So I started writing this chapter, got about 2,000 words in, and then- I lost it. All of it was gone.

So, to say the least- I'm pissed. And I'm not sure how well this chapter is going to go. Hopefully it goes somewhat smoothly.

Read and Review!

-0-

Chapter Seven

Not fifteen minutes after Roy had called, Eternal, or Mercy, was dressed and ready to leave to the restaurant Roy had chosen for them. She was walking out her bedroom door, just as Megan came floating down the hall, Conner walking slowly after her. When she caught sight of Eternal all dressed up, she smiled, and twirled around the girl.

Eternal looked up at the girl, whom was already taller than her when she wasn't floating around her, and laughed.

"What are you all dressed up for?" Megan asked, referring to the light blue chiffon dress Eternal had on underneath her leather jacket. "Oh! Are you going on a date?" She practically shouted. Eternal chuckled, and shrugged.

"I guess so." She replied as she began walking forward again toward Conner, who she nodded to him in greeting. He nodded in return, and Megan gracefully dropped to the floor to stand beside him. Megan giggled, and then began waving at Eternal.

"Let me know how it goes! Have fun!" She chirped as Eternal waved back, and then headed towards the Zeta tubes. Next to greet her, just before she entered the briefing room was Wally.

"What gives?" He asked, pointing at her dress as he walked along side her. She smirked, and then looked at him, swinging her hair as she did. Wally had to focus hard on her face in order to keep himself from tripping.

"I have a date." She said with a tiny hint of smugness to her voice. Wally swallowed hard, and followed Eternal as she walked towards the Zeta tubes, her heels not making a sound against the stone floor.

"A date?" Wally had to keep himself from choking it out. "W-with who?" He asked as she stopped right in front of the control panel and checked to make sure her push knife was in her inside pocket, and her phone and money were in the other inside pocket.

"This guy Roy Harper," She answered, not looking at Wally as his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. "He seems nice." She shrugged at the last part, and then walked into the Zeta tube as Robin walked into the briefing room, just in time to spot Eternal wave to Wally as she disappeared.

Robin approached Wally, who was staring at the Zeta tube with wide eyes. Robin looked at him, and then the Zeta tube, and then back to Wally.

"Where is she going?" He finally asked as he stared at the Zeta tube with Wally. Wally sighed, and his shoulders slumped.

"A date." He spat before turning on his heel and walking rather slowly towards the kitchen. Megan had offered to make dinner tonight for him if he wanted, and now he was more than happy to take her up on the offer. Robin raised an eyebrow, and his eyes focused on his best friend from underneath his sunglasses.

"With who?" Robin asked as Wally pushed open the door. Wally stopped, looked at Robin, and then huffed.

"Roy."

-0-

Eternal arrived in an ally of Star City via Zeta tube just down the street from the five star restaurant that Roy had picked out, and quickly made her way there. Roy had offered to pick her up, but she doubted that Batman would be thrilled to find out she had had a random boy pick her up from Mount Justice to take her on a date- so she insisted on meeting him there instead.

She slipped off her ring, and then made her way out of the ally, her heels now tapping against the sidewalk.

Mercy now walked down the street with her hands in her pockets, her chiffon dress fluttering in the wind behind her, and her freshly trimmed hair bouncing due to the loose curls she had done before she left. She was excited, to say the least. When she was living in Star City to be with her Mother and steal for Luthor, she had had no time for a social life- let alone a date.

She eyed the street as she walked. Mercy recalled visiting this street a couple of times growing up, but never once with her Mother. It was always with Luthor. He would take her to the toy store and tell her to pick out whatever she wanted, and then to the ice cream parlor and she would always get an ice cream cone with strawberry ice cream. She suspected now that Luthor was kind to her growing up because her mother was putting her life on the line every day working for Luthor.

Before she knew it, she spotted the restaurant, and then the familiar figure of Roy Harper, leaning against a cherry red and expensive looking convertible while playing on his phone. She smiled, and then began walking towards him.

"Stranger?" She asked as she approached, her heels tapping lightly as she went. Roy looked up from his phone with a smirk, and Mercy smiled at him.

"I thought we were past that," He smiled as she laughed. "Beautiful. You look gorgeous." She accepted the arm he held out to her, and led them to the entrance of the French restaurant.

