M O U N T J U S T I C E
August 3, 13:06 EDT

Reese would be lying if she said she didn't feel the tiniest bit smug. And rightly so. A little less than twenty minutes ago, the twelve-year-old had won fantastically against Robin in a game of air hockey, a fact that the Boy Wonder was still bitter about.

But, then she had gone up against Aqualad, and to say Kaldur demolished her would be an understatement. Robin found that undeniably hilarious.

Hmph, Reese thought to herself. Hypocrite.

Now, Aqualad was going against Kid Flash and Reese was giggling at the fact that Wally was losing against the Atlantean just as much as she had.

Wally finally landed a goal, and Reese grinned as Kaldur scowled. Before either of them could say anything though, the Zeta tube turned on.

Recognized Superboy B05

The first thing that Reese noticed when Superboy walked out of the transporter was that he was, most definitely not happy.

"Hello, Superboy!" M'gann greeted the clone cheerfully. "How was Metropolis?" Instead of answering the Martian, Superboy just walked on ahead. Reese had a feeling that Metropolis had not been a fun experience.

But, before she was able to say anything, footsteps reached her ears, and Reese turned to see Black Canary and Martian Manhunter walking in.

"Ready for training everyone?" Dinah asked, and M'gann grinned as she caught sight of her uncle.

"Black Canary. Uncle J'onn!" she exclaimed, before running up to hug the other martian.

"M'gann," Manhunter began, smiling softly. "I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting,"

"A few bumps," M'gann admitted. "But I'm learning,"

"That's all I can ask," J'onn answered quietly. Movement from behind her made Reese turn around, and she saw Superboy trying to sneak out of the room. But, before the clone could get very far, Dinah spoke up.

"Stick around," the blonde said simply. "Class is in session,"

Though he didn't walk closer to them again, Superboy didn't leave the room either, instead opting to stand off to the side, arms crossed, looking grumpy again.

Black Canary stepped onto the main circle, letting it glow beneath her feet for a moment before she spoke again.

"I consider it an honor to be your teacher. My assistant," she threw a glance towards Reese, who grinned as everyone else turned to stare at her. "And I will throw a lot at you. I've taught Silverbird everything I know, from my own mentors," Dinah winced a bit as she shrugged off her leather jacket, and Reese narrowed her eyes when she caught sight of a bandage wrapped around her bicep. "And my own bruises,"

"What happened?" M'gann gasped.

"The job," Dinah answered simply, and Reese's eyes widened as the dots connected in her brain.

"That's why you sent me to Gotham this morning," she said quietly. "You and Arrow went up against something, but when I said I wanted to help, you sent me to Gotham instead,"

"I'm sorry, baby bird," Dinah said softly. "But it was too dangerous for you,"

"Too dangerous," Reese scoffed under her breath, glancing to the side and avoiding Black Canary's eyes. "Right,"

Dinah sighed, and, realizing it would do no good to talk to the brunette about it now, completely changed the subject, placing her hands on her hips.

"Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. Reese, since she's been taught almost everything I know, will need a sparring partner,"

To everyone's shock and surprise, Wally's hand was the first one to shoot up.

"Right here!" the speedster exclaimed, and Reese felt her jaw slacken. Weird, Wally usually hated it when they sparred, which wasn't very often, because, more often than not, the brunette ended up completely wiping the floor with him.

"You sure?" Reese spoke up skeptically as KF walked towards her, finishing up his banana and throwing the peel into a nearby trashcan.

"Yep!" the redhead exclaimed as the peel landed in the bin. "And after this--swish, I'll show you my moves," Reese's eyes widened. Wally never flirted with her, for fear of pissing off Dick, why Reese had never known, but right now, the speedster looked like he was throwing caution to the wind.

"Okay..." the brunette said slowly, getting into a ready stance, before suddenly lashing out, throwing her fist towards Wally's head, but the speedster managed to block her arm. Reese's foot, on the other hand, he wasn't able to dodge, and within two seconds Wally's back was against the floor.

Kid Flash Fail.

"Ow," Wally groaned. "Hurts so good..."

"You're lucky I didn't judo-flip you," Reese smiled, extending a hand to help the speedster up. Dinah, on the other hand, just shook her head, turning to the others.

"Did anyone see what he did wrong?" the older woman asked, and this time, Robin's hand was the first in the air.

