JADE (young justice/robin)

5. fate

Mount Justice
August 19, 19:39 EDT

jade.

Artemis and I sat near the edge of the ring, waiting for our turn, while the boys sparred. We were both still very aware that we were the outsiders of the team. We had a lot of trust to earn — not that I felt too eager to do anything about it.

"Kaldur's, uh, nice, don't you think?" Artemis said.  "Handsome, commanding. You should totally ask him out."

I looked at her funnily, then shook my head. I don't really care for seafood. Then I pointed at her, then to Wally, who was inhaling his food across the room.

"Ew, no," she grimaced immediately. 

I shrugged, with a mischievous smile tugging at my lips.

"He's so full of... of."

It?

"It," she concluded a second later.

I shrugged again. I don't know, Artemis. Turbo can't be fast at everything. 

"What about you and Robin?" she suggested. "He seemed all kinds of fired up when you joined the team."

I held a reassuring hand up. Birdie's a work in progress.

"So there is something going on between you two!" she concluded happily.

I shook my head, deflating a lot of her enthusiasm.

"But you want something to happen?" she asked hopefully.

I shrugged. Maybe.

"You do want something to happen!" she grinned, singing, "Jade and her Birdie, sittin' in a—"

"Failed. Aqualad," the computer announced. In the middle of the ring Sharkboy was on the floor and Boy Scout Jr. was dusting his hands off.

"Black Canary taught me that," he said.

I glanced to Artemis whose eyes doubled in size watching him. Then I nudged her knowingly.

"What?" she tried to play it off.

My expression dropped. Really? 

"Oh, shut up," she waved me off.

I never said anything.

"Do you have a mission for us?" Wally pestered Red Tornado who had just arrived.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility."

I wanna make something else his responsibility. Honestly, it's probably best that I don't speak. I don't think everyone would appreciate all the obscene thoughts running through my head. 

"Yeah, well, the Batman's with the Robin doing the dynamic-duo thing in Gotham, but you're headed somewhere, right? Hot date? Or a mission?"

"If we can be of help," Sharkboy added.

Red Tornado pulled up an unofficial mission. "This is Kent Nelson, a friend. He is 106 years old."

"Guy doesn't look a day over 90," Wally muttered.

"And he has been missing for 23 days. Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to your mentors' Justice League."

Gotham City
August 19, 15:40 EDT

eden.

It's been a little over a week since Ace left and I was starting to feel lonely.