping in to say that you guys get an extra treat this weekend. As my birthday is Tuesday, one of my presents is going to be that we work exclusively on this guy for the three days I'm off, so you get a chapter tonight, a chapter tomorrow (per schedule), and one Tuesday, both per schedule and on my birthday). The timing is deliberate and hopefully everyone will enjoy what's next!
daisygirl22, since we can't message you, thank you so much! We really appreciate it! He's a fun character to work with and more fun to try to make realistic. Hope you enjoy the next chapters!
Edited to add: We found and fixed a couple of typos.
Never had Kala thought she should've listened to Bruce so much. After the mid-morning mission debriefing—the long, long, detailed debriefing, as if last night's didn't seem to drag on forever—Kala headed back up to her room on the third floor of the Manor to try to catch a catnap. She still felt as if she hadn't slept in a week, the few hours she'd gotten early that morning notwithstanding, and the quick morning bask had only blown away some of the dust and cobwebs. Memories of last night, and the boy she'd gotten out, still weighed heavily. She had to figure out a way to get an update on him, had to find a way to go a step further to help him. The Super in her couldn't just leave it to fate.
And then there was Jay.
She'd awakened that morning still in the study, cheek against his shoulder, the top of her head under his chin. A blanket had been pulled up over them both on the sofa, her spine was kinked up from the way she'd fallen sideways against him as she'd slept, and an arm was draped loosely around his waist. After realizing that, she'd been more than a little embarrassed to be caught out and had carefully but quickly disentangled herself. Wow, as if that hadn't been telling as hell. But he never even twitched; in the end, it was Jay's face looking utterly peaceful as he sort of half-snored, that kept her from getting up entirely. Kala had paused, letting herself watch him for a moment. She'd never seen him look so young. Sometimes it was hard to remember that he was only a couple of years older than she was. He'd also probably have killed her if he knew she was lurking, the thought occurred to her with a tiny smirk.
The gears had been running slow after the late morning, taking a minute to process what had happened. So they had just ended up passing out down there? She couldn't even remember falling asleep; the last thing she'd remembered was Jay teasing her about something, and then out. It shouldn't have been such a surprise that they were still on the couch; Jay had been pretty worn down when she'd come into the study in the first place. Probably he'd been worried that he'd dump her on the floor if he tried to take her to her room. They really had been a pathetic sight at that point.
And there was no denying that Jay's warmth had helped her drop off into dreamland. Kala couldn't help wondering at the feeling of safety and comfort that she'd found there in his arms. The minute she thought it, true or not, she had to roll her eyes at the cliché. With a shake of her head at the thought, Kala pretended she wasn't fighting an actual smile. How had so many things changed in the last six weeks? Wasn't this the same guy who had split her lip wide open the first time they'd sparred? Who had zero qualms about being a know-it-all asshole? How did it even make sense that the one person that she'd been warned against so thoroughly had been the one to make her feel the most secure? It simply boggled her mind, even as it made a crazy kind of sense.
She'd sat there a while, thinking over the night before and just quietly watching him sleep, before making herself creep off to her bed for a few more hours of less spine-twisting sleep. Kala had stopped to tuck the blanket back around him, feeling awkward about leaving like that, and had paused. How the hell was it all about Jay and the way he made her feel now? Before she had realized that she was doing it, Kala had leaned down and pressed an impulsive kiss against his hair. It was sudden and instinctive, done before she had even thought about it. Standing up quickly then, Kala stayed rooted to the spot, for all that she wanted to fly off. What the hell had she been thinking? What the hell would she have said when he woke up? Idiot.
But if Jay had woken up when she touched him, he hadn't given any sign of it—then again, she knew he was desperately low on sleep, so maybe her departure hadn't woken him. And now here she was, an hour later and a floor away, still thinking about him.
She groaned then, closing her eyes with a sigh. There was no getting back to sleep. Unable to resettle, her mind overwrought with things she really ought to be compartmentalizing, Kala found herself blinking up at the ceiling of her room, then out at the bright, sunny day just outside the window. Could she do anything without finding a way to over-complicate it? Maybe she should just give it up and head out for some more sun. If she spent enough time soaking up photons, wouldn't that fill in the energy gap? It wouldn't have time to catch up on her too badly. Besides, the plan was that she'd take it easy for the first couple of days home…
That was when she realized with a start that she only had a day and a half left. Kala sat up, eyes shooting open, feeling a sudden tightening in her chest. God, it really was. Bruce had mentioned it last night, but it hadn't quite percolated then. Her plane tickets were for mid-afternoon tomorrow. Hell, Sebast had texted her yesterday before the afternoon briefing to make final decisions on her pick-up and she had shoved it to the back of her mind. Biting her lip, the world imploded a little. Her stomach lurched at the thought, her chest tightening What the hell was she going to do? About all of this? What could she do? And why the hell was she feeling like she couldn't go?
