12:45 pm Metropolis

It should have been easy.

Flames engulfed the parking garage in angry torrents of red and orange. "I thought you said it was a lone gunman!" Kid Flash hissed. Miss Martian stared, momentarily mesmerized by the fire. "It was… before it was…" She had seen him, a boy who looked barely older than herself, as she stared out the window in trigonometry class. He had darted past brandishing a pistol and an expression that she knew meant trouble. After she had excused herself from class she had then called upon the only other member of the Team who had been free.

"Well," she breathed. "Let's go!" She had barely levitated two feet off the ground when Kid grabbed her cape. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where are you going?" He asked cocking an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'where am I going'? There could be people trapped inside!"

"No, I know. But you're a Martian, that's a fire, and the last time I checked those two things didn't exactly gel." M'gann's feet touched back to the ground as he let go of her cape. "So you just… stay here." He looked at her expression and quickly added, "Be back in a flash!" She didn't even have enough time to groan before he was gone. So there she stood, feet deep in the metaphorical snow, waiting for the firemen with her arms crossed feeling absolutely useless. She would have probably stood there for several hours, waiting, had the sound of gunshots not caught her attention.


The inside of the garage was like a raging inferno as M'gann quickly glided through it. Heat radiated from every surface and thick black smoke stung her eyes, but still she persisted. Cars creaked and withered in the heat as M'gann's world began to spin. The smoke became an overpowering fiend as the flames and walls blurred into colorful lights, and in five minutes Miss Martian crashed hard to the ground, gasping for breath.

Getting onto her hands, she tried to pull herself along, trying hard not to pass out. Her nails dug into the concrete ground as she lost all strength in her arms and again fell. "Help!" she called out, her voice barely above a horse whisper. "Wally!... Conner!... Uncle J'onn!..." She squeezed her eyes shut. They were all too far away, and she was alone… she was going to die alone.

Then she heard a godsend. The sound of heavy rubber boots slapping against the concrete. Firemen, she thought happily as her vision began to darken. The sound kept getting louder, signaling that the boots were getting closer. I'm going to be ok, she thought. The fireman is…. Alas, it was not a fireman she heard. In fact, if she could have seen the owner of the boots, not only would she have questioned if it even was a man, but she may have also questioned whether or not it was even human.

The creature walked gingerly through the now collapsing parking garage. Its blue asbestos lined suit made it almost completely oblivious to the fire raging around it. The thing then spotted the poor alien girl lying on the ground in front of it. Though thick pieces of Plexiglas hid its eyes, it was most definitely staring, as if unsure of what to do. It stared at her blue cape and her blue skirt, but also at the red X on her chest. It made a whistling noise, lifted the flame thrower it had kept at its side, and just as she caught a glimpse of the stream of fire, the car behind her was set on fire. It cocked its head at the now unconscious girl before continuing it's tromp.


Setting the unconscious boy into the arms of the paramedic, Kid Flash sighed with relief. He had evacuated the last person just in time, the firemen said that they were able to contain the fire to the garage, but they were having trouble putting the flames out. It was then he realized what was wrong. "M'gann?" He called out. He quickly scanned through the crowd of onlookers, trying to locate his friend. "Where is she?"


Shit! Shit! Shit! He internally chanted as he ran down the blazing levels of the parking garage. Have to get out! Shit! Jumping out of the way he dodged a piece of concrete that had just fallen from the ceiling. This entire fucking place was ready to go down and here he was stuck in the damn thing! Jerkily he climbed over the pile of fallen rubble, tripped, and fell face first onto the hard ground.

Ripping his face off the ground he spat out a single bloody tooth. Hoping back onto his feet he readied himself to take off in a dead sprint when he saw something in the corner of his eye that made him freeze. It was a girl. A very pretty girl, in fact. Who was lying face down, though there wasn't a scratch on her, just a light layer of ash. He looked from the girl to the very visible exit.

"Ah, fuck it."


Slowly the world came into focus, though it was dimmer and cooler than she last remembered it. "G'mornin' beautiful, thought I'd lost ya there for a couple seconds." M'gann smiled before giving a small cough. "It'll take more than a little fire to get rid of me Kid." M'gann appreciated that KF wasn't grilling her for putting her life at risk so foolishly. "Who're ya callin' kid? Pretty sure I'm older than you."

