MOUNT JUSTICE
SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2010
06:20 EDT
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Ski'Lira's attention was locked on the small notebook carefully perched on her knee. Scrawled in a series of neat rows were notes from their latest training session with Black Canary, carefully organized by team member.
"I think we need to step up M'Gann's agility and self-defense training." She began, flipping to a blank page and jotting the thought down. "She relies too heavily on her physical powers and it's causing slip ups."
"I agree," Aqualad was not content to sit, pacing around during their discussion. "Perhaps Robin can assist her with the former? He is certainly the most agile on the team."
"Good idea, he'll probably be thrilled at the prospect." She added that to her notes, too. "I also think Wally might be helpful, if we can get him to stop ogling her for thirty seconds... Actually... The entire team could benefit from it."
"How so?"
"Let Wally loose, full super speed, limit him to purely physical attacks and throwing projectiles, harmless ones of course. I know how fragile you Terrans can be." The smirk she shot him was met with slight exasperation. "If we can manage that, then we can bump it up to letting Artemis fire arrows at us." Before he could protest, she tacked on. "Blunted arrows. Who do you take me for?"
Kaldur just stared her down, cocking a brow.
"Oh, right. Yeah. Let's start off with basics first, we can think about escalation further down the line."
But whatever insight he was about to give was abruptly interrupted by an entirely unexpected source, the telltale beep of one of their comm units. It was definitely Kaldur's, and he was quick to answer. "Aqualad."
"Red Arrow," Ski'Lira's spine stiffened, close enough to Kaldur to easily hear both sides of the conversation. "I need access to the Justice League's database and the exact height of the League of Shadows assassin known as Cheshire."
Holding her tongue, she carefully kept her eyes on her notebook, waiting impatiently for Aqualad to comply with the request.
"Checking," Pulling up a circular holographic screen, Kaldur logged into the database and retrieved the file. An image of a masked assassin they were both all too familiar with popped on screen. "Cheshire is one point six seven meters."
"Um..."
"She is five six." Aqualad helpfully corrected. "And exceptionally dangerous. Do you require back-up?"
"Please the last thing I need is the Junior Justice League."
"Just our computer." The Atlantean shot back with slightly strained humor. "Good luck, my friend. Aqualad out."
Logging out and shutting down the screen, he turned back to Ski'Lira. "Where were we-?" He cut himself off. "Hawkgirl, are you alright?"
"Just fine," she snapped back, unclenching her jaw.
"The pen you just destroyed begs to differ."
Glancing down, she finally registered her newly ink-splattered notebook and the splintered pen in her hands. She really needed to learn to put pens down when dealing with irritating redheads, this was literally the second time this had happened, in this room. This time, however, her jeans hadn't been spared from their inky fate. The swear that left her mouth was very colorful, and fortunately in her native language so she didn't scar Kaldur.
"I think perhaps you should consider switching to pencils...?" Kaldur offered.
Growling at him, she clambered to her feet, tucking the ruined pen into the pages of her notebook to limit further leakage. "I'm going to clean up."
"Remember, we only have fifteen minutes before Superboy and M'Gann leave for school."
"Yes, I'm aware, I'll be there."
That was a promise she was unwilling to break.
Grumbling to herself under her breath, she stomped off to her room to hastily grab replacement pants and drop off her notebook to dry out on her desk, then headed to the showers.
She didn't even attempt to rinse out the stains, instead removing all important items from the pockets, carefully folding them, and setting them aside to be tossed into the washing machine later.
(One of the perks of having a part-time residence in a superhero headquarters, the industrial strength washing machines. Those suckers could take blood stains out of white fabric without leaving a single trace.)
Checking via the large mirror, she confirmed her grey halter top remained unscathed.
The ink hadn't seeped through the fabric too badly, so a quick scrub with wet paper towels and hand soap was enough to rid her legs of the black substance. Getting it off her hand and forearm took slightly longer, and her skin retained slightly grey patches on her palm and fingertips. As she didn't have a spare pair of jeans here (an error she would rectify later), she instead shimmied on a pair of loose black sweatpants usually reserved for gym or more relaxed training days.
Tucking her phone, keys, and the small gift intended for Superboy back into her pockets, she made only one brief detour to the laundry room, throwing the jeans into the hamper designated as hers via a taped piece of paper with the Hawks' logo on the front. The separate hampers had been Robin's idea, as any potential clothing mix ups could provide disastrous results.
While she was there, she heard the computer announce the arrival of both Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado, taking that as her cue to rejoin the others. The menial tasks she'd undertaken had tampered down her temper considerably, to the point she'd almost entirely forgotten about Roy's smug superiority complex.
Almost.
