Young Justice -:- Fragility
Summary: Sequel to Identity. A new hero in Gotham discovers an evil plot and realises that she may have bitten off more than she can chew. Meanwhile, the mysterious Big Bad continues targeting the team. Who is behind it all? Is this more than the teen heroes can handle?
Setting/Spoilers: Set three months after the end of Identity, at the end of the first year of the time-skip/Not really any spoilers
Pairings: Canon Pairings (Spitfire/Supermartian/RoyxJade) and some pre-BabsxDick. Also, following the canon, Robin and Zatanna are in a relationship as well, but I'm not a Chalant shipper so you'll see what happens to that pairing…
Genre/Rating: Angst/Hurt/Comfort/Suspense/Adventure/Rated T due to descriptions of violence, the odd curse words and some gore in places
Disclaimer: If I owned Young Justice, there wouldn't have been that ridiculous pairing off of all the characters on New Year's Eve in the season one finale – I mean, what the frick was that about?
Author's Note(s): FINALLY! Huzzah! I have finally gotten far enough writing this fic to start posting! I know that its been forever since I said I was going to do this, but in my defence, it is longer and more involved that I initially realised; and I kept being plagued by plot bunnies for other fandoms as well. It is a damned good thing that I waited this long to start posting, otherwise you would have had half-year hiatuses between chapters… But now, as I have written the first four chapters, and am partway through chap 5, you get updates every couple of days! Woot!
Now, I'm a little paranoid about this fic, because everyone knows that sequels are never as good as the originals. I've tried really hard to listen to what people told me that they did and didn't like about Identity, for example, everyone seemed to agree that there was not enough Wally/Dick bromance – I'm pretty sure that I've fixed that this time around :P Much brotherly bonding ahead!
Another thing people seemed to love, however, was the fact that Zatanna and Rocket were mysteriously absent. As I'm following canon (mostly) I couldn't really keep that up, so unfortunately, Zee does have a role to play. I personally like the character, but I hated how they smushed her and Rob together, so I'm kinda writing a fix-it for that. Sorry to any Chalant lovers… I'm being very nonChalant here…
Wow, enough author's notes for you? Sorry! Didn't mean to ramble so much! Please ignore me now and get to the reading of this long-awaited fic! Enjoy!
Part One
It was never completely silent in the manor, even in the dead of night. The old building creaked in its sleep; the floorboards groaning as if ghostly footsteps disturbed them. The harsh winter winds raged just outside of the thick walls, making the old windows rattle in their panes. And then there was the rather loud owl that had decided to take up residence in the tree right beside the youngest inhabitant's bedroom window.
But Dick was used to all of those sounds. He tuned them out as he lay there on his side, staring at the moonlight glowing through his curtains. His thoughts were far louder than them anyway as his mind stubbornly refused to switch off and let him sleep.
Bruce was still out on patrol as Batman alone, so Dick knew that there wasn't even a chance of him sleeping anyway, but that wasn't the main thing that was keeping him up.
It had been three months since that day in the school. Since he had been shot. His recovery had gone pretty smoothly – he barely felt any pain from the injury at all any more; but he was still restricted to light exercise and banned from anything even remotely fun – particularly patrol and training. In fact, tomorrow was his first day back in the cave since the kidnapping.
And that was the problem.
It wasn't the team knowing his identity that bugged him – Wally had been over to visit him plenty of times since, and the rest of the team had been Skyping him pretty regularly; so he knew that his status as 'ridiculously rich kid' hadn't changed anything. It wasn't even the prospect of going up against the bad guys again either – he'd been injured plenty of times in the past and jumped right back into the fight as soon as he was walking again. No, that wasn't the problem.
The problem was Zatanna.
His girlfriend. Or whatever label that they had used to describe their relationship. She and Rocket had been offworld with a couple of Leaguers on a long term mission on Thanagar – for six months. She had come back early on her own about a month ago – Dick didn't know why. He hadn't spoken to her since she had come home. Well actually, he hadn't spoken to her since she had left. And maybe a bit before that...
She would be at the cave tomorrow.
What the hell was he going to say?
With a frustrated sigh, Dick rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. His clock ticked loudly, mocking him with every second that rolled closer to the morning. He tried one last time to switch off before just giving up and kicking off the covers. If he already knew that he wasn't going to sleep, what was the point in even trying?
