It was one of the worst thunderstorms Cassie had ever experienced. Lightning flashed as thunder roared across the sky, the wind howling in the trees, blowing down branches onto the streets below. One specific branch smacked itself across her window for hours, keeping her from falling asleep. She tossed and turned, tried using her headphones, then attempted to sleep with the pillow over her head. Nothing seemed to mute the outside world, until as if by wishing hard enough, the branch finally snapped and hit the ground. Now the smacking on her window was gone, but there was still the booming thunder and strong winds.
Somehow, Cassie was able to fall asleep. She was grateful, and felt at peace, even though it seemed her subconscious had other plans for this night. Her body stirred, her mind using the sounds of the storm to affect her dream. As the lightning cracked like a whip, Cassie shot right up. "No!" she screamed, her eyes darting around the room as her chest raised with each breath. As she finally focused on her surroundings, she realized she was back in her bedroom. She saw her bunny slippers on the ground, her teddy bear on the bed, and the poster of Superboy on her door. She was home, and she was safe.
"Okay..." She wiped the sweat from her brow as she reached for the phone. "That was waaaay too realistic to only be a nightmare. Maybe someone at the HQ is awake, I just need to calm down. I hope this storm didn't knock any power lines by me..." Cassie focused on calming her breathing as she typed the phone number to the Headquarters of her superhero team, Young Justice.
As if the storm wasn't loud enough to echo throughout the cave, there was now the repeated ringing of the phone, blaring throughout the remnants of the old HQ to the Justice League of America. It rang only a few more times before Kon-El drowsily answered. "H-Hello?" Kon did his best to hold back his yawn, but exhaustion got the best of him.
"Ohmigosh..." Cassie dropped the phone as her chest started to pound again. It's him, it's him! It'shimit'shimit'shim! Her excitement had mixed with the anxiety the nightmare had given her, causing her heart to go a mile a second. "K-Kon? Kon, is that you?" She asked, bringing the phone back up to her ear.
"Cass? It's..." Kon turned to the giant computer and looked at the time upon the screen, his eyes now widened upon the realization. "Cass, it's three in the morning! What gives?! What are you doin' up so early?! Calling here, no less, where the phone rings like a dang church bell..."
Lowering the phone from her face again, she spoke softly. "It is him!" Her face now fully blushing, she couldn't contain her smile. "He's worried about me, he's actu--oh no. He hates me, I woke him up. Nice one, Cassie, you ruined your chance to ever--" Cassie cut herself off, realizing that Kon was still on the other end of the line. Fumbling to bring the phone back to her ear, her voice trembled. "Oh, hi, Kon. It's just... Just, uuhhh... Oh, this is going to be so lame." Her hand covered her face as she shook her head.
"Are you alright, Wondy? You're sounding like you had one too many Twinkies before bed."
"Yes! Well, no. I mean, I'm not hurt. But at the same time, I'm not really well. To be honest, I'm not sure why I even called... Ehehehe." Cassie's nervous laugh escaped her as she scratched the back of her head, lightly smacking the phone against her head. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
"Uh-huh. Well, you try and figure that out while I go back to bed, 'kay? G'night Wo--"
"No, wait!" She yelled as Kon was about to rest the phone back onto the receiver. "Ar-Are you still there?" Her voice trembling again. "Please still be there..."
Kon sighed as he placed the phone back to his ear, his back now resting against the wall. "Yeah, I'm still here. What's up, Wondy? You sound like you've seen a ghost. And no, I'm not talkin' 'bout Secret."
She closed her eyes and took a breath, calming herself. "I... I kinda had a nightmare. Gods, you probably think I'm as immature as Bart, now." Cassie's face now a deep red as her head hung low.
"What? No, not at all, Wondy! Don't be ridiculous. To be honest, I kinda had one, too..." He scratched the back of his head as he let out a small nervous laugh. "I guess mine wasn't enough to wake me up, though."
"Maybe it's destiny..." She spoke softly before putting some hair behind her ear and placing the phone against it, again. "Wow, really? I didn't think you'd get nightmares. I mean, you being all tough and protective, and handso--hands on! So hands on!" She chimed a bit louder, hoping he didn't hear what she was about to say. "Nice going, Cassie, tell 'em how ya really feel, why don't ya?" Once again mumbling to herself, Cassie brought the phone back up to her face. "But, I am sorry to hear that, Kon. Do you... Do you wanna talk about it?"
Kon pondered it for a moment, muffling another yawn. "Yeah, sure, Cassie. I'll be there in a few minutes, 'kay?" He hung up the phone, flew to his section of the cave, and put on his costume. After running his fingers through his hair, he took off into the stormy sky.
