Author's Note:
Guest: Thank you so much for being the first to review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I was actually about to scrap it before you posted your review, so I thank you
Destroyer of All (guest): I'm happy you liked my other story! I'm doing my best to keep updating frequently, but I'm having less and less time now that I'm starting my junior year of highschool. But I promise I'll do my best!
Angela (guest): I don't think that hating clown but loving the joker is weird, he's my unhealthy obsession. Also like I said with Destroyer of All, I'm doing my best to keep updating frequently!
I'm glad you're all enjoying the story and I hope more of you review!
-thegirlwhoisstillwaiting
Sylvia Wayne "Wildcat"
The Cave
October 10, 2010
"Pineapple juice?" Captain Marvel offered Wally in his recliner as everyone else around him was training. Sure, I would love to sit out and just relax for once, give myself a break from the stinging pain in my side that I received every time I lifted my arms or bent back. But Wally just slurped the juice through a straw.
"Just what the Doctor ordered." Wally said as he reclined a bit further. I couldn't help but sneak glances at him as I sparred with Superboy. Artemis was sparring with Robin at the moment and M'gann was doing the same with Aqualad.
"How's the arm doing, Wally?" Captain asked, hovering over Wally like this was the most interesting thing to happen to him all week. Superboy swung his fist and I ducked, sucking in a sharp breath as I rolled between his legs and stood up, doing a back handspring to avoid his high kick.
"Well, nothing wrong nachos can't cure." Wally responded, meeting my glance and smiling. I rolled my eyes and got back to the sparring. I did a front tuck, straightening my legs and connecting them with Superboy's chest, knocking him back just before I landed in a crouch.
"Nachos? Oh! I'll go get you some." Captain Marvel got excited as he flew away, just in time for Robin to get knocked on his stomach by Artemis. I let out a slight chuckle before Superboy swung at me again, the blow coming a little too close. But, I grabbed his arm and vaulted into an aerial.
"Good work, everyone. In fact, it's been a very productive week." Black Canary complemented as I pulled Superboy's left leg with one arm and elbowed him in the stomach with the other, putting him flat on his back.
"Yeah, for everyone except kid malingerer." Artemis quipped as she and Robin stopped sparring. He was done getting tossed around by her. For once, he had had an opponent besides me that was just as agile and quick thinking as he was. Sure, we were still in training with Batman, but Black Canary still had a few tricks up her sleeve that she could use to hold her own against Batman in a fight.
"Hey! Arm broken in combat against the Injustice League here!" Wally defended, waving his white cast for everyone to see. I held back laughter.
"Yeah, but as I recall, your legs aren't broken. I was stabbed and I'm still training." I told him, and he was taken aback. Neither of us have really said a word to each other in a while, the awkwardness getting to us. It was evident that we had no idea what to do. We were best friends for so long and just like that, we kissed, changing everything. I heard Black Canary chuckle from the middle of the group.
"I've really enjoyed being your, uh, den mother this week." She remarked as everyone heard the computer announce a Zeta Arrival.
Recognized:
Zatara 11.
The Zeta Tube whirred as the magician appeared in a flash of golden light. None of us were really expecting him, but he didn't even say anything as he walked over to the zeta control panel, typing something in as the tube reactivated.
Access Granted:
Zatanna Zatara A03.
Authorization: Zatara 11
"Zatanna, this is the team. Team, my daughter, Zatanna." Zatara introduced with his italian accent. As the tube whirred, a girl about my height and build came out, her cyan colored eyes unsteadily looking around the room. She wore a white collared shirt with a black bolo tie, and matching black skirt and blazer. M'gann got excited and immediately flew over to the wavy haired girl.
"Hi! I'm-" M'gann was about to introduce herself, but my dork of a little brother stepped in front of her.
"Robin!" He said a bit loudly before clearing his throat. "I mean, I'm Robin. She's M'gann, and that's Wally, Sy- I mean Wildcat, Artemis, Kaldur, and Conner." He introduced as I swatted the back of his head for almost saying my name. I struggled to hold back laughter that Robin could keep Batman's identity a secret to every villain who's ever tried to interrogate him, but the second a pretty girl walks inas Wally walked up behind me, stealthily slipping his hand into mine. But it was a bit awkward it being in a cast and all.
"And here I thought you were the smooth one." I whispered sarcastically, making Wally laugh as we all checked out the new girl. Robin was a bit overeager, considering Zatanna was the only one Wally wouldn't go for considering her age and her father.
