Hello all you beautiful people! I hope you've all continued to stay as safe and happy and healthy as you can manage. To you, I present this update.
As promised last time, this chapter has some valuable M'Gann and Ski'Lira bonding time. This one's a lot more slice-of-life-y (definitely not a word, but I'm rolling with it), which I thoroughly enjoyed. Not every chapter is action packed and intense. Just... you know... most of them. Which is not a complaint, just an observation on my part.
The vast majority of the events in this chapter are complete falsehoods, though there are one or two small things that are based on my personal experiences from public school. Nevertheless, this one was a delight to write (mostly because I relish in the opportunity to throw Hawkgirl thoroughly out of her element).
Enjoy!
MOUNT JUSTICE
OCTOBER 12TH, 2010
20:34 EDT
Skylar hadn't intended to end up at the mountain at eight thirty on a night with zero scheduled training sessions or hangouts. It was a school night for everyone... except for her, of course, since she was running on her own schedule. One of the benefits of online classes, she could keep whatever weird hours she wanted as long as she completed her work on time (and she was very diligent about doing so). The only reason she was here right now (instead of preparing to go out on a nightly patrol), was to quickly drop off a duffel bag with a couple extra pairs of pajamas and casual wear. Based on the frequency the Team were finding themselves spending full days and nights in the Cave, she figured it was better to be safe than sorry.
However, she hadn't expected to see a silently crying M'Gann baking up a frenzy in the kitchen. Almost every countertop was cluttered with either fully finished baked goods (cupcakes, brownies, and even a couple of cakes) or dirtied bowls and utensils still being used. In her arms was a large mixing bowl that looked like cookie batter, but it didn't seem to have the right texture.
A slew of thoughts poured through her brain, like 'Is she stress baking?' 'Who did this?' 'Do I need to kill someone?' 'Do I need to call Dick to help me hide the body?' 'Is it something else?' 'Do you want me to call someone for you?' 'Do you want a hug?'. What came out of her mouth instead was a terse, "What's up with you?"
M'Gann swiped at her face with the back of her hand to rid it of tears, only succeeding in streaking flour across her verdant face. "Tomorrow is the Bumblebee Charity Festival. It's not really a festival, it's just like, a bunch of booths set up in the school gym after school that all have different things like games or raffles or stuff for sale, and two weeks ago when we started planning I volunteered for one of the two baked good stands, but the girl I was supposed to run it with, Abigail, went down really sick, so I have to cover all of the baking she can't. Plus, I have to transport all of this by myself without using my powers, because I have to keep playing human. And Conner told me he would help, but an hour ago Black Canary told him he had mandatory two-day long strength management training with Wonder Woman, because she has an extremely limited schedule and they even excused him from school for it and this might be his only chance to train with her for like, months and that's so much more important... And I still can't get these cookies right!" Throwing down the bowl of in-process batter onto the counter, she splattered cookie dough all over the front of her apron. "Why am I crying, I shouldn't be crying over something so... dumb!"
Blinking once, then twice in absolute astonishment over the rant, Skylar wasn't... entirely sure how to proceed. But she had to at least try. "Can the other... bake stand help? If they're doing the same thing..."
"I don't want to bother them." M'Gann admitted with clear reluctance, cheeks coloring. "I promised everyone I could do it on my own, so..."
As the Martian set to work trying to fix her cookie batch, the wheels in Skylar's head were turning. "... This is tomorrow?"
"Yeah, after school, but all of us working get to leave class early to help set up." M'Gann affirmed, voice still slightly choked.
"I can get a car by then."
Pausing mid-stir, M'Gann's head shot up towards her so fast she nearly risked whiplash. "... What?"
"A car." Skylar repeated. "To help drive these to the school. And then I can help you carry them in. And help run the stand, if I'm allowed... Am I?" Internally, she was screaming at the prospect of willingly going to a public school function, but her friend was crying.
"I mean... Yeah?" M'Gann seemed thoroughly thrown. "Alexandra's having her two younger sisters help her run one of the game booths and Katie's friend is going to be working the raffle with her... But you... Actually want to help me?"
"Well... yes? As much as I detest the prospect of stepping into a public school for nothing less than fighting super-intelligent androids, you're currently crying in the middle of the kitchen. I can help fix it, so I'm going to."
There was a blur of motion as M'Gann dropped her mixing bowl and hurtled towards her, wrapping her arms tightly around the Thanagarian (and smearing flour and batter all over her shirt in the process). "Oh, Hawkgirl, thank you!"
"I do demand repayment in the form of at least two of those Red Velvet cupcakes."
M'Gann's arms tightened as she laughed. "You can have the whole batch."
H
"DA'MI!"
"WHAT?!"
"I NEED HELP WITH CLOTHES!"
