Trainings with the Hawks went much more smoothly now. They went easier on me, not that I needed it, but I was glad they were learning from past mistakes as well. My wings grew more in the span of a few days than in all my time before. I could now fly higher and stay up longer, and it felt amazing.
They cut their training time down, but that also meant that I needed to work about twice as hard now. I didn't mind. The extra physical activity gave me something to do besides watching the TV box with Superboy all day.
Speaking of, he had begun to warm up to me now, and now called me "sister" about as much as I called him brother. I was glad he was talking with me again.
One day, I was sitting cross-legged on my bed while eating a couple of pizza slices I managed to grab before Wally cleaned out the box, when Miss Martian knocked on the door, opening it slightly so I could see her face.
"Hey, Hawkgirl," she said. I stood up and went to the door frame.
"Would you like to come with the team on a camping trip?" She asked. I thought for a moment, confused as to what "camping" entailed.
"What's...camping?" I voiced my thoughts. She smiled and grabbed my arm, dragging me out of my room.
"Come on, we'll show you!" She exclaimed. Well, it sounds kind of fun…
Pretty soon she had gathered everyone in the living room, waiting for Wally. I was still confused about this whole thing, but I wasn't about to duck out on hanging out with the team.
"We're gonna need a lot more stuff than that if we're gonna go camping," Robin said as Wally raced into the room carrying some supplies in his arms.
"I hope you don't mind, I invited all the others to join in the fun with the s'mores." S'mores? What were those?
I soon learned that they were some sort of dessert, with chocolate and marshmallows and graham crackers. They tasted amazing.
"This was a great idea, don't you think, Wally?" Robin said, sitting by the fire once we set everything up. "Camping in the great outdoors!" I sat down beside Superboy and enjoyed the feeling of not having the back of a chair squashing my wings by flexing them back and forth.
"I didn't remember inviting all of you." Wally replied. "Besides, I didn't say anything about camping, I said a camp fire. Big difference between just a camp fire and the whole camping thing. I don't like camping outside…"
"...unless I'm camping with that special someone." He finished, leaning back in Megan's direction. I sighed in annoyance now that I understood what was going on between her and Wally.
"Well, I think all of us camping is a wonderful idea!" The Martian in question said excitedly.
"So…" I began, setting my elbows on my knees. "What do you do when you go camping?" I asked, still confused. The only things we've done so far was build a fire and set up sheet-things called tents. Was that really it?
"Well, you pitch tents outside, build a fire, roast things like s'mores, and tell stories around the campfire," Robin explained. I felt a little better now that I knew what was happening.
"Is this a standard thing for people?" I wondered out loud. Everyone looked at me strangely, even Superboy.
"It really depends on the person, if they like camping or not. Some do, and some don't." Robin replied, glancing at Wally with his last part.
"So you...tell stories as well?" I was intrigued. I didn't have a story to tell, but I wanted to hear what the others wanted to say.
"Yeah," Robin answered, nodding.
"Why don't you tell us your story, Hawkgirl? You know, before we got you from Cadmus." Wally asked.
I thought for a moment, then began. "Well… I don't have many memories from before. I've been trying to remember, but there's very few things that come to me. I remember a small wooden house...before Cadmus, I know I had someone that looked after me. I just don't remember who.
"I remember Cadmus the most. The tests they did...they put me in places -training, I guess- and tested my strength and flight and endurance." I shook my head as my brain started hurting again.
"And then suddenly...nothing. The next thing I knew, I was in that room with the three of you," I motioned to Robin, Kaldur, and Wally. They all remained silent.
"So you're... not just a clone?" Wally was the first to speak. "I mean, if you remember something before Cadmus, then that means you had a family."
I nodded. "I've been trying to piece that together myself. The most I remember is that house," I explained.
"Do you remember an address?" Robin asked. "A number on the side of something?"
I shook my head. After that, the camp fell into an awkward silence save for the roar of the fire.
Soon, Kaldur was asked about his origin as Aqualad. I tried paying attention, but soon the crackling fire and his rhythmic voice had put me to sleep.
I awoke in a bed. But it wasn't my bed. I looked around, confused. The room was small, only a desk and a dresser with a mirror fit.
I stared into the mirror, moving from the bed to get a better look at the girl inside. I looked younger and I noticed something else...
I didn't have my wings. Wait, was this another memory?
I turned around, but there wasn't even a trace of the dark brown appendages on my back. I was confused and scared now.
"Tabitha!" A voice called down. The name made me instinctively turn my head. "Time for breakfast!"
I cautiously stepped out. The house seemed foreign and familiar at the same time. Somehow, I made my way into a kitchen, where a grey-haired woman was standing my the stove while something sizzled in the pan she held. I recognized her. The woman from my other dream, the one who held the photograph of me.
"Oh good, you're up," she said, turning around and putting some bacon on a plate. I took it from her when she handed it out.
