Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

            Kr woke up with prompting from the G-Gnome, just as her pod doors began to open.

            Intruders, they informed her. Disarm and capture.

            All three were adolescent males, and via the G-Gnomes, Kr recognized them as Kid Flash, Aqualad and Robin. They could have been formidable opponents, but not really next to her. After all, she was the clone of Superman. She clenched her hand—or maybe the G-Gnomes did it for her, Kr could not quite tell—into a fist before she opened her eyes. The first one she saw was Aqualad—the strongest.

            Kr leapt at the Atlantean male and they rolled a few times before she knocked him onto his back. She punched him from cheek to cheek before the two others—Robin and Kid Flash--came to grab her. Kid Flash managed to take an arm, but Robin only covered her eyes as if she was some kind of horseflesh that could be blinded.

            “Woah! Hang on!” one cried.

            “We’re—on—your—side—Supey!” the other gritted out.

            Kr said nothing, but used the arm Kid Flash held onto to knock him back. Behind her she heard the shattering of glass.

            “I don’t want to do this!” Robin exclaimed before he let off a gas in her face—liar, clearly.

            But it did distract her, sent her reeling, long enough for Aqualad to kick her in the chest. She flew back coughing on the smoke, but on her feet. Then two electrodes attached to her chest releasing a stream of electricity. Cute—what’s the word, it tickled? Kr grabbed the wires stuck to her chest and pulled, hard enough that now it’s Robin who flew through the air, right into her hands. Kr grabbed him and threw him to the ground, pressing her foot into his chest for good measure. He grunted in pain as Kr pressed down harder and harder.

            “ENOUGH!” Aqualad ran toward her, his weapons formed into a hammer made of water. He hit her dead on, and the next thing Kr felt was her back slamming into her pod holder. It was not enough though—she stood in the next moment and watched as Aqualad tried to raise Robin up, to check if the younger male was okay. But when he saw her, Aqualad dropped Robin and got to his feet. He held out a flat palm straight up—the motion for stop—and growled out, “We are trying to help you!”

            Help? She didn’t need help! And as if they could help her, they could not even help themselves. Kr frowned, drew her eyebrows together and rushed Aqualad. In return he dove at her, pushing her into the wall. His arm flew in a punch, but Kr caught his fist, and kicked him back. She threw several well aimed blows, but the Atlantean was able to deflect. Kr had to admit that perhaps he was better than his comrades, as he pulled his arms under her shoulders and locked his hands behind her neck.

            Aqualad lit up with electricity and this did not tickle, Kr decided as she cried out. She refused to be beaten, and pressed her feet into the floor. She jumped up, hitting Aqualad with the ceiling. The male groaned and so Kr jumped again, and when he hit the ceiling this time, he released her and fell to the ground on his own.

            Kr, making sure her opponent was down for good, stalked toward the door and ripped it out. Doctors Desmond and Spence waited for her, along with the Guardian.

            Desmond took a few steps forward and surveyed the room. A smile grew across his face and he turned to her. “Good girl,” he crooned.

            Kr decided she did not like the way he spoke to her.

            Desmond turned around. “Take them to containment pods and make sure they’re thoroughly contained. I need to speak with the board of directors.”

            Kr realized that he spoke to Guardian, but Guardian smiled at her and said, “Come on, kid, why don’t you give me a hand?”

            Kr shrugged and followed him back into the room. She picked up Aqualad and Kid Flash, slinging them over her shoulders, while the Guardian took Robin into his arms, cradling the side kick almost like a baby. “Follow me,” said Guardian, leading her from the room.

            There was another chamber, not far from where Kr’s own pod was, where they set the three of them up into pods and secured them by the wrists and ankles. But even after Guardian left, Kr stayed.

            Even if they were weak, these sidekicks intrigued her, especially the Aqualad who had put up such a fight. But they had kept going on about how they wanted to help her, and how they could save her. Didn’t they know she was a living weapon? She did not need saving, she did destroying.

            Kr continued to stare at them and contemplate.

            Then, suddenly, all at once, their eyes flew open.

            Kid Flash gasped and then returned her look. “What? What do you want?”

            Kr did not answer.

            “Quit staring you’re creepin’ me out!” Kid Flash declared.

            “Uh, KF?” Robin said. “How ‘bout we not tick off the girl who can fry us with a look?”

            Kid Flash quieted for a moment, but Aqualad took up the team’s voice, “We only sought to help you,” he said softly.

            “Yeah!” Kid Flash spoke again. “We free you and you turn on us. How’s that for grati—”

            “Kid, please,” said the Atlantean, looking toward Kid Flash. “Be quiet now. I believe our new friend was not in full control of her actions.”

            Kr blinked. He had noticed? She barely noticed when the G-Gnomes had control of her and when they did not. They had been a part of her for so long. “What…” Kr began to say. She swallowed and continued, “What if I wasn’t?”

            “She can talk?” Kid Flash exclaimed.

            Kr resisted the urge to—what was the right word?—growl and clenched her hands into fists again. “Yes, she can,” she retorted, glaring at Kid Flash.

            His two companions gave him a withering look, but KF only shrugged. “Not like I said ‘it.’”

            “The Genomorphs taught you, telepathically,” Aqualad stated, turning the attention back toward her. He looked pleased and—what was the word?—friendly.

            Kr felt herself relax. “They taught me much,” she admitted. “I can read, write. I know the names of things—”

            “But have you seen them?” Robin interrupted her. “Have they ever let you see they sky…the sun?”

            Kr slumped her shoulders. Involuntarily she noticed. Was this normal? “Images are implanted in my mind, but no, I have not seen them.”

            “Do you know what you are?” Aqualad asked, quickly amending himself. “Who you are?”

            Kr straightened herself. “I am the Supergirl—a genomorph, a clone made from the Superman—created to replace him should he perish, to destroy him should he turn from the Light.”

            Surprise riveted their faces. They did not have very good control for those who claimed to fight crime. Aqualad recovered first, though his face still displayed his shock. “To be like Superman is…” he searched for a proper word, Kr could tell, as not to offend her.  “A worthy aspiration,” Aqualad decided. “But like Superman you deserve a life of your own—beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod and beyond Cadmus.”

            Anger rose in Kr’s veins. “I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!”

            “Your home is a test tube,” Robin told her. “We can show you the sun.”

            “Uhh, I’m pretty sure it’s after midnight,” Kid Flash interrupted. “But we can show you the moon!”

            “We can show you, introduce you, to Superman,” Aqualad promised.

            Kr’s heart swelled. Was this hope? Was that what she felt? What else could this be, this feeling? Kr decided she didn’t like abstract ideas. They only sought to plague her.

            “No they can’t.”

            Kr turned to see Dr. Desmond enter the room with Dr. Spence and Guardian.

            “They’ll be…otherwise occupied,” said Desmond. He turned to Spence and ordered, “Activate the cloning process.”

            “Pass!” Robin sassed (Kr liked that word, she would keep it). “Batcave’s crowded enough.”

            Desmond ignored the young sidekick. “And get the weapon back in its pod!” he shouted at Guardian.

            “Hey! How come he gets to call Supey an ‘it?’” Kid Flash asked.

            Guardian stepped forward, pressing his fingertips into her elbow.

            “Help us,” Aqualad begged.

            Kr pulled away from Guardian, and looked him dead in the eye. He had seemed alright—hadn’t called her weapon, had asked instead of told—what did he think of cloning them?

            “Don’t start thinking now!” Desmond snarled, walking past her.

            The G-Gnome on his shoulder hopped to hers, and Kr felt a fine mist fall over her mind. Of course she wouldn’t help the intruders. Why had she even considered helping the intruders?

            “See, you’re not a real girl,” Desmond informed her, as if to drive the point home. “You’re a weapon, and you belong to me! Well…to Cadmus. Same thing! Now, GET BACK TO YOUR POD!”

            Kr made no response other than to turn and leave the room. But even as she walked away, she felt tuned into the three males who had dropped into her life. She heard as they began screaming. Still all she could do was walk. She had to obey. Then a soft voice broke through her thoughts.

            “Supergirl,” Aqualad grunted in pain. “You live. That gives you the right to follow your own path. A weapon or a person. The choice is yours. But ask yourself: what would Superman do?”

            Kr stopped in her tracks. It was a loaded choice—and in his own way, Aqualad sought to control her as well. But his words had merit. A weapon would continue to walk away and follow orders. A person though…a person would have to follow what she believed was right. And deep down, in Kr’s briefly existent heart and mind, she felt this was wrong. And Superman, she thought, would never allow the taking of a person’s free will. Reaching up, she took the G-Gnome from her shoulder and set it on the ground. It cooed at her, but made no attempt to replace itself.

            Kr turned and ran back toward the cloning chamber.

            Her hands flew into the metal and she lifted the door above her head. The way Aqualad looked at her, relief making up most of his face, was worth her rebellion so far. She tossed the door aside and strode into the room.

            Desmond and the others came for her. “I told you to get back to your—”

            Kr batted them away. “Don’t give me orders,” she growled, enjoying how powerful it felt. She moved toward the sidekicks and stood in front of them.

            “You here to help us, or fry us?” Kid Flash inquired.

            Kr narrowed her eyes—the way Superman had often done in the implanted memories the G-Gnomes had given her—but nothing came. “Hunh. I don’t seem to have heat vision, so I suppose helping is my only option.”

            Robin’s manacles clinked open and he dropped to the floor. “Finally! Lucky Batman’s not here or he would have my head for taking so long.”

            “Seriously?” Kid Flash asked. “The whole LEAGUE will have our heads after tonight.”

            Robin rolled his eyes—or seemed to. Kr thought it difficult to tell with his mask on—and went over to the console to press a button which opened up the pods. “Free Aqualad,” he told her. “I’ll get Kid Mouth.”

            “Don’t you give me orders either!” she growled, but she moved toward the pod which held Aqualad.

            “I am glad you came back for us,” he confided in her as he dropped into her arms.

            “It was what Superman would do,” she replied.

            Aqualad’s mouth drew up at the corners. He smiled at her, she realized. Kr, without thinking, smiled back at him.

            The four of them dropped to the floor and ran for the door.

            “You’ll never make it out of here!” Kr heard Desmond shout. “I’ll have you back in pods by morning.”

            “That guy is not whelmed,” Robin replied. “Not whelmed at all.”

            “What is it with you and this whelmed thing?” Kid Flash asked.

            When the two stragglers caught up to Kr and Aqualad, Aqualad began to lay out a plan, “We are still forty-two levels below ground, but if we can make the elevators—”

            He cut himself off as a group of G-Trolls entered their path. The four of them turned to see if they could go back, but the bubbles protruding from the walls lit up as Genomorphs pushed their way forward.

            They turned back toward the G-Trolls, just in time to dodge out of the way. The others ran forward and around the Trolls, but Kr steeled herself. She jumped, punching the G-Troll in the mouth until it fell down. The other Trolls set in on her, but Kr kept punching, kicking and screaming.

            “Supergirl! The object is escape!” Aqualad called to her. “Not to bury ourselves here.”

            “YOU WANT ESCAPE?” she shouted. She picked up a Troll and knocked it into two others. Panting she turned back to the others as they ran on. She followed, but Kr felt it was only because she was now out of options.

            Aqualad pried open the elevator doors. Kid Flash leapt onto a beam jutting out from the side of the shaft wall, and Robin launched a grappling hook. Kr pulled Aqualad’s arm over her shoulder. He gripped her tight as she jumped up into the shaft, extending her arm out for flight. But after twenty feet they stopped and felt gravity pull them down. Kr looked to Aqualad and saw that they shared the same look of horror.

            As they fell though something flew through the air and hit the side of the elevator shaft. Aqualad grabbed it and stopped their descent.

            Kr looked up at Aqualad; he now held her up, instead of the other way around. “I can’t fly. Superman can fly. Why can’t I?”

            “Dunno!” exclaimed Kid Flash from below them. “But you can still leap tall buildings in a single bound. Still cool.” He took her hand and pulled her down onto the ledge.

            Aqualad dropped down beside her and Kr turned toward him. “Thank you,” she sighed.

            “Guys!” Robin pointed upward to an oncoming elevator. “This will have to be our exit!”

            Kr punched out the door, hopping from the ledge to the floor. The others came out behind her, only to be greeted by a large group of Genomorhps. They turned to the closest hallway and began to run.

            Kid Flash led their pack which seemed normal as far as group dynamics—

            Turn left, sister.

            Kr felt her eyes grow wide and she almost stopped in her tracks, but instead she shouted, “Turn left! Left!”

            Turn right.

            “Right!” she grunted as she caught up with Kid Flash.

            But all they came upon was a dead end with an air vent.

            “Great directions! Supey, are you trying to get us re-podded?” Kid Flash grumbled at her.
            “No…” Kr held her hands up. “I don’t understand…”

            “Don’t apologize!” Robin exclaimed. “This is perfect!” He pulled up his wrist computer and began typing away. “Everybody in the air vent!”

            Robin went first, Aqualad followed and Kr gave Kid Flash a boost before she followed them in. They crawled and crawled, taking turn after turn as they followed Robin.

            “At this rate we will never get out of here,” said Kid Flash.

            “Shh!” Kr called. Her ears picked something up further away in the vents. “Listen.”

            “Genomorphs?” Robin asked.

            Kr blinked and realized they couldn’t hear what she could hear. “Yes,” she replied. “Two groups, closing in on us from both sides.”

            Robin grinned, or she thought he might have. He crawled to the nearest vent and kicked it out. “This is our stop!” He slid out and the three of them followed. Robin typed away on his wrist computer, as Aqualad replaced the vent. They didn’t wait, just kept moving until they came to a staircase where Robin flagged them down to stop. After a moment, Robin announced, “I hacked the motion sensors.”

            “Sweet!” said Kid Flash.

            “But there’s still plenty of ground between us and out,” Robin said, dismissing his computer, and turning toward the staircase.

            “But I’ve finally got room to move!” Kid Flash exclaimed as he zipped off into the stairwell.

            “Does he do that often?” Kr asked.

            “Less than you would think,” Robin replied.

            They ran after him.

            Kid Flash, apparently, did not go that fast as even Robin kept an easy pace just behind him. They began to lose him however the closer they got to the first sub-level. When at last they made it to the top, Kid Flash lay sprawled out on the floor, the doors shut in front of them.

            “We’re cut off from the street,” Aqualad observed.

            “Thanks, my head hadn’t noticed,” Kid Flash snarked.

            Kr slammed her full weight into the door, but it didn’t budge. Aqualad came up beside her and they tried to pull it apart, but still nothing.

            “I can’t hack this fast enough!” Robin exclaimed, just as G-Trolls entered the hallway. “This way!” Robin called, leading them down a separate hallway.

            They ran, only to find their path cut off by more Genomorphs and Guardian, the others closing in behind them. Kr saw the G-Gnomes’ horns light up and then her companions fell down, Kr going with them.

            Perhaps for the sake of all Genomorphs, our sister Supergirl should be allowed to make up her own mind.

            Kr’s eyes flew open as she looked at another Genomorph—one with long horns but that looked almost like a man.

            I am Dubbilex, sister, he told her.

            It was you…she whispered. You guided me.

            And I set the fire, awoke your new friends when they were needed, Dubbilex added.

            Why?  Kr asked.

            Because you are our hope, Dubbilex told her. You will blaze a trail for all Genomorphs so that we may one day be free of Cadmus. You will be the Genomorph hero, who shall show us the way to freedom. Now you must choose what you want.

            Kr looked around and saw her companions waking up. Guardian, too, shook his head and rubbed his eyes as the G-Gnome attached to him leapt from his shoulder.

            What is your choice, sister? Dubbilex asked.

            Kr got to her feet, declaring, “I choose freedom!”

            “Guardian?” Aqualad asked.

