To KingPenguinJG: thank you so much once again!
Sorry for the wait everyone! Things got crazy, and after I wrote out Satisfaction I realized how short it was (like, less than 2000 words), so I wanted to combine it with Darkest so it would be an acceptable length. It just took forever.
Disclaimer: Karla is mine, everything else...not so much.
MOUNT JUSTICE
March 21, 17:33 EDT
Sara stood in the grotto with four other teenagers. The rest of the girls on the Team were getting ready for Raquel's bridal shower, but Sara was already dressed and ready. Besides, she wanted to pay her respects to Artemis. She'd been at the girl's funeral earlier, but it had been so crowded - so many people loved Artemis - that she wanted to say goodbye to the young woman privately.
Artemis's holographic statue was only the latest memorial in the small grotto dedicated to the fallen heroes of the Team and the League. Three other holographic statues displaying heroes were also present.
One of them was Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle after Dan Garrett, and the creator of Jaime's Scarab. Sara had met him once or twice before, and although she could hardly say she knew him well, she remembered a kind man. Dinah had always spoken highly of him as well.
There was also a statue of Tula, aka Aquagirl. This hero Sara had never met, and she had barely heard of her. When the Team and League spoke of her, it was always in hushed, sorrowful tones. Because of this, Sara knew next to nothing about Tula's life or death. Sara did, however, have a sneaking suspicion that the reason for this was because it had something to do with Kaldur'ahm's betrayal.
The last statue was Jason Todd, the second Robin. Sara glanced at the boy's face. He was scowling slightly in the hologram, his jaw set with a firm intention. The only reason Sara knew anything about him was because she was so close to Karla. No one spoke about Jason Todd, ever. Sara could tell that Jason's death had played a part in Karla and Tim's relationship, or more precisely, lack of a relationship.
Still studying Jason Todd's face, Sara wondered faintly why Karla loved him so much, what part he had played in her life.
A loud crunch pulled Sara out of her reverie, and she blinked, looking around for the source of the noise. Bart was eating a bag of freeze-dried Chicken Whizees, chewing loudly as he popped the junk food in his mouth. Sara raised an eyebrow at the speedster incredulously, and he paused. Everyone else in the room was looking at Bart in mild irritation. Bart smiled sheepishly back.
"Uh, sorry," he shrugged his shoulders defensively. "Mourning makes me hungry." Sara sighed, shaking her head. Jaime glanced down at the bag Bart was holding and then scowled. He grabbed Bart by the shirt and dragged him backwards, away from the other three teenagers.
Sara checked her watch and then sighed. She had to leave soon. Turning to go, she caught the end of Bart and Jaime's conversation and slowed down, intrigued.
"…these people are heroes," Bart was saying, spreading his arms to encapsulate the four statues. "In the line of duty and all that. They should have – giant statues!"
"Yeah," Sara agreed, stopping by the two boys. She motioned around the grotto. The small cave was beautiful, no doubt - the walls were natural rock, and there was a stream trickling through the center, but it wasn't very public. It didn't seem like they were honoring their heroes as they should be. "Why aren't these displayed in the Hall of Justice or something?" Jaime sighed. He looked sad as he looked around the grotto.
"Yeah," he replied. "I asked that too." He looked almost baleful as he stared at the statue of his predecessor. "Captain Atom said the League didn't want or need a public shrine to its fallen.
"But I don't know," Jaime continued, studying Ted Kord. "Seems to me they just don't want to advertise that we're not immortal." He turned back to the other two teenagers. "The handful of regular people who've seen me in action? They think I'm this guy in a new costume." He jutted his finger over his shoulder, pointing at the statue. He looked back up at the man who should have been his mentor, his eyes sad. "The world will never know about Ted Kord's sacrifice." Sara shoved her heads in her pockets, lowering her head solemnly. Bart walked up to the other boy and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"But you know," Bart reminded him, smiling. "And you're carrying on the grand Blue Beetle heroic tradition, right?" Jaime scowled.
"I wish," he said, turning to look at the other teens in the grotto. "It's such a total rip! Superboy has Superman, Wonder Girl has Wonder Woman, Robin and Raptor have Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl." Jaime pointed at Sara as he turned back to Bart. "Sara has her sister, and you've been in this era, what, five minutes? And already you have three Flash mentors, one who feeds you junk food." Bart glanced down at the bag in his hand, looking a little sheepish. He hid it behind his back.
"But me?" Jaime continued, looking back at Ted Kord's statue once more. "I never even got the chance to meet the guy that should have been my mentor." Sara's heart twisted for Jaime. Maybe having a mentor wasn't the most important thing in the world – plenty of superheroes had taught themselves – but it was always nice knowing that Dinah was out there watching Sara's back and looking out for her.
Sara couldn't imagine what it would be like without her sister next to her on the streets.
"I hear that," Bart consoled, walking to Jaime's side. "We have more in common than you think!" The speedster insisted. "Our love of Chicken Whizees for example." Bart wrapped his arm around Jaime and began to lead him out of the grotto. "Let me buy you some to replace the bag I salvaged," he offered. "We'll hang! It'll be totally crash."
Sara smiled slightly as the two boy walked away together. She turned back around. Garfield was still standing in front of Artemis's statue, but Robin was now standing in front of the second Robin's. His shoulders were slumped.
"Sara!" a familiar voice called. The blonde girl turned around. Raptor was standing at the top of the steps leading down to the grotto. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest, and her eyes were focused on Sara's face in an almost stubborn manner. "It's time to go."
"Coming," Sara replied. She expected the other girl to wait for her, but instead Raptor gave a stiff nod and bounded back up the steps as quickly as possible. Bewildered, Sara glanced back at Robin, not really expecting him to explain.
