Chapter Nine

So I just checked the stats on this story, and HOLEY MOTHER OF BATMAN.

2,282 hits and 871 visitors to this story. The stakes have just been raised for you guys.

-0-

"Congratulations." Wally's hand clapped Eternal's back as she nursed her bruised hip with an icepack on the couch back in the Cave. Eternal shot him a glare as he lifted her legs, sprawled out on the seat next to her, and placed her legs on his lap. "You aided in the capture of a wanted member of the League of Shadows." Eternal narrowed her eyes at him slightly, and then adjusted the ice pack on her hip. When she had landed on the roof with Red Arrow, she had managed to give herself a dark purple bruise the size of a melon that ached when she walked.

"Correction," Robin chirped from his seat in the kitchen. He was the only one who had changed back into his civvies. Eternal and Wally looked at him from their seat on the couch, both of them with a slightly confused expression on their faces. "She did capture the wanted member of the League of Shadows, and then successfully moved a fallen teammate over a fifty story drop by carrying them with her legs- and all without injury to herself or others." Robin crossed his arms, and gave Eternal a look that made her give a small chuckle, and look back at her hip.

"Without any major injury… although my hip hurts like hell…" She muttered as Wally followed her gaze, and then sent her a smile when she looked up at him. She reached over, and pushed his face with a finger playfully, and he laughed- which caused the archer dressed in green to shoot the two a look from the kitchen where she was sipping on a glass of water.

Red Arrow walked into the room next with an icepack against his forehead, and walked towards the kitchen where he took a seat next to Robin and across from Artemis, who narrowed her eyes at his arrival.

"How're feeling there, Red?" Eternal suddenly chirped from the couch as Wally flipped through the channels. She hadn't even looked towards the kitchen, or seen him come in, but the air of arrogance rolled off of him in waves- and she had certainly felt that.

At the call of his name, Red made a face of displeasure, and then turned his head slightly towards Eternal, who now her eyes had squinted at the reality show Wally had decided on as if she didn't approve.

"Fine." He snapped back at her, causing her to turn her head towards him slightly. Wally glared at the television, but did not turn to acknowledge Red Arrow like Eternal had.

"Just fine? Black Spider really did a number on you- I was just checking." She didn't bother to even pretend to sound like she was actually concerned. Red Arrow then stood from his seat, and left.

"Where you headed?" Robin chirped from his seat. Red Arrow paused before exiting the room. Other than the sound of the television, the people in the room were silent.

"I have things to do." Was Red Arrow's response as he moved to make his way out of the room, and the doors slid open with a quiet whoosh. Eternal gave a small chuckle, and then looked directly at him.

"Have fun, Red, best wishes to you and that concussion of yours." She chirped just before he walked out the doors, and they slid closed behind him.

After a few moments of silence, Robin sighed, and stood from his seat as well.

"I should be getting back to Gotham. I'll see you guys tomorrow." He chirped as he waved at them. A chorus of goodbyes was heard around the room as he walked through the doors, and they closed with a soft swish.

"Hey Arty!" Eternal chirped as she turned to look at her friend, who had been glaring at the wall across from her. Artemis looked towards Eternal with slightly uninterested eyes, and then forced herself to give her a small grin. "You want the details on my date?" Wally shifted uncomfortable underneath Eternal's legs, but didn't look towards her.

Artemis looked toward the clock, and realized she needed to get home to her mother before morning.

"Sorry, Etty, but I've got to get home." She said as kindly as she could before she stood from her seat. Eternal shrugged at her, and smirked.

"It's alright, I'll just tell you later. See you tomorrow!" Eternal waved as Artemis rushed out of the room, and frowned as soon as the doors shut behind her.

Eternal turned back towards the television, and just as Wally opened his mouth to speak, Eternal's cell phone began to ring loudly from the table. He shut his mouth with a quiet huff as she reached over to pick it up, and gave a small smirk at the name on the caller ID.

She looked at Wally, and he looked at her with a confused expression. Eternal answered, put the phone to her ear.

"I'm assuming you thought this was someone else?" Eternal frowned, and her expression hardened as she pulled her legs off of Wally's lap, and sat straight up. Wally turned off the television and watched Eternal carefully as she stood.

"No, no, of course not." Translation: What do you want?

"Just a moment of your time, Mercy." Luthor replied as he righted the fallen vase on his desk. Eternal slapped a smile on her face, and looked towards Wally, motioning that she was going to take her call into another room. Wally gave her a confused look, and then watched her as she walked away with a concerned look on his face.

