Winter's Ballad: Growth & Love

by Cinderella Girl626

All her life Samantha Freya has quietly followed the instructions of those above her. But when the world gives her the chance to be the leader of her own life, will the poise sidekick of Ice Maiden, Winter, break out of her pod of obedience and listen to her own wants? Perhaps, if she gets some help along the way. -Sort of Back-

14. Schooled Pt 2

Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long to release but college finals came first. Thankfully there is no need to worry about me because I ended up passing ALL of my classes! Three A's and two B's, so now I'm at a 3.0 GPA. Which I think is a good thing.

I'm sorry I couldn't get this out sooner. Honestly this was almost ready for Christmas Eve or Day, but I had to help my parents with things and i ended up taking a shift at work to help out, so that stalled some things. And now I have the flu! It's not going well so far. But it'll get better next year.

Probably. XP

Oh, and a shout out to artist Fishiebug/ Fibug for the new cover art fo the story. I got it commissioned months ago during school and it finally was finished. Now Winter is on the cover and looks super cool! (No pun intended!) Maybe I'll ask for another one of just normal Samantha Freya kicking back and being fancy. So check em out on twitter. They're awesome! XD

Anyways, here is part 2 of Schooled and I hope you all enjoy it. Please read and review if you can and give some feedback. Since I was gone for so long and may be a bit rusty, some clarity on how things are going from you guys would be appreciated. :3

---

Broken metal. Burning rubber. Smoke raining down to the street. The familiar smells of battle wafted through the air of Litchfield County as Winter looked across at the wreckage of their truck, the transportation once in pristine condition hours before now reduced to rubble and scrap.

It was a common sight in her line of work, but this particular sight grated at her nerves, continuously reminding her of the teams' poor situation.

A situation that wouldn't have happened if she'd been more prepared. Took into account what kind of threat they may have been up against. The mindset Superboy had during the entire day disrupting the team work of their group. Being more supportive and leader-like.

"We fix this mess."

She remembered saying that, but how was she supposed to fix it?

As hopeful as she had been, no ideas had popped up for the graceful ice user besides don't mess up further.

"Aqualad, how far are you and the rest of our team from our location?" Winter asked, clasping her comm link closer to her ear to hear, static clicking through. She kept her voice as level and calm as she could, hoping to hide any anxiety hoping to peek its head out from her own words.

"Still ways away. We won't be able to rendezvous in time with you. I'll send Kid to meet up with for added support. Have you found any leads on where the parts are heading?" Aqualad asked back.

Ice blue eyes drifting from the street to Robin, who had peeled way his biking outfit to return to his usual Robin uniform, Winter felt some of the nervous tension built inside her disappear for a moment as relief eased her shoulders. "Robin's working on something. The robots that attacked us have their own GPS, so he's working to reroute it to track them."

"I got it!" The Boy Wonder exclaimed from afar, looking back at Winter and giving her a confident thumbs up.

A small ray of hope shining through the disaster of their day, Winter gave her own thumbs up to the hacker and smiled a bit. "Never mind. Robins' got it. We'll send coordinates to where the cargo is headed to your GPS. Just have Kid meet us on the way."

"Understood. Good luck." Aqualad spoke before the comm link cut off.

Taking in a deep breath to ground herself, Winter walked back over to Robins' side as he typed away at his holographic keyboard, coordinates blinking about on his screen. "How's it going? Can you spot where they're headed?"

"Just about. It looks like both sets of parts are converging...in Gotham City? That far south?" Robin questioned, eyes blinking at the screen to be sure he had not read anything wrong.

"That is far, but its' correct. That's where they're headed." Winter confirmed as she leaned in to look at the electronic map. "If we step on it, we can try to catch up to whatever location they're headed to before they're reassembled."

The two heroes strapping themselves onto their bikes and placing the necessary gear on, both revved their engines to life before zooming down the empty road of Litchfield, the surroundings beginning to disappear as the sun behind them set behind the hills of the desert county.

The only sounds that occupied the long highway was the matching pair of engines from the two heroes bikes, riding side by side through the ever darkening desert with each passing second. Now that there was some time to relax and assess the situation before they got close, Winter needed to come up with a plan.

But how? Somehow those...things knew we had the parts. They took them without much of a fight against all of us and we've barley scratched the surface to who wants them or why besides a dead man. Not to mention...

Superboy had run off, overcome by his anger yet again.

Yet it wasn't like other times. Or really the anger was there but it wasn't Cadmus that was setting him off. It was a mix of his disagreement with Black Canary, but something else in Metropolis. Everyone including me could see it and still he didn't try to talk to any of us.

A feeling of being punched in the gut hit Winter, making her grip on her bike handles grow tighter.

Not even her. The leader of the team. His team mate.

His friend.

"You look like you aren't feeling much of the aster anymore."

Turning her head at the sudden inclusion of a different voice besides her own thoughts, Winter spotted the Boy Wonder now a bit closer than before to her own bike, looking to her with a concerned look.

Or as best as she could describe it as given his eyes were covered from her view. But she knew Robin well enough to know when he was worried.

"You're thinking about Superboy." Robin stated, making Winter frown a little.

It wasn't that hard to guess, was it?

"Only...a bit." Winter muttered hesitantly, trying to sound as calm and reasonable as she could. If only to hide the truth far better than before.

But the younger detective was having none of it. Especially when an eyebrow rose at her response, a questionable look sculpting the Boy Wonders' face.

Shoulders hunching against her, Winter turned back to look at the road and away from her all knowing team mate. "Okay, a lot. Superboy has been acting far too rash today. Picking fights with Black Canary, cutting himself off from the rest of us, not following orders? What is he thinking?"

"Have you met him?" Robin asked with a light hearted tone. Just as those words left his lips, Robin settled back to focusing on the road as his features morphed to gain a more hardened look. "My guess is he's dealing with some stuff that happened in Metropolis today. If he doesn't want to tell us, he doesn't have to; but I can see your point about the anger thing. Kind of brings more disaster than aster."

"But it's not just that," Winter urged, shaking her head at the explanation of Superboys' behavior. "I..." Winter shut her mouth for a moment, not sure if she wanted to utter her next few words; uncertain if it would be more embarrassing than relieving for her.

If she hid her next words from Robin though, was she any better than the way Superboy was acting? Besides, it wasn't that embarrassing to talk about.

"Superboy and I hung out a while ago. We talked and I said that I...I mean we would be there for him if he needed to talk. The team. Anything, really. So he didn't have to keep holding in his emotions and let them build. It's not healthy. For the team or himself." Winter explained, her grip loosening and her bike slowing down little by little.

Robin nodded, speeding up a bit to stick close to the ice user. "I get it. So that's what's bothering you?"

If only.

There was a little more she wanted to admit, but Winter couldn't be very sure if doing so was appropriate for the moment. Superboys' off-hand comment earlier still weighed on her mind; a hit to the gut if there ever was one from just words alone.

"The only reason you're okay with it is because you're used to doing whatever someone tells you."

Feeling frustrated, she bit her lower lip to stop herself from saying anything about it. Winter knew far better now than to take Superboys' anger induced insults seriously, but it didn't mean it hurt her no less.

"I...think so," Winter answered with a shrug. "I am disappointed that he was unwilling to talk to any of us. Especially since he seems really distracted with whatever happened. But I get it. I can't expect him to just open up to us so easily. I'm just worried-"

"About him? That this'll keep happening?" Robin asked, finishing her thought for her.

He hit it right on the mark. He's not Batman's partner for nothing.

Eyes narrowing on the street ahead of her, Winter turned to look over to the younger detective as the words from her mentor earlier left her lips. "Robin, do you think it's wrong to worry about a friend?"

The familiar look of confusion popping back up on the young detectives' face, Robin just shrugged his shoulders before returning a smile. "Wouldn't be much of a friend if you didn't worry about them. If it helps though, just try to give him some space. I'm sure Superboy will understand it on his own with enough time. Just like how he learned not to always yell at people. He'll apologize for what he said to you later, too." Robin answered, giving his honest opinion on the matter.

"Yeah," Winter replied, letting the words sink into her system. "I suppose I'm pretty obvious to read, aren't I?" She asked in a slight joking tone, a small chuckle escaping her lips to lighten the mood.

"Uhh...Yeah. You should work on that." Robin commented with his own smile. "Oh, and by the way," Robin spoke, making Winter shift her gaze to the detective. "I'm sure Aqualad wouldn't be too upset if you told him Superboy ran off on his own. He knows you're trying your best."

