S T A R C I T Y
July 17, 23:16 PDT

Of course, it would be Brick doing an illegal weapons trafficking deal on the Star City docks. The criminal had it out for Reese ever since she had stolen his wallet, three years ago. Not that he knew about her moonlighting as a vigilante, but still...

Now, here she stood, as Silverbird, with Speedy, as Roy shot an arrow towards two of Brick's thugs, causing smoke to puff out of it.

The weapons scattered around the docks, one sliding far enough that Brick himself was able to pick it up.

The arms trafficker powered up the weapon, aiming it around before he finally pointed it up at a crane sorta-thing, where Silverbird and Speedy were standing, glaring at him.

"You two again?" he shouted. "I'm starting to get insulted that Green Arrow's not messing up my operation personally!"

Then, Brick shot his blaster, but Roy and Reese were able to duck out of the way, leaping across the beams as red bolts of energy flew towards them.

Finally, Speedy managed to run across a walkway, flipping to avoid a blast, shooting an arrow at the same time. The arrow landed in the barrel of Brick's blaster and made it explode, destroying the other man's suit in the process.

"Do you know what I pay for a suit in my size?" he shouted up at them, before turning to his henchmen. "Scorch the earth, boys,"

"Uh oh," Silverbird muttered as the henchmen swiveled their guns around to face her and Speedy, but before they could get hit, a streak of yellow and red knocked two of the men down, while another pair of batarangs took care of the last two, Robin swinging across on his grappling line, cackling that laugh of his.

As Robin landed on a shipping container, Aqualad jumped down, turning his water-bearers into a rope and slamming them against two other thugs.

After taking off the remnants of his ruined suit, Brick bent down, ripping a chunk of cement from the ground and throwing it towards where Silverbird and Speedy were running across the tops of shipping containers.

The two pseudo-siblings managed to duck, and Silverbird spun around, shooting an arrow towards Brick, though it didn't do much damage.

He threw another boulder towards them, but Aqualad jumped down, slicing it in half, just as Speedy shot another smokescreen arrow at Brick, causing the man to cough.

"Roy, please," Silverbird began quietly. "Just listen,"

"The cave is perfect," Aqualad agreed. "It has everything the Team will need," there was a dull thump behind her, and Reese glanced over her shoulder in time to see Robin land behind her and Speedy.

"For covert missions," the Boy Wonder added. "You know, spy stuff,"

"And wait until you see Superboy and Miss Martian!" Kid Flash spoke up as he joined them on top, after running straight up the side of the shipping container. "But, I saw her first!"

Behind Wally, Silverbird saw the smoke cloud that had been surrounding Brick clear, and the man hefted another boulder.

"Everyone, scatter!" she shouted as the rock flew towards them, before she let loose a Canary Cry, making the boulder explode into dust. Speedy jumped to her right, coming up kneeling and shooting three arrows at once towards Brick.

Though they did knock the man back a few feet, Brick wasn't defeated. As the smoke dissipated, Brick chuckled.

"Tell Arrow he shouldn't send his whelps to do a man's job,"

"I'll show you a whelp," Silverbird grumbled, as she and Speedy each nocked separate arrows, pointing them towards Brick, who only chuckled again.

"Go ahead," the man told them, holding his arms out. The two siblings let their arrows fly, and they thudded against Brick's chest, as a double-dosing of gooey foam encased the arms trafficker, silencing his protests as well.

Wally ran up the shipping container again, smirking.

"High-density polyurethane foam," he spoke up, glancing over his shoulder at Reese and Roy. "Nice,"

"So, Speedy?" Robin asked from where he leaned against a shipping container as the redhead turned around, walking towards him and Aqualad. "You in?"

"Pass," Speedy bit out, turning to glance at Robin as he cut between the two shipping containers. "I'm done letting Arrow and the League tell me what to do. I don't need a babysitter or a clubhouse to hang out with the other kids," he scoffed harshly. "Your junior Justice League is a joke. Something to keep you busy and in your place. I don't want any part of it,"

As he walked away, Roy looked over his shoulder at Reese, who was looking more than despondent at the thought of her older brother refusing to, in a sense, spend time with her.

"I'll see you at home," he said simply, before vanishing into the shadows.

M O U N T J U S T I C E
July 18, 11:16 EDT

Recognized Robin B01, Silverbird B02, Kid Flash B03

The next day, despite the disastrous meeting with Roy the night before, would hopefully be a little bit better.

Reese, Wally, and Dick, all once again dressed in civvies, with the black-haired boy's ever-present shades over his ocean eyes, stepped out of the Zeta tube, the three practically bursting with excitement as they walked to where Miss Martian, Aqualad, and Superboy were standing over by the holo-map.

After finally getting out of her grounding with Ollie, Reese had talked her adoptive father into letting her meet up with her two friends in Gotham, but the three had been too excited to sit still for very long.

"Did you ask him?"

"What did he say?"

The boys being a prime example. Aqualad turned towards the three, giving a small smile.

"He is arriving now,"

"Well, then what are we waiting for?" Wally exclaimed, running forward as the bay doors opened, revealing Red Tornado as he landed on the ground, after flying using well...a tornado.

"Greetings," the android said with a mechanical tone to his voice. "Is there a reason you intercept me outside the cave?"

