While Robin worked diligently to find the missing three teens from aboard the bioship Kid Flash tentatively stretched out along the link between him and Quick Flash. The brief contact was enough to tell him that she, James, and Hartley were all okay, but she wouldn't be able to keep up her front for long. He seriously hoped that Rob found them soon, not even Quick Flash could slow her metabolism down forever. He also knew that James and Hartley would be expecting at least him and Robin to come get them. The both of them normally had something on them that would allow them to get out of a tight situation. They wouldn't act until help arrived though.
He knew Rachel was a good actress, she had to be in order to be a teen hero, go to school, and not act like everything was so damn slow to her. She gave him a safe haven when he needed it, making it so his father couldn't find him. His father was the main reason why he was hiding his relationship, not even Rob knew about his home life, as he basically avoided going home, and with a telepathic girlfriend he had very little reprisal to fear. She always managed to cross Rudolph West's wires in such a way that he would forget he even had a son, and she'd made it so his aunt and uncle called his cell if they wanted to talk to him.
Robin spares him a glance and Kid Flash knew what that meant, it meant that he had a lead as to where his girlfriend was. They'd worked together for years and knew how to read each other, " All right, I have two possible locations, I'm hoping KF will be able to narrow things down, as he's had the most telepathic contact with Quick Flash. We'll fly the bioship to each one, whichever one KF picks will be the one we go into. Artemis, you'll be working with Conner. Kaldur, you stay here with Zatanna and guard the ship, and be potential back up. Red Arrow, you're working with M'gann, got it. "
Kid Flash grins, " No harming Trickster or Piper, they'll be in civilian form and most likely pissed that they got captured. Rob and I will go in. The other two teams will be the distractions. "
They all nod, now was their chance to see how well Kid Flash and Robin worked together. Red Arrow had a pretty good idea, but they had known each other the longest. Quick Flash had only ever really worked with them, though she had worked with Red Arrow back when he was Speedy. Hadn't thought much of him, thought he had too much of an ego.
Quick Flash was the closest to Kid Flash, only Kid Flash could get close to her if she was hurt. She had trust issues and seeing as how her mother happened to be Mind Scream Red Arrow really couldn't blame her for being like that. Apparently Wally knew more or could understand her better in some way. How, Red Arrow could even begin to fathom, as Wally had an idyllic life, or at least he seemed to. As Roy Harper he had never met Wally's father, ever, he knew Robin hadn't met the man either. He knew Wally's mom was dead, but knew nothing about Wally's father except the man's name. Thinking back he realized that Wally had always been quick to redirect any conversation that steered towards his father and home life. He'd talk about his aunt and uncle for hours on end.
Red Arrow's eyes narrow, all of those were classic signs of someone covering up abuse, which would explain why Quick Flash trusted Wally. Quick Flash must have always redirected his thoughts before he could come to this conclusion, meaning Wally didn't want anyone to know what was going on. Red Arrow sighs and puts these thoughts to the back of his mind, hopefully Wally would come to him if things got truly bad, or even Robin, hell Flash even. Of course, Wally did have a psychic in his corner.
Artemis stares off into the distance, knowing that she and Quick Flash had similar stories was a tremendous help. She wished she could come clean but that would just confirm Red Arrow's suspicions about her. She had even lost Wally's trust in her. She hoped Quick Flash would like her. Robin looks at her, " Don't worry, Artemis, QF will like you, though ya might want to lay off of Wally a little bit, she doesn't take kindly to anyone messing with him. "
Kid Flash snorts, " Take kindly, Superman fears her temper. "
Conner looks up, " Really? "
" Yeah, apparently she can also mess with his mind and make it so he can only speak in Latin, in hero and civilian form. " Kid Flash says.
" Okay, definitely do not want to piss her off. " Zatanna says.
Kid Flash grins at this, " What can I say, those that are her friends she protects fiercely and if she had to kill in order to save her life or someone else's she would, regardless of the consequences. "
" Heroes don't do that. " Kaldur says.
Kid Flash sighs, " When it comes down to survival anyone will do anything. Quick Flash damn near killed her mother the one day due to continuous psychic assault. "
Kaldur and the others all blanch, put that way, when it came down to survival or protecting a loved one, everyone was capable of killing. If Quick Flash was more than willing to do so for her friends then she was a hero in the truest sense of the word. Now that it was brought up Artemis sighs, " It would be no different than a cop killing someone in the line of duty. "
Red Arrow blinks, " She's right, if you can prove self-defense or that you were protecting someone else and that there just wasn't enough time then… "
The young heroes all fall silent, realizing that there might come a time when they were forced to take a life, so far they'd all, including their mentors, gotten lucky and hadn't had to take a life. " You know, it kinda so not asterous when you think about it. " Robin says.