"He hit on his sparring partner and got absolutely served," it wasn't said as a question, more of a statement, and Dick's body was practically trembling with an emotion that Reese wasn't really able to identify.

"He allowed Reese to dictate the terms of--"

"Oh please," Superboy scoffed, causing all of them to glance over at him as Reese walked off the training circle, going to stand by Dick again. "With my powers, the battle is always on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time,"

"Prove it,"

"I'm not fighting Reese," the brunette scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at Superboy.

"Why not?" the twelve-year-old asked, jerking her thumb towards Wally. "I just beat him in three seconds flat,"

"You're too short and small,"

Next to her, Reese heard Dick suck in a sharp breath, and Reese's eyebrow twitched, which only happened when she was really, really mad. Reese knew she was less than tall, being a few inches shorter than Robin even, but on most occasions, her small and slender physique came to be an advantage, with sneaking around and all that.

But, that also didn't stop people from teasing her about it. The few civilians she knew, which Reese, admittedly, didn't hang out with that much (she much preferred her hero friends and the Justice League) somehow always brought the conversation back to the fact that the brunette was short.

"Superboy, I wouldn't," Robin spoke up, stepping in between Reese and the Cadmus clone. "She's not really one you want to bring up the s-word with,"

"No, Boy Wonder," Silverbird held up a hand, moving her hood so it fell around her shoulders. She wasn't wearing her domino mask right now, so her warm brown eyes, which were practically blazing with barely controlled fury, were on full display. "It's fine. If Superboy thinks he can't beat me in sparring because 'I'm too small', then I'll just have to prove him wrong then, won't I?"

Dick still looked reluctant, but Dinah shrugged from her spot on the training circle.

"I think it's a great idea," Black Canary said. "It will be a good training exercise,"

For a moment, after they both got into ready stances when Robin stepped back, all Reese and Superboy did was stare at each other, before the clone launched himself forward with a hard punch.

Silverbird ducked to the side, and Superboy's hand whistled past her ear. Swinging her leg out much like she did when she was sparring with Wally, Reese kicked the back of Superboy's knees, straight at his MCL, and the clone's legs buckled, bringing him to his knees.

Superboy's face turned angry, well, angrier, and Reese had a sudden feeling that maybe this hadn't been the best idea. Dick was always saying she got reckless when she was angry. Whoops.

"You're angry," Dinah spoke up again, nodding towards Superboy from her spot outside the circle. "Good. But, don't react. Channel that anger into--"

Reese had to stop listening to Black Canary's advice because Superboy's fist was suddenly flying towards her face again. Luckily, along with the enhanced senses came a faster reaction time, and Reese was able to snap her hand out, stopping Superboy's before his fist was able to hit her.

As it were, the momentum made Silverbird skid back a few feet, and she heard M'gann's voice faintly. She was more focused on the fight right now to listen much.

"Uh, Canary?" the martian was asking, raising her hand up a bit. "Don't you think we should stop them?"

Reese flipped backward to avoid Superboy and her boots hit the edge of the circle, her heel going slightly over the edge.

"I too believe that this may be an opportune time to cease the fight," Kaldur added, and Dinah gave a small nod, frowning as she frantically tried to follow the fast movements of Reese and the genomorph.

"Superboy, enough!" but, it didn't seem that the clone heard her, because his punches began to come faster, harder, and Reese was put on the defensive.

When one flying fist got a bit too close to her nose for her liking, Silverbird slipped her hand into a hidden pocket of her jacket, bringing out a small cylinder.

Reese wasn't the biggest fan of using her titanium bō staff, which would extend to full-size if she pressed a button, she much preferred her bow, but right now, it was kind of necessary. And she couldn't really use a long-range weapon in here.

The brunette gently tapped her index finger against the button on the side of the cylinder, before swinging the metal staff straight towards Superboy. It slammed into the clone's jaw, and the momentum managed to throw him back, causing Superboy to lose his balance and stumble to the ground.

"Stop it!" This time, the shout came from Robin, and it finally made Superboy pause in his melee for long enough that Reese was able to catch her breath, the staff slipping from her fingers to clatter to the floor as the brunette bent over, her lungs heaving.

After a moment, her shoulders began to shake, and Robin stared at Silverbird wearily, worried she had somehow gotten hurt, when Reese glanced upward, looking towards Superboy, a grin spreading across her face.