The teenage boy was scowling at the place where Raptor had been standing. When he saw Sara's gaze fall on him, his expression dropped and he looked mildly abashed. Sara could guess why.
Ninety percent of the time, Robin was mild-mannered and kind. But when it came to Raptor, all bets were off. But Sara often got the feeling that Robin didn't want to hate Raptor and he didn't like hating her. It was merely a defense mechanism.
"She hates it down here," Robin said simply, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Especially if I'm here." Sara glanced back at the statue of Jason Todd, realization dawning on her.
"She thinks he deserves more," Sara realized aloud. Robin nodded.
"For the record," he said, turning back to look at Jason Todd once more. "So do I."
DAKOTA CITY
March 21, 18:17 CDT
Raptor was at the restaurant that Raquel was holding her bridal shower at. She was sitting between Sara and Cassie, and she couldn't help feeling a little awkward. Raptor knew Raquel well enough, but she was suspecting that she'd been invited more of out of courtesy than true affection.
"M'gann and Zatanna are here!" Karen cried suddenly, announcing the arrival of their friends. Then she grinned again, and added, "And here come Paityn and Akari!" Raquel looked up, a broad grin stretched across her face as the women rushed to the bride-to-be's side.
"Hi, guys!" Raquel chirped as she hugged each girl in turn. "I'm so glad you could make it!" Paityn laughed, placing a gift bag in front of Raquel.
"Happy bridal shower!" Paityn sang, grinning mischievously. Akari leaned down to give Raquel a squeeze from behind. The Japanese girl shook her head, amazed at the passage of time.
"I can't believe it!" Akari exclaimed. "One minute we're fifteen and the next you're engaged!" Raquel laughed, shaking her head in delight. M'gann leaned over and pecked Raquel on the cheek, placing a gift in front of the other woman.
"Congratulations!" M'gann said. Raquel grinned, shaking her head fondly as she looked at the gift bag in front of her.
"M'gann! Oh, you shouldn't have," Raquel protested as she fiddled with the tissue paper. M'gann took a seat at the table across from Zatanna, and Paityn and Akari followed the Martian to sit down. M'gann's eyes were suddenly downcast as she spoke.
"Actually," she corrected. "It's…it's from Artemis too. We bought it together." M'gann's voice dropped, and a sorrowful quiet fell over the table. Raptor looked at the ground, her hands curling into balls. She closed her eyes, missing the way Raquel's face fell. Raquel's hands fell from the present to her sides, and she shook her head.
"What am I doing?" Raquel asked, sounding tortured. "Having this shower?" Her voice rose and fell in pitch as she struggled to contain her emotions. "How – how can we celebrate so soon after – " Before Raquel could continue beating herself up, M'gann jumped in.
"Because Artemis would want us to celebrate!" M'gann insisted passionately. Her eyes were suddenly shining with certainty. Zatanna nodded, backing up the Martian girl.
"She'd kick our asses if we didn't!" the magician agreed. Raquel was quiet for another moment, and then she picked up her glass, raising it in a toast.
"To absent friends," she said. All the other women followed suit, picking up their glasses and raising them in imitation of the other woman.
"To absent friends," they repeated, the somber mood falling away into one of nostalgia and love. Akari grinned, and raised her cup a little higher in another toast, waggling her eyebrows at Raquel playfully.
"And to the bride!"
"To the bride!" Everyone repeated, shooting to their feet to congratulate their friend. Raquel grinned, her eyes shining with excitement.
"You're getting married, girl!" Karen cried, leaning over to poke her friend in the side playfully. Raquel laughed giddily, shaking her head in amazement.
"I know!" Raptor couldn't help but to smile at the older woman's happiness.
The table of superheroes broke into conversation, chatting about Raquel's engagement and wedding themes. Once they'd exhausted that topic - by the time the second course came out - they drifted on to other topics.
They tactfully skirted around sensitive topics, like the relationships of other people – they didn't want to remind M'gann of her missing boyfriend – and work in general.
Unfortunately, their line of work had a knack for following them wherever they went.
The bridal shower party was in the middle of dessert when the frantic yells alerted them that something was wrong. Raptor turned around, and her eyes widened as she saw a wall of ice approaching them, seemingly from out of nowhere. Pretty soon the party was incased in a chilly dome of the ice.
Raquel scowled, looking around indignantly. She stood up, pushing her chair back decisively, and looked around at her friends, a smirk playing across her face.
"I'd like to teach whoever decided to ruin my shower a lesson," Raquel threatened playfully. She turned towards Zatanna. "What do you think, Z? How about a spell?" Zatanna smirked devilishly back, also getting to her feet. The other women got up as well.
"With pleasure," Zatanna replied. She raised her arms towards the air and chanted, "Brag su rof elttab!" There was a flash of light and greenish-blue energy so powerful that it cracked the dome of ice open. When the light cleared, the heroes were standing in a line, dressed in their costumes as apposed to the civvies they had been wearing before.
Captain Cold turned to face them, a scowl on his face as he prepared to snark at whoever was attempting to stop him. Upon seeing the assembly of superheroes, his mouth fell completely open in shock. The ice pick he was holding in his hand clattered to the ground beside him, and he shook his head in denial.
"I'm completely doomed, aren't I?" he asked rhetorically. Raptor cracked her knuckles and smirked.
"One hundred percent," she drawled.
And with that, they all charged forward.
Predictably, Captain Cold was a piece of cake to take care of. Cleaning up the mess on the street, however, was another story. The entire block was covered in ice.
Wonder Girl, Kitsune, Black Canary, Miss Martian, and Zatanna all used their powers to clean up the ice, breaking it apart and consolidating it to be melted and drained away later. The rest of the girls helped out with civilians, making sure everyone was alright and being treated accordingly, and giving statements to the police officers who asked questions.
