SO, after posting I realized the direction I wanted to go created a huge plot hole, so I decided to switch up the ending of Betty's section in her apartment. Sorry about that. Everything else is the same.
JANUARY 4 12:47 EST
Betty pulled a hood over her head and stepped out into the Gotham winter sunlight, a few inches of snow coating the sides of the sidewalk. Her boots crunched the bits of snow on the yellowed and stained sidewalk, and she slid her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she slung her bag over her shoulder.
"Been no sign of him," Dick said on the other end of the line. Betty frowned and regripped the phone in her right hand, holding it up to her ear.
"Nowhere?" Betty asked. "He can't have just disappeared into thin air."
"Roy's always been good at hiding, you know that Bee," Dick softly said. Betty did know that, out of all of the original sidekicks, Roy had been the one to always be the best at going off the grid, even better than Nightwing was. He wouldn't be found until they were ready to be found, but that didn't stop them from trying.
Red Arrow had been off the grid for over six months, on his chase to find the original Roy Harper, the one who he was clone of and replaced. Betty herself had been part of the search for a few years before it became apparent that most likely the original Roy Harper had passed away while in Cadmus custody, leaving only the Roy they knew now as their only reminder of them. But Red Arrow…. Red Arrow was relentless, he refused to believe that Speedy was dead until they found a corpse.
Betty could not imagine being a clone, knowing that they were a copy of someone else. Her best friend was a clone, and she saw how hard it had been for Conner to establish himself as someone else other than a clone of Superman. But he knew from the start what he was and why he had been created; Red Arrow didn't. He had to come to terms with that, and it seemed like he never did. And he never would, until he knew for sure if Speedy was dead or alive.
But Red Arrow was also her friend, and she was worried for him. He had never been off the grid for this long before. Who knew what kind of trouble he could get himself into, trying to find Speedy?
"GA is following any lead he can get," Dick continued. "He'll let us know as soon as he has something."
But how long would that be? Betty shook her head and turned the corner leading to her apartment. She still lived with Aunt Melody, being a college student was somewhat synonymous with being broke in most cases. She certainly didn't have enough scholarship and financial aid to cover room and board nor made enough with her shifts at Cookie Cutter to pay for an apartment in Ivy Town. Thank goodness she had access to Zeta tubes to get her from Gotham to Ivy Town for class, or she wouldn't be able to pull of her college career.
"I just wish we had a concrete lead," Betty sighed. "I don't want to lose him too."
"I know. Me neither."
There was a kind of strange camaraderie that came with sharing a lost loved one. An understanding that both of their hearts were cracked, missing a piece of the same size and shape. A Jason-shaped hole existed in both Dick and Betty's heart, and to know someone else shared that burden of keeping their name alive helped make the grief easier to handle on a day-to-day basis. And it also meant they understood each other on a level other's didn't, and they knew the other can't bear to lose a friend. Not so soon after a brother.
Betty shut her eyes and let the thought of never seeing Red Arrow again run its course. It was a scary thought, as Red Arrow was his own man and deserved a life of his own, outside of searching for the original Roy Harper. To never see him grow into the man he was going to be was something she didn't want to happen.
Betty shook her head and opened the door to the Cookie Cutter Diner, finding it was still in it's post-lunch, pre-dinner slump. Aunt Melody was currently wiping the bar, her blonde hair up in a bun, and she was frowning down at the linoleum counter in concentration. She was supposed to be on the Watchtower in only a few hours for the mission briefing, just as Betty was due to be at the Cave. Only a quick shift as a waitress stood in between her and her arrival at the Cave.
"Look, I gotta go," Betty said, "I'll see you later, alright?"
"See you later, babe," Dick returned, and Betty scoffed, making her way to the break room to put down her bag. She supposed she could always put it upstairs, but she really didn't want to climb all the way up to her apartment.
"Babe? Are you Wally now?" Betty asked. Dick laughed on his end of the line.
