One / The Harvest
He saw it; he was sure he saw it. A quick flash of light, a reflection from the waning moonlight off a shield. And not just any shield, but a large, encircled 'R' symbol. Robin was moving in.
Okay, almost there. Virgil Hawkins took a deep, readying breath, but he didn't feel nervous at all.
Honestly, he was excited to be on his first mission as part of the Team. Sure, it was just for recon purposes, shadow work, but he was still pumped. Infiltrating the offices of the Nuvo-Gen research labs in Metropolis to set cameras and do a bit of their own research was a rewarding notion. The Team was, after all, invisible watchdogs for the League, super-spies more often than super-heroes. He didn't expect to see any real action tonight.
And Virgil was certain that was why he was sent.
He was a bit offended, feeling like he was allowed participation rather than wanted. It was understandable, though; he had to get his feet wet first, before Black Lightning shoved him off the high-board and into the deep end. Maybe when that time came he could prove to them—all of them—he was not only able to swim once pushed, he'd fly.
Suddenly he heard Robin's whispered order over the comm-link in his ear. "Circuit breaker."
It was a go.
Detaching himself from the shadow of the perimeter wall, Static moved over to the main power switchgear. Looking up the wooden pole with its rubber-coated rungs and draping distribution lines, he saw the central fuse box and electrical cables. He had only to climb a foot or two before he could snag a minor grid wire, because that's all he needed. With one pulse of high voltage, the charges spread like wildfire and he killed the system. Sparks crackled momentarily, until the power drained. The blackout fell on Nuvo-Gen and the neighboring block.
"Broken," he confirmed over the line. He estimated he had about five minutes to get inside before the overnight security guards came to test the street-side conduit. "Movin' in."
"Moving in," Robin added too. Now that security had something to investigate they were free to sneak around.
It wouldn't be smart to charge up the Static Saucer, illuminate his path, so Virgil was forced to proceed the old-fashioned way. It was amazing sometimes just how dependent he was on surfing the electrical currents. He was quite happy with his power, making him wonder if the Reach would've been pleased about his attachment. The guinea pig shouldn't be grateful and live happily ever after, should it? Static grinned to himself as he ran to the employees' recreational patio, lightly jumping over the low hedge-line and putting his back to the wall.
Tipping forward, he peered sidelong through the first level window. He saw no movement and no flashlights. Spot-checking, Static saw the coast was one-hundred-percent clear. He reached over and sent a tiny flow of static under the window pane, using his power on the metal hinges, the bolts and locks. Almost like a magnet, the snapping force undid the security features. Quickly, he lifted the window, slipped inside, and closed it again.
He was in the building's cafeteria and according to their downloaded schematics and architecture floor plans, the lobby was just outside. But so was the prime security station, making his mission slow and cautious.
He knelt beside the double doors, set on swing hinges. With a deliberate snail's pace, he inched the door opened enough to see beyond. He was already accustomed to the dark, not even bothering to use the night-vision on his goggles.
No guards were left behind. Of course not; there was nothing for them to watch on dead monitors.
Like a lightning streak, Static dashed through the doors with such a practiced stealth that neither side swung more than once. He went to the huge receptionist block, a curving, high polished desk with all the computers and call-center switchboards, the cyber-hub. He dropped down and slid on his back beneath the elaborate set-up, like a mechanic checking the belly of a car. It took mere minutes to install the Team's devices, Cyborg's micro-tech converters to tap each phone line and every computer grid.
The implants hidden and done, Static slipped out from underneath the final desk and muttered impishly, "C'mon, baby, tell me all your dirty lil' secrets."
In the morning, when the power company had the electricity back on and the systems rebooted, no one would know their hack-tech would automatically bug Nuvo-Gen and start feeding them files and conversations. Who knew superheroes were also the best at espionage?
With a satisfied nod he reported to Robin. "Done."
"All cameras almost set. Another minute, then rendezvous."
"Confirmed."