"Thank you, Roy." She smirked, as Roy held open the door, and she led them inside. The two disappeared behind the door, and their dinner began.

-0- (Heheh, skipping over dinner because I'm evil.) -0-

About two hours after dinner, Roy and Mercy had made their way to the park nearby, and in a quite cliché fashion, they were swinging on the swing set on the playground, speaking softly as if someone might overhear them, even though there was not a soul in sight.

"Mercy?" He asked, still looking at her. She didn't look at him, but she leaned her head towards him slightly.

"Hm?" She replied as she continued to look at the stars. It was a clear sky tonight.

He watched her for a moment before continuing, and when he didn't say anything, Mercy turned to look at him. He simply smiled, and Mercy laughed.

"I've had fun, Stranger." She joked as she reached over and poked Roy's arm. He gave her a strange look, and placed a hand over the spot she poked. "I really have. But you should loosen up a little bit."

Roy gave Mercy a strange look before he dared to ask why.

"And why is that?" He asked as Mercy watched him. She shrugged something Roy had noticed she did quite a bit, even when she didn't need to.

"You may be friendly towards me," She began, watching her heels twist and turn in the dirt underneath her for a moment. Mercy then looked up at Roy, and met her eyes with his. "But it kind of feels like you're a little more serious then you've let on. Like you have a mission to do or something." She wanted to laugh at the irony of her statement, but she pushed the urge away.

Roy smirked, and gave a small chuckle.

"Right…" Was a he said as he looked up at the stars. Mercy watched him, and then cleared her throat, causing him to look back at her.

"You don't have to act you're always so… so… loose?" She couldn't think of a better word. Roy smirked at the expression on her face as she searched for one. When one popped into her head, she held up a finger, and her eyes grew wide. "Unperturbed."

Roy laughed at her antics, and she gave a small giggle. And then he nodded.

"Well, I guess if I'm going to ask you on a second date…" Mercy snapped her head to look at him at this statement. "Then I'll have to act more… perturbed." Mercy chuckled, and smiled at him as she thought about how that was something Robin would say.

"Just be yourself." She pointed out as she playfully pushed him. Roy smiled and nodded in response. "And that second date?" Roy turned to look at her, and she was gazing at the stars.

"Sounds like I'll have to take you up on that offer." Mercy said sing-song, causing Roy to laugh quietly at her. As Roy looked back up at the sky, Mercy looked at her watch, and her eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"Oh good god…" She muttered before she realized it came out of her mouth. Roy whipped his head around to look at her, and she pulled out her phone.

"Uh… just a… sorry." She said quietly to Roy as she called Megan. The phone rang a few times and just as Mercy was about to hang up, Megan finally answered.

"Hey, Megan, sorry to call you so late." She said casually. Megan gave the phone a confused look, and then slapped her forehead.

"Hey! When are you getting back?" Megan yawned as he looked at the clock. It was close to 1:30.

Mercy shifted in her swing, and looked at Roy before answering. He still looked incredibly confused.

"Uh… probably soon. I didn't realize it was so late… or… early. I was just wondering if you could leave the front door unlocked for me. I forgot my keys." She was actually talking about the Zeta tubes. She wasn't sure if they kept them on all night.

"Oh! You mean the Zeta tubes… right. They're still on. And if you have trouble getting through, call me again and I'll pick you up with the bioship." Megan replied quietly as if she knew Mercy was sitting right next to Roy. Mercy gave a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Meg, I'll talk to you later." Mercy said almost a little too nicely. Megan gave a quick goodbye, but not before reminding her that she wanted details about the date.

Once Mercy put her phone away, she looked at Roy, who was satisfied with Mercy's 'explanation'.

"I'm sorry, Roy, but I've got to get going. I didn't realize it was so late." Mercy apologized as she stood, and Roy stood as well.

"Let me give you a ride home," Roy said as he walked beside Mercy towards the entrance of the park. "Like you said, its late, and Star City isn't very kind after dark."

"You have no idea how right you are." Mercy thought darkly as she nodded at Roy.

