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KATIE'S POV
"Go fish," I mutter, my eyes scanning my cards, a small pout on my face.
"Dang," Arrowette huffs as she pulls another card out of the pile.
"Got any sevens?" Traci asks Wondergirl.
She huffs but hands the cards over, making Traci grin, her boyfriend, Blue Beetle, putting a supportive hand on her back.
In the back of the room, Kid Flash and Red Robin play a video game, both getting way too into it.
"Hey!" Kid Flash complains as a devious smile forms on Red's lips.
I find myself smiling at their antiques.
"Katie?" Wondergirl suddenly asks, looking at me with a small smile. I look at her, noticing Red also looked over when someone said my name. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?"
I scrunch my nose up, remembering my dumb ex, "Sadly, he isn't something to brag about."
"Really?" Arrowette asks, "Was he not cute?"
I cock my head to the side, studying my cards, "You got any threes?" She pouts but hands them over, making me smile, "I mean, he was cute on the outside."
"So bad personality?" Traci asks, "That sucks."
"Yeah, he wasn't the right person for me," I agree, "I just wish he would stop thinking he was."
"Does he bug you?" Cassie asks, causing everyone to look at me in concern.
"Nothing I can't handle," I reassure her, "I've punched him before, he just doesn't get the hint."
"We can beat him up," Traci offers.
"Umm..." Blue Beetle looks at his girlfriend, rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't think Katie really needs out help. Scarab says her powers are growing every day, and they are already pretty strong."
"Scarab?" I question. I've heard him say it before, I just don't think I have ever asked.
"It's the thing that's attached to his back," Traci forces him to turn so she can point. "That says some stuff that's helpful and some stuff that isn't so helpful. It's also very murderous."
"Oh," I say, looking at it, "That's really cool."
"So you do have a type?" Kid Flash asks.
"Me?" I ask, my eyebrows skyrocketing. He nods and I frown as I think, "Umm... I mean I don't think so." There isn't a strong correlation between Tim, Red, and Dean. "I mean my ex wasn't smart, but I do like guys that are smart."Red looks over and I suddenly feel weird about saying it. Well, too late to be self conscious now. "And confidence isn't bad if they have a right to be confident." I think for a moment before saying, "And reassuring, a good friend. Maybe guys with darker hair." I am only guessing Red has dark hair under that cowl. I know Tim does. "Yeah." I nod satisfied.
"Oh, have anyone in mind?" Wondergirl asks, leaning in.
I shrug, a small smile on my lips, "Wouldn't matter if it was." I aw Tim talking to this girl in the hallway the other day... she had her hand on his bicep. I didn't stop to see much more. Even thinking about it makes an ache in my chest. "Hypothetically speaking, the guy I like, likes someone else."
Everyone's eyebrows shoot up at this, and I nearly laugh at Red's expression with his cowl.
"What?" Arrowette asks, "Are you sure, because I thought that-" Wondergirl covers her mouth to cut her off.
"What she means is, you are amazing. How could he not like someone like you?" She fills in with a sweet smile.
I shrug, "I mean we are friends first and foremost. He must view me only as a friend."
"He sounds dumb," Traci decides.
"Hmm," Kid Flash mutters, while Red looks annoyed with the whole situation. Maybe I should have brought up me liking anyone... "Well, Red Robin, do you like anyone?"
Red looks even more annoyed, glaring at the speedster.
"Come on," Blue Beetle baits him, "At least tell us your type."
"If memory serves correct," Traci cuts in, "I think his type is blondes."
Oh. Well at least I have that going for me. But the girl Tim was talking to was also a blonde. Would I lose both of them to her if he knew her?
Red crosses his arm, looking like he isn't going to speak before he says, "I guess that's true."
"What else?"
He looks up from the floor, his eyes looking at me before he looks away, clearing his throat. "Someone who values friendship above everything. And is pretty funny."
"Come on, give us some more specifics!" Kid Flash says, earning a glare. "Okay, nevermind." He holds his hands up in surrender.
I look down, remembering how close Red and I got to kissing when he came to my room when he was hurt. He had dodged me. He didn't want me to know who he was. Maybe he already has a girlfriend, one I don't even know about. That the team doesn't know about.
The thought makes me feel sick.
"Katie, are you okay?" Blue Beetle asks, his eyes on me in worry.
"Yeah, I am okay," I nod, "Just a bit tired."
