Hey guys!:D i finally finished the next chapter. this one is really long so i broke it up into two parts... btw the italics are all a dream (or memory... ;) and umm i think thats it... enjoy!
Oh and if you have any questions about the spanish (in any of the chapters) just let me know. i think i might have forgotten to translate in previous chapters... sorry! Oh and if you speak spanish sorry about my spelling and/or grammar... i grew up speaking spanglish haha
ok now for real... enjoy!:D
Chapter 7 Part I: And to the Victor…
The two-minute flight felt like an eternity. Kid Flash trying to calm down the Senator, Robin flying, and Superboy frantically trying to stop the bleeding. Nothing worked. Blood spilled everywhere. Cristal moved in and out of consciousness.
They finally landed. The hull opened and a stretcher was waiting on the ground with a full medical team, prepared to attend the Senator had he needed it. Superboy picked up Cristal and placed her on the gurney.
The doctor and nurses glanced at the girl and knew they had to act immediately. They rushed her toward the med tent, yelling their convoluted medical jargon the whole way. "What happened?" asked one of the nurses on the way in.
"She has a knife in her chest! What do you think happened?" Superboy yelled in frustration.
"Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down." Army nurses knew how to deal with stressful situations. This wasn't the first time she was yelled at. "Does she have any other wounds that you know of?"
"No."
"Any allergies?"
"I… I don't know."
"Medical history."
"We don't even know her real name. How am I supposed to know her medical history?" Superboy's voice rose again.
They reached the med tent. The nurse stopped in front of the agitated Kryptonian. "You have to wait outside."
"But–"
"Superboy," a hand was placed on his shoulder. It was Robin. "Let them do their jobs."
Reluctantly, he agreed and turned to leave. "Sir," the nurse called back. "I'll come get you as soon as anything changes."
Superboy nodded his thanks and left with Robin.
The team met in the base's command tent, where Agent Ferril waited for them happily. "Well congrats, men." He held out his hand to shake Aqualad's. "You have officially crippled the Colombian guerrilla. Many men have tried and failed." He looked over their faces, seeing nothing content about them. "So why aren't you happy about it?"
Aqualad sighed. "Perhaps, the cost was too high. Many men lost their lives today, Agent Ferril, and honestly, I am not certain our 'victory' is complete."
"We barely lost any men. For the most part the casualties were enemy forces."
"There should never be a celebration for life lost."
Ferril could see clearly that Aqualad and the other young heroes were not soldiers, not accustomed to the loss of life. "Well, take comfort in the fact that you've made this country a safer place."
Aqualad turned those words over in his head, positive that this was not the end of the guerrilla. They will be back for vengeance.
26 June 2011
Rocket and Zatanna walked out of their debriefing. They were the first ones in and first ones out. They walked in silence around the perimeter of base, the day's events weighing heavily on their hearts.
They reached the far end, where the children were being fed and looked after. Army doctors and nurses buzzed about, giving shots, vitamins, medicine, food. The children just sat there, no one moved, not even a flinch.
One nurse approached them. "These kids are severely malnourished and none are responsive. Do you have any idea what could have happened to them?"
"We don't know. They could have been there for years, as far as we know." Rocket replied dejectedly.
"We have our translators trying to communicate with them. But, to be honest, no one here really knows how to deal with kids."
Zatanna walked forward, one little boy caught her eye. He was crying in his chair, not daring to touch the food before him. He sat across from an older boy, whose face was stern and immovable. "Aren't you hungry sweetie?" Zatanna asked kneeling down to eye level. Neither of the two answered. His tears fell silently, with out a sob. "etalsnart." She chanted, hoping the spell would break the language barrier. "What is your name?"
A hint of recognition flashed through the child's face, but he didn't answer. "You can talk to me. No one is going to hurt you now. You're safe."
The boy looked away, stubbornly. "Please, talk to me," Zatanna said. Finally she made eye contact.
