AUTHOR'S NOTE: heyooooo :*

I loved writing this chapter, probably as this is exactly how I wanted it to be in the series. But idgaf, Imma do what I want.

Remember, I love reviews, favourites and follows ;)

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of these characters. Real bummer, cos they all rock. DC owns all these BAMFs

CHAPTER 1: Disappearing Act

GOTHAM CITY

July 4, 20:58 EST

1 YEAR LATER

'Come on already, Tim! We're gonna be late!'

'Ugh, Cass, Bruce is so gonna kill me for sneaking out late. And for the reasons behind my sneaking-out-late.'

'Oh shut up, Boy Blunder…'

The 15-year-old blond, perky, Amazon flew through the alleyway. Glancing behind, she let out a small giggle as she saw a certain black-haired boy leaping over a trash can, adding a front-flip just for kicks.

Hum, she thought to herself. Showoff! But I can do that too, and so much better.

She proceeded to doing a graceful underwater-like somersault in the air, before flying back to Tim's side. He sighed as she quirked an eyebrow at him.

'Yeah, I get it, Cass. You can fly, a fact that hasn't changed for nearly two years. You do realise, though, that if you just tell me where exactly it is that we're going, I'd definitely be able to get there faster than your sorry butt.'

She laughed. 'Well then, that'd ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? And last time I checked, the thing with surprises is that they surprise you! Bt-dubs, I didn't know you were paying so much attention to my butt. You like?'

Ignoring her last remark, he scoffed. 'Nothing with you surprises me anymore, Cassandra Sandsmark.'

Still flying above the Boy Wonder, she smirked down at him and said, 'Wanna bet, Timothy Drake?'

The boy barely had time to formulate a witty response before the cheeky teenage girl swept down and kissed him full on the lips, still flying. Just as Tim had evaluated what was happening and getting ready to kiss her right back, Cassie pulled away, laughing as she flew high above him. He furrowed his eyebrows and smirked, before pulling out a grappling hook out of his jacket and hoisting himself up on top of the nearby building.

Looking around at the scenery before him, a small gasp escaped his lips as he looked down over the side over the building to see a drive-in movie at Gotham Park. He glanced up at the girl above him, and they beamed at each other.

'You remembered!' Tim exclaimed.

Cassie came down to stand next to him and pecked him on the cheek. "Course I did, silly. Unlike some people…'

'Hey, it was a six month anniversary; who remembers six months anniversaries?'

She glared at him with a look that would've made Batman shiver. 'Okay, you did, but that's cause you're a hopeless romantic.'

'Completely, utterly, hopelessly romantic', she whispered, each word taking her a step closer to the frozen teen.

He winked at her before she could make an advancement onto his lips again, and pulled away, stood aside and revealed a single chair with a mattress and pillows in front, with a portable freezer to the side.

'I remembered too', he said sincerely, and had to quickly leap out of the way as the squealing girl flew past him and straight over to the freezer. Pulling off the lid, her elated smile turned into something for the Cheshire Cat to be jealous of as she took out the contents.

'Rocky Road and Cookies 'n' Cream? And BananaChoco Froyo?!'

Cassie gasped as she pulled out another two items. 'O.M.G. Hershey's and pink lemonade. That's it, I can't stand it any longer.'

She flew over to Tim, flung her arms around his neck and kissed him as passionately as she could. Tim, taken aback as always, took a moment to respond before kissing her back with just as much fire as she had kissed him. He let his arms trail around to the dip in her back and pulled her closer, making their kiss more desperate.

Breaking apart, the two teens just stood for a moment, contently staring into each other's different variation of blue eyes. Tim felt himself getting lost in Cassie's stunning sky blue eyes. They reminded him of when the sun was at its peak in the sky, shining harder and brighter than other time. That ever-lasting twinkle in Cass' eyes was the sun, that eternally-welcoming feeling always resided in them. Just looking into her eyes always motivated him to keep going, whether it was during a mission, studying for an upcoming Physics exam, or sorting through Bruce's old villain files.