"Alright." Mercy replied. She quickly came up with a lie so that she could get Roy to drop her nearby a Zeta transporter, and keep him as far away as possible from her old apartment. She had strict orders from Bats and Canary to keep away from there. Undesirables would be there waiting if she happened to reappear. "I moved, by the way. I live just a block away from Central at that new complex." She remembered that the new complex had just opened three weeks ago, and if the door didn't have a buzz in option, which she was positive it didn't, she would be home free.

As they walked back, she allowed her heels to tap against the concrete, and the space between them became comfortably still.

"You know, tonight I had my first date." Mercy said quietly as they walked. Roy's head snapped to look at her, and he looked shocked. "I didn't have very good social skills. Boys were my friends, not interested in me in any other way." She looked at Roy, and laughed out loudly at his expression.

"Oh- Sorry I just," Roy shook his head a little. "You just so… so beautiful. Why wouldn't someone want to take you out on a date? Or maybe ten?" Roy asked. Mercy just laughed lightly, and elbowed Roy lightly. Roy elbowed back, and Mercy laughed again.

"So…" Mercy began as they approached the cherry red car. "What's the plan for date number two?" She asked as Roy quickly opened the car door for her. She felt herself blush for the umpteenth time that night, and smiled at him as she stepped inside, and buckled herself in as he shut the door. Roy soon joined her, and buckled himself in as he made a face as if he was in thought.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" He asked as he started the car. It purred quietly, but then growled once Roy put it in gear, and pulled out onto the empty street. Mercy shrugged, and then put her hands up to the warm air coming from the air vents. Roy noticed, and at a stop sign, he began taking off his jacket.

"Oh," Mercy noticed this, and tried to stop him. "Roy you don't-" Roy held it out to her, a look on his face that said: Just take it. I know you want it. Which wasn't a complete lie. Mercy did want it. She was freezing.

"Just take it. If you don't want to take it with you, you can at least use it to warm yourself up a little while you're in the car." He said with a small laugh in his voice at the look on Mercy's face.

Mercy eyed the warm looking jacket, and then slowly took it out of Roy's hand, and placed it over her legs. But once the car started moving again, she moved it up to go over her hands and arms. She couldn't help but notice how heavenly it smelled, and nestled the bottom half of her face in it.

When Roy looked back over at her, he couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the girl. Her eyes were wide and now focused on him, and cheeks were turning pink from the attention. Mercy smiled under the jacket, and then sat up to point to the apartment complex she was 'supposedly' living at.

"Right there. You can just stop in front of it." She began to fold up the jacket, and Roy protested.

"Take it with you. You've still got the walk to the door." Roy said a little sarcastically. He just wanted her to take the jacket with her. Then he'd have a solid reason to see her again. Mercy smirked, and placed the jacket over her arm, then reached into the inside pocket.

She pulled out his wallet and cell phone, and placed them on the dashboard as Roy came to a stop in front of the building. He gave a weak chuckle, and then pocketed the two items.

"Anything else you might need?" she asked jokingly as she opened the door, and stuck a leg out. Roy shook his head, and eyed Mercy for a moment.

She was sure that both of them were debating the same thing, and she smirked.

Mercy then leaned forward, placed a quick kiss on Roy's cheek before sliding out of the car.

She leaned over, and waved at him.

"I'll see you for date number two?" She asked. Roy nodded dreamily, and she smiled at him.

"Goodnight, Mercy." He said with a small smile. Mercy smiled back, and she nodded at him.

"Sweet dreams, Harper." She closed the door, and walked towards the building as Roy pulled away. Luckily, the building was at the end of the street, and Roy was off the street quickly, meaning Mercy didn't even have to worry about going inside of the complex. As she turned around, and walked towards the nearest Zeta transporter, she slipped on her ring, and became Eternal once more.

"Sweet dreams."

-0-

Never again would Mercy be staying out so late again when she had training the next day. The next morning when Mercy's alarm went off, she groaned loudly, and literally rolled out of her bed, landing on the floor with a loud thud.

Although she did not enjoy it, she had made it a habit to wake up early at Mount Justice so that her new comrades would not barge into her room, and find a black haired Eternal sound asleep with her mouth wide open. Although, that would be the least of her worries if they didn't see the Eternal they knew in her bed, but Mercy.

