A/N: Holy. Freaking. Crap. This is the longest chapter I have EVER submitted in the history of my fanfiction existence. And frankly I don't think it's all that great... but don't worry, the next chapter WILL be better. Heart-wrenching and utterly frustrating to read, but better.

Please review- it will make me want to actually update on this story that is beginning to eat my soul. Seriously, I want to be done with this (the last chapter is already written but the in-between stuff is giving me headaches). So... yeah. Let me know what you think.

Bruce rushed into the cave, for once with only room enough in the front of his mind for a single thought: Thank goodness. Barry found them, Barry brought them home.

They're going to get the telling off of the century—

It was then that he saw them—just the two of them, sitting side by side on the couch— and his hopes plummeted. He thought at first that the others must be around somewhere. The medical bay? Maybe someone had been seriously hurt, and that's why Barry had sounded so cautious over the com-link. But deep down he knew what this was really about. He could see it in their dejected stance, in their despondent faces. He didn't want to admit it to himself. But he knew.

"Talk," he said, but he couldn't muster up the menacing tone he usually hid behind.

Artemis and Wally exchanged a glance, and the young speedster squeezed the archer's hand bracingly. Then he started talking. He spoke in a monotone, a hollow look in his eyes, like he was speaking and trying very hard not to think about what he was saying. He told the Dark Knight everything, exactly as he remembered it. "It all started because Robin decided to go looking for Kaldur himself…"

"…If you're all too chicken to come with me, I'll just go myself! You guys are no better than the League." Robin was standing in the portal, glaring expectantly at his teammates.

Megan was the first to speak. "Robin, the League is already searching for Kaldur. We were told to stay here."

"Yeah, but this isn't like when we're on a mission. This is Kaldur! If it were any of us in his place, you know he would be the first one out there trying to find them. Well, I'm not letting him down, even if you're going to."

"Hey!" Wally came to her defense. "There's no reason to be like that. We all want to help too. But the League—"

"Forget the League. They don't know what they're doing."

"And you do?"

"Yes."

Wally goggled at him. "You have a source. Intel. You know where they're keeping him." It wasn't a question.

Robin nodded. "I can't say where I got it. But we don't have much time before this window closes; we have to go now!"

"I don't know… it all sounds kind of shifty…"

"Does it really matter?"

"Of course it does!" Megan interrupted. "What if your 'source' is lying? It could be a trap. Someone could get hurt!"

"Kaldur's gonna be worse than hurt if we don't get to him soon!"

"Robin, I really think we should contact the League. If you have information they can use—"

Robin looked at his teammates, dismayed. "Fine," he said. "I see how it is. Have fun waiting. I'm going to get Kaldur."

He pressed a button on his wrist computer. White light filled the portal, blinding them.

"Robin, wait!"

Too late; he was already gone.

"We have to go after him," said Artemis from behind them. Wally jumped; he had almost forgotten she was there. He turned to look at her, wondering why she looked so shaken.

"Right," he said decisively, already restless with anticipation. "He'll just get himself in trouble. Superboy, you in?"

"Yeah." No surprise there; everyone could tell how restless Conner was from being cooped up in the Cave for so long.

"Megan?"

She bit her lip, still hesitant. "I don't know, Wally… I really think we should wait for the League's say-so before we do anything."

"We don't have time for this!" Artemis snapped. "Megan, we're going, and you're coming with us. Get the bioship ready."

Megan scowled, but she knew better than to argue with Artemis when she was in a mood. Plus, if something was important enough that Wally and Artemis actually agreed on it, she supposed she'd better go along with it. "Fine," she said, and they heard the sound of the bioship waking in the launch bay. "But if we get in trouble with the League, I'm telling them this was your idea."

"Fair enough. Can we get going?"…

"…So we went after him. He hid on that ship before it put out, though, and we were just barely too late to stop him. We followed in the bioship in camouflage mode, but somehow they noticed us and started shooting. They took out the wing and most of the front end; we bailed out and landed on the boat just before the whole thing exploded…"

…There were a few seconds of entangled confusion immediately following their 'landing'—Artemis nocking an arrow, Wally tense and ready to break into a sprint. An intense look of concentration in Megan's eyes, and Superboy in a fighting stance, fists raised. Wally looked at his teammates, and Artemis, catching his eye, gave a determined nod. We can do this, her eyes said, no problem. They were outnumbered fifty to one—fairly normal odds in their line of work. He wasn't too worried. "Miss M, can you sense Robin and Aqualad?" he asked.

"Not yet—there're so many minds to sift through."

"Keep searching," he ordered; and to the rest, "Let's take them."

Deep, menacing laughter from behind jarred his concentration. The four heroes whirled around at the noise.

The first thing they saw was the giant—eight feet tall, three times as wide as a normal man and with bulging muscles that would shame a Venom-pumped cage fighter.

The second was Robin, looking scrawnier than usual against the giant's bulk. A massive arm was curled around the Boy Wonder's neck, so that his feet dangled a foot above the deck.

The third was the gun, pressing into Robin's back...

