Here is the final individual training chapter. I've got it about 3500 words of actual text, so it's longest I've written in this story. You'll be getting a little more of the logisitics of the team in the chapter in addition to their training sessions.

Enjoy!

Hall of Justice - 8:25 a.m.

Maya and Dinah had been going at it for about an hour before Canary called a halt for a brief rest period. Black Canary had first wanted to test Maya's fighting prowess with a more hands-on approach. At first blush, Dinah thought Maya reminded her of a younger Cheshire, who Dinah still had a hard time calling Jade despite Roy best intentions. For Dinah, it was probably the girl's confident stance and black hair that helped her to make the connection to Cheshire rather than Artemis. The assumption actually proved highly accurate as soon as the two began fighting. It was quite clear that Maya had been heavily trained from a young age to be an assassin. Her agility surprised the elder heroine, even though Canary had plenty of experience fighting assassins. The girl had a finesse to her fighting that Canary had only ever seen a few times before, one of which was actually during her first encounter with Cheshire several years ago.

Every assassin fought a little differently. Some were fighters went into every engagement determined to use force and turn the tables physically. Others fought with the goal of making their opponent commit the first mistake in order to gain the upper hand. Maya definitely fell into the latter category, though she found herself having to pull out all the stops just to fight Black Canary to a draw. At first the duo had just been sparring, but somewhere after the first 30 minutes things escalated slowly until it reached an all-out fight for the last 15 minutes. Maya's olive toned skin was glistening with sweat and she was wondering how much longer she could keep this pace up. Sure, she'd been trained by some of the best the League of Shadows had to offer, but she had never fought someone this well trained, and it was taking its toll on her. When Canary signaled to take a break the ex-assassin had never been so glad to end a fight in her life.

Maya put her hands on her knees as she bent over to take a breath. Canary had gone over to grab some waters for the both of them when she noticed something peculiar on Maya's neck. Her long hair had parted across her neck and revealed part of a symbol that looked suspiciously like a burn mark. Its distinct pattern suggested something far worse than a simply burn.

After tossing Maya a bottle of water Dinah decided it would be a good time to better get to know the girl, but she couldn't help but be drawn to ask about the burn mark, "Mind if I ask about that mark on your neck?"

Maya's left hand quickly shot up to the back of her neck, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Dinah took a sip of water before continuing to lightly press for more information, "Certainly doesn't look like nothing. A few women I know have a similar mark on them."

Maya sensed that her trainer knew more than she was letting on. No point in denying it then. "It's a brand. Ra's symbol for my particular group of assassins was the lotus flower. The five of us were the only ones left alive when Ra's the Shadows invaded Nada Parat. We were the only children there. He 're-educated' us," Maya's face darkened and her green eyes were filled with sadness as she inwardly remembered the horrors that the shadows inflicted on her, "and had us trained to join their ranks. The three of us who lived through it were given these brands as a 'graduation' gift from our master." Maya fell back into silence, preferring to keep the rest of the story to herself.

Canary, having been the team's psychologist for past few years, knew there was more to share, but wanted to take things slowly, "So how did you wind up in the Reach ship?"

Maya leaned back against the wall. "While I was sent on a mission I tried to fake my own death to escape. I thought I succeed and a year later wound up in Istanbul. I made the mistake of letting my guard down, thinking that I had lost my pursuers. I should have known that no one ever really outruns Ra's Al Ghul. When they caught me I was given to some Reach scientists for study on human tissue. That was about 5 weeks before the escape."

"Care to talk about what they did?"

"No. whatever they were trying to do it apparently didn't work." Maya spoke with such finality that Dinah knew it was pointless to continue along that line of questioning.

"True. From what we've discovered in the past few years the human meta-gene is remarkably hard to pin down. The odds of actually activating it in a dormant human are astronomical."

"But I guess with 7 billion people on the plant the aliens thought they'd try their luck."

Canary nodded, seeing the logic in Maya's response, though the conversation had taken a turn away from what Dinah wanted to get at. The elder heroine switched tacks to the escape itself, "So teamwork isn't exactly in an assassin's wheelhouse. What made you work with the others when you could have just tried to get out by yourself?"

