Well, here it is. The most recent chapter I have written! I started this story like a year ago, and this is how far I've gotten! Don't worry, Chapter Seven is in progress! But it may be a long while before it gets uploaded... oh dear...

Read and Review, Blahdie Blah, I don't own the Legion, Blahdie Blah. You know the drill.

Enjoy my super-Angsty chapter!!! XD

Chapter Six: Darkness Falls

Part One: Traitor?

Firegirl was sound asleep, her mind full of dreams. As peaceful as a mind tormented by guilt and shame could be. Her dreams were not pleasant, but not nightmares at least. She sighed in her sleep and turned over. The telepath smiled; this would be all too easy. The window opened, and a lithe form slunk through the opening, landing softly on the floor. Her purple eyes glittered with malice as she stood over the sleeping Legionnaire. A slender hand reached out and rested upon Firegirl's curls, a telepathic link connecting their minds.

"Esper, you got the implants?" A voice whispered beside her ear from her Comm.

"I'm working here, Tyr. Shut it or you'll wake her up!" She hissed back, concentrating on keeping her link connected. The voice fell silent, and she pulled out a small needle. Firegirl's bare arm rested on top of the blankets, rising and falling with her breath. Esper numbed the part of the girl's brain that allowed her to feel pain and poked the needle through the skin, injecting the tiny nano-bots that would bring about the change that would determine the future for the Legion of Superheroes.

Firegirl's brow furrowed, and she began to twitch in her sleep. Esper smiled and slipped back out the window, leaving her to her feverish dreams.

"Goodnight Firegirl. Pleasant dreams." She flew away laughing evilly as the Legionnaire screamed in terror as the night terrors returned with a vengeance, enhanced by the nano-bots altering her mind.

Brainiac Five opened his eyes, and immediately knew what had awoken him so suddenly; Firegirl was dreaming again. Her shout was fading now, but it must have been a horrible dream. He slid out of bed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to blink the sleep from his eyes. Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door, three fast knocks and three slow. He slid the door open, and Firegirl came in, brushing past him without so much as a 'good morning'.

"Firegirl? Is something wrong?" He asked, noticing a strange gleam in her eyes. She turned and put her hands on his shoulders, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Do you still love me?" She asked, and he blinked. "Of course I do! Why would you think otherwise?" He asked, his feelings hurt. "Is this about your nightmare?" She stepped forward and kissed him, as if to assure herself that their love was still strong. He felt a slight twinge of surprise at the fierceness of her kiss; she was usually very soft and gentle. But this was a fiery and passionate kiss, and he stepped slightly back from her. But she followed, and he felt the wall against his back. He was startled, but he knew he would feel guilty if he pulled away. She had her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, and he felt himself getting dizzy from lack of air. But he gave in and deepened the kiss, her even more passionate response surprising him again.

Suddenly the door banged open, and Firegirl was tackled and slammed into the wall by Superman, whose eyes were surprisingly angry. She and Superman had hit the wall so hard there was a slight dent in the metal, and her head slumped against her chest as she blacked out. "What are you doing?!" Brainy asked, confused and shocked as Superman dropped the unconscious girl to the floor.

"She was going to kill you, Brainy!" He said, pointing at a razor sharp dagger that had fallen to the floor, seconds ago held poised to plunge deep into his heart. Brainy picked it up with a feeling of vertigo. "But…" His hand brushed the blade, and a small drop of blood welled on his finger. He knelt beside her limp form, lifting her into his arms.

"Brainy, you can't deny the fact that she just tried to kill you!" Superman said as Brainy set her gently on his bed. "You're right; I can't. But I know Firegirl, and I know that someone must have done something to her to trigger this. She couldn't have… she would never…It's impossible…" He struggled for words, his head throbbing as he dropped into a chair and his head falling into his hands.

Superman rested his large hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this." He said. Brainy looked up, frowning. "How did you know that she was… what was happening?" He asked, replaying Superman bursting through the door in his mind. "Uh…" The Man of Steel blushed, rubbing his neck. "I heard a strange noise, so I kind of… looked in?"

