GOTHAM

September 22, 6:00 EST


"Miss Arabella, Master Richard, I do believe it's time to wake up."

Alfred's distinct voice cut through my sleepy haze and I groaned, reaching to bury my face in the blanket. When my hand met empty air, I blinked awake, realizing that I was in Dick's room, in the clothes I had been wearing last night, lying over top the covers next to the aforementioned boy. I sat up a little, yawning, "what time is it?"

Alfred sounded amused, "it's a little past six o'clock, Miss."

"Then why am I awake?" I said with narrowed eyes, lying back down in an attempt to go back to sleep.

Dick sat up next to me, "wait is it the twenty-second?"

"It is indeed, if you could wake up Miss Williams I'm in the middle of preparing breakfast. Your uniforms are hanging on the door, freshly pressed."

"Thank you Alfred," Dick said, and I stubbornly kept my eyes closed. As soon as the uniforms were mentioned I realized what day it was. This was so not happening. I received a gentle poke in the side, "up and at 'em Belle."

I just rolled to the other side of the bed, pressing my face into the pillows. Alfred chuckled lowly, "shall I fetch some ice water?"

"Nah, you know Belle she'll be up in a minute," Dick assured and I groaned again. There was the sound of Dick's door opening and closing and then the other side of the bed dipped down and I got another poke, "we have school, c'mon."

"Over my dead body," I murmured, burrowing deeper into the pillow, wondering if it was possible to suffocate myself.

Dick's signature laugh filled the room, "the sooner you get up the sooner you can have some coffee."

That got me to turn my head to the side and crack an eye open, "coffee?"

He nodded, a barely contained smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he tried to appear serious, "coffee, with all your weird sugar and cream."

I scoffed, finally sitting up crisscross on the bed, "okay Mister 'I take my coffee as black as my soul'."

We laughed as I leaned forward to stretch out my back muscles, kneading my fists into the mattress. He shook his head, "do you make an attempt to do catlike things or is it just a part of your personality by now?"

I shrugged, swinging my feet over the edge of the bed to stand, "Selina's a terrible influence. Did we fall asleep here?"

"Must've, it was fun though," he walked to the door, "here do you want your uniform?"

We had participated in our yearly, last night before school tradition where we stayed up as long as possible in a last-ditch attempt to get the most out of our summer. The assorted playing cards and chips lying around told me we had been playing Poker before we passed out. We had an ongoing rivalry, stretching back to when Selina had taught us to play at ten so we could learn each other's tells. I took the hanger from him, shaking my head at it, "I swear the skirt length shrinks a quarter-inch each year. Do you remember anything past two AM by the way? I think we were playing poker."

"Not really, I think you fell asleep first though. You excited to start at the Academy proper?"

I scoffed, "if by excited you mean dreading the spoiled snots and general 'we're better than everyone else' atmosphere, then yes, yes I am."

"At least we're high schoolers, if only freshmen," he pointed out, making for the bathroom that adjoined his bedroom.

"You make a fair argument," I said, grabbing the duffel bag I kept here for days like these, "shower and meet back here to go down to breakfast?"

He made a noise of affirmation and I opened the door, heading across the hall to the guest room I usually occupied here, next to Selina's room when she stayed. They were the only two guest rooms in the same wing of the Manor as Dick, Bruce and Alfred's rooms, and according to Alfred it was built with the intention of housing family of the Waynes, and the other guest rooms were for people not related to Bruce and his ancestors by blood or marriage. I appreciated the sentiment, and when Alfred had mentioned it offhandedly to Selina, she blushed.

Dumping my bag on the conveniently located dresser, I grabbed whatever hygiene products were necessary and went about my morning. Pausing in front of the mirror after I was dressed, I took the time to braid my hair to the side in a fishtail, dab concealer over my dark circles and throw on a coat of mascara. Nodding at my reflection, I took the brown leather messenger bag I had prepared earlier in the week out of the closet and headed back across the hall.

Dick was already waiting outside his room, looking at something on his phone and he looked up at the sound of my door closing. I smiled, "ready to go?"

He nodded, "it's weird to see you without a ponytail," he said in a teasing voice.

"It's weird to see you with your hair gelled back," I teased back. It really was, his whole face kind of changed, probably because there wasn't a swath of black covering his forehead.

When we got to the kitchen Bruce was already there, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. I beelined for the coffeepot, filling a mug and handing it off to Dick before I grabbed my own, dumping in cream and sugar. As we sat down Bruce looked up from his paper, "did you two have fun last night?"

I nodded with a mouthful of pancake, Dick answering for the both of us, "yeah, we fell asleep during a game of Poker. I was winning."

I whipped my head to the side, swallowing hastily, "you have no proof of that."

He shrugged, "I always win at Poker, you suck at bluffing."

"Only because you know all my tells," I muttered into my coffee, taking a large gulp of the god-given liquid.

Bruce looked at his watch, "if you two want to be on time you should leave soon, the traffic on the RK bridge is supposed to be bad this morning."

We ate as quickly as possible, getting the last of our things together in time for Alfred to pull the car around, and we were standing outside Gotham Academy within the hour.

There was a yell of excitement from my right and I was tackled from behind, Barbara's usual smell of strawberries and peony washing over me. I started laughing, turning around to return her hug. She detatched from me just long enough to pitch herself at Dick, and I realized just how much I had missed her, "miss us?"

"Yes!" she said, calming down now that she had attacked us, "I feel like I haven't seen you guys all summer."

A small knot of guilt made itself apparent in the pit of my stomach, she had a point. From Dick's face he was having a similar reaction, but he smiled at Babs anyway, "who do you want this year?"

She shook her head, "I don't know but if I get Mrs. Walsh for math again I'll fling myself out a window." She turned to me, "you're doing AP English aren't you? That means you're going to have Townsend," she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes, "I really don't know why everyone thinks he's so attractive."

"Are you kidding me?" she said, utterly appalled, "he's the definition of tall, dark and handsome."

"And he has a wife and two daughters he talks about twenty-four-seven," I pointed out, miming shooting something, "any and all attraction dead in the water."

"At least you'll have something nice to look at during class," she said, grabbing the both of us and pulling us towards the courtyard.