On the way to the hangar, she caught up with Aqualad, J'onn, and Red Tornado, so they were able to enter as a group. Now they just had to send off their two, soon to be high-schooled teammates. Superboy was wrapping up the work on his bike, where he'd been for at least an hour, with M'Gann standing near him bearing two paper bags.
Martian Manhunter spoke first, "The first day of a scholastic season carries great cultural resonance. We want to wish you both well."
When he scanned the group's contents, Superboy's face fell in clear disappointment. "Guess it's not a Kryptonian thing."
Setting the lunch bags on top of Superboy's bike, M'Gann was floundering for something reassuring to say.
In an attempt to defuse the situation, Aqualad changed topics. "You may wish to change before you depart." He meaningfully glanced at their current attire.
"Ah!" M'Gann's face erupted into a blinding grin as she was successfully distracted from the moment of upset. "I spent hours choosing this outfit." Her usual uniform shifted with a thought, altering into a dark pink shirt and jacket ensemble, paired with white knee high socks and black flats. Ski'Lira internally admitted that the look suited her, not that she'd ever tell the girl that.
The outfit may be perfect for blending in, but her still-green skin ruined the illusion it presented. "What do you think? Can M'Gann M'orzz pass as an Earth girl now?"
Aqualad's face twisted in discomfort. "Well..."
M'Gann laughed, putting him out of his misery. "Just kidding!" Her verdant skin changed to a standard Caucasian hue, though her hair and eyes she kept the same. "Meet Megan Morse!" She did a little twirl followed by a shallow curtsy, as if this were a fantasy ballroom rather than a dingy garage.
M'Gann, or Megan (for the present), moved her attention back to Superboy. "What's your new name?"
His confusion was near palpable. "My what?"
Ski'Lira resisted the urge to smack herself in the forehead, understanding why M'Gann favored the action so much. She knew she'd forgotten to ask Superboy something important.
Thankfully, J'onn was already on it. Altering his own appearance, any vestige of his Martian characteristics were gone, replaced with a smartly pressed suit and flawless dark skin. This human persona Ski'Lira had only seen a couple of times before. "I chose the name John Jones for myself and suggested John Smith for Red Tornado. You could be a John, too."
He missed John Stewart, Green Lantern, from that list, racking up the number of 'Johns' in the Justice League to three.
"Pass," Superboy declined the offer with little grace.
"You should count yourself lucky." Hawkgirl spoke up. "You get to choose your own human name. Green Arrow picked mine for me." The slight against her, for giving her a pun for a name, would be a grudge she would never let go.
Grasping Superboy's arm, M'Gann eagerly took over the suggestions. "Conner's always been my favorite name."
The Kryptonian merely shrugged, though for him, that was as positive a show of acceptance he ever truly gave. Conner was a solid choice, it just seemed to suit him.
"A last name will also be required," Kaldur pointed out.
"Perhaps Kent?"
Ski'Lira's head whipped towards J'onn so fast that her neck made an audible crack. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was twitching from the strain of keeping a vicious grin off her face. That was so perfect and devious of him to suggest, and she was one hundred percent on board. Maybe this would help provide the dose of hard reality Uncle Clark needed.
"Oh, in memory of Dr. Fate!" M'Gann assumed incorrectly, though she appeared to be thrilled with the connection nonetheless. "The late Kent Nelson!"
Calm as ever, J'onn returned to his preferred Martian form. "Of course."
"Okay," The newly dubbed Conner gave another shrug. "I guess it would be an honor or something." His blue eyes snapped over to Ski'Lira, a questioning look in them. "That's... okay, right?"
She jerked her head in the tiniest of nods and his shoulders visibly released an iota of tension at her affirmation.
"Well, Conner Kent, time to change your shirt." Megan tapped the glaringly obvious red symbol on his chest. "You don't want to reveal your identity."
Ski'Lira desperately wished to state the obvious, that his face would spoil his attempt at an identity before his shirt would. But she kept silent.
Unfazed, Conner merely slipped his shirt over his head, turned it inside out, and put it back on. "Will this work?"
With her skin so pale, M'Gann's blush gave Wally a run for his money. "Heh. Works for me."
"Wait..." Conner blinked, registering something. "Shouldn't I be Conner Nelson?"
The two began to walk off, as their deadline for reaching the school on time rapidly approached.
"They grow up so fast." J'onn said wistfully.
Shaking her head a little, Ski'Lira broke away from the group, jogging to catch up to her teammates. She ended up catching them just at the entrance of the mountain. The breeze from outside tugged at the trailing ends of her cloth mask.
"Megan," Ski'Lira tested out the human name, finding it strange. "May I have a moment with Conner?"
"Of course!" The disguised Martian reached out, gently squeezing Conner's shoulder. "I'll meet you up ahead?"
Giving a terse nod, she beamed, flouncing away and practically floating from giddiness.