Brainy rubbed his temples. "So you were spying on us with your X-Ray vision." Superman winced. "No, I was not spying!" Suddenly there was a slight moan, and both boys turned around. Firegirl shifted on the bed, her brow furrowed. Brainy winced at her little gasp of pain as she felt the pressure on her injuries from Superman's overzealous attack. Brainy moved over to her and lifted her into his arms. "We'll take her to the lab and scan her." He said, not looking down at her limp form as Superman followed him to his Laboratory.

"How is she, Brainy?" Superman asked, looking through the window at the girl lying on the table. "There are no signs of anything so far." He replied, his voice breaking. He coughed as if it would hide it.

"But you're not using all the systems." A voice said, and Violet appeared from the shadows. Brainy sighed. "I am not going to use the others on her." Violet came to stand beside him, her eyes sweeping sadly over Firegirl. "But none of these are coming up with any results. You know it will have to be done sooner or later, against your will or with it." Another voice said, and Cosmic Boy was standing behind Violet.

Brainy clenched his fists. "No. Those procedures are painful! I refuse to put her through that." Cosmic Boy looked down at him. "If you want to find out why your girlfriend tried to kill you, you don't really have a choice. Besides, we need to know if she's a threat to the Legion or not." Brainy rested his head against the cool fiberglass, his eyes brushing over her still features as she lay on the scanning table.

"This isn't your call, Brainy. We have got to find out what we're dealing with here." Cosmic Boy said sternly. Brainy took one last glance at her and turned away nodding at Violet. "Complete procedures 1331 and 5003. But that is all." She nodded with a sad face and began hitting buttons, bringing the scanning table into a new position.

Two large circular machines came down on either side of Firegirl's head, about six inches away from her ears. She flipped a switch, and the machine charged up, lighting her features with a gentle golden glow. Then a charge of energy swept through the machine, and her back arched as she cried out in pain. Brainy looked away, her cries echoing through the chamber.

"There's nothing the personality implanter is picking up, Brainy." Violet said as she made sure not to look in the window, while Cosmic Boy watched Firegirl's convulsions emotionlessly.

"Then stop, please stop." Brainy whispered hoarsely, trying to hold onto his lunch. The machine powered back down, and Violet brought the other search into position. "Go ahead." Cosmic Boy said as she set it up. This was a blood test, searching for anything in the bloodstream that didn't belong there. But it involved sending a charge of electricity along the subject's body, through the blood so it could be tested. It was used only as a last resort in most cases.

The machine sent the charge into her and she screamed. Brainy clamped his hands over his ears to block out the horrible sound, and felt his heart crying out with her. When it stopped, Violet coughed back tears and looked up at the screen.

"There seems to be a slight blip here, but it looks like it's just bruises where she hit something. Whatever she hit, it was pretty hard." She glanced at Superman through the corner of her eye, and he looked down ashamedly. "We'll have to quarantine her so she doesn't hurt herself or anyone else." Cosmic Boy said, his eyes looking anywhere but Brainy's face. "I'll take her; if she tries to escape I can hold on to her." Superman said softly.

Cosmic Boy nodded and walked out, leaving Brainy and Violet alone. He took a steadying breath, then turned to the trash incinerator and retched, his body unable to handle the stress of what he had endured. When he was finished, he sat back down in his chair, his arms shaking as he held his head in his hands.

"Are you ok Brainy?" Violet asked softly, her hand on his shoulder. He shook his head, trying to hold himself together. "I know that was probably really hard for you. It hurt me too, and I know you love her even more than I do; more than any of us do." She coughed again, blinking her eyes clear.

"What did it do? It proved nothing. I hurt her for nothing." He said softly, not trusting himself to speak any more for fear of breaking down. He took another steadying breath. "We'll ask Saturn Girl. She can do a mind sweep, look for any signs of the power controlling her."

Violet looked away, and he felt a bruise of distrust blossom inside his chest. "What if she's not being controlled, Brainy?" She said softly, and it sounded like the idea hurt her too. But it was too much, and he leaped out of his chair. "Violet, are you blind?! She pulled a knife on me! She was ready to stab me through the heart with it! Does that sound like the Firegirl you know?"

Violet sighed. "Brainy, I know you think I'm going against you, but just hear me out, ok?"

