Batman had debriefed them their seemingly simple mission earlier, sending the lot of them to a block of long abandoned factories just on the outskirts of Gotham. The complex had been under watch for several weeks now as suspicious activity was believed to be taking place, now it was merely a simple matter of checking it out for themselves and looking for any evidence supporting their suspicion.

Simple. Something that could have been done and done in a matter of a couple hours.

Having reached their destination via Miss Martian's bioship, they arrived in a relatively short amount of time. The factories themselves were huge, some standing at least several stories tall.

Standing at the edge of the gate, Danny stared back at the looming buildings and suddenly noticed how unusually dark the entire place was. Not just the factories, but in all of Gotham the sun refused the shine. Blocked by foreboding clouds and smog caused by pollution, an eerie shadow was cast over the entire city.

"Remember, we must make our presence virtually unknown. This is a covert operation," Aqualad had reminded him quietly, as he and the others had all implemented the stealth-tech feature on their costumes.

"So, what's the plan?" Kid Flash questioned with a sense of determination that was usually uncharacteristic of him. The speedster may have been generally laid-back and a bit of a joker, but even he knew when to buckle down and take things seriously. As the leader, Aqualad acknowledged this, feeling somewhat proud of his teammate.

"Miss Martian and Phantom will enter the complex first, make sure that no one would be able to see the two of you. Robin and Artemis, you two secure the perimeter and check for any cameras or guards. The rest of us will hang back and wait for the signal to move forward. We are only assessing our surroundings right now, the actual infiltration will not take place until the area has been cleared. Got it?"

The others agreed, willing to faithfully put all their trust into their leader.

Setting the plan into motion, Artemis and Robin both ran up to either corner and began circling the place while Phantom and Miss Martian each entered the compound. While Miss M had to actually fly over the gates, Danny merely passed through them. A technique that was considered very difficult to master by the Martian race and one that she had only personally seen her uncle J'onn preform before.

"Do you sense anything, Danny?" Miss Martian asked when she was done scanning the surroundings, having coming up empty on her end.

"Nothing," he replied with a shake of his head. The Martian acknowledged this and set up a telepathic link between her and the others. Once again, she tried to connect with Danny as well, but he seemed to be blocking her somehow even though he seemed largely unaware of this.

"We're clear over here, Aqualad."

"Yeah, we couldn't find anything either. The place is deserted." Artemis spoke up, having finished making her round.

"Very well, then. The others and I will be moving out now."

Miss Martian set to getting the old, creaky gates to open. They have been out of use for quite some time and she had difficulty with mentally getting the rusted thing to budge. Upon seeing this, Superboy grabbed one and effortlessly swung it open.

The Martian smiled at him a small "thank you" as the others began filing inside, Artemis and Robin coming in last as they had finally finished with searching the perimeter. Aqualad examined the place and realized just how big it was. There was a main building in the middle, also the largest, and several others surrounding it. It would have taken way too much time if they all went around one by one together.

"We are going to have to split up and search into two separate teams. Robin, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Phantom will take the west wing. Kid Flash and Artemis, you two are with me on the east wing. We will start off with this building first and then spread out into our respective directions to search the subsequent buildings. Agreed?"

With Kid Flash on his team, they would be able to cover a lot of ground very quickly while he and Artemis provided the muscle in case they actually stumbled over someone, or something, with malicious intent.

While they were without a speedster, the others had both Miss Martian and Phantom who, with their ability to fly, would be able to cover just as much as ground as well. Superboy and Robin would act as their brawn.

There was another reason that he made sure to pair Danny up with M'gann though, his inability to mind-link with the others could prove to become a handicap. By pairing him up with the telepath that connected them all together, he hoped to keep Danny just as informed and up to date as they were should anything happen. This; however, certainly didn't stop the others from gossiping about him literally behind his back.

"We shouldn't have brought him with us."

"Come on, Robin. You should give Danny a chance, he seems like a pretty good guy." Miss Martian had pleaded, glancing back at Daniel who was not even two feet away from her as if to make sure that he hadn't heard anything. That was highly unlikely though, and the ghost boy seemed oblivious enough.

Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask before scoffing, "Yeah, well how would you know? I mean, you said so yourself that you couldn't get into his mind. He's probably trying to hide something."

