( MADELAINE PRINCE )

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐃 across a the floor texting barbara gordon, a girl who went to school with dick. the two girls had been acquainted a few weeks ago after bruce had taken her to see gotham academy. the redhead girl and herself were so alike she could already see them having a great friendship in the future. across from her wally and kaldur were playing virtual air hockey wally somehow winning. and m'gann and robin playing a board game.

recognize: superboy; b-0-4. superboy walks in with a glare as he appears in the zeta tube before stalking across the room.

"hi, superboy." m'gann tries, but superboy walks right through their game board causing robin to step out, looking at superboy in a cross between curiosity and slight glare. "how was metropolis?" m'gann tries again, even as superboy walks past them all.

madelaine stands up as she watches the boy, turning to kaldur to share a confused glance at the boys attitude. suddenly black canary clears her throat behind wally, catching their attention as she and martian manhunter step out of the shadows. "ready for training everyone?" she questions.

madelaine turns around so she's now facing the blonde, a large smile taking over the girls features before she rushes to the blonde woman enveloping her in a hug. she hadn't seen dinah seen the day the team was formed and she hadn't even gotten to speak to her.

"madelaine, hey kid" dinah smiled as she pulled back from the raven haired girl which made dinah scrunch her eyebrows before she picked up a strand of it. "new look?" she questioned looking her in the eyes seeing the change in colour.

madelaine chuckled slightly as she pulled back, "guess you could say that" she shrugged before lifting her fingers and waving them around a little creating a small purple mist. dinah nodding before fully pulling back from the girl and a hard look crossing her face as she looks at the other teens.

"black Canary! uncle j'onn!" m'gann exclaims happily as goes up and hugs her uncle, though he doesn't reach out and embrace her back, instead ducking his chin to meet the top of her head before she steps back.

"m'gann, i was in the neighbourhood so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting." j'onn says, placing a hand on his niece's shoulder.

"a few bumps, but i'm learning." she assures, as superboy watches from the hallway entrance. madelaine looking him down from her place besides dinah waiting for him to join them. the boys starts to walk away, but canary sees him as j'onn replies "that's all I can ask."

"stick around." canary calls out, getting him to stop in his tracks. "class is in session." he turns back, but crosses his arm over his s on his chest.

canary walks to the centre of the ring, turning the tiles pure white with a blue barrier. "i consider it an honor to be your teacher." she prefaces, turning towards the larger grouping of teens as she pulls on her jacket slightly. "I'll throw a lot at you everything I've learned from my own mentors." she continues as she pulls off her jacket, getting it just beyond the tear that was showing off a wrapping around her arm. she grunts through the pain, but finishes taking it off. "and my own bruises." she confesses, holding the wrapping.

"what happened?" m'gann and madelaine ask at the same time, worriedly. m'gann was also close to the blonde woman due to dinah being really welcoming when m'gann first arrived on earth.

"the job" canary replies simply, throwing her own jacket away. " now, combat is about controlling conflict. putting the battle on your terms. you should always be acting, never reacting." she tells them, before lightening her tone slightly. "i'll need a sparring partner."

"right here. yeah!" wally calls out raising his hand, as he still has food in his mouth stepping up. aqualad frowns, madelaine holds back a smile and robin has a sly smirk. he meets her in the middle, finishing the banana in one bite and swallowing before he continues. "after this..." he starts, aiming his banana peel for the garbage. "swish..." commentating as it makes it in "i'll show you my moves."

"gross" madelaine comments under her breath at his comment and his constant need to flirt with any attractive female.

black canary smiles knowingly as her eyes narrow. she throws a quick jab, which he blocks, but finds his feet being taken out from under him before even he can react. he hits the mat with a thud that causes m'gann to look on worriedly, aqualad to lean back, madelaine to wince and robin to frown with confusion.

"should've gone a bit easier on him" madelaine speaks up looking at the blonde woman as she looks down at the ginger who's groaning in pain.

on the floor it reads in big letters. kid flash > status: > fail

"oh. hurts so good." wally manages to make a joke, even when he's in pain. the team shaking their heads with small hints of smiles knowing he's alright.

"good block" canary admits. "but did anyone see what he did wrong?" she asks as she helps him back to his feet.

robin is all too excited to answer this one. "ooh, ooh. he hit on teacher and got served?" madelaine nodded before her and robin high-fived without even looking at eachother.

kid flash holds the shoulder that hit first, which just happens to be the one he blocked with as he looks back, annoyed and horrified that robin said that and that madelaine agreed. "dude!" he directs at robin before turning to madelaine "babe! really?"