"In terms of raw power..." she began. "You're good. Just don't call me short again, and we'll be just fine," For a few seconds, all Superboy did was blink, cupping his jaw with one hand.

"Uh, thanks?" he answered, sounding confused, before turning to Black Canary, who shrugged.

"Training is mandatory," the blonde said, but before anyone could respond, there was an alert coming through on the holo-computer, before Batman appeared on the hovering blue screen.

"Batman to the Cave," he began. "Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary,"

Another screen appeared next to the transmission, and Reese's eyes widened as she saw a tall orange humanoid being getting attacked by the Justice League.

Batman then continued his briefing. "The attacker was capable of studying and duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous, as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant,"

"That's what you didn't want me fighting this morning?" Reese turned towards Dinah, and Black Canary gave a solid nod in response.

"He had already copied my Canary Cry," she explained, before nodding again towards Reese. "And considering yours is almost twice as powerful, we didn't want to risk it,"

Meanwhile, Wally gaped. "Whoa..." he breathed out. "One guy with the powers of the entire league?"

"In the end, it took eight leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android,"

"An android?" Robin and Silverbird exclaimed in unison before Dick made eye contact with his mentor. "Who made it? T.O Morrow?"

"Good guess, Robin, but no. Red Tornado doesn't think so,"

"The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo," Martian Manhunter explained, and Reese's eyes widened.

"Ivo?" she echoed, exchanging a glance with Dick. "But, isn't Ivo, oh I don't know, dead?"

"We thought so," Black Canary said gravely. "Or at least...we had hoped,"

"To make sure the threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android parts to two separate STAR Lab facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone else tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks,"

"Yes!" Wally exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "Road trip!"

"So now we take out your trash?" Superboy grumbled, and the lenses of Batman's cowl narrowed dangerously.

"You had something better to do?"

L I T C H F I E L D C O U N T Y
August 3, 20:08 EDT

Along with the motorbikes that all of them now had, Batman had also provided the younger heroes with clothes they'd use as part of their 'undercover operation'.

Reese herself was dressed in black skinny jeans, heeled boots, a silvery t-shirt, black fingerless gloves, and a black leather jacket with silver seams and stripes down her sleeves, quiver slung over her shoulder, with her collapsed bow in its own holster. Reese's hair wasn't in her normal fishtail side-braid, instead, it was plaited so it hung down her back, the silver streak weaving through. That way, it wouldn't be so awkward and hard to manage when she had her helmet on.

Road safety, and all that.

The team was concealed by a thick clump of bushes, where a few yards away, Batman, Green Arrow, Flash, and Superman looked over the gathering of the parts of the android in order to bring them to STAR Labs.

Through the bushes, Reese saw Superman turn and look in their direction, but when Clark's eyes landed on Superboy, the Man of Steel quickly turned away.

Superboy's hands clenched around the handlebars of his bike, and Reese blew a breath out. So that was what was bothering him so much? She thought Batman was supposed to be the detached one, not the Boy Scout.

Speaking of Batman, Bruce gave the drivers of the trucks a signal, and Reese set her black and silver helmet on top of her head. Beginning to see a color scheme? She thought it'd be an opportune time to mention her bike was also black, with silver accents.

She would, along with Robin and Superboy, be following the truck that was heading to Manhattan, while Wally, Kaldur, and M'gann were guarding the Boston truck.

When the trucks reached a junction in the highway, both of their teams split, and for several minutes, everything was silent, until Robin rode his bike up next to Reese.

"If dislike is the opposite of like," he began, causing the brunette to glance over at him. "Is disaster the opposite of aster? See, instead of things going wrong, they go right,"

For a moment, all Reese did was blink at him, before she shook her head.

"Seriously, Boy Wonder," she began. "What did the English language ever do to you?"

"Not have enough words?" Dick answered before his eyes flicked over her shoulder to look at Superboy, who hadn't said anything. "Clearly, you're not feeling the aster. What's wrong, SB?"

"Canary," he grumbled, and Reese turned her head to look at him. "I mean what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?"

"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig," Robin answered simply. "Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman, Green Arrow, and well...Reese and I,"

But, Superboy just sped up again, leaving Dick and Reese alone. After a few minutes of companionable silence, Robin spoke up.

"That was pretty cool," he began, causing Reese to glance over at him. "What you did earlier, with Superboy. But, I thought you didn't like using your staff?"

