The mission ended as a failure with Batman needing to step and save the team. The team walked through the Zeta-beam, covered in mud. Their mission, to subdue and capture Clayface who was sighted in the sewers of Gotham. After racing to the last location they got about the clay monster, they were attacked and ended up overpowered without proper leadership for Aqualad who seemed out of it during the whole mission which led their mission as a failure.
She groaned as she brushed away another goop of mud, or was it clay? Whatever it was, it was in her hair too. Wincing she gathered her hair and squeezed, goop falling to the ground. She needed to clean her hair thoroughly after this, she grimaced.
"I need to talk to Aqualad," Batman said as the team walked through the Zeta-beam. "The rest of you hit the showers and head home."
"Head home? I am home," Superboy murmured under his breath but it was still loud enough for the team and Batman to hear but Batman paid no heed and continued to look at Aqualad in disappointment.
Robin paused with Aqualad, knowing that she should shower in the manor since she didn't have her things at the mountain.
"Just Aqualad," Batman said, looking at Robin, his face cold as always but it made her freeze. She exchanged a glance with Aqualad before walking away, looking back once more after she passed her father. What's with him? Sure, the team failed and he had to step in but failure wasn't anything foreign to him. And why did he have to act so cold towards her? Did he expect that she could have subdued Clayface without any problems? The Dynamic Duo has been trying to subdue Clayface since he showed up in Gotham and yet every time they faced him, they failed.
Groaning, she entered her room in the mountain, the door sliding shut behind her. She turned the switch to the lights to reveal an almost empty bedroom. The only thing that shows that someone stays in the room was the bedsheet and blanket on the bed and the clothes inside the closet, besides that the room was empty.
Sitting down on the bed, she groaned as she felt more mud in her boots. And to think she emptied all the mud in her boots. Instead of removing her boots to remove the mud, she just sat there on the bed.
"Working with a team is harder than it should," Robin groaned as she pulled off her masks, placing it in her utility belt. Walking to her closet, she opened it and saw one of her sunglasses sitting on one of the shelves with her casual outfit as Robin. Grabbing it, she placed it on as she heard a knock on the door.
She opened it to reveal her father standing there. He just gave her a nod before walking down the hall and back to the hanger. Sighing she followed him as they crossed the Zeta-beam and were transported back to the Batcave.
The cave was empty, which she raised a brow to but brushed it off, walking to the locker room to take a bath and change out of her uniform that desperately needed to be washed. She was so going to have an earful from Alfred. As she was about to walk into the locker room, she heard her father call her.
"Dixie," Bruce said as he pulled off the cowl. "When I say I need to speak with Aqualad, I mean just him."
Shocked at what her father told her, she quickly became hurt before turning around, marching into the locker room in anger.
"Just Aqualad," she growled under her breath as she tossed the utility belt away. She quickly took a shower, wrapping herself in a towel but as she was about to change into some casual clothes she saw her leotard before deciding she should let out some steam. Changing into it, she walked out of the locker room before going up the manor, not even glancing once at her father who was busy working at the computer.
Marching up to the training room, she passed Alfred who looked back at her in concern but otherwise said nothing. Grabbing a towel from the shelf and as well as a bottle of water, she made her way to gymnastic rings, dropping the towel and water on the bench nearby.
After living for a year in the manor, Bruce had surprised her by adding all kinds of gymnastic equipment to the training room for her to exercise with. The training room became her playground at the time, she would spend almost the whole day in here. She fondly remembered the time where she was running away from her brothers in a game of tag when she rushed in here and started going all over the place, even Damian was dragged into it.
Sighing, she got the container of powder sitting beside the bench before coating her hands in it. Walking underneath the rings, she made sure once more than her hands were coated enough with the powder before jumping and grabbing at the two rings.
Making sure she had a firm grip she started to sway her legs, gaining more and more momentum. She continued doing this, when her legs pointed up towards the ceiling she would close her arms, making them as straight as possible before dropping her legs and spreading her arms once more. She repeated this action until it was smooth and consistent, not having to exert as much effort as a while ago.
However, as she gained more and more momentum she swung herself upwards before catching the rings once more, her body vertical to the ground, her legs pointing to the ceiling. Slowly, she tried lowering herself as much as possible, her legs lowering to point towards the ground, and trying her best for her arms not to shake.
"Just Aqualad," she growled before suddenly swinging her legs and letting go, her momentum enough to swing her to another set of equipment but she wasn't able to balance herself. She managed to roll on the ground when she fell, her back slamming painfully to the wall. In anger, she spun and punched the wall, causing the wall to crack under the blow, her arm burning, sending a jolt of pain through her body.
She walked back to the bench, sitting down and grabbing the cold water bottle. She placed the cold water bottle against her forehead, the cold temperature felt cool and pleasant against her skin. Resting it there for a few more minutes before opening in and drank, the cool water refreshing her.