Suddenly Dick stopped dead, and I followed his line of vision to see a tall, olive-skinned girl with a long blonde ponytail who, as he tugged me to side to get a better look at her face, was undoubtedly Artemis. He looked back at me and I looked from her to him, back to her and then to him again, "is that?..."

"Babs hold on a minute," he called, and we dashed up to her and a girl who looked to be Bette Kane, Dick's camera already out. Popping over both her shoulders we grinned and Dick held the camera out, "we'll laugh about this someday."

The camera flashed and we took off back to Babs, going around one of the pillars so Artemis couldn't see us. She looked disoriented for a minute and then walked off, and we crept out from behind the pillar. Babs narrowed her eyes, "what was that about?"

"Nothing Barbara," Dick said, laughing slightly, "just being friendly to the new girl."

I nudged him in the side, "send that to me."

He nodded, and the bell rang for class. By the grace of some god Dick and I were in the same homeroom, and as soon as we got our schedules we started comparing. Lunch was the same for everyone at the Academy so we didn't have to worry about that, but considering we were taking such different tracks we only had Ethics and Philosophy, Biology, and PE together.

English was my first course on this day of the cycle, and when I got there Townsend was leaning against his desk, instructing everyone to pick their own seats. Mr. Townsend was a school favorite, easygoing with very few rules and ridiculously attractive for a man over the age of thirty-five. I nabbed a window seat, settling down just as Evangeline Montgomery and her posse of rich idiots approached.

She gave me a sickeningly sweet smile, "Arabella, it's been so long. I'm going to need you to move."

I raised an eyebrow, "and for what reason, Evangeline?"

"Do you see my hair?" she asked, flicking it over her shoulder, "over the summer I got some natural highlights, and when I sit in the sun it makes me look angelic. There's a junior over there I'm trying to impress, and you're sitting where the most sunlight hits the room so I'm going to need you to get up."

"Do you see my face?" I said in the exact same tone she had, "this is the expression I have when I give no fucks. Go sit somewhere else." She scowled, opening her mouth to say something when Artemis Crock wandered into the classroom, wary and vaguely uncomfortable looking, and I nearly choked on my own spit.

I hadn't really thought about this, AP classes were comprised of more than one grade at Gotham Academy, and I hadn't even considered that Artemis might share a class with me. From the way she stood you could tell she was new, and Evangeline and her little group of furies were sizing her up, switching their focus to easier prey. I pasted on a bright smile, "Artemis!"

Her head whipped to the side, eyes widening as she realized it was me calling her name, "Arabella?" I waved, indicating for her to come sit with me and while she did I stared down Evangeline, hoping she would leave Artemis alone now that she knew we were friends. Luckily enough, she pouted and walked off towards the back of the class, making sure to stare daggers at me as she went. As soon as Artemis sat down she leaned in to talk to me quietly, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"This is my school, better question, what are you doing here?" I asked, turning around in my seat to face her completely.

She shook her head, "I got a scholarship and my mom practically begged me to take it. It sucks here, by the way."

"Oh I am completely aware, see that girl at the back wearing a headband?"

Smart as she was, she looked at the window reflection instead of turning around, "what about her?"

I lowered my voice, "that's Evangeline Montgomery, she's the alpha bitch of my grade. She started sizing you up as soon as you came in, if she starts trying to talk to you, tell her to fuck off, you're completely in the right as a sophomore."

She narrowed her eyes, "what's up with that? My tour guide spent like five seconds on the pecking order here."

"We're a seventh to twelfth grade school," I explained, "basically anyone who isn't a freshman are our slaves, because they're technically not a part of the school. They belong to the Academy's middle school, have their own sports teams and mascot. It's the same kind of deal with the high schoolers, where the older you are the more privileges you have. She's a freshman, so if you told her to fuck off she couldn't do anything about it and she'd do what she's told, but if she told you to fuck off she'd be ostracized by the sophomores. The only benefit of becoming a freshman is that people can't tell you to do stuff for them anymore."

"Wait, what do you guys make the middle schoolers do?"

"Nothing terrible, if you're at your locker you can ask one to fill up your water bottle, stuff like that."

"Okay," she said slowly, "how do you tell if someone's older than you?"

"Crests," I said, tapping the sewn-on symbol over my heart, "see how mine has one little dot next to it? It's technically not in the school handbook, but the people who make the uniforms add a dot for every year, look you have two, and that junior has three," I pointed to a guy a few seats away.

She shook her head, "this is the most confusing, bullshit thing ever."

I nodded sympathetically, "that's the bare bones of it too, then you get into the different people in each grade who are considered the heads of them, like Evangeline over there, and if someone from a lower grade is considered cool enough people from the grade above respect them, but I don't adhere much to the details anyway."

"That's the way I'm going about it," she muttered, and as Townsend walked over to the board the room quieted. I turned back around in my seat as he uncapped a whiteboard marker, peering to see what he was writing. He stepped away from the board, "This, is ancient Greek. Since I'm assuming very few of you can read ancient Greek, I'll explain. This word is translated as menin, or menis, and it means wrath, or anger, or rage, you get the picture. It's the first word of The Iliad, and thus very important. This first word, before even invoking a muse, sets the tone for the whole of the epic. It's about anger, the wrath of Achilles. To give all this a point, this first day of classes is similar, it sets the tone for the school year. I don't have many rules, but I expect the ones I do have to be followed…"

I parted ways with Artemis after English, but now that it was lunch and I was on the way to meet Dick and Babs, I considered trying to find her. I had her phone number after all, but if she met Dick without some sort of disguise, she might figure out his identity. And while I was willing to tell her mine, exposing someone else's was considered Ultimate Betrayal in superhero circles.

Biting down on my guilt, I trusted that she had managed to be social enough to find a group of people to sit with and made for the magnolia tree we always sat underneath at lunch. I was halfway to it when someone called my name in a distinctively British voice, and I turned with a sigh to see Will striding towards me. It occurred to me that I didn't actually know how much older Will was than Jessi and I, but the two dots on his blazer told me he was only fifteen. He grinned, "I was convinced I was dreaming when I saw you, but there you are, flesh and blood."

I raised an eyebrow, "did you need something?" I couldn't shade him directly, given that he was a sophomore, but I didn't really feel like dealing with him at the moment.

