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On the ride, Layla breathed shallowly against the tight belts that held her into the spacecraft as they flew over the ocean. It was so bizarre, to be able to see the texture of the waves and even the way it rippled as the blasts from the bio ship's turbines swirled blue patterns on the surface. When one is always looking at the big picture, it's hard to let the peaceful details be known.
The team hadn't taken to her like she'd expected. From her tower, they'd always seemed like a tight-knit, boisterous and accepting crowd. They themselves were young rag-tags with little experience being looked down upon by the League. She thought they'd share her sentiments, but instead, the very fact that she was so carefully concealed from even them made her a liability and nuisance. She was starting to think her desire to come and live a real life on earth had been a stupid and frivolous dream.
"You ok? You zoned out for a sec," Artemis poked Layla's shoulder as she had felt herself nodding off. Good thing to, because they had arrived.
Her musings on her relationship with the team would have to wait. At that point, her only obstacle was Red Arrow, who blocked her passage off the ship. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared her down. Even though she couldn't see his eyes through the mask, the glare was prevalent, heavily laden with mistrust and irritation.
"Spyglass, huh? Aqualad filled me in on how you got here, and I don't buy it," his snarling tone caught Layla off guard and she let out an offended and frustrated sigh clenching her fists before him.
"Fine. Don't take it from me, take it from Batman. He's the one who sent the message." Her limited people skills caused her to shake under his unbreakably hostile demeanor. The only people she'd had to deal with since she was 11 were her kind superhero mentors. Not angry teenage boys.
Superman seriously did not prepare me for this. She thought anxiously.
When he didn't respond, but continued to stare her down skeptically, she continued.
"Listen, I honestly have no idea how to prove myself to you other than to show you where the rest of the League is."
"For the record, I don't trust you." He spun around gruffly and stalked into the cave where Superboy, Aqualad, Miss Martian, Robin, Artemis and Kid Flash were all gathered around the 3-D globe tricked out with satellite imagery.
"Is there anyone you do trust?" Layla rolled her eyes at his tough guy routine but somehow found that she wanted to prove herself. Not just to him, but to everyone. The League had locked her away, but now that she was out, she was going to be just as helpful. She was gonna see the action and make a save herself.
"Ah, this feels more like home!" she whispered gleefully, pulling up the Romanian footage as she stood comfortably in front of the earth's cyber image. "Everyone in the JL disengaged their transponders at 2:45ish, but I watched as they convened on the same cave that Batman and the Flash rescued the children from a few hours earlier. I can only assume-"
"Mount up team," Red Arrow barked, sending the YJ gang into a frenzy to get ready. Once again, Layla was caught unawares by his blunt actions.
"Geez, can't get a word in edgewise," she mumbled, heading towards the flight hangar before Roy held out a hand to stop her. She ran into his arm out of spite and glared up at him, waiting for an explanation. The guy was getting on her last nerve.
"You're staying here. We already know the location, and you'll just-"
"I'll just what? I have every right to go!" the auburn haired girl locked gazes with Red Arrow before attempting to go under his arm and follow her team to Romania.
"I said you're not going!" Layla jumped at his raised voice and attempted to dodge his grip, but it closed down on her and soon, her arms were pinned to her sides, wrapped in a bear hug by the disgruntled former side-kick of Green Arrow. Layla thrashed in outrage, wondering exactly what her captor planned to do to keep her that way while him and Young Justice spirited off to the other side of the world.
"What's taking you so long?" Superboy trailed off as he caught sight of the commotion occurring back in the cave. He raised an eyebrow quizzically. Layla's face was already beat red from her subdual, but Roy's face flared up as well and he dropped her to the ground and cleared his throat nervously.
"Let's go."
YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ
"She's lived in Watchtower since she was 11? It must've been so lonely," M'gann mused as she piloted the bio ship across the Atlantic. Layla slumbered in the back to give her eyes a rest, and Roy leaned in on the conversation between the Martian and Artemis to gather intel on the mysterious Spyglass.
"Yeah, old enough to have a family… and have them taken away."
"What's she complaining about? She's had the best mentors a kid could ask for-" Superboy interjected, his jealousy kicking in at the prospect of this girl living close with his biological and frustratingly estranged father, Superman.
"Okay, but something must've happened to her to make her hate Earth, don't you think?" Artemis snapped, empathy at the girl's situation apparent in her eyes. She'd lost her family for a while, and if it hadn't been for Green Arrow, she might've ended up like her sister… or worse. She was only sorry she hadn't gotten to know the strange girl sooner. They might've been friends, if she had joined the team instead of getting locked away, even if it was for the good of the word.
Blood. Flowing in rivulets, streams, rivers, oceans, pooling under the smooth, ribbon like hair of her mother, lying lifeless on the ground, eyes unblinking and gazing out for miles at a girl who stared back with eyes that lit up the darkness.
An axe lodged in a stump outside a dark cabin in the woods.
Darkness didn't scare her. You could hide in the darkness. It was only when she found her hands grasping for purchase on the dark, uneven ground after she'd fallen to escape him… that was when she became scared. He would never find her. He was gone now.
