The lights in the Library were off, and the only illumination came from the blue glow the aquarium wall, soft and deep. The pair of whale sharks, Mudryy and Koroleva, were idly swimming, nuzzled against each other as they crossed the 6.3 million gallon pool. Hundreds of smaller fish clouded the water, darting back and forth as they played. Jason was sitting in his usual armchair, looking without seeing at the activity underwater. A full ashtray sat on the table beside the chair. Next to him, Roxy was snoring, out cold after their ten mile run earlier in the day.

It had been a few weeks since he’d spoken to Zatanna, and even longer since the Blackout. Kory still wasn’t happy, having informed him in no uncertain terms after the Batcave that until he quit keeping secrets, she was no longer considered his ally. Dick was perfectly fine, just embarrassed that Jason had had to come rescue him. Henri, as always, was somewhere tinkering with Ilya, building new and better things for Jason and his…whatever you called the Outlaws now. 

He was relaying all this information to Mudryy, as he so often did, explaining the intricacies of the team dynamics, the status of his patrol area, and other things, when Roxy awoke with a snarl. Jason’s eyes darted around the room, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. 

“What is it, girl?” She barked once, then started whining. Something was bothering her. He scratched behind her ears, and she sat heavily, still upset. Weird. Maybe it’s Henri? She’s used to him, though, and I’ve never seen her act this way down here. He shrugged it off, however, once she closed her eyes, rearranging herself to fall back asleep. Dogs are strange animals. Jason, himself, had just closed his own eyes when the door slid open across the room. A half smile crossed his face as he murmured, “Good girl.”

A low growl made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Who the fuck is she mad at?