"he allowed me to dictate the terms of-" she begins, but is cut off as superboy scoffs bringing all attention to him.

"oh please." canary arches an eyebrow as turns her head to look over her shoulder at an annoyed superboy "with my powers, the battle's always on my terms" he jabs his thumb inadvertently at the s, but clearly means himself not because of the s, but because of how he sees himself. "i'm a living weapon" clenching his hands to prove his point and make it very clear how he sees himself. " and this is a waste of my time."

canary now has her injured shoulder facing him as she smiles, a craving for the fight ahead in her eyes. "prove it." madelaine can only shake her head knowing that if superboy lost this he'd create a storm

superboy's eyebrows raise, not expecting that answer before he schools his features and walks into the ring, as he stands before canary he crosses his arms and wally quickly walks backward towards the other members of the team. him and madelaine sharing a knowing look.

both drop into a fighting stance at the same time superboy comes in with a cross, that canary takes a singular step back from giving her plenty of time to reach out with both hands, grab his forearm and throw him across the ring where he lands on his butt, then to his back.

robin points and laughs until aqualad elbows him in the side. he doesn't stop laughing but covers his mouth with his gloves. madelaine could only brace herself for the boys anger.

superboy remains on the ground for a moment the words superboy > status: > fail showing, before he pushes himself back to his knees with a growl.

though that doesn't sway canary. "you're angry." she merely states, standing calm. "good, but don't react. channel that anger-"

superboy gets to his feet and charges at her with another punch she jumps up and uses his shoulders to flip over him landing closely behind him, but still able to see him out of the corner of her eye. as he turns to hit her with a back fist she drops taking his feet out from under him.

once again the floor read superboy > status: > fail

from the side lines, m'gann flinches back, robin muffles his own laughs, aqualad looks worried and wally and madelaine frown.

by the time he's ready to stand again, canary already is, offering her hand. "that's it." superboy growls, standing without her help. "i'm done."

"training is mandatory." canary says as he starts to walk away, placing a hand on his shoulder, which he turns towards her as he shakes it off. his rage flowing under his eyes. madelaine deciding to step up now.

before she can reach the boy  the whole room beeps opening a holoscreen. "batman to the cave." the dark knight calls, all the kids rush to join superboy and canary. as they do, batman continues "a new menace attack green arrow and black canary. the attacker was capable of studying, the duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents."

on a smaller screen the image of the attacker become a video feed, where superman goes for a massive punch, only for it to get caught and the attacker to then use the kryptonian to take out red tornado, and flash, before throwing the alien. then turning to use its newly acquired laser eyes to take out two batarangs.

"arrow called in reinforcements," batman continues as the video pauses. "which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."

"whoa." wally is the first one to vocalize, though kaldur looks worried and superboy clenches his jaw.  "one guy with the powers of the entire league?" madelaine can feel her heartbeat increase, they didn't seriously think they'd be able to stop the villain alone.

"in the end, it took eight leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android." batman informs, which catches robin's attention.

"an android?" he questions. "who built it, t.o. morrow?" he continues to ask stepping up since this is where he thrives.

"good guess, robin." batman states, causing superboy to look down as he sees how well robin and batman are able to get along, making him think of superman. "but red tornado doesn't think so."

"the technology bears the signature of professor ivo." martian manhunter tells them.

"ivo?' aqualad questions, shocked. "but ivo's dead."

canary looks over her shoulder. "so we all thought or hoped." clearly it's the latter.

"to make certain this threat is permanently neutralized" another small screen pops up on the opposite side of the where the footage from the fight was. "we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate star labs facilities" a point between the four noted cities- which are springfield, gotham, boston and nyc- becomes a red triangle. "in boston and new york" the two paths going in completely separate directions, but beginning at the triangle's base which is now a glowing red dot. "for immediate evaluation. every precaution is being taken." their attention comes back to batman on the main screen. "we'll have four additional trucks to create confusion in case ivo or anyone tries to recover the remains." this is where they come in. you will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."

madelaine hadn't been to gotham in a few weeks and was beginning to miss home, she hoped they'd send her there, she remembered the nights she'd spend at the wayne manor in a room across from dicks' and the room at diana's which she basically grew up in.

"yes!" wally says excitedly. "road trip." canary turns to him with an angered look while aqualad and m'gann look to him rather confused. robin joins and glares behind his mask.

"so now we take out your trash?" superboy questions angrily. if he kept acting like this madelaine was sure she'd kill him, he needed to calm down.