            Stirred from his own thoughts, Guardian looked up and told them, “Go. I’ll deal with Desmond.”

            “I think not.” The crowd of Genomorphs parted to reveal Desmond holding a vial of light blue liquid. “Project Blockbuster will give me the strength to restore order.” He downed the liquid, and fell to the floor moaning pitiful noises, as if he didn’t have the strength to break through the pain. Desmond’s muscles bulked out to break his clothes, and then to break through his skin. It was grotesque, when he finally stood, as the exposed muscle formed a second, harder, grey skin to cover the vast expanse of his body.

            Guardian charged the monster, the Blockbuster, only to be batted away like a fly.

            Kr charged next, managing to land a few hits on Blockbuster before he grabbed her, and jumped, forcing both of them through the ceiling. She fell away from him and got to her feet and they began trading blow for blow. Blockbuster grabbed her in a hold but she flung her arms out, breaking it. Then it grabbed her, flinging her across the room.

            Aqualad caught her, sending them both sprawling to the ground. But Robin helped her to her feet and they faced the monster together. Kid Flash ran forward distracting Blockbuster as he slid through the creature’s legs so that Aqualad and Kr could make a strike together. Kid Flash used himself as a wedge and Blockbuster fell back over Kid Flash’s body.

            “Learned that one in kindergarten,” Kid Flash declared.

            As Blockbuster rose to his feet, Kr moved to strike, only for it to grab her and slam her back into a pillar. Kr punched, but it only slammed her again making her groan. Aqualad jumped on the beast, knocking it over the head with his water weapons, but when he tried again, Blockbuster threw him to the ground. Blockbuster then took hold of Kr and threw her back into another pillar.

            When she rose to her feet, she saw Kid Flash distracting Blockbuster again, and Robin waved them over, calling, “Aqualad, Supergirl!”

            They raced to his side, and Robin exclaimed, “We’re going to bring the house down on him. We need to destroy a certain number of pillars and then bring him to the center of the room. I’ll mark it, but then, Aqualad, we’re going to need some water and electricity to get him down. For now, just knock out these pillars, here and here. KF will bring him around in a second so hurry!”

            Kr destroyed her pillar with ease and made her way back over to where Robin marked a spot with an x. Aqualad sprayed water all over the floor and Kid Flash spread it around by sliding across. Blockbuster followed, but Kr jumped and knocked him to his feet. Both she and Kid Flash cleared the water, just as Aqualad charged it with electricity. Blockbuster roared in pain.

            “Move!” Robin shouted as the charge began to dissipate.

            They ran toward the exit, just as the explosives went off behind them. They were nearly to the door as the structure came down around them. Kr reached for Kid Flash and curled her body around the male as debris rained down on them.

            After a moment, when all stood quiet, Kr pulled a large piece of ceiling off of her back. The males sat panting for a moment.

            Aqualad looked up at the sky, almost like he never thought he would see it again. “We did it…”

            “Was there…ever any doubt?” Robin asked panting. He and Kid Flash performed a high-five, only to grab their ribs and groan.

            Kr walked toward the Blockbuster creature, only to find it passed out, and secured under the rubble. Kr supposed that Desmond had not been powerful enough.

            “See!” Kid Flash called out to her. Kr turned and saw him pointing. “The moon.”

            Kr stepped closer to the group and looked up at the massive orb in front of her. It glowed, like the images had not, but softly, not like she thought it would. Then a spec appeared against the white rock, and it only seemed to grow larger. Kr squinted her eyes to see what might have been coming toward them, but it soon became apparent.

            “And Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?” Kid Flash asked. Grinning, he came to stand beside her.

            Superman began his descent, and along with him several other flying beings. As Kr looked around, she realized that this was the Justice League. These were the people who protected the world and mentored her new friends.

            Kr felt a nudge and looked back at the group. They all gave her a small nod and reassuring smiles. She stepped forward, closer to Superman. He watched her with apprehensive eyes, so Kr picked up the ripped part of her solar suit, and held it to her chest, revealing the S encased in a diamond. She looked up at him, so hopeful.

            Superman looked shocked. And then his shock hardened into something else, what Kr had not been around real emotion long enough to know.

            She felt herself step back and harden too.

            Batman came up behind Superman and asked, “Is that what I think it is?”

            “She doesn’t like to be called an it,” Kid Flash murmured, stepping up next to Kr.

            “I’m Superman’s clone!” Kr declared, throwing her hands down at her sides and balling them up into fists. Kr registered shock from the entire League at her declaration.

            After a moment, Batman ordered, “Start talking.”

            And so they did, Aqualad and Robin at least. Kr wandered away from Superman the moment she had a chance, and they cut Kid Flash off so much, he wandered over to sit with her.

            “I don’t want to be called Supergirl anymore,” she confessed to him. Kr desperately thought she might like to cry, but that was also a sign of weakness. She wouldn’t give Superman—or any other League member—the privilege of seeing her cry.

            “He’ll come around,” Kid Flash assured her.

            “It isn’t just Superman,” she retorted. “Desmond called me that—Cadmus wanted me to be that. I’m not a weapon. Not anymore.”

            “Okay,” Kid Flash agreed, nodding up and down. “Well, then, what do you want to be called?”

            “Kr is how I think of myself,” she replied.

            “Weeeeell…”said Kid Flash. “We can’t call you Kryptonite, ‘cause I think that would be bad PR. But maybe…Kryptongirl? Would that work?”

            Kr cocked her head to the side. “Krypton…girl…”

            “Yeah, or maybe just Krypton…” Kid Flash suggested. “Or maybe you could be Kryptongirl now and Krypton when you get older.”

            “Alright,” she agreed. The name weighed on her tongue. “Kryptongirl.”

            Kid Flash grinned at her.

            “It is a fine name,” Aqualad agreed as he and Robin came to join them.

            “You’ll need a normal one, though,” Robin said. “One that’s for just for your civilian life.”

            “Why? I’m not normal,” Kryptongirl replied, falling silent.   

            The males, seeing she would not speak anymore, began discussing what the League might have them do after tonight. Kryptongirl only looked to where Superman stood talking with Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter. After she stared for quite some time, listening also to the irregularity of his heartbeat, the Martian Manhunter caught sight of her and laid his hand on Superman’s shoulder. Superman turned and looked her in the eye. Kryptongirl did not look away.

            Seeing that he could not escape her, Superman began to walk forward, and Kryptongirl met him halfway. Superman signed before he began to speak. “We’ll figure something out for you,” he promised. “The League will, I mean. For now…” Kryptongirl’s heart rose. “I better make sure they have that Blockbuster creature squared away!” Superman turned and flew away before Kryptongirl could protest.

            “Cadmus will be investigated.” Kryptongirl turned and saw Batman approach them. “All 52 levels, but let’s make one thing perfectly clear—”

            “You should have called!” the Flash interrupted.

            “End results aside,” Batman continued, “we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders and endangered lives—first and foremost your own. You will not be doing this again.”

            The four of them shared a look.

            Aqualad was the one who stepped forward. “I am sorry, but we will.”

            “Aqualad, stand down,” Aquaman ordered.

            Aqualad raised his hand to his breast, a sort of salute, “Apologies my king, but no.” He continued, only pausing for a moment to digest his mentor’s shocked look. “We did good work here tonight—the work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important.”

            “If this is about your treatment at the hall,” Flash began, “the three of you—”

            “The four of us,” Kid Flash interrupted, looking at her and then back to the Flash. “And it’s not.”

            “Batman,” Robin entreated, stepping forward, his arms outstretched. “We’re ready to use what you taught us. Or why teach us at all?”

            “Why let them tell us what to do?” Kryptongirl asked, stepping forward. The eyes of her teammates—and they were her teammates—snapped to her as she continued to speak. “It’s simple: get on board, or get out of the way.” Like Superman, she thought.

            The team snapped forward, putting their eyes back on their mentors.

            Batman narrowed his eyes at her. Kryptongirl thought he had perhaps already formed a bad opinion of her. “Three days,” declared the caped crusader. “Then you’ll have your answer.”

            She felt the team relax, and breathe a sigh of relief.

            “What do we do about her?” Flash whispered to Batman. Only he didn’t really whisper, because the rest of the team heard him as well.

            “Her name is Kryptongirl,” Kid Flash cried out, stamping his foot.

            Flash stepped back at his protégée’s frustration, but Batman only glared harder.

            “I’ll take her.” The new speaker stepped up, revealing Black Canary. The heroine swished her blonde hair and motioned toward her. “Kryptongirl is more than welcome to stay with me for a few days.”

            “Doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice, do I?” Kryptongirl muttered.

            Black Canary approached her until they were a few feet apart. The woman offered out her hand to Kryptongirl, which she just stared at, not sure how to proceed. Black Canary, not deterred, pushed forward. “I don’t know what this is like, or what you are going through right now. But I want to offer you a safe place. If you would rather go somewhere else, or even leave after Batman has made his decision, I completely understand.”

            Black Canary seemed…oddly sincere, Kryptongirl believed.

            “Canary’s totally awesome, KG,” Robin told her. “She’ll be good for you.”

            Kryptongirl looked at her new friends. Kid Flash and Robin smiled, but Aqualad’s tentative nod is what made her turn back and accept Black Canary’s offer with a simple, “Okay.”

            Canary smiled, and turned back to Batman.

            Batman assessed them for a moment and then nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”

            Canary offered out her hand to Kryptongirl once again, and this time, Kryptongirl accepted. “Come on, girly, let’s find the Zeta-Tube and get you home. I, for one, could use a nice hot shower.”

            Kryptongirl followed after Canary, wondering where this new life might lead.

 

            Canary took her through a Zeta-Tube to Metropolis.

            “You live in Metropolis?” Kryptongirl asked.

            “For now,” Black Canary told her. “Come on, my apartment is this way.” Canary jumped up the fire escape of a nearby building. Kryptongirl followed after her, wondering if heroes always had to do things like this. Then again they were in costume, so she supposed they couldn’t just go walking down the street like normal people.

            Canary looked at her and smiled. “Up for a little race?” She didn’t wait for Kryptongirl to reply before she started running. As Canary ran she kept talking, “Ollie wants me to move to Star City, but I’m not sure I want to move to the West coast. I’ve grown up here though and I’m not sure I could start a flower shop over there.”

            “You grow flowers?” Kryptongirl asked as they hopped from one building to the next.

            “Grow and sell,” said Canary. “But only in my spare time anymore. I work as a psychiatrist mostly. I’ll show you the shop tomorrow, though. Come on, we’re almost there!”

            They both picked up the pace and ran across the tops of buildings until Canary slowed down. “This is it!” she said, pulling out a set of keys—from where Kryptongirl couldn’t see. Canary unlocked the stairwell and they began to descend to the third floor, where Canary led her down a hall to where she stopped in front of an apartment door. Canary unlocked this door as well and led the way inside. She flicked on the lights and gestured to the space. “Well, here it is. I have a guest bedroom, and some clothes that might fit, but we’ll just have to try a couple of different things since you’re a little taller than me.”

            Canary shrugged off her jacket and led Kryptongirl down a small hall and into a room with a few boxes lining the walls. Canary opened up a chest of drawers and pulled out a few sets of clothing. “Some of this is Roy’s from when he came to stay with me, but he shouldn’t mind. I’ll see if I can’t dig up some things that are a little big on me for when we go shopping tomorrow.”

            “Why would we need to go shopping?” Kryptongirl asked, picking up one of the large button down shirts.

            “Well, you’ll need some clothes and things of your own, and probably a set of glasses,” Canary explained.

            “…But I have perfect vision,” Kryptongirl replied, tilting her head to the side.

            Canary laughed. “Well, yeah, but you’ll need a little bit of a disguise in your civilian form. You want to know something?”

            “Alright,” Kryptongirl agreed.

            “Okay, but you can’t tell Superman I let you know—he wears glasses in his civilian form,” Canary explained. “Since he doesn’t wear a mask when he goes on patrols or to save the day.”

            “Then what do you do?” Kryptongirl asked.

            “Oh, we’ll that’s a little more complicated.” Canary grinned at her. She reached up into her scalp and began digging around until several snapping sounds were heard in the room. She pulled off her head of bright blonde hair, and revealed a pixie cut of black hair held back by a wrap.

            “And you wear that when you fight crime?” Kryptongirl asked.

            “Hasn’t fallen off yet,” Canary replied with a grin. “Hard to believe I know, but it works. Do you want to take a shower? You’re covered in debris.”

            “Um, alright,” Kryptongirl agreed. She wondered if she could manage a shower…she had seen pictures in her mind, but no real instructions.

            Canary smiled at her. “Do you want some help? Did they teach you to shower at Cadmus?”

            “Um, not really,” Kryptongirl replied. “I mean, I know things—I’ve seen pictures.”

            “But you’ve never done it,” Canary added, with a nod. “Alright. I’ll get you a towel and you can start getting out of that solar suit.”

            Canary left the room, and Kryptongirl tugged at the solar suit, pulling it down around her shoulders and past her waist. Canary re-entered and held out a towel for her, helping to wrap it around.

            “I want you to know,” Black Canary told her, “That this isn’t entirely normal. If someone ever tries something like this with you and you don’t feel comfortable you tell them no and get out of there.”

            “You mean if someone tried to…” Kryptongirl searched for the word. “Rape me?”

            “Or assault you in any way,” Black Canary told her. “It doesn’t matter if you’re super strong, people may still try. Man or woman for that matter—things aren’t always as simple as they seem. You’ll learn to use your discretion more as you go, but I want you to be prepared.”

            “Okay,” Kryptongirl agreed, nodding.

            “Now let’s show you the shower—a bath may be simpler for now,” Black Canary said, more to herself than Kryptongirl.

            Canary showed her how to fill the bathtub with water, which products to use on which part of herself, and how to use the shower nozzle to rinse off (which, as Kryptongirl understood, was how one used the shower to bathe, just without filling the tub first).

            “Bathing is complicated,” Kryptongirl remarked, as Canary helped her out of the tub and to dry off.

            “Kid, you don’t know the half of it,” Canary replied. “Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to do your hair and put on a little makeup. Then we’ll go clothes shopping, and if you’re up to it, I’ll explain social constructs of male and female.”

            “I think I know those!” Kryptongirl exclaimed, a smile jumping to her face. For some reason, Kryptongirl realized, she had the strange urge to please Black Canary.

            “Well, we’ll just pick up some books to supplement,” Canary replied with a smile. “Now, why don’t you get changed and try to get some sleep?”

            It occurred to Kryptongirl that Black Canary might like to shower and go to sleep as well. “Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll try.”

            “Not tired huh?” Canary asked with another sympathetic smile. “Well, if you can’t sleep, I’ve got some books in there you can go through.” 

            “Thank you,” Kryptongirl replied, wrapping the towel around herself. She walked back across the hall to the guest room, and closed the door behind her. Kryptongirl dressed in some of the clothes Black Canary had laid out on the bed and then folded the rest and put them away. She pulled the sheet and blankets which covered the bed back and slid underneath them, as she knew one was supposed to do. Kryptongirl closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But lying flat on her back did not help it seemed.

            After thirty minutes she slid back out of the bed and perused Black Canary’s books. Picking one out, she sat up on the bed and began to read. When she had finished the book, she checked the clock again, and found it to be nearly four in the morning. Kryptongirl sighed and lay back on the bed again. She closed her eyes and tried to think of sleep, but the only time she had ever slept, she had been in a pod, standing up. 

            Kryptongirl blinked, and got off of the bed. She moved across the room to where a closet door stood in the wall. Kryptongirl opened the door and entered the relatively bare closet, leaning against the wall. She fell asleep before she knew it.

 

            Dinah rapped her guest bedroom door at about ten in the morning. She had been up for over an hour now and had prepared breakfast, but she had not heard from Kryptongirl.