Red catches my eyes again, worry on his face, but he doesn't say anything.
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RED ROBIN'S
"Dude, how did you mess up so bad she doesn't think you are into her?" Jaime asks when the girls leave to go get ready for a mission.
"You are assuming she likes me," I hiss, annoyed. I did think Katie liked me. Or I had hoped. After she admitted to sticking to me as her french partner, I thought maybe... But why can't she see it? It makes me so frustrated.
"Of course she does!" Bart rolls his eyes, "She has to like at least one of you." He says, meaning Red or Tim.
She does get more flustered when I am Red... I think it's because I am more cocky as him though.
"Well, I don't know how to make sure her realize I like her." I admit.
"I gotcha," Bart says, "You just take her face, and pull her in, and-"
"I get it," I glare, cutting him off, "But I can't do that. Not until I find a way to tell her who I am. I would feel bad if I kissed her and she didn't know I was who I am."
She trusted Tim with things she wouldn't tell Red, and she trusted Red with things she wouldn't tell Tim. Either way, I've betrayed her trust. I can't make it worse by kissing her without her knowing.
"Blue," I say, looking at him, "How are her levels?"
I asked Jaime to keep an eye on her energy levels to make sure that they are stable. The only problem is, Katie only seems to be getting stronger.
"Stable... She did have a spike towards the end of the conversation about who you liked though. Not sure what that was about." He says, giving me a knowing look before he adds, "But Scarab did say that the energy she is able to hold is increasing."
"Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Bart mutters.
I straighten up and look at him, "Hey, you are from the future!"
Bart gives me an apologetic smile, "Yeah, but sadly, I think whatever event that lead up to Katie being a hero was changed because I never heard about her. Even Brooke's whole story was rewritten." He explains.
I frown and look down. Whatever happened before didn't sound like a world I would want to live in. I bet Hazel and Jason never met too. Or if they did Jason was even more of an idiot and scared her off.
But even then, I start to wonder; was Katie better of never knowing me? If I hadn't switched her classes, if I hadn't wanted to get closer to her, would she be happier and safer than now? Definitely safer.
"Hey," Katie runs back into the room, now in her suit, her cheeks flushed. When her eyes meet my masked ones, my heart skips a beat. She tucks a curl behind her hair and asks, "Are you guys coming?"
I nod, standing up off of the arm of the couch, Blue and Bart sharing a look before nodding.
She smiles, making my chest tighten before she turns, her curls bouncing as she runs off.
"Oh, you've got it bad," Bart comments. "You look at her like she is the sun."
"Yeah, I don't think I've seen someone more whipped. Well, other than your brothers... maybe it's a family trait," Jaime teases, making me glare.
"Hey, do I need to remind you how you acted around Traci before you guys got together?" His eyes widen, and he opens his mouth, but I cut him off. "Thought so."
I walk out of the room and head to the meeting place, seeing most of the others have started arriving. My eyes land on her again, almost as if they have a mind of their own.
She is talking to Cassie about something, a smile on her face. Thank goodness my face is hidden under this mask. I don't think there is anyway Katie could mix up the look on my face. Or the fact I am always looking to her.
In a fight, I am always a few steps behind her, making sure she is okay. She has actually saved me a few more times than I would care to admit.
But if I wanted to keep this situation a secret, I wouldn't even be able to with how we react out in the field together.
Even Artemis, Conner, and M'gann have made comments about it. It made me want to jump of the nearest building when Dick told me they tried to get him to spill.
You look at her like she is the Sun.
Maybe she is to me.
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KATIE'S POV
I hold on tighter to Red as he swings through Gotham, trying to ignore the warm tingles I feel with his arm wrapped protectively around my waist.
Or his muscles that I can very clearly feel working to keep us in the air.
"I'm sorry," I blurt, turning my head away from looking at Gotham below us to looking at him, he can hear me.
"For what?" He says, his voice being muffled over the wind, but so can feel the vibrations in his chest as he speaks.
"For draining my power. And for you thinking you needed to take me home. I am sure I could have made it," I say, but I know he wouldn't have listened to me if even I had pressed him on the matter. When it came to my powers, he always wanted to be careful.
And I drained my powers so much on the mission, because of him.
He was in trouble and it wasn't even a choice. I just sort of... let go.
