Summary: Takes place a week and a half or so after the previous chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own DC
Batman called the team together for a mission briefing, but frowned upon realizing his son was still not among them. It has been almost two weeks since his departure, and while that wasn't nearly enough time for what Dick needed, a small part of him had held out hope that the young raven would return. He missed his presence more than he cared to admit.
"This mission is a bit more widespread, but with your victories over the Reach, we trust you to handle it." Kaldur stepped forward.
"We are ready."
"Good. We've recovered intel indicating that newly elected Secretary Lex Luthor has a shipment of Apokoliptian weapons en route through a number of metropolitan cities. Aqualad, Superboy, Miss Martian, you're Alpha. I want you to investigate the most concentrated shipment of goods, and possibly the most dangerous, located in eastern Metropolis. Beast Boy, Lagoon Boy, Robin, Wonder Girl, Batgirl, you're Beta. I want you to investigate movement in Star City. You'll be joined by one of our new members."
"One of?"
"New members?" Bruce waited for everyone to stop talking before stepping to the side.
"Meet Cissie King-Jones, otherwise known as Arrowette, Green Arrow's new protege. And with her comes the newest Green Lantern of Sector 2814, Kyle Rayner." A young, blonde archer in a red suit resembling Artemis's old green one stepped out, followed by a Green Lantern with very little actual green on his uniform. "Arrowette will join Beta. Those of you who have not yet been given assignments will remain here and be on standby in case of further developments. Take the time to welcome Kyle to your ranks. I expect you to be able to handle the new recruits well." Artemis rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. "And one more thing. These shipments are in more urban areas, and seeing as how the public still doesn't put much trust in this covert ops team, you'll each be joined by a Leaguer or two. Alpha, since you have experience with them, I'm sending Zatanna and Rocket to accompany you. Beta, you'll be joined by Green Arrow and Black Canary on site. Good luck, team."
Before they could depart, Artemis approached Bruce. "Batman, I-"
"I know what you want, and I wanted to speak to you privately. We're all very impressed with how far you've come in the past week, so, if you feel you're ready, you may join Alpha on the mission to Metropolis. But, " Bruce placed a hand on Tigress's shoulder, "know that you don't have to rush anything. If you feel you're not mission ready, then don't try and fight that fact. Work towards it naturally, like Dick is."
"Where is Dick?" Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Sometimes, I wish I knew, too."
Dick somersaulted off the high pole, easily flipping in midair numerous times before landing on his feet like a cat. Haly gave a round of applause as he walked forward.
"You haven't lost your touch, kid. Not one bit." He smiled.
"I've gotten a lot of practice."
"Yeah, I'd bet you do with all the dodging bullets and whatnot." His eyes widened a smidge.
"Uh, d-don't know what you mean."
"I saw the news on Blüdhaven, Dick. You joined the police there, right?" He sighed. THAT kinda dodging bullets. Right.
"Y-yeah. Right. You said you had a new group of acrobats?"
"Two of 'em. Two girls, but, uh, they may not get to perform for a few weeks."
"Why?"
"Well…they had a bit of an accident a few weeks ago while practicing, and one of 'em's in the hospital. The other can't really participate without her sister, y'know?"
"Trust me, I get the feeling."
"Well…I could always take her place. J-just for tomorrow's show." Haly thought about it for a bit.
"Actually…that's not a bad idea, Dick. Except…she won't be used to performing with you. SHe and her sister, they work well in sync. A perfect duo." He ran a hand through his hair.
"I'll work on some reps with her, see if we can coordinate in time for tomorrow. Can you call her in?" Haly nodded.
A small, blonde girl walked into the room not long after, and Dick smiled. She was pretty young, around 15 from the looks of things, but he'd started younger so he didn't mind.
"Hi. You must be Jayna. Haly's told me a lot about you. I'm Dick, Dick Grayson. Nice to meet you." The girl smiled and awkwardly shook his hand. Probably not used to meeting many new people. That's alright, neither was Cass.
"Jack told me about you, a-and your family. It was…inspiring." She looked away and tucked hair behind her ear, and he smiled at her.
"From what I hear, you're not half-bad either. I'm…sorry about your sister." She shrugged.
"The doctor said it'd be a few weeks. We're only missing one performance."
"Well, what if you didn't have to?" She looked at him confusedly, and he smiled. "I know we just met, and I'd totally get if you didn't want to, but I could take your sister's place for this one show."
"N-no, you couldn't! I-I mean, I'd only slow you down, a-and I'm already sloppy as is, m-my sister's the better of the two of us, a-and-" He placed a hand on her shoulder to calm him down.
