Chapter 4

It was official - the sheer number of members that this Justice League had was starting to make Artemis uneasy. The Hawkwoman without a mask or armor, J'onn wearing much less of a uniform than she was used to, even the older version of Wally in his uncle's suit she could deal with. But as they traveled from the medical ward to the mess hall, she counted a minimum of seventeen superheroes and thirty two people in matching purple jumpsuits, whom Artemis assumed were civilian employees. At one point, their group walked down a hallway lined with windows that looked out onto half a dozen mini-watchtowers orbiting the central station they were in.

Mind. Blowing.

Probably the only thing keeping her from outright freaking and finding a defensible position was Wally, sticking close to her side with Artemis' hand held firmly in his own. "You as weirded out by all this as I am?" The redhead murmured to her at one point.

"Hell yes." She replied. "If our League gets this big, I doubt there'll be any crooks left to fight."

"You'd be surprised!" Supergirl called back to them from where she'd been talking to Conner and M'gann. Artemis and Wally shared an exasperated look over aliens and super-hearing.

Then they entered the cafeteria, and all conversation stopped as everyone within turned their attention to the seven teens.

Flash grinned and waved. "Hey folks! These are the guys from another dimension, as you probably guessed, and they aren't gonna be made any more comfortable by being stared at like zoo exhibits." Despite the friendly tone, something steely in his words had the heroes reluctantly turning back to their own meals and conversations.

"Thank you," Kaldur murmured to the older version of their teammate.

"No problem, dude. I figured some of your friends aren't used to all the interest." Older-Wally winked, then sped over to the serving line and back, handing each of the teens a tray. "So! Help yourselves, even you Kid, 'cause I promise we've got enough to go around."

Still on edge, the Team members made their way over to the food, each picking up whatever seemed appealing - steamed vegetables, meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, fruit salad, buttered rolls, even a variety of pudding, gelatin and cupcakes for dessert.

"I think I like being at the Mountain better, where I can actually cook something for myself," Zatanna murmured, earning an inquiry from her alternate self.

"Mountain?"

"Mount Justice - it's our Team's headquarters, and where M'gann, Conner and I all live."

The older Zatanna frowned. "Aren't you a little young to be living by yourselves?"

"Well, the others couldn't exactly move in anywhere else, though that might change now that Superman's actually talking to Conner, and it was my only option after my dad..." She trailed off, focusing on dumping some mashed potatoes on her plate while fighting off the tears that welled up. The elder magician sensed that this was a touchy subject, and while she may have been dying to know what happened to her father in the parallel world, Zatanna also knew when to leave well enough alone.

"Hey, it's okay, we can talk about it later, alright?"

"Y-yeah, that's fine." Seeking to provide a distraction, the older of the two nudged her other self and gestured towards the end of the line. Younger Zatanna giggled when she saw the sheer amount of food both speedsters had piled onto their respective trays - enough that both really should've had two trays in order to make sure all the stuff didn't topple over.

Artemis was thinking the same thing, as she paused before leaving the line to smack the back of her boyfriend's head. "Ever heard of coming back for seconds, Baywatch?"

"Hey, it's less than he has!" Wally's protest just prompted an eyeroll from the blonde archer, before the both of them followed Supergirl and the others to an empty table. Actually, it was more like three tables that had been pulled together, to make sure there was more than enough room for the Team and their 'watchers', none of whom had yet to go back to whatever other jobs they had.

"So," Vixen started off the conversation once everyone had a chance to swallow at least a few mouthfuls. "How'd your little group manage to get transported between dimensions, anyway?"

"We... Are not entirely sure." Aqualad admitted. "We were returning from a routine mission-"

"Which actually went smoothly for once," Artemis muttered under her breath.

"-and had taken a short detour so as drop Kid Flash off at Central City-"

"Rogues were out in force again," the teen speedster explained, gaining a noise of sympathy from his elder self.

"-when a sudden storm caught us off guard-"

"There was nothing to indicate where it came from - the skies had been perfectly clear before that." M'gann said in a sorrowful tone.

Kaldur sighed, and plowed on regardless of the numerous interruptions. "-and we were hit by a bolt of lighting, which oddly enough came from below rather than above."

"Huh." Dove jumped in. "Could someone have followed you from your mission objective? What was it, anyway?" The Team all exchanged wary glances.

*Technically, they ARE the League...* Raquel pointed out.

*Yeah, but we still don't have any real reason to trust them.*

*C'mon, Artemis, they don't seem that bad.*

*Kara's decent. And I don't think she or any of the others have been faking their concern for us.*

*Are you sure you're not just saying that because she's another Kryptonian, Conner?*

Flash watched the subtle looks and facial ticks for a few moments before he finally got what was happening. "Oh! You guys are having a psychic conversation, aren't you? I never could get used to J'onn doing that..." Several of the teens flinched at his intrusion.

"Sorry." M'gann apologized. "It's... kind of second nature to us all by now."

"And a handy way to check in with your teammates without risk of being overheard," Stargirl murmured.

"Well, other telepaths can break into the link, which has been harmful in the past... But for the most part, yes, it does come in handy."

"Does that mean you guys were debating whether or not to trust us with sensitive information?" Vixen raised an eyebrow at them.

"It's just... We are not sure whether to consider such details as classified or not, in a parallel world." Aqualad explained slowly.

"Would it help if you talked about it with your assignment-assigner in the room?" Flash asked, finally finishing off the food on his tray. In the blink of an eye, he'd vanished and reappeared, with a second helping of everything. "Who is that, anyway?"

"Batman."

Stargirl snorted. "Figures."

"Well, I'm pretty sure he's on his way already." Shayera finally spoke up, from where she'd perched herself at a table next to theirs - present but not intruding. It wasn't even a full three seconds later that the entrance to the cafeteria slid open again, revealing a man in the familiar cape and cowl.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear," the elder Zatanna grinned. "Glad you could make it, B!"

"These are them?" Batman asked as he approached, eyes scanning over the new arrivals. Kaldur promptly stood and extended his hand.

"Greetings. I am Aqualad, also known as Kaldur'ahm, and this is my Team: Kid Flash, Artemis, Zatanna, Superboy, Miss Martian and Rocket. We are currently missing our eighth member, Robin, though it is highly likely he's still within the Watchtower."

The Gotham hero briefly shook with the Atlantean, his eyes narrowed in a calculating gaze rather than his usual glare. "So I was informed. I've set Batgirl to checking all security measures for signs of hacking, left Nightwing in the javelin bay in case your teammate tries to run that way, and sent our Robin up into the vents to look for him."

Aqualad nodded. "Thank you. We'd search for him ourselves, but unfortunately your Watchtower is of a greatly different design than that of our world, and Miss Martian's long distance telepathy has not yet recovered."

"My mental senses can at least detect that he's relatively nearby, but if I try to extend them more than a few yards, I grow dizzy and have to struggle to keep from blacking out again." The teen explained with a grimace. Superboy reached out and rubbed her back soothingly, while Rocket gave the other girl a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

"Regardless, my people will find him." Batman offered gruffly. "In the meantime, we need to figure out what brought you here, and how to reverse it if we're to send you home again."

The Team once again shared various looks, but even without the mind link, they knew what the answer would be this time.

"Then we shall explain in full detail, starting from the beginning..."