"I don't," the brunette shrugged simply. "But, I also wasn't about to let Superboy win, especially when he called me short. Nobody calls me short,"

"So, pretty bird, can I call you--" Reese just glared at him. She wouldn't even let Dick call her short. Reese knew she was insecure about a lot of things, and her height was most definitely one of them.

"Don't. Even," she grumbled, and Robin gave a sheepish grin from underneath his helmet. Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the cornfield off to her side, and Reese snapped her head in that direction.

"What is it?" Robin asked, looking worried, but Reese only narrowed her eyes at the full field of maize. She strained her ears again, and this time was able to catch the sound of...

"Laughter," she whispered, and Robin raised an eyebrow, before what looked like a robotic monkey suddenly latched itself onto the edge of the truck.

Aqualad's voice suddenly came through her comm.

"Silverbird, Robin, Superboy! Our truck is under attack!"

"Kinda figured," Robin added, as more and more monkeys appeared from the field.

"So is ours," Silverbird agreed quickly as Superboy scowled from in front of them.

"I hate monkeys," he grumbled.

"Robot monkeys!" Robin laughed. "Totally Ivo's tweak style,"

Meanwhile, Reese prepped her bike for auto-pilot, before steadying herself on the sides and taking her hands off the handlebars. Then, making sure to keep her balance, Reese stood up, perching somewhat precariously on her motorcycle's seat.

"Whoa, pretty bird!" Dick exclaimed, eyes wide. "What are you doing?"

For once, Silverbird ignored the Boy Wonder, instead opting to stick her tongue out in concentration, before taking a daring leap, launching herself off her bike and onto the side of the transport truck, which had begun to swerve as the driver was assaulted by the robo-monkeys.

Taking off her helmet, Reese swiped at the monkeys, knocking a few away, but it hardly caused a dent in the sheer amount that were already on the truck.

Superboy as well jumped off his bike, but he was less controlled, and the vehicle skidded, ramming into Reese's own bike, and Robin's, though Dick managed to jump off before he crashed.

A robot suddenly landed on the back of Reese's head, small fingers gripping hard at her hair, and the brunette growled, throwing her head backward so the monkey slammed into the side of the truck, but the monkey wasn't deterred. If anything, it held on harder.

"Hold still!" Dick's voice shouted before Robin kicked his foot out, knocking the robot off of Silverbird's head, though in the process, it dislodged her hair tie, and Reese's hair began to fly in the wind, blowing in front of her face, silver and chocolate-colored strands alike.

"Thanks," she said, and Dick grinned.

Superboy, meanwhile, was being less than successful, considering some of the monkeys picked him up and quite literally dropped him off the edge of the truck.

Then, Silverbird and Robin flipped onto the top of the truck, Dick with his eskrima sticks, Reese with her bow, and they began to move through the pseudo-cloud of robot monkeys, looking more like they were dancing together, rather than fighting.

"Get behind me!" Reese shouted suddenly, and once Dick was behind her shoulder, she screamed, and eight of the monkeys were blown off the top of the truck by a super-powered soundwave as Superboy jumped up behind Silverbird and Robin.

But, a few of the robots still managed to hold on, and a couple switched their targets from Reese and Dick to Superboy, as another shot lasers from its eyes into the top of the truck, burning through the metal.

Suddenly, there was a loud pop, and Reese stuck her head over the side of the truck to see that more of the monkeys had used their own lasers to blow out the truck's tires, making the truck swerve even more.

Reese kicked the robots away, but the damage was already done, and if they didn't bail soon, things would begin to get a bit messy.

"Robin!" she shouted, jumping to land on the truck's hood, and hitting away more monkeys. "Get the driver!"

Dick jumped down onto the top of the truck's cab. "Get out!" he yelled as Reese yanked open the door. Both of them grabbed the terrified man's shoulders and dragged him out of the swerving vehicle. Luckily, the three managed to land in a dry section of the cornfield on the side of the road.

Then, there was a loud bang, before robot monkeys flew out of the truck, carrying a large container between them. The android parts, Reese realized. Crap.

She and Robin helped the injured driver to the side of the road as Superboy lifted the truck off of himself before he super-jumped away.

"Superboy!" the two youngest heroes called out in unison, but the genomorph either didn't hear them, which was unlikely, or he ignored them.