He pulled a hoodie over his pyjamas and then silently crept out of his room. His bare feet made no noise on the wood floors, but pretty quickly his toes were frozen through. He ignored them and snuck through the empty halls, heading straight for the grandfather clock in the living room.
By the time he had descended the stone steps and thrown himself into the seat in front of the computer he was shivering in the winter chill. A hazy flashback of a dip in an ice cold river made him shudder. He drew his knees to his chest to conserve warmth and then started running through recent cases on the computer.
The most visited folder of late was the investigation into the kidnapping. Pretty much every lead had been exhausted by now, but the Big Bad behind it all was still remaining elusive. The fact that the Batman couldn't find the guy (or girl) was far from comforting. The whole League was still being super-paranoid about the whole thing. Artemis and her mother were even staying in a safe house at the moment, and the rest of the team had had the new rules drilled so deep into them that they recited them in their sleep.
Dick ignored that case – he had read it a couple hundred times or so since he had been allowed to sneak out of bed during recovery. Instead he clicked on a brand new folder that he hadn't seen before. He was greeted with an image of a black, yellow and red blur. It took him a minute to realise that it was a girl in a bat suit. Or an impersonation of a bat suit – it was hard to tell. Judging by how much material Bruce had collected on the new wannabe vigilante already, Dick guessed that she was a complete novice that didn't know how to avoid surveillance.
She wouldn't last long.
"Good morning, Master Richard," Alfred greeted, making Dick jump. The enticing scent of hot cocoa reached the teen's nose and he turned to look longingly at the warm beverage. The butler frowned in disapproval at Dick's choice of attire in the cold cave as he placed the tray of cocoa beside the computer. "You are going to catch a chill, sir."
Dick shrugged sheepishly.
"Another one, sir," Alfred emphasised. "You have not long recovered from your previous bout. Are you that eager to return for another session of bed rest to recuperate?"
Dick cringed at that prospect (even as a part of him filed it away as a valid contingency plan for avoiding a conversation with Zee) and then reached for the mug and let it warm his hands. Alfred quickly found a blanket and wrapped it around the teen's shoulders, his concern not completely sated until Dick's shivers had finally ceased.
"Are you waiting for Master Bruce's return, sir?" Alfred asked as he set about tidying the cave.
Dick hesitated for all of a millisecond, but Alfred still managed to catch it. Freaking ninja butler. "Yep."
Alfred straightened up where he stood behind the teen and raised an eyebrow at his young charge. Dick watched the butler's reflection in the computer screen and knew that he needed to change the subject quick before Alfred managed to get him spilling everything about Zatanna. "So, a new teen vigilante, huh?" he tried quickly, gesturing at the screen. "Do you reckon there's going to be a Batgirl in the cave soon?"
Alfred paused before replying, letting Dick know that he wouldn't be letting the subject drop completely. "I doubt it, sir," he allowed himself a small smile. "You are plenty enough for the Bat to handle as it is."
"Thank you for your assistance," Superman ground out the words as if they hurt him physically to say them. "Cheshire."
Cheshire smirked at the Boy Scout, her expression as clear as day without her mask. On the Kryptonian's left, Wonder Woman levelled a powerful glare at the assassin, her grip on the sword at her waist tight enough to make her knuckles turn white. And then there was Batman. He was glaring too, but Cheshire was pretty sure that his natural expression was just set to perma-scowl. "It's been a pleasure."
Behind her Roy… ahem… Red Arrow took her elbow to warn her off of any more taunts or smart comments. But that would really take all the fun out of the League asking her for a favour now, wouldn't it?. "We should go," Red said, tugging her elbow a little more forcefully.
"I must say," Cheshire ignored him completely. "The accommodations were lovely – and the conversation… riveting. I do hope my father will be receiving the same treatment?"
They were gathered in the Hall of Justice's library, the usual tourists and press vacated from the observation deck above. The League didn't particularly want their association with an assassin plastered on the front page. Cheshire had spent the past month in a windowless room, occasionally dragged out for another interrogation with the Martian Manhunter. It wasn't until she had agreed to give them intel on Sportsmaster that they had decided that she was honest in her claim of not knowing anything.
She didn't feel bad about trading her freedom for her father's. He'd do it to her in a heartbeat.
"There are plenty of crimes that we could hold you on," Wonder Woman pointed out threateningly. "If you wish to stay."
