Chapter Ten: Trip to the Zoo
She threw on a large overcoat to hide the suit and pulled half of her hair into a ponytail, clearing her view of curls. Then, she left her room, heading for the kitchen in her search of Alfred.
He was sill there, just finishing up on the dishes and he looked up upon her arrival.
"Hey Alfred. I'm heading out. Not sure when I'll be back."
By now, the butler knew that her coat meant Sparrow business, so he simply nodded and told her to take care as he needed her to do the laundry tomorrow.
She smirked at the old man and left Wayne Manor, running along the road. Once she reached a specific bridge, she hopped over the edge and landed on the riverbank. Walking underneath the bridge, she pulled off her coat and necklace, stuffing the necklace into a pouch on her hip and rolling the coat into a tight bundle. She flew up and stuffed the coat into a small hole right at the top of one of the pillars supporting the bridge, making the coat almost invisible unless you knew what you were looking for.
Once done, Morgan flew away, heading for the city at a great speed. She was there ten minutes later, landing right by a Zeta site. She slipped inside the abandoned factory and stepped inside the third closet in a row of four, letting the hidden tech scan her face. Once it confirmed her identity, it lowered itself into a larger room containing a Zeta tube as well as lockers filled with several extra suits and gadgets for the heroes who needed them. The site was one of the larger ones, which was why it also had the restocking function.
Since she wasn't one of the heroes who had anything down there – or anywhere else for that matter – and she didn't need or want to borrow (steal) anything from the others, she slipped by the lockers and straight for the tube, requesting the Watchtower.
Stepping through and enduring the four seconds of mindlessness, Sparrow found herself in the transportation room of the Watchtower. She walked off the platform and headed for the main room, hoping the Team would be there, preferably with some mission she could join in on. The doors slipped soundlessly open in front of her and she immediately spotted Blue Beetle speaking with a team of four heroes. Because of the screen in front of them and the way he was so obviously point and explaining, Morgan knew he was sending them on a mission, and she smiled, hoping she could join.
"What's up, guys?" She greeted, waving halfheartedly as she eyed the screen, trying to figure out what the mission was about.
Blue offered her a small smile. "Mission briefing." He explained shortly, knowing she would understand.
Morgan nodded, tilting her head as she smiled innocently. "Can I join?"
Blue paused and looked at her for a moment before simply shrugging. "Sure, why not. We could use an even number for this mission."
Fighting the urge to fistbump the air, Morgan grinned and waited for him to resume the briefing.
She paid half a mind to what he was saying – apparently, sightings of strange animals had occurred all over the woods by Metropolis' eastern side and they'd managed to track the animals back to an abandoned factory building – studying the four heroes instead.
Obviously, Beast Boy she already knew, so she quickly moved on to the woman standing next to him. Raven's face was a completely cool and calm mask and she kept her focus entirely on Blue Beetle as he explained their mission. Morgan found herself wondering how her skin was that color. Then she realized she was friends with not one, not two, but three people that had green skin so grey-ish purple probably wasn't that weird.
She stood as a great contrast next to Starfire, with her orange skin. The startingly beautiful alien whom Morgan couldn't help but feel inadequate next to. She sighed and looked at her feet, telling herself to stop being ridiculous. She had no way of knowing if there'd been any kind of mutual attraction between Starfire and Nightwing, and yet she couldn't help but feel.. worried. Anxious. Jealous.
And she knew she shouldn't even care because Dick and her were history, but still. Morgan wanted so bad to not dislike Starfire for no reason, so she pushed her thoughts away and focused on Supergirl instead.
The girl was standing straight, a strangely stern look on her face as she, just as the other three, kept her undevided attention on their team leader. Her just-below-chin length blonde hair, fair skin and blue eyes made Morgan think of Denmark quite suddenly. The look was very Scandinavian. Pushing that thought away as well, she turned to Blue Beetle again, listening as he finished the briefing.
"We'll split into teams of two to cover more ground. The factory has several floors that we'll divide between us. Beast Boy, you're with Raven." Beast Boy smiled enthusiastically at the girl, earning himself a tiny smile in return. To be honest, Morgan though he looked very happy about this particular team-up.
"Starfire; Sparrow." Blue went on. Morgan nodded at the alien, hoping she didn't look like she was feeling. She was constantly telling herself to be mature about this. If there was anything she didn't need, it was stupid highschool-esque drama. She was twenty years old for christ's sake, she didn't care if this girl had kissed her ex boyfriend.
"Supergirl, you're with me." Blue finished, swiping the holographic screen away. "We'll Zeta to Metropolis and fly from there. I'll assign floors on the way."
