Black & Red (Young Justice/Batman Fiction)

Chapter 8

I skip the debriefing. I don't even wanna shower in Mount Crustice, but I also wanna go straight to the hospital so I have to. I can't show up at G.G. all gross; that's what the bitches will expect. I enter the bathroom and strip down on a bench before stepping into the shower room. My clothes are in Dick's locker. I don't want one of my own. What for? I ain't coming back here ever.

I turn on the hot water and just stand under it. I don't care that it's cold when it first comes out, I just care that it's water and it's washing off all that Riddler stink. The bathroom door opens and closes and I hear someone opening a locker and shuffling things around inside.

I grunt. I really want to be alone right now. Maybe the guy doesn't need a shower, but no such luck. I hear the sound of bare feet plodding toward the showers. The steps are too light to be Super Spawn's (that guy sounds like a herd of elephants coming at ya), and too laid back to be Kid Loser's or Kaldur's. I turn my head to see Harper coming in.

He doesn't say anything as he takes a shower across from mine and turns it on. We lather up in silence. But I'm starting to feel weird with another dude showering behind me, so I speed up. I'll never get used to community showers. They remind me too much of juvie where you have to watch your ass 'cuz a lot of punks like to jump ya in the shower.

I think I take off a layer of skin I scrub so fast. I turn the water off and am about to walk to the towel rack, when Harper says, "Hey, nobody said it before and we should have: good work back there, Falcon."

I almost trip. "Wha...?"

"You did good, kiddo," Harper continues. He doesn't look at me as he washes his red hair. "Sorry about the misunderstanding. You were a little brutal, but I jumped the gun back there."

"Yeah, you should be sorry." I go on to the towel rack and grab two black towels; I knot one around my waist while the other goes around my neck. "See ya."

"Hey, wait." The water shuts off and feet plod toward me. Ugh, I hope he ain't planning on carrying on this conversation while giving me a full frontal. I toss a towel over my head at him, and hear him catch it. "You're my lil' bro's brother, so I have to be nice to you."

I grit my teeth. There ain't no redheads in this family! (No Kid Losers and no Red Assholes). I try to stalk away, but Harper grabs my elbow. I'm about to drop into a low stance and throw him, until he says, "Robin texted me. He says you're going to visit him. Let me drive you."

"I don't need a ride," I growl.

"Robin wants you to get a ride. I think he's worried about you, which is pretty shitty. He's in the hospital puking water and he's worried about someone else. The least you can do is make him feel better about how you get there," Harper says. He wraps the towel around his waist and grabs a second towel and runs it through his short hair.

I glare at him as my stomach churns with guilt. Now I got Dick all worried about me and Harper's right; it is pretty shitty. Dickie-bird shouldn't be worried about anybody but himself. "When did he start puking water again?" He hasn't done that since Day Two in ICU.

"About two hours ago," Harper says. "He told me not to stick around after bringing you in, because he can't keep anything down."

Dammit, bro. I wouldn't have bothered him, if he'd told me all that. Which, of course, is why Golden Boy didn't tell me all that. Idiot. I wonder if I should even go. I should cancel and let him rest, but he's not going to rest after that last text I sent. If I don't show, he'll call me to talk, and if he can't get me, he'll get Bruce. I don't want Bruce to know anything wonky went down on the mission.