"I was going to, until Avery cracked the computer and found a map." Maya took another swig of water and continued, "I'm starting to see the value of teamwork, no thanks to those 'team building' exercises you've forced on us the last two weeks."

The disdain in Maya's voice signaled Canary that the conversation was finished. Still, it had helped to pass the time as they rested.

Turnings things back to the training Canary headed toward the middle of the floor and addressed Maya, "So, you are a skilled fighter, no doubt at that. But there are definitely some things I could teach you if you're willing to listen."

If anyone else had told Maya that the ex-assassin would have simply brushed them off without at thought, but that wasn't the case this time. Maya pushed herself from the wall and back toward the center of the training room where Black Canary was waiting. This definitely could have gone a lot worse.

8:25 a.m.

Oliver Queen, Dinah's husband, was currently putting his latest charge through his paces on the archery course. The young man definitely had not been kidding about his level of experience. His stance was damn near perfect and technique had only one or two minor flaws to correct. He wasn't quite at Roy's or Artemis's level, but he had definitely used a bow extensively.

As Jim placed his fourth arrow in the dead center of the target Green Arrow grew even more impressed. "So how exactly did you learn to shoot like that?"

Jim notched another arrow and let it fly, "My dad got me into bow hunting as a kid. That evolved into me being on the archery team at school. We won four straight state titles. I was such a good shot that my dad wanted me to train for the Olympic archery team, but I was more interested in joining the Army. After I finished basic and weapons training some guy from Langley showed up, asking me to basically join the CIA. Cut to 1 and a half years later and I was on my first probationary mission as a junior field agent when I got grabbed."

The CIA and Army bits of Jim's past were news to Green Arrow, who hadn't fully read Nightwing's file on the man, "Shouldn't you let them know you're alive?"

Jim took another arrow out of his quiver, "I put out some feelers through a contact I have at Langley. They've disavowed me, probably thinking I'm either dead or at the very least compromised and have a warrant for my arrest. My dad's house is being watched 24/7, but I was able to get a message slipped to him letting him know I'm safe. He's former Spec Ops, so I'm pretty sure he'll understand the reason for the radio silence on my end."

Green Arrow pondered the 20-year-old's response, "So you've just jumped on the hero train, no questions asked?"

"Not exactly. I believe in doing the right thing no matter the cost. The way I see it I've got three options. Either I walk away and go into hiding, go back to the CIA to be indefinitely held, or I help you and the League stop the end of the world. I chose the latter of those three options."

Oliver watched as Jim buried yet another bulls-eye, "Not a bad attitude to have I guess. You think you want work with any heroes in particular?"

Letting another arrow fly, Jim lowered his bow, thinking about the question. "Honestly, I probably just want to stick with the others."

"Speaking of the others, how are you all getting along? Any transition issues?"

"Chase is probably having the hardest time, she isn't sleeping for more than an hour or two at a time. Frankly I'm surprised she sleeps at all."

"Why's that?"

"I know that out of all of us, she was held the longest. God knows what they did to her for those fourth months, but I can't bet it wasn't Geneva Convention friendly."

"I don't doubt it. She getting any counseling?"

"Yeah, Black Canary's been here every day. Not sure how well it's working though."

"So how 'bout the rest of the group?"

"None of the others have any serious issues to speak of. Tom, Colten, and Penny all got a hold of their families and have adjusted just fine, thanks to everything you guys have done for us. The rest, including me, either can't get a hold of our loved ones or there aren't any to contact."

"Think you guys will be able to work together in the future?"

Jim's answer came quickly with military like precision, "I think so, I mean escaping from an alien research facility is pretty much a surefire way to help people bond under fire. Sam and Penny are pretty close already. Colton's hanging out a lot with Avery, and Tom's pretty much the little brother to everyone. Maya's still a little cold and detached for my taste. She's kind of a wild card from a personnel standpoint, especially when Cameron's involved. Sometimes she acts almost normal around him, but other times they just fight like a cat and a dog."