"Oh no, I couldn't," Cheshire smiled. "I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome."
"We really should be going," Red Arrow insisted, actually dragging Cheshire back a step. She threw a glare at him, but he was immune to the withering look. It was one of the things that she liked… found interesting… about him. He cleared his throat, acting ever the professional. "I'll make sure that she gets out of town without causing any trouble."
"Such a gentleman," Cheshire cooed.
The three Leaguers just watched the two of them as they turned and left the library, Cheshire brazenly waving over her shoulder at them. They were both in civvies, so as they walked out into the winter evening no one paid them a second look. Red Arrow steered them to a car that was waiting for them and climbed behind the wheel. The moment that they were behind closed doors, he turned to face her. "Are you trying to get yourself imprisoned for life?" he asked, exasperated.
Jade smiled at him. "Were you worried about me?"
Roy avoided the question and started the engine. He stared straight ahead as he navigated the car out of the Hall's grounds and onto the streets. "Thanks," he muttered after a while. "For agreeing to come in for questioning."
"You tell anyone about that and you'll find yourself with a new breathing hole," Jade threatened, though there was a note of playfulness to her tone. She leaned forward and opened the glove box, glad to find her uniform and an assortment of her favourite weapons. "As far as everyone else is concerned, I came in very unwillingly."
"Well, you didn't exactly make it easy for me," Roy pointed out as he rubbed absently at his still tender ribs. "You couldn't have pulled your punches a little bit?"
Jade raised an eyebrow coyly. "And ruin the fun? You needed a good workout anyway."
Roy rolled his eyes and returned his focus to the road. Jade still wasn't entirely sure why she had agreed to be taken into custody by the scarlet archer. After everything that had happened with her sister's kidnapping – particularly the fight against the Shadows Hook and Black Spider, she should have vanished off of the radar. She should have gone to ground and found a way to repair her reputation.
She most definitely should not have agreed to meet Red Arrow on the rooftop of a bar. They definitely shouldn't have had a couple of drinks together and retired to the back room that she had rented to hide out in. And the morning after, she definitely shouldn't have agreed to play prisoner to the League.
But she had. And oddly, she didn't regret it. Any of it.
"Are you alright?" Roy broke the silence in the car, and Jade found herself touched by the genuine concern in his voice. If she wasn't careful, she could find herself getting attached to the archer. He met her eyes. "I know that Martian telepathy can be… invasive."
Jade scoffed. "I've been trained to handle far worse than that."
"Right."
"If you're worried about your League friends finding out about…" Us? Jade wondered if that was what they were, and then shook her head. She plastered on a confident smirk. "Manhunter didn't find out anything that I didn't want him to know. Your secret's safe."
Roy nodded. They fell into silence once more until they reached the city limits and joined the freeway. "So... where do you want to go?"
Jade thought about it for a moment. "I'd like to see my sister."
"She and your mother are staying at a safe house," Roy informed her. "I don't know where it is."
"Well… I'm sure you could find out."
"I am actually going stir crazy!"
Wally looked up at his girlfriend who was pacing the length of the small living room. Artemis kicked at the threadbare carpet with an irritated huff. She was dressed in civvies with her long hair let loose in wild cascades down her back. The cast on her ankle had been taken off a while ago, leaving no obvious sign of the kidnapping – other than her current living arrangements of course.
She and her mother were living in a tiny cottage in the middle of nowhere; the windows boarded up to make the place appear abandoned to anyone passing by (not that there were many pedestrians around here). Inside, however, it was done up with all the creature comforts of home. A fully stocked kitchen, modern bathroom, television, books… there was even an elevator installed so that Paula Crock could easily get around in her wheelchair.
It didn't seem that bad a place to Wally, but then again, he wasn't the one being forced to live there. Artemis had been there for two months now; Wally's visits and the occasional supply drop from the League her only contact with the outside world. After being kidnapped and imprisoned in a small room, and then being confined to a bed for recovery… well, being trapped in a cottage with just her mother for company couldn't be fun.
"It'll be over soon, babe," Wally said reassuringly. Artemis flashed him a disbelieving look. "The League is investigating the case. They'll get the guy and then you can come home."
"Why am I the only one in a safe house?" she snapped.