"Aqualad to Robin and Silverbird," Kaldur's voice came through the comm, and Reese tapped the device in her ear. "Lost our cargo. Did you--"

"It's gone," Reese said simply, exchanging a glance with Dick, who groaned at the pure wreckage that was around them. Their crashed motorcycles, the truck, everything was just a big mess.

"And so is our partner," Robin grumbled.

"Aqualad to Superboy," Kaldur said next. "Radio your position. We'll help you,"

"Don't need help!" the genomorph's rough voice cried back. "Don't want any!"

"Superboy!"

"I'm pretty sure he ditched his comm," Robin pointed out, and Silverbird glanced over, giving Dick a dry look.

"Oh, gee, whatever gave you that idea?" The Boy Wonder scowled at her, but there wasn't any real anger in his gaze.

"Super," Wally grumbled. "Now we can't even track him,"

"He's out of my telepathic range," M'gann added worriedly. "This Professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us. Maybe we should contact Red Tornado?"

Reese then zoned out of the conversation, her eyes landing on one of the crushed robotic monkeys that lay on the road.

Running her teeth over her bottom lip, she stood up, walking over to the small robot, oblivious to Dick's inquisitive stare behind her.

"--don't even know where to look!" Wally was saying, and Reese hummed in thought, bending down next to the fallen monkey as Robin walked up behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder at Dick, who tilted his head to the side in a silent question.

"What if--" Reese began quietly, eyes flicking between Dick and the monkey. "--What if we did?"

"She's right," Robin agreed, crouching down next to her and plugging in his holo-computer. "We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked,"

"You think the monkeys already knew which trucks held the android parts?" Reese asked, and Robin grinned.

"Hah!" he exclaimed as the information appeared on his miniature holo-screen. "The parts have GPS!"

"Which means the monkeys can track it!" Silverbird added as dots began to connect in her brain.

"Which also means we can track them with the one we captured!"

"Not too shabby, Boy Wonder," Reese grinned, sharing a quick high-five with Dick as Wally, Kaldur, and M'gann all sighed amusedly on the other end of their commline.

"You're not too bad yourself, pretty bird," Dick retorted before his fingers almost seemed to fly across the holo-keyboard as a map appeared. "Looks like both sets are headed for...Gotham City,"

Reese's eyes widened, and she and Dick exchanged a startled glance before Aqualad spoke up again.

"That far south?" Kaldur asked. "M'gann and I won't get there anytime soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Aqualad out,"

With that, Dick and Reese stood up, the former pulling off his jacket, revealing his Robin costume underneath. Suddenly, Reese groaned, realizing what it was that she had forgotten before they left Mount Justice earlier that afternoon.

"What?" Robin asked, switching out his shades for a domino mask, and the brunette sighed.

"I didn't bring any extra clothes," she groaned, gesturing to herself. "What I'm wearing now is all I have," Dick flicked his eyes over her form for a moment, from the jacket that crossed Reese's shoulders, to the heeled boots that actually made them the same height.

After a moment, he cleared his throat, meeting Reese's eyes again.

"Do you at least have an extra mask?" he asked, and the brunette gave a small nod. "Then just use that. It's not like what you're wearing now is a whole lot different from your normal color scheme,"

With that, Reese walked over to her fallen motorcycle, which was completely totaled from Superboy's rampage earlier. Luckily, she was able to pop open a hidden compartment, revealing a spare domino mask.

"Well," Robin began as Reese pulled the mask from its compartment. "This has been a total disaster. Heavy on the dis,"

"Tell me about it," Reese muttered before she bent down, shaking out her hair before lurching upward again. When she turned back around to face Dick, the brunette found his face looking faintly pink, and his heartbeat was a bit faster than what was considered normal.

Also, he was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, feeling her face heat up, and Robin averted his eyes.

"Nothing," he answered quickly, almost too quickly, and Reese raised an eyebrow. "Your hair," Dick said eventually. "It looks...nice,"

"Boy Wonder, you've seen my hair down before," she said, and Dick shrugged.

"I know," he answered. "It's just...it's pretty,"

"Oh," Reese answered softly, her face burning even more. "Thanks," Robin just grinned.

"Considering your bike is completely busted," he began after a moment, scratching the back of his neck and looking suddenly sheepish. "Wanna ride with me?"

