Chapter 15: Winning Love By Daylight

It was never instantaneous, but Gotham had gotten a lot of practice in rebuilding from catastrophes. Countless contractors and businesses were more than willing to dive upon the Federal and State funding from catastrophic reconstruction subsidies, and as I woke up that morning, the city was beginning to knit into shape, all to the tune of countless construction tools and machines.

I looked down at my phone as I saw Kyle’s new number added to my contacts. They said they’d try to get the others on the same page as them, and I appreciated the gesture, even if I wasn’t certain about their success. But nevertheless, I had one friend back. It was a start I could accept.

Classes were back in session the following week, even as a number of scorch marks and craters still dotted the campus. It was strange how the disconnect between hero life and civilian life made all of it feel so surreal. I had been a part of this fight, but for everyone else it was just as random and unfathomable as the weather. “Cloudy with a chance of alien invasion. Expect traffic delays.” I shook my head at how bizarre it was.

I had texted Batwoman about the invasion as I was on my way to the campus gallery for an art history lecture, but had yet to get a response. I was still curious to hear the specifics on what had happened for the inner circle of the Justice League, about how Superman had convinced the alien leaders to bug off and about what, precisely, Batman thought of me and I was hoping she would fill me in on the scuttlebutt. I was beginning to accept that I really was part of the big leagues, so reaching out to Batwoman felt a little less surreal. 

But I had been so intent on staring at my phone waiting for the response, that I had nearly plowed over someone else as I rounded the corner into the campus art gallery.

There was a brief stumbling as we tried not to bowl each other over and it ended up with us awkwardly toppling into the pillars on either side of the entryway.

She was around my age, with tanned skin and brown eyes which were widened in shock as she tried to get her bearings. She had long dark hair and wore a green, baggy tunic/dress and paint-splattered jeans. She placed a hand onto her chest, which bore a vivid green ring on her finger as she tried to catch her breath.

“Oh holy shit, I’m so sorry,” I said, getting my footing and offering her a hand up. “That was my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

She held up a hand and took a few breaths in and out before she responded. “It’s… fine… I… I wasn’t really paying attention either.” She smiled weakly. “I was looking to step out of the gallery and get some air… too many people, you know?”

I looked towards the gallery and indeed there were a number of students streaming in. I probably should have joined them, but… I couldn’t leave without making sure that she was okay first.

“I get it,” I sighed, looking away from the crowd, “It’s always a nightmare to have all those eyeballs around you, you know?”

“Yeah… um… right, sorry. Are you a student here?” she asked, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

I nodded. “Uh yeah… or at least what’s left of ‘here’.” I indicated the remains of one of the memorial statues nearby that had been reduced to scorched gravel from the invasion.

She giggled and smiled a little wider. “I’m Jessica.”

“Serena,” I said, finding myself smiling just as wide.

“Do you have class here?” she asked, gesturing behind her.

“Uh huh,” I said, nodding. “Uh… I have an art history lecture in the gallery.”

“Oh… that sounds… interesting,” she said, as she clearly had no interest. She hiked her thumb away from herself. “Uh… I should… probably be going then. Don’t want to keep you…”

As she turned to leave, I had to force myself to speak up. Something in my gut was screaming at me and I couldn’t ignore it.

Yes, she was pretty and I couldn’t deny that. My soft breakup with Tuxedo Mask/Toru was still a little fresh, but I knew I wanted to get to know her better, at the very least. But there was also a distinct feeling that she was… off. Something in the wideness of her eyes or the stiffness of her smile or her visibly rapid breathing told me that I shouldn’t leave her alone by herself. I could recognize that I had those moments of anxiety myself and nobody should be forced to suffer through them solo.

 “Wait! Uh… Jessica? Are you… are you okay?” I asked, unsure how else to phrase the question. She didn’t look fine, no matter how much she tried to act like it.