"WE CAN GO SHOPPING TOMORROW! IT'S AFTER NINE O'CLOCK, NOTHING WILL BE OPEN!"
"I NEED HELP PICKING CLOTHES!"
"WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY SO?"
Ski'Lira let out a frustrated huff as she heard her mother coming up the stairs at a leisurely pace. The moment the Thanagarian woman stepped into the room, her eyes widened. "Ski'Lira Hol, what have you done to your room?"
Frankly, it looked like her closet had exploded. The teen took great pride in keeping her space neat, organized, and tidy, but right now it was like a bomb had gone off. Shirts, pants, even a few skirts and a dress or two were thrown haphazardly on her bed, desk, and chair, pairs of shoes separated and strewn about the floor.
"I'm not helping you pick all of this up." Shayera said succinctly, clearing a corner off of the bed so she could sit down and watch this chaos in a comfortable position. "This is your mess."
"That's not what I need help with." Ski'Lira insisted. "I need... I need to look as harmless as possible tomorrow."
Her mother raised a brow. "What for? I need to know exactly how harmless we're going for here."
"... I'm helping M'Gann with a bake sale."
In a flash, her mother had her phone in her hand and pointed at her, clearly recording. "I'm sorry, but can you say that again? I didn't quite hear you the first time."
"Da'mi..." Skylar groaned, cheeks reddening ever so slightly. "Come on."
"Because I think you just said you were helping M'Gann with a bake sale. This requires video evidence."
"I think you mean blackmail."
"It's the same thing, really." Shayera's expression made it very clear exactly who Ski'Lira had inherited her shark-like grin from. Laughing slightly, she relented and put away her phone, standing up and starting to peruse the plethora of clothing items to choose from. "Alright, so, bake sale. So, what are we going for? You can't exactly pull off 'demure teenager' unless you want to stay hunched over all day like you're self-conscious of your height..."
As Shayera began looking through her wardrobe, Ski'Lira was once again hit with the reminder that her mother was trained in espionage. Figuring out how to blend in to any setting was pretty much what she was built for, and who was she not to take advantage of that to fool a bunch of humans into thinking she was just as Terran as they were?
Ski'Lira waited patiently as her mother sorted through garments, holding them up to others and then in front of her form, until she finally seemed to settle on a winning outfit, and was instructed to try it on just to make sure. She ended up in her aviators, with a white Metropolis Meteors baseball cap shoved onto her head to help with facial obfuscation, a loose black tank top with 'Sleeves are for Nerds' printed in bold white lettering paired with a sleeveless purple cardigan, and finally basic denim skinny jeans and combat boots. Her wings were successfully hidden by the draping fabrics, so she just looked like... a normal teen. A normal teen with killer biceps, but that could be easily explained away by feigned active participation in some kind of outdoor activity. Like kayaking.
Before she could stop her mother, Shayera had snapped a picture.
"Where are you sending that?" Ski'Lira demanded.
"Oh, just to a few people. You know."
"... You put it in the League group chat, didn't you?"
"... Perhaps." Shayera smiled at her. "So, bake sale, huh? Never thought I'd see the day. I wish your father was here for this."
"It's just a dumb human thing she needed help with. She needed someone to drive all of her cookies and stuff there, carry it in, and help sell it. It's not a big deal."
"Considering this will be the first, and probably only, time you'll be participating in an actual school event, I'd say so... Wait, drive? With what car?"
"Dick helped me find a rental place in Happy Harbor. Paid it myself already." She explained. "It was surprisingly affordable, really. Only around fifty dollars."
"Good thinking." Shayera praised. "I dreaded to think of you taking one of ours through the Zetas."
The nonchalant air she'd mustered dimmed a little, and the younger Thanagarian's shoulders fell ever so slightly. "... Do you really think I can pull this off?" She didn't need the encouragement, it would... just be nice to have.
"As much as I'd love to say yes, I know you're probably going to punch someone out within the first hour. But that's fine, as long as you don't get arrested."
"I'll try not to." Skylar deadpanned, though she found her spirits already returned to their usual level of 'can do'.
"It's not like you to worry over something like this... Are you feeling alright?" Her mother put a hand on her forehead, feeling for a temperature, just in case.
"I'm not sick." Batting her mother's hand away from her, she stepped back so she was safely out of range. "I just... don't want to make this worse for M'Gann. This is important to her and I don't want to screw it up."
"Fledgling, no matter what happens, that girl is still going to think the world of you."
"Yeah, well, forgive me for not wanting to take any chances."
Shayera made a soft, understanding noise in the back of her throat. "One of these days Roy is going to realize how big of a mistake he made."