Eternal quietly closed the door of her room behind her, locked it, and then took the small table sitting next to the door, and shoved it underneath the doorknob- insuring that Wally would not barge in on her.

"What do you want?" She snarled as she walked away from her door and moved towards her mirror. Luthor chuckled on the other end.

"I can't call and check up on my old guard every now and then? I was worried about you, Mercy. You fell off of the face of the earth- until tonight that is." Lex replied as she took off her kukris, and then pulled the hair band out of her hair, causing it to tumble down in waves. She had taken off her mask hours ago when they had returned to the Cave.

"Yes. I was offered something better, Lex. So sorry if that disappoints you." She snarled as she threw down her hair band on the desk, and then her kukris.

"Well, of course it does, dear. Plus the fact that your new team doesn't seem to know who you really are disappoints me as well." Eternal slipped off her gloves, and then her ring and her eyes narrowed as she slowly became Mercy once again. "I thought I taught you better than that." Mercy couldn't help but feel the fire inside her ignite at this statement, and she slammed her gloves and ring down on the desk so hard that it shook violently.

"Taught me?" She growled before pausing to make sure she couldn't see a shadow underneath the door. "Your precious genomorphs taught me, Luthor." Luthor laughed on the other end of the line.

"Whatever you say my dear, whatever you say. But keep in mind; I do have eyes on you." Mercy glared at her own reflection, and squeezed her phone tightly in her hand. "I saw you on your little date with Roy Harper. Playboy billionaire and heir to Queen Enterprises? Bravo, my dear, bravo." Mercy felt her blood run cold when he mentioned Roy's name, and her expression of anger turned to fear. "But does he know how dangerous you really are? How you could kill him with your bare hands, and not leave a single trace? Does he know that you're a thief and a liar?" Mercy looked down at her feet, and she swallowed hard.

After a few moments of silence, and listening to Mercy's breathing on the other end of the line, Lex Luthor laughed, and continued.

"I didn't think so." Mercy closed her eyes, and listened carefully to Lex. "You're lucky. I've given Cheshire and Black Spider specific orders not to give away your identity- or any information about you. But I want something in return." Mercy's eyes flew open, and she scowled once more.

If Luthor was going to try and blackmail her, he was going to have to think twice.

"Before you continue, Luthor," She snapped, causing Lex to raise an eyebrow at her tone on the other end. "Let me remind you that I know how to kill the entire Justice League without leaving a trace. Killing a small time assassin and her idiot friend would be no problem for me. And no one would ever know." Mercy knew that Luthor knew that was true- and he scowled.

"If Cheshire says a word, if Spider says a word, if you say a word-you will die. Slowly and painfully. Understood?" Mercy's tone was icy and every word cut like a knife as Luthor scowled at the speaker phone in front of him. Mercy was answered with the sound of silence.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Mercy." Luthor threatened before ending the call abruptly, leaving Mercy to scowl at herself in the mirror, and then throw her phone violently across the room, causing it to explode into several pieces.

"You're not going to ruin me again, Luthor." She snarled as she stared at herself in the mirror. And then suddenly gave a primal yell and punched the mirror, and watched it at the shards fell to the ground.

"Not. Again."

-0-

"Authorizing: Robin, B-0-1."

As Robin made his way out of the bright Zeta beams, he spotted Eternal, furiously throwing her knives at holographic targets, and yelling furiously as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as she executed various types of back handsprings and rolls to evade the holographic projectiles flying back at her.

Robin's eyebrow rose as he watched Eternal, the girl who had beat him to the pulp the very first day he met her, lose her cool, and begin to lose her focus as she threw her knives.

"Authorizing: Kid Flash, B-0-3."

Kid Flash zoomed out of the Zeta tubes, and skidded to halt next to Robin, whose mouth had fallen agape at the sight of Eternal.

"Hey Rob, what-" He was interrupted by the primal sound that escaped Eternal's mouth as she plunged her kukri into a holographic assailant, and the program ended, revealing her arsenal of knives in the stone walls, and the scratches her kukris left on the ground as she flipped- which she never usually did.

Eternal turned around, and finally noticed the two heroes that had entered- which was unusual for her to miss, especially since their arrivals were announced. She sent each of them a curt nod, and then turned to retrieve her knives from the walls. Kid and Robin couldn't help but look at each other, and then look back at Eternal, who was violently tearing out her knives and returning them to their place.