They told me my eyes started glowing again, my hair floating above my head as energy cracked all around my body before I started fighting again while they made sure Red woke up from the hard hit he took.
I don't remember much of the fight, only that I had blasted so much energy at the supervillain, that Blue said he was shocked that the supervillain was standing for so long.
Of course my friends helped, they took on the other villains. I just took on the biggest one.
And won.
But in the last blow, I somehow used too much of my energy. After it hit the villain and I knew he was down, I fainted.
I heard Blue shout something to the others, and I think Kid Flash caught me before I could hit my head because I was so far from the others.
When I came to, I was in the Medical bay in the Bioship. Red was next to me, his eyes trained on my vials, so locked in that he didn't realize I had woken up until I reached a hand out for him.
His eyes had widened then and he helped me drink some water.
They said I went past the limit I should have for expending my energy. If I have too much, I overheat... but if I don't have enough I can't function.
Which explains why I feel so weak right now.
I lay my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes for a few moments.
When I open them, he is looking down at me with a worried expression.
"I'm okay," I promise him, "Just tired."
He nods, his lips in a thin tight line. He doesn't say anything else the whole way to my apartment.
When we do land on my roof, I stumble but his hands around my waist, pull me back into him, stabling me.
I inhale sharply, before stepping out of his touch, looking at him. I hope my face isn't red as I say, "Thank you for the ride home, I appreciate it."
He nods, his eyes studying my face before he does something I don't expect. He steps closer, brushing my hair out of the way, both his hands moving slowly on either side of my face.
I feel my cheeks getting hotter, and I think he sees it too, his eyes staring down at my face as I look up at him.
All of the air in my lungs leave my body as he slowly leans down and places a kiss on my forehead, before pressing one to my left cheek, then right. Each time he pulls back enough to see my reaction, to see what he is doing to me.
I let out a shaky breath, my hand going to one of his wrists. "Red?" I ask, my eyes staring up at him.
He doesn't say anything, he just wraps his arms around me, pulling me into a hug I wasn't expecting.
After blinking a few times, I wrap my arms around him too, and he tightens his grip on me.
"Red?" I ask again after a few moments, my heart beating loudly in my chest.
He slowly lets me go, and we both pull back, but only enough to look each other in the face.
He looks down at my mouth. I see the slight change, and that fact makes my skin feel hot.
Then he looks back up, and I know that he is going to pull away. His grip on me loosens and all I can think about is how I don't want him to pull away.
Our noses are so close that when I pull back up at him, they brush. Something flickers in his features when this happens.
I open my mouth to say his name again, to will him to say anything, but he slams his mouth into mine, his hand tilting my chin up before I can even get a syllable out.
He wraps an arm around my back, pulling me closer as I move my hands to his chest, feeling how fast his heart is beating underneath my skin. I close my eyes, my skin feeling on fire where he is touching me as his head moves, mine moving with it, deepening the kiss.
I pull him closer by the shoulder, a spark lighting up inside of me as he kisses me back, and I move my other hand to his face.
I realize my mistake after I touch his cowl. After it seems like I might have been trying to see who he is under it.
And a second later, I know I am right because he breaks away, withdrawing his hands from me as he runs his hand over his face.
"I shouldn't have..." He trails off, seeming to try to figure out what to say, "I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry-I've got to go." He says taking a few steps back, cause me to do the same, but towards him, trying to het him to calm down.
"I'm sorry," I say, dread filling my stomach at his reaction, "That was my fault, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"
"It's not your fault," He shakes his head, "I don't- I'm not mad at you, at all." He clarifies, "I've got to go though, I'm sorry, Katie." He sounding truly torn before jumping off the roof.
I stand there, my eyes on the place he disappeared before I turn and climb through my window.
I lay down on my bed, Bunny coming to my on my chest as I put my face in my hands.
What just happened?
And how am I going to be able to look Tim in the eyes tomorrow?
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A/N:
AHHHH THEY KNOW and THEY KISSED
did you guys like it? how do you guys feel?? because now tim is going to be worried sick because she doesn't know the truth.
also i know it may seem boring but i have more up my sleeve
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how are y'all feeling?
favorite part?
did this live up to your expectation???
did you know that she knew?
do you think that she reacted well?
did you think she was going to be mad?
do you want to see more of team life or more school life?
what do you want next?
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thanks for reading, don't forget to vote & comment !!
xoxo, author