"Just messing with you Bee. I'll see you at the briefing." And then the line clicked. Betty had been going by Mariposa for over a year now, and yet Dick still used Bee as a nickname. Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe it was because he didn't want to come up with a new one. Either way, she didn't mind really. She had known Dick for so long, nearly ten years, and she was just glad to still have his friendship after all the hardship the two of them had faced together.
Betty slipped her phone in her bag and reached for her apron on a hook in the corner. She tied it around her waist and stepped out into the front of house, and she ran a hand through her hair to steady herself. The briefing wouldn't be for another few hours, and until then, she still had a shift to take care of.
MOUNT JUSTICE
JANUARY 4TH 2016 19:48 EST
"Why do you get to go to Rann and I have to stay here?"
Conner rolled his eyes and as he put the last of the bombs in the bag he was set to take to Rann with him. Betty, in full Mariposa garb, crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway of the armory, her black pigtails curled and pulled far and away from her slightly annoyed face.
"Because Nightwing thinks my strength might come in handy," Conner explained. "No way of knowing what we may find on Rann."
Betty furrowed her brow and stepped into the room. "You gonna be good, going on a mission with M'gann?"
This was to be their first mission alone since their breakup. Well, alone plus Beast Boy, M'gann's adopted little brother and resident new mischief maker of the Team since Wally's departure a little over a year and a half ago. Betty knew that the young boy would be something of a buffer but she also knew that Beast Boy was still a shipper on deck for Conner and M'gann, still not privy to the real reason they broke up. Who knows what might be said by Garfield, unknowingly bringing up old wounds between the two of them?
Not to mention that Betty knew Conner still had lingering feelings for M'gann. Maybe it wasn't love anymore, but Betty knew you weren't with someone that long without some feelings still remaining after a break-up. M'gann was Conner's first love. Alex was Betty's first love, and she still had a special place for him even if she no longer thought of him romantically.
Conner frowned and turned away from Betty, and that told Betty more than his words ever could. Betty reached out to touch his shoulder from behind, smiling softly and comfortingly.
"I'm sure if you told Nightwing –" Betty started.
"No," Conner cut her off, turning back around to face her. "We're both adults. Whatever happened, I can still be professional. The fate of the world is at stake."
Betty wondered how Conner could be so…. clinical about it. If Betty were in the same position, she wasn't sure she could be so professional about it. M'gann had hurt Conner, hurt him deeply and at the heart of his trauma. It spoke to how far Conner had come that he was no longer so consumed by his emotions that he was able to work past them enough to be civil with M'gann, rather than so enraged that he couldn't even speak with her.
"If you're sure," Betty said hesitantly, and Conner nodded.
"I'm sure Betts," Conner assured. "The mission comes first."
Betty understood that as she prescribed to the same philosophy. A philosophy that had sent her own love life into peril once upon a time, and now was sending Conner out with his ex after the abuse M'gann had done to him. Betty wondered when they would decide the cost was too great, when they finally had to put themselves first. Today wasn't that day, but Betty felt that day was coming sooner than she would like as it cost them more and more as they got older.
"Alright," Betty agreed. "But if she says anything –"
"I appreciate the concern, Betty, really," Conner interrupted again, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But I'm a big kid, I can take care of myself."
Betty sighed and reached for his hand on her shoulder, and she squeezed it gently, looking up at him with concern and worry.
"I know," Betty said softly. "But I still worry. I just don't want you to get hurt."
Conner smiled down at her, and Betty felt that warm, safe feeling inflate in her chest as his smile shined down on her. Something about the way his lips curled and the way the corner of his eyes wrinkled caused that warmth to spread to her whole body, and she felt her cheeks heat into a blush as he continued to smile. Betty shook her head and stepped back, letting his hand drop from her shoulder. An unknown feeling, some kind of mix of embarrassment and awkwardness, overtook her and she couldn't quite place where it was coming from.