GA started laughing at Jim's assessment. Jim just looked as his trainer with confusion. Catching his breath GA stood up, "Sorry, it's just that your explanation reminded me of my old protégé and her boyfriend." The memory of Artemis quickly brought up the grief surrounding her death, effectively ending that line of conversation, but Oliver was a professional and endeavored to get things back on track. Thinking for a moment about what to do next, seeing as his trainee was proving to be an exceptional student, he settled on a useful way to procede, "How about some HORSE?"

"HORSE, sir? I don't see a basketball court anywhere in here. How exactly do we do that with a bow and arrow?"

"It's just like basketball, we just do any trick shot we can think of and try to hit the bulls-eye. Second shooter has to follow the first shooter's motions. Tie goes to the primary shooter, loser gets a letter. First to H-O-R-S-E loses. We'll flip for who starts."

Oliver pulled out a quarter, "Call it in the air."

"Heads." As the coin hit the ground Jim smiled widely upon seeing which side landed face up, This is going to be fun.

8:25 a.m.

Roy Harper, otherwise known as Red Arrow, was the final trainer that Nightwing had called in to help handle the newcomers that they'd picked up from the incursion to the Reach base two weeks ago. If anyone looked at the League's roster of heroes with experience with firearms they would find that Roy Harper was hands down the most knowledgeable on the subject. That made him a given to train a hero who's main weapon of choice was a gun. In preparation for his training session with Cameron, Roy had reviewed the footage from the boy's trips to the shooting range the past nine days. What he saw deeply impressed him. The kid could probably give Deadshot a run for his money, which was truly saying something. The only question was how his ability would be used in the field.

It was a question Roy endeavored to answer from the moment the two met. On their way to the range Roy struck a conversation with the younger man, "So remind me exactly how you're ability works."

Cameron stepped through the metal doors to the range and immediately headed over to the gun rack. Loading a 9mm he popped in the clip and turned back to Roy, "It's basically like this: I see my environment and get eyes on my target and I take him down."

Without looking down the range, Cameron popped a shot in the ceiling, causing Roy to nearly have a heart attack. Cameron just stared at Roy the whole time while the archer recalled the target from the end of the gun range. It took several seconds for the target to make its way to the shooter's position. Roy was astounded when he saw that the target had a 9mm hole in the dead center of its chest.

"How the hell did you hit that?" Roy asked incredulously.

"I got a look at the set up when we walked in the room. My brain takes in the data from the environment and it's like I can see how my actions will affect the environment before I do it. So I knew that if I shot at that point it would ricochet perfectly into the target. Cool, right?"

"Cool doesn't even cover it. But it does bring up a few problems." Roy was still staring at the target.

"Like what?" Cameron was already busy loading up another target for practice.

"For starters, I want to know why you're using a paper target. We've to the best stuff and you're using paper?

Cameron chuckled as he sent the target on its way, "That's your first question?"

"Just humor me, I'd like to get to know what makes you tick first."

"Alright. My dad trained me on this kind of stuff. I mean, don't get me wrong, your holograms and simulation programs are fantastic, but there is just something nice about just kicking it old school, you know?"

"So when did you first figure out what you could do?"

Cameron pulled back the slide on the pistol to chamber a round, "It started when I was pitching during 8th grade. I was always a good athlete and my school baseball team sucked so I got to play some games on varsity as an 8th grader. I don't know how to describe that first time, but it was like the whole world was going in slow motion and I was still moving normal speed. After I pitched that first perfect game my dad had me throw a few days later and I couldn't find that zone."

"Why not?"

"Well, I think I was trying too hard. Apparently my hyper-kinesis can be very temperamental, especially when my emotions are involved. I got called on to pitch again about a week later and it happened again. I think that's when my dad knew that something was going on."

"What did he do?"

"He was a military guy used to dealing with people with powers, but he also knew that he had to keep what I could do under wraps."

"Why's that?"

Cameron finished his clip and ejected it, "Would you stop with the questions and let me talk?" Roy didn't respond, allowing Cameron to continue, "Anyway, he told me once that if the wrong people in the military found out that they'd take me away. Don't get me wrong, my dad loved the military and what America stands for, but he knew that sometimes people can't always be trusted. He talked about some guy named Captain Adams, but now that I know my dad was a friend of Captain Atom I can see why he felt that way about keeping my ability secret.

