Amanda was deeply disappointed in her subordinates. What she needed were people who followed orders and obeyed commands—not this group of hot-blooded, patriotic youngsters.
The idea of forming a small unit that would do whatever it took, handling the things the Court of Owls found inconvenient, had been circling in her mind for a long time. No, it wasn't time yet. The villains currently in custody were far from enough to secure government support. She needed pressure from a truly powerful individual to ensure those criminals wouldn't rebel.
Everything needed long-term planning. Though she didn't hold much hope, Amanda still instructed her subordinates to verify everything to the best of their ability.
...
Talia's injuries were healing slowly, but each day brought visible progress. As the one nominally assigned to take care of her, Barbara naturally became much more relaxed. Spending her days in Thea's secret base, she used her free time to learn computer science from Felicity. Her talent in computing began to show, and her days passed comfortably. Compared to Gotham's gunfire and chaos, this place truly felt like another world.
Staying home every day wasn't enjoyable either, so Thea suggested they go out shopping.
Thinking it would be too quiet with so few people, she also invited Shado—who had smoothly joined the Star City Police Department—and Laurel Lance, whose law firm was practically doing nothing and looked like it was about to go bankrupt.
Because of Shado's job, Detective Lance was originally unhappy that Thea had casually stuffed someone into the police department, but after he saw what a gentle and soft-spoken girl she was, he stopped complaining entirely. Laurel, who visited her father at the precinct from time to time, had run into Shado a few times, so they counted as acquaintances.
Since Thea knew everyone, she helped introduce the girls to one another. In truth, the Star City crew mostly knew each other already—the main introduction was Barbara Gordon from Gotham.
"They're getting along really well…" Felicity said, holding a huge cup of soda while walking behind Thea and Shado. Her eyes kept drifting toward Barbara and Laurel walking ahead. "They just met today, right? How are they already bonding like that?"
Shado nodded beside her. Her own relationship with Laurel was lukewarm at best—she had always thought Laurel was the cold, aloof type. Turns out… not at all.
Thea could only laugh awkwardly. She had no idea either. Who knew Barbara and Laurel would click so well? But honestly, their personalities were similar—American women overflowing with justice, optimistic, idealistic.
They weren't like Felicity, who had one meter of "criminal record" behind her, nor like Thea, who was… well, Thea. And Shado didn't count—she was practically a foreigner here.
Barbara and Laurel shared almost identical environments and educational backgrounds, so many of their values lined up astonishingly well.
At first, they still chatted with the rest of them. But once they started discussing their family backgrounds and realized they were nearly identical—divorced families, raised under the wings of upright police captains—the sense of mutual understanding skyrocketed.
Thea felt that if this were a different era, those two would already be cutting chickens and burning yellow paper to swear sisterhood.
"Feels like someone's watching us," Shado whispered to Thea.
Thea waved dismissively. This was Star City—stalker capital. The only one tailing Laurel would be her own brother, Tommy.
Still, she looked at Shado with new appreciation. For an archer, sharp intuition was essential. Yao Fei's training really had been effective.
"You all look amazing…" After a day of shopping with no robberies, no murders—in Barbara's opinion, such a smooth outing was practically a luxury—the girls sent their purchases home and Felicity suggested doing Pilates. Laurel, changing in the locker room, looked at their figures and touched the soft flesh at her waist… feeling a little defeated.
Thea, Barbara, and Shado had all trained extensively. It didn't show normally, but once they changed clothes, the difference from an average citizen like Laurel became obvious.
Thanks to divine empowerment, Thea's muscle lines still looked relatively normal. Shado and Barbara, however, clearly had defined muscle groups.
"That's why we're exercising~" Felicity quickly diverted the topic after noticing Laurel's insecurity. She stretched her arms and legs, trying to show she was just a normal person too.
Seeing Felicity's very normal figure, Laurel finally relaxed. If four out of the five women had superhero physiques, she would lose all hope in life. Even now, the ratio felt a bit unfair…
Taking advantage of the group splitting up during the workout, Barbara quietly asked Thea, "Laurel doesn't know about you?"
"She doesn't. But I think she's suspicious. You know—her father is a cop…" From the corner of her eye, Thea noticed Laurel wasn't fully convinced.
"But she's a really good person. Physically and mentally, she's solid. A bit of training and she'd be another righteous hero." Barbara clearly had a high opinion of Laurel, practically ready to recruit her on the spot.
Thea felt speechless. Their friendship level was rising way too fast. Was this the destiny of the future Birds of Prey founders? They literally met this morning…
To Barbara's implication, she replied, "If she's not against it, I don't mind. Whether you bring it up or not is up to you."
"I still want to observe her a bit more." Barbara ended the conversation excitedly. Whether she would truly "observe" was another story.
Thea was already used to the chaos she had caused in history. She herself was dating Diana—could anything else even count as a major deviation at this point?
As for Oliver returning to the city and discovering not only that Shadow was alive, but that Tommy and Laurel were all trained fighters—whether that would give him a heart attack, Thea didn't really care.
Since she wasn't worried about being exposed, the girls let their full physical abilities show. Their movements were so extreme that even the Pilates instructor was stunned.
After the workout, everyone headed home. Barbara, using the excuse that she wasn't familiar with Star City's streets, left with Laurel.
"Why are you all in such good shape? Those moves you did—normal people definitely can't do them!" Laurel asked directly. She liked Barbara so much already that she didn't bother being cautious.
"You know my father, Jim Gordon. But you don't know my other identity—I'm Batgirl." Barbara spoke as she pulled out her whip, cracked it toward a nearby tree, and snapped off a branch as thick as an arm. With a flick of her wrist, she wrapped the branch and pulled it back.
Barbara's sharp eyes locked onto Laurel. "Now that you know who I am, do you have anything to say?" If Laurel showed fear or contempt, Barbara would be disappointed.
But the future Black Canary did not disappoint her.
"A superhero? You're Batman's partner?? Oh my god…!" Laurel covered her mouth, stunned.
Then another realization struck her. "And Thea… is she one too? I've known her for years…"