Hoo boy, do I have a story to tell. Pretty much three days after I posted the last chapter, my laptop broke and I had no computer to write on. Which, sucky in and of itself but I had to save up money to buy a new hard drive and get this guy to replace my old one, which clearly took a while. I really wanted this to be a double update, and I have another chapter in the works but I am currently smack in the middle of my midterms, and this was honestly written out of fits of procrastination. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by Friday, and then I'm hoping to work out a regular upload schedule where I post every Sunday, but please forgive me if the next chapter isn't up by then. As usual, let me know what you think and I'll see you next time!
GOTHAM
August 3, 08:01 EST
The pavement was slick with rain beneath my feet as I ran, Carla an arm's length behind me. Of course she had the crazy idea to rob one of the most notorious gangs in the underground, and she had almost gotten away with it. Key word being almost.
I paused as I felt her slow to a stop behind me, and turned to see a large patch of red blooming across the white of her dress. I felt my face go slack with horror, "Carla?"
She pressed a hand to her stomach, breathing in short, rapid gasps, "Arabella, I need you to run."
I shook my head viciously, "I'm not leaving you, we need to get you to someone!"
She gave me a sad smile, "I'm not going to make it five more blocks, let it go and get somewhere safe."
"Then we'll break into an empty house or apartment, someone's got to have a medical kit. I can try to fix it," I held her free hand in my own, desperate to save her.
"Goddamn it Ara, you're still a little kid! Get the hell out of here before Andrei finds you, it's my fault you're in this mess in the first place. Just go, before you see something you won't forget."
My head was swirling with ideas and possibilities, each less likely than the one before it, "I'm not going to let you die alone in a back alley! Please Carla, I can't lose you."
She seemed to pick up on the unsaid 'too' on the end of that sentence, and she slumped against the wall, the front of her dress nearly entirely red. Looking closer, I could see she had more than one bullet wound, counting at least six jagged holes in her dress. Choking on a sob, I wrapped my arms around her. She started to collapse to the ground, and I tried to lower her down slowly as her bigger frame engulfed me. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks, nearly identical to the feeling of her blood on my hands.
"Carla please, please hold on!"
"You've been good to me kid," the words were followed by a sharp intake of breath, "even though I didn't deserve it. Even though I've done terrible, stupid things."
"No more than I have, please Carla. Stay with me, you can't leave me!"
"Rule one, Ara," her eyes fluttered closed and I felt a rush of panic as the sound of police sirens grew closer and closer, "never tell me what to do."
Then there was a gurgle in the back of her throat and a rattle, and her entire body seemed to go limp. I whimpered, calling out her name, "Carla?"
She didn't answer and I started to shake her, calling louder and louder. This wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening. She promised me she would never leave me. I let out a loud, mourning wail, folding myself over her body, shaking with sobs.
The sound of sirens was next to me now, and I felt strong hands on my shoulders, "hey, hey kid! Get away from her."
I swatted viciously at the man, curling as close to Carla as I could get. I was feral, so, so desperate to stay with her, not to leave her. Another set of arms pulled me up off the ground as I began to kick and fight. I wouldn't let them take me from her, I wouldn't. They'd have to knock me out and drag me away…
I woke up with a sudden start, eyes snapping open. I could feel tears on my face, and I swore I could feel blood on my hands. I ran for my bathroom, turning on the shower as hot as I could take and started scrubbing my arms. The rough edges of the loofah scraped and I basked in the sensation, rubbing my forearms and hands raw. I finally just stood under the spray, letting the water sting my skin red as I tried to process everything. She would have been twenty-one by now, if her life hadn't been cut short trying to steal Andrei Asimov's money from right under his own nose. Twenty-one.
I eventually started to move, going through the motions of a shower while trying not to think, and I returned to my room, slipping on my usual outfit of shorts and a tank top with a sports bra underneath. Selina hated it, but I preferred function to fashion. Though I could appreciate beautiful clothing, wearing it twenty-four-seven isn't practical.
The smell of burning eggs had me making my way to the kitchen, where Selina stood over the stove humming. I raised an eyebrow, "what's this about?"
She turned to me, "good morning Minou! How did-" she cut herself off, a hand coming up to grasp my chin so she could properly examine my face. Her eyes narrowed, "you've been crying."
I detatched her hand from my face, "I might have had a tiny nightmare."
She froze, whisk hitting the side of the bowl of what looked to be pancake batter, "I thought you stopped having those."
