GOTHAM CITY

FEBURARY 23RD 2016 12:16 EST

Betty took a sip of her coffee and walked down the street, Alex at her side as they walked down sidewalk. Betty was officially looking for something for Raquel's bridal shower next month, but they had long since forgotten that objective hours ago when Betty had ran into Alex at Macy's and been informed he was looking for something for his aunt and uncle's anniversary next week. Seeing as he had been out of the country the past three years, studying abroad and traveling the globe for one reason or another, he had wanted to actually celebrate with them and get them a nice gift.

Seeing as the anniversary came before the bridal shower and Alex was helpless at gift-giving, in addition to waiting until the last minute, Betty felt she could offer her services. Just for the price of a caramel macchiato.

"Now, let's think logically," Betty said, "what do your aunt and uncle like to do together?"

"Uh….they like to watch movies together," Alex supplied, bringing a hand to his chin in contemplation. "They have one of those reward programs for the cinema on Baker Street. They go every Friday."

"What type of movies do they like?" Betty prodded, taking another sip of her macchiato.

"They're always talking about rom-coms," Alex said with an edge of disgust. Betty smiled to herself, clearly Alex was still not a fan of romantic comedies, something she remembered from when they were dating. "Especially those super cheesy ones from Goode World Studios."

"Hey, some people like a little ham and cheese with their entertainment," Betty laughed, hitting his shoulder with hers. "But that does give me an idea."

"Well, I'm out of them, so I'm all ears," Alex said with a sigh.

"Get them one of those box sets of movies, plus maybe one of those novelty popcorn sets," Betty suggested. "Bill it as a date at home kind of thing."

"See, that's just what I needed, a Betty eye view of things," Alex said. "I never would have come up with that on my own. I'm not exactly a romantic."

"Oh hush," Betty said with a flick of her hand. "You did plenty of romantic things when we were dating. You were a constant flirt machine."

"Yeah, well, flirting is different from romance," Alex pointed out. Betty shrugged in mild agreement. She supposed that was true. Betty and Alex rounded the corner and she spotted a video store at the end of the street. She raised a brow in surprise – video stores were a dying breed after all – but supposed they were not completely extinct yet. It would be a perfect spot to get exactly what they were looking for.

"Come on, we get what we need there," Betty said, leading Alex down the street.

"What would I do without you, Betty?" Alex asked. "It's been a wonder I was able to get along without for three years." Betty rolled her eyes as they made it to the video store. Betty opened the door and they filed in, Betty taking the final sip of her coffee before dropping it in the trash bin. Betty scanned the store and saw a row of snacks along the back wall.

"You know more about what kind of movies they like, so pick those out," Betty instructed. She began to walk over to where the snacks were. "I'll check out prices on snacks – they're always more expensive at places like this."

Betty pursued the selection of candies and specialty popcorns lining the back wall, and just as she expected, the prices were unusually high. She brought a hand to her chin. Perhaps it would be best to get it from the grocery store, it might not be the specialty kind but at least it wouldn't cost the outrageous prices that this store was asking.

Betty heard a giggle next to her, and she looked over to see a mother and daughter also looking at the wall of snacks. The little girl seemed to have found just the candy she was looking for, as she was holding up some kind package of gummies. Betty couldn't help the smile that crept up on her lips. She remembered her own rare trips to the video store as a kid – and they had been rare.

Betty turned away and back towards the wall, but something silver got caught in the corner of her eye. She shifted to see what it was, and she burst into action before she was even conscious of what was going on.

"Get down!" she called. She rushed to the girl and the mother and pulled them to the ground with her. A gunshot went off, and she looked up to see four gunmen in the store, all wearing face masks and hoods. Of course, she would happen to walk into a store on the day it was getting robbed. Because she had the worst luck in the entire world.

She shook her head to clear it and looked around to see what the rest of the store looked like. One gunman had a gun pointed at the cashier, who had their hands raised as a sign of easy surrender. Two were pointed at the other customers in the store, including Betty, the mother, and the daughter. Another was pointed at Alex and another man over by the Blu-Rays, and the last one was guarding the door with nervous eyes.

First things first, get the gun pointed at her out of the way, and then she could come up with a plan.