"Welcome to the Cave." Aqualad said as she continued to look around at all of us with uncertainty.
"Thanks." She finally seemed relieved that we were welcoming her.
"So, uh, ar-are yo-you joining the team?" Robin couldn't get a grip on himself, he was so excited about her, but Zatara stepped in.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." He began, taking off his heat as a sign of respect. "This is strictly a visit. But I am sorry we missed the training. It's something from which Zatanna could benefit." He finished as I felt the usual wave in my mind from being psychically linked up.
Do the rest of you get the impression we're still on probation with Zatara? M'gann looked to the rest of us, her eyes narrowed.
Not just Zatara. I mean, why is Marvel still hanging around? Conner added, the gestures making suspicions with Zatanna. I looked at the small girl and she was tracking who was speaking without actually being in the group. I had a strange feeling she knew about our conversation.
Because we like having him around. Wally defended the stay of the immature Justice Leaguer. But I just elbowed him in the stomach. He immediately smirked and squeezed my hand before letting go.
You like having him around 'cause he waits on you hand and foot. Artemis smirked at Wally. We all knew he was taking advantage of the Leaguer.
He literally does everything you say. I added to Artemis's statement, a little annoyed that he had his own personal slave for a broken arm.
And your point is? Wally made a face, eyes wide, eyebrows up and his lips pursed. He was enjoying the attention, knowing that kind of stuff wasn't going to come from me.
It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's tenure as our supervisor. Aqualad looked at the ground.
Yeah. At least he trusted us. Robin commented, looking off into the distance. Zatanna leaned around him, scanning everyone's faces with calculating eyes.
Well, trusted us the best way a machine could… I suddenly had a thought appear from the word machine.
If you ignore the fact we shouldn't have trusted him! He was a traitor. That machine nearly got all of us killed. Superboy raised his voice, Red Tornado being a touchy subject for him. Zatanna started walking up to the center of the group with an angry look.
"Are you guys having a psychic conversation?" Zatanna called attention to it in such a way that it ensured Black Canary and Zatara would hear. Both of them stopping and looking at us with silent worry, their faces saying it all. "'Cause I can't decide if that's cool or really rude." She leaned over on one leg, seemingly defeated by our possibly rude manners.
"All right. Fine. We were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack, and the League hasn't told us anything." Conner seemed angry at first, but he too looked defeated as he waved his hand as a gesture to the League keeping secrets about Tornado.
"The League is searching for Tornado, as well as the other androids that invaded the Cave and their creator, T.O. Morrow. Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority." Black Canary explained with a remorseful look. She acted just as uneasy and doubtful as the others had when the search began.
"But you've found none of the above." Robin snapped, stepping forward to the two Leaguers.
"Not yet, but Tornado is Justice League. The team is not to pursue this." Canary became commanding, but the more she said no, the more I wanted to look for him. Considering she's our resident therapist, the reverse psychology was working whether she wanted it to or not.
"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a, uh, a tour of the... Cave?" Zatara began looking around the room for his daughter. All of us seemed to be at the same level of confusion before the sound of Wolf's snores overcame the silence. We all looked over to find her on the floor, leaning up against Wolf as she ran her fingers through his snow white fur. But the dog sniffed the air, leaving her on the floor.
"You're giving a tour? Cool!" Captain Marvel walked in with a massive plate of delicious smelling nachos that made my mouth water. I was ready to steal some of those from Wally as Wolf sat down obediently in front of the Leaguer like he was going to give him the plate.
"Actually, I was hoping you'd take Wolf outside. He needs the exercise. We'll join you in a few." I heard a falter in Superboy's heartbeat. He was lying, thinking on his feet. I was getting excited as I started to put together what we were finally going to do.
"Sure, sure. I can do that. Come on, Wolf!" Captain Marvel ran off with the plate of nachos and the canine trailing behind him, hoping to eat the nachos.
"Wha-what? M-my nachos!" Wally acted like a five year old that lost his christmas present. I grabbed his hand and pulled him with the rest of us as we left the mission room to take a tour. As we walked past the kitchen, Zatanna moved to the front of the group, suddenly wearing a purple tank top and white jeans.
"When did you... How did you…?" Robin was just as confused as he was enamored with this girl. But she just pushed on.
"We're not really taking a tour, are we?" She drones, not in the mood for something so trivial.
"No. We're hunting down that robot." Conner said before looking over his shoulder to Kaldur for our leader's confirmation.