"It's a good fit, you know. Conner," that earned her a nudge to the shoulder that almost made her stumble from the amount of force he accidentally used.
"Thanks," he went silent for a moment, visibly battling with himself. "So... It's... It's really okay for me to be, well, a Kent?"
Mentally thanking Thanagarian evolution and the years of intensive training that gave her a flawless poker face, she raised a brow. "Why wouldn't it be? I already gave my approval."
"I know. It's just... Kent Nelson was important. To you." His face was actually turning the tiniest bit red, one of the rarest sights one could see in Mt. Justice. A visibly embarrassed Superboy.
"He was. And I know he'd be glad to share his name with you, especially because of how apt it is." Before he could question her about that, she swiftly changed topics to what she really wanted to talk to him about. "That's not why I pulled you aside."
Conner's expression sobered, "What is it?"
"I have not had personal experience with Earth high schools, but I have heard plenty of stories." Her sources were primarily Roy and her Uncle Hal, though recently Dick had taken to telling her stories about Gotham Academy, now that they had full knowledge of each other's civilian lives. "I... wanted to offer you some advice where the adults could not hear, as they likely won't approve."
That seemed to increase his attention, and he waited for her to continue.
"Humans have developed a number of strategies to avoid talking to each other. It's remarkable the lengths they'll go to. One of those strategies is pretending to be busy on their phone."
Brows knitting together in confusion, he slowly replied, "Okay... How does that... help me? I don't have a phone?"
"Actually, you do." From her pocket, she retrieved a sleek smartphone that she'd been holding onto all morning, along with her own. It already had a heavy duty case on it, the darker shade of red he seemed to favor. Cautiously, Conner took it from her, not attempting to turn it on, just... holding it gently.
"Robin and I both agreed you should have one," Ski'Lira started to explain. "Mostly so you can more easily contact us since we're away from the mountain so often. And before you ask, you don't have to worry about paying for it or the bills, it's routed through the League's personal cell service, my parents worked all of that out. Robin insisted on tinkering with it himself, so it also has some double encryption and some games he likes. Both of our cell numbers are already in there... As are both my parents, on their request."
Thoroughly thrown for a loop, Conner gingerly stowed the device in the pocket of his jeans. "I... don't know what to say? You... didn't have to do this."
"On Thanagar we do not give presents frivolously, it is tradition to give gifts only for important milestones. And I think your first day at school is quite a meaningful one." She explained, understanding his reluctance more than he could ever know. "And now you have your own defense mechanism. When you are not in class and do not wish to talk to your fellow students, you can pretend just as they do. Or you can actually text me or Robin, if you like."
The very small smile she earned in response completely made up for the morning's earlier unpleasantness. "Good luck on your first day. I know you will need it." After giving him a firm pat on the back in final farewell, she headed back inside the mountain.
H
She received a first text from Conner far earlier than she had expected, roughly half an hour after their temporary farewell. The interruption it offered was welcomed, as she was merely hanging out in the kitchen and finally eating breakfast, reading an eBook via her phone.
Taking a moment to edit his contact from 'Angry Boy' to 'Conner (Angry Boy)', she read his message.
Conner: I hate this.
Snorting to herself, she tapped out a reply with one hand, shoveling another spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth with the other.
HG: If you recall, I did try to warn you.
Conner: They're all wearing hero logo shirts.
Conner: Why couldn't I have worn mine?
Okay, yeah, that must have been a hell of a slap to the face, especially considering how popular Superman merchandise is. Conner was never allowed to know about the sets of pajama pants and the hoodie she had at home with the signature shield.
She opted to supply at least a little positivity, trying to mitigate at least some of his ire.
HG: At least you can wear a normal shirt in public. Do you know how many weird looks I get for wearing baggy jackets in the middle of summer?
Conner: Do you care?
HG: Not in the slightest : )
Conner: What was that? The parenthesis?
Oh, how the tables have turned. It was a novelty to be on the opposite side of this particular question. A long-honed instinct, she started to screencap the text to send to Roy... but she stopped herself at the last moment.
She forced herself to focus entirely on her conversation with Conner.
HG: It's called an emoticon. It's supposed to represent a smiley face.
Conner: It's stupid.
HG: It grows on you.
Conner: Hold on, I think class is starting.
Taking that as the dismissal it was, Ski'Lira swapped tabs on her phone back to her eBook. But her literary engagement was interrupted barely ten minutes later by another telltale buzz from her phone. She wondered if Conner had already gotten bored and was looking for distraction, but a quick glance at the contact confirmed otherwise, as it was someone who was already an experienced hand with texting during class.
Dick: Did you remember to give SB the phone?
Sky: Of course I did. He's gotten the hang of texting already.
Dick: Did you remember to give SB the phone?
