71 CHAPTER 65

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[David Lance POV]

With a silent yawn, I slowly opened my eyes, stretching my body as I sat up on my bed, pushing the covers of my bed to the side. Reminiscing about the event of the last few months, finding that as of lately things have been rather slow, with crime being at an all-time low.

However, as strange as this change was, I was happy with this. Less crime to fight meant I had more time to do other things besides catching criminals, things I enjoyed, like painting, reading, cooking with my sister, and hanging out with Rachel, so all and all, it was nice to have some downtime.

Nevertheless, I knew this rather strange respite wouldn't last forever. Sooner or later, as history had shown many times before, there would be another crisis. In the meantime, however, I was content to just enjoy this rare gift from the heavens.

Taking a deep breath, I jumped out of my bed, grabbing my phone that was on my nightstand, before sending a text to Rachel. [Going to Lorenzo's Pizza for lunch, wanna come?]

Text sent; I walked into my bathroom, and I couldn't help but admire the architecture. The high ceilings and intricate details on the molding, the marble floor, and other details made me feel like I was in a palace.

Deciding I had admired the bathroom too long already, I started my day like I always do- by brushing my teeth. I made sure to brush thoroughly, working the toothbrush around all of my teeth, using a circular, back-and-forth, and up-and-down motions. Once I was finished, I rinsed my mouth out with water before spitting the water into the sink. Then, I used some mouthwash to remove any remaining bacteria.

Done with my morning routine, my phone buzzed with a notification. A quick look confirmed my suspicions, seeing the notification was from Rachel answering my text.

Smiling, I grabbed the phone and opened the chat.

[Sounds good, I feel like eating one whole pizza by myself today, if I'm being honest.]

My my my, little Ol'Rachel is quite hungry.

Grinning, I promptly replied to her text. [Fine by me, that way, I can get the animal murderer supreme with extra cheese.]

Now with that done, time to get some clothes on before starting the day.

Still smiling, I walked to my closet and picked a pair of jeans and a simple black shirt that I knew would be comfortable before getting dressed and going down into the kitchen to have some breakfast with Dinah.

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After a quick breakfast, I laced up my shoes and headed out the door, deciding to go out for a jog. Outside, the fresh air of the neighborhood felt invigorating, with the wind gently clashing against my face as I picked up the pace.

As I ran, I surveyed the area, marveling at the pinkish-golden hue that gently colored the sky today.

I would run for an hour or two before going for Rachel.

"Hi, David!" Someone waved at me, a girl in her teenage years, around two to three years older than me. Her name was Milly Anderson; she was the daughter of a rich doctor in Star City, Mark Anderson.

Based on interactions, I had quickly concluded the girl had a crush on me, even though she knew she was older than me, a crush her father was supporting based on my connections with Oliver.

That was probably the worst part about being family with Oliver. Everyone wanted me to marry their daughters. For them, the greedy ones, I represented an easy exit to riches beyond their wildest dreams.

For the most part, I paid them no heed.

Save for Milly, while her father was supportive because of my connections and the benefits a relationship between us would bring him, his daughter wasn't. She genuinely had a crush on me, one that I was pretty sure was based on physique alone.

So, seeing her crush was an innocent one, I kept a friendly demeanor with her instead of the cold, indifferent one I used with her dad.

"How's your sister?" Milly asked, slowly approaching me. She was wearing clothes for jogging and running, meaning she was probably trying to ease into my day-to-day life.

~Sleeping,~ I replied, but not using sign language but gestures to tell her my sister was sleeping, as Milly didn't know sign language at all.

"That's awesome!"

Is it?

Well... she has an interesting definition of awesome.

"So, going for a run?" Milly asked.

No, Milly, I was going for a walk but somehow forgot how to walk and ended up running until you stopped me.

Whoa...

Where did that come from? I'm never one to mentally sass the oblivious citizen.

"Hi, earth to David," Milly smiled, as she played with her hair, misreading my lack of response for me being shy around her.

I sighed before giving her a nod.

"Great, can I come with you?"

And there it is.

I nodded once again.

I could've refused her, but the last thing I wanted was to damage Oliver's image, needless to say. However, I would be slowly changing my body language around her so that she subconsciously sorted her attraction to me to a platonic one, effectively friend-zoning me.

"Yeih! Be prepared because I will beat you!"

Beat me... on what? Jogging has no objective besides doing exercise.

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[Two hours later.]

I took Milly back to her house after two hours of unsatisfactory jogging in order to not leave her behind. Granted, I had taken this opportunity to inspect my surroundings in more detail; nevertheless, I was still a bit annoyed that my jogging routine had been disturbed.

At least Milly was tolerable. I mean, she was a good girl, a bit too immature if anything, but good in general, so while annoying at times, her company wasn't necessarily a nuisance.

But enough about that.

Right now is time to pick up Rae, and by pick up, and I mean, her portaling into the manor and leaving the place as if she had been already there, to begin with.

"How was jogging?" Rachel, who had been already waiting for me as I reached the manor, asked, a small smile gracing her face.

This smile, however, was different. It had a hint of mischief that extended to her eyes.

I narrowed my eyes at her, realizing why. She knew I had had a bad time jogging today and was poking fun at me. ~Very funny.~

"It is to me," Rachel replied as she walked past me. "Now, don't frown. I'll get you a hotdog."

If she thought I would be bought with a hotdog!

She was absolutely right.

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[Six hours later.]

After a long day of activities, Rae and I decided to go to the park to share our feelings about the new book we were both reading when all of the sudden, an explosion was heard in the distance, shaking the entire park to the ground, creating havoc in the park.

For a moment, Rachel and I froze as I felt a strange sense of dread invading me, a feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Following my instincts, I used my phone to access the cameras around the place the explosion had taken place, almost dropping my phone at the sight of what I had encountered, a picture that not only had validated my previous feelings but enhanced them.

In the cameras, I saw a monster, one that I was very familiar with, rampaging through the city as Green Arrow and Black Canary tried to stop it, slowly taking this creature away from civilians, and as for the moment being, they were succeeding at their task. 

However, no matter what they tried, I knew this was something that even the combined might of the two couldn't possibly hope to stop.

After all, they were facing no other than the android, Amazo.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked, her tone cutting through the air.

~We need to go home. I need to suit up,~ I replied without wasting a second.