JADE (young justice/robin)

37. taken

Mount Justice
March 23, 21:00 EDT

"Look," he said eagerly, pointing up to the screen filled with information that meant nothing to me. "We still have so much to figure out about this invasion. Don't you want to investigate it just a little?"

I gave him a sideways look. What do you think?

I wasn't even in uniform anymore. I was bundled in my clothes from skate practice, hands buried in my pockets. Dick's old sunglasses were resting over my eyes to keep the barrier I wanted between myself and the team. But by all other means, I wasn't a part of this place anymore.

It's been a few days, and just like I'd predicted, my mind hasn't changed. If anything, coming to see Artemis' memorial installed only reaffirmed my decision.

"Or," he changed tactic. "We could call an early night and go into Blüdhaven. Maybe punch a few bad guys."

"Or we could call an early night and go to bed before four in the morning," I countered.

He fell into my arms, whining into my shoulder like a child. "You're killing me!"

"Recognized: Blue Beetle, B-22. Impulse, B-23."

"Ha ha! Left them in the dust!"

Dick stood up from my arms immediately, honing on the kids who just came into the cave. "Left who in the dust? And what is that?"

Impulse held up what looked like an overly decked out telephone. "Souvenir."

"Souvenirs are Beast Boy's thing, ese."

"Oh really? I thought it was Kid Flash—"

"Can we get to it?"

He was using that bossy tone I rarely got to hear. The one he reserved just for when he was leading the team that I'm not a part of anymore.

"Sorry. Aqualad attacked us with Icicle Jr., the Terror Twins, and a ninja girl I didn't recognize."

"This is how they attacked Blue," Impulse held up the device. "I made sure they couldn't do it again."

"So you brought foreign, possibly alien tech into the Cave? Rookie mistake."

I hated how much I loved the way he sounded when he got serious.

"Alright, give it here."

He brought the device over to me. "Look familiar at all?'

"Do you just assume I'm some kind of bad guy encyclopedia?"

"I assume you know a lot more than me," he cooed.

"You do remember you were my math tutor, right?"

"Just help me decrypt these Krolotean files," he begged. "Then, we can go home early like you wanted."

The only good memories I have of this place were with him. The least I could do was spend my last night here with him too.

I took his former place at the computer, reluctantly looking through page after page of alien script. I'm an assassin, not a translator or computer genius.

I gave it my best shot, typing whatever code I remembered from my days on Infinity Island. "You know," I brought up, "You're really hot when you're bossing them around."

He stopped tinkering with the device behind me. "Oh really?"

"Really," I hummed, feeling his arms wrap around me from behind. "Clenching your jaw and your voice gets all deep."