Yet again, Cyra stood in front of the Guardians' Council. They went into hiding during the fight, going to protect some of the Green Lantern rings that weren't in any danger with their big, most important Battery literally being lifted off the planet, but Cyra tried (and failed) not to judge them for it.
Cyra's senses finally came back to her. A bloody rag was held against her good ear. At least it wasn't shot off her head but it did take a while before her hearing came back. By the end of this, Cyra would be surprised she wasn't going home deaf. She would have happily traded her sense of hearing to keep her ring nonetheless.
Cyra figured that after the fight the Guardians wanted to clear up all the loose edges on Oa—including Cyra. Forget the goodbyes, take her ring, and send her on her way. It was Cyra's third time meeting with the Guardians and she remembered her anxiety and excitement the first time and her second time was mostly nerves. Now, it was only time number three and she was already done, knowing this was probably the last time she'd ever see them—but that wasn't very comforting.
The Guardians looked tired but weren't nearly as tired as Cyra felt.
"Last time we met—"
"You decided I sucked, yeah, I know. I was there," Cyra snapped.
Cyra smirked as the Guardians' usual stone faces flattered into shock at her interrupting them. What else did Cyra truly have to lose now that she was already booted to the side?
The Guardian cleared his throat. "Well, last time we met we made a decision to take away your ring and stop your apprenticeship with Hal Jordan—" they motioned to where Hal stood at the edge of the room shyly.
"I was there for that part too."
"Well," the Guardian hissed and he was obviously having a hard time forcing out his next words, "we have all decided by observing your actions today that we may have been mistaken."
Cyra felt her heart jump.
Another Guardian who didn't seem to be as prideful took control. "During the attack, you fought bravely and valiantly despite knowing that you were no longer a Green Lantern. You protected your fellow Lanterns and Oa from invaders, single-handedly saving the Battery from going off world—which would have been death to all of us and Oa. You saved us, Cyra Brion."
The Guardians were silent. Hal was silent. Cyra certainly wasn't.
"Alright, it might have been the mind attacks-things, but I'm confused." Cyra rubbed her temples. "So, you kicked me out of the Corps, like, two hours ago, but after saving your planet, I'm back in just like that." Cyra snapped her fingers. Her eyes flickered between the Guardians, who were all blinking far too much.
"Not 'just like that' as you put it," the original said. "But we are allowing you a rare chance to retake your test."
"Retake my test?" Cyra narrowed her eyes.
"Yes, you can do your trials again and then we will re-evaluate you. You will have a chance to become a Green Lantern again."
"But saving your lives and the whole planet isn't enough to just make me one now?" Cyra puffed. "Fair."
"This is your last chance it would be best if you didn't try to argue with it," the Guardian pursed his lips.
Cyra's tongue twitched, wanting to fight more, but for once her mind worked faster than her mouth and she decided that vexing the most powerful forces in the Universe probably wasn't the best idea.
"Alright," Cyra agreed. "I'm ready to impress—again."
This time when the Guardians left her alone with, now, two large blue blobs trying to kill her, Cyra knew what she had to do.
Despite her exhaustion, her eyes glimmered with green sparks as she flew out of the way of one blob, then the next. She could have taken the Guardians' advice and just knock a few rocks off the wall and cage them up like animals, but Cyra knew she could do better. She'd stopped a building from falling, destroyed buildings too fought past Puppeteers, evil babies, and the worst Earth had to offer.
Cyra did say she wanted to impress them. She planned to do just that.
The traitor known as Hal Jordan was nice enough to charge up her ring before she went back into the test. At least Cyra didn't have to worry about running low on juice as her mind focused on green waves began to grow on one of the blobs. The flames licked it, causing it to make the same scream but Cyra smirked as green headphones appeared over Cyra's ears.
"The second time's the charm," Cyra shrugged. She doubted the Guardians could hear it over the noise.
Fire was difficult. Constructs usually meant solids, not liquids and gases. It fought against the limitations of the ring, but last Cyra checked, the ring wasn't supposed to have limitations. It fed off her willpower and now the only thing Cyra wanted was to prove to the Guardians that she was much more powerful than they could ever dream of—and she also wanted to burn this smelly blob to the ground.
