—005 HER

𝘑𝘈𝘕𝘜𝘈𝘙𝘠 7𝘯𝘥, 2013
6:06 𝘈𝘔 𝘔𝘌𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘗𝘖𝘓𝘐𝘚

METROPOLIS, WHERE DREAMS CAME TRUE. The sister city to Gotham, Metropolis was where everyone had a future to look forward to, crime was at an all time low, and life could never get any better than this. If you wanted to be thrown into a 80s sitcom, with a little bit of aliens and a crazy bald rich guy, then Metropolis was the place.

The heeled black boots of the seventeen year old were clicking against the marble floors of the Metropolis Justice League Headquarters. A more proper name would have been the 'Metropolis Superman Headquarters.' The lobby made Rio want to gag. It was color coded blue and red, and a huge Superman logo was plastered onto the wall. And besides that, the marble statues of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, lined with gold accents, made her debate sneaking in and spray painting them out of spite.

She shoved her hands into the cropped black jacket that had ten different pockets on it. She only wore it over her suit for late night missions, and she had not had the opportunity to change in the twenty-six hours she'd been under Gordon's supervision. She looked down at it, picking at the dry blood stains as Gordon mumbled curses under his breath. The car ride with the two was sickening. It wasn't like Gordon didn't try. He even tried to talk about things his teenage daughter liked. Which, very obviously, were opposite to what an undercover assassin would like.

The two Gotham and Blüdhaven residents gave each other a look, not exactly used to the bright colors and marble reflecting off their foreheads. The two looked for a sign on where they should go, Rio more or less looking for an escape route. Gordon only shrugged at her as they sat down in the lobby chairs.

In an adjacent room, Batman sat across from Wonder Woman and Superman at a small round table. He put his two hands together, facing them, "I wanted to discuss with the two of you an individual I am bringing onto the team. I would not do this if I didn't consider the consequences this might bring."

Wonder Woman's facial expression hardened, "what are you implying?"

The man in the bat costume explained the past day, not mentioning the month his son spent looking for the girl. He laid out his reasoning to the two, both nodding along and sharing short glances between each other.

"What do we do if she does go out of our control? Leaving behind an assassin lifestyle isn't something you can expect someone to do in one day, especially when it's all you know," Diana made her point, giving her counterpart a look of distrust.

Superman had a moment to think to himself, his thumb brushing against his chin, "I agree, but I want to give her a chance. Not every other teenager working under crime world influence gets this type of opportunity, it could be life changing. And she'll be in Metropolis, so I'll watch over her as much as I can."

"So, are we in agreement?"

︻╦̵̵̿╤─ ҉~•

Rio punched the bag in front of her.

Again.

She kicked the rough texture with her bare foot, the bag swinging.

Again.

She slid under the bag before immediately standing up again, doing a roundabout with her legs, and kicking it once with her right foot and then throwing her torso with her as she punched the bag with her left fist.

"She's good," Kaldur rubbed his chin between his thumb and index finger. He stood watching Rio, with Conner and Raquel at his sides. They could see Rio in the training room of the Cave. But, thankfully, she couldn't see them.

"I'd argue she could fight most of us, and beat most of us," Raquel looked between Kaldur and Conner, "definitely could beat Robin, that boy ain't put on weight the past two years I've known him. I feel like with Conner and Donna, and you Atlanteans, she'd put up a fair fight. I mean you see those punches? That would kill me. And the random martial art moves she keeps pullin'?! This girl can do it all. Someone call Batman, I wanna thank him."

Kaldur chuckled at his ex-girlfriend, "you're not wrong, Raquel."

"Am I ever?"

Conner eyed the girl, "where did Batman say she was from, Kaldur?"

"He said she's attending Metropolis Academy, so she won't be staying here," Kaldur's eyes squinted a bit, "but I have a feeling she's not from Metropolis."

"No offense to anyone in Metropolis, but I don't think I know a single person in that city who can throw a punch like that," Conner nodded to the girl through the glass. He had been watching just as intensely as Kaldur. The girl's rushed movements had not stopped, but instead progressively got better with every punch she threw at the bag.

Zatanna passed by the hallway, before popping her head around the corner, giving them a weird look, "what are we doing?"

