Young Writers Society

He looked over at her, teary eyes glowing bright, bright green.

Even through his tears, he could understand what she was saying. He had been wrong a year ago. He had been wrong up until a second ago. She hadn't ever wanted him to stay away - they were friends, even if they had never spoken the words to confirm it. He had just jumped to an inaccurate conclusion, ready to lose her like he had lost everyone else before. Like he was losing everyone now, because Alex was so busy spending time with her dad that she barely spent with him anymore. And James was so busy with Wally that he didn't realize how much Jason had been alone.

"I want you around too," he said. "I-I didn't forget about you and Eddie. I thought about you two every single day, but I was too scared to go back and see how you were doing."

His hand went for his wrist again, but Megara's grip on it was enough to make him pause - even if he could have easily wrenched his hand free from her grasp.

She looked up at him, at his eyes. They're really pretty when they glow like that. A stray thought, cutting through the sluggish chaos. A moment of peace.

"Please come back," she said earnestly, "When all of this is over, promise me you'll come back. Promise me." It was a demand now. All of her gentle pleading was gone, replaced by a firm command. She needed him to promise.

"I will," he promised. His voice was all broken up from the tears, but he wasn't really sad anymore - he was just relieved. Megara did want to be friends. An entire year had gone by where they could have grown closer, but Jason had learned to stop regretting lost time. How else could he handle finding out that everyone he knew was actually in the same situation as him?

She leaned into his chest, satisfied with his answer. She would see him again after this. He wanted to see her again after this. She had a friend.

She had a friend.

That thought added a certain joy to the bubbling mix of emotions that boiled over in her chest, then guilt. Eddie was gone, with her family, and she was happy.

Her grip on his hands tightened. "Do you think we're going to be able to do it. To get Eddie back. Can we...I don't want to...they want me to stay there. To give Eddie back. They want me to stay."

Jason wiped his tears away with his arm.

"I know we can," he reassured her. He wished he had a tissue to give her, but he didn't even have any for himself. "It's...it's what we do. We always defy the odds. And with all of the people we have, and with all of their abilities, I-I think we can get him back without you having stay. We will get him back without you having to stay."

She didn't believe him. She wanted so badly to believe him but she didn't. She couldn't.

"We should get back to the others," she murmured, too tired to raise her volume. "Dinner will be ready by now, and I should brief you all on the layout of the manor. What we'll have to do to get inside. The...logistics." She had to search for the word. Gods, she really was exhausted.

Jason managed a nod.

Then they returned to the group.

Megara's prediction proved correct - dinner was ready. The wide variety of food was spread across the table. All of it was comfort food; Jason suspected that someone had told Alfred the whole story, and he had decided to make something warm and calming.

There were two seats left for them at the end of the table. Jason quickly slipped into the one that was next to Alex, leaving Megara to sit in the seat that was next to James.

Megara took the remaining seat quietly. None of the recipes laid out were explicitly familiar, but she had never been the culinary expert of the family. That honor, like pretty much every other, belonged to Briar-Prodigy-Ringly.

She glanced at James. She'd composed herself rather better than she'd have been able to if she wasn't meant to be an actor, but that didn't help her puffy, reddened eyes or the fact that she wouldn't be able to speak without the hoarseness of someone who had just been crying even if she tried. So she didn't try.

James had been in the middle of a conversation with Wally when Megara and Jason returned - though it was notably more one-sided, as Wally always carried their conversations when multiple people were present. But both of them quickly lost their focus when they saw how horrible both Jason and Megara looked.

Wally - who had discarded his suit for civvies he had stashed in one of the guest rooms - fished a packet of tissues out from his pocket and passed them down to James.

James subtly offered the two the tissues, but Jason didn't grab one. He just shook his head and gave a little smile.

Megara didn't take any either.

Instead, she cleared her throat, "The letter was an invitation. It would be impolite not to accept it. My...former boss doesn't respond well to 'impolite'." She looked up, searching the faces of the people around her, calculating how they'd have to conduct themselves.

The tissues returned to Wally's pocket.

"How impolite would it be for you to bring some guests?" Hayleigh suddenly asked, leaning forward so Megara could see her from the other end of the table. "Because I know that James, Alex and Jason all are pretty well-versed in the whole 'polite socialite thing', and I'd like to say that Rose, Sabrina and I are, too."

"And me," Wally helpfully added. "I'm great at polite social things-"

James just gave him a look.

"...I am," Wally reaffirmed, though there was a little bit of hesitation to his voice this time around. "But even if I can't do all of the social cues, I know how to stay silent - I can do that much."

There was a pause as Megara mulled it all over.

"The social courtesies of my world may be different than the ones in yours," she said slowly, still thinking, "But yes, I could bring guests. One or two, not all of you. It is a very private estate, the manor is, if I brought too many strangers inside Eddie would be..." She shook her head, "Never mind. Wally, you're fast, correct? Fast enough to bypass the outer defenses and not to get caught if I told you where the secondary entrance is?"

"The secondary entrance you and your little sis would use after you completed your father's little tasks?" Marciella asked.

Megara didn't have then energy to glare. "Yes. The ones who come in with me can't be armed, which of you are best at fighting without weapons?"

"Definitely," Wally said. As if to prove his point, he had suddenly appeared next to Megara - even though he had been in his chair only a second before. James rolled his eyes a little at his best friend's response, but Wally didn't mind. He knew that Megara would see just how fast he was.

Jason frowned.

"I can fight," he said, "but I'm better with my guns."

Alex sighed. "I need weapons, too," she admitted. "I'm too small to fight without them."

"That rules Hayleigh and Sabrina out, too," Wally mused. "They both need something to fight with."

The group exchanged looks.

"That leaves Rose and James," Hayleigh realized. "James does fight with his ecrisma sticks, but they're not something he necessarily needs. And Rose can do stuff with plants, so she doesn't even need to fight herself."

Megara nodded. "Then you two will be the ones to come in with me. You'll have to dress up. You don't show up to dinner at the manor without the appropriate clothing. There are weapons hidden throughout the house. They're not likely to have been moved since I left. The spots they've been hidden are strategic, and fa- my boss is certain Briar is capable of subduing me if I were ever to launch an assault on my own. In my world, allying with me would be suicide, so he will not expect me not to be coming alone." He wasn't wrong about Briar, but she wasn't alone now. Megara could win.

James and Rose both nodded - the two weren't keen on speaking all that much, which Alex guessed was probably a good thing. She was a little upset about not being able to come in; she really wanted to help rescue Eddie. But she guessed it was better that the two who were actually used to fighting went in Megara, so she bit back her regret and waited for more to be said.

"What clothing would we need?" James asked. "I have formal wear here, and I think Sabrina has left some here before, too - she and Rose are the same size."

Sabrina gave a small smile. "Guilty as charged."