GOTHAM CITY
DECEMBER 18TH 2010 15:47 EST
Jason squealed and squirmed away from Betty. Betty laughed maniacally and outstretched the spoon in her hand to try and lace the tip of Jason's nose with green frosting. Alfred stood to the side, currently frosting another set of Christmas cookies and having more success than the currently goofing off pair of Jason and Betty. Dick sat at the table, reading over something on his tablet with a furrowed brow, paying the three of them no mind.
"Come back here!" Betty called out to Jason, and Jason did not oblige, shrinking furtherer away from his sister. Betty reached furtherer across and managed to scrape it across Jason's cheek, creating a thick green line of frosting alongside his cheek bone. He frowned while Betty let out a cackle, dropping the spoon back into the bowl of green frosting.
Jason pouted and crossed his arms, staring straight forward and away from Betty. Betty laughed again and reached to ruffle his hair, but he skillfully avoided Betty's hand, finally turning to glare at her.
"There was no need for this," Jason grumbled, and Betty smiled a mischievous smile reminiscent of Dick.
"But it was funny," Betty replied. This earned a raised brow from one Alfred Pennyworth, who gave a silent but still glance over the two of them.
"No, it wasn't," Jason said, and Betty leaned her head on her hand and crinkled her nose playfully.
"From my point of view, it was," Betty insisted. Alfred finished icing his cookies and placed down the package of icing (his was red, in an attempt to make red and green Christmas cookies).
"As long as you found it funny Miss Elizabeth," Alfred jutted in, and Betty gave a half-crooked smile. She had been nervous that Alfred would see her as unwelcome presence here, a burden on top of another burden. But he had made it his mission to make Jason feel at home here and had done his best to make sure that Betty was not excluded from Jason's life now that Betty lived across the city. It had been his idea to invite Betty over for the making of Christmas cookies.
Betty had expected Bruce to be here but had realized that the man was surprisingly busy. Apparently, he was always working some case or another when he was home, and if not, he was off doing something to keep his cover. Right now, Bruce was done in the Batcave, doing some kind of research for a case he was investigating.
What had surprised her the most was Dick's rather uncharacteristic dullness about the whole affair, having hardly looked up from his tablet the whole time. His brow was furrowed in a motion of worry, scrolling furiously through something. Betty tilted her head to the side and looked at her friend, wondering if she should say something or just let her friend be.
Jason, it seemed, made the decision for her.
"Hey Dickie!" Jason called. "You gonna join us?"
Dick looked up, surprised, but then refurrowed his brow, dropping his tablet onto the table with his lips in a downward turn.
"You three seem to have it well in hand," Dick said. Dick stood from his spot and walked over to the three of them, overlooking the cookie icing operation. He dared to fiddle with a spoon, threatening like he was going to pick one up and ice, but then decided against it. His expression was still downcast, disheartened, his mind seeming somewhere far off.
"It is frosting cookies Master Dick, not complex mathematic equations," Alfred cut in, and Betty held back a smile. Alfred had a knack for perfectly timed comments, ones that threatened to split Betty's sides. He was a consummate professional, with a polish and shine about him, but there was a sarcastic streak about him that was impossible to ignore and just about the funniest one she's ever seen.
This managed to get a small smile out of Dick. He looked down at the expanse of cookies that sat on the kitchen counter and broke off a piece of cookie that was in the shape of a Christmas stocking. He popped it in his mouth, which earned him a hit from Jason, who slapped his shoulder.
"Dick!" Jason reprimanded. "They're not ready yet, dumbskull!"
"It's one cookie Jaybird," Dick tried, and he only got hit again on the shoulder in response.
"It's not just one cookie!" Jason insisted, and Betty bit her lip to keep from smiling too widely. It had only been just over a month but Dick and Jason had taken to brotherly bickering like they had known each other all their lives. Betty had never considered how Dick and Jason might get along, those two halves of her life having existed in such different spheres, but she hadn't expected them to be legal brothers when they met. Or to get along as bout as well as brothers got along, with bickering but an undercurrent of affection about the fighting.
