Cardinal

I grinned up at the huge T-shaped tower. I was minutes away from seeing my older brother. He wasn't my real brother, but he was close enough. I walked up to the main door, walking inside slowly. There was an elevator, which looked as though it lead up to another room. I pressed the up button, hearing the bell ding shortly after, opening the door. I stepped in, the door shutting behind me. The elevator rose, taking my up pretty high before dinging once again.

I walked into the room, "Hey, Di-" I stopped myself, noticing the other people in the room. There where at least ten other people in the room. "Uh, hey.." I said sheepishly. I almost outed my own brother. I didn't even know he was apart of a team. I thought he had just went off on his own.

Dick stared at me, as thought he wasn't expecting me. Did Bruce tell him I was coming? I smiled a bit, "This would be less awkward if someone else would talk." I said, giving a small fake laugh.

A orange skinned girl floated over to me, grinning widely. She had long red hair, with wide green eyes, "Greetings! I am Starfire." she said, grabbing my hand forcefully. I smiled softly at her.

"Hi there. I'm Va-" Dick stopped me by pulling me away from Starfire. "This will only take a sec." he said, taking me into another room. It looked like his room back home. I assumed it was his room here.

"That was rude, don't you think?" I asked, glaring slightly. He shook his head before pinching the bridge of his nose. He paced around his room, whispering to himself.

"What?" I asked, placing my hand on my hip. He looked up at me, "Don't give me an attitude." he said, before he stopped pacing.

"What's your problem, Dick?" I asked, getting slightly angry.

"What's my problem? You're my problem. You come to my tower out of nowhere, almost out me- let alone yourself- in front of my team and girl friend and with no reason at all. That's my problem." he retorted, causing my to flinch. He's never yelled at me like that before.

"Ooo, Richie has a girlfriend. The red head, isn't it? I always knew you had a thing for red heads, like Barbara. I was never too fond of Barbara though. But, with this one, I approve." I started, "Anyways, I'm sorry. I didn't know there would be people here. I thought you were on your own. Bruce didn't tell me anything about this little team you have. I'm here because I missed my older brother." I finished, my voice lower than before.

"You could have called before hand so I could've prepared, and told you some rules." he said, lowering his voice, ignoring my little statement about his girlfriend. I looked at him dumbfounded. What he serious? Rules?

"Really, Dick? Rules?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in the process.

"Yes, rules. Like, for instance, NEVER call me Dick, Richard or anything related to my real name in front of my team mates. You should've already known that. Don't go by Vanessa, because you know that would out me and Bruce both. Go by Cardinal. You aren't aloud to go on missions with the team, I can't risk you being hurt," he stopped for a second, thinking of more rules. I couldn't help but feel like I was a little kid again. He was sure treating me like one. "Oh, and no dating." he finished. My mouth was wide open.

"Are you serious? I could totally help the team. With both of our mad "Batman" skills, we'd rule!" I smiled. "Plus, I am going to fight whether you like it or not." I said, smirking.

He sighed in defeat, "Fine, but all of the other rules are still intact. Especially the dating one. I will literally castrate anyone who lays a finger on you." I couldn't help but laugh, but I quickly tossed my hand over my mouth.

"But that little green guy is such a hottie!" I kidded, smiling. "Let's not forget the one with the arrows." I said, dreamily. Now that one wasn't such a lie, although I pretended it was.

Dick, or Robin, snarled, "I swear, if they ever lay a hand on you, I'll-" I cut him off mid-sentence, "I know, I know. You'll 'castrate' them." I said, putting quotation marks around castrate.

"Besides," Robin started, cooling down a bit, "The little green dude is practically taken." he said, smirking at me.

"Let me guess, the one with the cloak who's wearing the leotard?" I asked. He nodded. "Wait, what do you mean by 'practically'?" I asked, curiously.

"Well, let's just forget it. It's hard to explain." he said, running a hand through his hair. I shrugged.

"Well, I guess I should go out there and meet your little friends." I said, sighing. I really wasn't prepared to meet anyone. I had on normal clothes, besides my mask. Robin noticed this.

"You may want to change into your uniform first." he said, looking carefully at the clothes I had chosen to wear. I nodded, agreeing. "Oh, by the way, If the cloaked one doesn't like you, don't take it personally. It took her a year or so to warm up to me, and I am pretty sure she still has troubles liking the green one." he said, not using their names. Maybe he wanted that to be a surprise, I didn't know.

He left me in his room to change. I locked the door before changing into my uniform. It was a one piece. It was somewhat like a leotard, only shorts instead of a bikini like bottom. It had tank top like sleeves, silver sparkles covering the left shoulder, along with red sparkles lining it. The right shoulder was plain black, which went over my right breast. The sparkles from the left shoulder crossed over underneath my right breast, stopping at my right side. There was a slit below that, showing my skin, along with more silver sparkles with red lining sparkles below that. Then, another slit below that, concluding with a small sparkly silver skirt like cloth, cover over some of the black shorts, showing most of my legs. There were silver gloves along with the outfit. I wore black tights underneath the uniform, kicking it off with black knee length boots.