"… M'gann tried to bargain with him—she offered to trade herself in if he would let us and Robin go. The rest of us had no idea what she was planning until she walked up to him. She sent us a mental message to tell us not to intervene, but she let us see more than she meant to…"

…Don't mess this up, he heard her through the link. Once you can, take Robin and get out of here. He could feel how scared she was, and more than that: the desperation, the need to fix everything, the guilt… she felt guilty about not being able to stop Robin from going alone. She had been opposed to this the whole time, and yet she still felt responsible for the whole mess… He wanted to reassure her, to tell her to stop being crazy, but she had closed off the link again.

'As we agreed,' she said, no trace of fear in her voice. No! he wanted to yell; he wanted to run at her, drag her back, make her stop—but he could still see the gun, dangerously cocked and pressing into Robin's back. His hazel eyes met Robin's masked ones briefly, and he knew he couldn't move a muscle. Or else Robin was as good as dead…

"…The giant clubbed M'gann with the gun, just knocked her out. Artemis had to keep Superboy from charging…"

'Let me go! I'm going to rip him to pieces!'

'No, you're not!' Artemis snapped, 'If you attack, the rest of them will shoot. We'll all get killed!'

Conner lowered his voice. 'I'm indestructible. They can't kill me with bullets.'

'Yeah, but in case you haven't noticed, this isn't about you, Superboy. Those guns are pointed at M'gann and Robin. If you as much as move, they're dead. Stand down.'

The giant man laughed. 'Smart move, kiddies. She's absolutely right, if you make a move your friends get it. So don't' – he grinned evilly and cocked his gun – 'move.'

Conner looked sideways at Artemis and Wally, but without Megan to link their minds there was no way they could communicate.

'Your Martian friend arranged this,' the giant said. 'She insisted that I let the four of you go if she gave herself up as a captive. Lucky for you three, she was the objective in the first place. The Light has no interest in the four of you at this time. So, Miss Martian gets her wish… almost.' He dropped Robin, who collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath; then he crawled to Megan's side and began shaking her. Wally could see his lips moving but couldn't hear his words.

The giant kicked him hard in the stomach, and he fell onto his side, coughing and groaning. It was all Wally could do to keep from running to his friend's side, but he dared not move. The man reached down with a colossal hand and lifted Robin by his hair; Robin screamed in pain, arms flailing and legs kicking out wildly. Watch closely,' the giant barked at the other three. 'We're going to let you go, but first you have to be taught a lesson, so you don't get any ideas about rescue missions. If we catch you again, there will be no mercy.' Slowly, deliberately, he strode to the port side railing…

"… We couldn't do anything. We… we just watched…"

…Robin's body arced as the bullet ripped through him; he didn't even have a chance to scream. And then he was falling, as if in slow motion, and Wally knew he would never forget the sight of his friend's ruined body, the shock etched on his face as the life flooded out of him even as he fell; the dull slap as his body hit the water with little more than a splash. Those things would stay with him, haunt him, until his dying day…

"…Superboy was thrown overboard. I… I tried to save M'gann, but she ended up saving us, covering our backs while we jumped into the water. We never found Conner; it was all we could do just to get ourselves back to shore." His throat felt dry, like every word was scraping against the inside of his throat as it was dragged painfully out of him. He relived every second, every instant of hopelessness and despair and grief and guilt, as he told the story. It hurt. To say those words, to admit that it had really happened. Saying it aloud made it final; no taking it back.

But this was Batman. He needed to know what had happened to his sidekick—no, his partner. He needed the whole story. The whole truth.

He felt a hand rest heavily on his shoulder, and looked up wearily to see his uncle standing beside him. Barry squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, but Wally shrugged him off. He wasn't ready for comfort; not even from Uncle Barry.

Batman hadn't said a word. Hadn't made a sound. Wally was afraid to look up, afraid of what he might see. Anger from the Dark Knight was normal. Annoyance and disdain, frequent. Occasionally he was patronizing. Praise was rare. Wally didn't know if he could handle seeing grief or sadness there. He didn't know if the man was capable. Of course he is, said a scolding voice in his head. He's human. He has every right to those feelings.

Wally didn't want to see a grieving Batman. Give him anger, blame him; he could handle that. But sadness, despair… he didn't think he could handle that. The sky was already threatening to fall on him; reality was already warped beyond belief. One more shock might be too much.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Slowly, painstakingly, he lifted his gaze to meet the Dark Knight's.

Only Batman wasn't looking at him. Wasn't looking at anyone.

He's in shock, Wally realized. But… but nothing surprises him…

Wally expected him to snap at any second; to fly at him in a rage, demanding the truth—any truth so long as it wasn't this. But when he snapped, it wasn't Wally he yelled at.

He rounded on Artemis, causing her to flinch at the fury in his masked face, and bellowed, "How did you let this happen?"

dot dot dot, what? Why does Bruce blame Artemis? Wally is dying to know... but he might not be able to handle it if he finds out...

If you have a minute, you should go check out my other YJ deathfic, called 'World Turned Upside Down', because in my opinion it is infinitely better than this one. Cheers!