Eventually, they managed to clean up the entire mess. Once they had finished, the idea of returning to their meal was a bit ridiculous. Instead, they all said their good-byes and congratulated Raquel one more time, and then went their separate ways.
Instead of going back to A.R.G.U.S. Headquarters with Akari, Paityn caught up to Zatanna as the magician was walking towards a Zeta Tube. Zatanna turned towards Paityn, blinking in confusion. She grinned at her old friend.
"Hi, Pai!" Zatanna said. "We haven't had a chance to catch up, have we?" Paityn smiled ruefully.
"I wish I could say that's why I came to talk, Z," Paityn replied, sighing heavily. "Unfortunately, this is work related. I need your help." Zatanna frowned, noticing the bags under Paityn's eyes and how stressed she looked. Zatanna wrapped an arm around Paityn's shoulders.
"Well," she said teasingly as she steered Paityn over to a bench. "I'll have you know I charge heavily for my services." Paityn laughed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "What do you need my help for?" Paityn sighed again, her shoulders slumping wearily.
"Have you ever heard of the Lazarus Pit?" Paityn asked her friend. Zatanna nodded slowly, a little confused by the question.
"The League of Shadows," Zatanna responded. "Ra's al Ghul's source of power. I'm familiar." Paityn nodded, exhaling slowly.
"Yeah," she said. "It provides immortality. But sometimes…" Paityn trailed off, her eyes glassy and far away. "Sometimes it can be used for resurrections." Zatanna stilled and she shook her head slowly. "It changes a person," Paityn continued. "They lose their soul." Paityn turned towards Zatanna. "Do you think – I've heard there's a spell that can reverse the effects, at least to an extent. Can you – can you perform it?"
"I think so," Zatanna said after a long pause. "I'll need to do some research myself first, maybe even meet with Doctor Fate." Her voice tightened ever so slightly at the mention of the Lord of Order who'd stolen her father's life. "But I'll let you know." Paityn exhaled slowly.
"Thank you," she said, her voice practically a whisper. She brushed a hand over her eyes, and then stood up, her brisk, business-like demeanor returning once more.
"I'll need a few days," Zatanna said, also standing. Paityn waved a hand dismissively.
"There's no rush," she said. Her eyes tightened slightly, and her voice became slightly strained when she spoke again. "I still need to tell the boy's family."
BLÜDHAVEN
March 21, 21:34 EDT
Karla was draped across her bed, listening to music. She had no idea where her brother was, but he'd warned her not to go out on patrol until he got back. Normally, Karla would have complained, but considering what had happened a few nights ago, she was just relieved that Dick hadn't benched her completely.
Suddenly the music faded out as Karla's text tone sounded in her ear buds. Frowning, Karla pushed herself up and looked down at her phone screen. Jaime was texting her.
A flicker of a grin crossed Karla's face and she turned her music off and looked down at her text. It wasn't anything special, just a simple – 'Hey. What's up?' – but it made Karla inexplicably happy as well as anxious.
It was a similar feeling to the first time she'd talked to Sara. She'd been on edge, nervous, and worried about pissing the other girl off, but she'd also been weirdly excited. To be honest, Karla was a little confused. She'd never paid Jaime much attention before; she'd had no opinions on him, whether good or bad.
Sure, she'd snapped at him here and there on a mission, but that was mostly because he was a rookie, and his inexperience made her impatient. It wasn't personal. So truthfully, Karla had no idea why she was bothering to try to befriend Jaime as Karla as opposed to Raptor.
At first, on the beach, it was because Karla had been sick and tired of being an asshole to everyone she talked to. And she'd genuinely forgot at first that she hadn't been wearing her sunglasses, and she'd almost greeted Jaime like she knew him.
And then he'd sat down beside her and she'd freaked out momentarily. She'd felt bad when she'd realized she'd been rude again, and had probably offended him. The only reason she'd asked him to stay was out of guilt, pure and simple. And then Jaime had…asked her out?
He hadn't really made it clear whether or not it was a date, but either way, Karla had enjoyed herself, and told him her name. And now she was in a bind.
She didn't want to stop talking to Jaime. She really didn't. She also really didn't want to lie to him as Karla and not tell him that she was also Raptor. But she couldn't tell him that she was Raptor. And that was the problem.
Bottom line, Karla knew what she was doing was wrong. It was leading him on in a way, and she knew it wasn't fair. Especially because it seemed that Jaime was interested in being more than friends with Karla.
But realistically, Karla doubted her and Jaime's friendship would last long, and was extremely skeptical that it would evolve into a relationship. And they both seemed to be having fun, so what was the harm?
So Karla opened Jaime's text and responded, all the while convincing herself that everything would be fine.
EL PASO
March 23, 16:52 MDT
Jaime was studying in his room when his phone buzzed. Sighing, he ran his hands through hair and leaned over to check it. A smile curved over his face when he saw who the caller was, and he picked up his phone to answer the call.
"Hey, Karla," he said, greeting the girl. He'd asked for her number when he'd met her three days ago, and when she'd told him she'd lived in Blüdhaven, he'd come up with a fairly conceivable lie that he had family there, so that he'd be there a lot. It was probably pathetic to go to such lengths to pursue a relationship that hadn't even started, but Jaime didn't care.
He'd told her that he'd had family in Blüdhhaven instead of telling her that he was the superhero Blue Beetle and could Zeta halfway across the country – hell, halfway across the world – in less than a minute. Somehow he'd figured that would put a damper on the conversation. So a lie it was.
"Hey," the girl replied over the phone. "Um. This is kind of weird, but would you believe me if I said I was in El Paso?" Jaime froze, his eyes widening in shock.
"You're – what? What are you doing here?"
