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Chapter Fourteen: Desperate Times and Even More Desperate Actions:

Barbara Gordon set herself out on a task and whenever she set herself out on a task, she refused to allow herself to do anything less than the very best. Her mouth chewed down on the lower half of her lip when she went to work on the information in front of her. It was heavily encrypted, as she expected.

Time ran out and with it, did Barbara's patience. She looked over her shoulder in time to see Donna and Kara both show up on either side of her.

"Given it was our mentors who did this, I figured if the three of us put our heads together, we could figure this out," Barbara said. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "At least I hope we can figure it out."

"I'm pretty sure it was your boss who did all of the legwork," Kara said, leaning in closer towards Barbara. "Kal isn't the type of guy to do high tech computer things…and Diana….."

"She's learning, but she prefers the old fashioned way more than anything else," Donna said. "You have to admit, all of these computers…they can be a bit confusing sometimes."

"Unless you're willing to learn," Barbara said.

One could tell from the absent minded nature of her tone the red-haired crime fighter tried her best not to lose her cool.

"Any luck?"

Dick made his way into the room. Kara turned over to one side with a shadow of a smile crossing her face.

"Given how frustrated Barbara's getting when she's trying to complete a simple task, you tell me," Kara said.

"It's not really a simple task," Barbara said.

"Why don't I try and take a crack at it?" Dick asked.

"Oh, you think you can, can you?" Barbara asked.

Dick smiled and leaned down to push his lips onto hers with a kiss. Barbara closed her eyes to allow the full force of Dick's mouth to be pressed upon hers.

"Nice try, but you know this won't distract me for too long….."

Kara silenced Barbara by catching her lips with a full kiss. Barbara closed her eyes and kissed back at the younger girl. Donna and Dick locked eyes with each other.

"I don't know how much this is really distracting Barbara," Dick said. "But, it's distracting me a little bit."

"Just a little bit?" Donna asked in a teasing voice.

Dick responded with a shadow of a smile and parked himself down in front of the computer chair. Barbara made a little bit of headway, but a fresh set of eyes never hurt.

'What are your secrets?'

Donna made her way behind Dick and leaned in on his shoulder. He turned towards her with a raised eyebrow. Donna stepped back to wave her hands in an apologetic tone.

Now, Dick had a clear head and some room to breathe, he pressed forward and started to work his way into the system. He typed in a few commands, and the computer started to blink to life.

"Please tell me you didn't just brick my system," Barbara said. She turned and mouth hung open in shock. She slid back onto her chair, which Dick happened to be occupying. So, she slid onto his lap. "I don't believe it."

"Why, didn't you have any faith in me?" Dick asked.

"Oh, I've had plenty of faith in you," Barbara said. She noticed the sour look on Dick's face and looked a bit apologetic. "You know, I didn't mean to…"

"Trust me, Babs, I understand, I was having some fun," Dick said, smiling and brushing her red hair away from her eyes. "You've been working at this for a long time. Sorry to step on your toes."

Barbara waved off his apology. Kara and Donna crowded in closer to the other two.

"Of course, it'd be out in the middle of nowhere," Barbara said. "We're going to need to get it for he does."

"We're not going to need to get it, but we're going to need to find a way to destroy it."

Rachel popped up behind Barbara. Barbara jumped halfway into the air and turned towards the girl. Her lips twisted into an obvious frown.

"Why do you have to sneak up on me like that?" Barbara asked. She realized something. "Wait a minute, you just had to do it, to show me how it feels."

"No, time is of the essence," Rachel said without missing a beat. "And we need to head out before it's too late."

"So, when do you we leave?" Kara asked.

"Now, would be a good time," Dick said. "Do you want to come with us, Barbara?"

"I'll pass, I'm still recovering from the last mission," Barbara said. "Guess it's going to take me a lot longer to get back on the horse than I thought."

"Won't hurt to have some extra eyes and ears here…plus you can keep an eye for any strange activity in Gotham City," Dick said.

"You don't ask much of me, do you?"

Dick realized what he said and amended his statement after a few seconds.

"I mean any stranger than normal activity," Dick said.

"Relax," Barbara said, bouncing to her feet and wrapping her arms around him with a hug. She stole a nice little kiss from him. "I was just having some fun."

Kori joined them a few seconds later, with an excited look on her face.

"This is going to be like old times again, isn't it?" Kori asked.

"Yes, right down to fighting the madman who wants to take over the world," Rachel said.

"Just seems like another Tuesday for us," Donna said. "Of course, Kara never was with our team….."