"Sure," Reese answered. "It's not like I'm patient enough for Wally to come running,"

Dick smiled again before his smaller battle-mode bike came into view. Once it stopped in front of them, Robin reached inside the seat compartment, grabbing an extra helmet and tossing it to Reese, who caught it effortlessly.

"Spare," he said simply, swinging his leg over the side of the bike. "You know, road safety, and all that,"

"So considerate of you," Reese muttered as she climbed onto the bike behind Dick, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I try," Robin revved the engine before driving down the road. But, it only took Reese a few seconds to realize that something was wrong.

"Uh, Dick?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"You're going the wrong way,"

"Oh, right," Dick quickly turned around, and Reese giggled as she tightened her hold on his waist.

"Smooth, Boy Wonder. So smooth,"

G O T H A M C I T Y
August 3, 20:30 EDT

Somewhere along their way towards Gotham, Reese had closed her eyes, leaning her head against the back of Robin's shoulder.

Dick wasn't entirely sure if she was asleep or not, but her breathing was slow and even, so he was willing to bet she had. That was okay, he liked these moments. The silent ones, when it was just the two of them.

Robin leaned back slightly, and Reese's arms tightened her hold around him. Suddenly there was a burst of wind, before Kid Flash was running beside his motorcycle, smirking.

"Well, would you look at that?" Wally began, and Dick glowered at him. "I spy with my little eye, two little lovebirds--"

"Shh!" Robin quickly cut him off. "Quiet. She's sleeping, KF,"

"No, I'm not," Reese's voice startled Dick so much he swerved, but the Boy Wonder recovered quickly. "I was just resting my eyes,"

"Doesn't that count as sleeping?" Dick glanced over his shoulder as he drove, and Reese turned his head back around.

"Eyes on the road!" she exclaimed as Wally chuckled next to them, before finally getting a good look at the redhead running beside the motorcycle. "I see you've changed,"

"You kidding?" Wally retorted. "Ugh, I feel naked in civvies,"

"Thanks for that wonderful mental image, KF," Reese said sarcastically, and the speedster winced when Dick glared at him.

"Sorry," he said quickly, before raising an eyebrow. "I see you haven't,"

Reese sighed. "I didn't bring an extra costume," she explained, shrugging. "But, I had an extra mask, so I just put that on instead,"

"You still tracking the parts?" Wally asked next, turning to look at Dick, who nodded, pointing at the holo-screen.

"They were heading through Gotham--" he began, but Reese cut him off, pointing.

"No, look, they're veering. Wait, Dick isn't that--"

"Dude, they're headed for my school!"

Once the three of them got within the city limits of Gotham, Robin veered, heading towards a large, imposing building with wrought iron gates. Gotham Academy.

"Indoor basketball court!" Reese shouted, and Robin swerved, turning a corner for a shortcut. Reese squeaked, tightening her grip around him as they both leaned to the side. "Are you trying to get us killed?" she cried, and Dick glanced over his shoulder sparingly before turning back around.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "But, pretty bird, I don't know about you, but I think that's the perfect spot for us to finally slam dunk that Ivo,"

"Hilarious," Reese said dryly as they sped past the football field, but she was wearing a small smile. "A real comedian,"

Finally, the basketball court was in sight. After Robin had parked his bike behind a tree, Wally went left, while Dick and Reese went right.

As the two of them ran down the hallways of Dick's school, Reese suddenly skidded to a stop, and Robin ran into her.

"What is it?" he whispered, and Reese felt his breath brush against her ear.

"Shh," she said quickly, waving a hand and ignoring the way her face suddenly flushed. "Do you hear that?" Dick paused for a moment before he glanced down at her again.

"The crashes and groans of pain that sounds like a clone with anger-management issues going up against an android that almost beat the entire Justice League?"

Reese nodded. "Yep,"

Sticking their heads around a corner, the two birds caught sight of the Academy's gymnasium, in time to see the android looking down on Superboy, fist poised above him in a kill-strike.

But, before the android was able to hit him, KF sped Superboy out of the way, just as Robin and Silverbird slipped silently into the room.

Dick aimed with his birdarangs, and Reese nocked an arrow, but the android began to speak in a mechanical voice, much like Red Tornado's.