I dropped my gaze to the floor, "I did, they just kind of… started again."
"When?"
I cringed, "about a month ago or so?"
She turned away from the bowl entirely to face me, "it's that team, for whatever reason you're having nightmares because you joined it. I knew I shouldn't have let you-"
I interrupted her, "there was nothing you could or can do to stop me from being a part of the Team and you know it."
"If it's negatively impacting your mental health I sure as hell can do whatever I please."
"Selina, mom, I'm fine. It was just that one about Carla again, something probably just subconsciously reminded me of her yesterday."
"I still don't understand why you refuse to see a therapist or psychiatrist."
I snorted, "have some shrink poking around inside my head? No thank you, there's nothing wrong with me." I didn't throw in that I was the smallest bit scared as to what someone might find in my head, and I was reminded of what Black Canary had told me when she first met me. "There's a lot of darkness in you for someone so young. That's something you'll have to learn to deal with and control for the rest of your life, never let it win Arabella."
I moved the eggs off the burner, "anyway, this seems like a bit of an exercise in futility, we both know you can't cook. Mama Rossi's for breakfast?" I was already moving to the door for my leather jacket and converse, throwing my hair up in a messy ponytail.
Selina sighed in relief, flicking the utensils she had been using in the sink, "we're not done with this conversation, but yes thank god."
MOUNT JUSTICE
August 3, 13:06 EDT
We were all leaned over the floating air hockey table as Wally kicked Kaldur's ass for the third time in a row. Kaldur had never played before, and M'gann was excited to learn another Earthen game so we had been using it as a way to pass the time, praise god for holograph technology.
I turned my head as the automated voice announced someone's arrival, "recognized, Superboy B-05".
Superboy appeared in a burst of golden light, a sullen look on his face. Well, more sullen than usual, there's a reason I refer to this kid as the Angst Machine. He stomped through the table, making it disappear. M'gann greeted him with an overly chipper tone, "hi Superboy! How was Metropolis?"
He ignored her completely, walking a good few feet away from us. Before M'gann could look like a kicked puppy, Black Canary cleared her throat as she entered the room. "Ready for training everyone?"
I grinned, training with BC was always fun, and I always learned something. Though to be fair the second was true of most if not all of the members of the Justice League. M'gann greeted the two of them as well, rushing forward to hug her uncle.
He returned the hug and laid a hand on her shoulder, "M'gann, I was… in the neighbourhood so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting."
She smiled, "a few bumps, but… I'm learning!"
He returned the smile, "that's all I can ask."
Superboy made to leave during the exchange, but Black Canary called out to him, "stick around, class is in session."
He turned, arms crossed and looking pissed off. I could immediately tell this was about to go from fun to 'watch the room blow up'.
BC strode to the center of the sparring area and it glowed a bright white as it activated. She turned to face us, hands grasping her jacket, "I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you, everything I've learned from my own mentors," she began to shrug her jacket off, wincing in visible pain as a bandage on her arm was revealed, "and my own bruises."
"What happened?" M'gann asked, concern painting her features.
"The job," Black Canary answered succinctly. "Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. I'll need a sparring partner."
I stepped forward without really thinking about it, and she smiled, "you're up first Catgirl?"
I shrugged, handing my whip off to Rob, "you know me, always ready to get a few punches in."
Her smile turned to a smirk, "we'll see about getting punches in."
I walked towards the center of the circle, maintaining enough distance so she would have to step forward to attack. Despite the reacting versus acting shit, I knew she wanted me to make the first move so she could spin it around on me.
She came in for a right hook and I ducked, coming back up to try and drive my fist into her stomach. She caught my hand, making to throw me over her shoulder. Instead, I ran in a circle, like a human skip-it and freed my hand from her grip. She was going for grapples and throws, so I'd have to use my weight against her as well as her own.
We went on like this for about thirty seconds before she caught me in the ribs, I screwed up my face more than necessary and she paused for a half second to assess what damage she might have done. I used the delay to hook my foot around her ankle and trip her, though she regained her balance before she could fall.
Narrowing her eyes, she grabbed my arm lightning-fast and expertly threw me over her shoulder. I attempted to press close to her so I could stick the landing but I ended up flat on my back. A little notification popped up next to me announcing my failure.
She nodded firmly as I stood up, "a minute and forty-five seconds, not bad."
"But she fought dirty," M'gann protested.