"We thought you had a mission for us," Aqualad said calmly, and everyone, including Reese, turned to the android with hopeful looks.

But, no such luck.

"Missions are the Batman's responsibility," Red Tornado said stoically, and Reese crossed her arms as Robin scoffed.

"But it's been over a week!" he exclaimed.

"And so far..." Reese trailed off, narrowing her eyes. "There's been a whole lot of nothing,"

"You will be tested soon enough," Red Tornado retorted calmly, holding up a hand. "For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company,"

"This team," Aqualad cut in. "Is not a social club,"

"No," the android agreed, pointing a finger. "But I am told social interaction is an important team-building exercise. Perhaps you can keep yourselves busy by familiarizing yourselves with the cave,"

Red Tornado walked past them, stopping so the computer was able to scan and recognize him as an authorized member, and not an intruder.

"Keep busy, he said" Reese huffed, crossing her arms again and exchanging a glance with Dick, who nodded.

"Does he think we're falling for this?" he asked, and Miss Martian jumped around excitedly.

"Oh, oh, I'll find out!" she exclaimed, before turning to stare at Red Tornado. When nothing happened for a few moments, Reese poked her head around Dick's shoulder to look at the Martian.

"Was something...supposed to happen?" she asked, and Miss Martian sighed.

"I-I'm sorry," the other girl mumbled. "I forgot he's a machine...inorganic. I cannot read his mind,"

"Nice try," Reese spoke, reaching up and setting a hand on the red-haired girl's shoulders before Wally butted in between them.

"So, you know what I'm thinking right now?" the speedster asked Miss Martian, and Reese stuck her tongue out at him as Dick elbowed Wally's ribs.

"Pfft," Robin began, and Reese had a feeling he was rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses. "We all know what you're thinking now,"

"And now we tour the clubhouse," Aqualad spoke up, interrupting the other two and sounding a bit despondent, but Miss Martian, ever the cheerful one, clapped her hands together.

"Well," she began. "Superboy and I live here! We can play tour guides!"

Everyone turned to the Project Cadmus clone, who just glared at them and crossed his arms over his chest. Reese actually thought it made him look like some sort of grumpy puppy.

"Don't look at me," he grumbled, and Wally sped in between Reese and Miss Martian, laying his arms across both of their shoulders, even though Silverbird was a good seven inches shorter than him.

"We won't," Kid Flash cut in, smirking. "A private tour sounds much more fun,"

"She never said it was going to be private," Dick snapped, practically glaring at the red-haired speedster, as Reese jabbed Wally in the ribs at the same time, making him flinch.

"Get your arm off my shoulder or I'll judo-flip you," she muttered, and the arm was quickly retracted.

Wally had, unfortunately, or not, been on the receiving end of the twelve-year-old brunette's judo-flips before, courtesy of Black Canary's teachings, and he wasn't eager to go through it again.

Well, that, and there was also a black-haired bird glaring daggers into the side of his head, but for now, Wally ignored the latter.

"Team building," Aqualad intervened again before things could escalate further, or before Wally actually got flipped onto his back. "We'll all go,"

With that, the six of them headed back into the cave, but as Miss Martian began the 'tour', Reese would be lying if she said she didn't zone out the tiniest bit.

It wasn't that she didn't want to pay attention, it was just that, after the Team's disastrous intervention with Speedy last night, she hadn't gotten much sleep. Reese had been too preoccupied with wondering what exactly made Speedy go off on his own, without telling anyone, without telling her, than to actually get any semblance of rest.

A finger gently poking her ribcage drew the brunette from her thoughts, and she turned to see Dick staring at her. Though Reese wasn't able to see his blue eyes from behind his sunglasses, she assumed the Boy Wonder was worried, if the slight downturn to his mouth was any indication.

"You okay, pretty bird?" he whispered, and Reese sighed, brushing a strand of hair from where it hung in front of her eyes.

"I'm fine," she answered. Reese had been saying that a lot lately, and she wondered if it was true or not. "Just tired. Didn't get much sleep last night,"

"Worried about Roy?" Dick asked quietly, eyes flicking forward to see if anyone else had heard.

Neither of them were sure if their mentors had told Superboy or Miss Martian the identity of Speedy, but considering that Ollie hadn't told Reese she needed to wear sunglasses inside as Bruce had done to Dick, it was safe to bet they were probably free to talk about her brother without risk.

In response to Dick's question, Reese nodded. "It's just..." she trailed off, before waving her hands around. "I don't get it! I've known Roy for years, just as long as you have! I know he can be bull-headed about things, but this is different! He seems different,"

For a few seconds, it looked like Dick wasn't sure what to say. Finally, he sighed, laying an arm across Reese's shoulders and giving the silver archer a small smile.

"Stay whelmed, Rhysalin," he said, him being the only person to use Reese's full name. Well, Oliver did it whenever she was in trouble, but all in all, she was a good kid...most of the time. "I'm sure Speedy's just going through a phase. I mean, we were all a bit pissed that day at the Hall. Roy's just taking longer than the rest of us to cool down,"

Before Reese could say anything in response, Miss Martian's voice interrupted their conversation, causing the younger two proteges to turn to the others.

"If villains know of the cave we must be on constant alert," the red-haired Martian was saying, but Dick had an explanation ready. However confusing it might be.

