Chapter 2

Tea

"That went better than I had been expecting," Lucas told the girl after she finished her report on the mission. "It's getting ready for transport. It'll be leaving first thing in the morning." He turned down another hallway and stopped at Cody's bedroom. "Did everything go as you'd hoped?"

Cody shrugged. "I supposed."

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Tired," she answered.

"Cody," he pressed. "What aren't you telling me?"

"A kid that I met back when I was with them, someone we put in danger and then saved, he was there." Cody looked up with her green eyes and leaned back against the doorframe. "I don't understand. Before he had no powers. He was just a regular kind and now he's got power? How is that possible? And having to go against him!"

"It was harder than you thought it'd be," he finished for her.

"I surmised it'd be difficult, but not like this. I mean, he's just a kid, Lucas. He's only thirteen," she said.

"You knew what you were getting into, Cody," Lucas said.

"I know, I know." A sigh escaped her lips. "And I've got to deal with this."

"That's my girl," he said, patting her shoulder. "I'll inform you of what happens later. Right now, you need your rest."

"Yeah," Cody said, turning around and opening her door. "Goodnight, Lucas. See you in the morning."

The door shut behind her. The girl changed out of her all black criminal attire and changed into a pair of jean, a cabby hat and a jacket. Just like she used to before she was taken and the items confiscated from her, Cody put on the locket that Dick had given her for her birthday, along with the ring that Kaldur had given her.

Instead of listening to what Lucas said Cody left her room and headed out into the city with her backpack back in its rightful spot on her back. It was a challenge getting out of the underground base located outside of Gotham. Even after that, it took even longer to get into the city.

Once the girl was in the city, she went to her usual coffee shop that was open twenty-four/seven. Usually she would go early in the morning. Never had she been there this late at night, but it didn't really matter to her. She just needed a cup of her favorite chai tea to calm her nerves and perhaps attempt to calm her mind, though she highly doubted that her mind would ever be calm with the position she was in. To help her though, she also had a book in her bag to help.

"Well, Ms. Cody, what a pleasant surprise!" Webster stated.

Webster, the elderly man who owned the coffee shop that Cody went to whenever she could, was sweet. He was what she imagined her own Grandfather being like, if she could ever remember him. He was a balding man, which dentures, Cody figured. His bright brown eyes always looked at her with much care.

Cody still couldn't remember everything from her past, but most of it she could. It was still difficult to remember things about her parents and her grandparents, but everything else she could remember pretty well. Like Carson, her older brother. She still didn't know what happened to him. She hadn't been able to get in contact with him before she went missing and it was very difficult to continue searching when she was under the rule of Master and the rest of the assassins.

She was beyond worried.

"Good evening," Cody said with a smile. "How are you tonight, Web?"

"I'm doing just fine, thank you, dear. How are you this evening? I don't usually see you until the morning," Web asked, sounding rather concerned.

"It's been a long night," she admitted with a sigh. "I could really use on-"

"A nice hot cup of chai tea," he finished for her. "I'll get that right out for you, dear."

Cody put the money for the drink on the counter. She never excepted change from the man and would always put whatever he gave her into the tip jar. Recently he had just been keeping the whole thing, knowing very well what the girl would do. After doing so, Cody walked over to one of the large comfortable reading chairs left of the counter.

In the rather homey coffee shop were two lounging areas. One to the left of the counter, where Cody was sitting and one on the right. In the middle part of the room, besides the area where the line for the counter would go, were tables and chairs that anyone would find in a coffee shop. The window's were tinted so they wouldn't let in too much light and blind the customers, but enough natural light that it didn't feel like everything was fake.

Cody took out her book and started to read it as she waited for the elderly man to boil the water for her tea. She heard the little bell above the door ring and two sets of footsteps walk in, but the girl didn't look up. She was just concentrating on her book. Though she did listen to their footsteps to make sure they weren't those of anyone from the hideout. She knew what they sounded like just in case she was doing something she wasn't supposed to and she could stop before they caught her. It prevented trouble.

"Mr. Grayson! How nice to see you, as usual. And you brought a Mr. Drake too. How lovely," Webster said to the two arrivals. "I'll be out with your usuals shortly."

Cody's head shot up and her hand instantly went to grasp the locket she was wearing when she heard the name Grayson. Dick. Dick was the only Grayson she knew of, though she figured that there were any Grayson's in the world. However, there was only one Grayson in Gotham. She even checked in the phone book.

And there he was. Richard "Dick" Grayson. Her "Little Bird" was standing at the counter with his hands in his black jacket. He wore a deep blue shirt under said jacket with a pair of simple blue jeans. His signature smirk was plastered on his lips while his blue eyes looked at the man kindly. However, Cody did notice that his eyes were different than she remembered them as well. They weren't as innocent as they were before. She assumed that was acquired through years of doing their line of work. Well, his line of work.

