The Last One (young justice/robin)

28. the girls

    His nose brushed against mine. "I love you, Rens."

    Whether that was the truth or not, I still couldn't say it back. I pulled away altogether, giving in to him in a different way. "So, Bialya?"

Qurac
February 19, 19:06 UTC +2

    I scrambled to run through the programming on the lens again, making sure that it really didn't blow my eyes up. Everyone else was busy listening to Nightwing's debrief, "Investigating the origin of the alien bomb that destroyed the Krolotean invasion force is still a high priority. We suspect the bomb may have been smuggled to Earth via boom tube. Sensor scans in Bialya have recorded an uptick in boom tube activity. Alpha squad, your mission is—"

    "Sneak behind enemy lines, recon known boom tube hotspots, and find alien tech matching the bomb," Cassie interrupted cheerfully. "Oh and don't get caught or create an international incident. Right?"

    "That about covers it."

    "Psimon?"

    My ears pricked up at M'gann's tense question. The lens was long forgotten, as I remembered everything Conner had told me. How she abused her psychic abilities. Who's to say she wouldn't do it tonight—to a villain or a member of this team?

    "We have confirmation that Bialya's telepathic enforcer's still catatonic in a Quraci hospital... after his last encounter with you. But Bialya's dictator, Queen Bee, is another story," Nightwing added. "Her ability to control the minds of men is why Alpha is an all-female squad for this mission."

    "Oh really," Barbara smirked.

    Then, all my thoughts were replaced again.

    I didn't want to think I was the jealous type. I'd dated a couple people in Gotham Academy, and a few others on Themyscira. I experienced all sorts of relationships—some serious, others casual and for fun—filling the spaces when I thought Dick and I were done for good. In none of them did I ever feel the need to be possessive. If other people hit on them or gave attention, I found it flattering more than anything else. They were mine, there was nothing to worry about.

    But Dick wasn't mine. Not really.

So, given the history, it was hard to look away whenever they interacted.

    "And would you have felt the need to justify an all male squad for a given mission?"

"Uh," he stuttered nervously. "There's no right answer for that, uh, is there? So... Nightwing out."

"Queen Bee isn't the only woman who can mess with a man's mind."

All the girls were giggling, and I was busy fighting the urge to assume Barbara Gordon was biding her time with him; waiting for the night he stays with her and never leaves. It was a thought I found lingering in the back of my head every so often. That if I was completely out of the picture, she would replace me. And what if it worked? What if they didn't fight or run away from each other?

I think the sight of it would break me.

The bioship computer beeped, finishing the program check on the lens.

Here goes nothing.

I placed a lens in each eye, blinking a few times as they adjusted. It was strange watching it boot up, obstructing my view with the vibrant interface. With the swipe of my hand, the interface pushed all the text and images aside.

Turning back to the physical computer on the bioship, I began activating all the different programs: mirror imaging, database recognition, comm...

* Did your eye blow up?