January 24, 2016
He didn't plant himself well enough. The end of Lee's staff landed a blow to Beast Boy's shoulder, and because he hadn't accounted for how much stronger she was than him, it knocked him off balance. The boy toppled over, but he used the momentum to throw one hand out and flip onto his feet a yard away from her.
"Nice fix," she praised him as he resumed a defensive stance. "If you're going to block, you have to make sure you're sturdy enough to stay on your feet. Otherwise, you're taking damage that could have been avoided."
"Noted, but I can just turn into a hippo and avoid it. I don't see why… ah!" M'gann's blood brother yelped and leapt over another swing of Bug's golden staff aimed at his legs. The timer sounded, and he groaned in defeat as he landed.
"You can't bulldoze through everything, Gar," she pointed out. "Even Superboy knows that." The combat instructor looked up and saw the Team's in-house tutor waiting for his session with the student. She elbowed Gar gently and cocked her head over to Lucas, "Hit the showers. You've got a date with seventh grade social studies."
Gar groaned loudly, "One more spar. Pleaase?"
"How about ten laps around the mountain?" she challenged playfully with an arched brow. Gar groaned again and took off towards the showers. The teacher chuckled and joined Lee in the ring. They had been working together for a while, but she still thought he seemed out of place whenever he walked around the Cave in civies. Ever since the Team started growing, it felt like more and more people were coming through Mount Justice in full mission gear. The days when it was just the handful of them hanging out felt like a lifetime ago.
"Somehow, I feel like they prefer your classes to mine," he teased while she started mopping up the floor of the training ground.
She scoffed and cast a look over her shoulder at the man who was standing leisurely with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans, "Don't take it personally. They think that class ends when the spar ends. If you can convince them to stick around and mop up, I'll convince them that English Lit isn't as boring as it is."
Having Lucas around the Cave was almost like having a coworker, and they built up regular rapport in the few minutes between the kids' schedules. It was nice having casual conversations with someone who didn't know the innermost workings of her mind. As much as she loved her teammates, it sometimes felt like they had been together for almost too long.
"I don't think either of us will have any luck with that," he commented. "Are you heading out early today?"
"I probably should." She was supposed to meet Jim at his apartment later, and she still had to do some errands before heading out. If she got home soon, she'd be right on time for dinner. Snapper looked disappointed at that, but he smiled boyishly anyway.
"Any chance I can convince you to stick around for drinks later?" She felt guilty for how hopeful he sounded. Their exchanges between classes bordered on flirtatious, but it was always in good fun. She wouldn't say that she was leading him on, and she didn't think that either of them were taking anything to heart. She did notice that his off-handed compliments sounded more sincere lately, and she responded by reeling herself in. It was fun to flirt meaninglessly, but she wasn't ready for anything serious. She wasn't interested in anything like that.
She flashed him an apologetic smile, "I really can't. I've got plans with a friend tonight."
"No worries," he smiled back warmly, and her stomach twisted with discomfort. "Maybe next week?"
She couldn't remember what to do in situations like these. It had been so long since she had been asked out, and even longer since she had to turn down someone whose company she actually enjoyed. "Maybe," she said without really intending to consider it. "Gar's lesson's going to be starting soon, right? I don't want to keep you."
Eight years of professional crime fighting and rigorous mental training, and that flimsy excuse was the best that she could come up with. Her guilt mingled with the new sense of embarrassment, and she tried to hurry to the zeta tube without making more of a fool out of herself.
"Lee?" Lucas wasn't about to let her off that easily, and he stopped her rushed movements with a light tap on her shoulder. He didn't keep his hand on her, and when he got her attention, he kept a respectful distance between them. His eyes held her in patient blue, and she tensed under his gaze. "I know that you're not looking for anything serious. I'm not either. You're great to talk to, and I'd like to get to know you more. It doesn't have to be now, but when you're ready, I'd like to take you out for dinner if you'd let me. Think it over?"
When he put it like that, she felt her nervousness seep out of her muscles, and a relieved smile found its way to her face. "I can do that," she acknowledged. "Thanks, Snapper." He nodded back, and she walked to the zeta tube, feeling far better than she thought she would.
0
Jim had a longer night at work than he anticipated, and he was looking forward to pizza night with Lee. He had texted her that there was some trouble at the club and would be late, and she told him that it wasn't a problem. He was definitely late, and he had his eyes on his wristwatch as he left the elevator. If he showered really fast, then he could order a pizza and maybe pick up some beer. Or did he still have some left in the fridge? He could check before… Jim froze in his tracks.
She was sitting on the floor with her back against his door and her legs stretched out in front of her. Her hair was pulled back in a stubby, low ponytail, and her fingers were drumming on the top of the pizza box. She must have seen him out of the corner of her eye, and she looked up with a cheeky grin, "Thought you'd be in a rush." The woman easily got to her feet and made way for him to open the door. He could tell that she was in a good mood, and he couldn't resist her infectious smile.
"You're a saint, Belle," he said gratefully, holding the door open for her to pass through. She winked playfully at him when she passed. He chuckled softly to himself. His neck felt a little warm all of a sudden, and his hand went up to the crook of his neck, working the muscle as if he was sore. "I thought you said it was fine if we pushed pizza night back thirty minutes."
She set the box down on his counter and opened the fridge, scavenging for any bottles hidden behind his groceries. Her cropped sweater rode up as she reached in, exposing the muscular plane of her lower back. Jim averted his eyes quickly. "I did, but it seemed like you could use a hand tonight," she peered up over the door and found him looking out the window at the quiet street. The heroine ducked back into the fridge, and he found himself smiling
"I'm gonna take a shower, could you set everything up?"
