Long Past Dawn

Inside Mount Justice, we're reporting to Red Tornado about what just happened out there.

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you," Kaldur tells him.

"Agreed." Red Tornado says, looking over the pieces of the android and the computer readouts.

"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" M'gann questions.

"No. This was your battle." Tornado says simply. "I do not believe it is my role to solve your problems for you. Nor should you solve mine for me."

Robin, Wally, and Superboy all pause in their work thinking over what he said.

"But if you're in danger…" M'gann objects.

"Consider this matter closed." Red Tornado states then walks off.

"Batman, Aquaman, Flash, they'd all have jumped right in to fix things," Wally comments as they all stand to watch him go further into the mountain.

"Yeah," I agree before continuing, "But if they had would we have learned anything? We probably still wouldn't have any faith in each other. Sometimes we have to learn our own lessons."

I finish off with a stretch, my muscles feel stiff. "Guess if we're going to have a babysitter to help us with those lessons, a heartless machine is exactly what we need," Robin says.

"Dude! Harsh." Wally hisses but doesn't object to it in any other way.

"And inaccurate." both of them stop dead when they hear Tornado's voice. "I have a heart, carbon-steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing."

Kid Flash's eyes clench closed and he frowns, just opening one eye to look at Robin. A silent 'help me!' gesture that he doesn't want Tornado to see.

I laugh slightly. Robin forces out a nervous chuckle. "Right. I'll strive to be... more accurate."

Kaldur grabs Robin's shoulder and brings his attention to him. "And more respectful."

Red Tornado says nothing more as he walks away, but M'gann stands at the entrance of the hall as the boys head to the dorm section of the Cave.

"Speedy was so wrong," Wally says happily. "This Team thing…"

"Might just work out." Kaldur agrees.

Superboy goes to follow but stops as he catches M'gann looking at him. He looks down with a small amount of concentration coming over his face before he looks back to her. "Sorry." then leaves.

M'gann smiles softly. I walk over to her, "I am too, I feel like I've been acting a bit... mean to you..." I finish off not sure what to say.

"It's fine, I'm just glad we're friends now," M'gann smiles before it disappears, "We are friends now, right?"

I laugh, "Definitely, and with Wally being Wally we girls have to stick together." I get a small laugh from M'gann, "But anyway, those cookies you tried to make earlier, still have the recipe?"

"Yeah, I do..." M'gann says.

"Then why don't I help you make them? I mean, I'm probably horrible at cooking or baking but why not." I shrug before I smirk, "And if they're any good you can give some to a certain Superboy."

M'gann blushes and I just smile as we head over to the kitchen area that somehow seems to always be fully stocked.

"Ok, what do we need?" I ask as we get to the kitchen and debate tying my hair up, I've let it grow slightly but not much and I decided that I probably won't need to.

M'gann looks at the recipe as she uses telekinesis to grab the ingredients. "Flour, baking soda, salt, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, one egg, vanilla extract, and chocolate ch.i.p.s."

I watch as the ingredients fly out of the fridge and cupboards to sit on the countertop ready to be made into cookies. Finally, a set of metal bowls flies out and sits ready for use.

Ok, that was pretty cool, "So what do we do first?"

"Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt." She says while the ingredients move and pour all the right quantities into the largest bowl.

"Then I'll mix those and you can get started on the next step," I say as I grab a whisk and start mixing as I realize I have little to no idea what I'm doing.

But it is cool to watch the ingredients float across the room as M'gann works on the next step. "Now we mix them," M'gann says after a moment and I bring the bowl over to where she is.

We pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and I start stirring. The two start to mix and it starts to feel more like a dough. Somehow this is more fun than I thought it would be. As I stir the dough around the bowl an old memory comes to mind.

I'm in the kitchen with my mom, her hair is tied up in a ponytail but she let me leave mine down. Flour coats both of us as we try to make cookies since the school bake sale is tomorrow and I have to bring something in. We decided to make chocolate chip cookies only to find that we're hopeless at it.

The cookies came out burnt and inedible so at the end of the day, we had to buy plain sugar cookies from the corner store. It's funny, missing a person who never existed in the first place while the base model hated me so much.

I have so many questions, like who paid for the house? Who paid taxes? Where did food and money come from? I stop stirring and M'gann looks at me, "Hey you ok?"

"Um..." I say but I can't focus on anything. It feels as if as soon as I learn one thing more questions come to me. "Sorry... Can you finish without me?"

"Sure, we have to chill it after this anyway," M'gann says as she glances at the recipe.

I just nod slightly before turning to her, "I'm really sorry but I have to go real quick."