M'gann was nearing the location of the first site and Kid Flash lets himself fully relax, if Quick Flash was there he wanted to be receptive. He knew the range of her power, especially if it was inhibited, " Not here. " Kid Flash says.
M'gann sets a course for the other site while Kid Flash keeps a tight lid on his emotions and thoughts. Robin looks at his best friend, " KF, she'll be fine. "
How could Robin know that at that precise moment Rachel was getting tortured to tell what she knew about her psychotic relatives. James and Hartley watch in worry as she takes it all and doesn't scream. She was used to distancing herself from pain in her mind, it was how she could function with broken bones. It was how she was able to do a lot of what she did, because she just distanced herself from the pain, but she was still fully aware of what was going on, " Like I'm going to help you morons get in bed with my psychotic relatives. Hell no, they'd like destroy your minds as team up with you. The Joker is scared of my mother. " Rachel quips.
James and Hartley both groan, she'd been like that before she'd been a speedster and Kid Flash had picked it up from her. Rachel had learned early on that her best defense was a verbal offense. The two Rogues look at the girl that they considered to be a sister, sure she and Kid Flash had a thing, but she was still family and if Kid Flash made her happy then they would willingly put up with him and switch sides. Hell, the older Rogues would retire if and when the pair got married, as Rachel would make their lives hell otherwise.
" Tell us what we want to know now, or these two will pay the price. "
James and Hartley back away, control collar or not threatening them was going to piss Rachel off. Sure enough a telekinetic storm whipped through the room, pinning the knuckleheads that had threatened her family. The pain that coursed through her for doing so was placed on the back burner in her mind as she telepathically reached out and started to rewire their brains, they would now only be able to speak in baby talk for the next year. An electric shock courses through her and Rachel subsides, her eyes flashing ferally. No one threatened those she loved.
The guards come in and remove her torturers, staring at her in slight fear. She smirks, " I think that'll give these morons some food for thought. "
James sighs, " People say I'm mentally unstable. "
" You're only eccentric. " Rachel quips. She'd felt Wally reach out to her briefly, just assure himself that she was fine. She could feel him drawing closer, and was building herself up for the escape that was to happen. She looks at Hartley and James, " Get ready for some Kentucky Fried chicken and Red Robin's, boys. "
They both understand what she had said, Kid Flash was close and he was bringing help, most likely the entire Young Justice team. They all knew that Kid Flash and Robin would be the ones coming in to get them though. Rachel keeps her face blank as another pang of hunger hits her, hard. She needed food soon, hopefully Wally had his cupboards fully stocked or she was so screwed that she didn't even want to think about it.
The explosions are met with a welcome grin, Hey, took you long enough.
Sorry, babe, Rob could only narrow it down to two locations, went by the wrong one first. How are you holding up?
Make it snappy, Wally, I need food and now. I can't keep it up much longer. I'll have my roomies get ready for our liberation.
Do that, and Rach, I love you.
Rachel smiles, " Get your party favors ready, our liberators are nearly here. "
James smiles at this and gets his rubber chickens out, Rachel sighs, she really shouldn't have given him a dimensional pocket. Only Trickster and Kid Flash knew about that ability of hers. Hartley grabs his harmonica and when the door falls open Robin works quickly to disable the collar and the video feed to the cell. Once the collar and feed were taken care of Rachel is raiding Kid Flash's cupboards. Once she has one protein bar downed she sighs, " I'll need taxi service, not enough fuel to run, but I can wreak some havoc. "
" QF, what happened? "
" Oh, they wanted me to help them get in bed with my loony relatives. " Rachel says.
" She refused, of course, " Hartley says as they start their procession out of the building.
Rach?
I just need some food and rest, you know I'll recover, I healed fast before I became a speedster. Though I think I'll be staying at Barry and Iris' tonight.
Probably smart, unfortunately for me, my dad has remembered that I exist again.
Wally, no, you can't go back to him, one of these days, speed healing or not he will kill you.
Babe, I'll be all right, I promise you, and if it gets too bad I'll go to your dad, he's promised a haven whenever I need it.
All right, but don't get yourself put in the hospital or I will be forced to make you regret making me worry like that, especially seeing as how neither of us wants the public at large to know that we are in fact dating.