She remained silent. The moment the words had left her mouth, she knew she had said too much. There was no way she'd have been able to get that past her mother, as perceptive as she was. It was just like her to find the root of an issue by dissecting a simple sentence.
"Even if you mess up, I promise you that M'Gann won't do what he did."
Ski'Lira didn't respond verbally, instead offering a small shrug. Dropping the subject entirely, her mother instructed her to change into her most comfortable set of pajamas and head downstairs for some popcorn and a nice violent movie with plenty of explosions to get her mind off things for a while.
She loved her mom so damn much.
H
MOUNT JUSTICE
OCTOBER 13TH, 2010
14:16 EDT
"Hey, Hawkgirl! Whoa! Where did all this come from?"
Ski'Lira stopped, arms laden with two carefully covered platters bearing brownies, expression neutral as she stared down an ever eager Captain Marvel. "M'Gann has a bake sale today, I'm helping her out."
"That's really cool of you!" His grin was wide, one of his default facial expressions, really. "Do you want any help?"
"... I wouldn't turn it down... Isn't there something more important you should be doing right now?"
"I am doing something important!" He answered as he snatched up a few cardboard containers of cupcakes. "Helping you carry these! And Superboy asked me to play with Wolf, so he doesn't get bored while he's with Wonder Woman."
Making a noncommittal hum to indicate she'd heard him, the Thanagarian led the way to her temporarily rented car, a nondescript black hatchback. At her direction, Captain Marvel carefully slid the trays in. With the hero's help, it took half of the trips she had calculated in order to put everything in the transport.
"What about this one?" Marvel asked, holding aloft a smaller cardboard container, the only one left in the kitchen.
"That one's mine." She answered. "Since you helped, you can take a few of them, if you want."
His blue eyes went wide. "Really? That's super nice of you, thanks!"
"It's... no problem." Ski'Lira waited patiently for him to carefully remove three of the cupcakes from the box before taking it from him. She grabbed a marker from one of the kitchen drawers and quickly scrawled 'Property of Hawkgirl, You Eat These, Your Life is Forfeit' on the outside before putting them in the fridge. "I'd better get going. Last I saw, Wolf was in Conner's room sleeping."
"Thanks again! Have fun at the bake sale!"
With a final wave, he disappeared from view (no doubt to coerce the massive mutated canine out of his nap), leaving her to make the walk alone back out to her car.
The drive to the school only took about fifteen minutes, thanks to low traffic (understandable, considering it was around two o'clock on a weekday). Ski'Lira was a careful driver by nature (road laws and etiquette were made to be followed dammit), but she still kept an ear out for the telltale shifting of boxes in the back. The last thing she wanted was to turn up with a batch of ruined cupcakes. It was almost like some kind of low-key escort mission, with perhaps the lowest stakes she'd ever experienced. For someone who was regularly involved in transporting priceless artifacts and paintings via vehicle, this was a cakewalk.
Once she reached the high school, she followed M'Gann's instructions and headed to the back parking lot near the gym. Judging by the presence of at least five other cars unloading various goods and carrying them inside, she was in the right place. Finding a spot, she carefully pulled in and grabbed her phone off the charger, climbing out of the car and taking a look around.
"Hey!" M'Gann's cheery voice was unmistakable as she jogged through the propped open gym doors (which was draped with a massive welcoming banner and entirely too many balloons for a slightly windy day), making her way over. "Got everything?"
Unlocking the back, Skylar let the confection crammed car speak for itself. "I had some help from an overeager friend who was already around for dog-sitting duty." She subtly traced out a lightning bolt on her chest.
"That was super nice of him!" M'Gann grinned. "Well, the booth's all set up, so I guess we can start carrying these in! Oh, hello Megan!" She smacked herself in the head. "I can't believe I almost forgot. Wait here for a second." Dashing back inside, she left Skylar to wait awkwardly near the pile of baked goods for a solid minute. When M'Gann returned, she had a blank bright yellow and black name tag shaped like a bumblebee and a marker in her hand. Said name tag matched the one M'Gann currently had pinned to her cardigan, though hers already had her name scrawled on it in loopy cursive.
"Here! Since you're sort of a temporary Bumblebee employee, you'll need this. You know, so no one will kick you out or anything. I mean, this festival is open to the public, so they probably wouldn't care too much, but better safe than sorry, right?"
Wordlessly, Skylar took the name tag. For a moment, she leaned towards writing a simple 'Sky' on the tag, but then she had a much better idea. In blocky capital letters, she wrote 'Robin'. When M'Gann saw it, she bit her lip. "Is that... your real name?"
"Nope. Just borrowing it." Skylar answered, making the other girl laugh. Once she had it pinned to her shirt, the two set to the task of carrying everything inside.