He dropped back into his chair and hid his face in his hands. "I know you think she's being controlled. But just think about it; none of our machines detected anything. She might have done this by her own will." She said, then winced and waited for the explosion. But he didn't jump out of his chair again. He spoke very quietly, so softly she had to lean closer to hear him.

"Violet, I love her more than I have ever loved anything. I once put myself between her and the line of a point-blank laser cannon. I would give up everything I have and then some for her. I would die for her. And you know her, Violet. You know how she feels. You know she feels the same way. How can you think she would suddenly change her mind and try to hurt me?"

Violet looked down, feeling ashamed she had thought that way. "You're right, Brainy. I've seen her when she was so angry because she thought someone had hurt you that she would have killed the guy who did it. She almost did, actually. She melted a hole straight down to the bottom of Superman's Arctic Fortress of Solitude because she thought she had lost you. I know she would die for you too."

He finally lost control and let his tears fall silently onto his lap, holding down the sobs that were threatening to overtake him. "And I'll help you prove her innocent. We'll fix this somehow." Violet said, pulling him into her arms. They held each other for a few moments, but Brainy couldn't help thinking how much warmer Firegirl's embraces were.

Firegirl opened her eyes and found herself in a small room with white walls. She knew what it was; it was the solitary confinement area. She stood up and found that there was a slender chain of Tyrilium holding her to the wall by a collar around her neck.

She scowled and aimed a fire blast at it. Nothing happened, and she realized the chamber must neutralize powers. She groaned in frustration and yanked on the chain as hard as she could. But the chain remained where it was, unmoved by her violence. She sat down with her back against the wall and drew her knees up against her chest and rested her forehead against them.

"Firegirl?" a voice said, and she looked up. Brainy was looking through a window in the wall at her, his hand pressed against the glass. She moved closer, as far as the chain would let her.

"Brainy?" She asked, looking terrified. "It's me, Firegirl. Are you alright?" he asked, and she shook her head. "They chained me up like an animal. I'm not an animal; I need help." She whispered, and tears began to flow down her face. "Don't cry, Brogyn. I can't bear it when you cry." He said, his expression pained.

"Then let me out! I don't know what's wrong with me, but I know you can fix me. Please. I don't want to be a monster." She sobbed, falling to her knees. When she looked up he had disappeared, and a door opened in the wall opposite the window. Brainy rushed in and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her curls. "I'm sorry they put you in here." He said, and didn't see the smirk on her face.

She changed her expression back to frightened and looked up at him. "Take the chain off and let me out, please." She said timidly, and he turned the key in the lock. The chain popped off her neck, and he helped her stand. He led her out into the hall, looking around for any Legionnaires who might catch them. She was smiling, her eyes dark with a plan going well. They got to a side room full of windows, and he turned to her. "I will figure out what is wrong with you, I promise. I will fix this somehow."

She smiled and pecked him on the lips. "Unfortunately, there's a problem with that plan, sweetheart; you can't fix something that isn't broken." She said, and hit him in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick hard enough to knock out a professional wrestler. He dropped like a stone and she broke through the window, setting off the alarm system. But she didn't particularly care; where she was going, the Legion could not follow. She shot over the roofs of New Metropolis, and suddenly four figures descended on her.

Firegirl lashed out blindly and slammed her fist into the temple of one of the women, making her drop twenty feet before Hunter caught her. "Sprock it, she just took out Wave! Esper, hit the off switch on this thing!" Tyr snapped, and Esper smiled.

"Nighty Night." She said, and Firegirl plunged into unconsciousness.

Violet shot into the room the alarm had gone off in and found Brainy unconscious on the floor. "Brainy!" She cried, checking his vitals. He had a nasty bruise was already forming on his head, but he was alive and not seriously hurt. Timber Wolf leaped into the room, half into Beast mode.

"Can you get a scent on who broke in?" Violet asked, and Timber Wolf nodded. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The scene played out before him, and when he opened his eyes they were dark with foreboding.

"No one broke in, Vi. Someone broke out."

She gasped. "Firegirl? But how'd she get out here?" They both looked down at the boy lying on the floor. "What have you done Brainy?" Violet said softly, staring at the broken fiberglass lying all over the floor and the boy still lying unconscious from trying to help the one he loved.

"What have you done?"

