Sylvia Wayne "Wildcat"

Coast City

December 30th, 2014

I kept thinking I was seeing Jason in the crowd, maybe he would be standing there among the people, proud of what I was becoming. Today, was the public induction conference for the newest members of the Justice League. We were all suited up, standing before the Hall of Justice as Superman made some sort of long and boring but timely humorous speech about what it means to be apart of the League. But in all honesty, everyone here knew that this was the most peaceful couple years the public has had. No alien invasions, no mythical beings or extremist attacking, nothing. Just your run of the mill criminal activity and very few meta occurrences, and that's what made me nervous. I had this horrible feeling that the world, or at least my world, was going to go to shit again. I've been already going crazy, secretly trying to find Jason to at least prove that I wasn't insane that night on Christmas last year. If he even is alive, it's completely unfair that he would show himself to me, and then leave me to look for his face everywhere I went. I feel like I'm losing my mind, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Martian Manhunter did the honors of handing out the League membership cards. Kid Flash got his, then Guy Gardener, then Black Lightning, then me, and then Blue Beetle.

It was weird to me, we had graduated from the Team, ready to take on bigger burdens and make bigger and more important saves with the Justice League. I looked over to Batman as Superman made a concluding statement. To the untrained eye, Batman looked emotionless and empty on the inside. Though most people may assume he was brooding, due to the permanent furrowed brow that he had designed into his cowl. But to me, his daughter, I could tell with my enhanced vision that the miniscule upward twitch in the corner of his mouth that he was very proud. He was proud of me for finally following in his footsteps. First with studying to take over Wayne Enterprises, then becoming a Leaguer. I once overheard him talking with Superman, in that special way that I eavesdrop from across a house if I really focus, that maybe one day I would step up to lead the Justice League. That maybe I would have a real chance as a leader. Superman told him that with everything I've gone through, I would probably be able to make the tough decisions while still knowing what the other Leaguers are going through when times get tough.

When the whole ceremony was over, we moved inside the Hall, leaving the public behind to zeta to the Watchtower. Wally and I hadn't been up there since New Year's Day in 2011. Almost three years ago. It was a lovely party, but I ended up leaving early, heading to Coast City to see Tori. She had decided to go to college there in town, and today, she had invited me to go to a pre-new year's college party. When I got to the frat house, it was near impossible to hear myself think over the music. I searched all over the house and waved off the sweaty college boys that were hitting on me until I gave up on checking rooms. I took a moment and focused, sorting the scents in my head until I isolated hers and followed it back upstairs until I found a locked door, but I heard three heart beats, and some heavy breathing. I didn't hear anything else, so I assumed they were asleep. But the door was locked, so I made sure no one was looking before growing my claws and raking them right through the metal, knowing that it would destroy the lock. I heard someone coming up the stairs, so I retracted my claws and opened the door.

"Hey **hic** how was the **hic** League induction?" Tori hiccuped once more and I realized she was already drunker than almost everyone here, and not in any way shape or form able to keep her mouth shut about secret identities. She was nearly passing out when I rushed over and gently caught her before she slumped onto the floor. I made sure she was secure in my arms before I carried her like a child out of the room and down the stairs. I completely ignored the other two drunken imbeciles who were making out in the corner. When I finally got her outside to the street, I pulled her car keys out of her pocket and went looking for her little blue prius. When I saw one blue prius, I clicked the unlock button and then the lock button to check the lights, and when they didn't flash, decided to cheat and follow her rather faint scent to a different blue prius that strongly smelled of her and her sister before unlocking it and laying her down in the back seat before locking her in and climbing in the driver's side. Right after I started the car, her phone began to ring, so I reached back and dug it out of her pocket before pressing answer and putting whoever it was on speaker.

"Tori's phone, this is Sylvia," I answered sort of loudly as I peeled out of her parallel parking job.

"Yo, this is her sister. I've been calling her non-stop. She's been missing since yesterday morning!" The girl on the other end of the line complained of her sister, but I sensed a slight tinge of worry.

"I found her at some college party. Is your dad home?"

"No."

"Good, I'm bringing her there. She's sort of passed out drunk in the back seat," I told her before hanging up. It wasn't a long drive, but I kept hitting stoplights. Tori kept stirring in the back seat, mumbling incoherent thoughts. But then she seemed cognisant.

"Sylvia?" She asked, looking up at me from the seat.

"Yeah?" I answered her in a calm tone so there was no chance of upsetting my drunk friend.

"Where are we going?" She asked quietly, groaning slightly as we hit a bump in the road.

"Home," I told her before remembering an important question to ask. "Tori, what day is it?"

"Wednesday…" She mumbled before turning over in the seat to face the trunk. Today was Thursday.

"What time did you start drinking today?" I asked her, acting like it was still Wednesday.