Eyes stuck on the younger hero beside her, Winter simply nodded back, not quite sure how to respond to the wise and honest words of the younger hero. She had hoped the little missed communication about Superboys' whereabouts to Aqualad and the others might have been forgotten by the younger hero, but it looked like he truly did take in every detail as his mentor did.

Instead of saying anything else, ice blue eyes looked back to the road ahead of them, hoping to spot their destination growing ever so closer.

She would rather not talk about that little miscommunication. For now.

---

The sky outside and the world around them had become pitch black by the time Kid Flash had arrived, dressed in his hero uniform rather than his previous bike suit. Robin had gotten a kick out of it, joking about how the two had the same idea to switch out their wardrobe.

She'd gotten a question or another from Kid Flash asking where Superboy was. Unsure of how she wanted to answer it, she simply stated that he'd "gone ahead without them"; a sentence worded with enough fluidity that gave the speedster a chance to come up with his own idea of how that had exactly happened.

Winter didn't jump much into the conversation after that, eyes focused on looking between the road and the GPS signal the group was still following. When it sprung back to life even more, the ice user frowned and called out to the chatty heroes.

"Hey! The parts are moving again! Do either of you guys know where this location is?" Winter asked, not particularly knowledgeable with the geography of Gotham City.

Robin being the only one with a map looked though the checkpoints intensely, masked eyes scanning left to right to track the parts and designate a location. When his eyes widened a bit in surprise, Kid Flash looked at the detective curiously.

"Dude, you find out where they went?"

"Yeah," Robin replied, shock rattling his voice. "They're at my-I mean, Gotham Academy!" The detective called out.

The slip of the tongue almost unobtainable by some, Winter rose a brow in confusion at the very quick word change, but shrugged it off to focus on the road ahead, the lights of Gotham City coming into view. Now that there was a location to go to, they'd really need to speed up and make it before it moved again.

If not only to stop the parts from being put together, at least to find Superboy and regroup.

"Let's not waste anymore time! We don't know how fast those parts can move!" Winter called to the two heroes beside her, revving the engine of her bike and kicking the vehicle into a faster speed.

It didn't take long for Robin and Kid Flash to do the same, the two increasing their own speed as the group drove and ran through the dark streets of Gotham, almost deadly silent despite the reputation of the city's night life. Twisting and turning through messy streets for shortcuts suggested by Robin, the three finally skidded and stopped to a halt at the entrance of Gotham Academy.

Let's just say at the moment, it wasn't looking quite like the academy Winter had pictured in her head.

Debris was left astray across the campus entrance of the pristine academy, a wall with a gapping hole on the far left. The smell of smoke and fire that used to fill Winters' senses back in Litchfield had returned, only this time added by the smell of broken stone and dirt, grass torn and some of the Earth ripped open from from whatever force had crashed against it.

"Wow. Looks like one heck of a party rolled in here." Kid Flash commented, adjusting his goggles back on his head to inspect the damage with his own eyes. "Guess school might be out for a while."

"Yeah. Goodie." Robin muttered back, a bit less enthusiastic as his usual banter with Kid Flash went as the detective hopped off his bike and also stared at the debris.

"We can worry about the damage later," Winter spoke, getting off her bike and kicking the stand up to leave the bike in place. "Let's find those parts. If we find them, we'll surely find Superboy."

*BOOM*

The explosive sound of wood and metal crashing from within the academy echoing in the air to the heroes ears, the three all turned their heads to the broken school, only to look back at one another and nod in agreement.

"Let's go!" Winter commanded, heading the charge by rushing in first into the battlefield of a school; Robin and Kid Flash following close behind.

Moving around broken pieces of concrete and dry wall from the broken results of a fight, the team ran through the still standing halls of the school towards the noises coming rom deep within. Reaching the end of the line and spotting the sign pointing out the gymnasium of the academy, windows lining the sides to show the inside of a basketball court...

And three figures within; one which Winter recognized in a heartbeat!

"Superboys' in there! Looks like he's fighting someone!" Winter called, throwing a ray of ice on the floor and jumped up to land on the frozen ice way, skating at a faster pace towards the room. "Kid, rush in there and try to divert attention of the android! Robin, gather any electromagnetic weapons you have! We've got to disable that thing and fast!"

"Let's go save Supeys' butt." Kid joked, placing his goggles back on and disappeared in a flash beside the two fellow heroes, a streak of yellow and red rushing past them and through the doors of the gymnasium.

"Ready to take a super powered android down?" Robin asked through quick breaths, pulling out batarangs as he followed behind Winter.

A white glow of sparking between Winters' closed knuckles, the light within constructed itself into thin streaks and exploded to form thin ice needles between each gap between her fingers; the edges sharp as knives and just as ready to strike.

"As much as I'll ever be to fight one. We can't underestimate this thing." Winter replied back, skating towards the door at a controlled, yet frantic pace. Throwing her arm outwards in a quick slash of air in front of her, Winter called upon a gust of icy wind to rush ahead towards the doors of the gymnasium. The force of the wind a powerful one, the doors of the room slammed back and connected with the walls of the gym, opening the entryway for the two heroes to head inside.

And just like the campus of the academy, the gymnasium had also seen far better days.

But there would be more time to assess the damages after the team had finished taking down a killer android.

"Argh!" The loud yell of Kid Flash reverberating against the walls of the room, the ice user turned her head towards the sight of the speedster getting punched straight in the gut and knocked off his feet, flying a few feet away until thrashing hard onto the gym floor with a thud.

"KF!" Robin yelled, rushing in to check on his friend and help defend the speedster from another attack.

Noticing the sight of Kid Flashs' crash landing, Winter scanned the room for any sight of Superboy, only to finally spot the hero also trying to recover from what appeared to be a strong hit from the android. The situation already not heading in their favor, Winter decided for now that the plan to regroup with Superboy first was going to have to go on the back burner for the moment.

"Get him back on his feet! I'll try to distract it!" Winter ordered, throwing more ice on the floor to boost her speed towards the large automaton. Flicking numerous ice needles towards her opponent with practiced precision, Winter gritted her teeth at the sight of each projectile exploding into shards on impact from the sheer force alone.

Maybe it was a bit obvious little ice needles would not have much of an affect on a body made of metal.

"Lets try something a little harder!" Discarding her needles and holding her arm out in front of her, Winter confused the chill of ice to run around her arm, the light bending around her limb to form a clasp as the rest morphed into a large circular shape. Ice forming seconds after to create a shield, the ice user maneuvered and pressed hard on her legs to gain speed towards the large robot, bending her arm which was ready to strike.

"Don't get close!" Superboys' voice cried from the other end of the room.

"What?" Winter replied back, turning her head back a bit over her shoulder to try and spot the super powered teen for more clarification. Why couldn't she-

"Access: Superman."

A lifeless, robotic voice leaving the metal lips of the large humanoid android, Winter was already swinging her shield wielding arm towards her enemy by the time Superboy had called out to her. Unable to retract her action, the ice user gasped in shock when her shield clashed against the metal skin of the android, the weapon exploding into shards from the connection alone. Stuck in momentary shock and a sting of pain radiating through her arm from the impact, another pain clutched her arm tightly as the android grabbed her with a truly iron grip.

Stopped in her tracks by the android in front of her, Winter wriggled in the grasp of the machine in an attempt to free herself, though with not much luck. Honked off the ground, Winter yelped in pain before being pulled hard to the left and thrown across the room like a rag doll.

Superboy being the only person on the side of the room Winter had been thrown towards, the anger proved teen took the initiative to grab the sub leader, reaching his arms out and bracing himself as Winter collided hard into his arms and chest, the force causing his boots to skid a bit on the basketball court.

"Told you." Superboy grunted out, adjusting himself back into a better standing position and helping Winter back to her feet.

Rustling a bit of her hair out of her face, the ice user huffed and lightly glared back. "I got it." Fidgeting out of the clones' grasp, Winter landed back on her feet and rubbed the soreness on her left wrist, the burning being quite the irritating handicap for the battle. Eyes drifting from her arm and back to Superboy, Winter muttered quietly. "Thank you for catching me."

His own eyes sticking to the petite ice user, Superboy took his gaze away to look back at the android staring emotionless lay back at them and answered stoically, "No problem."

"Hm? I didn't think the rest of you would get here so soon."