As she was drinking, the door to the training room opened to reveal Jason and Alfred, the butler standing behind her brother.
"Father says he wants to talk," Jason said.
Dixie wanted to ignore her brother but stood up nonetheless and went to grab her things. Jason didn't do anything wrong, he was just doing what their father told him to do, she shouldn't place her anger of her father towards him.
Jason frowned seeing how disgruntled his sibling was. "You want to talk about it?" the sixteen-year-old voiced his concern.
Dixie shook her head sighing before walking through the door, passing her brother and Alfred. "Not really, I just wanna get this over with," she said.
"Well, he said to meet you out back," Jason said, following after her.
Dixie raised a brow at this but didn't voice her thoughts, going down the grand staircase. Alfred opened the door and without a warning, a basketball instantly bounced right in front of her, which she managed to catch.
She looked up, shocked. Damian, Tim, and their father stood there in the backyard, looking at her expectantly. Jason passed by her, walking up to the rest of their family, a playful smile on his face.
"What's this?" she asked in confusion.
"Training," Bruce explained a playful smile on his face as well. "Hand-eye coordination."
"Two on three?" she asked, a smile on her face as she glanced at a smiling Jason.
"If you can handle it," Tim said playfully.
Smiling, Dixie bounced the ball, passing it towards Jason, the two of them instantly knowing their game plan.
The game passed by in a blur, all of them now sitting in the living room after taking a quick shower. Dixie sat on the sofa with Jason, the two of them still hyper despite the intense game. Tim stood behind them, looking down at the two in amusement. Damian sat on his usual chair, Bruce sitting at the chair opposite of him, the two of them looking at one another, having a silent conversation. Bruce looked contemplative and Damian looked at their father expectantly.
"So, this Adrian boy," Bruce started, finally voicing what he and Damian were conversing about. "You went on a date with him?"
The smile on Dixie's face fell, realizing why her father acted so harshly towards her earlier. She wanted to feel angry towards Damian and her father but she didn't have the energy anymore and she knew if she were in Damian's place, she would have told her siblings as well.
"I did," Dixie nodded. Jason and Tim looked at her in shock but otherwise said nothing. "He's a boy I work with at the orphanage. He also attends Gotham Academy, a year under Jason."
Bruce nodded, his eyes far away causing Dixie to frown more. "Did you have fun?"
Dixie nodded once more, choosing her words carefully. "I did," she said slowly. "We had fun."
When she saw her father sigh, she decided to add before he could ask any more questions. "But he just had a small crush on me," she said, her father looking at her in confusion. "We both agreed that at the very most, we were just close friends, nothing more. Plus, he seems to have a bigger crush on his childhood friend."
Her siblings and father seemed to relax at this. Bruce smiled at her, "I'm sorry for lashing out on you earlier."
Dixie shook her head, leaning and resting her head on Jason's shoulder, her brother leaning in making it more comfortable for her to lean on his shoulder. "It's fine," she said, brushing it off. "But the next time this happens, can you actually just talk to me about it before you get angry?"
Bruce smiled at her playfully. "Only if you actually tell me you're going out on a date and tell me who the person is," he remarked causing her to smile.
"Yeah," she nodded before glancing at Damian. Her oldest brother remained impassive but she knew that he was preparing for her to get angry at him. Instead, she smiled at him, which caused him to blink in surprise.
"I'm not angry at you Dami," she informed him before smiling playfully. "But the next time I find out you're on a date, you can't get mad when I tell the others."
Damian smiled at her before leaning forward and started to mess with her hair. "Deal."
"Well, that was eventful," Jason chuckled, Tim nodding before taking a seat on the floor in front of them, his back leaning on the chair and their legs.
"Isn't it movie night tonight?" Tim asked, a smile on his face.
"Yeah!" Dixie said happily. Tim smiled at her enthusiasm before grabbing the remote of the television and the next thing they knew they were watching Treasure Planet, Alfred serving them hot chocolate.
In the middle of the movie, Dixie suddenly remembered something. "Hey, dad, what'd you speak about with Aqualad?"
Bruce turned to look at her before sighing. "I asked him to rethink his position here on land as leader of the team and as a hero," he said.
Dixie hummed, knowing full well that Kaldur wasn't at his best today, his thoughts elsewhere.
"We'll find out about his decision soon," Bruce said. "He has until the next mission to give his answer."
Tim nodded in understanding, "Kaldur'ahm is a capable person, he'll understand that being a hero comes with sacrifices and hardships," Tim said, knowing that the Atlantian would come in terms of choosing to be a hero on the surface or be a warrior in Atlantis.
Dixie nodded once more, worried about the Atlantian. She knew that Aqualad would choose to stay as leader on the surface but she was worried about how he would come to that answer. Jason nudged her, his head tilting to point at the movie playing. She smiled gratefully before watching the movie once more.
Alfred smiled from the dining door before leaving the family to themselves.