The interior of the gym was almost sickeningly high-school cliche, with the sheer amount of balloons, streamers, and brightly colored tablecloths strewn over cheap fold out tables. She could spot a multitude of different kinds of 'booths', a good number boasting sold goods like woven bracelets or keychains, others with rudimentary games, and even a face painting station."Remind me again what this is for?" Skylar asked as she and M'Gann carried in the last batch, focusing on organizing everything according to confection type.
"The Bumblebees always do a charity drive before Halloween." M'Gann explained as she meticulously centered cupcakes and brownies on their platters (all the while wearing gloves, of course, as hygiene was very important). "It's sort of a school thing, but kind of not? It's complicated, but the result is that we raise money for local hospital children ward's so they can buy costumes and candy for the kids."
"That's... pretty cool, actually." Skylar admitted.
"Yeah, it really is. Oh, hey!"
The brunette was a little confused at the exclamation, but a glance up from her work heralded the arrival of a few newcomers. Two girls and one boy, the latter of whom towered over his companions, clad in a brightly colored Superman shirt.
"I knew you'd pull it off." The curly-haired girl in the front beamed, hand popped on her hip as she surveyed the booth. "Though it looks like you've got some help."
"Yeah!" M'Gann's grin was infectiously bright. "This is my friend Robin! Robin, this is Karen and Wendy, fellow Bumblebees, and this is Karen's boyfriend, Mal!"
Skylar reluctantly offered a slight wave. "Hi." Her head tilted to the side slightly as her attention landed on the boy. "Mal?"
"Yeah?"
"Hm. Conner's mentioned you."
Mal's eyebrows shot up. "You know him?"
"She's a friend of his too." M'Gann swiftly intervened.
It was Karen who spoke up next. "You go to school around here?"
"Homeschooled." Skylar answered easily, taking note of the slight look of distaste that appeared on the other teens' faces. "Problem?"
"No, no, of course not!" Wendy denied, putting her hands up and shaking her head. "It's just, you know, you don't really see homeschooled kids who..."
"Look like they could crush a watermelon with their bare hands?" Karen added with an amused look in her eyes.
"You play any sports? Basketball?" Mal asked, sounding genuinely interested.
"No."
"As fun as this is." Karen interrupted, grasping her boyfriend by the arm. "We really should get back to our tables, we've got a busy few hours ahead of us."
Once the trio had left with a parting temporary goodbye, M'Gann blew out a breath of relief. "Well, that went well, I think."
"... Your friends are weird." Skylar commented as she sat down in a metal folding chair. "Why does it matter if I play sports or not?"
"I think he was just trying to find some... common ground? Especially after you mentioned Conner. Mal's really nice, Karen and Wendy are too."
A noncommittal hum was all of the answer that she received, as she was here to help M'Gann, not play nice with her friends. Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she quickly lined up a picture of her unimpressed face with her 'Robin' name tag in full view. With a few taps, she had it sent off, and earned a reply within moments.
Dick: Identity theft is a crime. You have committed a crime
Sky: Arrest me, then
Dick: Don't tempt me. : P. This will not go unanswered.
Making the screen go dark, she tucked her phone away once more as a megaphone crackled into life. "Listen up Bumblebees and helpers!" The source of the voice was a middle aged woman with graying hair pulled up into a severe bun, wearing a slightly oversized black jumpsuit over an eye searingly neon yellow t-shirt. "Doors are opening up in five minutes!" The megaphone clicked harshly with static, then went quiet which was relief to the Thanagarian's sensitive hearing.
"You ready for this?" Megan's bright and cheery tone only made Skylar's frown deepen.
"I've had near death experiences that will be less painful than this."
"... You know, I'm not even going to try to argue with you." Offering her a commiserating pat on the forearm, the disguised Martian continued. "I know this is... pretty far outside of your comfort zone, but you're doing it anyway. So thank you, again. I know this is going to be hard for you. But um... please try not to be too... mean?"
"I can be perfectly pleasant when I want to be!" Skylar snapped.
"... To total strangers?"
"Yes!"
"Sure. Okay, well, just remember to smile! This is for a good cause!"
Huffing, she readjusted her sunglasses and settled back in her chair, watching as M'Gann snapped on a pair of disposable gloves for the express purpose of safely handing over confections (leaving all of the money transactions to Skylar). This was going to be a long few hours, she might as well get comfortable (or at least, as much as she was capable of, considering how tightly her wings were crushed to her back).
H
"You're doing really well."
Glancing out of the corner of her eye, Skylar saw Megan shooting her an encouraging thumbs up. "Thanks." That was where the exchange ended, as the next slew of customers stepped up for their purchases before her partner could offer any more platitudes.
A woman probably in her mid to late twenties stepped in front of the teens, a young boy no older than six clutching tightly to her hand. "We'll take two of the chocolate cupcakes, please." With the hand not trapped by the child's grip, she slid the exact change for the purchase across the table.
