Chapter Ten

It Had to be Aliens

January 1st

Nightwing walked into the Cave's kitchen, Robin and Blue Beetle on his heels. "I've got a mission." He announced. Morgan, who was sitting on the table with her feet resting on a chair, along with the rest of the people in the kitchen – Garfield, M'gann, La'gaan and Connor – perked up at this and focused on him.

Everyone followed him out into the Cave's main room, where Nightwing proceeded to explain. "Clayface was spotted roaming around the sewers in Gotham City. Our job is to find him and bring him in." Nightwing pressed a few controls, pulling up a short video of a gross glob of clay passing by, not realizing that it was being caught on video. Morgan figured this was Clayface and decided that he had been rightfully named.

"Superboy, Miss Martian, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, and Robin. You're going in. I've already filled Bumble Bee in and she will meet you on the site."

Morgan was about to ask if she could go too – fat chance, she knew – and La'gaan looked very much like he was about to protest too, but Nightwing aimed a glare at the two of them and Morgan shut her mouth, crossing her arms angrily over her chest.

La'gaan, however, did not give up as easily. "I want to go too. This is in a sewer. I have a clear advantage here."

"No, Lagoon Boy." Nightwing replied shortly, obviously not in the mood for arguing. "You're staying here."

Morgan watched the exchange, wondering why her apparent attitude was considered more of a problem than La'gaan's. At least she didn't attempt to openly defy Nightwing in front of the Team.

Nightwing punched in some coordinates, and the squad was off.

"You should have let me go with them." La'gaan sounded poisonous. Nightwing sighed heavily and turned on his heel, facing the other boy.

Morgan had been about to leave, but this exchange looked like it could become interesting, so instead she leaned against one of the far walls, her arms crossed in front of her, watching them.

"You'll get to go when you're ready." Nightwing attempted to explain, but La'gaan was having none of it. He really did have more of a temper than what was good for him.

"I'm more than ready. I've been training for years!"

"Alright La'gaan, I'll make you a deal." Nightwing walked towards him and Morgan fought the urge to flinch. This couldn't be good. "If you can beat me in a sparring match, I'll let you go on the next mission."

This time, Morgan didn't fight the urge to flinch. She'd fought against Nightwing plenty of time to know that this was going to hurt. But if La'gaan had to be an ass, he would have to pay the consequences.

"Deal."

La'Gaan barely gave Nightwing time to hear his consent before he charged for him, screaming in that way that Morgan was quickly learning Superheroes liked to scream whenever they were fighting.

At least Nightwing didn't do that. That was one positive trait she would attribute to him.

She pushed herself off the wall and walked closer to better watch their sparring match. Nightwing stepped out of the way faster than she'd ever seen him move before, and grabbed hold of La'gaan's right arm, flipping him over his head and sending him to the ground. Giving him time to get up again, Nightwing waited steadily, his stance strong. La'gaan stood again and charged Nightwing, much like he'd done before.

Idiot, Morgan thought to herself. One of the things Nightwing had taught her was that you should never go for the same approach twice, especially not if it didn't work the first time.

And, predictably, like the first time, La'gaan ended up in a painful heap on the floor.

As much as she and Nightwing didn't get along very well, Morgan had to admit that he was a formidable fighter. He moved with a fluidity and practice that made one think he was born to do this.

Morgan watched La'gaan get up and this time wait for Nightwing to attack. Privately, she was kind of rooting for the Atlantean. But that was just because she was annoyed with Nightwing at the moment.

And when she said at the moment, she meant for the past month and a half. Oh, she had actually attempted to listen to Batgirl's advice and get along with him, and it had worked for about a day. Then there was training the next morning, where he'd been a bit too smug with his own awesomeness –not that he was awesome – and Morgan had quickly fallen into her old habits.

So, she should at least get points for trying. Because she really had tried. A bit. Kind of.

Whatever.

"Ouch." Morgan muttered when Nightwing made La'gaan fly across the room and hit the floor with a loud thud.

Eventually, she got tired of watching La'gaan let himself get thrown around like a rag doll, and she walked back into the kitchen where she'd been reading a book before Nightwing had assigned the Team their mission.

She sat back onto the table top and placed her feet on the seat of the chair in front of her, grabbing her novel.

Half an hour later, La'gaan came into the kitchen and poured himself a big glass of water.

"Tired of getting beaten up?" Morgan quipped dryly, not moving her gaze from her book.

"No, just taking a break. Nightwing agreed that we'd go again in an hour." La'gaan answered, obviously deciding to take her sarcastic quip as an actual question.

"Why would you subject yourself to that?" Morgan groaned. "I have to fight him every day – which is not fun by the way – and I can tell you right now that you're probably not going to beat him. He's too good."