Sparrow scooted over to Starfire's side and grinned at her as they followed after Blue Beetle. The other girl returned the smile warmly, which Morgan took as a good sign. If Starfire didn't view her as 'competition', then neither would Morgan. She just needed to chill. Seriously.
They entered the Zeta room and the five of them shuffled onto the nearest platform as Blue plotted in their destination. He joined them just as the beam activated, and away they went.
They reappeared at the outskirts of Metropolis, Beast Boy quickly opening the door of the shed they'd arrived in so they could get out. It was a small shed, way too small for six people.
"Alright, follow me." Blue ordered, taking to the air.
Garfield, the only member of the squad that couldn't fly, transformed into a huge pterodactyl and beat his mighty wings to catch up to their leader.
A small smirk grew on Morgan's lips as she saw the look he cast at Raven, as if hoping she'd be impressed.
When Blue Beetle saw him, he did a visible doubletake. "It looks cool, ese," He assured him, "But maybe you should go for something a little more inconspicuous, yeah?"
The Pterodacyl hung it's head briefly before transforming into a falcon, screeching in a decidedly offended manner.
"Now that we're at it, stealth mode, everyone." He looked at the four girls. Supergirl tapped her beltbuckle, right in the middle of the small 's', and her colors dimmed greatly, the blue turning almost black, the red as dark as blood. Sparrow almost forgot to beat her wings with her shock when Raven simply disappeared. Turned see-through, just like that. She made a mental note to ask the quiet girl about the extent of her powers at some point.
Morgan didn't need to change anything. Her suit had been designed for the very purpose of being stealthy – she supposed being trained by a former Batkid had influenced her a lot more than she realized.
Starfire looked slightly dismayed. "I do not have a stealthmode to my uniform." She revealed.
To be honest, Morgan wasn't sure it would've mattered anyway. She was showing more skin than she was covering, meaning even if she had a way to darken the purple and silver armor, most of her bright orange skin would still be visible. Not to mention her hair that literally looked like it was on fire.
There was nothing stealthy about her appearance at all. Morgan was pretty sure she stood out everywhere and anywhere. She had yet to decide it it was a good or a bad thing.
Blue paused for a moment. "I'm sure it'll be fine." He eventually decided. "We'll fly close to the ground so we're difficult to spot."
Starfire perked up again and the six heroes were properly off, speeding over the treetops.
Morgan was feeling slightly giddy at the prospect of a proper mission – despite all the horrible things she'd endured back in the day, she found that she'd missed this particular part of being a hero. It was exciting to find a problem and then approach it, investigate and then possibly deal with some dangerous criminal. It wasn't just the knowledge that she was doing something good – helping people, saving lives – it was also the thrill of it, the unravelling of a mystery.
She smiled briefly to herself as she tailed Blue Beetle, the sound of her cape flapping behind her reaching her ears with every powerful beat of her wings. Oh yes, it felt good to be back, despite her feelings of uncertainty – as much as she enjoyed this, she still wasn't sure the Team was where she should be anymore.
Deciding to consider tonight a test of sorts, she pushed any lingering doubts away, choosing instead to focus on their mission. She needed to mentally prepare herself for what was to come – if she remembered correctly, things tended to blow up, both figuratively and quite literally, whenever the Team was on a mission. And she was out of training, so having her head in the game was crucial.
Once the mission was over, she would assess how she felt about where she belonged. For now, she'd act as though she belonged on the Team, act as though she'd never left.
"We're close." Blue spoke after they'd flown in silence for about ten minutes. They slowed down as he led them through the trees, landing in a crouch on the soft moss-covered forest floor.
Morgan landed in the tree beside him, figuring she'd scout a bit before reaching the ground. With her height disadvantage, she knew getting a general idea of her surroundings was a good idea before she went on. All around them, all she could see were trees. The wood was dense, the trees old and big. The air was stuffy, aided greatly by the warm summer they were having. Despite the thick cover, however, she could see a small sliver of the building they were looking for. She'd seen a picture of the place during the briefing in the Watchtower, and so she knew the grey mass she had spotted about a hundred yards away must've been the factory.
"I can see it." She spoke up as the rest landed and looked around at their surroundings. Jumping down, she landed in a crouch next to Supergirl. "Over there."
They walked in the direction she'd pointed once Blue beetle had looked at his GPS and confirmed that the building she'd seen was the correct one.
Making as little noise as possible, the six heroes crept close.
Abruptly, the trees ended, creating an open space of twenty feet around the whole building. A dirt road that looked like it had been used much once, but now rarely saw vehicles, cut through the trees beside them and all the way to the main gate of the factory.