"I'm just tagging along. A close family friend had to take care of something here, so I asked if I could come along to see you." Karla sounded shy over the phone. "Is that super creepy?" Jaime laughed.
"Don't worry about it," he replied. "I'm happy…I will be happy to see you again. Where are you, exactly?"
"Um…a Starbucks. One sec." There was a pause and then Karla spoke again. "Woodrow Bean Drive?" Jaime nodded to himself. That Starbucks wasn't too far from his house.
"Okay," he told her. "I'll be there in like ten minutes; it's only a few blocks from my house. We can go back to my house, if you want." Jaime was careful not to make his offer sound to suggestive. He didn't want to freak her out.
"Don't worry about coming to get me if we're just going back to your house," Karla replied, clearly not freaked out. "Just text me your address." Jaime hesitated. It wasn't that El Paso was dangerous, because it wasn't. It was just that the idea of Karla walking around by herself in unfamiliar city made him nervous. Apparently she picked up on his hesitation, because she huffed and indignant laugh over the phone. "Jaime. I can handle three blocks, okay? Just text me your address." Jaime laughed.
"Okay, fine," he said. "I'll see you soon."
Karla and Jaime were hanging out in his living room. They'd ordered pizza, and then put on a movie to watch. Karla had suggested that they watch Avengers: Age of Ultron, enjoying the sardonic look on Jaime's face – he was a superhero watching a movie about superheroes. Then she'd felt a momentary stab of guilt realizing that she was not only leading him on, but practically mocking him about it too. She hadn't meant to.
But now, halfway through the movie, those thoughts were forgotten. By this point, neither teenager was paying attention to the movie.
Karla wasn't sure exactly how it had happened, but about fifteen minutes ago she'd kissed Jaime...and things had progressed. Now, Jaime was kissing her neck, and Karla was realizing that she'd underestimated were her and Jaime's relationship was headed.
Ignoring those thoughts, she wound a hand through Jaime's dark hair, pulling him back up towards her face. She really didn't want him to leave a hickey, but also she kind of just wanted to kiss him again. Pressing her lips to his soundly, Karla closed her eyes. Jaime hummed against her mouth, making a pleased sound, and Karla smiled slightly.
She'd had several (brief) relationships before. Most of the people she'd dated, especially the boys, had been more interested in a quick hook up than actually dealing with Karla's baggage. Karla didn't want to stereotype, but in her experience teenage girls were better at dealing with her "winning personality" than boys, and even those relationships hadn't lasted long. Most of her past flames hadn't even bothered with the pretense of a movie.
Most of those problems, though, Karla knew were her fault. Jaime was the only one she'd actually tried to connect with, and the others were only attracted to her for her looks. And the difference showed. Jaime was more polite and less forward, and unlike most of Karla's other hookups, he seemed content to stay at second base.
"You okay?" Jaime asked, his voice rough and a little raspy, which okay - that should not have been as attractive as it was. He ran his finger over her hair thoughtfully, and pulled back slightly. Karla followed him, sitting up so that she was sitting between his legs.
Jaime reached towards, pulling her forwards a little so that her calves were resting on his thighs. Karla smirked back at the boy, leaning backward and rolling her head around in a relaxing, lazy movement. Jaime watched her, noticing that parts of her collarbone were just a little pink, marks that would probably turn into hickeys later.
"I'm great," she replied, and to her surprise, she meant it. The only other time she'd felt like this outside the mask was when she was with Sara or Jason or her brother. She felt like a person, not like an imposter, an actor. Jaime grinned. He brushed his hand across her face.
"Genial," he murmured in Spanish. He brushed the loose hairs that had escaped her braid from her face. "Eres tan guapa." Karla smiled shyly at his words, her cheeks turning slightly pink. She leaned forward and kissing him again, quickly. Or, she meant it to be quick, in any case. Both of them ended up getting a little distracted.
The loud ringing of a phone made Jaime pull back, and Karla frowned, groaning in irritation. She reached behind her, pulling out her phone and answering it. She listened to the person on the other end for a few moments, occasionally nodding her head and saying, "okay," and then hung up. She looked at Jaime apologetically.
"Meeting's over," she told him. "I have to go." She stood up, smoothing her clothes, and running a hand across her hair. She looked mostly put together, although her shirt was a little rumpled and her cheeks were flushed. She grinned sheepishly. "I'm gonna go clean up," she said.
"Sure," Jaime replied. He pointed down the hall. "Bathroom's right there." Karla flashed him a quick smile before leaving. No sooner than the minute she'd disappeared down the hall had the doorbell rung.
Jaime got up, running a hand through his hair and throwing a nervous glance in the mirror as he walked towards the front door. He was slightly worried that it was Karla's friend coming to pick her up, and that they would immediately be able to tell what the two had just been doing by looking at him.
So when he opened the door and saw Impulse standing there, completely decked out in his superhero costume, Jaime's mouth fell open.
"Dude!" he whisper-yelled, glancing around to make sure no one was looking. "What are you doing?" Impulse grinned, throwing his arms wide.
"Here to hang!" he explained, way too enthusiastically. "Spend a little downtime with my buddy blue, B.B., the Beetle, the Bee-tull. You know, chillanging!" Jaime scowled, leaning forward.
"And put my secret I.D. at risk?" he hissed, looking around nervously. He glanced back into his house. Karla hadn't returned yet, but he didn't want her finding out about this part of his life yet. "My girl is – my friend is here."
"The Impulse is trouble," the Scarab warned Jaime. "Destroy him." Jaime shook his head hard, ignoring what the Scarab said.
"Overreacting won't help!" Jaime told the Scarab.
"Totally," Impulse agreed, clearly thinking Jaime was talking to him. "Don't beat yourself up. I'll never get used to this so-retro obsession with secret identities," he continued. "I mean, what's the point in hiding how crash we are?"
