Nightwing: Heartless

Part 45: Dinner with Friends

Willa was laughing so hard it was difficult to breathe. Wally was telling her stories from the first year of the Team, when himself, Dick, and their friend Kaldur founded the covert division. And the dude could tell a story.

"That's insane," Willa remarked after M'gann finished explaining how out of place she first felt on the Team, "you all seem so close now."

"We are," she said blushing, "it just took a minute."

It was hard for Willa to picture M'gann, or Megan, as the awkward, out of place alien girl. Willa knew she changed her appearance for tonight, a public dinner with Dick, Wally and her, from the green Miss Martian to the fair skinned Megan Mors, but she was elegant, eloquent, confident now. All of them seemed so different from their stories. Picturing Dick as the small, nerdy Robin and Wally as the goofy class clown made her wish she could have known them when they were younger.

"You should have seen the first time Wally tried to phase through a wall," Dick said, laughing and clapping his hands together, "splat."

Willa laughed as Wally rolled his eyes, "and I bet Dick hasn't told you when he fell out of an air vent into a vat of butter then tried to fight the Penguin." Now Wally was the one laughing.

"Dude, I was eleven!"

"I was thirteen!"

Willa made eye contact with M'gann across the table as the boys bickered. She rolled her eyes but kept smiling. She must be used to it.

"Can you really read minds?" Willa asked. M'gann nodded, "are you...?"

"No, no, I don't do that unless I have permission. Even when I establish a mental link, I don't look in everyone's head."

Willa looked at Dick, "a mental link?"

So we can communicate without talking. Willa gasped as she heard Dick's voice in her head. And so our tech can't be compromised. And that was Wally. Willa shook her head, getting used to the feel. It was amazing what they could all do. She let out a breath when she felt the link disappear from her mind and they started speaking out loud again. "That's amazing," Willa breathed. "You all are amazing."

"Hey, we're not the ones who jumped off of Lex Luthor's roof," Wally winked and laughed. "That was badass."

Willa blushed at the compliment, proud to feel like any part of her was like the heroes at the table. Dick softly stroked her arm with his hand, another silent comfort. "I can't believe you guys saved the world a few days ago, and now you're having dinner like it's no big deal." That was the hardest part for Willa to wrap her head around. Not the hero stuff, she had seen Dick train enough by now she knew his skill set and she had seen enough news reports of the Justice League defending Earth to not be awed by superpowers anymore. But the fact that every hero was also a person, that they defended regular people then went back to their lives... that was the awe inspiring part. What if Superman took a lunch break to fly to Neptune or something then didn't come back? What if Bruce Wayne excused himself from a board meeting to track down the Joker but died? The risks seem to multiply now that she knew heroes were people too.

"Unfortunately, it's not all tied in a bow yet," Dick said, more serious than he was a second ago.

M'gann toyed with the napkin in her lap, "some of our Team members were taken hostage by the Reach."

Willa brought a hand to her mouth, "I'm so sorry." M'gann gave her a smile in thanks but it didn't reach her eyes. Willa leaned forward and put her hand on M'gann's, "SuperBoy seemed pretty tough to me. I wouldn't worry." M'gann looked up in surprise. "You guys are dating, right?" M'gann shot Dick a look but blushed.