"Newsflash Sunshine," I said as I dusted my legs off, "when you're actually out there fighting bad guys, they're going to play dirty. Such is life."
I made my way back to our little group as Black Canary faced us again, "anyone else up for it?"
Wally waved his hand in the air, "right here! Yeah." His words were muffled by the banana in his mouth, he took a last bite as he spoke, "after this, swish," the peel hit the garbage can, "I'll show you my moves."
His tone was ridiculously suggestive and I buried my face in my hands, "tell me he did not just say that."
"Oh he did," Rob assured.
Black Canary moved so quick I could barely process the movement, a punch to the face for distraction and then she swept down low, knocking his feet out from under him. He fell on his back hard, groaning as the floor announced his status as failed. He moved his head to face the ceiling, "hurts so good."
"Good block," she commented, "but did anyone see what he did wrong?"
Rob lifted an index finger, "ooh, ooh! He hit on teacher and got served?"
"Dude!" Wally hissed, clutching his arm in pain.
"He allowed me to dictate the terms-"
Superboy cut her off, "oh please. With my powers the battle's always on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time."
I whistled low, muttering under my breath, "you think hitting on teacher is bad? What happens when you violently disrespect teacher?"
Black Canary smirked again, narrowing her eyes, "prove it."
He power walked towards her, refolding his arms and Wally made the smart decision to quickly back away. They both struck stances, and he threw a punch, she dodged it effortlessly, grabbing his arm and flinging him to the ground. I winced, I knew Superboy's fighting style was akin to that of a battering ram, hard, heavy hits that he kept coming, but involved no real amount of technique or forethought. But this? This was just embarrassing.
Robin laughed, and Kaldur elbowed him in the side as I cut him a sharp look. He stifled it behind his hands, but it was still obnoxious. Superboy got back up, practically shaking with anger, rage seeming to seep from his pores.
"You're angry, good," Black Canary said, "but don't react. Channel that anger into-"
He cut her off with a growl and a strike, coming forward to punch her in the face again. She flipped over him, kicking his legs out from under him from behind. He growled in frustration and Rob snickered again, and I pinched his arm. Admittedly I could see the humor in the whole situation, but Superboy was clearly pissed for some unseen reason and laughing at him wasn't going to help the situation.
Black Canary stretched out a hand to help him up, and he swatted it away. "That's it! I'm done."
She rested a hand on his shoulder, "training is mandatory." He violently shook her hand from him, but before he could snap at her again there was a siren as Bruce's face appeared on a ridiculously large holoscreen.
"Batman to the Cave, five hours ago a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying and then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combattant."
"Whoa," Wally breathed, "one guy with the powers of the entire League?"
"In the end," Bats continued, "it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."
"An android?" Rob asked, "w-wait, who made it? T.O Morrow?"
"Good guess, Robin," Batman said, "but Red Tornado doesn't think so?"
"So what other crazy robot scientists do we know of?" I asked.
"The technology bears the signature of… Professor Ivo," Martian Manhunter commented.
"Ivo?" Kaldur asked, "but Ivo's dead."
"So we all thought," Black Canary said grimly, "or hoped."
"To make sure this threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate STAR Labs facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation." Batman continued, "Every precaution is being taken, we'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone, tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."
"Yes!" Wally whooped, "road trip!"
I made eye contact with Rob, raising an eyebrow, 'same team?' He nodded his assent and Wally glared at us, "will you two cut out that silent communication thing? It's creepy!"
Superboy looked less than pleased, "so now we take out your trash?"
I pressed my lips together into a line, one does not simply speak to Batman like that unless you'd like to be murdered. And on top of that, this was so much more than taking out trash.
To Bruce's credit he responded cooly, narrowing his eyes, "did you have something better to do?" Superboy averted his eyes, and that was that.
There was a beep from Kaldur's GPS thingy and he spoke, "coordinates received, on our way."
I grinned as we ran to the hangar, "does this mean we get to use the motorcycles? I love the motorcycles."
LITCHFIELD COUNTY
August 3, 20:08 EDT
I was practically humming with excitement as we waited for the signal, hands wrapped loosely over the grips of the motorcycle handles, finger gently tracing the throttle. I loved the rush when I was driving, made infinitely more fun by being able to go as fast as I pleased. It growled beneath me, engine warming as we waited for the go-ahead.