"Watching," Conner nodded to the glass again as Zatanna loomed her head around. Rio now had managed to wrap her legs around the bag, swinging herself with it, soaring through the air, before landing on her feet and then launching herself at it again.

"Oh," Zatanna now stood upright, looking between Kaldur and the new girl, "when did Batman say we were getting a new teammate?"

"He briefed me about her last night. She arrived this morning," Kaldur's face showed no sign of worry or intrigue, but his friends could see through him. Whatever this girl brought with her was a typeof baggage none of them knew of in the slightest.

"He forgot to add she was in handcuffs and Wonder Woman basically cornered Kaldur to privately talk with him," Artemis turned the corner now, her eyes narrowed on the girl. The look of distrust was familiar to all of them.

Raquel lightly slapped Kaldur's arm, "Wonder Woman was here and you didn't tell me."

Kaldur sighed, talking mainly to himself, "she wasn't here for a good reason."

"Let's all stop being weirdos and go actually do something with our lives," Zatanna dragged Rocket with her, Artemis following behind them.

Rio heaved through her nose.

This is all Batman's fault.

She threw a punch.

No. This is Robin's dumbass fault.

She kneed the bag, before kicking it with the same leg. She then punched lower, as if punching someone's gut, before punching higher, as if aiming for someone's face.

This is my fault. If I had just shot him. If I had run faster. If I had-

Her thoughts, and punches, were interrupted as an alert rang on her. She had a new wrist device that Batman had given to her, and she knew it was most likely just to track her. Grabbing a water bottle and a small towel, she walked out of the training room. She had toured the cave alone, after Batman unlocked her hand cuffs and she walked away from everyone watching her. None of the teenagers there spoke a word to her. Not even Wonder Woman bid her farewell. To be fair, Rio did punch her in the face.

She walked towards the hangar, noticing a few people standing. She contemplated walking away, but her device went off again. She looked up to make eye contact with one of the people standing in front of her. His hair was blonde, contrasting the dark color of his skin. But it made him more attractive in a way. He was watching her, but she could have cared less. Next to him, with their backs turned to Rio, was a guy with messy black hair, and then a green girl. Both of them turned towards her as well. She rolled her eyes, "what the fuck are you guys looking at?"

The green girl showed a worry-rid expression to the two guys next to her before smiling over at the girl. The blonde walked over to her, extending a hand, "I am Aqualad, but you can call me Kaldur. I speak for all of us when I say we are honored to accept you as a member of our team."

Rio raised an eyebrow at him. She debated shaking his hand, but begrudgingly did so, "Felina."

Batman had suggested the name Catgirl. She passionately declined.

"Recognized: B-01, Robin."

The four in the room turned to the zeta-tube as the teenage boy walked in, clad in black and blue. Rio glared as he tapped into a screen next to the teleportation tube.

"Updated: B-01, Nightwing."

The boy and girl gave each other a confused look before walking towards the boy clad in a new costume, leaving Kaldur and Rio beside one another. Rio made eye contact with Robin. Well, implied eye contact, his eyes were covered. You're the reason I'm here, dick.

"Who's she?"

The others just stood quiet. Everyone assumed Batman and Robin (now Nightwing) told each other everything. The boy would stand proudly when Batman relaid information, because he already knew all of it. He would have that prideful smile that let them know. Humility had begun to overcome him as his age increased, but the memories of the prideful Boy Wonder remained the same to the team. Nightwing rubbed his temples in an attempt to assist in his decision making of what actions he should take next. Aquagirl and Tempest walked into the awkward scene, both smiling at Rio who slightly glared off into the distance.

"Recognized: 02-Batman."

The whole room went quiet as Batman walked in.

"This is your new teammate, Felina. If any of you have any grievances, you can talk with me," Batman looked towards the six in the room, leaving his longest glance aimed at the new Nightwing.

Nightwing walked up to Batman, a stern face covering his young demeanor. Batman turned his back to him, the boy taking a startled footstep back as the man did so. The broad shouldered man instead approached Rio, "you're coming with me."

Rio smirked at the dumbfounded Nightwing, turning around to flip the group off before boom tubing to Gotham.

