Mount Justice
January 26, 00:16 EST
"I wish I could go with," Cassie frowned.
"I doubt your mother would approve. And only the six of us who stand accused need take this odyssey. Though Hawkman insists on accompanying his spouse and Icon will act as our advocate. For it seems he is familiar with intergalactic trial law."
"He better be."
"We will be all right," Diana put a hand on my shoulder. "I should think the harder mission remains here on Earth with you."
She wasn't wrong. With most of the League MIA, that meant that the Team would have to handle a bulk of the action right now, and that includes this whole growing invasion debacle. Not to mention the plan.
"Just... come back, okay?"
Diana pulled me into a hug, whispering so only I could hear, "Take care of her."
"I will."
Cassie. As indestructible as she was, she was also still young and naive—not unlike myself when I first joined. Whatever feelings I harbored over not knowing Diana found another protégés would have to be ignored for the time being. Cassie needs someone to look out for her; someone she can trust.
"Take care of yourself too," she pleaded.
That seemed to be a promise harder to fulfill than the last. "Yeah..."
John spoke up, "Time to go."
His ring materialized a green sphere around all of them, that slowly morphed into a ship.
"May the gods be with you all."
It hovered up into the air before soaring up into the sky and disappearing from our sight.
Everyone left to their own devices. Most went home, others like Barbara and the new Robin stayed with Nightwing for mission prep. I laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to fathom how we could pull any of this off. Then my head lulled to the left side—his side.
I must have fallen asleep looking at it, because my eyes only opened again when my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Rena, are we still on for breakfast?"
"What?"
"You forgot didn't you?"
"No, no," I shot out of my bed realizing I was supposed to meet up with Artemis in an hour. "I'll be there."
"Great! I'll see you later."
I ripped my closet open, finding only clothes from Themyscira, which would certainly earn me a weird look in a civilian setting. Then I spotted the charred uniform that was ruined on Malina Island. Finding a replacement only piled onto the list of things I needed to do, but didn't have time for.
The only way I could get some normal clothes was, "Ugh!" my fist landed in the wall, next to all the other indentations I'd made in the past. "Perfect."
Blüdhaven
January 26, 07:16 EDT
I opened the door to find everything as I remembered it: scattered furniture, packed boxes, plants now dead, and canvases of paintings I never finished. The sight of it alone made my heart ache.
I crept quietly into the bedroom, rummaging through our closet that hadn't changed either. Then as I undressed, I heard the door open. "Perfect," I mouthed silently.
"Rena?" Dick opened the door.
"Sorry." I tried to move quicker. "I just needed—"
"Some clothes?"
"Yeah."
He stepped closer, running a finger along the massive gash in my shoulder. I fought the urge to melt under his touch. "How does it feel?"
"Like I got shot by an alien in the shoulder."
He frowned.
"It's fine," I told him. "It's healing."
Blüdhaven
TWO YEARS EARLIER
For some reason, I'd come home determined to unpack our things.
I took out all the kitchenware, washing everything that got caked in dust from being inside the boxes for too long. I mindlessly scrubbed all the plates and cups, until the sound of keys in the door brought me back to reality.
Dick tossed his things onto the nearest box. "You unpacked?"
"Tried to."
Two nights ago we got into an argument. Then he left to who knows where and I slept in our bed alone.
"Where'd you go?"
"Stayed at the cave."
"Hm..." I bit my lip, fighting the sudden urge to burst into tears.
"Are you alright?"
I had to turn away, but my voice faltered, "Fine."
"Rena," he walked over, tightly wrapping his arms around my waist. I struggled to hide how my lip quivered. "We're okay, I just needed to take a breath."
I'm not sure how many more breaths we could take. For months I've felt nothing, but suffocated and all of it is being taken out on him. The argument started over something so small that I can't remember, but it kept escalating until he said I was impossible to be with and I blamed him for Jason.
"I didn't mean it."
"I know," his finger stroked through my hair. "I didn't mean it either... So, are we okay?"
I pulled myself back together and nodded, "We're okay."
"Good," he grinned, leaning in towards my neck to kiss it. My eyes fluttered shut as he spoke into my ear, "Because I missed you."
He moved all of my hair aside, pecking and biting until he reached my collarbone.
I gestured to the soap covered dishes in the sink, "I need to finish doing these."
"But I need to finish something else," he muttered between the kisses on my neck.
"Is that a promise?"
I felt him grin against my skin, "It's a guarantee."
"I need to do these," I giggled.
"I'll do the dishes for you tomorrow."
My smile faded. "...Did you actually stay at the cave?"