"I just caught sight of you and came over. Do you have a place to go, or would you like to spend lunch with me?"

I shook my head, "I have people waiting on me."

"Leave 'em," he said with a playful tone, "c'mon I'll introduce you to my mates."

I found the concept was actually kind of appealing, Will could be annoying but he was usually fun. I enjoyed our rapport, and if I got to see Jessi in it all that sounded good to me too. Dick and Babs took precedent though, "sorry, duty calls, send my regrets to your 'mates'."

He laughed, "why do I always find myself saying 'next time' with you?"

"I am a rare and elusive creature," I said jokingly, turning to walk away.

As I did, Will shouted from behind me, "that you are love!"

I laughed, weaving through the crowds of students dotting the lawn until I spotted our tree, Dick and Babs sitting at the base, laughing about something. A slow smile stretched across my face and I approached slowly, coming up behind Babs while holding a finger to my lips. Dick seemed to catch the hint, pretending not to notice me, and I got right up behind her to whisper in her ear, "boo!"

She slapped a hand to her mouth to stifle a yell, jumping ten feet in the air. Dick and I burst into laughter as she whipped around, "you two are the worst!"

We only laughed harder and I tried to apologize between giggles, "sorry… but your reaction was too good to pass up."

She flopped back down in a huff and I sat comfortably in my usual spot leaning against the trunk of our tree. Dick extended a granola bar, "here, how was your morning?"

I took it from him gratefully, "thank you kind sir, and not too bad. I just bumped into Will on the way here."

Barbara narrowed her eyes, "Will who?"

Blinking, I realized Babs had yet to be properly caught up on the Will situation. I shrugged, "long story short, that performance I did like a week ago? The girl I did it for has an older brother who's kind of a lovable asshole."

Dick raised an eyebrow, "when did he go from insufferable douchebag to a lovable asshole?"

"Key word being asshole," I said, waving my granola bar at him. Suddenly I remembered this morning, "oh and I had a run-in with the always delightful Evangeline Montgomery during English, and a friend."

I cast my eyes to Dick's as I finished my sentence and he gave me the tiniest of nods to let me know he got the message. Babs groaned, "Evangeline? God, she's the gift that just keeps giving. But who's your friend?"

"No one," I said with a shake of my head, "just a friend."

She grinned, "who knew you had friends outside of the two of us?"

"Hey!" I yelped with semi-fake indignation, "I will have you know I have plenty of friends."

Her smile only got wider as she spoke in a singsong voice, "oh really?"

I got to my feet, chasing her around the base of the tree while Dick laughed, and I couldn't help thinking that maybe school wasn't as bad as I thought.


GOTHAM

September 22, 18:43 EST


Having stared down the pile of homework I had been assigned on the first day back, I decided school was definitely as bad as I thought, if not worse. Three hours later however, Dick and I were suited up and on our way to the Cave. At least that's what I thought we were doing up until Dick dragged me to the fire escape located just above our Zeta Port to wait for Artemis. Twenty minutes of waiting in the autumn cold had made me an unhappy camper, "Rob this is ridiculous."

"Shh," he whispered, "she has to come at some point, we all agreed to go to the Cave tonight. And when she gets here, we'll surprise her, throw her off her guard and question her. She gives me a bad feeling, I don't think she's who she says she is." I silently cursed Dick's intuition as someone with a familiar gait approached and Artemis' distinctive smell of green apple and almonds curled through the alley, tinged with the tea she must have drank before she came here. Dick dropped down and I followed, landing softly in the dim quiet just behind the run-down phone booth that served as our Zeta Port. Dick stepped out from behind the booth with a big smile, voice all happy surprise, "Artemis?"

She gasped, eyes widening in shock and stepped out too, hoping my presence would calm her. She looked back and forth between us, "Robin, Cat, I- uh…"

"How random that you're in Gotham City," he said, not nearly as slick as he thought he sounded, "instead of Star City, where your uncle Green Arrow lives?"

"I'm, uh, here to see my cousin!" she said, hand coming to scratch the back of her neck. "She… was in the state spelling bee. Here. In Gotham. City."

I resisted the urge to facepalm. She was a terrible liar, and I noted neck scratching as one of her tells. Not to mention Dick was being as conspicuous about his questioning as humanly possible, Artemis wasn't an idiot, she'd figure out he was on to her. He grinned mischievously, "C-O-O-L. Did she W-I-N?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "N-O."

"D-R-A-G," Rob said, and after a moment of terribly awkward silence Artemis turned to the phone booth.

"Yeah, let's just go to the Cave," and the look she sent my way told me I was going to be thoroughly questioned about this later.

I nodded, "sounds like a good idea to me."

Rob mock-bowed towards the booth, "ladies first."

"Your town, you go," Artemis said, hands on her hips.

I rolled my eyes, "I will satisfy both of your demands."

Stepping into the booth, Glados' voice rung out around me, "recognized, Catgirl, B02."

Blinding golden light bloomed around me and once all my atoms were safely reorganized on the other side, I was in one of the Cave's tubes with the smell of something burning in my nose. M'gann had to have been baking again, knowing her, she and Superboy had gone to 'work on his bike' (which I still had yet to question her about), and she had forgotten all about them. But when I walked into the room, it obviously wasn't M'gann's forgetfulness because there were clouds of smoke everywhere.

A sharp crackling sound approached, and as the smoke lit up I dove out of the way, just barely dodging a fireball. Rob appeared behind me in a flash of light, face turning serious as he took in the scene and I grabbed his hand, running into the smoke without waiting to explain. Another fireball launched at us, and I coughed, "what the hell is happening?"

"No clue!" he shouted, launching a few explosive birdarangs in the general direction of where the fire was coming from. Another ball of it whizzed past our heads as a telltale flash of golden light indicated Artemis had arrived. I turned back to try and see her but the smoke was too thick, and Rob shouted out behind us, "get down!"

We jumped to a space where the smoke had cleared, landing beside the girl in question. Another ball of flame shot out at us and we rolled in three separate directions, coughing. Artemis drew her bow and Rob grabbed more birdarangs, and as the only member of our merry little band without a long-distance weapon I was starting to feel useless. Artemis nocked an arrow, shouting out to us, "who are we fighting?"

