I don't own Young Justice or any related characters.

A/N: Hopefully a new exciting story that you all will enjoy following. Fill free to give me ideas, comments, criticism, etc. I hope you guys like it.

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Mount Justice

April 2, 02:36 EST

Nightwing leaned against the wall next to the zeta tube tunnel.

"Where are they?" he thought. He had never been one to typically worry, but this was getting to be an extreme circumstance.

Miss Martian paced back and forth in the center of Cave. There had been radio silence for the past two days. It had been a reconnaissance mission, one both parties had made numerous times, but it hadn't required radio silence. The only explanation was something had gone horribly wrong.

She tried to push the negative thoughts away. What she had hoped was they just ran into trouble making the trip back to the Cave, and were just taking other methods, like public transportation. But why hadn't they radioed? They were out of her telepathic range. All she could do was worry.

"Superboy. B04."

Superboy stumbled in through the zeta tube. His head was in a fog as Miss Martian moved to him, Nightwing following close behind her.

Barely finding the seat, Superboy sat. He looked dazed as if he was confused as to what was going on around him. The voices sounded miles away even with his super hearing. It was as if he was underwater.

"Superboy? Can you hear me? What happened?" Miss Martian kept repeating.

Nightwing was becoming anxious. He continued to stare at the zeta tube waiting for it to fire off again, but time continued to pass and it remained quiet. He began tapping his foot, unable to find a release for his nervous energy.

Miss Martian continued to try to bring her former lover's attention to the present.

"Superboy, wake up. What happened at Cadmus?"

The clarity slammed back to his mind as he caught a clear glimpse of where he was and who he was talking to. It was something about the sentence that had grounded him, like a trigger word for a post-hypnotic suggestion.

Nightwing saw the recognition come back into his eyes. There was no sign of her and she was the last person he had been with. He had become far too impatient to deal with this routine.

"Superboy! Where is she?!"

Miss Martian helped him stand. He looked Nightwing in the mask.

"I don't know."

He pushed the Kryptonian back into his seat. "You were her partner! How do you not know?!"

"I don't know!" Superboy yelled back, standing again. He wasn't going to be intimidated.

Nightwing pushed past the clone in front of him. Rushing to the zeta tube.

"Where are you going?" Miss Martian asked.

"Last zeta location," he commanded the machine.

"Recognized. Nightwing B01." He vanished without answering her.

Miss Martian waited for the zeta tube to die down before she turned to her teammate.

"Conner. What happened?"

He sat in the chair, hands gripping his hair as he shook his head from side to side.

"I keep trying to replay it in my head. See what went wrong. But no matter how hard I try I can't. I just can't remember."

Washington D.C.

April 2, 02:51 EST

It was dark even with the lights in the city. He ran out of the Hall of Justice. Her belt was still active, he would be able to track her location with it. He called his bike and jumped on without it halting, pushing it to the limit.

"How did he leave her? That is the purpose of a partner to have her back?" He still didn't know if he was mad at himself or at Superboy. Aqualad had asked him to go on the recon mission, however, he was chasing down the leader of a drug cartel in Blüdhaven. He felt that it was far more important to finish what he had started. Most of the team was adept at the art of recon, it was the Team's MO after all. Sure he had gotten the ring leader, and Superboy was well equipped to do recon, but he still felt guilty. He should have been there to prevent this from happening.

The tracking device began to flash rapidly and beep louder. He stopped the bike and took off running in the direction of the signal.

He was in the middle of nowhere, a random side street with a forest on either side.

"Batgirl!" he yelled. His blood ran cold as he heard her scream. His pace quickly changed from a walk to sprint.

He saw her from a distance. She was moving around haphazardly, screaming out erratically. By the time he ran into her, she was in a frenzy.

"Batgirl!" he shouted again, hoping to get her attention.

"He's here. Can't you see him? He's gonna get us all." She was yelling out, but there was no one there. She looked to be engaged in an attack, like she was fighting someone off, but there wasn't a living being out there with her.

"Batgirl. What are you doing? What happened?"

When she caught sight of him, she slowly edged towards him. As she approached, he could see her uniform had been ripped to shreds and her body was heavily bruised. She also seemed to be favoring her left leg. She approached him, the same confused look in her eye that Superboy had when he had stumbled into the Cave.

"Talk to me. What happened?"

