Author's Note: This chapter took way too long to get out, whoops! I had a lot of trouble with the last scene, and I'm still not sure it's really all that great, but I got frustrated with it, so here you go.

The sunset over the desert was red, bathing the world in scarlet and pink and purple, the opposite side of the sky almost a dark indigo. The mountains in the distance looked dry and rocky, and the salt flats just on the opposite side of the road looked almost purple. The world had never seemed more beautiful to Kaldur than it did right then, Wally stretching his legs in the way only he could, and Roy and Robin consulting a map. The gritty bathroom at the rest stop they'd pulled over in had two stalls only, and smelled putrid. Kaldur had missed being on the outside.

He could feel the water, a firm presence just inches aside from his mind, deep below the ground and extending up into that gross, gritty bathroom. It felt so odd, that small source of water, compared to all the pipes he'd felt in the Center.

"I'm not getting a signal. Damn! Shoulda gotten the long range comms!" Robin scoffed.

"Comms to what? You still haven't told us who the hell you are," Roy commented.

"Come on, you've never heard of Maple?" Robin asked, sounding incredulous. Kaldur walked over to the car to join them.

"I'm afraid not," Kaldur confessed.

"Maple! You know, the Meta Protection and Liberation League?" Robin explained. "They exist to make a better and freer America for metahumans everywhere. A League comprised half of metas, half of sympathizers."

"What, meta sympathizers? No such thing," Roy snorted. "Probably fetishizers, but not sympathizers."

"Ew, gross! I'm thirteen, man!" Robin recoiled.

"And you hacked into a government building," Roy pointed out. "I'm sure you've seen the dark side of the internet."

"If your family was all meta, and someone told you people were getting off on their abilities, you'd be grossed out too," Robin countered.

"My family's dead," Roy deadpanned.

"Welcome to the club," Robin shrugged. He looked up at Kaldur. "Anyway, Maple is kinda training me to start doing recon missions. I wasn't supposed to be at the Center, they mistook me for some sort of technopath."

"In all fairness, I might have as well, had you not been the one to disable the lights, and thus had the skill to do so without an enhancing metagene," Kaldur confessed. He wasn't going to even touch on the orphan comments.

"No metagene in this human. You guys are humanity 2.0, but I'm still just the original version," Robin grinned cheekily.

"God! I'm hungry!" Wally moaned, skidding to a stop a few feet away from them. "How're we gonna get food?"

"Oh shit! Your metabolism's crazy fast!" Robin exclaimed, as if he just remembered something. He slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned.

"Uh, yeah," Wally said, like it was obvious. Kaldur didn't think it was such a clear leap to make, as he'd only just realized the logic behind such a thought.

"We can't afford to feed you if we don't figure out a way to get money fast," Robin pointed out. "I have Batman's emergency card, but I'd rather just use it for emergencies."

"Who's Batman?" Wally asked.

"Just someone. Maple agent," Robin said dismissively, turning back to the map. Robin tapped his chin. "Soup kitchens will help get you basic meals, but you're gonna have to cut down on the speed a lot, okay?"

"Cut down on-!? My brain literally processes the world faster than yours, that's going to be torture for me!" Wally exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"So is dying of starvation," Robin said flatly. "If I can contact Flash, then he can help us figure something out, but we need to ditch this car before we even think about finding Maple agents."

"We cannot abandon the vehicle here, we are still miles out from any town," Kaldur commented.

"Dammit. Roy, how fast can you get us to the nearest town?" Robin asked.

"It depends on how legal you wanna be," Roy shrugged. Robin mirrored his stance, looking every bit the devil-may-care rebel he was proving to be. Kaldur had a feeling he wouldn't like the next thing he said.

"I don't care about legal, we need fast."


Oliver Queen paced impatiently in the hallway, his fingers fiddling with the blonde ends of his goatee. He was waiting for Bruce to come back with the results of the tests, having just lost the freedom of a public relationship with Dinah thanks to her sudden development of powers. Now she was confined to the Cave, and he could only see her once in a blue moon.

Bruce Wayne exited the lab, a clipboard in hand and another League member at his heels. Oliver stopped pacing. "Well?"

"One Roy Harper has a metagene, but it's inactive," Bruce informed.

"Who's the kid, and why'd you want his specs?" Barry Allen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He's my ward. He's been in my care three years. Sixteen years old now," Oliver explained. Barry looked surprised, but Bruce was nonplussed. "I wanted to know if I had to worry about getting him hidden from the feds at any point. After Canary, I just…"

"Wanted to be sure," Bruce finished. "I feel the same about Robin. I had him checked as soon as I filed for guardianship."

Barry sighed. "God, I wish I could just have gotten my kids checked whenever I wanted. The procedure is expensive, but if I'd only known, I never would have let them hang around my lab."

"Bart's fine, though," Oliver said. "He's here at the Cave, with you."

"Codenames, Arrow," Bruce warned.

"Geez, sorry. Impulse is fine."

"Impulse might be here, but I've got a nephew. He could be anywhere," Barry sighed.