I have to go home. Any other possibility is ridiculous. I have a life I have to get back to. Be realistic, Kala. And over a guy. A guy who never said a word about it, who you could be reading wrong. Don't be an idiot. But that wasn't necessarily true; Jay's reactions to her at times, all the things he had done for her, during her training and even here since he'd given her back to the Bats. Didn't that say something that words couldn't? She didn't know. She just didn't know. Her track record proved she couldn't trust her instincts.
With a growl of frustration, she closed her eyes and forced herself to sit up. That's it; she had to move. I can't. Not right now. Got to clear my head. Then I'll try to get this figured out. I just can't now. That decided her. And she did what she usually found herself doing when certain kinds of decisions, relationship decisions, came up in her life.
Kala ran. Or, rather, flew.
Throwing back the covers, she slid out of bed and went to her dresser to fish out a halter top and jean shorts; that'd give her the most exposure without letting her flash the entirety of Gotham. Soaking up as much solar energy as possible should fight off the maudlin bullshit and cobwebs. Out to the balcony she went, leaving the French doors slightly open so that if anyone came looking for her, they'd know she'd headed up. Once out in the sun, her skin tingled happily, drinking in the sunlight so greedily that it seemed almost as if she hadn't gone up earlier at all. An instant jolt of energy zipped along her nerves, and she shook herself, letting her hair flow out behind her as she opened her arms to the light and began to hover, gravity giving way and the balcony receding beneath her.
Even thoughts of Jay and of the poor little boy she'd found disappeared into the background as Kala's mind filled with the purity of the light. Nothing else. Warmth, healing, wholeness; this was what she'd needed. And she could certainly catch some more sleep later, when all of this didn't seem so immediate, so fresh. Distance, yes. She just needed some distance…
There really was no real way of telling how long as basked; maybe an hour, maybe two. It didn't matter; the rest of the Bats wouldn't be awake until ten at the easiest. Letting herself drift, relieved to not have to care for a while, Kala just barely caught the light rap of knuckles on her bedroom door far below, Dick's voice following as he called her name tentatively.
And that was enough to burst her bubble. Real life once again laughing at her for trying to pull the Peter Pan act again. That earned a heartfelt sigh. Damn. If she heard it, then there was no ignoring it. Especially if it was Dick, especially not this early. He wasn't one to randomly pop in when it had been a rough run; he had to consider whatever news he had important. And, in light of last night, there was a good chance that it was.
Getting her bearings, Kala glanced down at the Manor as she began to descend, realizing only belatedly that she'd managed to drift high enough that the estate wasn't much more than a pinprick far beneath her. Considering her current state of mind, she'd taken 'distance' a little too literally. Able to smile a little now, she allowed herself a free-fall on her descent, slowly decelerating before she landed on the balcony.
Opening the door, she found Dick looking serious—not a normal look for him. That wasn't very hopeful. A knot in her gut expanded, and Kala raised an eyebrow at him with a tiny smile. This didn't bode well. "Hey. Good morning. Sorry, I didn't sleep well and went up for a bit. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Can I come in and talk?" was all he said at first.
Nope, didn't bode well at all. There was only one thing she could imagine Dick possibly being somber over, but maybe that was just her own worries bleeding over. A nod, and Kala moved out of the way to let Dick in. When he settled in one of the arm chairs, she dropped down lightly into the one opposite, forcing herself to not bite at her lip.
Carefully, Dick started, "I managed to contact Gotham General a few minutes ago."
That struck her right in the solar plexus, driving the breath out of her. Her heart sank, a hand going to her lips as the dread bubbled up again. Oh God. It had to be about the takedown, about the little boy… he couldn't be dead. The thought made her eyes well up; she hadn't been fast enough. It hadn't been enough, she should have gotten him there faster….
"The kid you rescued is alive, K." A slow smile spread over Dick's face and Kala huffed out a tearful laugh of relief, her knees weak. The comfort that came from that knowledge was like a wave, soothing a good portion of the tension that had held her since she had left him in that too-bright waiting room. "He had to have a lot of surgery, and he's hooked up to a lot of machines, but it looks good. He'll be in serious condition for a while, and will need more surgery later, but they said he'll make it."
And all at once, the knot in Kala's gut dissolved, all her near-panic shattering in the face of good news.
"Oh my God, Dick, I thought you were gonna tell me he died!" she said at last, as she managed to catch her breath, wiping away the tears that had fallen, and she couldn't help grabbing the pillow off the chair and flinging it at him. Her relief was so palpable that she practically vibrated with it.