"No problem." Jim turned into his hallway and started to pull his skintight shirt over his head. The white fabric stretched easily and came off his arms with surprising ease. The former Guardian tossed it onto the tile with one hand and shut the door behind him with the other. He caught himself watching Annabelle Lee more often lately, and every time he did, guilt flooded through him. She was beautiful, and he had never shied away from acknowledging that. Lee was all curves and legs with a graceful nose and thick dark brows and lashes against honey brown skin. She was attractive, but he had never thought that he was attracted to her.
Jim decided to let the water run warm instead of hot. The clone indulged in a lot of harmless things once they made a new home on the surface. He tried new food, watched new things, and took advantage of the simple pleasures that had been unavailable to him in Cadmus. Long, hot showers were one of those things. Still, Jim Harper was a man of restraint. He didn't get drunk, do drugs, or meet women. He was far happier working for a night club than frequenting one, and he never thought that he'd ever meet a woman who he would want.
There was no shortage of beautiful or compassionate women working within the Justice League or its internal groups, but Jim had never taken an interest in any of them. Lee's colleagues were all incredible in their own rights, but he didn't know any of them. He didn't trust any of them the way that he trusted her. He had confided in her some of his deepest insecurities about his existence, and she listened to him without judgment or resentment despite the fact that she had once shared similar conversations with his brother. Guilt racked him painfully at the reminder. He had no business admiring her when she let her guard down around him as a friend, and if Roy was there…
"You gonna stay in there all night?" her voice called out right against the door, and the soap slipped out of his hand. "Pizza's getting cold, Harper."
The unaddressed weight on his conscience lifted, and although it did not disappear, Jim's guilt lightened considerably at her interruption of his thoughts. "Give me one minute! There's a microwave for a reason!" He thought that he heard her snort at that, and a smile came onto his face.
Lee did throw a slice into the microwave for him, and she heard the bathroom door open. The door to his bedroom shut a moment after that, and she walked back to the couch with the bag of breadsticks in hand. She had no idea how M'gann or Dick did it. They were able to bounce back from heartwrenching breakups, and to all the world they seemed to be doing fine as they moved on in their own ways. Roy wasn't even on the same continent, as far as she knew, but every single time that she tried to move on. She felt like she was betraying him, and that only made her feel stupid.
There was no reason why she had to feel guilty for anything. He was the one who left. She didn't owe him anything, but every single time she thought that she was ready to put herself out there, she remembered all the times that Roy had come back to her. Dating had always been inconsequential compared to what she had with Roy, and she always knew that all it ever accomplished was rousing his jealousy. She had no idea how to date properly anymore.
The door to Jim's bedroom opened down the hall, and a moment later, he was walking into the kitchen with gray sweats hanging on his hips. The contemplative heroine watched him warm up a slice and turn to open a beer while the microwave hummed. Jim had a solid physique that could rival Dick's, but the bouncer had a softer quality to his personality that made him far more approachable to people than anyone Lee had ever known.
"Are you seeing anyone?" she asked without preamble.
Jim responded with something between a gasp and a cough, and his eyes widened in what could have been either surprise or embarassment. His pulse quickened, and he opened the microwave door just to have something to do other than look at her. "Why're you asking?" he returned, trying to keep his voice casual.
She didn't answer him right away. This was one of the few topics that she and Jim didn't discuss freely. She expressed her interest in his personal life, and he did the same for her. They were interested without being invasive, and despite the confidence they built up in each other, neither of them was really certain if they belonged in the other's real life. Besides, it was impossible to talk about dating without talking about Roy or Cadmus, and they were far better off leaving those topics alone.
"Lucas asked me out," she admitted hesitantly, glancing to the man in the kitchen and trying to gauge his reaction.
Jim considered himself lucky to have a convincing poker face, but while the crease in his brow could be taken as thoughtfulness, he was flustered. He just had no idea why. It could have been because he felt some embarrassment at the thought of sharing his romantic life with her. There was a strong possibility that it could have been a sense of protectiveness that he felt for her, but somehow, he knew that it was something else.
"Carr? Snapper Carr?" he questioned in disbelief.
"Yeah," Lee fiddled with the breadsticks, knowing full well that she wasn't going to eat any of them.
"The guy who leaked Mount Justice?"
"He was a teenager when that happened," she pointed out vehemently, as if she hadn't been privy to far more sensitive information when she had been that age.
Jim cocked a skeptical brow at the woman, "Wasn't he your friends' teacher in high school? Don't you think he's a bit old for you?" The question left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he couldn't shake a feeling of dread creeping up on him. Lucas was younger than him, at least physically, by two or three years.
"Their teacher, not mine," Lee countered with a dismissive wave of her hand and a nostalgic smile came onto her face as her deep, brown eyes regarded him. "You still think of me as a teenager, don't you? It's only four years, jeez. You make it sound so scandalous."
Four years wasn't anything extraordinary when he heard it, and a voice in his head wondered if seven would be. Jim shook his head, trying to rid himself of dangerous thoughts. "So, what'd you tell him?"
"I said I'd think about it."
"Oh." He found himself at a loss for words momentarily. "Are you – I mean, do you think…" He couldn't come up with a proper sentence beyond the denial at the forefront of his mind.
She mistook his dilemma as a poor attempt of consideration for her feelings, "Do I think I'm ready to put myself out there?" Jim nodded dumbly, deciding it was better to go along with what she interpreted that mess of words as. Lee shrugged. She had given it a lot of thought and counted the days, but she couldn't even remember what it felt like to be properly single after all this time. "I have no idea."
"Are you still in love with Roy?" Jim regretted it as soon as he asked, but a part of him – a very large part of him – needed to know the answer. She didn't look upset, but her brow furrowed and a frown pulled on her lips, as if she was confused.
Lee shook her head despondently, "I don't know."