Turning back towards the hallway, ready to make his escape, Static stopped dead when his eyes skimmed the welcoming Nuvo-Gen plaque behind the workers' station. It listed floors and rooms, but nothing there gained his sudden attention. It was the conglomerate subtitle, set in smaller brass letters beneath the lab name, which made his lip curl.
A Division of Lex Corp.
Without thinking, he tapped the comm-link into connection and asked, "Hey Rob, did you know this was a Lex Luthor company?"
There was a pause, but then the slightly guarded answer came with firm meaning. "Yes. Why? Is there a problem?"
He caught the makings of suspicion in Robin's tone, and he heard the real question buried within it: If it's a problem for you, do you need to be replaced? If you can't handle it...
Checking his emotions, Virgil matched Robin's serious tenor and said, "Nah, man. Business as usual, right?"
Virgil couldn't stop the bitter thought, however. It always goes back to him... In fact, the League felt the infiltration was necessary because Nuvo-Gen was a newborn company researching the modification of food genetics. Like the Reach had done through Lex Luthor. Pluots in spring, tomatoes in the Arctic, anyone?
No one in the Watchtower believed the Reach's presence had been entirely cleansed from the planet, and they had to be positive Nuvo-Gen wasn't following in their footsteps with borrowed, or stolen, alien science. Plus, Luthor was forever at odds with the heroes, always a clash of Titans, and it wasn't easy to judge where his current allegiance rested.
Well, guess we'll soon find out. For now, his job was done and—
And suddenly he caught a darting motion from the corner of his eye, cut short by the rim of his goggles.
Shit! Alerted, Virgil immediately spun towards the movement and dropped low, pressing his body up against the wall, below the hated name of Luthor's corporate identity. He caught his breath to listen.
Nothing else came to him—no footsteps, no words, no one at all. He wasn't the sort to have an over-active imagination, his brain too driven towards facts to randomly stimulate his senses over nothing. And he was careful.
Keeping braced in a crouch, he crept towards the desk, spot-checking the way again. The lobby was still empty, the nighttime blackout a blanket of silence over the building. Whatever he saw was fast and small, making him wonder if it was: "BB? That you?"
His voice was nearly an inaudible hush, too slight to even echo in the open space. Virgil's hand lifted to the comm-link but stopped halfway to his ear. Beast Boy was appointed look-out; he wouldn't leave his perimeter watch unless ordered by Robin. They all knew their jobs. If he had to, he would morph back to boy-shape and use the comm if they needed to be warned. He wouldn't come inside and risk leaving them vulnerable to being trapped within.
And BB certainly would not creep about, rat around in this maze.
That thought sparked another memory, of being the caged lab rat for the Reach, and S.T.A.R.. Those memories didn't often come to him anymore—he willed them not to—but when they did it still... bothered him. It was always hard to fully fathom a science without doing a bit of poking around, but at what cost? And who had to pay it?
With an almost dark curiosity, Virgil gazed down the long hallway into the interior. Meager light glowed off the stainless steel elevator doors and reflective tiled floor, dimly, giving the place a haunted aura, like a memory of a once-living presence. He slowly started down the tunnel, treading towards the gaping darkness. Beyond the lifts, he'd find the stairwell and back offices, all the ways to get to the science labs and research facility. And in there, what would he find?
Of course not flesh-and-blood research subjects. They were modifying plant genes, not animals—not people. Yet still, Virgil couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he'd seen an actual escaped lab rat.
Well, what does it matter? If Nuvo-Gen was in fact doing something they shouldn't be, the League would soon shut them down. For now, more power to that rat.
Standing in the dark hall, a voice demanded over the comm, "Static, rendezvous. Where are you?"
Virgil realized he was wasting too much time. "On my way."
Leaving the tunnel-like depth, he quickly re-traced his steps, back the way he came. The echoing hush of voices told Static it was indeed time to scram; the security guards were making their return to the front station. He did listen for a moment, thankful when he heard their dialogue was casually bemoaning the loss of their electronic coffee maker for the rest of the night. No suspicions were raised, and no tell-tale evidence was left behind to alert of their hacking; his pride boosted back up.
