“Recognized: SilverWings, B-26”
“Sil! You’re not dead!” The blonde had barely stepped through the zeta-tube
before she was tackled in a hug. “Hey, Mel,” she greeted with a wide grin.
“Where have 你 been? Are 你 okay? I died! Like, literally, it-,” the energetic girl
ceased her rapid-fire 问题 as the computer announced another presence.
“Recognized: Thirteen, B-35.”
“Alek!” Melissa turned, but froze as a snow haired, icy-blue eyed, frost-pale
skinned boy she didn't recognize stepped into the room. The Russian sighed, “I
am aware we have much to explain. But first...” he turned to the computer,
“Manual override, authorize Thirteen. Change I.D. to ‘Titanium’.”

Alek nodded to the ones who smiled at him, the ones who seemed relieved at the
return of him and his partner, tried to answer the 问题 thrown his way. But
the only one who he really cared about was the solemn looking brunette who
stood beside Becca.
"Tara," he breathed. Becca glared at him and whispered something to her friend
which sounded like she was asking permission to “punish him for his absurd
actions”, but Tara shook her head and marched 前锋, 期待 to him. She gave him a
decisive look, but so serene it was, for he couldn't tell if she was happy 或者 angry
to see him. The young hero got his answer as the girl raised her hand and
slapped him, like a 眼镜蛇 strike. Before he even had time to wince, Tara grabbed
his 领, 衣领 and forced him to her height. Her deep brown eyes scored his dazzling
blues. She kissed him, a rough gesture that turned to passionate and deep. He
drank in the pleasure of her, her scent, the feeling of her in his arms.
"Don't ever do that to me again, Felis," she uttered. "Or I won't be here when you
return."

Vika stared at the black chip in her hand. For her, it could be a gateway to
another world, another life. All she had to do was slip it into her ear and tell them
she was ready. Someone would come to fetch her, Nic she hoped. The hothead
was so strong and so sure of himself, made her feel as if nothing could ever go
wrong. He had shown such focus in the weeks they had trained, and such
courage in battle.
The girl sighed, rolling the communication device between her fingers. She knew
she couldn't leave. No matter how curious she was to meet the other members of
the Double Helix squad, no matter how curious she was to visit the city that
Aryess had spoken so fondly of, no matter how much she yearned to fight along
side Blaze and defend those who needed it as Czarina. Vika knew she had to
stay here, in Rio de Janeiro, with her father. She was all Sasha had, since his
wife had died. And the young girl wasn't completely sure if she could leave this

life behind. Yet. She put the comm back in the case Nic had 给 her upon his
departure and put it in her dresser under a tee-shirt where her father wouldn't
find it.
“Vika! Dinner!” her father called from the kitchen.
“Coming!” she yelled back, closing the drawer. One day, she promised herself.
But not today.

Nic climbed out of the cab and stretched, taking a deep breath of air- and nearly
gagged. “Oh, Gotham,” he muttered, hoisting his bag over his shoulder, “how I
missed 你 and your polluted air.”
“Look what the 鼠, 大鼠 dragged in.” He turned to a teenage girl in a bright purple
夏装, 裙子, 太阳裙 as she approached. A red-head in a fine-pressed suit and dark shades
had his fingers looped through hers.
“It’s cat, Emily, not rat,” the Brit corrected.
“I know what I said,” she stated, then offered a friendly smile. “Welcome back.”
“Good to be back.”
“And the others?” Jasper asked. “Alek and our Cub?”
“Changed,” his friend responded, falling into step beside the couple. “But I think
they’ll be okay.”
“And you?”
The fire caster smirked and slid his sunglasses in place. “Just bloody perfect,
mate.”

Aryess slipped in through the cracked window and entered the room she knew
all-so-well. She dropped her pack onto the piano-bench and crept into the living
room where on the couch, as she had anticipated, lay a dark-haired, slumbering
boy. A smile graced her lips and she approached the sofa and crouched beside
Bentley. She lifted a gentle hand and brushed a lock of hair from his eyes, which
slowly opened, revealing the shining grey irises clouded with sleep.
“Aryess?” he mumbled.
“Hey,” she whispered, as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
“Is this a dream?” Bentley asked, reaching a hand out slowly to brush a falling
tear from her cheek.
“No,” his girlfriend reassured. “Not anymore.” She choked back a sob of relief,
yearning, 爱情 and threw herself into his open arms. The familiar feel of his
embrace around her was overwhelming, worth 更多 to her than she had ever
known.
“ I've got you,” Bentley whispered to Aryess, holding her tight. “You’re here, we’re
here. It’s all over.”

The girl kept quiet, letting him comfort her, knowing that it wasn't in fact all over. It
had just begun.

----------------------------

Richi dried his hands and stepped out of the illuminated bathroom, deep in thought. Looking around the hotel room, he took notice of several 随意 things in his surroundings. Scotch was laying on the bed, watching the TV with sincere boredom, while Val was rocking out in the chair across the room, listening to 音乐 on her headphones. Outside was the ever-so-dark city of Gotham. A 枕头 and blanket lay discarded on the floor of the hotel room, and several discarded clothes were thrown all around the room. Noticing Richi, Val took her headphones off and paused her Maroon 5. Scotch turned down the volume of the TV and looked over to Richi as well. Seeing both girls looking over to him, he sighed and asked, "Yes?" Scotch shuffled uncomfortably on the 床, 床上 and spoke first. "So... now what?" Realizing what she meant, he shrugged and sat down 下一个 to her. "Didn't think this far." Val cleared her throat and tried to offer a choice when a knock on the door interrupted her. "Hello?" Opening the door, Richi saw it was the hotel bellboy, with his cell phone in his hand. "For you." Taking the phone, Richi closed the door behind him and put the phone to his head.
"Yes?"
"It's Batman."
"It's an honor to talk with 你 sir."
"This is a business call, and I'm busy, so I'll get to the point."
"Which is?"
"The Justice League has flagged 你 and your two other 老友记 as a possible threat to society. We can't have 你 and your gang running around freely."
"Seems like I'm getting a lot of unwanted attention."
"Seems so."
"What made the Justice League take notice of us?"
"You left the Atlanta airport looking like a massacre and bloodshed all over the walls."
"....Whoops."
"I'm here to offer 你 a deal. Mount Justice."
"No."
"You don't have a choice. It's either that 或者 being eliminating 由 the League to ensure 你 won't pose a threat."
"...I'm gonna need to convince the others."
"Report to Mount Justice as soon as 你 can."
The phone went dead immediately after the conversation was over. At the same time, a crash was heard from inside the room. Dashing in, Richi was able to see Zephyer jumping out the broken window before he noticed an unconcious Scotch on the bed. Zephyer jumped from their 20th floor hotel room, but Richi knew he'd be safe. Returning to Scotch, he was about to check on her when she began picking herself up and into a sitting position. "What happened?" Richi asked Scotch after checking to make sure she was alright. "Valeriya.... No. Zephyer. He mentioned something.... Going to do his own thing." Richi sighed. "Of course he will. He'll be back in a few weeks, tops." Scotch looked over to the window. "Should I....?" Richi shrugged."We're leaving anyway, and I can probably pay for it." Scotch looked at him, with a curious expression on her face. "Where?" "It's a secret." She looked back over at the window. "It's good practice, I guess." She stared at the hole in the window and concentrated. The color of her pupil changed into a florescent green, and the window began regenerating itself, slowly rebuilding itself to its former state. The hole grew smaller, and soon it was as if it had never been broken. Her eye changed back into its regular shade of purple, and she looked back at Richi. "Let's go."