Project Kr-X

Chapter 1: Mission

Dick's POV

"Dick." Bruce says walking up to me, smiling and being all fancy in his nice suit.

"Yesss?" I ask.

"Walk with me." He smiles and puts a hand on my shoulder, steering me away from the ever eavesdropping crowd.

We're at a birthday party for Bruce's business partner, Mr. Smith's, son. Obviously if Bruce needs to speak with me alone, it's because of our... activities.

We enter a small garden and I jump up and sit on a table. Bruce looks at me disapprovingly but doesn't comment.

"The team has been assigned a mission. I've told them that you won't be there because you and me are working on a case." He explains.

I frown sadly that I'm missing out, but I stay quiet.

"However, both you and I will be there. Or should I say here." He says and I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "I've spotted a teen, about 15, brown hair, blue eyes. She is a target I found in files acquired from the Light. The team will be here shortly, if there are any problems, you are not to reveal yourself. Keep an eye on the target, I will guide you to her when we reenter the building. Try to stay somewhat distanced from the team, we don't want them to recognize you." He instructed.

"Ok then. Let's go get to work!" I wink and rub my hands together, then jump off the table.

He smiles and puts a hand on my shoulder as we enter the mansion, squeezing and then letting go near one of the windows. I quickly look around and spot a young girl, matching Bruce's descriptions, sitting on the window sil and looking out silently.

I go over to make small talk. I sit across from her and look out the window.

"What are you looking at?" I ask.

She gestured out the window with her head. Now that I could see her face, she looked familiar...

"My name is Dick Grayson."

She pulls a card out her pocket and shows it to me. I'm Max.

I don't question her silence. Someone isn't in a talkative mood.

She turns to look out the window again and I follow suit. The sky really was pretty right now, a rare sight in Gotham. It was reflected on the clear, still, water of a pond in the yard.

I briefly wondered why she was a target of the Light. She seems genuinely nice. I think.

I hear two pairs of familiar footsteps approach and immediately know that the team had arrived. Artemis and Wally's voices suddenly became audible as they bickered quietly about whether or not someone had green or brown eyes. I almost smirked, because if they had been talking about Max, they were both wrong.

I turned around as they got closer and smiled brightly.

"Wally! Artemis! What are you two doing here?" I looked at Wally and grinned mischievously. "Did you get a girlfriend and not tell me?"

They both visibly gagged.

"No! This is just... my- um... Dick did you get a girlfriend?" Wally stuttered and then changed the subject.

Max turned around and raised her eyebrows. I laughed.

"No. This is Max, we just met."

I spotted Kaldur and Conner over near the food table, talking and watching the interaction silently.

"How did you meet Artemis, here?" Wally asked.

"We go to the same school." Artemis said curty.

"Well, it's good to see you Wally. Been a while." I smiled.