7. Chapter 7 (1/2)

soaring free

a young justice fanfiction

hey yall! back again. this a short chapter, but i hope you enjoy regardless.

on a side note: i'm kind of surprised no one has chewed me out for skipping over the deathstroke encounter? i mean, i know it was a long time ago, but i thought it was a rather glaring omission.

disclaimer: i do not own young justice.

well, this is honestly among the most awkward i have been in my life, including all of the times that i have had to dance with rich old cougars at

uce's parties. i suck on my cheek and purse my lips, placing my hands on my hips. "well?"

the silence stretches on, each of the team, including wally, only giving me their best poker face. or, well, in wally's case, a poker face around his mouthful of food. the sharp ding of metal rings as damian begins to examine some of the birdarangs that he pulled from somewhere (honestly, not even i know where the kid keeps all his crap).

artemis and kaldur make eye contact, seemingly deciding on something. i try not to shift my weight too much, not wanting to give away how much i actually still want to be involved with the team. kaldur sighs. "you are still a member of the league, correct?"

i pop my lips, ignoring artemis as she rolls her eyes at the sound. "yeah. at least, i think so. haven't exactly checked in lately. been kind of busy."

rocket pinches the

idge of her nose, like an exasperated parent. "for goodness sakes, just spit it out, man."

a faint smile appears on aqualad's face, and i try not to let myself get too hopeful at the sight. "we have found ourselves in need of a… den mother of sorts, while the league sorts themselves out after the new year's disaster."

a grin rises from my lips, paralleled on the

ight face of a certain speedster. "oh, really?"

the smile reaches kaldur's eyes. "we figured you wouldn't mind filling in. after all, it is the least you could do."

i bow theatrically, one arm sweeping wide, the other crossing my chest. "of course, my good sir." i wink at the gathered team members ('-tt-' from damian). "mama wing is on the case."

damian snorts and looks incredulous. "you all have no idea what you have just done."

zatanna's eye

ows crinkle. "what do you mean?"

casually twirling a birdarang, robin sends it rocketing right past kf's head, making the speedster squawk. "nightwing is the ultimate mom friend."

~ooo~

following their declaration, everyone went home, eager for some down time (or at least, time spent fighting their local villains. after all, most of them, the flashes, have built a kind of rapport with their villains.) as such, i am free to head home and spend some quality time with my family.

damian had left mount justice pretty quickly after they had delivered the news, so i had the batcave locker room to myself. dumping my torn costume into alfred's 'put your costumes here you melodramatic idiots' hamper (i might be paraphrasing) i let the hot water beat into my back, easing out the tension and letting a small smile come to my face. only half the weight of the world rests on my shoulders now, i joke to myself.

pulling on a pair of sweatpants and leaving the shift off, displaying my bandages, i work my way into the manor proper, the smile turning malicious as i hear yells echoing throughout its halls.

"drake, you f****** idiot, you just bombed me!"

"dude, if dick hears you talking like that in the presence of his precious baby he's going to murder you!"

"oh, come one! it's not like i was born yesterday, uncle!"

"see, the kid's on my side!"

"he's nine!"

"almost ten!"

"and you still bombed me!"

trying to restrain a mad giggle, i race up to the media room to find my

others and son engaged in a rather intense game of mariokart. twin groans rise from jason and damian as tim, smirking, crosses the finish line first. leaning against the door frame, i clap slowly. "well done, red bird."

he gives me a cheeky two fingered salute. "thanks, dickie bird."