Though the warmth was inviting and made her feel safe, something in her felt like it needed to resist the feeling that started to grow. Something was lurking beneath it, something that made her want to jump in and run away at the same time. She had never felt like running from Conner before, and so whatever it was couldn't be good.
"Be safe on Rann, okay?" Betty asked. "The last thing I need is an injured Kryptonian on my hands."
Conner scoffed. "I'm nearly invulnerable, remember?"
"Heavy on the nearly, my dear Supe," Betty pointed out. Conner laughed and slung the bag over his shoulder.
"Attention Team. Will everyone except Miss Martian, Superboy, and Beast Boy please report to the mission room. The briefing is about to begin."
Betty looked over her shoulder, putting her hands on her hips. "Looks like I'm needed for the first-prong of the attack." She turned back to Conner with a smile and made sure her mask was securely on her face. "I'll see you when you get back, okay?"
"See you later, Betts."
Betty turned to leave but she hesitated at the doorway. A fear buried itself in her chest, one she couldn't pull out with all the force in her body. A fear that couldn't be ignored, a fear for Conner. They had been on separate missions before, but never before had they been on different planets. Rann was an unknown variable, a place full of unknown dangers. Dangers that could be of serious issue to her friend. Her best friend, the person she perhaps trusted most in the world.
Before she knew what was happening, she was turning on her heel and wrapping him in an embrace. Conner seemed shocked at first, arms held out wide and his eyes like golf balls in size.
"I'm serious, Conner. Be safe, okay?"
Conner relaxed in her arms and hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her middle and leaning his head on top of hers.
"I will be. You be safe too, alright?"
"I will be," Betty promised. They stayed that way for a moment more, locked in a friendly embrace, when Betty finally let go, deciding it was time by now she reported to the mission room. She smiled up at him, a wordless exchange of goodbyes remaining unsaid between them, when she turned on her heel to leave.
PHILDELPHIA
JANUARY 4TH 2016 23:05 EST
Mariposa stuck to the side of the Kroletean Zeta tube base, almost glued to the wall as she stuck to the shadows. Nightwing was on the other side of the base, placing the charges that were set to go off on the Zeta tube platform to keep the Krolotean's from Zetaing to Earth in the future from this location. This one was hidden inside an old warehouse just south of Philadelphia's downtown, on the outskirts of the city. On her back was a bag of charges that she would place on the opposite side of the platform, which she was set to place was she got all clear from Wonder Girl that all the hostages were out of the building.
The Krolotean's seemed to have abandoned this base for the most part, as there were no Kroloteans in were most likely humans that the Kroloteans had replaced with animatronics like Secretary General Tseng had been.
Mariposa slipped across the floor to where the large platform was stationed, silent like she had been trained to be. Even though no Kroloteans didn't mean they weren't here. Mariposa took one step out into the light of the warehouse, and then she saw it – the Krolotean on the small floating hoverboard. She frowned and grunted as the Krolotean let out a sound acknowledging her presence and he shot out two shoots of lasers from the hoverboard.
She flipped backward to avoid them, landing in a crouch, one leg extended to the side.
"Mariposa to Alpha," Mariposa said, raising a hand to press on the comn in her ear. "I have engaged one Krolotean, it appears they have no back-up."
"I'm on my way," Nightwing said.
"No, finish setting the charges, I can keep them engaged."
Mariposa raced forward and jumped up to land on the hoverboard, standing in front of the Krolotean as it stood, dumbfounded at her brazenness. They reached for the blaster at their side and raised it to shoot in their two-fingered hand. Mariposa reached for it and managed to get it aimed to the side and away from her, which made the hoverboard curve to the side, and nearly made them both fall to the ground.
She pulled the alien forward by the hand, and she punched him in the clean in the face. The alien fell backwards onto the ground and let out a hissing sound. In the fall, they lost their blaster and it skittered across the floor with a tittering sound. Unfortunately for Mariposa, the hoverboard was activated by a bio-component, meaning it would not work without the Krolotean physiology, making the item fall out of the sky and onto the ground.
