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RED ROBIN'S POV
I glare at the huge building, before I look back to Batman, "Are you sure-"
"If we try to contain it, it could set it off," He grumbles out, "We have to call in backup."
I don't have to ask who he is going to call.
This is a power plant. And it's about to blow. He is calling Captain Atom. And Captain Atom is going to bring Stella. He is going to bring Katie.
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Captain Atom lands next to us, watching the plant as electricity starts sparking.
"What are we dealing with?" He asks, his voice stern.
"A hydroelectric plant," Batman states, "We evacuated everyone, but it is still unstable."
"It's going to blow if you don't absorb the energy," I fill in where Batman leaves off.
"Is that it?" He asks before looking to the sky, "Stella is on her way."
"Do you really think she is ready?" Batman questions, looking at him.
"Yes sir, I do," He confirms before nodding to the sky, "There she is."
We turn, and sure enough, there she is, an outline of energy shining from her.
She lands next to me, looking at the plant, "That thing is giving off a lot of energy," She mutters uneasily before looking to Captain Atom, "You think we can absorb it all?"
"We have to try," He responds, his eyes going back to it as it starts sparking more. "Watch out!" He shouts suddenly as a shock comes at a worker.
Stella quickly flies up, getting in between them, the energy flowing into her outstretched hand until the shock dies out.
She looks back to the worker, his eyes wide as she smile reassuringly at him, his curls falling in her face a little as the wind blows her hair.
Her eyes turn back to Captain Atom, "I think we can do it."
He grins, and I realize how much more relaxed he is now that he has spent so much time with her. "Okay, go to the right, I will go left." He orders, and Katie nods, before she turns and flies where she should be, opposite of him. "On my count," He shouts as the energy starts to grow, the wind picking up, whipping her hair around. "One, two... three!"
The world lights up as the plant starts to explode, only to be stopped when it reaches the two, their hands out as they draw the energy in.
I watch Katie, my body tense as her eyes start to glow. I clench my jaw, thinking back on when she overheated. If that happens again... Captain Atom can't just absorb it. He is pure energy. She isn't. She can't just explode and be fine.
Her hair starts to stand on end as energy pours into her, the plant dimming.
I go to check on Captain Atom, but my eyes won't leave her, too worried something bad will happen.
She bares her teeth, grunting as the last of the energy pours into her.
The light completely dies out aside from the light coming from her, the outline making her look like a star in the night sky.
"Stella," I whisper, low enough for only me to hear as she flies back down to us, her eyes slowly turning normal.
Captain Atom beats us, "We have to release some of this," He says, stopping Katie from even landing. "Go as far up as you can, Stella."
She nods, and for a split moment, I see a hint of fear in her eyes before determination sinks in and she flies straight up.
I watch as he joins her, her stopping much sooner than him as she needs oxygen.
When she knows she is far enough, and she truly looks like a star in the sky, she lets go, the energy exploding out around her as she holds her arms out.
The energy stretches on and on, lasting for what seems like forever before the white light slowly dissolves and she relaxes her body.
She stays up there for a few moments as Captain Atom releases his before she starts to come down, him still in the air.
She lands next to me, her face slightly paler than normal.
"Are you-"
"I'm fine," She sends me a smile before she looks up at Captain Atom as he starts to fly back.
When he lands he lands next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Good job," He says, making her smile before he takes his hand back and they both look at Batman.
"Thank you," I cut in, knowing Batman won't say it.
Katie winks at me in acknowledgement before looking back to Batman.
"We will look into what went wrong. For now, we will keep people away." He informs them.
"That's best. Hydroelectric energy is not something you want to mess with," Captain Atom says before adding, "Is that all?"
"That's all."
He looks down at Katie, nodding. Katie looks at me, smiling before they both turn and take off, flying away.
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KATIE'S POV
(the next day)
My eyes go to Tim next to me as we both finish our math test.
I wipe my forehead, the pressure in it hurting as I close my eyes for a moment, then feeling sore with lack of sleep.
It hasn't exactly been easy for me to sleep lately. While I am exhausted with all of the training and missions, my mind can't turn off. And when it does, it's either a light sleep or it is nightmares about being back in that place. The place that gave me these powers.
I push the thought away, my eyes opening. I turn to Tim, his eyes already on me. The bell rings, and Miss Grouchy pants starts barking orders for the people not done as she takes the tests up.
"You feeling okay?" Tim asks as we step out of the room, walking together.
"I'm fine, just tired," I reassure him. "We can talk more in Chem, I will see you then,"I tell him before I rush to my other class. He nods, turning to go the other way.
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I slowly add a few drops of indicator to the mixture. We are doing titrations and they make me want to bang my head against a desk but they are easy enough.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Tim asks as he slowly lets the buret pour NaOH into the solution.