She stopped and turned back to me. She blinked at me for a moment, as if remembering that I was still here. “I’m…” she sighed, sagging visibly, “No, not really… but that’s nothing new.” She looked to the gallery in visible frustration. “I really do like getting the opportunity to show off my art and see what other people have created, but it’s always so… overwhelming having everyone crowding in around you, right?”

I nodded. There had been a similar incident back in Japan where the nerds of Akihabara had crowded over me to see the new Sailor Moon. It was enough to give anyone anxiety. “I could see that would be a problem. If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of art did you create for the gallery?” I tried to get her on more familiar ground.

“It’s a jade ceramic sculpture of an eagle taking flight off of a branch,” she said, blushing faintly, “They’re still setting up that wing of the gallery so it’s not open to the public yet.”

“Hm…” I said, smiling mischievously, “So what I’m hearing is that you have access and could show me your work without having all the crowds around us?”

“I mean… I suppose,” she said, pensively, “You’re not going to get in trouble for missing the lecture?”

“Not really…” I said, “and I’d much rather hear about the art from the artist, rather than some old blowhard talking about dead white men.” This was true, but I had to admit, she was cute and interesting and I wanted to get to know her a little better.

She chuckled as she seemed to warm up to the idea. And to me, by the looks of it. “O-okay… let me show you…”

I wasn’t entirely certain where the confidence was coming from. Before my transformation, talking to girls had been difficult at best and impossible at worst. But as I had come into myself, reaching out to others had become more natural. And as I saw her smiling at me, I realized that other people recognized and could connect to the new me.

We stepped back into the gallery together, and most of the crowd seemed to have slipped into the lecture area where the professor was going on and on about the Renaissance masters. Jessica led me past a “NO ENTRY” sign and into the other wing of the gallery, where, front and center, sat her massive sculpture.

She had sold herself short on her art piece because the thing was incredible. It wasn’t true to life, but it didn’t need to be. It was clearly created to be in dynamic motion, with all the little tendrils streaming off of its wings and feathers looking like speed lines. It was abstract and “distorted” slightly, but the finer details made it clear that it was a powerful bird of prey bursting from the bonds of the Earth in flight. I was too awed to speak as she took her place next to me.

“It’s really nothing special,” she said, looking away from it, “I think they just needed a bigger piece to fill up space.”

“Jessica… holy shit this is incredible,” I whispered, almost as if I were standing in a church. “Fuck… It’s stark… It’s sharp… It’s got all this momentum in its movement. You really did capture the instant with the form and the small details…” I wasn’t an art major, but being an English major with a lot of poetry reading certainly helped get meaning across.

She blushed and laughed self-consciously. “Oh come on… it’s not that great…”

“Look,” I said, turning back to her, “I’m not an art expert… and the best experience I have is that my ex-girlfriend dragged me to a lot of art showings, but I can definitely say that I’m impressed by what I’m seeing. You should be proud of this.”

She blushed a faint pink. I couldn’t help but do the same as I realized how loud and passionate I sounded. The silence that settled between us was both comfortable and unnerving, but it was ended by the sounds of screaming from the next gallery over.

Both of us rushed over to see what the commotion was about, as nothing in an art gallery should inspire that much terror. I saw, with some shock, that the hallway was a mess of colorful dots spread all over the walls and ceiling. Jessica made to step forward, but I threw out my arm to stop her.

“Don’t… I know who did this,” I said, frowning at the dots. “He’s kind of a low-tier villain in Gotham. Polka Dot Man. If you step on those dots, they could easily explode, or spill acid or any number of things and kill you.”

Jessica swallowed hard. “Oh…” I was expecting her to freak out more, given her earlier moment of anxiety, but she seemed strangely calm in the face of this danger.

I cast my gaze around the gallery, noticing the fire door behind us. “Let me see if I can’t disable the alarm… we can get out of here quietly. If we set it off, he’s going to come for us. We escape, then we can go and contact the police.”

Jessica nodded and we went over to the door. For a civilian, she was taking a possible villainous hostage situation surprisingly well. I worried that my clear head would give my own identity away, but I decided to focus on the task at hand.