Letting the pain in her wrist subside, Winter shifted her gaze towards the bleachers to find the source. An older short man dressed in simple attire, their demeanor held nothing but a mix of prideful contempt and annoyance on their face. One Winter had seen many times on the news and old newspaper clippings shown to her by Ice Maiden. The name that matched the face was as clear as day.

"Dr. Ivo. I see you've decided to crawl out of whatever gutter you hid yourself in." Winter mocked the scientist, sights set on the once thought dead man.

"Ah, if it isn't the sidekick of Ice Maiden. And you brought the Batman's little bird and Flash's blabbermouth speedster as well." The doctor added, sitting comfortably in his seat on the bleachers alongside his monkey-esque robots. "While I would love to have a chat with you, I think you're friends over there could use some help. Don't you think?" The criminal professor asked cheerily, pointing a finger to the other side of the room.

"Access: Martian Manhunter."

Another familiar call from Amazo activating the catalog of powers in their possession, Winter hastily turned to where Ivo was pointing at and saw Robin get smacked with the elongated arm of Amazo, the Boy Wonder thankfully caught by Kid Flash before any serious fall could damage the boy further.

Gritting her teeth, Winter glared at Ivo before looking back to Superboy, motioning him to follow her. "C'mon! I need your help with this, Superboy."

A hard, stern look turning to look back at her, Superboy said nothing for a few seconds until his eyes narrowed into a hard glare and nodded, eyes focused on Amazo up ahead. "Fine."

A bit thankful she wasn't getting as much protest as earlier that day, Winter there ice upon the floor and skated toward the large, metal form of Amazo, the glow of her powers appearing in the palms of her hands. "Let's see if you can do much damage when you're an iceberg!"

Pointing her hands out in front of her towards Amazo, Winter maneuvered her body with the use of her flexible muscles to dodge a punch form the android, ice powers sparking in her hands until a ray of ice shot out in a beam of chilling white energy.

"Access: Martian Manhunter."

The alien power of Martian Manhunter manifesting through Amazos' programming, their body became transparent, allowing the ray of ice to shoot straight through the android without leaving any damage on them.

Superboy going right after Winter with his own rush attack, the clone roared with power as he swung towards the android, their body now solid once again to take hits. For Amazo, taking a minor hit was nothing, as just as Superboys' fist hit its face, Amazo swung a flexible arm in an arc towards Superboy, knocking the clone back into the low side of the bleachers.

Back on his feet, Robin took another crack a the bucket of bolts with more batarangs in hand. Leaping in the air to gain higher ground and better aim, the younger hero threw the projectiles with careful precision to Amazos' head.

"Access: Captain Atom."

Rather than copy the strength of the famed hero, Amazo switched its method as their hand began to grow a gold light from within, signaling a charge up attack. Already knowing what was about to come, Robin took a few steps back and began to rush out of the blast zone, only to be picked up by Kid Flash and pulled out of the way before the ray collided where he'd once stood, leaving a pile of smoke, fire and ash in its spot.

"Robin, Kid! Are you okay!?" Winter exclaimed in concern, watching the blurry two heroes take cover by some bleachers away from Amazo.

"We're good! This thing isn't making it easy though!" Kid Flash yelled back, peeking his head around the corner of the heroes cover to keep his sights on the android.

The angry growl of Superboy resounded in the room, the clone taking the moment to rush the android yet again in a bout of strength. Throwing a punch towards the android, the large metal body moved an arm up to block it, the other grabbing the teen by the arm and throwing him like trash into the nearby bleachers.

"Access: Black Canary." Amazo spoke, staring back at the crumpled form of Superboy trying to remove himself from the debris.

A tense feeling radiating through her body at the idea of Amazo rushing after the downed clone again, an idea popped in her mind as Winter waved to Robin to get his attention. "Robin, distract Amazo!"

Not wasting time asking any questions to the sub leader, Robin nodded form his hiding spot and took out a pellet bomb and rushed out back onto the basketball court, chucking the device towards Amazo. "Winter, go!"

"Access: Red Tornado."

The air in the room suddenly gaining energy was it whipped and blasted from the force of Amazos' activation, red winds surrounded the android like a shield, preoccupying his time as the powers chucked the bomb off to the side, exploding on the unintended target of a nearby wall.

Activating her powers in the few seconds Amazo was taking care of Robins' bomb, Winter breathed out a chilling breath and stared down at her target, activating her frost stop and taking a single step before disappearing in the flurry of cold wind and snowflakes. Changing into a rushing wind of ice and cold, Winter sped in a blur towards the android ready to strike with a stinging touch in the hopes to freezing some sort of circuit within...

But didn't expect so quickly for the android to turn back on her! And its eyes were glowing!

"Access: Amazo."

Eyes widening, Winter felt the weight of confusion fall on her shoulders at the strange words leaving the androids' mouth, but ignored it moments after to see the gap between her and the robot close from her proximity. Reaching her hand out towards Amazos' chest, Winter reappeared in an explosion of snowflakes just inches between the android, ready to spread her ice as fast as she could with the time she had.

"Access: Ice Maiden."

Already stuck in mid attack, Winter couldn't recover to block the counter from the android. Eyes widening in shock at the familiar name drop of her mentor, all Winter could do was brace her body as best she could when Amazos' hand began to glow an icy white and swung a heavy punch towards her chest.

The attack connecting hard into her stomach, Winter flew back from the force and slid hard on the basketball court, gasping from the mix of pain and a burning sensation on her stomach. Reaching a hand up to her check the wound for anything serious, the ice user gasped at seeing shards of ice running across her uniform, along with the tenderness of a freshly made bruise underneath.

"Ugh. I just healed from bruising there." Winter groaned out, clutching a hand on her chest and slowly shifted her body to sit up from the ground.

"Hey, bucket of bolts!" Kid Flash yelled, speeding towards the android with energy powered by anger. "You mess with us and you mess with all of us!" The speedster yelled, goggled eyes glaring down the large metal form he headed towards.

Not phased by the banter at all, Amazo turned to look at the blur of teenage speed coming towards it with angry force. Eyes glowing, Amazo activated yet another power.

"Access: Winter."

"Wha-" Kid Flash felt of rush of shock run through his head, not sure if he'd heard the robot correctly. Not having time to process the words, Kid Flash blinked for just a moment, but found the android was now gone. "Where did he-"

"KF! Move!" Robin yelled out in warning.

The cry far too late, Kid Flash tried to move his feet in a different direction, but found...he couldn't!? Seconds after realizing this a stinging cold pain covered his ankles and feet, making the speedster's legs weaken from the sting. Somehow it felt...familiar?

"What the-" Adjusting his sight to check the ground, Kid Flash stared wide eyed at a long trail of ice ahead of him where Amazo once stood, the trail running past him as it froze his feet to the ground. "How did it-"

"Access: Superman."

Whipping his head back at the sound of Amazo close by, Kid Flash once feeling a single stinging pain in his feet now felt it disappear, his nerves now focusing on the radiating pain that was wrapped around his body and crushing him like a twig.

"Ahh!" Kid Flash screamed in pain, arms trying hard to flail out of Amazo's iron grip.

"Let go of him!" Fighting through the stinging pain on her stomach and the anger that was bubbling from seeing the android use her own move against one of her team mates, Winter pulled herself up from her fall and outstretched her arm with a ray of ice ready to free her comrade, only to be beat to the punch when a projectile sprung from above.

"Access: Martian Manhunter."

Deactivating the Superman file in his system, Amazo released Kid Flash and disappeared momentarily with transparency to allow the sudden projectile to whizz straight through their form. Lodging hard into the ground beside Robin, the Boy Wonder didn't take much notice of it at the moment and pulled out another batarang. Aiming for the head of the android, Winter followed suit with an ice kunai and launched them forward together.

"Superman."

"Duck!" Winter yelled, seeing the eyes of the android glow as he turned to look at Robin. Shooting off a ray of red energy akin to heat vision, Robin heeded the sub-leaders' warning and leaped out of the way and rolled to the side, escaping a fiery demise.

Sighing in relief at the attack missing, the ice user felt a rush of adrenaline pump through her when Amazo turned to attack her the same way. Throwing a hasty wave of ice on the ground and skating out of the blast zone, Winter skidded to a halt beside the recovering Robin and Kid Flash who'd rushed to his team mates side.

"This robot just keeps using the leagues' powers against us. We can't get a hit on him." Kid Flash complained, wiping beads of sweat off his brow.

"From what I've been seeing, Amazo can't control two powers at once. If we rush at it together it could confuse its programming." Robin suggested, hastily checking the inventory in his belt.