"Stay down," she whispered to the girl and her mother, who looked at her with wide, fearful eyes. They did not say anything in return and pulled away from her. Betty took a steadying breath and then jumped into action. She reached for a group of chocolate bars and flung them at the gunman, which threw them off just enough for Betty to jump to her feet.

She pulled off her scarf and rushed the gunman. She threw the scarf over the man's head, allowed it to rest on their shoulders, using it to pull the man closer to her. A gun went off on the other side of the store, but Betty couldn't focus on that right now. She kicked her knee up to hit the man in the middle, causing them to grunt and drop the gun in surprise.

Betty took a step back, dropping the scarf to the floor and kicked the gun over to a nearby DVD aisle. Once she was sure that the gun was far enough away from the man, she rushed forward again. She moved to punch the man, but they dodged. Betty grunted and took the opportunity to slip past them, and she took the opportunity to reach back around and wrap her arms around his neck. She kicked him in the back, earning another grunt.

She let go of his neck, and Betty was vaguely aware of a loud commotion, but once again had to be more concerned with her own fight. She didn't want to use too much advanced technique, lest when this is over, she gets some serious questions about where she learned such things. Betty dropped to the floor and kicked his feet out from underneath him, sending him flying into the nearby DVD cases, knocking him out and seemingly breaking his nose, judging by the blood flowing from his nose.

Betty kicked the gun even farther away into a corner and turned to the mother and daughter, who had equal parts astonishment and fear on their faces.

"Hide in the bathrooms," Betty told them, pointing to the nearby facilities. "Go in and do not come out until the police arrive and say it is alright, understand?"

The mom nodded, gathering the daughter up in her arms and making a mad dash for the bathroom. Betty made sure they made it in and then turned around, and her eyes widened in shock as she saw what was in front of her. Two of the other gunmen were already taken down, and the third was in combat with Alex.

Alex had knocked away their gun, and they were currently circling each other, as if trying to measure each other up. The man jumped towards Alex, knocking him to the ground, but Alex seemed prepared for that. He pulled his leg up to kick the man off, and then jumped to his feet. The other man returned to his feet as well, and Alex rushed him this time, sending a kick at his chest. This sent the man back, and Alex took the opportunity as a means of surprise and raced forward, dodging a punch aimed his way. He reached out and took the other man's wrist in his hand and twisted it in a painful way, judging by the way the man's brow pinched together.

Betty looked down at the bag of chocolate coins at her feet, and she got an idea.

"Alex, hold him still!" Betty said, picking up the bag. She swung it around to gain momentum, and Alex looked up in surprise but did as she said. Betty let them go and it hit the man square in the face, sending the man reeling back into the counter, pushing him out of Alex's grasp. Betty did not expect it to knock him out – it was just a bag of chocolate after all – but it did knock him down at least.

Alex took this moment to step forward and simply punch him in the face, which seemed to knock him out based on the smile on Alex's face when he turned around.

Betty's body was still pumping adrenaline, something that never stopped coming no matter how many times she was in battle. Still, she could feel confusion and wonder beneath it all. Alex—Alex had just fought three masked gunmen. As in, Alex Martinez, her ex-boyfriend Alex. What-since when he had he –

"Betty, when did you learn to do stuff like that?" Alex asked first, looking just as bewildered as her. Betty blinked and brought a hand to her chest.

"Me? When did you –"

She was cut off by police sirens outside, and she turned to see police officers bursting into the store. Betty put up her hands to demonstrate she had no weapons, as did Alex. Something in Betty's subconscious shifted, realizing something that her conscious mind was not aware of yet.

(But would be soon.)

IVY TOWN COLLEGE

FEBURARY 26TH 2016 14:23 EST

Betty sighed and stared at her computer screen. She had a British Literature paper due at midnight, and she was struggling to come up with another source to support her view on Miranda from The Tempest. Betty had felt like she had more than proven her point about how Miranda's character arc is best on display on Act 3, Scene 1, but she hadn't hit the source minimum yet, which was ready to drive her up the wall.

Betty palmed her face, considering just turning it in as is and taking the grade cut. She had thought she would have more time to work on this paper, but with all the reports she had to fill out for the police on the events in the video store, she had not had much time. The media had tried to approach her for interviews, but already fearing this might tip the police off to her identity, had declined news interviews just in case. Alex had followed her lead, but for reasons that Betty could not understand. He had never been camera shy, and it's not like he had identity to protect.