The boy's big brown eyes pierced her heart. Tears pooled in his eyes, making them sparkle with sadness. "Are you testing me?"
Zatanna looked at her confused. "No, this isn't a test. We just want to make sure you are okay."
He looked like he was about to say something, but then he looked to the older boy across from him. They seemed to share a look, like the older was telling him to be silent. Then the little boy spoke. "I am a soldier of the guerrilla. I will serve my commander…" he struggled to remember their code. "They trained me… or chose me…" he said more of a question than a statement. "I am nothing… so I die." The little boy looked like he was just worried about remembering his words, not caring what they actually meant. He looked to his friend as if to ask if he did well.
The older boy shook his head with his brow furrowed in anger. Then he spoke without breaking eye contact with his younger companion. "I am a soldier of the guerrilla. I will serve my commander with out hesitation. I will carry out every mission, every assassination with extreme prejudice. They chose me. They raised me. They trained me. I am nothing without them and so I gladly die for them."
He then turned sharply, looking Zatanna straight in the eyes. His very being radiated hate. Zatanna didn't know how to react. She just looked at him sadly, but her empathy only made him angrier. "Do not pity me, girl." He spat out, his voice condescending and harsh.
Zatanna just shook her head and walked back to Rocket and the nurse. "I think the little boy would have opened up if the other one wasn't there. Maybe if we can separate them…"
"We don't have the resources here. And I just don't think the country has the resources to pay for their psychological rehabilitation. If anything, they'll just be thrown into an orphanage."
"What? No." said Rocket, clearly frustrated. "These kids need help, stability. You can't just drop them off at some orphanage."
"I'm afraid, we don't have another option."
"How is Cristal?" Aqualad asked Superboy and Robin.
"I dropped her off at the med tent, but we haven't heard anything since." Superboy responded.
Aqualad couldn't believe the reports. She tried to take her own life. He couldn't wrap his mind around it. What was worse, Superboy and Artemis witnessed it all. Aqualad worried for them, afraid that it could affect them psychologically.
"Are you two all right?" Aqualad asked Artemis and Superboy.
Artemis shook her head yes.
"I'm Fine." Superboy responded.
Clearly neither wanted to talk about it, so he didn't press. It was probably best to let Canary handle this when they got home. He was no psychologist.
Randomly, the nurse walked in calmly. "I have reports on Jane Doe's medical status." She stated very matter-of-factly. The heroes looked at her urging her to go on. "The patient has suffered a self-inflicted stab wound in her chest." She read off her chart. She scanned through all the medical crap that was printed in awful doctor handwriting. "It seems she was very lucky. The knife just barely missed her heart." She looked puzzled. "Which, considering she's a trained killer, is very weird." She kept scanning. "The patient is in critical condition, but her attending was able to stabilize her enough to have her airlifted to the Larandia Army base, the trauma center there can better attend to her."
"Wait she's gone?" Superboy asked.
"Yes, her wounds were too severe to deal with here. The doctor decided to send her to a proper military hospital, where she could get the care she needed, but I'll be honest with you, it doesn't look good. She has lost far too much blood. We lost her twice and had to shock her back with an AED."
"She needs to be under guard at all times." Aqualad said, worried about any doctor or nurse she might be a threat to.
"We are aware, sir. She is under military guard and will remain that way until transferred to Guantanamo as ordered by the Attorney General."
"Guantanamo?" Artemis asked in disbelief. "That's the military prison for terrorists. She's only like 15. How can she be sent there?"
"The Attorney General reviewed all that happened. She is a terrorist. She kidnapped an American Senator, helped in a terrorist plot, and is a trained assassin. Juvenile or not, she's way too dangerous to be put in Juvie and the Attorney General was not satisfied with the Colombian maximum sentence of forty years. So she will be extradited, after all her most recent crimes were against the American government."
"So they just want her to rot in prison for the rest of her life? Doesn't she get a trial?" Superboy asked, indignant.
