...and even though at the time I wasn’t entirely sure at the time, getting sent to Elias was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. I was truly on my own, out from under my mother’s control for the first time that I could remember. I was able to make my own decisions, and even though I wasn’t always making them for the right reasons.

It was because of Elias that I was able to become Arrowette for the second time. This time it was my own choice. But, as I said before, the reason wasn’t out of some desire to do any good – it was to piss off my mother. She’d wanted me to become Arrowette, well, now I was going to do it without her. And better than she could have ever thought.

It was also at Elias that I met some of the people who would become so important to me – Marcy Money, my therapist. It was her death that would set me on a path that nearly...

1-Put yourself in their shoes.

Cissie tried to understand why the Justice League was being so stupid. Fine, so they cared about their wards. It wasn’t like she knew anything about a mentor or a mother caring. They said they wanted to take care of the other members of the boys. But they didn’t trust her. She knew what they were. They were a bunch of judgmental jerks who probably had never been a normal teenager. That was why they were going against them. Against all of them.

2-Find out about the other party.

Flash would be the weak spot, she though. He had been a Teen Titan, at least she thought he had been. Maybe if she reminded him, they might listen to her. Give the guys a chance. Let Young Justice prove themselves. Flash had had to prove himself once, he might let them prove themselves now.

3-Different techniques of negotiation.

Cissie’s mom had made her study everything, for her preparation of being a superhero. But none of them were helping her now. All she could do now was yell… oh my God, she had just yelled at Superman.

4-Prepare Your Strategy

The problem with not having any time to prepare, to deal with the Justice League, meant she had to wing it.

5-Cool as Ice.
Did anyone actually yell at Superman? Because Cissie was pretty sure she just had. Nobody yelled at Superman! She was trying not to freak, and just plow forward, keep trying to make her point, and get through it. She could freak out later.

Amazingly, it all worked out, and she got her team. It was all worth it.

And hyperventilating later…. Well, that was just what you did when you yelled at Superman. Which was totally awesome.

I’ve got a gold medal. Archery, of course.

The Summer Games wasn’t something I ever expected to really do. Archery wasn’t even really my idea in the first place. It was my mom’s dream, always. I became a superhero originally because of her, and then I became one for a second time just to spite her. But after I quit I never really wanted to see a bow again. I had almost… well, that doesn’t really matter anymore.

But mom came to see me. She reminded me of how much I loved archery, of how I was a natural at it, and she took me to the tryouts. And there were these girls there, and I just… I couldn’t listen to them. So I shot better than I had ever done, and I made it to the games.

I wasn’t favored to win. Nobody really knew who I was, I was just this kid who came out of nowhere. But I proved them wrong. Okay, so there was crazy drama with my mom accused of pulling a Tonya Harding, but that was all resolved, and I won the gold.

And mom and I really started to understand each other, and honestly, I think that’s way more important than the medal is.

Cissie hadn’t been a member of the team either time the Titans had encountered their future selves. As far as she knew, she wasn’t a member of the Titans in any of the future incarnations. They hadn’t encountered a version of her.

She wondered what her future self in that world had been like. Had she been a member of the resistance? Or had she joined with the rest of her generation of heroes? She knew in most cases, she would join her teammates. She just hoped that whatever she had done hadn’t been too awful.

Thinking about her friends, about all of them, about everything they had been capable of in that timeline, that scared her. They were supposed to be heroes, they were supposed to do the right thing. The thought that things could get to the point where they would forget that – that scared her more than anything else.

OOC: After the Titans go camping, Cissie and Tim decide to take their relationship to the next level. NC-17. Many thanks to boywonder3 for letting me write this.

Cissie was amazed that they made it through the door, when she took the time to think about it. Her arms were around Tim’s neck, and he was sucking at her collar, and she had no idea how he had managed to fumble for the keys and unlock the door to their apartment when she was doing her level best to distract him.

It was a good thing that they’d managed to get through the door though. She liked their neighbors, but not enough to give them that sort of a show.

( read more )

"Hurry up, Cissie," her mother snapped, and Cissie quickened her pace, trying not to fall any further behind. She spared another glance over her shoulder, looking wistfully at the toy store. She thought she had seen one of the new barbie dolls, the ones that were shaped like Wonder Woman. Maybe her mother would let her have one, but she doubted it.

The only superhero merchandise her mother wanted to have was Arrowette.

But maybe, because of what today was...

