Chapter Fifty Two

Things Left Unsaid

June 10th

Alright, cards on the table.

Nightwing wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do about Morgan.

It wasn't that he was unsure whether she should be allowed back on the Team or anything. She'd obviously realized her own mistake and had shown true remorse from her own actions. So that part was fine. And everyone on the Team had been pretty relieved that she was back.

At some point in the past six months, the grumpy and passionate girl had managed to worm her way into all of their hearts – some more than others perhaps, he ruefully admitted – and none of them wanted her gone.

Dick was actually genuinely glad that the others had forgiven her immediately and welcomed her back with open arms. If they'd acted reproachful towards her, he was pretty sure she'd doubt her spot on the Team even more. But their forgiveness and friendliness made it extremely obvious that they all considered her a part of the group. Which meant Morgan would probably think twice about leaving again anytime soon.

No, that wasn't the problem.

The problem was that he'd kissed her, not once, but twice, and he still wasn't sure how exactly he was supposed to feel about that. How he was supposed to feel about her.

He was afraid to admit that he really did harbor genuine romantic feelings for his sour trainee. But at the same time, he couldn't very well pretend he didn't without lying to himself.

But right now was such a horrible time to be talking about that sort of stuff. Seriously, he was trying to stave off an alien invasion here? He didn't have time for his thoughts to be straying to her constantly.

He had to focus. He had to keep his head in the game. Not study the way her eyes brightened whenever she laughed at one of Bart's jokes or how she always ate with her knife in her left hand despite being right handed – seriously what sort of weirdo noticed that kind of thing

And, no, her hair didn't look like a soft halo of sun-kissed strands of silver. It was unruly and messy. And her eyes weren't intense and electric, they were just.. grey. He needed to stop coming up with these poetic ways of describing her looks.

He was superhero, not a poet. And he had to start acting like it, dammit.

The kisses in themselves were worrying too. He hadn't meant to kiss her that first time at all. And they hadn't even gotten to discuss that yet. And now he'd kissed her again. If he'd wanted before to convince her that the kiss had been a one-time slip-up, he had lost that chance by now. Kissing somebody once, in the heat of the moment, was one thing.

But doing it twice?

Nah. Not something you could just explain away.

Also, that last kiss had been anything but innocent and whoops-I-wasn't-thinking-so-terribly-sorry. It had been passionate and present and real and had very obviously been between two people that knew exactly what they were doing.

Not that he felt a great need to explain the kiss away. He was going to stand by his actions. It wasn't like he regretted it.

True, he'd regretted the first kiss quite a lot, but he'd progressed past that. He had thought he'd failed as her mentor because of it, but that had been the wrong thing to assume. Black Canary had been totally right. If their relationship progressed, it wasn't that big of a deal. He could still train her as he was already doing. Nothing had to change there.

And, well, the second kiss.

Yeah – that one he didn't regret one bit.

Not had he'd planned it at all. It wasn't like she'd entered and he had seen her and then the first thing he'd thought was 'Imma kiss that'. It had just sort of.. happened. He'd actually been walked towards her to hug her because he was so damn relieved. Shotung at her had been a possibility too. And then she'd suddenly looked so worried but determined and she'd shied back – which Morgan had never done before – and looked utterly ridiculous in her oversized t-shirt and her dirty socks and he'd just had to kiss her.

All stupid reasons, but, ugh, he couldn't explain it.

Apparently, this was what it felt like to have feelings for someone.

It was strange how he'd been in several relationships, and yet, whenever he started to fall for a new girl, he always felt so unprepared, like he'd completely forgotten what it felt like to fall for someone.

"Dick?" He was suddenly shaken from his Morgan-centered thoughts by the girl herself. He turned to face her as they walked through Blüdhaven, realizing he'd zoned out several minutes ago.

"Yeah?" He hoped he hadn't missed something important.

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing." The way she said it let him know that she'd actually asked him something important. As he looked at her, he could see the girl almost physically retreat into herself, like she so often did.

He frowned. "Don't do that." He softly protested, his tone earnest. "Tell me."

She looked at him again and shrugged her shoulders. "I was just asking.. well, about the Reach invasion. Do you truly think we have a chance to stop it?"

Okay, that was a pretty big question she suddenly wanted him to answer.

He squinted up at the sky in thought. Summer had finally arrived. And it had let its presence known almost immediately. He was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and he was still sweating. Morgan was dressed in a black tank-top and a pair of shorts and once again with all the skin showing.

"I think if we play our cards right. If we play them exactly right. Then I think we have a chance."

