Flying Lessons

A few days later the Misfits were out on the Joe training course. "I'm glad Lina's finally able to train with us," Angelica sighed. "I don't feel so bad about being the only new girl now." She was wearing a black and gold uniform.

"Well this exercise is for the two of you," Althea said. "To work on your flying skills."

"Yeah especially after yesterday," Pietro snickered.

"Look I got a little excited that's all!" Angelica snapped at him. "It was an accident!"

"What happened yesterday?" Daria asked. Trinity was there as well.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Angelica groaned.

"Well we were supposed to go through the obstacle course using our powers," Pietro started. "And when Angelica's turn came up she gets the bright idea to try and fly over the obstacles."

"Didn't work huh?" Quinn asked.

"No," Roadblock walked out with a bandage on his head and his arm in a sling. "It did not."

"I'm so sorry…" Angelica moaned.

"Not as sorry as we are," Pietro quipped. "It was bad enough she ended up in the infirmary half the time. Now she's putting us all in the infirmary!"

"You want a hotfoot smart guy?" Angelica stomped her foot. "And this time it will be on purpose!"

"Uh oh! Careful! Mt. St. Firestar is gonna explode again!" Pietro mocked.

"You bet it is!" Angelica raised her fist. "All over your face!"

"ALL RIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!" Cover Girl walked over to them with Lina. "Let's try to have a civil training exercise today!"

"Wow Lina you look good," Fred whistled. She was wearing a green and black backless uniform with high boots. Her hair had been cut to her chin in a bob and she was wearing a green visor.

"Yeah, I asked Cover Girl to help me fix it," Lina fidgeted with her hair. "Haven't had it this short in a long time. Maybe never."

"Well now that everyone's here we can get this exercise into gear," Roadblock sighed. "We're going to practice flying skills. Trinity, show 'em how it's done. Then the others can have their fun."

"WHEEEEEEE!" The girls levitated and flew around like hummingbirds on a caffeine rush. "BURN RUBBER BABY!"

"Wow…" Lina blinked. "They're good."

"They've just had more practice that's all," Althea told her. "Now you two try."

"Okay," Angelica gulped. "Here we go again."

"Get out the bandages!" Pietro called out. "Air Firestar is at it again!"

"Shut up Pietro!" Angelica shouted. "I can do this! I can do this!" She levitated slightly. "I'm doing this!"

"Hey Lance maybe you'd better spot her," Pietro remarked. "You know catch her in case she falls."

"It's not going to work Pietro!" Lance snapped.

"You're right," Pietro said. "You're not big enough to break her fall."

"No I mean your little plan to have me hook up with Angelica," Lance pointed out. "Freddy told me everything!"

"Speaking of Freddy," Pietro decided that right now was a good time to change the topic of conversation. "Take a look over there."

Lina nervously stood on top of a small stepladder. "Are you sure this is going to work?" She stretched her wings. "I mean I don't know if I'm ready yet."

"It's all right Lina," Fred called out with open arms. "I've got you."

"Okay," Lina gulped. "Here goes…" She buzzed her wings and stepped off the ladder. She remained hovering in the air. "Okay…I'm doing it…I think I'm doing it!"

"You are doing it!" Fred said happily.

"I'm flying!" Lina rose higher into the air. "I'M FLYING!" She whooped with joy.

"Hey! I'm flying too!" Angelica shouted with happiness as she started to fly around. "I think I'm getting better at this! Whoops!" She almost collided with Daria. "Sorry!"

"Watch it!" Daria snapped.

"Come on sis," Quinn said. "She's just learning control. I recall you used to bump into the wall a lot when we first started to fly!"

"Wow look how good Lina's doing!" Fred said excitedly.

"You seem to really like those cute little wings of hers," Pietro zipped up to him.

"Hey! She's a nice person I'm happy to see her fly, that's all," Fred told him.

"Methinks the Blob doth protest too much," Pietro mocked.

"Does protest too much!" Fred flustered. "Geeze Pietro and you complain about my grammar!"

"He means you and Lina are really getting chummy," Lance told him.

"We're just friends that's all," Fred told him, blushing.

"Yeah right," Pietro scoffed.

"He's just sore because you beat him to the punch," Wanda indicated Pietro with her thumb. "It seems my brother isn't as fast as he thinks he is after all."

"WHAT?" Pietro snapped. "Listen! I…"

A loud explosion interrupted him. "I didn't do it!" Pietro shouted instinctively.

"No they did it!" Arcade pointed to several Cobra Rattlers flying overhead.

"How did they get past our defense systems?" Low Light swore.

"Probably got some new type of cloaking technology they're testing out!" Cover Girl shouted as they fired. "KIDS SCATTER!"

"What's going on? Who are these guys?" Angelica gasped as she landed near Lance and they ducked for cover.

"Cobra," Lance told her. "Bunch of low life terrorists that have been giving the Joes trouble forever! They like to attack the Pit every now and then because they get bored or something!"

"Where the hell are the Joe planes?" Pietro shouted as he dodged the laserfire.

"They're pinned down!" Arcade shouted. "I don't know what Cobra has but whatever it is was able to completely sneak by our security systems!"

