Author's Note: What's going on?! It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm back, and can't wait to get back into writing all these characters. As I said in the description, this is a continuation of my other story, "A New Addition," and so if you haven't read that, I'd suggest you do so before starting this. Anyway, I have had this written up for a while, but put off posting it in case I had writers block, and needed something in my back pocket. But then I was like, screw that, it's Wally West's birthday today! And so I decided that, well... today is the day.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, or any of the characters within it. Only Desmond Marigold/ al Ghul (spoilers)

Chapter One

Return of Desmond Marigold

The sun was shining brightly down on the small town of Happy Harbor, as was typical of a summer day like this. Children played in parks, teens reclined at beaches, and adults enjoyed the weekend with friends and family.

And at the same time, a red car was careening out of control down a busy highway. It sped along the street, causing several other cars to swerve out of the way. The police cars giving chase couldn't get close enough in; the cars that had swerved away got directly in their paths. The red car got away.

Within the car were two girls; a sixteen year old, and her nine year old sister. The younger girl sat in the back, and the teen had her hands on the wheel. Next to her sat a man in a ski mask, with a gun pressed to the teen's temple. It was a hostage situation. The man in the mask had just robbed a bank, and was forcing the girl to act as a getaway driver.

News helicopters began to follow the red car down the highway. The reporters mentioned the fact that the police were having such trouble catching up with the man and his hostages.

Suddenly there was the sound of an explosion. About thirty feet in front of the car, a portion of the bridge it was on collapsed after a small explosion had cracked it apart. The car didn't stop, however, and sped up. The driver managed to jump the gap, and the car landed safely on the other side.

Just then, two boys appeared. One was wearing a black shirt with the Superman Shield on it. The other's outfit was a bit more out of the ordinary. It was blue and gold, with certain stripes of black. He too had a Superman S, but instead of a red one like the first boy, this one was gold, standing out against his blue-covered chest. The boy in blue stood tall, despite the speeding car heading for him.

The car came into contact with the boy. Any normal person would've been overwhelmed by the blow, crumpled to the ground, possibly died.

But Desmond Marigold, AKA Desmond al Ghul, AKA the hero Shifter, was far from a normal person.

Shifter lowered his density, and passed right through the front of the car. He reached out and grabbed the teen girl by the arms. Lowering her density as well, they both phased through the car. They landed on the rough concrete, and rolled upon impact.

"Please help!" the teen girl screamed. "You've got to help! My little sister's in there with that maniac!" Desmond smiled, and pointed toward the car.

Superboy ran towards the car, which was still moving at a fairly fast pace, and grabbed it on the hood. The momentum was too much to bring to a stop, at least without harming the girl inside. Instead, he transferred it, and tossed the car high into the air.

It sailed through the sky, but before it collided, a small arrow was shot from the distance. Artemis snuck it in just in time, too, because it had barely enough time to inflate the soft foam before the car hit the ground. With the car safely on the ground, a blur of yellow and red zipped over.

Kid Flash pulled open the door, grabbed the little girl and the sack of stolen money from the bank, and zipped over to Desmond.

"You want to take this one, Shifter?" he asked. "You are technically the leader right now." The two sisters embraced each other tightly as Desmond and Wally made their ways over to the criminal. He was currently waist-deep in Artemis' foam from the arrow.

Shifter stood above the would-be robber. "Come on, man," he said, crossing his arms. "Didn't anyone tell you that crime doesn't pay?" Superboy and Artemis walked up, so the four present members of the team were standing together.

"Really, Shifter?" asked Superboy. "Clichés? You're really letting this "being in charge" thing go to your head." Shifter jokingly punched his Kryptonian friend.

"Who are you guys supposed to be anyway?" the struggling criminal asked. "Superman's kids or something?"

"I am," said Conner.

"I just use the symbol," Desmond filled in. "Maybe you've heard of our team. We're Young Justice."

XxXxX

The teens arrived back at Mount Justice about an hour later. They had to take care of stuff with the police, and a few camera crews that had showed up. A year ago, this would've been terrible. Young Justice was meant to be a covert ops team, and it still was, in essence. But a while ago the Justice League had decided that perhaps civilians getting to know the teenage team wasn't such a bad idea. It would allow them to attract the attention away from any secretive business the League was up to.