The factory building in itself was not much to look at. Its grey concrete walls were cracked in some places, nature eroding the foreign mass, as if hoping to erase all signs of human touch.
"Alright squad." Blue interrupted her thoughts, crouching down behind a large overturned tree once they'd all gotten a good look at the building. The rest followed suit, gathering around him to hear what he had to say.
"Raven and Beast Boy, you're standing guard. Investigate the area and look out for anyone – or anything. I've got an eerie feeling about this place. So be on your guard. Contact us if you find anything."
Beast Boy and Raven nodded and slipped away at his request.
"Now, the building has four floors and a large storage room. Starfire and Sparrow, you start in the storage. If there's nothing there, work your way from the second floor and down. Supergirl and I will take the top floors. If any team sees anything suspicious, they contact the others, okay?"
Starfire and Sparrow both nodded and waited for him to give the go.
"Alright. Good luck guys." Blue got up, Supergirl close on his heels.
Knowing they had to get around the building to enter the warehouse, Sparrow motioned for Starfire to follow. They were alone now, and despite knowing they were on a mission and they needed to focus, Morgan still felt compelled to fill the silence. She was sure, with anybody else, she wouldn't have found the silence awkward. And it wasn't even Starfire who made it awkward – it was Morgan's own stupid brain.
"So.." She said after barely half a minute of silence. Immediately, she trailed off, having absolutely no idea what she was supposed to say.
"Yes?" Starfire inquired once several seconds had gone by without Morgan elaborating.
"So, we're there." She said, pointing at the entrance to the storage, glad it had conveniently provided her with a distraction.
Tip-toing closer, Morgan let out a small grunt as she forced the rusty door open. It was a small side door – much more inconspicuous than if they'd tried to open the huge gate that had been used to move cargo from the storage and onto trucks back when the place had still been used. If Sparrow remembered correctly, Blue had said the place had been an insecticide factory.
As they entered the warehouse, Morgan jumped out of her skin and bit back a startled cry as hundreds of rats suddenly burst from all corners of the room and fled, rushing past them and through the door they'd opened. Starfire had quickly taken to the air and landed on a worktable next to the door, letting out a small squeal herself.
For a short moment, the chaotic pitter-patter and squeaks of the rodents invaded her ears, and then the place fell silent. The two girls' eyes met, wide eyed and confused.
"What the hell?" Morgan asked first. Starfire looked around the room, as if to spot more rats, though it was empty by now, before jumping down and aproaching her.
"I'm not sure what that was." She admitted. "But I would like to avoid it happening again."
"You can say that again." Sparrow agreed before walking further into the dimly lit warehouse. It was largely empty, a few tables and chairs flanking the walls. A box here and an abandoned tool there were the only things on the floor. Morgan approached a box, kicking at it lightly. Ants panicked and spread, running around in a frenzy as she disturbed their peaceful dwelling. A few cans of bugspray rolled out of the box as she tipped it over.
"There's nothing here." She sighed after their short and fruitless search. "I suggest we hit the main building, maybe we'll find something of interest there."
Starfire nodded.
They crossed the dirty, rat dropping-infested floor, reaching the door they hoped would lead them to the main building. Since the last door she opened resulted in having a few hundred rats run towards her, Morgan decided to let Starfire open this one.
"After you." She said, stepping to the side.
Starfire pulled at the handle, frowning when it was locked. Then, after only a second's hesitation, she ripped the door clean off its hinges, letting it rest against the wall beside them.
The room beyond was pitch black and both girls found themselves reluctant to enter without a source of light. Morgan's skin was already crawling all over. Not just because of the encounter with the rats, but from the overall feel of the place. She felt watched. The factory had a creepy feeling to it, like some horrible things had happened there and the very building had been contaminated by it.
Digging through the pouches resting at her hips, Morgan produced a small flashlight. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. Starfire produced a small flame of.. energy. It wasn't quite fire, but it looked close to it. It hovered above her hand, illuminating their faces with a green glow.
They shared a look of trepidation, both obviously feeling the eerie atmosphere of the place, and then they headed inside.
They'd barely taken four steps inside when something fairly large, fast and hairy passed by them, fleeing from the room and into the storage beyond. Morgan lept for the doorway, her eyes searching for whatever it had been – it had been the size of a small dog, but had moved like something.. else.
Her eyes grew wide and she swore she felt lightheaded for a second when she spotted the biggest spider she'd ever seen in her life. The thing scuttled across the storage floor and through the open door to the outsides, disappearing in the undergrowth.