"Here you go." M'Gann handed over the two confections in question. "I hope you like them!"
The lady had only been gone from the stand for less than a minute before she turned back, this time moving to stand at the side of the booth nearest Skylar, avoiding blocking the line of customers.
"Excuse me, miss? Sorry to bother you, but my son wanted me to tell you he likes your sweater. Purple's his favorite color."
Angling her head down at the young boy, Skylar allowed a soft smile to appear on her face. "Thanks. I like your shirt." And she wasn't even lying, it was a pretty cool shirt, a slightly stylized version of Wonder Woman's logo she'd never seen before. "Enjoy the cupcake, kiddo. Try not to get too much chocolate on that super cool shirt, yeah?"
That earned her a giant beaming grin from the kid in response, before he started tugging his mom off towards one of the game booths.
"... That was adorable!"
At M'Gann's unmistakable squeal, Skylar came far too close to audibly snarling at her, though she restrained herself at the last moment. "Shut up."
Miming locking her lips and throwing away the key, but instead of keeping her silence as she had wanted her friend to, Skylar felt the customary click in her mind as a mental link was formed between the two of them. Neither missed a beat in their work selling out baked goods, as everyone on the Team had gotten pretty good at multitasking and keeping up appearances with an active mental link... Except for that time a few days ago with Zatanna, but that wasn't her fault in the slightest.
"I just didn't expect you to be good with kids." M'Gann admitted.
"In our line of work, I have to be."
Judging by the wave of mental confusion she was projecting, the redhead didn't expect that answer. "What does that mean?"
Skylar took a moment to formulate her thoughts, counting out change for a twenty for the small trio of preteens picking out cookies in the process. "I suppose you are unfamiliar with some of the aspects of being a hero, though it's not your fault for that. Robin, Wally, Roy, and I have very different experiences from you, Superboy, and Aqualad. Artemis is relatively new, so I can't speak for her encounters as a hero. We patrol daily, spend most of our time out on the streets, rather than covert operations and flashy battles with supervillains." She paused for a moment, before continuing with the line of thought. "Most of the crimes we deal with are more domestic in nature, saving people from fires, stopping muggers and murderers, disaster relief, the list goes ever on. And having to interact with panicking and grieving children is a direct result."
"I... guess I never thought of it that way." M'Gann's customer service smile faltered for a single moment, but her mask of cheer was quickly fixed before anyone could notice.
"Comforting a child you just saved from a burning building is easy, it's when they actively seek you out that it is harder. Sometimes it's simple, their dog got off the leash, they lost their parents in a crowd, asking if you can fly up to get their lost balloon. But it's when they go to you because they're too scared to talk to anyone else that it..." She trailed off.
"It gets difficult."
"Yeah." A wry smile appeared on her face. "But it's... rewarding, in a way, knowing that above all things, they trust you to keep them safe."
"You're pretty good at keeping people safe. I can attest to that personally."
"... If you bring up the bullet wound hiding, I swear, I-"
The mental link shut off as M'Gann gave a mischievous giggle, effectively cutting through the unexpected solemn mood that had been created. Shaking her head in fond exasperation, Skylar put a hundred percent of her focus back on the matter at hand. Well, most of her focus anyway. She found herself pondering how strangely depressing the conversations with her kast had started turning lately. First it was that near lecture about self-sacrifice after the android fiasco, and now this? Today was supposed to be a relatively light-hearted romp in the realm of horror that is public school fundraisers.
The two found themselves shifting back into the lull of smiling, handing out cookies and cupcakes, and exchanging money. There was little that was memorable about the next hour, a few exceptions being; the teenage boy who tried to get change for a fifty dollar bill and insisted it wasn't suspicious he was carrying said fifty dollar bill around in his wallet, getting yelled at by two different people for 'not catering to people with peanut allergies' (despite the presence of a brightly colored handmade sign declaring every baked good was completely nut free), and a woman in an eye searingly pink tracksuit pointing to every available item and asking if it was gluten free. That last lady was actually pulled away by the Bumblebee cheer coach, because she was holding up the line so badly.
Once the event started winding down and their booth had reached a lull in business, Skylar tapped M'Gann on the shoulder to get her attention. "I'm going to run to the bathroom, be right back." She received a wave of acknowledgement.
However, in the three minutes Skylar was gone, the situation had taken a sharp turn. A group of teenagers, two boys beefy boys wearing matching black and white letter jackets and four girls had gathered around the booth. M'Gann's eyes were wide, smile still in place, but she was clearly distressed at the situation. Her sensitive hearing easily picked up on the insults being thrown the Martian's way, about her clothes, her baking, and her school.