Betty had actually been wondering about Alex quite often the past few days. Where had Alex learned to fight? Let alone have the confidence to take on gunmen? Betty had always known that Alex was brave, he was the first to raise his hand in class and never was shy. But this was a different kind of bravery, one that not every person had. One that Betty had never seen Alex display before today. It's not like they had many chances to show it, Betty supposed, but still. Their should have been some inkling before now.

Betty had felt a shift in her, something had been realized, something strange and unusual. Something that didn't make sense. Something she would have to deal with eventually, once she realized what exactly it was. It was right on the tip of her tongue, just far enough out of reach that she could not grasp it.

Betty sighed again and shut her laptop. There was no way she was going to get anything done thinking like this. She would try again later, and if she did not come up with something she would simply have to take the grade cut. Maybe she could ask for extension, given the circumstances. Although she wasn't sure, 'I stopped a robbery and there is a lot of paperwork to do with that' would be a believable excuse. And besides, she already asked for enough extensions with her work as Mariposa under flimsy excuses.

Betty got up and slipped her laptop into her bag. Betty began to walk out of the library and entered the courtyard outside and was about halfway down the sidewalk when her ears were assaulted with squealing.

"Betty! There you are!"

A pair of arms wrapped around her neck before letting go, and she looked to see Wendy Harris in front of her. Wendy was one of Conner and Megan's friends from high school, and Betty had gotten to know her better once she had enrolled in college. Wendy was a sweet girl, she reminded Betty a little of M'gann a few years ago.

"Oh, hey Wendy," Betty greeted. She looked over Wendy's shoulder to see Conner standing there with one of his rare smiles. "And Conner. How are you guys doing?"

"How are we?" Wendy asked. "How are you? Little Miss I Stopped A Robbery?"

Betty looked at Conner in annoyance. "You told her?"

"It was bound to get out eventually Betts," Conner said. "It's not every day one Elizabeth Bryons stops a robbery, now, is it?"

Betty scowled at him. It actually was an everyday occurrence, or at least, it had been only a few years ago. He knew that. He was clearly messing with her.

"It really wasn't that big of a deal," Betty assured. "Alex did most of the work. I did what anyone would do, and I just used some self-defense moves from a class I took a little while ago."

The lies rolled off her tongue easily. She had been telling these kinds of excuses since she was a little girl after all.

"Oh, quit being modest," Wendy insisted. "I can see it now, Betty Bryons, newest member of the Justice League."

Betty let out a strained laugh. "Me? Member of the Justice League? As if. It was one little robbery."

"Whatever you say," Wendy said with a roll of her eyes. She looked down at her watch. "Look, I just wanted to say congrats or whatever is you say when your friend acts like a badass. I gotta get to class, I'll see you later."

"Bye Wendy," Betty said, waving as she left. Betty smiled after before she entered the building and then she turned to Conner with a frown.

"Why you little –"

Conner laughed. "It's just Wendy. Who is she going to tell? Marvin? He is the most oblivious guy in the world. She'll tell Karen, yeah, but she already knows your secret."

Betty sighed. It's not like Wendy knowing was going to be the end of the world. Wendy might tell her friends, but eventually the story would get watered down enough no one would be able to connect it to her. Soon, it would just be friend of a friend of a friend who stopped a robbery.

"I've just been thinking a lot about the robbery," Betty admitted. Conner furrowed his brow, seeming to catch on to what Betty had been thinking about. He always did.

"About Alex?" Conner suggested. Betty nodded and started to walk to the other side of the courtyard.

"I-I just don't know where he learned to fight like that," Betty said. "Or where he got so bold. It's not that I'm not grateful or proud that he stood up like that, but it's just…. surprising."

"I mean, he did travel abroad," Conner offered. "Maybe he learned it while he was away."

"I don't know," Betty returned. "I-I just don't know. Something…something does not feel right. I don't know what it is."

Conner was silent, letting Betty another moment to think. Her thoughts swirled again, going over and over what happened, trying to make sense of it. She decided to push it out of her mind and focus on it later.

"Hey, you got some time for some sparring?" Conner asked. "It'll get your mind off things."

Betty froze up for just a second. She had been avoiding the Cave ever since her conversation with M'gann. She was in no mood to see her former friend right now, especially after she went and through her greatest fear in her face.