Dick chuckled with her, catching the pillow and flinging it back. "Sorry, Kala. It's serious, I don't mean to sugarcoat the situation, but he will live. I thought you should know. I just didn't … he's gonna have a tough time, but at least they were able to give him back his own organs."
There weren't words for how that made her feel, the sudden, very hot urge to find Mask in his cell and repay even a portion of what he had inflicted second-hand on the child, but she made herself stifle it. No, she didn't think she'd ever have a cool head about what happened to kids, but she would keep her temper and do Jay proud. Her job was to make sure that she was capable of saving the others in his position out there; he did mean something to her and would in the future. He was what finally made her understand. "I know it'll be tough, but Dick? If we can, keep me updated on him, at least for a while?" Kala asked, giving him a hopeless smile. "This one … I've saved people before, but that kid, finding him like that … he means something to me."
"Will do," Dick agreed. "Oh! And before I forget, the boy's name is Liam. It looks like he was just snagged off the street three days ago. His mom was there with him at the hospital."
Another wave of shock and relief swept through Kala with that news. Liam. The boy had a name and a family. He wasn't… The thought hit her that at another time, he very well could've been Jay, that Jay had lived on the streets and could just as easily have been grabbed up and tortured, taken apart so some millionaire somewhere could have new kidneys. She shivered to even think it.
But this boy had been saved. They'd found him in time, and had gotten him home to his mother. Suddenly, the whole endeavor felt like it'd been worth it. Even if they hadn't found the other survivors, even it had turned out to be just one child they saved, so he could grow up and have a life of his own. It was worth it. All this training, all the bruises and cuts and wounds and even broken bones, it was all worth it for the lives saved.
With that revelation came the feeling that this summer had been just a blip on the radar, just the first real step toward growing into the hero that she was … was destined to be. And damn, to think of it as her destiny was a reality shift that she'd never expected. Kala was born to be a rock star, that was undeniable, but to have also been born to this, to be a hero, was almost beyond comprehension. All those years of silently feeling second best, like she was the 'spare' in the 'heir and a spare' equation despite her father's best efforts just melted away. Gone.
Wow.
"Hey, you okay?"
Dick's voice cut through Kala's fog of sudden comprehension, and she gathered herself up enough to let out a breathy laugh, leaning forward with clasped hands and shaking her head. "Yeah," she managed, catching his gaze. "I'm okay. I think I'm really okay."
He leaned back from where he'd been waving his hand in front of her. "Good. You look pretty okay for a girl who was half-asleep all through the mission debriefing. That Gotham summer sun must really agree with you." His eyes crinkled with amusement.
Or maybe it's just your brother, her mind snarked suddenly, loud enough that Kala had to try to hide her reaction to hearing that spoken. No no no. "Oh, shut up," she shot back, smiling despite herself. "Turned out I just really needed a longer sun soak, is all."
"Well, it certainly looks like it helped," he smiled back.
Not even thinking it. Not even thinking it. You will never hear the end of it, Kala. Ever. Keep your snarky little mouth shut. "It really did." Kala beamed; she was all but glowing, radiant with sunlight and good news.
"Good," Dick said, nodding as he stood. "Had me worried there for a minute. Anyway, since you seem to be feeling better, what do you think about a movie night tonight? I've got The Matrix on Blu-Ray, and we could all use a good laugh or two. Maybe pop some popcorn and break out the soda, order a few pizzas?"
The idea sounded like music to Kala's ears. A low-key evening was just what the doctor ordered. "Sounds like a great plan," she said as she stood as well, seeing Dick to the door. "Let me know when, and I'll be down. I've got to swing by the Tower and say my farewells there, but I should be free tonight." Her heart ached thinking of all the goodbyes she had to say. This trip had started out as a bitter necessity, but now she was sorry to see it end.
"Will do," Dick smiled before heading out. "Eight o'clock or so?"
That was plenty of time to visit the Birds – she needed to text Babs first – and also try to get her head right. "Perfect. I'm just gonna hit the training room and work on some moves in the mean time."
As she closed the door on Dick's retreating form, Kala shook her head. It was sure to be an interesting evening, with that kind of cheesy flick and the bunch of them laughing their butts off at it. A grin firmly attaching itself to her face, Kala decided not to change yet again; these were clothes she could dance in. The moves she'd mentioned didn't necessarily have to be fighting ones. And she might as well start working the muscles she'd need for this tour.
To her surprise, she felt about a thousand percent better. Amazing how good news and a great plan could do that.
…
The Manor felt like home—and then again, it didn't. Jay roamed the halls like a ghost, staring at the art on the walls, running his fingers over the suits of armor, letting it all sink in. Home. He had woken up alone on the couch, the blanket carefully tucked around him, feeling as though one side was a tiny bit warmer than the other – the side that Kala's solar-powered body had been curled up on. Waking up alone was a bit of a letdown … but if she'd been by his side in those first few moments of wakefulness, where his whole nervous system kept insisting he was safe despite being in someone else's space and guarded by security he hadn't personally set up, well, he might've said something stupid.