            “Kryptongirl?” she asked. Dinah reached for the doorknob and turned it, letting herself into the room. The covers of the bed had been flipped back, but Kryptongirl was not there. Dinah frowned. Had the girl left, while Dinah had been asleep? Then Dinah heard a slight rustle from the closet. Her instincts running on high, Dinah moved slowly toward the closet and opened it up.

            She sighed when she saw Kryptongirl fast asleep, leaning up against the closet wall. “Kryptongirl,” Dinah called softly.

            Kryptongirl’s eyes snapped open, but they softened when she recognized Dinah.

            “Couldn’t sleep in the bed, could you?” Dinah asked.

            “I liked the closet,” Kryptongirl replied. “It reminded me of my pod.”

            Dinah smiled at the girl. “Well, I found you some clothes, but come eat breakfast first, and then we can get dressed to go shopping.”

            “Alright,” Kryptongirl agreed, stepping out of the closet.

            Dinah led the way to the breakfast table and served up eggs and toast to Kryptongirl. “Do you have any idea where you might like to go first?” Dinah asked.

            The clone girl took a bite of scrambled egg and shook her head. “You can decide.”

            “Clothes first, then,” Dinah decided, taking a sip of coffee. “We’ll stop by the book store and a few more places to get you other things you might need. Have you thought of any names yet?

            “Names for what?” Kryptongirl asked.

            “Names you might like to be called,” Dinah clarified.

            “But I am already called Kryptongirl.”

            “Yes, but you need a name for your secret identity as well. I’m Black Canary when I’m fighting crime, but I’m called Dinah Lance when I’m acting as a civilian,” Dinah explained. “That’s what you’ll call me when we’re out and about as well.”

            “Oh,” Kryptongirl replied. She rolled her bottom lip under her top row of teeth, and then dragged it back out slowly. “So I would need a given name and a surname as well?”

            “That’s right,” said Dinah with a nod. She thought about if she should tell Kryptongirl that Superman’s surname was “Kent,” but decided that Kryptongirl could decide what she wanted for herself.

            “Alright,” Kryptongirl agreed, processing the information. Black Canary was to be called “Dinah” when they were not in uniform. She would need a name for when they were not in uniform as well. “Dinah, how do I find names that I might like to be called?”
            “We’ll pick up a book of baby names when we go to the bookstore,” Dinah replied. “You can look through it and pick out one that you want.

            “Okay,” Kryptongirl agreed again, before she started in on her eggs and toast again.

            They finished eating and then began to dress. Dinah had picked out an older blouse and skirt that were just barely big enough for Kryptongirl to wear. Luckily, though, Roy had left a set of his boots at the house, which looked nice enough for Kryptongirl to wear while they went out shopping.

            “I like these boots,” Kryptongirl admitted.

            “We’ll get you some others, then, so we can give these back to Roy,” Dinah said. “Now, I thought we would try a bit of everything so we can see what you like to wear. And I talked to Green Arrow before I went to bed last night—he gave me the go ahead to use one of his credit cards, so don’t worry about the cost, we can get whatever you want.”

            “Okay,” said Kryptongirl.

            Dinah only smiled at her.

            They left Dinah’s apartment and went to her car to go to downtown Metropolis. “It’s not far,” Dinah explained as they walked. “But, I’ll want to drive a little closer to the biggest cluster of shops, so we can dump the bags every now and then and not have to walk around with them.”

            “But why? I can carry them,” Kryptongirl offered.

            “But you don’t look like you can carry a bunch of bags from store to store,” Dinah explained. “Plus, it would get cumbersome after a while if they aren’t all that heavy. Come on, your first car ride won’t kill you.”

            In truth, Kryptongirl did not mind walking. But she could break a car and thought she probably might if she rode in one. Nevertheless, she slid into the passenger seat and buckled herself into Dinah’s small sedan. The ride was mercifully short and Kryptongirl exited less gracefully than she entered. Dinah laughed at her and led the way toward the shopping district.

            Kryptongirl followed Dinah and they partook in “window shopping” at first to see what caught Kryptongirl’s eye. Display windows filled with mannequins, fabric clinging to the curves of the headless forms, lined the sidewalks. Kryptongirl reviewed what she knew of women’s fashion and thought it might be nice to wear skirts and dresses, as it would be what was expected of her. But she also might have wanted some pants for when it was cold and she needed to pretend it affected her. She would need mission clothes too—skirts would not do then.

            “This one looks nice,” she said, stopping in front of a boutique. It had dresses and skirts, patterned and colorful, as well as pants of all kinds.

            “Alright!” Dinah exclaimed. “Let’s see what we can’t find in your size.”

            They entered the shop, and an attendant greeted them. Dinah began flitting around the shop picking a few things out. Kryptongirl followed after briefly before Dinah shooed her away to make other selections. Kryptongirl had no idea what to select, but she guessed she was supposed to pick things aesthetically pleasing to her as well as comfortable.

            She began picking out things in various shades of blue and red which she liked. Kryptongirl added a few things in greys and blacks which worked well to mute the other bright cloth. When she had made a few selections, Dinah found her and looked over her choices. “Primary colors,” Dinah muttered. “I should have known. You’re not allowed to leave here with just red and blue, you have to pick out other colors too.”

            “Why?” Kryptongirl asked.

            “Because those are Superman’s colors, sweetie, and we don’t want anyone making too close of an association,” Dinah explained. “Here, you can try some of this on, and we’ll see what fits and how it looks on you.”

            This part seemed a little…monotonous, Kryptongirl decided. She would pull on some of the store’s clothing—which all seemed to fit her thanks to Dinah’s good eye—and then she would show Dinah, who decided whether or not it looked good on her. Dinah would try to explain about colors and what went well with Kryptongirl’s skin and hair. Most of it went over Kryptongirl’s head, but some of it stuck. When they left they had a sizable stack of clothing for her.

            “We can always go back out later, if you need something else,” Dinah told her. “But this should keep you going for a while.”

            Next they visited a store which sold shoes, and repeated the process, only with fewer results (and Kryptongirl did not understand why she needed many types, but Dinah insisted it was important). Then, they went to an electronic store to purchase some things Dinah again insisted were important, and finally they made it to the bookstore.

            “You can look around and see if you find anything you like,” said Dinah. “I’ll grab you some necessary books.”

            “Okay,” Kryptongirl agreed. She meandered around the large store, running her eyes over the covers of the books. The section of science fiction and fantasy books interested her the most, though. She found there were several books to series and proclaimed “classics” which looked rather interesting. Kryptongirl picked a few off the wall and wandered over to where Dinah stood in the young adult section.

            “Like sci-fi, do you?” Dinah asked with a smile.

            “I don’t know,” Kryptongirl replied honestly. “But I thought I would try it.”

            “That sounds good,” Dinah told her. “Let’s get these and we can head back to the apartment.”

            Kryptongirl nodded and followed her to the register. They returned to the car and placed the books in the back seat with the other purchases.

            “I’m starving,” Dinah announced. “Where do you want to go for a late lunch?”

            “You pick,” Kryptongirl replied, deciding she had decided enough for the day.

            Dinah smiled at her. “Alright—burgers it is. Come on, I’ll take you to a themed diner where Superman will serve us shakes.”

            Kryptongirl tilted her head, smiling at the thought.

 

—End Chapter One— 

Chapter Text

            Kryptongirl groaned as she felt Dinah touch her shoulder.

            “Had trouble falling asleep again?” Dinah asked with a sympathetic frown on her face.

            “I don’t think I can sleep in a bed,” Kryptongirl replied stepping out of her closet. It was the third night in a row she had tried to sleep in a bed, and the third night she had failed and went to sleep in the closet. Her new clothing made it more difficult now, but she still managed.

            “Well, I have some good news,” Dinah told her. “Batman’s made his decision.”

            Kryptongirl perked up, feeling the excitement well up in her as an increased heartbeat and a flush across her cheeks. “What did he say? Do I get to see the others?”

            Dinah laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “Come on, girly, let’s have breakfast and I’ll tell you what’s what.”

            Instead of finding breakfast laid out on the table, Dinah had Kryptongirl help her prepare a small meal of eggs and toast. Thankfully, she burned nothing, though the eggs came out as more soggy than over easy. “That’s alright,” Dinah told her. “You’ll learn.” As they sat at the breakfast table and began to dig into their food, Dinah kept talking. “Bats reached me over the comm this morning to tell me to take you to Mount Justice up in New Hampshire.”

            “Why are we going there?” Kryptongirl asked, tilting her head. “I thought the Justice League base was in Washington DC.”

            “It is,” Dinah said. “But it’s not going to be a Justice League base—not anymore anyway. It’s going to be your base—the team’s that is.”

            “We get to stay together?” Kryptongirl exclaimed, jumping up. Though she barely knew them, the past three days she had not seen her companions had filled Kryptongirl’s heart with a kind of ache she could not give a name to. She missed them.

            Dinah laughed and stood up as well. She reached out for Kryptongirl, wrapping her arms around the younger woman. Kryptongirl stiffened at first, but relaxed into Dinah’s embrace. “Yes, sweetheart, you get to stay with your team. Though I have a feeling you would have found a way around all of the adults had we not said yes.” Dinah pulled back and reached to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Kryptongirl’s ear. “In any case, when we’re there, we can talk to Batman about getting you a costume, but for now we’ll have to zeta over in your civilian clothes. It shouldn’t matter—the others will probably be dressed the same.”

            “I have clothes which could serve the purpose of a costume,” Kryptongirl replied, as they reseated themselves at the table. “I have a practical set of pants and boots, as well as a shirt bearing the…” She trailed off, not sure how to describe the mark which inscribed Superman’s chest.

            “Oh, girly, your costume will need to be made of tougher stuff than that,” Dinah told her, taking a sip of coffee.

            Kryptongirl wrinkled her brow. “But why?” she asked. “I’m invulnerable.”

            “But the clothes you have now are not,” Dinah replied. “I speak from experience when I say it is no fun to have them rip and tear when you’re fighting crime.”

            “Your wig stays on, but your clothes tear?” Kryptongirl asked.

            Dinah grinned. “Strange, innit? But if we get you tougher clothes then they should hold up better in a fight, you see?”

            “Yes, I suppose,” Kryptongirl agreed. “Will the boys think less of me if I wear a skirt?” She had known something of gender roles and bias from her time in her pod, but the books Dinah bought for her had only made it clearer that some boys, especially boys her age, believed certain things about women. One was they evaluated the woman’s worth on her dress. Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin had certainly not seemed to judge her when she helped them at Cadmus but she guessed it was different now.

            “Not if they know what’s good for them,” Dinah replied, getting up to refill her coffee cup. “When you finish, go ahead and shower and we’ll do something with that hair of yours before we leave.”

            Kryptongirl opened her mouth to reply, but a knock at the door interrupted her.

            “It’s open!” Dinah called.

            The door opened to reveal a tall red haired man, probably not much older than Kryptongirl’s physical age. He forced a smile at the sight of Dinah. “Hi Di, do you have a minute to talk?”

            “Always a minute for you, boyo.” Dinah turned to her and said, “Kryptongirl, would you mind leaving Roy and I alone for a moment to talk?”

            “Alright, I’ll go and take my shower,” Kryptongirl replied. Dinah had mentioned Roy briefly over the past few days, and every time she did, she frowned involuntarily. Kryptongirl had wanted to ask more about the mysterious Roy, but she did not know if it would be polite to ask.

            “So that’s her, huh?” Roy asked as Kryptongirl walked away.

            “How did you hear?”

            “I went home on the fifth and Ollie and I did talk. I’m not that immature. I just think the explosion at the hall was the result of a lot of things. I needed to move out for one thing—stretch my wings a little. Plus I thought when you all said we were joining the League that we would actually be joining the League.”

            Dinah sighed, and Kryptongirl closed the bathroom door behind her, trying to tune out her superhearing. She found it worked best if she focused on the things all around her—like the spray of the shower, how nice it felt to work her fingers into her scalp. When she finished with the shower, she couldn’t hear Dinah and Roy talking anymore except when she left the bathroom wrapped in a towel to cross the hall to her room.

            Kryptongirl stopped short in the door way.

            When had that happened? She had only been here three days, but already she thought of Dinah’s spare room as her bedroom. Kryptongirl realized that she had started to think of Dinah’s apartment as a new home and Dinah as….as…something more than a host. She missed her friends. She thought of them as her friends. She wanted to be a part of this team. But she didn’t want to leave here either.

            “Do you do that a lot?”

            Kryptongirl turned to see Roy looking at her as he paused in front of the bathroom door. She did not speak to him, only closed the door to her room in his face.

            “She’s a real charmer, Dinah!” Roy called through the apartment.

            Kryptongirl ignored him as she dried off and picked out her clothes for the day. She picked a white dress with thick straps and indigo flowers blooming near the bottom hem. She pulled on a set of black boots with straps decorating them and a dark, denim jacket cut to her waist.

            “You look very nice,” Dinah told her as she re-entered the main area of the apartment. Pins and clips sprawled on the table in front of her. Roy sat caddy corner to Dinah, arranging a few of them in the shape of a penis, ignoring his eggs and toast.

            “Thank you,” Kryptongirl replied, as she took a seat on the stool in front of Dinah to let the older woman style her hair.

            “So, kid, you pick out a name yet?” Roy asked.

            “Kryptongirl,” she replied as Dinah began to twist her hair along the side of her head, pinning as she went.

            “No, I mean a civilian name,” Roy corrected. “You can’t just go around telling everyone you’re Kryptongirl.”

            “Why not?” she asked.

            “Because, it’s one of the rules of the game,” Roy replied, rolling his eyes. He picked up his fork and stabbed a piece. “We just don’t do it.”

            Kryptongirl rolled her eyes back at him. “I haven’t decided yet.”

            “Is the baby book helping, or do you think you would like another one?” Dinah asked as she finished pinning the sides of her head and began to work on looping the rest of Kryptongirl’s hair into a bun at the base of her neck.

            “No, it is,” Kryptongirl told her, resisting the urge to turn and look Dinah in the eye. It felt odd not to look her in the eye. “I just…I’m still thinking.”

            “Well, take your time—there’s no rush,” Dinah assured her.

            “Yeah, unless you want to register for school for this autumn,” Roy added, taking a bite of his eggs.

            Kryptongirl couldn’t see it, but she felt sure Dinah was glaring at him. “You can have all the time you want, Kryptongirl.”

            “Thank you,” she replied, unsure of what else to say and unwilling to let Roy take the conversation again.

            “You’re welcome, and you’re all done.” Dinah handed her a mirror and held one behind Kryptongirl’s head so that Kryptongirl could see what her hair looked like. Dinah had twisted her hair and pinned the twists to the side of her head and then wrapped the rest of it in a bun on top of the nape of her neck.

            “I like it,” Kryptongirl declared as she got a good look.

            “Good, because I don’t think we had time to do much else with it.” Dinah chuckled and kissed her cheek before rising out of the chair.

            For some reason, the comment made the familiar feeling of anger well up in Kryptongirl’s chest. But why? she wondered. She could surmise that Dinah had made a joke, but it did not make this feeling inside of her go away so easily.

            “Are you alright, kid?”

            Kryptongirl’s attention snapped up to Roy, whose brow had drawn together as he stared at her. “I’m fine,” Kryptongirl told him. She stood, brushed off her skirt and turned to Dinah. “Are we going then?” she asked.

            “Yes indeed,” she replied, fixing a skirt over her fishnets. She wore a different jacket than she normally did and had a bag over her shoulder. Dinah must have noticed Kryptongirl’s head cocked to the side because she laughed and added, “I really shouldn’t go around in my uniform while I’m not on patrol—especially if you’re in civilian clothes. But I’ll need to be able to change quickly when we get to the base. Roy, lock up when you leave, would you boyo?”

            “Sure,” Roy replied. “Have fun on your play date, kiddo.”