She nodded. The answer hadn't been much, but it had been enough, apparently.

He sighed and looked about them, scouting a bench by the water. "C'mon." He said and grabbed her hand instinctively. It was sweaty from the heat, but then again, so was his. He pulled her towards the bench.

Morgan dug her heels halfheartedly into the pavement. "I thought we were gonna train." She protested.

"We were.." He agreed. "But I don't really feel like it."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. He could understand her reaction. This was probably the first time he'd ever decided to ditch simply because he wanted to. Usually he had a good excuse.

He could tell that she needed to talk about the invasion a lot more than she needed to train. She hadn't voiced it, but he knew the invasion weighed heavily on her heart and in her thoughts. She allowed him to drag her to the bench and she plopped herself down, stretching her short legs out and angling her face towards the bright sun above them, her eyes closed as she soaked in its warm rays.

Dick sat down beside her and leaned his elbows over the back of the bench, making sure to not touch her frame with his arm. They'd kissed and they'd been all friendly. But they hadn't actually talked about what had happened at all. It was like they both silently agreed that any defining of their current relationship would have to wait until after they'd saved the world.

They sat in silence for a moment, letting the sea breeze play with their hair. Dick let out a content sigh. The sun was baking down on them like a heavy blanket, warming and tanning his skin. It was a really nice feeling and Dick found himself unexpectedly and pleasantly drowsy.

"Tell me what's on your mind." He finally mumbled.

Morgan sighed and seemed to hunch over, making her frame as small as possible. "I'm worried about the invasion, obviously. I mean, we already know that we fail in one future. Impulse told us about that. So what's to say that anything's changed from that future? How can we know that that isn't the exact future we're headed towards?" She wrung her hands anxiously in front of her before tugging forcefully on a curl, her eyes wide and worried.

He wished he could assure her that everything would be fine. But to be honest, he didn't have the answers. Not this time.

So, all he could do was turn in his seat to face her and try to seem as positive as possible. For Morgan's sake. But he'd be honest too. He didn't want to baby her or give her false hope. She was too old for that. And she deserved better than that. Especially from him.

"We can't know." He admitted. "But what we do know for sure is that that future is inevitable if we don't try to change it."

Morgan nodded, biting down on her bottom lip. "Did you know that I'm dead in that timeline? Bart says Black Beetle kills me when I'm twenty two."

Nightwing froze as utter anxiousness and agony coursed through his system.

No, he had not known that.

Twenty two? That was only a few years away!

"..what?" He managed to force out. He was a lot more affected by this news than he'd expected himself to be.

Morgan looked worried herself as she kept gnawing on her bottom lip. "I don't think he meant to tell me. It was an offhand remark. But I persisted until he told me. Apparently, I go against Black Beetle to protect.." She swallowed and met his eyes. "I redirect his attention to protect my son."

Before he could stop himself, Dick drew back in shock. It was a quick, jerky movement that he hadn't even registered until it was over.

A lot was going to happen in the next few years, apparently.

Unless they changed the time stream. Unless they changed the future.

And they damn well had to.

Because Nightwing was not going to let her die.

He wanted to ask her if she knew who the father was. But he didn't. Because he was afraid that she would say it was him. But, for some reason, he was also afraid that it would be someone else.

He was already pretty sure that they had actually been married in that timeline – Impulse had almost called her Grayson, after all – so the thought that they'd have a kid wasn't that illogical.

But it was so very terrifying.

So he didn't ask. He just looked at her.

"I.." Her voice cracked on that single word and she looked up at him with wide, wet, scared eyes. "I don't want to die.."

Dick inwardly cursed Bart for telling her all of this. He should've known better. Nobody was supposed to know when they died. It would drive them insane.

"And you won't." He replied, his voice more fierce and determined than he could remember it having ever been before. Screw not making promises he wasn't sure he could keep. He reached for her hand and freed it from the hair it was tugging at, intertwining his fingers with hers. "We're going to change the course of the future. We'll defeat the Reach, and we'll defeat Black Beetle. I swear. He'll never get near you. I won't let him."

Morgan mustered up a small, wobbly smile before leaning forward to rest her curly head against his chest. His fingers dug into her curls instinctively, his thumb stroking her hair in soothing motions.

"I won't let them hurt you." He murmured into her hair as he rested his chin on top of her head.

He heard her take in a deep breath before pulling back.

She let out a small, embarrassed laugh. "I'm such a mess." She groaned. "I guess with my father's death and the wings and the alien invasion and the knowledge of my own death.. I've been stressing myself out. Keeping it all bottled up."