"Yes, we are." Kaldur nodded, actually surprising Zatanna as the whole group stopped walking.
"Oh, wow. Out loud and everything." Zatanna said with a hint of sarcasm, her eyebrows knitting as she smirked.
"What about new girl?" Artemis said with worry, not wanting to get in trouble before we even get to Tornado.
"I'm sure she won't tell." Rob shrugged, but I looked to Zatanna staring her down. She looked away from me and gave Robin a smug look.
"I can't tell." She started with her hands on her hips. "Not if you kidnap me." She smirked, Robin and Artemis gaining big smiles.
"Oh, she's going to fit in great." Artemis put her hands on her hips, her face saying it all for once. Everyone turned and hurried to the Bioship. The second we were strapped in and in the air, Black Canary radioed in.
"M'gann, the Bioship wasn't authorized for departure." We heard Black Canary's voice come on the speakers of the ship.
"We're kidnapping Zatanna-" M'gann laughed before catching herself. "To... show her Happy Harbor. Be back soon!" She lied so easily. It could have raised suspicion, but Batman wasn't in the Cave, so we were safe.
"Roger that. Have fun." Canary replied before the line was cut. We were getting away with this so far, and that was all we needed.
"Where are we going? Batman is the world's greatest detective, and he searched for Tornado and morrow in every logical location. If we're going to do better, we need an illogical solution." Robin looked back at Wally and me with a smile. "A truly dumb idea." I looked to Wally, who was finally in his Kid Flash uniform, and he smiled.
"As a matter of fact." He started, discretely slipping his hand back into mine between the chairs. I couldn't help but smirk, Robin's eyes meeting mine in confusion.
Belle Reve
"Warden Strange owed us a favor for stopping last month's prison break. He's given us five minutes with you." M'gann said as we all stood before Professor Ivo.
"Spill, Ivo. How do we find T.O. Morrow and his Reds?" Superboy stepped forward, putting his fist down on the table as a scare tactic towards Ivo.
"Now, why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?" Ivo gave us all a weird look, shrugging his shoulders slightly. Unfortunately for me, it was a simple question, he can't actually be lying. So I just have to wait for the right statements to come out.
"Because, and here's a truly dumb idea, you're Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game. Who better to keep track of what he's up to, and where?" Kid Flash questioned, proud of his illogical idea, and judging from the smile crossing Ivo's lips, he's right.
"Ah, I see your point. So let me rephrase. Why in the world would I tell you how to find Morrow?" Ivo smirked as he leaned forward, folding his hands. I looked back at Zatanna, and she seemed a lot more into this than I expected. She had these cold and calculating eyes that mulled over Ivo
"He knows. Do what you must." Aqualad said to M'gann as he stepped forward. She acknowledged and closed her eyes, then opening them with a glow of green, but Ivo just began to laugh.
"Oh, please. As if I've never faced a telepath before." He bragged, but Zatanna was suddenly standing next to him. She bent down and simply opened her mouth.
"Trulb tuo s'worrom eurt noitacol!" She spoke forcefully, her voice suddenly echoing as the words fell out of her mouth.
"Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath Yellowstone National Park, one hundred meters south of Old Faithful." Ivo looked down at his mouth, like he didn't know why he was speaking. Everyone stopped cold as Zatanna narrowed her eyes, everyone taken aback by her easy interrogation. "Wait. What just happened?" Ivo stood up, looking around at us in fear and confusion as Zatanna stood tall, her hands on her hips as she looked triumphant.
En route to Yellowstone National Park
"Black out all external communication. Soon, Canary and Zatara... Batman, too I imagine... Will know of our visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time." Aqualad reminded us as we flew in the Bioship. I was hugging my knees in my chair as I mentally prepared myself for combat. Deliberate defiance is not something I want on my conscience in a fight against three massive androids and possibly whatever else Morrow has cooked up in his lab.
"Look. I'm trying to be all nonchalant here." Robin was half laughing as he spoke, still intimidated by the girl.
"Why? Be as chalant as you like." She said to him, a smile growing on his face. I kept myself from groaning. Now there were two that liked to mess with their words.
"I think we're all just trying to get a handle on your powers." Artemis said, Robin obviously stuck in his own little world that naturally revolves around Zatanna. "Could you teleport us to Tornado, or Morrow to a cell, or force his bots to surrender?" Artemis asked, but Zatanna laughed.
