Slowly Brainy realized tears were blurring her eyesight as she dashed through the town, feeling as unwanted and useless as ever.

As soon as she heard what Krypto said, the tears began flowing by themselves as she escaped, passing by them as quickly as she could. She didn't even notice she was crying.

Her heart felt stuck. As if it had frozen over... which didn't seem far from the truth.

Could her situation possibly be worse?
.
.
.

Ace was finally drifting off to sweet sleep still laying in that comfortable rug when his sharp, tall ears twitched.

Then his just as sharp nose detected a familiar scent.

It smelled like...

Outer space?

Instinctively he raised his head, shoving away any sense of relaxation and immediately got up to his paws.

He proceeded to turn around just as fast and directed himself towards the still open window he had gone through earlier and peeked outside.

That's when he saw a spot of purple in the middle of the night sky flying next to the Manor.

It was Brainy Barker.

"Shoot", he muttered under his breath before retracting and bumping into the nearest mirror, relieved when he saw he still hadn't taken his mask off.

He didn't want her, or anyone, knowing his secret identity anyway.

"What is she doing around here to begin with?", he questioned though.

As if he hadn't been thinking of her enough...

He returned to the window with speed, putting half of his body out to spot her again, when he saw her still in the nearby distance.

She was going at an incredibly slow pace and seemed...

Sad?

Weird, she usually just looked annoyed or bored or gave you that "I'm smarter than you" smirk.

"Barker...!".

He didn't realize how loud he yelled out her name as she took notice of him, instantly recognizing his voice.

Her green eyes widened slightly and she redirected her floating pink pillow towards him just as slowly.

"Ace... pleasure to see you...".

"Greetings", he nodded plainly, "What are you doing in Metropolis at these hours?", he asked inquisitively.

"...", at this she stayed silent, head looking down and half-lidded eyes, with no spark at all.

She looked dead inside.

"Huh... is this were you live, Bat-Hound? What a nice-looking place...", she said with the same monotone voice, purposefully avoiding his question.

"... Don't change the subject, Barker", he narrowed his eyes irritatedly at the dog before him, "What is it with you? Did you lose your favorite cape or something?"

Brainy glared at him for his mockery and raised her nose in indignation, "For your much concerned information, what is with me, is coherently none of your bussiness".

This witty remark hurt Bat-Hound's ego more than he expected, but he snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed her leaving.

"Wait! I'm sorry... it truly is none of my bussiness...", he spoke, giving the apology so easily it genuinely surprised him, "Yet I can't help but feel I shouldn't let you go like this...".

They were "friends" now. That's what Brainy said... friends aren't supposed to make you feel worse at your lowest.

When Brainy hesitantly stopped moving, he felt a glimmer of hope inside him.

He saw her cautiously turn her sight at him, keeping her head stiff.

Her stubborn spirit seemed to waver as she returned towards him, meeting him at the window he was still peeking out from.

He kept his intense gaze firmly on her before he invited the violet Saluki to come in.

Afterwards they were both walking around Wayne Manor with Brainy's pillow flying behind them, passing by a surprised Alfred, a cheerful Richard and a unfazed Batman, having the same expression as his dog.

Until they reached the open balcony in the mansion. The sight was beautiful and the stars accentuated the navy blue surrounding them along the soft, grey clouds.

Brainy raised her eyes at the scene, finally looking a little less depressed.

Ace felt the burden in his stomach disappear when he saw her in a slightly better condition.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a long while before Ace spoke up.

"So...", he sweated nervously, "There's something bothering you".

Brainy just nodded, still gazing at the sky blankly.

Asking directly what was it hadn't worked, so he needed a better strategy...

Before he could actually think up one though, Brainy talked all of the sudden, making him flinch.

"Have you ever felt like a complete idiot?".

He raised an eyebrow at her; what kind of question was that?

She didn't speak again or even glance at him back.

"No... have you?".

Brainy scoffed, "I should have known... the great detective has never been wrong in his whole life, has he?".

At first he thought she was clearly making fun of him, but then he noticed how vulnarable her eyes were.

"I wouldn't know how to answer to that", he turned away, "Will you answer me, though?". He didn't speak riddles. He hated riddles.

"To answer you: yes, yes, I have...".

He saw a stray tear fall on the ground next to him.

"And I still feel like a complete idiot".

She was crying.

Brainy Barker was crying.

Just HOW many kind of surprises came with this girl?!

He gazed up at her, shocked, and decided to walk closer to her emotionally weak figure.

He was very awkwardly thinking of what to do next when she unexpectedly turned on the balls of her feet and ran away, sobbing and left him even more shocked than he thought he was able to be.

She leapt onto her pillow and flew as high as the wind could take her.

-
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