"Uh, I have this paper to finish and a shift at the dinner, I really don't have time," Betty said quickly, perhaps too quickly. Conner raised a brow and stepped in front of her, crossing his arms.

"Okay, what is going on?" Conner asked. "You haven't been to the Cave aside from mission briefings for almost a week. And then you leave right after. That's not like you. What is happening? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Betty looked up at Conner and considered just keeping her and M'gann's fight to herself. What good would it do, really, to bring him into this? It's not like he could fix it, it was between her and M'gann after all. But didn't she practically preach to him about how they needed to share things not a few months ago? Was this too petty to bring him into? Betty shook her head.

"Look, it's no big deal," Betty started. "Me and M'gann had a fight after the mission in Bialyia, and I just...I'm just a little upset with her, and I'm really not in the mood to see her right now. Again, it's not a big deal."

"Betty," Conner said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "If it's bothering you, then it is a big deal. And if it bothers you, it bothers me." Conner titled his head to the side. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Betty thought about it, and then looked around to make sure no one else was around to listen.

"We…were talking about you," Betty said softly. Conner's brows shot up.

"Me?"

"She wanted to know what it would take for me to forgive her," Betty explained. "And I told her that she needed to make it up to you, since she didn't hurt me. That lead to how she uses her powers, and then….."

"And then what?" Conner asked. Betty bit her lip.

"She implied the only reason I was upset she was using her powers like that was because I was scared she would…. would eventually use them on …. Ivo."

Conner was silent for a long moment and then he frowned.

"She threw Ivo in your face?" Conner said slowly, mechanically. Then he got angry, really angry. His face colored red and he clenched his fists, and Betty had not seen him this angry in a long time.

"She knows Ivo is a sore spot!" Conner exclaimed. "She had no right to make that assumption about you!"

"Conner, again, it's not a big deal," Betty said, reaching for his hand and taking it in hers.

"But it is a big deal!" Conner refuted. "I can't believe she would say that. When I see her next –"

"No!" Betty said, cutting him off. "This is between me and M'gann. You and M'gann…. don't add this on."

"You really can't expect me to not be angry for you," Conner said. "You're my best friend and –"

"I'm not asking you to not be angry," Betty interrupted. "But don't get into a bigger fight with her on my behalf. You're my best friend too. And I don't want you and M'gann getting into again over me."

Conner looked down at her, contemplating what she said, before he sighed.

"Alright, fine. But at least come by the Cave again. I miss having you around."

Betty grinned at him. "I think that can be arranged."

She looked up into his warm, safe eyes for a moment longer, her smile growing. She had just managed to see the green flecks again when Conner turned away from her unexpectantly and quickly. Betty blinked, not expecting that, and tried to shake away the feeling of loneliness from them being pulled away from her.

She shook her head. Nonsense. Lonely? He was standing right in front of her.

Conner looked up at the clock tower, and he frowned.

"I have class in a few," Conner said. "We'll talk more later, okay?"

"Oh, uh, okay."

Conner walked away to his class and Betty watched him go, a confused frown painting her lips.

Then there was another shift in her subconscious, something she would have to deal with later.


"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love Him, and will manifest myself to him." – John 14:21

Me? Show up over six months late without Starbucks? More likely than you think.

But seriously, it's been a minute and I apologize. I got some serious writer's block on this and then my semester work was really intensive this semester. But my semester ended early, and I thought this would be a good time to return. I love Betty, and I did not want to just forget about her. I have plans to at least finish Season 2, and once we get there, we will decide on Season 3.

And we will be skipping the episode "Bloodlines", because Betty really wouldn't add anything to that episode, and we can meet Bart in other places story-wise. And we all know what episode is next…..

I hope to be back soon, and I look forward to what comes next.

Review Replies: (let me know if I missed you and I will reply!)

CourtMageMerlin: I'm glad you're here! I love writing the developing relationship, because they just have so much more chemistry than I ever imagined. They just care about each other so much, and I love writing friends to lovers. I hope you stick around, and I hope you enjoy what I have planed next! Have a blessed day!

angel2u: Really? Thanks for reading, but make sure you get your work done. I'm a hypocrite though, I can't tell you how many times I've done the same thing with other fics. I'm glad you're hooked, and I hope you like where we're headed. Have a blessed day!

Questions, comments, or concerns? Let me know! Have a blessed day!

-PrincessChess