"What's wrong, dear?" She asked, looking concerned. "You're usually running off at the mouth by now."
"I-I just...didn't sleep well," I replied awkwardly. I didn't know what else to say. I sat down at the small table across from her.
"Listen, Tabi," she began, setting her mug she had in her hand down. "I know this is a hard time for you, with your mother passing away and all," Wait, I had a mother? And now she's… "but I just want you to know I'm here for you, if you ever want to talk." She placed her hand on mine. I smiled.
Hey, Hawkey… wait, who said that?
Hawkey…
"Yo, Hawkgirl!" Wally shouted, snapping me awake.
I groaned and looked around. I was sitting back on the log, surrounded by the team. I glanced behind me to find my dark brown wings hanging on my back. I sighed in relief.
"You missed my origin story!" Wally complained. Robin chuckled.
"Trust me, you didn't miss much," glancing back at the redhead.
"Can you tell us about how you got started, Robin?" Megan asked, eating more s'mores. Wally let out a laugh at that. I was confused, but intrigued. Seemingly everything about Robin was a mystery to, well, everyone.
"Are you kidding me?" Wally said after he stopped laughing, although a smile was still planted on his face. "Bats won't even let him tell you his real name!" Wait, Robin had a secret identity too? "I mean, you'd probably get a better origin story out of Supey over here," Wally gestured over to my brother.
"Well, do you remember anything from Cadmus, or before that?" I asked, turning my head to see him better.
"I don't even think I had a 'before,'" he responded.
"Yes, chronologically Superboy is only sixteen weeks old," Kaldur said. I felt embarrassed. But that didn't make sense, I thought. I had a "before," why didn't Superboy?
"And so you have no memory of things before being rescued?" Megan asked.
"I have some memories...from the G-Gnome," Superboy replied. Was that where I got my memories as well? "It would feed me information about the world outside while I was in the containment pod."
"So you can remember things? When you were in the containment pod they would feed you information and you could remember it, right?" Megan asked.
Superboy shrugged. "I guess so."
"Well, if you remember what they taught you, you must've been thinking about things as the fed you information." She surmised. "What did you think about?"
"When I was in the containment pod, I was fed...information." He looked angry. I put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from going berserk or something from the memories.
"I didn't really start thinking for myself until after I got out." He admitted, relaxing again.
"Well, what kind of things do you think about now?" Megan asked.
He looked angry again. Oh no… "The one thing that's always been on my mind is...destroying Superman."
"But Superman's not bad...is he?" I asked, breaking the tension. Or perhaps escalating it, I couldn't tell.
"Are you serious, Superboy?" Megan seemed shocked as well.
"It's how I feel, sometimes." Superboy stood and turned away from us. "What if that's why I was created, the only reason I was created?"
"And if Superboy was made to destroy Superman...what does that say about me?" I hadn't realized I had spoken aloud until everyone glanced at me. I shook my head. "I can't remember my purpose, or if I even had one. The ice...the ice did something to me," I clutched my head as the pain returned.
"That's not possible," Megan comforted.
"Yeah, look at all the good you've done," Wally added.
"She does have a valid point." I completely forgot Robin was even here until he spoke up. Sometimes he just faded into the background. "We really don't know anything about what Cadmus did yet." He wasn't making me feel any better.
"We know they're the good guys, and they're a part of this team." Wally smiled at us. Well, more at me, but still.
"In my world, actions speak louder than words. Both Superboy and Hawkgirl have proven their intent with their actions." Kaldur spoke.
But that still left the fact that I had forgotten nearly everything when I was frozen. I ignored the pain in my head this time. What if...what if I joined this team on mistake? What if I was created to do something else, like… ugh, I don't know, go against the Justice League? What if that was my purpose?
Megan was telling her origin story now. She told of Mars, which I thought was a cool place to live, and how everyone lived underground close together in really large family units.
She told us close she and her uncle were, and how he began looking for a protégé once he saw the other heroes had them as well.
He held a competition on Mars, which Megan wins dn got to travel to Earth and fight crime with her uncle.
"Now I'm here with all of you, and I'm part of the team! I truly love it!" She finished dramatically, raising her hands in the air.
"We're happy you're here with us as well, M'Gann." Kaldur said.
"You can say that again!" Wally agreed. I rolled my eyes and stood up.
"Well, it's been really fun uh, camping with you all, but I think I'm going to go to sleep now." I retreated back into the tent Megan and I decided to share.
It was a warm night, so instead of pulling the sheets over me, I just laid on the mat on my stomach. Megan soon joined me in the tent.
"Sorry if I hit you with my wings while I'm asleep," I apologized in advance.
"It's no problem," she replied, then turned her back to me.
I fell back asleep soon after. My last thought before I did, though, was I forgot to tell them my real name...
A/N: I think the next chapter will be a sort-of continuation of this one, so "Schooled" will have to wait until after chapter 12.
Reviews, followers, and favorites are still very much appreciated. :)