"Don't know," Rob panted, "but we're sitting ducks by these tubes. Head for the exit!" We followed his lead, running straight for the quickest way out of the Cave. We came to a skidding stop as a wall of water crashed towards us, "or not," Rob muttered as we tore off in the opposite direction. The water was too fast, and the wave hit us like a ton of bricks, slamming the three of us into a nearby wall much to the chagrin of my spine.

Rising as quickly as possible, we ran off towards the exercise room, dodging fireballs as our feet slapped against the now-wet floor. I rolled out of the way of a particularly close one, panting heavily, "how the hell did these people even get in here? The Cave is a secret!"

"Technically not," Rob called back, "hiding in plain sight, remember?"

"Oh," I snarled sarcastically, "so these guys just happened to be bouncing around known League locations in the hopes they'd find someone to whale on?"

"Guys," Artemis hissed, "not the time!"

Rob pressed a hand to his comm, "Robin to Team, come in, Aqualad?"

I followed suit, instead lowering my mental barriers in search of M'gann's mind, and by the look of concentration on Artemis' face she was doing the same. Thanks to the exercises M'gann was having me do after Bialya, I could tell she was here, but I didn't know where she was or what state she was in, but the feeble presence of her mind wasn't relieving.

The door exploded behind us and the shock sent me flying onto my stomach, followed swiftly by Rob and Artemis. My ribs ached as we ran for our lives, a straight-up tornado of fire chasing us through the room. Turning the corner, we ran into the locker room, headed towards the showers. Rob held a hand to his ear again as we raced to turn on all the showerheads, "Robin to Batcave, override R-G-four, keep calling Justice League, H-O-J-slash-Watchtower, B-zero-one, priority red!" He paused, waiting for a response, and when he shook his head I found myself even more terrified, "comm is down, blocked. At least the water's helping."

The room began to groan, and suddenly all the taps and showerheads burst off the walls, tiles hitting the floor with a smash. I ducked, grabbing them both by the collar to follow me to the ground, "you were saying?"

"Or not," he said with a nod, and water began to fill the room in a way I was pretty sure defied the laws of physics.

"You seem to be saying that a lot lately!" Artemis choked out as the water went over our heads, and I was starting to have some flashbacks to my time spent in Joker's tank. Panic filled every inch of my body and I tried desperately to remain calm as Rob blew a hole in the wall with a birdarang.

The water exploded out of the room, taking us with it and leaving us on the floor, gasping for air. With barely any time to recover, we picked ourselves up and ran into the kitchen. Pausing in the doorframe, Rob shook his head, "we need to get lost."

We scanned the room desperately, and Artemis' eyes lit up, "the air vent!"

"Good, go!" Rob directed, and we raced over to the rangehood as he turned to a nearby terminal, already three steps ahead of wherever I was in all this mess. Artemis stepped back as I pried my claws underneath the sides of the grate covering the vent entrance, ripping it off.

She turned back to Rob as I lowered the grate, "what are you-"

He cut her off, "downloading Cave blueprints, could come in-" he paused as the sound of strangely metallic footsteps hit the hall, voice lowered to a whisper, "go, go!" Artemis dove into the vents, and I waited for Rob to climb up before following them in, replacing the grate as we crawled further into the Cave's ventilation system. I brought up the rear as Rob whisper-yelled directions to Artemis, trying to keep an ear out for our attackers. A sudden noise behind us prompted me to shove Rob, practically landing on top of them both as a column of fire shot through the shaft we had been previously crawling through. "Too close," he said panting, "take the first right, there should be a vent cover right in front of you."

Artemis pulled it off and then disappeared, the hiss of her bow scraping against the metal of the shaft indicating she was sliding downwards. We followed her descent, landing on a set of metal stairs in what looked to be a boiler room. I blinked, "you guys okay?"

They nodded and Rob pulled up his map again, taking off down the stairs, "this way!"

We all turned at a sudden crash, and behind us was what appeared to be a bald woman with some really strange proportions standing in the middle of a ball of flame. She raised her arms, fire jumping even higher and I wheeled around, pushing Artemis and Robin ahead of me, "oh fuck no."

We jumped over the railing, landing amidst the machines lining the floor of the room. Which were now emitting a loud blaring noise. And had green gauges that were turning red. And those gauges were cracking. "That's not good," Rob said slowly, and we tore around the corner as hot steam billowed out of the pipes behind us. More fireballs hot on our heels, we ducked into another hiding place, Rob pulling the map up again, "I know that other access tunnel is here somewhere."

"You mean this one?" Artemis called, already disappearing down the hole.

Rob stuck an explosive to the nearest surface and I slipped around behind him, "get ahead of me!"

He stopped dead, "what? No!"

I shook my head, "are we seriously arguing about this right now? That thing's about to blow up in like, two seconds, get ahead of me!"

He listened for once, jumping down and I just barely felt the shock of the explosion as I followed suit, hitting the floor of the tunnel and crawling on my hands and knees after the two of them. Rob paused in front of something on the wall, "hold on." He pried off the cover of it, revealing USB ports and plugged in his holo-computer, "locking out Cave's motion and heat sensors to prevent the enemy from tracking us."

"And I ask again," Artemis hissed, "who is the the enemy?"

"Let's find out," Dick said, confident smile once again adorning his face, "downloading Cave's security footage, there!"

He paused on an image of the rest of the Team, M'gann and Superboy standing off to the side while Wally fiddled with Connor's motorcycle, Kaldur approaching them. As the video began to play, Wally's voice floated through the tunnel, "torque wrench." M'gann floated it to him and he smiled up at her, "thank you green-cheeks!"

I gagged, "A, terrible nickname, B, when is he going realize M'gann and Connor are a thing?"

"Never," Artemis said darkly, and Dick made his 'I'm not going to touch that with a ten-foot pole' face and kept playing the video.

Kaldur stopped in front of them, "I have been meaning to ask, any problems juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?"

"No," Connor said frankly, and Wally peered up from behind the bike.

"Juggling's just one of my many talents," he bragged, voice evening out as he looked back down at the machine, "socket wrench."

M'gann telekinetically handed it to him as she spoke to Kaldur, "cheerleading practice has presented a challenge," she whipped around to face the Atlantean, "oh- but my first loyalty is always to the Team." She seemed to catch herself again, "this team, not the Bumblebees."

