Title: Louisiana Blues
Author: Naimeria
Warnings: None
Summary: The team gets sent on a mission into the bayous of Louisiana to scout out the possible source of a series of kidnappings. They get much more than they bargained for.
Author's Notes: I have no beta (if you're interested, feel free to contact me, as I would love one!), so all mistakes are mine. There are no pairings in this other than friendship, but if you squint, you might see one or two. :)
You will also notice I don't use Connor or Dick when addressing Superboy or Robin. Their names haven't come up in the show, and so I will not use them here.
Standard Disclaimer applies~
oOo
Five sets of footfalls were heard, the light thudding hitting the grass one moment then gone the next. If one were standing nearby, they would think the wind had merely gusted the long blades. One suddenly was gone, to be replaced with the thumping of feet hitting wood; one of the pack had moved to the trees. Another left the ground and was not heard from again; they had taken to the air.
"Stay close," Kaldur said, noting that Robin had moved to the treetops and Megan had decided to fly the rest of the way. "Remember, we want to remain hidden."
"Don't worry, mister leader," Kid Flash chimed from his right, his footsteps, for once, the same speed as his comrades'. "We know better than to break the little gang now." He spoke, of course, of their little excursion at their last mission; though the drug bust had been a success, bruises and all, it had still been far too disorganized. Kaldur's gaze flitted to where he heard Robin jumping, unable to see him.
"We're sticking close," the youngest member said easily, though the aquatic teen could tell he still felt bad about his behavior a few weeks past. Kaldur held no grudges, and he made sure to remind the teen more than once. He was, in fact, very grateful to have Robin giving up what was clearly his most desired position in the team. He reminded the other of that more than once as well, though by his behavior, Robin was more than sick of hearing it.
"We need to keep moving," Superboy said, and that was that. The group fell into silence once more, focusing on the mission. Aqualad heard Batman's dulcet tones echoing through his head as he went over the details of their latest mission.
"Strange disappearances have been occurring in the southern half of Louisiana," Batman growled, looking at each pair of eyes in turn as they watched the debriefing screen behind him. "Miss Martian will be receiving coordinates and maps of each location. There are five swamps surrounding a large estate, where there have been rumors of strange kidnappings.
"We have a theory as to who's behind it," Batman continued, turning away from the team and looking back at the screen, "but the League will handle that. It's your job to scout out the swamps, the estate, and any surrounding buildings. We need to know whether these rumors are true or false. That's all you'll be doing," he said with dark inflection, glaring at each of them with a pregnant pause in between.
"Any questions?"
Kid Flash looked like he was going to open his mouth, but a glare from Robin silenced him. Batman nodded sharply, looking pleased. "You'll be leaving at 2100 hours tonight. Be ready by then. Dismissed," he said, then, with a whip of his cape, left the room.
They all visibly relaxed, Robin running a hand through his short hair and Superboy sliding his hands into his pants pockets.
"Well alright then."
Aqualad heard a light thud, which startled him back into the present, only to see that Robin had run out of trees to hop to traverse through and had landed next to him. They all stopped as one, Megan landing in the grass next to Superboy, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide.
"What a lovely house!" She said with a small measure of awe.
The old place was indeed impressive. A plantation style home, it looked to be three stories tall with a porch lining each floor on the outside. Some of the posts were broken, while others had clearly been broken then repaired. The building was white and, though the paint was chipping in some places, it was still very majestic looking. Most of the lights were off, but a few half curtained windows were lit, the yellow sheen casting an eerie glow on the rest of the house. No shadows moved within; for all intents and purposes the house was empty.
All four boys shrugged simultaneously. M'gann frowned at them, hands on her hips, but said nothing.
"We need to go around first, scout out the swamps," Kaldur said.
The others nodded, and Kaldur shifted as Robin took an inaudible step back, then hesitated. Superboy shifted as well, turning his gaze to the shorter. Robin paused, then stepped forward again.
"No vanishing acts, I get it," he said, looking a tad cross. Wally thumped Robin on the shoulder, grinning like an idiot. Robin shook him off, but he sported a small smile of his own. Kaldur found himself smiling as well; they were finally starting to consistently look like a team.
