Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

Wally: The Certified Love Doctor

You know that whole thing I said about letting Dick go?

...It wasn't working too well.

I munched on Wally's bowl of pink and white circus animal cookies as I observed Dick spar Kaldur on the training pad. Even though I now knew Dick Grayson was the secret identity of Gotham's favorite protégé, it was still strange to see him now as the mysterious, insanely talented Robin. Screw magic perfume. His glasses ought to have some sort of glamor spell on them or something because there was no way I was that dumb. (Yes, I knew that my previous hair color was blonde, but whoever came up with that stupid stereotype obviously had never met Artemis and Dinah...Or Wally)

The occasional holographic point system floated beside them as they threw punches and dodged blows. I watched Dick land a perfect backflip, his sunglasses somehow maintaining to stay on his face. I nearly cursed out loud as I shoved another cookie in my mouth. I mean, how could I have not noticed before? I mean, yeah, I'd noticed similarities between Dick and Robin before; The same raven hair, jawline, build, voice, and height... now looking back on it, that was probably a red flag that was right in front of my face.

A flag with spotlights and big neon arrows.

And yet, I still hadn't managed to put two and two together. I felt like the biggest idiot to ever walk planet earth. Wonder why they look similar? the voice in my head asked me. Because they are the same frickin person, stupid!

In addition to learning Robin's secret identity, Dinah also put me through vigorous testing with Doctor Leslie Thompkins to try and figure out my metagene ability. She took blood samples, taped monitors all over my body, and even had me wear a frickin EEG helmet. (Look it up. Its fabulously attractive) After the charity gala over the weekend had nearly resulted in an utter catastrophe, Dinah was more determined than ever to get my power up, running, and under my control. But today, Dinah was working a shift at the hospital, so training was left up to us.

"Can you believe Artemis thinks these taste like wax?" Wally asked me, catching one of the cookies in his mouth.

"A palatal tragedy." I responded, half distracted by the sparing match.

Due to some special ointment, the injuries Wally, Dick, Artemis, and I sustained at the gala had nearly completely healed over. Dick no longer had to wear a patch of gauze taped to his face, erasing the evidence that had lead me to the conclusion of Robin's identity. I spared a glance at Artemis, who still remained in ignorant bliss about the secret that had nearly led me to tear all my hair out. She leapt over Connor's leg as they sparred, a cut she'd received from the gala still faintly visible on her collarbone.

Zatana, who was standing nearby, gave a playful scoff. "Wally, you'll eat anything." She rolled her eyes.

She looked great in her purple tank top and leggings, and even though we'd spent the better part of the evening sparring, she still somehow smelled of sugared berries and iris petals. Whenever Zatana used to speak, I felt a twinge of irritation. But now, I only felt a hollow ping of envy for the girl that held Grayson's affections.

I exhaled, allowing my gaze to return to Dick and Kaldur's sparing match. I'll admit, I found myself staring at Dick more often than once during training, and more than once he caught me. When that happened, I felt my face go hot and the desperate urge to hide under the table surfaced. However, Dick just regarded me with an amused expression that I found myself being both annoyed and yet helplessly attracted to. And I hated myself for it.

I could almost picture his crystal blue eyes under his sunglasses. I noticed the way his hair fell perfectly on his face or how his muscles moved under his exercise shirt- stop it! I snapped myself out of my thoughts before he could catch me again. I quickly found interest in picking the sprinkles off the top of the cookie. But one thing was for sure- I needed to come clean and tell Dick about my encounter with Dr. Linh. Now that I had decided not to meet the doctor's demands, I would need help to rescue my father. Dick would know what to do... but I also needed to tell him how Linh wanted his secret identity.