Wally sighed. They had had this exact conversation precisely ninety-seven times since the decision had been made. The moment that her cast had been taken off and she no longer needed regular medical attention she and Paula had been packed up and shipped off to the safe house, leaving her with very little say in the decision. "Because you were the main target. We know for certain that your civilian ID is blown, so you are the most vulnerable to a second attack."
Artemis scowled at his logic.
Wally stood and took her hands, effectively halting her attempts to wear a trench in the floor. She looked up and met his green eyes, looking thoroughly miserable. Wally pressed a kiss on her nose. "I'm just glad that you're safe."
Artemis wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down so that their lips met. His hands dropped to her waist and pulled her closer, locking them in to the kiss.
"Ahem," Paula cleared her throat loudly as she wheeled into the living room. The two teens broke apart like they'd been electrocuted; Wally flushing a brighter red than his hair and Artemis pointedly looking at anything other than her mother or boyfriend. "It is good to see you again, Wally."
"Uh… you too, Ms Crock…" Wally replied awkwardly. He and Artemis had sprung far enough apart to allow plenty of space for Paula's wheelchair to fit between them. As she rolled past she glared threateningly at the speedster, her eyes promising all sorts of torture if he dared to hurt her daughter. It wasn't until she had left the room that Wally released the breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "Your mother is scary."
Artemis laughed at her boyfriend and then led him over to the sofa, pushing him into the seat so that she could cuddle up against his side. "So tell me. What is happening outside my prison?"
"Oh, nothing much," Wally half-shrugged, his other shoulder currently occupied as Artemis' cushion. "Bats hasn't been giving us any missions lately because of the whole mysterious bad guy thing, which is making training pretty much pointless. Canary's been trying to get us motivated, but it's not really working. It's not the same without you and Rob."
"How is the little troll?" Artemis asked.
"He's alright." Wally propped his feet up on the coffee table, but his girlfriend quickly nudged his legs and he removed his offending limbs from the furniture. "It's his first day back tomorrow."
"Ah." Artemis muttered apprehensively, as if she knew something terrible was about to happen.
Wally furrowed his brow. "'Ah'? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Is Zee gonna be at the cave tomorrow?" the blonde asked, making Wally's confusion deepen as he nodded. "Well, that's going to end badly."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Wally said bluntly, completely lost when it came to woman who were not his girlfriend (and sometimes even if they were…) "Why would it end badly? I thought they were doing the whole long distance relationship thing."
Artemis threw Wally a sideways look. "He hasn't told you?" she asked, making the confusion on her boyfriend's face grow to comic proportions. "Typical. Just keep an eye on them, and make sure Dick doesn't do anything stupid."
"He's a Bat," Wally shrugged. "They don't do 'stupid'."
Artemis just smirked knowingly.
Gotham City at night.
How to describe it? It's pretty much the same as it is during the day, but you know, darker. And more dangerous. It's all modern glass towers and Gothic architecture meshed together like something out of an Escher painting. Summer or winter doesn't really make a whole lot of difference either – the nights are always cold, and the perpetual smog keeps it void of starlight.
All in all, not the most appealing place to spend a Friday night. Especially if you happen to be sitting on a rooftop getting soaked through by a constant drizzle of rain.
Barbara Gordon loved it.
She loved the city, and as she looked down on it from above, she knew that she was doing the right thing. Admittedly, she wasn't entirely sure what it was that she was doing, but it felt good – if a little wet – regardless. Now all she needed was a bad guy to beat up and she'd be golden.
She was Batgirl.
Okay, so it wasn't the most original of names, especially in a city already protected by a Bat, but she figured that the symbol she had painted on her chest held the power she needed if she was going to seal her position as a Gotham vigilante. So what if she had cheated a little to jump-start her reputation? That wasn't what this whole thing was about. It was about helping people.
As if on cue, a store alarm sounded a couple of streets away from where Batgirl was holding her vigil. Grinning beneath her makeshift cowl, she took a running start and launched herself onto the adjacent rooftop. She rolled on impact and came up running, covering the distance between her and the howling alarm in under two minutes.
She'd like the see the GCPD beat that response time.
Not that this was a competition. She had huge respect for her father and the GCPD (those that weren't corrupt, that is). In a city as mad as Gotham it was amazing that there were still people applying to join the police force at all. Kudos to them.
She came to a stop on the edge of the building currently wailing like a banshee, quickly determining that she was above the jewellers on Moench Row. Judging by the glass all over the pavement, the alarm had been set off by someone throwing something through the window – not exactly the subtlest method of robbing a jewellery store.