"Don't worry about it." He assured her. "I'd rather you actually approached me with these worries instead of keeping it to yourself. It's not healthy."

She shrugged, a wry smile on her lips. "I guess I have to get used to actually having people to confide in."

They sat in silence for a moment longer.

Morgan sighed again and looked at her bare arms. "Should've found a shadowy spot." She mused.

Dick followed the direction of her eyes. He noticed that, indeed, under the hot sun, her skin was already starting to turn slightly pink.

"Are you serious?" He let out a breathless laugh. "We've been sitting here for barely fifteen minutes and you're already getting burned."

Morgan glared halfheartedly at him. "I have fair skin, okay?" She defended herself sourly. "Not my fault my dad's from Denmark. It's the Scandinavian curse."

"The curse of the Vikings." Dick agreed.

Morgan got a faraway look about her as she stared out at the sea. "I can remember family trips to the beach. My mom would have to force both my dad and I to use sun screen or we'd both burn up. I fought her tooth and nail every time. She's a lot darker in complexion, so she rarely needed the sunscreen herself. But my dad and I?" Morgan let out a small laugh. "We were both totally pathetic."

Dick found himself smiling along with her. In his mind's eye, he saw a tiny Morgan with bouncy curls and round cheeks trying to squirm out of her mom's grasp as the woman attempted to prevent her daughter from developing skin cancer at an early age.

"I've never really needed sunscreen." He admitted.

She looked at him briefly. "'Cause not. You're all naturally tan and stuff. Lucky bastard."

"What, are you telling me you can't tan now?"

Morgan shrugged. "I can. Just not very much. I usually just get really red and then when it fades I'm a tiny bit tanner than I was before."

"Should we move?" He suggested. He liked the spot a lot himself, but he didn't want her to get burned to the point where it hurt.

He wondered how they'd been talking about death and enslavement a moment earlier, and now they were comparing tanning.

"Nah. I can survive for a few extra minutes."

He nodded and leaned back against the bench again. He wondered for how long she'd known about her own death. And why she hadn't told him yet.

Was it weird that he'd actually come to expect her to tell him these sorts of things? Whenever Morgan had a problem, she came to him for advice or comfort. It made sense because, as he was her mentor, she was actually expected to go to him with her problems.

But it was more than that. It was also because he was her friend.. Maybe even something more, if they both survived the alien invasion and found the time to sit down and talk their feelings through.

She came to him because he was a friend, a mentor, a fellow teenager, a potential something-more.

Somehow, it had become as natural as breathing.

And Dick absolutely loved it. He loved that somebody like Morgan, loved that Morgan specifically, had chosen to trust him. And he loved that he felt he could trust her just as much in return.

"Okay, I think its best we get going now." She decided a few minutes later. "I can feel the sun burn developing."

June 13th

Morgan was leaning back against the fluffy side of Wolf, scratching the huge animal behind its ear every once in a while. The large animal lay quietly, accepting her petting and her leaning with little reaction. It was strange how she'd been afraid of dogs all of her life and now she was leaning against a wolf that was more than twice the size of a normal specimen.

The others had left to go rescue Blue Beetle only minutes ago, leaving Morgan and Nightwing all alone in the Warehouse. She felt like they'd ended up alone a lot lately. As complete silence settled between the two of them, she attempted to refocus on the book she was reading, unwilling to let her thoughts stray to the subject she'd been analyzing to death a few hundred times by now.

Morgan was by no means an expert on stuff like relationships and how those sorts of things normally went. But she kind of assumed that people didn't just go around kissing each other and then not talk about it afterwards.

Look, she got it. They were in the middle of an invasion. Priorities and stuff.

But it was during moments like the one they were in right now – all alone in the Warehouse with nothing to do for several hours except wait for the others to get back – that she thought they should just get it over with. Like, when were they ever going to find a more perfect moment to talk stuff out? They'd be uninterrupted for hours. And she could see what Nightwing was doing on the holographic computer, it was nothing important. So why not make good use of that time?

She was kind of dying from nerves, okay? She needed to talk to him about this before it drove her insane.

Morgan, realizing that she was thinking about that exact thing she was trying to not think about, angrily forced her eyes onto the page again and started stubbornly reading.