Winter shook her head, ideas and thoughts coming up and sinking away every moment she had a chance to think them through. "But it seems too fast even for us. Electromagnetic attacks won't have any effect if we can't hit its body and it's tough enough to withstand attacks from my ice and Superboys' punches."

"WANNA SEE ME CHANNEL THAT ANGER!?"

"Speak of the devil." Kid Flash said, turning his head along with Robin and Winter to see the super powered clone start on a new rampage, anger seething off their form more prominent than before as he charged at Ivo like an animal. "Great! He's gone ballistic again."

"Amazo! Protect your master! Priority Alpha!" Professor Ivo cried out, stumbling a bit on the way down from the bleachers to get away from the crazed super teen.

Frowning at the sight before her, Winter bit her lower lip at the thought of having to figure out another Superboy rampage during a crucial mission. Yet, when she began noticing how Superboy only seemed to be attacking Ivo this time, it got the ice user' gears turning.

Perhaps...they'd been going around this fight all wrong?

"Maybe not." Robin replied back, a smirk appearing on his face.

Turning to give a knowing look to Robin, Winter nodded and felt her own lips tug into a small smirk. "Robins' right, and I think Superboy has got something."

The fight with Amazo had been going nowhere. Their physical attacks but Superboys' had been useless, projectiles unfazed the robot, and their own patterns had even become copied by the android. It seemed like nothing could get through the robots defenses.

However their attacks would dent a certain professor.

If we can just use Ivo long enough to regroup with Superboy, we might be able to come up with a plan to win this.

"Robin, Kid, follow Superboys' lead and distract Amazo and Ivo! I've got an idea." Winter said, ignoring the pain in her stomach and began to sprint back onto the battlefield.

"Sounds like fun. Count me in!" Kid Flash exclaimed, energy boosting back into him. Adjusting his goggles, the speedster headed back into battle, aiming his sights on Professor Ivo as instructed.

"Signal us when you need us! We'll keep em' busy!" Robin added, grabbing a grappling hook and shooting it at the roof to propel hi upwards for higher ground.

Sprinting as fast as her aching legs would take her, Winter neared the end of the basketball court, ignoring the dust and shards of debris on the ground while Superboy pushed himself out of another small crater of broken metal and wood made from an uncoordinated attack of his own. Just about ready to vault himself up off the ground with a strong leap, Winter reached the clones' side and outstretched a hand to stop him.

"Superboy, wait!" Winter called, slowing down to at the teens' side and moving to stop him from heading further into battle. "I think I'v got a plan to stop Amazo from causing anymore damage."

Stopped mid step, Superboy looked away from Professor Ivo and Amazo to look back at the sub leader beside him. "But we can end this quicker if we just take out Ivo." Superboy argued back.

"That may be true, but even if we all focus on him, we'll still have a deadly, working robot on our hands to still take down. We don't know if it'll stop if we get Ivo!" Winter argued as well, trying to get her point across as her team mate, Superboy shifting his gaze from her own. A bit hurt by the avoidance, Winter felt her gaze fall.

"If it helps though, just try to give him some space. I'm sure Superboy will understand it on his own with enough time."

Robins' words from their discussion earlier suddenly coming to the forefront of her mind, Winter squeezed her smaller hands into tight fists at her sides, trying to debate the idea of what things she wanted and didn't want to say. There wasn't time to suddenly address this issue or dance around it and she knew that it clearly was not the right time to ask about it.

But even so...She had to say something. If not for Superboy, for herself. To just clear the air somewhat and move past it and focus on the moment rather than the past!

"Look, Superboy," Winter spoke, staring back up at the taller hero. "We all know something is going on with you and I'm not sure if you've meant everything you've said since this day has started, but I'm leader right now with Aqualad not here." She spoke defiantly, trying to keep her voice level. "I'm not saying I have all the answers, but I really need you to stay focused and please listen to me for now, okay?" Winter asked, urging her team mate to look back at her. "We need teamwork to make this happen."

Blue eyes stuck to a nearby wall, Superboy turned back to look at the shorter ice user beside him and gave a nod. It was a quiet response Winter would have wanted more out of it, but it wasn't denial; so she'd be happy with that at least.

"Okay. Just tell me what to do." Superboy said, cracking his knuckles to prepare for the battle plan.

Smiling at some of her words getting through, Winter nodded in agreement.

"Good. Just follow my lead and act when I give the signal." Winter replied with a smirk, winking to the clone as she motioned him to follow her back into the fray.

"Look who's decided to join the fun!" Kid Flash exclaimed, speeding on the court to push the old body of Professor Ivo in a jerking manner.

"Here, Winter! Think fast!" Robin added, moving to grab Ivo's arm and throw the professor towards the sub leader.

"I'm not sorry for this!" Winter yelled with an evil grin, taking this opportunity to let off some steam and kick Ivo as he headed towards her. The force a strong impact on the older man, Ivo flew through the air towards Kid Flash who was ready to play around with the old professor now turned plaything.

"Access: Superman."

Amazo broke up the playful antics of the small team with a resounding hard slam of his metal foot on the basketball court, the force and added power from copying Superman making the four teens wobble and shake from the power; with Kid Flash losing his balance and missing to catch the professor as he landed hard off to the side.

"Robin, joint projectile attack!" Winter called out, readjusting her balance in record time as the icy glow of her powers created a single ice kunai in hand. Robin pulling out th gadget as she'd asked, the two nodded to one another and threw them simultaneously at the android ahead of them to begin the plan.

Hearing the yell from the ice heroine, Amazo turned around to face the projectiles coming towards it, no signs of emotions like fear or uncertainty even crossing its face.

"Access: Martian Manhunter."

Transparency masking over the androids form, the robot became nearly invisible with thin air to protect itself, the frozen kunai and batarang's attack null and void as it passed straight through without a single inch of damage to the androids body.

But that was the plan all along.

"Superboy, punch Amazo through the head now! Hurry!" Winter ordered.

Releasing a battle cry and launching himself with a leap f power into the air, Superboy landed with a hard crash in front of Amazo and swung a strong punch at the transparent robot who realized a new opponent was attacking it.

"Access: Martian Manhunter."

Already too late, Superboy left his arm in place as Amazo activated the Leaguers' powers, shifting back to solid form. The tangible form of Amazo appearing back in the room, the android stood frozen in place with Superboys' arm now stuck straight through its head. The mixture of wires being ripped and circuits being dismantled from the form alone, Amazo began to spark with electricity before the head exploded from malfunction, freeing Superboys arm before lifelessly falling to the ground with a metal thud.

All of the teen heroes taking the sudden halt of battle to catch their breaths, Robin was the first to rush over to Amazos' broken form, dropping to a knee to check for any movement with calculative eyes despite how tired he looked.

"Help me dismantle it, now!" Robin commanded, turning back tot he rest of the team to get their help.

"I almost thought I'd never hear those words." Winter gasped with relief, rushing over to Robin and helping him check for the necessary joint stabilizers to dismantle the robot.

"Dudes, the guy has no head." Kid Flash quipped, adding a bit of sarcasm to his tone at the silly sounding demand.

"Do not take any chances!"

The heroes turning at the familiar voice resounding in the room suddenly, Aqualad and Miss Martian ran or flew in others case into the room, inspecting the mix of damage and the now disabled Amazo on the floor.

"Is everyone alright?" Miss Martian exclaimed, eyes widening at the cuts and bruises marking the four heroes, along with their dirtied up uniforms.

"Fine," Superboy answered for the small team, shrugging off a pain in his shoulder and looking back at Winter and Robin. His features somewhat softening, the clone smiled just a bit. "Feeling the aster."

"The what?" Kid Flash asked, not understanding what Superboy had said.

Robin grinning from ear to ear at the small inside joke, the Boy Wonder went back to focusing on dismantling Amazo with Aqualad, laughing his childish laugh while doing so at Kid Flashs' confusion.

"It's...a flower." Winter answered her team mates' question, though not in the exact way that mirrored the smaller teams joke. Shaking her head at the response, Winter looked back over to Superboy and gave her own smile back. "I'm just glad this whole mess is over with. Anymore time with this android and I would have passed out on the spot." The ice user admitted, shaking her head at the pain that started to emerge on her chest.

"Yeah. Feels like this mission took months to finish." Kid Flash joked, folding his arms back behind his head.