The blob popped and bubbles as the flames ate away until there was nothing but a pile of ash left. Cyra turned to the other blob, grinning crazily.
"You're next," she said.
The blob seemed to know that as it tried to slide away but Cyra didn't give it the chance as the flames still burning on the ash raced across the floor, alighting the other one in bright green light.
Two piles of dust now decorated the ground and Cyra skipped past them to where the floor opened back up and with a single step, dropped down into the dark hole.
The bones still creeped her out, but they were nothing compared to the images of ugly, large-headed babies with sharp teeth that were stuck in her mind. Her ring illuminated the whole tunnel once she touched the bottom, but she could stop the suffocating feeling to begin in her gut.
Cyra swallowed down the rotten apple that was stuck in her throat. "It's fine, it's fine, you'll survive. It's just a closed space. You're a Green Lantern—in the large, lifeless abyss of space, you'll probably never be in a tight space if you get through this."
Taking a deep breath, Cyra puffed out her cheeks and started to move back through the maze. The Guardians mentioned that she went the wrong way, but Cyra's battle earlier didn't change her feeling about mazes nor her skills about how good they were. This time, she settled for flying through as fast as she could.
When she hit a dead end, she turned and went back the other way, following the right wall the whole way. She assumed, eventually, she'd have to reach the end.
Then, the bones attacked again.
But Cyra was ready for them.
A green shiny baseball bat flashed in the air, hitting the bones and skulls away. Cyra hovered above the grounds as bones leaped on her, no doubt making new bruises. Cyra kept flying down the hall, spinning out of the way of leaping rib cages and ducking from dangerous skulls.
A light literally appeared at the end of the tunnel and as Cyra passed the threshold, a stone door slid shut behind her and Cyra heard the sounds of bones hitting the barricade. Cyra's feet hit the ground as she let out a breath, her hand over her heart.
Different from her earlier encounter for the agility course, a plate on a pillar rose from the ground. A small note read: RING with an arrow pointed to the plate. Cyra rolled her eyes. She was hoping just to fly through the agility course.
Her finger felt like it was physically burning her as she took off her ring and put it on the platter. Cyra watched as it sunk back into the ground whence it came, disappointedly.
Walking up to the beam, Cyra crouched down on it and slowly made her way across with the middle of her feet on the bar for the most stability. If only Batman would have been her mention then she could have probably does this on fishing line—then again Cyra didn't think skills like that were worth having to hang around with Batman all the time.
The black pool bubbled beneath her as leeches sprang at her, but Cyra slapped them out of the air, imagining them as Hal's face. If Cyra did manage to get her title of Green Lantern back, she hoped they assigned Guy or Jessica to be her new mentor. Cyra would even take Salaak over Hal at the moment.
With only some black goo on her hands and leech guts to prove it, Cyra landed on the other side of the bar. Cyra watched as the monkey bar's rings started to jiggle like waves. Cyra narrowed her eyes before the jumped up, clutching the iron sides this times that held it in place.
Only feeling subtle vibrations from the violently wriggling rings, Cyra easily slid herself along. It was slow but she eventually went to the other end, rubbing the callouses that had grown on her hands.
The tough pillars swayed back and forth mockingly. Cyra knew there was no easy way through this one as she glared at the pillars and doing a not-so-nice gesture with her hand.
"You're about to be destroyed," Cyra warned.
She steadied herself, taking in deep breaths before she charged.
The pillars batted her, but she was prepared and managed to stay on her feet. Her slim body fit through the gaps and her legs jumped over the ones who swept at her feet. Reacting faster than her thoughts, Cyra saw the flashes of their movement from the corner of her eyes.
At the final stretch, Cyra bounded through an opening between the pillars. Behind her, she heard them bang together like two bricks colliding and was glad she wasn't caught between that.
Her ring was waiting for her at the finish and Cyra slipped it back onto her finger, kissing it. The scene around her changed as she stood on the platform that moved her back to the dome room—her next arena-style gladiator combat match.
Cyra was thinking about just making a big bone and letting Kilowog go dog crazy on it and chew on that for a while. If Kilowog didn't find that humorous, Cyra would just hit him with it.