Time stretched by slowly. At some point, she made the both of them a super fast dinner, which they ate in silence, in different parts of the Warehouse. She would've skipped dinner if her stomach hadn't gurgled so loudly that Nightwing had actually turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

It wasn't that there was any awkwardness between the two of them, or that they found that they couldn't really speak to each other because of all the things left unsaid. But Morgan opted to stay her distance, simply because she was afraid that she'd bring the kiss up. Also, whenever they were alone like this, it felt like that kiss – those kisses – weighed extra heavily between them. It was just begging to be talked about.

But she didn't want to push him. It was a good thing he was even talking to her. At least, this time, he wasn't avoiding her and pushing his mentor duties onto somebody else. And if they were doing this, then they were doing it right, even if that meant waiting a few extra days.

After dinner, she returned to her book, but Wolf had left the spot, apparently tired of being used as a piece of furniture.

Sighing, Morgan made to climb the stairs, heading for the actual couches. It was getting pretty late, but she was unwilling to go to sleep just yet. Because as much as she found that she had trouble focusing on it, she really did want to finish that book.

She must've been lying there, reading, for roughly two hours when the Bio ship arrived.

Morgan put down her book when, below, Nightwing received an update on the Team's mission. She listened in as Barbara confirmed their success. The winged girl felt relief like none other settle in her entire body, and she sighed loudly, sagging as she relaxed for what seemed like the first time in weeks. Blue and Green were free of Reach control. The possibility of the Reach succeeding, and Morgan dying by Black Beetle's hands, had lessened considerably.

"Great news, Team." Nightwing praised as the platform that led to the underwater Bio ship docking bay rose up, La'gaan and M'gann appearing. "Nightwing out."

"What great news?" M'gann immediately asked.

Morgan sat up quickly and looked down, spotting M'gann and La'gaan. M'gann had left shortly after the others, to pick up La'gaan from Atlantis. After his leg had been broken, the boy had quickly discovered how much crutches sucked, and had opted to simply go to Atlantis while healing. At least there he could swim with his arms, he'd told her.

Well, now he was all healed up. And M'gann wasn't kidnapped anymore, meaning the boy had a reason to get back on land.

Morgan hopped off the edge of the second floor, spreading her wings out and landing softly next to Nightwing, smiling at the two green skinned heroes in greeting. La'gaan barely even acknowledged their presence as he sullenly dragged himself away. She wondered what was wrong, but didn't dwell on the thought for too long as the newly gained freedom of her Beetle friend made her too happy to worry.

Nightwing turned to face the newly arrived couple as well. "The Team freed both Blue and Green Beetle from Reach control." He announced proudly.

By now, Lagoon Boy was already halfway up the stairs. "Terrific." He said with the least amount of enthusiasm possible. "You need me, I'm watching TV."

The three below looked up at the green-skinned boy before meeting each others' eyes. Morgan made eye contact with M'gann, but the older girl quickly looked at the floor with a guilty and sad look on her face.

Morgan frowned in thought as it became apparent that the lovebirds were experiencing trouble in paradise. Morgan wouldn't be surprised if they'd announce their breakup any moment now. And judging by M'gann's guilty look and La'gaan's sullen and bitter behavior, M'gann had been the one to initiate the breakup.

Nightwing, apparently – and perhaps wisely – deciding to stay totally out of that, turned back to his computer, ignoring the rest of the room. Morgan angled her body slightly so she could both keep an eye on M'gann and what he was doing.

"Um.." M'gann uncertainly spoke up in that soft voice of hers. "Is Connor around?" She innocently asked.

Whatever he was doing on that screen was clearly very engaging and had taken all of his focus, because Nightwing didn't really stop to think as he carelessly slam-dunked M'gann with the truth.

"He said something about going out with Wendy Harris."

Morgan studied M'gann's face as the redhead looked positively crestfallen at this turn of events.

"Oh." She sighed in defeat. "Right.."

Morgan tried to send her a sympathetic look, but M'gann was too busy staring at her feet to notice. "I'll just.. I'll see you guys tomorrow." The Martian eventually got out before flying out of the Warehouse.

Nightwing was still keeping his eyes firmly on the data in front of him.

Morgan looked up at where she could hear La'gaan watch TV. Then she looked at the spot where M'gann had disappeared.

Yeah, they were very obviously broken up. And M'gann was asking for Connor. Which meant the Martian had realized where her feelings truly lay. And then Nightwing had carelessly crushed whatever flickering hope M'gann had had for her and Connor.

Morgan reached up and hit him upside the head before he had time to react.

"Ow?" Nightwing sounded positively offended that she'd hit him. "What did I do now?" He complained.

Morgan rolled her eyes. "For someone so smart, you really are clueless." She sighed.

