Lone Eagle

Chapter 9

Bialya

September 4, 00:16 EEST

The sun was blindingly hot and bright as I trekked through the desert. I had no clue how I had gotten here or why I was here, but I kept on walking. Thank god Robin was with me, I hated being alone in unfamiliar places almost as much as I hated crowds of people.

Although my I usually loved my uniform, I was beginning to detest it in the desert. Its dark colors trapped the heat making me feel hotter than I probably should have been. But Rob and I kept on walking. We were here for a reason, hopefully if we kept moving we'd find out said reason.

I knew that Batman sent us here though. And I wanted to strangle him. But something else was telling me that I had other reasons to strangle him as well, although I couldn't for the life of me remember what the heck they were.

My brother and I crouched behind a rock as a cloud of dust grew on the horizon. Cars of some sort, maybe a caravan? I wasn't sure, but the two of us stayed back so we wouldn't be seen if the vehicles were threats. Rob silently climbed higher to make us harder to spot and I joined him as we watched the truck race by, paying us no heed. We hadn't been seen

"Those were Bialyain Republican Army Uniforms," Rob muttered as we watched the truck disappear into the dunes of the desert. "But what are Bialyains doing in, uh" He trailed off as he opened his map. "Bialya."

"Oh, now that that makes perfect sense, what are we doing in Bialya?" I snapped.

"In… oh shit September! What happened to March?"

"What happened to summer?" I cried. "What did we do?"

"Better radio Batman." Rob said then paused. "DO you remember Batman saying to maintain radio silence?" He asked. I thought for a second, and something came up. Batman ordering us to maintain radio silence in a Cave… but it wasn't the Batcave.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. But what the heck are we doing here? Is this one of those instances where you break the rules because I am so down for breaking rules?"

"Why?" Rob asked.

"Something tells me Bats did something to completely piss me off between March and now."

"But what?" Rob questioned.

"Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking taking her in as well. My original plan was to just take Dick in, but when I saw her glare silently at the world, not shedding a tear, I knew that she would get into trouble if she was sent to the orphanage. She'd probably be in with the Shadows by now." Oh, that explains it. I was going to strangle him. Not take me in? He seriously thought that I'd have joined the Shadows?

"Oh, um…" I trailed off.

"You remembered, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" I murmured.

"What happened?" I couldn't tell him. I couldn't, it would kill him. They actually got along really well, and I didn't want to be the one to ruin it.

"I don't want to talk about it." He sent me a look that clearly said the conversation wasn't over, but followed me as I flipped down from the ledge we stood on, creating a small cloud of dust as I landed. Robin walked over to a rock which had a piece of black fabric on it. ON the fabric, in red, was the S shield.

"What the heck did we do in the past six months?" I asked, annoyed. I was so over this – whatever it was. Just get me back out of the sun and the desert already please! Although Bats was in Gotham, it sounded like a better place to be than Bialya.

"Breaking radio silence is sounding pretty good right now." Rob added.

"How about we try to figure out why we're here, before giving in and breaking the rules."

"I'm cool with that."

"So broskis, which direction?"

"How about towards the explosions?" Rob asked, sounding like a kid who was begging to go into a candy shop.

"Eh, what the heck." I said, as we began to walk in the same direction as the trucks that had driven. "Wait shouldn't we check our GPS to see where we've been?"

"Good idea." I watched as Rob pulled his up, and scanned it. There was one a decent walk away. And by decent I mean about 5 to 10 miles.

"So, to the place you marked for who knows what reason?"

"Let us be off!" Rob exclaimed in a mock British accent before running ahead. I laughed and followed him.

A few hours later, we were walking under the moonlight – like in one of those crappily cheesy romance movies – except for the fact that we were in the middle of a desert and it was super-hot. It had cooled off significantly once the sun had set, but it still was a bit warm for my taste. I preferred cold weather – always have, always will. At least I can remember things about myself, I mused as we walked in silence.

"I wish I could remember why I put a marker here." Robin muttered as we covered the last 100 yards or so to the GPS mark. As I looked, I could see some sort of machine that we had probably put there. "I guess that's why."