"The bad guys know we know that they know about the cave so they'll never think to look here,"

But, when Miss M just stared at him, confused, Reese figured it'd be up to her to make things understandable.

"He means we're hiding in plain sight," the brunette explained before her nose caught the scent of...burning. Burning meant fire.

"I smell smoke," Superboy spoke up, and Miss M yelled something about cookies, but all Reese was able to think about was the night her parents died, the explosion at her old home, and--fingers waving in front of her face jerked Reese from her thoughts, and she turned to see Dick staring worriedly at her again.

God, why couldn't she just get a grip?

If it wasn't bad enough that she was a superhero scared of heights, the night that her parents and baby sister died had made a whole new fear appear inside Reese's mind: Pyrophobia, the fear of fire.

Understandable, given the circumstances, but still. Reese knew she was supposed to be strong, to be able to shut everything else out, to focus only on the mission (per Batman's words), but she just...couldn't.

"You alright?" Dick's voice was quiet, and Reese bit her lip, giving a small nod.

She was fine. She was. Reese couldn't bring herself to show weakness in front of her friends, in front of Dick. They would think she wasn't worthy of being a hero. They would probably end up kicking her off the Team.

So, as of now, she kept her emotions to herself. Reese bottled them up and stuck them deep inside, ignoring them as they grew, ignoring the way this would probably come back and haunt her later. Right now, it didn't matter.

"I'm fine," It wasn't like she intentionally tried to say that, by now it was just a reflex. A bad one, but a reflex nonetheless. As it were, it didn't look like Dick believed her.

"You're sure?" he asked skeptically, glancing around to make sure they were alone before reaching up and taking off his sunglasses, revealing his blue eyes. "Pretty bird, please, talk to me,"

"I'm fine," she repeated, stepping away from the Boy Wonder. "Let's go see the others, okay?"

Dick still looked like he didn't believe her, but he relented, eventually, and the two of them managed to catch up to Miss M, Wally, Aqualad, and Superboy just as they entered what looked to be a common room. Dick had put his sunglasses back on, so no one else was able to figure out his identity.

One half held a large flat-screen TV and green couches and armchairs around a glass coffee table. The other half of the room was a kitchen, the oven of which held a large spiraling cloud of black smoke.

Using her telekinesis, Miss Martian levitated a metal tray from the oven, and Reese noticed the surface of which was laden with crumbly black disks.

Presumably, Miss M's cookies.

"I was trying out Granny Jones' recipe from episode seventeen of--uh, never mind,"

Reese raised an eyebrow when the martian abruptly cut off the rest of her explanation, but Wally beginning to scarf down the burnt cookies stopped her from asking about it.

"I bet they would've been great," Dick added, jerking his thumb towards the speedster. "He doesn't seem to mind,"

Wally paused in his eating, looking sheepish. "I...have a serious metabolism?" Reese wasn't sure why KF phrased that as a question, but he did, and it was a bit strange.

"I'll...make more?" Miss M asked, sounding hopeful, and Aqualad gave her a small nod.

"It was sweet of you to make any," the Atlantean said.

"Thanks, Aqualad,"

"We're off-duty," Aqualad added. "Please, call me Kaldur'ahm. Actually, my friends call me Kaldur,"

"I'm Wally," KF said, mouth still full of cookies, before glancing towards where Dick and Reese were sitting. "See, I already trust you with my secret ID, unlike Mr. Dark Glasses over here. Batman's forbidden Boy Wonder from telling almost anyone his real name,"

Reese, if she was being completely honest, had kind of zoned out of the conversation. Not because she didn't think to introduce themselves was necessary, but because her head was still filled with her own thoughts from earlier.

Only when Dick nudged her did the brunette glance up, in time to see everyone else staring her. Abruptly, Reese realized they were probably waiting for her to say something.

"Oh, sorry," she said quickly. "Uh, my name's Reese," Wally, another person who knew her full name, leaned closer, smirking.

"Really?" he asked, knowing full well that the brunette wasn't lying but didn't stop, even when Reese narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you sure that's your name?"

Reese sighed. "Yes, Wally, I'm sure that's my name. If the rest of you really want to know, my full name is Rhysalin, but nobody ever calls me that,"

"Except for Mr. Boy Wonder, over there," Wally added, jerking his head in Dick's general direction. "You know his real name, he knows your full name. Interesting, isn't it?"

"Shut up, Wally," Reese grumbled, feeling her face heat up and wishing she'd just be able to sink into the floor. "You knew my full name before today too,"

"Well, yes," KF admitted reluctantly. "But I don't use it on a daily basis. And, not to mention the whole 'pretty bird' nickname thing. What's that about, Rob?"

"--Miss M, what about you?" Dick interrupted, blatantly avoiding Wally's question before the immensely embarrassing conversation could go any further, and the martian gave a small smile.

"Mine's no secret," she began. "It's M'gann M'orzz. But, you can call me Megan. It's an Earth name, and I'm on Earth now,"

Superboy didn't say anything, only turning around and beginning to walk out of the common room.

Suddenly, he whipped around with a dark look on his face.

"Get out of my head!" he exclaimed, and Reese clapped her hands over her ears at the sheer volume of Superboy's angry shout.

Then, if that wasn't weird enough, Reese heard M'gann's voice, quite literally, inside her head, bringing with it a painful headache.