For instance, the incident that happened last January, with Vandal Savage. A time period where several key members of the League had gone missing, dubbed the Sixteen Hours. While maintaining their usual duties, the League was constantly working on this issue. So far, however, there were no leads.

"How'd it go?" asked Zatana, walking into the living room where the others were currently lounging around. "Did Des do a good job as leader?"

"Oh yeah," said Artemis. "He rocked it." Desmond waved a hand modestly.

"I still don't think we all needed to be there, though," Kid Flash said. "Just a few, maybe you and me, that's all." Desmond shrugged.

"Hey, I wasn't taking any chances," he said. "With Kaldur in Atlantis, M'gann in Qurac," he looked to Zatana. "And you visiting Robin in Blüdhaven, I wanted to be able to use all our assets." Attention turned to Zatana.

"So, how is Rob?" asked Conner. Zatana shrugged.

"You know, same old," she said. "Fighting crime, kicking butt, taking names, that kind of stuff. Bats keeps checking up on him during the night. I don't know why, he's still living with the guy after all."

Recently, Robin had left Young Justice. It wasn't permanent, not by a long shot. After several missions in Gotham's sister city, the boy wonder had decided that this specific location was in desperate need for a hero. And since Batman mostly kept to Gotham, he had decided to take it upon himself to be that hero. He still returned to work with Young Justice often, but he had decided that, for the time being, he was no longer technically on the team.

Attention then turned to Desmond, with Zatana asking, "So, how'd the new suit feel?" Desmond smiled, and gave a thumbs up. Last year, Superman had invited his "son" Superboy into the House of El, dubbing him Kon-El (Superman, who had revealed himself to be Clark Kent, had the Kryptonian name of Kal-El.) In a surprising turn of events, he had invited Desmond to join his House as well. Des had refused, but Kal-El had still asked that Desmond don the symbol of the House of El—the Superman S—like the hero Steel, showing his allegiance to the House. Desmond had obliged, and as such, needed a new suit. The design had been changed a bit, and the deep purple was now swapped for a dark blue. All in all, it was a better suit.

"So…" said Wally after a moment. "When's M'gann supposed to get back anyway?" He, along with the others, looked to Conner. The two aliens of the team were dating, and everyone (even Wally, finally) knew it. They did nothing to hide it anymore. Desmond and Artemis, who were also a "thing" had never really hidden it. It had developed over the course of several months. From saving Artemis' life in the Gotham sewers, to a Ferris wheel ride she didn't remember, and a Halloween dance turned hero mission, the two had grown closer and closer. It worked, because neither of them were about the "lovey dovey" stuff; not like M'gann, who was constantly making Conner look stupid by acting all googly-eyed around him.

"Don't know," Conner told them. "Few days. She said something big was going on, but wouldn't tell me what." He shrugged, and the rest of the team dropped it. They had had a feeling that something was going down in Qurac since M'gann had left. She had gone by herself, instead of bringing someone along, like she normally did. It was usually Conner or Wally, but Des had been along a few times as well. He'd met little Garfield Logan, the son of the late Marie Logan. Marie Logan, who had ran an animal sanctuary, died, back in January, in a car crash. It was for this reason that M'gann had been making so many trips to Qurac recently, visiting Garfield in the orphanage he was staying at. Ever since she had saved Gar's life with a blood transfusion, the young boy had begun considering the Martian to be his sister, and who was she to deny a boy from seeing his sister in a time of need?

Thinking of sisters reminded Desmond of his own sister, Talia al Ghul. Though he despised his father, Ra's al Ghul, with a passion, he did love his half-sister. He worried about her, as she often chose to be on the wrong side of the coin of morality, so to speak, siding with their father in many if his plots and schemes. He forgave her for that. But he would never forgive Ra's for the hell that the immortal man put him through.