The kisses paused, and I fought the urge to smash one of the plates on his head. "I stayed at Babs—"
"You're ridiculous."
"We didn't do anything. I just slept there."
I dried my hand off, all the tenderness from the moment gone, "And that's so much better."
I left him alone in the kitchen, stepping into the bathroom to peel a massive bandage off the side of my torso. I tried to distract myself with the long, swollen scratch so that I wouldn't cry.
But I failed.
Small sobs broke through, forcing me to take a moment to stop and grip the sink.
"That looks bad."
Dick had finally found the courage to step into the room.
"It's fine," I wiped my face clean. "It's healing."
The last thing I wanted was his help, but he pulled out a fresh bandage, and pressed it into my skin. "Nothing happened."
I met his gaze, knowing that he was telling the truth. It didn't change the fact that he ran away to another woman and I was stuck waiting for him to come back. I push too hard, and he pulls away too far.
He carefully held my waist again. "The only person I love is you."
"I know."
He leaned in, closing the gap between our lips.
His rough fingertips began to drag against the skin of my back, slowly traveling up until he reached the roots of my hair. He tugged them gently, forcing my head to lean back and push further into the kiss. Then he grabbed me by the thighs, placing me on top of the counter with ease.
It was hard not to say I loved him back when we were like this—giving in to the only thing we were good at.
Blüdhaven
January 26, 07:24 EDT
"Well, while you're here," he realized, pulling an envelope out of his pocket.
I peeled it open to find a letter inside. "Congratulations, you have been accepted into Gotham University's School of Arts and Architecture?"
"They open second semester applications, so I decided to submit some of your stuff."
"You didn't have to do that."
"But it's what you wanted—or at least before."
He wasn't wrong. I just left before the chance arrived.
"If you're still interested," he pulled out another piece of paper, "I saved you a spot in a few courses."
My eyes scanned the list, "Advanced software engineering?"
"What? You used to love that stuff."
"Right, well... thank you."
He spoke without seeming to think. "I think we need to talk about us."
"What about us?"
"You know, fixing it."
I gathered my things, wanting to leave the uncomfortable conversation. "There's nothing to fix."
"Rens, I really want to try again. If you would just hear me out—"
"No, I'm not going to hear you out," I turned on him. "We've tried this hundreds of times. It doesn't work."
"Just give it one more chance. It'll be different."
"Different how?"
"We won't run away this time."
In my mind, that was the wrong answer. "I need to go." I walked out of the room, before he could stop me. "Artemis is waiting for me."
Santa Clara County
January 26, 08:05 PST
I fell into the seat across Artemis, trying to hide that I was catching my breath.
She merely continued scanning her menu. "You forgot?"
"No," I displayed the watch I didn't have, "I'm only five minutes late."
"Don't worry, I only got seated a few minutes ago," she laughed. "So how've you been?"
"JL's a bit of a mess at the moment."
"I heard. Whole space trial thing."
"Yeah, and Diana had to go, and Cassie's trying to hide it, but she's freaked out and—"
"Rena, I meant how are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine... I, uh, might go back to school... apparently."
"That's great! So that means you're planning to stay?"
"I... I don't know."
"Rena we barely see you anymore."
"I know, but maybe it's better that way."
She changed tact instead of arguing. "What about you and Dick?"
"We're just friends."
"I didn't say you weren't."
Maybe she noticed the way my eyes fixed to the table, because she spoke lightly, "You know he talks to Wally about you. All the time."
That wasn't something I wanted to hear.
"Says how he misses you," she went on. "How he's waiting for you to come back."
"And I did."
"Not really, if you're going to leave again."
"It's easier that way."
"Leaving all your friends for years at a time is 'easier'?"
"It's not that. It's knowing that every time I come back I'm weighing him down. It's fun for for a while, but then we fight and he runs."
"So, your solution to that is... running away?"
"I know how it looks, but he doesn't need me. Not in that way, at least."
"And he said that?" Artemis asked to no answer. "Rena, I think you're one of the people he needs most. When you left last time, it really messed him up."
"We were already messed up before I left," I argued. "He doesn't need me arguing with him over nothing, and I don't need him running to other women because he's scared."
"Okay," she surrendered. "But can I say one thing?"
I waited.
"I don't think you came back because the team needed help, I think you came back because he's the one who asked you."
It was truly scary how well Artemis knew me.
"At least part of you wants to stay or thinks there's a chance. Otherwise you wouldn't have bothered in the first place."
"Artemis..." my voice lowered. "It won't work."
"But do you want it to?"
How do I put that into words? That all I've wanted was for us to be together and happy. That the only thing on this planet I needed was him.