"Batman would not have volunteered him if there was even the slightest possibility of him betraying us, not to mention he could be a very valuable asset to this team." Having heard enough, Aqualad joined in the discussion.

"Yeah, plus he totally pwned you this morning." Kid Flash added while skimming down an old, long hallway, checking inside each of the doors. A process that barely took him a handful of seconds. Though it was surprising to say the least that he would stick up for someone going against his best friend.

"You are not helping, Wally." Artemis sneered at this, some corridors behind the speedster.

For the first time, Superboy added his own two cents concerning their mysterious newcomer. Though his thoughts on him weren't too optimistic.

"I'm on Robin's side. He seems untrustworthy." He said to which the Boy Wonder agreed with exasperation, glad to have someone seeing his point of view.

"Thank you! At least someone is thinking rationally!"

"Oh, Supe's only saying that 'cuz of what happened the other night." A certain archeress said, referring to when the Kryptonian face-planted to the floor due to Danny's intangibility. If the situation had not been so serious at the time, Artemis could have gotten a tear-jerking laugh just from the look on his face.

"You're not helping, Arty." Wally replied smugly, fully aware of how much she loathed that nickname.

"May we can get back to business now? It is unwise for our minds to be this preoccupied during a mission." Aqualad reminded them all sternly, not wanting the two to get into another spat. The others begrudgingly complied as they all retracted back into their own minds and went back to work. By this time, both groups had reached the second floor. Wally just a few hallways ahead of Artemis and Kaldur, while M'gann and Danny were hovering close by Robin and Superboy.

It was quiet for all of two minutes before Robin interrupted it with some news pertaining to their mission.

"My scanners picked up something. Some sort of chemical," he muttered, having stopped in the middle of the hallway to track down this substance. It was extremely vague, but it was there.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure... it's leading up to the next floor though. Tell Aqualad."

Miss Martian nodded and relayed the message to the perplexed Atlantean. He was hoping for this to stay as a relatively simple mission, chemical warfare; however, could complicate things.

"Very well, we shall meet there then. Prepare yourselves."

"We're gonna go upstairs Phantom, we think we got a lead there," Robin informed the ghost boy, with only a hint of derision painting his words. Danny glanced over, annoyed.

"Yeah, I figured as much," he replied, not even bothering to try to bite his tongue at this point.

"Good. You catch on quick, now let's hope you won't slow us down."

"Believe me, you won't have to worry about that."

Perhaps it was more the way he said it that M'gann nervous. It seemed that all the uncertainty and confusion was saved for Danny, but as Phantom there was no room for any of that. There was only room for an almost eerie focus that promised discomfort on whoever it was directed at.

The tension in the room had suddenly been interrupted with a loud bang from the third floor, causing everyone to whip their heads up in alarm. Remembering that the other three were still on the other side they broke into a run and trodded up the metal-grated stairs. Superboy inadvertently swung the door off its hinges which revealed how the room gave out to a very old science lab-like area. The odor of gunpowder and metal be smelled clearly, as its scent permeated throughout the room.

"Children! They thought that sending children could stop me!"

A voice, one that Robin found himself all too familiar with, shrieked indignantly. On the far side of the room was a man, his body cast with shadows making him unidentifiable and only the gun that he held out at arm's length visible, smoke still wafting out its barrel.

On the other side, all Robin could see was a splatter of blood painting the wall. It trailed down to reveal a body slumped over, hand pressed tightly against his shoulder. In front of the body stood Artemis and Kaldur protectively, daring the fiend to step one foot closer. Putting two and two together, the young ex-performer realized that that shock of red hair could belong to only one other person.

"Kid Flash!" He cried out that one could only describe as in a way that struck through someone's heart. Seeing his best friend, crumpled over with the top half of his uniform slowly drenching in his own blood, had filled him with such a sense of helplessness and fury.

"Now, if it isn't the little bird-brat. I wonder, have you always feared seeing a loved one dying? Or do you find it down right terrifying?" The man asked, stepping into a stream of light in order to reveal his tall, gangly self.

AN: Shit's getting heavy!

I'm sorry for the long wait. I don't even have that good of an excuse other than I just got Arkham City, so all of my free time has been devoted to that. Anyway, an obvious lack of Danny in this chapter, I was hoping to focus a bit more on the Team and their reactions to him. As always, thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far. Anyone think they can guess who the baddie is?