"Or create peace on earth for all time? Zatara couldn't even do all that, and I'm nowhere near on my dad's level. I need to know a spell cold, or else have time to prep it. Plus, all magic requires energy, which usually has to come from within. I just can't make the impossible happen at will." She explained with ease for us since most were just curious about what Zatanna could help us with.
"What's our E.T.A. to Yellowstone? I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor." Superboy leaned forward in his chair, refusing to look anyone in the eye. He was always fumin when it came to Red Tornado and the red fiasco.
"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Aqualad asked, maintaining his cool from behind Superboy.
"Aren't you?" The Kryptonian raised his voice.
"I am not convinced. And even so, that makes him but the victim of his creator's programming.
Certainly, he deserves a chance to prove he's more than the weapon others designed him to be." Aqualad spoke in such a way that Superboy took a deep breath, sitting up straight in his seat. Like he had something to prove.
"Stealth mode." Aqualad ordered as the Bioship landed. He pressed the icon on his belt, his red tanktop turning the usual dark grey. Wally tapped his uniform, the yellow becoming black and dark red. Artemis touched her icon, her new suit now capable of stealth most with dark green and grey. Miss Martian morphed her clothes to the usual black uniform and blue cape. Robin and I didn't need stealth tech since we were trained to disappear. "I recommend you stay behind." Aqualad said to Zatanna as the back of the ship opened.
"Is that an order?" She questioned with her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised.
"No. You must do as you see fit." Aqualad shook his head, knowing that she was invested in working with us.
"Good." She bent down, like she was reaching for her toes. "Emit ot yrt tuo eht en kool!" She cast as she stood up, silvery blue smoke swirling around her until it was revealed that she had changed once again. She stood there in a costume similar to her father's. The only differences being the fitting, black mini shorts, grey stockings, and black boots reaching halfway up her calves. We all ran out at once, Robin and I taking the lead as the stealthiest of the Team. Once we were in a clearing, strong gusts of wind knocked us all back. We all looked up to see Red Tornado, encircling us in red cyclones.
"Why, Tornado?! Why are you doing this?!" M'gann shouted over the wind. More tornados appeared, curving about before moving away. It was a massive message. Play dead.
Message received? M'gann opened up a psychic link, checking for confirmation that the rest of us saw the words blown into the sand.
"Who cares why? Nail him!" Superboy ordered as he ran ahead through the wind. Aqualad trailing.
"Superboy! Maneuver 7!" Aqualad yelled, Superboy stopping and turning with his hands linked. Aqualad stepped into the hands as Superboy launched him up to Tornado, only to be swatted away, back into Superboy. The two of them lay unconscious in the dirt ground of the clearing. Artemis ran up and knocked an arrow into her bow as Robin followed her closely. She fired two explosive arrows, but they were diverted in the wind.
"Look out!" Robin yelled as he and Artemis jumped out of the way of the explosion. I looked to KF and he nodded, grabbing me getting a head starts before skidding to a halt, vaulting me through the air, but Tornado caught me by the neck. He threw me, but it wasn't as forceful as it could have been. I hit the grounds and pretended to be unconscious, slowing my breathing.
"That does it, Red. You're not the only spin doctor around here." I heard Kid say before the sound of his added tornado roared in my ears. I heard M'gann being thrown and hitting Kid, the two tumbling to the ground.
"Etaerc a... a... dleihs dnuora em!" I heard Zatanna trying to cast a spell before she was cut off. I heard her struggling to speak before there was one more thud of her hitting the ground. The ground suddenly shook as another voice came into play, a deeper version of Red Tornado's.
"Quite a performance, brother, but we both know that's all it was. I have all your memories, Tornado, plus a next-gen processor. I know your next move before you do." The voice said as the ground cracked and shook. Everyone got up to look and see what it was, and it was Tornado's tip on what we were supposed to do. "Blowing a message into the sand?" The Android yelled as he through the massive message at us. Aqualad and Superboy leaped ahead to destroy the debris. M'gann used her telekinesis the block on of the chunks as Kid ran me to safety. A hunk of rock crashed down between Robin and Zatanna.
Zatanna? Robin checked on her while trying to see her through the cloud of dust.
I'm good. But Red Tornado's getting away. Zatanna said into the telepathic link as I saw the android flying away. I ran ahead and ejected my claws, looping around to come up behind the massive red.
Is he abandoning us? Artemis asked as she ran with another explosive arrow knocked in her bow.
