To: ZeldaIsis and RougePlume: I know I write slow but, everything will be revealed in future chapters :)

To: Countdown: I wanted to send you a reply, but your profile is set to not accepting PM's :(

Notes: Things get worse before they get better.


"But that's impossible!" I protested. "You can't send a signal to hack into the Crays and have it loop back to the Cave!"

Batman's expression, if it was possible, turned even grimmer. "Not unless someone's breached the Cave."

No way! I wanted to cry out. The Cave's security was one of the most sophisticated systems Batman and I designed, rivalled only by the JLA's. That someone would have managed to get in and out without anyone knowing was virtually impossible.

Unless...

"I didn't do it." I told Batman. "I've hardly been in the Cave without you for the past couple of weeks, and I've either been with the Team or out in the field."

"I know." The weary tone in Batman's voice told me he was at his wit's end with this problem and he wasn't getting any closer to a solution - or even a culprit. "I've checked and re-checked our logs several times. Both our patterns don't show any suspicious gaps in time."

"But could you have, you know," Wally spoke up, "been mind-controlled and did the hacking without your knowing about it? Sort of like a...a subconscious habit."

"Or someone was piggybacking in our minds, seeing what we see, hearing what we hear, and all?" I added.

Batman shook his head. "I've asked J'onn to find traces of mental intrusion. He found nothing."

"Someone impersonating as you?" Wally suggested.

I shook my head and explained, "They wouldn't know about the code. Heck, I didn't even know that particular code."

Wally's shoulders drooped. "I'm stumped. Maybe it's another you," he said with a shrug. "You know, like a cloned you."

Batman gave a near-inaudible sigh - inaudible only to those who don't know Bruce like I do. "Whatever the method, we'll have to take precautions. For now, the Cave will be sealed until further notice." And he began herding us out of what had been our main communications hub for the past two weeks.

Wally helped me pack for a couple of weeks' sleepover at Mt Justice. With the Cave compromised, we couldn't take the chance of us staying in the Manor and risk whoever breached the Cave to come upstairs and kidnap - or kill - us in our sleep.

Bruce and Alfred will be staying in one of the penthouses while Damian and I will stay with the remainder of the Team at Mt Justice. Bruce and Alfred had already prepared for this contingency and, if asked in public, will say that the Manor is being fumigated or renovated, thus forcing the family to temporarily evacuate to other residences.

It wasn't exactly an ideal plan to keep away the media hounds, but we were pressed for time and frankly, we were getting desperate for clues. The heroes who'd gone missing could be dead by now and the longer they remain missing, the more that scenario was likely to happen and none of us would know about it until it was too late.

That was not a happy thought.

My other unhappy thought came just two minutes after Wally and I arrived at the mountain.

Red Arrow stomped out of the zeta tube, past Wally and I, completely ignored the rest of the Team who had gathered to greet him, and went straight to his assigned room. I'll bet if the doors weren't the automatic sliding kind, he'd have slammed it.

A couple of seconds later, Black Tern zeta'ed in, his face carefully blank. I sighed to myself and trotted over to grab my little brother by the scruff of his neck. I knew that look on Damian's face. It meant he'd done something or said something that he didn't know was wrong - or even if he knew it was wrong, it probably didn't matter to him.

But it mattered to me.

"Release-"

"Time out," I interrupted his protest and he quietly let me drag him to the nearest unused room. This is my Team and I'm not about to let petty squabbling ruin it. The mole fights were bad enough. I made Damian go in first and I locked the door behind me. He was facing me with his chin slightly out but his arms at his sides - meaning he wasn't on the defensive and he really didn't know he did something wrong.

I didn't keep the sigh to myself this time. Damian caught that and his posture relaxed slightly. He knew I didn't like doling out punishments even when they were deserved and that reluctance always kept me tense whenever I had to tell him the bad news. When he saw me relax, it meant that I'm not going to give him a lecture.

But he might be wrong about that this once.

"So, spill."

"Star City is not as festooned with crime as Gotham is," Black Tern reported in a carefully measured tone. "Red Arrow and I arrived on time to intercept-"

"Whoa, whoa," I held up both hands to interrupt. "I meant what happened for RA to stalk off like that?"

"Oh." Just as I expected, a confused expression came over Damian's face. "Red Arrow mentioned concern for the missing heroes' survival. I merely stated that he ought not to worry; the Light hadn't killed the original Roy Harper even though he was already redundant. As Red Arrow has shown, they will only reveal their hand once their plan was accomplished." Then he tilted his head slightly, much like I did when I'm trying to puzzle things out. "Was I wrong in my assessment, Richard?"

I groaned and did a facepalm. "Okay, no, you weren't wrong in your 'assessment,' but first things first: RA's still kinda sensitive about being a clone and being the mole thing."

Damian scoffed and folded his arms over his chest. "Ridiculous. He had no way of knowing he was the traitor. The Light's mental manipulations were subtle and the Martians were never asked to check."

"Still," I shook my head and stepped closer to my little brother - my poor, sheltered, misguided little brother. "No one likes to be reminded they were the ones who nearly brought down the Justice League. He may have been forgiven by the League but..." I sighed, "It takes a lot more than that to forgive yourself."

He frowned. "I do not understand, Richard."

"You remember when your mo- err, when Talia poisoned me?"

"Yes," Damian nodded and his face became both haughty and cautious, "but I saved you in return. I no longer harbour any ill feelings about that. I have..." he paused to think about his words and admitted, "...moved on."

I nodded. "That's it, exactly. You forgave yourself so you could put that incident behind you."

"It was easy," Damian shrugged. "Mo- Talia did not see fit to give me hints as to her plans and I..." The corners of his mouth lifted into a self-satisfied smile. "I was instrumental in repairing my mistake." Then he tilted his head again. "Do you suppose Red Arrow remains 'sensitive' because he only played a minor role in removing the Light from the Watchtower?"

"Hey, every role in that plan was major. No minor about it. It takes a lot of work to give Savage the booting he deserves."

"I regret not having a part in adding my boot to him." Damian muttered with a click of his tongue.

Now, who wouldn't laugh at that? I swear my little brother's the cutest kid assassin ever!

Our talk done, we turned to leave the room and rejoin the others. But, our light mood disappeared as soon as Damian and I stepped out of the room.

Zatanna rushed past us without even seeming to see us, quickly followed by Rocket who only gave me a wave in passing.

"What's going on?" I asked Superboy as he came into the hallway.

His fists were clenched and I know he had been grinding his teeth in anger when he looked at me and said, "Dr. Fate's missing."