Music played in her ears as Skylar landed hits on the punching bag. The punching back rattled with the force of her hits, even though she was holding back her actual strength. Hitting something, she had discovered, was the perfect way to relieve stress. Whether it be one of the many villains and the thieves that roamed the streets of Gotham City, or a punching bag hung in the empty bedroom in her apartment, hitting things with her fists burned through her stress.

She punched till all her stress had gone or till her knuckles bled; the latter often happened before the former.

Skylar had once been (and still was, in some ways) a girl full of anger and a burning desire for revenge. These emotions had lessened to a certain extent, all thanks to Batman's training and his ultimatum of kicking her out of Gotham. While in terms of strength, Skylar was far more stronger, but Batman had the experience and access to resources she didn't have. He was also in the Justice League and could probably ask one of his super friends to deal with her. So Skylar just listened to him, albeit with a lot of reluctance.

Another hit on the punching bag; her knuckles turned redder. Another hit, even more red. And another, and another, till her knuckles dripped with red liquid.

There.

Skylar was done for the day.

As though right on cue, her phone began to ring. Her boss, a fiery, middle-aged lady, Mrs Brown, ran one of Gotham's popular florist shops, so popular that even in the off-season when there were no weddings, their shop still made a good amount of sales. Mrs Brown had taken a liking to her, or probably was just watching out for her or something and loved calling her at exactly ten in the morning, wondering where she was and when she was coming to work.

No matter how many times Skylar had said that she didn't need a daily reminder, Mrs Brown refused to stop her calls. Thankfully, she only worked for her four days a week, from Monday to Thursday.

At the fifth ring, Skylar picked up a call, releasing a secretive sigh just as Mrs Brown began to speak.

"Skylar, dear, good morning," Mrs Brown's voice felt even more grating today. "You took your time picking up my call. Were you sleeping in late again?"

Ouch. That statement felt like a pinch to her heart. She looked at her right hand, looking right at her torn-up knuckles. If only Mrs Brown knew... "No, I wasn't. I was having my breakfast. How are you doing this fine morning?"

"I'm doing perfectly well," Mrs Brown answered, ignorant of the fact that the last sentence was filled with sarcasm. "I hope I will see you on time at 11?"

"You will," Skylar answered. "You definitely well. I am going to get ready the second I get off the call."

"Good, good," Mrs Brown said. "Please do be on time. We have some arrangements that need to be made, including ones for that wedding happening in four days. The bride specifically requested the ones you made, if you remember."

"Of course, I do," Skylar gritted her teeth. Sometimes Mrs Brown talked to her as though she was a child and not a twenty-one year old adult. It pissed her off, a lot. "Can't really forget that I have to make a hundred of these."

"You work fast. You'll be fine," Mrs Brown waved her off. "Now, I'll leave you to your business. See you at the shop."

"Yeah, see you. Bye."

A click. Skylar pocketed her phone, walking towards her bedroom. She rubbed her knuckles together, knowing that she would have to bandage them soon or they would start to ache. Then, it would be time to go to work. Work that was extremely boring in comparison to her other job.

*

The flower shop was busy, as it always had been. But somehow, Skylar felt that it was busier today. While Skylar had been on the phone with the bride to handle those flower arrangements for the wedding, she had also been scrambling around trying to help the other shop workers with things. It felt like everyone and their mother had decided that they needed to give someone flowers today. What was so special about today?

Skylar felt she barely had time to breathe. The bride wanted the arrangements drawn out first before being made so she had to do that. Then, she had to help one of the other workers with setting out the next lot of flowers beside the shop window. Then, she was helping out a young girl and her father pick out flowers for her mother. The drawing part she was fine with. Helping out the young girl was also nice. But the rest? Not so much.

Sending another customer on their way, Skylar finally had some time to breathe. She settled on a stool in front of the display of chrysanthemums. She sat with her small sketchpad and pencil, slowly drawing out ideas that would please the bride. She heard the bell ring as the door to the shop opened. She heard the customer enter, their footsteps sounding oddly familiar. But since her mind was concentrated on the drawing, even her enhanced senses couldn't tell her who it was.

A familiar, an all-too-familiar, voice spoke right next to her. "Well, well. Look who I found here."

Instantly, Skylar was on high alert. She looked up and met the eyes of one, annoying idiot called Jason Todd. He wore a dark cap and was dressed in a grey hoodie over a pair of blue jeans. The hoodie was stretched a little tight over his biceps and Skylar hated herself for noticing that.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed at him, immediately shutting her sketchpad. "How did you even know I'd be here?"

"Here to buy flowers and Cass told me," Jason smirked and Skylar's urge to punch him grew. She had to be polite though. She was in the middle of the shop and judging by the eyes she could feel at her side, Mrs Brown was clearly looking at her. Skylar got off the stool, keeping the sketchpad on it. In a low whisper, she said, "You're dead, you know that? I'm really going to kill you."

Straightening up, she let a polite, but sharp smile spread on her face. "What sort of flowers do you need?"

At that, Jason smirked. "Roses. And peonies."

Huh. Of all the species of flowers, he chose the ones that her mom adored and Skylar now despised. She motioned in the general direction of the flowers. "Right. Follow me."

"What? Not going to ask who they're for?" The teasing look in his eyes made her want to hit a wall.

Skylar just shrugged casually. "I'm working, Jay. Don't have time to deal with some random customer's questions."

She ignored the sounds of protest Jason made. She walked over to the rose section, waiting for him to follow. Even as she did that, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Today was not going to be a good day.

*

Skylar could not get that annoying itch out of her mind. There was no reason for her to feel this annoyed by Jason coming to buy flowers for whatever reason. It wasn't like she cared.

And neither did she care that roses and peonies were her mother's favourite flowers. Overrated they were, and there was no one in her apartment to savour their beauty. No one alive at least. Her mom was not going to come back from the dead to admire a bunch of stupid flowers. Nobody came back. Not in the way Jason had. Besides, her mother wouldn't want to. She was a staunch believer in moving on.

In a world of superheroes, superpowers, monsters, aliens and other unknown things, Skylar often felt like she was out of place. All in all, she had been a normal kid once with normal friends and a relatively normal life. Now, it was nothing like that. She was a girl with powers and while she considered her enhanced senses and superhuman strength to be a blessing, she craved that normalcy. But then there were heroes like Batman and Green Arrow and their sidekicks, both former and current, who fought without having an ounce of power in their bodies.

All of this made Skylar one very confused twenty-one year old.

Who was she in the grand scheme of things?

Just some kid blessed with powers, only because her grandfather was some old time-hero? She did not even know him. He died long before she was born. And her own father died when she was very young.

In the grand scheme of the universe, she was nobody.

But she was somebody too. She was the Watcher and that had to count for something. 

I miss Jason Todd a lot. He has always been one of my favourite DC characters and trust me when I say, I am obsessed with that guy. I was missing him and my girl Skylar lately so I just sat down and knocked out this chapter for them. I seriously enjoy writing them so much + their banter. I can't wait to show you the scenes when they actually start falling for each other. It's gonna be fuuuunnn 😈😈😌

till then I hope you enjoyed this chapter! let me know what you think of this in the comments!