"Access Martian Manhunter," he suddenly turned transparent, and the birdarang and arrow exploded against the wall behind him. "Access Red Tornado,"

"Uh oh," Reese muttered as a small vortex appeared beneath the android, propelling the humanoid forward. It sent all of them flying in different directions, and Reese was flown backward, her back slamming into the wall.

"Access Black Canary,"

Before she could be deafened by the sonic scream, Silverbird countered it with one of her own and the two soundwaves collided in a burst of noise that caused everyone in the room to clap their hands over their ears.

Ducking down, Reese rolled out of the way, shooting an arrow at the same time as she landed next to Wally, but the android density-shifted again, using J'onn's own martian abilities to dodge the arrow.

"Access Captain Atom," KF sped her out of the way as twin bolts of yellow energy landed where they had been a second before.

Then, Reese split from the speedster half-way, vaulting off the side of the bleachers to land on top of the android's shoulders, locking her legs around its neck as she tried to get to the wires inside the android's head.

If she were able to somehow disconnect the android's power source, maybe they'd have a chance at beating him.

Yeah, uh, that didn't go too well.

The android suddenly reached behind and grabbed Reese, lifting her up and throwing her off it with the force of an angry Superboy.

Before she could slam into the floor, Reese thudded into something a whole lot softer. For a moment, all she could do was blink, before she glanced down, and Silverbird found herself staring into Robin's mask lenses, Dick Grayson's blue ocean eyes just behind.

"Hey," he said softly, hands on her waist. "You okay?"

Before Reese was able to answer, she heard a sharp 'twang', like when she shot her bow. She rolled both of them to the side before an arrow hit the floor, inches from where they'd been a second earlier.

The weird thing was, it wasn't one of hers. Someone else had shot that arrow, and it hadn't been Reese.

The brunette snapped her head up to look at the rafters, where the arrow had come from, but even with her exemplary night-vision, Reese wasn't able to see anyone.

That was also when she realized that Dick was still holding her.

But, before she could say anything on it, a loud crash jerked them both back to reality, as Superboy was thrown into the bleachers, cracking them.

"Access Superman," the android's eyes began to glow red, and Reese's own eyes widened. Dick grabbed her, shielding Reese with his cape, though the brunette didn't think it would do much good.

Even as strong as the material that Robin's cape was made of, which was some sort of high-density polymerized titanium, it would still be no match for the sheer power of Kryptonian heat-vision.

But, before they were both burnt to a crisp, something hurtled into them, and Dick and Reese were both thrown to the side. Reese glanced to the side to see Kid Flash laying dazed beside her and Dick.

Then, she heard Superboy's voice.

"It makes me angry!" the clone was shouting, and Silverbird wearily lifted her head off of Robin's chest to see that Superboy had jumped on top of Professor Ivo. "Wanna see me channel that anger?"

"Great," Wally groaned, flopping back down onto the ground. "He's gone ballistic again,"

"Maybe not," Dick countered, and Reese had to agree with him.

This time, Superboy's punches looked less erratic than earlier, back at the cave, when they'd been sparring. Maybe he was finally taking Dinah's advice.

"Amazo!" Ivo squeaked out. "Protect your master! Priority Alpha!" Amazo (Reese assumed that was the android) blasted again at Superboy, as the old professor tried to sneak away.

But, when Silverbird stepped out of the shadows, he screamed again, and Reese was decidedly not impressed.

"Why you leaving, Professor?" she asked innocently, tilting her head to the side. "The party's just getting started,"

Two of Ivo's robot monkey's grabbed onto his shoulders, lifting the old man up to hover in the air, just before Robin kicked him out from between them.

"Anyone wanna play keep-away?" he cackled, and Kid Flash excitedly raised a hand.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Me! Me!"

"Superman," Amazo stomped on the floor, and a shockwave rolled out, causing Wally to trip as he ran towards the android's creator. Reese shot her arrow towards Amazo at the same time that Dick threw a birdarang. "Martian Manhunter,"

The density-shifting was beginning to get very annoying, Reese realized, as once again, the projectiles did no damage.

That was until Superboy punched a hole in Amazo's head, of course.

"Superman," the android's head exploded, and the decapitated body fell to the ground with a metallic 'clang'.

"Help me disassemble him!" Robin shouted over his shoulder. "Now!"

"Hold your horses, Boy Wonder," Reese called back, going down the bleachers' stairs as fast as she could. "I'm not a speedster, you know?"