"But it's over now. All we have to do is get Professor Ivo's android dismantled and we'll be all set." Miss Martian spoke cheerily, using her telekinesis to take one of the parts out of its sockets with careful precision.

"Good...Wait, where is Ivo?" Kid Flash asked concerned, now realizing the crucial detail they'd all seemed to have forgotten for a moment.

Brow raised at the question, Winter turned her head back to where she'd last seen Ivo crawling not he floor. "Isn't he..."

Eyes drifting to where she'd last seen the villainous professor, the ice user gritted her teeth at the empty spot, no sight of the infamous scientist to speak of.

"Not here." Superboy spoke with a deadpan tone.

Feeling her legs give out from a mixture of defeat and expended energy from the battle, Winter tirelessly slumped to the ground, groaning at the loose thread in their mission left untied.

"Fantastic."

---

-Mount Justice

August 4th, 2010 1:06 EDT-

"At the moment the android known as Amazo created by Professor Ivo has now been dismantled and left in the care of STAR Labs." Aqualad spoke, standing beside Winter as the two leaders debriefed Batman, Green Arrow, Ice Maiden, and Black Canary.

Arriving shortly after taking care of the android pieces and the mess at in Gotham, Winter and Aqualad dismissed the team to get a few minutes of rest. Some like Kid Flash needed to bandage some wounds, while others like Superboy just...needed some time to cool off.

Winter really didn't want another yelling match like before to happen again.

Nobody seemed opposed to the idea, so it was up to the two joint leaders to spread out the main details of the mission. Their success, their failures and any other underlying details that may have been...left out by mistake by some ice using heroines about a moody clone ditching them half way through the mission.

"Sadly," Winter continued for Aqualad, "Professor Ivo escaped during the battle. With how much knowledge he has and the unknown amount of safe houses he could be taking refuge in, he's arguably more of a threat than ever. Added by the fact we know he's alive and his tech becoming much stronger and on par with fighting our team and the League, I don't believe Ivo will be faking his death again anytime soon. He seems confident that he'll get away again." The ice user concluded, perishing the thought of creations worse than Amazo coming out of the woodworks.

As if the team needed an opponent stronger than Amazo in their way. The only thing she'd accomplish out of that situation would be a larger headache and stress levels of astronomical proportions. It just meant the team would have to hurry their search in locating the devious professor.

"His escape was due to our shortcomings," Winter spoke up to the heroes, making the group turn their gaze to her. "Will our team be focused on finding the professor and taking him in as intended?" The ice user asked, a bit of uncertainty in her question.

I wouldn't let us if I were the League.

"Capturing the professor will be a League priority." Black Canary announced, eyes drifting from the two leaders to the rest of the team walking back into the room now rested and cleaned of their wounds.

Winter felt her eyes drift downwards as Canary spoke.

I knew it.

"The decision is in no way made to reflect your failure. You have all done a wonderful job taking care of the Amazo. We simply...understand that there were some other complications that your team experienced." Martian Manhunter added, crossing his arms over his chest.

Unintentionally looking away from the older mentors, Winter settled her eyes with Aqualads' own stare, only to turn back to look to the person in question that had been the spark for most of those mentioned complications.

The dark blue eyes of Superboy staring straight back at the League, the younger boy of steel made no move to turn his gaze away from any of them, a far contrast from how he'd been acting in their presence earlier that day. There was no snide comment, dry remark, or even a grunt of annoyance that the team was used to hearing when Superboy was put on the spot.

None of the younger heroes making a move to voice their opinion or say anything else, Batman took a step forward to garner their attention. "Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League."

"The...whole League?" Superboy asked, the tone quiet, yet hopeful as he looked up to Batman for any sign of confirmation.

Batman glanced down to Superboy, "Given time, yes," he explained with a nod. "Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads."

"Of course there is no shame in asking League for help," Ice Maiden said, walking over to stand beside Batman with a helpful smile. "We exist to help others, civilians or other heroes regardless. If some things get too messy for younger heroes, you can ring phone for us anytime. But don't make habit of. Line might be busy." Ice Maiden joked with a hearty laugh.

"Ice," Winter muttered with a shake of her head. "We can take care of ourselves." She said stubbornly.

"It wouldn't matter much anyways. Even if we did need help, you wouldn't even give us the chance to ask." Robin spoke up, making Ice Maiden stop her laughing to look at Batmans' protege. The shorter teen reaching to his utility belt, the detective pulled out the projectile that had saved Kid Flash from a crushing defeat; which happened to be an extremely sharp arrow with a gray body. "Look familiar?" He asked accusingly, handing it to Batman.

"Looks like you guys don't trust us at all!" Kid Flash exclaimed with a scowl on his face.

Being given the arrow by his protege, Batman inspected the weapon before handing it to Green Arrow. "We didn't follow you." He said calmly despite the small bout of tension in the large room, keeping an eye on the younger hero team as Green Arrow pulled out one of his own arrows.

Putting the two side by side for all to see, it was clear after just a second or two from most of the group that the two were in fact not the same arrows at all.

Which in turn made Robin and Kid Flash's eyes widen in a mix of shock and embarrassment.

"And...that's not your arrow." Robin admitted, only for his masked eyes to sparkle with hope. "But that has to mean..."

"Speedy!" Kid Flash exclaimed, finishing his best friends' thought.

"He does have our back after all." Aqualad spoke with relief, smiling along with Robin and Kid Flash at the revelation.

"Who's Speedy?" Miss Martian asked curiously, not understanding why some of the team was getting excited.

"He's...was one of us. The sidekick of Green Arrow before some things happened." Winter explained, drifting over some of the more explicit details she'd rather not remember. "He's solo right now and didn't want to join the team when we offered." She explained with a shrug, walking back to Green Arrow and delicately taking the arrow back and quietly inspecting it.

Keeping her voice down and her own opinions to herself as the rest of her team discussed the new development that now presented itself, Winter felt her fingers slowly roll the arrow between her fingertips, ice blue eyes scanning over the projectile from its body, the material used to make the arrow, to even the sharpness and metal of the tip.

In those spare moments of contemplation, there was a thought that went through her mind. One that she wasn't sure she wanted to voice aloud.

This...isn't Speedy's arrow.

Winter knew that for a fact. She'd spent just as much time, maybe even more with Roy since the two knew each other. She'd seen the way he made his arrows, how he made the sharpest details of his projectiles well enough to stab through any surface he could.

The arrow that saved Kid Flash was sharp, but it was only enough to do some minor damage. It could do much if hitting the mark, but from the way it looked it would never be able to pierce stone or steel. Not with the dull point it had.

Not to mention she knew far better to think it was Roy right away. Roy had said so himself just days ago when he'd called her. That he still wouldn't join the team despite some of their efforts to persuade him. She knew just how stubborn he could be. He wouldn't have changed his mind and suddenly turned to help them like this. Or have known where they could have been at that exact moment. So that could only mean very few things.

Roy had actually helped them somehow without being spotted or noticed.

The League did help but were lying about it for some odd reason.

Or...a more uncertain answer.

Did someone else save us? The white-haired heroine wondered, eyes glued to the arrow in her hands.

But who? How did they find out about their activities in Gotham? How did they have the necessary skills and tools to distract Amazo with a single arrow just as well timed as a trained vigilante? And to not even be sensed or heard by them during the fight? Not to mention why would they have-

"Winter?" Ice Maiden spoke, looking over to her preoccupied protege. "Is something wrong? Face looks fallen."

Eyes snapping away from the arrow in her fingertips to her mentor, Winter pushed her thoughts aside, replacing her calculating expression to a softer, more relaxed one to dissuade her mentors' suspicious. "Oh, it's nothing. Just...surprised I suppose. Speedy seemed very adamant about not being apart of this team." She said calmly, eyes moving from her mentor back to look at the arrow she held.

Could she have been thinking far too much into it? She may have known Roy well enough to know what his equipment looked like, but he could have changed it since she'd last seen him. That was a possibility, but something still nagged at her in the back of her mind.

An eyebrow raising at the answer, Ice Maiden stared back at her once sidekick before shrugging the answer off. "Alright than."

"Pfft! Dude totally has our back. He's just being chill about it." Kid Flash said, walking over and snatching the arrow out of Winters' hands. "Yoink! Souvenir~!"

Scowling at the object snatched from her fingertips, a brow rose on Winter's features as she took the arrow right back. "Wally, you are not making an arrow a souvenir for this mission. Find something else to put on that bookshelf of yours. If this is Speedy's, we should at least return it to him."