"No shit Sherlock." I whispered as we crouched on a dune. There didn't seem to be anyone near it, but better safe than sorry I guess. Rob and I took turns checking the area. "It looks like we're alone." With a nod, we leapt over the dune, and landed in the sand. I instantly took up a fighting stance.

This was good because Bialyian soldier rose from the sand, gun in hand and aimed at us. They yelled something that I couldn't understand but it was kind of obvious that it was an order to attack us because after second that was what they did. As the soldiers advanced, Rob dropped a smoke bomb, and I maneuvered through the screen, using it to my advantage.

I hit the first soldier I saw with a punch in the gut. Once he was winded, I went for the pressure point on his neck, knocking him out. Another appeared a few seconds later, and kicked him, causing him to fall. Not that I stayed around to watch it happen. I threw a birdarang at another to disarm him then swept his legs out from under him.

"I'll take that! Thanks!" I heard a familiar voice as I dodged the bullets being shot at me. What was KF doing here with us?

I didn't spend much time thinking it over – I just turned to another soldier and tried to punch him but he was pushed back by an invisible force.

"Thank you whoever you are!" I called. I turned to help my brother or KF but all of the soldiers were down.

"Hey! Broskis!" I called to KF, but Robin looked at me as well. "Not you bird brain, Flash Boy. No hello for your favorite ferocious birdie?"

"Was that necessary Eagle?" The speedster whined.

"Anything to annoy you is necessary." I retorted as I stood next to KF and Robin.

"Memory loss?" KF asked.

"Six months!" Rob exclaimed. "Let's hogtie theses idiots and compare notes!" I laughed then with the blonde archer girl – whose name apparently was Artemis – tied up the soldiers.

"So we're a Team?" Robin asked. We had gone over what we remembered of the past six months – I obviously omitted some things, but there were still a bunch of holes.

"The five of us and Superboy." Miss Martian agreed.

"Then this must be his." Rob held up the tattered piece of shirt bearing the S Shield.

"Yes! Did you see him?"

"I think we did." Artemis responded.

"Feral boy?" KF asked. "Some teammate. He attacked us."

"He didn't know who we were." Artemis countered. "I don't know who we are!"

"I don't know who you are." I muttered. Robin elbowed me, and I glared at him.

"So Batman was ordering radio silence. Our team must work for him!" Ugh. Working for Batman even more? How stupid had I gotten in six months?

"How do you know we don't work for my mentor?" KF asked, touching the Flash symbol on his suit which turned from its black and grey back to its original colors. "So cool!" he exclaimed. The rest of us hit our symbols, but nothing happened. KF kept changing the color of his uniform, a slightly deranged looking smile on his face.

"We look ridiculous." Artemis snapped. KF ignored her and continued playing with his suit. "Quit touching yourself!" She yelled at him. The archer sent one last glare at the speedster, and then turned to the rest of us. "We need our memories back."

"I second the motion." I responded. "But the real question is who took them and why?"

Suddenly, the scenery changed. Dramatically. We were inside a dome, with mirror like things showing what we remembered.

"I've brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far." Miss M said. SO this was her mind? Weird. "But I need your help. Together our broken memories can form a whole. If you open your minds to mine."

"You want to go through our private thoughts?" Artemis accused.

"I have no wish to intrude but-"

"You need to hack our minds to find out what happened to us. Got it, go!" Rob exclaimed.

"My brain's all yours. Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."

"Or underwhelm you." Rob retorted. "Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" I bit my lip and looked around awkwardly. The boys had agreed. It was just Artemis and I left to decide. But could I trust Miss M? I must have if we were on a Team. But my mind was my own. I'd been trained to build walls around it so not even Martian Manhunter could get it. Could I really just let down those walls for the first time in years?

I had to. For our mission to succeed. I sighed.

"Take only what you need." I said.

"Last six months only. And only what you need." Artemis agreed. Miss M nodded, and then four hands shot out of her own and placed themselves on our heads.

"The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyian desert. Spectral analysis revealed elements nonterestrial in origin. Find out what happened at that sight – what landed there." I stood in the back next to – oh shit Aqualad – and studied my boots desperately wanting to be anywhere but here. "Bialya is a rogue state, ruled by Queen Bee, and not a member of the Justice League's UN Charter. All communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times.