"Dude," Wally spoke up, holding his shoulder. "The guy has no head,"

"We can't take any chances," Reese added, just as Aqualad and Miss Martian finally ran in.

"Superboy!" M'gann exclaimed worriedly. "Are you all right?" She helped him stand, and the clone turned to Robin, smiling.

"Fine," he answered. "Feeling the aster,"

"Hey!" Wally shouted suddenly, and everyone turned to look at him. "Where's Ivo?"

Glancing around, Reese realized that he was right. The Professor, along with his robo-monkeys, was gone.

Crap.

M O U N T J U S T I C E
August 4, 01:06 EDT

"The Amazo android is in pieces again," Batman said once they were all back in the cave again. It was just past one in the morning, but Reese was exhausted. She was practically falling asleep on her feet. "Safely being analyzed at the two separate STAR Labs. But, Ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android,"

"Capturing the professor will be a League priority," Black Canary added, noticing the way her protegee tried to stifle a yawn.

"But," Martian Manhunter spoke up. "We understand your mission encountered...other complications,"

Everyone turned to stare at Superboy, but he only averted his eyes to the ground.

"Complications come with the job," Batman said calmly, walking forward. "Your ability to handle them has impressed the league,"

"The whole league?" Superboy asked, looking hopeful.

"Given time...yes. Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads,"

"Of course, there's no shame in asking for help. That's why the League exists. Because there are some problems even we can't handle individually,"

"Please," Robin scoffed, more than a little annoyed. "If we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask," he held out the mystery arrow from earlier. "Look familiar? You were following us! Babysitting! You still don't trust us!"

"We didn't follow you," Batman said simply, inspecting the arrow as Ollie took out one of his own. Oliver's arrow tip was jagged, while the mystery one was more generic in shape.

"And that's not your arrow," Dick realized, and Wally glanced towards a dozing Reese.

"You think it could be Silverbird's?" he asked, but the brunette only waved a hand dismissively.

"It's not mine, not Roy's, his arrows are red, so whose are they?" for a moment, everyone was silent, Bruce and Ollie sharing a look, before Reese's head snapped up again. "A ghost! We're being haunted by Robin Hood!"

For all of five seconds, everyone stared at the twelve-year-old archer, before Oliver turned to stare at Dick.

"How many hours of sleep is she running on?" he asked, but all Robin could do was shrug.

"She napped a bit earlier, but I'm not entirely sure," Again, Green Arrow and Batman exchanged a glance, before the Emerald Archer turned back to Robin.

"And how late exactly did you guys stay up when she called you the night before we first fought Amazo?"

At that, Dick stared down at the floor of the cave, scuffing the toe of his boot against the stone. Apparently, that also gave Ollie all the answer he needed, because he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Reese, how many hours of sleep have you had in the past two days?" he asked, and the brunette smiled.

"Eight!" she said simply...while holding up four fingers. That didn't seem to help Oliver's mood any, because Dick was able to see a muscle in his jaw tick.

Oh, he was so screwed.

In his defense, Gotham was a full three hours ahead of Star City, so Dick figured he should probably be the one acting loopy right now, but maybe all the late night-early morning patrols with Batman made him immune to insomnia. Or it was the other way around, Dick wasn't entirely sure.

Either way, it didn't stop Dick from thinking that his best friend was undeniably cute when she was tired. She kind of reminded the Boy Wonder of a teddy bear, and...wait.

Oh, yeah, he was definitely screwed.

-----

Does Reese get loopy and act drunk when she's tired? Hell yeah.

Does Dick love her for it anyway? You know it.

Did I also stick a Teen Titans reference in there? Yes. No regrets.

Not gonna lie, I also wasn't immensely proud of the last chapter, but this one I really like, so that's good, I guess. Maybe because there was more Dick and Reese fluff in this one, I'm not entirely sure.

Do I gain inspiration to write this book by watching Instagram edits on my phone?

...yes.

Do I also write these chapters while listening to the Disney Descendants soundtrack on repeat?

...also, yes. Call it a guilty pleasure.

But, like, you can't tell me this isn't a BOP

https://youtu.be/_dyvXcv3ej0

Next up: Infiltrator (Artemis and Reese's introduction should be interesting)

Also, as I finished writing this, my feet fell asleep, and now it's the kind of pins and needles that you can't even move without your entire limb spasming. So, that's fun. >_<

~matia~