"Ugh, Orcas." A voice to her left caught her attention quickly, and she saw Karen staring at the group with a slightly curled sneer on her lips. "They're from Hamilton High, our rival school... probably here to stir up trouble."
Cracking her neck from side to side, Skylar wordlessly stalked up behind the group. "Excuse me."
It was one of the girls who turned first, taunt on her lips ready to be thrown at Megan, only to die as she looked up at the brunette staring her down. The blonde frantically tapped one of the jock's arms. She relished that moment when the boy realized that she was only a couple of inches shorter than him, rather than the larger margin he was used to when dealing with girls his age.
"Are you going to leave my friend alone or are we going to have a problem?" Skylar kept her voice even.
"Oh please, we're just here to have some fun." A much braver brunette in purple lipstick said in a patronizing tone. "This is a festival, isn't it?"
"Hm. It is." Tipping her head to the side, Skylar kept her eyes on the brunette. "Are you here to stand in for the clowns? Considering how thickly you've packed on your makeup, I can think of no other reason for you to be here."
Thanks to the far too many layers of foundation caking the girl's face, an embarrassed flush only marred the delicate skin of her neck and her ears. It was a bit of a comical image, to be honest.
"Hey!" The other jock spoke up. "You can't talk about my girl that way!"
"I believe I just did. Would you like me to repeat it so that your single solitary brain cell can comprehend that?"
"There's no need to be such a bitch." Another of the girls spoke up. "Like Tiff said, we're just having some fun."
"At the expense of my friend." Skylar reminded, a sharp edge creeping into her voice that she had been intentionally suppressing. "That means we have a problem. I suggest you leave before I lose the last of my very tentative patience and decide to end this violently."
The two jocks straightened up, the taller of the two frowning. "Was that a threat?"
"Let me tell you how this is going to go down. We take this outside so we don't get in any trouble with the very nice staff here at the school and keep any potential blood spatter off the floors. You and your friends keep hurling insults, and then I punch you in the face, probably breaking your nose, and you go down. No witnesses other than your friends, but there is no way that you will admit to anyone that you got beat up by a girl. Your fragile male ego just can't handle that kind of blow, now can it? So I suggest you take you all apologize and remove yourselves from the premises of your own volition. Or is your toxic masculinity so important to you that you'd prefer if I broke your nose so badly your coach has no choice but to bench you for the rest of football season?"
The immediate area went dead quiet, only to be broken by Karen who let out a quiet. "Damn."
The final girl of the group that had yet to speak, finally made her opinion known, and thankfully she seemed to have more brain in her head than the others combined. "Let's just go, Brent. It's not worth it."
"... Fine." 'Brent' practically spat. "But don't think I won't forget this. Next time we see each other, you won't be getting off so easy."
"Sure." The threat was completely meaningless to Skylar, for a very, very long list of reasons, the most important of which being she didn't even live in this state.
The girl who had managed to convince her friends to leave was the only one to apologize to Megan (and she actually sounded genuinely regretful while doing so), but Skylar let it go, instead tracking the group with her eyes and not moving until they had completely left the gymnasium.
"That was pretty badass." Mal said, from where he was now standing next to Karen, along with Wendy. "You sure you don't play sports?"
"I'm a... kayaking enthusiast." She actively resisted the urge to flinch as the words left her mouth. "... It's a very dangerous activity."
Looking distinctly weirded out, Mal offered a half-hearted, "Sure..."
Before things could get too awkward, Megan stepped up and flung her arms around Skylar in a hug. "Thanks for that, Robin."
"No problem." Pulling an arm out of the Martian's embrace, she patted the girl twice on the head before shrugging the rest of the way out of the hug. "I consider humiliating self-entitled morons a hobby."
"Really, thank you." Wendy piped up. "We might have gotten in trouble if any of us had done anything like that. You're like a knight in... not enrolled at this school armor..."
Karen's eyes narrowed. "Say... Would you be interested in volunteering at the next game against the Orcas?"
"No."
'Robin's' vehement answer in the negative briefly pulled the wind out of the girl's sails, but Karen shook it off with ease, flashing her a smile to show no hard feelings were had. "Worth a shot, at least!"
"We should probably go." Wendy reminded the others gently, pointedly looking around the nearly emptied gymnasium, as almost every single patron had departed from the event. "It's about time to start clean-up, anyway."
Her suggestion received several murmurs of affirmation before the group split up into a trio and a duo once more, with the two teen heroes in disguise heading back to their baked goods booth. After the good few hours of solid business, all that was left were a few sugar cookies, four vanilla cupcakes, and a singular lemon bar. Every single one they foisted off on the other Bumblebees, who were more than happy to take them off of their hands (thanks in large part to M'Gann's reputation for consistently delicious baking). The last of the goods gone, they stripped the table of the decorative streamers and signage, depositing it all in one of the massive garbage cans borrowed from the janitorial department scattered around the gym for the express purpose of making the clean-up process faster.