"I'm with Jason," Betty said. "It's the principle of the thing." Dick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Must you two gang up on me?"
"We could always invite Barbara over," Betty suggested. "Then there'd be three against one." Barbara was just as liable to gang up on Dick as the rest of them, as the closest of friends always took pleasure in seeing you squirm just a little bit. But Barbara had been increasingly distant the past few weeks, insisting she was busy with gymnastics or extra credit homework, so much so that it was starting to worry Betty. They had actually already invited Barbara over, but had been politely turned down.
"Ha ha ha, no," Dick laughed fakely. Jason smiled and leaned forward against the counter, buzzing excitedly.
"When is Barbara coming over?" Jason asked. "I can't wait to meet her!" Jason had yet to meet Barbara because of her distance, but the young boy was nearly bursting to meet the girl. He had heard stories from Betty back before he came to Wayne Manor, and again from Dick when he arrived here. He was desperate to know about their shared friend, wanting to make a quick befriendment of the redheaded girl once they met.
"Soon Jaybird," Dick answered. Dick tilted his head to the side as he scanned over the cookies and looked up at Alfred. "Are you guys making enough cookies for an army?"
"Miss Elizabeth suggested we make enough to share with Mister West," Alfred said. "I have been told he has a quote 'bottomless pit disguised as a stomach'." Dick snickered at that and reached for another bite of a cookie, earning a glare from Jason.
"I guess that's one way to put it." Dick grinned. Betty did plan on sharing some of the cookies with not just Wally, but with the other members of the Team. It was time to get in the Christmas spirit, and there was no better way than sharing something with the ones you loved.
Jason had been told of the Team, but Betty was still hesitant to talk to him about it directly. Maybe because a part of her still disproved of his training and new status as the second protégé of Batman, which made his joining a far-off but still inevitable eventuality. Whatever it was, it made her want to keep the Team as close to her chest as possible, so she was sure to say they were just for Wally when saying she was going to share them.
Alfred finished a line of cookies and dropped the icing bag onto the wax paper lining the kitchen counter.
"Now, are we going to finish our cookies?" Alfred raised an almost comically serious brow. "Or shall they remain uniced as we stand here discussing them?"
GOTHAM CITY
DECEMBER 23RD 2010 12:13 EST
"Bologna?" Honeybee asked, looking at her friend's sandwich. Wally took a large bite of the triple decker monstrosity and spoke through his bite, causing Honeybee to scrunch her nose in disgust.
"Yep," Wally said. "Want one?"
Honeybee leaned forward against the kitchen island and frowned. She had had enough bologna to last a lifetime – it was pretty cheap, so when the money was particularly tight, she had her fair share of bologna sandwiches for dinner. Not that she liked the taste of it, it was too rubbery for her liking, and it felt like chewing plastic with a subpar taste. Still, food was food when it came down to it. But still, today, she would rather go without one.
"I'm good," Honeybee assured. "Not that hungry."
"You're missing out," Wally said. He took another big bite of his sandwich for dramatic effect. Honeybee sighed just as dramatically and shook her head.
"I'll take your word for it."
Honeybee rubbed the back of her neck, scratching the thin strands of hair at the base of her skull. She had finally gotten her haircut by Aunt Melody a few days ago, returning it to its normal page-boy length. She wondered vaguely about growing it back out, but it was still far too soon for that kind of decision. Once it got longer again, she would cross that bridge.
Honeybee took a piece of bread out of the package and began to chew on it nimbly. Wally and her sat in silence for a moment that dragged on slowly but not uncomfortably, it moved languidly across the expanse around them. Honeybee and Wally had a friendship of circumstance. They usually would not have been ones to make friends with the other – one a sarcastic, secret-ridden fourteen-year-old and the other an extroverted, smartmouthed sixteen-year-old. They were close because of the people they knew and the lives they lead as heroes, and as such they didn't have many things to talk about. Most of their time spent together were quiet moments and lulls of conversation that weren't uncomfortable. It was relaxing, in a way, to not have to worry about what to say or how to keep the conversation going.