Roy got a quizzical look in his eye and Cameron didn't fail to notice even though red-headed archer didn't make a sound, "Captain Nathan Adams was convicted of murder by a military tribunal and sentenced to die by firing squad during the 1st Gulf War. My dad told me that the military forced him to 'choose' to take part in a secret experiment that would kill him. My dad only told me that it didn't kill him, only made him stronger. It wasn't until after he survived the experiment and changed that he found out he was framed, which of course made him leave the military altogether."

"How could you possible know all that?"

"A combination of what my dad told me, my own guesswork at small details, and what the Captain told me himself about a week ago when we visited my dad's grave in Arlington together."

Roy was once again dumbfounded; having had no real clue that Captain Atom was up to that point. Maybe I should actually pay more attention at the meetings.

"Alright, that's enough of a history lesson for now. Let's get back to the issue at hand. Why guns? You could use any projectile weapon out there; throwing knives, arrows, sais, you name it, but you went with guns. Why?"

Cameron set down the 9mm on the loading bench and pulled a .243 rifle off the wall rack. He pulled the bolt back to pop in a round before answering the question. "Mostly it's because it just feel natural to use guns. I was trained on them from the time we first found out about my ability. Answer me this, in all the times you guys have been going on missions how often have you found that a good sniper would have been able to cover your infiltrations and exfils?"

"I'll give you that one, but that still doesn't take away from the fact that guns kill people."

Cameron had a rebuttal ready and waiting, "Actually, arrows do too. And before you tell me that it's not the same thing let me stop you. It's all about how you use your weapon, not the weapon itself. And besides, aren't we facing an impending alien invasion? I don't think my choice of weapon is really that big an issue." Cameron put the gun down on the table and extended the bipod legs so he could shoot standing up. "I can hit a guy in his right shoulder and put him on the ground, but if I'm using impact rounds as opposed to rounds meant to cause maximum damage then the guy is going to live. There are a lot of parts on the human body that I can hit with a rubber or regular bullet that won't result in loss of life."

Red Arrow was impressed by the younger man's answer, "Sounds like you thought this one through."

"I had to. My dad knew I was going to go out on my own, but he wanted me to do it the right way."

"Why'd you want to do it in the first place?"

Cameron's face hardened as his sighted his shot. "Because my dad died defending his country, believing that the fight was worth it." Cameron squeezed the trigger, sending the round down range before he pulled the bolt back, getting it ready to accept another round. "I'm going to honor his sacrifice by using my ability the best way I can."

Roy took in the boy's response. Clearly his father's death was a sore subject, "Fair enough, but let's talk logistics here. Nightwing is probably going to have you nine stay together, sound good to you?"

"Sure."

"Seeing as how you're one of the older, and generally more mature members of the group, who do you think should be in charge of your team?"

"Probably Jim. I wouldn't mind doing it myself, but Jim's got a lot more experience than me.

Cameron loaded another round as Roy continued the questions, "What's your opinion of the rest of the group? You think they'll be able to handle field work?"

"I do. We all were pretty much able to keep our heads when we broke out."

As Cameron began exhaling in preparation for the shot Roy took the opportunity for one final question. Time to see if Nighwing's right about him and the assassin. "And what about Maya?"

Cameron jerked at the name, sending his shot high. He attempted to recover by acting as if nothing happened. "What about her?"

Well I'll be damned, Dick was right.

When Roy didn't answer Cameron grew slightly frustrated, "Are we just going to talk about everyone else are you going to actually show me something today?"

Roy just smiled. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. There's still plenty of morning left."

I hope this chapter lived up to the last ones. I really appreciate the feedback in the reviews. I've actually gone back and fixed errors that people pointed out by updating the chapters so that for future readers they won't be there. But no one has given me any codename ideas, but I'm not quite to the point where we'll be needing them just yet.

I will start working on the next chapter as soon as I am able, but it will be after Thanksgiving I think. To any who will be celebrating this Thursday I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

As always, please review!