"But, I've fought my fair share of madmen who wanted to take over the world."

Kori and Donna locked eyes with each other, knowing smiles crossing their faces at the look coming from Kara's face. She was a good fit for the rest of the group.

Rachel waved her hand and opened up a portal. She stepped back to allow them to walk through.

"I won't be able to get us to the exact location," Rachel said. "But, I should be able to get us close enough to the location."

Dick lead the way through the portal, with the other girls following. Rachel brought up the rear and in her opinion, it was quite the rear to bring up.

Pamela Isley seethed when she had been used as a pawn in some madman's scheme. She couldn't believe she had been put in this position. Ever since the change turned her into Poison Ivy, Pamela saw herself as a bit more assertive and a lot stronger. This entire problem caused her to regress into the wallflower she hated and would stomp out if she hadn't vowed to be a protector to all plans in the world.

'Nightwing.'

Pamela thought of the name. The former Boy Wonder had grown all up, and for a human, he wasn't too horrible on the eyes. He was still an obstacle in the way of her plans and would need to be taken down when he got in her way.

'Perhaps he could be a useful associate to take down a greater threat. Because this HIVE is going to be a problem.'

Pamela used a heavy amount of cover when she sauntered towards a secure facility. The nature of this facility made her blood boil because of the horrific experiments it committed on plants. She didn't take any solace of the fact there were rumors where it would treat humans in a same and rather sadistic way.

Poison Ivy smiled when she made her way to the front gate. A rather rotund security guard blinked and stared at her.

"Hey, you're….."

A cloud of pink dust blew into his face. The guard stood up rigid when he experienced a chilling feeling come over his head. Poison Ivy smiled, seeing her dust take effect.

"Yes, I'm in desperate need of help," she said in a surprisingly soothing voice. "And I know you'd help me….I'm in need of what you have down in Lab Seven."

"Lab Seven….no one is supposed to go down there," the guard said.

Poison Ivy figured an annoying amount of resistance would come with someone trying to perform their duty. She moved in to touch her hand on his forearm.

"I understand no one is authorized," Poison Ivy said. "But, what would it hurt to make an exception."

The guard tried to figure out a good reason why he shouldn't take her into the unauthorized lab. The guard started to stammer and stutter all over his words when Pamela touched his forearm with her soft hand.

"There's no reason, is there?" Poison Ivy asked. "There's no reason why you couldn't help me? This can be our little secret, there's no need for you to tell anyone. And I certainly wouldn't tell anyone."

Pamela placed her hand on the man's chest in a blink of the eye. The touch melted this man like putty in her hand.

"No, there's no reason."

The guard turned around, leading his new mistress down the hallway. He moved with a new step, lighter then air when he walked down the hallway. Poison Ivy sauntered a few steps ahead of them.

'They have a skeleton crew tonight,' she thought. 'This makes it easy….this makes it perfect in fact.'

Her tongue traced around the edge of her lips, causing them to be moistened with the thoughts of what she would do next. If the compound was here, she could use it.

"Excuse me, you can't….."

Poison Ivy moved in quick and used her pheromones to cause the lab technician to fall underneath a trace. Satisfied he was under her spell, she moved forward.

"I need for you to do me a huge favor," Poison Ivy said. "Do you think you can open the vault for me?"

Poison Ivy placed her hand on the man's shoulder and leaned in closer to tease a kiss. She stopped a few inches away from her soft lips pressing onto his.

'Need him alive…and bodies would raise too many questions tonight.'

Pamela smiled and turned the lab technician around. She caressed his cheek for a moment.

"Of course, Mistress, I will comply."

The word mistress struck a cord in Pamela's mind and caused her smile to widen. Beautiful, it was beautiful and wonderful music to her ears. She couldn't enjoy it even more.

The man opened a vault and nothing was inside but a key.

"Why isn't the compound in the vault?" Pamela asked.

"Well, Mistress, this is only a key to the main vault….the other vault is downstairs," the technician said. "And my supervisor is the only one who can access the elevator."

Poison Ivy frowned. Her entire plan was in danger of being undone. Perhaps the security in this place was a bit more fluid than she anticipated with her first glance.

'I'm going to have to think of a new strategy.'

"Could you do me a favor?" Poison Ivy asked. The technician almost fell over himself trying to please his mistress.

"Anything, anything, anything, please," he said.

"Do me a favor and call up your supervisor….tell him there's a problem," Pamela said. "And….when you do….I'll do the rest."