"It serves her right." Zatanna muttered, everyone was shocked that those words came from her. "You haven't seen those kids out there. She's responsible for all of it. She should pay for her crimes, for what she did to them."
Rocket nodded. "I agree. She's a coldblooded killer. I get that she was probably just like those kids once, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't pay for what she's done."
"She tried to kill herself obviously she's not stable. She should go to psych ward." Robin said.
"I get it," Rocket added. "Had she had a normal childhood, she probably would have turned out different. But what ifs don't matter. Those guerrilla freaks turned her into a sadistic psychopath that tortures little kids. She needs to be locked up to make the world a safer place."
The nurse walked toward the door, hoping to avoid this intrateam debate. "Well this decision goes way above my pay grade so..." She opened the door, but then turned back.
"There's one more thing." She pulled out Cristal's rosary. "All of her clothes are ruined with blood. Her possessions… or what little she had on her… are being taken by the military. They're just going to get rid of it all. She can't have it where she's going. But I couldn't let them get rid of this. It looked important."
She handed it to Superboy, who turned the wooden beads around in his hand. "I washed all the blood out." She turned around and walked out.
Superboy looked at the rosary. He could see one bead had a thin scratch on one side. He thought the knife must have nicked it when she tried to kill herself. He shook his head and pushed it into Kid Flash's hand. "Here, Souvenir." He stormed off.
The team exchanged looks. Not one was happy with the outcome of the mission. Sure the Senator was safe, but what about everything else. They had accomplished nothing concerning the guerrilla. They may have taken out a main base, but that's about it. No leader was caught, not even a foot soldier. The one source of intel they did have was fighting for her life in some far away hospital.
And those kids, this didn't end their nightmare. They were just going to be pushed into some orphanage, where they wouldn't get the care they needed, both psychologically and physically. They were damaged, broken and no one was able or willing to pick up the pieces.
And Cristal, no one knew if she would survive this. Even if she did, she had been so thoroughly brain washed it wouldn't matter. The powerful people in the world wanted her to pay for what she did. She'd spend the rest of her life rotting in some jail cell somewhere. It just wasn't fair.
Surely this is not a victory.
Chapter 7 Part II: … Go the Spoils
26 June 2011
"This is Cat Grant reporting live outside the Larandia Army Base in Colombia, awaiting a press conference that will shed light as to the outcome of the recent terrorist threat to America. It was just yesterday when the esteemed Senator Stuart Holtz was kidnapped and tortured at the hands of the Guerrilla, a Colombian paramilitary group that has terrorized the country for decades."
The blonde reporter stood below a raised platform just outside the base's electric fences and high-tech security. No one was getting in. "Here they come," she announced with excitement as a small caravan of black SUV's and military vehicles exited the base's perimeter. The cars stopped, soldiers were everywhere.
Agent Ferril stepped out first. He was followed by Holtz and random military officials. They walked up the platform, Ferril reaching the lone podium first. "Good evening, I am Supervisory Special Agent Steven Ferril with the American Secret Service. I am here to happily announce the safety of American Senator Stuart Holtz and the successful capture of the guerrilla base in the Huila province of Colombia." The trained agent fidgeted in front of all the cameras and paparazzi.
"Although we cannot offer details of the operation, we can announce that through Colombian-American cooperation we were able to severely cripple the guerrilla force in this area. This is the first step to the complete annihilation of this paramilitary group. The American government would like to thank the Colombian military and the DAS for providing its full cooperation and assistance, without which this may not have been possible." Ferril stretched out his hand to signal the high-ranking Colombian officials standing behind him. "Now, Senator Holtz will like to say a few words." The agent stepped back while Holtz limped forward, head held high.
"Greetings, first off I would like to thank all the hardworking, dedicated men and woman, who worked tirelessly and risked their lives to save mine." The Senator was clearly more practiced and more confident in front of the podium than Ferril had been. Despite the obvious bruising and dressed wounds scattered throughout his body, he was strong and confident.