"Well, I think that went well," Conner clapped his hands together.

Rio was whirled away into Gotham, right in front of Batman's Batmobile.

"Holy shit," Rio muttered under her breath. Selina bragged about the time Bruce and her had sex in the back while the car was driving itself. Which almost made Rio not want to step into the vehicle.

"Get in," Batman held the side door open for her.

"Why?"

"I do not trust you to be alone with the others yet, so for now you'll go on missions with me."

"So I am being babysat, great," Rio crossed her arms as she sat into the vehicle and the door was pulled down shut. Batman did not respond, and instead the two drove in silence through Gotham. Rio crossed her arms and analyzed the interior of the Batmobile. Random gadgets were everywhere, as well as papers with scribbled notes and an old bottle of Dr. Pepper. She propped her feet up on the dashboard, kicking the Dr. Pepper bottle aside. Batman glared through his mask.

"Off."

She rolled her eyes, kicking the bottle again before placing her feet on the ground. The daylight waned as he pulled out in front of an abandoned factory building. SO cliche.

"And what are we doing here?"

"We wait."

Rio hated steakouts. If she ever had to stakeout for a mission, it meant it was a waste of time. The best missions were fast and easy. An obvious goal, a main target, a time crunch, and a few bloodied people along the way: made the experience much more thrilling. Missions where she had to have ulterior motives, multiple strategies, and a long time period always bored her. It involved too much mystery and too much thinking, and she didn't want to bother with either. But it seemed like that was the only thing Batman was good at.

"You know, technically I could report you for kidnapping. I am not in a correctional program. And I could expose your little team," she'd been thinking of some way to get out of this for the past few hours.

He grimaced, "you and I both know you aren't going to do that."

"Give me one reason I shouldn't? A fat lawsuit against Bruce Wayne sounds like the type of headline people would love to see," she clicked her tongue, glancing at him to see some reaction.

The man acted as if the fact she knew his identity did not bother him, "where is Bruce Wayne involved?"

"It doesn't take a mastermind to put two and two together. Besides, you know nothing about me, Bats. I know a lot of people. And people talk," the dawning that Batman truly did not know anything about her hit him, and she decided to further use this to her advantage for the time being.

Batman continued staring beyond the Batmobile, "how many people talk?"

"Just one. Don't worry, the entirety of Gotham's underworld doesn't know who you are. Just one person, and second of all, I was the lucky bastard who got dragged along," Rio stared at him to see if she could get a reaction out of him. Of course he knew who the one person was. Of course he knew what she was talking about. She sat right next to him and he didn't even know it.

Rio was poured a glass of water while Selina enjoyed a wine that Rio couldn't pronounce the name of. Bruce was indulging in water as well. Batman had to be sober for his evening activities. The girl leaned back in her chair, kicking someone under the table by accident. She looked up and found Bruce glancing at her from across the table. He smiled that billionaire, nepo-baby smile.

"Sorry," Rio spoke in Spanish. At operations like this, her identity was better left secret.

"Don't worry about it. Sorry for not properly introducing myself. Any associate of Selina's is worth an introduction. Bruce Wayne," out of courtesy, he spoke in Spanish as well, extending his hand from across the table.

Rio extended her hand in a lady-like manner, "pleasures all mine, Sir. My name is Carmen."

Batman looked towards her, as if the memory had flashed in his mind as well. It added up. He hadn't thought much of it before, or even after. He turned his attention back to the factory, leaving the conversation at that.

After a few scattered moments, with Rio falling asleep and being shaken awake violently by Bruce, the duo faced off a few goons who were a part of a weapon smuggling operation.

"Can you handle this?"

Rio gave him a 'no shit' look before punching one of the men that approached her.

"Pull your punches."

"What the fuck you mean pull my punches?"

"You're too aggressive. You could seriously hurt someone."

"Isn't that my fucking job?!"

this was THE hardest chapter for me to write.
I've written it and rewritten it 10 times.
it pissed me off so much I had to write out a whole plot outline summary in order to make sure I was doing what I wanted with it.
which, the summary has been extremely helpful, but still. pissed me tf off.
also i will be editing the previous chapters and the first chapter to be more aesthetic eventually!!!