She fell to the floor herself and managed to break her fall with her arms extended to meet the floor, and she rolled to the side in her landing. She looked up to see the Krolotean already on their feet, heading towards the Zeta platform. Mariposa hissed in annoyance and stood, running after them with fury and purpose. Mariposa was too slow, as the Krolotean jumped onto the platform and disappeared in a flash of light blue light.
Mariposa sighed and stood, looked down and ashamed of herself for letting them get away.
"The Krolotean escaped. I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Nightwing intoned, but quickly changed the subject. "Wonder Girl are all the abductees out of the building?"
"It appears there are no abductees here," Wonder Girl said, a little amazed. "I think this place is mostly abandoned."
"I think you might be right, Wonder Girl," Nightwing replied. Mariposa stared at the place where the Krolotean had teleported away, and felt the shame continue to rise in her. It was her fault they got away, and who knows what kind of information they could have gotten out of them. She shook her head and reached for the bag of charges over her shoulder. She still had a job to do, she could focus on her failure after the mission was over.
Mariposa kneeled down in front of the Zeta platform and placed the charges on the base, a few inches from each other in a line.
"I've placed my charges," Mariposa said. Nightwing's voice cackled through the comns once again.
"I've also set mine. Rendezvous back at the Super-cycle," Nightwing ordered. Mariposa nodded despite no one being able to see her, and pressed the button to set the charges to go off. They let off a series of small intermittent beeps and Mariposa stood, slinging the now empty bag over her shoulder.
She hurried to the other side of the building, back towards the building, and she saw Nightwing make his way from the other side and exit the building just before she reached the door. She slipped out and rushed to where Super-cycle sat waiting half a mile from the warehouse, and she slid in next to Nightwing and Wonder Girl at the same time that the warehouse went off in an explosion.
She on instinct covered her head in case of debris, even though she was far enough away to be out of the blast zone, and she looked up to see the warehouse was now but an inferno of red and orange fire. Smoke rose in tendrils, and she could smell the musty smell of burnt metal as it wafted towards her from the explosion.
Nightwing pressed the button on his comn to reach the Cave. "Alpha to Cave. One platform, now non-operational. One Krolotean escaped. Zero abductees."
Mariposa knew her failure had to be reported, but it still stung to have it mentioned so casually. Wonder Girl put a hand on her shoulder, to make her feel better, and Mariposa smiled down at her gratefully. Wonder Girl was a sweet girl, one who cared deeply for those around her. She was an empath and Mariposa knew that the girl was picking up on her shame and sadness, and that she would do what she could to make her feel better.
'Thank you', she mouthed, and Wonder Girl beamed up at her.
"And Gamma?" Nightwing asked Mal on the comns, and apparently, he didn't like what he heard because he scowled and put one hand on his hip in annoyance. "What do you mean they've hit the motherload?" Nightwing was silent for a moment and then he sighed, turning back onto Alpha Squad.
"We're headed to New Orleans. Gamma needs our help."
GOTHAM CITY
JANUARY 5TH 00:05 EST
Betty stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a robe and her hair twirled into a towel. She had decided to let it air dry tonight rather than use a blow dryer, but she also didn't want her wet hair to drip all over her things. Aunt Melody was still on the Watchtower, going over parameters for a League mission that was due to start in the coming days, while the Team had been dismissed by Nightwing for the night with a 'good job' and an order for Mariposa to meet him when Zeta returns from Rann.
The business with Gamma in New Orleans had turned out to be that they had happened upon the Krolotean's main base of operations, and thus had to fight off the aliens all while destroying the platform and rescuing the humans. They had managed to pull it off in the nick of time, and the presence of the League and rest of the Team hadn't been needed as they had feared. They had even managed to capture a Krolotean in the madness, which meant that they now had a possible lead as to what the Kroloteans were doing on Earth. Martian Manhunter was to start psychic interrogation in the morning.