"Sure," M'gann replies but there's concern in her tone, "But are you sure you're ok."

"Uh..." I say trying to edge past the question, "Sorry I need to go talk to Stephen."

"Ok?" M'gann says as I head out of the room and towards his room.

When I get to the door I knock on it and Stephen's voice comes through telling me to come in. I'm slightly surprised he's in.

The door opens with a beep and I walk in to find him sitting at a desk with three computer monitors assembled on them. The two on either side of him are switched off while the one right in front of him is on with code flashing over and over at high speed at the bottom as if it's being written without him even touching the keyboard. Stephen swivels in the chair to look at me and pushes his glasses up, "What's up?"

I breathe in and then back out, "I need your help."

Stephen looks at me quizzically and motions for me to come sit on the bed near the desk and him. I do. Stephen then reaches down into a mini-fridge hidden beneath the desk and pulls out two bottles of water, handing one to me and placing his on the desk. I don't open the bottle, instead just holding it.

"Well?" He asks after a moment, "What do you need me to do? How can I help?"

I smile softly, he's a good friend, he doesn't wait to hear what it is before he agrees to help. "I... Can you get up some tax records for me from a certain house? And if possible maybe the account owner too?"

"That's all?" He asks as he spins back around to the desk and switches screens and I nod before telling him my old address. I just hope I can get some answers.

His fingers fly over the board as green code appears on the black screen. I get up and go to stand next to him, he looks focused. "Thanks," I say as I rest my hand on his shoulder and notice the tips of his ears turn pink.

"Anything for you," He mumbles without looking up from the screen. After a minute a new screen comes up with a picture of the house and the information underneath. "Ok, here we go," He says.

Underneath is a list of transactions to do with the house. It ranges from taxes, water, and electric bills to upkeeping and food delivery during the day. "Who... Who would do this for me?" I ask aloud as I look at the list that seems to have been going on for years and years.

Stephen hums as he scans over the list in a moment, "looks like the house was paid off years ago."

He then closes that after copy and pasting a bit of the information along with a bank name I vaguely recognize as a privately owned one, with it being largely upscale at that too. Code flashes by again and his fingers move faster than ever. His glasses slip down again and I wonder if he'll stop to push them up again.

Two minutes later he leans back in his chair as words come up on the screen again. A name appears on the screen, Mr. L Abbot.

"Any idea who that is?" Stephen says as he pushes his glasses up then opens the water and takes a drink. "The records show he paid for everything plus school tuition along with letting food get delivered to the address."

I shake my head and wonder why someone I don't even know or remember would do something like this for me. "Well, let's see what we can find on the guy then," He smiles at me before going back to work, "It's the least I can do anyway, I owe you this much."

"Owe?" I ask, "What do you owe me?"

He doesn't look up, "It might sound weird but in a way, you saved me. My life was boring before I met you."

"How could I have saved you?" I ask as I think about what he said. If anything Stephen was always the one to save me somehow, either by just goofing off or being there to support me.

Stephen doesn't look at me, "I- it doesn't matter, I'm just being silly... S- sorry."

I sigh at the obvious lie. Stephen is and always has been a horrible liar. "... L Abbott... Come on there has to be something..." he mutters as he works.

"Try the bank records maybe?" I say not very helpfully.

"That's what I'm doing," He replies as he tries to get past a firewall.

"And if anyone can then you'll be able to," I laugh and ruffle his hair slightly to which he mumbles something about not being a kid.

Sometimes I forget that he's older than me. I look at his brown hair and how much of a mess it is, one thing that hasn't changed is how soft it is. It's like a kitten's fur. I laugh at the thought of Stephen as a kitten. "I missed you a lot you know," I say for no real reason.

"You could have come back," Stephen says, "You didn't have to stay for three years. I thought you left me behind."

"I know..." I softly say, "But I couldn't come back then... it was just too new to me."

"I was there for you!" Stephen almost shouts, "I've always been there for you."

The sound of his voice breaking at the end breaks me slightly. "I know... But..." I try but I don't know what to say to him anymore.

"But I wasn't the person you needed," He says darkly, "You know this will take a while. Maybe you should go, I'll send you the results later. You have a team now after all."

At this moment I come to a painful realization. We'll never be those kids again. We have a gap now. It's not like back then when I would trust him with anything and everything, it's not like back then when he would help me when I was down. We're older now. I look at him, even though I've never seen him exercise I can see the slight pull of muscles under his long sleeve shirt. He's not a weak 15-year-old boy anymore. He's older now, both of us are.