Deal, babe. Kid Flash replies as they reach the bioship, Kaldur had gone to help Red Arrow and M'gann retreat. Once everyone was on the ship M'gann sent them to Central City Quick Flash had eaten everything on the ship and was surrounded by Kid Flash, Trickster, and Piper. She was curled into Kid Flash with Trickster snuggled up on her other side and Piper at her back. Kid Flash smirks at this, " You do realize what kind of picture we make right now, right? "
Hartley answers his smirk with one of his own, " Of course, but Quick Flash here is the neutral party. "
" Hey, she's my cousin and the only decent family I have left. " James says.
Robin blinks, " QF, your family is messed up. "
She moans at this, " I know, and James is the decent one in mom's family other than me. "
" Hush, you, and sleep, you know you need it. " Kid Flash says.
Quick Flash's only response to that was to snuggle closer and she dropped off to sleep. No one noticing the slight hum traversing Kid Flash's body except for Robin. He knew that Quick Flash could only sleep in Kid Flash's arms, it had been that way for a while. She just couldn't let herself sleep, it had become ingrained in her to stay awake for fear of well, anything happening. With her family he could understand that all too well. " So, what happened on your ride to come save us? " Hartley asks.
Robin grins, he liked Piper, though he would never tell Batman that, and thankfully he'd made it so, with Hartley's help, that there would be no record of this flight. " Well, the trip itself was so whelming. "
" Easy for you to say, Rob. " Kid Flash interjects.
" True, as RA was angsting, as usual, Conner was well Conner, Artemis was oddly introspective… anyhow KF was how we found you guys after I narrowed down our search to two buildings. " Robin says.
" I was not angsting, as you put it, Bird Boy. " Red Arrow says, whapping him gently on the back of the head.
" Still are, RA. " Robin retorts, hiding behind Quick Flash.
Red Arrow glares at him, he wasn't stupid enough to go after him at the moment. " Care to tell us how you got to us? " James asks.
" I will, when Quick Flash is awake to hear it. " Kid Flash promises.
" We're holding you to that, Baby Flash. " Hartley says firmly.
Kid Flash shakes his head at this, " Oh, shut up. "
Before James can respond Quick Flash reaches out in her sleep to smack him upside the head. " Damn telepathy, I'll just razz him when you're not around, cous. "
Kid Flash sighs at this, " James, lay off me for a little while, please. "
Only Robin and James heard what was in his voice, he was still shaken up from what had happened, added to that was the fact that Quick Flash had been tortured for information on her demented family. " All right, and we'll get the others to lay off you as well, right, Hartley? " James says.
" Agreed, though heaven help the idiots that took us when the rest of the Rogues find out who. " Hartley says.
Kid Flash smirks at this thought, Captain Cold would be seriously pissed that someone had kidnapped his daughter. No one messed with his baby girl. Hell, even Mind Scream thought twice about going after her when she was with her father. " Any suspicions on that? " Artemis asks.
" Lex Luthor. " James and Hartley say without any hesitation.
Robin groans, " Of course, that makes sense. It would explain why I could only narrow the search down to two buildings, he didn't want anyone finding you three until he got what he wanted. M'gann felt a surge of psychic power, what happened? "
" The goons trying to get info out of her threatened us. " James says simply.
Kid Flash winces, " That was an incredibly unintelligent thing to do. Even with the control collar on, you threaten anyone she considers a friend or family she will react. "
" I think they were surprised by the fact that she was able to do that at all. They don't know my cousin. " James states.
" Hell no they don't. " Kid Flash says.
" She mouthed off to her torturers, in her typical fashion, she's where he gets it from. Quick Flash learned early on that her best defense was a good vocal offense. " Hartley says.
" Kid Mouth got that from her? " Artemis asks.
" Yep, he did. My cousin has had a hard life and when in school she won't take any crap from anyone. " James says.
" Quick Flash is unique, she would probably scare Batman if he ever pissed her off enough. " Hartley says.
" Oh, he did. He was essentially talking smack about KF and QF let him have it, she rewired his brain so nothing worked the way it was supposed to. " Robin states.
" And she didn't tell me, shame on her. " James mutters.
" It was hysterical watching him try to figure out how to work his rewired body, needless to say he does not anger her anymore. " Kid Flash says.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
Author's Note: Wally will be telling the story of how he and Rob got through to them when Rachel is awake enough to hear it. The others won't know her name and even while asleep she is capable of making it so they don't see her true appearance, as she only trusts Robin and Kid Flash.