"Have you heard from Robin?" Honeybee asked between bites of bread. "I haven't seen him in a couple of days."
Robin had been absent from Gotham for a few days, not once had she seen him swinging around Gotham City with that mischievous grin and cunning laugh of his. Maybe Honeybee would have chalked it up to Robin taking a few days off, but Dick Grayson was also mysteriously absent, he had made no public appearances in almost a week and was not answering her phone calls or texts. Even without all that, Jason had been quick to tell her that Dick wasn't in the manor, off somewhere that even Jason didn't know about.
Wally swallowed thickly and shifted the weight on his feet, lowering the sandwich raised to his face. Ah, so he did know where Robin was. Or at least, knew what he was up to.
"On an unofficial mission," Wally slowly drawled out, each word measured. "Investigating a circus over in Europe."
Honeybee's brow shot up. A circus? Gotham City was a well-known den of a gossip and slander, and Dick's past had been victim to this den for years. Gotham's news had run the story of the death of the Flying Graysons for weeks following their fall at the circus, given that it happened within Gotham's city limits. Normally that would have been the end of it, but then Dick had been adopted by Bruce Wayne, Gotham's favorite son. That had kept the gossip train going for a long while, and it was still rolling at one Gotham Academy. Betty heard the daily whispers whenever Dick passed anyone with a grudge against Gotham Academy's Golden Boy.
Dick Grayson was a child of Haly's International Circus, born and raised as an acrobat. It was what helped make him such a skilled combatant, he was as agile as a bird and as flexible as a snake. But on a mission like this, one involving a circus, it would make Honeybee question his objectivity. If there was a mission involving Ivo, Honeybee was aware enough about herself to know her objectivity would be compromised, and if anyone knew about it she would expect them to call her on it.
"Hmmm," Honeybee decided on. She wasn't sure what Wally knew about Dick's past, his secret identity was a big deal and she had only recently learned it. But Wally was Dick's best friend. After Barbara, of course. Could Wally also know what was up? Was that why they both were left behind, because they both knew who he was? About what a circus meant to him?
Honeybee was willing to be money it was Haly's too. Robin was one to go rogue only when there was a good reason to. He didn't just make a decision to go on an unofficial mission on a whim or for whatever reason. The only reason he went to Cadmus was to make a point about being ready to fight on the Justice League's level, a point he had wanted to prove by any means necessary. Haly's Circus was personal to Robin, and if something was wrong with the circus, he would do his darndest to fix things, whatever it was.
Honeybee picked at her piece of bread and thought about calling Robin, if only to give him an earful about leaving her behind. Honeybee reached into her pocket and thumbed at her phone for a second, almost having decided to call him when Kaldur entered the kitchen area.
"Hello," he greeted. He reached for a banana sitting on a shelf and began to unpeel it slowly.
"Hey Kaldur!" Wally said. Honeybee smiled at Kaldur, eyes crinkling beneath her sunglasses. Honeybee waved at him and leaned away from the countertop.
"How was Atlantis?" Honeybee asked. Kaldur smiled fondly, eyes glistening with the kind of emotion remembering home brings.
"My visit went well," Kaldur replied. That was code for 'exceptional' in the ever polite speak of Kaldur. Honeybee was glad his visit had been good; Honeybee could not imagine having to live away from her home half the time. How did Kaldur manage to do it with such a jovial and optimistic attitude about him? "My friends in Atlantis have expressed interest in visiting the surface world."
"You mean Tula and Garth?" Wally said. Kaldur nodded and Honeybee clapped her hands together.
"That's great," Honeybee said. "I would love to meet your friends in Atlantis. Would they be able to visit the Cave or…"
Kaldur bit his lip and tilted his head to the side. "Their…. authorization to know of and meet the Team would be up to my King's discretion." Kaldur smiled. "Regardless, I would love for them to meet you as well."
"Aw, yeah!" Wally exclaimed. "Friends of Kaldur! Then it'll be a real party up in here!"
Kaldur chuckled, face and eyes filling with mirth. "I'm sure Garth and Tula would be delighted to know you are excited to meet them."