The technician nodded and made his way over to the phone. Poison Ivy watched him dial the phone, a smile crossing her face.

"Speak clearly now, darling, and make sure he doesn't have any cause for suspicion."

The young gentleman spoke clearly.

"Mr. Mason, we have a problem…yes in Lab Seven….I'm hearing a funny noise downstairs….you're be right there….in an hour…yes, it's urgent, I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't urgent."

Pamela smiled, pleased to see how the meek lab technician did have an assertive bone in his body after all. This proved to be very promising. He turned towards her.

"Sorry, Mistress, but he won't be here for another hour," he said.

"I'm sure you've done your best," Pamela said. She turned to the guard who looked at her like a lost puppy dog awaiting further orders. "Make sure no one else but Mr. Mason comes here…anyone else…take care of them."

"Should I shoot them?" the guard asked.

Pamela almost smiled, but didn't.

'Bit eager to kill someone, aren't we?' Pamela asked. 'Then again, we are in Gotham City.'

"Blood would not fit into my plans at all," Pamela said, placing her hand on the man's chest. "Use a stun gun, if you have one, or knock them out with your baton."

"Of course, Mistress, anything to serve you," the guard said.

Pamela wanted one man calling her mistress above all else. She made her plan to deal with the HIVE. Phase one was complete, soon phase two would allow her to get Nightwing underneath her thrall.

'Desperate times call for desperate actions.'

Darhk returned to the basement for another chat with his captive prisoner. He stopped at the foot of the stairs to find out the chains had been broken once again.

"You're persistent, I'll give you as much," Darhk said. "But, it's beginning to get annoying how much you're breaking out of your restraints…"

Darhk searched the basement, going around every corner for Batman. The Dark Knight looked to have eluded him.

In a flash, Batman nailed him in the back of the head with a piece of wood with a nail on it. The battered, but still breathing, Dark Knight raised the board once again, but Darhk blocked it.

"I'd give you points for effort," Darhk said, snapping the board with a magical charm. Batman bounced to his feet to avoid the chains once again. "But your execution is lacking."

"We'll see," Batman said. He popped up and nailed his adversary with a quick barrage of punches. Darhk staggered back a little bit, before he raised his hand.

Batman propelled against the ground and landed with a solid smack down onto the ground. The Dark Knight rolled over and one more time, Darhk used his abilities to put him down.

"You've done rather well," Darhk said. "You haven't broken….but I haven't found the right combination to break you. Now I know what I need to do. All you hold dear, including your precious Gotham City, it will be no more."

Batman tried to force himself to a standing position. Darhk managed to keep him down onto the ground, forcing him down onto his knees. The man stood over Batman with a wicked grin on his face.

"This time you were warned," Darhk said.

Every time Batman came close to breaking free, Darhk pushed him back down. The hope faded from the eyes of Batman. He always intended to keep fighting through, no matter how hard the mission was.

This time, Batman did wonder if the mission would be beyond even his abilities. He returned to try and free himself soon.

"You must be proud, your protégé is on his way to get the item. It's a shame I couldn't have him lead me to it…but I will draw him out and he'll hand it over to me."

Batman only responded with an icy cold glare towards his adversary. Darhk smiled and stepped closer towards Batman.

"Not one for talking today," Darhk said. "Fair enough, I'm not one for words either. I'm more of a man of action. I guess we have about as much in common, don't we?"

Darhk turned around to leave Batman to think about his fate. Batman refused to give him the satisfaction. He had been broken, beaten, and injected with toxins a fair few times. Darhk wasn't about to be the one who would break the Bat.

Rachel looked around the area. There wasn't anything too out of the ordinary when they showed up. She used her magic to shield them.

"Good news, the HIVE hasn't found the facility yet," Rachel said.

"Wonderful news then," Kori said.

"Yeah, wonderful news," Kara said, but she frowned. "So do any of you have the slightest idea what we're looking for?"

"You'll know when you find it," Rachel said.

Kara frowned, she hated when people said something like she'd know when they found something. It put her on an unsettling edge. The Girl of Steel used her heightened senses to take a look around. Her X-Ray vision saw in the middle of a base. Something glowing caught her attention and made her frown.

"You see it, don't you?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I do," Kara said. "It's…well it's disturbing."

"High end magical artifacts are disturbing," Rachel said. The half demon girl turned around to look for Nightwing, but much to her frustration, she found he disappeared in a flash.

'I just remembered how much I hate it when he does this.'

"Where did he go?" Kara asked. "I can't believe he just disappeared just like….."