Her expression changed quickly from confusion to wild with fear. It was a sight he hardly saw, even in the criminals he and Batman used to strike fear into. No, this went beyond fear, Batgirl was outright petrified. She struck him in the jaw, and dropped back into a fighting stance.

"Stay back!" She lunged at him again. This time, he grabbed her arms as she swung. She furiously tried to pull away.

"Let me go. You don't understand. He's coming. Can't you see him? Please. We have to get out of here." Someone had hurt her, had her so afraid for her life. It pulled at his heart to see her in such disarray, such pain.

"Barbara. Look at me. What happened at Cadmus?"

Her eyes began to focus. She stopped struggling to get away as she recognized who was holding her in place.

"Dick?" Her voice had become hoarse. "Superboy, where's Superboy?"

"He's not here." Nightwing answered bitterly.

Batgirl pulled away from him.

"We have to go find him. We have to…" She trailed off as she began walking away from Nightwing. He followed close behind. Again, she looked like she was searching for something, stumbling around like a drunkard. She took a few steps more before she collapsed, landing in a ditch.

Nightwing jumped down next to her kneeling by her side. She had begun to sweat, though her body was cold and limp and her skin clammy. She was unresponsive. As he waited for a response, he noticed the stillness of her chest. He removed his glove and placed the back of his hand to her mouth. She wasn't breathing. He checked her pulse. Her heart wasn't beating.

"Barbara!"

He immediately began CPR. It seemed endless. With every compression he felt he was going to lose her for good. Images of Artemis flashed into his head as he continued to hope for any sign of life.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes.

Still nothing. "Come on." He silently willed. His arms were getting weak from the compressions, but he was determined to continue.

Four minutes, five minutes.

He held back his emotions that were threatening to spill over. He let his arm hang by his side, his heart heavy with sadness as he stared at her still form. She looked peaceful now, a complete juxtaposition to her final moments. His heart grew heavy as he watched her. A lump formed in his throat and a knot in his stomach. He lingered there as time stood still.

He put his hand to his ear and activated the comlink. "Nightwing to Cave." He sighed as he waited for a response.

The area was uncomfortably silent. It had been since he had arrived. As he waited for a response, the silence that had enveloped them with its deafening presence allowed itself to be broken. While it wasn't loud, just a small rustling, it seemed to defile the innocent life taken under its reign. But he ignored the rustling as Miss Martian answered his call.

"Cave to Nightwing. Tell me you have good news."

He took a deep breath not knowing how to share such delicate information. He looked down at her body again before he spoke, when he heard the desecrating rustling again. He began to put it off again but noticed this time it was accompanied by a weak cough, immediately followed by several gasps for air.

"Dick?" called weakly.

He was ecstatic. He reached down and embraced, but not to hard, careful he might break her in such fragile state.

"Nightwing. Nightwing? What's happening? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here. I found her."

"Oh thank goodness."

"She's heavily injured. I'm taking her to a hospital."

"Copy. We'll see you when you return."

He picked her up, cautiously fearful she might shatter. She was trying her best to stay awake, focusing heavily on her breathing.

"Come on Batgirl. You have to stay with me. We're gonna get you help." She nodded weakly as She readjusted herself against his body. Her head fell heavy in his chest. She became lulled into a calmed state by the rhythmic beating of his heart. Her breathing falling in tune with his steps. She tried her best to stay awake, but sleep as calling her.

"What happened at Cadmus?" He thought. He watched Batgirl struggle for her life as her ran to get her to safety. There was a reason he had left after Wally died. He had had enough of this mess for a while, the conspiracies, the theories, the gray areas. In Gotham and Blüdhaven, there was only black and white. Criminals weren't smart enough to blur the lines. But with the team, there was far more than fifty shades gray. And it didn't just stop here on Earth. The dealings with the Reach had made half crazy. The grays forced secrets. You never knew who to trust, who was really on your side. There was always an ulterior motive forcing you to lie and keep secrets to stay on top. That's why he had needed a break from it all. He had been so eager to lead when he was younger, but now he understood the murky areas of heroics. It wasn't his responsibility anymore. But fate wouldn't seem to let him escape. No, now that he was thrust into this he was going to get to the bottom of this. He had no choice. Superboy was suspect number one. But for now, he had help his oldest friend live through the night.

"Hold on Babs. I'm gonna get you out of here." He promised her.