Betty sighed and picked a banana off the counter to eat. They had managed to capture a Krolotean, something she had failed at. And they had done it while fighting a whole horde of them, while she had failed in fighting only one. She knew that sometimes you just didn't win, but it still felt like a personal failure on her part.
Because it was, she scolded herself. She had messed up and it was only because of Gamma's success they now had the lead they needed to figure out why the Kroloteans were here. Mere luck had made up for her mistake.
She shook her head and took a bite of her banana. It did no good to dwell on it. All she could do was train harder and hope to be better next time.
Betty turned on the television and sat down on the couch, nibbling on her banana as the late-night news channel droned on about something or other. She mainly put it on for noise so it wasn't so silent in her apartment by herself, she ignored it for several minutes as she thought over what possibly could be waiting for Conner on Rann.
Adam Strange was going with them to Rann, so that meant they had a guide, but even he didn't know all of what was on that planet. He was a tourist, someone who appeared by mistake and didn't even speak the Rannian language.
What if their connection to the League was discovered? What if the fact Conner was a clone of the wanted Superman made him a criminal by association? What if they encountered a creature that Conner just couldn't beat? All of these questions swam around her head, and she couldn't answer them. The las thing she wanted was for her friend to be in trouble, especially on a far-off planet where she couldn't reach him to help.
Betty bit her lip and leaned back against the couch. She had faith in Conner, to face anything that came his way, but just like she had told him earlier, she couldn't help but worry about him. He was one of the most important people in her life no matter how she sliced it, and she hated to imagine a world where he was hurt. Or worse.
Betty stood throw away her banana peel, when suddenly her attention was brought back to the news station in front of her when she a familiar flash of yellow and black on the television, and she had a start when she realized it was a fuzzy picture not of Waspia, but someone else entirely. Someone Betty could not recognize from the grainy outlook of the photo, and how far away the person was when the person took it.
Regardless of all that, she could still tell this was someone else. The hair was still blonde, but it was short and cropped and the suit was much simpler – black pants with a yellow and black striped shirt, yellow boots that went up to the knees.
Betty blinked and turned up the television.
"Reports are coming in tonight of a new vigilante that appears to be going by the name Honeybee, replacing the so-far disappeared hero. It's unknown where this new vigilante appears to hail from or who they are, but Gotham can only hope this Honeybee sticks around for a while."
Betty blinked as the news reporter went on to the next story, but Betty felt the banana peel slip from her fingers and fall to the floor in surprise. No, no, no, no.
Honeybee was hers. Honeybee was hers to hold on to, not for someone else to take on. This was her legacy to hold onto, a piece of herself that she had not taken lightly. A piece of herself that she only shed after she realized she had outgrown it, something she thought would be left in the past…. left in the past with Jason.
Honeybee was Jason's big sister; Mariposa was a different hero. One she could build a new legacy for, one that didn't bring memories of her little brother. Someone who was stronger, better, faster, someone who could actually be there when those who needed her most were in need.
And someone else it seemed was taking on….taking away Honeybee from her. Making it their own.
And she could not let that stand.
TAOS
JANUARY 4TH 21:07 EST
Betty hugged him.
Connor didn't know why he was focusing on this so much. Betty had hugged him so many times before, and he had hugged her too. They were friends. Friends hugged each other; it was just something they did. They embraced when they were happy, they consoled each other when they were sad. And those hugs had never stuck with him like this one had.
But this one…
This one just felt different. Something about the way she had pulled him tight and warned him to be safe rang a strange bell, one that he couldn't stop hearing. It had been sudden, unprompted, a warning to remain safe falling from her lips as she embraced him. It was strange, almost, how this one hug was messing with him.
Because once he realized what was happening, he had wanted to pull her closer and just keep hugging her. Ground them both to the Cave. And he never felt the need to ….. he wasn't sure what this strange feeling in him was, but it certainly didn't bode well. It was causing some kind of change in how he saw Betty, turning her from his best friend into something else. He wasn't sure what else he could possibly see her as, but he didn't want to lose her friendship when she became whatever it was that this change would make.