Gone.
Gone?
Who was gone?
Layla awoke with a start. She hadn't had one of those dreams (or rather, memories) in a long time.
"I think it best we don't talk behind the back of our comrade," Kaldur added quietly, glancing back to where Layla wrested in her sleep until she finally came to. Everyone was staring at her, and her glowing green eyes stared back.
"Not far now," she said groggily, her eyes zooming in on the European continent as it inched closer and closer on the horizon.
When they'd landed, Aqualad had given the signal to go into camouflage mode, and everyone but her, Kaldur and Roy remained. The tree line looked much more menacing as it loomed before Layla than it had when she's seen it from afar.
"You two will be alright, remaining together?" the Atlantean team leader glanced uncertainly at Red Arrow, who merely strapped his quiver on his back and gave a tilt of his head to indicate Layla should follow.
"If she's gonna come, I'm not letting her out of my sight."
Layla rolled her eyes behind him. It seemed to be a habit she was forming around him. Aqualad didn't seem concerned at the mistrust however, and disappeared, passing the League's secret savior into the hands of an old albeit irrational friend.
"Mind links up?" M'gann called out through her telepathic communication. At the sound, Layla nearly jumped out of her skin and let out a surprised yelp. Red Arrow growled under his breath and his biting glare wrenched her back to her senses.
"This mission requires finesse. I don't need you shrieking and alerting everyone to our position. The League is at stake." The heaviness of Roy's words weighed down on the 17 year old, bright eyed girl, and she nodded, gritting her teeth and trying to get herself together.
"Robin and KF approaching coordinates," the Boy Wonder beamed in through his team's brains, and soon, anxieties were running high.
"Any sign of the League?" Artemis asked apprehensively, her fingers twitching around her drawn bow as she waited in hiding outside the entrance. "I see 6 guards, and I can hear that weird sound again," She added, allowing the haunting melody to flow through the mind link so everyone would recognize it.
"What the hell is that?" Layla whispered allowed, immediately receiving a chastising look from Red Arrow. It was amazing to her how many different looks of anger the man could convey. He had quite a versatile range. She covered her mouth to suppress a chuckle.
I suppose it's not his fault he's so intense. He was brought up to be a superhero. I mean, I've been doing it a while, but my job's always been laid back, safe, and with little chance of failure. I might be that way too if I'd grown up in this cramped place. Once again, the closeness of the world, the feeling of the wind and trees, the new smells and everything about being on a planet again was starting to catch up with Spyglass, and she was feeling dizzy.
Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute as the reality of where she was and what she was doing hit her. 24 hours ago, she'd been safe in her ivory tower, watching while the world played out below her like so many dancing figurines in a music box, the same things over and over again. Robbery, murder, kidnappings, famine, chaos… and the Justice League was the only thing that existed to restore balance. Who would want to destroy that?
Who would try to destroy her new-found family? She'd kill them if they tried.
Roy (and the no doubt the rest of the team) suddenly picked up the wave of hatred emanating from their newest member. It was a side of the strange girl they'd yet to witness, and it was pretty intense.
"Sorry." Layla tapped into her link and stole a glance at her partner. "I just really want to get them back."
"Tell me about it," Robin added, zeroing in on the cave and taking out the guards with the help of Artemis, KF, Miss Martian and Superboy. Aqualad proceeded first into the cave where the music was swelling to a nearly unbearable crescendo.
The cave was a rat-maze; dark, crude, and all the team had to go on was that irritating ocarina… flute… piccolo… etc.
"It's getting louder. Definitely," KF groaned as he plugged his ears with his fingers and turned to check on the team at his back.
"Thanks, Kid Obvious," Artemis growled, following suit and covering her ears with her gloved hands.
"Robin, can you run a diagnostics check on that sound? See if it's been recorded anywhere before-"
"Got it!" Robin interrupted Aqualad and held out his handheld com for the rest of the team to see. Superboy furrowed his eyebrows.
"The sound is coming from… a former Leaguer?" he asked hesitantly, looking to the four oldest sidekicks for confirmation. Aqualad shook his head puzzled.
"Not one that I've ever heard of," he said frowning, and glancing at Roy and Layla.
"No, I think I'd remember this guy." Layla found herself shouting just to get her point across, trying to recall the face of the flute-playing man on the small screen. Then it clicked. "He was locked up in Belle Reve!"
"What?!" Robin shouted back as they neared the source of the loud, now incredibly annoying sound.
"I said, he was locked up in Belle Reve, after being rejected by the Justice League!" she barked again, scanning his MO on the handheld to make sure it was the same person she was thinking of.
"Yup, two years ago this wacko got turned down to enter the League. He went nuts," Layla reiterated through the mental link as they entered the heart of the maze only to find, not a man with a flute, but a man with a huge ass computer.
"I'm afraid you're too late, little heroes!" the small, maniacal flute player chuckled through the din.
"What did he say?" Kid Flash yelled to Aqualad who merely shook his head, his gaze never wavering from their adversary.