I grinned, pulling on the clutch and putting the bike into first gear as Batman turned towards us. He gave the signal and the trucks started to pull out, Robin, Superboy and I turning right towards New York. About five minutes later, the three decoys turned into a separate lane and we continued following the truck.
Rob pulled up next to me and Superboy, the three of us driving side by side. "If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster the opposite of aster? See, instead of things going wrong, they go right."
I shook my head, Dick regularly voiced shower thoughts out of nowhere, it was just how his brain worked. It was of the many interesting things about him I liked, but was hardly relevant to the task at hand.
Superboy stared ahead without speaking, and Rob turned to look at him. "Uh, clearly you're not feeling the aster, what's wrong?"
Superboy shifted his eyes towards us, "Canary. I mean what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super-strength?"
I felt my eye twitch a little, irritation rising in my stomach. Rob seemed to sense this and spoke before I could, "taking down stronger guys is part of the gig. Canary learned that the hard way, same with Batman and, well, me."
"Not to mention," I interjected, "combat is always something that can be improved, you're always going to have something to learn from someone. Rob and I have been training with Bats and Catwoman for years now, but we still attend Canary's lessons because they're about learning to fight smarter, not about the basics. And no offense, you could stand to learn something from her."
Superboy cut me a glare and revved his engine, pulling ahead of us. I shared a look with Robin and sighed, this was going to be a long drive.
I nearly swerved off the road as the sound of high-pitched, manic laughter filled the air, louder than the sound of my engine. Little green monkeys, no, androids shaped like monkeys, flew out of the corn fields and landed on the back of the truck. I heard Kaldur's voice on the comms, "Robin, Catgirl, Superboy! Our truck is under attack!"
"Kind of figured!" Robin answered, and I pulled ahead towards the truck, switching into higher gear.
Superboy's voice was more of a growl as he spoke, "I hate monkeys."
"Have you ever even seen monkeys?" I asked and he glared back at me. I pulled further ahead still, trying to see if I could hit some of the androids with my bullwhip. The monkeys started to beat at the window, and the truck swerved as the driver seemed to panic.
"Robot monkeys!" Rob called with a laugh, "totally Ivo's tweak style!" He switched to battle mode and I followed suit, the back of our bikes detaching and floating up above us. It was a new technology he had designed and was obscenely proud of, inspiration striking after a Power Rangers marathon. He turned to Superboy, "hey ace! Switch your ride to battle mode."
"No point," Superboy answered, flinging himself up off his bike and landing on the roof of the truck.
The bike fell, hurtling towards us due to the sudden drop in acceleration, "or not!" Rob yelled, jumping up off his seat. I did too, the clang of my bike hitting theirs ringing in my ears. I ended up desperately latching onto Rob's back as he line-launched to the truck, having nothing to wrap my whip around.
I detached from him as we hit the back of the truck, feet resting on the narrow ledge between the truck doors and empty air, claws dug into the metal in an attempt to stay on. "There are safe fucking ways to jump from one moving vehicle to another, Supey!"
He didn't respond as we started to fend off the monkeys, me using one clawed hand to rip gashes in their bodies. I narrowly dodged Rob's leg as he kicked away one that was about to jump on my back, I breathed a rushed thanks, grabbing one by the tail and flinging it under the wheel of the truck.
The battle drones were firing lasers into the fray, and I flipped out of the way of one as Superboy bellowed in pain. I watched, mouth wide open as the monkeys picked him up and flew him off the truck, dropping him in the road. The loud booming noises from behind us informed me he was jumping his way back to the truck, and I climbed on top of the car, pulling Rob up with my free hand.
We started fighting through the horde, and I swiftly decapitated one while a large thump rocked the truck as Superboy landed next to us. Rob fell back, and I let out a yelp of horror as I steadied him. There was another thump from beneath us and to the right, the tires exploding. The stupid monkeys had laser-beamed the wheels.
Rob flipped down to the windshield, yelling at the driver, "get out!" The door popped open and he flung himself and the driver into the corn field, and my eyes widened as the truck started to tip.
I didn't have time to jump off, instead I took my chances and flung myself down the little hole the monkeys had made, trying to situate myself away from the engine. Digging my claws into the metal, I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the truck roll and roll and roll, finally coming to a resounding stop. The doors at the back blasted open, the miniature explosion punctuated with more laughing from the monkeys as they flew off with the parts. I yanked my claws from the metal, woozy as I landed on my feet.
