Chapter Four

Adjusting

November 19th

As the day went on, the cave started to slowly fill with more heroes. Morgan hadn't expected the Team to be as big as it was, and she feared she'd never be able to remember all of these names. Luckily, some of them wore strange enough outfits for her to remember them by.

Like the one in the blue suit that looked like he had a huge scarab of some kind hugging him from behind. He'd introduced himself to her earlier, but she'd forgotten him name again and had resorted to just mentally call him Bug Boy.

Then there was the overly excited blonde chick that was apparently Wonder Woman's fan girl – sorry, sidekick.

Wait, they didn't like to be called sidekicks either..

She was in some way related to Wonder Woman. There.

Morgan couldn't remember her name either.

And then the smaller version of Nightwing. Or Robin, she supposed he was called. Whatever. He looked like Nightwing had done back when he was Robin. Morgan could remember back she was younger, and Batman suddenly had a young black-haired boy for his sidekick. She lived in Gotham after all, she knew what they looked like, and this Robin looked like the old Robin, in her opinion. Maybe Batman was just allergic to anyone who didn't have black hair.

That theory didn't hold water, however, when Morgan met Batgirl. She was a blazing red head. From their short introduction, Morgan thought she could grow to be fond of this particular hero. A lot of them seemed either too serious or too immature, but Batgirl was a perfect combination of mature yet sassy and funny.

Though she would never admit it, Morgan secretly hoped she'd get to hang out with the red head more.

One thing the winged girl noticed was that the heroes seemed to leave as soon as they came. There was this huge, muscle-y and extremely tall dude with a deep voice and dark skin that stood by those weird screens that appeared out of nowhere and floated, and he assigned small missions in small teams for all the young heroes.

She couldn't help but notice that it was probably what the more seasoned superhero would call a 'slow day' as none of the assignments were particularly dangerous or difficult. Some of them even groaned out loud and asked him if he didn't have anything more exciting for them.

Secretly, Morgan wondered if it was part of the superhero description to be an adrenalin junkie. Seriously, they were asking for something more dangerous to do?

Maybe, she thought, it's something that comes with time. Maybe I'll start getting eager for my next adrenalin kick too at some point.

Not for the first time since she'd joined the team a couple of hours ago, she wondered if it was the right decision to make.

It was the only decision to make, she reminded herself.

She'd stood there, leaning against a wall, watching the guy she thought was named 'Mal' or something, delegate missions to other team members for half an hour. Miss Martian had finished her tour, as well as a very thorough retelling of how the Team was formed, and then most of her lifestory to boot. Afterwards, she'd allowed Morgan to just wander around on her own, and she'd ended up here half an hour ago. Not too long ago, she'd also pulled her hoodie back on. She had started to feel extremely uncomfortable with her wings being exposed like that. Deep down she knew that these people wouldn't think she was a freak because of them, but it had become too engraved in her mind, in her everyday life, that the wings had to be hidden. So, she'd found her abandoned hoodie in the kitchen, and slipped the huge thing on, the familiar sensation of its fabric brushing against her mid-thigh, and slipping over her hands comforting. It was a familiar thing in an entirely unfamiliar environment.

She looked up when the eerie, body less, female voice that was connected to the transport tube-thingy announced Nightwing's return.

He made a beeline for her and she stood up straighter from her slumped position against the wall, uncrossing her arms.

"Here you go." He reached out his hand and dumped a small, thin plastic card in her hand. Morgan held it in two hands, her thumbs and forefingers each pressed against one of the card's four corners. "If you ask nicely, I bet one of the girls will go shopping with you."

Morgan had no doubt that both Miss Martian and the Wonder Woman girl – Cassie, was her name? – would love it. They both seemed overly friendly.

She raised an eyebrow at him and slowly drawled. "And here I was hoping for shopping tips from a guy."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow but didn't respond to her comment. Realizing she was probably being rude to her new 'Mentor' – and she called him that with extreme prejudice – she sighed and pocketed the card, adding a small "Thank you."