"Artemis starts school today," Kaldur said, voice strangely arrhythmic, "do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?"

Artemis' eyes narrowed and my jaw dropped, utterly offended on her behalf, "Kaldur'ahm."

Rob glanced over at me, "you know he can't actually hear you, right?"

"Nah she'll manage alright," Wally said confidently, standing up from the bike, "I mean, how much more hostile and annoying can she-" he was cut off by a loud explosion from behind, the walls crumbling across the screen and cutting out the security footage.

"What happened?" Artemis said, eyes wide and obviously stricken.

"Explosion took out the camera, I'll find another angle," Rob said, fingers flying across his holographic keyboard. A second angle showed the water from the hangar bay rising up and flinging itself at them, taking out the camera with it, the third and fourth lasting long enough to watch the Team run away before being cut out. "That's it," Robin said lowly, "all four are dead." Artemis' eyes flew even wider open, a mixture of grief and surprise on her face. Rob turned to her, "the cameras! I meant the cameras. I- I'm sure the others are okay." I curled a hand around his shoulder, he sounded more like he was convincing himself more than convincing her. He started to type again as Artemis wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back against the wall, "just give me a sec to find the fastest route to the hangar."

"Yeah," Artemis said, panic evident in her voice, "they've all got superpowers, they can handle anything."

I turned to look at her, "and so can we."

She looked at me with wild eyes, "really? Because I'm starting to have my doubts."

"Hey," I said, staring her dead in the eyes, "we're kickass superheroes with advanced martial arts training and pointy objects, we're going to be fine. You can't lose your cool."

She tore her gaze from mine, "I am cool, never cooler."

I exchanged a glance with Rob. I didn't know how many high pressure situations Artemis had been in before, but from what she had told me she had spent the majority of her life the same way I had spent the most of mine, in survival mode. She had probably never been in a life-or-death situation she couldn't cut and run from before, never had stakes in who survived, and it was throwing her off.

Rob's computer beeped and he looked up, "okay, let's go!"

We followed his map to a vent opening that when cracked open, revealed the library. Dropping down, Rob ran ahead of us, "there's a secret passage behind one of these bookcases."

"Seriously?" Artemis hissed, "cliché much?"

"You should see the Batcave," he muttered, and I had to agree. Every secret passageway and hidey-hole in this place was no doubt Bruce's idea. A door clicked open behind us and we whipped around, each of us grabbing for a weapon, but I didn't know how well my whip would function in a fight like this.

Seeing no one, we darted behind a bookcase, listening for the sound of footsteps. I found myself wracking my brain for villains that I knew of that could control water and fire. There was no one I could think of that could control both, which meant this had to be a team-up, but who were they and what the hell was their endgame? Tommy hadn't mentioned anything like this during our last monthly, 'what's on the go in the criminal underworld' meeting.

Those metallic footsteps approached again and I couldn't help but wonder what the hell they were wearing on their feet. The footsteps stopped, and the voice of an android spoke, "Artemis, Robin, Ca-"

Artemis raced forward, "it's Red Tornado!"

I desperately grasped for her arm, missing her by a hair, "Artemis, no! That makes no-"

I was cut off by the sound of her gasp, and as I just caught sight of a large red android, Rob tackled the both of us to the ground, rolling underneath a nearby table, "yes on the Red, no on the Tornado!"

The android slammed his fist into the table, breaking it into little pieces as we took off towards the hangar. A second android, the woman we saw earlier, stepped out to block our way, hands stretched towards us. Ducking to the right, I sent up a silent prayer for all the books that were sure to be ruined by the end of this. We jumped, running along the tops of the bookcases and Artemis called out from ahead of me, "what are they? How did you know it wasn't RT?"

I jumped to the next case, "deduction, if it was Red why did we hear the same footsteps earlier when we were on the verge of being burnt alive, and how would he know exactly who was in the library? They know because they saw the others in the hangar, we're the only ones missing!"

"That still doesn't explain what they are!" she shouted as Rob and I landed on the floor, nocking another arrow and sending it flying towards the androids as the library's sprinkler system kicked in.

Something must've happened on their end because the bookcases started falling like dominos and I whipped around to face Rob, "not to put you under any kind of pressure but if you could find that book-"

He pulled on one, the entrance sliding open, and we tumbled in just as the last bookcase came toppling down on us. Running down the hallway for our lives, Artemis spoke from behind me, "did you know Tornado had… siblings?"

"No," Rob answered, cape flying out behind him as he ran, and as he rounded a corner Artemis grabbed his wrist.

"So now what?" she asked frantically, "Red Tornado is one of the powerhouses of the League. How are we supposed to take down two of him?"

"They do seem pretty user-unfriendly," Rob said facetiously.

"Don't joke," Artemis hissed, "they-"

She was cut off mid-rant by Red-whatever-the-fuck's voice over the PA system, "attention Robin, attention Artemis, attention Catgirl, you have exactly ten minutes to surrender, or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished." We all stared at each other, wide-eyed, what the hell did we do? Red's voice came back on, "nine minutes and forty-five seconds."

I tightened my ponytail, "we need to know their endgame. What do they want us for? As hostages? For information?"

"That's not important," Artemis said feverishly, "what's important is that if we don't stop them in nine and a half minutes, everyone's going to die!"

"The clock is something we have to deal with," Rob admitted, "but Cat has a point, if we know what they want us for, we might be able to find their weakness, or even if they're bluffing about killing the rest of the Team. Either way, we have to get to the hangar to case the situation, let's go." He took off down the hall and we followed him, Red's voice ominously announcing how much time we had left every fifteen seconds. At the eight minute mark we came to a doorway and Rob paused, "we can access the hangar from here!" Stumbling back as a wave of water crashed through the door and approached, he shook his head, "or not."

Artemis grabbed our wrists and took off, "will you please stop saying that!"

The water plowed straight into us, filling the tunnel and drawing the air from my lungs. Rob ditched his cape, placing what looked like a rebreather in his mouth. He handed it off to Artemis, who took a breath and handed it off to me, right before a red metal hand wrapped itself around my ankle.

I spun around, the guy android's face inches away from me. Happy for some close contact at last, as Artemis made a noise of alarm, I jabbed my claws into his eye, forcing him to let go. A hand wrapped itself around my arm, and I looked up to see that we had formed a little chain, Rob grappling us up and out of the water.