After having the decency to look mildly embarrassed, Robin called up his hologram display. Kaldur had no idea what the small piece of tech was and doubted he'd ever know. He appreciated that the shorter teen knew how to use it, though; that was the most important thing.
"There are landmines hidden in both the grass and under the water in the bogs to the front, left and back," Robin said.
"Why underwater?" Kid Flash asked. "I don't think anyone would swim there. There's plenty of pathways leading to and from this place," he noted, waving a hand in the air, marking the notion as foolishness. Superboy answered first.
"In case someone brings a boat in. Precautionary measures," he said. Wally nodded, shrugging.
"Makes sense, I suppose. Seems a bit excessive, but it makes reasonable sense," M'gann said with a nod.
"You've met this one and Batman, right?" Kid Flash asked, jerking his head over at Robin. "You should be more than familiar with neuroticism."
"Wow, KF. A five syllable word. I'm impressed," Robin retorted, smirking. Kaldur hushed them both with a hand in the air.
"Please, guys. Let's go disarm the mines, and scout the place out. I don't know about you, but I'd like this to go without a hitch." The for once at the end of the sentence was unspoken, but they all got the message.
"Robin, can you tell us how to disarm these?" Kaldur added, glancing over Robin's shoulder at the numerous red circles dotting the layout of the estate. Robin nodded.
A couple of minutes later, the team had split into two groups: Aqualad and Miss Martian in one, Superboy, Kid Flash and Robin in another. Kaldur and M'gann were to disarm the underwater explosives, while Superboy, Wally and Robin were to take the land-dwelling ones.
Wishing the opposite group luck, they separated.
oOo
Aqualad climbed out of the swamp, scowling and flinging his hands in an attempt to get the mud off of his webbed fingers. "I do not enjoy these swamps," he said to no one in particular. "The seas where I once resided were much…cleaner."
"Oh, it's not so bad," Megan said, a mine hovering before her as she took it apart before unplugging the appropriate wires. "There's so much life here!" she said with apparent glee. Though the darkness was lit slightly by the large moon overhead, little fireflies flitting about helped light the bog.
Kaldur sat in the grass and busied himself with picking small clumps of sludge from between his toes. "You didn't have to swim in it," he said glumly. Megan stifled a giggle and lowered the useless hunk of metal to the ground.
"That's the last one," she said. "Miss Martian to Robin, we have successfully disarmed all underwater mines."
A quarter of a mile behind the estate, Robin nodded as he yanked at a wire of his own. "Almost done here. We'll rendezvous back where we first split, alright?" After getting an affirmative from the female, he chucked the disabled mine to the side, next to a pile of others. "Almost done, KF?" he asked.
"Yeah. These stupid things are everywhere," he whined, tossing his own to the side. "I got no room to move. This place is awful," he said, pouting.
Superboy regarded Wally with an odd mixture of pity and annoyance. "At least they weren't motion activated. Clearly they were placed slightly underground so people would step on them."
"Yeah, supes. They're called landmines for a reason," Kid Flash said with ease, his tone the only think making it apparent he wasn't mocking Superboy, but merely explaining. "It is lucky, though. A certain amount of weight to trigger and all that."
"These are the last," Superboy said with a nod. "We should meet the others," he said, blue eyes pinned to Robin's hidden ones. Robin held the gaze for a moment before nodding.
"Let's go the long way. Another light turned on over on the right side, and I don't want to risk being seen," Robin said, rising soundlessly. They darted around the left side, hidden by bushes and trees. "We're headed your way, Aqualad," he said into the comm., Kid Flash to his right and Superboy to his left.
"Noted. See you in a minute," Kaldur replied, nodding though no one but M'gann could see.
True to their word, the three boys met them after a few minutes of waiting. Pleased that their group were all together with nothing yet going wrong, they grinned at one another. "Okay, now what?" Kid flash asked.
"Now is when the real stealth comes in," Robin replied with a delighted smirk.
oOo
Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated! I love to hear suggestions, as well as constructive criticism. They make my day. :D