Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

The Bird's Secret

I'm not even sure how I got to the Cave. All I know is that I left without a word, and found the nearest Zeta Tube to teleport to the Cave. I probably seemed hysterical in my torn and bloody dress, with messy hair and smeared makeup as I stumbled towards the back entrance. I needed to get out of here. Dick was probably going to try and find me soon, and I didn't feel like talking to him.

I yanked on the nearest pair of shoes I could find and ran down the steps in the hanger. I passed the Bioship, the rows of motorcycles, a curious Sphere, and barreled towards the hidden exit. I saw the recognition light flash over my figure as the computer went to identify me.

"Authorized. Bluejay B08." The voice said.

The giant back door opened, and gust of freezing wind blew into the cave, nipping at my exposed skin. Ignoring the cold, I surged forward, crunching through the white snow what had spilled into the cave. Once I was outside, the secret door closed behind me without a trace, my footprints magically appearing halfway up the slope of the mountain. I trudged past the pine trees, the frost covered needles brushing and snagging against my dress and hair. My breath misted in front of my face. Soon, the beach came into view.

I'd only been to the beach maybe once, but that had been in August. The sand had been a sparkling golden brown, and the water was a beautiful blue. But now, snow covered the wet sand in patches across the beach. The sky was dark and cold, and the icy water pushed and pulled against the surf, leaving foamy streaks on the sand. I looked around. I was alone.

Good.

I let out a strangled yell and kicked at the ground, spraying sand everywhere. I tangled my fingers through my hair and doubled over, screaming some more and trying to relieve the pressure that was building up inside my head. It wasn't working. Now that I started, I couldn't stop. I went for another kick when my toe struck a hard rock buried in the sand. Cursing, I dug it out before hurling it as far as I could into the water.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" I yelled over and over to myself and smacked my forehead with the heels of my palms.

How could I have not seen it before!? I thought I was smarter then one of those stupid oblivious girls from the movies!

"Well, obviously not!" I yelled out loud, throwing my arms up in the air dramatically.

I paced back and forth angrily, kicking up snow and leaving footprints everywhere. I growled to myself, yelling a string of every curse word I knew before hurling another rock back into the water. To anyone who was watching, I probably resembled Regina from Mean Girls. Or a murderous Prom Queen. My flailing arms and loud shouting had attracted a small flock of seagulls. They stared at me with their beady yellow eyes.

"Go away!" I made shooing motions with my arms. "I've had it with birds!"

They made no move to fly away and continued to stare. I gripped the fabric of my dress, sand under my fingernails. Dick is Robin. Robin is Dick, I repeated in my head. And everything every time I said it, the pit of self-loathing in my gut grew bigger. You. Are. A. Moron. I groaned and kicked at the ground some more. The previously smooth beach of sand and snow was now almost completely trampled by my tantrum.

After a good five or ten minutes of this, I finally I plopped down on the wet sand. I put my head in-between my knees and took deep breaths to calm myself down. I absently began doodling in the cold sand, my fingertips red and numb. The more I thought about it, the more everything began to make sense. The bruises or stiff muscles Dick would have at school? The fact that he was freakishly smart and could rival Sherlock Holmes? Barbara's lame excuse about Dick being clumsy when in reality the guy was actually like the most graceful acrobat ever?