[o.h.] the robin & the canary; young justice

oo5: Schooled

"Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. Reese, since she's been taught almost everything I know, will need a sparring partner,"

To everyone's shock and surprise, Wally's hand was the first one to shoot up.

"Right here!" the speedster exclaimed, and Reese felt her jaw slacken. Weird, Wally usually hated it when they sparred, which wasn't very often, because, more often than not, the brunette ended up completely wiping the floor with him.

"You sure?" Reese spoke up skeptically as KF walked towards her, finishing up his banana and throwing the peel into a nearby trashcan.

"Yep!" the redhead exclaimed as the peel landed in the bin. "And after this--swish, I'll show you my moves," Reese's eyes widened. Wally never flirted with her, for fear of pissing off Dick, why Reese had never known, but right now, the speedster looked like he was throwing caution to the wind.

"Okay..." the brunette said slowly, getting into a ready stance, before suddenly lashing out, throwing her fist towards Wally's head, but the speedster managed to block her arm. Reese's foot, on the other hand, he wasn't able to dodge, and within two seconds Wally's back was against the floor.

Kid Flash Fail.

"Ow," Wally groaned. "Hurts so good..."

"You're lucky I didn't judo-flip you," Reese smiled, extending a hand to help the speedster up. Dinah, on the other hand, just shook her head, turning to the others.

"Did anyone see what he did wrong?" the older woman asked, and this time, Robin's hand was the first in the air.

"He hit on his sparring partner and got absolutely served," it wasn't said as a question, more of a statement, and Dick's body was practically trembling with an emotion that Reese wasn't really able to identify.

"He allowed Reese to dictate the terms of--"

"Oh please," Superboy scoffed, causing all of them to glance over at him as Reese walked off the training circle, going to stand by Dick again. "With my powers, the battle is always on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time,"

"Prove it,"

"I'm not fighting Reese," the brunette scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at Superboy.

"Why not?" the twelve-year-old asked, jerking her thumb towards Wally. "I just beat him in three seconds flat,"

"You're too short and small,"

Next to her, Reese heard Dick suck in a sharp breath, and Reese's eyebrow twitched, which only happened when she was really, really mad. Reese knew she was less than tall, being a few inches shorter than Robin even, but on most occasions, her small and slender physique came to be an advantage, with sneaking around and all that.

But, that also didn't stop people from teasing her about it. The few civilians she knew, which Reese, admittedly, didn't hang out with that much (she much preferred her hero friends and the Justice League) somehow always brought the conversation back to the fact that the brunette was short.

"Superboy, I wouldn't," Robin spoke up, stepping in between Reese and the Cadmus clone. "She's not really one you want to bring up the s-word with,"

"No, Boy Wonder," Silverbird held up a hand, moving her hood so it fell around her shoulders. She wasn't wearing her domino mask right now, so her warm brown eyes, which were practically blazing with barely controlled fury, were on full display. "It's fine. If Superboy thinks he can't beat me in sparring because 'I'm too small', then I'll just have to prove him wrong then, won't I?"