The Lost Grayson (Young Justice)

Chapter three: Meetings

Rylie's POV

As soon as my brother had left, I changed out of the white jumpsuit that held so many dark memories, and into my suit, which had obviously been altered so it would fit my taller and more slender form. Had Bruce and my brother really done all this for me? I thought to myself as I slipped the latex-like material onto my body. It was your usual skin tight black suit, v cut that went slightly below my collar bone, long gloves and boots, all equipped with the proper padding to protect my body from injuries, and it had a silver symbol of a bird (shown in the media) on the chest, its wings and tail pointed and deadly. The symbol of a Nightingale. My symbol.

I quickly did my long hair in Nightingale's classic French braid, put my silver contacts in (I use them when unmasked around other supers to hide my identity), clipped on my utility belt, and put my silver mask on before looking in the full length mirror that was resting against the wall. Four years gone because of a stupid mistake. Four years of crime fighting to make up in two weeks. Well, better start now. I thought as I slipped out the door and headed for the training area.

It was a fairly simple training area. The usual gym equipment with a few gymnastic sets added for flexibility, standard weaponized agility course, and computerized sparring system. Pretty much all you need for superhero training without an instructor. I quickly headed for the uneven bars and mounted, doing a few quick rotations before transferring to the lower bar. I pulled myself up, did a half twist, then adding a rotating handstand (I'm a dancer, not a gymnast, don't quote me on stunt names) before dismounting with a twist and a half followed by a double tuck.

I did this for what felt like half an hour before switching from bars to the high beam, working with that for maybe twenty minutes before Wally ran in, holding a towel, my daggers, and a water bottle.

"Hey KF." I called as I dismounted. "Here to spar?"

"More to get you, babe. It's almost eight." I looked over at the clock. Seven fifty-six. I had been working for almost four hours. I walked over to him and took a sip from the bottle of water he gave me.

"Don't let my brother here you say that. And thanks." I added as I mopped my brow with the towel and sliding my daggers into their holsters.

"Welcome. How's your neck?" He asked as he set his arm on my shoulder and we started walking down the hall.

"Better. Slight bruise from almost being choked to death, but it'll be gone in a few days. Still can't believe I got my butt kicked because of a freaking tranquilizer dart!" He laughed, that kind of snort you give when you're happy to be in someone's company.

"That's one to add to the engravings." He commented wittily.

"Oh sure." I sassed in reply. "I'll put in right next to the one I did after I kicked your butt in that training exercise. What did you say? 'A little birdy can't hurt lighting' was it?"

"I was ten years old!" He exclaimed, playfully tapping my shoulder with his free hand.

"Okay okay." I laughed, smiling at the freckly face and charming green eyes. "But seriously, thanks for finding my daggers. Robin told me how you helped with searching for me." He smiled and said,

"What are friends for? Now come on, it's time to meet the team!" He let go of my shoulders and opened the door to reveal my brother and four others, all about 14 and 15, standing with Black Canary. A girl who looked a lot like Martian Man Hunter flew over.

"Hi!" She spoke in a cheery voice, her eyes lighting up as she spoke. "I'm M'gann, Martian Man Hunter's niece. Welcome to the team!"

"Nice to meet you. Nightingale, but you guys can call me Alli. Glad to be here." I replied, making sure to use my first name so none of them could relate me to my real identity, where I always went as Rylie. A darker skinned boy walked over next.

"Greetings, Allison. My name is Kaldrh'm, but you may call me Kald'r." (I butchered his name. I know I know. Sorry Aqualad.)

"Aqualad, right? Nice to meet you. Your king saved my life a while back. Your people are fortunate to have him." He smiled and nodded, and I walked over to a boy wearing a black T-shirt with the superman symbol on it and a pair of jeans. I rolled up my sleeve and showed him the branding that had been done to me, small cursive that read Property of Cadmus.

"I'm an experiment too." I whispered. "You aren't alone in that, Superboy." He half smiled.

"Call me Connor." I nodded as the last member stepped forward. She had long blonde hair swept into a ponytail, and wore an outfit similar to that of Green Arrow. So this is Speedy's replacement.

"Artemis." She said calmly, extending her hand. "Green Arrow's niece. Studied you for training. You're pretty impressive."

"Thanks. And if you're anything like your uncle, I'm glad to be fighting with you." She smirked as I took her hand.

"All of you have the night off to get to know each other, but then it's back to training at five am sharp tomorrow. Four for you, Nightingale. Clear?" Canary spoke sharply, but with enough ease to her voice that you could tell she was happy for us.

"Clear." We all replied in unison before running off to the living area to get a late snack.

"So," Connor asked as he rummaged through the fridge for some food. "What's with you going in an hour early? A punishment or something?" I shrugged.

"Batman put me on two weeks intensive training to get my skill level back up. I'm not allowed on missions until then."

"Well, if you ever need a sparring partner, you know where to find me babe." Wally flirted, putting his arm around my shoulders as my brother glared at him.

"Oh please. She'd take you down in less than a minute." Called Artemis, rolling her eyes. 

"Why don't we find out?" I challenged, giving Wally my classic smirk. "You guys haven't seen what I can do, and I did want to spar tonight. What do you say, Kid? Think you're up for the challenge?" Wally's eyes darted around at the anticipated faces of his team. He removed his arm from around me, gave his teasing smirk, and shrugged.

"Bring it on. Let's see just how rusty you are."