Warning: Possible Character Death. There. You have been warned. Now you can't complain about it in the reviews.
It was a spy mission on a few dealers of Kobra Venom. A simple recon mission. Nothing had gone wrong almost the entire time. Things had only started to get complicated when Robin and Zatanna found the entrance to a small underground tunnel system a shed out back of the house they were searching. The Team all went to investigate the find. Aqualad was been the last to enter, and was guarding the exit.
That's when it became really complicated.
Wave after wave came. The Earth moved like an ocean during a monsoon. It threw the Team around the cave tunnel like ragdolls.
Finally it stopped. The cavern stilled its restless churning, leaving the Team encased in pitch black.
"Uhn… What happened?" Artemis sat up and clutched her head.
"W-was that an earthquake?" Came the timid voice of Ms. Martian.
"Yeah. Along with a few aftershocks," Kid Flash said from his position near Artemis.
"Well, is it over?" Rocket's voice floated through the air from the same direction as Ms. M's. A dim blue light started to glow near the side of the cave, accompanied by the sound of clicking keys.
"I think so. None of my sensors are picking up anything other than that last wave." Robin said. "Superboy, do you hear anything?"
"No. Nothing but that last aftershock receding." He replied after a moment of listening.
"Hey Z, why don't you give us some more light?" Rocket asked.
"On it. Ekam a llab fo thgil." As soon as Zatanna had muttered the spell, a ball of light the size of her fist appeared in the middle of the space. Blinking in the sudden light, they took in their surroundings. Dust floated through the air. They were in a small pocket of space, surrounded by rocks and debris.
"Is everyone okay?" Robin asked, his strangely calm voice filling the silence.
"I think I sprained my wrist, but I'll live." Rocket reported. The rest had similar injuries, ranging from bumps and bruises to cuts and minor sprains. Over all, the team was in pretty good sha-
"Wait! Where's Kaldur?" Conner looked up at the others. The Team froze. They began to search franticly for their leader.
Then Zatanna gasped. Everyone ran over to see what she had found.
A single, webbed hand stuck out from under the rocks that used to be the entrance.
"Shit!" Kid Flash rushed forward, closely followed by Robin. They began shifting the rocks away from their friend. Kid whirled on the rest of the Team, who had been watching in shock.
"Aren't you going to help?!" He shouted.
"R-right. Right." Megan waved a hand as some of the larger stones relocated themselves to the back of the space. She then used her telekinesis to make sure that the walls did not cave in further. Superboy lifted a large bolder up and away. As the others dug through the dirt. Slowly, pain-stakingly, they moved away the rocks and debris, until finally they pulled Kaldur out from beneath the rubble.
To say he was in bad condition would be like saying the 2004 tsunami was a big wave.
He was bleeding badly from multiple places. His chest was almost as collapsed as the tunnel they were in, and his arms were twisting the wrong way. Both of his legs had been pinned under the largest rock, and below the knee, there was nothing left except a mess of blood and small pieces of bone. Just looking at it made them feel like throwing up.
"I-is he..?" Megan asked, on the verge of tears.
"No… he's alive. I can hear a heartbeat." Conner said, rapping an arm around his girlfriend.
"Come on, man. Wake up for us." Wally sat down next to Kaldur, propping his head up on his legs. Robin sat down next to Wally and began to use what he could to stem the bleeding from his injuries. They stared at the weak rise and fall of his injured chest for what seemed to be hours. Robin moved on towards his legs.
Suddenly Aqualad started to cough. Wally pulled him closer to himself and Robin. They held him until he quieted. As the coughing subsided, they relaxed. Kaldur blinked and looked around slowly at his team.
"May I inquire as to why everyone is staring at me?" he asked in a weak voice.
"How ya feeling, Kal?" Robin asked gently, using his years of bat-training to keep the worry out of his voice. The leader looked over at their youngest member. He closed his eyes for a moment. Just as they began to think that he had fallen back into unconsciousness again, he opened his eyes.
"I-I am ashamed to show such weakness in front of my team, but my legs hurt. A-and my arms. And… well, everything hurts." He ended with a small, tired smile.
"It's alright to admit it." KF said gently, no were near as good as Robin at concealing his anxiety. "We're all friends here."
"I-I am also quite… fatigued." Kaldur said as his eyes fluttered. Wally began to panic.
"Nonononono. Do not fall asleep on us now, Kaldur." Wally said, his speed showing in his voice.
"Surely the best treatment for what ails me in rest…" the Atlantean said weakly.
"No. You have to stay awake now, Kal." Rob said. His Bat training was beginning to fail him. "I activated my tracer. The League will be here soon. Then you can rest, after they've seen to you. K?"
The dark skinned boy nodded weakly. He began to cough again, his body bucking with the force of his fit. A splotch of red appeared on Wally's costume.
"I am sorry, Kid." Aqualad mumbled when the fit ended, his voice hoarse.
"It's all right, Kal."
Suddenly the earth began to tremble. Robin cursed under his breath.
"Crap! Not now! Any time but now."
"Aftershock!" Superboy shouted.
"Rocket! Throw up a shield!" Robin commanded.
The earth began to buck and kick once more as the bubble of kinetic energy encased them. The shield dampened the effects, but not enough.
Kaldur cried out in pain as the earth moved under him. Wally and Robin draped themselves around him, trying to use their bodies as cushions against the raging force. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only moments, it stopped. The team was left panting in the dark, the force of the aftershock causing Zatanna's light ball to be extinguished. She recreated it, and the space was lit up once more. The sight that greeted the Team was not one they had expected.