He nodded appreciatively at her show of good manners, and then gave her the pin code.

"How much is on it?" She asked a second later.

Nightwing looked like he didn't want to dignify her question with an answer. "Enough." He said shortly, and then walked towards that Mal guy who was talking to the bug guy and someone new Morgan hadn't met before. She watched the group for a moment and then jumped with surprise when girl suddenly shrunk and started flying away, her black and yellow suit making her look like an oversized bee.

Maybe that's the point, Morgan figured. How fitting to put the two bugs together for a mission.

She then focused back on Nightwing, thoughts drifting. Morgan got the feeling her new mentor didn't have much patience with her.

Then again, maybe if she'd stop being sarcastic and even a little rude, he'd probably like her more.

She pushed the thought away, telling herself it wasn't that bad, and then went in search of either an overly friendly Martian, or a hyper Amazon to go shopping with her.

Morgan spotted M'gann in the living room with Lagoon boy, and was about to go to her when she hesitated.

If she was being quite honest with herself, Morgan had no idea how she was supposed to approach the other girl.

The thought of going up to the other girl and asking her if she wanted to go shopping, and then get turned down, made Morgan want to just shrivel up and die. Somehow, she was too scared to be told 'no' to even contemplate asking the question.

Luckily for her, she didn't have to. Miss Martian looked up from her cuddling session with Lagoon Boy – whom Morgan by now had figured out was probably her boyfriend– and asked her if Nightwing had given her any money for shopping yet.

"Yeah," Morgan said slowly, pulling out the card from her pocket.

"Great, let's go then!" M'gann levitated herself off the couch and landed in front of Morgan.

"I'll come with, Angelfish." Lagoon Boy said as he stood up too. Morgan felt her stomach sink.

"I'm sorry La'gaan," M'gann looked sort of pained. "But you don't really blend in in a crowd and we don't want to reveal our secret identities."

"Oh," He looked like he hadn't considered that, "I'll wait for you here then."

Even though she was relieved that he wouldn't come with them, Morgan still felt like pointing out that M'gann didn't exactly fit in either because her skin was, you know, green.

Before she could comment on it, M'gann suddenly started changing appearance, going from green to skin colored, and from her uniform to a pair of jeans and a jacket.

"Shall we?" She asked. Morgan shook her head once to pull herself out of her inward gaping, and then nodded.

If Miss Martian was as talented at crime fighting as she was at shopping, Morgan was convinced that the world would be crime free by the end of the year.

The girl was a hurricane at the mall, picking outfits for Morgan at the speed of sound. And all were pretty nice outfits too. The Martian had good taste. And Morgan, still uncomfortable in any place that had too many people there, was absolutely fine with just letting the other girl run the show. Impressively, the Martian was also good at finding clothing where Morgan's wings didn't get in the way, something Morgan herself hadn't quite mastered, hence why all her tank tops had just had a few inches cut off.

If it stood to the M'gann, they would probably have bought the whole shop, but Morgan was a bit more reserved. At the end of their trip, she had about three bags of new clothes. Although Nightwing had told her there was 'enough' money on the card, she didn't like spending money that wasn't her own, so she only got what she really needed – plus the extra that M'gann had insisted on.

Such as completely useless things like a dress and a pair of high heels, a bathing suit – like she'd ever wear that – and knick-knacks like sunglasses, hair bands and the like. You know, things Morgan wasn't ever going to use.

She never put her hair up anyway. With her hair down, it helped cover her back, and thus make it harder for anyone to see her wings.

It was one of the many sacrifices her wings had demanded she make.

Their last stop was this small and expensive shop that sold make-up. Morgan may not have done much to make her hair look good, but she did always wear make-up – only mascara and eyeliner though. She couldn't figure out how to use the other things.

Her mother had always told her that she used too much eyeliner, and Morgan supposed she did. Not by much, but she always wore her eyeliner just a little bit too thick. On purpose.

The unexpected thought of her mother left a stinging sensation in her chest, so she pushed it away and focused on her task at hand.