Sky: Of course I did. He's gotten the hang of texting fairly quickly.
Dick: Good for him. How's he doin?
Sky: About as well as expected from the sound of it. Pretty sure M'Gann's having more fun than he is.
Sky: But…
Sky: Something important did happen…
Dick: ?
Dick: Dont leave me in suspence
Dick: *suspense
Dick: Ignore that
Sky: I will not. He picked a name. With help.
Dick: I'm on the edge of my seat.
Sky: Megan picked Conner.
Sky: And J'onn suggested Kent as a last name. They thought it was for Nelson.
Dick. O.O
Dick: I'll have you know I just nearly got caught because of that bombshell.
Sky: Please, like they'd ever catch you.
Dick: :P
Dick: But that's… pretty big.
Sky: I think J'onn's trying to preemptively guilt big blue.
Sky: I can't wait to-
"Hawkgirl, may I have a word?"
Sky: gtg, dont get detention
Hastily putting her phone to sleep, she slipped it into the pocket of her sweatpants and turned to face Aqualad directly. His mouth was set in a grim line, a worried draw to his eyebrows that made her concerned.
"I hope I was not interrupting anything important?" He asked politely, despite the urgency in his expression.
"No, just chatting with Robin. Something wrong?"
"Red Arrow has called in for backup."
Ski'Lira froze, a subtle and fleeting expression, but one that the astute Aqualad had no way of missing. "Oh?"
"He is acting alone to engage the same assassin we failed to apprehend. He... seems to be struggling with the task."
"You mean Cheshire."
"That is correct."
It was only then that the breadth of exactly what he was trying to ask hit her. She only had one answer to give. "No."
Thrown for a loop, his pale green eyes widened in genuine surprise. "No? You believe he can handle this alone?"
"Of course he can't, I meant no I'm not going with you to help him."
An awkward silence settled over the pair, Aqualad breaking it with a short sigh. "I would feel more confident if you would join me."
"You can repeat yourself all you want, the answer's still no."
"And I would like to know why," a rare mote of irritation slipped into his town, her vehemence battering against his placid demeanor. "Never before have I heard you willingly turn down the prospect of a fight, nor the chance to defend a comrade in battle. But now you decide you do not wish to do so at all? Forgive me my confusion."
Setting her jaw and crossing her arms, she met his gaze evenly. "It's more complicated than you think, Kaldur."
"Then I would like an explanation," he insisted, sounding thoroughly exasperated by this point. "Please."
A growl of frustration built in her throat, as Ski'Lira found herself crumbling under the force of both a direct order from her superior and the disappointment shining in Kaldur's eyes. "I can't go with you to help Roy."
"You can't. Not won't." He clarified.
She offered him a nod in affirmation, "Incapable of doing so, yes. As you said, I would never willingly turn down a good fight. Especially against someone who nearly killed both of us."
Instead of arguing further, he patiently waited for her to keep talking.
"I..." Ski'Lira floundered for exactly how to phrase this without coming across too badly. "Well... We have relative autonomy as a team, but the League ultimately has control over us and our missions. Several members of the League had... fairly legitimate concerns. I've been banned from working with Red Arrow in the field until further notice. If I do so anyway, I'll be immediately suspended from the Team."
Not expecting that answer, Aqualad was visibly taken aback. "I knew there was some... tension, between the two of you, but does that really warrant such restriction? You seemed quite complacent with our initial attempt to recruit Roy."
"I was, at the time. There may have been... an incident."
H
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
13:24, CST
Hawkgirl wasn't in the greatest of moods, as the hunt she was on stretched further and further into the night. The recently healed hole through her wing was starting to pull uncomfortably, but she was determined to power through. She had spent too long tracking her quarry to take a break now.
The man she was after was an escaped convict from Belle Reve, an unusual occurrence, but this guy had the foresight to escape in transit. He must have had some kind of minor enhancement, as she couldn't fathom a normal human running this far and this fast.
In short, he was less of a threat and more of an annoyance.
After losing visual on the prisoner for the sixth time, she was forced into lazily taking loops overhead in an attempt to spot him. Her eyes caught on a spot of bright orange, instinctively diving down. It wasn't until her boots made contact with the rooftop that she realized her error. The orange hadn't come from an eye-searing jumpsuit, it was from the head of a certain archer she was definitely not on speaking terms with. The universe might be against her, having to see Roy again so soon after the debacle with the League of Shadows and the Fog.
He noticed her immediately, jerking up from where he had been lying on his stomach in the shadow of an air conditioning unit. "What the hell are you doing here?" Red Arrow hissed through gritted teeth.
"I think I should be asking you that," her mission was forgotten entirely in the face of his unbridled vitriol. "You're the one in my territory."