'What's wrong?' the martian's voice began. 'I don't understand. Everyone on Mars communicates telepathically.'

"M'gann, stop," Kaldur spoke up sharply, and the brief mental pain receded from Reese's mind. Despite herself, the brunette let out a small sigh of relief as Aqualad continued his explanation. "Things are different on Earth. Here, your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy,"

"Besides," Wally added, ever the conversationalist. "Cadmus' creepy little psychic G-gnomes left a bad taste in his brain,"

"I-I didn't mean to--"

"Just stay out," Superboy growled, before going over to sit sullenly on a nearby couch.

"Hello, Megan," M'gann said suddenly, knocking a palm against the side of her head. "I know what we can do,"

She began to fly down the corridor, as Kaldur and Wally turned to stare at Dick and Reese, confused. But, all the younger two could do was shrug.

As the boys, save Superboy, walked down the hallway, Reese and M'gann stayed behind, the martian peeking around the corner to gaze sadly at the sulking Cadmus clone.

"Superboy..." she began quietly. "Please?"

"Don't talk to me," the other boy bit out. Reese rolled her eyes. This was ridiculous. She was used to dealing with moody teenage boys, Roy being a prime example.

So, what she did was walk forward and set her hand on Superboy's shoulder. The clone glanced up at her, anger still lurking in his eyes, which were so much like Clark's, but after a moment, they softened.

Superboy stood up and followed Reese and M'gann to the hangar, where Dick, Wally, and Kaldur were waiting, in front of a small oval-shaped...thing.

"It's my Martian bioship," M'gann explained, and Reese tilted her head to the side, trying to see how this egg-shaped object would be any sort of ship, space shuttle or no.

Would M'gann need to shrink down in order to pilot it? It was fairly small, after all. No way her normal size would be able to get in all on her own.

"Cute," Wally spoke up, raising an eyebrow. "Not aerodynamic, but cute,"

"It's at rest, silly," Miss M giggled. "I'll wake it," Suddenly, the Bioship expanded into something that looked vaguely jet-like, and Reese had to stumble backward in order to not get crushed as it transformed.

The ship turned around so the back-end faced them, before a door opened up, extending a ramp downward.

The six of them all ran in excitedly as six organic-looking chairs appeared from the floor, and M'gann stepped up to a central console.

"Strap in for launch," the martian said calmly, and Reese suddenly snapped her head to face Miss M.

"Wait, launch?" she echoed, before pointing a finger up in the air. "As in, like, flying? In the sky?"

"Isn't that what a ship does?" M'gann asked, tilting her head to the side, confused, as Wally suddenly smirked.

"Don't tell me, Reese," the redhead began, leaning up against his chair. "Are you scared?"

"So what if I am?" the brunette shot back as Dick elbowed Wally hard in the ribs. "You would be too if there was a chance that, when you're thousands of feet up in the air, that something goes wrong and you fall out of the sky, ending in inevitable death,"

"Worst-case scenario," Wally waved a hand dismissively, but Reese wasn't entirely okay with it.

Sure, she had flown in a plane before, if only to keep up the pretenses that Oliver Queen actually traveled across the country like a normal person, instead of using the Justice League's Zeta tubes.

That didn't mean she had to like flying. Acrophobia, anyone?

"You don't have to come with us if you want to, Reese," M'gann said, trying to be comforting, but Reese only shook her head. Dick was the only person who knew about her fear, and it was unlikely he'd say anything about it.

"No, it's fine," she answered. "I can come with. Just a little old irrational fear, you know the drill,"

"I...can't say that I do," Miss Martian answered slowly, but her voice quavered the tiniest bit, and Reese raised an eyebrow.

Over the years, as she lived with Oliver and met with Bruce on multiple occasions for one thing or another, she had become perceptive. Reese had somehow acquired an uncanny ability to pick out when people were lying.

And right now, M'gann wasn't telling the truth.

But, she didn't say anything about it. Everyone was entitled to their own secrets, and whether or not they chose to keep them was their choice.

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors," Miss Martian said clearly as soon as Reese had sat down on the chair in front of Dick, a set of safety belts crisscrossing across her chest.

Two glowing blue globes appeared from the floor and M'gann placed her hands on each of them. Per Miss Martian's request, the bay doors opened, and the Bioship flew out in the air.

Despite her saying that she would come along, Reese avoided looking out the windows. There was no way she was going to look down at the ground, hundreds of feet below, and not freak out about it.

Behind her, on the other hand, Dick was having the time of his life.

"Incredible!" he exclaimed, and Wally nodded dreamily from where he was staring at M'gann.

"She sure is," When he realized everyone was looking at him, KF quickly backtracked. "Uh, I mean the ship. Which, like all ships, is a she,"

"Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth," Dick chuckled from his spot, and Reese cracked a small smile, the choked feeling of fear in her chest dissipating the smallest bit.

"Dude!" Despite the redhead's embarrassment, Reese giggled, covering her mouth with one hand, before Wally turned to stare at her. "Not you too!" he exclaimed, and the younger brunette shrugged.

"What?" she asked rhetorically. "It was funny,"

"I bet it was," Wally grumbled as he turned back around, muttering under his breath. "Of course, when little Dickie-bird makes you laugh..."