"What? Why?" Kid Flash questioned. "The guy's got tons of arrows. He can make due without one of em."

"Wally," Miss Martian piped in, walking over to stand beside Winter. "Shouldn't we return it to him? He did save you after all. The least we can do is give him his arrow back, right?" The Martian asked kindly, showing the smile that Kid Flash couldn't help but fall for.

Unable to resist the sweet charm of the telepath, Kid Flash groaned and shook his head, only to dreamily stare back at Miss Martian. "I can't deny you when you smile like that, M'gann." Green eyes drifting from Miss Martian to Winter, the speedster rolled his eyes. "Fine. You can give it back. I'll find something else."

"Thank you. I am sure Speedy will appreciate it." Winter concluded, her gaze now back to the mystery arrow in her possession.

Now that she had it, this would be a good opportunity to get to the bottom of this. She would let the team in on the thought, but she didn't want to make waves of assumptions and uncertainties. Heaven only knew just how terrible her worrying and what if's caused unneeded stress to her friends.

She would wait for now. At least until she was certain she had the answers she needed.

"I am guessing you snatched that from Kid." Aqualad spoke up, walking over to Winter with a knowing smile.

Seeing her Atlantean ally poke fun at the object in her hands, Winter rolled her eyes. "You know Wally. He gets pretty excited to put things on that bookshelf of his. Unless his piling trash is going to fill the room first."

Chuckling at the jab, Aqualad shook his head. "I am sure he would have given it up if you asked. Two or three more times."

"Maybe even more." Winter joked further, shaking her head at the thought. The danger of the mission long over and the high strung stress a tad bit gone, the ice user looked to her fellow leader and frowned, trying to find her courage. "Aqualad, I need to apologize."

The jovial mood now gone, Aqualad's questionable gaze fell on Winter. "How so?"

"I," Fingers tapping gently on the arrow in her hand, Winter felt her eyes drift away from the Atlantean's staring, but forced her eyes to go back to his. "I did not admit to Superboy leaving us behind during the mission. Even after I said I would call for you if I needed help, I didn't even think about trying. I just...hid it from you and the others."

The admission a solemn one, Aqualad made no attempt to cut her off. Instead, her posed another question. "May I ask why?"

"I guess it was embarrassment ? Or shame?" Winter pondered, trying to figure out the reason herself. "I was worried that it reflected poorly on my skills as a leader. I didn't want to admit I couldn't handle it, I suppose." She answered, awkwardly looking away from her team mate.

"Winter," Aqualad spoke. "There is no shame in feeling embarrassed about failure. We all feel the pain of not wanting to admit to our mistakes, but it does not make us weaker for it." The Atlantean said, resting a hand on the ice users' shoulder. "Things did get a bit chaotic, but we succeeded in the end after we adapted to the situation. I am not mad, but I do hope you ask for us if you need aid. We are a team for a reason."

Blushing at the offer, Winter nodded and smiled to Aqualad. "Of course. I promise I'll do so if needed."

"Good." Shining a smile back to her, Aqualad nodded back to Winter and pulled his hand away as he headed with Robin, who gave her a thumbs up at seeing her and Kaldur talk, and Kid Flash to the kitchen for some food and much needed rest. Miss Martian deciding it be best to catch up with her uncle flew to Winter, the two chatting a bit before they hugged and the Martian flew off with her family to another room.

"I'm ready."

Breaking her gaze at the voice of Superboy, Winter turned to spot the taller boy a few feet away, standing in front of Black Canary as the two shortly spoke to one another.

Winter admitted she felt a bit of worry course through her body, remnants of flashing memories of the day earlier when the two had clashed still fresh in her mind. She didn't want to have to see the two fight again or have to potentially step in, especially given the way Superboy had been acting throughout most of the mission.

But from the way he stood in front of the heroine, calm and collected with a hint of hesitation in his eyes; there was a pause that made her step back. She trusted that this time would be different than their last encounter.

"Good," Black Canary answered back while placing a comfortable hand on his shoulder. "Because I'm here."

Watching Black Canary give a reassuring squeeze to Superboys' shoulder and the teen return the gesture with a small smile back, Winter clutched the arrow close to her chest as a rush of energy ran through her body, making her feel emotions well up with pride at the sight.

Superboy must have figured things out on his own during the mission.

"It looks like Sigrid was right, was she not?"

Looking over her shoulder to see her mentor standing beside her to also watch the exchange between the older and younger generation, Winter nodded to Ice Maiden before moving to look back at Canary and Superboy from her spot. "I admit I was against the idea of staying out of things before, Ice."

"Sigrid understands. But?" The older woman asked, poking the petite ice user in a playful manner to make her continue.

Ignoring the playful jabs of her mentor, Winter sighed. "But, I am proud enough to admit I...was wrong. I didn't need to intervene. It seems Superboy was able to learn what he needed to on his own." She concluded, lightly swatting her mentors' hand from her.

"Good to hear, Snowflake." Ice replied warmly.

"Still," Winter spoke, her ice blue eyes stuck to Superboy as he talked a bit more with Black Canary. "I stand by my belief that I can be there for him. For everyone on my team. I know that there are times when I should step back and let them figure out things on their own, but...I want to be there. I want to be useful as much as I can. And be a leader they can be proud of." Winter spoke softly, a warm smile settling on her face.

The mission had gone a bit differently than the team expected, but at the very least Winter could be proud of this development that came out of some of their hardship.

That through their mistakes success was possible. Growth that they thought impossible. Understanding between people you thought you could never see eye to eye with.

Seeing the way Superboy was taking advice from Canary so calmly now compared to their interaction that day, it made the warm smile spread wider on the ice users' face as a happy though drifted through her mind.

Superboy. I'm so happy for you.

No longer looking to Canary or Superboy, Ice Maiden stared back at her distracted protege; the ice user smiling brightly as her eyes sparkled like diamonds with an energy far different than eagerness or excitement.

A knowing look showing on the woman's face unseen by the younger hero, Ice Maiden looked back to Canary and Superboy who were finishing up their chat, more focused on the younger hero than her colleague.

"Friends, huh?" Ice Maiden muttered.

Black Canary waving for Ice Maiden, the ice heroine shrugged her shoulders and lightly patted Winter's shoulder as Superboy started making his way toward her protege. "Time for Ice to blow ice stand. Will come again later, snowflake."

"Okay. I'll see you later than, Ice." Winter said, nodding to her mentor before letting her go.

Heading to the zeta tubes with Black Canary, Ice Maiden moved her eyes to look to the younger clone passing her on the way. Seeing this as her only chance, Ice whispered beneath her breath; quiet enough that only Superboy could hear.

"Ice is watching you. Don't hurt Snowflake or you'll regret."

Eyebrows raised in confusion at the cryptic words, Superboy stopped walking and watched quietly as the two Leaguers disappeared through the glow of the teleportation device, blue eyes ensnared by Ice Maiden as the two locked eyes until the older heroes disappeared from view.

"Superboy?" Winter called, not sure why the teen had suddenly turned to watch the mentors leave. "Is something wrong?"

Looking back to Winter as she called for her, Superboy relaxed his body and shook his head. "No. Everything's fine."

"Oh, good." Winter replied, her body relaxing at the confirmation. Her own eyes drifting from Superboy to the zeta tubes and back to him again, the ice user held her hands behind her back, trying to seem as calm and collected as possible. "How did things go with Canary? If I may ask?"

"It went as good as it gets. I think." Superboy answered, a slight lack of confidence in his answer as he moved to scratch the back of his head. "We talked for a bit. I said I wanted to start training with her and she said that she was there if I needed help."

Smiling, Winter almost felt her self jump in excitement at the new development. "That's great, Superboy!"

"It is?" He asked, not too sure if his answer made any sense.

Winter nodded in confirmation, trying to help Superboy understand. "That must mean she forgives you for what happened today. She knows you're trying to learn and she wants to help you. It's fantastic." The ice user said, trying to word her ecstatic mood and better explain the new development to the more stoic hero. The smile simmering down to a small grin, Winter's gaze absentmindedly drifted away from the clone, her next words less energetic than before. "I'm guessing you thought some stuff through during the mission, right?"

Lips hardening into a thin line at the mention of the mission, Superboy too felt his own blue orbs look away from the heroine in front of him. "Yeah. I went through some stuff as Amazo was kicking me around. Got me to think over some things."