Once they were done, M'gann led them out on the street where she intended to hail a taxi. She didn't really need to use one as there was a Zeta-tube – M'gann had told Morgan that that was what they were called after the girl had called them transport-thingy – near the mall, disguised as an old telephone booth. But the older girl had just giggled happily and said that according to the TV-shows she'd watched back on Mars, it was tradition that a trip to the mall ended in a taxi.

Morgan wondered what kind of TV-shows the other girl had been watching.

"Wait," Morgan stopped and put a hand on M'gann's raised taxi-searching arm. She immediately slipped her hand away after the initial touch, but it had been enough to get the full attention of the other girl. "I forgot to buy work-out clothes. Nightwing specifically told me to get those."

M'gann smiled at her. "Well I guess we should get back in there." She led the way back inside, and Morgan wondered how anyone could be this friendly.

A treacherous voice in her head whispered that maybe she was just pretending to be friendly. Maybe she didn't like Morgan at all, just like everyone else disliked her.

She angrily attempted to shut the voice out, but the stupid thought had already deeply rooted itself in her brain and she couldn't stop herself now from doubting the other girl's intentions.

November 20th

When Nightwing said that he was going to train her tomorrow morning, Morgan hadn't thought he meant this early.

He had suddenly appeared, hammering away on her door at six thirty. In the morning.

"Wake up!"

Morgan groaned and pulled her blankets over her head. "Why?" She whined.

"Because you need to train and I haven't got all day to do that." His voice was muffled by the door between them, but Morgan could still hear the annoyance in it.

"You have two minutes or else I'm coming in." He warned. "And don't bother showering; you'll be needing one when I'm done with you."

Morgan snickered at the very badly worded phrase, but got up all the same. For her own sake – she didn't necessarily want to make things more awkward than they already were – she didn't comment on the obviously sexually sounding innuendo.

She slipped into the grey sweat pants, sports bra and black, tight fitting tank top she'd bought the day before. With a malcontent grunt, she realized that she'd forgotten to buy any shoes, so she slipped on her old, beat up, faded green converse, knowing that her mentor would probably comment on them.

Exactly two minutes later – she mentally gave him points for punctuality – there was a new knock on her door. "Are you done?"

Instead of answering, she simply went and opened the door, coming face to face – well, face to chest because of the height difference – with her mentor.

He really was handsome, she pondered. From what of his face she could see, of course. The mask did cover his eyes and part of his cheekbones.

But the parts she could see, she had to admit she liked. The mask didn't cover his straight nose, attractively messy hair, strong jaw line or his lips, which she noticed were pulled into a lopsided smirk.

"Nice hair."

Too bad she found him annoying, and slightly stuck up from what she'd gathered about him so far.

She self-consciously brought a hand up and patted at her wild curls. "You're one to talk." She grumbled and pulled out a hair band which she'd stuffed into her pocket on a whim a few seconds before he'd knocked.

He instinctively reached a hand up to his own hair, but stopped it before it could land. "Mine is supposed to be messy." He lowered his hand back down to his side.

"Well, who's to say mine isn't?" She retorted and stepped out of her doorway, hands busy combing through her locks in an attempt to tame them enough to use the hair band.

"Perhaps the fact that you're tying it up now." Nightwing said dryly, making her halt in her ministration. She dropped her hands, making her blonde curls bounce and fan out around her. "Well, of course I'm tying it up, it'll just get in the way while I exercise." She pointed out, her tone slightly hostile with annoyance at the tall superhero in front of her. "Not to mention it'll be extremely warm and stick to my neck if I don't."

"Fair point." Nightwing started walking down the hall and Morgan followed after him, bunching her hair into a tight bun and then tied the hair band around it.

She hadn't worn her hair up in several years, Morgan wryly remembered. Her wings were folded against her back, feeling exposed in only her tank top. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, determined to act like she had absolutely no shame in displaying them. She knew there was no reason to be embarrassed by them as they were what had made her part of the Team anyway, but she couldn't help it.