"Stephen that's not what I meant," I say but he doesn't pay attention. It hurts to hear him say those pointed words. Maybe it's just another reminder that things are different now, that we're older, that we've changed. I bite my lip and decide to leave him be.

"Please show tell me what you find out," I say as I step out.

I grit my teeth and think about the gap that was just created. I'm really stupid huh? I always think the world revolves around me.

I walk away from his door and decide to let off some steam in the training room. 'You have a team now after all,' Do I though? We don't trust each other and we have no leader. Are we really a team or...?

I shake my head. I can't think like this. We're a team and we will work together... We just need to work some things out right now.

I walk into the training room. Punching bags, dummies, sparing androids, and gym equipment line the walls with a large part of the main floor raised with a computer screen under it.

I look down at my baggy hoodie before taking it off to reveal the shirt underneath, that plus the running pants I think I'm fine to work in this. I throw the hoodie to the side and try to decide what to do first.

I think I'll go for the punching bag.

I walk over to the side with them and don't bother to grab a pair of boxing gloves. I just start punching and try to ignore everything else in the world.

I don't know what to do anymore. I thought I had it all together. I thought I knew everything. It's like every time I learn something new I have a new question.

Why is being human so hard? Because you're not, a part of me deep down responds.

"Shut up," I growl. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!"

But how can it shut up when it's my own mind?

I hate this. Bam, I punch the sack and it goes flying back on the chain. Why did we have to grow up? Bam. Why did we have to grow apart? Bam. Why did I decide to leave for those three years? Bam. Why did I have to lose that lovingly awkward boy that was always there for me? Why does it all have to change? Bam.

My fists tingle in pain and the skin has become raw and will probably start bleeding in a second but I don't care anymore. I have a long list of things to care about right now and a little pain doesn't even make the top ten.

I hit the punching bag one more time and it breaks open before flying off the chain and landing a few feet away, I silently watch the golden sand spill out over the floor. I don't feel any better.

But I still feel unsettled. I play with my hands as I turn around slightly, unsure what to do with the broken punching bag when I catch sight of Kaldur in the entrance to the gym.

He walks over and hands me a towel, I'm not even sweating that badly. "Pace yourself," He comments as he glances at the broken punching bag at least ten feet from us.

"Thanks," I mutter, "but pace is about the last thing on my mind right now."

Kaldur sighs. "I'm surprised you're still here," I comment as I eye him, "I thought you would have gone back by now."

"I do not need to go back every day. I have a room here too, though it may not be as used as yours."

I make some noise of agreement as I swing the towel around my neck and let it hang there. "I did not think you would be one for private training," Kaldur comments.

"Yeah neither did I," I reply as my knuckles sting, "But I have a bit of steam to blow off."

Kaldur gives an understanding nod, "Then give me the honor of sparing?"

"Why not," I shrug as I throw the towel to the side by my hoodie and we step into the ring with both of us getting ready to spare.

We circle before I move first and go to elbow him in the c.h.e.s.t. He blocks and aims a punch for my face which I duck and try to sweep his feet out from underneath him.

He jumps and tries to hit me while I'm lower down but I block and jump up before moving for his undefended side. I manage to land a blow.

"Why did you come in here anyway," I ask as I dodge a hit, "We don't know each other very well."

Kaldur shrugs as he aims a few hits that I block, "You look like you need to talk to someone."

"I like to keep things in more, taking might let out secrets," I say as I block a punch with my hand but he then hits me in the stomach.

"We're a team, we need trust," Kaldur says as I try to bring a kick up. Somehow we've moved on from sparing to a friendly fight.

"I'm not one that gives trust easy, no idea when it'll be broken," I mutter as he blocks the kick and I now realize I'm off balance. As I fall I somehow support myself on one hand and manage to get back up without falling.

Kaldur doesn't give up, "In a team trust is important."

My attacks only grow, "I know and what I'm saying is I don't give mine easily. My trust is something you earn."

"Hey Robin, M'gann! Scarlet and Kaldur are fighting," I pause as I'm about to land a blow to his face and turn to see Wally in the entrance. Unfortunately, Kaldur takes this opportunity to grab my arm and throw me over his shoulder and then pin me to the ground as the floor beeps and a screen appears to say how I lost the round.

Kaldur stands above me and offers me a hand up. I take it. "We can trust each other, and we will learn to trust each other." Kaldur says, "I hope I will have your trust soon."

I stand before him. And shake my head with a small smile. "Who knows."

I walk over and grab the towel from earlier along with my hoodie. I walk past the others as they stand at the entrance from where they probably watched the fight. "I'm going to hit the showers."