Mercy groped the edge of her nightstand, and then reached around clumsily for her ring. Once she felt the familiar shape of the ring, she slipped it on- but not before dropping it, which caused it to land directly on her eye.

"Goddamn it!" Mercy swore as she sat straight up, her hand over her eye. "Little mother…" She continued to swear under her breath as she slipped the ring on, her hair lightening as soon as it was securely around her finger. After she rubbed her watering eye one more time, she looked around her room, still not quite used to the space she now called home. She didn't have any pictures, nor any decorations on the wall except for her target board, and her desk was neat an organized. It looked as though she hadn't even attempted to make herself at home- but she figured: If I never did before, then why start now?

Now as Eternal, she untangled herself from her blankets, and glanced at her clock. 8:33. She had managed to get a grand total of four hours of sleep since she couldn't get herself to calm down once she got back to Mount Justice. Megan had demanded details, and Eternal had gotten a bit too excited about it, causing her to stay awake for several hours after that.

"Mother of god…" Eternal groaned as she tossed her blanket back onto her bed, and walked into her bathroom. As always, her bare feet were silent against the stone floor, and the bathroom door closed without a sound. She showered and dressed as she always did, and then stepped out of the bathroom in her towel- since it was her room and all- to pick out her clothes for the day.

Just as Eternal began sifting through her closet for shirt she wanted to wear that day, there was a sharp knock at her door, the doorknob jiggled slightly, and then the door flew open and closed- all within the time it took her to blink.

"KID!" Eternal screeched as she clutched her towel around herself tighter. Wally was already making himself comfortable in the swivel chair he had pushed across the room upon his arrival. He didn't even look in Eternal's direction, he just leaned back with his eyes closed, and propped his feet up on her bed.

"What?" He started, his eyes still closed. "I just wanted to hear about your date with… what was his name?" Wally knew damn well who she went on a date with- but he wanted to hear her say it.

"Roy?"Eternal snarled as she quickly slipped on a pair of underwear while Wally's eyes were closed. At least if by some catastrophic mishap should occur, she wouldn't be completely naked.

"Yeah, yeah, that guy. How'd it go?" Before she could answer, Wally turned around in the chair, and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Eternal, of course.

"You know," Eternal had to suppress the snarl she so desperately wanted to release. Kid realized she already had a knife in her hand, and wondered where she could have possibly gotten that from. "When I say 'when my door is locked, don't come in,' I mean it, Wally." She snarled the last part, but Wally could not help but listen closely to the water droplets hitting the floor in the silence following.

"Uh…" He couldn't find the words to spit out, and he stood. Eternal narrowed her eyes at him, as if daring him to come any closer. She pointed towards the door with her dagger, and closed her eyes. Wally swallowed hard when he saw the light glisten against her wet skin, and blinked several times.

"Just get out." She growled at him. Wally saluted her, and then disappeared from sight with a green blur.

Eternal watched the door for a moment, noting that he had locked the door as he left, and then turned back to her closet with a loud huff- and plunging the dagger into the wall next to her. Once she finally found the shirt she wanted, she threw the shirt over the dagger's blade sticking out of the wall, and moved on to locate the rest of her outfit for the day.

-0-

After Eternal dressed, braided her damp hair, and put on some makeup, she left her room with her kukris on her back and a foul look on her face. It was around nine when she finally left her room and headed towards the kitchen for breakfast, where the team had planned on meeting together before training.

But frankly, Eternal wasn't feeling so whelmed right now. Not after Wally's visit this morning.

As Eternal walked into the kitchen, Megan greeted her with a cheery "Good Morning!", and Eternal replied with a grunt as the rest of the team turned to greet her as well.

Artemis was the first to notice Eternal's foul mood, and didn't hesitate to comment on it.

"What's up your ass?" Artemis asked before she took a bite of her eggs. Eternal threw a glare at Artemis as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. What Artemis didn't see was Eternal scratching her nose with her middle finger. Eternal chugged the entire glass before pointing at Wally, and placing the glass on the counter next to Artemis.