Like Stay.
Nope, it was better that she'd tiptoed out at some point, probably waking with the sun and going to bask in it. That let him get his bearings when he woke, bemusedly realizing this place was starting to feel all welcoming and shit.
He couldn't get too complacent, however, and headed down to the training room. Jay worked out every day, in one form or another. Sparring, katas, free weights, target practice, always something to keep his body and mind in peak fighting condition.
Only … he wasn't the first one there. Strains of music greeted him, and after another unexpected guest earlier in the week, Jay slowed down and went in warily.
What he found was Kala, decidedly not practicing any of the moves he'd taught her. She was swaying to the beat of the song coming from her phone, the sound surprisingly sharp even from the little portable speakers. "I'm not the one who's so far away, when I feel the snakebite enter my veins," Kala sang softly, in time with the music.
Jay … just watched. He'd forgotten that her grace, her spatial awareness, came from dance. That this was what she'd originally trained for, the same as Dick's acrobatics. Kala moved with a total awareness of her body that was, well, really fucking hot.
Apparently she was just warming up, taking it slow, gliding along the bass beat. But that sway in her hips and the arch in her spine and oh holy fuck the way she rolled a slow wave from her shoulders all the way down to the floor … maybe he shouldn't be watching this. The last thing he needed right now was to get caught creeping like a total perv.
Kala tossed her head and spun, rising up on her toes, hands above her head. Well, maybe he could hang out a moment longer. Especially when she shimmied like a snake, shoulders and belly and hips all moving in sensual circles. And the whole time she was still singing, soft but perfectly on key. Damn, no wonder she was famous. Of course what he was seeing was sexy as hell, but Jay knew it also represented a helluva lot of talent.
Right about then, Kala must've felt the weight of his gaze, because she stopped in mid-turn to stare at him. Saying nothing, just looking startled—because she hadn't expected anyone, or because it was him?
Jay felt a blush creeping up his neck. It would've been best to give her some kind of witty remark, something to make himself look like less of a stalker, but his brain couldn't function on that level at the moment. So he just slunk off, embarrassed.
…
It wasn't as if Kala had completely neglected her dance practice the entire time, but there just hadn't been time to do it daily as she did when she was home. Her plan was to see just what level of retraining she was going to have to do to be stage-ready within two weeks. True, she would be back to daily workouts and rehearsals, but it was best to start on her own before she had to do it under prying eyes. As far as everyone knew, her routine hadn't changed while she was here. She had to grin a little at that thought as she set up her portable speakers in the training room; their instructor, Taryn, would be floored if she had an idea of the things she had been learning instead.
In some ways her training over the summer had improved her form; in others, there was going to be some readjusting necessary. Cuing up her playlist, Kala closed her eyes and let her body feel the beat of the music. Once she could feel her body respond to it, feel the pulse in her blood, she began. Within moments of doing her routine warm-up stretches, she could tell that. However, there was nothing but good in that, despite the discomfort. Hers had always been a limber body; if luck was with her, this would go even farther to improve it.
She didn't even pay attention to the first two songs that played, too focused on getting into the groove again, repeating key moves. Maybe it was all the prep-work for sparring, but she was actually starting to enjoy this part of the workout. A calm before the storm. Kala grinned at the thought. Only here would that seem so perfect.
And then Voodoo came on. Hearing it cue up, Kala couldn't help an impish grin. With a happy sound, she straightened, letting the beat carry her. Ordinarily, there was a set routine to each song, keeping the natural beat but making it more technical. This was one song she just couldn't find a way to tame. Every time they had ever done a cover of this song, the dance ended up different. There was just something about this one that got into her bloodstream, like a pulse. Her body responding immediately to the call, Kala closed her eyes and let the music carry her away, mirroring the singer's voice as she purred out the lyrics huskily.
Sway, sway, roll of back, shimmy, work the hips. Shadow-dancing that was as instinctive as breathing, graceful yet elaborate arm gestures. Feel the beat, ride it, give in to the sound and just flow with it. It killed something inside to know that there were people in the world who would never know the joy of this simple freedom. It was sometimes the one thing in her life that completely made sense, that gave her the same exhilaration as flying, and she reveled in it. It also, she realized in her fog, reminded her of sparring with Jay. That was, when she was up to par. The same smooth movement, avoiding the strikes, it was its own kind of dance. Not to mention, the same kind of exhilaration.