The fire door was bright red and had a push bar which clearly read “FIRE EXIT ONLY. ALARM WILL SOUND.” At the top of the door was a locked box which had a keyhole to disarm the alarm.

I frowned as I opened my purse to find something I could use to undo the lock and deactivate the fire alarm over the door, but found nothing. I had picked up lockpicking during my high school days, but despite having hair long enough for hairpins, I unfortunately didn’t have any to spare.

Jessica, on the other hand, reached into her own purse and pulled out a multi-tool and jammed it into the lock.

“I got it,” she said, grimacing as she worked a screwhead into the lock, “I think I can force it… could you check the hallway to see if anyone’s coming?”

Impressed by her skills, I nodded and stepped over to the hallway entrance. I could dimly hear some asshole who I assumed to be Polka Dot Man going on a villainous rant about the history of Pointillism or something and I found myself scowling as nobody had arrived yet to stop him. I had the very real feeling that I would have to step in as soon as I got Jessica to safety. I didn’t want to abandon her at a time like this, but I couldn’t let the bad guy get away with this stupidity either.

“Got it!” called Jessica and I turned back to see her push open the door, without any alarm sounding. The fresh air and sounds of the unaware public outside filtered into the gallery.

I frowned. That was some impressive work I hadn’t expected from an artist. Something in the back of my mind was insisting that I was missing a key detail and, as I gave the room one more look around, I noticed the security camera.

It had once been nestled in the corner where the walls met the roof. I was almost certain it had been there when we had walked into the gallery. The rest of the galleries had the same setup. 

But now it was suddenly disconnected on the floor below, its wires severed.

Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but as I’d been a hero long enough, my brain had become more adept at noticing the little things and I learned to trust my instincts. I hadn’t imagined it. Someone had disconnected the only security camera in the room while my back was turned.

And it was just the two of us.

That shouldn’t have been possible for Jessica. She was maybe five foot seven at best and that ceiling was easily ten feet. There was no space for a ladder and even if she had thrown something to knock it down, it would have made a sound as it clattered to the floor and probably smashed. And I hadn’t turned my back to her longer than a minute and it had been done completely silently. It sat, completely whole, on the floor. That wasn’t possible without powers in any way that I could decipher.

Was there an invisible person here? Maybe, but given that it was Polka Dot Man, of all people, who had struck the gallery, I couldn’t imagine anyone with that kind of power working with a dork like him. There was only me and Jessica.

So… she had powers. That was the most likely explanation. Was Jessica working with Polka Dot Man?

No… I was certain of that much… her shyness and self consciousness were too honest to be fake… but she wasn’t just some unassuming artist, either.

“Okay…” I sighed, looking over my shoulder, “I really hope I’m not wrong about this, because it’s kind of a dangerous situation. But I also really don’t have time to fuck around either, so I’ll just ask you straight up.”

I turned back to face her, staring at her dead in the eyes. “Are you a cape?”

Jessica pursed her lips. She delicately closed the door again. A number of emotions made their way over her face. Shock, outrage and, finally, quiet consideration. “What gave me away?” she asked coolly.

“The camera,” I said, indicating it, “No way you could have disconnected it without me noticing unless you had some kind of power. I’m assuming you didn’t want any evidence of you changing into your costume? You wanted me to head out the door first and were going to shut it behind me while you got to work taking down Polka Dot Man?”

“Nice call. And sorry, I was assuming that you were just another civvie,” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say you’ve got some experience with this too…?”

I sighed. People were in danger and I didn’t have any time to argue. I put a hand on my brooch. “I keep your secret and you keep mine?”

She nodded, and the ring on her finger began to glow a verdant green color. “Okay, let’s see what you can do.”

“MOON PRISM POWER! MAKE UP!” I shouted, holding my brooch above me.