"Words can not express my gratitude. I have lived through a nightmare that I had never imagined possible. I have been threatened, deceived, kidnapped, beaten, and tortured. But I stand before you now stronger than ever. When I was in the depths of the enemy base, I was at the brink of collapse. I shamefully offered everything, anything to my captors in exchange for my freedom, yet they denied me. Though I begged at the feet of a 15-year-old girl, she laughed at my face and denied me. She did however leave me with an important piece of advice. As she turned to leave my torture room she said, 'don't struggle, it only makes it worse.' Those words ran through my head, again and again. I realized, at that moment, what I should have known since the minute I stepped foot into this country. We. Are. Afraid." He paused for dramatic affect "we are afraid to struggle, to fight against our oppressors. We hope that our complacency will lessen our pain and our plight, but we are wrong. We can no longer stand idle by and allow these terrorists to destroy the sanctity of all we hold dear. It is time to rise up and fight back." His voice rose with intensity. "Yesterday a joint Colombian-American taskforce brought their major base to its knees in one night. We should not fear them. They should fear us."
By this point his voice had raised to a call to arms. He was passionate and strong. "Two days ago I was ready to give in, to turn tail and run, but not anymore. Now I am ready to fight. I am here to announce that I will not allow those terrorists to scare me away and neither should you. The time to fight is now! I will stay and fight and I will not leave until every last Guerrilla is brought to justice." He stood with a confident smile, though his lower lip was split wide open. The public cheered as he stepped off the podium and left.
Agent Ferril took the stand again, as nervous as ever. "Thank you for coming–" he attempted to wrap up the press conference but a reporter cut them off with a question.
"Agent Ferril, my sources have informed me that your security detail had been compromised by a young girl. This girl, I am assuming, is the one the Senator had mentioned earlier? Can you confirm this compromise in your security? Or the use of child soldiers in this terrorist group?"
"Uhh… I can neither confirm nor deny–" another reporter cut him off.
"I have reports saying an unidentified young female was flown in by military helicopter to this very base with a severe stab wound to the chest. What is her condition? And what is her connection to all of this?"
This reporter's question was followed by a barrage of others. "Have you captured a guerrilla soldier? Do you plan on using her to find the others? Will she survive her wounds? Will she face trial?" these and countless others roared from the crowd.
The team sat in the bioship watching the news reports. They witnessed the mass of questions attacking Agent Ferril. "How did they know about Cristal?" Miss Martian asked as she flew them home.
"There must have been a leak," Artemis answered. "Like there always is," she added rolling her eyes.
"Do you think Ferril will be able to hold them back?" Zatanna asked.
"Doubt it. He was pretty nervous up there to begin with." Robin answered.
"Yea the predators can smell fear." Wally added, referring to the reporters.
Ferril seemed completely unprepared for all this. Finally the military press official stepped forward, giving Ferril much needed relief. "We can offer no information as to the identity or affiliation of the Jane Doe in custody. We can, however, say she is a person of interest and will be held for questioning. Unfortunately, she is currently in critical condition in the base's hospital. Further information will be released as the situation plays out. Thank you for coming. That is all." The woman confidently walked off the platform followed by the train of military officials and retreated back behind the base's protective gates.
"Well there you have it." Cat Grant announced. "After what has felt like an endless couple of days we may finally have conclusion to this episode of terror. Unfortunately, it seems this is only the beginning for those scarred by the guerrilla. Reports indicate 21 children were rescued from the enemy base. Their identities are unknown and perhaps will never be known, as they seem to have no recollection as to who they were before being kidnapped. In related news, Billionaire Bruce Wayne has announced that through the Wayne foundation he plans on donating sufficient funds to these children, that they may get the medical and psychological care they so desperately need. This is Cat Grant reporting, have a great day."
"Wow." Wally feigned surprise. "Wayne to the rescue. I wonder how he heard of all this so fast?" he asked, pointedly. Robin just rolled his eyes.