A little smile played over her lips then, having to acknowledge the way her blood quickened then. No one was here to see, no one could hear inside her head. Yeah, it was true. Jay called up something hot, wicked, and uncontrollable in her that was almost frightening at times. And he was far from controllable, always unexpected, a type of danger different from the too-real one back home, and a perfect opposite of everything in her life. There was something there, something between them that she was battling to resist. But she wasn't so sure she wanted to.
Tossing her head in time to the music, letting her body betray the slightest hint of her thoughts, Kala arched upward, slowly rolling her lower body to the drumbeat rhythm. Hands spiraling up above her head in a elegant, waving pattern. As always when she danced, Kala was keenly aware of her body, but then awoke to the fact that her senses were on full-alert. Something had changed in the room while she'd been distracted. That startled her out of her own head.
Stopping on the verge of a spin, the spell disturbed, Kala opened her eyes to see that she had a visitor. And it was enough to catch the breath in her throat. It was Jay standing there in the doorway, very clearly watching her, and she had to swallow a shudder. Knowing what she'd been thinking just moments before, she felt like it was all written across her face. Neither spoke, only stood there staring for a moment, before Jay turned and walked out. It was only after he left that Kala realized that she had been holding her breath.
Jay was almost like a dare, so complex she just had to understand, but volatile enough that he could explode in her hands if handled incorrectly. There was an attraction there, clearly, and she respected him at a level she'd never dreamed she could six weeks ago. She had just barely scratched the surface of who he was and the glints she had seen tempted her all the more. Something was happening here, something she couldn't make herself say, even in her own mind, but that didn't make it any less true. And time was running out. The question was, could she, or even they, afford the cost if she went there when he wouldn't?
…
Babs had known all along when Kala would leave, but she hadn't wanted to insist on anything so cheesy as a going-away party. The young Super was caught up in the big bust that had just gone down, and probably hadn't even realized how short her time in Gotham had grown. It wasn't as if they'd never see her again, anyway.
When Kala texted her, asking to drop by for a quick visit before she left, Babs agreed casually … and by the time Kala arrived fifteen minutes later, Dinah and Helena were already on their way back with lunch. "I hope you like Thai food," Babs said.
"Love it," Kala told her brightly, "especially green curry chicken."
"I'm partial to basil chicken myself," Babs replied, and then just looked up at her.
She'd had years to get used to that, always looking up at people, even people who had once been shorter than her. Sometimes it worked to her advantage; most people tended to dismiss someone they physically had to look down on, and Babs knew how to make the most of being underestimated. But Kala was meeting her eyes as levelly as possible, while biting her lower lip and glancing away every few seconds.
Deciding to have mercy, Babs told her, "I'm going to miss you, too."
"Well yeah, it goes without saying I'm gonna miss you," Kala laughed softly, and dragged up a spare office chair. Babs liked that about her – she tended not to hold on to the superior position, moving to equalize their heights. Once she was seated, backwards in the chair with her arms along its back, she fixed her troubled hazel gaze on Babs again, and let out a sigh. "Problem is, I'm starting to feel like I shouldn't leave. Like if I do, I'll leaving important parts of myself behind."
Arching an auburn brow, Babs replied, "There are important parts of you back in Metropolis, too. And at least one of them could fly out here to collect you."
As she hoped, that got a chuckle, Kala shoving her hair behind her ears absently. "Well, yeah. But I can fly too. And … Babs, this is what I always wanted. To be a hero, to be part of the legacy, to put on my mask and kick bad guys' butts – and save people's lives. It's everything I would've sold my soul for when I was sixteen."
The significance of that age wasn't lost on Babs. "It's also everything you walked away from and thought you could never have," she said.
That hit Kala like a piano dropped on her shoulders, and she leaned heavily on the chair. "Yeah. But it turns out I'm not the only colossal fuck-up out here, and with a few years' maturity and some training and some safeguards, I'm actually pretty good at this. I don't want to quit now."
"You have a big tour coming up," Babs reminded her. "Isn't that what you wanted from before you ever knew being a hero was a possibility? The lights, the stage, the music?"
Another soft laugh as Kala looked at her sadly. "Oh yeah, and I want that like fire. Maybe that makes me the selfish little princess certain people think I am, but I do. I want both. Is that wrong?"
She was asking seriously, and Babs – who confined her musical exploits to singing 'Happy Birthday', and who would never don a Bat-uniform again – considered it seriously. "No, it's not wrong," she finally said. "Selfish, maybe, but we all have to have a certain amount of selfishness just to survive. I don't think it's too selfish to want both your dreams. Especially not when you've put the work into achieving both of them, and one of those dreams is pretty altruistic in itself."
Kala sighed in relief. "Well, then I feel spoiled for wanting to be a rockstar, too."
Babs scoffed. "You're not spoiled. It's not wrong to want something for yourself. I've worked with you, Kala. You give a lot of yourself, you're willing to risk a lot, so if anyone can be justified in lapping up the applause, you are."