Des had thought he was rid of Ra's when he joined up with Young Justice, nearly a year ago. Unfortunately, Ra's caused even more trouble with Desmond's new family, putting most of them at risk. He had kept his family a secret from most members of the team, until one fateful night, when he, Conner, M'gann and Artemis had all aired their grievances and secrets. Superboy was the clone of both Superman and, as they'd discovered, the villain Lex Luthor. Artemis was the child of the cons Sportsmaster (who was no fun to tangle with) and Huntress, not to mention the sister of Cheshire (who was… admittedly, a little fun to tangle with.) M'gann revealed her true White Martian form, and Desmond had come clean about his family as well. Then they had proceeded to the island of Santa Prisca, where they had delivered quite the whooping to those who wished them harm. In the end, it had been a nice night.

The teens lounged about the Cave for a bit more, until Conner's phone vibrated. He picked it up, read a text, and then tossed a pillow at Desmond, who was dozing on the couch.

"What?" he asked, startled by the pillow.

"Text from Mal," he said. "Impromptu practice on the field in fifteen minutes. Wants to know if we're in." Desmond looked around at his teammates.

"You guy will be good here?" he asked them. His teammates gave a collective groan.

"YES!" came the reply from all of them. "Des," continued Wally. "Come on, don't take being in charge this seriously, 'kay?" Desmond smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry," he said, grinning. "Just trying to do good for my first time, you know? Come on Kon, let's get going." Conner nodded, and the two friends quickly left the living room.

"You want to Zeta-Beam there, or take the bikes?" asked Conner. Desmond thought for a minute.

"Bikes," he decided, and Conner nodded in agreement. The two heroes made their way to the garage, where every member of the team kept their motorbikes, each colored specifically for its corresponding hero. Even M'gann had one, though she usually just took the Bioship.

The boys mounted their respective motorbikes, and the garage opened up, revealing an upwards ramp that lead into a grassy field.

"Hey!" Desmond shouted to Conner, over the commotion coming from the lowering platform. "Race you there?"

"You're so on!" Conner agreed, and the two bikes revved to life. They sped out of the garage, barreling down the grassy field that lie next to Mount Justice, the home base of Young Justice. They were neck and neck, with Conner slightly in the lead.

They hit the main road, and had to slow down in accordance with the speed limit, but were still racing. The faster they went, the wider Desmond's smile grew. He loved being on Young Justice. He loved stopping crime, and saving the world. But most of all, he loved the friends and family he'd made. Before the team, he'd been alone. Now his heart was full of people that he cared for, and people that cared for him. He found a little brother in Robin, or Dick Grayson, as he had revealed himself to be named. He found a cousin in Zatana, which had originally been a cover story, but evolved into a very close friendship. He found a girlfriend in Artemis, and would stop at nothing to keep her safe. His emotions for the archer had been used against the both of them in the past, but they were stronger than that, and moved past it. He found great friends in Kaldur and M'gann and Wally, but his best friend—more or less his brother—was the Kryptonian riding alongside him. Conner and Desmond were as close friends as two could be. They had been together for every step of the journey so far, on and off duty. They trusted each other with their lives, and everyone knew it.

They slowed their bikes down as they reached the parking lot of Happy Harbor High School, which they attended. They would be going into Junior year, and had decided that it was probably a good idea to get a few extracurricular activities on their transcripts. Their friend Mal Duncan, quarterback of the Happy Harbor Hornets, had suggested that the two join the football team. It seemed as good an activity as any, so why not?

"You'd better be careful out there," Superman had told them, when Conner told him about their plans to join the team. After a rough beginning, the two Kryptonians were much closer now than they used to be. Conner confided in Superman about most things, and if Desmond ever needed someone more worldly than his friends to talk to, Kal-El was there. "I played football myself for a while, back in Smallville. I was good, too. But I started using my powers, and got close to hurting some people. Just make sure you can pull back, alright?"

The boys had agreed, obviously, but were still planning on using their "advantages" a bit. It had sure helped them in the preliminary tryouts. The coach had been impressed. Two kids, out of nowhere, out playing nearly every varsity athlete. The only person that the heroes hadn't used their powers against had been Mal. Though their friendship had started out rocky, he had grown to see Conner and Desmond as friends. He, Marvin, and Wendy were the main "civilian" friends of Desmond, M'gann, Conner and Zatana.