It had been a while since I had openly changed in front of another person who wasn’t a Senshi. It felt strange, but liberating, I supposed. I was, of course, technically naked for a moment as my clothes reassembled themselves, but the bigger point of intimacy was the feeling of someone else knowing you down to your core. Becoming Sailor Moon was an act of letting my very heart burst out of my chest and reveal itself for the world to see.

Nevertheless, I still found myself blushing as my transformation finished. Jessica, likewise, was undergoing her own transformation.

“In brightest day, in darkest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power… GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!”

There was a flash of green energy that I had to turn my gaze away from. As I managed to blink past the spots, I could see that Jessica was now wearing her own costume.

It was, of course, a Green Lantern uniform, with skin tight, glowing green and black with white gloves and boots. A green patch of energy covered her right eye and her hair seemed to have grown a mind of its own as it sort of danced like she was floating underwater. She was, in fact, floating off the ground at the moment and while it was impressive, there was no denying the fact that it still felt awkward.

Mostly because her skintight outfit only served to show off what an attractive woman she was.

“Damn…” I said, blushing, “Shit… now I feel a little bad about us going after Polka Dot Man… I mean, we got Green Lantern and Sailor Moon dunking on this little doofus with a splatter fetish, you know?”

She chuckled. “I mean… we might as well do it, though, considering we got dressed up for it.”

“What’s that noise!? Who’s there?!”

Polka Dot Man’s voice floated down the hallway and as he reared his head into the gallery, his eyes widened in horror at what he was seeing.

Polka Dot Man was just some dork in a white jumpsuit covered in dots. He was facing literal Justice League material. His face turned pale as he swallowed hard, visibly shaking as he realized the situation.

“Uh… oh… um…” he looked from one of us to the other, “Oh dear… I… um… I don’t suppose I could… surrender?”

Jessica answered that question by conjuring a transparent green octopus out of nothing with her ring which quickly wrapped its tentacles around the Z-list villain and hoisted him into the air.

I sighed as I pulled out my Moon Stick and gave it a twirl. “Moon Healing Escalation…” I murmured, directing the energy up and down the hallway and clearing it of dots, which easily disintegrated under my power. “I gotta say, Lantern… this feels like a bit of a letdown, you know? I was just trashing space aliens from beyond the stars last week and now we have this dork showing up and ruining a perfectly good art display?”

She nodded. “Oh yeah, I was helping the other Lanterns with that invasion. That was crazy… but this… this is just sad…”

“Hey, Polka Dot,” I said, looking up at the entangled villain. “What the hell were you thinking? You’re taking art here? You know this is mostly student work, right? You’re not going to get jack shit on the market for selling this stuff.”

He sighed. “It’s not about the money… it’s about the message. Art heists are classic… and the more I can raise my reputation, the better opportunities I can find for work.” His eyes lit up. “And look at you two! Big name heroes like Green Lantern and Sailor Moon having to team up to take me in! Think of the bragging rights I’ll get!”

Me and Jessica exchanged glances. She twitched the octopus tentacle to cover the villain’s mouth.

“I’ll go see that the other people are okay,” I sighed wearily. “Can you get a call out to the police?”

Jessica nodded. “Yeah. You got the number?”

I gave her the GCPD number and told her to ask for Rene Montoya, remembering her being fairly understanding the first time we met. Jessica nodded and conjured a glowing green telephone handset that apparently worked as she dialed the number and got a response.

I went down the hall and despite some bruised guards and terrified students and professors, everyone seemed okay in the art gallery. Everyone was sitting on the floor in quiet desperation. They flinched in fear as they saw me, but slowly they realized that I was one of the good guys. I was enough of a fixture in the area that people knew me as a hero, even if they didn’t necessarily know me by name.

In the far corner, I noticed Carla sitting with her arms crossed over her chest. Our eyes met for a moment until she turned away. I felt a little sick to my stomach seeing her in this context, but I still made the point to usher everyone out of the gallery as the police had been called. I got a number of thanks and a few asking for pictures or autographs. Carla walked past me without a word.

I headed back to see Jessica vanishing the glowing green phone into nothing.