Cassie, on the other hand, thought of Tim's blue-green eyes as the sea. And they really reflected one another quite perfectly. On the outside, his eyes gave away nothing, just big orbs that looked like a giant expanse of nothing. But if you dared to dive and delve deeper, you'd discover an array of colours, and life everywhere, beautiful, colourful, exciting life. Both gorgeous and dark secrets would be uncovered, but you'd end up loving it all, every damn part of it. Just as Cassie had come to love Tim, as he loved her.

'Happy one year anniversary, Wonder Girl', he said, eyes not leaving hers.

Happy one year anniversary, Robin', she whispered, as she leaned in to kiss him again.

This time, it was slower, safer, surer. Their lips moved together in synchronization, as though doing an intricate, delicate dance. Gently pulling apart, Cassie rested her forehead on Tim's. Closing her eyes in comfort. He softly chuckled as her long, dark eyelashes batted and tickled his eyes. He loved it when that happened.

The moment ended too quickly for him as she grabbed his hand raced over to their little, private setup. Cassie raised her eyebrow as she looked at the single chair. And raised it even further when Tim sat down in it.

He patted his lap. 'Your chair, m'lady.'

She giggled and proceeded to laying across his lap, not without the freezer.

'You do know the movie is Terminator, right? Just sayin'', mumbled Cassie as she stuffed a Hershey into her mouth.

Tim opened his mouth and Cassie promptly popped another chocolate in. 'Perks of having a genius hacker for a boyfriend? Cheap-ass drive-in movies got nothin' on me.'

She raised an eyebrow but quickly lowered it as she heard very audible groans and shouts from down below as opening credits of Friends with Benefits rolled in: her favourite flick. She let out a small aww sound before nestling her head into the crook of his neck. It was perfect. They had the perfect spot, the perfect view, they were watching the perfect movie, and they were two perfect people. It was pure bliss.

Tim's finger's started unconsciously combing through his girlfriend's hair, a sign or internal discomfort.

Cassie sat up and looked at him. 'What's wrong?'

'What? Nothing, I'm fine.' He looked away.

She raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him. 'Tim, you're doing that thing where you start playing with my hair. You're worried about something.'

He smiled at her. 'Can't keep anything from you.'

He sighed. 'It's just… I dunno, I haven't heard from Dick for a while. I'm worried about him.'

She squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. 'I'm sure he's fine. I mean, he's Nightwing for Hera's sake! When'd you last hear from him?'

A pause. 'Two months, one week and five days.'

Cassie was taken aback. She knew how close the two Batman protégés were, three if you counted Barbara. After Nightwing had left the Team, he'd called both of his bat-buds every day for two months. He'd eased down to once a week, giving them an update on where exactly he was in the world. Leaving both people two and a half months with any recognition? That was bad.

'I-I'm sure he's fine, Tim. Is Bruce worried?'

'No, but I think he's beginning to.'

If Daddy Bats believed there was a reason to stress, then that meant everyone else should've already wet their pants. Cassie gave him a sideways hug as they continued to watch the movie. After all, it was Dick Grayson they were talking about. How much trouble could he really get into?

THE WATCHTOWER

July 5, 00:12 EDT

1 YEAR LATER

Laughter erupted through the many levels of the Justice League and Young Justice Team headquarters. It had been a nice change for both teams, bringing a fresh breath of life to the League, and a better sense of authority for the Team.

Hawkwoman had been helping Green Lantern shift new arrivals of system updates to the control room, when both heroes had to leap up into the air suddenly as a screaming, miniature Bumblebee flew through the hallway. She muttered a brief 'sorry' before she continued her escape. Shayera and John glanced at each other before they stared down the hallway to see a green rhinoceros trampling towards the humming of Bumblebee's artificial wings.

Beast Boy stopped short and stared up at the senior members of the League. 'Did Bumblebee come through here? She stole my iPod.'

John raised an eyebrow while Shayera simply chuckled and pointed toward the direction of the black and yellow woman. 'You'll find her down that way, probably huddling in some corner. Good luck, Garfield.'

The rhino somehow beamed up at the winged woman and yelled out, 'Thanks Hawkwoman! See you guys later!'

With that, he continued his stampede.

'Good job, Alpha Squad. Yet another successful mission.'

Aqualad smiled at his teammates as they came racing through the entrance. Kid Flash and Blue Beetle high-fived before turning toward the entertainment room, while Miss Martian and Superboy came in holding hands. M'gann giggled and rose up to peck her boyfriend on the cheek. Aqualad looked around, searching the team for a moment before turning to Conner.