"You'll land in Qurac, on Bialya's border, two clicks from the hot zone."

"All clear." Rob announced as we stepped off the Bioship into the desert night. Superboy was carrying the machine Rob and I had seen while the rest of us separated into teams and moved out.

"The Bialyians control the site." Robin, Artemis, and I were looking down at a camp, brightly lit in the desert night. It was surrounded by soldiers and I remember thinking there was no way we'd be able to get into the tent without causing some sort of distraction far enough away to give the others enough time to get inside.

Set up here. Aqualad ordered. Superboy dropped the monitoring system and Rob and I knelt down while we programmed it to work for us while the others watched.

"We'll be up and running in no time." Robin reported as I typed.

"Jackpot! The site's lousy with Zeta Beam radiation!" KF exclaimed.

"There's tons of nonterestrial trace elements in the tent." I stated as I studied the screen.

"I'll check it out in camouflage mode." Miss M suggested.

"Good idea. Go." Aqualad ordered.

"Careful." Superboy said.

"And maintain telepathic contact."

"I will Aqualad."

The link was broken.

"Aqualad!" I exclaimed then blushed when I realized the others had done the same thing I had.

"Where is he? What happened next?" Rob demanded.

"I don't know!" Miss M exclaimed. "That's the last thing I-we remember."

"We landed 24 hours ago. If Kaldur's been wandering the desert that long, well, that's not good for a guy with gills." KF added. I nodded in agreement. Our leader was probably in trouble. Hopefully he had just collapsed somewhere on the desert floor and wasn't in the tent.

"Now that I know to look for him," Rob muttered, before pulling up his holocomputer and using it to locate our missing teammate. "He's close! But he's not moving."

"Lead on." I said to Rob, who gave me a weird look. "What?"

"You're second in command. Shouldn't you be leading?"

"Says the boy who already has his GPS up and programmed." I sighed. "Just go."

It was about a five minute walk to get to Aqualad, but we found him lying on the sand, delirious and muttering in a language I could understand.

"I can't restore his memories in this condition." Miss M stated, sounding worried. I didn't blame her, Aqualad looked horrible.

"He needs immediate rehydration. Call the bioship!" Robin ordered. I rolled my eyes. He had gone from telling me to lead to leading himself in the space of five minutes! It was annoying, but I didn't say anything. I was pretty sure everyone on the team thought Robin was better suited for the job as leader. Although I hated to admit it, Rob was a better leader than I was.

"It's out of range. But you can get him there fast!" Miss M turned to KF.

"He's too heavy." The speedster stated. "And I'm too low on fuel. Right now I couldn't even carry Eagle." Oh so now I was the smallest one.

"Ha ha ha." I muttered. "Very funny." I hated being called small or light or anything like that. I mean, yeah, I was 14, and barely 5 ft. and I did weigh less than 100 lbs., but still! People didn't have to like call me on it.

"Why not just levitate him back?" Artemis added.

"She has a good point." I said.

"I can't!" Miss M sounded distraught. "I have to find Superboy! Six months ago he didn't exist. He has no memories, just animal impulse! I'm the only one who can help him."

"Superboy's indestructible. Just ask those tanks! It's Aqualad who needs your help, like now!"

"I hate to say it, but I'm with the idiot speedster on this one." I added. "Superboy can survive on his own for the time it'll take you to get Aqualad to the bioship."

"No!" Miss Martian screamed. "Superboy's in pain!" And she flew off towards the Kryptonian.

"M'gann, wait!" Artemis yelled.

"We still don't know what erased our memories!" Rob added. Just when this mission couldn't get any worse, babam! It did. "It could happen again!"

"Anyone else here love deserts?" I snapped, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "Yeah didn't think so."

"So now what?" Artemis asked, sounding annoyed herself.

"Drag Aqualad back to the bioship, get him set up in there with an IV then go after Miss M. Simple, done, now let's get moving. I want this done fast, just in case our memories do get erased again." I ordered. Everyone gave me a weird look, and I looked to the ground, blushing. This was so not my forte.