"Is this it?" Skylar asked as she did a last cursory check of their station. Nothing seemed to be amiss, though they did still have to carry all of the emptied platters and Tupperware back to the car.
"I think so. I just have to check in with Coach Greene and then we can go." M'Gann abruptly flushed. "I mean, I assumed I would just ride back with you and we can hang out for a while, but if you don't want-"
"Megan, it's fine." Saying her 'Earth' name felt a little weird rolling off of Skylar's tongue, but she was sure to maintain her sincere tone. "Unless I get called in for an emergency, my evening's completely free."
"Oh, good!" Nodding to herself, M'Gann chuckled with embarrassment before setting off at a fast walk towards her cheer coach.
Patiently waiting at the table, Skylar's eyes wandered before catching on Karen and Mal, the former of whom offered her a small wave. She returned it half-heartedly before digging her phone out of her pocket, double checking she hadn't received any important messages. She hadn't, but it provided great cover to avoid having the teenagers head over and talk to her more. Needless to say, Skylar had hit her 'human interaction' limit for the day.
H
"These really are good." Skylar hummed in happiness as she took another bite of red velvet cupcake, careful not to drop any crumbs on M'Gann's bedspread. In lieu of hanging out in the lounge, the two had retreated to M'Gann's bedroom with the box of cupcakes in tow and were sharing its tasty contents. Ski'Lira had also taken the time to change out of her chosen civilian outfit and into a more comfortable one, sweatpants and a tank top. Her sunglasses were safely stored with her belongings, her typical yellow cloth mask obscuring her features instead.
"I saw the recipe online. It had pretty good reviews, so I gave them a shot... I'll definitely add them to my regular baking schedule, since you like them so much." Reaching for another cupcake, M'Gann set to the task of carefully peeling the wrapper away from the confection. "So, what did you think? Of the bake sale, not the cupcakes. I know how you feel about them already."
"Just as tedious as I expected."
"I uh... Thought as much. And what about Karen, Wendy, and Mal? What did you think of them?"
"They were alright, I suppose." Skylar tipped her head slightly. "Karen has a fierceness to her that I can appreciate."
"Yeah, she really does. One time she lectured a bully for being homophobic so hard that he faked being sick and left school early." When she lapsed into a thoughtful silence, Skylar sat forward, intrigued at whatever was giving her friend pause. "Did you... Well, do you..."
"M'Gann?" Skylar prompted, setting aside her cupcake for now, letting the Martian know she had her full attention.
"Do you think I fit in? At the school?" Before Skylar could either answer her or question her, M'Gann kept speaking in a rush, bringing back the memory of her frantic ramble the day before about the bake sale. "I just feel like I'm trying too hard, you know? But I have to try, because I'm so different from all of them! I mean, not just because I'm from Mars, but... My friends at school? They don't spend their nights and weekends fighting crime or sneaking into foreign countries. They have sleepovers and gossip and talk about boys, and in the morning they take time to put on their makeup instead of just shifting their face to look how they want!"
To be honest, Ski'Lira was struck speechless as she watched M'Gann bury her face in her hands, refusing to make eye contact. She knew that the Martian was experiencing some disconnect with living on Earth, but she thought she'd been doing pretty well.
"I don't suppose it will be any consolation that I think most Earth girls are boring in comparison." She offered tentatively, earning the negative head shake she expected. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't feel like you're doing a good enough job being... normal?"
"... Not really."
Ski'Lira thought over the stream of panicked words that M'Gann had let loose, mulling them over and approaching it from a tactical standpoint. There was nothing she could do about making her feel more... human... at school. In fact, she was probably the absolute worst choice to do so. But there was something she could do.
"Stay here, I'll be back in fifteen minutes, tops." Without offering any explanation, Skylar swept out of the room, making a beeline for the Zeta Tubes with a specific destination in mind.
Approximately thirteen minutes after she had left the Mountain, the Thanagarian made her return (now looking thoroughly windswept, not that she cared). In her absence, M'Gann had seemingly tempered down her emotions, and looked up startled from her phone (where she had no doubt been texting Conner). "Uh, hi? Where did you go?"
"I had to grab something from home." Lifting her hand, she shook the nondescript black case in her grasp before setting it down on the bed, clambering up to sit cross-legged across from M'Gann. Flipping open the latches, she opened the case to reveal it's contents.
"Is this... makeup?" M'Gann's eyes were wide with confusion. "Why do you have this?"