"That was a spider!" She managed to get out in a hiss once her jaw unclenched and her throat stopped trying to close up. "A spider the size of a cat!"
"Oh, that's right – you are afraid of spiders!" Starfire seemed to suddenly remember.
Morgan froze at her words. She swore only one person on the Team had known that she was afraid of spiders – Nightwing.
"How did you know that?" She asked, hoping her voice hadn't come across as aggresively as she felt.
Starfire shrugged and continued further inside the room, using the small flame in her hand to study their surroundings. "Nightwing told me on a mission once. There was a spider on my shoulder and he removed it, chuckling to himself and saying that, had I been you, I would have 'freaked out'."
Morgan's heart felt like it skipped several beats, and when it started again, it wasn't pumping blood, but lava, through her veins. It felt like her blood was boiling. She wasn't sure what she was feeling – it wasn't quite rage, but something close enough. She felt wretched, all of a sudden.
Just how close had those two been?
"Oh." Was all she responded as she followed after the alien. Starfire paused and looked back at her, her green eyes seeming thoughtful.
"You are troubled." She decided. "Should I not have brought it up?"
Morgan took in a deep breath and offered the taller girl a small smile. "Don't worry about it. We've got bigger fish to deal with right now – such as the fact that we just saw a spider the size of a freaking cat."
Starfire nodded. "Yes, that does seem unusual. However, Blue Beetle did say there had been reports of strange animal sightings."
"And now we certainly know those animals come from here – or somewhere nearby." Sparrow went on as they reached the end of the room. A new door stood, taunting them. She didn't want to know what sort of unpleasant animal waited for them at the other side.
"My turn, I guess." She sighed as they approached the door. She grasped the handle and pulled, cringing when it groaned loudly from being used after years of inactivity.
This time, netiher rats or spiders jumped out at them – thankfully. The room beyond was spacious, and large windows – though partly covered by curtains and dirt – allowed light to stream in, making it much less unsettling than the previous two. Office desks lined the room in three rows, looking dusty and dirty and gross. There were no animals there, but it was obvious there had been at some point – the place reeked of animal droppings and decay. A small pile of bones – some still covered in pieces of meat and fur – was nestled in the corner closest to them, explaning where the stench of death came from.
The pile of bones made Morgan think that this room wasn't necessarily less creepy than the others, after all.
Still, as they had yet to be attacked by any animals, she decided she liked it far better than the other two.
"Should we not contact Blue Beetle?" Starfire asked as she looked around, her green eyes lingering on the bones as well.
Sparrow shrugged as she walked further inside, heading for the door at the other end. "Probably. But we might as well scout a bit first. We haven't really encountered anything dangerous yet, so I think we're good."
She grasped the doorhandle, her confidence restored from the nonthreatening room, and swung the door open without a second thought.
A loud, angry grunt was heard immediately from the new room and three large things emerged. Sparrow jumped back and pressed herself against the wall to avoid getting trampled, and the creatures charged right past her, heading straight for Starfire.
"Starfire, watch out!" She yelled, watching with relief as the other hero jumped into the air and hovered out of the reach of the animals.
Her shout had gained their attention, however, and three pairs of wide, angry eyes trained on her. As she stared them down, Morgan realized the creatures were a strange cross between rhinos and buffalos. Their head seemed purely rhino, their dangerous horns wickedly sharp, their ears twitching with agitation. Their hide and front feet seemed buffalo in nature while their hindlegs were that of a rhino as well.
"What the-?" She mumbled before the creatures charged at her. Loud cursing left her lips as she jumped out of the way, leaping from table to table until she reached the end of the room and landed in a crouch on the table farthest from the rhino-buffalos.
"We're not good, we're not good." Morgan hissed under her breath, taking back her earlier statement.
The rhino-buffalos charged for her again, plowing right through the line of tables between them. Morgan spread her wings and took to the air, wishing she had more space to move in. Flying out of their reach was easy when you didn't have a huge wingspan to rely on.
"We've gotten knock them out of commission." She said as she approached Starfire. "And then contact Blue."
The other girl nodded and swooped down, punching one of the creatures in its side. The animal let out an angry sound, but stumbled on its legs. She delivered another punch, swerving to avoid the large horn on the creatures head.
Morgan landed on a table nestled against the wall and whistled loudly, gaining the attention of the other two.
"Come and get me!" She encouraged. The animals huffed out furious breaths of air before running at her. Morgan swallowed loudly as she forced herself to stay put for as long as possible, knowing she had to wait until the last moment if this was to work.
When they were mere feet from her, she flew out of the way, watching in satisfaction as one of them ran face-first into the wall, knocking itself out promptly.
