Remember the Pact of our Youth

ONE - The Dog Days are Over (so you better run)

GOTHAM CITY

JULY 6, 24:14 EDT

The night is quiet, empty of most of the action that takes place in the darkness of a city like Gotham. It has Rebecca restless, ready to climb the nearest wall. Apart from scaring a small gang away from an alleyway usually used by a couple of homeless people, and tying up a would-be mugger before walking his intended victim the rest of the block to her home, there is very little of the action that Rebecca is used to on work nights.

It's left her frustrated and unreasonably angry. After more than a month out of action she had hoped the night she finally found the courage to come out again would be more significant than this. That something would happen that could give her an answer to what she had been worrying and turning over in her head for the past few weeks.

But the night is peaceful and quiet and no revelations come to Rebecca throughout her quick and short patrol. So she climbs in quietly through her bedroom window, feeling lost and empty and tired, even when she had barely broken a sweat.

She's so lost in her own head, closing the window before tugging off her gloves, that she doesn't even notice the body on her bed until the lamp on her bedside table clicks on, the warm glow of the yellow light filling the room. It has Rebecca turning around, fists raised, until she registers the black leather jacket spread out on her comforter.

Meeting the blue eyes of her cousin, narrowed at her across the room, she lets out a breath, throwing her head back in a groan as she yanks her blue jacket off. "I know, I know. I'm sorry ok?"

Throwing the jacket across her desk chair and her gloves onto the table, she stomps over to her bed and sits at the edge, leaning down to unzip her black combat boots. She tugs at it sharply but all the zipper does is pull at the leather until it digs into her calves instead of unzipping. Groaning in exasperation she takes a deep breath before trying again, finally being able to cleanly pull the zipper down.

Her cousin, unconcerned with her mini tantrum, speaks up from behind her, "I've told you before, you aren't allowed to go out into the city unless I'm here with you."

"I know alright? But what was I supposed to do? Wait until you deigned to come in from Star City so we could patrol around here? Or wait until you thought one of your cases over there was safe enough to bring me in on?" She pulled her boots off her feet and threw them into the closet.

"Yes. The rules exist for a reason and you promised to follow them if I took you on as a partner."

"What's the big deal? I've been trained just as you have! You've let me go on cases without you before."

"Gotham is different from Star City, you know that. And doing cases at Star City, or with Roy, is different from going out on your own in Gotham. You're too young yet to be out there alone. What would you have done if you ran into one of the crazies out there? You know how dangerous it can be without anyone knowing where you are, without any backup ready."

Rebecca could hear the strain in her cousin's voice, the worry behind the anger, and she took another calming breath, shaking her head as she carefully peeled off her mask.

"If I can't trust you to think clearly enough to know what you can handle, to know when to rely on others, to follow orders, then how can I take you out into situations where you are putting your life on the line? I won't reward this behavior Rebecca."

"I know, I'm sorry. It wasn't on purpose I just needed to think. I needed to see something for myself." she said. Tracing the edges of the black mask before placing it gently down beside her on the purple bed cover.