Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

Meeting the Team... again

"Where are we headed? The signal? Or the tracks?" I asked him as we ran.

"The signal. If I put a tracker on it, there's a good chance whoever is here too thought to do the same thing. And if not, maybe we can find something that will help us find them." Robin said.

We ran, our feet kicking up sand behind us. But we were silent. I was proud to say that I kept up with Robin this time. My dry throat burned, and even though I was exhausted, there was no fainting or hallucinating, so I counted that as a point. Well, it was either that, or he was going slower to keep pace with me, but I decided to assume it was the first option for my pride.

As we traveled, we talked considerably less. We were constantly on the lookout, freezing at the sound of distant engines and ducking behind random boulders that peppered the land. We took short breaks in between runs so we could catch our breath, and so Robin could check his map and make sure we were headed in the right direction. We hadn't run into any other troops so far, but that didn't mean they weren't out there.

"We're nearly there." Robin said to me under his breath.

Even though I had obeyed his orders to keep on the lookout for the rest of the people here, there was no sign of anyone else here.

"I just wish I could remember why I put a GPS signal here." Robin muttered as we crawled over the top of the sand dune.

I didn't know what exactly we would see, but I hoped it would be something helpful. Maybe like a machine gun or some type of vehicle that would explain our arrival, but no. I'd barley gotten a glimpse of a gray box before that sick, twisted feeling returned to my stomach. Without thinking, I grabbed Robin's wrist and pulled us back down. He was smart and listened to me, taking that as a signal translating to oh crap. We quickly pressed or backs against the sand.

"Huh. Guessing that's why." He muttered.

"Something's wrong." I whispered, pressing a hand to my stomach. "Something's down there."

By first glance, I thought it was a fridge or something. But judging by his reaction, it was probably something more important. After a moment of listening for any noise, We army crawled back up, sand slipping over our knees. It was a gray box of some sorts, with red and green lights and dials.

"What do you think it is?" I breathed.

"Dunno. Stay here. I'll check it out." Robin whispered.

"What? You can't expect me to just-"

Robin leapt over the dune, leaving me behind. I grumbled angrily under my breath, but listened to him. My finger tapped nervously against the sand as I watched him approach the box. The sick feeling still hadn't disappeared. I almost screamed his name when about a dozen figures emerged, hidden by the sand, all holding guns. They were wearing the same tan uniforms bearing the red Bialya insignia.

I nearly had to clap a hand over my mouth to keep from yelling when I heard one of them shout in their unfamiliar language. Robin quickly observed the situation before he dropped something familiar I'd seen before in my belt- a smoke bomb. A thick, heavy white cloud enveloped everyone around him in seconds. I panicked as grunting and the sound of flesh upon flesh sounded from inside the pocket of smoke. What if they got him? What if he was hurt?

"Oh like heck I'm staying here." I slid down the dune, and charged into the smoke.

I soon realized what a stupid idea that was. But I didn't have time to further think about a plan, because I was spotted in the thicket by one of the Bialyan soldiers. My heart nearly leapt into my throat as I felt his eyes lock onto me. Get the gun! My head screamed at me. So before he could raise it to his eye, I was yelling and charging at him. He obviously hadn't been expecting me to run at him without a weapon of my own (Another stupid thing I hadn't thought about).