"Uh…" Wally began to speak as Eternal paused to listen to him, practically slamming her knives back in their hidden sheathes. Both of the boys became uneasy. "You… feelin' okay Etty?" He asked as he watched her only turn her head towards him slightly, a handful of knives still in her left hand. She turned her head back towards the wall covered in knives, and reached forward to pull another two out, once she had her hand wrapped around two of them, she spoke to him.

"I'm peachy, Wally." Her voice held a tense edge to it as she pulled out the two knives with a sharp tug. "Just. Peachy." Eternal continued to pull out her knives as she moved along the wall, and also plucked them off of the floor. Wally once more looked at Robin, who was still watching Eternal, but now with an eyebrow raised, and then with a small gust of wind, appeared by her side, and began to help her pull the knives out of the wall- but when he tugged on one, it wouldn't budge.

Eternal turned her head, and noticed this, then reached over, and pulled it out herself with little effort. Wally felt his face warm, and then leaned over to pick up the ones that still lay on the floor. Robin gave the two one last glance, and then continued towards the kitchen to join the others for breakfast.

"So… you don't want to-"Eternal cut him off.

"No. I don't, Wally." She snapped. Eternal didn't intend to, and as soon as the words came out of her mouth the stopped, closed her eyes, and sighed. Her battle wasn't with Wally, it was with Luthor. She rose up her hand; one knife tucked under her thumb, and looked at Wally. She saw him staring at her with wide eyes. "Just… not yet." She finished with a gentle tone. Wally's expression turned solemn, and he gave a small nod before leaning over, and picking up a few more knives.

Suddenly, Wally gave a small chuckle, and Eternal's gaze snapped in his direction.

"What?" She asked, her hand resting on a knife in the wall. Wally looked up at her, and she noted he had been gazing at the arsenal of knives on the wall.

"Where do you put all of these?" He asked as he held up the handful of knives he was holding. Eternal's eyebrows rose, and she looked along the wall before answering. Was it unusual for someone to hold so many weapons on their person?

"Uh… my utility belt?" She sounded as if that was something Wally should have known. Wally scoffed, and then continued to pick up the last of the knives from the floor just as Eternal pulled out the last knife from the wall.

Wally waited patiently as he watched Eternal place the knives back in their places- her utility belt, a few sheathes hidden under some armor, and a two sheathes on her thighs and the long dagger in her right boot.

"At this rate, you rival Batman in the preparedness department." Wally joked as Eternal reached up and wiped some leftover sweat off of her forehead. She gave a small laugh, and began walking towards her room.

"I've got to shower and stuff before I eat. I'll see you in a bit." Eternal said as she waved over her shoulder, and left the room, leaving Wally to watch, and then make his way into the kitchen.

When Eternal entered her room and closed the door, she eyed her phone on her desk, freshly repaired and fully functional once again, and noticed that the small red light at the top corner was blinking. She narrowed her eyes at it, and then walked away from the desk it sat on.

Eternal quickly took a shower, applied her usual makeup, and left her hair down to dry on its own as she usually did before exiting the bathroom and moving towards her closet to pick out her clothes for the day. Just as she opened her closet, she noticed her phone blinking again, and narrowed her eyes at it before giving a curt huff, and then continued to pick out her clothes for the day.

She settled on a deep wine red shirt, close to the deep burgundy color her uniform was, a pair of black skinny jeans, and her worn black, knee high boots. Once dressed, she left her closet, braided her damp hair, and threw her kukris over her back, and adjusted them as needed so that they would rest comfortably on her lower back.

Once again, she spotted her phone blinking from the corner of her eye, and she gave a frustrated sigh. Eternal looked towards the retched device, and glared at it as if it would cower under her gaze- but unfortunately, it continued to blink persistently, and she glared even harder.

After another moment of glaring, she gave a defeated sigh, and walked towards the phone, and plucked it off of the desk. She swiped it open, and her heart gave a strange stutter when she realized who had called.

Two missed calls: Roy Harper. One voicemail: Roy Harper.

Without even realizing it, she pressed the 'call back' option, and slowly put the phone to her ear as it began to ring. Not even three rings later, Roy answered, and he sounded relieved.

"Hello?" He said as he hurriedly put the phone to his ear. He had fallen asleep on his couch waiting to see if Mercy would call him back.

Eternal gave a small chuckle on the other end of the phone, and then answered.

