Holy crap, holy crap, HOLY CRAP!!! You must all hate me so very much!!! I haven't updated in like, a month!!!
I went on vacation, and despite my best efforts, this chapter was not ready before I left. And then I started shudder school again . . . but now I have a four day weekend, so rejoice!!!
Ok, I realize that after this chappie, you, my lovely, faithful ducklings, will most likely hate my admittedly despicable guts. But it is to reward you for your patience that this chappie is so very angsty.
It involves four counts of attempted murder, a near death experience, angsty Batman scenes, and some not so nice extra terrestrials.
Ooooh, now you're interested, aren't ya?
Read on!!!
Wally glared out at the crowd, who stared back at him in shock. His hands were wrapped so tightly around the microphone stand that his knuckles were white. The look in his eyes and on his face betrayed the terrible anger he felt.
But then that furious rage cooled off as suddenly as it had flared. He blinked a few times and looked around. He was shocked at his own outburst. Where in the hell did that come from? he thought worriedly, growing embarrassed.
He dropped his hands and stared at them a moment before looking up. "I-I'm sorry," he stuttered incredulously, still very unsure of what was going on with him. Then he shook his head a little to clear it. "But it's true." He glanced quickly over his shoulder at Clark. "I'm sorry Superman, but what you said was crap." His eyes ghosted over each person in front of him. "Please, don't do this for your families, or your cities, or yourselves! Do it because it's the right thing to do!" There was desperation and pleading in his voice. "I mean, for god's sake, are you heroes or not?!"
His voice rang out, echoing.
His eyes were then pulled to the ground, and he looked up through his bangs, unsure, his voice hushed.
"Are you with me? Are you with us? Will you step up, and do what needs to be done?" He said the last bit with deliberate slowness.
The silence was deafening. Wally's heart beat a frantic tattoo against his chest as he realized this wasn't enough. Then-
A truly deafening, roaring cheer erupted from the gathered heroes.
Wally ducked his head again, a small smile playing across his mouth. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned.
Lantern was grinning and nodding. "You done good, kid. You done good."
Finally-finally- almost everyone was gone. It was very overwhelming and even more disconcerting, having so many people want to shake your hand, hug you, talk to you-all at once.
Now it was just the original seven and Young Justice. The Titan's had wanted to wait for Wally, but they'd looked exhausted, so he told them to just go, and that he'd catch up with them later.
They stood near Warehouse 5 about to leave when there was an unnatural, thunderous noise exploding over their heads.
Instinctively, they all went on the defensive, glaring up at the thick, ominous gray clouds rippling above them, wondering what fresh hell was about to rear it's ugly head.
"J'onn," Clark said not taking his eyes from the sky, "What in the name of Rao is up there?"
His eyes glowed red. Then, his voice deathly quiet, he said, "It's the aliens."
"NO!" Wally cried out. "Dammit, it's too freaking soon! We're not ready! We should've had more time!" His angry voice had clear undertones of terror.
"Can you glean any information from them?" Bruce asked grimly.
"I will try." His eyes glowed once again. Then a moment later, he cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground.
John and Shayera rushed to him, pulling him into a sitting position. "Are you alright?" the former asked.
"I am," he replied darkly. "But they are not." He pointed to the other four Leaguers who stood stock- still and stiff, their respective protégés standing by them, confused.
Bruce was the first to move. His arms shot out, both hands curling around Tim's throat, pining him to the wall and pressing hard, slowly depriving him of oxygen.
"What're you doing!?" Lantern yelled. He launched himself at the Dark Knight in an attempt to dislodge him from the younger man.
Instead, Bruce's fist shot out with inhuman speed, sending the Green Lantern flying back 10 feet to land by Shay and J'onn, then returned to Tim's throat just as quickly.
The other Young Justice members moved to aide their leader as he clawed helplessly at his mentor's hands.
Before they could go a few steps, their own mentors reacted.
Clark sent a punch flying across Connor's jaw. It would've killed anyone else, but it simply staggered the younger Kryptonian.
Diana dove at Cassie, knocking her down. Then they both began circling one another as Cassie cried out, "Diana, stop!"
Wally made a grab for Bart. The younger man dodged. "What bug crawled up your butt?" he snapped as Wally made another grab. Then he began chasing him pell-mell around the Warehouses at super speed.
John and Shay looked helplessly they didn't know what to do. They couldn't stop any of their slightly more powerful teammates from attacking their protégés.
"What the hell is going on?!" Shay cried.
"The aliens are using a form of mind control," J'onn answered grimly.