"you had something better to do?" batman counters, superboy looks away just aqualad's transmitter goes off.

"coordinates received. on our way." aqualad confirms, everyone but superboy tries to walk away but canary grabs his arm. "when you're ready, i'll be here." she tells him honestly. he doesn't respond, merely looking away before continuing to walk off.

———

in a field off the main highway, six trucks are sitting ready, while the part of the dismantled android is being loaded. overseeing this is red tornado, atom, green arrow, flash, and superman.

turning away and using his enhanced vision he can see the team waiting on their motorcycles, aqualad and m'gann on blue, wally and madelaine on yellow and superboy and robin on red. He zeroes in on superboy, who returns his gaze. he turns away, superboy looks down before sliding on his helmet as the engines from the truck rev. they rev their cycles and come to the edge of the clearing and they put on their helmets.

"star boston is a go." is put over the comms as three trucks close their back-gates.

"star manhattan is go." green arrow nods, then looks to batman who gives the signal.

the trucks pull out in two opposite directions. robin, m'gann and superboy following the ones going right, while kid flash, aqualad and madelaine follow the three going left. atom, red tornado and flash all take off as superman goes to a black glove is placed on his shoulder.

"i told you, we need to talk." batman states, superman stands straight and looks just over his shoulder at the dark knight.

"do you think kon-el will be okay?" madelaine asks, driving on the left of aqualad "i'm getting really worried" she continues to threat. sure he was a pain in the ass but he was her friend.

wally pulls onto her left, a sarcastic chuckle coming through. "surfed that wave. just give him space." that's actually sound advice, considering the fuse on that guy seems to be a record low, on a good day. "me?" he continues, getting practically right next to her. "stick as close as you want." madelaine finds herself rolling her eyes before pulling her bike away from his.

"superboy just needs time to cool off." aqualad states, turning the focus away from wally's bad flirting. "a quiet mission will clear his head." a cornfield they whiz past shakes, then green/grey/black robot things fly out and after them completely passing them, latching right onto the truck.

pressing the outside of his helmet, aqualad opens up a comm channel. "robin, superboy, miss martian our truck is under attack!"

"kind of figured." robin replies, looking to the monkey-robots latched onto their truck too.

aqualad pulls on the handle of his bike, which is actually his water-bearer to form a whip and take out two of the monkeys that couldn't get out of the way fast enough. instead, the monkeys drop back and go for madelaine and wally's motorcycles. madelaine ungrasps her handles and lets herself fly off the bike as it skids into a wall, wally fights for control a minute longer before he jumps off his motorcycle and begins to run to catch up with the truck.

the driver's managing to keep them in their lane, but is totally freaking out. "s-somebody, help!" he cries. while on the roof of the truck two of the use their laser eyes to create a way into the truck. cutting far enough that they can slip inside, they stop and one grabs the now curling edge pulling it back to reveal two armed guards. they release a barrage of bullets at the mass of robots, only managing to hit one of them. five remain on the roof, but madelaine flies over and blasts them off as a blinding purple light left her palms.

wally runs up beside the truck, taking out the four monkeys with a kick off the side of the truck, using the closest as a step, ripping the second one off and stepping on the third to knock it he makes his way to the cabin. the three that remain on the back gate are taken out as aqualad uses both his water-bearers as whips, while still remaining on his motorcycle.

one monkey dives right for the driver window, hard enough to crack it as the rest continue to obscure his sight. madelaine, who had five monkeys hanging on her legs let her body be consumed by her power, her kin seemingly slipping away taking the monkeys with it leaving her body empty like a void, the only colour left being the purple in her eyes and glowing around her. the monkeys falling on to the front of the truck before slipping onto the road and being crushed.

on the other side of the truck, there are two monkeys. wally steps one to get to the higher of the two, grabbing its tail to get himself on top of the truck where madelaine lands, still in her natural form making the boy fall back. the boys shock scaring madelaine and causing her mist to appear over her again as wally stares at her with wide amazed eyes.

before any communication can be done a horde of monkeys fly out of the hole separating the two of them. assaulting them in sheer number while another group create a massive hole in the back gate, the android pieces in hand. too high too quickly that aqualad can only screech to a stop and watch which direction they fly off in.

the three watching well all panting knowing they were about to be in so much trouble if they didn't fix this. in his comm aqualad patches through "aqualad to robin. we've lost our cargo. did you-"

robin cuts him off with a sigh. "it's gone." he confirms. "and so's superboy."