"Your territory? Last I checked, your pigeon roost was in St. Roch. Or did you get lost with your head up in the clouds?"
Hands clenching, the metal of her gauntlets made an ominous creaking noise. "I'm trying to apprehend an escaped convict, but your stupid hair distracted me."
"Oh, I'm sorry," he mocked, fully standing up by now. "But you're distracting me from my stakeout!"
Glancing over at the building he had been watching, she gave it a disdainful once over. "There's no one in there."
"But there will be. Which is why I'm on stakeout."
"So you're not busy now," she guessed.
His face flushed with anger. "I definitely am."
"You definitely aren't, which means you can help look out for my criminal. Two sets of eyes, right? Well, more like one and a half, considering how weak yours are."
"Did you just insult me while begging for my help?" Roy snapped back.
"I do not beg," Hawkgirl's wings flared, lips turning up into a snarl. "I was requesting some aid from a fellow vigilante. I figured you'd at least still adhere to some common courtesy, despite your paltry attempt at this lone wolf persona."
Straightening, Red Arrow's eyes visibly narrowed. "Attempt? What, you think I'm pretending? At least I'm out here working on my own instead of clinging to my parents' coattails like a scared child!"
Snarling, Hawkgirl lunged forward until she was nearly nose to nose with him. "And yet, you still come crawling back to us when you get in over your head! Or are you forgetting how me and my team saved your ungrateful ass from the League of Shadows?!"
"Well, excuse me for putting the fate of the entire world about my own pride! But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?!"
Things... devolved after that, until they were shouting loud enough to scare away any potential ne'er-do-wells in the immediate vicinity.
Later, Ski'Lira couldn't recall exactly which insult it was or who had thrown it so callously, but it resulted in a standoff, as Roy leveled an arrow at the vulnerable point of her throat and she her mace in hand, ready to pulverize him into dust.
It was only the timely arrival of Hawkman that kept the encounter from turning into bloodshed.
"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" He barked at them, landing dead center between the two of them. "Weapons down, now."
The two complied, with even Roy not daring to refuse a direct command from the Thanagarian.
"I don't want to know who started it and I don't care what this is all about. There is no excuse for your behavior and I will not see it happen again." Hawkman turned to Roy. "Your status with the League is still fragile, and you pull a stunt like this? Fighting with a child?"
"She was just as much to blame for this!" Roy argued.
"And?" Hawkman folded his arms. "You claim you are capable of maintaining a solo career on your own, yet you allow an argument with a teenager to divert you from your mission?"
Mouth gaping like a fish, Roy's cheeks flushed red once more as he floundered for words. "I, you-"
"And Hawkgirl, I am disappointed in you. You let your quarry escape, and for what? I will be reporting this incident to Batman and Black Canary. And your solo patrol privileges have been revoked until further notice."
H
MOUNT JUSTICE
PRESENT DAY
"Batman and Black Canary deemed Roy and I's behavior as a potential hazard on the field, and so the ban was put in place."
Her story told, Hawkgirl felt... a little hollow. She really didn't like to think about Roy, because that tangle of anger at the thought of him inevitably devolved into hurt. They used to be best friends, inseparable when they had the chance to meet in person, always messaging and talking on the phone. Fond memories of beach days, showing off to each other new moves they'd learned in training, motorbike lessons, pulling all-nighters playing video games because they were both too stubborn to concede defeat... every single one felt tainted knowing how her relationship with him had crumbled beyond foreseeable repair.
The sensation of a hand on her shoulder made her jolt. Kaldur had moved to stand in front of her, a reassuring smile plastered on his face. "I understand now. I apologize for making an incorrect assumption. And for forcing you to speak of a sensitive subject."
"Don't apologize," she deflected. "You had no way of knowing. And... It was sort of nice getting it off my chest."
Aqualad wasn't the first person on the Team to know about the ban (and the cause), but that was only because Robin had somehow pried the information out of his own mentor. The younger teen had attempted to get her to spill about the hostility between her and the archer, to no avail. However, telling Kaldur was... easier than she expected. She chalked it up to his natural demeanor.
"I consider it an honor that you have trusted me with this." Kaldur said.
"We are friends, aren't we?" Hawkgirl offered, earning a grateful look from him. Clearing her throat, she hopped off her stool, dislodging his hand in the process. "Well, I can't exactly tag along to save Scarlet's ass, but I think I can still help. Come on."
Ten minutes later, she was carefully affixing a miniscule body cam to Aqualad's person with skin-safe adhesive, all taken from their ample supply of gear stored in the Mountain.
"Are you sure you can operate from here?" Aqualad shifted, earning a sharp reprimand from her, as she didn't want to risk the camera falling off in the middle of combat. The standard communicator fit into his ear was already a given, but the tiny camera that fit inside the shell of Aqualad's ear was new. The device would provide a view almost identical to Aqualad's eye line, making callouts easier.