"What did Bats say?" Robin asked Kaldur, changing the focus.
"Batman agrees that this is unlikely to be the end to the guerrilla. He will be monitoring them and is afraid further action may be necessary."
"What about that folder you found in the base's command room?" M'gann asked.
"It seems it was some sort of personnel file on Cristal. It has nothing as to her true identity, but it does contain possible useful information. It contains her past assignments, evaluations on her performances, and even a psychological profile. Batman believes it will be quite useful when she is interrogated."
If she makes it that far… that was the question on everyone's mind, though no one dared speak it.
29 June 2011
ooOoo
"Ale, estás seguro que sabes donde vás? [Ale, are you sure you know where we're going?]" The small girl asked as she struggled to climb over the rocks, careful not to slip into the river flowing gently by. "Alejandro! Por qué no me contestas? [Alejandro, why don't you answer me?]"
"No te preocupes, Nana, ya casi llegamos. [Don't worry, Nana, we're almost there.]"
"Ugh," the girl groaned, she hated that nickname, but it didn't stop her brother from calling her that. Alejandro climbed ahead of her. Finally they made it past the river and up onto higher ground.
The girl turned back, they were just outside the bounds of hacienda her father managed. She could see the wide open plains, the cattle grazing peacefully in the pasture beneath her. And just beyond that sat the quaint little house she shared with her family. It wasn't much, but it was home and it was happy.
The sun shone bright, scorching the earth, but a light breeze brought relief from the hot sun. The girl ran to catch up to her brother. Alejandro was waiting for her by a large tree. He stood there seemingly annoyed. "Vamos, Nana! No los vamos a alcanzar! [Come on, Nana! We're not going to catch up to them.]"
He took off running. Nana rolled her eyes and broke off into a sprint. She tried to keep up but Alejandro was so much faster. He was a good distance away before he finally stopped. They had reached a clearing in the trees, but they stood behind one, careful not to be seen.
Several men sat around drinking water from canteens and telling stories of their latest escapades. They wore off-white sombreros, worn-out jeans and humble, handmade cotton shirts.
The children stood there, afraid to show themselves. They both knew very well they weren't allowed off of the boundaries of the hacienda. "Tú primero. [You first]" Nana nudged her brother.
"No, tú. Sabes que él nunca se puede enojar con tigo. [No, you. You know he can never be mad at you.]" He whispered back.
They stood there arguing when a man from the group spoke up, "sé que están ayí. [I know you're there.]" He spoke without turning around to them. The men he was with looked at him confused.
The two children walked forward together with sheepish smiles. "Hola papá, [Hi dad,]" they said in unison. Their father stood up and looked down at his kids. He crossed his arms and shook his head. The children braced themselves for some sort of punishment.
But instead, he chuckled to himself. Although he had told them many times they weren't allowed to come along, he was sort of impressed and slightly amused that they were so curious that they snuck away from their mother and came so far. He crouched down to their level and opened his arms. The kids smiled and ran into his arms. He squeezed them tightly and kissed their cheeks.
He pulled away and grabbed their hands. He looked at his son. "Ésto era tu idea, no? [This was your idea, wasn't it?]" Ale replied yes with a shy nod. His father looked at him, seriously now. "Mira, un día podrás venir con migo. Pero por ahora te necesito en la casa, con tu mami y las niñas. Cuando yo me voy en estos viajes, tú eres el hombre de la casa. Me entiendes? [Look, one day you can come with me, but for now I need you at home with your mom and the girls. When I go on these trips, you are the man of the house. Do you understand?]"
"Sí, señor. [Yes sir.]" he replied disappointed.
His father didn't like to see him sad like this. He let out a sigh, "Alejandro, te prometo que la próxima vez te llevo conmigo. Pero hoy necesito que lleves a tu hermanita a la casa. [Alejandro, I promise that next time I'll bring you with me. But for now, I need you to make sure your sister gets home safely.]"