———

"i don't need any help, don't want any!" superboy he yells as he pulls his comm from his ear and on his next drop to the ground drops it.

"kon-el?" madelaine asks, but there is no one the other end now. the girl groaning in frustration as she constantly tries getting through to the boy.

the three standing behind their own crashed truck. The only one with his motorcycle still intact being aqualad.

"i think he ditched his comm." robin states the obvious over the line.

"super." wally moans sarcastically. "now we can't even track him."

m'gann has her hands on her head, but gets nothing. "he's out of my telepathic range. this professor ivo if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us." then her confidence fades. "m-maybe w-we should contact red tornado?" she questions. 

"tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves." aqualad counters. "and the mission can still succeed if we recover the parts before they're reassembled."

"well, that's a great plan," wally drawls. "except for the part about us not knowing where to look!" he explodes with anger.

"calm down!" madelaine yells at the same volume as the boy as she spins to look at him, the two staring eachother down before both backing off. a few seconds of silence pass between the team as madelaine thinks before realisation hits her "maybe we do. robin check the monkeys" she speaks over the comm.

"we'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked." robin says as he continues to punch out commands on his glove decoding the monkey's software. "so how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?" he smirks as the screen emerges from his hologlove. "the parts have gps." then a map shows up on his screen. "the monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track with the one i captured. looks like both sets of parts are converging on..." he starts placing the map of the state, trying to determine where they're heading. "gotham city." he realizes, his voice heavy with emotion.

madelaine feels her heart rate pick up the thought of going home warming her, she knew dick probably felt the same and she refused to stay back well he went home.

"that far south?" aqualad questions, shocked. "i won't get there anytime soon." he looks right to wally and madelaine. "i'm sending kid and madelaine on ahead to meet you. aqualad out."

wally smiles his mischievous smile and drops his goggles over his eyes before putting his arms out in front of madelaine, the girl rolling her eyes playfully before wrapping her arms around his neck. then the two are gone without another word.

———

"he carried you the whole way here?" robin asks turning to wally and madelaine, m'gann had gone to get aqualad. madelaine makes her eyes turn into slits as she glares at robin who just shrugs with a smirk.

"yeah, she nearly broke my legs" wally joked as he turned to look at madelaine who looked offended as her mouth dropped open. the three staying low and trying to be quiet.

"hey!" she whispered harshly slapping both boys arms as they were on either side of her, the two grabbing their arms in pain before sending her a glare each. they wait a few seconds before robin throws a smoke bomb grabbing amazo and ivo's attention

amazo and ivo see the smoke, the android turning to its creator. ivo shrugs. "finish him. priority alpha." taking the command amazo jumps off the train car and towards where he sees the smoke.

robin, now in uniform, pushes his bike to the limits, madelaine behind him gripping her arms around him tightly. the two flying past a sign telling them they've finally reached the gotham city limits. they hears wally before he sees him, he too is now sporting the brightly coloured spandex. 

"so you changed too?" he teases robin "and glad to see you back to normal, babe" wally flirts making robin gag out loud and madelaine giggle. robin has no room to talk, since he went as far as to put his mask on under his helmet.

"you kidding?" kid flash questions back, then makes a noise of disgust that would be accompanied by a shiver if he wasn't running at super speeds. "i feel naked in civvies. you still tracking the parts?" he changes the topic of conversation.

"they were heading through gotham, but they veered," robin informs, looking down at the virtual map on his motorcycle. a red cone represents the target: subject amazo. the location finally appears in the bottom right hand corner. gotham academy > distance to target: 26.5 mi.  the location making madelaine's eyebrows scrunch.

"wait! dude, they're at my school!" he gasps before speeding up the bike, wally also speeding in front of the two to reach the school.

standing over superboy, amazo brings up both fists, ready for the killing blow. when wally zooms in grabbing superboy before the strike can land. announcing it to superboy with a "yoink." before grabbing him, just in case the fight rattled his brains.

the two skid to a stop beside robin and madelaine who jump off the bike, all four now by the gym doors and just right of the bleachers opposite ivo.

robin launches a disk at amazo. "martian manhunter." the android dictates, just before the disk would have hit, now passing through his intangible body. blowing up behind the android harmlessly. "access: red tornado." a red tornado forms under its feet, moving towards the four teenagers.

before they're hit madelaine is able to create a forcefield around her but wasn't quick enough to cover the boys as they're hit, wally being thrown back into the nearby wall, while robin and superboy another rush in the opposite direction. robin and wally giving out a cry of surprise as they're snatched by the wind currents.

superboy hits the bleachers, while robin hits the outside edge of the court then skids to the be in front of the bottom bleacher. wally hitting the wall with a thud, knocking the air out of him, and then the floor a good four or five feet below him with another painful thud. struggling to get to one knee, he looks up to find amazo in front of madelaine.