"Jack showed me some of your tapes, Jayna. You're pretty amazing. And don't worry, if you're not feeling up to it, I can offer you some tips, and we could work on the performance together to be more in sync for tomorrow." She smiled meekly, and Dick grinned in response. "Alright, let's see what we're working with here."
Robin tripped over his own ankle, falling to the ground and dropping his staff. Dick frowned and paused the training sim to help the young bird up.
"You got farther than last time, but you need more focus. Let your senses guide you, not your analytics." Tim tore off his mask and growled, tossing it to the side and storming off. Dick followed him. "Tim!"
"I'm sorry, okay?! I thought I could be like you, be a hero, but I can't! It's impossible." Dick walked up next to him as he entered his room in the cave and frowned. He sat down next to him on the cot.
"You've made great progress over the past week, Tim. And I think you know it. So what's really bothering you here?" The Boy Wonder shut his eyes, and Dick realized immediately what was wrong. "You miss your parents."
"Y-yeah. I do. I-I'm sorry-"
"Don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for. I get it, I've been there." He frowned.
"N-no…not really. Your parents were perfect, th-they were always there for you. I wish I had that. Mine…mine did their best but…my dad fell in with Two Face, a-and my mom was never really around...always working…" Dick rubbed his back.
"They were there when it counted. And I know that cuz I know what kind of person you are. They did right by you, so they couldn't have been all bad." He smiled softly but was still looking down.
Dick rubbed his shoulders and smiled to himself. Tim needed someone more than just a teacher, he needed a brother. He needed someone who could be there for him. Bruce was still not over the previous Robin's passing, and as sweet as Barbara or Alfred were, they didn't really get him the way Dick could.
So Dick pulled his little brother into a headlock and smiled, ruffling his hair. "Don't worry, big shot. I'll watch over you from now on." Tim grinned and broke out of the headlock, swatting at Dick.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Aqualad had M'gann set up the mind-link before they went into the warehouse for recon, and M'gann was busy watching Artemis like a hawk. Thanks to her heightened telepathic senses, she could practically see the anxiety radiating off of her best friend.
But even with their recent losses and lack of, ahem, Dick, having the original crew assembled here just felt…right. Like they belonged together.
-There are too many for us to take on in a head-on assault, even with Superboy's strength-
-So what's the plan?-
-Tigress, Zatanna, you two take position on the northwest corner. Miss Martian and Rocket on the northeast. Superboy, you and I will stay back for now. Miss Martian and Tigress, I want you to silently pick off the snipers. Rocket and Zatanna, watch their backs and deal with the automated defenses. Once those two have been taken care of, Superboy and I will go in to begin the assault-
-Understood-
-Copy that-
No response from Tigress.
-Artemis, are you alright?- She snapped back to the present and nodded.
-Y-yeah. Yeah, sorry. Pick off the snipers, I'm on it- Kaldur didn't seem to believe her, but he nodded nonetheless.
-Execute-
Zatanna and Artemis snuck past the first wave of troops and onto the upper walkway, where Tigress swiftly and somewhat brutally subdued two snipers. Zatanna winced at her extreme attacks before muttering a spell to deconstruct the nearby turret. She walked after Artemis, who had knocked out the remaining two guards brutally, and frowned.
"Arty…" She placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder.
"Yeah?" Zatanna turned Artemis to face her, pulling her in for a tight hug
"I know this doesn't mean much but…I miss him, too. If you need someone to talk to-"
"We've been talking, Zee. But I…I still miss him. H-how did you cope, when Dick was gone?" She rubbed her shoulder.
"I didn't do it well. I tried to find someone else, and that didn't exactly end well. Other than that, I…I tried not to think about him much because I couldn't really stand it. But you're stronger than I was. You'll make it past this, and I'll be there to help you through it every step of the way."
Artemis closed her eyes and smiled, hugging her even tighter.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Zee smiled.
"I know." They both laughed and Artemis smacked her arm.
"You're too much like Dick." Zatanna's smile wavered, and Artemis realized her mistake. "Zee, I'm sorry. I-I didn't-"
"I-it's alright. He'll be back. He promised he'd be back. I'm fine with waiting for him until then…he's worth it." The elder girl smiled and hugged her.
"Wherever that bitch is…I know he's thinking the same about you."
Dick and Jayna had spent the better chunk of a day and a half practicing and coordinating with each other, and the elder was incredibly impressed with his new partner. She was a natural and with her current rate of improvement, she could probably outdo him in time.
He had to admit, practicing with her brought back nostalgia with training Robin. While he wasn't ready to return just yet, he did miss his little sparring sessions with his younger brother quite a bit.