"Ask him. He's the one who barged in on me when I was half naked." She stated as she refilled her glass, and then moved to take some of the bacon on the counter. Breakfast was Eternal's favorite meal of the day now since Megan's cooking had proven to be about ten times better than her own. "I almost threw a knife at his throat- again." She glared at Wally at the last word, and he looked down at his plate with a slightly pink flush on his cheeks. Robin, on the other hand, suddenly busted out with laughter, and nearly fell out of his seat he was laughing so hard. Megan gave a quiet giggle from the stove, and even Superboy stifled a quiet laugh. Artemis glared along with Eternal, and Aqualad quietly placed his face in his hand as he shook his head, as if he was tired of Wally skittering along the edge of death just to see what Eternal would do if he surprised her.

"Dude!" Robin shouted as he playfully pushed his friends shoulder. Wally shot a glare at his friend, but Robin continued to laugh. "Really? I think we've figured out by now that Etty will kill you if you sneak up on her." Wally shrugged, and then a smirk grew on his face.

Eternal narrowed her eyes at him as she took a sip from her glass, and lowered the glass to the table as one of her eyebrows rose.

"I wasn't sneaking up on her," He began as Eternal continued to eat her breakfast with one eye fixed on Wally. Seven different ways she could kill him and make it look like an accident popped into her head as she chewed on her bacon, and she couldn't help but grant herself a small satisfied smirk at the thought of it. "I just wanted to know how her date with…." He paused just as Eternal had last night, and mimicked her expression of thought as Eternal glared at him, her glass now held tightly in her hand. "Oh, right, Roy Harper." Robin and Wally turned to look down the table at Eternal knowingly, and the rest of the team, excluding Megan, gave Eternal a strange look. For some reason or another, Aqualad looked shocked.

"What?" Eternal shrugged as she continued to eat, playing off the call to war Wally had just proposed to her as if she was fine with her personal endeavors on the table for all to see. "Am I not allowed to go on a date now and then?" She took a quick sip of her orange juice, and then jumped at the sound of Megan clapping excitedly.

"Oh! She told me all about it! He took her too-"

"Megan." Eternal interrupted her with a slightly angered tone to her voice. Megan stopped short as she watched Eternal raise her eyebrows at her, as if she were reprimanding a child. "We talked about this-" She turned to Artemis. "And we'll talk about this. I swear, but," She pointed her fork at Wally, who rose his hands up as if he were surrendering. "You, You and I are sparring together today." She reminded him before standing up, walking around towards the boys end of the table, and placing her dishes in the sink. Before she walked away, she leaned over towards Wally's ear, and whispered to him.

"And I don't think I need to remind you how it went last time." Wally's eyes suddenly gave a small flash of fear before masking themselves over again as Eternal walked out of the kitchen with a small wave over her shoulder.

As soon as the door slid shut behind her- Robin began laughing hysterically once more, and Wally pushed his friend off of his chair, and onto the floor.

-0-

Eternal walked out into the briefing room with a knife spinning around her finger when she spotted Red Arrow typing away silently on the holographic computer. She stopped short, and gave the image on the screen a hard look.

"Oh good Christ." She thought to herself as she frowned at it. It was a profile of a criminal dressed in something that looked awfully similar to her old costume. "Night. Didn't even get my name right. No wonder I got to keep it when I joined this circus…"

Eternal silently walked out of the shadows and towards Red Arrow as he typed, aware that he didn't know she was there yet- since she had managed to sneak up on the hero multiple times before.

Once she was close enough to him, she cleared her throat- and she could tell that Red Arrow had to suppress his urge to jump in surprise as she walked up to his side. Eternal smirked to herself, silently pleased that their time apart had not made her rusty, and gave a small laugh.

"Did I scare you?" She asked with a cool tone to her voice. Their last meeting had not gone so well- but Eternal knew that a feud would not help her at all in the long run if Red ever decided to join the team- or if he was going to be around as much as he was already.

The response Red gave her was expected, and it didn't bother Eternal a bit as he narrowed his white eye slits at her, and then turned back to his work. She noted that he was recording 'Night's' absence for the past week , and then her eyes wandered to the physical aspects of her profile. Her eyes narrowed at the appalling inaccuracies, and before she could stop it, a small, almost inaudible huff escaped her lips. Red stopped typing for a moment, glanced at Eternal from the corner of his eye, and then continued typing.