He gave her a look like he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. And it was that far too innocent and clueless look that made her realize he knew exactly what was going on.

Morgan shifted in her position by his side, wondering if he chose to stay out of it because he'd learned from experience that it was the best idea.

Well, Morgan hadn't learned that lesson yet. She didn't care if it was a stupid idea, but she'd at least try to help her friends out. Try to make them feel better.

"Just.. get out of here so I can talk to La'gaan in private." She whispered, leaning close so he could hear.

Behind his mask, she saw his eyes flicker briefly to her lips at their newfound proximity, and Morgan swallowed dryly, biting the inside of her cheek.

He sighed in defeat. "I'll wait for the others outside.." He relented, closing down the holographic screen. Morgan held in a small smile at his behavior. He was acting like a kid who had just been sent to his room by his mom.

He slipped outside, and Morgan stood uncertainly in her spot for a moment. How did one go about comforting someone after a breakup?

She sighed a deep, cleansing breath and squared her shoulders, striding up the stairs. The green boy came into view and Morgan felt a pang of pity in her gut when she saw the way he was slumped so far down in the sofa he was practically lying down, arms crossed petulantly in front of him. His red eyes were fixed intensely onto the news channel playing on the TV, but Morgan could tell he wasn't seeing any of it.

"Hey." She started out, figuring it was as good a place to begin as any.

His eye found her uncertain form briefly before he turned towards the television again.

Receiving no response, Morgan walked over and sat next to him.

The elephant in the room was so painfully obvious. It wasn't chilling in the corner, it had settled itself firmly on their laps, squeezing the life out of them.

Morgan found herself holding her breath in the silence.

When she realized that oxygen was, in fact, vital to her continuing survival, she sucked in a deep breath and released it in a huge sigh.

"So.." She began, licking her lower lip in thought. Sweet mercy, she was bad at this. She hadn't even begun and she already knew she was terrible at it.

La'gaan didn't react at all. He reached for the remote and changed the channel twice.

Morgan cleared her throat loudly, gathering courage. "So, I couldn't help but notice-"

"We broke up." He finally said, voice bitter. Morgan wondered if he'd only spoken up because seeing her attempt to have a heart-to-heart was just too painful to watch.

".. I'm sorry." She eventually got out, figuring it was better than nothing.

He snorted. "Tried to feed me the 'it's not you, it's me' speech and everything.." La'gaan went on.

Morgan paused at that. "Well.. Maybe.." She sounded so incredibly unsure. And he knew it. "Maybe she meant it, you know? M'gann's been through a lot."

La'gaan didn't look like he thought she was helping much. Suddenly, his angry and bitter expression morphed into one of sadness, which just made Morgan feel all the worse. She could handle bitterness and anger – but sadness? Like, with shiny eyes and cracking voices? Nu-hu. Then La'gaan was on his own.

"The worst part is.. I gave her my everything, you know? And now I'm suddenly thrown away like some used sock." He turned to her with a very un-la'gaan-ish look of despair on his face. "I loved her." He insisted.

Morgan bit down on her bottom lip. Before she could even stop herself, consider how royally bad of an idea it was, she had already blurted the words out. "I kissed Nightwing."

La'gaan froze completely and Morgan grimaced, immediately feeling the need to elaborate. "Or, he kissed me. Uh, we kissed each other. Both."

The boy next to her fixed her with a look of pure shock, broken heart momentarily forgotten, rising in his seat. "What? When?"

Morgan shrugged. "Uh, after the War World mess. And then.. again later."

"Wait, this is something that's been going on more than once?"

She blinked widely at him. "Just.. you know.. twice."

He frowned and leaned back against the couch again. "So, what, are you a couple now or something?" He asked, sounding like the thought of someone else getting together just as he became single made him even more bitter and sore over the breakup.

"No. Not necessarily." Morgan immediately denied – at least.. not yet. She couldn't be sure what the future brought. She fixed him with an open and honest look. "That's the whole point, La'gaan. People our age.. We hand out affection far too easily, and far too passionately."

Morgan had never been in a relationship before, but she knew how teenagers worked. She was one, after all. And because she was a few years his senior, she was further in the process, and thus, could speak with authority. "And I know that, with this break up, you feel like you've just given up your one shot at happiness. But believe me when I say that there'll be plenty of other opportunities. You life doesn't end with this breakup. In the big picture, it's nothing more than a small bump on the road."