            “Thank you,” Kryptongirl said, watching Roy’s face contort into a scowl. She wondered if she had missed something that would cause him to react in such a way. Perhaps, she thought as they walked out of the door, he had been employing a form of humorous insincerity—sarcasm.

            “Oh! I almost forgot!” Dinah exclaimed as the door closed behind her. She dashed back inside, ignoring Roy’s remark of “Well, that was quick,” and scooped up a set of black frames from the counter. “You, young lady,” Dinah said to her as she stepped back outside of the apartment, “need to start wearing your glasses.”

            Kryptongirl scowled, but the look on Dinah’s face gave her not an inch. She sighed and slid the black cells onto her face. “May we go now?”

            “Certainly, my dear,” said Dinah, taking Kryptongirl’s arm. Kryptongirl had no idea why Dinah would do this, but decided to go with it.

            The route to the zeta tube seemed different (and longer) walking on the streets, instead of racing across the roof tops. Dinah hummed quietly to herself, but made no attempt to engage Kryptongirl in conversation. Kryptongirl wondered if Dinah was just as nervous as she. After all, depending on Batman’s decision, Kryptongirl might never see her friends again—she might be taken away from Dinah or even given back to Cadmus.

            On second thought, Kryptongirl doubted Batman would do that, but all the same. Seeing her friends again, telling them the name she had picked for herself, all she had learned—looking into her future, where she might be tomorrow, instead of today. It felt like she still had a lot to think about, and not a lot of time to do it.

            When they came to the zeta tube entrance, Dinah changed her jacket and slipped off the skirt she wore, depositing the extra clothes into a bag on her shoulder. “You go first, sweetheart,” Dinah said.

            Kryptongirl desperately tried to squash the feeling in her stomach as she stepped forward for the reader to scan her form. The reader chirped and Kryptongirl felt engulfed by light.

            “Recognized Kryptongirl B03,” said a synthesized voice above her head.

            Kryptongirl blinked to make the spots fade from her eyes and stepped out of the way of the zeta tube just as the computer voice spoke again, “Recognized Black Canary 13,” and then Dinah appeared over her shoulder.

            “Hey KG!” 

            Kryptongirl whirled again, almost wondering if this is what it felt like to be dizzy and saw the three boys standing in center of a vast hall carved out of a mountain. “Wow,” she whispered.

            “It is a sight, isn’t it?” Dinah asked, resting a hand on Kryptongirl’s shoulder. “Go join your friends.”

            Kryptongirl nodded and jogged across the room to where the three of them stood.

            “Nice duds, KG,” Robin complimented her. He wore jeans, a red sweatshirt, a jacket, and dark shades obscuring his eyes. Kid Flash dressed similarly, only without a sweatshirt or shades and Aqualad appeared to have pulled a high collared jacket over his wetsuit.

            “Yeah, you actually look like a girl,” Kid Flash added.

            Kryptongirl furrowed her eyebrow, somewhat intentionally. “How could clothing make me look masculine or feminine?”

            “Uhh…” Kid Flash stuttered. He flushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Nevermind—youlooknice.”

            “You do look quite put together,” Aqualad added.

            “Thank you,” Kryptongirl replied. Her eyes turned back to the cave around her, before she looked toward Robin. “Why did Batman call us here specifically?”

            Robin grinned. “Oh, you’ll see. The surprise is way too good to ruin.” He jerked his head up in a nod and she turned to see Batman, Black Canary and Red Tornado gathered in the center with them. Black Canary smiled at her. Batman and Tornado remained stoic. Captain Marvel, Hawkman and Aquaman joined them, while the Flash appeared by his own protégée.

            Batman paced in front of them. “This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We’re calling it into service again. Since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you’ll do it on League terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor and Black Canary will supervise all training. I will deploy you on missions.”

            “Real missions?” Robin asked.

            “Yes, but covert.”

            “The League will still handle the obvious stuff,” said the Flash, tapping his chest. “There’s a reason we have these targets on our chests.”

            Aquaman stepped forward. “But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team who can operate on the sly.”

            “The five of you will be that team,” Batman added.

            “Cool!” Robin exclaimed. “Wait, five?”

            The adults all looked past them, so the four of them turned to look as well, where they saw the Martian Manhunter, with a green-skinned girl their own age.

            “This is the Martian Manhunter’s niece, Miss Martian,” Batman introduced.

            “Hi!” she said with a wave.

            “I’m liking this gig more and more,” Kid Flash muttered to Robin. “Welcome aboard!” he added, louder, to Ms. Martian. “I’m Kid Flash, this is Robin, Aqualad—it’s cool if you forget their names.”

            Miss Martian beamed at him. “I am honored to be included.”

            The two mentioned simply shook their heads at Kid Flash but joined him in greeting their new team mate.

            Kryptongirl watched as she felt a presence over her shoulder. She turned to find Batman looming over her. “Have you made a decision?” he asked. “Mount Justice does have live in facilities, should you like.”

            “Oh…” Kryptongirl muttered. She had not realized that this part would actually be up to her. “I would like to stay with Black Canary, if that’s alright.” She turned to Canary who only nodded and smiled.

            “It’s alright with me.”

            “Very well,” Batman said. “You will need to work on composing an identity, as well as a background story. Canary informed us you have thought of a civilian ID.”

            He paused, and after a moment Kryptongirl realized he meant for her to share it. “Um, Larisa,” she replied. “Larisa Wyatt. Lara, for short.”

            Batman narrowed his eyes at her, though Kryptongirl was not sure what she could have done to illicit such a reaction. After a moment he spoke again, “Have you given any thought if you might like a middle name? Such things are quite common.”

            “Julia was my second choice for a name,” Kryptongirl admitted with a little shrug.

            Batman nodded. “I will work up a back story for you to approve. Until then, you will be expected to obey Black Canary and live within her rules.”

            “I will,” Kryptongirl replied.

            “Good.” The way Batman said it left no room for argument.

            “Hey Kryptongirl!” Robin called, interrupting them at the perfect moment. “Come meet Miss M!”

            Kryptongirl turned back to her friends and walked the short distance to join them.

            Miss Martian smiled shyly at her, and as she did, flowers bloomed over her white tee-shirt. “I like your dress,” said Ms. Martian.

            “Thank you,” Kryptongirl replied with a smile of her own.

            “Today is the day,” Aqualad told them.

            Miss Martian blinked at her, and Kryptongirl could only shrug—but Robin and Kid Flash seemed to understand, so maybe they would get it in time.

 

            Miss Martian floated around the kitchen preparing cookie dough. Kryptongirl sat on the couch reading a book—one of the ones Dinah had bought her on socially constructed gender roles. Kryptongirl would like to have said that the book completely engrossed her, but Miss Martian insisted on humming as she mixed her cookie dough. Lara did not know why, but Miss Martian humming thoroughly distracted her.

            “Do you like reading?”

            Kryptongirl look up to see Miss Martian floating onto a couch caddy corner to her. Kryptongirl cleared her throat and loosed her grip on the book in her hands. “I like what I’ve read so far,” she replied.

            “What are you reading now?” Miss Martian asked.

            “A book about gender dysphoria,” replied Kryptongirl. “Black Canary says that even as a cisgendered person I should understand what others might be going through.”

            “And what’s gender dysphoria?” Miss Martian asked, her brow furrowing.

            “It’s when—”

            “Recognized Aqualad B02,” announced the cave computer.

            “Oh!” Miss Martian exclaimed. “I wonder if that means the others will be here soon too?”

            “Probably,” said Kryptongirl, standing. She reached to fluff out her skirt as she had become accustomed to doing, only to remember that she wore her new uniform—to break it in Dinah had said. “We should go meet them,” she added, marking her place in the book and snapping it shut.

            “Good idea!” said Miss Martian, beginning to float again. “Will you tell me more about your book later, then?”

            “Um, sure,” Kryptongirl agreed—she had not quite been expecting that. She shrugged. “You can borrow it when I’m finished if you like.”

            “Okay, that might be nice,” said Miss Martian. “I don’t really know as much about earth culture as I would like. Mostly what I know I got from watching television, so a book might be a nice change of pace.”

            “Interesting,” said Kryptongirl, though she didn’t really think that. From what she knew about television—and from what Dinah and some of the books she read told her—most television shows inaccurately portrayed life. Books did too, she supposed—even non-fiction had something called bias which Kryptongirl had yet to quite figure out. But all the same, she wondered what TV M’gann had been watching. Most of it seemed fictional—and for that matter what television channels did they get on Mars?

            “Kryptongirl?”

            Kryptongirl looked up and realized that they had walked all the way to the main entrance without her really noticing. Aqualad and Miss Martian stood in the center of the room, both looking at her. “Sorry, I was thinking,” she replied, walking over to join them. “How are you Aqualad? I heard you, Robin, and Kid Flash went on a mission a few days ago.”

            Aqualad flushed. “I am well, thank you. The mission…well, we were lucky that it did not go too horribly. How did you hear about it?”

            “Red Arrow came over and…what’s the word—bitched about it to Dinah. He said that you all invited him to join too.”

            Miss Martian gasped, probably at her choice of the word bitched.

            But the look on Aqualad’s face shifted to relief, as if he were no longer as embarrassed about the incident Kryptongirl mentioned. He chuckled. “Is that what Speedy calls himself now? Yes…he was not well enthused about joining the Team. I am glad he still keeps on good terms with Black Canary though. She is almost as a mother to him. And you all, I here you suffered an incident here as well?”

            “We are fine,” Kryptongirl said. “I was sad the G-Gnome had to leave though. I wish she could have stayed.”

            “It did seem like a very sweet creature,” Miss Martian admitted. “But I was very surprised at its psychic ability! I would have liked to spend more time with a creature I could communicate with naturally.”

            Kryptongirl felt a hot feeling, much like anger well up in her chest at Miss Martian’s words. She could vaguely tell that she did not like what Miss Martian said, that it make her angry, but Kryptongirl could not fathom why, which irked her even more.

            “Well, I am glad things ended well,” Aqualad admitted. “For all of us. Hopefully, the mission today should be more successful than the…encounters our split parts have had.”

            “What mission?” Kryptongirl asked.

            Aqualad blinked. “Aquaman told me that when Red Tornado arrived at Mount Justice today he would give us a mission. Did your mentors not inform you?”

            “Uncle J’onn has been on Watchtower duty for the past few days, and well, I’ve been here,” Miss Martian said. “I’m sure it was an honest mistake, and well, we know now.”

            “Right, honest mistake,” Kryptongirl replied. She had thought for certain they would be bonding as a team, but Dinah hadn’t mentioned anything about a mission. Then again, as far as Kryptongirl knew, Dinah had not been in contact with the League as she had been at home with Kryptongirl.

            Aqualad rested his hands in the air, in such a way that a keyboard formed at his hands. He typed for a few seconds, causing a map to pop in front of them. A red dot seemed to travel from Washington DC up to Rhode Island.

            “Recognized Robin B01, Kid Flash B03.”

            The three of them looked up to see their teammates race from the zeta tube to where they stood.

            “Is he here?” Kid Flash asked.

            “He will arrive soon,” Aqualad announced, as they all looked at the map. “In fact, he is nearly here.”

            “Well, let’s go give him the welcoming committee!” Kid Flash yelled, racing off into another part of the cave. Robin and Miss Martian followed after, laughing as they went. Aqualad smiled at her, and Kryptongirl felt prompted to smile back.

            “It’s this way,” he told her, gesturing toward one of the hallways. As they walked he asked, “Do you feel upset you were not informed about the possible mission?”

            “Yes,” Kryptongirl forced out. Feeling seemed out of her range still—she had no trouble experiencing a wide range of emotion, though controlling them and talking about them still baffled her.

            “It is alright to feel upset when you think you are excluded,” Aqualad told her. “It is alright to feel angry.”

            “But it seems the smallest things make me angry,” Kryptongirl replied. “And then I get angry—well, frustrated might be a better word—that I’m angered so easily.”

            “It all comes with time,” Aqualad assured her, taking her hand in his.

            For some reason, this made Kryptongirl feel hot, but in a different way than her anger made her feel. This almost felt…good.

            “We all learn how to better control and understand our emotions, I assure you. I still have trouble with my anger and frustration and I know the others do as well,” Aqualad said. “We are young, and we will learn.”

            “Thank you,” she replied, as they entered a bay with a large pool and zeta tube sticking out of the wall. There stood at one end an opening panel out of the wall that came down as a carpet of grass. As soon as it touched the ground, Kid Flash raced up and Robin and Miss Martian followed him. Kryptongirl stopped short of the ramp and squeezed Aqualad’s hand. “Thank you. For talking with me.”

            Aqualad smiled at her, which made Kryptongirl hot again and her heart beat faster. “You are most welcome, my friend,” he said. “And for what it is worth, I like your costume.”

            Kryptongirl looked down at her black shirt, printed with a red s-shield, and smiled. “Thank you,” she repeated. “I like it too.”

            They jogged up to meet the others and Red Tornado as he landed. Kryptongirl hung back as Kid Flash and Robin asked Red Tornado about their mission. She had to admit—it felt just a little satisfying when Red Tornado said that they didn’t have one.

            The others moaned and argued with Red Tornado who eventually just flew away telling them to bond as a team. Even so, Kryptongirl could only half pay attention as Miss Martian showed them around the Mountain. Partly, it was because while she felt, what was the word, vindicated about being right about the missions, she felt bad that it felt so good when the others had been wrong. Part of it was because her nose was acting up.

            “Do you guys smell something burning?” she asked.

            Miss Martian’s eyes flew wide. “My cookies!” she shouted and flew off toward the kitchen.

            The others followed at an amused pace, arriving to watch M’gann pull charred cookies from the oven. “Oh! They’re ruined!” M’gann complained.

            Kid Flash took one off the tray and popped it into his mouth. “Tastes just fine,” he said.

            “Really?” she asked. “Oh! Thank you!”

            “It was sweet of you to make them for us,” said Aqualad, though he did not reach for a cookie.

            “Thank you, Aqualad!” Miss Martian gushed.

            “We are off duty, you may call me Kaldur’ahm,” he replied. “Actually, my friends call me Kaldur.”

            “I’m Wally!” Kid Flash volunteered around a mouthful of cookie. “Don’t bother asking Mr. Shades over there, though. Batman’s forbidden him from telling his identity.”

            “Well, Uncle J’onn said nothing about sharing mine—I’m M’gann M’orzz. Though I prefer Megan Morse—I want to fit in as an Earth girl now.” M’gann smiled at them and turned to Kryptongirl. “What about you Kryptongirl? Do you have an Earth name too?”

            The boys turned to her as well, and the attention made Kryptongirl’s throat feel tight. “Lara,” she blurted out. “You can call me Lara, if you want.”

            “Lara…?” Robin prompted.

            “Lara Wyatt,” she replied, wondering about the reason for his question. Robin only smiled though and nodded his head.

            “Good name!” said Wally, taking another bite of cookie. “Did Black Canary help you pick it out?”

            “…she gave me some books,” Lara replied, fidgeting under the gaze of her friends. “On names, some just on stories, I liked Lara the best.”

            “I wonder what I would have picked if I could have named myself,” Wally said, rubbing his chin.

            “Probably something dumb, Wallace,” Robin replied, a wicked grin plastered across his face.

            “Oh shut up, man,” Wally retorted, shoving Robin in the arm. Lara sensed a familiarity, as neither Wally nor Robin appeared truly angry at their exchange.

            “Conner has always been my favorite name out of all the boys’ names,” Megan told them. “I think I still would have picked Megan for mine though.”

            Kaldur shrugged. “I was named after my father—he is an honorable and strong man, so I am proud to share his name. I probably would have picked it also. Why did you pick your name Lara?”

            Lara, who had followed the conversation, happy to have the eyes off of her stumbled over her words as they all turned back to her. “Lara means citadel or stronghold and Wyatt means bravery or battle. I liked that.”