"Mom?" she asked, tugging on her mother's sleeve. "Do you think I could get the Wonder Woman doll?" Wonder Woman, Cissie knew, was awesome. She could save the day and beat up Superman, and Cissie bet that she didn't have to worry about her mother forcing her to be a superhero. She was a hero because she wanted to be. Cissie was sure of it.

Bonnie shook her head. "You don't need that," she said dismissively. "You'll be far bigger than her one day. Now hurry up," she said. "We're going to be late for your next training session. Its all the way across town.

"You could drive," Cissie suggested.

"The exercise is good for you," Bonnie said, lighting a cigarette. "You'll thank me one day. Now move it!"

Cissie obediently followed her mother.

Still, it was too bad she couldn't have that doll. It would have been the best birthday gift ever.

A knock at the door made Cissie wake up. Throwing off the covers of the bed she shared with Tim, she threw on a robe and went to the door. She checked through the peephole, heeding Tim's earlier warnings to be careful, and she made sure she had something to fight with within reach.

The person at the door didn't make her feel any better.

What on earth could her mother be doing here? She checked her watch. It was almost noon. She guessed that she really had needed the sleep after the first patrol she had gone on with Tim, and he hadn't bothered to wake her.

She hadn't really mentioned to her mother that she was dating anyone, either. Or even that her roommate was a guy.

She paled. She had told her mother she was going to move in with a friend from her Arrowette days. Secret identities... wow, she failed at this.

"Hi, Mom," she said, opening the door. "How are you?"

Her mother walked in and took a look around. "Nice apartment," she said. "Large, for New York. Exactly how are you paying for this?"

"Gee, why don't you come in and sit down?" Cissie said, closing the door behind her. "How's Anita and Ish?"

"They're fine," her mother said. "You didn't answer my question."

Cissie rolled her eyes. "I'm using some of my endorsement money, my roommate is paying for some of it, and um..." she trailed off. Her father had volunteered to pay some of her rent. Maybe that explained why her mother was here.

"And he's paying the rest," her mom finished.

Cissie nodded. They stood there in silence for a minute.

"Aren't you going to accuse me of something?" her mother asked.

Cissie stared at her, and finally burst out laughing. "Do you mean you came all the way here just so I could yell at you in person?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Figured I'd save you the trouble of tracking me down."

Hesitantly, Cissie reached out and gave her mother a hug. "It's really fine," she said. "Honest."

Her first costume, the one her mother had designed, had been white. Completely white. Perfectly tailored. She was supposed to look pure and innocent or some crap like that. It was hard to fight in. Completely impractical. By the time she’d joined Young Justice she’d been glad to be rid of it.

Dark Arrowette… that one had been black. She’d been consumed by hate and anger, and her outfit reflected it. Of course, it had also been designed by her mother, because you never knew when you would need a change of costume. But it was also something that she no longer could be – had never wanted to be.

The costume she wore now needed to be better. She couldn’t wear her old Arrowette costume – she had dishonored it with her actions. She had given that one up.

But this new one – it would be a blending of who she was, and who she had been. She adjusted the mask, and stood up. She wasn’t an innocent, and she wasn’t evil. This time, she was a hero. This time she would do it right.

“I’m ready,” she said.

Cissie couldn’t sleep. It was 3 o’clock in the morning, and Tim still wasn’t home. The bed felt really empty without him there.

It wasn’t that it was unusual for him to have a really late patrol, this one just felt different somehow. It was the first patrol that he’d had since she’d made her reappearance as Arrowette, when she’d fought briefly with the Titans. She’d enjoyed it. She’d been useful again. A hero again.

She could have gone with him on patrol. She should have gone with him.

Sighing, she got up out of bed, and headed over to the kitchen. She filled the teapot with water, and pulled out a packet of swiss miss. Hot chocolate would help. She made enough for two. Just so there would be some for Tim when he got back. It might not be Alfred’s cocoa, but at least it would be something.

She sat down and waited. And waited.

OOC: boywonder3 referenced with permission.

Cissie had had plenty of words when Kon had died. Curses, mostly. At the Titans, for not protecting him. At the world, for letting him die. At herself, for not being there to try to help him.

But things had gone on. A year had passed. Life had gone on. She had come to terms with her loss.

But then Bart had died. Bart, who she had thought would always be there for her. Her oldest real friend.

She couldn’t imagine a world without him. She had never wanted to imagine a world without him. A place without his laughter, his joy…

When Cissie heard the news she just turned to Greta and started to cry. There was nothing that she could do to make this right. There was nothing that she could say that would make it any easier.

She simply couldn’t understand why the universe would take away another one of her friends.

OOC: this prompt is canon based and does not reflect on kon_man or not_kid_flash