I don't believe that. Aqualad said as I lept into the air, digging my claws into the metal of the androids back, revealing a bunch of wires and circuitry.
"These look important!" I yelled as I grabbed a handful, but I instinctively let go as he grabbed my by the neck and threw me off, landing not twenty feet away with my claw marks trailing the ground for ten. "Haven't you heard? Cats always land on their feet!" I quipped as Kid ran up the massive rock pedestal that the Red had himself on.
"You stand no chance against me, humans." He spoke out of boredom as he simply swatted KF away.
"We're not human!" Superboy and M'gann yelled as they sailed through the air to attack the android.
"Apologies." The android replied as he willed a massive pair of hands to form from the rocks. "I suppose the properly inclusive term is… Meatbags." He explained as the stone hands crushed the two aliens. The ground rumbled as a fissure opened up, Artemis and Aqualad falling in, but she fired a grappling arrow, swinging her and the Atlantean back to safety before the fissure closed. Robin and I threw bombs at the android simultaneously. But he caught both, starring the two of us down as the smoke cleared.
"Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allow me to anticipate your every move." The android seemed cocky, but I suddenly heard Zatanna chanting nearby.
"Emoks emoceb a dlofdnilb!" She cast, the smoke wrapping itself around the android's eyes.
"Tornado never knew my moves." The magician said triumphantly.
"And I bet you've got some good ones." Robin flirted, forcing me to laugh as the android struggled.
"Smooth moves, little bird." I called to my brother, giving him another reason to hate my enhanced range of hearing.
"Whoa. Sorry. That may have come off a little too Wally." Robin said quickly, making me laugh once again as I found the speedster. Zatanna laughed.
"I don't mind." I heard her reply in the distance as Kid and I ran to regroup with the others, but it was too late. The android's eyes glowed an even brighter red than his metal, shining them into the sky as the volcano behind him erupted into the air, the heat warming my face almost immediately. Kid sped ahead and went to scope out the volcano as well as the android. I watched, my heart skipping a beat as he front tucked out of the way of being fried by airborne magma.
He's activating a stage 2 eruption. It gets to stage 3, kiss the hemisphere goodbye. Kid reported as we all were a group once again.
Hit him from all sides. Aqualad ordered, leaping into the air with his water bearers generating swords. Aqualad was swatted away as Superboy attacks from the front and I from the back. The machine grabbed superboy's wrist, throwing him off as I dug my claws into the back of his neck, failing to rip the metal covering off before he threw me away. M'gann tried to attack in stealth mode, using her telekinesis to pull him off the earthen pedestal, but he willed a fissure to open up, a small vent pressure blasting her with heat.
"M'gann!" Superboy yells as his Martian girlfriend screamed. He and I both tried to run for her to protect her from the volcanic red, but he landed with such force that the Kryptonian and I were knocked away. The massive android was now on his own little island surrounded by lava as he dangled a weak M'gann by her cape. I looked back as I stood up from the ground, seeing Zatanna standing behind a crouched Kid Flash.
"Emoks dna srorrim… Etaerc Dik Hsalf snoisulli!" She shouted as twenty Kid Flashes appeared out of smoke. "I use a scaled-down version when I want to sneak out of the house." Zatanna explained with an excited look. The volcanic android sent rocks after the Kid Flash illusions, trying to get the real one, but he came around from behind and stole M'gann back from the machine. Out of nowhere, a blast of water shoved the android into the lava.
"Nice hit!" Robin yelled as a cyclone of water whirled behind the Atlantean.
"The hit was not mine." Aqualad seemed confused as he looked around. "Look!" HE pointed, and in the direction of his gesture was the male android from the Red Fiasco. He flew into the air, willing water at the massive android, steam rising. He tried to escape, rising on another column of stone, but Red Tornado flew through it, sending the massive android back into the lava. He tried to wade through, but the female threw fireballs at him. Trapping him in place as the two of them engaged in pushing against each other, the female trying to keep the massive android in place.
"Sister! Brothers! Stop!" The android yelled as the other male and female dragged the volcanic android below the surface of the lava, Tornado slapping his legs in, aiding in the effort to destroy the evil android. We all watched as Tornado sank, but as more explosions occurred around the volcano, Superboy pulled him out.
"We don't have any time left! It's going to blow!" I shouted over the seismic eruptions, grabbing tightly onto Kid's arm.
