Speed
I aim my bow steadily in her direction. She's moving so quickly, everywhere at once. But I have been trained to hit moving targets. I hold the bowstring taught, lose the arrow and…with a slice of her metal claws she chops it cleanly in half, the maniacal grin permanently pasted on her face seeming all the more brighter. Desperately I fumble for another arrow, but before I know it, she has tackled me to the ground. I throw back my legs, about to kick her over my head, but then she does something I would never expect.
She licks me. Her mask pops up slightly, not enough for me to see her face, but enough for her to lick me, lovingly and directly on the chin. Then she slashes me across the face, and is gone, leaving me lying there, wounded and stunned.
I take one of my rare breaks from being Speedy one afternoon. Ever since I joined Titans East, I'm usually Speedy full time. I do everything in my costume: grocery shopping (when I'm stuck with it, ugh); going to the movies; eating at the local taco joint…but sometimes I like to take a break from all that and walk around town as…Roy. Nobody recognizes me. I'm just a regular guy. I'm…normal. I wonder if any of Titans East would recognize me like this even; without my mask; my red hair tousled instead of neatly combed, in baggy jeans and a t-shirt.
I lean against a traffic pole, my hands shoved in my pockets, as the crowd mulls around me, a colorful throng. I try to see anybody interesting, but mostly they all look the same. Floating through the crowd like zombies, dull, tired and upset. Wearing the same thing, acting the same way…except for one girl. Something about her catches my eye. Not that she's hot, though she is. She's thin and muscular, with long black hair that probably goes past her waist, but it's gathered in a high ponytail so it's only waist length. Her nationality is hard for me to tell, which is a pretty rare thing. She's either Vietnamese, French or Asian. She has large expressive green eyes and full lips; wearing a ragged crop tee with a broken heart on it as well as black ankle cut pants and hiking boots.
As I drunk in every detail of her appearance the most important thing I notice is that she looks alive…hyper-alert….and…oddly familiar.
She quickly notices me staring at her. She stares back; looking methodically over me. Then something sparks in her eyes and she begins to walk toward me. My hormones are jumping at the thought I might get to hook up with her, but I have a sense on unease…
She reaches me.
"Um, hi, I'm-"
She licks me on the chin.
And pushes past me.
I stand there in shock for a few seconds and then spin around to watch her reatreating back, and finally see the weights fastened securely in her long ponytail.
I barely manage to escape the wrath of her stiletto heel as I dodge to the side. Good thing too, because those things hurt. I hear her laughing behind her mask. I try to concentrate, to not think about…
I string an arrow and point it directly at her face.
"Give it up, Cheshire," I growl.
She laughs."Now why would I do that?"
I stare at her, stunned. It's the first time I've ever heard her speak. She takes the opportunity to kick me into a tree. I reach for my bow, but she pins my hand to the wood behind me with her foot and gives another tinkling laugh. "Back to this again, huh, Roy?"
I guess this would count as the fourth time Cheshire has stunned me. I gape at her, my mouth desperately trying to form words. She swipes my bow away from me swiftly. God, her laugh is annoying.
We grapple for the bow, tugging at it like a toy we can't share. I manage to gasp "Yeah, you're right, it's just like old times, isn't it, Jade?"
Hah. She's not the only one who can memorize a face and hack into a government database! She lets go of my bow in shock and in one fell swoop I string it and deliver a boxing glove arrow to her stomach. She rolls on the ground, then tries to get up, but her stiletto is stuck in the ground. She swears and tries desperately to pull it out. I begin to string my bow again, but then her left foot pops out of her shoe, and she flies at me, tackling me to the ground with a thump.
But instead of hitting me, she rips off her mask and begins to kiss me violently, her hands gripping my shoulders, her claws digging in. I find myself kissing back and soon we are rolling in the dirt like a couple of wild animals. She kicks off her other show and her hand travels up my face, towards my mask. I rip it off and she smiles. All thought of fighting gone, we continue to kiss.
Cheshire kisses like she fights: ruthlessly and deliberately. I try to keep up the pace, determined not to let her dominate me. I'm not sure if it is seconds, minutes, or hours before we heat a rustling that means the rest of Titans East is coming. I quickly grab my mask and Cheshire gives me one last evil smile before she grabs hers, and her shoes; then disappears in the woods, leaving only the flash of her teeth behind.
When Titans East find me, they see me on the ground, looking dirty, bedraggled and like I don't know what the hell just happened, but no for the reasons they think.
This time, we don't bother to fight. We meet in a moonlit clearing, almost sickeningly romantic, and stare. We have just finished a furious session of making out. Cheshire sits across from me, her legs spread out as she sits across from me so I can easily see up her abbreviated kimono, but she doesn't really seem to mind people seeing, as I have discovered in our fights. I can't help feeling nervous as I attempt to stare into her eyes instead.
I know I should be getting back to Titans East. They'll be wondering where I am. What would Bumblebee think is she knew where I was? What about Aqualad? What would Mia think? What would Ollie think? Oh god, Ollie…he would be DISGUSTED with me! And…and…Robin! And Cyborg! And Kid Flash! (Well, he can't talk) Um, and Superman and Batman and Mas y Menos. (Okay, so I don't really care what Mas y Menos think, but still…)
"You're thinking about them aren't you?" Her voice cuts through my thoughts.
"Um, them who?" I play for time.
"Them!" She glares at me. "Your goody goody friends. What they'd think of me."
"I'm not," I lie. What is she, a mind reader.
"Yes, you are," she says in a bored tone. "You're thinking about Titans North…"
"East."
"Whatever. You're thinking about what Aqualad and Bumblebee and-
"I'm not, Cheshire!"
"You ARE, Speedy," She replies, rolling her eyes. She doesn't sound hurt or angry, just like she's stating a fact. I sit in silence as she looks away from me. Finally she says "Where'd you get a retarded name like that anyway?"
"Huh?"
"Speedy. Sounds like you're a drug addict or something."
Total mind reader. "They say it's because I'm fast with a bow."
She snorts. "Could've fooled me."
"Shut up, Jade."
"I'm just saying, Roy," she rubs her leg sensuously against mine, making a shiver go up my spine. "When I targeted you for the Brotherhood of Evil, you didn't seem very-
"Can we not talk about that? Please?" I grumble.
She purrs. "And what about your friends, I mean, ROBIN?"
"He claims the name has sentimental value," I shrug.
"Aqualad? Who says "lad" anymore?"
"What else is he supposed to call himself? Water Boy?"
"Mas y Menos?"
"It's Spanish for…something."
"Bumblebee?"
"Um…"
"It's cute how you try to defend them."
"Well, it's not like the Brotherhood of Evil is any better. Ding Dong Daddy? The Brain? Monsieur Mallah? Mad Mod? Mother Mae Eye?"
Cheshire snorts. " I don't associate with those people anymore.
I close my eyes and lean back against a tree. "Well, what about you? Why would you name yourself after an Alice in Wonderland character?"
There is a pause.
Then she whispers, "Because, Speedy, you never know when I'm going to…disappear."
Oh crap. I quickly snap open my eyes, but it's too late. She's gone. All that is left is a grin.
Fin.