"You guys are late!" Mal called to the guys, as he saw them coming down the field. Without warning, he sent a spiral directly in their direction. Desmond leapt into the air, grabbing it effortlessly, and then yelled for Conner to go long. The Kryptonian did so, only using a bit of his natural super speed to get exceptionally far. Grinning, Desmond raised his density, effectively increasing his strength. He flung the ball, executing a near perfect spiral, and watched as it sailed into Conner's waiting arms, sixty yards away.

"Damn…" Mal said, whistling. "I've told you guys how crazy good you are, right?" Des smiled, and gave Mal a gentle shove in the chest before running off to tackle someone who had gotten the ball from Conner.

XxXxX

Desmond and Conner practiced with the team for about an hour, until all the boys had decided to call it a night. The sun was dipping, and the bugs were coming out. Desmond and Conner walked back to their bikes together, when Desmond's phone buzzed.

"Text from Artemis," he told his friend. "She said… 'Des, Kaldur's back from Atlantis.' Cool, let's go see him." Conner nodded, and the two boys were about to hop on their motorbikes when a voice called to them.

"Yo, Conner, Des!" it called out. The heroes turned to see Mal approaching them. "Hey, some of the guys wanted to go see that new Nic Cage movie. You in?" Des and Conner quickly exchanged a look, and then Desmond tried to come up with a cover.

"Um…" he said. "Sorry, can't. We've got a friend visiting from…"

"Atlanta," supplied Conner quickly, covering for Desmond. "Yeah, he just got in. Not really the kind to go out with a group of people he doesn't know, you know?" Mal nodded understandingly.

"Yeah, that's cool," he said. "Man, you guys are always busy, huh? Better not be busy during the homecoming game, dudes. Yeah, it's not for a while, but it's the biggest game of the year. Mark your calendars boys!" And with that, he chased off after the other football players, hopping in his truck to drive to the movies.

"Atlanta?" Desmond said to Conner, eyebrow raised, as they mounted their bikes. "That's the best you could come up with?"

"You didn't seem to be coming up with anything," Conner retorted. Desmond gave him a rude gesture, and then the two friends revved their bikes to life. They raced down the Rhode Island streets, heading for the mountain cave that they called their home.

When they arrived, they found the main room empty, but there were voices coming from the kitchen. The boys quickly walked in to find their friend and team leader, Kaldur'ahm, standing there, chatting with the rest. Desmond quickly strode over to him.

"Good to have you back, Kaldur," he said, shaking the Atlantian's webbed hand. Aqualad had been in Atlantis for a week and a half, taking no breaks to come back to Young Justice. There had only been one mission (the bank robbery turned car chase from the afternoon) but it was still a pain to not have Kaldur'ahm there. Not to mention he was their friend.

"Good to be back," Kaldur agreed, with a smile. "Atlantis is fine, but nothing surpasses coming home to see friends." Kaldur shook Superboy's hand as well, then turned back to Desmond. "So, the others tell me you took charge while I was absent, like we'd decided. Did it go well?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that?" Desmond asked, turning in a circle to face the rest of the team. "Was there, like, a bet to see if I'd mess up?" No one said anything for a moment.

"Would you be less mad if I told you I'd won?" asked Artemis, a sheepish smile on her face. Desmond's jaw dropped, and his friends laughed. Wally punched him in the arm.

"No we didn't bet against you!" he yelled.

"Good!" Desmond said, crossing his arms in a huff, which caused the others to laugh again. He turned back to Aqualad. "So, Kaldur, how're things in Atlantis?"

Kaldur opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, there was the noise of the Zeta-Beam from the main room. "Recognized, Miss Martian, B05." The Team's eyes widened, and they all rushed back to the main room.

M'gann M'orzz stood there, back from her trip to Qurac. And she had someone with her. "Guys," she said. "This is Garfield Logan."

So, how was that for a first chapter of the new fic, huh? Listen, I'm going to say this now; I have no idea how regularly I'll be updating this. I'll, of course, try and get to it as fast as I can, but sometimes stuff comes up, you know? Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. If you liked it, and want to see more, I'd really appreciate a favorite, and most of all a REVIEW. They make me feel all warm inside. Adios.