But it wasn't Kilowog that was standing across from her.
"If they wanted me to hesitate just because it was you, then they must have forgotten how you betrayed me," Cyra said as she caught sight of Hal Jordan. Her arms crossed over her chest.
"Cyra, I'm sorry. Really, I am. I just didn't want to lose you to this life," Hal motioned around. "Leaving Earth to fight some civil war on some planet or going on some suicide mission to destroy a species of psychopaths? You're too young. You deserve to live your life."
Cyra blinked. Her heart nudged her from inside. Hal's mask was gone, revealing his puppy dog brown eyes that were wide with guilt. Cyra tried to steady her facade of indifference.
"This is my life. I've met some of the best people I ever have and do things I couldn't have dreamed of. If I didn't become your protegee—" Cyra's voice choked up. "I would be somewhere very different than where I am now."
Hal rubbed his eyes with a sniffle. "I hate that your mad at me and I hate that I betrayed my trust. I knew you were ready. You're always ready for anything Cyra, that's what makes you a great Green Lantern." Hal's tongue poked his cheek, fighting against his next words.
"I was the one that wasn't ready. Cyra, I've had the best time fighting crime, taking names, saving people—with you. You always managed to cheer up any situation and you saved me so many times over . . . Cyra, I'm glad your a Green Lantern and I know it might not mean anything right now, but I hope you get to keep that ring." Hal motioned to the ring on her finger.
Sticky goo coated the inside of her throat as Cyra forced back the heat that was springing to the space behind her eyes.
"You've proven to me a thousand times over that your read. Now, you have to prove it to the Guardians," Hal stated. "So fight me."
Amber and brown made contact as Cyra met Hal's eyes and just gave him a simple nod, drawing her lips back tightly.
Taking a step back, Cyra needed no more invitation before she extended her arm and a long green whip flicked free from her wrist. She flung herself forward and her weapon lashed out.
A shield quickly covered her attack and Hal gave her no mercy before going on offense, flying at her with two chains carrying large spheres behind it flew at Cyra's head.
She ducked underneath it and kicked out, sending a boot impression in the air at Hal's abdomen, making him grunt as he slid backward. A bazooka formed in his hands next and he didn't wait a second before letting one of the explosions lose.
Cyra rolled out of it, but the missile simple followed her around the room as she flew upwards. Every movie she ever watched came back to her as she flew towards Hal and in the last moment, spun beneath his legs. The missile went to do the same thing before Hal waved his hands and it vanished.
With Hal's back facing towards her, Cyra waited for Hal to look at her before she opened the palm of her hands, where dozens of green constructed wasps buzzed to life, breaking free of her like they were escaping from a dying hive.
More stemmed from her hands and Hal let out a sharp shriek as he bounced out of the way, flying backward. The wasps stung places on his face and neck, causing the older Lantern to yelp and spin in circles. A fly swatter glowed in his hand and he began to slap them out of the sky. Soon, the air was clear, but Hal's face wasn't as red spots had taken root there.
He seemed to regain his composure as he flew at Cyra with a new look of aggression as the blade of a katana arced through the air—straight for Cyra's head.
A green shield interrupted its advance. The two struggled against each other in the air. Hal was stronger, pushing her back with his arms to the point Cyra was baring her teeth, but Cyra pushed forward with her flight. Green lines grew out from her back, helping propel her forward.
The shield was starting to push the sword farther towards Hal's head when the man broke away, floating a few steps away.
Cyra left no room for him to catch his breath before she punched upwards from the ground. Hal felt something uneasy in his stomach—the knowledge of what's about to happen but he looked down anyways.
Hooked fangs were the first thing he saw, followed by large green lips and beyond all that the dark throat that led down into the enormous belly of the Chinese Dragon that had just burst from the ground beneath him.
Cyra wasn't the one who had to deal with it trying to eat her, so she had a chance to admire the beauty of its scales, its cat-like eyes trained with a murderous gleam on Hal, and the wings that were three times the size of its slim body, flapping magnificently in the air.