"Have you been eating properly like Batman told you to?" Nightwing asked over his shoulder as they arrived at a pair of doors at the end of one of the Cave's many halls.

"Well, I've only been on his new diet for half a day, but I've been eating, yes." Nightwing looked at her over his shoulder as he pushed the door open, and Morgan hated the critical purse of his lips, combined with the silence. She could only imagine the judgmental look in his eyes.

She pushed past him, hitting her shoulder roughly against his arm – He didn't budge but Morgan was actually thrown off balance at the collision – and entered the new room.

"We usually do all of our fighting matches in the main room of the Cave, but this is the official gym." Nightwing said behind her. Morgan ran a critical eye over the place. There were ropes and hoops and all sorts of equipment you'd find in a school gym, plus a few extra gadgets that looked very high-tech. when they spoke, their voices echoed hollowly into the room.

"Well, I guess you should just start running. In the beginning, we'll mostly focus on building your stamina and muscles. Get you in good shape. Then we move on to the hard stuff." Nightwing pulled out what looked like a normal wristwatch and handed it to her. She noticed he was also carrying a lap top. "It monitors your pulse and breathing."

Morgan slipped on the thing and looked at him expectantly. She'd decided that while training, she'd behave properly. It was easier for the both of them that way.

"You can just run in circles around the gym." Nightwing said and walked out of her way. "Oh," he turned back to face her. "If you can flap your wings as you go that'd be a good idea. Those wings will need training too, if they're ever going to make you fly. Make them used to the movement."

She started running hesitantly. It felt a bit weird to just run around the room and flap her wings while he just sat there off to the side against one of the walls.

Even worse, Morgan knew she was in horrid shape and she wouldn't be able to keep running for very long until she'd be too breathless to go any longer.

She decided to jog slowly so she could keep at it for longer than usual, and only flap her wings every once in a while. It wasn't like he was looking anyway. He had his nose buried in his laptop, his fingers typing away furiously on the keyboard, a small concentrated frown on his face.

There was silence between them for twenty minutes, the sound of her feet rhythmically pumping against the floor the only noise in the gym.

Eventually, she couldn't keep going. Her throat was raw and painful from her ragged breathing, and she felt slightly nauseous. Her wings already ached from the sudden use, something they weren't used to at all. She stopped in front of Nightwing, bent over with her hands on her knees, her breathing labored.

"And that's about what I'll be able to accomplish for now." She gasped out between breaths.

"Alright." Nightwing looked up at her. Morgan was surprised he didn't comment on how poorly she'd done, but she was thankful for it. "You can do the same routine once this afternoon and then tonight. You'll see improvement in no time. How are your wings?"

She grimaced and reached a hand over her shoulder, rubbing at the base of her right one. "Aching."

Nightwing snapped shut the computer and stood up. "The pain will stop eventually, I promise."

Morgan nodded, her eyes on the laptop in his hand. "What are you doing anyway?" She asked conversationally.

"Homework. Some of us have school today." He smiled a half smile and walked further into the room, towards another door. "This in here is where we have all our weights. You'll need to do some different forms of training to gain muscle and strength."

Morgan could tell Nightwing knew what he was talking about, so she listened intently, hoping to memorize how all the different machines worked, which muscles they trained and how long she was supposed to use each.

Half an hour later, not just her legs, wings and feet, but also her arms and stomach were aching.

Nightwing hadn't been kidding when he said she'd need a shower when he was done with her.

"And I'm officially done." She groaned from her position on the floor, her arms and wings spread around her. "I'm quitting this superhero business. It's so not worth the effort."

Nightwing nudged her stomach with his foot and told her to get up. "Nonsense, you're done now anyway. Just remember to run once again this afternoon and then tonight. And remember to use your wings throughout the day."

He offered her a hand, which she ignored and then stood up by herself.

"I have to leave now if I want to go to school on time." Nightwing said. "I'll see you same time tomorrow, in front of the gym. Now go eat."

Morgan suddenly mumbled something in a strange language that Nightwing didn't understand. "Jeg orker allerede ikke mere. Dumme træner."1 her angry tone was enough to let him know that it wasn't anything pleasant.