He smiled as he heard the familiar sounds of the crowd cheering on the opening acts, and he turned to Jayna to rub her hair. "You ready?"
She smiled. "Definitely."
"Where's your sister? I still haven't gotten a chance to meet her." She opened the curtains a tiny sliver and pointed to a young blonde in the crowd. She had a cast around her leg and was smiling brightly at the act.
"This is her first time being in the audience. I hope she'll like it."
"Trust me, with how you've been doing today, she'll love it."
The performance went on a bit longer, and eventually it was their turn to go. Dick rubbed Jayna's shoulder and smiled. "It's time." She grinned before following him out.
"And now, to round out our night with a spectacular finale, I present to you, the Soaring Sensations!" The pair walked up to opposite ends of the stage, getting on the opposing platforms, and they leapt off to begin the act as the crowd roared.
Jayna was the first to let go of her trapeze, spiraling in midair before being caught by Dick as he swung past. He flipped her up just in time to catch the bar as it came back around before leaping off his own bar and performing a somersault move in midair, landing on the platform with ease and allowing himself to drop off just in time for Jayna to catch him on her way around.
They moved in perfect sync, like two birds dancing together in the sky.
It reminded Dick of the performances he used to give over ten years ago. So carefree, so untethered, so in unison.
As the two prepared for the grand finale, Dick winked at Jayna. She rubbed her neck before leaping off to be caught by him in midair. He transferred her onto his trapeze before dropping off and letting her catch him by the legs, effectively swapping positions with her. She moved him over to the other trapeze, and he caught it as she let go of his hands, allowing him to swing to the other side. As they came around for their final maneuver, both acrobats leapt off their respective swings simultaneously. Dick performed a quadruple backflip in midair before landing on his platform, and he turned quickly to look at Jayna. They had been practicing this move for hours, but she had only landed it twice.
Jayna leapt off of her trapeze and, in a move close to what Grayson had performed, landed a quadruple backflip before dropping to her feet on the opposite platform. Dick smiled widely and began clapping for her as the crowd erupted in applause. She had actually done it.
She had performed his family's signature move.
"Jayna, that was amazing!" He hugged her tightly and ruffled her hair. She giggled.
"Thank you, f-for teaching me that." He smiled.
"Thank you for learning it. Other than me, you're the only person left on Earth who can do that move successfully." She beamed at him.
"Until you teach my sister, you mean."
Dick frowned a bit, rubbing the back of his neck, and Jayna's grin dissipated in worry.
"You will teach my sister, right?" He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Jayna, I…I'm leaving. I talked it out with Haly before the show, and…the answers I'm looking for…I won't find them here. I'm sorry." She looked down and closed her eyes.
"I…I understand." He felt horrible.
"B-but I'll still visit! I promise, I'll come to see your shows, and I know you'll do great. It's just…I really need to find what I'm after, and I can't do that here, no matter how hard I try. But please, I want you to know this: " Dick tilted her head up to lock eyes with her and smiled, "teaching you helped. A lot. You remind me of my brother, and I'm really grateful you gave me a chance with you yesterday."
The girl wiped her eyes and smiled sorrowfully at him before crushing him in a hug.
"Thank you, f-for trusting me with your family's moves. A-and for helping me. I'll make you proud, I promise." He smiled and rubbed her head.
"I know you will."
Dick knocked on Olivia's tent and rubbed his neck when she came to answer it. Upon seeing him in his jacket and jeans, she knew what was going on.
"You're leaving?" He nodded.
"Yeah, I…I still need to find what I'm looking for. O, it's been great, seeing you again. I'll be back to visit, I promise." She smiled.
"I'm sorry about your friend. And I hope you find what you're looking for." Dick nodded.
"Yeah, me too. Stay safe, Olivia."
"Only if you do, Dick." He stepped back and smiled at her one last time before getting on his bike and riding off.
As he left the bright lights and loud noises of Haly's Circus behind him, Dick sighed. Visiting his old home had helped, a lot, but it wasn't what he needed. He needed to confront Wally's death to deal with it, but he still didn't know where to start.
He found his thoughts drifting off to the hours preceding the young speedster's demise. He had been in Rome, with Zatanna. Being there had felt nice before, maybe it would hold some similar comfort over him now. Besides, he was starting to miss the sorceress quite a bit, so…
"Rome it is." Dick sped up his bike as he made his way to the nearest Zeta port.
The last two chapters were pretty weak, but I'll try to rectify that soon. The next posting should wrap up this arc more or less, and after that is where the fun begins. As always, thank you for the support with this story and for sticking around even when it can be less than desired. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.