Not sure what he could say beyond that, Superboy closed his mouth shut and stuck to the silence hanging in the debriefing room. Both heroes keeping their eyes away from the other, the awkwardness levels were starting to go beyond what Winter really wanted.

Was Superboy going to apologize to her? For what he said to her during the mission? For ditching them right in the middle to do his own thing? Winter admitted thoughtfully that she was happy if that was the case, however...

Moving her lips, Winter tried to break the spell of silence in the room.

"Superboy-"

"Winter-"

Closing her mouth shut at hearing Superboy try to talk the same time as her, Winter moved a hand over her mouth to better stop the flow of words leaving her lips, Superboy stopping himself in his own fashion to not talk over her.

The blue of the ocean and the blue of cold ice drifting around the room until finding each other's orbs again, the awkwardness that they'd hoped to disperse swiftly appeared once more.

How long could they go like this?

"Sorry. You go ahead." Superboy said suddenly, urging Winter to speak her piece first.

A blush of embarrassment dashing her pale cheeks, Winter shook her head and moved hand to gesture to Superboy to speak. "No. It was poor manners of me. I should know better not to...interrupt someone when they are speaking," Winter spoke, pulling her hand back and curving a strand of hair behind her hair to distract herself; her expression falling ever so slightly in discomfort before shifting back to a small smile to comfort the taller boy. "Please, Superboy. You first."

Rubbing his neck that was starting to suddenly feel stiff, Superboy looked back at the awaiting heroine, almost like he was trying to communicate with his eyes alone. Obviously knowing that his eyes couldn't convey much words and that he was again leaving Winter back into a room of silence, Superboy took a deep breath and exhaled to clear his head.

"I," His voice coming out softly, Superboy got a single word out before closing his mouth again, still trying to find the right words he wanted to speak out loud. "I wanted to...you know. Apologize."

Realizing it really was just as she expected, Winter rose a hand up to try and stop Superboy from talking, hoping to add her own piece in. "Superboy you don't-"

"But I do." Superboy iterated, volume rising as he cut Winter off, making he petite girl jump a bit. Realizing he was losing control of his voice again, he sighed. "I...We almost failed this mission because I was angry. I was dealing with some stuff and decided it was more important than following the mission. Or listening to you or Kaldur." Superboy spoke, words filled with an raw honesty Winter wasn't used to hearing from Superboy. "And I...mocked you. Your guys were just trying to help me out and I..."

No more words following after his apology, Superboy's voice drifted off into silence, breaking his gaze with Winter to look glare at the ground, fists squeezed into fists at his sides to deal with the confusion dwelling inside him.

Watching the display of confusion and hesitation appear before her, Winter's gaze softened on Superboy's and said nothing at first. Biting her bottom lip at the confession before her, Winter took in her own deep breath of contemplation and exhaled softly to clear her mind and calm her thoughts.

"Superboy," Winter spoke calmly, making the clone slowly look up at her, a worried expression on her face. "I was angry at you. You...said things I didn't think you would ever say to me, but I forgive you."

Staring back at the ice user, the clone felt his eyes widen in surprise at the response, then shine with confusion.

Taking the silence as a sign to keep going, Winter stepped closer to Superboy as she continued. "I know. I must sound like some broken record. Forgiving you like this so easily. But...I do. What happened today shouldn't have happened. At the very least our team should have stayed together to the very end, even with complications. But it didn't. I can't blame that all on you. There were underlying circumstances that..."

Winter felt her words trail off while her eyes stared to look at Superboy who stood just three feet in front of her. His own staring back down at her, she unintentionally turned away from him. "Something...Something happened in Metropolis, right?" She asked hesitantly, not sure if this was the right time to bring it up.

A low growl beneath his breath, Superboy closed his eyes. "...Yeah. Stuff happened."

"I knew it." Winter said. It wasn't in a triumphant yell or in a know it all tone. Her answer was more quiet than anything else. Almost...sad. Like she didn't even want to know the answer. Shaking her head, Winter slowly shifted her gaze back to Superboy who's eyes were closed. "Superboy, I'm sorry I'm not that great of a leader."

Eyes opening wide from the apology, Superboy looked back at Winter, an indescribable look on his face. It was only when he spoke that Winter realized that it was shock and confusion that had taken over his facial features.

"What do you have to apologize for?" Superboy questioned, not sure if he'd heard the sub leader right. "Winter, you didn't do anything. What happened today was my fault."

"But...I could have stopped it? Couldn't I?" She asked back, her face crest fallen at her own question. "What you said during the mission. I know it was out of anger and you didn't mean any of it. You were mad about Metropololis, Superman, Black Canary. Any or all of the above. Even with all of those things happening today and the conflict I could see on your face I..."

"The only reason you're okay with it is because you're used to doing whatever someone tells you."

Those words still echoed in her mind even now. It was words set off by hate deep inside Superboy that he couldn't control. Words that weren't meant to be thought of as truthful. Yet despite not needing to heed them any mind she felt truth in them.

"I told you on that day in the park that if you ever needed to talk, I...we would be there if you needed us. That you didn't have to bottle up your anger or your frustration about things to yourself. It would make you explode holding it in for so long. That's why I said it." Winter spoke softly, almost as if she was trying to find her voice. "As a leader, I should be there for my team. Not just be there to fill in Kaldur's shoes when he isn't around. I should be there all the time, whether it is to give advice or listen to any of you guys. I want to be there for all of you. I truly do. But in the end I...didn't fulfill that role." She admitted with a frown, memories flashing in her mind.

"Are you worried, Snowflake?"

"I...Is it wrong to worry about a team mate?"

"He does not need your worry. What he needs is discipline."

It seemed like the right thing to do, despite how much she felt against it at first. Ice Maiden had never steered her wrong before, so there was no reason to doubt the sound advice from her mentor. Superboy had needed space, to figure out whatever it was on his own and not be bothered or smothered by her worrying. Some people needed the help of others to understand while others needed space and time to think.

And even after all the hardship it worked out. Superboy had figured out things after ditching them even if it had caused some complications to the mission.

But...did he really need to figure it out all on his own?

Was it wrong to worry about a friend? A team mate?

Samantha couldn't say. It was a question that could have a million different answers if she asked any person on the planet. All that really mattered at that moment was what she thought. And...

Well, she didn't act on her own thoughts even then. She was stopped by her mentor and told that her worrying wouldn't help; and so she stood back instead. She followed orders rather than do what she wanted.

And somehow...that killed her inside.

"I didn't really talk to you at all when you came back, you know?" She asked Superboy, voice a bit quiet from the emotions welling up inside her. "I wasn't sure what happened in Metropolis, but the way you looked and how angry you sounded, I could tell something happened in an instant. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know if you wanted the company and Ice Maiden said some things to me and I..."

Emotions closing her throat up, Winter stared at the floor. "I'm making excuses." Fingers entangling with her other hand, the ice user sighed. "In the end, I didn't act on my own will again. I listened to someone else and decided to stand back even though you were hurting, because someone older and wiser thought it was the better thing to do. I listened to them rather than follow my own path and do what I felt was right."

Hands clasping and unclasping from the nervous tension inside her, Winter slowly moved her head upwards to stare at Superboy right in the eyes.

"Superboy, do you think...this all would have gone differently if I said something? Been more forceful and asked you what happened?" The ice user asked, hesitation ensnaring her vocal chords at the awkward question. "Maybe if I'd tried a bit harder today to talk to you, none of this would have-"

"No."

The single word from Superboy cutting off the white-haired heroine entirely, Winter stared at her fellow team mate wide eyed.

Frowning as he looked at Winter, Superboy shook his head. "I...Don't think anything would have helped."

"Oh." Winter muttered in defeat, face falling at the answer.

"It's not because of you though." Superboy said, making Winter keep her gaze on him. "I'm...still not used to all of this. Being out here, away from Cadmus and seeing and experiencing things I've only knew because of those G-Gnomes. Things are still new to me. Like being a hero and seeing Superman." Superboy admitted, blue eyes hardening at the name drop. "What happened in Metropolis, it wasn't that big a deal from just hearing about it, but it is to me. I'm not sure I really want to talk about it much even now." Superboy shrugged to showcase his own uncertainty to his answer. "I guess thats just how I deal with this stuff."

Eyes softening on the taller clone, Winter shook her head and looked up to Superboy. "But you don't have to, Superboy. You're on a team now. With friends. Whether you like it or not, we're here for you. If it's just to talk, hang out, or help each other if we need it. There's no reason to have to keep your anger or emotions inside."