"If you don't know," Jaime said with a sigh. "I can't explain it." He looked around nervously again. "Look, just get out of here for now, okay? I'll meet you around the corner once she leaves."
"Gotcha!" Impulse said, speeding off without another word. Jaime wasted no time in slamming the door shut and leaning against it. Once it was closed, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh that was part-relief and part-irritation.
"Everything okay?" Karla asked. Jaime's eyes shot open and he stepped forward. She was standing in the hallway, looking at Jaime with concern.
"Sí!" he almost shouted. He lowered his voice. "Everything is fine. Perfecto." Karla laughed, walking across the room. She wrapped one arm around his waist, and the other around his neck so that he was looking down at her. She kissed his neck playfully.
"Okay, I believe you," she teased him, pulling back. "My friend is picking me up at the Starbucks," she continued. "I need to go."
"Of course," Jaime said. He hesitated, feeling awkward. "Um, I'd offer to walk you, but there's kind of something I need to – "
"Don't worry about it," Karla insisted, cutting Jaime off. She grinned impishly, pulling back. "I'll just get distracted if you're there. Just let me know next time you're visiting your uncle, okay?" Jaime kissed Karla, squeezing her waist gently.
"You got it," he murmured. He took her hand and walked her over to the door, stepping out onto the porch and watching her descend the steps.
Jaime watched Karla leave until he couldn't see her anymore. Once he was sure that she wouldn't see him, he let the armor grow over his body and took off. He flew around to where he'd said he'd meet Impulse. To his surprise, the usually happy-go-lucky Impulse was frowning, looking down the street where Karla had walked away.
"What's up, hermano?" Blue Beetle asked, landing next to the younger teen.
"What was your friend's name, again?" Impulse asked, sounding a little too casual.
"Karla," Blue Beetle replied, a little confused. "Why?" Impulse frowned again, his expression darkening slightly.
"No reason," he muttered. He shook his head, his expression clearly suddenly. "Never mind! Let's go!" Impulse threw his arms in the air, spreading them wide to encapsulate his excitement. "Let the chillanging begin!"
MOUNT JUSTICE
March 23, 20:45 EDT
"Recognized: Raptor: B-One-Five." Raptor stepped out of the Zeta Machine, dressed in her uniform. She'd stopped quickly at home so she could collect it, and taken a little extra time to cover the faint marks on her throat that Jaime had left.
Nightwing was standing in the briefing room, looking at something on the monitors. As Raptor watched, he flicked his wrist, and it disappeared from view. He turned around to face his sister.
"Where were you?" he asked. He didn't sound angry or concerned; merely curious.
"At a friend's," Raptor responded. She swept her braid over her shoulder and walked towards the center of the room. "What did you need me for?" Nightwing turned to look at his sister, frowning. He ignored her second question.
"A friend's?" he repeated. "Sara's been here all night." Raptor shrugged.
"Maybe I have more than one friend," she replied coolly. She crossed her arms, and to ensure that he couldn't ask her anymore questions she spoke again. "What did you need me for?" She asked again. Nightwing sighed. It was clear Raptor wasn't going to give him anything more than what she'd already given him.
"I'm just combing through everything," he said, turning back to the keyboard. "We need to find La'gaan." Raptor grimaced.
"Hate that I'm about to say this, but yeah, we need to find La'gaan." She sighed, and walked over to her own monitor. "Okay. I'll help." The two siblings hadn't been working fifteen minutes when the Zeta Tube powered up again.
"Recognized: Blue Beetle: B-Two-Three; Impulse: B-Two-Five." Raptor turned around. Blue was flying into the Cave, and Impulse had already zoomed in. He laughed, holding an odd-looking object up jubilantly.
"Haha!" he crowed, whooping victoriously. "Left them in the dust!" Nightwing walked forward, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the piece of tech Impulse held in his hand. Raptor followed her brother forward.
"Left who in the dust?" Nightwing demanded. He gestured to the device that Impulse was clutching. "And what is that?"
"Souvenir," Impulse replied, smiling jubilantly as he gestured to the thing in his hand. Blue Beetle turned towards the younger boy.
"Souvenirs are Beast Boy's thing, isn't it?" Impulse frowned, lowering the piece of tech. He shrugged.
"Oh, really? I thought it was Kid Flash – "
"Can we get to the point?" Raptor snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She scowled at the two boys menacingly, trying not to think about the fact that less than an hour ago, she and Jaime had been together, curled up on his couch. And now she was yelling at him.
"Sorry," Blue Beetle said. "Aqualad attacked us with Icicle Junior., the Terror Twins, and a ninja girl I didn't recognize." Impulse wagged the device in the air in front of the two siblings.
"This is how they tracked Blue," he explained. He smirked in a self-satisfied manner. "I made sure they couldn't do it again." Nightwing scowled, shaking his head at the speedster. Clearly Impulse hadn't thought about the potential repercussions of his actions.
"So you brought foreign, possibly alien tech in the Cave?" he asked rhetorically, his voice stiff. Impulse's expression dropped, and his shoulders slumped when he realized his mistake.
"What do you expect from a rookie?" Raptor muttered under her breath. Nightwing shot his sister a look. It was his job to be angry with Impulse and Blue, because he was their leader and he needed to teach them. It was not Raptor's job.
"All right," he said to Impulse, holding out his hand. "Give it here." Raptor followed her brother as he took it back to the center of the room to analyze it. He plugged it into the monitor, and lines of code appeared on the screen.
Most code Raptor could analyze and understand without even blinking, but this stuff just looked like nonsensical symbols - likely a language that wasn't of Earth. Nightwing didn't seem to understand it either, but he frowned resolutely and began to type anyways.
