Cathy crept down the stairs, glancing from side to side and straining her ears for any signs of her parents waking up as she made her way into the kitchen. She shivered as her bare feet hit the tile and struggled to open the refrigerator, stomach complaining. She had thrown a fit earlier and, as punishment, had been forced to skip dinner.
"Looking for something Cathy?" she whirled around, brown eyes wide as she found her mother standing there, eye brow raised and arms crossed over her chest. The little girl lowered her gaze to the ground and scuffed the rile with a toe, mumbling quietly in the dark. Her mother sighed.
"Next time," she began, pulling the pantry door open and taking out bread and peanut butter," try and skip the first stair, it squeaks and your father can hear it."
Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that way.
-Arthur Miller
It had been a trap. I mean, of course it had been a trap, we had known it was a trap from the start, but he could have found a better was to betray us. Pit us against his enemies(which he had. They won), literally stab us in the back, not lead us into a tunnel and threaten to blow us up. And if that wasn't bad enough the boys wouldn't stop arguing about leadership for just about the entire time. There were more important things to be done.
Bane had been tolerable, as far as people like him could be, and he was smart. He knew our problems and took advantage of them, so good for him, not for us. We had discovered what was being done there though.
Some how Cobra had gotten a hold of Cadmus's Block Buster formula and had begun to mix it in with Venom, creating a new, improved product. And it was being sold. So Sportmaster, which probably meant the League of Shadow's, which would eventually take us half way around the world for a pain in the ass cult/assassin network. Radio's were down as well, even mine to Hal, so no help from there.
At least we had finally elected Kaldur as leader.
"This is turning out to be a real pain in the ass," I muttered, Kid backing up behind me as Bane monologue. If you've ever been around an villain trying to kill you you'll notice that they do that a lot. And a lot of the time it gives us heroes a chance to turn the tide and win. You'd think they would learn.
"…The League will avenge their precious sidekicks and Santa Prisca will be mine again. Blowing you us should have the same effect," Bane finished at last, not even noticing Wally had taken the trigger to the explosive devices above out heads until he tried to push the button.
"With what?" he taunted, leaning casually against a tree, "this trigger thingy?"
Bane lunged, trying to take Kid Flash's head off before Miss Martian lifted him off the ground with her telekinesis, holding him above out heads. The rest of us, Superboy, Robin, Aqualad and I, stepped out after her. The Caves hadn't helped at all with my 'Predator Mode' in the least, in case you were wondering, just reminded me of where I had spent most of my childhood. The sooner we got off this island the better, I decided, watching M'gann drop the floating man at Supey's command. One Kryptonian punch was all it took to knock him out cold.
From there we made our way back to the factory, just as they got the sabotaged helicopter up and moving. Our resident speedster took the lead in out assault, darting in and taking down as many people as he could, while he could. I abandoned the stealth of no ring powers and shot in on the currents of air while everyone else launched themselves into battle with me.
We knew what we were doing this time, and while Superboy and Aqualad took on Sportmaster and the one we had dubbed Mammoth Miss M slipped in for some covert work. Robin had called dibs on Cobra, which left Shimmer to me. Constructs are fun and all, but let me tell you nothing beats hand to hand combat for stress relief, especially when your opponent knows what they're doing.
Shimmer was actively trying to kill me as I blocked her strikes and made my own, aiming for vital, painful parts of the body. When the helicopter blew up I pulled a dirty trick that had kept me from being crushed by Chita before. I made a rope with my ring and feinted left while she punched right, twisting back into the path of the blow when she moved to pull her arm back and striking the exposed flesh of her belly as hard as I could with elbow. When she doubled over I sent the rope out to catch her arms and seal them to her sides.
It wasn't a minute too soon either because Robin had, once again, overestimated himself, and I found myself standing at his back in front of the cult leader. He surveyed us, calculation clear in his eyes before he began backing away.
"Another time perhaps," he demurred, and vanished just as well at the Bats did. Dick scrambled after him, pushing apart leaves in search, but he was gone.
He turned back to us, face lighted by the dancing flames of the former drug factory and approached Aqualad, smiling from behind his mask.
"We picked the right guy to lead," he said, "Automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman," he laughed and Kaldurs expression morphed to one of dread. I patted his shoulder and watched the little troll walk away.
"I can explain it if you don't want to?" I offered, though I really hoped he would decline it. Bats was a scary man, you don't want to cross him or disobey orders, not even if you have the most powerful weapon in the universe.
"No, he is right. I am the leader, so I am responsible. Thank you though," he smiled at me and I returned it, thanking the Lost Ones for keeping us safe and for bringing Kaldur to our Team.
"A simple recon mission, observe and report. You will each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes," Batman paced in front of us and we all stood there, civvies on and soldier posture in use. No one met his eyes. Out heads were lowered in berated shame. If there is anyone that can remind you how badly you've done, it's the Dark Knight.
"Until then," he continued, "good job."
We were shocked. Batman doesn't praise anyone. Anyone. Let alone a team that broke every mission parameter that was set.
"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen determines success. And how you choose who leads determines character."
He was right, and I felt a flurry of pride at my team for our success, and for how well they had handled everything. The first time I had been thrown into a do-or-die scenario with other people five of us had ended up dead. I can admit now that I had been terrified of it happening again, even if I didn't realize that was what had me almost over the edge on the island. But we had won, and we had kept each other safe.
The dark expanses of space stretched out infinitely around the ship, its inhabitant oblivious to the fact in their slumber. Stars shot by in rapid succession, to far off to offer warmth but close enough to light what the glowing controls did not. The sleeping face that would not stay that way for long.
Sweat soaked blond hair fell from the butterfly clasp and the ornament itself hit the ground. Trembling hands picked it up and curled around it, blue eyes reflected off the surface, glinting in determination as stones shook uncontrollably around the girl, her knees braced on the ground.
A breath was taken, deep and slow, and lids fell shut, staying that way until the shaking stopped and the earth calmed beneath the girl. Something was coming, she could feel it, the stones could feel it. Something big.