Was she not stressing that hard enough for Superboy to understand? That not talking to your friends about things hurt just as much as the feelings kept inside? Perhaps, but Winter knew that trying to force her hand would be an ill move hers.

"I guess I'm still not used to it yet." Superboy replied with another shrug, making Winter stare back at him.

"Used to what?"

"...Having friends."

Shoulders sagging at the response, Winter nodded regardless. "I see."

"Winter?" Superboy called.

"Yes, Superboy?" Winter asked.

Eyes locking with her own, Superboy spoke strongly to her. "You're a good leader."

The simplistic words taking Winter off guard for a moment, she tried to speak up in protest. "Superboy, it's nice that you're-"

"I mean it." He added forcefully, making the ice user stare a bit wide eyed at him. "You're...learning just like I am. About being a good leader while I'm learning to be, you know. Normal."

Her voice lost in her throat for a moment, Winter slowly nodded her head out reflex. "I...Suppose you're right about both of those things."

"Then don't be hard on yourself. Or blame any of this on you. You're still learning just as much as I am. And most of this stuff is kind of my fault anyways," Superboy spoke up, awkwardly rubbing his neck. "I was kind of the one who went...What did Kid Flash call it? Ballistic?"

Not used to hearing Superboy use the kind of speech most teens were used to using, Winter felt a twinkle of energy spark inside her chest. Raising a hand up to cover her lips with her fingertips, the ice user couldn't help but feel a small chuckle try to break out. Energy building a bit more, the chuckle broke free into a small wave of laughter from the ice user, fingers falling helplessly from her lips as the once dreary atmosphere began to disappear suddenly.

"I-I guess that's what you c-call it." Winter answered in between bits of laughter, her frown quickly replaced by a smile from her laughing. The joyful response dying down little by little, Winter stared back to Superboy and smiled. "Superboy, thank you for saying that."

Superboy rose a brow at her response. "What? Going ballistic?"

She chuckled again, not quite sure if the clone was being serious or trying to make a joke. "N-No. For saying I'm a good leader." Winter responded with a smile. "I don't think I still fit that title yet, but I suppose I needed to hear that. It helped a little."

Nodding at her answer, Superboy shrugged. "It's no problem."

Smiling at the simple answer, Winter coughed a bit to try and clear her throat a little. "Regardless, as your...one of your leaders, I have to at least ask that you don't try to split up from us like that again. So we don't have another incident like this."

"I'll make sure not to." Superboy said, nodding to affirm his answer. "And I'll try to talk more to my friends."

Face lighting up at Superboy's answer, Winter nodded and moved a bit closer to Superboy, smiling up at the taller teen in front of her. "We're all here if you need us. You don't have to open up about everything. Just...take your time, you know?"

Smiling a bit himself, Superboy looked back to Winter. "Yeah. I'll do that."

Her face suddenly feeling a bit warm at seeing Superboy stare back at her, Winter laughed softly and rubbed her neck. "Uhh...sorry in advance for this."

"For wh-"

Moving with action rather than speaking, Winter hastily wrapped her arms around the taller form of Superboy into a hug, her head resting against Superboy's chest due to their height difference.

The feeling quite familiar to Superboy, the taller clone looked down to see the top of Winter's head against his own chest, her arms around his waist to keep the two close together.

"Is this...that hug thing again?" The super clone asked, reminded of the time they'd done the same back at Samantha's home after the battle with the Terror Twins.

Stopping herself from looking up at Superboy due to embarrassment, Winter nodded a little, though tried not to move much due to the action accidentally causing her to nuzzle her cheek into the boy's shirt. "Y-Yeah. People...do this when they talk like this. Or open up about their emotions. It's sort of like the end of a healing process. A comfort and security from a friend or...someone close."

Her face feeling a bit warm, Winter wasn't sure how long to keep the hug going, arms still wrapped around the teen with almost no intention of wanting to let go. "That's why I apologized. I didn't know if you liked close contact still. I'll let go if-Oh!"

Her voice dying out in a soft squeak of surprise at something touching her sides, Winter wasn't ready to respond to the strange contact, but relaxed as she felt herself be pressed closer to Superboy.

Eyes slowly drifting downwards to her waist, Winter felt her cheeks burn like the heat of a fire in a cold winter night, the arms of Superboy holding her close. Not very sure if her voice could work at the moment, Winter simply stayed quiet as she rested her head on Superboy's chest, wondering if this was doing anything to help.

"This is how you hug, right?" Superboy suddenly asked, making Winter stiffen in his arms.

"Y-Yeah," She said hesitantly, trying to pull herself together. It just a hug for goodness sake! She'd done it before! Well, at least when it was just her hugging! But for Superboy to do it...

That was different.

"It's fine. There's no bad way to hug someone." She said, softly laughing at the idea of Superboy trying to hug her properly. "You're hug is just fine, but it's to help make you feel better." Slowly moving her cheek away from the warmth of Superboys chest, Winter looked up to Superboy who craned over her smaller frame. "Did it help? More than the last time?"

Really, the last hug they'd shared had been more for her than anything. Comforting yet blunt words expressed by Superboy, the hug she gave him was to encompass the thankfulness she wanted to express for the talk they had.

This hug however was to comfort him. Something Samantha couldn't be sure he was used to yet since he was more quiet about his emotions, moving with action rather that speaking.

But it seemed his actions struck again to replace those words, Winter suddenly feeling Superboy squeeze her a bit tighter, causing her to be pressed against his chest. It wasn't to try to and squeeze the life out of her, but the way she felt him sort of clutch his hands around her body, it felt like he was trying to...feel the emotion from it? Try to understand what she was explaining. Or was she thinking far too into it now?

"S-Superboy?" Winter spoke up, not sure what the action meant.

"It's...helping. I think." The clone admitted, his voice a bit uncertain despite continuing to hold the petite heroine in his arms. "It's kind of nice."

Smiling at the simple answer, Winter nodded a bit. "That's good. That's how a hug with friends is supposed to feel."

"Oh." Superboy replied, only to look down to Winter. "How long do we do this for?"

Chuckling a little at the question, Winter raised her head upwards to look at Superboy. Honestly she actually had to get going. It was late and with being tardy to give her father a status report of this latest mission would be quite the disappointment to say the least.

But there was that strange pull in her chest that made her say otherwise. She couldn't be sure if it was the pull of wanting to help her friend or that twisting feeling in her gut that was actually...that thing Ice Maiden talked about, but all that Winter wanted at the moment was to just make sure Superboy was okay. Whether it be platonic or romantic.

She just wanted to be there for him.

"Well...it depends. But we can keep doing this for as long as you need to, Superboy." Winter said, smiling to him. "Until you feel better."

"Okay." Superboy said, keeping his arms locked securely around her body. "Can we...do this a little longer, then?"

Closing her eyes to try and not see the innocent look on Superboy's face at the question, Winter laughed and rested her head back on his chest and just hugged him tighter. "Yeah. We can."

Honestly, Samantha wasn't quite sure she would be willing to let go anytime soon.

---

Aww, hug it out you two. You both need it after the talk you had. Just don't get too carried away and hug for hours. As much as I'm sure Sam would be happy about that. I hope that the conversation between Superboy and Winter doesn't seem too sappy or that Sam is getting a little depressed or whiny. To be honest, I was having trouble figuring out how to end this, and as a character I thought for Samantha she'd be honestly a bit sad at the fact that some fo this could have been avoided if she'd just...talked to Superboy like she wanted. Instead of doing the "mature" thing and having him figure stuff out by himself. She's not the kind of person who wants to just leave people behind to deal with their stress if they get angry or emotional. She wants to help. Not just because she's a sub-leader, but also because she wants to be there as Superboy's friend.

And maybe more when she ever decides it's the best time emotionally for her and Superboy. And if he even like-likes her.

But, ugh! All done! Man this took waaaay too long to finish! I' so sorry his took so long to get out. School was a priority and then the holidays and work took my time. But now I got it out by New Years, which is nice. At least it's before 2018, which I hope to get more chapters out in that year than this one.

I'm also sort of part way through the next chapter of The Beauty Within Two Beasts. That's the next part I'm going to work on, so that may be out soon too if i can get over this cold and finish work. Looks forward to that too.

I hope you all had great holidays and enjoy the end of the year. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but I hope I can get working on it very soon since I'm still off from school until late January. Until then, I hope you all have a good day/night. X3

Oh and please read and review I guess. That's always nice to read.