"So I'm not just a dilettante who needs to fucking pick a dream and run with it already?" She was trying to make a joke, but there was a quaver in Kala's voice.
Rolling her eyes, Babs told her, "At least both of your dreams are things you had to work for. Bruce's alter ego is a billionaire playboy. I know a lot of people dream about having that kind of money, but you never said you wanted to be rich."
"Just famous," Kala admitted with a shrug. "Which I understand is why I get all the Goth Barbie bullshit – heroes aren't supposed to be motivated by fame."
"Well, yes," Babs conceded. "Your father is Superman. And you're a twin. No wonder you're so set on seeing your own name up in lights."
Her eyes widened at that, and Babs knew she'd hit on something Kala herself wasn't quite aware of. Before she could work at that any more, though, security chimed and the front door downstairs opened. "The curried shrimp is mine," Dinah called up. "Anybody who touches it is risking life and limb. And hearing."
…
Kala couldn't help laughing. Chairwoman of the JLA Dinah might be, and quite solemn in that role, but here in Gotham she took every opportunity to bring some much-needed levity. "Okay, okay, no shellfish theft," she replied, hopping up to grab the bags of food and help Dinah and Helena set them out.
It was also extremely convenient that the food arrived right after that revelation. Everyone was right, Babs was the most perceptive person Kala had ever met, and she wasn't quite used to those laser-focused deduction skills yet.
Almost everyone gave her a look when they found out about her day job, if they didn't outright question it. Really, what kind of drama queen wanted to be a superhero and a rock star? It was the most incredibly self-centered profession, and in most opinions it was unworthy of a hero. And yet, Kala loved it, she justified it hotly to the ones who dared to ask. As for the people who just gave her that look, she had a couple of looks for them, too, some of which were best delivered while hovering ten feet over their heads.
The truth was, justified or not, she could no more have given up her music career than she could her legacy. Kala was in love with both, for different reasons.
And she couldn't think too deeply on it, with a convivial spread of delicious food and three good friends sharing it out. Babs, of course, couldn't resist pretending to steal some of Dinah's curried shrimp, and Helena rolled her eyes at both of them. Kala laughed at them, trying a bite of Helena's green papaya salad when offered, which turned out to be very spicy but also very delicious. "Oh my God, this is the stuff Mom's always hoarding," Kala said, laughing. "She never let me try a taste. Then again, you snitch from Lois Lane's plate at your own peril. The only reason I never got stabbed with a chopstick is I'm her kid and she'd have to take me to the doctor."
Dinah turned to her curiously – which allowed Babs to successfully nab half a shrimp. "Must be interesting," Dinah mused. "I mean, we all know about your father, but your mom is Lois Lane. A name that even I, chairwoman of the Justice League, treat with cautious respect. And she's our official media liaision."
Kala sat back, chewing as an excuse to collect her thoughts. "Mom is … okay. She really is the heap-big-badass that everyone thinks she is. I grew up on the stories about her, and I lived through the creation of some of those stories. But she's also my mom. She's a complete disaster in the kitchen unless it's baking desserts. She'll admit, now, that she never wanted to be a mom and was totally unprepared for dealing with two of us, but I never saw that. Jase and I never knew we were completely unexpected. I mean, we knew our biological dad was out of the picture, but by the time we cared about that we had Daddy Richard."
Helena perked up a little, and before she could ask, Kala explained, "Mom used to be engaged to him, while Dad was off planet. He's Perry White's nephew and he worked for the Daily Planet at the time. Mom wasn't really planning on settling down and being anyone's wife, ever, but Daddy Richard loved her and us. And with all the health issues we had as kids, it was a good thing she had some help with us."
"Health issues?" Dinah asked, her brow furrowing. "I thought super-immune systems would take care of that."
Kala shrugged. "It did, eventually, but remember: we're hybrids. Our bodies were trying to figure out how to match up DNA from two different galaxies, and at first, it wasn't going so well. We both had lots of allergies and some weird food cravings that were probably because we need different nutrients."
"It's hard to think of you as fragile," Helena said, arching a dark brow.
She smirked. "Try imagining my giant-ass truck of a brother as fragile, then. He was a weedy little thing, back in the day. Now he's all Farmer Kent in plaid flannel and jeans."
Her description occasioned laughter, which wasn't a good thing when consuming spicy food. Babs ended up coughing, her eyes watering, and she finally managed to say, "The next time I call him over the comm, I'm going to call him Brother Trucker. Just for you."
That set Dinah off into wheezing gales of laughter. "Oh God, I wanna hear that one," she finally chortled. "He'll know exactly where it came from."