            “That’s way cool,” Wally told her. “All my name means is ‘welsh.’”

            “And it was clearly invented by a dad losing at Scrabble,” Robin replied.

            “That’s not a bloody word! It starts with three l’s!” Wally exclaimed, taking on a British accent.

            “It is a bloody word!” Robin retorted, deepening his voice.

            “Oh yeah, how’s it pronounced?”

            “BLEGH!”

            The two boys broke down into giggles, while the three others just shared a look of confusion.

            “We’ll show you later,” Robin promised, waving off his laughter. “If we do it now, we’ll probably get lost in YouTube clips, and that isn’t exactly bonding time.”

            “Humans are strange,” Lara muttered.

            M’gann giggled, and rolled her eyes. You can say that again!

            Kryptongirl gasped and whirled on her. “DON’T get into my head!” she shouted.

            The room went still.

            “I—I…I’m sorry,” M’gann stuttered. “I do that all the time with others on Mars.”

            “On Earth,” said Aqualad very slowly, his voice as soothing as a wave. Lara felt some of the tension roll out of her shoulders as he spoke. “It is not very polite to go into another’s mind without permission—even for play or light hearted thoughts. And Kryptongirl has had bad experience with those who would invade her mind.”

            “Oh…” M’gann murmured. “Truly, I am sorry, Lara. That’s just something that’s so normal for me. I guess I forgot where I was. It was almost like being with my family on Mars.”

            Lara looked away quite unable to say that she accepted the apology. She didn’t, after all. So it would be a lie to say she did. “Yeah, alright,” she said at last, because she could feel M’gann’s sad eyes on her.

            M’gann brightened up a little. “I can make it up to you,” she offered. “Would you like to see Happy Harbor from the sky?”

            Lara bristled and tried to calm herself all in a matter of a few seconds. It was her greatest failure—not flying. But M’gann couldn’t know that she had not been there, had not seen the look on her face like Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin.

            “That sounds like an excellent idea,” said Aqualad, cutting into the conversation. He caught Lara’s gaze and held it while he spoke. “May we come along?”

            “Sure!” M’gann chirped. “There will be room for all of you.”

            “Where are we going?” Wally asked as M’gann led them through the Mountain.

            “I’m going to show you my ‘flying saucer,’” she replied with a giggle, as she led them into a docking bay where a space ship rested at the far end.

 

            “This…” Kryptongirl grunted as she was knocked aside by Mister Twister once more, “Was a horrible idea!”

            Robin grunted beside her. “Still can’t let him get the best of us.” Robin flashed a grin at her and almost charged back in.

            Wait! cried a voice in their heads. I know I’m not supposed to without permission, so sorry, but I had an idea and this was the only way to contact you.

            M’gann, Kryptongirl grumbled in her head. What did we tell you!

            Please! I need you to listen and to trust me! I know how to work this mission now!

            We are listening, M’gann, said Aqualad as he dodged another attack.

            I’m going to shape shift into Red Tornado. When I show up I’ll pretend to go down and then I can use my telepathy to get a jump on him, and then we can lead a final assault on Mister Twister, M’gann explained. Just be ready to charge in. Aqualad from the water, Kid Flash, I’ll need your help replicating the tornados.

            And me and KG can charge in with some explosives and super strength, Robin added.

            Right! M’gann chirped. I’ll be there in less than a minute.

            True to her word, Red Tornado came flying through the sky. Only they knew that it was not Red Tornado.

            “Hit the showers, children,” M’gann told them.

            As the others protested, Kryptongirl had to admire M’gann’s impression of Tornado. She walked away with the others to take her mark near Robin. Wally stayed close by to assist with making tornados, and Kaldur headed for the water. Kryptongirl watched as M’gann and Wally made tornado effects. After trading a few blows, M’gann let Twister get the better of her.

            The villain let slip tendrils from his fingers, which implanted into M’gann’s head. “Still now, Tornado, the reprograming won’t take long.”

            M’gann grabbed the tendrils, as she shifted back on her original head. “Longer than you might think.”

            Kryptongirl felt herself grin.Okay, that was a little funny.

            M’gann flew at him with her telepathy, then Wally with his speed and fake tornados, before it was her turn to get at him with her super strength. He was the one flying then, right into the ocean for Kaldur to have a turn. For the finale, M’gann ripped off his arms and legs, as well as other important parts of his outward hull.

            The front panel of the robot opened and a man tumbled out. “I give! I give!” he cried.

            M’gann did not reply, but instead lifted up a rock from nearby. Aqualad realized what she was about to do and cried out, “M’gann no!”

            She simply brushed him off and let the rock fall onto the man.

            Robin whirled on her. “I don’t know how they do things on Mars, but on Earth we don’t execute our prisoners!”

            “I thought you said you would trust me,” M’gann replied, calmly and with no small amount of pride. She lifted up the rock again, setting it to the side to reveal the man in parts—robotic parts. “It’s why I couldn’t read his mind,” she explained.

            Kryptongirl snorted at the others’ slackened jaws and again when she saw Wally recovered first, bending down to pick up an eyeball. “Cool!” he declared. “Souvenir!”

            “We should have had more faith in you,” Kaldur told her, resting a hand on M’gann’s shoulder.

            Kryptongirl did not know why but that made her heat up again—with something that was not quite anger. But she agreed with Aqualad—they should have trusted M’gann more.

            “Well, it looks like we need to get all of this back to the Mountain,” Robin moaned.

            “Oh! I can help with that too!” M’gann exclaimed, the Bio-ship appearing overhead. The hull opened up and M’gann levitated the parts inside when the ship had landed.

            “I think I’m gonna go for a run,” said Wally, lowering his goggles again. “I’ll meet you guys back there in a few.” With that he sped off and left Robin, Aqualad and Kryptongirl to follow Miss Martian into the ship.

            “Does he always do that?” M’gann asked, taking her seat in the Captain’s chair.

            “Sometimes after a fight,” Robin replied with a shrug. “It helps him work off the adrenaline.”

            “A good thing to know,” Aqualad remarked. “I would hate to think one of my teammates would just run off without informing us first.”

            Robin bristled. “Yeah,” he agreed. “That would be bad.”

            Kryptongirl cocked her head to the side, but decided not to ask just now what had happened between them. Clearly, Aqualad had attempted to address something which irked him, and Robin had understood, though neither of them overtly acknowledged or seemed pleased about their mutual understanding. Odd. They were, as her books would tell her, being passive aggressive, something not typically found in boys their age.

            When they returned to the Mountain, M’gann off loaded the parts into the main room. Kaldur, Robin, and Wally, when he returned, set about analyzing the parts and Red Tornado eventually came down to help. Though, his helping mostly consisted of watching the boys do their work. Lara had no idea how to help, nor it seemed did M’gann, who instead focused on talking to Tornado.

            “If you’re in danger,” M’gann said. Lara blinked and realized she had tuned out for a moment.

            “It is none of your concern,” Red Tornado replied. “Though I thank you.”

            M’gann’s shoulders dropped, but her face wore something resembling a smile.

            Wally and Robin stepped forward to watch him go.

            “Flash, Batman, or Aquaman, they all would have stepped in without a second thought,” Wally observed.

            Robin snorted. “Yeah, I guess if we’re going to have a babysitter, a heartless machine would be the best choice.”

            “Dude!” Wally exclaimed. “Harsh!”

            “And inaccurate: I have a heart,” Red Tornado intoned, stopping where he stood. “Carbon-steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing.”

            Lara watched as Robin flushed red. “Sorry…” he apologized. “In the future, I’ll try to be more…accurate.”

            “And more respectful,” Aqualad suggested as he laid a hand on Robin’s shoulder.

            A sharp pang of anger hit Lara in the stomach—the same feeling she had known when Kaldur patted M’gann on the back at the Harbor. Was this…was this jealousy? She certainly had no more right to Kaldur’ahm than any of their other teammates. Lara looked up at him, and saw that he was watching her. He smiled, and jerked his head softly toward M’gann. Right, her apology.

            “Speedy was so wrong,” Wally said as he, Kaldur and Robin began to walk off. “This team thing…”

            “It might just work out,” Kaldur added.

            “M’gann?” Lara said, not quite looking up from the floor. “May I talk with you a moment?”

            “Ah! Sure…” M’gann replied.

            “I wanted to say sorry,” Lara started. “About earlier—about getting mad. Listen, I guess I just wasn’t expecting it and with what happened with the G-Gnome a couple of days ago and well…I get kind of easily annoyed.”

            M’gann gasped. “You think I’m annoying?” Her voice cracked as she spoke, like she might cry.

            Lara’s head shot up and saw that M’gann’s face was indeed scrunched up—an indicator that she was about to cry. “No! Nonono!” Lara exclaimed. Though…that wasn’t exactly true. “I mean—maybe… I don’t know! I don’t really know you yet, as a person I mean…I’m sorry…there’s nothing wrong with you M’gann I promise. I just…I’m no good with people yet…”

            Lara looked away filling up with shame. Why did she have so many emotions?

            M’gann sniffed.  “…I still have a lot to learn too. Maybe we could learn together?”

            Lara looked up through her lashes to see M’gann was smiling a little and most definitely not crying. “Yeah…yeah okay,” she agreed.

            “Do you maybe want to go see a movie this weekend, then?” M’gann asked. “Or two, we could both pick one?”

            “That sounds…” Actually that sounded really nice, Lara thought. “That sounds good,” she decided.

            M’gann smiled full and bright at her. “C’mon, the boys were talking about s’mores.”

            “What are s’mores?” Lara asked, wrinkling her nose. Her education had not included information about them.

            “I don’t know, but I’ve always wanted to try them!” M’gann exclaimed linking arms with Lara and pulling her toward the same hall the boys had used.

            Lara stiffened, but relaxed eventually and let herself be pulled along.

 

Kyrptongirl did not see the point in malls. She supposed they made some sort of economic sense—having many shops in one place would allow for easier purchases from each, perhaps tempt buyers into going to other places rather than simply the one they came to see. Still, they made Lara feel weary and soon, she would go and find a nice place to sit in the bookstore until Dinah got off work.

            Still, she had promised Dinah that she would look around, try to get used to being around large crowds of people. The other thing she had to do today was decide which school she might like to attend in the fall, which seemed more appealing than being around the large crowds of people. Lara sighed and kept walking through the mall.

            It was only when she stopped by the music store that she stopped feeling quite so anxious about being around others. Something inside drew her in, though Lara didn’t quite know what until she caught sight of a grand piano, a book of music laid out on the piano stand. She set her bag down near the feet and seated herself on the bench, letting her fingers rest on the black and white keys before she really knew what she was doing.

            A song came into her head and Lara let it pour out through her fingers. She tried not to think too hard about it, she felt certain if she did she would stop, instantly unable to continue. After all, she had not realized that playing the piano was part of her Cadmus education—but that was the only place from which she could have gained the ability. It almost made Lara want to stop and hate this new found ability, but she liked the way the music sounded coming from her finger tips, she liked the way the piano chimed at her command and the way she felt so in control here in this moment.

            The song came to a close; someone close to her shoulder began clapping. Lara startled and looked up to find a dark haired boy standing next to her. “Whoa!” he exclaimed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you.”

            “That’s alright,” Lara replied, swallowing down a spike of anger and annoyance. She tried smiling to be kind. “I was just startled—I sort of got lost in playing.”

            “Happens to me all the time,” he admitted, smiling at her. “Is that for an audition, or did you just learn it to keep up?”

            “Um…I was just interested in it,” Lara replied with a shrug. “I like Schubert, I guess…he’s…he just is,” she said at last.

            He smiled at her again. “Well, I wish I could play like you. I’m auditioning for MMSAS in a month and I still don’t feel ready.”

            “Em-sass?” Lara asked, tilting her head to the side.

            The boy took a seat next to her on the bench. “Yeah! I’m surprised you don’t know. It’s the Metropolis Magnet School for the Arts and Sciences. Most people call it MMSAS for short. Anyway, they have amazing music programs. I auditioned to get in freshman year but I wasn’t quite good enough. This year, I feel more prepared, but you know how it is when you have a big audition.”

            “Yeah,” Lara agreed, though she really didn’t. “I’ll have to ask my guardian about seeing if I can’t get in to audition—I just moved to town, so we’re still looking for schools.”

            “Oh you should definitely sign up!” he replied. “I wouldn’t hesitate, though, there’s only a few days left that you can since auditions are in mid-August. Besides even if you get in you could go somewhere else if you wanted to.”
            “I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks for the tip,” Lara told him.

            “I’m Greg, by the way,” he said, holding out his hand.

            “Lara,” she replied, squeezing and shaking it with her own hand. “Nice to meet you.”

            “Nice to meet you too,” he replied. “Hey! If you’ve just moved to town, does that mean you don’t really have access to a piano?”

            “Oh! Yeah, actually it does,” Lara told him. “I’ll have to ask Dinah if we can’t get a cheap keyboard somewhere.”

            “I actually know someone who’s selling one if you’re interested,” Greg told her. “Could I maybe give you my number?”

            “Sure,” Lara replied. She pulled her new cell phone free from her bag and opened up the contacts page. So far she only had Dinah, Wally, Roy and Oliver Queen (the last number she had never really used, but it was just in case of emergency). She opened up a new contact sheet, and pulled up the picture slot. “Say cheese,” she ordered Greg.

            He smiled as the camera flash went off and then she handed over her phone to him so he could enter his information. Greg typed quickly, and then handed it back before he pulled out his own phone. “I sent myself a text,” he explained. “So I have your number, I just need your name and stuff.”

            Lara typed in her name and an email Roy had insisted she get (she did not know why Roy bothered her about things like that or even spent much time with her. She suspected that it might be at Dinah’s insistence), before she handed it back to him.

            “Smile,” he told her before his camera flash went off.

            Lara attempted to smile and had no idea if the camera actually captured it.

            “Gregory!” a woman called at the front of the store.

            Greg looked up with a slight frown as she walked over to the two of them. “There you are! I was looking everywhere; I should have known you would be here though. Who’s your friend?”

            “Lara Wyatt, ma’am,” Lara said, standing up and offering out her hand.

            “Nice to meet you, sweetie, but we’ve got to get Greg’s sister from soccer practice,” the woman (presumably Greg’s mother) said. “Did you get what you needed, Greg?”

            “Yeah, um I’ll see you later, Lara?” he asked turning toward her.

            “Definitely,” Lara replied, picking up her bag.

            As Greg and his mother walked one way and Lara walked the other she tuned in to them talking.

            “She seemed pretty.”

            “Mom, we just met. She was probably just being nice.”

            “Well, you won’t know till you call her.”

            “Yeah…maybe,” Greg replied.

            “There you are.”

            Lara looked up to see Roy standing in front of her. “I’ve been looking for you all over the mall,” Roy complained.

            “Why?” Lara asked.
            Roy rolled his eyes. “Dinah can’t come get you—she has an emergency session so she asked me to pick you up.”

            “Oh,” Lara replied. “I think she meant at like four or something.”

            “It’s almost five,” Roy retorted, rolling his eyes again. “Come on, we’re getting dinner on the way back to Dinah’s place too. Ethiopian or Italian?”

            “Ethiopian,” Lara replied following him out the nearest exit. “Hey Roy?”

            “What, kid?”

            “Why are you always so grumpy?”

            “I’m not…” Roy scoffed as he turned on her. “I’m not always grumpy—in fact don’t call me grumpy, it makes me sound like I need to be put down for a nap.” He stalked away and Lara followed after, not content to give up.

            “Alright, then why are you pissed at the world?” she asked.

            “Why are you pissed at the world?” he retorted.
            “I’m a genetically modified clone of Superman who has little to no interpersonal skills because I quite literally woke up in a tube two and a half weeks ago,” Lara told him. “What’s your excuse?”