“She said they’ll be here in a little bit. She seemed to remember you…” she said, eying me carefully.

“I might have delivered Clayface to her in a jar,” I said, grinning in spite of myself.

“That was you?!” said Jessica, putting a hand to her mouth. “I heard about that! I think Batman was talking about it…”

Batman was talking about me of all people?! That took a moment to sink in, but I was floored.

 “Oh come on…” I said, blushing slightly, “you’re literally a member of one of the most powerful organizations in the galaxy. You have the capability of essentially beating the entire freaking Justice League in a fair fight. Jarring up a glop monster is bush league by comparison.”

She blushed, “I mean… using the ring… it’s a lot harder than it looks. And that was some really impressive power you threw around.”

Voices and footsteps swarmed into the building as Gotham’s finest arrived on the scene. Again, Detective Montoya led the charge, making a beeline for us.

“Seriously?” she asked, frowning at the still-entangled villain as he floated overhead in the grip of a green spectral octopus, “I get called all the way out here for Polka Dot Man?!” She rounded angrily to Jessica. “Seriously, Lantern?! You said it was a hostage crisis!”

“I mean, it was,” I said, a tad defensively.

“But it was Polka Dot Man?!” she insisted, pointing at him, who looked visibly embarrassed. She shook her head and turned away, waving vaguely in his direction, “Uh… yeah, Sergeant, take him away or whatever… I’m going to get some coffee.” She grumbled, “Fucking waste of my time…” under her breath as she left.

Jessica lowered the octopus to allow the other police to cuff him and take him away. As soon as he was secured, the cephalopod disappeared in another flash of green light. We exchanged glances now that the crisis had more or less resolved itself and I stepped a little closer to her to get out of earshot of the others.

“Uh… maybe we should talk or something? The school cafe in twenty minutes or so?” I asked, my voice low and unsure.

Jessica considered the offer for a moment, before nodding. “Sure.”

We both did the classic “fly/jump off into the sunset” thing and doubled back to detransform to both establish our alibis and “happen to run into each other” later at the coffee shop. It was weird how easily the duplicity of being a hero was rubbing off on me. But Jessica seemed used to it.

Jessica ordered a vegan latte, I picked up a hot chocolate from the student barista and we settled into a corner table to talk a little. It was a mid-afternoon so while it wasn’t empty, it wasn’t exactly crowded either, which Jessica seemed to appreciate as we nestled into the corner.

“So,” I said, eying my still-steaming drink, “Power ring, huh?”

She nodded. In her untransformed state it looked like any other piece of costume jewelry. “It… uh… it’s kind of a long story… and I really don’t like talking about my past with it…”

I shrugged. “Uh… fair enough. Not gonna say that my origin story was particularly pretty either." I tapped the brooch on my chest. "Got my ass kicked inside out to get this little beauty."

"Mmm," she said, lightly blowing on her late to cool it down.

"So, I gotta ask… you’re with the League, right?” I continued, leaning in. "I mean... the Green Lantern Core, too, I guess."

“Yeah,” she said, sipping her coffee.

“What’s it like running with the big boys?” I asked, eagerly.

"I get called out lightyears away to handle terrifying crises at a moment's notice," said Jessica stiffly, "Or I'm stuck in boring meetings that won't end."

You are reading story Secret Identity at novel35.com

"Yeah," I said, nodding, "I could imagine that's... a lot." 

“I mean… I don’t know… I just kind of had all this power dumped on me suddenly… I wasn’t really given any time to adjust… so, it’s just kind of my new normal,” she said, not quite making eye contact. “It’s… it’s just my life now…”

“I get that…” I sighed. I frowned for a moment, noticing her discomfort. I was fucking this up again. Just like I had with Carla. And after Toru… things were still not working. My heart sank into my stomach as I realized that I still wasn’t ready for this. Maybe I never would be.

"I'm sorry," I groaned, scooting away from the table, “Uh… if you want to just go… I... I'm sorry.”

