Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

Chapter 3: A rats eyes

"W-What's going on?" Kidflash asks anxiously. None of the people in the huge main room of the Mountain answer. Wally feels disconcerted, but tries his best not to show it. M'gann buries her face in Superboys' chest, tears rolling down her face. Sure, the Martian girl was extremely concerned about her friends, yet Wally found it unnecessary to cry for their disappearance. They don't have those fancy, specially for them designed costumes for nothing. "We don't know," answers Black Canary finally, "We're afraid they've fallen in the hands of-"

BREAKLINEEE.

"The Joker.." says Dick with a sigh. "I'm definitely not whelmed," he somehow feels comfortable, almost comfortable enough to put his hands in his neck and lay down. If only he could do that; the pose he has been sitting in is giving him cramps in his legs. He has faced Joker a million times before, however, the green haired man always managed to get out of Arkham Asylum where Richard and Bruce put him. The lights in the room turn on, flickering a few times and blinding the young boys eyes. It took a while for him to be able to open his eyes even the slightest bit. He hears footsteps, slowly coming closer, and stopping in front of Dick. "It's been a while since we met, young bird." That voice… Yes, now it was all clear. Still, it sounded different. Dick looks up, his eyes still narrowed from the blinding lights. But indeed, it was the Joker himself – nothing seems different about him. The Joker kneels down in front of the boy, Dicks eyes following his every move. "I have a little… Unpleasant surprise for you and your team," starts the man in the green coat right in front of Dick. An unbearable, decaying smell came out of the man's mouth along the words he said. The Boy Wonder starts coughing and turns his head sideways, keeping his narrowed eyes focused on the Joker. "Jeez, do you EVER brush your teeth?" The Joker raises his right hand and slaps the boy on his face, causing him to fall on the ground. Half of his body sitting, half of his body laying on the cold floor – it sure was an unpleasant surprise to Dick. 'Heavy on the "un",' the boy thought to himself. "I'd watch it. You'll never know when the game ends," the Joker suddenly says with a mysterious tone in his voice. Game? What game? "Look, I still have a lot to do," says the young boy while he miraculously manages to sit right up. It was a surprise to Dick himself. Chained to a pipe, in an uncomfortable position with his hands, his head once again trembling from the hit just now and this morning… This morning? THIS morning? How could he think that to himself? He had no indication of what time it was. Maybe days passed already. Perhaps even weeks.. Heck no! Bruce would never leave him abducted for that long. "I'm pretty sure that after this, you'll never have trouble with your schoolwork again," says the Joker and Dick shakes up from his thoughts. "I'm not going to participate in one of your sick games," answers the Boy Wonder angrily. "Oh, but you don't need to worry about that!" the Joker says with a huge grin on his face, "You're already playing."

BREAKLINEEE.

It was awkwardly quiet in the Mountain. There was only the continuous, never ending buzz of the huge computer, searching for any contact with the three missing team members. "No signal found," the blue screen had been saying for about an hour now. Everyone was desperate to hear something from the team. Superboy is holding M'ganns hand like the true boyfriend would. The Martian girl, clearly uncomfortable about the situation, changes her position every five minutes or so. Wally, blankly staring at the floor, realizing Robin might not be so well as he thought his younger friend would be.

"Signal found – Robin," the female voice of the computer suddenly says. Everyone in the Mountain immediately stands up, runs towards the computer and stands ready for any word from the young boy. Superman flying across the room, a red blur from where Flash ran – it all happened within seconds. "Retrieving signal, loading video," the voice says again. "Hurry up already!" says Superboy impatiently, still holding M'ganns hand. Tensioned, everyone waits.

"Signal lost," says the female voice. Cursing is easily heard in the room. Some League members are slamming their hands in anything that is nearby. Others, like Black Canary and Red Tornado, walk away without a word said. Batman angrily smashes his hand on the table.

"How could this happen?" he says with his deep voice. "It's not your fault…" Green Arrow says kindly to him, "We couldn't have known-" Batman angrily turns around, interrupting the kind words from the archer. "Yes, we could have known," the Bat says, "Or at least I could have…"

Green Arrow looks at Batman, his questioning face turned a bit sideways. "What do you mean by that?" The Bat looks at the ground. "Joker escaped last week," he says.

"YOU KNEW?" yells Superboy through the room. It reminded M'gann of when Aqualad knew there was a mole on the team. Aqualad… Where would the Atlantean boy be? So many beautiful, happy memories flash through her mind. Sharing her self-made cookies with the team, practicing to use her powers better with Kaldur, Robin, who would often show her some of his hacking skills, but she never understood what exactly he was doing. Warm tears start rolling down her face while she was completely lost in her memories. Not aware that Superboy and Batman were having a man-to-man conversation. The Martian girl finally realized what was going on. The disappearance of her friends, and now Superboy and Batman fighting? She needs a break. She flies towards the nearest door that leads out, looking over her shoulder once more before she opens the heavy door and walks outside.

A beautiful evening it was for sure. Chirping birds, preparing to go sleep. The lights of the houses turn on one by one. It was getting darker, but the cloudless sky allowed the moon to shine through. "Perhaps I should never have come to Earth," says M'gann to herself, "Perhaps the team would be better off without me," She is so lost in her thoughts, she doesn't hear someone coming closer. "Maybe that's true," says a voice behind her as she feels a needle in her neck, the feels some kind of liquid going through her veins. The sky got darker and darker, birds stopped chirping, the lights of the street make a white blur. "Let's see what your team thinks about that," is the last thing she hears before losing consciousness.

Authors Note: Whew. This one took me a while. I wasn't sure how to work it all out and how all my idea's would fit in the story. Oh well, looks good to me. :)