"I don't just hit things with a mace, you know." She grumbled, satisfied with her work, heading over to the nearby holographic screen to check everything was broadcasting correctly. A few keystrokes later, she earned an eerie, live third person view of herself.
"I apologize for insinuating otherwise." He offered. "I seem to be apologizing for quite a lot today."
That earned a huff of a laugh, "Looks like you're good to go. Remember, the camera's tough, but not indestructible. Avoid being hit in the head if you can."
"I was... planning on doing so anyway?"
She couldn't fault him that logic, 'do not get hit in the head' was a golden rule of combat. Ignoring his comment, she continued. "The camera picks up both audio and video, so I'll hear what you hear. The comm unit is so you and Harper can hear me, and if the camera does get destroyed, we'll stay in contact."
"Understood."
"Honestly, my skill set would be of far more use out there with you, especially with Cheshire involved, but I'll help however I can. A friendly eye in the sky always helps."
H
Stretching out her arms as far above her head as she could manage, Ski'Lira settled in for a long night. She sat in the very center of the hub, sitting cross-legged on top of a stool she'd stolen from the kitchen. In her lax position, her wings drooped, tips of her feathers brushing the floor. Surrounding her was a semi-circle of holographic screens, each displaying something different. To her right were several tuned in to news broadcasts from Taipei, while to her right she'd plugged into various external security cameras from the buildings surrounding the location of the peace summit.
She wouldn't deem herself a talented hacker by any means, but a combination of her rudimentary knowledge and the easy to use League systems made playing overwatch a manageable task.
Dominating the largest screen, placed directly in front of her, was the live feed from the body cam she had affixed to Aqualad before he'd left.
Needless to say, Red Arrow had been less than pleased at the prospect of the Thanagarian constantly chattering in his ear. It had taken a significant amount of arguing on Aqualad's part to convince him to switch his comm unit over to his and Hawkgirl's channel, and he still hadn't spoken a single word to her directly.
With Red Arrow taking point, sneaking Aqualad into the event had been the easy part.
"I need you to make a sweep of the room," Ski'Lira requested as she pulled up a specific program. "Try to get everyone's face."
Moments later, Aqualad had found a nice vantage point that offered a view of the room in its entirety, and more importantly, all its occupants. Getting images of everyone was a tedious task, but he managed in a timely manner. All the while, the facial recognition software she'd activated ticked in the background.
As League tech was scarily efficient, their target was quickly identified.
"Aqualad, Scarlet, Cheshire is currently in the far south of the room, traditional red dress and full makeup. I think she's posing as a tea server."
Intel given, now it was just a matter of waiting for the assassin to make her move.
H
Sky: I'm back.
Dick: Something up?
Sky: Mission. Running the Hub for Kaldur. I may or may not have forgotten we were texting.
Dick: Oof, playing techie? That must hurt you to your core
Sky: It does. But it's a necessary pain.
Dick: ?
Sky: Roy
Dick: OOF
Dick: League of Assassins, huh?
Honestly, she shouldn't be surprised, Robin's knowledge seemed to be endless.
Sky: They seem to have it under control at the moment.
Dick: Shouldn't you be paying closer attention? :P
Sky: I can multitask.
Sky: And I'm trying to distract myself from Luthor's nauseatingly flowery lies. Please tell me the League's investigating his involvement in this?
Dick: Of course they are, but as of right now, he's… actually doing something good?
Dick: Ugh
Dick: I think I need to bleach my eyes.
Dick: I can't believe I just wrote that.
Sky: How could you?
Dick: My friend's giving me a weird look now. Aaaaaand now the teacher's all suspicious
Dick: Should probably stop texting before I get detention
Sky: Please do not get detention.
Dick: No promises : )
Setting her phone aside, she turned her attention back to the broadcast, as Luthor was finally reaching the end of his long-winded speech. When the words 'tea ceremony' left his mouth, her spine stiffened, shifting entirely to combat mode.
"On your six, Aqualad." She coolly reminded her leader of the assassin's current position. Her eyes were glued to the body cam footage like, well, a hawk, as Aqualad moved to engage the 'tea server' head on.
Water bearers held in front of him in a defensive position, Aqualad commanded the intruder to stop. "That is far enough, Cheshire."
For a brief instant, Cheshire's pleasant facade fell, irritated at having been foiled so soon into her plot. The slight frown was only accentuated by the bold make-up covering her features. But then, she smirked.
Drawing her arms back, Cheshire practically threw the metal trolley into the Atlantean with all her strength. Aqualad's own arms shot up, water seeming to appear out of nowhere, forming up around himself and the nearby civilians in an aquatic dome. An arrow shot past, lodging into the side of the trolley before it made contact with the watery shield. Said trolley promptly exploded.