"This is of utmost importance to Legion security. We have to apprehend Firegirl before she causes damage, gives any vital information to our enemies or hurts innocents." Cosmic Boy said over the holo center, various legionnaires in the room, whether holographically or face-to-face. Brainy stood in the back, obviously horrified and ashamed about what had happened before.

Violet stepped forward, bringing up the all important point. "Cosmic Boy, can we handle it?" She asked softly, but suddenly everyone stopped talking and looked at her. She suddenly shrank a little, then pulled back her self confidence and grew back to normal size.

"This is the first time we've ever had a Legionnaire go rouge, and… she's our friend. She's fought with us, laughed with us, cried with us, seen us at our best and our worst…can we fight her?" Everyone absorbed this little speech, thinking. Superman finally responded. "Violet is right. Firegirl knows our moves, our strategies, the way each one of us fights…even if we weren't close to her, she'd still know everything we could do. We need outside help." Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Element Lad spoke up.

"I think I have an idea."

Lexa Ranel was sitting in her room reading a book (Pendragon Book 10 to be exact) when suddenly a bubble of light appeared. She jumped up, not sure who to expect.

"Storm!"

Element Lad stepped out of the bubble, and she felt flooded with relief. "Storm, we need your help." He said, his green eyes serious as always. "What's happened? Is it the Anti-Legion again?" She asked. He looked pained. "Partly. But more than the Anti-Legion… it's Firegirl. She's gone Rogue."

Storm felt her balance fail her, and she slid down the wall into a sitting position. "Rogue? How?" She whispered. Element Lad hesitantly offered her his hand. She took it and he helped her stand up. "Were there any nano-bots or personality implants?" She asked, hoping desperately for an explanation.

"None that we could find. Either they are hidden really, really well or…" He trailed off, leaving it up to her imagination.

"We have to help her, get her back." She said, her face set in the familiar do or die expression. "Actually, that's not why we came to get you." He said softly.

"Why then?" She asked, for once unable to assume the battle plans. "You are Firegirl's best friend, and we were hoping you would know what she might do, how she might fight. If it comes to a battle, we can't count on Brainy to tell us how to deal with the threat."

She felt a twinge of surprise and a faint trace of anger. "So you just assume that I'm level-headed enough to tell you how to fight—maybe even kill—my best friend?"

"That's kind of the idea." He said, eyes dark. "I'm sorry Storm…if there was some other way to do this, we would. But every time we've fought with you, no matter what, you've always been able to keep your emotions under control enough to neutralize a threat, something that not a lot of legionnaires can do. With you there, we might stand a chance of being able to capture Firegirl. Without you there…" He trailed off, obviously hating having to pull her into this. She shook her head. "I guess I have no choice. How is Brainy taking all of this? How is everyone taking it?" She asked, and he shrugged.

"Brainy… I really don't know. He doesn't say much anymore. But I think he's hoping that if he ignores this… maybe it will go away. As for the rest of us… Some of us are in denial like Brainy and some of us are freaking out because we think we'll have to fight her." She gently put her arms around him to comfort him. "Come on. We need to get back." He said after returning her embrace for a few seconds.

She nodded, and they stepped back into the future.

When Storm walked into the legion tower, she could tell things were bad. No one was smiling—not even Bouncing Boy—and everyone was running around, trying to get things fortified and ready. Legionnaires were coming back to New Metropolis to gather their forces and get ready for whatever Firegirl had planned for them. Battle plans were being made, weapons were being upgraded…by Violet and Nemesis Kid.

Brainy was nowhere to be seen.

Storm walked over to the two teens as went through the weapons and tried to fix the older broken ones. "Hey Violet. Hey Nemesis Kid." She said softly. They both looked up and Violet quickly hugged her.

"I'm sorry Storm." Storm smiled weakly. "Hey, we'll get through it. I'm willing to bet my bookcase that it's some sort of personality implant or nanites or something…maybe they got Londo's help and he's come up with something new that doesn't appear on Brainy's scanners or something…right?"

Violet smiled weakly. "I hope so."

"Storm!" The teen turned around to see Cosmic Boy standing there along with several other senior Legionnaires. "We need to start debriefing. We don't know how much time we have." His eyes softened a little as she walked over, and even Cosmic Boy had enough sympathy to set a hand on her shoulder as they walked over to one of the holo rooms.