'Where is Batgirl? I trust she is alright?'

The couple walked over to their leader, and M'gann said, 'She said something about trying to talk to Dick. She's still worried about him, it being a year since Wally, you know…'

A trio shared a solemn look. They knew that today was exactly one year since Wally had died and Dick had left. Barbara had taken his departure the worst, as Artemis had taken Wally's death. The two girls had seriously bonded over it in the last 12 months. They often went out on solo crusades together, occasionally inviting Zatanna, when their repressed memories came back to haunt them. They all knew Barbara was drifting further and further away from the Team, the League, and the 'Bat-family', as the rest of them called it. She had even recently altered her costume so it no longer mirrored Batman's.

Kaldur stood in wonder for a moment, before an idea sprung to his head. 'Artemis has been spending a lot of her spare time in Gotham City as of late. Perhaps we could ask her to check in with Barbara?'

M'gann smiled and Conner just shrugged. 'Sounds like it could work.'

GOTHAM CITY

July 5, 02:19 EST

1 YEAR LATER

Babs didn't get it. Poison Ivy wasn't one to usually leave a single leaf behind, let alone a whole mess of plants. The villainess must've had an ulterior motive, a first for the tree-hugging criminal. She bent down and carefully picked up a strange-looking orange flower. Keeping it away from her nose, mouth and eyes, she examined it. Pamela Isley must've wanted this plant to be left behind, wanted it taken away, wanted it to be examined.

She carefully slid it into one of the compartments of her utility belt, hotting down a mental note to examine it anywhere but the Batcave of Watchtower.

The red-haired woman stood up and made a swift exit away from the alleyway. Why's it always an alleyway, she pondered.

She somersaulted into the air and landed on an external flight of stairs. Pulling out her grappling hook, she was soon on top of one of Gotham's tall buildings. Laughing to herself, she'd found she'd taken up Batman's signature pose: standing on a ledge, looking over the city beneath, cape billowing out beside her. Up there, she could kill two birds with one stone. She would have an excellent view of all Gotham's darkest streets and it was quiet enough to let her clear her head.

And naturally, the first thing that came into her mind was Hunk Wonder himself. Dick Grayson. The amount of times she'd wanted to strangle that boy the past twelve months was ridiculous. It had been the first time they hadn't celebrated his birthday together in ten years, and it was hitting home. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she missed him more than anything else in the world.

She let out a sigh. He hadn't called in so long, and she was really starting to stress. Pulling out her normal phone, she looked at the last conversation they'd had.

.grayson:heyyy babs, ya miss me? ;)

babs_g: I'm fairly certain you already know the answer to that, Dweeb Wonder…

.grayson: dweeb? really babs? arent you supposed to be the mature one?

babs_g: Well, you're the one who's been gone 9 months now! … when are you coming back?

.grayson: look barb, i know its… hard, on you guys, me leaving like that…

babs_g: Hard?! It hasn't been hard, it's been awful! And it's not the leaving we're worried about, it's the returning. Which you haven't done yet…

.grayson: i'm gonna come back soon. And i'll bring plenty of souvenirs too. i promise

babs_g: Cross your heart? 3

.grayson: cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye :D

babs_g: Good, Im holding you to that Grayson. Sooo, where on my globe are you now?

.grayson: i'm pretty sure you know how to find that out on your own, but i'll be nice. i'm actually in tokyo atm, eating really good sashimi :P did you know that raw tuna is purple-brown?

babs_g: Lol, that's great. Make sure you go to a cat café while you're there and snap a pic for Bruce. You know why ;)

babs_g: Dick, hellooooooo! You there?

.grayson: Sorry babs, theres a commotion outside, I'll be back in a sec. stay whelmed xx

babs_g: Kay, you too xx

babs_g: Ugh, Dick, its been two days. that must be some commotion…

babs_g: Dick, seriously can you please answer my texts?

babs_g: Richard John Grayson, I swear, if you don't answer me, I'll make Batman look like the good cop…

The texts went on, and the urgency of them increased with every message. Her phone vibrated and a text from Artemis came up.

arrowette: behind you ;)

She leapt into the air, did a back-flip with a half-twist and landed perfectly square, ready to take on whatever came her way. Thank you, gymnastics, she thought.