The truck moved yet again, as I realized Superboy was underneath it and had pushed it off him. I fell over, smacking my head off the metal of the 'floor'. Shaking my head to clear it, I scrambled out of the gaping hole in the back and staggered towards Rob, clutching my temple as I felt a migraine start up.
He turned towards me, letting the driver stand. I waved a hand, indicating I didn't need help but he rushed forward anyway. "Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"
I shook my head, "some eyebrow hair singed off, some bumps and bruises, the usual."
Superboy growled and took off after the monkeys, doing his super-jump thing. "Superboy!" Rob called, trying to get him to come back.
"Well there's going to be some unexplained crop circles in the near future," I muttered.
Kaldur's voice came over on the comms, "Aqualad to Robin, we lost our cargo, did you?"
He sighed, pressing on the earpiece to respond, "it's gone. And so is Superboy."
"Aqualad to Superboy, radio your position, we'll help you."
Superboy's voice was rough with anger, "I don't need help! Don't want any!"
A second or two passed and Aqualad called again, "Superboy?"
"I think he ditched his comm," Rob said.
"Super!" Wally complained, "now we can't even track him!"
"He's out of my telepathic range," M'gann said sadly, "this Professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead us." Doubt and worry filled her voice, "maybe we should contact Red Tornado?"
"Tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves," Kaldur replied, "and the mission can still succeed if we recover the parts before they're reassembled."
"Oh that's a great plan," Wally said sarcastically, "except for the part about us not knowing where to look!"
"Wally," I interjected, "take a deep breath, maybe pop some Xanax."
"Maybe we do," Rob said, kneeling in front of a monkey carcass and yanking out his USB cable.
I raised an eyebrow, kneeling next to him, "what sort of scheme is that beautiful brain of yours coming up with?"
"We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked," he said, typing away at his holo-computer, "so how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?" His face broke out into a wide grin as a map appeared above his arm, "ha! The parts have GPS! The monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track them with the one I captured. Looks like both sets of parts are converging on… " his expression grew surprised and grim, "Gotham City."
I blinked, a small stab of fear making itself known in my stomach. Aqualad spoke again, "that far south? M'gann and I won't get there any time soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you, Aqualad out."
Rob stood, slinging the monkey over his shoulder. I did as well, dusting myself off and waiting for Rob to call his bike over. Mine was totalled, I'd have to ride with him. I examined my claws, making sure they were in working order and then crossed my arms, "we're gonna kick his ass."
The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, "we kind of have to, don't we?"
I nodded, "this just got personal, and I'll be quite happy to let Ivo know just what I think about his choice in bases of operation."
"Sometimes I forget just how much you love Gotham."
"Let's make sure Ivo doesn't forget."
The bike pulled up and he climbed on, "sounds like a plan."
I clambered on behind him, bracing my arms on his shoulders. "Then what are we waiting for?"
"Stop as soon as we can to change into our suits?"
"Oh god, yes please."
"Okay, if your cape hits me in the face one more time, we're pulling over and I'm driving."
"Learn to duck."
"Ducking isn't the problem, it's your ridiculous suit design!"
"Hey, don't rag on the cape, it's beautiful."
We pulled past Gotham city limits, and I turned in surprise as Wally ran up behind us, coming to run next to the bike in his Kid Flash gear. "So you changed too?" Rob asked.
"You kidding?" He shuddered, "I feel naked in civvies. You still tracking the parts?"
"They were heading through Gotham," Rob turned back to the map, "but they veered. Wait, dude, they're at my school!"
My head snapped up, "what the hell are they doing at school? It's closed for the summer, no one's there. And it's not like they keep state secrets at Gotham Academy."
"No clue, could be a coincidence, we just have to get there as soon as possible."
He revved the engine and we sped up, zooming into the heart of Gotham as Wally ran behind us. I heard shouts of our names as people recognized us, but Rob's eyes were on the map, focused on getting us to the school as quick as possible.
"If you take a left on Gardiner and cut across the alleyway you'll get there faster!" I shouted over the wind and engine.
"Isn't that a dead-end?" He called back.
"Not unless street and sidewalk repair hired a guy that can fix gaping holes in brick buildings in forty-eight hours, there was a small explosion there yesterday."
"Only in Gotham are there convenient and random small explosions," Wally complained from behind us.
"Don't talk shit just because Central City's boring," I teased, "random attacks on random places give Gotham character."