"If you don't want your ward to activate his metagene, I recommend keeping an eye on him," Bruce said. "Keep letting him run wild, and he'll activate them faster than you can blink."

"How did you kn-"

"I know everything. I'm Batman."

Oliver's irritation flared at the stoic expression on Bruce Wayne face. "I know how to take care of my own kid, I don't need your advice."

Bruce grunted, sounding unaffected by Oliver's words. "I'll see you at the next gala, Arrow."


"If there's a Center, why are we here?" Conner asked for the thirteenth time since he'd been allowed a regular visitor in his... room.

Megan smiled, pretty and soft. "I'm here to keep you company!"

"Why am I here?" Conner pressed.

"This is your home," Megan said, her smile fading a bit. She glanced at the metal door. She never said much more than what she'd just told him, conversation kept far away from such topics.

"Am I a prisoner?" Conner asked.

Megan laughed, but the mirth in her voice was missing from her eyes. "You can't be a prisoner in your own home."

Conner opened his mouth, but hesitated. He had never asked her this before, but the past weeks… the past weeks that he'd known the ginger haired girl, her mannerisms had all been nervous, scared. Finally, he spat it out. "Are you a prisoner?"

Megan blinked, her smile freezing on her face. She glanced sideways at the door, then lifted her teacup to her face. For a moment, there was silence, and Conner figured he wouldn't receive an answer. Then, quieter than anything else said at all, from behind her teacup, Megan whispered, "Yes."

Conner stared hard at her as she lowered her teacup to the table. It was the first time he'd ever really felt brave enough to press onwards. Finally, he said, "Why are you really here?"

"I'm supposed to keep you calm," Megan murmured, her eyes darting to each corner of the room that she could see without turning her head. More new information. "So you'll stop hurting the doctors when they come to see you."

"They keep coming at me with needles. They don't treat me like a person. I don't like them," Conner stated, keeping his voice quiet like hers.

"Okay," Megan said.

"Okay?" Conner asked.

"Okay. I'm not the one who wants you to see the doctors. I'm just here to be your friend," Megan explained.

"But you're a telepath. They want you to just make me be calm," Conner guessed.

"Yes. They are very unhappy with my preferred methods," Megan winced, her fingers tugging at her cardigan sleeves to hide something.

"Are they hurting you?" Conner asked.

Megan glanced sideways at the metal door. Then nodded minutely. "It's better here than at the Center."

"Were you at the Center before?" Conner asked.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up. I'm not supposed to talk about the Center anymore. The doctors say it will only make you angry," Megan backtracked. "I'm not supposed to make you angry."

The metal of Conner's chair creaked under his tightening grip. Megan glanced at the door in fear. Conner hated being kept in the dark. "They're keeping things from me."

"Please stay calm," Megan whispered, her hands clasping her own wrists.

Conner took a deep breath through his nose and released it with a soft sigh. He didn't want Megan getting in trouble because he couldn't keep his temper in check. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Megan said, wringing her fingers with her right hand. The lights turned red, and Conner felt his enhanced strength leaving him. Megan gasped a bit in surprise. Conner was startled, too. He didn't think that the session had been so close to ending.

The door slid open, and Megan squeaked, grabbing her teacup to keep her hands busy, and curling around it, trying to make herself look small and nonthreatening. Like she could ever look threatening, as dainty and soft as she looked.

Luthor entered the room, Mercy at his side with a clipboard and a stern expression. He entered the room with a wide, congenial smile, and the doors shut behind him. "Ah, Conner, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Father," Conner said dully, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat. He felt aggravated just watching the man walk towards him. Luthor and Mercy paid Megan no mind as they came to a halt just beside Conner's chair. Luthor raised one eyebrow as he noticed the divots Conner had made in the metal only moments before.

"Are you sure you weren't getting frustrated?" Luthor asked, tapping one finger against the warped metal. Conner stiffened.

"Maybe I wouldn't get 'frustrated' if I could leave," Conner snapped scathingly. Luthor exhaled in amusement, already shaking his head.

Then, Luthor turned his attention to Megan, the smile dropping off his face, and Conner felt a spike of fear in his chest. "And you, mind reader. Haven't I told you what would happen if you didn't cooperate by now?"

Megan bit her lip. "Sorry, Sir."

"Mercy, take her back to her room. I believe that's enough for the day," Luthor suggested. Mercy wordlessly affixed an inhibitor collar around Megan's neck.

Conner watched as Mercy began to lead Megan out of the room, but then Luthor began to speak again. "Well, Conner, my boy, the doctors will be trying to perform their tests again tomorrow. I should hope you're feeling a bit more… cooperative?"

"Will Megan visit me while they're here?" Conner asked.

"Of course!" Luthor said, acting as if he were a magnanimous man who wasn't doing this just to try and control Conner.

Conner didn't trust Luthor, or the doctors, or Mercy. But he trusted Megan. She had been visiting for weeks, and still. Still she refused to use her power negatively against him.

"Alright."