"You know I can still hear you, right?" Reese asked, and smirked as Wally's entire body tensed. When he turned around to stare at her, Reese tapped one nail against her ear. "Enhanced hearing, KF,"

During all of this, Kaldur had drawn his chair closer to Superboy's, and Reese figured this would be an opportune time to help the clone learn how to apologize.

"We might not have psychic powers," the Atlantean began. "But we know what you're thinking. You over-reacted and don't know how to apologize,"

Superboy, on the other hand, despite Kaldur's words, looked less than convinced, and he turned to look at Reese.

"It's more simple than you think," she said calmly. "First, all you have to do is say sorry,"

Before she stepped away, Reese gave Superboy a small smile.

As she went back to sit in front of Dick, she noticed that the Boy Wonder's face had taken on an unreadable expression, and it made Reese stare at him for a few seconds, before he turned to M'gann.

"He'll come around," Dick said, and Miss Martian sighed.

"He doesn't seem to like me much," she mumbled before Wally spoke up again.

"You guys remember he also has super hearing, right?" the speedster's stage whisper stopped when Reese glared at him before they all turned to Superboy, who was bristling slightly.

To change the subject, Reese turned to M'gann. "How about showing us some Martian shape-shifting?" she asked, and the other girl brightened up instantly.

Miss M straightened up in her spot and a wave of color started from her feet upward, turning into an identical copy of Silverbird herself, from the silver streak in her brown hair to the bow and quiver across her back

"Woah..." the real Reese trailed off as she stared at M'gann, eyes practically bulging out of her head. Then, M'gann turned into a female version of Robin, before a female Kid Flash.

As he saw his female double, Wally sighed dreamily. "Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?" he asked, and for a second, all Reese could do was stare at him.

"Kind of?" she answered, simply because she wasn't entirely sure of the answer herself. "I mean, you are already in love with yourself,"

"Funny," Wally retorted dryly, but Reese only stuck her tongue out at him again.

"Impressive," Dick spoke up, looking at M'gann again as she transformed back into herself. "But, you know, you're not exactly going to fool anyone with those,"

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder," M'gann said softly, and Reese grinned.

"Forget mimicking them, Miss M," she began. "Just understanding boys is an Olympic feat in and of itself,"

This time, Dick and Wally both sent Reese separate glares, but the brunette ignored them, grinning.

"And your clothes?" Kaldur spoke up.

"They're organic like the ship," M'gann answered. "They respond to my mental commands,"

"As long as they're the only ones," Superboy's angry grumble came from the front of the ship, and Reese sighed. After a moment of potentially awkward silence, Wally spoke up again.

Can you do that ghosting through walls thing like Manhunter does?" he asked eagerly, but M'gann looked down at her feet.

"Density shifting?" she clarified nervously. "No, it's a very advanced technique,"

"The Flash can vibrate his molecules to phase right through a wall," Reese said, and Dick grinned, pointing a finger at Wally.

"When he tries," the Boy Wonder added. "Bloody nose,"

"I hate you both," the teen speedster grumbled, huffing and crossing his arms over his chest as Dick and Reese both laughed, the archer's mood much improved from earlier.

"Here's something I can do," Miss Martian spoke up as they flew over the small town of Happy Harbor. "Camouflage mode,"

From inside the Bioship, Reese didn't see any change, but outside she figured they were probably as close to invisible as they could get.

But, then, just as she was beginning to have a good time, Wally decided to open his big fat mouth.

"Hey, Reese," he began, and the younger girl turned to him with a small 'hmm?'. "You never said why you were scared of the Bioship earlier. You're not scared of flying, are you?"

"No," she answered simply, avoiding the redhead's eyes. Dick, Oliver, Roy, and Dinah were really the only ones who knew about her separate fears of heights and fire. Reese had never told Wally. "I have acrophobia, a fear of heights,"

"Why?"

"That's none of your business, KF," Dick suddenly snapped, and Wally turned to Robin, a bit surprised at the bite that was in the Boy Wonder's tone. But, Reese only shook her head, glancing over her shoulder for a minute, sending Dick a look before she turned back to Kid Flash.

"It's fine, Wally," she said eventually. "It just brings back some bad memories,"

"I'm sorry, Reese," M'gann spoke up next, sounding apologetic. "If I had known that, I never would have made you come with us,"

"No, I wanted to come," Reese answered, waving a hand. "You didn't know about it, and I didn't tell you,"

"Robin knew," Wally spoke up, and Reese shrugged.

"He lives with Batman, they probably know everything," Before Dick could contradict the fact that he had known before Batman, Red Tornado's voice came through whatever speaker system was on the ship.

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian. An emergency alert was just triggered at the Happy Harbor Power Plant. I suggest you investigate. Covertly. I'm sending coordinates,"

"Received," Miss M acknowledged the android. "Adjusting course," As the Bioship swerved, Dick grumbled from his spot behind Reese.

"Tornado's keeping us busy again,"

"Well...a simple fire led you to Superboy," M'gann said as the Bioship began to hover over an almost abandoned parking lot. "We should find out what caused the alert,"

"I think I know the reason," Superboy spoke up, and Reese turned to look out the right window of the Bioship, just as an actual tornado slammed into it, throwing them up into the air.

Reese clenched her eyes shut, trying to block out the fact that she was totally right, they were about to die, when suddenly everything settled again, and a hole opened up in the bottom of the Bioship.

