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KATIE'S POV
I grin as I float above the ground, doing a few flips in the air. "THIS IS AMAZING!" I shout to Cap as he gives me a reserved smile.
"I figured you would be able to do it. Your control right now is very good, but don't take it for granted," He warns. "You can't forget that you can lose control from the smallest things, being upset, not sleeping enough, anything can set it off."
"Understood," I nod, carefully landing in front of him. I put my hands on my hips as I look up at him, "So, what now?" I ask.
"Now, we test your abilities." He crosses his arms, "In the field, that is. You are coming with me to do a few missions today." My face nearly splits open from how excited I get as he hands me a silver mask. "It's up to you if you want to keep your identity a secret. Some heroes are public and deal with it, others prefer to keep it a secret to protect their friends and family."
I run my thumbs over the fabric. It's not even a question for me. I put the mask on and look up at him, "I will take the secret identity route."
He nods before turning, expecting me to follow. I do as he asks, "Do you have a name in mind?"
"Yep," I nod firmly, a smile on my face.
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RED ROBIN'S POV
(a few days later)
"So wait," Cassie starts looking at all of us, "She knows you all," She gestures to Impulse, Blue Beetle and I, "As Bart, Jaime, and Tim... but doesn't know it's you guys under these masks?"
We all share a look before we turn back to her."Yup," Bart confirms.
"Idiots," Spoiler mutters under her breath with her arms crossed.
"She knows you too!" I point out, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Only because of you!" She defends, "If you didn't have a cr-"
"Okay," I stop her, making Cassie and Virgil snicker and Steph to smirk. "My point is, she doesn't know and I don't want her to know yet, so keep it a secret for now."
"Wait," Bart looks at him in surprise, "You sure that's the best thing to do?"
"Yeah, hermano," Jaime rubs the back of his neck, "I agree with Bart on this one. Did you learn anything from Nightwing with this specific topic?" He asks, referencing to when Dick didn't tell Brooklyn who he was and it blew up in his face. "It didn't go over well."
"That's different," I defend, though I am not sure I believe it myself, so I continue with, "Nightwing knew and tried to use it to his advantage. The only problem was that he ended up liking her and then it all got screwed up because she found out."
"Umm..." Tracy hesitates before she says,"You almost just explained your situation."
"It's different!" I huff out, "I don't think Katie is a bad person and my intentions were not the same. And I am going to tell her soon," I add as I see Steph open her mouth to say something, "I just need to find the right time."
"No time like the present," Bart says, speeding to me and throwing an arm around my shoulder. "I would know."
"I would rather not have a fight break out the moment she is welcomed onto the team," M'gann says, walking up. She must have heard a little bit of the conversation.
"Noted," I nod in agreement before I look past her and realize only Conner and Artemis are following. "Where is Nightwing?"
M'gann and Conner share a look before she says, "He took a personal leave from the team."
"What?" Several of us ask. He didn't mention anything like that to me.
"I'm sure it won't be long," She reassures us, "But as of right now, I am going to lead the team."
"Wooo!" Bart cheers as the others congratulate her.
"So," Conner says to me, "You are pulling a Grayson?"
"Not wise," Artemis throws out a comment, smirking as she remembers Brooklyn and Dick's situation.
Brooklyn eventually forgave him but she definitely made him work for it. Apparently Wally, Artemis' husband meddled in their relationship too. It all worked out in the end though.
That's somewhat reassuring.
"No," I sigh, rubbing my face, "We are friends from school. And long story short, she met me as Red Robin too. She doesn't know we are the same person and I don't think it would be fair to spring it on her now with everything going on in her life."
Plus she has been extremely pissed with me as Tim for a bit and just forgave me. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship just yet.
It's selfish, but I just got her back. I want her to stay for a while before she gets mad at me again.
"Understood," M'gann nods. "So only code name for Red Robin," She informs everyone to make sure they know before she looks back to me. "How is she getting here?"
"Ed," I answer causing Bart to stand straighter.
"Wait, she knows Ed?" He questions. "Interesting..." He mutters, and I sense something devious going on in his mind. I drop it though because I can't worry about more than I already am.
"Yup," My eyes go to the tube as anxiety grows in me. I'm nervous for this. I don't want her to be scared of the rest of us, but I don't want her get so close that they slip up and tell her. "She has been training at S.T.A.R. Labs."
"What are her powers?" Tracy asks, walking to stand next to her boyfriend. He realizes this and takes her hand in his, making her smile.
"They are similar to Captain Atom from the sound of it," M'gann supplies for me, "Nightwing sent some information over so I wasn't completely in the dark." She adds with a smile.
"I'm just glad we are getting another girl on the team," Arrowette, or Cissie, says with a huff as she crosses her arms and looks at us, "We are seriously out numbered."
"Not too bad," Virgil comments as he stretches his arms over his head. "We are like one off."
Cissie realizes this and shrugs, "Seems like more than that."
"Ed said they are almost here," Bart interrupts, texting on his phone before he pockets it. "It's is great, I love Katie."
"You just love her because her Abuela gave you cake," Jaime rolls his eyes as he suits up.
"It was really good cake," Bart states, causing me to panic a bit.
"You can't mention any of that! Not her birthday or anything," I warn again, feeling my worry grow.
"Got it boss," Bart salutes, "Relax, I sure everything will be fine." He add on a more serious note as he realizes I am actually worried.
"Yeah, and you freaking out is just going to make her freak out," Jaime points out, "So breathe."
"She is probably just as nervous." Cassie says just as the computer rings out and the tube starts to glow blue.