"Can you block it?"
"I'm trying," he replied simply, his eyes glowing brighter.
"Bruce. . ." Tim chocked out brokenly. "Please . . . fight . . . it."
"I'm trying . . ."he ground out hoarsely. But, the more he tried to pull his hands away, the more they seemed to stick to the younger man's throat.
"I'm trying. . ." There was pain in his voice now. Tim had taken off his mask when the others had left. Now, staring into his eyes, Bruce saw his pupils shrink to pinpricks, heard him gasp for air. A tear slid down his face from beneath his mask.
"Tim. . . I'm so . . . sorry," he whispered brokenly.
"You . . . tried," the Boy Wonder forced out, trying to smile and failing miserably. "Please d-don't. . .bl-blame. . .yourself. . ." He trailed off, his head falling forward and his eyes drifting shut.
"No!" Bruce cried.
Suddenly, he was able to move as he wrenched his arms away, only to bring them back a moment later to catch Tim before he hit the ground.
J'onn closed his eyes with a sigh. It had been very, very close.
Wally had just laid his hand on Bart's shoulder. The younger speedster had spun around, his fist cocked for a blow to dislodge his cousin. But then he caught the look on Wally's face. Confused, upset, and scared, instead of emotionless and blank as it had been seconds before.
"Damn it! God, Bart, I'm sorry!" Wally hissed angry with himself as he pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.
Cassie paused mid-motion, the kick aimed for Diana's head stopping about six inches from it's mark. She too had caught the change in demeanor, breathing a sigh of relief as she embraced her friend and sister.
Connor had missed the change all-together, his fierce uppercut landing painfully in Clark's abdomen. It wasn't until the older, shell-shocked Kryptonian fell to the ground on one knee, the wind knocked out of him, that Connor caught on.
"Oh, shit!" he cried, seizing his mentor by the bicep and hauling him to his feet. "He he, sorry," he apologized sheepishly. He shrugged awkwardly. "At least no one got seriously hurt."
That's when they heard Bruce's uncharacteristically frantic voice behind them.
They turned around to find John, Shayera, and J'onn looking solemnly down at Bruce. He knelt on the ground, his back to them, performing CPR on Tim's prone, lifeless form.
"Please, Tim. Come on, come on!" he whispered desperately between chest compressions. "Come on, please. You're stronger than this!" Tears streamed down from his eyes, unimpeded by his cowl.
"Stay with me, Tim. Don't go, don't go." he pleaded softly.
Cassie spun around, burying her face in Connor's muscular chest as he wrapped his big arms around her. He stared down at his friend and team leader's unmoving frame, a haunted look on his face.
Wally slid his hand onto Bart's shoulder, squeezing tightly. The younger speedster stared at Tim as well, his expression mirroring Connor's.
Diana silently took Clark's hand in both of hers, feeling Bruce's, and Cassie's pain as it were her own.
"Please, Tim. Please," he sobbed.
Suddenly Tim gasped and coughed a few times, taking a few shallow breaths.
Bruce closed his eyes, inhaling slowly. "Thank god," he breathed.
Tim's eyes opened slightly, and he looked around from flat on his back through a half-lidded gaze. Bruce gently placed his hand flat against Tim's chest.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.
"Y-yeah. I th-think so," he rasped. He sounded so weak.
"I'm so, so sorry, Tim. I-"
"I believe I t-told you not to blame yourself," he interrupted hoarsely.
Without warning, the Dark Knight wrapped his arms around Tim, pulling him into a sitting position and a tight hug, crushing him protectively against his chest.
Tim blinked in surprise then hugged him back.
"I'm sorry," Bruce said quietly in his ear. His voice was firm and echoed with a sense of finality.
"It's ok, Bruce," he replied, his voice hitching a little as he hid his face his face in his mentor's shoulder, hoping they all wouldn't see his tears of fear. When he spoke again several long moments later, his voice was muffled, but confident enough that only he, and possibly Bruce, knew he was lying.
"I'm perfectly fine."
Ooooh, what'll happen next?
Alright, the aliens are here and we, planet Earth, are in mucho trouble-o.
And some breaking news- if you haven't figured it out yet, they are about to engage in war. And people die in war. There. My not so subtle hint.
A few words . . . no that I'm back to hell-I mean school, and I'm enrolled in some hard classes, chapters might not come as frequently.
BUT FEAR NOT!!!
I love this story, and I refuse to let it go unfinished. I WILL PREVAIL!!!
I love you all, my ducklings!!! Please review!!!