Honeybee had been told stories of Garth and Tula, Kaldur's two closest friends from Atlantis. They were the same age as Kaldur, with magical abilities much like him as well. Garth had been with Kaldur when they helped rescue Aquaman from a seamonster attack by Oceanmaster and had been offered the chance to be his protégé along with Kaldur, but had declined to become a great sorcerer instead. And Tula was a great sorceress herself, apparently the student of the great Queen of Atlantis herself.
All in all, they sounded perfectly wonderful, and Honeybee was sure they would be friendly. Kaldur did not keep bad company, it was not in his nature. Honeybee wanted to meet them if they ever did decide to come to the surface world.
"What are you two doing?" Kaldur said. Wally took another bite of his sandwich and swallowed thickly, and Honeybee picked at her piece of bread.
"I'm eating a bologna sandwich," Wally answered. "Little Miss Too Good for Bologna is eating plain bread."
Honeybee rolled her eyes and slapped Wally's shoulder gently.
"I didn't want one sandwich Wally!" Honeybee defended, and Wally stuck out his tongue playfully. Kaldur chuckled again and walked closer to them, finishing off his banana and throwing away the peal.
"I've never had this bologna," Kaldur admitted, and Honeybee and Wally turned to him in shock.
"You've never had bologna?" Honeybee wondered, and Kaldur nodded. "No way. I used to eat it like all the time growing up."
"I'm sorry," Kaldur said. "But we do not have it in Atlantis." Wally seemed personally affronted by this, and began constructing a new sandwich onto a paper plate.
"I do not believe this," Wally mumbled. "This is insane – never had bologna!"
Kaldur turned to Honeybee, brow pinched in confusion.
"What is bologna?" Kaldur asked, a touch of fear in his voice. Honeybee grinned helpfully and pointed to the bright pink package of the meat.
"It's like a sausage, kind of?" Honeybee tried. "It's like a meat, but like…terrible tasting."
"You mean the best lunch meat around!" Wally corrected her, and Honeybee rolled her eyes again. Wally held out the newly made sandwich to Kaldur, who looked at it carefully, lips pursed, and eyes narrowed like the sandwich might jump out and attack him. "Go on! Try it!"
Kaldur took the sandwich slowly, weighing it in his hands and raising it to look in the center contents.
"It's a Wally West special!" Wally said. "Mustard, cheddar, mayo, lettuce, and bologna! It's the best sandwich this side of the Mississippi!"
Kaldur stared at it for a moment longer and then brought it to his mouth, taking a small bite. Kaldur's nose was scrunched unsurely, and he chewed slowly, his nose starting to uncrunch his nose together. He gave a little smile and swallowed the bite. He looked up at them excitedly and took another bite, this one much larger.
"It is good," Kaldur said. "I enjoy the taste of it."
Honeybee sighed while Wally beamed.
"Yes! He likes it!" Wally rounded on Honeybee with a smirk, crossing his arms. "Take that Little Miss Too Good for Bologna!"
Honeybee rubbed at her temple. "Please tell me that nickname is not going to stick."
"Oh, it is!"
HALL OF JUSTICE
DECEMBER 30TH 2010 09:10 EST
Honeybee leaned against a table in the Hall of Justice library, the wood hard against her back. She kicked one feet idly against the carpeted floor and stared up at news coverage playing on the giant screen in front of them.
"In minutes, the League will be inducting it's newest members in it's annual induction ceremony," Cat Grant said on the screen, smile perky and perfect. Honeybee adjusted her sunglasses and looked up at the screen with the rest of the Team. The rest of the Team was scattered about the room, watching the news broadcast with interest, as it was to be the first time they were to see Red Arrow, one of them, become a full-fledged member of the League.
But also, with the newest members of the League came a new member of their own: Rocket, an upbeat, dark-skinned teenager that was Icon's sidekick and protégé. She stood among them, dressed in her civilian clothes, standing a bit away from them. She was still new, and they didn't know much about her, and she was hesitant to join them in full it seemed.