Ski'Lira stood up so fast her stool was sent loudly clattering to the ground as Aqualad's live feed turned black, audio turned to static. Frantically glancing at the security footage, the devastation was apparent, windows shattered and smoke billowing out of newly created holes in the walls.
"Aqualad! Come in, Aqualad!" She shouted, attempting to refresh the connection. When the footage suddenly burst back into life, she was so relieved she nearly dropped straight to the floor. Unfortunately, the audio had swapped over to an unbearable screeching tone. Wrinkling her nose, she quickly disconnected that feature, upset she'd have to rely fully on comms for audio updates from now on.
Righting her stool and sitting back down, something caught her eye from the external security camera footage.
A helicopter.
Knowing full well that all air traffic around the summit had been grounded as a safety precaution, it was a safe bet these definitely weren't friendlies.
"Unidentified helicopter approaching your position," she said succinctly. "And I've lost audio from your camera feed. Requesting verbal confirmation communications are fully operational."
"Aqualad, reporting in," there was some ambient audio, mostly terrified screaming from civilians and orders flying left and right as evacuation efforts were coordinated.
"I can hear you," well, she'd expected Roy to dig his heels in far more with responding. "Unfortunately for me." There it was.
"Any sustained injuries?"
"Negative," Aqualad said.
Satisfied with that answer, she turned her attention back to the assassin at fault for this whole mess.
Despite having gone through a literal explosion of her own making, lying on the ground amidst broken glass and debris, Cheshire's hair and makeup was somehow impeccably perfect.
Roy had an arrow trained steadily on her. As Ski'Lira didn't have a clear shot of his mouth, she couldn't lip read Roy (and he hadn't deigned it necessary to keep his comm unit on) as he snapped something at the assassin.
She did, however, have a good view of Cheshire's response. "You would think so."
Cheshire stood with an easy grace, either unaffected by the blast or just very good at pretending. Based on the amount of carnage wrought, Ski'Lira would bet money on the latter.
That thought was overridden as the helicopter arrived, an already open door slotted perfectly next to the new hole in the building. Sportsmaster stood at the forefront of a squad of equally armed and black-clad thugs. Jumping off the chopper and into the building, his goons followed his lead and spread out into the building. Cheshire flipped to her feet, and some manner of sleight of hand resulted in two Sais held tightly in her grasp.
"So territorial, and only our third date," Cheshire's expression was teasing, gaze leveled at the red haired archer.
Brow furring, she filed that one away for potential mockery material.
Her live footage was blurred and obscured for a precious few seconds as Aqualad executed a neat flip over Cheshire's head, locking onto Sportsmaster as his primary target.
"Try to keep your distance," Hawkgirl advised, having hastily pulled up the mercenary's profile. "Sportsmaster's an expert in hand to hand and weapon based combat."
"Acknowledged."
A pair of whips emerged from Aqualad's water bearers, each bearing spiked mace heads at the ends, altering them into elongated flails. Hawkgirl pressed a hand to her chest. "How thoughtful of you," she said in an overexaggerated tone.
Aqualad was faring well against his opponent, far better than she had assumed she would. Naturally, the moment that thought flitted across her mind, Sportsmaster made an unexpected move. Charging straight forward, he decked the Atlantean dead in the face, causing him to fall to the ground, obscuring the camera footage again.
"Move, Kaldur!" She barked. "Now!"
He rolled off to the side just in time, dodging a meteor hammer that had been about to impact the back of his head. With incredibly ill timing, Hawkgirl's phone buzzed in her pocket, but she steadfastly ignored it, knowing it couldn't possibly be as dire as the current situation.
With almost uncanny speed, Sportsmaster had discarded the meteor hammer entirely, instead revealing a rapier and switching to a standard fencing stance. One of the mysteries she'd never receive an answer to, exactly how many weapons Sportsmaster was wielding and where he stored them all on his person. It was this unpredictability that made someone with such a stupid villain name such a threat.
Aqualad did not hesitate to meet his enemy's blade with two of his own. Judging by the way he was moving, Sportsmaster was speaking to Aqualad, but because of his inane hockey mask, she couldn't tell what was being said. If she had to guess, it was likely just another villain monologue, and she'd heard enough of those to last a lifetime.
Not that she'd ever stop hearing them, considering her chosen line of work.
The tense duel was thoroughly disrupted as the sprinkler system was set off, dousing the room in water. Ski'Lira didn't restrain herself from pumping her fist in the air at the change in circumstance, as the tide of battle turned solidly into Aqualad's favor.
After all, there were few things more dangerous than an Atlantean in their element.