Sara was in the training room of the Cave. Dinah had a date with Ollie that night, and neither she nor their parents wanted Sara patrolling the streets alone. But the only thing that kept Sara's mind of Nate, who was still missing, and the original Roy, who they still hadn't let her see, was training.
Sara was so busy punching the bag in front of her, focusing on her movements, making them as quick, precise and powerful as possible that she almost didn't hear someone opening the door to the training room.
But the sound of the door clicking shut did manage to make it into Sara's consciousness, and she blinked sweat out of her eyes, turning around to see whom it was.
As she turned, a fist flew towards her face and Sara was flung back, her head slapping against the hard sand of the punching bag. Sara groaned, and spots flashed across her vision before everything went completely dark.
Raptor stood by her brother as he finally managed to pull the semantics of the alien device onto the screen. The picture displayed the device's inner workings, but everything was labeled in the same strange symbols that the code had been in.
An alarm started to beep, and Nightwing's eyes widened as he seemed to realize something. This device wasn't just a tracking device – it was a device that could be tracked.
"Ugh," he groaned aloud. "I'm an idiot!" He spun around, pulling out his escrima sticks so that he would be ready to fight. But he was too late.
Before Nightwing could react, Superboy was being flung towards him. The clone was unconscious, and the blunt force of his dead weight hitting Nightwing made the human fly back as well.
Raptor dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit by the Kryptonian, too. She looked around the room. The Terror Twins were there - Tommy had been the one to throw the clone, and Tuppence had just placed an unconscious Beast Boy on the ground. Icicle Junior was on the second level of the Cave, shooting ice down at the heroes.
Whirling around to face the female Terror Twin, Raptor whipped out her two daggers. Scowling, she advanced on Tuppence Terror, her teeth clenched. The older woman smirked, her icy blue eyes narrowed as she cracked her knuckles.
Raptor leapt at the blonde girl, holding her knives aloft. Before Raptor could stab her, Tuppence grabbed her arms and wrapped her hands around Raptor's wrists before squeezing hard. The woman's grip was strong enough to bruise, and Raptor cried out as Tuppence bent her wrists backwards. Raptor's hands were forced open, and her knives clattered to the ground.
Grunting, Raptor struggled to wrench her wrists free of Tuppence's grasp, her teeth grit in effort. Before she could try anything else, she felt something click around her throat. Without looking down, Raptor knew it was an inhibitor collar. Raptor smirked.
"You really think this'll make a difference?" she hissed, lips curling into a sneer. Tuppence chuckled.
"You're mighty cocky for someone who's losing," she replied in her southern drawl. "And to answer your question, no, I don't." She nodded at the person behind Raptor, presumably the same person who'd put the collar on her. "But this will."
Raptor scowled. Before she could question as to what she meant, a jolt of powerful electricity went through her body. Raptor cried out, and her knees slackened. Tuppence let go of her wrists, and Raptor slumped to the ground.
As Raptor rolled onto her back, her muscles spasming from the shocks, she saw Sara's limp body a few feet away. The blonde was also wearing an inhibitor collar, as was Impulse. Nightwing was bent forward on his knees, the electricity jolting through his body.
Blue Beetle was the only hero still up, and he seemed to be having a conversation with Aqualad, who had just showed up. Raptor's head was too foggy to hear what either of them were saying, but she could see Aqualad's lips moving and she was assuming he wasn't talking to himself.
As Raptor watched, Aqualad set down a duffle bag. He pulled the bag away, revealing another alien-looking device. He spoke again, and then stopped, raising his eyebrows in an appraising manner. As Raptor watched, Blue Beetle descended from the air and raised his arms above is head in unmistakable surrender.
Raptor rolled over, her muscles protesting as she did so, and she managed to push herself onto her knees. She shook her head, once, twice, and her hearing slowly came back, rolling over her like a wave.
"…escort Beetle, Impulse, Beast Boy and White Canary to the Flyer," Aqualad ordered. Raptor's heart dropped. No.
"What about these three?" an unfamiliar voice said. Raptor managed to turn her head to see a dark haired woman wearing a black and orange suit and mask. Around her throat was a choker with an odd yellow stone. This must be the 'ninja-lady' Blue Beetle had mentioned.
"As hostages here, they have value," Aqualad explained. "But Nightwing and Raptor are ordinary humans, and Superboy is a human-krypotnian hybrid clone. Neither category is of any interest to our partner." The woman frowned, her eyes falling on White Canary.
"Then why her?"
"She is ordinary human, yes," Aqualad said, looking at Canary disinterestedly. "But she is the daughter of the first Black Canary and the sister of the second. Both her mother and sister have the ability to produce sonic sound waves by screaming, and yet she does not. Perhaps there is a reason why."
"No," Raptor hissed. With a pained grunt, she shoved herself up so that she was kneeling with one knee bent and the other on the ground. Her vision swam as she did so, threatening to black out.
"Aqualad!" Nightwing managed to get to his feet a few yards away from his sister. "You'll regret this!" Aqualad strode forward, observing his old friend coldly. He delivered a swift punch to Nightwing's stomach, and the human cried out, falling back to his knees. Aqualad turned away callously, and as he passed Raptor, who was still struggling to get back on her feet, he kicked her in the back. Raptor groaned, falling flat once more.
"I believe I have outgrown the name 'Aqualad,'" he murmured. "As well as anything resembling regret." The Atlantean paused before leaving the room, coming to a halt by the alien object he'd placed there. "I will leave the bomb with you. As a souvenir." Raptor's eyes widened. Bomb? "Oh," Aqualad added, holding up the hand that he had the switch in, "And the dead man switch has a five-mile range. Do not pursue."
And with that, Aqualad left the Cave, leaving an unconscious Superboy, Nightwing, and Raptor behind.