The dragon chased Hal around the room. Cyra had to spin in fast circles to keep up with the action, which was making her dizzy. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. Every once in a while, the dragon would hesitate or change to transparency as Cyra's focus wavered.
Hal noticed this slight shimmers and instead of trying to blow the dragon up with construct bombs or assaulting it with heavy machinery, he turned his sight on Cyra, who had an awe-struck look in her eyes at her own fabulous creation.
A green blur flew at Cyra from the corner of her eyes and she only had enough time to turn into it before the breath was forced from her longs and her head sent spinning as Hal checked her into the ground.
The beautiful dragon disappeared with an unfinished roar as Cyra's back connected with the floor, sending Cyra bouncing a little.
Hal skidded to his knees, not in much better shape.
Cyra got into a kneeling position, ready to do an old fashion tackle on Hal like a football player when the Guardian's voice echoed around the chamber, "Enough."
The Guardian had held up one hand and both of the Green Lanterns froze what they were doing, the only sounds they made were their labored breathing.
"Cyra Brio, please stand."
The blonde rose to her feet. Hal stepped off to the sides as the rest of the Guardians entered behind the first, each standing in a row in their original order, but they lacked their pedestals, making Cyra feel tall as she had to drop her chin to look down at them.
"You can, yet again, completed your test. You said you would impress us and . . ."
Cyra held her breath.
"—you did just that." The Guardian was definitely swallowing his pride now. "You have completed your tests well beyond what any of us thought possible and you have done a great justice for Oa and the Green Lantern Corps. I speak for all the Guardians when I say that we would be glad to have a Green Lantern like you."
Cyra couldn't help the growing grin that was lightning up her face like a tree at Christmas. "Does this mean . . .?"
"You will keep your ring. We will have to debate about what we are to do with one such as you, Cyra Brion," the alien said distastefully as he scanned her, but that only made the pride in Cyra's chest soar. "Where to assign you, what missions will be carried out for someone of your skills, but . . ."
The air was tense and Cyra swore she saw a couple of the Guardians' lips twitch upwards. Hal was as stiff as a board a few feet away. Cyra herself was feeling the bongo drums beating in her chest. Her whole future was about to be decided in these few moments.
"But, for now, you will remain on Earth under the guidance of your mentor, Hal Jordan. One day soon, you will be invited back to Oa to take your oath and then, you will be welcomed as a full-fledged Green Lantern and be welcomed to the Corps."
"Thanks," was all Cyra managed to force out as she tried to hold in her cheers and happy punches.
"Now, if you would due to depart from Oa immediately, that would be nice. You may have saved us, but I don't doubt that you could very well destroy this place as well," the Guardian rolled his pupil-filled eyes before turning on his heels and marching out the door he entered from, the other Guardians followed in suit behind him.
Cyra finally let out her excitement. "Yes, I did it! I'm a Green Lantern! I can't wait till I tell the Team that I became a big dog before they did! Robin and Wally will be so jealous and—my mom! I can't wait to tell her, she'll be so hyped up on having a superhero, intergalactic alien superhero daughter!"
Hal coughed into his hand and Cyra suddenly remembered he was in the room.
"Congratulations. I meant what I said earlier. You deserve this." He put a hesitant hand on her shoulder. His brown eyes glistened with unfallen tears and Cyra's mouth clogged up. "I'm so proud of you, Cyra. You'll be the best of us, I know it."
"Hal—" Cyra began.
"I know I screwed up with you and betrayed your trust, but I don't have much longer to be your mentor and I'd hate if you spent the whole time hating me. An angry Cyra Brion is not the enemy I'd like to have," he chuckled.
The blonde simply wrapped her arms around the man's chest, attaching herself to him and burying her face in his green suit. Her fists clenched.
"I forgive you," she murmured against him.
Hal let out a sigh of relief, hugging her back. "Good."
They stood like that for a while before Cyra finally pulled away.
"I can't believe I'm a Green Lantern," she said with much less excitement as before as she realized what that truly entailed. "They'll probably send me off Earth soon."
Hal didn't see any reason lying to his protegee any longer or filling her with false hopes. "Yeah, probably."
Cyra looked down and wiped at the space beneath her eye. "No use bragging to the Team about it when I'll be gone a few weeks later."