Outside again on the patio, his stealth-mode uniform gave away nothing in the perfect dark of his meta-man-made blackout. So he didn't worry when he heard the dog start barking a warning from across the street.
He did, however, stifle a chuckle when he heard two passing guards talking. An older man said, "My eyes ain't what they used to be, not at night, anyways. But I swear that dog was green."
She watched him with all the confidence of her kind, knowing he would never see her in the pitch dark. She was born of it, they could become one. And besides, cats were amazingly arrogant and mysterious creatures themselves, spiteful even; if they did not wish to be found, no human would ever set eyes on them.
Curled into the corner of the bottom-most stair, hidden by the wall of the elevators, Teekl tipped an ear to keep tabs on the boy with the electrical bolt symbol on his chest. He paused in the hallway, unsure—his naiveté pleased her to no end. Then the sound of an omnipresent voice, masked vaguely by computerized notes, spoke to the boy, and he soon turned to leave.
"He goes, brother. Along with the other young heroes. We cannot take him now."
"I had no intentions of doing so, anyway."
"Shall I see what their mission was?"
"Like I care. Let them play around with Lexie's money-makers all they want. I'd rather like to see it all come back to bite him in the butt."
Teekl began grooming a paw to hold back her next thought, focusing on waggling her stubby toes and flexing her unnaturally sharp claws.
"Cat, I can feel your nagging judgments. Spit it out, then."
She huffed, lifting her feline frame into a long stretch. "I worry our butts would be bitten, as well. We still do not know what his true plan is."
"Do you think it matters?"
"I wish not to see you used. I worry about you."
She could sense his smile, for once a grin with no malicious satisfaction. Klarion's mind-voice came with a mental stroke, a reassuring touch as real as if his physical hand had glided down her back. "Silly kitty, a human the likes of Lex Luthor is nothing to worry a Lord of Chaos. I am only helping him for the perks."
"Then we need that boy."
"Mmm-hmm."
"But you mean not to merely spirit them away?"
"Nope. There's no fun in kidnapping and I will not babysit hostages. Besides, we are sideline motivators, remember? Where's your team spirit?"
"Motivators?" The Familiar turned and raced up the stairs. "So what is your plan, Klarion? That one is with the League now."
He barked a laugh, high attitude tinged with mocking. "Sidekicks! They are quite expendable, and pawns easily change sides."
At the top of the flight the portal opened to welcome the demonic cat home. Taking her up into his arms, the Witch Boy confirmed aloud, "We will just persuade him harder to get the Baby Team back together."
Teekl purred loudly in understanding. "By choice."
"By need. A need to avoid more suffering. Let's be real here: we're still Chaos and it's what we do best."
Coming into the alley, the set rendezvous point not far from the Zeta Tube, Static wasn't surprised when he saw no one there. Because he knew better.
Sure enough, within seconds of arriving a trash can rattled as an animal brushed against it. He hadn't the chance to discern the small critter before the body contorted and enlarged, the pulling squeak of his uniform sharp in the tight space, until Beast Boy was fully himself again.
"There's the lab rat," Virgil joshed.
Garfield's eyes went round and his eyebrows raised to his hairline, giving him a classic wide-eyed and innocent look. But it was also full of obvious confusion. "What?"
Moving deeper into the laneway between other corporate complexes, once more faced with a maze of professional paths and late-night silence, Virgil said, "Just messin' with ya, man." Despite his better judgment, he added with gnawing interest, "Like, you weren't messin' with me, were you?"
"Okay, you lost me again." Garfield dragged his tongue across his pointed incisors and gave an open-arms shrug. Falling into pace and ambling alongside Virgil in that primal way of his, the boy asked almost devilishly, "Was there some kinda initiation prank I'm unaware of? 'Cuz that's no fair!"
"No, I just... thought I seen an animal back there, inside."
"Is that what took you so long?" The strident voice of Robin cut cleanly through the dark, even at a hushed level. The Boy Wonder dropped into the alley as if from the yonder sky itself, a stealthy figure moving precisely and gracefully. "What happened?"