That was not Kid Flash. Her eyes shot open. Cold blue eyes stared back. "Who are you?" She asked, quickly sitting up. "Me? Oh, I'm just the guy who saved your life." He smiled smugly at her from where he still sat and M'gann couldn't help feeling that he looked a bit familiar.

Getting onto her feet she brushed the remaining soot off her legs and, turning her back to the boy, looked around. They were in an alley, only she had no idea which alley. In the distance she could still hear the fire trucks that were probably still parked around the now smoldering wreckage. The still lit embers suddenly reminded M'gann of the walking horror she had seen inside. "That person!" she said, turning back to the boy. "The one who started the fire, what happened to them?" the boy scratched at the dry flecks of blood on his face. "What? 'chu mean the Pyro? Creep probably ran off when he heard the fire trucks." He gave a bitter laugh. "Things probably trying to burn up half the city by now."

"You talk about it… them like you know them." He smiled. "And if I do? 's not a crime." "Burning down a parking garage full of people is." She said, narrowing her eyes. "Then I guess I'm glad I wasn't the one who did." A sudden disgusted look crossed her face. "Wha'sa matter?" The boy asked. "I-uh… I think one of your teeth got knocked out." Feeling his mouth with his tongue, he did notice the disturbing lack of one of his front teeth. Spitting some blood onto the ground, he put on an equally disgusted face. "Well shit." He muttered. "Guess I was too preoccupied with my back to notice."

"Your back?" M'gann repeated. To answer her, the boy twisted slightly where he sat, and M'gann almost vomited. There was a large hole in the back of his shirt, the edges crisp and black. The skin underneath was almost as red as the shirt, blistering and shiny. "You need to go to a hospital." She said. The boy made a noise in the back of his throat that may have been a laugh. "Yeah, right. No thanks." M'gann stared at him incredulously. "What do you mean 'no thanks'?" She asked, her voice rising slightly. "You're hurt!" But he simply rolled his eyes, suddenly smiling. "Well, ya know… if you were gonna be my nurse I'd go to the hospital." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not medically qualified." She said flatly. "Well, do ya at least have some gauze or somethin'?" He asked. "This is kinda startin' ta burn." She looked at him, trying to size up how trustworthy he was. He didn't look that… bad, really, and she couldn't just leave him there to die of an infection. What kind of hero would that make her? She sighed loudly.

Touching the tip of her finger to her head, she looked at him once more. She was sure she knew him, but her head was still to full of ash to remember where. "You really should go to a hospital." She said, closing her eyes. /Wally, where are you?/ The reply came immediately. /Where am I? Where are you?/

/I, uh, may have gone into the parking garage even though I knew it was a bad idea./ She thought, subconsciously biting her lip. /What? Are you ok? You aren't under all this rubble are you? M'gann I swear to God if you're hurt I'm not going to be the one Superboy-/

/No, no, I'm fine!/ She interrupted quickly. /But look, do you think you could meet me at... where ever I am?/

/Where are you?/

/I don't know. Some alley-/ A gust of wind from behind her made her hair blow forward. She turned. Kid Flash stood with his arms crossed, a light layer of soot darkening his costume. "What part of stay out of the fire didn't you get?" He asked impatiently. "Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine." She said with an embarrassed smile. "I had, uh, what's your name?" She asked, looking behind her. "Scout." The boy said, sizing up the new arrival. She turned back to Kid Flash with a triumphant smile. "I had Scout watching my back. By the way, he's coming back to Mt. Justice with us."

"He is?"

"I am?"

"You are." M'gann confirmed without looking at him. "He was injured in the fire and doesn't want to go to a hospital. I can't just leave him in good continence." She said, loud enough for Scout to hear. /And besides. He knows who started the fire./ Wally cocked an eyebrow. /And? So he knows the arsonist, tell the police and we can move on./ She frowned. /Wally you don't get it. I saw who started the fire. Trust me, this was our kind of arsonist./ "So are you two gonna stand there makin' faces at eachoddah or are we goin' to this.. Mt. Just-us place?" Scout asked. Kid Flash and Miss Martian looked at each other for a moment more. "Yeah." Kid Flash said, brushing some ash off his shoulder. "I guess we are." Neither of them noticed Scouts smile thin into a smirk.