Chapter 14

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Day 1 of the Hero Bonding Camp
"Are we there yet?" Wally asks for the 382nd time.
"No, Wally. Now shut up and read a book are something." Artemis yells, threatening him with a loose arrow.
For once, none of us are in a costumes. We still have them in our bags, of course, and Dick and I have our belts too. Tim's off with the Titans, and Damian's in London with Bruce. The entire team is on this bus. Including Zatanna. I hope I'm not sharing a cabin with her. We have to drive four hours out of Gotham, to a huge part of land Bruce bought as a 'recreational area'.

"Are we-"
"Yes! Wally! We are here!" We all yelled as the bus came to a stop.
"Ok, everyone grab your bags from the storage below." Dinah says. I'm second off the bus, after Wally. I grab my suitcase, but lean it against a tree as I scale it, stretching my legs. Kara does a little twirl into the air.
"Finally!" She yells. I wish Cass was here, but as a Titan, she's doing whatever Tim is.
"Ok, everybody! These are the cabins! Cabin a, NightWing, Wally, Connor, Gar. Cabin b, Kaldur, La'Gann, Jaime, Static. Cabin C, Batgirl, Kara, Artemis, Meghan. Cabin D, Zatanna, Karen, Raquel, um...other-Kara."
"Just call me Linda." Supergirl says. Ok, Linda. That's her fake ID.

I unpack my suitcase, stuffing everything into the tiny shelf at the end of my bed.
"Is this fun or what! We're on a camp! We can sneak out to hang out with the boys, play 'Dare or Truth'..." Linda says excitedly.
"I'm pretty sure it's 'Truth or Dare." Meghan says sweetly.
"Kar- I mean- Linda, just how many camp movies have you been watching?"  Artemis asks.
"...All of them." We all burst out laughing, rolling on the floor. I try to do my best Damian face to stop laughing, but it just makes me laugh more.
"Ok, ok, guys. We're supposed to meet Black Canary outside in ten minutes, and it's been half an hour." I say, finally regaining my composure.

We all walk out to find everyone waiting for us.
"Finally." Dinah sighs. "Ok, we will be splitting into teams for a relay. But this is no easy relay. This relay will cover most of the property, and will have an obstacle to each of your weaknesses." She says mysteriously. "NightWing, Batgirl, Linda, Wally, Connor, Jaime, Artemis. Kaldur. Kara, Meghan, Raquel, Karen, Zatanna, Static, Gar, La'Gann. Here is a map of the course, and your starting positions. Ten minutes to prepare." Dinah hands us all a map. Our team huddle together.
"All in favour of NightWing being leader, say I." Kaldur says. We reply in a chorus of I's. "The I's have it."
"Ok, everyone, move to your position. Artemis, Batgirl, don't worry about armour." I move to my area, the last checkpoint. Dinah reads out a bunch of rules for powered members, but they have no meaning for me.
I wait patiently for Dick to show up. We're supposed to finish together. An hour later, as I am halfway done buildings a town of stick people, he runs in, out of breathe.
"Let's go!" We come across our obstacle. A huge crevasse. Just across it, there's the finish line. "What to do...what to do...."
"While you stand there doing the maths, Boy Blunder, would you mind handing me the baton and taking up the position for manoeuvre 2?" I ask, pressing myself against a tree. Dick locks his hands together, and nods. I push off, and jump onto his hands for support. He throws me in the air as I work a quick a Wally to grab two grappling hooks. I shoot one at Dick, the other at the edge of the crevasse. We sail forward, flying. I land on the edge, but Dick stumbles and is hanging off the ledge.
"Give me your hand!" I yell. I can hear Gar running in the distance. I pull him over to his waist, then he shimmies up. Then we race to the end.
"Yes! Yes! Uh huh, we did it, uh huh, we did it, we-mmmmph?" Dick presses his lips against mine, and pulls me closer by my waist.
"They're going to see us." I say in between kisses.
"So?"
"They're your team."
"Whatever."

We do end up roasting marshmallows around a fire, much to Linda's delight. I would've had more, until Dick grabbed me from the shadows and began carrying me bridal style up the hill.
"What are you doing?" I whisper quietly. He plonks me down in the daisies. I realise he had a picnic basket in his hand, and he pulls out a blanket to sit on.
"I thought we might have one of those romantic picnics, you know, you, me, the stars, the moon,...peanut butter cookies..." I take a sandwich from his hand.
"Y-y-You could've at least let me g-g-get a jacket." I say, my teeth chattering. Dick takes off his.
"Here." He says, wrapping his jacket around me. I can smell his aftershave around me as I nibble on a cookie.
"You know the way to a woman's heart, Mr Grayson." I say cheekily.
"The key is food, Miss Gordon. Always the food."
After a while, I lean on Dick's shoulder, as he begins to run his fingers through my hair, and I make a daisy chain. He starts to pick the flowers and thread then through my hair.
"Now look more like a princess than ever." He grins, before I slap his arm.
"No more nicknames." I say, before I fall on to my back, pulling him down with me. He switches off the lantern, and we stare up at the sky, fingers intertwined.
"That's Orion, and that's the North Star..." Dick says, pointing out all the constellations. I move my head on to his chest, and he wraps my arms around myself, his hands on top. He lightly kisses the top of my forehead, sending a buzz down my spine.

When I finally got back to the Cabin, everyone was eagerly awaiting details, then, as Linda suggested, we played truth or dare

When Artemis asked Linda who she had a crush on, she blushes wildly.
"Jaime." She whispered, before we all started laughing for the fifth time.

As I curled into my sheets, I pictures Dick with his strong arms protecting me.

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