He blinked at her, watching her with an expression Morgan couldn't read. She earnestly kept going, wanting to finish before he started shouting at her or crying or something equally unpleasant. "Right now, it feels like the only thing that matters. But one day, when you're older, you'll look back at this breakup and wonder how it could've seemed to important at the time. Time mends. And you'll find someone else one day. Someone that, in your eyes, makes M'gann pale in comparison."

Morgan was starting to feel like a walking fortune cookie with all the nonsense she was spewing.

"But, you know. Don't take my word for it. I don't have a lot of experience anyway." She quickly finished. "Didn't even make any sense.."

He shook his head. "No.. it was good." Morgan was pretty sure this was the first compliment he'd ever given her.

"Thank you." He told her, nodding once in acknowledgement.

Morgan sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, well. Always glad to help." She got up off the couch, satisfied that she'd done a somewhat good job. "I'll be going now. Enjoy your, uh," She looked briefly at the TV, pinpointing which program he was watching. "Enjoy your Sex and the City."

He looked at the television as well and quirked a smile at the fact that that was the program they'd just happened to land on.

Morgan was relieved that he was at least smiling. Maybe she wasn't so hopeless after all.

She offered him a parting smile before approaching the edge and gliding to the ground below again.

Knowing that Nightwing was still waiting outside like a banished kid, she made for the entrance to let him know he could come in again.

Her mind was racing. She'd told La'gaan about the kissing. And she wasn't sure if she should tell Nightwing. It wasn't like they'd vocally agreed to keep it between the two of them for now, but there could be no doubt that that was their deal. They hadn't had to talk about it to agree that it was best to keep quiet until they'd had the chance to actually talk things through. And it wasn't anybody's business but their own.

And, yet, she'd told Lagoon Boy. She wondered if Nightwing would get pissed at her. Morgan was so very tempted to never ever tell him, but at the same time, she felt like he should know. He was the leader of the Team, and he deserved to know when his Team members knew those sorts of private things about him.

And also, he deserved to know just 'cause. That was a kind of personal and intimate thing she'd told someone else. A secret personal and intimate thing.

Morgan stopped short after walking a few steps towards the door.

"Oh, and, Lagoon Boy?" She spoke up, looking up at the couch he was sitting in. After a few seconds, she saw his green head peek down at her from the top of the couch. "Don't tell anyone about.. uh.. You know."

He smirked. "Don't worry. I won't tell anybody about you fooling around with our leader."

She blanched at the very pleased smirk on his face before turning around and heading for the entrance again.

They were not 'fooling around'.

Morgan stepped outside, looking about for her mentor – whom she was not fooling around with, shut up brain.

She found not only him, but also the rest of the Team. They must've only just gotten back, because some of them were still in the process of getting off of the Sphere.

Morgan spotted Blue Beetle, a big smile on his face as he spoke with a visibly pleased Nightwing.

She already knew that he'd been freed, but, somehow, seeing him in the flesh made the reality of it sink in. Her friend was finally free. Finally in control of his own body.

"Blue!" She cheered loudly, gaining his – and everyone else's – attention immediately. Not missing a beat, she practically ran forward, flinging her arms around his neck firmly, a thrilled laugh leaving her mouth.

He returned the embrace easily as Morgan started spewing more words. "Oh my god, I'm so happy you're back! I was so worried!"

Morgan broke the embrace, impulsively placing a kiss on the younger teenager's cheek as she drew back.

Jaime grinned at her and squeezed her arm briefly before letting go.

"Alright, give him some air." Nightwing said, sounding slightly like his cheery tone was forced, wrapping a hand around her elbow and pulling her back. She bumped against him from behind just as Morgan realized that he had sounded positively jealous. Looking at him over her shoulder, not missing the fact that he was still holding onto her elbow, she saw the way his jaw was slightly clenched, his shoulders straight and stiff.

Seriously? Because she'd kissed Jaime's cheek?

Jaime smiled at her. "It's great to be back."

Morgan turned her attention onto the other teenager, ignoring her ridiculous mentor.

She had to be honest: Morgan felt much less scared of the future now that Blue and Green were freed. For the first time in a very long while, she felt like the Team had a legitimate chance at defeating their enemies.

Her outlook on their situation had gotten much brighter.

Aaaaaand now you know how Morgan died. I hope your curiosity has been satisfied.

I'll be posting the next chapter sunday instead of saturday because my band is playing at this youth conference thing, so I'm away from home all weekend.

Fun fact: I passed the 50.000 word note of the sequel a few days ago. You guys probably won't have to wait for it for very long once this story is finished.