            Roy scoffed again and handed her a helmet from his bike. “Put this on. Even if you’re invulnerable I’ll still get a ticket.”

            Lara put on the helmet and got on the bike behind Roy, deciding to let it drop for now. Roy obviously wasn’t going to talk to her.

            But just as they were about pull out two young men on motorcycles pulled up and blocked their way.

            “Hey Sweetheart! If you want a ride on a real hog, I’ll take you away from that loser,” shouted one of the guys over the roar of the three inches.

            “I think he’s talking to you,” Roy told her.

            Lara rolled her eyes and turned around to face the man. “Yeah, well, I don’t date assholes who think I’m screwing my older brother.”

            Both Roy and the two bikers looked shocked at her declaration of fraternity, which actually caused the second biker to dissolve into giggles.

            Roy, who recovered next, snorted, quickly devolving into a chuckle. “No interpersonal skills huh?” he asked.

            The biker’s friend still out right laughed at him. “She told you, Scud.”

            “Yeah whatever, she’s not even that great.”

            The two of them rode off, and Lara felt Roy relax on the bike.

            “Did you think we were going to have to fight them?” she asked, as he steered them out of the parking lot.

            “I thought we might,” Roy said. “You can’t tell sometimes. But it would have been worth it for the look on his face when you called me your brother.”

            “It was worth the look on your face too,” Lara replied.

            “Shut up and let me drive.”

            Lara felt content to leave it there for the moment and wrapped her arms around his waist as they drove off in search of dinner.

 

—End Chapter Two— 

Chapter Text

            If Lara had known how difficult it would be to get into the Metropolis Magnet School for Arts and Sciences, she might not have asked to go there in the first place. Batman and others in the League had faked enough of her records—test scores, transcripts, a birth certificate and death certificates for her “parents”—that they could be submitted to MMSAS for proof of her ability and existence.

            Getting into the basic MMSAS meant passing tests in English, Mathematics and History for starters. There was also a basic section on the Sciences, but one needed not just to pass these tests to get into the school. In addition to the basic tests, every pupil needed to present significant skill in one area or another of arts and sciences. For some this meant showing off projects in mathematics, physics, biology or other significant works of science. For others it meant submitting writing, photography or paintings for review. For others it meant displaying skill in theatre or music.

            Lara picked a music audition with the piano. She felt sure she would get in.

            But then someone explained to her what an audition usually included. There was a piece of music that everyone taking the piano auditions learned, as well as one under ten minutes, which made her most irate, then a sight reading section and finally they had to take a music theory test. The piece of music she had been given when she signed up seemed easy enough; Lara found a piece in her repertoire that was less than ten minutes, though finding it took what felt like forever. Music theory of course went almost without saying once Lara had memorized certain key patterns, but about sight reading she felt not so confident.

            Dinah fixed that problem by bringing home a music book. She had Lara play a page every night so that sight reading began to make more sense. Still, more than once, Larisa banged her fingers against the keys out of frustration.

            “I suppose,” Dinah said, sitting down with a cup of tea one night as Lara stumbled her way through counting page fifteen, “That I should be grateful you don’t break the piano when you do that. Lara, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t get in.”

            “I know,” she replied, sagging against the piano. Oliver (or possibly Batman) had bought it used as a favor to Dinah, who thought learning would be good for Lara. “But I’d like to think I can do something other than throw my weight around.”

            “The fact that you can play the piano is incredibly amazing,” said Dinah, sipping her tea. “And I wholeheartedly approve of you learning new skills. But I wish you didn’t feel like you had to push yourself. At least not to extremes like this.”

            “I just…I want to do this,” Lara confessed to Dinah, turning to look at her guardian. “I really want to do this. I really want to get this right and succeed.”

            Dinah smiled at her. “Then you might want to try to read an extra page tonight. The days are counting down.”

            And didn’t Lara know it. She sighed as she marked another day off on the calendar. Today was August third—her audition for MMSAS was on the eleventh. The general entrance test was two days away.

            Today, though, Lara would not be practicing her piece ten times. She went through it once in the morning and then decided to go for a walk. The team would report to the cave today—they did not have a mission but would do team building and training. She decided to take the walk for two reasons—one, she wanted Dinah to see that she was not so absorbed in the music, and two, Lara felt her nerves creeping up on her. She thought for her own health of mind, she ought to get away from the piano for a little while.

            Lara strolled along the streets, plotting out a route in her mind she felt fairly certain would take her to the zeta tube. She wanted to stretch her legs as long as she could, enjoying the way the thud of her footprints against the pavement stilled the thoughts in her head.

            A man brushed past her and Lara’s hand flew to the zipper of her jacket, pulling it up so the s-shield disappeared under the brown material. She checked to see if her glasses sat on her nose (they did) and if she had her hair up (she did). Lara frowned, wondering how she didn’t feel those things anymore. They seemed second nature now when before it had seemed odd to have her hair bound tight instead of loose, and to have the useless rims resting against her face.

            She looked out over the bridge, debating whether to use the zeta now or later. On the one hand, Lara thought, she was nearly late, but on the other, she felt like being alone with her thoughts right now.

            The audition, being normal, everything pressed down on her chest making it hard to breathe sometimes. The more she read, the more Lara learned of the world around her—it felt like the joy of being free had slipped more and more away from her as she went on.

            “Have I ever been carefree?” she asked herself leaning more into the wall.

            A man just a little older than her passed by and heard her making him laugh. “Preach it sister!” he said, continuing on his way.         

            Lara felt her mouth quirk up into a smile, though it quickly gave way to a frown. Then she let her face go slack with a sigh. Sometimes she hated how involuntary her reactions could be—what made her smile and what angered her. Dinah and Aqualad both said she would gain more control with time, but Dinah added that her emotions would still sometimes surprise her.

            “And you may not always think them a burden,” Dinah told her when they talked.

            Lara huffed pushing away her thoughts as she pushed herself off of the wall. As she turned to the alley which contained the zeta tube, though, she heard a thunderous SNAP in the distance and focused her eyes back on the bridge. Lara could not see the fine details, but cars swerved all over the bridge nearly going over the edge.

            She had to help! She had to get over there right now! She—

            Dammit! Lara thought looking down at herself. She was still dressed as a civilian!

            Quickly her mind worked to form a plan. Lara ran into the alley way with the zeta tube, shucking her jacket, pulling her hair free from the messy bun and dropping her glasses on top of the pile. Kryptongirl turned around where Lara had stood and launched herself into the air.

            She landed about one hundred feet from the bridge. Running to create momentum she jumped again, landing on the bridge. Kryptongirl ran for the nearest car and pulled it over the edge of the bridge back onto the asphalt. Running along the bridge, she pulled more cars to safety until she heard a collection of screams.

            Turning, Kryptongirl saw a bus full of children teetering over the edge of the bridge. She ran to them, grabbing the back of the bus trying to pull it back onto the concrete. Kryptongirl felt her feet slipping out from underneath her. But that only made her grip the bumper tighter and pull back, now starting to gain a little ground on the bus.

            The bus lifted off of the ground out of her grip. Kryptongirl fell back onto the asphalt and watched as Superman lifted the bus onto the bridge.

            Don’t get angry, she told herself as she push up from the ground, onto her feet.  He was doing a good thing, saving those kids.

            “I had that!” she shouted, stalking up to him, the anger bubbling its way up through her mouth.

            Great, Kryptongirl thought, that was a great show of my anger management.

            “Couldn’t take the chance,” Superman replied. “As it was, your landing could have destabilized the entire bridge.”

            “But it didn’t,” she retorted.

            “But it could have,” Superman told her. “We don’t yet know the full limits of your powers. You could have hurt someone.”

            Kryptongirl blinked. She hadn’t thought of that. “Sorry,” she said. “I’ve been having trouble figuring it all out. But…maybe you can help me with that?”

            Superman made a face. Kryptongirl wasn’t sure how to describe it—it was almost like he had to reboot his brain for a moment.

            “Superman?” she asked, prompting him to return to himself.

            “Sorry,” he said. “I was lost in my head. Look, Batman can help you with your powers. I wouldn’t be any good for that.”

            “But—”

            Superman held up a hand as he touched his ear piece. “Superman—Arrow, slowdown—Amazo?” He looked down at Kryptongirl and then away at the blue sky. “No, I’m definitely available. Coordinates.” Superman looked down at her again, this time more intentionally. “Sorry—duty calls.” He gave her a small wave. “See you around Super…girl.”

            “It’s Kryptongirl!” She called after him. In the distance it almost looked like he twitched at the sound of her voice.

            “Miss Kryptongirl?”

            Kryptongirl turned and saw one of the girls on the bus leaning out of the window. “Can you help us?” the little girl asked. “The door is stuck.”

            Kryptongirl tried not to scowl at the little girl who had not done anything wrong. Instead, she walked to the bus door and snapped it open, somehow managing not to shatter the glass.

            “Better?” she asked the bus driver.

            He nodded, mouth agape, before he turned and began giving directions to the kids.

            Kryptongirl turned to stalk away only to be stopped by an emergency worker asking for assistance. For the next hour or so she pulled people out of cars or pulled cars to safety. When at last it seemed like everyone was safe, a police captain came over to shake her hand.

            “Thanks for the assist,” he told her. “You related to Big Blue?” The captain gestured to the shield on her chest.

            KG looked down and up at him before she answered. “It’s…complicated.”

            The captain nodded, and a silence fell on them, making Kryptongirl twitch as the police captain held her gaze.

            “He had to answer another emergency call,” she explained at last, not liking the way the silence held them. “Superman, I mean. He said something about Amazo.”

            The police captain whistled. “I would not have wanted to answer that call.”

            Kryptongirl tried to smile at him as she asked, “Do you have everything sorted here, or do you still need me?”

            “I think we have it covered,” said the Police Captain with a little wave. “Anyway, you probably have to disappear into the crowd, huh?”

            She grinned. “I’m actually late for training—my mentor would understand though, since it was an emergency. But she’ll probably want me to get there as soon as I could.”

            “I think we’ll manage,” he told her with a nod. “You did good work here today.”

            The remark startled Kryptongirl and she actually felt her body jump, her heart speeding up before she replied, “Thank you!” and jumped off into the distance.

            Getting back to the zeta tube was actually more difficult than she thought it would be. Kryptongirl realized people were watching her, so she had to circle around a few different alleys before she felt like no one was watching her. Her bag, along with her glasses sat in the phone both where she had left them. She picked them up, and sorted everything out as she stepped in front of the zeta beam projector.

            “Recognized,” she heard as a light flashed before her eyes. “Kryptongirl B05.”

            “Hey KG!” Kid Flash greeted from where the team all stood by a large screen. “Great work on the bridge!”

            The screen depicted the news coverage of the bridge accident, occasionally interspersing footage of her jumping away with the caption “Kryptongirl?” In the corner of the screen, though, was a smaller picture of the news covering the Justice League fighting a large, elf-eared man at a distance.

            “Thank you,” Kryptongirl replied walking over to them. “Is that…Amazo, or whatever it was called?”

            “Yup,” Robin said, adjusting his black lenses. “He’s an android—has all of the abilities of the League members.”

            Something clicked inside Kryptongirl’s head. She understood why Superman had rushed off so quickly, how important it had been for him to rush away like that. But even understanding that, the feeling of abandonment welled up inside of her. Kryptongirl had still stood, abandoned on the bridge not quite sure of what to do next, or how to leave a situation once it had been dealt with, embarrassed when someone asked her relation to the man of steel.

            “Are you alright, my friend?”

            Kryptongirl’s eyes zeroed in on Kaldur’ahm’s voice and then his face, her chin snapping up to look at him. He looked at her, head slightly cocked and eyes focused, his pupils dilating. M'gann’s eyes had gone wide as she stood next to Kaldur and Lara realized she was probably projecting her emotions out.

            “I’m fine,” Lara managed to get out. “I was just thinking. I’m going to go put my things away.”

            “You have a while,” Robin remarked, his eyes not leaving the screen. “Canary and Tornado are both helping to cover Amazo.”

            Kryptongirl nodded at him as she walked toward the room she kept at the base. She entered and closed the door behind her, sinking down to the floor, her back flat against the wood surface. Her face felt hot as tears began to streak down it, and Lara brought her knees up to her chest to hide in them. Sobs came up her throat and Lara felt like she was choking on them, like they would not let her breathe right. She felt out of control, like the person crying on the floor was not herself, and she could only watch and wish it would stop.

            “Lara?” M'gann asked, knocking on the door. “Lara are you okay?”

            Lara wiped her jacket sleeve across her face and stood up, moving away from the door closer to the bed. “I’m fine, M'gann, just give me a minute.”

            Lara heard the door open, but she did not turn around, though she felt the air move as M'gann’s head peeked inside. “Are you sure?” M’gann asked. “Do you want to talk?”

            “I want to punch the shit out of something!” Lara confessed, hitting the air. She might have reached out to punch the cave wall, but she feared she might actually break something. Her breath hitched as she spoke, though she tried to hold the sobs down to no avail. She wanted to stop crying, but there seemed to be no function on her which could simply force it to stop. “Sorry for swearing,” said Lara, turning to face her friend. “I know you don’t like it.”

            M'gann came up to her and wrapped her arms around Lara. “That’s alright,” said M'gann. “I know you’re upset.”

            Lara sunk into M'gann’s arms, letting her chin rest on M'gann’s shoulder and returning the embrace as she wrapped her arms around M'gann’s waist. They stayed like that until Lara’s sobs began to peter out and the tears stopped flowing so much. Then Lara felt as if she could pull back and face her friend.

            “I’m sorry,” Lara said again, as M'gann took her hand and led her to the bed to sit down. “I just felt everything all at once, and I didn’t know how to sort it out in the moment, so I just…”

            “I felt,” M'gann replied, carding her fingers through Lara’s hair and working out the tangles. “Does it have something to do with Superman?”

            “Yes.” Lara felt like snarling, because she hated that such a connection existed, but M'gann did not deserve that. “Sort of. I just felt so proud responding to the bridge—and this police officer thanked me—but he was there too—and he—he chastised me—and for a second I thought he was going to help me learn—but them he just flew off and got my name wrong. But the people asked for my help—like they needed me.

            “When I got back though and I saw them fighting Amazo—I really started to feel everything at once. I felt happy to be recognized, proud for the way I reacted—but I still felt abandoned by Superman—I was so mad at him—but then I felt selfish, watching them fight that thing, for wanting him to give me attention. Because he’s helping other people—the League and the civilians—and I just felt selfish.”

            Lara realized she had begun to cry with some force again, but this time she did not sob or shake. She had not meant to say so much, but as M’gann nestled into her side, and rubbed her back or played with her hair, Lara felt close to her, and it made it easier to talk to her.

            M'gann was quiet for a minute or two, but then spoke with a measured tone. “I think…”she began. “I think being selfish is pretty normal. It’s not that you want Superman to stop helping others, or even to give you all of his attention. You just want him to stop running away from you. So it’s okay to feel abandoned.”

            “Yes!” Lara cried, amazed that M'gann had so accurately captured what she wanted out of a few minutes of teary confession. “I felt like I didn’t exist almost—like he looked right through me, after just a moment where he really saw me.

            “I hate being emotional,” Lara added, turning away from M'gann. “It’s so difficult!”

            “I don’t like it either,” M'gann remarked. “It feels awful.”

            The two of them held a breath for a moment, as they thought about what M'gann had said before they began to laugh.

            “Thank you for coming to talk to me,” Lara said when they stopped laughing.

            M'gann beamed. “You’re my friend! Of course I came to talk to you. And…well, I’m sure you’ve heard it a lot but Superman will come around. You’re such an amazing person, Lara; I don’t see how he couldn’t.” M'gann reached out to hug Lara again, and Lara gratefully reciprocated.