There was one thing the Team never expected from their leader. One thing that they never dreamed of seeing him do. But he was doing it now.
The injured Atlantean in their midst was crying. Tears rolled down his face, leaving trails in the dust. He gasped in pain as his broken bones rubbed resettled after the sudden movement.
"Shhh, Kal. It's all right. Everything will be all right." Wally said comfortingly, brushing dust out of his friend's hair. "You just have to be strong, u-until the League comes."
"They will not make it in time. Y-you above all know that they are always late." He gasped out.
"Maybe." Robin chuckled before growing serious once more. "But this time, this time they WILL be here." He finished applying what medical skills he had to Kaldur's injuries and grasped one large webbed hand in his small one.
"I promise."
The rest of the team looked on in silence, watching the three interact. They were like brothers. They had a bond that could not be broken. The speedster, the bird, and the Atlantean. Wally, who had always been reckless and too fast, was gentle and slow as he propped up his friend. Robin, always one step ahead, always quick to act, was worried and unsure. And then there was Kaldur, their fearless leader, always sure of what to do, always with a plan. And now he was lying, defenseless, injured, crying, on the ground.
"How can you be so sure? Please… tell my king-"
"No. You tell him," Wally said, not letting him finish.
"But-"
"Remember, Kal, no buts." Rod chided.
Another tremor shook the cave. With another cry of pain, the Atlantean's tears started anew.
"Hey… Kaldur. Stop that. Y-ya gotta be strong." Rob said, his voice cracking slightly. He gave the hand he held a small squeeze.
"I must ask… Do either of you recall that old Atlantean lullaby that I taught you once, long ago? I believe it was called Drift on Down." Robin and Wally exchanged glances.
"Yeah. We remember it." Wally said. "You taught it to us so we could help you calm down that Sea… whatever-it-was." He chuckled. "Now that was a strange mission."
"Sea-serpent, and yeah, it was. Why do ya ask, Kal?" Rob said.
"I-I wish to hear it… one last time." Kaldur spoke quietly.
"Hey, don't talk that way!" Wally said, wide, green eyes filled with tears.
"Yeah man. You'll hear it plenty of times after this." Robin added his, voice faltering as well. But Kaldur was insistent.
"Please. Can you sing it for me?"
With a sigh and a sniffle, the speedster of the group pulled their leader still closer, and began to rock back and forth. Then, for the second time in a few moments, the team was shocked.
Wally began to sing.
"Drift on down to the merry-go-round,
Let it take you away.
Let it bring you far from all your fears,
And sail far away...
Oh, Neptune, quiet your cries.
Make still the raging Sea.
Let peaceful night embrace you,
Then you can come and
Drift on down to the merry-go-round,
Let it take you away.
Let it bring you far from all your fears,
And sail far, far away."
As he sang, Kaldur relaxed. The tension left his body. And Wally continued to sing.
"Oh, Man of the sea, let go of your strife.
Let dawn rise bright and blue.
Go and live the quiet life.
For then, too, you can go and
Drift on down to the merry-go-round,
Let it take you away.
Let it bring you far from all your fears,
And sail far, far away."
Kaldur's eyes fluttered shut. Robin joined in the song as the hand he held started to go limp.
"Oh, Atlantean,
Knight of the sea.
Let the creatures of the ocean deep,
Carry you down,
To the Merry-Go-round
Where you can let it take you away
Let it bring you far from your fears,
To sail far, far away."
Finally the shallow pained breaths stopped. His eyes closed for the last time. The hand dropped.
Tears streaming down their faces, Robin and Wally sang on.
"Keep peaceful the sea.
And as you drift off to sleep,
Know that we love you."
As the song ended, there was silence.
Tears rolling down his face, Conner walked over to one of the larger boulders that they had moved. With a roar, he cracked the rock in half. He continued to pummel the stone as he cried.
Zatanna and M'gann hugged, crying into each other's shoulders.
"God damn it!" Artemis said, smashing her fist against the wall of Rocket's bubble. Tears ran down her face. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Rocket herself floated in the middle of the cave, maintaining her bubble. She wiped away the tears that were rolling down her face, silent except for a few sniffles here and there.
Robin rested his head on Wally's shoulder, his body racking with silent sobs. Wally let his head fall on to Rob's as he stroked Kaldur's arm. They sat and watched their tears falling onto the face of the one who had led them in so many missions, never to call out a sharp, calculated command again. They sat as he began to grow cold. They sat, listening to the sobs of their team mates, to rocks being smashed into a million pieces, to the pounding of a desperate fist on unfeeling walls. They sat, letting these things become one with them, until there were no more tears to shed. They sat until the sobbing stopped, until there were no more rocks to be smashed, until the fist stopped pounding and slid down the walls. They sat until there was nothing.
Nothing but the echo of a song.
Drift on down to the merry-go-round,
Let it take you away.
Let it bring you far from all your fears,
And sail far, far away...
A/N: This is my first attempt at righting a depressing fanfic. It's loosely based off of the first part of a story by the name of Here I Am by LifeSucksMusicDoesn't. Go check it out. But first review and tell me what you thought of mine.
I like how the song turned out, even though it seems more like a poem when I read it over.
I need to stop writing so long into the night. It's messing with my head. I can't type straight. Thank god for spell check!
Disclaimer: I do not own YJ. If I did I would be rich and I wouldn't have to deal with homework. I do not own the original plot for this story either. That belongs to LifeSucksMusicDoesn't. I may write a sequel, based off of the rest of Here I Am.
UPDATE: I'm working on the sequel now.