After a few more moments of Eternal standing next to him, he stopped, turned towards her, and glared at the red headed girl with the kukris on her back. Eternal stared back at him with the best doe eyes she could muster.

"Can I help you?" He nearly snarled at her as Eternal's eyebrow rose at his tone. She frowned, and her doe eyes turned into death threats.

"No." She chirped as she turned back to look at the holographic screen. She nodded towards it, and continued. "I just couldn't help but stare at the horrendous mistakes you've made." Red glared even harder, and Eternal smirked. Before Red could speak, she began speaking again.

"You see- if his thief, is-" She read over the sentence she had been eyeing a moment ago, and scoffed again. "'An elusive exclusively nocturnal thief whom steals items of tremendous and unprecedented value for personal gain,' then what the hell are they doing with it?" She questioned. She damn well knew the answer to that, but she wasn't about to go and out herself to the hero who had been hunting her down for nearly a month now. Red Arrow only glared, and then turned to look at the screen. She could practically hear the gears grinding in his head.

"She has to be a thief for hire-" Eternal continued as she reached for the keyboard, and without warning, switched to Night's list of items stolen. Red glared at her hand, and then looked up at the screen. He didn't want to admit it- but this girl had a point. It wasn't for personal gain- it was aiding and abetting higher profile criminals. "Because who would want a… proton accelerator gun, and a diamond tennis bracelet all at the same time just for the hell of it?" She proposed as she scrolled down the list. She couldn't help but think about how much they had missed, and resisted the urge to laugh.

Red glared at the screen for a little bit, and then sighed.

"I hate to say it…" He didn't look towards Eternal, but his glare did soften up a bit. "But that sounds about right." Eternal smirked at his words as she watched him begin to correct Night's profile. But just as Eternal was about to make a comment along the lines of 'of course I'm right,' the Zeta tubes announced a new arrival that caused the entire team to rush into the briefing room.

"Authorizing, 0-2, Batman." The robotic female voice announced, causing Red Arrow and Eternal to stop and look towards the tubes. Batman walked forward towards them, and nodded as if in greeting. Red Arrow nodded back, and Eternal gave a mocking salute, which Batman narrowed his eyes at.

Sure enough, the team was already piling into the briefing room, and Batman didn't even have to bother with calling everyone to the briefing room, and turned to the two standing in front of the holographic computer.

"Excuse me." He said- Eternal assumed it was meant to sound somewhat cordial, but it sounded more like a demand than anything else. But without any protest, Eternal and Red Arrow stepped back, and walked towards the team.

Batman typed for a moment as the team watched him with anticipation, watching as he brought up maps of Metropolis, and a photo of Lex Towers. Eternal glared at the Bat's back, and then gave a quiet huff. She saw Red cast her a glance from the corner of her eye, but ignored it as she crossed her arms.

"You're being sent on a covert mission to Metropolis." Batman began as he turned around, just to glare directly at Eternal- she assumed he knew she was the one who had huffed at him. "Two weeks ago, a vial of an unknown- but dangerous, substance, disappeared from Star City labs."

'Well now I know who I stole that for…'Eternal thought to herself as Batman spoke, recalling how she had had a particularly uncomplicated time getting away from Red Arrow than usual. She had even managed to tangle in him in one of his own nets.

"It has been confirmed that the properties of this chemical can provide a city with clean and efficient energy for up to one hundred years- but also possesses the capability of being made into a weapon of mass destruction- with the possibly of it being ten times stronger than the atom bomb, the League doesn't want to take any chances." Batman reached back, and tapped one of the holographic keys, and the pictures disappeared.

"Keep in mind, our tip came from an anonymous source- but considering Luthor's prior conflicts with the League, we're willing to keep a… open mind."Batman didn't seem to fond of this idea, but Eternal had to assume that this tip must have been pretty convincing to persuade the Dark Knight.

"Remember, this is a covert mission. Observe and report only. If you see anything, or find anything- report it right away, and the League will handle the rest." Batman ordered them before glaring particularly hard at the older members of the team. Eternal recalled the stories they had told her about their weak point in covert missions and how they happened to 'accidently' blow up everything they put their godforsaken hands on.

"You are dismissed." Batman announced before striding out of the cave, and disappearing in a flash of light from the Zeta tube.