We raced through the streets, driving through the aforementioned gaping hole and pulling up to Gotham Academy, Dick and I's school and my personal hell-hole, filled with nothing but the rich and preppy children of surgeons, lawyers, senators and oil tycoons.
Taking off through the school, Rob called ahead to KF, "He's in the gym!"
"Right!"
He tore off ahead of us and I turned to Robin whilst running, "hey do you think they'll extend vacation if the building gets enough damage done to it?"
He snorted, "let's pray."
We banged through the gym doors, and placed our backs against them as Wally ran a very beat-up Superboy over to us. "There you are, next time you want to take a leave of absence maybe still take your comm with you?" I asked.
He growled and Rob flung a birdarang at Amazo. He turned to us, "Martian Manhunter."
The birdarang went right through him, exploding against the far wall. I grabbed the handle of my whip, uncoiling it with a little flick, "anyone else find his voice ridiculously fucking creepy?"
Superboy staggered to his feet, "the effect wears off."
"Access, Red Tornado," we flew across the gym as Amazo came flying towards us RT-style, and my head hit the corner of a bleacher. The pain made my vision go black for a second, and when I reached up, my glove came back slick with blood.
"Well that can't be good," I muttered, hoping the colour of my hair would disguise the blood until this was all over.
"Access, Captain Atom," Wally dodged an atom beam, running around to Amazo's other side. "Access, Black Canary," the piercing sound of a Canary Cry shook the gym, and Wally was sent flying backwards as I clapped my hands over my ears, almost taking out my ear pieces.
Superboy flew towards Amazo, hellbent on beating the shit out of him, "Superman," Amazo said as he caught Superboy's fist and punched him dead in the face, sending him flying back into the bleachers.
"Martian Manhunter," Rob flung more birdarangs at him, but he detached his hands from his arms, whipping the thick cable at us.
I dodged, rolling to the side as Amazo wrapped his arms around KF, crushing him with super-strength. "Hey!" I yelled, making to run and distract him.
Instead he turned his head as the sound of an arrow whistled through the air, "Martian Manhunter."
The arrow flew through him as he density shifted, making Wally hit the ground at his feet. I whipped my head to see where it came from, but there was nothing but blackness. The arrow hit the ground next to Rob, and Wally took off as Superboy came up behind Amazo. "Access, Black Canary," he flicked Superboy over his shoulder, using one of BC's signature throws. Rob sent a birdarang his way, but it missed as Amazo turned.
"Superman," his eyes glowed red, sending a ray of heat vision towards Rob. I yelled his name, breathing a sigh of relief as Wally tackled him out of the way.
"Hey big guy!" I called, "back the fuck off!" I flicked my whip, wrapping it around Amazo's neck while he was distracted and giving it a sharp tug.
The android stumbled some, and then faced me, "access, The Flash." He ran at me, grabbing me by the ponytail before I could move and swinging me around in the air before letting me go.
I had the short sensation of flying before I hit the wall face-first. My ribs and nose screamed in pain and I felt myself crumple to the ground. Trying to blink away the black at the edges of my vision, I pushed myself up by my forearms, and surveyed the room. Suddenly I noticed Ivo lounging on the bleachers, and paused to think, my brain sluggish.
Said Professor fake-yawned in boredom, "normally Amazo would study and mimic your abilities during battle, but what's the point? You're all such poor copies of the originals."
"So everyone keeps saying," Superboy replied, "it makes me angry!" The last word was punctuated with a super-jump, and he landed where Ivo had been only seconds before. "Wanna see me channel that anger?!"
"Great! He's gone ballistic again," Wally complained.
"Maybe not," Robin said as I made my way next to them. And I had to agree, Superboy was pissed off, but he wasn't out of control. I could recognize the sensation, it was something Selina had taught me to do. Get pissed off and put it behind your punch, but don't let it make you stupid.
Ivo skittered away, "Amazo, protect your master! Priority Alpha!"
"Access, Captain Atom," Superboy got an atom beam to the face and I winced.
"Anyone wanna play keep away?" Rob yelled, Sparta-kicking Ivo in the back, sending him flying across the gym.
"Ooh! Me! Me!" Wally said, running towards Ivo.
"Access, Superman," Amazo stomped, causing a fissure in the ground that made Wally flip through the air onto the bleachers.
"Sounds like fun to me!" I said with a grin, wrapping my whip around Ivo's torso as he stood. I gave a strong tug, making him come towards me. He received a kick to the ribs that made him slide across the gym floor.
