I got this!

"Kal..." she started, only to trail off with a shake of her head. She was stunned. "You know, I don't doubt us all that much either." She looked up at him again, gratitude in her expression as she made room for him on the seat. "In fact, I think....I think we'll be okay." The hand she'd been keeping still in his hand sprang to life and gave him a squeeze of appreciation. Raquel wasn't often an emotional person, but she was glad only Kaldur had been around to see it. She trusted him fully, and something told her she wouldn't regret that anytime soon.

“I get the feelin’ Batman would hate it if he knew you told me that,” she said, still trying to stifle lingering giggles. She inhaled deeply and straightened so she could give him a proper response. “And—don’t think I’m weird for sayin’ this or nothin’—but that’s pretty sweet of you. You know; it’s all sentimental and endearin’ and whatnot.

“Oh, it’s my turn to turn your emotions to mush, then?” Raquel joked as she remembered the story of how she met her mentor. It didn’t take long, as the event was very important to her. “Okay, uh, so believe it or not, the first time I met Icon I was actually-” she had the good sense to look embarrassed- “robbin’ his house. It’s one of the only illegal things I did that I don’t fully regret. Don’t get me wrong; stealin’ is bad and if you tell anyone I told you otherwise, you’d be lyin’. It’s just that if I hadn’t been doing that, I never would’ve met Icon. And he—well, he changed my life. I had to convince him to become a hero, but he was the one that turned me into a hero.” Raquel knew that didn’t make a lot of sense, and tried to explain. “I wanted to be in the hero biz for all the wrong reasons. Fame, glory, you know. Icon was the one that made me realize that bein’ a hero was a lot more than that. And you—well, the Team, really, helped out with that too.”

It was enjoyable to be able to be honest with someone else that wasn’t Wally. So it might have felt just a little bit weird and Rob’s guard was still up, ready to block and evade any questions that became a bit too invasive, but he knew Raquel had enough sense not to ask anything too outlandish. The fear of Batman was probably on her, as it was in most people. Even the newer League members had enough sense not to ask about confidential stuff that Robin might know. No one wanted an angry Batman on their tail.

Hearing the same honesty from her was nice as well, especially since she was so blunt about it. Her story about meeting Icon was one he only knew a tiny bit about, so it was both interesting and something new. He smiled along, laughing when she shyly admitted that she’d been robbing the alien’s house. He nudged her foot with his own. “I’m glad you’re a hero for the right reasons. You make a good one. A hero, I mean,” he said, earnest and just as honest as before, if not more so. He pointed at himself and started picking at the edge of his mask. “Robin exists to help people and that’s the only reason there has ever been. Well,” the teen bit the corner of his lower lip, looking sheepish. “That’s a lie, actually. There’s no shame in having a bit of fun while being a vigilante.” 

He smirked, drawing his legs up again and leaning forward. “The kid underneath here needed this life. It’s dangerous, sure, but it’s really helped me a lot. I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but I think it might be. Being a hero saved you from continuing to steal and stuff, yeah? It’s the same principle for me, I suppose.” Rob snorted, suddenly realizing he’d been rambling and had gotten off track. “Right, anyway, Aqualad was stiff and entirely too professional. I made it my personal mission to get him to lighten up a bit. I don’t think it worked much in the beginning. Kid Flash and I have been friends for a long time. When I saw him I remember thinking, “Wow he talks just as much as I do,” and then we ran off together while Flash and Batman talked or something.” 

Rob cracked his knuckles. Should he mention Roy? The archer wasn’t really a part of the team right now. He wasn’t ever, really. “Meeting Superboy was a bit cool, since you know, he’s a clone of Superman and everything. When he started throwing punches, it got a little scary, I guess. Miss M seemed sweet at first glance and I remember thinking that I had to curb Wally’s awful flirting before she flew away back to Mars.” 

“Artemis was cool, very headstrong. I still get that feeling from her whenever I’m around her. She’s got a soft side though, but don’t tell her I told you. She’ll hit me.” He grinned conspiratorially. “Ah, and I suppose now we’re at Zee,” The boy blushed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. Zatanna never really failed to make him flustered. He didn’t understand it! It was embarrassing and thrilling all at once! “Um, do I have to answer?” At her raised eyebrow and unamused expression, Robin coughed, looking at the tabletop. “Right. Well, I guess my first impression of her was me thinking she was beautiful. I can’t really deny that.” He laughed nervously, quickly moving on before Rocket could comment. 

She listened quietly while Robin talked. The kid sure could talk. If Raquel didn't like him enough already, she would've found it annoying. But it was obvious that Robin just let himself ramble without event thinking of it, and as she tended to do something similar, she found it somewhat endearing. She promised not to tell Artemis, and nudged him with her elbow when he blushed and fumbled over Zee. "Man, you've got it bad for that girl!" she laughed, then let him continue. 

"A godsend huh?" Raquel leaned back slightly and pretended to check her nails. "I could definitely get used to a nickname like that. And, you know, if you ask nicely I might let you take my belt for a spin sometime." She tapped her chin, trying to think of how to answer his question.

Greg responds…

3/6

Red Arrow-Roy Harper

Zatanna-Zatanna Zatara