"I wanted to see if you were free today," I say, making him look up quickly. My eyes widen as I stop the NaOH from adding in, and it thankfully doesn't change the color of the solution. Then I realize my hand is on Tim's now. I let it go, and readjust my goggles, hoping the not see nervous by the interaction. "I was thinking we could maybe have a movie day or something."
Really this was Hazel's idea and the only reason I am actually asking is because Tim has a way of making me feel relaxed and safe. And the last time we had one we both got very much needed naps. I wouldn't mind that right now. Or being in Tim's arms.
I did not just think that.
"That sounds good," He nods, "I am free."
"Perfect," I breathe out and turn back to the experiment, writing down the data.
We get through the experiment successfully, high fiving each other when we are done, just as the bell rings.
Tim waves good-bye after we clean our mess up, and I do the same before I head to the next class.
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Tim ended up asking Alfred to come get us. I grin as he opens the door, "Alfredo."
"Miss Katie," The butler says curtly as I slip in the back seat, Tim following me. "Master Tim."
Alfred walks around the side before he gets in the front seat, driving away.
"I trust you found Miss Hazel the other day," Alfred says looking in the rear view mirror at me.
"Oh, yeah I did," I nod. I had forgotten about that little incident.
"You never told me what it was about," Tim realizes, turning to me.
"Oh, just allergies," I lie, messing with my jacket, "And I really missed Hazel."
He nods, accepting the answer. We talk about random things for the rest of the ride.
I actually find out more about him. I didn't realize he knew how to skateboard or that he knew how to make little origami animals. He promised me he would make me one as proof.
"And I can teach you how to skate if you want," He offers as we pull in.
"That would be awesome," I accept as we get out of the car.
We walk in, Damian eyeing us from the table as we do so. Alfred picked him up first and dropped him off before Tim called, so he knew I was coming.
"Hey, Spikey," I smile at him and wave. He simply ignores me, his eyes going to Tim.
"I'm leaving to go see Biscuit. Don't screw anything up while I am gone, Drake." He snaps as he gets up and walks out of the room.
I frown as Tim sighs. "What was that about?" I ask when I am sure Damian is out of earshot. "He seems more hostile than usual."
"It's not you," He reassures me as he leads me to the living room. "Brooklyn and Dick are in a rough patch right now. Brooklyn left for a while so he has been really pissy. He says he is going to see Biscuit, but he is really going to make sure Dick is okay."
I frown again, worry edging into my features, "Oh... I wouldn't have ever thought... I mean they just seem so perfect for each other."
"Even perfect couples hit rough patches," Tim shrugs, but I can tell by the way he is avoiding my eyes when he searches for movies that he is affected by her absence too.
"I'm sure they will find their way back to each other," I tell him softly. He looks up at me and nods.
"I am sure too. It's them," He smiles, "I'm sure of it."
His smile makes me smile even more I realize. I look down, looking at the movies in his hand to get my eyes off of him.
"Star Trek?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
"You don't seem thrilled," He rubs the back of his neck. "We can-"
"No, it's perfect," I say, taking the first one from him and putting it in.
Tim sits down as it starts playing, and I sit right next to him, but I pretend on to notice as I lean back into the couch.
I learned a long time ago that if you pretend to be confident about every move you make, even if it was weird, people will think you are right. If you have enough confidence they will think they are the weird one.
So when Tim looks at me to see if I even realize our legs and arms are brushing against each other, I keep my eyes forward as if it were the most natural thing in the world despite my heart beating out of my chest as warmth spreads to me from his body being so close.
The movie starts to play, and I am surprised to find my eyes already feeling heavy. I keep them open for the beginning of the movie, commenting about Chris Hemsworth being attractive before I grow quiet.
Tiredness seeps into my body, the weight of how much training I have been doing hitting me hard as I let my eyes close, promising myself I would open them a moment later.
I can't though. So I give myself a minute. But before a minute is up, I feel my head fall into Tim's chest. I almost force myself awake until I feel him shift, him wrapping his arm around me. I turn more to him to get more comfortable and the second I do, I slip into a deep sleep.
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TIM'S POV
I look down at Katie, her breathing even as she sleeps on my chest, curled into my side.
My eyes soften as I take one of her curls in my hands, playing with it before I let it go, it bouncing a little.
I've been worried she has been overexerting herself. I thought she looked more tired, less energetic than normal. Tonight just proves it. She fell asleep almost instantly.
My arm tightens around her as a strong sense of protectiveness rises in my chest. I don't want to see her hurt.
I breathe out, trying to ignore the feeling as I turn back to the tv.
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A/N:
katie asking to hang out with tim to get a good nap is so cute to me like she knew what she was doing.
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how are y'all feeling?
favorite part?
did you expect katie to be so normal-ish around him?
what are you excited to see now that she is on the team?
do you want to see more of team life or more school life?
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thanks for reading, don't forget to vote & comment !!
xoxo, author