"Hard to believe Roy's really one of them now, huh?" Honeybee put out, and the others turned to her. Robin nodded and turned back to the screen, hands in his pockets.
"You can say that again," Robin said. "Only six months ago, he was one of us. A sidekick."
Kaldur stared at the screen sagely, happy for his best friend. "Let him be an inspiration to us all."
Conner scoffed, and M'gann rolled her eyes next to her boyfriend.
"Little fortune cookie there, aren't ya Kaldur?" Conner inputted. Artemis chuckled and Zatanna crossed her arms, lips threatening to turn upwards into a smile. Kaldur seemed to take the joke in stride, grinning kindly at his friend despite the joke at his expense.
The screen called them back to attention with the sound of Superman's voice booming across the room.
"The Justice League was formed for two reasons," Superman intoned from the podium, standing before the ice and snow-covered Hall of Justice. "First as an acknowledgement that no one individual, no matter how powerful, can solve all the world's problems alone. And the second, to uphold the values of truth, liberty, and justice." Superman broke into a small smile. "That, uh, last one's even in the name."
Conner grimaced, and Honeybee could understand why. It was hard to take the statements of Superman seriously when someone he had struggled to do right by was sitting inside the Hall, ignored and forgotten by Superman. It was hypocritical and hurtful to Conner.
"These five heroes have sworn to uphold those values."
"You are watching live coverage of the Justice League's induction of it's five newest members," Cat Grant interrupted, the screen cutting back to her, the League and it's new members in the background. The camera then started to pan on the entire League lined up on the left side of the podium. "Looks like the entire League has shown up to welcome the new blood. Everyone from Batman to Captain Marvel."
"I'm glad they didn't kick Billy out," Robin interjected. Honeybee smiled and nodded. They had all been worried with the revelation of Captain Marvel's real age they would decide to eject him from the League.
"And I love the fact that there is a ten-year-old on the League," Wally said, taking a bite of his apple.
Rocket's eyes widened. "There is?"
Robin elbowed his friend in the side with a frustrated frown.
"Way to keep a secret, genius!"
"Hey, she's on the Team now, right?" Wally defended. He took another large chunk out of his apple to punctuate his point.
"Superman is now handing out official League membership cards, starting with Doctor Fate," Cat said. With each naming of the individual, they showed a close-up of them. Zatanna looked down, crestfallen at the mention of Doctor Fate, and Robin stepped forward to place a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "The Atom, Plastic Man, and Icon."
Rocket crossed her arms stubbornly and glared up at the screen.
"I was the one who convinced Icon to become a hero in the first place. I should be out there, celebrating with him instead of hidden away in here." Kaldur gave a knowing smile.
"Welcome to our world," Kaldur replied. Rocket looked him up and down, and her expression shifted into a dreamy smile.
"Well, I suppose there's an upside too," she drawled, not tearing away from Kaldur.
"Finally, Green Arrow welcomes his former protégé Speedy, now known as Red Arrow, into this roster of heroes."
On the screen, Green Arrow handed Red Arrow an ID card, both smiling smiles that would put anyone to shame. Honeybee grinned toothily and clapped her hands together celebratorily.
"Way to go, Roy!" Wally exclaimed.
"At last, he has his wish," Kaldur said, bowing his head.
"The first of us to make it," Robin awed.
"No one will call him a sidekick anymore," Honeybee jutted in. This got Rocket's attention, who stepped forward and looked between them in confusion.
"Wait," Rocket said. "Since when is being a sidekick a bad thing? You sidekicks were my inspiration!"
Honeybee's cheeks colored red, and she looked away from Rocket. Honeybee knew she was a figure to many people, an inspiration to others, but to hear that sentiment verbalized made her blush in humility. She was just a girl trying to do the right thing, a girl who messed up a lot, she couldn't believe she was really that big of an inspiration to anyone.
"Well, you see, six months ago –" Robin started, but was cut off by a peeping and a small bubble appearing from his holocomputer. He furrowed his brow and looked amongst the rest of the Team, dropping his arm.
