Scene 33 - Back in Action

The months passed by quickly and Brianna channelled her energy into studying and the results paid off, she graduated in the top ten percent of her cohort and secured a job under a licensed clinical psychologist at a hospital in her hometown. There was a high chance that she would be able to enter graduate school after some hands on experience. With that part of her life settled, she was ready to re-join the Team near the end of July. The brunette was welcomed back with fondness and she was surprised to see another Robin in the briefing area.

"Let's welcome Brianna back into the fray," Nightwing said and introduced her to Robin III whom she noticed was a lot more quiet and reserved compared to his predecessors. She was then promptly handed a data drive on the information she needed to know and what had transpired so far. Armed with the details, Nightwing immediately thrust her back into the field and she assimilated quickly, not even forgetting her stealth techniques and the various team manoeuvres.

It seemed her time away from Mount Justice did her a lot of good and her combat skills were still as sharp as before her hiatus. The missions were like clockwork and she participated in them wholeheartedly. Her demeanour was almost like she had never met Kaldur'ahm at all. Whenever Black Manta's name was mentioned, her facial expression remained nonchalant. Honestly, she did not care what her ex-boyfriend did anymore ever since they parted ways. He could live his life on the dark side and she would continue fighting the good fight.

Sometime in September, the League extended invitations to the senior members of the Team. To their surprise, only Rocket and Zatanna accepted the membership. Captain Atom looked at his student with confusion in the lounge room, "I don't understand Brianna, hasn't it been your dream to join the Justice League?"

The pyro nodded but sighed, "It is but I've been on hiatus for a while and it does not seem fair that I join the League like that. I need to get back in the game first to wreck up some more experience."

Her mentor gave a small smile and laid a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, "I will respect your decision but remember, the invitation to join the League still stands and there is no deadline. When you are ready, I will be happy to accept you for membership. Hopefully you would allow me to personally present you with the ID cards when I'm still the leader."

Brianna smiled, "Maybe next year."

2016 slowly approached and Dick became confident of her abilities that he assigned her as squad leader even more frequently to deal with rumours of an alien invasion. Even M'gann had matured a lot since her break up with Conner, being more serious and less naïve. The new girl Cassie was a little… rambunctious as she screwed up stealth missions all too often but she always made up for it with her strength. Brianna had to remember to bring it up to Nightwing about subjecting Wonder Girl to one-on-one lessons on stealth from the pro himself but right now, she had to focus on the task at hand. Blue Beetle however, learned quickly despite being a newbie and she silently wished Cassie would learn patience from Jaime.

Ember was now crouched down behind a pillar, looking towards Nightwing as they stared at the empty Zeta platform. Wonder Girl and Sphere were patrolling the perimeter and she could feel the blonde teen was getting a little restless outside. With a nod, Dick motioned to Brianna to go ahead and plant the charges while he watched her back. The brunette gracefully dipped below the bridge and flew under it undetected while she planted the explosives.

With a three minute grace period, the pyro returned to the acrobat's side. "Good job, Em. Let's get out of here," Nightwing praised his friend and without a word, begun to scale the wall towards the exit while Brianna easily flew out.

"How odd that there are no bad guys here," Wonder Girl said when she was reunited with her teammates.

"Let's evacuate this place first," Ember replied as she gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to nudge her towards Sphere. With all members on board, they directed Sphere to a safe distance and saw the explosion decimate the platform.

Then, Nightwing's communication device roared to life and he looked rather tense at the information being explained to him. He sighed after the transmission ended and began to relay instructions to rest of the Team. "Gamma Squad has hit the jackpot. Everyone is to rendezvous at their location ASAP after you destroy your platforms."

The year had been off to a very good start; hopefully it would be one of new beginnings for Brianna.

Another task gone by smoothly and Kaldur'ahm was proud that there were no unnecessary deaths this time. As immersed as he was in villainy, he despised taking the life of another and on the occasional moments he did so, he had to meditate in his room all night to cleanse his mind of the anger he felt. The missions have been more frequent as The Light made all the arrangements for their extra-terrestrial friends to land on Earth. He had to scout locations, clear out unwanted personnel and oversee the whole docking process as the alien ships made their home in the water.

There was barely any time for rest but his heart always made time to think about his friends, family, and… Brianna before sleep overtook him. It was the one way to stay sane on board a ship full of sadistic people, the only respite he had from all this madness, a way to re-fuel. His efforts were starting to bear fruit when his father had been gradually inducting him into The Light. He was a little apprehensive about the next mission coming up in a few days…

As much as he craved for action, he did not know what to expect if he came across his former teammates, especially Brianna. Would the brunette yell at him for his betrayal or would she just attempt to persuade him to return or would she do something entirely different? So many questions, so little time.

It was too late for regrets now that he had sunk so deep into this operation, there were still secrets to be learned and he knew he had yet to reach the big slice of the pie as what he had experienced so far was just the tip of the iceberg. How many more trials and tests did he have to endure to prove his worth to his father and the Light? He had stopped counting after number ten and knew he had to be patient and bide his time.

Whatever it was that plagued Kaldur'ahm, he vowed that he will not lose sight of his goal. He had to gain information about his enemies, cripple them from within, and share their dirty crimes to the world. The fight had to end now and this was the perfect opportunity to strike while the iron was hot. Then, and only then, would he be able to dream of a stable future with a certain girl he sacrificed so much for.

Author's Note: Season 2 episode covered in this chapter, "Happy New Year". I had Brianna go on the zeta platform destroying mission with Nightwing and Wonder Girl.

So far, Brianna is healing okay and has chosen not to care about Kaldur any more. Maybe she's in denial. =P Her occupation now is something along the lines of being an assistant to a psychologist. Whether she wants to be a full fledged practicing shrink, the future is still uncertain...

To piggythelaw: Thanks for your kind words! I will update at the beginning and end of the week so you can look forward to those! =)

To murdercrowther: PMed you and my updates are around Monday and Friday of each week.

To Molly Grace 16: You'll see in later chapters. ;)

To Eszra: Glad to know you're feeling better! ^_^