'Authorized: Eduardo Dorado Jr.-A17
Authorized: Katie-A57'
"I can't believe you picked Barney," I hear Katie exclaim as she looks at Ed. "Genuinely, Elmo would just wipe the floor with him."
"Elmo, huh?" Artemis asks with an amused look, causing Katie to look at her.
I expect her to turn red or be embarrassed, but she simply nods and says, "I asked who he thought would win a fight, Elmo or Barney, and he said Barney!"
"He is a dinosaur!" Ed defends, making Katie shake her head, her curls bouncing slightly.
"So?" She asks, putting her hands on her hips. "Elmo is small but mighty."
"Who is Elmo?" Conner asks, cocking his head to the side.
"And Barney?" M'gann adds.
Right. Clone and Miss M probably didn't spend her time watching Barney on the TV back home. Artemis has Lian though, so chances are she knows what Katie is going on about.
"They are from a kids show," Artemis supplies before she nods to Katie, "I'm agreeing with her. Doesn't matter the size, and Barney wouldn't hurt a fly."
"That's what I said!" She exclaims, smiling before it falls and her eyes widen as if she just realized what was happening, "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't interrupt anything important, did I?"
Miss M laughs a little at her sudden realization before shaking her head, "No, we are all just here to meet you."
"Oh," She smiles before waving to everyone, "Well, hi," She starts, "I'm Katie."
"No secret identity?" Bart questions.
"I thought you were from Gotham," Jaime jokes, making fun of how us bats like to keep our identity a secret even from our teammates for sometime.
"Well, you guys are my teammates now, so I figured you should know who you are working with," She shrugs. and it's only then that I realize she is in her suit.
Apparently Nightwing helped her design it, but she already had exactly what she wanted in a sketch. Dick was so impressed he told me about it after.
It looks very similar to Captain Atom's, with the same symbol on her chest and red boots, but there are little accents of red all over the suit like lines down her arms, that end as red around her hands. The rest was silver, including her mask.
"Nice to meet you, Katie," M'gann smiles, "My name is M'gann. And this is Superboy, and Tigress-"
"You can call us Conner and Artemis," Artemis adds, speaking for herself and Conner who only smiles at Katie in welcome.
Miss M helps introduce the rest, all of them trusting her with their real names immediately, before it gets to me.
"-and I think you have met Red Robin."
"Yup," She nods and smiles, making me smile a little too before she looks around and asks, "Where are Catgirl and Nightwing?"
This causes almost everyone's eyebrows to shoot up.
"You know them?" Cassie asks, watching the girl closely.
"Yeah, they saved me once," She nods before adding, "And I saved Red and Nightwing from a terrible coffee mistake. And he has helped me out the past few days."
"They are both on leave right now," Conner fills in, rubbing the back of his neck.
Something tells me there is more to this than they are letting us know. I will have to ask Dick about it when I see him. Though if it is something very personal about one of them, I doubt he would tell me so freely. I might have to bug it out of him.
"Dang, Catgirl is my favorite Gotham hero," Katie mutters in disappointment, making my friends behind me snicker.
"I already knew that," I hiss turning to them, only making them covering their mouths to keep from laughing.
Conner just smiles and says, "I bet it would make her very happy to hear that."
"And you can tell her when she gets back," Artemis adds, making Katie smile again.
"Will do," She nods with determination set on her fact.
"So," Steph says suddenly, "Tour?"
Miss M looks at the reports on the computer for a moment before she nods and says, "We are good for now, you guys can go."
"Tour," Cassie, Cissie, Tracy, and Steph say together as they all lung for Katie.
"Creepy," Virgil comments as they nearly drag her out of the room, her stopping to look wide-eyes out into space.
"Oh my gosh-wait!" She is cut off though, and they keep her moving through the hall. A second later, she disappears from sight.
Oh boy.
"Wait, I wanna come!" Bart calls out, "Oh," He adds, giving Ed a hug and winking at him before he speeds out of the room.
"Umm..." Jaime runs the back of his neck, "She is pretty powerful. Scarab said the amount of energy coming off of her was 'unusual for a life-form."
"That's reassuring," I mutter under my breath.
"Should we join them?" Virgil asks, looking at all of us, Ed too.
"Why not?" Ed shrugs, and we all start walking out.
I pause, looking back at the three older members, but they are all already talking in whispers.
Something is going on.
I try not to think too much about it as the girls come into view and I see Katie whirl around, looking at me.
"Red," She says, surprising me before she punches me in the arm.
"Ouch!"
"You didn't tell me you dated the wondergirl!" She exclaims as if I dated a celebrity.
"I-" I look around for the guilty person, my eyes settling on Bart, who is trying not to meet my eyes. "Didn't think it mattered."
Cassie and I did date briefly, but we decided it was best if we stayed friends. Nothing against one another, and we both still have a good relationship. Other than Katie and Steph, she is one of my closest girl - best friends.
"She is awesome," Katie states in a 'duh' tone, "Of course it matters!"
Cassie smiles at that, mouthing 'I like her' to me behind Katie so she can't see, making me fight back a smile.
I like her too.
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A/N:
Bart pulling a wally west? We love to see it.
and now Katie is officially on the team!! So excited to see how much of a badass she can be.
And of course, Tim is pulling Grayson but with slightly better intentions. I hope it goes better for him than it did for Grayson
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how are y'all feeling?
favorite part?
what are you excited to see now that she is on the team?
do you think tim will slip up or tell her or she will find out?
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thanks for reading, don't forget to vote & comment !!
xoxo, author