"Tornado, listen! We're on the verge of a stage three supervolcano eruption. There's no turning back from that. We need to vent pressure, fast. But the ash cloud will bring on worldwide nuclear winter unless you divert it." Kid ordered as the ground shook violently beneath our feet. I was growing more and more nervous, clinging to Kid. "Triangulate around the pressure focus." Kid ordered Robin.
"Right." He quickly scanned the volcano with his holocomputer. "There, there, and there." He showed Artemis her new targets. She fired an arrow that separated into three smaller rocket explosives. They each hit their mark, smoke and ash immediately escaping into the air. Red Tornado willed a Tornado to carry him into the air, higher above the ash cloud. Soon, there was a massive red funnel, pulling the ash up and pushing it out above the atmosphere. I couldn't help but watch in a mixture of awe and worry, Kid holding my hand once again as we all waited to see if the plan would succeed. When all of the lava suddenly cooled, he let go of me.
"Yes!" He celebrated before looking up, seeing the broken Red Tornado land on the ground with extreme struggle.
"There. That should do it." Robin said as he finished working on Tornado's programing and circuitry. The android closed the opening on his face. We were in Morrow's secret lab bunker.
"Yes. I can speak again." He acknowledged, just laying there without his the majority of his legs.
"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the planet." Aqualad said as he stepped forward, amazed by the android.
"The planet would have survived. It is humanity that was saved. Though, not by me. My sister and brother were the true heroes this day." Tornado corrected him, to modest about the victory, even for a machine.
"My point is this you were never the mole, never a traitor." Aqualad clarified.
"No. I left to protect you from further attack and to find my creator, Morrow." Red Tornado said as Wally, Robin and I dug through the bin of spare parts.
"Cool! Souvenir." Wally waved a red, robotic hand, forcing me to stifle a laugh and I lifted up the other that matched his.
"Red, we can rebuild you better than you were before." Robin offered and he held a metal leg up for Tornado to see. Everyone looked toward him expectantly.
"I do not believe I should be repaired." Tornado said, making everyone fall a bit further into our own emotions, not sure what to do in this situation.
"Why'd you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place?" Superboy snapped, finally turning around to face the rest of the group.
"I was the pragmatic choice. I do not require sleep. I have no secret identity or second life to live." He explained, but the rest of us were catching on.
"But you do have advanced A.I. programming designed to learn, adapt, evolve." Wally said, straightening a finger on the metal hand at the last three words.
"Hello, M'gann. You wanted to become more human." M'gann realized as we all stood a bit closer to the android.
"And you couldn't do that with the League. They're stiffs." Artemis reasoned.
"You're sure not going to learn emotion from Batman. Trust me." Robin said, but I shrugged.
"Well, he shows it when he wants too, so we're still learning how to do that." I added, feeling like I had to defend my father against the belief that he's heartless. Robin knows he isn't, but he feels like Bruce is a completely different person when he's pretending to be Batman. But I know the only acting is hiding his emotions. When it comes down to it, Batman is his true identity, while he pretending to be Bruce Wayne during the day.
"Then the Cave was not a proving ground only for us, but for you as well." Aqualad added, impressed with the android.
"I do not know if these statements are accurate, but perhaps they are true. And if I understand the term correctly, I believe I have come to... care about you all." Red Tornado admitted.
"See? Practically a meatbag already." Superboy said with a straight face before finally releasing a small smirk.
On the Bioship flight back to the Cave, Wally and I were sharing snacks as we sat next to each other as we always did. I'd slip him m&ms while he would give me bites of his protein bar. Everyone seemed satisfied with the mission, despite the fact that it was a general understanding that Batman and the League were going to grill us for this, but most importantly, Zatara.
"So, good kidnapping?" I heard Robin say. I looked over and found him leaning up to talk to Zatanna.
"Actually, yeah. Best ever." She smiled, actually into his behavior.
"First of many, I hope." He grinned as she looked down.
"If my dad doesn't ground me for life." She sighed. I decided to let them have their own private conversation and I put my earbuds in, turning on the music before lifting my legs up, curling into a ball in my chair next to Wally as he snacked. After a while, he tapped on my shoulder. I gave him the other earbud and the two of us relaxed.
"You know, for kid malingerer, you did pretty well with a broken arm." I whispered, complimenting him on his actions and knowledge during the mission. He seemed taken aback, but relaxed into a smile. The two of us never really talk any more, especially me giving him recognition for something. We just relaxed, watching the landscape go by as we listened to my music.
Author's note:
Hi! Just would like to remind you all to please review!
-thegirlwhoisstillwaiting