Liftoff in the Dragon took less than thirty seconds, and they cleared the waterfall quickly. Kory hadn’t spoken, and though it had been ages since they worked together, he still could tell when things bothered her.
From the day they met, they’d been beyond words; kindred spirits, though they clashed far more often with each other than the other Outlaws. She’d been honest advice and opinions for years, and he’d never been afraid of telling her exactly what his thoughts were, or why he had an opinion.
He wasn’t sure, then, why he’d been keeping her in the dark for so long. She’d quit after Roy died, all but dropped off the radar. She’d pop up from time to time to talk to Dick, or make small talk with Jay. But they’d lost that spark, that bit of understanding that had kept the warriors together.
After her reaction to Zatanna, he’d given up talking about who he cared about; she’d all but said “told you so” and held it against him as proof he couldn’t bring civilians into this life. With Batgirl…he’d never even mentioned her. There might be rumors, sure. But they were careful, and none of the tabloids had said a single word about them. Cass was less of a purposeful secret, more unwillingness to share details about his oldest friend and earliest student.
Taking off his helmet, he stuck it on the console, running a gloved hand through his white and black hair. With a long, slow exhale, he hit autopilot, swiveling to look at the Princess.
“Come on. Tell me why you’re pissed.”
Might as well get it over with before they had to rely on each other in combat, right?
and all of this will never be the same again 