"I call him Lizardboy, because he wanted to be Godzilla growing up," Kala replied, smirking.
"And he calls you Elvira," Babs reminded her. "Or Mothra."
"I do fly around and rain on his parade," she snickered.
"Speaking of absent friends," Babs said, after the amusement wound down, "I heard from Doc Leslie today. She's planning to hand over the clinic to local interests, and head home."
"Really?" Dinah said, arching an eyebrow. "Well then, Alfred will be delighted."
"We'll have to make arrangements to get him some time off," Babs said.
"Assuming he would even agree to take it," Helena chuckled.
Babs smiled. "He can occasionally be convinced that Bruce that take care of himself for more than a few hours at a time. Usually when Leslie's the one doing the convincing."
Kala had perked up her ears from the first. She knew Dr. Leslie Thompkins was the personal physician of the Bats and Birds, but the way everyone spoke of her, she was also apparently romantically attached to Alfred. Which was intriguing, though less so than the one other fact Kala knew about her. "Isn't Steph with her?" she asked. "Does this mean she's coming home, too?"
The excited, playful expressions on everyone's faces became somber. Kala supposed all of them felt some guilt for Black Mask's brutal treatment of Steph, and for her leaving the city. It was Babs who answered her. "She was. Steph … she made a truly impressive recovery, but she'll always have some problems associated with her injuries. So she decided to work with Doc Leslie instead of coming back to the caped life. Cass Cain had met up with them a few months ago, and she was helping them both out with the clinic Leslie established in the refugee camp in South Sudan."
"No one ever told me why she chose Africa," Kala said.
"She went where the need was greatest," Dinah supplied. "About a quarter of all the refugees in the world are in Africa. And there are camps in Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia as well as South Sudan. There's been so much external exploitation and internal civil war in that part of the world, it's hard for people in America to even begin to understand."
Babs nodded. "From what Leslie told me, they've been having problems lately. More refugees coming in from the north, and tensions within the camp too. There's a lot of uncertainty. Some of the oldest camps in Kenya are trying to shut down, because of concerns about potential terrorist activity."
Kala raised a brow. "Terrorist activity? Among refugees? That sounds like political maneuvering to me."
"The camps are a strong recruiting ground," Babs said. "Conditions are bad – not quite as bad as what they're fleeing, but from the reports I've been getting, I can see why people would be angry. And there's always someone willing to take that anger and shape it for their own use."
Dinah had been picking at her food, and looked up with a steely glare. "Fuck my life. Is it who I think it is? Wasn't he in northern Africa, not that long ago?"
"We don't know if it's Ra's al Ghul," Babs replied, not reacting to her partner's vehemence. "Cass seemed to think so, Leslie says. At least, that it was some branch of the League of Shadows. Since his last death and resurrection and that business with Nyssa Raatko, there have been factions within the organization, sometimes fighting each other."
Kala had only ever heard whispers about this before, Jay's explanation about Talia aside, so she kept her mouth shut and her ears open as Babs continued.
"Cass and Steph had been teaching the women self-defense techniques, helping make the camp safer for everyone. Something happened, Leslie doesn't know what exactly, and the pair of them packed up one night and headed north. Steph left a note; apparently they were going to deal with the source of the problem."
Dinah rapped her chopsticks thoughtfully. "Cass feels like it's her business because of her mother. Wasn't Lady Shiva running one of those factions for a while? Damn, I don't like Steph in the middle of that."
"Neither do I," Babs replied, the words obviously heartfelt. "But she's a bit like you, Songbird, in that she can't watch her friends run headlong into trouble and not go along to protect them."
Helena scoffed at little at both of them. "I doubt Cassandra Cain needs any protection. She is the very definition of competence."
"Oh, I don't mean physical protection," Babs replied. "I'd bet on Cass against almost anyone in the League of Shadows, but there are a handful of people who are on her level. Both her parents, for example. Or Talia al Ghul, whom Kala recently had the pleasure of meeting."
"Yeah, it was a thrill watching the boys lose their shit entirely," Kala said drolly.
Babs rolled her eyes. "They overreact. Dick, especially. He hates her, because he tried to make Bruce choose between him and her, and Bruce chose Talia."
"Which proves the Bat is a much a man as anyone else, and prone to making the same mistakes," Helena pointed out.
Shrugging, Babs continued, "Let's not even get into the fact that Talia is only a year or two older than Dick, and what that says about Bruce. Talia is many things, and trustworthy isn't one of them, but she would never let lasting harm come to any of them if she could prevent it. For Bruce's sake, if for no other reason. The difference is that her idea of preventing harm would likely mean murdering whoever tried to hurt the boys. Likewise, she knows who Cass is and what she can do, both before and after Cass made the choice to trade her intrinsic skill for the ability to communicate. If Cass went after her, Talia wouldn't go toe-to-toe in a fight she might lose. She's too practical for that. Talia would just take a sniper rifle and put her down from half a mile away."