"Karla," Nightwing shook his sister's shoulder. She was on the ground still, staring at the spot that Kaldur had just vacated. Nightwing swallowed hard. These next few moments were going to be difficult. "Karla, come on. We have to get out of here."
"What?" Raptor whispered as Nightwing hauled her to her feet. She blinked a few times, shaking her head as if to clear it. Nightwing fiddled with the collar around her neck and a few seconds later it clicked open with a hiss. The inhibitor collar clattered to the ground.
"We need to get out of here," Nightwing repeated patiently. "There's still a bomb in the Cave, and you never know what Aqualad might do." Even though Nightwing did know, and he also knew that it was imperative that they get out of the Cave as soon as possible. "Go get Wolf, okay?" Nightwing said. "I'll meet you down at the hanger." His sister took a deep breath and then nodded.
Raptor took off down the hallway of the Cave. She found Wolf asleep in the lounge and whistled for the oversized dog. Wolf yawned loudly, and then hopped off the couch and padded over to Raptor. She scowled at him half-heartedly.
"Where were you?" she muttered as she fiddled with his collar. Once it had snapped off, she began to jog towards the hanger, looking back to make sure Wolf was following, which he was.
When she reached the hanger, Wolf padding along behind her, Nightwing was loading Superboy into the SuperCycle. The clone was still unconscious, but the inhibitor collar around his neck was gone. Nightwing turned back, nodding in relief when he saw his sister and Wolf approaching.
"Come on," Nightwing said. Raptor ran over to her brother, leaping into the SuperCycle. Wolf jumped into his normal seat in the front, and Nightwing stepped in as well. He took off, steering the SuperCycle out of the Cave.
And they almost made it out, too.
When Sara woke up, a couple things tipped her off that she wasn't in her bed. For one thing, her head hurt like a bitch. She briefly considered the fact that she might be hung-over, but quickly realized that this headache felt different. Furthermore, her hands were bound behind her back and she couldn't move her feet.
The blonde girl finally managed to blink her eyes open, groaning in pain. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. She was indeed tied up, and Impulse and Beast Boy were slowly waking up next to her in the same predicament. Blue Beetle was still slumped forward, unconscious. He was also tied up.
Looking around, Sara realized that she was on the Manta Flyer. She was able to put the pieces together quickly after that.
Someone had gotten the jump on her in the Cave, and she had been kidnapped with several of her teammates. But where were the others? Sara squeezed her eyes shut, trying to alleviate her headache and also draw any information she might have to the forefront of her brain.
"Can't believe we didn't end Superboy back there when we had the chance," someone was griping. Sara turned her head. It was Tommy Terror. Sitting next to him was Icicle Junior.
"Boss Fish still has a soft spot for his old teammates," the ice-controller grumbled, not bothering to lower his voice enough for Aqualad not to hear.
"Do it." Sara heard Aqualad say from behind her. Do what?
"You sure?" a gruff female voice asked her boss.
"Do it," Aqualad repeated. There was a second of silence, and then a loud explosion. Sara swung her head towards the window, her eyes wide with disbelief. Next to her, Beast Boy gasped audibly and Impulse shouted out.
Mount Justice – the Cave – it was gone.
Aqualad had destroyed it.
Raptor had woken up in the med bay at the Hall of Justice. She was being treated for superficial cuts and contusions and mild second-degree burns, and her entire body ached. But none of her injuries hurt as much as the knowledge that not only was the Cave gone, but that her teammates had been captured.
Nightwing walked into the library, holding the flash drive Aqualad had passed to him discreetly tightly in his hand. His sister was sitting at a table, leaning forward. He sighed, walking over to her.
"Karly?" he said hesitantly. She didn't answer, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" Raptor tore her eyes away from the surface of the table, and looked at her brother. She nodded once, slowly.
"Fine," she said, her voice raspy. He wondered if it was the saltwater from the sea, or if she had been crying. "Can I go home?" Nightwing nodded, closing his eyes. He didn't really want his sister to be by herself, but he needed to look at the information Aqualad had passed him privately.
"Yeah," he permitted, turning away. Go ahead." Nightwing waited until the Zeta Tube had powered down after his sister's departure, and then he headed over to one of the small computers in the library. He knew better than to project it on the big monitor - it was too risky that someone would come in and see before he noticed their presence.
Nightwing opening up a clean, untraceable window where the information the flash drive contained wouldn't be recorded. He watched as it uploaded, and then slowly began deciphering the code that he and Aqualad had painstakingly worked out prior to the mission. There was another file as well.
Twenty minutes later, Nightwing understood. It had been exactly what he'd assumed. Aqualad had to make the raid of the Cave look good, which was why he'd taken hostages and blown up Mount Justice. He had done this to cement his position in the Light so he could further climb the ladder - apparently not all of them were convinced by Artemis's death.
The extra file on the flash drive was tracking software for a micro tag Aqualad had injected into La'gaan's blood stream. It would lead them to the Atlantean and to the other missing members of the Team.
Nightwing pulled the flash drive out of the computer, painstakingly erasing any trace that it had ever been there. Then he filled a mug with hot coffee and sipped it slowly, contemplating.
This mission had already had greater losses and greater risks than he and Kaldur had ever anticipated. Malina Island, the Mars communication satellite, La'gaan and the other members of the Team, and now Mount Justice. Nightwing sat down in his chair again, lowering his head into his hands.
This will be all worth it in the end, he reminded himself.
"Recognized: Mockingbird: B-Zero-Five." Nightwing looked up as the Zeta Tube in the Hall of Justice library powered up once more, his shoulders slumped. Wally had just given him a good chewing out, re-strengthening Nightwing's doubts about the mission.