A steady clap and a small yay came from the shadows in front of her. Barbara relaxed and walked toward the sound once she realised it was just Artemis, dressed in her Tigress uniform.

'Someone's on edge, hey Babs?'

She chuckled. 'Sorry, Art. And yeah, just been a bit jumpy lately. How've you been?'

'Busy, as usual. Trying to juggle the Team and Psychology classes at the same time. Don't even get me started on the dogs. How 'bout you?'

A nervous hand went up to the back of Batgirl's neck. 'Honestly? I don't know. Batman's been down my throat ever since I started straying. I think he's a bit afraid that all his little birds are going to leave the nest. My dad is starting to catch on to my double life, which is what's been making me so jumpy. And Dick hasn't returned any of my calls, texts, Snapchats, messages, anything. Stupid Grayson.'

Her older friend walked over to her and Barbara sound found herself enveloped in a hug. 'I'm sure he's okay, Babs.'

She stood in shock for a moment before quickly returning the embrace. Artemis was one of the few people who really got her. They were both independent, strong, feisty young women who were in some way defying their fathers, secretly or not. Both of their mothers had been taken from them when they were younger, in one way or another. And they'd both lost their favourite men, though Barbara still had the torture of constant worry and stress.

They pulled apart and Artemis set her hands on her friend's shoulders. 'Really, though, are you okay? Really okay? You know you can tell me.'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle. Why do you ask?' she asked, suspicion written clearly in her eyes and tone.

'Pssh, 'cause I'm your best friend, that's why.'

Barbara crossed her arms. 'Okay, Kaldur also wanted to check that you're okay.'

She groaned. Could no one trust her to just do her own thing anymore? Everyone had become really paranoid over both young women, and it was really starting to dig under their skin.

'He's just worried about you, as is everyone else on the Team.'

Her anger was beginning to flare. 'Why? Cause I'm a woman?'

Artemis glared at her and crossed her arms. 'No, because you're a valued teammate and friend. Which you know. Babs, what's really going on?'

The Batman protégé looked up to her and sighed. 'Do you remember Jason?'

She smiled. 'Who could forget him?'

'I know that… it, happened years ago, but some things just aren't adding up…'

Artemis walked over to her friend, arms uncrossed. 'What? Have you got some new evidence or something?'

She pulled out her Bat-phone and brought up an app. 'See this? Bruce created it for himself when Dick first became Robin. He installed it for us a few months back to let us track each other. Bruce, me, Tim, Dick. Jason.'

'How does it track?' Artemis was incredibly confused. 'DNA? Utility belt?'

'No. When we all first joined Batman's crusade, we got injected with a microscopic tracker, in case we were ever abducted.'

Artemis felt like slapping her. 'That's just… stellar, but Babs, why on Earth haven't you used it to find Dick?!'

She scoffed. 'He remotely disabled his when he and Bruce had their falling-out. Anyway, the other day, I accidently pressed on Jason's location.'

She pressed it. 'He's not in Gotham Cemetery. He's in Nanda Parbat.'

Both girls made eye-contact. 'Where the hell is that?'

'Middle East somewhere,' Babs said as she turned her attention back to the blinking dot on her screen. 'Batman used to go there to 'talk' to Ra's Al Ghul's daughter, Talia. It's basically the palace for the League of Assassins.'

'Oh my god… I could ask Jade if she knows anything about it, if you want…'

'No', she said bluntly. 'I don't want to involve anyone else in this. It could just be the microchip acting up after having gone through a beat-up and an explosion.'

'… Okay. Well, to take you mind off things, wanna go beat up some thugs?'

She smirked. 'Gladly.'

Artemis smiled. 'Good. By the way, wasn't sure if I'd already told you, but you look so fresh with your new suit. The colour look good. I've been thinking about changing my look a bit, too. How do you think I'd look with a bob?'

Barbara laughed and stared down at her outfit. The suit itself had become darker, almost black. The basic shape of it remained the same, but the inside of her cape was now bright yellow, similar to Tim's Robin suit. The same shade of yellow had transferred into her elbow-length gloves and knee-high boots. The boots also had knee-pads in the shape of bats, similar to the yellow one of her chest. Who ever said you couldn't look good and fight crime at the same time?