A figured stumbled out of the shattered window, dithered over which way to run, and then hung a left. Batgirl followed his progress from her perch, creeping silently along the parapet as the thief headed down the alley that ran beside the store. A porch light on a motion sensor suddenly flooded the tight space in light and illuminated the perp: a man, mid-to-late thirties, wearing a rain coat and fedora and carrying a leather bag that was most likely laden with expensive gems.
Easy takedown.
Batgirl grabbed some climbing gear from her back pack and found a secure pipe to work as her anchor point. She clipped the other end of the rope to the belt on her costume; and then as the light clicked off she lowered herself down quickly and quietly. The stealth approach was going really well for her. That was until she released the line. And landed in a puddle.
The thief spun to face her as she landed with a loud splash. The porch light flashed on again at the sudden movement, making Batgirl squint through the eye slits of the cowl. He blinked, as if stunned to see another person, and then yelled, "Lenore!"
Did he just call me a laundry detergent?
"The rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore!" The thief elaborated, taking two staggering steps towards her with a manic grin, before falling back and looking utterly horrified. For a moment, Batgirl was frozen in shock – she had never had a perp quote Edgar Allen Poe to her before. Then again, in Gotham, she really should have expected the crazies. "Darkness there and nothing more…"
"Ooo-kay…" Batgirl muttered to herself as she raised her hands in a placating gesture. The thief watched her curiously, caught somewhere between awestruck and wary. "How about you hand me that bag of stolen goods, and we'll call the nice men in white coats to help you, kay?"
"Lenore?" the thief asked. The light switched off at their stillness. When it came back on again, the thief was inches away from Batgirl's face, making the teen vigilante jump backwards. "Nevermore! Quoth the Raven. You are not my lost Lenore!"
Batgirl really didn't want to hurt the guy – he was clearly a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but he was really beginning to freak her out. She knew that she could take him, it would probably only take one punch to floor him, but it didn't seem fair. She was beginning to suspect that there was something more going on here than a crazy man breaking and entering. "Erm… do you even know that you just broke into a jewellery store?"
"For my lost Lenore," the thief replied, clutching the bag a little tighter. "Vainly I had sought to borrow, from my books surcease of sorrow, sorrow for the lost Lenore. For the fair and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore. Only this and nothing more."
"Right…" Batgirl attempted to translate. "So you're stealing for Lenore?"
The thief froze and cocked his head to one side as he studied Batgirl. He lifted the bag and held it defensively against his chest. "You are not my lost Lenore?"
"No."
The thief screamed like a madman and launched himself at Batgirl, tackling her beneath the ribs and slamming her against the asphalt. The teen struggled to draw a breath as the wind was knocked out of her, barely able to get her arms up to block the assault of wild hits and slaps that the thief rained down at her. "Take thy beak from out my heart, and thy form from off my – oof!"
Batgirl brought her knee up between his legs, the crude move effectively cutting off the thief's nonsensical shouts. He pulled back to instinctively protect the family jewels, giving her the chance to shove him off of her. She rolled with him, pinning his chest between her knees and rearing back her hand to strike him. But there wasn't any need.
The thief's eyes were open and glazed over as they stared back at her without sight.
He was dead.
Did I…? Batgirl wondered, horrified at the thought. She was still frozen, her fist still ready in mid-air. Though she was physically still, her mind was racing, analysing everything that had just happened with the clarity of an eidetic memory. At no point had she used any move that could have possibly killed. So why was she looming over a corpse right now?
The porch light clicked off, leaving the alley silent and dark aside from Batgirl's heavy breathing. The distant rumble of traffic and city noise didn't register with the teenager as she struggled to come to terms with what had just happened.
A black shadow dropped from above and stepped toward the vigilante and the deceased thief. The motion activated the light one last time, illuminating the intimidating form of Gotham's senior protector. Batgirl blinked, and gradually turned to find herself being glared at by the infamous Batman. That was when she realised that she was still poised to strike a dead man and she hurriedly staggered to her feet.
The presence of the Bat was petrifying, and Barbara found herself shaking as she squeaked "I swear I didn't do it!"
And Batgirl makes her debut! I've only watched season 2 once and I was not a massive fan, so I'm probably not getting her character completely right. I'm basing her off of her comic book appearance, both post and pre-New52.