Paityn stepped out of the Zeta Tube, looking around. Her eyes fell on Nightwing, and she visibly relaxed. She crossed the room quickly, and Nightwing stood to meet her. The two of them hugged, Nightwing's arms curving familiarly over Paityn's wings. Paityn sighed, her heart pounding in her chest as she ran a hand over her friend's back, convincing herself that he was fine.
"I'm glad you're okay," she said stoically after she'd pulled back. Nightwing mustered up a weak laugh.
"Come all the way out here to tell me that?" he asked. To his surprise, Paityn's eyes dimmed. She shook her head, sitting down in the chair next to Nightwing's. He swiveled to face her, frowning. "Everything okay?"
"No," she replied. She wiped her hands over her face and then looked at her old friend. To Nightwing's surprise, her eyes were filled with tears. "Dick," she whispered. "I'm so sorry." Nightwing shook his head. He leaned forward, taking her hand.
"What are you talking about?" Paityn closed her eyes and took a deep breath like she was steeling herself for something. When she spoke, her words came out clear as day, and yet they made no sense to Nightwing.
"Jason Todd is at A.R.G.U.S.," she told him, her voice low. Nightwing went totally still, his hands slackening around Paityn's. One by one, they fell to his sides, and then he shook his head once, almost unconsciously.
"What?" he whispered at last, positive that he had hard her incorrectly. Paityn winced, swallowing hard. This was exactly as hard as she'd thought it would be, perhaps even harder than she'd thought.
"Jason," she repeated, her voice choppy sounding. "Is alive. He's at A.R.G.U.S." Nightwing shook his head slowly, standing up. He was silent as he processed the information, but on the inside his heart and mind were racing. Jason was alive. His brother was alive.
"I don't – " his voice broke off, cracking, and he took a deep breath. Even so, when he spoke, his voice was shaky. "I don't understand."
"A.R.G.U.S. has been keeping tabs on Talia al Ghul for almost a decade," Paityn began to explain. Her voice was now devoid of any emotion, but her eyes still looked pained as she spoke. "She was in Gotham Cemetery a while ago, and we ran tests on the soil. Jason's body was gone." Nightwing's head shot up, and his breath caught. "It wasn't until recently that – "
"Hang on," Nightwing interrupted her. "You've known about this for – months? And you're just now telling me." He shook his head slowly. "Paityn…" he whispered. "How long?" The blonde teenager looked at him for a long moment. When she answered, her words split the silence between them like an axe.
"Six months," she replied. Nightwing closed his eyes, anger beating through his entire body. He stood up suddenly, shoving the chair he was sitting in back. It scraped over the floor loudly, the shriek cutting through the heavy silence in the room. Nightwing turned away, and he began to pace back and forth, his heart hammering.
"Six months," he repeated. He set his jaw and swallowed hard, struggling to process this. The information itself was hard enough, his disappointment in Paityn made everything worse. "Six months. And how long have you known for certain that he was alive?"
"Since the end of February," Paityn whispered. Nightwing's breath caught, and he turned away, closing his eyes.
"How could you?" he asked quietly. His voice shook with the weight of her betrayal. "How could you not tell me this?"
"I'm not trying to make excuses," Paityn told him. Her voice was flat, but surprisingly steady. She fixed her eyes on Nightwing's back. Part of her hoped that he would turn around to face her and the other part was glad his back was turned. "I did what I thought was best. I'm sorry that I made the wrong call."
"The wrong call," Nightwing repeated incredulously. "I think it's more than that." There was a beat of silence, and then: "Let me see him," Nightwing insisted suddenly. He swung around towards Paityn, his actions almost aggressive. "I want to see him."
"No," Paityn said. Her heart clenched when she saw the look on her friend's face. "You can't." Nightwing stared at her, almost certain that he'd misheard his friend.
"No?"
"Dick," Paityn tried to explain, sighing. "Jason was resurrected by the Lazarus Pit. It gave him his life back, but he lost his soul." Paityn shrugged tightly. "I – I just got confirmation from Zatanna that she can restore him." Nightwing made a wounded noise.
"Zatanna knows?" Nightwing asked, his voice broken and tortured. He was upset, if not surprised, that Paityn had kept this from him, but knowing that Zatanna had as well was even worse.
"No," Paityn said immediately, realizing what her words had made it sound like. She held her hands up and shook her head vehemently, even though Nightwing had turned his back to her once more. "Dick, no, she doesn't. She doesn't know it's Jason. Don't blame – don't be angry with her." Nightwing shook his head, laughing in an incredulous, disbelieving manner. He shook his head.
"But you told her first, still," he said, shaking his head. "Paityn..."
"I know," she replied, her voice low. Nightwing leaned forward, bracing himself against the table in front of him. He clenched his teeth and spoke quickly, biting the words out.
"Please leave," he requested, monotonously. He fixed his eyes on the wall across from him. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't.
"Dick," Paityn said. "I'm sorry. I truly am."
"Leave," he whispered again. Ignoring him, she stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. Despite her best efforts to put on a professional front, her voice cracked as she spoke, begging for Nightwing's understanding, if not his forgiveness.
"Haven't you made hard decisions too?"
"Not like this," Nightwing responded, his voice tight and cold. There was a moment of silence, and then Paityn's footsteps moved away. Nightwing heard the Zeta Tube power up. Once he was alone again, Nightwing straightened up, struggling to breathe.
He thought about his last words to Paityn just now, when he'd claimed he hadn't made a hard decision like she had, and he slumped forward under the heaviness of his own lie.
well.
the last part didn't exactly come out the way i wanted it too...but...i wanted to get something up.
anyways.
please leave a review and let me know what you think! i truly appreciate and love any and all feedback.
review if you loved it, hated it, liked it, or was neutral about it. i would love to hear your thoughts!
thanks! :)