"I'm flattered, Morgan, but if Lagoon Boy wants to fight me, he can." Nightwing seemed to materialize out of the blue, much to Morgan's startled annoyance.

"God dammit." She exclaimed, jumping in her seat. She really hadn't meant for him to hear that compliment. "You silent walking freak! How is that even possible?"

"Practice."

"That's your answer for everything."

"It's a good answer." Nightwing shrugged. Speaking of practice, come on, I think it's time you went a few rounds. We'd didn't get to train yesterday."

Morgan grumbled loudly, but jumped down from the table and followed him into the main room. La'gaan followed them, obviously interested in seeing how well Morgan could hold her own, which was part of the reason she complained. It was bad enough that she was humiliatingly suckish compared to Nightwing, she totally didn't need an audience to witness this.

Forty five minutes later, she told herself that this hero business was so not worth it. La'gaan was more cheerful than she'd ever seen him before, laughing his ass off every time Nightwing slammed her into the hard floor.

Nightwing offered her a hand up, which she accepted – but only because she wasn't sure she'd be able to get up on her own – albeit with a scowl on her face.

"You're doing well." Nightwing encouraged – lied more like.

"Yeah right. I suck." Morgan wheezed.

"For someone who has only been training for six weeks, you're doing well." He insisted.

"Whatever. Can you go back to beating up La'gaan? I'd rather watch someone else get their ass handed to them than go through it myself."

Nightwing look up at La'gaan, who nodded eagerly and stepped forward again.

Morgan, happ that she was finally out of the spotlight, stood to the side and watched them spar for perhaps fifteen minutes when Nightwing suddenly stopped the fight and pressed a hand to his ear, where Morgan knew his communicator was. He paused for a moment, listening to what was said, and then replied, "Good work Delta. I'll see you back at the Cave. Nightwing out."

So the squad had succeeded in their mission, apparently.

The short pause had given La'gaan the opportunity to surprise Nightwing, and he did make an attempt. Unfortunately for him, he still did that 'Superhero scream', alerting Nightwing to his presence immediately.

Aaaand La'gaan was back on the floor.

Another half an hour went by, Morgan switching between watching the two heroes and reading her book. At some point, Mal showed up and joined her in watching the sparring teenagers. She mainly watched them because she hoped to learn more about Nightwing's fighting technique, and perhaps discover some patterns and weaknesses, not that she had much success. He was very good, and she was very inexperienced, so Morgan didn't really know what she was supposed to be looking for. She also marveled – not that she'd ever admit it – at how long he could keep fighting. Nightwing been fighting for almost two hours straight and he had made it seem like a breeze. Morgan figured he probably wasn't putting his all into it. He certainly hadn't given much effort when fighting her.

She cringed when La'gaan came flying by her through the air, landing with a groan.

"Neptune's beard!" He cursed, slamming a hand into the floor with frustration. "Not again!" Morgan could understand his frustration. Going against someone as good as Nightwing, you kind of wanted to beat him all the more because of his skill. Moreover, Morgan knew that Nightwing had won their little sparring match a dozen times over by now, and that La'gaan would probably have to wait to get assigned a mission even longer now.

She wished she'd get to go on missions too, soon, but that didn't make her stupid enough to engage in a fight she knew she wouldn't win, so Morgan didn't feel much sympathy for the Atlantean.

La'Gaan accepted the hand Nightwing offered him. "I don't care how many years you've been training, Chum, one day you gonna be mine." Despite his angry words, La'gaan did have a small smile on his face.

Nightwing smiled good naturedly. "I'm sure you will, Lagoon Boy."

Morgan looked up from her book at the detached female voice announcing the return of the others. Mal and she stood up to meet them.

She watched as Mal tried to engage his girlfriend in conversation, only to have her quickly explain that she had work to do. Morgan couldn't help but feel bad for the guy when she saw the look on his face.

She didn't' dweel on it for long, though, because just then, a foul stench reached her nose and it twitched uncomfortably.

"Urgh," She groaned, holding a hand over her nose as Superboy, Beast Boy and Blue Beetle walked towards her. "Okay, I'm glad I didn't join you guys. I'm never going into a sewer it that's the kind of smell that's down there."

"I'm hitting the showers." Superboy announced in a monotone as he walked by them. Morgan heartily agreed when Blue Beetle said that that was probably a good idea, especially for Beast Boy. Wet fur and Sewer water did not go well together.

Morgan was about to leave, not caring about the mission report or the rest of the small talk going on, when a large holographic screen made them all pause in their tracks.