"Who knows how long it will take the Guardians to decide. The Universe is a big place," Hal rubbed her back as he walked her out of the broken dome room. "Are you seriously not going to tell the Team? No one?"
"I'll tell my mom the good news. She won't know what it really means for a while, but I'm tired of lying to her. The Team . . . they can wait. I don't want to walk around with them knowing I might not see them again for a long time."
Hal tried to make light of the situation. "Not anyone? Not a single person on the Team should know?" He raised an innocent eyebrow.
Cyra tilted her head. "Well, M'gann could, but she promised never to read our minds without our permission, so . . ."
"I meant a certain speedster boy who you're in love with," Hal smirked.
"Wally?" Cyra spat. Her sprouted across her neck and her ear. "Ew, that's disgusting. He's just a friend—a teammate, business partner. Nothing more. Why do you speak these lies?" Cyra demanded.
Hal shrugged, the smug smirk still present on his face. He didn't seem convinced. "No reason. Just when I'm around the Cave, you two are all over each other."
"That's not true!" Cyra was beginning to look like a sidekick to the Flash.
"Flash has seen it too. He's told me that you went over to Kid Flash's house for dinner one night. Sounds pretty serious if you're already meeting the folks."
"You and your boyfriend should stop gossiping and start saving people," Cyra hissed in retaliation. "Then maybe the League wouldn't need a bunch of kids to do all there work for them."
Hal laughed and pushed Cyra, causing her to leap back at him, sending him a few steps to the side. They both laughed.
On the way off Oa, they passed Guy and Jessica who were cleaning up some of the rubble. They told them about Cyra's good news and they cheered for her. Hal promised to come back later and help them with the clean up after he dropped Cyra back off on Earth. They nodded and the pair quickly moved past. Cyra had no doubt that soon most of the Green Lantern will hear about their new member.
Salaak was standing around with Kilowog, reciting some verses from a book in his hands at the pile of rock at his feet. He looked at Cyra and rolled his eyes before he continued to chant Shakespearean sonnets. Kilowog gave her a strict profession nod, which Cyra returned, complete with finger guns and a sly smirk.
Cyra and Hal pushed off from the ground of Oa. A few minutes later, Cyra looked behind her and Oa was just a light green ball in the nothingness that was space, decorated with old blown up stars and new bright lights.
Mount Justice
November 13, 12:03 EDT
"The amount of time you spend in this room is unhealthy," a familiar voice said from the doorway.
Wally West turned around to see a smirking Cyra Brion leaning against the door frame. She was wearing a parka with a fur hood and a pair of leggings. Snow was still melting on her hair and eyelashes from just coming outside from the snowstorm.
"Looks who finally decided to show up," Wally said, a grin contradicting his words as he crossed his arms over the red sweater covering his chest.
"Happy birthday," Cyra congratulated as she walked deeper into the room.
She came beside Wally and stared at the new souvenir sitting on his shelf. Her fingers brushed the red and white cooler, where a red cross sat on it, signaling medical uses. Wally watched her curiously.
"It's—"
"Robin gave me the rundown on the way in. You've been saving princesses and fighting Vandal Savage and Count Vertigo without me? How rude."
"Well if someone decided to show up," Wally rolled his eyes. "It wasn't a big deal."
"Aww," Cyra cooed. "You're so modest, West. Since when is delivering a heart transplant to a girl such a bad thing?"
Wally, again, rolled his eyes. A slight blush mixed in with his freckles and this only caused Cyra's grin to turn wolfish.
"You're becoming such the little hero." Cyra flicked his nose.
He slapped her hand away, fighting the smile threatening to appear on his face. "Oh shut up. So how was the 'super-secret' Green Lanterns meeting? Did you pass your test?"
Cyra let out an overdramatic sigh. "The second time I did. But that was after the planet was attacked by the Children of the Lobe and I had to save the Battery from being stolen and all that was after I failed my first test and the Guardians were going to boot me until I impressed them enough with my mad skills they let me try again."
"I don't understand anything you just said."
Cyra patted his arm. "You probably don't want to. But you have any cake left?"