"Come again?" He asked her.

"Nothing." She said shortly and started walking away.

Nightwing followed after her. "What language was that?"

Morgan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'm going to assume you already know that my dad was Danish, so I think maybe you can figure that out for yourself." Her tone was clipped and frustrated. Morgan really just wanted to go have a long shower now and be alone for a while. She wasn't used to all this contact with other people and it was really exhausting.

"Well yes, but I didn't think you'd be able to speak the language."

She shrugged. "My dad and I spoke Danish to each other all the time back when he was still around. I'm a little rusty, but I try to keep it up."

"So what did you say just now?" Having reached the door that led them out of the gym, Nightwing opened it and walked out, looking back at Morgan.

She smirked cheekily at him. "If I had wanted you to understand it, I would have said it in English."

Then she swiftly walked past him and disappeared around the corner.

November 22th

From his leaning position against the grey wall next to the Cave's infirmary, Nightwing studied his mentor behind his dark mask. Batman stood still, silent, like a dark guardian, lingering in the shadows as he always did. The two men didn't speak but conversation was unnecessary at the time. They simply waited.

Sooner than he'd expected, Hawkgirl opened the door to the infirmary and stepped outside. She looked first at Batman and then at Nightwing, and the two men approached her as one.

"Her wings are young yet, and any damage done to them will recover. Crippled as they are, she can't fly, and won't be able to for some time. All she can do is strengthen their musclemass with some exercises and then eat properly to allow them full growth." Hawkgirl relayed, her mouth and brow drawn into a displeased line. So basically, Morgan just needed to keep doing what she'd been doing for the past few days and her wings would be up and running in no time, Nightwing though. "She is not kin of Hawkguy and I. I have no idea why she has wings."

The infirmary door opened silently and Nightwing spotted Morgan peering out from behind it. Hawkgirl stood with her back to the door so she didn't see the girl as she listened in on the conversation.

"If her wings are still the same in a month's time, I will have another look at them. Since Neither Hawkguy or I am interested in taking on a protégée, we cannot help you in this aspect." Hawkgirl explained. She handed Nightwing a piece of paper with instructions on and then she took a step forward, signaling that she was finished, but halted in her steps.

"Anyone who treats a gift like that with the level of neglect and disrespect as she has should be ashamed of themselves." Hawkgirl concluded and then swiftly walked down the hall, gone in a moment.

Nightwing inwardly winched at the hard words which he knew Morgan had heard. Batman placed a hand on his shoulder, gaining the teenagers attention. He didn't speak, but the message was clear. Make sure Morgan follows the instructions given by Hawkgirl.

Batman left too and Nightwing finally turned to face the girl. Morgan had a slightly wounded look in her eyes at the harsh proclamation that Hawkgirl had uttered, but it was quickly replaced by a look of anger. "Bitch." She murmured before shrugging on a giant blue sweater.

Nightwing leveled her with a look of disapproval of her disrespectful words. He could understand Hawkgirl's anger. She considered her wings gifts and a large part of her life, and to see someone else treat the same gift like it was a curse would undoubtedly seem disrespectful.

"She left behind instructions for you to follow while training and caring for your wings." Nightwing said and, after reading through the short script, memorizing it and putting it away mentally, he handed her the paper.

There hadn't only been exercise descriptions, but alos how to tend to them in other aspect. Grooming, if you will.

Morgan eyed the small piece of paper with a disgruntled look on her face, obviously not pleased with having to follow instructions from someone she'd already deemed a 'bitch'.

But she took the offered paper anyway. "Can I go now?" She asked, carelessly stuffing the paper into her back pocket.

Nightwing inclined his head, "Sure," and walked in the direction of the kitchen himself, desiring a glass of water. He needed to find Connor anyway.

Walking into the kitchen, Nightwing found he was in luck. Connor was in there already, and he wouldn't have to go looking for him.

