Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

News and Math Notes

For mine and my father's safety, we were separated once more. Dr. Leslie took my dad to the S.T.A.R. Labs located in Metropolis, personally escorted by Black Canary and Superman, both in disguise to ensure his safety. 

There, he would undergo a round of treatments to eradicate the serums, neurotoxins, and sedatives from his nervous system. He'd be monitored by Dr. Leslie and only her most trusted colleagues to watch for any symptoms of his Metagene ability. 

It pained me to be away from my dad, but more then anything I was elated that he was going to be conscious again within a week or so. Was I terrified to learn if my dad had any lasting brain damage? Of course. But we would cross that bridge when we got to it. 

Appointments with Dr. Leslie were scheduled for me as well to try and figure out what exactly my metagene was. Within the space of a few minutes, I had been upgraded from regular old human, to biologically variant, super powered teenager. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I possibly had superpowers. But whatever my stupid, hypothetical ability could actually do was still yet to be determined. 

After that whole ordeal was over of finding out what that bastard had done to my dad (very traumatic, by the way) Dinah tried to get me to talk. Her being both a therapist and my mentor, I'm sure her first instinct was to check up on me. 

But I just couldn't do it. As much as I wanted to just sit down with her and talk, I was too embarrassed and guilty with everything- lying to her, being the reason Linh managed to go through with his experiment for so long. I was too ashamed to ask Dinah for her forgiveness, much less actually talk to her about everything that had been happening around me. 

So I avoided her. After I had done my fair share of crying, again, I pulled myself together enough to see my dad off. It was awful, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he awoke, so that made it a little better. With all the thoughts swirling through my head, I hardly noticed as I walked onto the Gotham Academy grounds. I probably was there for a good solid 45 seconds without my presence going unnoticed, then I was attacked. 

"Jackie! You're back!" A voice squealed. 

There was a flash of red hair, and then a small body slammed into me as arms encircled my torso. With an oof, I stumbled backwards from the bear hug. But despite my current mood, I couldn't help but smile and hug Babra back. Her hair tickled my face and smelled like strawberries. Dick and Artemis quickly flanked us, both smiling with rosy cheeks and pink ears. 

The chilly November air had begun to set in, and my friends were bundled in scarves, beanies, extra jackets and gloves in an effort to keep the cold away. The grass and trees that had been previously lush and green just a few months ago were now covered in a layer of icy frost. Students no longer lingered outside, but streamed quickly towards the warm sanctuary of the academy.

I sighed, a warm sweep of relief to see my friend's familiar faces. Releasing Barbra, I threw my arms around Artemis, and then Dick a moment later. I couldn't help it. I had missed them a lot. It was just a week, but I missed the small part of my life that was ordinary and wasn't full of superheroes, dangerous missions, and agonizing combat training. 

While I loved all of my friends, Dick's hug was my favorite. I wrapped my arms around his torso, breathing in his familiar scent of hair gel, fresh laundry, and woody cologne. Ever since we skipped school together, when he took me to the library café, I felt like we'd grown much closer over the past few weeks. 

He was no longer some polite rich kid who offered to take me to classes, but a friend I felt like I could be myself with. (Well, as myself as I could be without revealing my secret of being a vigilante) When we pulled away from our brief embrace, Dick was beaming back down at me.