It was Wally's turn to smirk as he put his hand on her shoulders and led her to the kitchen. Uncovering a plate with tinfoil, he revealed an extra piece of chocolate cake with white frosting decorating the top. You could barely make out the letters PY that was cut away from the HAPPY portion of HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WALLY!
"I thought I'd save you a piece," he handed it to her.
She dazzled him with a smile and took the plate from him. "You know me so well."
Wally turned away with a smile as he took out two forks. Sitting next to each other on the island, they faced one another on stools and alternated in taking forkfuls of cake.
"Ugh," Cyra groaned in joy through a mouthful. "I haven't eaten in, like, two days!"
"That should be a crime," Wally jokes.
Once they finished the cake, Cyra grabbed the pocket of her coat and exclaimed, "Oh! I forgot about your presents."
Wally leaned forward with a mischievous glint in his emerald eyes. "Unless it's a kiss from you, gorgeous, I don't want it."
Hal's words from earlier echoed in Cyra's mind and she tried to regain her composure, glad that the fur around her neck that masked the rose color leaking upwards.
"Are you sure?" Cyra tilted her head. "Because it's really good."
"It's technically not my birthday anymore you're a couple days late." Wally smirked.
"Do you want your present or not?"
"Give it to me."
Cyra took out a square package from her pocket, wrapped in fancy red and gold paper. "My mom wrapped it," Cyra explained, the red definitely hitting her cheeks now.
Wally took it from her and quickly destroyed the wrapping paper to see what was beneath. His eyes started to glow as if he was the one with the Green Lantern ring.
"You like science stuff right? All the chemicals and weird stuff?" Cyra sprouted quickly. "Well, that's, uh, part of Halley's Comet."
Wally pulled out a shiny black rock from the package. As he moved it around in his hand, the light bounced off of it and made it shine a multitude of different colors. "Halley's Comet doesn't pass for another couple of decades!" Wally exclaimed in awe. "How did you get this?"
"It involved chasing down the comet somewhere around the edges of our solar system and jumping on a flaming ball of fire so I could take a chunk off. You're welcome," Cyra smiled nonchalantly.
"Thank you," Wally looked into her eyes as he said it before he pulled her into a hug. "I love it."
Cyra pulled away. "I said presents AKA more than one."
"Cyra, you really didn't have to—"
"Don't worry," Cyra waved him off as she reached back down into her other pocket. "It didn't cost me anything. I stole it but that only makes it mean more. Now, close your eyes and hold out her hand."
Hesitantly, Wally did as she said. Something cool dropped into his outstretched palm.
"You can open them now."
Wally looked down in his hand to see a green keychain. Engraved on the plaque of it was: I VISITED OA! I WOULD TOTALLY GO AGAIN!
"It's nothing really. I stole it from the gift shop."
"They have gift shops at Green Lantern Headquarters?" Wally raised an amused eyebrow.
"They have, like, forty."
Wally laughed and Cyra set her chin on her hand that was leaning against the table. "I thought you could use it as a souvenir."
Wally smiled softly. "I love it. Let's go put it on the shelf right now."
Wally grabbed her hand and yanked her off her seat, causing Cyra to groan to distract herself from the tingling sensation she got in her hand.
"I just got back from saving a planet and a long flight. I have jet lag, let me rest!" she pleaded but Wally just grinned as he led her back to the souvenir room, where he placed the keychain right next to the medical box.
"There," he declared. Remembering he was still holding her hand, Wally let go abruptly and Cyra found that she missed the feeling.
"Now we have a keychain, a monkey's flea-infested beret, a sippy cup, and a robotic eye." Cyra looked at Wally pointedly from the corner of her eye. "That's not even half of it. Quite a collection you got going."
"They're meaningful," Wally defended.
"Totally," Cyra agreed slyly.
They stood there in awkward silence. Wally began to tap his fingers much too quickly on his arms as Cyra shifted on her feet.
"Uh, Wally?"
"Yes?" Wally said, glad for the conversation.
"Sorry I missed your birthday party. I actually did want to come."
"I . . ." Wally licked his bottom lip. "I wished you were there too."
