DISCLAIMER- I DO NOT OWN YOUNG JUSTICE! IF I DID THE SHOW WOULD BE COMING OUT WITH A THIRD SEASON!
I ONLY OWN THIS STORY.
~My Light Of Life
I know that it is kinda late, I normally have new chapters up first thing in the mornings, but I literally just finished this! On with the story! ENJOY!
Chapter 13- Missing Feathers
Richard needed to talk to two people and the first one lived right around the corner. The large wrought iron gate stood in front him. He typed in his code and the gate crept open. He parked his motorcycle in the garage, next to Bruce's vintage car collection. Taking off his helmet her turned around to face the butler.
"Master Dick. This is a surprise, what brings you here to the Manor?"
" Alfred is Bruce here? I have to talk with him. It's important."
" Yes, I do believe his here. He was in the bat cave all morning, but I made him come up to eat, won't you join him?" Alfred gestured toward the door.
"Yes, thank you." Richard walked into the giant house he once called home. Walking through the halls, brought back memories, old memories. The pictures on the walls dated back to before he even became Robin. Standing with Bruce, in front of the mantle, on every holiday. A picture that they should be sending to friends and family. They only had each other as a family. Bruce, Alfred, and the team was the only family he had left.
He walked into the grand dining room. It was set for four. Chatter was heard from the next room. Alfred came up behind Richard. "This way, Master Dick." Alfred led him into the sitting room. "Lunch will be served momentarily."
"Dick, you look well."
She came over to hug him. He gave her a tight squeeze. "You too."
"Yo, man. Where you been?" Bart held his fist up Dick tapped it with his.
"I've been...around." He said. Damn it there is no way I can get what I need with these two here. "So what's new with you guys."?
" Same old, same old. Kal'dur has us working our asses off. This is our first real downtime we've gotten." Bart said. "Artemis and I are now alpha team. We get the good stuff, but Gramps doesn't exactly like it. He thinks I could use more training."
" Training in the field is the best kind." Dick sat down in the love seat next to Artemis. He gave her a quick once over. She looked tired, dark circles were visible even with make-up packed on. She was slimmer than normal even in a loose green dress shirt and black leggings. She was faking a smile, so was he. Dick wished he'd stuck around after The Reach fiasco, they were closest to Wally."
"How are you holding up?"
" I'm not sure. Dinah has asked to see me five times in the last two days. I was supposed to have one right now, but talking about...It is just too early for that. Missions are the best thing for me right now."
" I know it's only been two days but it feels so...strange, surreal. Like a dream."
" Like a nightmare, if it is someone needs to wake me up soon, or there will be nothing left to bother with. I need something to distract me."
" Dick I can't believe you lived here! That is so crash."
" Yeah, a nine year old kid in a house he thought was larger than the world, it was a thrill." He said sarcastically.
"You uh mind if I look around?"
"I don't mind, but Bruce might".
"Ah, Mr. Bart, would you like a tour of the Manor?" Alfred appeared behind him.
"Uh, yes sure why not." They both turned to leave. "Do I get to see the bat cave?"
Alfred continued walking down the hall, explaining how Bruce had rebuilt the house from the ground up.
"I need time away from the team, seeing Bart in his uniform...I've caught myself so many times almost calling him Wally."
" I tore my apartment to shreds."
There was a long pause between friends. Each one of them had felt the loss of a man. A brother. A boyfriend. A best friend. And a true love.
"I can see Wally right now, yelling at us for sulking." Dick grinned. "I risked my life now you need to get on with yours."
Artemis smiled. "We should do this more often."
" What? Have lunch with Bruce? Did he invite you here?"
" Yes, both of us. Didn't he ask you too."?
" No, I needed to talk to him about something but Alfred asked me to stay for lunch. I was planning on going to Blüdhaven after this. Would you like to come, I'm sure Megan would be happy to see you again."
" I'll think about it." Artemis clasped her hands tighter. "I want to know why Bruce invited us here today. He has to be planning something."
" Lunch is served." Alfred had brought Bart to dining room after his tour, and was coming to get the two of them when Bruce walked in.
"Dick, what a surprise. I wasn't expecting you. Are you joining us?"
" Yes, sir. I stopped by to talk to you, but it can wait until after we eat."
" Can you guys hurry up, I'm starving in here!" Bart yelled from the other room.
Lunch was served; a salad was brought out then chicken alfredo before anyone spoke.
"You two are probably wondering why I invited you today. Let me just say you are not in trouble of any kind. I am glad that you came by when you did, Dick. This involves you as well. Shadow as you all know is working with Superboy and Miss Martian on a mission. I would like to suggest..."