The safety straps, which Reese was immensely grateful for, retracted, and she hopped down onto the asphalt of the parking lot. Despite the fact that workers from the power plant were running and screaming, the brunette plopped down onto the street, lightly face-planting as everyone else joined her.

"Reese, are you okay?" M'gann's voice drew Reese from her thoughts, and the brunette gave a weary thumbs-up before she sat up, taking a deep breath.

"I am never flying again," she said, waving a hand. "Like, never again,"

"Robin, are tornadoes common in New England? Robin?" Kaldur's voice made Reese turn and look at the Atlantean before she noticed that a certain black-haired bird was conveniently missing from their little posse.

Her head snapped to face the entrance to the power plant, in time to see the back of Dick's jacket disappear inside.

"That idiot," she grumbled, before climbing to her feet and running after him, ignoring the others' calls behind her. Dick just had to go off by himself, didn't he? Reese swore, as soon as she found him--

Reese dove to the side to avoid another twister as it flew towards her, and the wind speed made her hair fly in front of her face. God, she really should've put it up today, instead of letting it hang down her back.

But, it was too late now, and she hadn't brought a hair tie. As it were, Dick looked like he was getting his ass handed to him by some sort of robot dude with a scarf.

Even though she hadn't thought to bring something to pull her hair up, Reese had brought her bow, and her quiver, full of black-and-silver arrows, was already across her back.

Taking her bow, which was collapsible, out of her pocket, Reese nocked an arrow, shooting it straight towards the robot.

But, before it was able to hit him, the robot--and Reese assumed it was a he--waved his hand around, and somehow, the arrow turned around and flew back towards her.

Reese squeaked, ducking her head down, and felt the serrated arrowhead nick the ends of her long hair as she hit the floor.

Noticing a ladder close by, she scampered up onto an upper walkway, which would also hopefully give her a better vantage point.

Leaping up onto the guardrail, Reese perched there like a cat, another arrow already pointed straight at the robot. Thank God Dick had taught her how to balance.

Her fingers tightened on the bowstring, before letting the arrow fly, as she leaped off the rail. If Reese had timed this correctly, and she really hoped she timed it right, she would be able to land on the ground level without too much bodily harm.

As it is, she didn't even hit the ground. At least, not right away.

Instead, halfway there, Dick was thrown back by another twister, and he thudded right into Reese's stomach.

Twisting around, Robin made sure he took the brunt of the impact as the two of them slammed into a support beam, the back of Reese's head accidentally knocking against his chin before they both fell heavily to the ground.

"You alright?" Dick's voice was quiet, but it made Reese stare at him as if he'd just grown a second head.

"Fine," she said, and this time she meant it. "What about you?"

"Feelin' whelmed," Reese smiled before suddenly, Superboy landed next to them.

"Who's your new friend?" the clone asked.

"Didn't catch his name!" Dick yelled back over the wind. "But he plays kinda rough!"

"Apologies," the robot said smugly. "You may address me as Mister Twister,"

"Yeah, because that's super original," Reese muttered under her breath and heard Dick chuckle beside her. Kaldur nodded to M'gann and Wally before the three of them ran at Mister Twister.

In vain, it seemed, because the robot just swiped them aside with his winds as if they were all meaningless little gnats to him.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero," Mister Twister exclaimed. "I was not, however, expecting children,"

"We're not children," Dick retorted, throwing two red birdarangs at the robot as Reese shot another arrow at him.

But, all of the projectiles were swiped away before they could do much damage. Aside from disrupting Mister Twister's twister, nothing much happened.

"Objectively," Mister Twister continued. "You are. Have you no adult supervision? I find your presence quite disturbing,"

"Let's see if you're more turbed once we kick your can!" Dick shouted, and Reese snapped her head over to look at the boy next to her.

"Seriously?" she asked. "Again? What is it with you and butchering words?"

Dick shrugged, just as M'gann used her telekinesis to levitate a piece of equipment hanging from the ceiling. She threw it towards Mister Twister, and Superboy used the consecutive dust cloud to launch his own attack.

As it were, neither were successful, but it gave Dick, Reese, and Kaldur a prime opportunity to try and defeat the psychotic robot/android.

Reese leaped in front of both Robin and Aqualad, opening her mouth and letting a Canary Cry exit her mouth. The shockwave from the sonic scream made her dark hair fly out in a fan behind her.

But, even though it blasted the android back several meters, as he flew backward, Twister was still able to flash out a hand and wrap it around Reese's neck, abruptly cutting off the Canary Cry and holding her tightly in one of his massive fists.

He threw her back down to the ground, and Reese's head thudded into the cement as Dick and Kaldur were each defeated by more of the wind vortexes, both of the landing next to her.

"Ow..." Reese began wearily as she sat up, holding the back of her head. When she moved her fingers away, they were red and glistening. Uh oh.

"Is that blood?" Reese glanced up to find Dick staring at her, sunglasses askew. She gave him a dry look in response.

"No, it's ketchup,"

...Dick didn't look like he appreciated the sarcasm.

With her free hand, the brunette reached forward and straightened Robin's shades, once again hiding his ocean-colored eyes from her view.

Reese tried to stand, but Dick lurched forward before she was able to get more than a few inches off the ground.