Then they lapsed back into more awkward silence that made Wally want to run the odd energy that was buzzing up his arms and legs out of his system and he suddenly wondered why his tongue felt to dry. He decided the last thing he wanted was any quieter as he turned to face the blonde.
"Look, Cyra—"
Her lips suddenly brushed onto his—a feather touch.
Wally's eyes instantly fluttered shut as one hand wrapped around her waist for her support as he kissed her back. She was on her tiptoes, her arms around his neck to pull him down closer to her. Heat to grow to cross their faces and down their necks but they never broke their hold on each over. Wally's other hand found its way behind Cyra's curtain of blonde strands to cup her head, his fingers brushing against the spot where her ear once was.
Wally felt a box that was over pouring was suddenly unlock inside of his chest, letting out a surge of emotions that he didn't even know he had. A lightning shock seemed to have stopped his heart.
The kiss became stronger and they drew themselves closer together.
Cyra forgot why she even decided to kiss him when her lips met Wally's. A small voice in the back of her head tried to blame Hal, but that was soon forgotten too.
Cyra remembered back to the first time she left Earth, going to an empty realm of space where you could see light years in every direction, looking so close yet far away at the same time. The sheer vastness made her want to stand there for hours as the world expanded all around her.
The kiss was the exact opposite of that.
The entire Universe seemed to shrink down to just the two of them and the centimeters of space between them as Cyra's whole body felt like her finger did when her ring would vibrate. Heat spread across her lips.
Then, they broke apart.
Redness has seeped into both of their faces and their breaths sounded extremely loud in the quiet room. Yet, they never untangled from each other.
"That was—"
"Yeah," Cyra agreed. She looked back up into Wally's eyes, which were glazed over. "I think it was too."
Wally seemed at a loss for words.
"Did I just make Wally West speechless?" Cyra joked.
"You always have."
Cyra's pale eyebrows shot up and Wally suddenly realized what he breathed out and his face turned a stronger color than even his hair.
"Oh," was all that came out of Cyra's mouth.
They finally split apart and Cyra suddenly felt really cold and rubbed her arms despite her large coat.
"It's really cold out there," Wally coughed out weakly, gesturing to outside.
"Yeah, it's storming," Cyra said with a strained smile. "When I came in the Zeta-Beams said they were going offline. Something about extreme atmospheric pressure still in the atmosphere."
"It'll take a while for the snow from the ships in the sky to stop working," Wally added. "You going to fly home?"
"Heck no. I was just going to stay at the Cave till the morning when the storm blows over."
"I better do that too," Wally said a little too quickly, even for a speedster. "If you want we can watch some movies? You kind of owe me for missing my birthday."
"Were all three of my presents, not enough?" Cyra smirked.
Wally opened his mouth to argue before he snapped it shut. Cyra was still smirking. Instead, he let out a small, "Oh."
"Yeah, oh," Cyra agreed. "But yeah, I'm up for a few movies."
Wally and Cyra got together all the blankets and pillows in the Cave, moving quietly past M'gann's and Connor's doors. The others have already gone home for the night. They threw it all onto the couch before crawling into their pile. Cyra had taken off her parka, beneath was a green muscle shirt and she quickly wrapped herself in a furry blanket for warmth. Wally draped another one around the both of them for warmth.
Wally turned on Ratatouille after him and Cyra argued between Monsters Inc. and the Incredibles for thirty minutes before deciding on a compromise.
As then watched, Wally tilted his head, more interested in watching Cyra's tired eyes flicker back and forth watching the TV screen. He leaned his neck down to softly kiss Cyra again and she kissed back, putting a gentle hand on the back of her head.
She pulled away first. "Happy birthday, Wally West."
Then she kissed him again.
It was only around ten minutes into the movie that Cyra fell asleep, rolled up self underneath Wally's arm and in another five minutes, the ginger was out too, his head leaning on top of hers.
They shifted some time during the night, laying the correct way on the couch. Cyra was on the edge. She would have fallen off if it wasn't for Wally's arm around her side, holding her close to him as Cyra's face was settled in the crook of his neck and her leg up on an angle onto his hip. The only parts of them visible beneath their mounds of blankets and pillows were their heads and feet, which were tangled together.
They both slept soundly.