            A knock came on the door. “Lara, M'gann?” Aqualad called. “Black Canary is here. She requests your presence.”

            “We’ll be out in a moment,” Lara called back. She wiped at her face, smearing some of the wet tracks of tears. Running her fingers through her hair, she walked to the door and opened it to find Kaldur waiting.

            “Are you well?” he asked, holding up a wet wash rag.

            Lara accepted it with a smile. “I will be,” she replied, accepting the rag and wiping her face down.

            Kaldur’ahm nodded and turned back toward the entry room. M'gann bumped Lara’s elbow as she came alongside her friend. They walked back to the main room together where Black Canary waited.

            Lara felt Dinah’s eyes rove over her, but all that their teacher said was, “Let’s get started.”

            Lara felt herself zone out as Dinah began her lecture on martial arts, paying attention where she could, but still wondering about Superman in the back of her mind. She watched idly as Kid Flash volunteered for practice, but failed quickly.

            “Can anyone tell me what he did wrong?” Canary asked.

            “Oo! Oo!” Robin exclaimed raising his hand and jumping up in the air. “He hit on teacher and he got served.”

            Canary flashed a brief grin which she squashed down. “He let me dictate the terms of the fight.”

            Lara snorted.

            Black Canary’s eyes were on her in a flash. “Something you would like to add, Kryptongirl?”

            “I’m a living weapon,” Kryptongirl spat out. “With my super strength, every battle is on my terms.”

            How still the boys went, their breath held, and their limbs tense. Even M'gann cocked her head at Lara’s odd admission. Lara herself wondered how she could say such a thing, especially to someone whom she greatly respected, especially after what she had just told M'gann.

            Black Canary only smiled, however, and said, “Prove it.”

            Lara stepped onto the fighting platform, and squared off against her mentor. The next thing she remembered, she was lying flat on her back, looking up at Canary.

            “Try it again,” said Canary, as she backed up and took on her fighting stance.

            Lara growled and stood up. She knew she was not equipped to properly fight Black Canary, one of the best fighters in the League, but she had taken on the challenge and she was going to see it through. Besides, she had already bruised her pride; she might as well go for a full body cast.

 

            “…Would aster be the opposite of disaster?” Robin asked over their comm links as they drove along the high way after the van filled with parts of Amazo.

            Kryptongirl did not reply. She had not really been listening anyway.

            “Is this about Superman?” he asked.

            “Why is it whenever I’m angry, people think it’s because of Superman?” Lara gritted her teeth. Couldn’t she be angry about something other than Superman?

            “Naw,” Robin replied. “Not always—just ‘cause of today. Though, if you’re not angry about Superman, you’re probably angry because Black Canary wiped the floor with you.”

            Lara only growled.

            Robin shrugged. “Dude, chill, it happens. Batman wipes the floor with me every time we spar. It’s why they’re our mentors, so they can kick our asses in practice, so we don’t get our asses kicked in a real fight.”

            Lara rolled her shoulders and felt the muscles in her back relax a little. “Do you think she’s upset with what I said…and what I did?”

            “She’ll forgive you, even if she is,” Robin told her. “I once bit Batman when I was angry with him, and he forgave me for that. It’ll surprise you how much they’ll forgive you for. Just don’t take advantage of that fact and I think you’ll be good.”

            “I won’t take advantage,” Lara told him. It felt like a promise and the words weighed down on her.

            “Good,” Robin replied, giving her a nod.

            “Heads up!” Kid Flash called through their comm links. “We’ve got robotic monkeys and they’re headed your way.”

            “Monkeys?” Lara asked, though she received no reply. Fuck—she hated monkeys.

 

            Kryptongirl landed on the train without making a dent. She dug her fingers into the metal and made a hole large enough to fit through. The train car had no light, except for an eerie, green glow, which came from several mechanical monkeys at the other end of the car. A man, about five feet tall with greying red hair, stood amid the monkeys and looked up at her almost startled. “Oh, hello,” he greeted, like he was a friendly neighbor, rather than a supervillan.

            “You’re Ivo?” she asked with a snort. “I’m whelmed.”

            Ivo snorted in return. “You’re one to talk.” He tapped a finger to his chin. “Now since when does the big, blue Boy Scout have a brat?”

            Kryptongirl snarled at him, gritting her teeth. “He doesn’t.”

            “Eh, if you say so.” Ivo spread his arms out toward the monkeys. “Have you met my Mobile Optimal Neural Quotient Infiltrators?”

            The monkeys or MONQIs, as it were, took this as a signal to attack and pounced on Kryptongirl. But they were only a nuisance in the small space, especially since they came at her in one unit, which made them easier to smash against the train car walls and together.

            “Accessing: Captain Atom.”

            Kryptongirl did not see the beam of light which hit her in the chest coming until it slammed her into the back of the car.

            “If you don’t like my magnificent MONQIs,” Ivo said as he walked toward her, “then maybe you’ll have more fun with my amazing Amazo.”

            Kryptongirl wiped the sweat from her face and got to her feet. “Gimme your best shot.”

            The MONQIs snickered, a dim glow in the far part of the car behind Amazo.

            “Please,” Ivo said, outlined in the green light his machines exuded. “My android has the strength of Superman, what chance do you have?”

            Lara growled and flew at the android, her fists flying in a flurry of punches. Amazo blocked and dodged, except for one that struck him across the face causing his head to spin around. It spun back in the next second though, and he caught her next punch, squeezing her fist until her joints crackled in protest.

            “I’m sorry, did that strike a nerve?” Ivo asked, a smile contorting his face. “Amazo, strike a few more!”

            Amazo knocked her to the side like she was nothing—less than nothing even—before intoning, “Access: Black Canary,” and blasting her into the back wall with a Canary cry. “Access: Flash.” The android threw his fists faster than she’d ever seen Wally move and Lara couldn't keep up as it pummeled her into the floor.

            “Aww…no wonder daddy keeps you hidden away. Not doing justice to the old S-shield, are you?” Ivo inquired, beginning to snicker.

            Lara stood up, throwing another punch, only to have it fly right through Amazo as he utilized the Martian Manhunter’s powers. He threw her through the back of the train car, and then, before she could reorient herself, Amazo punched her into the sky.

            Lara idly wondered, as she crashed into the school building, if that was what it felt like to fly.  Though soon, as Amazo continued to use her as a punching bag, Lara began to wonder why exactly she could not hold her temper. She looked up at Amazo, which stood in front of her after putting her through another wall and asked, “That…all you got?” For that matter, why couldn’t she hold her tongue? Lara pondered as she flew through the wall on the gymnasium floor.

            A lone clap drew her attention to where Ivo sat in the bleachers. “You know, I don’t usually attend these things in person, but this was too good to miss.”

            Lara struggled to her feet as Amazo approached voicing, “Access: Superman” as he went. She knew she was no match for the android on her own, but she had to keep fighting. I have to, she thought, even as the android knocked her down once more.

            “YOINK!”

            Lara blinked and then Kid Flash deposited her on the opposite side of the gym. Robin launched some of his bird-a-rangs, but Amazo only became transparent again. Kid Flash zoomed off once more, and Lara kept attacking, even though the android anticipated her every move—matching each one of her punches with blows as strong as Superman’s.

            Lara picked herself out of the bleachers, only able to watch as she oriented herself for a moment. She sighed, realizing that their current tactics would not win them the battle. “Access: Black Canary,” she whispered, as she assessed the situation.

            “Ugh, yawn,” said Ivo, patting his mouth and drawing Kryptongirl’s attention to him. “Normally Amazo would study and mimic your abilities during battle, but what’s the point? You’re all such poor copies of the originals.” The MONQIs began tittering as if Ivo had made some fantastic joke.

            Kryptongirl drew her eyebrows down toward her nose and frowned. “So everyone keeps telling me,” she hissed. “It MAKES ME ANGRY!” she shouted, launching herself across the room to where Ivo sat in the opposite bleachers. He squealed and ran away before she could bring her fists down into the wooden seats, blasting them to splinters. “WANNA SEE ME CHANNEL THAT ANGER?” Kryptongirl shouted.

            Ivo scrambled away squeaking, “Amazo! Protect your master, priority: alpha.”

            Kryptongirl knocked him off of the bleachers, only to earn an energy beam to the chest for her troubles.

            “Anyone want to play keep away?” Robin asked, as Kryptongirl saw him kick Ivo in the back, knocking him across the polished floor.

            “Me, me!” Kid Flash shouted, running to where Ivo lay.

            “Access: Superman,” said Amazo, bringing down his foot to splinter the gym floor. Kid Flash went flying, but Kryptongirl nodded to Robin, who threw one of his bird-a-rangs. “Martian Manhunter,” Amazo announced, going transparent. Kryptongirl landed in front of him, and punched at his head, right as he announced, “Superman,” but not before he went solid again.

            Kryptongirl felt the wires and metal of the android form around her as he went solid, and the sparks as it began to twitch. It only took a few moments, but Amazo’s head exploded forcing Kryptongirl back for what she hoped would be the last time that night. Amazo fell to the ground.

            “Help me disassemble him, now!” Robin called to them.

            “Dude, the guy has no head,” Kid Flash told him.

            “Too big a risk!” Robin said.

            Kryptongirl shrugged and began to help. Kid Flash grumbled something she could not hear, but helped them too.

            “Hey, where’s Ivo?” Kid Flash asked, once the body lay in pieces, looking around the gym.

            “Escaped, most likely,” said Robin. He stalked over to where an arrow pierced the floor boards and pulled it free, muttering something about Batman. He turned and pointed the arrowhead at Kryptongirl. “You have got to stop flying off the handle. You got ahold of yourself this time, but you also got us into some serious trouble, KG.”

            “Sorry,” she replied with a shrug.

            “Are you really?” Kid flash asked with a twitch.

            Kryptongirl wondered if he wanted to run around to dry out his adrenaline. But she did not need to think about her response to his question for very long. “No—not really.”

            “Fuck!” Kid Flash swore. “I know you’re a human being—or Kryptonian being or whatever—but you’ve got to stop acting like a fucking automaton.”

            “You—you think…” Kryptongirl laughed, though the laughter died on her tongue in an instant. “FUCK YOU!”

            Kid Flash and Robin took a step back, almost as if they expected her to attack them, the way she had attacked Ivo. But she didn’t.

            “I feel everything!” Kryptongirl shouted. “I feel every little bit of emotion—and I know everything I feel. And then I’m fucking honest with you about that and you compare me to a thing?” She flung her hands out from her breast, gesturing to where Amazo lay in pieces on the floor. “I AM NOT a machine!”

            “Then fucking act like it!” Wally screamed at her, taking a few steps forward. “Express yourself once in a while—actually show those emotions beyond just your anger. ‘Cause, let’s face it, you’ve got that one down, sister, and it keeps getting us into trouble.”

            Robin stepped in between the two of them. “He has a point, KG.”

            Kryptongirl chuffed. “Need I remind you both how our last mission went because you,” she pointed to Robin, “kept running off? Or how team dynamics keep getting screwed up because you,” Kryptongirl pushed her finger into Wally’s chest, making him teeter backwards, “can’t take a freakin’ hint and figure out that Miss Martian isn’t interested!”

            “ENOUGH!”

            The three of them turned to see Aqualad and Miss Martian standing in the doorway of the gymnasium. “There is a time and place for group discussion,” Aqualad continued, striding toward them. “Even, perhaps for argument, but this is neither. Miss Martian, will you assist with the moving of Amazo’s body parts?”

            Cowed by Kaldur’ahm’s booming voice, Kryptongirl turned to observe her friend, who did not seem to be paying attention.

            “Miss Martian,” Aqualad prompted.

            Miss Martian blinked and held up her hand as her eyes glowed green. But instead of raising up the Amazo parts off of the floor, a figure from behind the guard rails of the bleachers floated out into the open.

            “Let me go!” the figure shouted as she struggled and tried to break free of the force that held her up.

            “Why were you watching us?” Miss Martian asked.

            “I saw flying monkeys and I decided to investigate, is that a crime?” The figure crossed her arms across her chest, rustling her compound bow against her hunter green hoodie. “Those three are lucky I did, anyway—I saved the ginger from a few broken ribs at the very least.”

            “You distracted it for half a second!” Kid Flash retorted.

            “The half second you needed, apparently,” she retorted. She uncrossed her arms, to shift the bow and her quiver strap to a more comfortable position. “And then you all started arguing and well—it was interesting watching three heroes get into it.”

            “Does that mean you’re not a hero?” M’gann asked, cocking her head to the side.

            The Hunter-Green girl stiffened. “No—I am—I just never thought about it like that I guess. Look, could you let me down? I helped you out, alright? I don’t want trouble; I just want to get out of here.”

            “You know if you’re fighting crime in Gotham, the Bat will catch up with you sooner rather than later, right?” Robin asked, crossing his arms over his chest and cocking his hip out to one side.

            “You would know I guess,” she said with a shrug. “I’ll take my chances—there’s somewhere I really gotta be. Right now. So please.”

            Miss Martian looked to Aqualad, who looked over the other three of them and then back to the Hunter Green girl. Aqualad nodded to Miss Martian who lowered Hunter Green to the ground.

            “Thank you for your assistance,” said Aqualad to the girl. “It appears you helped save my teammates.”

            “You’re welcome,” she replied, brushing off some dust from her hoodie. “I’d stick around, but like I said, I gotta bolt.” She adjusted her quiver and her bow again, before she began backing out of the gym. When the girl seemed sure that they would not follow her, she turned and ran.

            They waited until she ran out of sight before they moved, collecting the body parts and carrying them to where Miss Martian’s bioship waited.

            “Why didn’t we do it like this to begin with?” Kid Flash asked as they loaded up.

            “Well, we are a covert operations team,” said Robin with a shrug. “The less the bad guys know about our resources the better. If we weren’t pressed for time, I would suggest that we get in contact with the League and arrange for another set of transportation trucks. But with Ivo still out there, even though he’s fleeing from us, it would probably be best if we just dropped it off ourselves.” Robin blinked and then turned to look at Aqualad. “I mean if that’s acceptable.”

            “No, it is a good plan,” Kaldur replied. “Let us board and make for the first Star Lab.”

            “Roger that, Captain,” M’gann replied as she began flying off toward their coordinates.

            Kryptongirl watched quietly and said nothing.

 

She remained quiet as they deposited the Amazo parts to the two separate Star Labs, and then when they returned to the base. Aqualad debriefed their mentors, so it was not required of her to speak.

            “This archer you encountered,” Green Arrow spoke up at the end of Aqualad’s report and Canary’s assurance that the League would capture Ivo, “what did she look like?”

            “Five-foot-seven, of Vietnamese decent, blonde hair, brown eyes,” Kryptongirl rattled off. “She used a compound bow, had approximately twenty arrows in her quiver and wore a hunter green hoodie.”

            “You got all that from just looking at her?” Kid Flash muttered.

            “And I have pictures I took with my mask camera, if you want a composite,” Robin offered.

            Batman nodded toward his protégé, and then to Kryptongirl, which made it feel like her heart had just skipped a beat.

            “But, we understand that your mission encountered…other complications,” said the Martian Manhunter.

            Kryptongirl took notice as her teammates diplomatically and as one looked toward her. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

            “Complications come with the job,” said Batman, taking a step forward. “But your ability to handle them has impressed the League.”

            “The whole League?” Lara asked.

            “…In time, yes,” Batman replied. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Kryptonians have incredibly thick heads.” 

            Lara smirked at him, and did not try to fight down her expression.

            “Of course,” Batman continued, looking at each of them in turn. “There’s no shame in asking for help, that’s why the League exists. There are some problems no one of us can handle on our own. For now, get some sleep and you can all file your written reports in the morning.”

            A look from Aqualad, however, told the team that they would not be going to bed quite yet.