The two girls kept talking as they walked toward the building ledge and leapt off, smiles clear on their masked faces. Crime in Gotham wouldn't reign supreme that night.

THE WATCHTOWER

July 5, 01:27 EDT

1 YEAR LATER

'Give it up, Jaime. You don't stand a chance against the fastest boy alive.'

'No way, hermano. Scarab says 'the Kid Flash's chances of success are appearing to slim, odds currently resting at 36%'. In other words, you're dead.'

'Uh, you guys are both dead. Literally. My dragon just eliminated your knight and your… tree?'

Bart threw the controller down in frustration. 'Why am I always the stinkin' tree, and why do I always stinkin' lose? So not crash!'

Garfield chuckled while Jaime just rolled his eyes. 'Bruh, you're getting there. Chill down, amigo.'

'Feeling the mode right now…' Bart mumbled as he leaned back and looked away.

Garfield stretched and added a yawn. 'Well, I dunno bout you guys, but I'm feeling tired. And pretty hungry, to be honest. Who's up for a 1 AM milkshake and then bed?'

'Sounds like a plan', Jaime agreed, nudging a silent Bart.

'Yeah, sure. Whatever.'

The teenage boys flew and sprinted toward the Watchtower's cafeteria. With both the League and Team expanding at an alarming rate, having about 60 members in total, the senior members of both teams had thought it best to extend and upgrade their facilities. Running down a hallway with a window to one side, Jaime couldn't help but stare out at the big expanse of spaces, stars littering the sky like children's glitter on preschool artwork. It was amazing to think that just one year ago, the Reach had been retreating, the Green Lantern Corps hot on their tail. He remembered that liberating feeling as the ship disappeared from his vision, and how he'd never felt more free. He continued to stare out at the big, black space before him, and peace settled in.

Suddenly, his scarab started tingling on his back, and he listened in for a message.

Jaime Reyes, look outward to 10 o'clock. Alert the Kid Flash and Beast Boy.

Jaime stared out to the left and took in a sharp breath. Not again… 'Hey Kid, Garr! Come back here and look!'

His two friends came racing back to the gobsmacked 16-year-old's side. They stared out in horror as a small asteroid-like pod came hurdling towards Earth, turning red as it entered the atmosphere. They looked to each other, worry evident on the boys' faces.

'Scarab says it's heading straight for the Thames River. That's in London!'

Jaime transformed into Blue Beetle and looked to his friends. 'We need to alert the League.'

Bart raced to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. 'Or, we could show some initiative and go check it out ourselves?'

Garfield raised his hand. 'I'm in.'

Blue Beetle flicked his gaze between his two younger amigos. This was crazy. They were some of the younger members of the Team. Going out on their own to tackle a crash-landed alien? It was insane. Yet no one else seemed to have recognized it, and considering the fact that Booster Gold was on monitor duty was a little worrying, as he was probably more focused on practicing his comeback lines than what was entering and exiting Earth.

He sighed and shook his head. 'I can't believe I'm agreeing to this… The second it gets out of hand, though, we contact Aqualad and the League, got it?'

Bart beamed, raced away, and came back almost immediately, dressed in his Kid Flash uniform. 'Got it. Let's just go already!'

LONDON

July 5, 06:53 UTC

1 YEAR LATER

The three boys arrived within ten minutes. Walking out of the Zeta teleporter, which was a unisex toilet cubicle, Blue Beetle immediately let his scarab start searching. Being the oldest in the group, and most responsible, he took charge.

'Beast Boy, take to the sky and scout around for anything out of the ordinary. Kid Flash, check along the Thames for any signs of the… thing. Scarab and I are going to scan for anything non-terrestrial.'

Beast Boy nodded and turned into a seagull, flying out of the public bathroom. Kid Flash gave a small salute and then sped out soon after.

Okay, Scarab, what're we dealing with here? Was it just a meteor, or was it something else…?

The scarab took a moment to respond, before saying, Go outside, and my sensors will clear up.

Beetle did as he was told and made a swift exit. Standing outside of the toilet block, he got a few odd glances and some pictures taken as he raised his arm to let the scarab begin the scanning process.