Rob threw a birdarang at Amazo, and he density shifted again. Except this time, as he did so Superboy went in for a punch, and when he regained physical form Superboy's fist was through his head. Which then promptly exploded.
Amazo fell to the ground with a clunk, and Rob rushed forward, "help me disassemble him, now!"
Wally walked forward, arms crossed and tone almost lackadaisical, "dude, the guy has no head."
"Don't take any chances," Aqualad said as he and Miss Martian ran into the gym,
"Oh about damn time!" I called, walking over to help Rob take the android apart. Thankfully, taking apart robots required infinitely less skill and knowledge than putting them together.
Miss Martian flew over to Superboy, hooking her hands around his arm, "Superboy, are you alright?"She was so blatantly into him, I had a hard time figuring out how no one had really noticed.
"I'm fine," he turned to Rob, "feeling the aster." They shared a smile, and I grinned too.
"They call those back-formations you know," I yawned, cutting a thicker wire with my claw.
"Cool! See Kid? Totally told you they were a thing," Rob said.
"Yeah, and not to tone down the amazingness of that discovery but where did Ivo go?"
My head snapped up, and I scanned the room, only to find an empty gym. "Well," I drawled, "that can't be good."
MOUNT JUSTICE
August 3, 01:06 EDT
"The Amazo android is in pieces again," Kaldur said to Batman, Red Tornado, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter and GA, "safely being analyzed at the two separate STAR Labs. But Ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android."
"Capturing the Professor will be a League priority," Black Canary assured.
"But we understand your mission encountered… other complications," Martian Manhunter commented.
We all turned to look at Superboy, who looked away. Batman stepped forward, "complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League."
"The whole League?" Superboy asked, it was a pointed question.
"Given time, yes," Bats answered, "Kryptonians as you know, have very hard heads." Superboy smiled a little, and Batman continued, "of course there's no shame in asking for help. That's why the League exists, because there's some problems even we can't handle individually."
"Please!" Rob interjected, "if we needed help we'd never get the chance to ask!" He pulled the arrow from earlier out from god-knows-where, "look familiar? You were following us! Babysitting, you still don't trust us!"
I hadn't stopped to consider the meaning of the arrow, I was just grateful KF hadn't been crushed to death, though now the green feathers of the arrow alerted me to just who it belonged to. Before I could get irritated, Batman spoke again, "we didn't follow you."
Green Arrow pulled one of his arrows out of his quiver, holding the two side-by-side. His was made of different, lighter-coloured wood, the shaft went inside the metal of the head instead of through it, and said head was two triangles instead of one, both with downturned edges made for catching on things and tearing if you pulled it out, and the edges didn't connect to the shaft like the others did. All in all, the arrows looked absolutely nothing alike, except for the feathers.
Rob's eyes widened, "and that's not your arrow." His face broke out into a grin, "but that means-"
Wally cut him off, "Speedy!"
"He has our backs," Kaldur said warmly.
Wally rushed forward, snatching the arrow from GA's hand, "souvenir!"
While the thought made me happy, I couldn't help a sense of doubt. I sidled up next to GA as Superboy went to speak to Black Canary and cocked my head to the side, speaking quietly. "But aren't Roy's arrows red? To match the uniform?"
He nodded somewhat sadly, "they are-" he cut himself off, "Catgirl are you bleeding?"
I blinked, the sensation of something wet rolling down my forehead reminding me of my earlier injury. Batman whirled around and everyone's eyes were on me as I reached up to swipe at my hairline. I felt my cheeks heat up at the attention, and my black glove came away shiny from the wet of it as my forehead got smeared with blood.
"Um, a little?"
Batman grabbed my chin with his hand, the other coming up to part my hair and inspect the injury, "how did this happen?" He demanded.
I lowered my gaze to the ground, "I may or may not have hit my head repeatedly? Though I think this came from the corner of that bleacher."
His eyes narrowed, "how many times is repeatedly?"
"I don't really know? Honestly everything's been a little fuzzy ever since I rolled around in that armoured car-"
"What do you mean 'rolled around in that armoured car?"
I winced, I had left the incident out of my report for exactly this reason, "the MONQIs blew the tires off the side of the truck we were following while I was on the roof, I didn't have time to jump off before I got crushed to death so I more or less hid inside it while clinging for dear life to the side while it did a couple flips? I don't remember how many, don't ask."