"In other words we got caught with our pants down!" Althea grumbled. "Great! Wanda! Try and take 'em down with your hex bolts!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" She shouted as she shot out a bolt. She was able to crash one Rattler but was forced to take cover. "There must be fifty of 'em!"

Lina screamed as she hid under cover. Fred protected her with his body. "Don't worry Lina! I've got you!" He shouted.

They heard a loud scream. One of the Joe Greenshirts had been hit in the leg. There was a Rattler approaching with guns blazing. Lina's eyes widened with horror as she saw the defenseless soldier. Lina dove towards him, not thinking. "LINA!" Fred shouted as she flew straight at him.

She grabbed him and tried to drag him away. Using strength she never knew she had she managed to lift him off the ground slightly and pull him to safety. Fred quickly managed to cover her. "Are you crazy? You could have been killed!"

"He's hurt!" Lina pointed to the soldier's leg. Laserfire had given it a nasty burn. Without thinking she spat out her string from her mouth.

"What is she doing?" The Greenshirt shouted in terror.

"She's trying to keep you from bleeding to death!" Fred snapped. "Back off!"

"Okay shutting up now," He gulped. "Actually that does feel a lot better now…"

"We gotta do something!" Angelica shouted as the Rattlers kept firing above.

"Wanda's doing all she can," Lance told her. "What do you want the rest of us to do? Fly up there? HEY! I DIDN'T MEAN YOU!"

Angelica flew up into the sky. "What is that lunatic doing up there?" Cover Girl shouted. "FIRESTAR GET YOUR BUTT BACK DOWN HERE!"

"LEAVE US ALONE!" Angelica flew up into the air and aimed her heat beams at a Rattler. It scored a direct hit. She zapped another one. Wanda assisted by hex bolting two more. By this time the Joe anti-aircraft fire and jets were off the ground. They made short work of the Rattlers and soon the ones that were left had escaped. "WHOO HOO! I DID IT!" Angelica shouted as she landed.

"Oh you did it all right!" Cover Girl stormed up to her. "What were you thinking flying up there? Your powers aren't under control yet! Do you realize how much danger you were in? You could have been hurt or worse!"

"But she wasn't," Roadblock put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, she helped save the day."

"That's still no excuse for just charging up there and endangering herself!" Cover Girl whirled on him. "And Lina the same goes for you! You both could have been hurt!"

"But we weren't," Angelica said. "We just couldn't stand by and do nothing!"

"Yeah they could have easily gotten killed just by standing there," Pietro said. "I mean there was hardly any cover for us to hide under."

"He does have a point," Roadblock sighed. "It's not their fault Cover Girl. It's ours for not knowing about Cobra's newest cloaking technology. I agree that they shouldn't have just flown around without more training but…"

"They did save lives," Lifeline had come over and was tending to the Greenshirt. "And isn't that why they're here in the first place?"

Cover Girl ran her hand through her hair. "All right but you two still have to do extra training. I want you girls to be better prepared! Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," Angelica and Lina nodded.

"Don't call me ma'am," Cover Girl groaned. "I'm not that old!"

"Now that that's settled," Lifeline checked over Lina's handiwork. "Lina would you accompany me to the infirmary and help me here. I'd like to talk to you as soon as we take care of the patients."

"Uh sure, if it's okay with Cover Girl," Lina nodded.

"I'll come with you," Cover Girl sighed. "The rest of you start cleaning up this mess!"

"Geeze and we didn't even get to wreck anything this time," Todd grumbled.

************************************************************************

Some time later Lifeline and Bree met with Lina and Cover Girl. "I like to ask you something, Lina. What made you think of using your spit spray to cover his leg?" Lifeline asked about the Greenshirt.

"It was just a reflex," Lina shrugged.

"That reflex helped heal his cut," Bree noticed. "I think your spit spray has some healing properties."

"Healing?" Lina blinked. "You mean this gunk is actually good for something?"

"Yes and from what he told me your wings were quite good at rescuing him," Lifeline said. "Lina I would like to ask you something, you don't really want to fight now do you? It's okay, nobody going to be mad at you. Just tell the truth."

Lina fidgeted. "I…don't want to fight. I know that's why I'm training here but…"

"But maybe there's another direction you can take," Lifeline grinned. "I know you were interested in becoming a doctor once. What would you say that it wasn't entirely out of your reach?"

"You mean, I could be like a medic?" Lina asked. "A real one?"

"From what I've seen you have the potential to be a good one," Cover Girl remarked. "You could use your wings to rescue people and your spray to help heal them."

"It's going to take a lot of training however," Lifeline said. "Think you're up to it?"

"Y-yes!" Lina said happily. "Yes I would love to do it!"

"That's good!" Bree laughed. "All you need now is a code name. Any thoughts?"

Lina thought for a second. She then looked at her reflection in a nearby mirror. She turned back to them with her decision. "Call me Dragonfly," She said.

Yeah I know there was a Dragonfly in the comics, one of Count Nefaria's Anti-Men. But this is my version. She's a lot nicer and more fun, don't you think?