He gently pulled her up so she stood next to him, and then the two of them, plus Kaldur, Superboy, and M'gann, walked towards an exit, where there had just been an explosion.

Once the dust cloud cleared, Reese saw Wally hovering in midair several feet above the ground.

"I got you, Wally," M'gann said as she gently lowered the speedster to the ground. Then, Mister Twister's voice sounded from the far end of the parking lot.

"I would've thought you all would've learned your limitations by now!"

"What do you want?" Kaldur shouted.

"Isn't it obvious?" Twister asked as he rose up into the air. "I'm waiting for a real hero," Then they all began to shout.

"Read his mind and find a weakness!"

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that?"

"It's okay with the bad guys!" Dick shouted back. M'gann concentrated for a moment, before exclaiming angrily.

"Nothing!" she cried out. "I'm getting nothing!" then, M'gann hit her palm against the side of her head. "Hello, Megan! Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise! He's inorganic, an android! How many androids do you know that can generate tornadoes?"

Despite the valid points of M'gann's observation, Reese had a feeling that wasn't quite. She had met Red Tornado before, and he wasn't exactly one to dress up in a crazy costume, testing them or not.

But, it seemed the others didn't share her skepticism. Overhead, Twister raised his hands in the air, as two massive tornadoes materialized, a stormcloud making the sky grow dark.

"An impressive show!" Kaldur exclaimed. "We will not indulge you! We will not engage!" Lightning flashed in the dark clouds, and Wally shuddered.

"Uh, can Tornado do that?" he asked, and Twister chuckled.

"You think I'm Tornado?" the other android questioned. "Ironic,"

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and everyone was thrown backward. Wearily, Reese lifted her head, everything wavering in front of her eyes as her head pounded.

Yep, she thought to herself. That's definitely a concussion.

Taking her bow from her shoulder, Reese shot one arrow on one side of Mister Twister, before shooting another arrow to the opposite side.

Lightning began to crackle in Twister's palms after he had thrown Superboy to the ground when suddenly, he just...stopped.

"Fine then," Twister began. "I won't deny you children have power, but playing hide-and-seek with you will not help me achieve my objectives, so stay concealed! If you confront me again, I will show no mercy,"

As soon as he had flown away, Reese stumbled, her head pounding worse than it had been. For a few seconds, her vision blacked out, but after a moment, it cleared, and she was able to see Superboy yelling at M'gann.

"And that's supposed to make it right?" the clone was shouting. "You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado!"

"It's not like she did it on purpose!" Reese cut in, stepping between M'gann and Superboy, facing Dick, Wally, and Kaldur as well. "You can't blame her for something she had no control over. Any of us could've thought Twister was Tornado,"

"It was a rookie mistake," Dick straightened up. "We shouldn't have listened,"

"Excuse me?" Reese retorted, oblivious to the fact that M'gann was trying to get her to cool down. "I said it two seconds ago and I'll say it again, that wasn't her fault. Everyone makes mistakes when they first become heroes, it comes with the job. You can't blame Miss M for that,"

"She is pretty inexperienced, though," Wally spoke up, and Reese's eyes snapped to meet his as the speedster shoved his hands into his pockets. "Hit the showers, M'gann. We'll take it from here,"

"Stay out of our way," Superboy added, grumbling.

By now, Reese was positively fuming. It didn't help matters when Dick decided to open his mouth as well, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Pretty bird, maybe you should go with her,"

"What?"

"Rhysalin, you're hurt. Stay in the Bioship with Miss M, and you'll be okay,"

"I'm fi--" before she could continue, Dick suddenly pointed a finger in her face.

"Don't you dare say you're fine, Reese," he cut her off. "Your head is bleeding, and you probably have a concussion. You may think you're 'fine', but anyone with eyes can see that you're not."

Reese clenched her jaw tightly before she spun around without another word, walking towards the Bioship, which M'gann had landed on the grass. The Martian had to quickly open the back door, otherwise, she would've slammed into it.

Back with the others, everyone turned to look at Dick as Robin sighed. In the short time that he had known them, Kaldur had noticed how close Batman and Green Arrow's proteges were, and he figured neither of them were feeling very up to par right now.

Wally, of course, knew exactly why but he also knew that Dick's mood was steadily dropping, so he backed off. No need to aggravate the youngest Bat.

At some point after, M'gann joined Reese in the Bioship, but neither of them talked. Reese was too preoccupied with her own thoughts.

She knew Dick was right. She hated that Dick was right, but she knew all the same. Oliver had talked to her before about the fact that she didn't know how to take care of herself. Well, she did, obviously, but it was more along the lines of when to stop before she wasn't able to.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Reese heard M'gann's voice, and then Red Tornado's, but she didn't really register what they were saying.

Finally though, Miss Martian spoke up. "Reese?" The brunette glanced over her shoulder with a small 'hmm?'. "Do you want to help?"

Along the way towards the harbor, M'gann told Reese her idea, and they thought up a plan. It was fool-proof, and hopefully, by now the boys have cooled down enough to listen.

'Listen to me, all of you!' Miss Martian yelled mentally, and distantly, down on the ground, Reese heard Superboy's audible shout.

"What did we tell you?"

'I know,' M'gann replied. 'I know I messed up. But, now we're very clear about what we have to do. Please trust me!'

'What do you mean, we?' Dick's voice came next, and Reese smiled as M'gann explained their plan.