"Alright, what to you need to know?" Storm said as she sat down in front of the holographic projector. "Firegirl mentioned at one point that your abilities over air had also given you a type of magnified view and super hearing of sorts, which is why you got so good at fighting so fast during the fight with the Anti-Legion. We're hoping that you'll be able to analyze some of these training tapes for any weaknesses on Firegirl's part."

He hit play, and a fight came up on the screen. They all watched in silence as Firegirl took down dozens of robots, seemingly without error. "Pause." Storm said quietly, and the projector paused. She stood and walked up to the holo, which was showing Firegirl taking down all of robots that were coming from all directions.

"Here. Her left side is a little weaker than her right—she's right-side dominant. And she doesn't watch her back, only spins fire in a vortex to keep people off her back. Assuming she starts fighting dirty against us, she'd probably keep the vortex going, so if we can get a force behind her that is shielded from the fire and she thinks they got burned, most likely we can knock her out from behind long enough to restrain her and try to help her." All of this analysis was said quietly in a deadpan voice.

Cosmic Boy nodded. "Thank you Storm. You can go now." Storm stood to leave, and Saturn Girl followed her out. The older girl set a hand on Storm's shoulder. "I know that it was hard, but at least now we stand a chance of saving Firegirl. I just wanted you to know that."

Storm turned and nodded gratefully. "Thanks Saturn Girl. I'd better go check on Brainy; he's probably taking this worse then anyone."

Brainy didn't look up from the console as the door slid open. It was probably just someone else who was going to bother him about trying to remember what had happened when Firegirl had escaped. Suddenly a set of fingers snapped right in front of his face.

"Yo, Einstein. Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude not to look when someone walks in the room?" Brainy looked up, startled, to see Storm; Firegirl's best friend from the past.

"Storm? What are you doing here?" He asked, his eyes weary. "Let's see; I'm trying to help a bunch of heroes defeat my best friend who, incidentally, went rouge." Storm's voice was bitter, and it hit Brainy how much she had to be hurting. Firegirl was her best friend, and they had known each other ever since Firegirl had been in 7th grade.

"I'm sorry Storm. I just…it's…I can't…" He stumbled, searching for words.

"Yeah, I know, you're guilt tripping yourself that you didn't do more." The anger in Storm's voice was strong, and Brainy felt anger rise in him as well. "What would you know? You weren't even here! She tricked all of us, not just me!" He snapped.

"Yeah, but at least now that I am here, I'm doing more then sitting around and moping because one of the top ten people in my life has supposedly gone bad!" Wind whipped around the lab and Storm's hair crackled as lightning ran through it. "Brainy, I know this is tough for you, but right now we need every hand we've got, and if you're not going to help save Firegirl, then how can you say that you care about her?!"

Brainy looked so shocked, she might as well have slapped him in the face. She took a deep breath and the wind stopped.

"I'm sorry, that was way out of line. But Brainy…we need help. We need ideas, we need non-lethal weapons that are immune to whatever Firegirl can throw at us, we need strategies…please." She was whispering by now.

Brainy slowly stood up. "I'll get right on it. For Firegirl." Storm smiled faintly. "Yeah; for Firegirl."

Then she caught a glimpse of the screen he was looking at. "What is this Brainy?" The green boy rubbed the back of his neck. "I was trying to find some hint of anything that could cause Firegirl to act like this from the scans we had done earlier. But so far, nothing." Storm's sensitive eyes ran over the display, then she tapped a key and entered something.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Searching for high concentrations of metal in Firegirl's body. Let's see…" Suddenly the scan changed, and an area highlighted in green appeared in Firegirl's outer skull.

"What on earth…" Brainy murmured.

"That's adamantium, but there shouldn't be any in her body." Storm smiled. "Well, well, well, looks like we found our cause. I'm willing to bet anything that those are some sort of nano-bots that are controlling her." Brainy stared at her, shaking his head. "I have a 12th level intelligence, why didn't I think of this?" He said, frowning and looking like he wanted to smack himself repeatedly with something very hard. "You're too close to the situation Brainy; it's not your fault and it's why I'm here." Storm said quietly before leaving Brainy to his diagnosis.