We surfaced, gasping for air and Wally's voice echoed through the room, "look out!"

We swam out of the way just in time to miss a fireball, diving underwater and resurfacing next to Wally and Connor, who were encased in some kind of metal that had warped into the shape of coral, holding them underwater. Rob turned to them, "you guys okay?"

"Forget us!" Connor cried out, "help M'gann!"

I followed his line of sight to see what looked like a cage of fire, holding Kaldur and M'gann inside, the martian draped over his lap, unmoving.

"Aqualad!" Artemis called, voice grief-stricken, "is she-"

He spoke quickly, obviously under duress, "she is unconscious. I fear she- we cannot survive much longer."

Red Bitch swooped down at us, firing again and we dove underwater, swimming towards the staircase that lead to dry land. Sucking in air as we resurfaced, we dashed up the staircase, the guy android in hot pursuit, eye still sparking from where I gouged it out. We backed away from him, placing our backs together as the girl android landed at the top of the stairs. Artemis turned to speak to us, "I'm almost out of arrows!"

"Distract her, now!" Rob ordered, dashing towards Water Android, and Artemis let an explosive arrow fly at the other one. I watched as a birdarang Rob threw bounced off the android, redirecting and nearly taking Wally's ear off. Both androids launched attacks at the same time, and the three of us jumped over the side as the opposing forces met.

Swimming over to a nearby grate, we opened it up and swam through it, ascending to open air where we all took a second to haul ourselves up into the tunnel and breathe. Dude Android's voice echoed through the Cave, "six minutes."

"What do we do now?" Artemis asked, panicked and shaking.

"We save them," Rob said stoically, "that's how it works."

"Maybe that's how it's supposed to work," she raved, "but those robots already took out our four, superpowered, friends."

"You seem distraught," Rob noted.

"Distraught?" she practically screeched, "M'gann is dying, we have no powers, and I'm down to my last arrow, of course I'm distraught!"

"Well get traught, or get dead," Rob lashed out, turning around to crawl through the tunnel.

"How can the two of you be so calm?" she demanded, following us down the shaft.

"Practice," Rob said, "I've been doing this since I was nine, Cat since she was ten."

"What good is that now? What chance do we have against unrelenting machines?"

"Oh, duh!" Rob murmured, stopping in his tracks, "they're machines, and one electromagnetic pulse will shut down any machine within range."

I felt my face light up, "Robin, you're brilliant!"

"Great!" Artemis said with fake enthusiasm, "except you better have an EMP emitter in your utility belt, because I know I don't have one in my quiver!"

"I'm fresh out," Rob said with a grin, "but I'm bettin' we can make one." He raised a hand to his ear, "what do you say KF, doable?"

I blinked, the birdarang that had nearly hit Wally hadn't exploded. Which meant it had a communicator in it. Rob had intended for it to bounce off the android. I shook my head, he surprised me with his sheer tactical genius to this day. Kid's voice bloomed out of Rob's wrist, "totally doable! Y'know, if you had more time."

"We've pulled miracles out of thin air before, haven't we Cat?" Rob said with a grin.

I nodded, "well there was Bangkok-"

He stuck his hand out to cut me off, "what happens in Bangkok stays in Bangkok, remember?"

"Guys?" Wally said from the comm, "so not the time."

KF directed us to the medbay, "medlab, X-Ray machine." We dashed over to it and Rob gestured for me to pry off the outside while Kid talked, "you'll find a small vacuum tube called a vircator. That converts high-energy pulses. Reprogram the unit's microwave conversion from X-Rays to EMPs, with a cascading energy vector directing outward."

"A ripple effect," Rob said slowly, "like dropping a stone in a pond."

"A stone with ten to the twelfth power wattage, yeah."

"So I'll need to hook it up to the Cave's main generator," Rob said, blueprints flashing in front of us from his holo-computer.

"Which is… where?" Artemis asked.

He turned to face us, "the middle of the hangar."

I felt the blood drain from my face, "oh hell the fuck no."

He shook his head, "Cat there's no point in arguing over it, we don't have the time to waste. I'm doing it, final decision, let's go."

I moved my mouth but no words came out, and Rob was already walking back towards the shaft. I clambered in after him and Artemis, muttering to myself, "stupid fucking heroes and their lack of regard for their own lives."

"If you want to talk about martyr complexes I have so much ammo to throw at you, Miss 'let's see how many hits I can take for other people until I die'," Rob called from the front, and I scowled because he had a point, however stupid that point may be.

We dropped down into the hallway we had been trying to use before, flattening ourselves against the wall. Rob held a hand up to his comm, "okay, make with the distraction."

Wally's voice echoed from the hangar, "hey! Red Tomato! Who's your girlfriend, Red Onion?"

"Yeah!" Connor called out after him, "and by the way, worst deathtrap ever. We can escape any time we want!"

"I can vibrate my molecules out of here before your binary brains can count to two!" Wally jeered as we dashed across the hangar exit.

The boys kept flinging insults as Rob attached a wire to the wall, "cover me."

Artemis nocked an arrow and I looked back at Dick. His hair had fallen into 90's TV star-esque points, and I brushed it back with a careful hand, "be careful."

He grinned, "always."

And then he was gone, swooping down and over to the generator, vircator in hand. I resisted the urge to bite my nails, keeping an eye out for incoming attacks. With almost no warning, the androids spotted him, a wave of water rising up from the bay. Artemis and I screamed in unison, "Robin look out!"

He looked up only to be engulfed by the tsunami, and as Artemis drew back her arrow, a fireball coming our way knocked us backwards and made her miss. Reaching back for another, her scared eyes met mine when she realized her quiver was empty. I grabbed her arm, taking off back towards the air vent. Diving inside, we clambered down a few feet and narrowly rolled out of the way of a stream of fire, flopping down on our stomachs. Artemis crawled to the side, peering through a large crack in the tunnel and I came to her side, the view revealing what was going on in the hangar.

Rob was being lifted up in a column of water, suspended in it with no way to breathe, mouth wide open. I blinked, flashes of a deep burning in my chest and a black tinged vision reminding me of my recent near-death experience via drowning. Artemis reeled back, curling into herself, "no, no, no, no, no."