A few minutes later, Red Tornado flew down, and as M'gann conversed with the others, Reese swallowed down her fear, flying the Bioship around in order to bring civilians out of the way of Twister's vortexes.

Finally, once Reese had brought all of the nearby pedestrians out of the line of fire, she landed the Bioship, walking out and joining the others just as M'gann took a massive boulder and slammed it down on the man who had crawled out of the Mister Twister suit.

"Don't know how things are done on Mars!" Dick was yelling as Reese reached them. "But on Earth, we don't execute our captives!" Then, the Boy Wonder snapped his head to look at Reese. "Did you put her up to this?"

"Me?" Reese gasped out, placing a hand against her chest in pure offense. "Why would I tell her to execute someone? Boy Wonder, you know me. Plus, you guys said you'd trust her,"

Then, M'gann used her telekinesis to levitate the rock again, and where the man's battered and bloody body should be was only a mess of tangled and sparking wires.

The man who had been inside Mister Twister hadn't even been human. He had been an android or robot as well.

"That's why I couldn't read his mind," M'gann spoke up, and Reese felt a sudden smug feeling spread through her entire body. Her head was still throbbing from earlier, but that would pass with time.

"Cool," Wally said, stepping up next to the destroyed android and picking up a robotic eye. "Souvenir,"

"So, Robin, Wally, Superboy, Kaldur," Reese began, and the four boys looked over as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Anything you four would like to say?"

"We should've had more faith in you," Aqualad said calmly, setting a hand on Miss Martian's shoulder.

"Yeah," Wally agreed excitedly. "You rocked this mission! Get it, rocked?"

"Ignore him," Dick sighed. "We're all just turbed you're on the team," Everyone gave a small smile, but Reese also noticed that Superboy still seemed grumpy.

As they were walking to the Bioship to head back to Mount Justice, Dick paused before Reese was able to join the others.

"Hey," he said quickly, reaching out and gently grabbing her wrist. "Listen, Rhysalin, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. About you not being fine. I'm not saying you are, but I shouldn't have called you out in front of everyone else. Pretty bird, I worry, you know I do,"

"I know, Boy Wonder," Reese said quietly, giving a small smile. "But--" she glanced around to make sure everyone else was already on the Bioship before she turned back to Robin. "Dick, you don't have to treat me like I'm made of glass. I'm only a year younger than you,"

"That doesn't mean I don't worry, pretty bird," Dick continued. "You're my best friend, Reese, I just don't want anything to happen to you,"

"Boy Wonder, if I didn't want anything to happen, I wouldn't have become Silverbird in the first place. Being in danger comes with the job. It's a part of who we are,"

"But--"

"How about this?" Reese cut Dick off before he could argue again. "We'll make a pact. As long as we know each other, until the day we both die, we will protect each other, watch each other's back. I know that sorta comes with the territory of being on a team, but this is just for us. You and me, until the end,"

"We're the Robin and the Canary,"

"That we are, Boy Wonder," Reese smiled as Dick slipped his hand into hers, both of them beginning the walk up the ramp of the Bioship together. "That we are."

Later, when they finally returned to the cave, the six young heroes had placed the dismantled body of Mister Twister onto a table, and they were looking it over with the real Red Tornado, rather than M'gann's own disguise.

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you," Kaldur said stoically, and Tornado nodded.

"Agreed," the android spoke, and M'gann glanced up at him worriedly.

"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" she asked.

"No," Tornado answered. "This was your battle. I do not believe it is my role to solve your problems for you, nor should you solve mine for me,"

"Red Tornado," Reese cut in worriedly. "If you're in danger--"

"Consider this matter closed,"

With that, the android went to walk away, and Wally began to mutter from his spot across from Reese.

"Batman, Aquaman, and Flash, they'd have jumped right in to fix things," the speedster mumbled. Dick frowned before he sighed.

"Guess if we're going to have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need,"

"Dude!" Wally exclaimed as Reese elbowed her best friend in the ribs. "Harsh,"

"And inaccurate," Red Tornado's voice made them all glance up. "I have a heart. Carbon-steel allow. I also have excellent hearing,"

"Right," Dick said quickly, fumbling over his words. "I'll strive to be...more accurate,"

"And more respectful," Kaldur added, setting a hand on the younger boy's shoulder as Dick let out a shaky laugh.

"Speedy was so wrong," Wally spoke up as they all began to walk down the corridor.

"This team thing--"

"Might just work out,"

As they left the main room of the cave, Reese glanced over her shoulder in time to see Superboy talking quietly to M'gann, presumably apologizing for earlier.

Well, the brunette thought to herself as she joined Dick again. That's a start.

-----

BOOM, TITLE DROP.

Not gonna lie, I kinda died of laughter at the ketchup line, Dick and Reese make me so soft it's UNHEALTHY.

Also, sorry it took me so long to update, I procrastinated on a Biology Eco-project I had to finish, which I got a solid C- on (which I'm okay with, I'm just glad it's over).

Guess what next week is for me! F I N A L S...yay. (*blegh*)

I have so many ideas for Part II of this, which takes place during Invasion, and none of you have ANY IDEA WHAT'S COMING. I also stuck some faint Easter Eggs in this chapter as well, plus some references.

Next up: Drop-Zone

~matia~