"You are not going to sit there and tell me that she's not to be trusted, or a complete slut! She is not! She has saved your ass more than you know!" Dick had risen out of his chair, pointing his knife at Bruce. "Just because you two have never gotten along, and you met under strange circumstances does not mean you can lash out at her. She's more like you, than you think!"
Artemis and Bart froze in mid-chew. They hadn't seen Dick yell at Bruce like that before. "Sit. Down." Bruce said calmly. "I was going to suggest that Bart and Artemis join them. They need all the help they can get. Dinah tells me that a change in scenery would be great therapy, since all three of you decided to ignore her offers."
" You want us to work with her?" Bart asked.
"I don't know what to say." Artemis wanted to say yes. She agreed with what Bruce said. A different scene would be helpful. "I accept." She blurted out.
"You do? Than I am so going with her."
"What is this?" Dick looked between the three of them. "You're doing this to keep an eye on Shadow, aren't you?"
" Not entirely. I found something that might interest you." They stared at Bruce waiting for him to finish. He cut a piece of his chicken and placed it in his mouth. He did it again, before looking up to find them eyeing him. "I will show you after lunch, now eat up."
The rest of lunch was quiet, Artemis, Bart and Dick finished their meal quickly while Bruce took his time, taunting them.
Twenty minutes later the four of them were standing in front of the computer screen in the bat cave.
"This is the infamous bat cave. So crash."
" This is so weird I thought the watchtower was secure, but I'd have to say this out numbers it with cameras." Artemis had spotted all the 'hidden' cameras that surrounded them.
"104,683 and counting with Gotham growing like it is." Dick stood straight with his arms crossed, anxious as to what Bruce had to show them.
"And that's just in Gotham; this cave has access to every single camera on earth at any point of day. Including satellite images. But this came up early this morning." Bruce pulled up a video from a traffic cam in what looked like New York City.
There were people walking and rushing to places. People of all kinds, walking in and out of stores, then a commotion was seen in the far left frame. People were walking into the streets and walls of the shops. The sidewalk was clearing. It was a woman. She was watching the camera, as if she knew someone was watching her. She had long hair and wore a tight fitting dress. It was hard to tell who she was, the video was black and white and wasn't in the best quality. Then people stopped moving all together. The cars even stopped. The woman raised her hand and pointed at the camera and mouthed, "I'll be there soon". The camera went black for a split second and when it came back into view, the street looked normal again and the women was gone.
"Who was that?"
" Charisma or as you would know her, Shadow's mother." Bruce stated bluntly. "I do not hate or even dislike Shadow; we have our differences and our deal to hold. I stay out of her business and she stays out of mine. After I found and adopted Dick, she came up to me and asked if I could keep him away from her. She was terrified of herself. This Shadow that we know now is nothing like the one I first met. And it's all because of you Dick, you helped her see the good in life and what it means to really live. She had never lived with humans like that before. She had a family, she had loved ones. I can see that now."
" She still has a family, no matter what. Her Coven may have been the only family she thought she had, but she's wrong. I found her that night, I named her, and now I'm going to save her." Dick walked over and rapidly began typing on the keyboard.
"What are you doing?" Artemis asked, hating that she was out of the loop when it came to Shadow. She had heard about her ordeal from Kal'dur, but never thought Dick cared so much about her.
"I'm seeing if there at Blüdhaven, we're all going there when we leave. Bruce you're the best, this is what I needed." The screen came up, Blüdhaven was in view. Dick went through the different camera views inside until they saw Megan. She was slumped on the floor her shirt starting to burn. Conner and Shadow were pinned up against the wall. Conner was using heat vision on her. She let out a scream. Shadow dropped to floor. Blood was everywhere, Megan's and Shadow's, but Shadow's hands were gone and bone was seen at her wrists. Her skin was burnt black. She rolled over and her feet were seen, but they too we're detached, her left foot still in a mangled mess. Shadow reached for her own hand, laying her wrist down her left hand seemed to join with the rest of her body. She flexed it, before reaching for her right and doing the same thing.
Shadow flung her arms out saying a few words that no one could understand. The blood flowing out of Megan stopped. The fire seemed to be frozen in time, as if it were in a photograph. Shadow reattached her feet, and painfully stood up, placing her hands over Conner's wrists, then ankles. He too fell to the ground, crawling over to Megan.
"We need to get over there now!" Artemis was on the verge of tears. "We need to leave now!"
" Take the zeta tube, go!" Bruce yelled at the three of them. They ran over and where gone with a bright flash of light.
This is the last chapter were all they do is sit around and talk for awhile. I promise! HOPE YOU LIKED IT!
READ&REVIEW
~My Light Of Life