"You want me to what?" Conner asked.
I knew he was as shocked as I was. Me because I really hadn't expected him to show up. Him because I'd asked him to jab a needle into me.
"Look, trust me on this," I begged.
Conner sighed, before picking up the needle.
"You're sure," he checked.
I just nodded, offering him my arm. He stabbed the needle into my arm. For a few minutes, nothing happened. The syringe remained empty of blood or even water or whatever. I don't really know what I expected. I mean, yeah, I'd fallen down and gotten scrapes and stuff but nothing bad enough to bleed. And never in my life had I ever had a bloody nose. Despite all that, I'd always just assumed my blood was, well, blood. Like everybody else's. But looking into that syringe, I learned why it was bad to assume.
"It's a mixture of hydrocarbons, octane being one of them, as well as add additives like MTBE," Batman reported, turning to face Conner and me.
I crossed my arms, aware that the team hovered nearby, hanging on every word.
"What does that mean?" Conner asked.
"It means that wherever you went tonight, you brought back a sample of gasoline," Batman replied.
"Hold the phone," I ordered. "Gasoline as in the juice that makes cars go vroom, vroom?"
"The one and only," Batman replied.
"Now that that's solved, where exactly were you two?" Canary asked.
"Okay! Totally not solved!" I declared.
I pointed at the syringe.
"You are absolutely, without a doubt, one hundred percent sure that that is gasoline? Not blood?" I asked.
"Yes," Batman replied.
I sat on a nearby chair, a little shocked. My blood wasn't blood at all.
"Impossible," I whispered.
"What's wrong?" Canary asked, sensing something was wrong.
Conner glanced at me in the corner of his eye and I nodded.
"We got that gasoline from Ariel," he said.
"What?"
The voice came from our audience and it belonged to Wally.
"But isn't gasoline extremely bad for the human body?"
"Apparently not," I said dryly.
My extra sarcasm was coming from the fact that my blood wasn't blood. No, I was practically a car, fueled by gasoline that very well might have continuously refueled itself throughout my 13 years.
"Well, think of it this way," Wally said. "You're kind of like a transformer."
He was trying to make me feel better but his humor was just annoying the crap outta me.
"Wally?" I asked.
"Yeah?"
"Kindly put a sock in it," I growled.
"How did this happen?" Canary asked.
I clenched my hands into fist, remembering Luthor's taunts.
"Cadmus," I snarled. "They did this to me."
"But why?" Canary asked.
"To ruin my life! Why else!" I yelled.
"I don't think it's so narrowly targeted," Kaldur said.
"So, what does this mean?" Robin asked, gesturing to my blood.
"They're main goal has always been to build a weapon. Maybe, by swapping your blood for gasoline, they created a weapon that never runs out of juice," M'gann brainstormed.
I heard her but I turned my attention to my hands. It seemed like everybody knew my past, where I'd come from and who I was. I stood. I needed to find out just who I was. Which meant I had to try to retrace my steps.
"I'm going to bed," I announced.
Canary's eyes were full of sympathy as they turned to me.
"Good idea," she agreed. "Perhaps we should all head to bed."
Her eyes went to Batman when she said that. He nodded.
"I'll see you in the morning, team," he said.
We all watched him leave, silence cloaking us. I moved first, slipping away from them and heading to my room. I'd go to bed now. Heck, I'd even sleep for a few hours but then I'd leave. I had no other choice.
"Where are we going?" Loki asked as I led him towards the cave's exit.
I shushed him gently, hoping he'd get the message that this was suppose to be quiet. A whimper came from the darkness, just as I began to think that, despite Loki's complaining, I was home free.
"Were you really going to leave without saying goodbye?"
M'gann's voice made me spin around. I'd only expected her but found myself face to face with the entire team.
"I get that you only stayed a short time but still," Artemis mock scolded.
"What are you all doing here?" I asked.
Conner gave a nonchalant shrug.
"We figured you'd leave at some point," he admitted.
"Just never so soon," Robin added.
I looked at him, feeling a little guilty.
"Robin," I began.
He gave me a big smile.
"Don't worry about it," he said, stepping forward.
I released Loki's reins and stepped closer to Robin, letting him hug me.
"Good luck," he whispered before stepping away.
M'gann hugged me next, almost crushing me.
"Don't be a stranger," she ordered.
"I promise," I swore.
As the others stepped forward to hug me, I felt happy and assured that maybe I had found a family though I honestly had to say that I preferred sidekicks to superheroes.
"Are you to big a man to give me a hug?" I asked Conner.
His lips lifted in a mockery of a smile and he wrapped his arms around me for just a second.
"Happy?" he teased.
I grinned at him.
"Yeah, I so totally prefer you to Superman," I decided.
"Glad to know."
With that said, I returned to Loki, catching hold of his reins.
"Good luck," Wally said as I began to lead Loki away.
I smiled back at him. At them all.
"You too."