Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

Rocket

Was it melodramatic to say that I was finally entering my "Pepto-Bismol Era?" Perhaps. But for what felt like the seventh time this week, I felt like I was going to lose my breakfast. For one, Christmas was coming up, which was a major problem because I was infamously terrible at giving gifts. I had no idea what to get Dinah, Dick, or Connor, who was my Secret Santa. (It was Zatana's idea to have us pick names, even though I'm sure M'gann insisted she didn't mind spoiling each of us with a gift)

The deepest, most evil part of me wanted to gift Connor with the deluxe album of Taylor Swift's Speak Now. Buuuut, getting him a CD with a song called "Superman" on it would probably be the last straw of our friendship.

And two, I had decided that I was going to follow Dick's advice and be honest with the Team and tell them about the situation with my father. I already knew I would have their support in a rescue mission, so all Dick and I needed to figure out how we were going to pull off the heist of the decade. But instead of robbing the Louvre of Mona Lisa, we were going to be stealing a Metagene test subject out of the hands of a psychopathic doctor and his army of alien weapon dealers.

Beat that, Tom Cruise.

Dick insisted on involving Canary and Batman, but I couldn't take that risk. The Justice League would ultimately take over the case, and the Team would be prohibited from getting involved. But in order for this to work, I had to act as bait- something I already knew Dinah would never agree to. Besides, Dr. Linh had to believe I was loyal to him. If he ever got any reason to suspect I wasn't, George made it perfectly clear he would terminate my dad's life without any hesitation.

No. We had to trick him somehow in order for our rescue plan to work. After all, we had no idea where he was hiding my dad, and no way to ensure he would be honest with me. So far, our plan was to arrange a meeting with Dr. Linh, where I would pretend to bargain for my dad using the Team's secret identities. With enough planning, we could spring the perfect attack, and safely rescue my dad without any repercussions.

"Easy peasy lemon squeezy." I muttered, when the more accurate phrase was probably difficult difficult lemon difficult.

Yanking on my second snow boot, I mindlessly chewed on the inside of my cheek as I knotted the laces. Today, The League was formally announcing its newest members to the world. As Red Arow had finally made the cut, the Team was going as a sign of support. But most importantly, Dinah, Batman, Red Tornado, and the rest of the Justice League would be at the Watchtower tonight celebrating; the perfect opportunity to spill my guts without any unwanted ears, and devise the perfect rescue mission.

I sighed and buried my face in my hands. Don't you dare throw up, you cotton-headed ninny muggins! Everything will be fine. You just have to tell them about how your metahuman father is being held hostage/ experimented on, and how it's entirely up to us to save his life while using their secret identities as bargaining chips!

Damn. That really did sound bad. I fought the urge to run to my bathroom and flip open the toilet lid. A soft knock sounded, and my head jerked up to see Dick leaning against the doorframe of my room. I felt my ribs painfully squeeze at the sight of him. He was dressed warm for the chilly December air, a black coat snuggly tucked over a blue hoodie. Dick looked so handsome, he looked like he walked straight off the cover of SNOW Magazine. I couldn't help the burst of warmth that erupted in my chest as I saw him.

"You've stolen my colors." I grinned.

I stood up from my bed and walked over to him. Every step closer to him seemed to make my heart race faster. I grabbed the blue hoodie strings, twisting them around my fingers and tying them in a little bow. Ever since our conversation on the rooftop of Waye Enterprises, the invisible physical boundary we previously had seemed to have vanished overnight. I craved Dick's touch, and used every excuse in the book to be closer to him.