"access: captain atom." the android dictates, nearly zapping madelaine, who's now fully alert as she creates small purple shields around her arms blocking each laser coming towards her, the girl walking backwards trying to stay standing well also avoiding the lasers. 

however, not being able to see the fallen trophies behind her the girl trips backwards meaning the shields drop from her arms and a laser starts to aim straight for her chest before wally zooms in and picks the girl up speeding them away. once he drops the girl he starts to run back to amazo.

 "access: black canary." it states, aiming the pulsating wave of sound to the ground just before kid flash, which he can't avoid and runs into. getting thrown back and his ears ringing from the pitch. rolling twice, then skidding under the backboard of the opposite hoop. his hands falling away from his ears as he skids on his stomach. "superman." amazo dictates.

"kid!" madelaine yells as she gets up and rushes to the boys side not even caring that amazo was about to come at the two of them with superman's powers. she knew they'd never be able to defeat him once it directed an attack at them and braced herself.

 superboy goes to punch amazo within range but he catches it once again with an open hand nailing a hard cross at superboy's face to send him back into the bleachers just robin gets to his feet. madelaine helping wally up as quick as possible.

"martian manhunter." amazo says, elongating his arm and destroying the two disks robin just now decided to throw at him dodging right just in time.

attempting to catch him off-guard wally runs at amazo, who turns and uses his large hands to easily grasp wally's upper arms. "superman." amazo says, grabbing the ginger in a bone crushing  hug.

a bowstring snaps, catching amazo's attention, even with wally's cry of pain. madelaine feeling her skin grow hot from anger and her palms beginning to burn, although the bow sound breaking her concentration momentarily. it was oh too familiar.

"martian manhunter." amazo dictates, turning intangible through the arrow, but dropping wally in the process, his body not hitting the floor as hard as he should've as madelaine's powers cushioned the blow.

the green-fletched arrow sticking itself clean in the ground just right of robin's right foot, his eyes widen as he takes in the color of the arrow from behind charges out of the broken section of bleacher.

"access: black canary." amazo dictates, using the same move she used when training with superboy earlier that day throwing him across the room. superboy crashing high into the opposite bleachers.

a red batarang like shape whizzes past amazo's head "superman" amazo says, his eyes glowing red. just before the lasers would've hit wally who was on the floor madelaine pulls him out of the way the girl and boy both getting hit in the back, then arm, then side.

breathing heavily superboy makes his way out of the rubble looking first to ivo, then amazo who is looking to a still downed kid flash and mystique. clenching his eyes shut then sighing does he open his eyes. "access: black canary." he dictates, quiet enough for so one can hear.

ivo yawns dramatically, which is what prevents him from hearing superboy. "oh, yawn." he drawls, feeling the need to enunciate that, then continue still sounding bored. "normally amazo would study and mimic your abilities during battle, but what's the point?" waving his hand before looking to his fingernail beds. "you're all such poor copies of the originals."

robin rushes to madelaine and wally's sides and helps the two sit up, both of them letting out sounds of pain due to the laser blasts but being able to push through it.

the monkeys laugh, superboy's mouth opens for a moment, then closes as he smiles. "so everyone keeps saying." superboy states, his anger coming back onto his face and flowing through his words. "it makes me angry!" he yells, jumping over amazo and aiming his double downward fists for ivo.

the professor manages a squeak before getting out of the way, just before superboy would've hit his face though the power of the hit knocks him off balance and with a wimpy yelp falls down a row of bleachers.

superboy's attention deadest on the villainous creator of amazo. "want to see me channel that anger?" he shouts, making madelaine and wally grab their heads in pain.

wally's eyes widen "great. he's gone ballistic again." the boy says exasperatedly, madelaine looking at the kryptonian intently before realising.

"no, he's not... he's doing everything right" she says slowly as if everything now makes sense, he did listen to dinah's words eventually and he was saving them in the process.

"did you hit your head too hard?" wally asks knocking against her forehead making her face scrunch before whacking his hand away " he's ballistic!" the redhead repeats.

"maybe not" robin smirks knowing what superboy's doing, wally only looking at the two in confusion.

"amazo, protect your master. priority alpha." ivo commands, diving further down the bleachers to avoid getting crushed by Superboy.