"Around eight in the morning? I wanted to hang out with my friends…" She kept mumbling before she fell silent. Her breathing became heavier and slower as I heard her heart rate relax a bit. She had passed out. I drove a little faster and finally got to her house and dragged her out of the back seat. Lenore opened the door before I had even made it to the front steps. I carried Tori upstairs to where Lenore had said the bathroom was. I lightly smacked her cheeks a bit to get her to open her eyes, and when she did, I knelt her over the toilet.

"I'm really sorry about this, but we gotta sober you up," I apologized ahead of time before I shoved my fingers down her throat and tickled her esophagus the best I could before she began vomiting in the toilet. At first it was clear, then it was a bit of food, then she started to vomit black. That's when I knew she was vomiting up the lining of her stomach, so I stopped and washed my hands before wiping her mouth and brushing her teeth.

"I don't want to get up," Tori started crying a bit, her dark eye makeup running with her tears as she hugged the base of the toilet.

"I know," I sympathized with her before easing her up. "Let's get you in the shower, you smell like a bar," I told her before turning on the water until it was a relaxing temperature. Before I put her in, I walker to her room and grabbed one of her swimsuits and changed into it. It wasn't long before I put my hair up and walked into the bathroom, taking Tori into the shower and climbing in behind her. I sat behind her to make sure she didn't fall over and began to wash her. Hair dye pooled around the drain as I shampooed and conditioned her wild curls in the hot stream of water.

She just sat there, pouting and I started soaping up the loofah and scrubbing her body. She seemed so relaxed, almost falling asleep as I cleaned the stench of the party off of her, replacing it with the sweet scent of lavender. When I finished cleaning her, I turned off the water and propped her up against the shower wall before I dried myself off. I pulled her out of the shower and held her up as I dried her off. She seemed so much healthier once she was clean. Then I wrapped her up in the large towel before carrying her to her room. It felt like that in this moment, as I was taking care of her, that I was repaying her a small fraction of what she did for me when we were both in the hands of Vandal Savage. After I put my clothes back on, I pulled out her pajamas and began to dress her as she laid in silence. When I finished, I sat on the bed next to her and started combing her wet hair. She just looked at me with her teary, red eyes and sat up, putting her face in mine. I was completely shocked as she kissed me. I didn't know what to do as I sat with eyes wide and her tongue exploring my mouth. When she pulled away, I was speechless. I was gonna say something finally, but she kissed me again. This time she was completely sitting up and holding me closely. I was frozen with fear, afraid of hurting her in this fragile and unhinged state of drunkenness. When she pulled away the second time, she just smiled as her eyelids grew heavy. She just went back to sleep like nothing had happened.

I sat there in shock, not knowing what to do. I had never kissed a girl, and it felt different, but it felt nothing like Wally's kisses, the one's I welcomed so passionately and made me feel so warm inside. Tori's kissed were emotionless and unreciprocated on my part, and I was hoping that deep down, she wouldn't remember kissing me. My hope was that she was going to wake up with no memory of what she did and be a lot happier for not having to get rejected by me. The only thing running through my mind now was, how would I tell Wally? I knew I had to tell him. There were no secrets between us, and that's what made our relationship so perfect. I decided to get up and grab my purse. I was going to go home to my love and tell him what happened before I waited with him for Lenore's call that her sister was awake. But I was going to stay away until the next day. I was going to wait for her to be in the right state of mind to check on her.

December 31, 2014

Wally took the news just fine. He was actually happy I told him and then proceeded to tease me for the next few hours about kissing a girl, singing that Katy Perry song around our apartment off campus. I wanted to punch him, but I knew it was just a joke. But when I got the call from Lenore and went back over to their house, Tori seemed sullen. When I came into her room, she locked to door behind me and gestured for me to sit down. When I did, she sat across from me and started to speak, her tone filled with shame.

"I didn't mean to kiss you, I'm so sorry," she apologized before breaking down to tears. "I just wanted to keep it all a secret," she began to ball, burying her face in her hands. "I didn't want anyone to know," she said quietly, her voice muffled by her hands.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, and she looked up at me and took a deep breath.

"Sylvia, I'm gay," She finally stated after a long silence of trying to build up courage. I was shocked, but it all started to make sense. "It was just this thought in the back of my head for the longest time. I used to date boys! Like little bits of puppy love… But then I was with Savage for so long that I realized that I wanted girls the way I was supposed to want guys. I never wanted anyone to know…" She continued to cry, but I reached out and rested my hand on her shoulder.

"You have nothing to be ashamed about. You don't have to hide being you. Just warn someone the next time you're going to kiss them next time," I joked, and she started to laugh.

"I'm really sorry about that," She told me, half smiling.

"It's okay, things happen when people are drunk. Wally thought it was kind of funny. But don't worry, he's sworn to secrecy. No one has to know until you're ready to come out." I promised her. She smiled at me as I leaned over and hugged her. "There's nothing wrong with you just being yourself."