Sparks Fly [Book Two in the "Fire And Lighting" Series]

Chapter One- A Spark

January 1, 2012. 03:21

Watchtower

"Something else is wrong," Aqualad observed as Wildfire, Black Canary, and Green Arrow escorted Red Arrow, the clone of Roy Harper, out of the Watchtower. Dragonfire gave Kaldur's hand another squeeze under the table, hidden from the eyes of both their mentors.

She shared a look with her brother and Batman. Robin pulled up something on his private screen and moved it to the center screen so that everyone could see.

"The entire League was under Savage's spell for just over a day. We've accounted for most of the time, but these six went missing for a full sixteen hours we can't account for," he pointed to the six profile pictures of Superman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, one of the Green Lanterns, Wonder Woman, and Hawkwoman.

"Sixteen hours. What did we do?" Batman asked the room at large.

December 27, 2015. 15:00.

(FIVE YEARS LATER)

MountJustice

A lot can happen in five years.

You can grow up, finish high school, head off to colledge and get your dream job.

You can become a leader of a team that's more like a family.

You can meet new people that have a lasting impression on you

Your family can grow.

You can learn to love complete strangers like your own siblings

But a lot of bad things can happen in five years too.

Someone you love can leave you forever.

People can die.

People can change from the person you first knew.

Your life can get dark beyond all hope of light

But even a spark can chase away the dark.

~~Emma~~

It's hard to believe that it's been almost five years since the team was formed. My brother and I are now leading the team, which has nearly doubled since Batgirl joined. I'm not Dragonfire anymore, I'm Nightingale, and Richard has become Nightwing, with two more boys taking up the mantle of Robin within the space of just three years!

Jason came first. He was a bit rough around the edges, but he was genuinely sweet. The Joker got the drop on him when he was trying to protect his mother. We found him beaten to death by a crowbar.

A few days after Jason's death, I came across Timothy and Mara Drake. The same two kids Wildfire and I had helped when the adults disappeared five years ago. They were still as brave as they were that day, and I immediately petitioned Bruce to adopt them. It didn't take much to convince him, and I think two youthfully energetic kids around the manor helped all of us recover quickly. 

Tim is now Robin, and Mara took up my old role as Finch. Richard seems to have taken to them just like I have, and I can see Bruce's face soften whenever he's around Mara.

I still live with Bruce, working as a part-time reporter for the Gotham Gazette, but Richard moved to Bludhaven, which is just across the river from Gotham, and does his hero thing there.

We've had so many new additions to the team, it's hard to keep track of them all!

After Batgirl came Bumblebee. M'gann, Connor, and Willow all knew Karen from school, and I remembered her from the Halloween party and liked her relatively well. She brought her boyfriend, Mal, who stayed behind to serve as ops manager during missions, usually alongside me or Nightwing.