The redhead's voice had gone steely at those words, and Dinah stepped in. "Yeah, but by your assessment, Talia wouldn't kill her because Bruce does love Cass, too."
Babs smiled coldly. "Who said anything about killing? A bullet through the leg would put her down and be survivable. And Talia's used to taking those kinds of risks."
"Steph doesn't need to be anywhere near her," Kala said staunchly. The overwhelming impression she was getting of Talia al Ghul was a kind of ruthlessness for which she had no tolerance.
Nodding, Babs continued, "No, she doesn't. But Steph's not going after to Cass to fight her battles. She's worried about Cass deciding to join her mother. And that's the kind of battle Steph will always win. She's got more soul than anyone else still in this game."
"Amen to that," Dinah said heartily. "If anyone can stay sane in the world we live in, and not give up hope, it's Steph. I love that kid."
"With luck, she and Cass will sort things out quickly," Babs said. "If it's some local political situation, Cass has the sense to leave it alone. If it's the League … I hope it's not the League. But it's hard to get good intel from halfway across the world, particularly when there are a lot of low-tech operations there that rely on face-to-face contact for orders. It's much easier in the European, Russian, and East Asian theaters, where you can hack your way into whatever you need."
"The Yakuza still do a lot of things offline," Dinah pointed out.
Babs rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. The point stands. We can't reliably get people into the League of Shadows for on-the-ground intel. There's such a strong cult of personality going on there that plants tend to be discovered or worse, converted. Lex Luthor has the same issue, incidentally. Kala, I monitor his activities as well – he's gone off the grid somewhere but he has to interact with L-Tech – and he's tried to keep tabs on them."
Helena frowned. "You make it sound as if the League of Shadows is invincible."
"Not invincible," Dinah replied. "Damned difficult to breach. I know all about that cult of personality thing; Ra's al Ghul is extremely charismatic in person. He's had seven centuries to figure out how to get people to follow him, and he's gotten really good at it by now. They have their weaknesses – he was never able to subvert Bruce, and he personally trained Bruce – but the unfortunate truth is that sometimes the bad guys are as good at their jobs as we are at ours."
"Wait, wait, wait," Kala said, sitting back in surprise. "I heard about him training Bruce. I didn't know you knew him, too."
Babs grinned toothily, and Dinah elbowed her. "Let's not go there," she said. "And let's not borrow too much trouble. If it is the League that Cass and Steph are going up against, one of them will have the sense to let us know about it, and we can pull an extraction if nothing else. Shit, I'd go; I'm not going to fall for their save-the-world shtick."
"In the meantime, we can be grateful that the League of Shadows is an exception to the rule that our enemies don't play well with others," Babs said dryly. "There is an Injustice Society, and I think every one of our Gotham rogues has a membership card, but they just don't tend to work as cohesively as we do. Even when we have to send people from different teams, the JLA and the Titans and all of our side can at least function together. People like Ra's al Ghul and Lex Luthor are too determined to be the sole authority, and too willing to backstab each other, to ever really form an alliance."
"Well, yeah," Kala said cautiously. "We can all work together because we're not in this for ourselves, we're all trying to protect people, not take over the world or cause chaos or whatever else. We're the good guys."
"Even though none of the present company are guys," Dinah added.
Helena just smiled. "Or perhaps it's just that we have Oracle, and she won't let any of us get too far from the path of righteousness."
"You make me sound like Jiminy Cricket on wheels," Babs complained, and that mental image sent them off into gales of laughter, a merry sound to banish the somber thought of their enemies organizing.
Kala shook her head as she got herself back under control. "Jiminy Cricket on wheels. Oh my God, I can't even. I'm gonna miss all of you so much."
"So come back," Dinah said with a grin. "You can fly. Sneak out of the tour bus, pick up dinner on your way, we'll have girls' night any time we can. You know you're welcome here. And up at the Manor – Alfred likes you, I hear."
With a crooked smile, Kala looked back at Babs. "It's completely insane. But yeah, I think this is what I want to do. Babs, can you put me on the reserves list? I'll keep my comm handy. If I'm free, I'll head over here; if you need me, call."
The smile that Babs rewarded her with was absolutely sunny. "I'll be happy to," she replied, still beaming.
Dinah sat back and smirked at them. "And if we get Cass and Steph back here at some point, we'll really shake this town up. The boys won't know what hit them."
"In Kala's case, literally, since she can fly faster than they can see," Helena said with a smile.
It was crazy, to take on another responsibility, but Kala couldn't walk away from the caped life now. So she basked in the joy of knowing that, once things on tour got halfway settled, she could come back.