"You rang?" The smirk was evident in her voice, and Roy smirked back at her as he looked down at himself. Still in uniform I see, good job, Red.

"Yes, I did. I was starting to think you didn't want to talk to me." He joked as he stood from his couch, and moved towards the locked room at the other end of the living room. He tapped the bare wall next to the door, and a panel emerged, revealing a handprint scanner. He quickly placed his hand on it, and the panel turned from blue, to green, granting him access to the room.

"You? Of course not." She said as she took a step towards her broken mirror, and kicked a broken piece towards the wall halfheartedly. "So are you calling about a second date, or are we just chatting?" Her bold statement caused Roy to give a laugh.

"What else?" He replied as he placed his bow and quiver in their place, and began to take off his Red Arrow uniform. She smirked, and gave herself a glanced in the broken mirror, and turned her head slightly to inspect her hair and makeup. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to have breakfast. My treat." He finished as she brushed a piece of loose hair behind her ear.

She gave a small grin, and met her own eyes in the mirror. Blue and cheery.

"Sure. Where at?" She asked as she walked back towards her closet, and pulled out her black leather jacket. For summer, the air had a little bit of a nip to it. Just as she was about to put it on, she paused, then returned it back to its place in her closet, and pulled out the jacket Roy had lent her last time, and threw it on. It was a little big on her, but it wasn't ridiculous, and it was comfortable.

"There's this café downtown, Le Petit Arbre." He said as he finally exited his secret room, and locked it up tight. Eternal gave a small laugh.

"You seem to have a thing for French cuisine." She joked, referring to the French restaurant they had visited on their first date. "I'll meet you there in twenty?" She asked as she checked to make sure her push knife was still in her pocket from last time, and the dagger in her boot. Now that she knew Luthor was watching she couldn't be careful enough.

"Sounds good. You sure you don't want me to pick you up?"He asked as he turned on the shower and checked the temperature of the water with his free hand. She shook her head even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"No. It's fine, really. I'll meet you there." She said before walking towards her bedroom door, and leaving the room. The lights turned off automatically behind her. Eternal walked through the halls, towards the kitchen, and peeked her head in as she said her goodbyes to Roy.

"I'll see you in a bit." She said as she hung up the phone, and slipped it in her back pocket as she walked towards the island in the kitchen and poured herself a glass of orange juice like she did every morning. Wally gave her an odd look, and then snatched the glass out of her hand just before it met her lips.

When Eternal realized that her juice had been stolen, and she was now holding air, she narrowed her eyes, and then looked towards Wally- who had taken it upon himself to sip from her cup.

"You know, if I would have poured that for you, I would have given it to you." She leaned on the counter, and continued to glare at Wally as he chugged the orange juice while keeping his eyes on Eternal. Robin chuckled from his seat across from Wally, and Megan watched the two with a smile on her face. Superboy was watching the white noise on the television.

Wally finished the orange juice with a sigh, and placed the glass back on the table in front of Eternal as she muttered something along the lines of 'pig'.

"Well…I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm heading out to go have breakfast with Roy. I'll be back in time for training. Promise." She chirped as she turned on her heel and went to leave the room. Wally stared at her with wide eyes, looked towards Robin, who just shrugged, and then Wally was gone in a blink of an eye.

Just as Eternal reached the main hall of the Cave, Wally appeared by her side, and the loose strands of hair blew into her face. She brushed them out of her eyes, and then shot a look at Wally.

"Breakfast? With Roy?" Wally said so fast that Eternal could barely understand. She raised an eyebrow at him as she leaned against the door, and then cleared her throat. Wally finally recognized the jacket she was wearing, and swallowed hard.

"Um… excuse me?" She said softly as she leaned forward a little as if she was trying to hear him better.

Wally took a moment to calm himself down, and then with a soft sigh, he took a few steps back. Why try and convince Eternal that going out with Roy was a bad idea? Because he wanted her to himself? Roy was a good guy, why should he step in between that?

"Uh… just… have fun. Okay?" Wally said as he continued to walk backwards. Eternal gave him a strange look, and then began to push the door open. She gave Wally a smile, and then nodded at him.

"I will." She answered with a smile as she disappeared behind the door, and made her way to the Zeta tubes. Wally frowned at the door as it closed behind her, and the slowly turned his back to it, and walked back to the kitchen.