"Emergency Alert!" the computer blared out, revealed a video screen with one the Leaguers that Morgan had yet to remember the name of. He had glowing eyes and looked to be made entirely of silver. "United Nation's headquarters is under attack."

Mal, relationships trouble apparently forgotten, pulled up a small screen of a map. "The Beta squad is close by." He told Nightwing, who had stepped up next to him.

Morgan walked further into the room to better watch what was going on.

"Captain Adam," – so that's what his name was – "Our team's Beta squad is in the vicinity. They will be there in three minutes."

Captain Adam inclined his head and the screen disappeared.

"I'll let them know." Said Mal and Morgan watched as she assumed he was sending out the orders.

For not the first time, Morgan really wished she'd get to go too. She'd have to nag Nightwing about going on a mission soon. Of course, she knew her chances of going were slim, but perhaps if there was a less dangerous missions, he'd let her come.

January 3rd

"He was what?" Morgan asked incredulously.

"A robot containing an alien. I just told you." Wonder Girl sighed.

They were lounging in the living room, Cassandra sprawled on the couch, an arm slung over her face, with Morgan balancing on the top of the backrest, her feet planted on the seat. Her and Wonder girl were hanging out in the Cave, both sulking because the senior members of the Team were up in the Watchtower and they were stuck down here.

Morgan bit into an apple."But why?" she asked between chews.

"We don't know. All I know is that I failed to protect the secretary. That guy ripped him apart!"

Morgan sighed. She hadn't talked a lot with Cassie yet, but she knew the girl really, really wanted to help, like really wanted to help, and any failure hit her hard.

"Don't worry about it. After all, nobody was hurt, right?"

"Yeah, but only because that wasn't the real secretary Tseng."

"But if it had been the real one, that guy wouldn't have tried to rip him apart right? He was there for the alien, so he must've known. Therefore, nobody was hurt and you shouldn't beat yourself up about it." Morgan bit noisily into her apple again, juice dripping down her chin. She quickly wiped it away. Cassie nodded mutely and reached for the TV remote, turning on the flat screen.

"See? See? The big Alien rips open the phony secretary Tseng, pulling out the little alien!"

"Oh, great." Cassie groaned when the TV showed her the exact news she'd been trying to avoid.

The girl was about to change the channel when Morgan stopped her. "Wait, I want to see this."

"Why?" Wonder Girl whined, pouting when Morgan shushed her.

The news reporter was someone named G. Godfrey – according to the name tag at the bottom of the screen – and he was scowling at the camera as he spoke bitterly.

"What's the League hiding? We know we provide a safe haven for a Kryptonian, and a Martian But what if that's not all? What if the Amazons came from outer space?" The blonde Amazon sitting next to her scoffed at that ludicrous accusation. "Or the Atlanteans? How can we really know Flash isn't an alien? Or Hawkman? Or Icon? What are they keeping from the real earthlings like us?"

Morgan scowled at the TV and the man's distasteful words, chucking her half-finished apple right at his face. It bounced harmless off the TV-screen and rolled away on the floor.

She felt a strange sort of anger from the way he was criticizing the League. She realized that it annoyed her because she was essentially one of the heroes he was questioning. Well, she was the kid version, at least. But any criticism aimed at the League was also aimed at her team, so she took what he said as a personal offense.

"What a pleasant fellow, that G. Gordon guy." She quipped sarcastically after changing the channel.

Wonder Girl scoffed, grimacing. "Yeah. He's always all up in the League's business. It's like he forgets all the good they do."

"How could anyone possible be against having a bunch of superpowered people fix all of their problems for them?"

Cassie shrugged, sitting up. "Paranoid people." She offered. "I have to go. It was nice hanging with you, Morgan."

Morgan smiled a small smile at the Amazon. "You too, Cassie. I'll see you whenever."

Cassie smiled back and started walking away. She paused and turned around. "Oh, and good luck on Tuesday!"

Morgan frowned, wondering if that was supposed to mean anything to her. "What's Tuesday?" She asked.

Cassandra laughed once. "Your first day of school!"

Morgan's face fell. She'd completely forgotten about that. Before she got the chance to ask the Amazon how she even knew about that, the blonde girl had flown out of the room and left Mount Justice.

January 4th

Dick walked into his apartment and immediately started ridding himself of his suit. He was exhausted.

It had to be aliens.

It just had to be small, creepy-looking aliens that stole stuff from other planets.

And of course they were his problem. Well, his team's problem. Of course they were the ones that had to go and get rid of the aliens.

At the very least, they now knew what had happened in those sixteen hours the six Leaguers had gone missing, and would now be able to do something about it. A five year old riddle had been solved.

But that unfortunately meant more work for him.