“No!” she said, blushing visibly and holding up her hands defensively, “You're doing fine! I… um… I just… can we not talk about hero stuff? I… I really don’t get the chance to do normal things like this very often… just enjoy coffee and hang out... and I don’t want to have it go back to being about work. It would be nice to… feel ordinary for a little bit.”

I sighed. “I mean… I get that. But I gotta say that being a hero has made up so much of my life that I don’t even know how to act outside of it. Like, outside of just keeping my GPA up, I really don’t do that much as everyday Serena. I don't really get to have much of a personal life.”

“Well… You said you had an ex-girlfriend?” she asked, blushing a little.

I felt myself get a little heated. “Uh…” I hadn’t meant to let that slip. I had only recently come to accept my gender and I had no idea how people would take me casually outing myself as bisexual. "Y-yeah... I mean... uh... it's like..."

“I mean, I’m not judging,” she said, holding up her hands, “My parents are lesbians. Mom left Dad for another woman. I mean… I’m actually bisexual myself. So I didn’t want you to think I was being a bigot or anything…" She swallowed another sip of latte. "I just remembered you said that you two didn’t do much but you still had… um…” She buried her head in her hands. “I’m sorry, I’m really terrible at this.”

“Hey,” I said, leaning forward to put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not doing much better..." She flinched at the contact, but didn’t move away from it as she looked up. 

Unsure of how to proceed from there, I returned my hand back to the table and leaned back, feeling my stomach twist.

“Look… Jessica. You’re doing fine. Believe me, I’m not really that social myself…” I chuckled a little, “But, yeah, I was with a girl for about a year or so… um..” I took a gulp of hot chocolate to try to force back some of the feelings that followed the memories. 

“We were both capes. Most of the stuff we did was training and planning and um…” I blushed, breaking off for a moment as I remembered our other common activity. Jessica was undeniably attractive and it was sending all kinds of confusing sensations through my brain and body. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach and I had to drown them with hot chocolate. 

“The point is…” I said, clearing my throat, “it wasn’t exactly healthy for either of us. I sort of let the hero thing get in the way of the relationship thing. But… I’ve been going through a lot of changes lately and trying to be a better person. So now I’m focusing on just being Serena. Trying to get a fresh start on my personal life. ”

She smiled faintly, “A fresh start… Dios mio that would be nice…”

“It’s… great…when it works,” I said, smiling back, “But I have to admit that it’s an uphill climb starting from zero. And there’s still all this baggage you gotta work through from the life you left behind.” I pursed my lips. “But… it goes a lot more smoothly when you have someone to help you work through it.”

Our eyes met. The winter sun shone through the window and suffused her in light. Her dark hair shimmered as she just stared at me in awe. I felt my own heart begin to hammer in my chest and my hands, which had simply been sitting on the table, slowly moved towards her own.

"Uh... wow I didn't... um... expect this," I mumbled, still keeping my eyes locked on her. "Am I coming on too strong here?"

"N-no!" sputtered Jessica, "I... I like this. You're... really amazing and I'd... I'd like to get to know you better. I just..." She chuckled. "I've never-"

She broke off as a bright flash of green light emanated from her ring. Jessica looked down at it in frustration. “Seriously?!” she groaned as she got up, “Of all the fucking times... “ She looked at me painfully, “Sorry… I... duty calls.”

“I… get it,” I said, still flustered. My brain was consumed with screaming in disappointment at that stupid ring.

“Um… wait…” she said, pulling out a pen from her purse and a card. “This is my cell,” she said, scratching the number on the back, “I don’t get reception… um… out there,” she gestured above her vaguely, “But text me, and I’ll pick up when I get back… um… I’d… like to continue this… If you want to.”

"Yes!" I said, maybe a little louder than I intended.

I took the card. It was a business card for her art studio. Jessica Cruz. I turned it over and found her cell number, signed Jess <3

“Uh… thanks,” I said, blushing, now more quietly, “I’d… I’d like that. I… I think we have a lot in common.”