My Little Bird isn't very little anymore, Cody thought, looking from the picture in the locket up to the young man who was standing not too far from where she was sitting. Dick had grown. He looked as if he was now taller than Batman himself, though not nearly as dark and gloomy nor intimidating as the Batman. His muscles were also much larger now, though she assumed that was also from being an acrobatic hero. His hair was also longer. It wasn't too long, but longer than how Bruce used to have him cut it.

The boy next to him was Tim Drake, new ward of Bruce Wayne. Tim Drake had once lived with his father, but he had been murdered, said the media. Cody didn't know how or why he became the ward of Bruce Wayne, but she obviously knew he was the new Robin, who called himself Red Robin instead of simply just Robin. It seemed as if they were close and cared about one another.

Dick always did want siblings, Cody thought. How much of your life have I missed out on, Dick? Cody looked down at the table in front of her sadly, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to roll out of her aging eyes. Cody hadn't cried in a long time. She usually was surrounded by people, dangerous people who would rat her out to Master. And just as Erik had said many years before when he was kidnapping her, Master's punishments were a lot worse now.

You've got to be almost nineteen now, Little Bird. That was four birthdays that Cody had missed out on. Four birthdays that she couldn't spend with the person she thought of as a little brother. I missed you graduating high school. I missed you becoming Nightwing and going on so many missions with you. I've missed so many Secret Santa parties and Halloween costume parties.

Cody shook her head and leaned forward in her chair. She tried to contain a sob, but had to cover it up with clearing her throat. The girl pulled her had a little further down over her face, making sure that Dick, if he so happened to look over, wouldn't be able to tell who she was. Though he most likely thinks me dead.

How would he react if he knew I was really alive and kicking all these years? That question had always been in her mind, and not just with Dick. Would he be angry that I let them think me dead, that I made them feel such pain and loss? Did they mourn over me? Did they miss me? Oh, she missed them dearly. Would they want me back in their lives? Could they trust me? Understand why I'm doing what I'm doing?

Thinking about all of that made her cry even harder. She hid her face with her hat and her hand. Her shoulder's shook as she remained silent. She had been holding that in for oh so long and as much as it felt good to let it all out, it hurt even more to be asking herself those questions.

"Oh, dear," Webster said as he walked over to her with her cup of tea. "Oh, honey, what's wrong?" He knelt down beside her, wrapping an arm comforting around her shoulders. "Dear, what's come over you? You're usually much happier than this."

If only you knew, Cody thought. "It's been a long day," she managed to get out. Her voice sounding rather hoarse.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked. Cody just shook her head. "Here," Webster said, handing the girl her cup of tea. "This will make you feel better."

"Thank you, Web," she smile, managing a smile for him.

With that, he walked back over to the counter to get Dick and Tim's orders ready. Cody, not meaning to, overheard what the two were talking about as she sat there, trying to regain her composure. Sometimes she really hated her over trained sense of hearing.

"I wonder what's wrong," Tim said. Cody could feel his eyes on her, but she didn't dare look up and give herself away. "A pretty girl like her shouldn't cry."

"You're such a lady killer," Dick said, getting the younger boy to chuckle and change the topic.

"Why did you bring me here, Dick?" he asked, getting down to a more serious note. His voice lowered, but Cody could still hear him clearly. "Is it about the mission tonight?"

"Yeah," Dick replied. "It didn't go well."

"Trust me, you don't have to tell me that. I was there; I know exactly how it went down. And it wasn't pretty," Tim interrupted.

"I saw the security tapes," Dick informed him. "You guys were going up against some of the best assassins out there. You did everything you were supposed to. Those guys are just in another league."

"I've never seen them before," Tim said. "You know them?"

"Yeah," Dick sighed. "Yeah I do." There was a moment of silence as Webster brought over their order. Once Webster was behind the counter once more, Dick continued. "The blonde one, Erik. He picks a specific nerve with everyone who was on the original team."

"What'd he do?" Tim asked.

"You remember me telling you about Phoenix, right?"

"The girl who was on the team? She died, right? There's a memorial of her at the Cave," Tim said.

So they do think me dead, Cody sighed.

"She was originally trained with Erik and the other's that are in his group," Dick informed him. "Her and her brother. Long story short, she was one of us. And one night he kidnapped her. That was almost five years ago, Tim."

"So nobody knows if she's dead or alive," Tim said. "There's a chance she's alive."

"I guess," Dick sighed. "We haven't given up looking, but after five years the odds aren't good. I'm not feeling traught."