I will share with you what I detect, Jaime. Here is a visual aid to allow you to see what my sensors pick up.

Immediately, Blue Beetle's vision blurred, before clearing again. It had a slight blue tint to it, with a single red spot in the sky.

Uh, Scarab?

That is simply the Beast Boy. As his molecular structure compromises of some Martian DNA, he's seen as extra-terrestrial. As are you, Jaime. The Kid Flash, however, will be seen as blue, indicating he is human, as all of his DNA belongs to Earth's properties. May I suggest going to the river Thames to allow to scan the water?

Blue Beetle promptly took to the sky and made his way over to the Thames. Everything was still blue, but as he neared the murky waters of the river, he saw a distorted red oval beneath the water's surface. The meteor.

Blue Beetle tapped his com-link. 'Beast Boy? I think I found it. I'll need you and Kid to come to my coordinates to help me out. Get here as soon as you can.'

'Gotcha, Blue.'

'Be there in a flash!'

Still hovering, the young hero glanced around to see a crowd forming. Crap. He lowered himself to the ground and raised up his hands, offering a genuine, reassuring smile.

'Folks, I might need to stand back a bit. It's okay, I'm Blue Beetle. I'm with the Justice League and their junior Team. Kid Flash, Beast Boy and I saw something heading this way, and we're just going to check it out. Just in case, whatever it is, isn't as friendly as us on Earth, I need you all to just keep out of danger for your own sakes and keep your kids away as well.' He said with the most calming tone possible.

A young boy stepped forward, fear seen clearly on his eyes. 'Is it the Reach? They really scared me when I saw their big rocket-ships. Have they come back?'

An older woman, whom Beetle assumed to be the boy's mom, stepped forward to grab her son. 'Darling, don't bother Blue Bug, he has to do some highly important hero things.'

He waved a dismissive hand and went to kneel in front of the boy. 'Nah, it's fine. What's your name, buddy?'

'Henry. Henry Greenwood. By the way, I know you're Blue Beetle, not Bug.' The young boy murmured.

Blue Beetle offered a smile. 'Thanks, Henry. And don't worry. The Justice League made sure that they won't come back. And if they do, I promise, we will protect you. You don't need to be scared.'

Just then, Kid Flash raced onto the scene and Beast Boy came flying down from up above.

Kid waved and Beast Boy made a silly face at the young boy. All three teens smiled when he let out a little giggle. Blue Beetle stood up and joined his teammates.

The young speedster crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows. 'So, where's E.T?'

Beast Boy rolled his eyes, but Beetle just pointed toward the Thames. 'In there somewhere, at the bottom of the river.'

The half-Martian spoke up. 'So how do we get it out? What's the plan of attack?'

'KF is going to run a circle around the object, on top of the water, obviously. He'll create a funnel, dragging the water up, giving you and me an easy entrance. From there, Kid will continue running while you transform into something ridiculously strong and tall to lift it out of the water. We get it a safe distance away from civilians and then I use my scarab's tech to hack into the alien technology to… well, see what it is, I guess', Beetle said, rubbing his neck in doubt.

Both the younger teens nodded, and Kid smiled, saying, 'Good plan, capètain.'

With that, the boys got to their assigned roles. The police had come and secured a barrier in front of the crowd, who were now gazing on in awe. Kid Flash, after running for a few seconds, soon reached Mach 2, and a resounding BOOM echoed through London. The water kept rising to his in-side, and he kept increasing in speed. Soon enough, there was a circular clearing at the river bed, showing a very alien-looking pod. Blue Beetle hovered over in wonder and watched as Beast Boy made his descent into the gunk beneath.

Beast Boy scrunched up his face in disgust, looking down at the mud before him. 'Oh, you so owe me, Blue.'

As the green boy reached the pod, he focused his mind on a creature they'd encountered on an off-world mission. Growing in size, he was soon took up as much space as an elephant, probably more. He looked like a mix between a dragon, pterodactyl, and a hawk, with great, large wings that protruded from his back. He rose up into the air and picked up the pod with his back claws. The crowd below him stepped back in shock and then proceeded to applauding. Beast Boy, in his hybrid form, winked down at the crowd before carrying it away from the city.