"Have to tell you the story another time," Robin interrupted himself. "But I've just got an alert that said one Jade Nyugen, also known as Cheshire, has been spotted."
Artemis started, rushing forward and running a nervous, shaking hand through her blonde ponytail.
"Are you sure?" Artemis asked. Robin nodded and went to pull up the file, but Kaldur stepped forward and motioned for him to put it away.
"We will have time to clarify mission parameters on the Bioship," Kaldur insisted. "But time is of the essence. We must hurry if we wish to catch Cheshire before the League gets wind of her."
Honeybee pushed herself off the table and crossed her arms. Cheshire getting away was one of the failures of the Team, one that was going unsolved as they stood here. Given that she was working for Ivo, Honeybee wanted this put to rest. She wanted to know how and why Cheshire had been hired by Ivo, what had Ivo and his allies been up to. Maybe put a stop to it before whatever he was cooking up got put into action.
"We waiting on something?" Honeybee said. "Let's go."
SMOKEY MOUNTAINS
DECEMBER 30TH 2010 12:34 EST
"Are you sure it's her?" Artemis asked again. Honeybee twisted in her seat on the Bioship, her nerves frying up inside of her as they got closer and closer to the flight plan of the plane Cheshire had been on.
"See for yourself," Robin said. He pulled up the pictures onto the window shield of the Bioship, revealing a black and white photo of Jade. She was walking up the stairs of a airplane, a briefcase in one hand as she looked off into the distance. "This security footage is from Ashville Regional Airport. Facial recognition confirms that's Jade Nguyen. But you've seen her without her mask. What do you think?"
Artemis turned away from the screen, face tight with unreadable emotion.
"That's her," Artemis whispered. "That's Jade."
"Agreed," Kaldur inputted. "But focus on what she carries." Robin zoomed in on the case in Cheshire's hand. "Is that the case you saw in New Orleans? The one that got away?"
"The one that Ivo had?" Honeybee jutted in. This earned her a strange look from Conner, one which she ignored.
"Yes," Artemis agreed. "That's the one."
"Okay," Rocket said. She leaned forward in her spot on the Bioship, her gaze on the screen intently. "I'm guessing from the mugshot that this Cheshire is the bad guy. But what's so important about this case?"
"You remember the Injustice League and their giant evil plants?" Robin said.
"Uh, yeah?"
"The Team and the League put them in prison, but their allies still scheme and whatever is in that containment case seems important to their plans," Kaldur explained. Rocket nodded in understanding, and Kid Flash glared at Artemis.
"We had a chance to grab it in New Orleans," Kid Flash said. "But someone screwed up."
Artemis glared back for a moment but then broke her gaze away, looking down at her feet.
"Approaching Cheshire's jet," Miss Martian announced. The pictures on the window disappeared, and Honeybee gasped when they saw what was before them.
Buried in the snow was a broken-down plane, in a state of disarray. Parts were thrown about the snow, the wings disengaged from the body and the body cut in half. Pieces of the engine were buried in the snowy ground and Honeybee could see smoke still curling off of it's parts. Honeybee covered her mouth with her hand, expecting the worst of this kind of crash. After all, who could survive it?
"Looks like there are no survivors," Miss Martian said, apparently doing a telepathic sweep of the area. Artemis looked away from the wreck, the damage before them too much for her.
Miss Martina began to put the ship down towards the ground, and Honeybee took a steadying breath. They still had a job to do, and they could not assume that Cheshire was dead until there was a body. Even then, it would still be too early to call it. Honeybee gulped in air and shut her eyes but then opened them again, leveling a steady gaze in front of her.
It was time to get to work.
Chapter Bible Verse:
"The man walkedth in his integrity: His children are blessed after him." – Proverbs 20:7.
You can rip the Kaldur likes bologna headcanon from my bare, cold, dead hands.
And we're almost there! Next chapter is the bulk of the two-part finale, but we've finally made it to the end of season and the end of part 1! I can't wait for what's coming!
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Questions, comments, or concerns, let me know! Have a blessed day!
-PrincessChess