As usual.

He stashed his Nightwing suit into the hidden compartment in his closet and flopped down on his bed, contemplating how extremely nice it would be to just go to sleep right then and there. He was behind on sleep anyway, having had to pull an all-nighter a few days ago to finish a school project. He was always behind on sleep these days.

Dick almost felt himself slip away into sleep's sweet oblivion, but forced himself awake, sitting up.

He couldn't go to sleep just yet. He still had homework, and he hadn't eaten since lunchtime.

He also needed to work out a battle plan for their newest mission – track down all Kroloteans currently on Earth and destroy their secret bases – assign squads, and figure out who he'd send to Ran with Adam Strange.

Dick sighed and considered just laying down again and go to sleep. Maybe all his work would miraculously be finished by itself when he woke up next morning.

Standing up, he shuffled into his kitchen and poured himself a glass of cold water, slipping into a seat by his kitchen counter. He turned on his computer and stretched his tired back as he waited for the computer to get ready. He grabbed his phone and ordered take-out. He couldn't even stomach the thought of another night with either a cold dinner or a cup of instant noodles.

Glancing up at the watch on his wall, Dick suppressed a groan. He'd be lucky if he got five hours of sleep tonight, considering the already late hour and the workload that was waiting for him.

Around one AM, he had to call it a night, deciding that he couldn't very well do his homework when his eyes couldn't even focus on the screen in front of him.

He told himself that he would have time to plan out the Team's mission tomorrow, probably in school.

January 5th

Nightwing watched as the last few team members strode into the Cave's main room, everyone eagerly waiting for the new mission. He spotted Morgan in the mix and realized that he hadn't had time to train with her for two days now. He also needed to talk to her about her first day of school tomorrow.

Not for the first time, Nightwing felt like he was her babysitter and not her mentor.

"Alright guys, let's get started." He spoke up, silencing the small chatter that had been spread out across the room. He went on to explain the Kroloteans and what they were doing on Earth. How the alien race had been brought here by the League attacking Rimbor five years ago and how the aliens liked to steal technology from other planets. "It's all hands on deck." He clarified as he started to describe their mission. "The League and the Team will hit all fourteen Krolotean Zeta locations simultaneously."

He paused for a moment and looked over the small crowd, making sure everyone was following. "Your priorities are to destroy all Zeta tubes or platforms and search for any humans that the aliens may have abducted."

He walked back and forth, looking them all sternly in the eyes, feeling like a drill sergeant panning out orders to his legion. He supposed the description wasn't that far off.

"As always, Mal is the ops manager. Coordination comes from him."

Nightwing halted, distracted, as Lagoon Boy prayed to get on the Alpha squad.

Unfortunately for the Atlantean, Nightwing hadn't placed him on the Alpha squad, but Nightwing didn't spend much time feeling bad about it. He was the leader of this team and he got to make the calls.

"Wonder Girl, you and I will be Alpha. We're heading out to Philadelphia."

Wonder Girl's excited cheer was drowned out by Lagoon Boy cursing his bad luck.

"Give me beta then!" The green-skinned teen practically begged.

Again, Nightwing would have to disappoint him. He'd placed Lagoon Boy in Gamma, which Nightwing knew probably wouldn't please him. But, hey, at least he'd included him in the operation this time, right?

"Batgirl and Bumblebee," Nightwing sharply went on. "You're beta. Take Wolf with you. Assignment: Vlatavastok."

The two girls left the room, and Nightwing walked up to the three remaining boys.

"Robin, Lagoon Boy and Blue Beetle," He announced, not missing the sour look on Lagoon Boy's face. "You're Gamma. Your destination is New Orleans. Take the Bio ship."

"Gamma always gets the soft gigs." Lagoon Boy grumbled as he and Blue Beetle started walking away. Tim made to follow them, But Nightwing grabbed his arm. "Robin," Nightwing shot a look over his shoulder at Morgan who was still silently standing where she'd been the whole time with her arms crossed, "I'm putting you in charge of Gamma."

"Me?" Tim asked, surprised. "Dick," He whispered, leaning in closer so the winged girl couldn't hear. "I've never led a squad before."

"And this is the perfect opportunity to try it out. Get your feet wet as a field leader."

Robin narrowed his eyes slightly at him. "Because it's a Gamma mission and you're not expecting any trouble?" He accused sharply, hitting closer to home than Nightwing cared to admit. "Or because we're already stretched thin and you don't have any other choice?"

That boy was nothing if not perceptive. "Just.. don't die, okay?"

Tim's gaze softened a bit at the mixed affectionate and worried tone Nightwing used. They both knew what he really meant. Don't die like Jason did.