Conner also desperately wanted to jump headfirst into this change, but he would be damned if he would admit it. To himself or to anyone else.
"Conner? You okay?"
Conner blinked and looked down to see Garfield staring up at him in confusion. Conner shook his head. He must have zoned out, thinking about Betty.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he insisted. Conner pulled the bag on his shoulder higher up and looked over his travel companions. M'gann stood off to the side, speaking with Strange as they prepared for whatever it was that they were going to be facing on Rann. Conner supposed he should be involved in that conversation rather than so focused on Betty, and he cursed himself internally for letting himself get so lost in thought.
Garfield stood next to him, staring at him curiously. Conner smiled back down at him, hoping to convince him that he really was fine.
For any animosity that he might have towards M'gann, he held no ill will for her little brother. Garfield was a kind boy, just shy of fourteen by a few weeks, with a mischievous streak and intelligence to spare. All he wanted was to have fun and help people, and in many ways he reminded Conner of Wally, back when the Team first started. Garfield wasn't complicit in M'gann's mental attacks, he was just a little boy who didn't know what his sister was doing was wrong, and Conner couldn't find himself to fault Garfield for wanting to see the best in M'gann.
M'gann and Strange separated, and walked towards Garfield and Conner. Conner straightened his back respectfully, as Strange simply knew more than them about Rann and Garfield grinned up at Strange.
"When we arrive on Rann, we'll rendezvous with Saradath and his daughter," Strange explained. "From there, we'll explain the plan to him the best we can and then we'll procced from there."
Conner nodded.
"Sounds like a plan!" Garfield exclaimed excitedly.
The four of them entered the Zeta tube, and Strange nodded to Dr. Dorado to start the Zeta tube up for them to travel. Dr. Dorado was one of Strange's friends and colleagues, and he would man the Zeta tube for them to procced to Rann.
Conner shut his eyes as a blue light overtook them, and when he opened them again he was no longer in a Zeta tube at Star Labs. Instead, he was on a different planet.
"Whoa," Garfield whispered. And Conner was inclined to agree with his statement. Rann was a planet coated in a soft blue light, the atmosphere around them having a darkly colored star warming it seemed. The foliage of the planet also seemed to be a blue color, this one much darker, closer to a color of violet. There were skyscrapers of sleek and silver design, decorating the skyline in dotted arrays that seemed to appear randomly in the sky, spread out with seemingly little reason as to their connection to the other.
Conner had never been off Earth before, and he had to say Rann was a nice planet to visit, even with his limited experience with the prospect of intergalactic travel.
Strange motioned out with his hand, and he gave them a half-smile.
"Zeta squad, welcome to Rann."
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." - John15:12
I've been super busy with work and school, so updates are going to be a little slower, especially over the next few weeks as I have two papers due in the coming future.
And what did y'all think of this chapter?
Review Replies:
MsRosePetal: I knew that Betty and M'gann were going to have a different relationship now that she knows what she knows, but I wanted to make it clear that I'm not demonizing M'gann just to get her out of the way for Conner to be with Betty. Betty and M'gann's relationship will be an interesting one over the course of this season. And Mariposa is such a pretty word, and I loved the idea of using it for a superhero name for Betty once she graduated past Honeybee. And I gave Mariposa a little action this chapter, but for the purpose of the story, I needed to have her loose the fight, but she will win some more as we get deeper into the season.
AmEmlg-Chan: Alex ha vuelto y será un personaje divertido para el que escribir! Sería divertido ver a un Conner celoso, ¡y supongo que tendremos que esperar y ver si eso sucede! Gracias, me encantó ver tu reseña en mi bandeja de entrada.
Coco Baldwin: Thank you so much! I love writing it too, so I love recieving feedback that people are enjoying it!
Questions, comments, or concerns? Let me know! Have a blessed day!
-PrincessChess