"And you hit your head?"
"Yeah, and then again off that bleacher and then I kinda sorta got flung into a wall? Hit my ribs too, so those might be screwed again."
He shook his head, "I'll get your mother to let you stay with us tonight and have someone wake you up every few hours."
My eyes widened, "or you could not and I could just stay up or something, Redbull is a beautiful thing. Please, you can't tell her."
"And why not?" I looked from side to side, desperate not to tell him point-blank, and definitely not in front of everyone. He sighed, "I'm taking you home, Robin, do you want to come or stay here?"
Rob stepped towards us, face full of concern, "I'll go with you, Belle are you okay?"
I grinned, "never better," turning to the rest of the Team I waved goodbye, "see you guys tomorrow or whatever, so long as Catwoman doesn't keep me on house arrest."
Kaldur's brow furrowed, "feel better."
Pleasantries were exchanged, GA gave me some cloth to hold to my head, and then we left via Zeta Port. All piling out of the beat-up phone booth, I breathed, the smell of car exhaust and spices from the Indian restaurant down the street drifting over on the wind. The Batmobile was parked on the street, and Rob and I climbed in back.
"So," Bruce said from behind the wheel, "you want to tell me why you don't want me to tell Selina?"
I sighed, laying my head on the window, "she wants to pull me from the Team."
"What?" Rob asked, somewhat frantic, "why?"
I turned my gaze out the window, "I've been having nightmares again. If she finds out I got hurt at this moment in time, it's going to be the last straw."
"You've been having nightmares again," Batman said. It was more of a comment then a question but I answered anyway. Rob gracefully kept his mouth shut, jaw tightening as he stared out the window.
"Not many and not often, but yes. The most recent was this morning, it was about Carla's death."
"I'll tell Selina you're simply staying with us tonight," Bruce replied, and a small bubble of hope rose in my chest, "on the condition that you start speaking to Black Canary about everything." The bubble burst.
"I don't want to. I don't want anyone poking around in my head, trying to psychoanalyze me."
"Why not?" He asked, "she's a good counselor, she won't tell anyone anything you don't want her to."
I swallowed, holding the cloth tighter to my head, "I don't want to know what she'll find in there Bruce, I really don't."
I watched his expression soften in the rearview mirror, as he spoke his voice was soft too, "terrible things have happened to you, Arabella, but you're not broken. You most likely have PTSD, a good number of us do, it's a job hazard. There's no shame in talking to someone, and there's nothing terrible locked up in your head, just pain you won't sift through."
I ran my tongue along my top teeth, "fine. But I won't be happy about it."
"That's all I ask, now let's get Alfred to look at your head."
Alfred had sent me up to bed with a glass of water, ice pack and ibuprofen and because I felt like being rebellious, I was currently sitting halfway out the window of a guest bedroom, hands wrapped around the frame to hold me steady. I heard Dick come up behind me, "y'know, I really don't think that's safe behaviour for someone who's concussed."
"I don't think there are many safe behaviours for people who are concussed," I countered, "the air's nice."
"Come on, before Bruce sees you and has a coronary. I could've been him."
I yawned, swinging back into the room, "nah. I would've known."
"I wasn't aware you had ESP."
I snorted, "it's the way you walk, Bruce swings his arms, but your clothes didn't rustle, you walk with your hands in your pockets. No rustling. And you both have quiet steps but his are long strides, you take smaller steps, lighter."
He shook his head, "do you notice everything?"
I shrugged, "what can I say, I've been heavily conditioned. Selina could give Mad-Eye Moody a run for his money with the constant vigilance thing."
He chuckled under his breath, "you should go to sleep. Concussions need rest to heal."
"Yeah yeah, Doctor Richard, I'll get right on that."
"Good."
I climbed in bed, pulling the blankets over my shoulders before over-exaggeratedly batting my eyelashes at him, "will you tell me a story?"
"Once upon a time there was an idiot named Arabella who hit her head and didn't tell anyone because she has a martyr complex and obsessively worries about everyone but herself. The end."
I bit my lip, "I only worry because I care. And because I can't lose anyone else. That's why I get so scared, like I did at Santa Prisca."
He made for the lamp, "I know," he hit the switch, plunging the room into darkness. I felt him tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear, and then I felt him leave.
I rolled over, curling into myself as I fell asleep. Today had been a hell of a day.