She nodded, smiling. Her ring flashed more insistently. “Alright, alright… keep your pants on,” she hissed at the jewelry. She looked up at me, as if expecting something.

I didn’t know what precisely she wanted, but I knew what I wanted to do. I’d gotten a lesson in romantic bravery in Tokyo and I’d taken it to heart. I leaned forward. "A little something for luck?"

She went violently red, but nodded, making a slight squeaking noise. I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around her, and stole a quick peck on her cheek. "Until next time?"

She stiffened in surprise, but almost melted into my embrace. She bit her lip as she pulled away. “Damn it…” she looked at me sternly, “I’ll be back. I promise.”

“I’ll be here,” I said dreamily.

And with that, she took her coffee and ran out the door, leaving me standing there in a daze.

I fumbled my phone out of my purse and added the contact info to it. Jess <3 was added to my address list and, with some difficulty, I made the conscious choice to delete Carla from my contacts.

A fresh start.

My phone buzzed, and as I checked my messages, I was somewhat disappointed to see that it was just from Batwoman.

Sorry… I was dealing with a mess in Tibet. No cell service. What’s up?

Whatever questions I had about alien invasions and Justice League inner workings were instantly tabled.

Hey, do you know Green Lantern? The female one? Long dark hair, green mark over her eye?

I waited nervously for her response.

Kind of? She was just recruited into the League by the first GL. Why?

 

I ran into her during an art theft. We had to take down Polka Dot Man together.

POLKA DOT MAN?! OMG SERIOUSLY?!

Uh, yeah. 

One second. Still laughing.

I sighed impatiently as I waited for her response.

Okay, okay… I asked the Boss about her. He said that she’s a newer recruit to the Lantern Core. Kind of a wallflower and wet blanket.

I felt myself tense defensively as I typed out a response.

She really isn’t like that! She’s powerful, kind and beautiful! She’s just gone through a lot!

I hit send a fraction of a second before I realized what I was actually sending. Her response came back painfully slow.

Oh my! So defensive of your new girlfriend?

I blushed as I tried to come up with a workable response.

We just talked a little bit. I think we’re just friends for now.

Maybe a little more than friends, but I wasn't about to kiss and tell.

We’ll be meeting up when she gets back from her Lantern stuff.

So… you got another date lined up then? Damn, girl, look at you…

I sighed in frustration.

I don’t know… It feels like it’s too soon for me to jump back into things like this… but I don't want to let this opportunity slip away.

First love as a girl hits differently, right?

I jerked back as if I had been slapped. I sagged back into my chair staring at the phone in shock. I started shaking as I realized what she was saying.

Obviously, this wasn’t my first love as a girl. It was my first love as a girl with another girl, certainly. But even so…

I supposed that I could have understood how she knew about my past. The Bat family had some serious information gathering chops and it wouldn’t have been hard to put the pieces together for how my career as a cape had changed. And I was never clear about how much of my argument with Carla she had heard that night. Nevertheless, it was extremely unsettling to know that she, and by extension Batman, knew I used to be a boy.

Shit. Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up. She replied as I went silent on my end. I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through, but you have my support. Whatever your past is, you are 100% girl, no question.

It’s… been hard. I texted back. I told my parents the truth last Christmas and they shut me out. I keep seeing my ex on campus and it’s like she’s haunting me. Jess has been the first step out of this hole, but I can’t help but feel that my past is going to keep catching up with me and ruining my new life.

I get that. And I know it’s hard getting back up on that horse. Especially after everything you’ve gone through. I might have a way for you to make more new connections, if you’re interested. Or at the very least give you people to talk to.

Yeah… I typed painfully. I’d like that.

You deserve the chance to be happy, Serena. Go take it!

I sighed, leaning back in my chair as I quietly finished off my hot chocolate. Feeling the lingering warmth of the drink and Jess's touch, I was willing to accept, for that moment, at least, that things were slowly getting better.

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