"And avoid any unnecessary risks to the squad, okay?" He demanded, slipping out of his big brother role and into his team leader role with ease. "That's an order."

"Can I go?" The two teenagers looked up when Morgan suddenly spoke up for the first time since she'd arrived. Her words had been casual, like she'd been asking if she could go make dinner or some other non-dangerous activity.

Nightwing eyed her like she was insane, but she didn't acknowledge his look, standing with her arms crossed over her chest as she studied the picture of a Krolotean on the holographic screen in front of them.

"Are you nuts?" Nightwing blurted out before he could figure out a more dignified answer. "No!"

Morgan dropped her arms to her sides and turned to them, her face carefully blank. "Why not?" She argued. "Robin and Lagoon Boy already said it; this is an easy mission. And I have to start somewhere. What better place to start than on an easy and harmless mission?"

"Well – you.. there's-" Nightwing found himself lacking words, which he usually never did. Her reasoning was frustratingly logical. "You are not ready."

She frowned at him, like his words confused her. Tilting her head to the side slightly, she asked, "What better way to become ready than going out there?"

"Nightwing," Robin unexpectedly spoke up, placing a hand on the older hero's bicep. "She's got a point."

Nightwing felt the sudden urge to growl in frustration when his younger brother suddenly ganged up on him with his infuriating pupil. He squashed the urge down, telling himself that it really wouldn't be very professional.

He weighed the pros and cons in his mind. He was almost a hundred percent sure that this mission was going to be incredibly easy. Most likely, they'd at best find an abandoned and small base, and so Morgan wouldn't end up in a situation she couldn't handle. And if he let her go, she'd probably stop nagging him about doing something other than training in the Cave.

On the other hand, if there really were Kroloteans there and she was hurt, that would be his fault. And as much as he found her annoying and difficult to work with, he didn't her to actually get hurt. He also reminded himself that their missions tended to go awry.

But the chances were very slim.. And she would be with three other heroes.

Nightwing sighed and massaged his temples slowly. "Fine."

"Yes!" Morgan hissed, curling her hands into fists and punching the air. "This is going to be awesome!"

Robin looked amused by her energetic reaction, but Nightwing wasn't. "If you're going," Nightwing said, walking into the corner of the room where he'd placed a package earlier. "You'll need this."

He picked the box up and handed it to Morgan, who sent him a confused look before prying open the lid. "I was going to give it to you after everyone left, but you'll need it now."

Morgan kneeled down and placed the box on the floor before slowly pulling out its contents.

"Oh my god, it's finished already?" She grinned, her finger trailing the grey outline of wings against the dark blue background.

Nightwing nodded when she pulled out the gloves and boots too. "I'll be right back, Robin!" She promised before dashing off to change.

"That's her suit?" Robin asked.

"Yeah," Nightwing said. "We designed it a few days ago."

Robin nodded. Then he scratched the back of his neck a bit uncomfortably. "Listen, Dick, We'll take good care of her. She'll be okay. You don't have to worry about her."

"I'm not worried about her." Nightwing denied quickly – too quickly to sound convincing. "But if she is hurt, that'll be on my head."

"She won't." Tim reassured, sounding very confident.

Nightwing smiled slightly. "I know. I trust you."

The soft sound of boots on the concrete floor drew their attention, and the two boys saw as Morgan came around the corner, clad in her dark blue suit with her black boots and gloves, the mask Nightwing had given her covering her eyes. Her hair was loose, her wild curls spilling around her shoulders and wings, bouncing as she walked.

"So," She said, placing her hands on her hips.

Hips that, Nightwing just happened to notice, the tight costume hugged very attractively – not that he cared at all. "How do I look?"

He cleared his throat. "Like a superhero."

He saw Robin out in the corner of his eyes squint at her suit and tilt his head. "Your suit actually looks a lot like-"

Before Robin could finish that sentence, Nightwing stomped on his foot. Robin grimaced in pain.

"Like a superhero suit. That was what I was going to say. Yes, it looks like a superhero suit."

Morgan smiled brightly. "Well, let's go then!"

Nightwing wished them luck and headed for the garage where Wonder Girl was waiting for him. He told himself that he would live to regret this decision.

Next chapter might be a day or two late because I'm away from home. But it'll be worth the wait as we get to see Morgan on her first real mission!

I hope this wasn't terribly confusing, I'm kinda assuming most people reading this story has already watched the second season of the show and knows what's going on. Otherwise, feel free to ask me what's going on and I'd love to answer!

Fun fact: This chapter was the first time ever that I've written something directly based off of a scene that already happened in the canon media, so I hope I did it justice! Tell me what you think! :)