I walked out of Robin's room, looking one last time in the mirror. I walked into the common room, and all eyes were suddenly on me. Robin's eyes widened, looking at my outfit. He scurried towards me, hiding me with his cape.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he asked, quietly. I grinned.

"My uniform, of course. You told me to change."

"Yeah, ha ha, very funny. No go change into your real uniform." he said, trying to cover me as best as he could. I shook my head.

"Robin, this is my real uniform." I said, coming out from behind him. I heard a small whistle come from the guy with arrows. I grinned, before winking at him.

"Ooo, looks like Speedy's gotta new girl." I heard the robotic one say. Robin glared at both Speedy and the robotic guy.

"What happened to your old, less showy one?" he asked, glaring daggers at Speedy. All he did was smirk.

"Well, Bats and I changed it up. Obviously." I said, looking around the room.

"And he approved of this?!" he asked, in a tone I didn't like.

"Well, he didn't at first, but I talked him into it. It didn't take much." I replied, as my glove started to slip. I pulled it up.

"But-" Robin started, but I cut him off once again, "No. No buts. I've changed it, and that's final. Don't give me any of your shit." I said, more like kind of yelled.

"Fine, if you want to look slutty, that's fine by me." He muttered under his breath, but I still heard. I shook my head at him.

"Leave it alone, ass-wipe." I glared, flipping my hair over my shoulder. He had practically called most of the girls in the room sluts. His own girlfriend was wearing a crop top and a mini skirt. I shrugged it off.

"Damn, girl's got a mouth." the robotic man said. I nodded, grinning. I looked at all of them, still wondering what their names were.

"So, yeah, I'm Cardinal. You know, like the bird. No special powers, just kick ass moves. Learned them from Batman, yada yada." I introduced, running a hand through my hair. "Now it's your turn. I already know Starfire, since she introduced herself." I said, waiting for someone to talk.

The green boy grinned before speaking, "I'm Beast Boy!" he started, "The name kinda explains my powers. You know, I can turn into animals." he finished holding his had out. I shook it before nodding.

"Cyborg's the name. Kinda self explanatory just like the grass stain." he said, referring to Beast Boy. I waved at him.

A girl dressed in bumblebee like clothes stepped forward. She grabbed my hand, shaking it, "Bee here. It's short for Bumblebee." she said, grinning. "Nice to meet ya." I nodded, smiling back.

She stepped away, before two boys, about twelve years old, sped up to me. The one on top kisses my hand softly before speaking, "Hola, senorita Cardinal. Mas y Menos." he said, referring to himself as Mas, and the other as Menos. I smiled softly, before they ran away. I knew what they said, but I didn't really speak fluent Spanish.

"Kid Flash." I felt the whisper on my neck. I jumped slightly, turning around, but no one was there. I turned back around to see am orange haired boy. He lifted my hand and kissed it softly. I flushed and smiled, curtsying a bit. "Fastest boy alive." he said, grinning. I could practically see Robin seething in anger. This boy was cuter than Speedy. I noticed the lighting bolts that were on the sides of his mask. "Hi." I grinned. He was the only one I really talked to.

"Ooo, looks like ya got some competition, Speeds." Bee grinned. Speedy glared at Kid Flash, and I giggled. Kid Flash sped over to the couch, sitting. Robin was glaring at him, being way to protective over me. He muttered something under his breath.

Aqualad waved, "Aqualad." was all he said. I smiled at him.

"Well, I know you're Speedy, so no need to introduce yourself. What about you?" I asked, looking towards the cloaked girl. She was reading. "Raven." she said in a monotone voice. I nodded.

"It's nice to meet you all." I said, smiling softly.

It was silent for a moment. Starfire, Robin;s girlfriend rushed up to me, grabbing my hand, "Would you like to go to the mall of shopping with me later? What is your favorite color? May we be the friends of best?" she asked gripping my hand rather firmly.

"Uhh, sure, purple and yeah." I said, rubbing my hand softly. She had one strong grip. She squealed, happily. I looked at Robin, who smiled sheepishly.

"Not now, though Starfire. I think I just need to settle in." I said, giving her a soft smile. She nodded in agreement.

"I'll show you to your room." Kid Flash zoomed up before saying. He wiggled his eyebrows. I giggled, "You know, I'd be fine with that, but I don't think Robbie over here would."

Robin grabbed my hand roughly, before taking my bag and dragging me to my new room. He let go of my hand and I rubbed it.

"Dude, not cool. That hurt." I sighed after saying. He glared at me.

"What the hell did I just tell you?" he yelled, making me wince. He through my bag on the bed. I sat beside it, waiting for the rest to come.

"I specifically said no dating, and what do you do? You flirt your ass off in that slutty outfit. God, you're acting really stupid. Hell, not really. More like completely. You're acting like a whore." he yelled, pointing at me with every you. I cringed. He had never said that to me. I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

As soon as Robin saw the tear, he immediately regretted saying it, "Wait, Ness, I-"

I shook my head, "You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it." I said, wiping the tears away.

"But, I-"

"No. No buts. Just, please leave." I said, turning my face. "I'm-" he started.

"Go." I said, more forcefully. He left without another word.