            Lara felt Black Canary’s eyes on her, and so she gestured between the two of them to Kaldur. Her team leader nodded, flashing her five fingers as they rest of them moved into the living area. Lara nodded in return, repressing a sigh.

            As the others departed, leaving Black Canary and Lara alone, Lara cleared her throat and tried to think of what to say. “I’m ready,” Lara said at last.

            Dinah smiled, ever so slightly. “Good, because I’m here. But you know it won’t be easy?”

            “Nothing has been so far,” Lara replied, with a shake of her head. “But I can’t keep letting my anger control me. I need to control it. And I certainly can’t rely on my strength all the time.”

            “Learning to fight will help with both of those things.” Dinah reached up and squeezed Lara’s shoulder. “Are you staying here for the night?”

            “Yes, I think so,” Lara replied.

            “Well, then I’ll see you in the morning, and I think there’s a team meeting you need to be at.”

            Lara furrowed her brow. “How could you tell?”

            “Sweetie, you think the Justice League didn’t go through periods like this where we fought and had to work out the kinks?” Dinah asked with a soft chuckle. “That we don’t still go through periods like that?”

            “Oh…” Lara murmured, marveling that anything like the fight she had had with her teammates could be something like normal.

            “Have a good night, then, Lara. I’ll see you in the morning.” Dinah kissed her forehead and gave her a brief hug before walking over to the zeta tube.

            “Thank you,” Lara replied, the warmth of her mentor’s hug fleeting as she turned to face the hall that led into the living area. She stood alone for a moment, but then clicking her heels together, Lara strode toward the living room.

            Her friends had strewn themselves around the room in various positions. M’gann sat in a lotus position, staring at her hands. Wally sat, drumming his hands against his thighs, and jiggling his leg up and down. Robin, next to him, lay as the third leg of a triangle in between the seat and back of the couch. Kaldur stood, watching her as she entered.

            Lara swallowed feeling almost like her tongue was swelling up to choke her. She crossed the room to sit next to M’gann, only to realize that she sat directly opposite of the boys.

            Kaldur surveyed all of them for a moment, waiting as they all drew their attention to him—M’gann unfolded herself, Wally held still and Robin dropped down onto the couch. “We are all tired,” Kaldur began. “But I feel if we do not discuss what occurred tonight now, it will fester among us and become poison.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I am not used to this I will admit—in the Sea Corps and even at the Sorcery Academy we—we did not have to worry about team dynamics. We simply did as we were told.

            “But I am neither your superior nor your mentor. I am your leader, but I do not expect that you, any of you, owe me automatic allegiance or that you should obey my commands simply because I say so. We are not at school or in the military. We may not always get along, but we must be able to function as a team. Our lives and the lives of others depend on it. We must discuss our problems, and be honest but merciful with one another.”

            When he finished speaking, Aqualad sat down on the third couch in between the two parties and went quiet. The group, Lara included, stared at him, waiting for some other directions, but Kaldur’ahm stayed quiet. Lara began to feel tightness spreading across her chest, almost like she could not breathe—or rather that something kept her from breathing.

            M’gann cracked first under the pressure of the silence. “Wally,” she said turning to the speedster. “You are my friend, and I think you are very sweet. You welcomed me onto the team, and you’ve made me feel very at home on earth. But Lara is right—I don’t feel romantically about you—erm that is—I don’t have romantic feelings about you.”

            Wally looked down toward his feet, his bright green eyes shiny and his breath hitched with a sob he didn’t want to let out. 

            Lara couldn’t take the tightness in her chest anymore. “Wally,” she said, causing the red head to look up, “M’gann…” Lara looked between the two of them. “I…I owe you both an apology. I feel that what I said was necessary for the team, but that I did it when I was angry was wrong, and that I did it as retribution was even worse. I…I’m very sorry that I did this to the two of you.” 

            “Are you?” Wally asked, echoing his earlier question. 

            “Yes, I am,” Lara replied, firmly, again lacking hesitation in her answer. “I don’t feel sorry for being angry, but I am sorry I allowed it to affect my choices in my behavior toward you all—if that makes sense.” 

            “It does…” Wally admitted with a frown. 

            “Then why are you frowning?” Lara asked. 

            “Because I don’t like it,” Wally retorted, slumping back in his seat and crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looked down at his lap as he continued to speak, “I don’t know why—don’t ask me—but I just don’t like that you feel that way—or maybe just that this whole thing seems so complicated—that you can be both angry, feeling vindicated in your anger, but still be apologetic—and I…” 

            Wally started crying, and viciously wiping away his tears. Robin reached out, and put his hand on Wally’s shoulder. Robin’s face had screwed up with confusion and worry—his body tensed as if he were frozen. 

            Lara looked at M’gann, and M’gann stared back at her—neither of them felt quite sure of what they should do. But Lara felt she must do something—she looked to Kaldur’ahm, who nodded at her. Lara moved from her couch to kneel in front of Wally and took one of his hands in hers. Wally looked up from his lap, right into Lara’s eyes. “I’m not the one who is supposed to feel like this.” 

            She wanted to ask something, to look away from this scene. Lara could tell this would hurt in some way, yet it hurt her in some way to keep looking. But something in Wally’s eyes held her there. 

            “You…” Wally declared, his voice shaking, “you are the one who is supposed to feel this way. You’re supposed to feel like you did the wrong thing—because you did—you’re supposed to break down and cry and—it’s not supposed to be me!” 

            “Why?” Lara asked, the question spilling out before she could stop it. 

            “Because you’re the girl!” Wally told her. “You’re five months old—you know hardly anything about life or living as a teenager—and shit—I’m supposed to have this figured out—you know? I’m supposed to be able to figure it and I just feel so lost. And you—you look like you’ve got it all together—and girls are supposed to be emotional—girls are supposed to question their emotions and shit—I’m not.” 

            “Boys aren’t,” Robin murmured. “We’re not.” He squeezed Wally’s shoulder. 

            Lara did not know what to do, or say. She did not feel sorry, and empathy for Wally’s situation did not come easily to her. Lara thought she knew what Wally was talking about—yet, she did not know how to use what she knew to help him, how to use it to comfort him—or even if she should use it in that way. So Lara knelt, holding Wally’s hand, listening to him cry. 

            But Lara found she was not the only one who thought about acting. M’gann crossed the room to sit beside Wally, and rub his back. Robin moved his hand down from Wally’s shoulder to grasp Wally’s hand, squeezing it in his grip. Kaldur knelt next to Lara, asking softly, “Have we overwhelmed you?” 

            Wally inhaled shakily and shook his head. “No—I just—I need…I just need to…” 

            “Take your time,” Kaldur told him. 

            Wally did take his time, and they waited until his sobs turned into sniffles. Then Wally fell silent for several minutes. “I’m sorry,” he said at last. 

            “For—” Lara cut herself off from asking, “for what?” and instead asked more specifically, “for getting upset?” 

            “Yes,” Wally murmured. 

            “Oh, Wally, you shouldn’t be sorry for that,” M’gann told him, rubbing his back. 

            “To show us your emotions is a sign you trust us and I thank you for that trust,” said Kaldur. 

            “I know you guys are trying to help, but that doesn’t really make me feel any better,” Wally told them. 

            Lara hesitated, opening her mouth, but the air caught in her wind pipe, making her exhale nothing but carbon dioxide. She bit her lip, and then realized what she wanted to say. “I think,” she began, “that you handled your breakdown better than I handled mine. I had a lot of trouble thinking about what made me cry, and why I was mad at the same time.”

            “…You had a breakdown?” Wally asked, looking down at her.

            Lara nodded. “Earlier today, when I first zeta’d in. I was upset, and I went to my room to cry.”

            Wally tilted his head to the side. “Oh—” he said as if he realized something. “I just—I’m sorry—I didn’t realize that that had happened when I—when I said what I said earlier…” Wally’s shoulders slumped forward. “KG…Lara, I don’t think you’re anything like a machine—or a weapon—and I do value you as my teammate and my friend. I was—I guess I got lost in my anger too.” He snorted, giving Lara a shy smile.

            Lara smiled back, though it felt slow coming to her face. “Thank you, Wally. I accept your apology…and I am very grateful we are friends.” She squeezed his hand, trying to reassure him with the pressure.

            Wally squeezed back, and nodded to her. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and stayed silent for a minute more. Then, he turned to M’gann.   “M’gann—I…I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable—and please don’t apologize,” Wally said as M’gann began to open her mouth, “or say that it wasn’t a big deal. It is a big deal, and you didn’t do anything wrong—at all. You didn’t lead me on, or anything like that—I knew or at least I sort of felt that you wanted us to be friends and that maybe you might want to date me after you go to know me.”

            “Then why didn’t you just wait until we knew each other better to ask me out?” M’gann asked her brow furrowed.

            Wally flushed. “All of the other guys at school—the ones who know what they’re doing around girls—always acted like that around girl’s they liked—friendly, but not like they wanted to be just friends. I figured it was worth a shot.”

            “Are these also the people who try to knock you out in dodge ball?” Robin asked.

            Wally’s face turned redder. “Yeah, I know—it was a dumb idea in retrospect, but hind sight is always 20/20.” He faced them all in turn, and gave a little smile. “I guess—I’ll try not to act like such a dick-weed from now on and just act like a friend and a teammate instead.”

            “That’s all we can ask of you,” Kaldur assured him.

            The Flash appeared before the zeta tube computer could begin to announce, “Recognized Flash 04,” causing all five of them to blink.

            “Okay kids,” he said, “I completely respect your autonomy and understand the importance of team meetings, but it’s after two and Wally’s parents—wait, Wallyhaveyoubeencrying?”

            Wally, whose face had just regained a normal color, began to redden again, and ducked his head. “Uncle—Flash!”

            “Are you okay, kiddo?” the Flash asked pulling him up from the couch. Lara thought the display of affection seemed quite adorable and almost envied Wally. But Wally squirmed, like he wanted to be anywhere but there. “You didn’t get hurt and the others aren’t picking on you are they?” the Flash inquired further, checking Wally over.

            At this, Lara wanted to protest, but Kaldur rested a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, a smile working its way onto his lips.

            “No, Flash, they haven’t been picking on me,” Wally told him. “We were talking and I felt like I needed to cry, that’s all.”

            The Flash ran his hand through Wally’s hair, which made it stand on end. “Okay, kiddo. If you say so.” He turned to look at all of them. “But you really do need to wrap up your meeting for now. Robin, are you staying here tonight?”

            “No, ah, Batman wants me to go back to Gotham,” Robin replied, beginning to squirm as well.

            “Okay,” said the Flash nodding. “I’ll wait for you both by the zeta tube, okay?”

            “Okay,” Wally and Robin agreed.

            The Flash nodded again, and then he zipped out of the room appearing only as a red blur. Wally sighed and turned back to the team.

            “Your uncle is right,” said Kaldur. “It is late. Do we feel as if we may break for now?”

            “I think we’ve done a lot of good tonight,” said M’gann. “And any issues we have with each other—as friends and as teammates—won’t just go away after one conversation.”

            “M’gann’s right,” Lara said. “Perhaps one final thing we can agree on is simply to continue to be forthcoming with one another,” she suggested, turning to Kaldur. 

            Aqualad nodded. “And remember, there is a time and place for team disagreements?”

            This time, it was Lara whose face flushed, but she found that she was not alone, for Wally and Robin had both turned a bright red. The three nodded in tandem, verbalizing agreements on their own.

            “Um, we better get going then,” Wally said. He turned toward the zeta tubes, but turned back after a moment. “Should we come back tomorrow, well, later today?”

            Kaldur pursed his lips together. “I do not see the harm in a movie night, if all are agreeable.”

            “Definitely!” M’gann said. “There’s a movie about a cheerleader that I’ve wanted to watch and I thought you would all like it too!”

            Wally smiled brightly at her. “That sounds good.”

            “We’ll see you later today then,” Robin said, taking Wally’s hand as they walked out of the room with a wave. “Good night!”

            “Good night!” M’gann replied. “I think I’m going to head to bed as well—it really has been a long day.” She stood, and wandered off in the direction of her room, as the computerized voice announced the departure of Flash 04, Kid Flash B02 and Robin B01.

            “Good night,” Kaldur and Lara chorused when M’gann rose.

            Lara sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she stood.

            “Does something further trouble you, my friend?” Kaldur asked, also taking to his feet.

            “It’s nothing, I just…haven’t really been able to sleep lying down, yet,” Lara confessed. It seemed silly to be embarrassed about it with all that had happened in the last day and especially in the last hour, but she was.

            “I had intended to meditate to relax my form before I slept. Would you like to join me?” Kaldur inquired.

            Lara blinked and smiled slowly at him. “Kaldur, you don’t need to take care of me, you know.”

            “How does the cliché go? ‘I know I do not need to, but I wish to,’” Kaldur told her, quoting some oft quoted passage. “Would you like to join me?”

            Lara blinked, and studied Kaldur’s face for a moment. She found nothing but Kaldur’s standard strong grace in his eyes. “Alright,” she agreed. “Thank you.”

            Kaldur led her into the pool bay, where he began to teach her several meditative breaths and poses. Lara followed along, feeling relaxed as she let Kaldur’s voice wash over her, and felt her mind began to let go of her worries and her ever constant monologue. As they sat with their legs crossed and eyes closed, Lara began to feel her head nod.

            Before she knew it, Lara awoke on the bed of her room at Mount Justice. She sat up, flexing her toes, stretching her arms above her head. Someone, probably Kaldur, had removed her shoes and socks.

            “I finally slept on a bed,” Lara murmured, as she sat up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood. She picked up her shoes, stuffing the socks inside as she went, before she pulled on her jacket and bag. Lara walked straight to the zeta tube, only stopping to write a note and stick it to M’gann’s door so her friends would not worry.

            The sun had just begun to rise over the Metropolis horizon as Lara plodded along the street barefoot. She didn’t mind the strange looks people gave her, especially since it remind her to put on her glasses and pull up her hair, for she had only one thing in mind as she walked.

            Lara marched up the steps to the apartment above Dinah’s flower shop, and then in the apartment, stopping only to unlock the various doors in between. When she stepped inside of the apartment, Lara crossed the main room, and sat down at the piano. Her sight reading book lay open to the most current page she had read.

            Lara turned the page, put her fingers to the keys and played.

            It still wasn’t easy—but it made more sense—fewer notes got caught between the page and her fingers. Lara hesitated less, felt less frustrated, as she flipped the page and continued on. And that was the important thing, she thought, continuing on—to keep going when all she wanted to do was bang her fingers against the keys.

            “Sniff-sniff, that’s beautiful.”

            Lara whirled and saw Roy standing in the open doorway, holding a box of doughnuts in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Dinah stood in the hallway leading to their bedrooms. She scoffed at the red haired man, and crossed the room to him in four long strides.

            “You should have let her keep going,” Dinah chided, snatching the box of doughnuts from him.

            “I was getting tired of standing,” Roy replied, taking a step in and closing the door behind him. “Pro-tip, kid: close the door when you come inside. Locking it would not hurt either.”

            “So, you’re a pro at door shutting?” Lara asked, pushing off of her piano bench and moving to the breakfast table.

            “He’s better at hat throwing,” Dinah interjected.

            “Oh har har,” Roy replied. “Where’s the cream?” he asked docking the coffee on the counter.

            “Fridge, boyo, and thank you for breakfast,” Dinah told him.

            “Thank you, and you’re welcome.”

            Lara felt a warmth spread through her chest (why were feelings always warm? That was just plain annoying) as she watched the two of them banter.

            “Kid, it helps if you eat the breakfast,” Roy told her, waving a doughnut in front of her face.

            “Thanks,” she replied, taking the chocolate sprinkle from him. “I forgot for a second.”

            Dinah snorted, Roy rolled his eyes and Lara couldn’t figure out how, but now it felt even more like home.

 

—End Chapter Three—