I watched as KF and Rob formed a makeshift sled using a burlap sack and two rods we found lying around our camp. I let Rob lead with the GPS and walked behind Kid Flash and Artemis, who were carrying the stretcher. It was peaceful in the desert, and unlike in Gotham you could actually see stars. As we walked, I racked my brain to find the names of all the constellations I could see – a difficult task as I had learned the names of all of them years ago from my mom. And once she was gone I stopped wishing on stars because I knew that it was fake – that no matter what I did my parents were dead and there was nothing, nothing, I could do about it.

And I accepted it. Faster than my brother did because he had always had his head up in the clouds more. He was the one who could dance and joke minutes after he was chastised. He was the one who easily made friends, who could talk to anyone for hours on end. Robins are songbirds, they chirp and sing and fly, sometimes without a purpose. But eagles are birds of prey. They prefer to be on their own, are smart and calculating. Yes, Rob's smart, probably smarter than me, but from an early age, I was the one who would focus for hours on end until I mastered a skill. I was the one who loved being able to do whatever I wanted more than anything.

Eagles symbolize freedom, leadership, wisdom, and determination. Robins symbolize joy, hope, clarity, and new beginnings. They are two completely different creatures. But somehow, Rob and I seem so similar most of the time.

I will never know why my parents chose to call me Eagle. No one will, I guess, unless there is life after death I suppose. But I like to believe they called me that because they believed I could become a great leader, because they believed that one day I could make the right choices. And although sometimes that makes me feel better, most of the time it makes me feel like I have another unreachable target.

"Quick – over there." Robin muttered, snapping me out of my thoughts. We hid behind a rock while more army trucks drove by. Aqualad muttered something incomprehensible, again as I heard the quiet footsteps of more soldiers.

"Shh Kaldur, quiet now." Artemis whispered, trying to soothe the Atlantean. I knew it wouldn't work; he couldn't get better until he had some fluids in him but I didn't tell that to the archer.

"We can't risk a firefight with Aqualad KO'd like this." Rob said to us.

"It's not just him," KF added. I was proud of the speedster for staying quiet; it usually wasn't one of his fortes. "I'm running out of juice."

"And I'm almost out of arrows." I ran a quick inventory of my belt. I too was running low on gear, I only had two birdarangs, a bola, my bo staff, three explosive disks, and two grappling guns left. Rob nudged me and mouthed the word 'disappear'. I nodded, and stealthily moved across the desert floor, trying to get closer to the soldiers without them seeing us. Robin nudged me again, before setting his explosive disks to a minute, with his cackle going off for the last 30 seconds. I grinned then programmed mine to do the same. We slid them across the desert floor so they landed in the soldiers' path, and then hightailed it back to the others.

"Sesh, get a room!" My brother was joking, or I thought so at least, but he sounded completely serious.

"Where were you guys?" KF demanded.

"Breaking radio silence." Rob said nonchalantly as our laughs began going off. As soon as the explosion occurred, Robin spoke. "That's our cue. Move!" We ran in the other direction, back towards the bioship. KF really must have been drained because it looked like he was having as hard of a time keeping up the heavy pace as I was. I really was not a distance runner I preferred sprinting short distance. But I kept up with the others, grudgingly, wanting nothing more than to be back at the Manor, in my room, forcing myself to read The Art of War.

Qurac

September 5, 02:32 EEST

We had gotten Aqualad hooked up to an IV, and he seemed to be doing better – or had at least stopped muttering.

Hey everyone, I've got Superboy! He's back to normal and we're on our way. Miss M's voice sounded in our heads. Aqualad abruptly sat up, and if I knew his memory hadn't been wiped I would have laughed so damn hard. The normally calm and collected Atlantean actually looked surprised.

"Who are you?" He said. "And how did you get inside my head?"

Hello Megan! Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something. I smiled. Everything was getting back to normal – or as normal as it ever could be.

Aw man! Me too! I didn't get a souvenir from the mission!

Don't worry, got the souvenir thing covered.

Oh lordy, I did not want to see what the soviet was. Knowing my teammates it would be crazy. But I smiled anyways.

We were teenage superheroes. Of course we were a bit crazy.


AN: Sorry this is so short n crappy. I started school, and my mom's been an electronics Nazi and and I've been pretty busy. I'll try to have the next chapter up within two weeks. But thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites. Keep them coming - they make me want to write more!