"Y yo no puedo ir contigo también? [And I can't come with you?]" Nana whined.
Her dad laughed again. "Ay, chiquita. Ésto no es trabajo para niñas bonitas como tú. [Oh little one. This is not a job for pretty girls like you.]" Although he knew his daughter could ride horses with the best of them and had grown up around the cattle, they had a long two days journey before they got to the nearest town where they would sell the cattle and it just wasn't a place for a little girl.
Nana pouted. She loved being out there working with her Papa. Mama's chores were just so boring. Why would she want to sew or clean, when she could ride a horse or milk a cow?
"Princesa, no me des esa cara. [Princess, don't give me that face.]" Nana looked up to her father with her best puppy dog eyes. It wasn't working, he knew what was best for her and would not be swayed. "Hablaremos de ésto cuando regreso, pero ya me tengo que ir y ustedes necesitan regresar a su mamá. Debe de estar muy preocupada por ustedes. [We'll talk about this when I return, but I have to leave now and you two need to go back to your mom. She's probably worried about you.]"
He moved to kiss her head, but she huffed and turned around, marching off angrily. She was always a stubborn little girl. "Nana," he called after her repeatedly. She could hear him, but his voice slowly faded, giving way to a quiet, steady beeping noise.
The world around her shifted. She could no longer feel the sun on her skin or the breeze brushing past her hair. The trees morphed. The colors around her melted from different hues of green to white.
ooOoo
A cold shiver passed through her. She tried to bring her arms in for warmth, but they were restrained by cold metal around her wrists. She felt a sharp burning pain in her chest. Her eyes blinked open. Everything was blurry, then started to focus. She looked around panicked. She could see all different kinds of machines and all of them were hooked up to her.
Then it hit her, all that had happened in the past few weeks, the Senator, the planning, the kidnapping, and finally the attack. She remembered being confronted by Artemis and Superboy and seeing no way out, no escape.
She thought through the possibilities. Considering she was handcuffed, she knew she wasn't with the Guerrilla. She cursed under her breath. That boy just couldn't let her die. She sat up carefully and moved to fiddle with the restraints.
"It's not going to work."
A deep voice sounded from the corner of the room, startling her. Her head shot up to look at him, but along with the quick movement came searing pain. She ignored it and held the gaze of the stranger in her room.
Her eyes narrowed with his. She wasn't expecting to see the Batman, the great American hero, in her country, let alone her hospital room. She could tell he was analyzing her every move and gesture. She didn't speak.
"I have some questions for you."
Her gaze stayed firm, but she didn't answer. She wouldn't speak to him about anything. She just needed to wait. Wait for the opportunity to finish what she started during the attack.
It didn't take Batman long to realize Cristal wouldn't talk. There was nothing he could do to make her. She obviously didn't care what happened to her and after reading her profile, he knew she wouldn't talk to anyone she didn't trust. He also knew she trusted no one, that's what made this so much more difficult.
"Agent Ferril will be in here shortly. He'll explain what will happen next," Batman walked out and two armed soldiers walked in. They didn't talk, they just stared sternly at Cristal, watching her every move.
Ferril waited for Batman just outside Cristal's room. "What do you think?" he asked.
"She's not going to speak until we gain her trust."
"Gain her trust?" he asked disbelievingly. "She's a psychopath. She'll never trust anyone."
Batman dismissed Ferril's comment. "A colleague of mine is willing to meet with Cristal once a week for as long as it takes."
"You'll have to get that cleared through the proper channels. Cristal is being sent to Guantanamo as soon as the doctors clear her for travel."
Batman shook his head. He didn't like the idea of sending a child to a terrorist prison. He looked through the glass into Cristal's room. She was sitting up in her bed staring at him, without a doubt trying to decipher what he and Ferril were speaking about.
"This probably isn't even necessary." Ferril continued. "We have them on the run. It's only a matter of time before we stop them for good."
Batman ignored Ferril, knowing it could never be that easy…