-0-

This time, instead of stepping out of the Zeta transporter, and then taking off her ring, Eternal was careful to remove her ring before stepping outside, and then quickly made her way out of the transporter, and the alley. She quickly blended in with the morning's rush of people, and waited at the crosswalk patiently, and then crossed the street with the rest of the horde, carefully maneuvering out of the way of ignorant businessmen yelling at their phones, and mothers toting around their handfuls of children. Once Mercy crossed the street, she continued forward towards the next street, and once she reached the corner, she turned right, and her eyes landed on the antique sign with the words Le Petit Arbre in hand painted script, and began to walk towards it.

Once she reached the café, she stopped outside of the fenced area that surrounded the outside seats, and looked around.

Mercy scanned the seats for Roy's head of red hair, and frowned when she didn't see him. She then scanned the block for Roy's cherry red convertible, and pulled out her phone.

Right on time, so where was he?

"Miss?" There was a soft tug on the bottom of Mercy's jacket, and she looked down to her right side. Standing next to her was a small boy with bright blonde hair and green eyes who couldn't have been older than four or five. His small face was splashed with freckles, and his mouth was slightly agape, revealing his missing two front teeth to Mercy, who couldn't help but smile at the small child.

"Yes?" She said as she kneeled down, now at the boy's level. He held up a piece of paper he had crumpled in his small hand, and thrust it towards Mercy, who gently took it from his hand, and carefully unfolded it as the boy began to speak.

"The nice man told me to look for the pretty lady. I thought you were pretty- so I'm giving it to you." He chirped as she watched him, while unfolding the crumpled paper at the same time. She could tell it had been neatly folded before, but while in the small boy's hands, he had made a game of seeing how small he could make the ball of paper become. "I have to go now! Bye pretty lady!" The little boy chirped as he ran off, and embraced a man that Mercy assumed was his father, since they both shared the head full of blonde curls and freckles across their nose. She looked back down at the freshly unfolded paper, and stood as she read as the family of two walked away.

"Mercy, the boy you just met is my uncle's co-worker's son, Daniel. I asked him to give you this letter so that I could tell you that- even though I haven't seen you today- I know you look beautiful." Mercy couldn't help but feel that the letter was incredibly cheesy, but all the same, it made her giddy inside. Just as she was about to fold up the letter, she felt hands coming around her head, and turned around so quickly that the pair of hands didn't even get the chance to touch her, and her hand was in her pocket, gripped around her push knife.

When her own gray eyes made contact with the pair of familiar blue, and now bewildered eyes she had come to adore, she stopped, and removed her hand from her jacket. Roy was standing there, his hands held up as if in surrender, and a surprised look on his face.

"Oh great. Second date and I've managed to successfully convince him I'm a freak." She thought to herself as she opened her mouth, just for a stutter to come out as Roy began to speak as well.

"I guess surprising you isn't an option?" Was the first thing to come out of Roy's mouth as a smirk formed on his face. Mercy stood there for a moment, and then a weak laugh escaped her lips.

"Yeah… I guess not." She said with a slight cough. "S-sorry about… that." She stuttered as she folded her arms, and began to drum on her arm with her fingers. A nervous habit that she needed to kick.

Roy reached out for her hand, and after a moment of staring at it, Mercy reached out, and took it with a smile.

"I'll keep that in mind for your birthday. You said that was in July, right?" Roy asked as he took her hand, and began to guide them on the patio of the café, where the employees greeted them with smiles and Roy with casual 'how are you today Mr. Harper?' and 'the usual today, Mr. Harper?'. Mercy couldn't help but smile at the comment, and gave a small chuckle.

"July 1st." She corrected as he guided them towards a seat away from everyone else, and he released her hand to walk ahead, and pull out her chair for her. Mercy felt her face warm, and she smiled at Roy, who didn't hesitate to return the smile.

"July first. I'll remember that." He said as Mercy took her seat, and he moved to sit in the chair across from her. Mercy smirked, and the waiter moved over to their table to give them glasses of water, and hand them menus.

"I'll hold you too that." She said slyly as she reached over, and took a sip of the glass the waiter had just placed in front of her. She felt parched since her workout this morning had worn her out, and Wally had so rudely stolen her glass of orange juice, which she usually had every morning at about the same time.

Roy smirked back at her, and then the two placed their orders with the waiter, who rushed off to put in their orders with the chef.

"So what have you been up to these past… two days?" Mercy asked as she took another sip of her water. It still wasn't as refreshing as the orange juice she was waiting on, and she frowned at it as Roy began to speak.