I focused, Artemis was falling apart which meant I didn't have the luxury to. I grabbed both sides of her face, "Artemis, Artemis I need you to listen to me."

She looked me in the eye, "they're all going to die, we're all going to die."

"No," I said, shaking my head, "remember what Rob said? We need something metal to complete the circuit, and then we'll knock out those androids and everyone will be fine."

"You saw Rob!" she said hysterically, "he could be dead."

"I know," I murmured, "which is why you're going to go, get something metal and come back to finish the circuit, and I'm going to go back there and do what I can."

"You can't," she begged, "no, you can't, you'll get captured too, and I'll have the whole Team's blood on my hands."

"Artemis," I said slowly, "no matter what happens tonight, none of this, and I mean none of this was your fault. Now go and get something metal, anything, a spoon from the freaking kitchen, but go!"

She nodded, taking off down the tunnel and I turned back around, the flames having died down, and climbed out of the vent. I held my hands up as I approached the platform, lowering my head in my best interpretation of shame. The guy android approached, "Catgirl, do you surrender?"

I nodded somberly, "I do, you win."

Wally called out from the water, "Cat, no!"

I walked a little ways forwards, coming within fighting distance of the android, lifting my head slowly. He looked about as relaxed as an android could be, already turning to make an announcement to Artemis. My head snapped up and I ran forwards, running up his back and hooking my leg around his neck, sending him crashing to the ground.

Jumping up, I ran for the woman, dodging fireballs as I made my way towards her. I reared back, aiming a punch for her gut but she grabbed me by the claws, lighting her hand on fire. I laughed, "lady these are made of pure titanium, sharpened to cut steel. You're going to have to try harder." I used her grip on me to gain momentum, running up her body and kicking her beneath the chin as I flipped off and away from her. Her head swiveled around in a 180, and while she focused on bringing it back around to the front, I focused on her brother.

Slashing a gaping hole in his chest, I ducked as he threw a stream of water at me. From what I could tell, as I was keeping them busy the water level around Wally and Connor's necks seemed to lower, as well as the intensity of the cage around M'gann and Kaldur, who were both laying in a heap on the floor. This was good, if I could distract them until Artemis got back with the metal, we could do this.

I gasped as a tendril of water curled itself around my ankle, the android having forced me back towards the water's edge without my noticing. In seconds I was enveloped. Feeling around for it in my utility belt, I grabbed Rob's rebreather from earlier, guilt wracking me as I realized he couldn't use it earlier because I had it. Sticking it in my mouth, I started to fight helplessly against the water, kicking and grasping for the air, trying to force my way out.

There was a sudden tug on the rebreather, the android recognizing what was letting me breathe. I slammed a hand to my mouth, locking my jaw in an attempt to hold on to it. The water almost seemed to curl around the edges of it, and in seconds it was being ripped from my mouth. I started thrashing even harder, desperate to escape and receive oxygen. The water around my face seemed to slam into my cheeks, forcing my mouth to part. From there it trickled in through my pursed lips, accelerating towards my lungs.

It was a special kind of drowning, purposeful, with intent. I felt my limbs go slack, all the fight leaving me as this android masterfully forced water into my lungs. My chest was burning, and all I could see was The Joker's face, covered in blood with a maniacal grin.

Sounds were leaking into the water, Wally and Connor's voices, I think they were calling my name. And then something else, Artemis' distinctive raspy tone was there, and I pried my eyes open as she stood in front of the androids with her bow held out in front of her. They didn't seem to learn well for ridiculously intelligent, element-wielding robots, and they looked like they were accepting her surrender.

I watched with half-lidded eyes, the water stinging them as Artemis raced up the side of the androids, backflipped, and shot perfectly straight at the generator. I let my eyes slip closed, the job done, and in seconds the water around me dropped to the floor. I fell in a crumpled heap, one thing on my mind. Drawing myself up to my hands and feet, I crawled to Rob, leaning down to listen for any breathing. There was the faint sound of a breath, and I pushed him onto his side in an attempt to get him to cough up any lingering water. The others were exchanging information, and I caught the tail end of Kaldur assuring Connor that M'gann was alive. Artemis hit the floor next to me, and as Rob began to cough up water, she smiled, "he's breathing too!"

Rob smiled up at her, panting, "way to get traught."

I surveyed the scene, finally relaxing as everyone was safe. Closing my eyes as the edges of my line of sight caved in, I let myself slump to the floor, the sounds of Artemis' panicked cries for help just barely registering before I passed out.


There was the most uncomfortable tugging sensation in my chest, and as I recognized it my eyes flew open and I jackknifed, skittering away from the source of the tugging in a crab walk. I had to break this robot-

"Catgirl, if you could please calm down," Kaldur said in a relaxed tone, and then there were hands on my shoulders, holding me against a chest. As the world fell into place around me, I realized it was Dick's hands braced against my shoulders, and Kaldur was in front of me, face serene as he had one of his water-bearers extended, connected to a string of water from my mouth. He spoke quietly, "I am removing the excess water from your lungs, it seems the android was quite thorough. However, if you keep struggling I may accidentally take more than intended, and given that you are made of at least 65% water that could prove disastrous."

I nodded, and the tugging sensation picked up again, the water I had been drowning in flew out of my chest and onto the floor. As I sucked in a gasp of air, I realized I hadn't been able to breathe properly before. Coughing, I brought a hand up to wipe my face, "that is terrible, like throwing up from my chest in slow-motion."

Kaldur snorted, "I would also like to point out that the best course of action would be for you to ensure that you are capable of breathing before checking on anyone else next time."

Wally's voice came from below us, "guys? Supey and I are still stuck here!"

"So sorry Arabella detracted from that by drowning Kid, we'll just leave her there to die next time," Artemis snapped from my side.

I waved a hand, "I'm fine, this is like, the second time I've almost drowned in a month. I have practice now." I turned to Dick, "speaking of, since we've both seen each other drown so I think it's safe to say we can stop doing that."

He snorted, "sure thing Belle, but I think it's kind of up to the crazy people who try to kill us."

"Well we do kind of ask for it," I pointed out, "y'know, what with the whole running around in spandex and kevlar, and punching them in the face."