Element Lad was walking down one of the back halls when he found Storm sitting on the ground, knees pulled in close, staring at the wall. "Storm?" The girl didn't look at him. "Are you ok?"

Storm sighed. "Let's see, my best friend went rouge, her 12th level intelligence boyfriend is practically going mental, I'm supposed to help the legion hurt my friend…how do you think I'm feeling?!" Storm hit her head backwards on the wall with a clang of frustration. Element Lad sat down next to her. "Sorry. I've been needing to get that off my chest. Everyone knows that during a battle I can lock my emotions away…but that's because I have to, and if I don't I could end up hurting someone without meaning to because my powers are connected to my emotions. I don't know what will happen when we see Firegirl again, I don't want to fight her, but…I think I might have to."

Tears started leaking from her eyes as she tried to calm down. Element Lad gently hugged her as she started to cry. "I'm sorry, you must think I'm some sort of crybaby or something." He smiled softly and held her closer. "No. I think you are reacting normally to something none of us would have ever guessed would happen." She pulled away, wiping her eyes.

"Firegirl always hates to let people see her cry, but she cries a lot because she can't help it. It drives her crazy." She said, laughing as more tears found their way down her face. Suddenly his ring started beeping, and he stood up. "Sorry, Storm. I'm needed in the Briefing room." He started to walk away as she stood up too, then turned around and hugged her again.

"And if you need someone to talk to… I think Cham could use some heart-to-heart." He said before flying off down the hall.

Cham was sitting in a room bouncing a ball against the wall, trying to think of everything except Her. The door opening broke his concentration and he looked up, the ball bouncing back and hitting him in the face. "Oh, hey Storm." He said as she sat down on the couch next to him. "I was wondering how you were doing." She said.

He looked startled. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, but his voice cracked a little bit. Storm gently rested her hand on his arm. "Do you want to talk about it?" He shrugged, but she saw his lip trembling as he tried really hard not to cry. "If you do, I'm here." She said softly and stood to leave.

"Actually… I think I do need to talk." She sat back down. "What's on your mind?"

He sighed. "I used to think I knew Firegirl pretty well, but I'm finding out lately that I don't. Some of the things you and Vi and the rest of her friends have been pulling out is totally new information to me. It's like everything we love about her is becoming painful now, so we share it with other people."

He smiled as he remembered the quirks that he had heard over the past day.

"She's smarter than she usually acts, she loves to read, she can name off almost every superhero, like, ever. She hates when people make fun of her, she loves when people talk about her. She's a hopeless romantic and hates to see people hurt. She wishes she could solve all the problems, even when she knows she can't… I don't know. It's like there's an entire Firegirl I never knew. And now it might be too late." His voice choked again, and a tear slid down his cheek. "The girl we love could be gone forever and we didn't even get to say goodbye."

Storm felt a twinge of surprise; these were stronger feelings than she had thought he harbored. "Cham, are you sure it's still the collective Legion we're talking about?" She asked, and his green eyes looked surprised.

"What do you mean?" He asked, but his voice faltered.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Storm asked, and he hung his head. "I'm pathetic, I know. Crushing on a girl who's in love with someone else."

She shook her head. "Not at all. You should have seen some of her crushes when we were younger." She said with a roll of her eyes. "Is that why you and Brainy don't really get along anymore?" She asked, and he grunted.

"It's not his fault. We just don't really click anymore, that's all. It's like the farther away from me she gets, the closer she is to him, and the more I think about her. It's stupid, and everyone probably thinks I'm an idiot." He said. She shook her head. "I can bet that no one even knows." He sighed and chucked the ball at the wall again. "But now it feels like I'm all alone without her here. Even if I was only second best in her life, I still want to be around her, be… important to her."

Storm gently hugged him quickly to give him some comfort. "It's ok, Cham." He suddenly looked panicked. "Don't tell anyone, ok?" He said, and she smiled. "It's our secret. I won't tell anyone; if and when she finds out is up to you." She stood and left the room, leaving Cham feeling a little better after getting his feelings off his chest.

Yay! Cham/Phoenix stupidity!!! Sorry, I am super stupid and felt the need to do this. I will hate myself forever for what I've done!!

Please review so I can get my super-awesome Review Rush!!!

~Firegirl~