6 years later

As far as "covert" went, Berkeley wasn't good at it. Sure, she'd gone all of high school, middle school, and even a year of elementary school with a few robotic limbs. You'd think that would teach someone how to dress a little more unassumingly and be able to blend into a crowd.

No. No, it doesn't.

She was sitting at one of the outdoor tables at the Starbucks, a dark grey hoodie on, hood over her sunglasses-covered face, blocking basically all recognition, but making it super obvious that she was trying to hide. Not that anyone cared, they were in front of a Starbucks. Maybe she was just hung-over. No one knew.

Of course, no one except the girl in a long jacket who sat down in front of her. The girl smiled, setting her tea down on the table with a hand. She took out a wooden spoon, about halfway between a teaspoon and a tablespoon size, and began mixing the tea with it.

"Still self conscious?"

Berkeley nodded, a grin growing. "You're one to talk. Good way to get the robes into a more….fashionable look."

Priyanka laughed, shaking her head. "Come on, they look good! I'm gonna bring capes back into style."

"Mhm."

They both turned as a new girl approached, sitting down in their third chair. She, unlike the other two, was actually blending in well, wearing a hoodie and some jeans. She waved a hand at them both and put up her sunglasses.

"You both stick out like sore thumbs," Kira chided as she took a sip of her drink.

Berkeley probably rolled her eyes, leaning back in the chair even more, and Priyanka followed suit. Kira did have them there. "What, like I'm not gonna be sticking out with my face reflecting the sun," Berkeley grumbled a little.

"Not saying it's baaaad," Kira chuckled, patting her hand, "Lighten up, it's okay."

"Mhmmmmm. Now, it's been a real one," Berkeley looked around at the other two, "How's life after grade school?"

Priyanka shrugged. "Weird. Hogwarts doesn't have higher education, so, like….I just went straight into being an Auror," she licked the spoon and picked up her tea, sipping it a little.

"Isn't that the point of it all? That everyone has equal education and shit?" Kira asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not really. If Aurors had more education, like, more focused education, wouldn't they be able to do their jobs better? All my coworkers are idiots, and I'm including Potter."

Berkeley raised her sunglasses, sitting them on her head. Her cheek was glittering a little, a faint glimmer from the metal beneath the holographic fake skin.

"That's some hot tea."

"Shut the fuck up, Berkeley."

Berkeley laughed, clapping her hands a little off to the side.

Kira and Priyanka shared a withering look and turned to each other. "What about George?" Kira asked, "Haven't heard about him for a while."

Now it was Priyanka's turn to laugh, a harsh, single "ha." "After the battle, he left. Went with Angelina," she made a face, "It was so fast after we broke up a lotta people say he was with her already. Whatever."

"Mhm. And…."

"I killed Jeff."

Kira raised her eyebrows, and Berkeley's chair fell back down. They both leaned in.

"You….You what?" they asked, almost in unison.

Priyanka gave them a sly grin and leaned in as well. "Y'see, you guys know high school was sorta shit, and it was all boy drama, right?"

They both nodded.

"'Kay, well. The best solution to boy drama is….get this, no boys."

"Damn straight," Kira muttered.

"Damn gay," Berkeley corrected.

Priyanka huffed, shaking her head. "Point is, he took a solid beating before I put him out of his misery with a nicely placed killing curse. I can do those now."

"Oh, really? Beating?" Kira asked, picking up her cup and making a gesture towards Priyanka's hands, "With those."

Priyanka only smiled and shrugged. "The world will never know, and they'll never find out. To them, Jeff's still…..somewhere in Europe, on an internship."

Berkeley nodded, proud, and picked up her own cup. "You shoulda just let Bellatrix kill him back in seventh grade," she murmured, sipping the drink a little.

Priyanka laughed. "TOTALLY! What about you guys?" she leaned forward.

Kira shrugged. "College's great. I got a really large scholarship from the Wayne Foundation and that's basically paying my tuition."

"Hallelujah, praise Bruce Wayne," Berkeley hooted, clapping a little, "He's got so much money it's pouring out of him."

"Mhm. And, well….my other job's going well, too. I've actually been to the moon base now, which is a plus," Kira leaned back as Priyanka leaned forward, spitting out a tiny bit of her drink.

"You-the MOON BASE?" Priyanka asked, incredulous.

Her voice turned to a whisper as she looked around, her and Berkeley hyper aware of the others around them. This wasn't really a private outdoor area. "You're really in the thick of it if you're up at the moon base."

"Yep, thinking of picking up the Justice League full time, if they'll let me. Who knows," Kira shrugged.

"What, do you get paid?" Berkeley joked.

"Above the minimum wage," Kira winked, and it was Berkeley's turn to nearly spit out her drink.

"Damn! How do they get the funding?" she raised her eyebrows, then moped, leaning forward and frowning, "Damnit, Cyborg gets in and me, a known cyborg, can't?"

"That's cause you're with the Autobots already," Kira rolled her eyes.

"But *I* wanna get paid for fighting criiiime," she looked down and pouted.

"Yeah, well, join the club," Priyanka blew hair out of her face and sighed, "I'd love to get paid for protecting Muggles."

"No, but you get paid for being wizard police," Kira reminded her.

"That's not what the Aurors are, they're like five year olds!"

"But the job's basically wizard police."

"Hey," Berkeley butted in, "It's more like wizard FBI."

"Fair."

Priyanka leaned forward. "How about you, Berkeley? How're the Autobots doing?"

Berkeley smirked a little and crossed her arms. "Well, Sideswipe's doing just fine."

Priyanka blinked, a tiny bit of red spreading on her cheeks. "He was hot when he turned human!" she defended herself vehemently against Kira and Berkeley's childish laughter.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I thought the same about Bumblebee back in the day," Berkeley patted her shoulder as Priyanka slid down her seat, crossing her arms angrily.

"He was hot," she muttered again.

"Yeah, I know," Berkeley checked her wrist as a clock lit up on it, "Shit, I should probably hit the road. I promised Prime I'd be back 'round noon for an ammunitions check up."

Kira nodded, looking at her phone like a normal human being. "Same. Batsy wants me back for a rotation shift.'

Priyanka gave them both a look. "You saying I've gotta finish this chai tea all by myself?"

Berkeley stood up, patting her head gently. "I'm saying I started my frappe alone, you can finish the tea alone"

"Awh, five more minutes?"

"No can do. How long're you all in town?" Berkeley looked at them, "It's real lonely sometimes, with the two of you gone."

Priyanka leaned back a little, sipping her tea. "The Ministry's trying to work more with international magic governments, I'm electing to be one of the American liasons, so hopefully I'll be around more often."

"For Sideswipe?"

"For Sideswipe," Priyanka grinned, "He's still single, right?"

Berkeley shrugged and made a noise, looking at Kira for help. Kira shook her head with a grin. "I'll be around. College doesn't start again for another three months, I go back mid August."

"Sweet. See you all next Sunday then, yeah?"

"Of course."