Kid Flash stopped running and came back onto land, gave a small wave, and then followed his winged friend. Beetle flew above the crowd and said a short 'goodbye and thanks officers' before following his team. Both he and KF followed Beast Boy's huge form to behind a large mountain, where there was a large enough clearing. After scanning the area in a 10 mile perimeter, he said that there weren't any people around and that it was safe to put the object down carefully. Beast Boy complied and slowly lowered the object, transformed into a cockatoo and flew down to rest on Kid's shoulder.

'Okay, Scarab, do your thing', Blue Beetle said as he pointed his open hand at the pod. After a few minutes of scanning, the scarab finally spoke up.

Object: recognised. Properties: partially known. Origin: known.

Blue Beetle listened in and communicated with his scarab telepathically, until he heard something and nearly choked on the water he'd been drinking. Spluttering all over the place, he squeaked, 'C-come again?'

Kid and Beast Boy looked at their friend incredulously, as he seemed to be taking in what the scarab was telling him.

Kid Flash raced to his side. 'Hey, easy there, buddy Blue. What's the scarab sayin'?'

He looked at his best friend with shock clear in his brown eyes. 'I-I know where the pod's from. And what it's got inside it.'

Beast Boy, who'd been flying beside him, transformed to his normal form and raised his eyebrows. 'Okay, so, spill!'

He paused. 'It's… Kryptonian.'

The teenagers shared a sceptical glance. Krypton had been destroyed nearly 40 Earth-years ago, just after Superman had been born. He was supposedly the only being and thing that escaped the doomed planet. The big, blue boy scout had been a mere baby when it had happened though, and even Kryptonians can't remember that far back.

Blue Beetle looked incredibly nervous. 'N-now we call in the League. Especially Supes. This is life-changing news for him.'

Kid suddenly realised something. 'Wait, you never told us what was inside it?'

Both 14-year-olds leaned in to their older friend, anxiously awaiting his answer. 'My scarab… it detected life. There's a person in there. Superman's cousin.'

TOKYO

June 5, 12:41 JTZ

1 YEAR LATER

Dick hated it. He'd been undercover for nearly three months, with no communication with the outside world. He hadn't talked to anyone from the Team or League in way too long, including Barbara and Tim, and it was killing him. But it was necessary.

He was hunched over one of the diner's tables, slurping away at his Pokari Sweat through a straw. As grown men do. His tinted glasses hid his wandering eyes from other people walking past. He was looking out for one particular person in Tokyo's massive crowds. He continued scanning, and let his mind wander as he did.

He never should've left. He should've just hidden away in his 'Nightwing Cave' for a few weeks, sulked a bit there. But no, he had to play hero and put on a brave face. He'd been kicking himself senseless over it the past few weeks. That incident all those months ago, though, it had changed his life forever. After he'd seen the thug tied up in an odd matter, however, he couldn't get the image of the hooded figure slowly walking away out of his mind. Although, they looked more like they were drifting or even levitating away.

He'd been obsessed with finding them ever since. But he knew that if there were some properties in it that even he didn't understand, he should keep his loved ones at a safe distance. Which meant to talking to his little brother, Tim, or his lifetime bestfriend, Babs. He had to shut them out.

Just then, he spotted them. They were moving swiftly through the crowd, and when they glanced behind themselves, Dick saw a pale, feministic face, hidden by the cloak. He abruptly got up, left the money for the meal on the table and ran out of the Japanese diner. Glancing around, eyebrows furrowed, he located the shadowy figure again.

Running after them, or her, he saw her round a corner into a small alley. Following swiftly, he came to an abrupt halt and stood behind her as she just stood there.

He raised a cautious hand. She was short and slim, appearing to be no more than 15. 'Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just wanna talk, I promise.'

She didn't move except for a slow turn of her head so he saw the left side of her jaw. She merely smiled, before vanishing into thin air. Dick ran to the spot where she'd just been. Definitely a ten on the spooky scale. Glancing every which way, he finally looked up to see a dark bird flying off into the sky. A raven.

OMG, this chapter was so much fun to write :D

Hope you guys enjoyed it, and hope I didn't leave you on too many cliff-hangers…? I'm going to update as often as I can, but once school goes back (STRAYAAA! so still on 'summer break') I will try updating once a week :)

Much love xx

~SpitfireWestAllen15