Cody almost broke done once more hearing him use his word play. She missed that so much. My Little Bird, I'm so sorry I've hurt you so much. That I've hurt you all. I can't forgive myself for that.

"I'm sorry, Dick," Tim said. He cleared his throat, trying to clear the air. "What about the other's that were with him?"

"Sam was the one that took the Egyptian Dagger. He's a part of that original group with Erik. The other guy and girl we know nothing about though."

"That girl, Ember could never have known I was behind her, yet she avoided me like the plague," Tim said. "The only people I've ever seen be able to do that were you, Barbara and the League."

"Phoenix was the one to teach me that," Dick said. Cody could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "Bruce taught me how to use the shadows and to know my surroundings, but Phoenix taught me how to use my gut instincts. That's how I'm able to figure out you're there.

"I don't know who she is, but whoever she is, she's strong and smart. She knew BB's identity. He was really freaked out about that. I'm going to have him lay low for a little while."

"What about the flash drive that Beast Boy got?" Tim asked.

Beast Boy, is that what Garfield is going by?

"There was information on the location of the Dagger. It's going to be transported tomorrow and it gives the route being taken."

"How'd he get it?"

"It had to be slipped to him after the girl knocked him out. The only person around him after she did that was her. She had to have been the one to give it to us."

"But why? She's with them. She's a bad guy."

"I don't know," Dick sighed. "It could be true and she's trying to help us, or it's a trap."

"It didn't seem like she liked Erik and the other guys very much," Tim observed.

"Naw, Phoenix wasn't too thrilled about him either. He had a thing for her. Really sadistic kind of thing too. She used to do so much to get under his skin. He even dislocated her shoulder once just because she mouthed off to him."

"She sounded like a cool person," Tim said.

"She was, er, is," Dick said.

He's still trying to believe I'm out there.

"She really cared about all of us," he said. "She was like the older sister I never had. She looked out for me and I looked out for her. She did that for everyone though. Especially her older brother, Carson. She'd do anything for him. She'd do anything for the people she cared about; even break them out of prison."

There was a moment of silence. I'd even go undercover for five years, gain back the trust of Master and the others to get information on them for you. I want them put away forever for what they've done to my family. To you guys. To all of the people they've hurt and killed. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, the now finished cup of tea no longer in her hands.

"Wait," Dick said, as if realizing something.

"What?" Tim asked, curious in the sudden mood change.

"Phoenix would do anything for us. And I mean anything."

"So? What does that have to do with any of this?"

No, Cody thought.

"There was no way Master would kill her. She was too valuable to him. He'd do anything to keep her and she knew that."

He couldn't have figured it out already, could he?

"What are you getting at, Dick?" Tim asked.

"What if Phoenix is Ember? What if she's the one helping us?"

Shit, Cody groaned. I didn't think he'd figure it out that quickly. Cody got up from her seat and slowly started to make her way across the room and over to the table where Dick and Tim were sitting.

"That's ridiculous," Tim said. "Dick, think about what you're saying. You're letting your hopes of Phoenix still being alive get in the way of your logic."

Phoenix was so tempted to get up and go over there, to tell Dick that she was still alive, that he was right and she was helping them, but she couldn't. It would blow everything that she had been working for all of those years.

"But what if she is?" he pressed.

"And what if she isn't?" Tim pushed back. "Come on, Dick. Think about this. Phoenix didn't have powers before."

"Neither did the rest of them," he answered. "They had to have done something to them. If they could do it to the rest, they could have done it to her."

"You have no proof that it's her."

"I have my gut feeling," he answered. "And that's one of the most important things I learned from that girl. You always trust your gut."

"I think we should go," Tim said. Cody heard his chair move back. "You've been working too many all nighters. You need to get some rest."

A sigh was heard. "Yeah, all right."

She heard footsteps and then the door. She let out a sigh, her head falling back in her hands. Yeah, the thought of me being alive after this long is too ridiculous to really be believable. She couldn't blame anybody for shooting down that thought.

She knew that, but then why did it hurt her so much?

The girl nearly had a heart attack when her phone went off in her pocket. "Hello?" she answered after picking it up.

"Where are you?" Lucas asked frantically.

"Having a cup of tea," she informed him. "Why? Something wrong?"

"The transport starts in two hours," he said. "And if you're not here when it leaves and then it gets intercepted, they'll suspect something. You need to get back here now!"

"All right, I'm on my way," she said.

The girl slowly stood up and looked over to where her old friend had been sitting. She sighed. It wasn't just the people she knew that had changed while she had been gone, she realized. Cody had also changed. She didn't know if that was a good thing or not.