Kaldur couldn't possibly disappoint, as he summoned a massive serpent from the ambient liquid in the room, its master directing its undulating form towards every intruder scattered around the room. But just as the watery maw was about to enclose Sportsmaster and Cheshire, billowing black smoke erupted at their feet.
The ensuing cloud forced Aqualad to drop his construct, buying a scant few seconds for one of the black-clad assassins to break free. Jumping out of the smoke, they headed straight towards the cowering leaders that had yet to be evacuated. Aqualad tracked the movement, ready to intervene, but Luthor's aide calmly stepped forward, palm held out flat. A series of plates shifted, revealing the robotic parts lying underneath the veneer, the barrel of a laser jutting out of her palm. The assassin was shot out of the air, falling to the ground, motionless.
By the time Aqualad had turned back around, Sportsmaster and Cheshire had both vanished.
Typical.
H
Chin perched on her palm, Hawkgirl lazily watching the news feed scrolling before her. The final signing of the treaty was coming to a conclusion, bringing peace between North and South Rhelasia, despite the best efforts of the League of Shadows. With the assailants gone, her job was technically done, and she'd gone so far as to shut off Aqualad's body cam feed. She had also advised him to remove the malfunctioning equipment entirely before it potentially caught fire. Considering the proximity to his face, it was safer to abandon it for now.
Really, she could have left to do something else by now, but she found herself hanging around the Hub for Aqualad's return from Taipei. Mostly she wanted to make sure he hadn't suffered any actual injury, but she also wanted to be here in case of an unexpected follow up attack.
The sound of her communicator startled her the tiniest bit, but there was no one around to call her out on it. She fully expected Aqualad to be announcing his imminent departure, but instead it was Roy's voice she heard.
He was clearly mid-conversation, the archer's voice picking up as ambient noise from Kaldur's earpiece, which he'd likely boosted the range on.
"-luck with that."
"One moment, my friend." Aqualad stopped the other before he could leave. "Tonight you could have called Green Arrow for help, or the Justice League… Instead, your first instinct was to call the Cave."
"You're right." Roy's answer sounded more than a little reluctant, but his words rang with truth. "The team deserves… has my respect. I'm still getting used to this solo act stuff. But if you need me… I'll be there."
"Does that happen to apply to the entirety of the team?"
"… Yeah. All of you. Just… don't tell the harpy I said that? See you around, Aqualad."
The comm cut off, leaving her struck speechless. Yanking her own earpiece out, Ski'Lira tugged her mask roughly off her face. She ran her hands through her slightly disheveled brunette hair, tossing her head back and groaning.
Why were people so damn complicated?
Just when she was starting to come to terms with the inherent hostility of her relationship with Roy... he says something like that?
She hated him so much.
H
By the time Aqulad returned, smelling of smoke and looking more than a little exhausted, Hawkgirl's mask was back in place. She raised a hand in greeting, "So, you're not visibly injured, but..."
"I am unharmed." He insisted.
"I didn't think you were, but I thought I'd double check."
Kaldur hummed, "I do not find myself in the habit of hiding my injuries from my teammates." The side of his mouth pulled into a small, tired grin.
She scowled at him, not nearly as amused by the comment. "That was once."
"And I doubt it will be the last."
There was no point in refuting him, so she just changed topics. "At least your mission was a success. Despite Cheshire and Sportsmaster getting away. Again."
"It was Red Arrow's more than mine." He corrected. "And your help was invaluable."
"I would have been more valuable if I was actually fighting with you. But it was no trouble on my part. And…" She trailed off a little, clearing her throat loudly. "That was a nice thing you did for me at the end there. Thank you."
"I am just glad that I have proven there is still hope for you and Roy's friendship."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far." She grumbled. Before she could air any further grievances about the archer, her phone buzzed again. Abruptly reminded of the notification from earlier, she finally checked it.
Conner: What are cheerleaders for?
And the most recent one read;
Conner: Back from school
HG: In the Hub
Her answer typed out quickly, she offered Aqualad no explanation, instead starting a mental countdown. Sure enough, when she hit twelve seconds, M'Gann flew into the room like a bat out of hell, looping around in happy circles before touching down. Conner sauntered in after her far more subdued, face twisted into an expression of frustration and disbelief.
"Hey guys!" The Martian's voice was nearly at screeching levels she was so excited. "Guess what? Guess what?!"
"Did... you have a pleasant day at school?" Kaldur cautiously questioned.
"Yes! But that's not it!" M'Gann was smiling so wide, Ski'Lira was convinced she was using her morphing powers to make it stretch even further. "I'm officially a Bumblebee!"
With that, Ski'Lira's tolerance meter maxed out. "... That's it for me, today." Spinning on her heel, she set off at a brisk jog for the hallway, offering Conner a clap on the shoulder as she passed. "If anyone needs me, I'll be weight lifting aggressively."