"Love this little reunion you guys have going on over there but if you could come down and let us out that would be great," Wally called from where he and Connor were stuck.

I staggered to my feet, "on the way Kid, not everyone moves as fast as you."

"Do you need to be carried?" Kaldur asked politely, stowing away his water-bearer.

"Yes," I said with an eye roll, "in fact I think I want to be carried around like a princess all week."

"You asked for it," Rob said with an evil grin, hooking his arm under my legs and around my back in one swift motion, picking me up off the floor.

I struggled in his grip, "Robin that was sarcasm, put me down!"

He shook his head, "no can do, what would Catwoman say if I denied her daughter's one request after coming down from a near-death experience?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Robin- I can't say your full name so this is less effective- put me the hell down!"

He laughed, letting me drop to my feet when we got to Wally and Connor, I scowled and Wally leaned forward in his binds, "so does anyone else want to compare notes?"

"We know what happened to you guys when the androids came," I assured, "we all got here around the same time, and the bots were already wreaking havoc." I turned to Artemis, "I do want to know what happened to you after we split up, where'd you get the extra arrow?"

She dropped her gaze to the floor, "I fell, part of the tunnel came loose and I popped out in Wally's souvenir room, it was on a stand."

"Yes!" Wally said happily, "told you guys that the souvenirs would come in handy someday!"

"Yes, from now on we shall all adhere to your wisdom," Kaldur said solemnly.

I turned to him, "that was sarcasm right? Please tell me that was sarcasm."

Wally made a spluttering noise and Kaldur nodded, "I have learned much about the artform from you and Robin."

I wiped away a fake tear, "my little boy's all grown up."

"Guys," Artemis called, holding up a large, gun-esque cylinder, "what is this?"

"Something I was tinkering with, it's a drill," Wally said excitedly, "well, a laser drill, you can use it to free us."

I poked Rob in the shoulder as Artemis started to fiddle with it, "so how come you didn't need Kaldur-resuscitation, Boy Wonder?"

He narrowed his eyes at the use of the nickname, but started talking anyway, "when the wave crashed down on me I realized you had my respirator, Belle." I dropped his gaze and he hurried to talk again, "not that that was a bad thing, evidently, but I had no way to breathe and I didn't really know right from left, just that the vircator was in place. Figured my only shot was to 'surrender'. Pretend to drown before I actually did," he shrugged, "blacked out though."

"M'gann-" Connor said, a little desperately, reaching for her free hand, the other wrapped around Kaldur's neck as he supported her.

"I'll be fine," she assured him weakly, and I decided I really needed to ask her what was going on between the two of them.

"Will you quit playing with that thing and cut us free already?" Wally snapped at Artemis, and she turned to glare at him.

"It's not working genius, EMP shuts down all machines, remember?"

"All machines present at the time," Red Tornado's voice boomed from the shadows as he whirred in doing his flying tornado thing. Setting himself down, he regarded us all, "what has occurred?"

"Had a little visit from your… family," Rob said, looking back at the two lifeless androids.

"Your extremely nasty family," Artemis quipped, settling her hand on her hip.

"I was not aware I had relations," RT admitted, walking over towards the androids.

"Where've you been?" Connor demanded.

"Monitor duty on the Watchtower," Red Tornado said, "when it became clear that Cave communications were down, I attempted to investigate. But your Zeta Tubes were also nonfunctional. I transported to Providence, and proceeded here,"

As he knelt by the androids to examine them, Sphere came loose from where it had been stuck in the wall, rolling over towards Connor. He gazed down affectionately at it, "hey boy."

Suddenly the laser fired from Artemis' drill thing, hitting the ground where Wally and Connor were imprisoned. Rob and Wally whipped to the side at the same time, "the pulse is worn off!"

We watched in horror as Red Tornado extended a hand to Fire Bitch, a spark flying between their fingers. Suddenly his eyes glowed red, and he rose up on a tornado, two more forming at his fists. My hands flew to my throat as the air seemed to be ripped from it, black curling at the edges of my vision all over again. I staggered over to Rob, reaching out for him as my knees buckled, and the whole world crashed down around me.


"Robin, Catgirl, can the two of you hear me? Wake up."

Bruce's voice echoed through the blackness, and I groaned, cracking an eye open. As soon as I realized where I was and what had happened I sat up, looking around for Rob. He was next to me, coming to himself and I let my gaze flick around the room. Each member of the Team was being woken by their mentor, with the exception of Artemis who was still out cold with both Oliver and Clark above her.

Batman's eyes narrowed, "what happened here?"

Rob sat up next to me, and as we stood we exchanged a look and tried to explain it as best and in as much detail as humanly possible. As we spoke quietly, I couldn't help but keep an ear tuned to Superman's attempts at rousing Artemis, worried for her. Thankfully, as Bruce was saying something about individual, recorded briefings I heard a little gasp from her corner as well as Clark's assurance that she was okay, and then she launched into a tirade about the Reds. Panic filled her voice, "wait, where are they?"

"Gone," Rob said quietly, turning around to face her, "all three of them."

I walked a few feet over to her, wrapping her hands in my own, "they're just… gone."


What's that? I'm on time? It's a miracle! (Technically it's past midnight here and thus no longer Sunday but we're gonna gloss over that). In other news, this is (I'm decently sure) my longest chapter ever! It's 10k+, so hopefully, that makes up for any perceived lateness. My darling twin brother, who I finally convinced to read this, as well as the fact I realized last update that this story is a year old!), have prompted me to look back at the prologue of this story. And cringe. It's terrible. Honestly looking back at where I was when I published this story everything I wrote then makes me want to set myself on fire. So, will be rewriting it! Nothing major, just fixing it up so I don't look back at the beginning of this story and shudder. I don't really know when that'll be done, but I will definitively have a new chapter up this Sunday anyway.

I'm taking a trip with my family about two weeks into August, so I thought I'd throw that out there now. I'll be gone until the beginning of September so this story will be on hiatus during that, but I'll have a chapter the Sunday I get back, assuming I don't get back on a Sunday. And in addition to making me look back at the prologue, my brother suggested I start replying to reviews, so in more fun news, I'll be doing that too! Just one more thing to make my author's notes ridiculously long, like this one (and the last one dear god). Anyway, see you next time!