"captain atom." amazo dictates, pointing a hand in superboy's direction. hitting superboy once more, sending him flying back. as the monqi's help ivo back to his feet.

"anyone want to play keep-away?" robin questions, before kicking ivo in the back and sending him pitching forward since his feet weren't on the ground.

"oh oh, me, me!" wally yells, running on the other side of amazo and catching its attention.

"not really" madelaine starts sluggishly before grinning "but sure" the girl beginning to run to stand in front of the creature.

"access: superman." the android says just as madelaine gets in front of him. lifting his left foot and stomping it to catch underneath madelaine's last step towards Ivo. sending the goddess up and heading high into the bleachers which she avoided by taking flight but spinning in the air.

robin stands from a crouch, throwing a disk at amazo's head. reacting amazo dictates. "martian manhunter." turning intangible, just as he does superboy jumps down and aiming a punch at amazo. "superman." the android dictates. though he turns tangible just as superboy's hand goes through his head, his face begins to spark and zap blue electricity before exploding and knocking superboy back.

the headless body falls flat to the ground with a clanging thud.

robin runs up to the body. "help me disassemble him now!" though out of the four, he's in the best shape, kid being unsteady on his feet, madelaine dizzy from the throw and superboy not even being back on his yet.

holding his left arm kid is the first to comment "dude, the guy has no head." his lack of high-speed helping is because at this point it seems entirely irrelevant.

"don't take any chances." aqualad decides, as he and m'gann enter, both heading in their direction quickly. 

m'gann landing beside superboy to steady him if necessary "superboy, are you alright?" she questions, noting the amount of damage done to his skin.

superboy smiles at her "fine" he assures, then looks to robin. "feeling the aster." robin smiles right back.

madelaine walks over to wally unstably as her steps begin to falter and she slightly falls into his side, the boys arm going to wrap around her waist to keep her stable. "you alright, gorgeous?" he asks looking down at her before she sighs out.

"just help me stand" she tell him before he nods and throws her arm around his neck once again holding her up. his eyes not leaving her face as he smiles contently but something strikes him.

"hey" the redhead speaks up suddenly , gaining everyone's attention. "where's ivo?" around them the gym is still smoking in some places from the battle, but ivo is nowhere to be seen.

———

the team stands before black canary, martian manhunter, red tornado, batman, and green arrow, recounting the status of the mission.

"the amazo android is in again safely being analysed at the two separate star labs but ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android." aqualad informs.

"capturing the professor will a league priority." canary informs them.

"but we understand that your mission encountered other complications." martian manhunter states, crossing his arms. aqualad, robin, and wally glare at superboy, who has the decency to look away. madelaine is the only one who grins to herself.

batman decides to step up. "complications come with the job. your ability to handle them has impressed the league."

"the whole League?" superboy asks, knowing the answer. madelaine placing a soft hand on his shoulder in support. superboy hesitantly bringing his own hand on top of hers giving it a squeeze making her smile.

"given time, yes." bat assures instantly "kryptonian's, as you know, have very hard heads." superboy can't stop the small smile. "of course, there's no shame in asking for help. that's why the league exists. because there's some problems even we can't handle individually."

"please." robin draws. "if we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask." wally closes his eyes, knowing exactly what he means. robin pulls out the arrow. "look familiar?" he lets batman take it from him. "you were following us." he accuses "babysitting! you still don't trust us!"

madelaine looks at the arrow in the man's hands before feeling confusion and then realisation takes over, she'd been working with roy long enough to know the difference between his and green arrow's bows.

ignoring robin's accusations, batman passes the arrow to green arrow "we didn't follow you." green arrow pulls an arrow out of his quiver, holding them side by side. the tip and shaft are noticeably different than the one robin handed over.

robin's eyes widen. "and that's not your arrow..." looking between the two again and smiling. "but that means-"

kid flash, smiling brightly before he and madelaine speak up cutting off boy wonder. "speedy!" "roy!" they sat at the same time.

"he has our backs." aqualad agrees, the happiness evident in his tone.

kid flash runs and takes the arrow from green "souvenir!" batman and green arrow share a look, but don't comment. madelaine looking to the two older men before speaking up.

"it's his thing" is all she says before shrugging and walking to join wally, aqualad, robin and m'gann.

superboy clears his throat and steps up to black canary catching her slightly off-guard as she turns to him curiously. "i'm ready."

"good. because I'm here." black canary assures, placing her hand on her hip as she looks him in the eye.