"Believe it or not, I do wear makeup on occasion." Skylar explained patiently (knowing this must be a jarring revelation to comprehend). Visually sifting through the contents, she pulled out a dark grey eye shadow and black eyeliner. "The colors I picked are neutral enough that you can use it with either your Martian skin or your human skin tone. I'd offer to show you foundation too, but the skin tone you picked is paler than mine, so I don't have any that work for you. Not that you really need it, considering how flawless your skin is. Now close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to. I'm going to make up one of your eyes so you can see what it should look like, then have you do the other."
"I... never thought you'd know how to do something like this." M'Gann said sheepishly as she followed Skylar's instructions. "No offense, you just..."
"I learned how from my mother. Thanagarians don't really do the whole 'makeup' thing." She answered, making sure to keep her strokes steady as she added pigment to the delicate skin of M'Gann's eyelids. "It makes sense, considering..."
"That you rarely show your faces?"
"Exactly. However, in my life, it's necessary to know how to cover up a prominent bruise to avoid suspicion from nosy humans who jump to the wrong conclusions about our home situations. Robin, Wally, and Artemis do the same, multiple members of the League too if need be, male and female alike. It's just part of being a hero. But proper concealment technique is purely for practicality, sometimes putting on war paint is important too?"
M'Gann's eyes fluttered for a moment before staying closed as she remembered at the last second, which was vitally important considering Skylar had moved on to using an eyeliner pencil. "War paint?"
"Not literally. It's a Terran saying, 'putting on your war paint'. I learned that from Wonder Woman while she was teaching me to do a perfect wing." Skylar smirked. "Knowledge I shall pass down to you now that the example is finished."
Fishing a compact mirror out of the box, she handed it to M'Gann so she could inspect her handiwork. "Wow..."
"Now comes the hard part, your turn." With those words, the redhead's look of wonder faded a little into apprehension.
After a great deal of verbal coaching and makeup wipes, M'Gann had two fully made up eyes (though one still boasted a superior wing).
"There. When you do both eyes yourself it will look just fine." Skylar assured the Martian before she could begin to doubt. "You can keep these, by the way, I have extras anyway." That was a lie, but they were easy to find products from a supermarket makeup aisle, so they were easy to replace. "Maybe someday I'll find some gold eyeliner, that would look gorgeous with your green skin."
Said green skin flushed a darker shade. "Thank you for this, Hawkgirl. I really appreciate it... How did you know this was what I needed?"
Instead of providing a smooth lie, like 'instinct' or 'trade secret', Ski'Lira saw no harm in telling the truth. "A long time ago, I experienced the situation in reverse. I felt disconnected from the human world and tried to convince my parents to expose me to more of it to compensate. But that's not what I really wanted, I was just homesick for Thanagar. Hal Jordan knocked some sense into me on that one... It's not about changing all of who you are for the sake of the people around you, sometimes it's about changing at least one small thing so that you can feel comfortable living in the world you've found yourself in."
"So your solution was to teach me how to put on war paint? Pretty smart."
"I figured it was worth a shot." Skylar shrugged. "If that didn't work, I was going to call Artemis and have her take over. You know, considering she actually attends public school and can relate more to the issue than I can. For the record, I'm probably going to tell her to talk to you anyway."
"I won't say no to that. And hey, at least now you've been in a public school for a reason other than fighting a super-powered android that nearly killed us."
"... This was worse."
"... Didn't AMAZO break your ribs?"
"For the record, it was bruised ribs and that happened before when the truck I was standing on flipped over." She considered for a moment. "Then fighting AMAZO may or may not have upgraded bruised to cracked. My point still stands, this was worse. At least with the android I got to fight something."
"You did give that guy a verbal thrashing. I thought he was going to punch you right then and there!"
"And how I wished he had tried. It would have been hilarious."
Honestly, the truly unbelievable facts in this chapter are that Skylar was one, allowed to work at a public school event without signing at least one form or checking into the main office herself and two, allowed to wear a hat inside the school.
Also you get one guess what I was watching when I was outlining this chapter and came up with 'Hamilton High' for the rival school.
Hawkgirl being aggressively to the letter about road laws is everything to me, as is her relationship with Shayera. I treasure any opportunity I get to write them in out of costume domestic situations.
Alright, next time on Fight or Flight, we have... Oh. Um... Failsafe.
Hoo, boy.
That one's... That one's gonna be rough. On me and you.
Well, in the time being, take heart in this super adorable bonding experience with M'Gann. And if you need a little more fluffy goodness, consider checking out Fight or Flight: Side Stories, because if you haven't seen and read it already, I recently posted a very lengthy oneshot wherein Skylar becomes the victim of a staple fanfiction trope... being turned into a child for shenanigans.
Until next time, and as always, feel free to comment and question to your heart's delight.
I'm gonna go emotionally fortify myself for writing this next chapter.