"Nothin'. Like I said, I saw movement and I made sure to check it out."
Robin's masked eyes offered nothing, but his mouth was set in a firm line. Virgil could tell he wasn't completely pleased with his performance. Or does he think I'm hidin' somethin'? The feeling of being a tag-along guest on the mission came crashing back, and Virgil met the hidden expression with his own boldness, crossing his arms like a barrier. He didn't mean to challenge the Titan head, but it troubled him to think he hadn't earned their respect yet. Or their trust.
"Did you have your night vision on?"
Ah, called out... Sheepishly, Virgil replied with, "Still got the mask, though."
Robin's shoulders slumped in a disapproving way. Beast Boy bit his lower lip, the unspoken "uh-oh" evident enough as he began eyeballing Virgil and Tim, like suddenly at a tennis match.
"Oh c'mon, Rob. " Virgil couldn't help but immediately defend himself. "I've been standin' around in the dark all night. I think my vision is used to it. Besides, it was just a motion and I made sure it was nothing. That's it, bro. No big deal."
"Dawdling in the middle of potential enemy territory and possibly blowing our cover is a big deal, Static."
Wow, here comes the verbal spanking. Virgil didn't care for the tone, being spoken to like a careless child. "I wasn't dawdling and no one saw me. Jeez, dude, it was an in-and-out mission. It's not like I dove head-first into a landmine field to rescue someone. The probabilities—"
"Are always possible. We don't have the luxury to be easy-going, not like this." Robin laid a finger in the center of Virgil's chest, atop the Static bolt shield. It wasn't a belittling poke or a nasty jab; in fact, his tone had dropped to almost sympathetic. "We work as one unit and on point. When I give an order, the time-table has to be met, down to every tiny detail. The smallest thing goes wrong and it could be more than your identity on the line. It could cost us all our lives."
There was a dark tragedy hanging over the strict boy, and Virgil found himself feeling smaller and smaller under those words. It was strangely humbling, that sense of sad experience in Robin's voice. When not at Titan's Tower, he forgot Robin worked the streets in Gotham, crime-fighting. It made him wonder exactly how much death Batman's little family saw, struggled through, on a nightly basis.
The Boy Wonder said, not unkindly, "You're not the leader of a lost band of runaways anymore, Static. Get it together, man."
Heaving a sigh of understanding, Virgil replied, "Yeah, I hear you loud and clear, Rob. I'm a total team player." He braved to throw in, with only a half-hearted jester's grin, "Can we stop dawdlin' now?"
Although the mood was still heavy, he saw Robin's lips turn up, ever the teeniest bit slightly, and it was bright enough to reassure the new member; he wasn't being reprimanded, merely reminded. Robin nodded, then started off into the night once more.
Virgil was literally feeling weighted down by that darkness, the chill in the air and the lateness of the hour. And rather gloomily he remember he had school in the morning. He was more than ready to head home.
At his side, Garfield offered nicely, "Don't worry 'bout it. He just gets kinda intense on missions sometimes. Happens when Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl are all breathing down your neck, I guess."
"It's okay." Yet as he reflected on Robin's words, he couldn't stop thinking about the friends he made before, and how they were treated. He muttered to Beast Boy, "Just so you guys know, I never said I wanted to lead anybody."
A/N:
Thank you to my good friend Candlestic for poking me about my story! I'm having a hard time getting my head in the game as far as writing goes, but I'm extremely touched and excited to know people ARE anxious for more! :D To answer your questions, all my stories can pretty much stand on their own, and you don't have to read the others for any sort of continuity. However, I will most likely include some minor throwbacks, and in general this comes after Into the Nothing. And actually, this is not based on any of the teasers I threw in at the end of Louder Than Words, believe it or not; so many ideas, so little self-motivation to write. :P
I will say, be on the look-out for DCAU continuity blending and a lot of nods to Grant Morrison's Klarion (except I will write Teekl female since most YJ fans consider the cat such).