Big, not intelligent.
The other rhino-buffalo appeared smarter, because it swerved and avoided collision, looking up at her in rage.
Checking to see how her team mate was faring, Sparrow was pleased to see that Starfire had knocked out the other creature already.
"Yo! Starfire!" She called, gaining the other girl's attention.
The ginger looked at her as Morgan grabbed telekinetic hold of the rhino and threw it towards her. Starfire aimed her fist and waited for the animal to reach her before delivering a knock-out punch.
With a loud crash, the creature fell to the floor, smashing through two office tables.
The entire fight had stirred up quite a lot of dust, so Morgan coughed lightly as silence settled after the chaotic scene.
"That was.. something." She said after a moment. "We should probably contact Blue."
She pressed a hand to her ear and spoke. "Blue – we've encountered a bunch of seriously weird animals."
Waiting for Jaime to respond, Morgan walked to Starfire's side, looking down at the ugly animal at her feet. Briefly, Morgan wondered if they'd killed it, but she could see dust being disturbed by its breath. It made her want to leave the room, unsure when the animals would wake up again.
"Us too." Blue's voice suddenly cut across her thoughts. "Where are you?"
"I think it's the ground floor. We entered the building from the warehouse."
"Keep investigating the building – something weird is clearly going on here. We need to find out more."
"Roger that." Morgan ended the conversation, turning to Starfire. "Let's go."
They went from room to room on the entire floor, finding nothing else of substantial interest. A short encounter with a family of bats – which Morgan fond a bit ironic – and a beetle the size of a mouse were all they encountered. Eventually, they reached the lobby, of sorts. There was the main entrance and a lot of doors, a map of the place and an elevator.
"We should probably head to the basement – that's were the creepy stuff usually happens. My bet is we'll find what we're looking for there."
They decided to ignore the elevator, figuring it would give them away as well as potentionally trap them. The stairs were a slower, but safer bet.
As they descended, it got steadily colder and wetter. Soon, condensation was gathered on the smooth, white walls, slipping down in droplets. The fluorescent light over their heads blinked in and out of commission until, as they reached the end of the staircase, it gave up completely, none of the lights working.
There was a door there. Morgan grumbled about it internally. So far, all the doors they'd opened had let to some unsettling or downright dangerous encounter.
"Too many goddamn doors on this mission.." She sighed.
Starfire smiled slightly at her, a loopsided thing that made Morgan like the girl slightly more than. It spoke of someone with a wry sense of humor, which she really appreciated.
Okay, here goes..
She opened the door and the two girls peaked inside. It was a large room, brightly lit with white, smooth walls. It was clearly a laboratory of some sort, glasses filled with concoctions, computers running equations, papers strewn about..
And in the midst of it all was a tall and slim man. He wore a white lab coat and his blond hair stuck in all directions, like he'd been electrocuted. He ran a hand through it, displaying how it had come to look like it did. He was mumbling to himself as he stood crouched over something on a table in front of him. The two of them could't see what it was yet, and as the man hadn't noticed them yet, they chose to stay by the door to scan him and the room for a moment longer before they approached.
In front of them was a set of stairs that led down into the room. To their right was a steel bridge, which flanked the place along the wall. They snuck through the door and onto the bridge, keeping to the shadows in the corners to hide their movements. The room was displayed better now. But they still couldn't see what the man was looking at on the table.
"Blue Beetle," A voice said in both their ears. The sudden appearance of Raven's voice startled Morgan and she took a small step back, her wings fluttering in instinctual distress. Thankfully the man in the room didn't notice them though she had made some noise.
"What is it, Raven?" Their leader asked immediately. Raven's voice had been calm as she spoke, but it had held a small tremor of worry, which worried all of them as Raven was usually calm and emotionless.
"Beast Boy is gone." She explained. "We agreed to split up to circle the building and then meet up afterwards. It shouldn't have taken more than a few minutes, but he's been gone for ten."
Morgan's stomach clenched when, infront of them, the man stood straight, still mumbling to himself, and walked frantically towards one of his computers, typing away immediately. Since he had moved, the two girls could finally see what he had been examining, and they both let out a small gasp as the unconscious body of Beast Boy lay there.
I'm finally back from camp, which means I finally got to post this chapter!
Fun fact: I only just wrote the ending of this chapter. Usually the stuff is written weeks in advance, but for some reason, I kept putting off writing this mission, and then I'd suddenly reached the part where my document simply said *will add scene later* and I was like 'shit', bc now I had to write an entire chapter in a few days, or it'd be posted late.