"I said YOU'RE TOO LATE!" the twitchy man at the keyboard turned around in his chair where the music had quieted down to a soft background noise and stared the Young Justice team down. Layla took a step forward to face him when she was stopped by Roy's arm.
"What're you doing? He has the League locked up somewhere!" It was Layla's turn to glare at the archer who merely jerked his head toward the cave opening on the far side, where slowly, a blank faced Justice League emerged from the shadows and stared at their protégés unblinking.
"What're they doing? Why aren't they fighting?" Artemis whipped her head to look at Robin who was typing away, equally frustrated. "It's the music! Knock out that computer and we should get them back-"
"Batman, attack the Boy Wonder," the Flute-man ordered, and without wasting any time, the Dark Knight was above his protégé, firing blow after blow relentlessly at the young sidekick who stopped his hacking in order to block. "Justice League, dispose of the others."
The team locked gazes. They were in for it now.
"It's still viable! Shut down the computer and-" Robin spoke between ducks and swings of his own, dodging blasts and attacks from other League members as well, who were thankfully held at bay by a barrage of arrows from both Artemis and Red Arrow.
Layla stood there completely subdued. She couldn't fight. She couldn't even defend herself. It was never necessary when you lived in Watchtower, a completely safe compound in space. Now she could do nothing.
"Spyglass! Head for the computer. We'll hold them off!" Aqualad ordered as he pulled out his water bearers and was met with the challenge of a dozen leaguers. Layla surveyed the grim scene. She didn't have much time. Her glowing green eyes watered as her feet pounded over the dirt of the cave and before she knew it, she was sitting at the control consol with the flute-man standing behind her laughing. Life was so unfair. She wished that guy would shut up so she could think. She wished the music would turn off, but the screen was locked! She wasn't a genius hacker like Robin, and she couldn't smash it to bits like Superboy. All she could do was sit hopelessly as the song played away and her mentors were forever captured by the innocuous melody.
In a moment of desperation (or inspiration), Layla could only think of one thing to do. She hopped out of the chair, gripped the armrests firmly in her hands and as the jovial face of the Flute-man fell, Layla knew she'd won.
With a great heave, Layla swung the revolving chair into the computer screen and watched as the speakers stuttered to a dull static and the images dissipated. She'd done it. She'd been useful. She'd saved… someone.
"You idiot! Do you know what you've done?" The Flute-man rushed at her and shook her hard, interrupting the momentary relief of the YJ team who had received a reprieve from the fight with their mentors. Now that the music was off, they were once again blank faced zombies.
Sirens began whirring and warning claxons sounded throughout the maze.
"What's happening?" Miss Martian gasped, waving her hand in front of her uncle, Martian Man-hunter's face, but still no response.
"The computer's gone into self-destruct mode!" Layla announced, rushing back to join her teammates who watched as the Flute-man fled into the maze of tunnels. "He's getting away!" she began, rushing towards the dark path he'd turned down, but once again a teammate blocked her path. This time it was Aqualad.
"Our first priority is the League. By Robin's calculations, the cave is set to collapse in 10 minutes."
"T-ten minutes?" Kid Flash stuttered, looking back and forth at the frozen Leaguers, ranging in the dozens that needed to be evacuated.
"Get your heads on straight! M'gann, take the ones you can telekinetically, Kaldur, as many with your water bearers as you can. Wally, you get a head start and make as many trips in and out, with the time we have left. The rest of us will take one and… we'll do what we can." Roy's grave words hit the rest of the team as they scrambled to carry their unresponsive mentors out alive.
"I don't understand! Once the sound went off, it should've sent them back to normal, right?" Layla asked Robin, who looked equally concerned.
"They must've had their brains reset somehow. If we get back, we'll have to figure out how to counteract whatever that guy did to them to return them to normal."
"When." Layla snapped at him as they hustled through the tunnel. Artemis and Layla carried Black Canary between them, and even the archer was confused.
"When?"
"When we get back, we'll have to reset them. You said 'if.'" Robin was glad it was dark enough that the new girl couldn't see his grim expression.
"Right. When."
Slowly, but surely, the League members were whisked to safety by the young team, who struggled under the weight of the task. The small tremors that had been barely noticeable at the start of the evacuation had become small earthquakes that threatened to take down the caves before the promised 10 minutes were up.
"I never said it was exactly 10 minutes," the Boy wonder mumbled as he and Aqualad heaved Batman out into the light of the Romanian clearing.
"That should be everyone," KF tallied, his green eyes scanning the field quickly before his gaze widened. "Where's Roy?" Artemis, Miss M, Robin, Superboy and Aqualad whipped their heads towards the cave entrance.
"Where's Spyglass?"
Before the thought of rescue could race through anyone's head, a shuddering groan coursed through the tunnels and with one last roar of tremors, the cave entrance was covered completely by rubble; Red Arrow and Spyglass sealed inside.
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I'm very sorry about my sketchy back story for Layla. I was planning on maybe doing a itty bitty sequel, but I dunno yet. Sadly that is all you get. Hopefully she's not too lame. But she kinda is, I'll admit. Love her death tho, she's my creation!
DMar