"Be careful, the storm is really ba-- bad, here..." She heard the click of the phone before she could finish her sentence, meaning Kon had already hung up the phone. "Oh, Zeus, please watch over him. Pretty please?" She hung up the phone, then swung her legs over the edge of her bed. Going over her phone call with Kon, the realization of what was about to happen had hit her. "H-He's on his way. Here. To my house. Kon. Coming here. To see me. Sure, he's been over once before with the rest of the team, but this time it's just to see me. Me! He cares about me, maybe even... maybe he even loves me." Her teddy bear squished against her chest, Cassie happily floated above her bed, thinking of her future as Mrs. Superboy.
After a moment, her eyes shot open. "I have to fix myself!" She said after a gasp, falling back onto her bed, and her bear bouncing onto the floor. "Lessee here... I have a shirt and pants on, already. I don't think there's any need for makeup, since it's dark." She ran a hand through her hair, looking at her desk of makeup supplies. "What else could I even do?"
Before she could decide, there was a knock on her window that sounded very similar to the branch. "Wondy, it's kinda rainin' pretty bad out here. Ya think you could open the window?" Kon pressed his face to the window, scanning the room in search of Wonder Girl.
Cassie jumped off her bed in fright from Kon's knocking, but quickly went to the window and opened it, pulling Kon inside and wrapping her arms around him. "Thank the Gods you're okay!" She squeezed him tightly as they floated into the center of her room. "You are okay, right? I tried to warn you about the storm, but you hung up too quickly. Iprayedthatyouwouldn'tgetshockedbylightning, thoughIdon'tthinkitcouldhurtyouanyway, youbeingSuperboyandall. ButIwantedtobesure. Didyouhavetroublegettinghere? You'resoaked. Hereletmegetyouatowel!" She quickly flew to her closet and searched for a towel. Her face became a deep red as she realized how fast she was talking. I'm such a nervous wreck! Snap out of it, Cassie!
"Wondy, I'm alright, see? No scorch marks from the lightning, it's just a bit of rain. I would've been completely dry, but I didn't bother to use my tactile-telekinesis because I wanted to get over here as fast as I could." Kon spoke quietly as he looked around her room. "Y'know, you do have a pretty nice room, here. Better than the ones I've had, for sure."
Her eyes lit up, in that moment, he could've said she smelled like garbage, and it wouldn't matter. Kon was in her room, talking to her. "You mean, my room is better than living at the HQ?" She walked over and handed him a towel, and dread filling her chest. "Oh, no! Your earring! Kon, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault..."
He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her body to face him. "Cassie, it's okay. I didn't even put my earring in, I'm not even wearing my gloves or my belt, see?" He raised his hand in front of her face. "I'm okay, scouts honor. By the way, thank you for the towel." He dried off his hair a bit more before resting the towel on her chair.
Cassie blushed as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Anything for you... I-I mean, what're friends for, right?!" We'll always have each other's backs!" She punched his arm as she laughed nervously. Real good job at playin' cool, Cassie. Soooooo smooth.
"Exactly, Wondy." He smiled as he fixed his hair; looking up, he noticed the poster of himself on her door. "Uh, Cassie? Why am I on your door?"
Cripes! I forgot to hide the dang poster! Embarrassed, she rubbed her arm as she thought of an excuse. "Oh, that? Uh, it was a gift, actually. My mom was at a conference for the museum, and the guy at the poster stand heard you were coming from Hawaii, so he was selling posters of you." Don't mention that you practically begged your mom to get you anything Superboy-related...
His smile turned to a devilish smirk as he leaned in closer to her. "Soooo... What made you keep it up?"
"I, uh, umm... Well, y'see..."
Kon couldn't keep his laughter in any longer, he placed a hand on Cassie's back as he calmed himself down. "Cass, I'm just playin' around! It's okay, seriously. So, how about that nightmare?"
Feeling Kon's hand on her back made her freeze for a moment, not fully hearing what he was saying to her. Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod. Her body began to melt into him, her head falling against his shoulder. "What nightmare?" She asked, dreamily. After a moment, she snapped out of her trance, shaking her head a bit as she brought her legs up to her chest. "It felt so real..." Cassie shuddered as her arms wrapped around her legs. "I was so scared, I didn't know what to do."
He kept his arm wrapped around her, gently squeezing her arm for a sense of comfort. "Do you still feel scared?" He asked, softly, noticing the frown on her face.