"Superboy, I've-"

A loud, female scream echoed through the halls in the cave, drawing the attention of the two dark haired boys in the kitchen. They looked at each other briefly before they took off running in the direction of the shout.

It took a moment for Nightwing to realize that the scream had been Morgan's, but when he did, he felt a cold hand of worry clench at his insides. He'd only been her mentor for a few days; surely she hadn't already gotten herself injured.

The two heroes ended up in the garage, where they were met with a rare sight.

Morgan was pressed against the wall with her eyes closed tightly, and Wolf was sniffing at her curiously.

"Wolf!" Connor ordered, "Come here!"

The large animal shot one look at the terrified girl before it stalked over to Connor's side, settling at his feet where the tall boy knelt down and scratched it behind its ear.

Nightwing fought to keep his laughter down. There was absolutely nothing funny about the situation.

Okay, there absolutely was.

He chuckled slightly under his breath when the girl finally peeked an eye open and pushed herself slowly off the wall after she noticed the lack of giant, white wolf in front of her.

"What is that?!" She cried, her legs quaking in fear.

"Wolf." Connor said shortly. "He's mine. We found him on a mission once." He elaborated when he saw the way she was eying the large animal with a mixture of wonder and fright.

Nightwing could kind of understand why she was so scared. Wolf, with its white fur and sharp eyes looked ferocious.

The animal was also taller than her, something a normal wolf wouldn't be, despite her short stature.

"And you just let it walk around free?" She spluttered, her eyes still wide and fearful. "He could swallow me whole if he wanted!"

"He's harmless as long as I don't tell him to attack you." Connor reassured her.

"Oh, okay." She said nervously. "Please don't tell him to attack me then." Morgan walked closer towards the two boys, probably aiming for the door so she could leave the room with the huge animal in it as soon as possible.

The wolf growled at her as she shuffled by it and she squeaked and hid behind Nightwing.

"Wolf, behave."

"Oh my god I hate dogs." Morgan breathed, her hand keeping a firm grasp on Nightwing's arm. "This is why I'm a cat person!"

Nightwing coughed to stop the laughter from bubbling out of him. The large animal approached her and started sniffing her wings suspiciously.

"He's probably confused because you're part human and part bird." Connor helpfully offered.

Morgan glared at him. "I'm not part bird. I just happen to have wings."

"Well, whatever you are, the wings confuse him. Probably mixed smells and all that." Nightwing added.

"Oh god please don't eat me." She pleaded when Wolf took a step further towards her, bumping his large snout against her wings. Morgan leaned her forehead against Nightwing's back. "Jeg lover at jeg nok skal være sødere fra nu af hvis bare jeg slipper levende fra den ulv."2 She murmured and Nightwing once again wished he'd be able to understand what she was saying.

Connor shot him a confused look at the gibberish she was spouting.

"Apparently she switches to Danish when she'd distressed." Nightwing supplied. "Her dad's from Denmark so he taught her."

Morgan squeaked and leapt away, jumping behind Connor instead. "Save meeeee!"

"Not a big fan of wolves." Connor smirked at Nightwing and Nightwing smirked back before the two men took pity on the poor girl. "Wolf, go away." Connor said sternly. The large animal sniffed and stuck its nose in the air as if offended and stalked off.

Morgan stepped away from Connor, a faint blush on her cheeks – from embarrassment, Nightwing figured – and brushed herself off. "Well." She said, clearing her throat. "This has been severely mortifying. I'll take my leave."

She ducked her head down and practically ran for the exit, her right hand covering her face with sheer embarrassment.

"So," Connor said once the door had closed behind her. He looked at Nightwing. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Nightwing, eyes absentmindedly aimed at the door, shrugged. "I forgot."

1 "I'm already so done with this. Stupid trainer/teacher."

2 "I promise to be nicer from now on if I escape that wolf."

I totally didn't make her part danish just so she could childishly curse at the others in two languages instead of just one. Totally..

Don't worry if you find it annoying, she won't do it very often, mostly in stressful situations or if she's angry.

Fun fact: This is the longest chapter I've ever posted on a story, ever.