Disclaimer: DC Comics owns all rights to the characters within. They are used without permission and not meant to infringe on copyrights or meant to generate income.

Also, if you have not read my other stories, it would be helpful to do so before reading this one. The chronology goes: Brothers in Arms, Where Do We Go From Here, Tragedies of the Past, Betrayal From Within, Future Sins, Reestablishing Bonds, and Parents and Children.

New Allies, chapter 1

"I'm going to be gone a little while," Max announced to Conner. "I should be back by the beginning of next week."

"This is sudden," Conner commented. "Is there anything I can do?"

"You can tell people not to worry," Max said with a smile. "There's just some stuff that I need to take care of. I'll be out of contact for a short period of time."

"They're going to ask what you're doing. Is there anything I should tell them, or should I just be vague and say that it's personal stuff?"

"You can tell them I'm kicking off my plot for world domination," Max said blandly.

Conner started laughing. "I don't think they'll find that funny. They don't think you have much of a sense of humor. Your dry wit won't go over well."

"No, I suppose that wouldn't be funny," Max said. "Personal stuff is fine."

"So, are you going to let me know what you're doing? Are you going to be wooing that girl you're interested in?"

Max laughed. "No, I think I'm mostly over her. There's just a thing that I need to take care of. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to take a few days."

"So, you're going to take care of a 'thing.'"

"That's right."

Conner sighed. "I see you've mastered the art of the uncommunicative teenager, grasshopper. I taught you well. I just never thought you'd go and use it against me."

The day after Max left, a situation arose and Kon made his way to Titan's Tower.

"Good to see you, Kon," Robin greeted him. "Where's Match?"

"He left yesterday to take care of some personal stuff," Kon explained. "He's out of contact until next week. He said that he has a 'thing' to take care of."

"He's taking care of a 'thing?' What does that translate to?"

"It translates to 'I'm not even telling my own brother what I'm doing' I believe. It looks like it came up at a crappy time."

"Yeah. It would have been good to have him help with the situation. His analytical abilities would be really useful right now."

Kon grimaced. "What is the situation?"

"We're about to get briefed on it. It's big though. We'll be working with the JLA, JSA, and Outsiders on this."

Kon whistled. That was a lot of firepower.

Kon sat next to Cassie and gave her hand a squeeze. He would have done more than that, but the video feeds were live and people were looking grim.

"We have a situation," Batman began in his regular grim tone. "The H.I.V.E. has taken over four nuclear power plants in different parts of the world. They are attempting to refine weapons-grade plutonium at each of these plants. We cannot allow the H.I.V.E. to acquire its own nuclear weapons or enough plutonium to sell to other organizations. They have threatened to cause a meltdown at these plants if they meet any interference."

"We're going to have to hit them at each plant simultaneously," Nightwing said, grimacing. "For this, cooperation is key, so we'll be retaining the structure of our teams. Each team will take a power plant."

"Are the Titans going to be fine with this?" Jade asked. "No offense to them, but they're not as powerful as the rest of the teams. Are they going to be okay on their own?"

Kon felt Cassie's hand clench into a fist. He rubbed it to try to calm her. Kon shared her annoyance with Jade's question, but admitted that they did not have a member with the power on the scale of the Green Lanterns or Jade.

A precise woman's voice with a British accent joined the conversation. "I am able to help in those regards."

Everybody looked around in confusion. Batman waved everyone to be silent.

"Who is this?" he demanded. "How did you get this frequency?"

"The intelligence community has taken to calling me the End," the voice said. "It's rather melodramatic, but it's suitable for now. As for how I have this frequency, it's not very difficult to isolate. It's known among the community. If you're asking how I was able to penetrate your encryption, well, I know many things."

"Why are you contacting us?" Nightwing asked.

"I have a team of operatives that can assist you," the End told them. "It includes a precognitive and a cyberkinetic. I believe that these would increase your chance of success in neutralizing all four plants simultaneously."

"How do we know that you aren't working with the H.I.V.E.?" Batman asked. "What proof do you have that you're an ally?"

There was a pause.

"Six weeks ago, you received an anonymous tip about Bangalore," the voice said. "That information came from me. Five weeks ago, you received information from the DEO about a shipment from Zandia that had dangerous contraband. That was from me, as well."

"You're claiming that you're responsible for that, not proving it," Batman noted. "Under the circumstances, I don't think that's good enough."

"You're being irrationally paranoid," the End said, a note of exasperation showing. "By my calculations, the addition of a precognitive and a cyberkinetic increase the odds of success from sixty-eight percent to eighty-nine percent. If you want, I will provide Oracle with access to my secondary systems."

"Not your primary system?"

"Some of the information there must remain unrevealed for the time being. You're not offering me access to your systems at all. I'm also willing to allow Cyborg to act as the field leader of my team for this operation."

Batman and Cyborg exchanged glances. Cyborg nodded.

"That's acceptable," Batman said.

"Excellent. I'm sending their files now. The team should arrive at Titan's Tower in...thirty-eight seconds."

"You were confident we'd allow them to join us."

"I allowed myself a rare moment of optimism."

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