Cassie looked up at him, noticing how the flashes of lightning really brought out the blue in his eyes, then shrugged as she rested her head on his shoulder. "To be honest, not anymore. We were all fighting some bad guy. He looked just like you, actually. But he wore an outfit like Superman's. Everyone was knocked out, and I saw you on the ground. I tried to get to you, but the bad version of you pushed me away. I started to cry because I saw him beating you up, and you looked at me and told me to go away. But I didn't want to leave you..." She looked up to Kon and whispered, "I can't leave you." It took her awhile to realize what she said, but in that moment, she didn't care.
Kon-El noticed the look in her eyes, his free hand tucked some hair behind her ear. "I probably told you to get away because I didn't want you to get hurt anymore than you already were, I'd rather it be me taking the hits, that way you didn't have to."
Cassie sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Thanks, Kon... For everything."
He froze for a moment, then returned the hug. "It's never a problem, Cassie. I'm always happy to help you, that's what I'm here for." He gave her a smile before picking her up into his arms, then placing her on her bed. He brought the blankets over her, then grabbed the bear from the floor which he realized had a Superman costume on, then placed the bear next to Cassie's pillow. "Try to get some sleep, Wondy. We're gonna have a long day, tomorrow."
She noticed how he was about to head for the window, she sat up and grabbed his forearm with both of her hands, her attempt at pulling him back to her. "Wait, Kon!" Just let this moment last a bit longer! "Y-You didn't say what your nightmare was about."
"Oh, right. It's no big deal compared to yours." Flashes of his nightmare came back to him, he tried to suppress his frown from exposing himself. "Honestly, it's nothing."
Her one hand slid down his forearm and grabbed his hand. "Talk to me." Her voice was soft, but to her, it seemed strong. She did her best to carry compassion with her words, and that he could feel what she was feeling.
He released a sigh as he sat on the edge of her bed, his head looking down at his feet. "I had a dream that I came back to the HQ, and Wonder Woman said I wasn't allowed to see you anymore. She was going to bring you to Paradise Island, away from your friends, from all of us. And Batman was taking Rob back to Gotham, and Imp went to Central City, and Cissie quit the team..." Kon noticed that Cassie hadn't let go of his hand, but he didn't mind. Her hand felt cool on his skin, it made him relax, like ice tea on a hot day.
"Kon..." Cassie rubbed her thumb along the top of his hand, doing her best to comfort him. "Kon, that will never happen. None of that will ever happen, alright? We'll be together, forever. And no matter what may happen, we will always come back to each other." In that moment, Cassie couldn't tell if she was talking about the team, or her and Kon-El.
There was a light redness on his cheeks, with a smile, he firmly held her hand in his. "Thanks, Wondy."
"Kon, can I be honest with you?" She bit her bottom lip as she met his eyes.
"Of course, Cass, what is it?"
"I just wanted to say... I think you look better without the earring." She looked away from his eyes, and down at their hands. She held his warm hand in both of her own, his hand like a fire in her palms.
He smiled and scratched his head. "You look better without the wig and goggles, you should grow your hair out."
And with that, the moment was gone. Cassie withdrew her hand from his and went back to bringing her knees to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs. "I can't...I can't do that."
Kon raised an eyebrow at her. "Why's that? Against some new Amazonian rules, or somethin'?"
"No. It's just..." She shook her head and rested her chin in between her knees. "Wonder Woman has dark hair.... Donna Troy, the previous Wonder Girl, has dark hair, and I have... Blonde. No one would know who I am, no one would recognize me as Wonder Girl. I'd be a nobody..." She buried her face.
"That's not true, Wondy. There are people all over the world that would recognize you." Kon lifted her face to look at him. "We would recognize you, and all the other heroes would, too. So what if civilians don't know who you are? People barely know who Robin is. We were nobodies until Ace Atchison did a story on us, and you know what? Maybe it's time for the pattern to change. You'll stand out like a light in a dark tunnel. Everyone will know who you are, and everyone will adore you. Just like we do... Just like I do." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep, Cassie. Goodnight, and sweet dreams." He gave her a warm smile before opening her window, and flying out of her room, shutting her window gently behind himself.
Cassie stayed as she was for a good two minutes, not moving a muscle. "He cares about me... He likes me. Adores me, even. He recognizes me... And he just kissed me." A smile formed onto her face, as well as a deep flush of red. She then put her head to her pillow and cuddled her Superbear. "Goodnight and sweet dreams, Superboy... I love you." Cassie then closed her eyes, and did her best to fall back asleep. Thinking of her night with Superboy, a night which she knew would change their relationship forever. The storm was quiet now, nothing but the low hum of rolling thunder, and Cassie drifted peacefully to sleep.