Donna grabbed Kara's cape to prevent her from hovering in the air. The Amazon Princess made the Kryptonian settle down. There was someone moving around.

"They couldn't have known we were here," Kara said.

"My father must have had the same general idea where it is, we did," Rachel said. "Let's make our move right about…."

Rachel's words faded into the ether. She watched when a figure nailed two of the goons from behind. A third HIVE goon fell to the ground when a large staff nailed him in the back of the leg. The fourth turned around and raised a sickle like arm.

Supergirl made her movement next, and used her heat vision to relieve him of his modified arm. Nightwing took the goon down with another attack.

"Oh well, so much for stealth," Wondergirl said.

"Stealth, nothing," Supergirl said. "They knew we were coming."

"How could they know?" Starfire asked.

"Like I said, it must have been my father," Rachel said. "Trigon has….Trigon has a tendency to know what he needs to know….I just hope none of them have summoned anyone else."

"We're just going to have to move quickly."

Nightwing made his way into the facility, using the access code Barbara dug up. The facility doors slid open.

"We better stick together," Nightwing said.

"Agreed," Raven said. "The last thing we need to do is split up…but all of you be strong….there is some darkness around us."

Wondergirl nodded, shivering. Supergirl put her arm around her to hold her in close, which caused her to smile in response.

"Better?"

"Thanks," Wondergirl said. "I don't know why. But I guess I'm just sensitive to the magic in the air."

"It's understandable," Raven said. "This was used to take down a very powerful…"

Raven paused for the longest moment. She raised her hand and moved towards the shadows. Nightwing turned around to be with her.

"Problem?" Nightwing asked.

"Just an illusion," Raven said.

She needed to shake it off. There would be some problems if she didn't. Raven made her way into the vault and cracked it open. The vault released a stream of purple smoke which almost gagged them. Raven raised her hand to shield their faces.

"Security measure, perhaps I should have given you the heads up," Oracle said.

"Yes, it would have helped," Starfire said, feeling a bit light headed.

Nightwing made his way towards the end of the vault. A large silver crate appeared in front of them. He could feel something rather unsettling in the box.

"I'll do it," Raven said.

Raven touched the box, but it performed a discharge which caused her to be knocked back towards the wall. Nightwing's quick thinking prevented her from flying head long into the wall.

"Or, I won't do it."

'You can't just make anything easy, can you, Bruce?'

Pamela Isley strolled around the area of the lab. She could hear a car door slam and a man make his way to the lab.

'Showtime,' she thought.

Mason gave off the appearance of the type of people Pamela Isley crusaded against and his reputation proceeded him. The angry gentleman made his way into the office, his arms swinging on either side.

"You're…you're her…."

"Yes, I'm me."

Pamela blew another cloud into the man's face. His eyes grew glazed over and the man's mind succumbed to her pheromones.

"I understand you have something for me," Pamela said. "And you're going to give it to me, aren't you?"

"The compound…you can't have it," he managed, trying his hardest to keep himself stern.

"You want to help me, don't you?" Pamela asked. "You're the type of person who….says he wants to make the world a better place. Why don't you prove it? Why don't you live up to your expectations, Mr. Mason?"

Pamela touched the side of the man's cheek. He closed his eyes for a second and succumbed to her actions.

"Good boy, see how much easier these things are when you help people, instead of stepping over the top of them."

Pamela allowed the man to escort her into the elevator.

"I'm going to need the key to get inside."

"Of course, darling," Pamela said, with a smile on her face. "I was just keeping it nice and secure for you until you were ready to go."

She smiled and touched her hand down onto his shoulder. The warm sensation of her hand upon his shoulder caused the businessman to be more docile.

'If I didn't need you, I'd kill you.'

Dick turned towards Kara and Donna.

"If my hunch is right, it's brilliant," Dick said. "There are only three other people who can access the box other than the Trinity."

"You're talking about us?" Kara asked.

"Of course," Donna said, without missing a beat. "Just think about it, we're the three people who are most trustworthy by our mentors."

"The three of you may need to lift the box at the same time," Rachel said. "But it could just be a hunch."

"Didn't your last hunch end up with you flying head first into a wall?" Kori asked.

"I'm pretty sure this hunch is right," Rachel said.

Dick turned towards Kara and Donna and all three of them nodded.

"On my signal."

Supergirl, Nightwing, and Wondergirl all grabbed the box at once. On the signal, they lifted it all up.

What happened next was equal parts amazing and horrifying.

To Be Continued.