"Just working, working… working." He said as he counted the days off on his fingers. Mercy scoffed, and reached forwards, and grabbed the hand he was counting on.

"You should have called in and said," She placed a finger on top of the one he began with, and then moved to each one as she spoke. "Cough, cough, I'm sick. Cough, cough, I'm sick. Cough, cough, I'm sick. And then called me so we could… I don't know… go to the zoo?"Roy laughed as she finished speaking, and fluidly wrapped his hand around hers. Mercy didn't even care that he was holding her hand. As far as she was concerned, he could hold her hand whenever he pleased.

"Sounds like a good idea, but where I work, there are no days off." He said as began playing with her fingers. She laughed, and thought of her own job. No days off indeed.

"I understand." She said as the waiter made his way back to the table, and gave them their drinks. Mercy instantly let go of Roy's hand, and took a long draw from her orange juice, and then set the glass down with a sigh. Roy watched her with a strange expression on his face, and then returned his own glass to its place.

"Thirsty…?" He asked as Mercy looked up at him, and gave him a sheepish smile.

"No… I just… have this thing where I drink a glass of orange juice…" She hesitated, and watched as Roy listened to her carefully, his eyebrows raised slightly as he reached forward to pick up his own drink. "Every morning… at the same time." She coughed, and then hastily picked up her drink and took a sip. Roy stifled a laugh, and Mercy rolled her eyes as she finished sipping on her drink. She waved her hand at him, and then put her drink down.

"Go ahead. It's not like my roommates didn't get a laugh out of my habit when I told them." She sighed as she looked at Roy with the smallest hint of a smirk.

Roy just chuckled, and then reached out again towards Mercy. Without a second thought, Mercy reached out, and took his hand with a small laugh.

"I wouldn't-" His sentence was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing loudly in his pocket. Mercy released his hand, and suddenly got the feeling that their breakfast was going to be cut short. Roy plucked the phone out of his pocket, grimaced at the caller ID, and looked up towards Mercy.

"I've got to-" Mercy held up a hand, stopping his explanation short.

"It's okay. Go ahead." She said softly as he gave her a sad look. He honestly didn't want to take it, because he knew that he would have to leave. He slowly answered the phone, hoping it would stop ringing before he could answer, but he knew better.

Just as Roy answered his phone, Mercy felt hers vibrate in her pocket, and discreetly pulled it out of her pocket. It was a text message from Wally.

Mission. Need you back at the cave ASAP.

Batman's pissed.

"Shit." Mercy whispered to herself. She had only been acquainted with the Bat for about three weeks, but that was long enough to teach her that The Dark Knight was not to be toyed with. Roy was still muttering to someone on the phone furiously when Mercy suddenly stood, nearly knocking over the table. Roy's eyes looked towards her, and she gave him a sympathetic look as he hurriedly hung up the phone.

"I've got to go," She quickly thought up a lie to tell Roy. Even though she didn't want to lie to him, she didn't want to face the wrath of the Bat anytime soon. She may be able to kill the man with her bare hands, but that doesn't mean she wanted to deal with any tantrums. "Megan's really sick and she's just…" She made a motion imitating vomiting, and frowned at Roy. Roy stood, and pulled out a fifty from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"I understand," He said. "Do you want me to drive you home? It doesn't take me long to get to work from here." Mercy shook her head as she began to back away from him, prepared to sprint all the way back to the Zeta transporter.

"No, it's alright. I can walk…or run." Mercy's statement caused Roy to chuckle, and he walked towards her, and gently grabbed her hand before she could move any further.

"I'm sorry our breakfast got cut short." He apologized. Mercy cast her eyes downwards, and then sent him a small smirk. "Maybe another time?" He asked.

Mercy allowed a small smile, and gave a small nod as she watched Roy's blue orbs. But before she even realized what was happening, he was getting closer to her, and before she could react, his lips met hers, and the warmth they provided left hers just as soon as they came.

Mercy stood there for a moment, and then was suddenly jerked back to reality when a flash of light blinded her for a moment, causing the two to turn to look at where it had come from. A reporter with a large camera was leaning in as close as he could get to the couple, and was snapping pictures over and over. Mercy glared at the man, and before Roy could stop her, she thrust her hand out at the man's camera, and smashed the lens he was snapping pictures with, causing him to stumble back, and cry out as the camera smashed into his face.

Mercy cracked her knuckles, and then turned on her heel with a huff, and then waved at Roy over her shoulder, who couldn't help but stare at the girl with his mouth slightly agape.