The roof of the chemical lab was open to the sky, and the sunshine as a result of the clear day poured in.
"Test A is prepped and ready to go." Barry informed, looking towards Dick after he walked away from the table he strapped mannequin wearing Bart's suit on.
"You think this will work?" Tim asked skeptically as Dick placed his hand on the switch of a lever on the wall.
"Not sure." Dick admitted as he pulled the switch. "Guess we'll just have to find out." he watched as he heard the cogs from the inside of the table begin to move, along with the hissing of the pipes being filled with steam. The table began to vibrate faster and faster to the point that it was almost unbearably loud.
"It seems like there's too much pressure! Perhaps we should shut it off?!" Barry shouted above the noise.
There was a burst, and the top of the table and the mannequin launched into the air, doing flips and turns as they fell towards the ground.
The three men ran towards the window and saw the table top and mannequin lying on the grass below them. Dick ran back towards what was left of the table in the lab, yelping as the hot steam from one of the burst pipes inside of it burned him. He then laughed, throwing his head back. "I think it works!"
"Yeah." Tim laughed a little as well. "Maybe a bit too well!"
They quickly made their way out towards the backyard, and Barry picked up the mannequin. Its head rolled off, but he just rolled his eyes and pulled out his magnifying glass, inspecting the suit. The suit had stayed completely on, no rips or tears. Barry smiled, admiring his and Dick's work.
"Obviously, we cannot assume that it works from one test alone." he turned to the two younger men behind him, "We'll have to continue with them. But, if all appears well, I suppose we could then make a matching pair of goggles."
Tim frowned. "I understand that, but, don't you have actual work to do as well?"
"I do." Barry nodded, "But it's nice to get a break once in awhile, and actually use chemicals for a project you actually enjoy, Timothy. Your brother has been a pleasure to work with."
"Hey, in fact," Dick clasped an arm around Tim's shoulder, "Why don't you help us, Tim?"
Tim bit his lip.
"Oh, come on," Dick encouraged, "It'll be worth it, I promise."
"Alright. Fine. Sure. I'll help you guys with your goggles." Tim sighed, "But, Dick-"
"No 'but's, Timothy!" Barry scolded as he stood back up, holding the mannequin. "Come now, gentlemen. Let's get back inside and continue to work. Wally West will be very intrigued to hear about this!"
x
August 21st, 1883.
"Test B is prepped and ready to go!"
Dick pulled the switch.
x
August 29th, 1883.
"Test G is prepped and ready to go!"
"Aren't these tests getting a bit excessive? I don't mean any disrespect, but it's obvious it works."
"There's never such thing as too many tests, Timothy!"
x
September 13th, 1883.
"Test Z is prepped and ready to go!"
"You've run out of letters now, Barry!"
"It's about time, Timothy! Now we can get started on the goggles!"
It was early in the morning, and Zatanna sat in the tribe leader's tent.
Chief Shadow spoke. "Surely there couldn't be-"
"No, sir. It is here. Come take a look for yourself." Zatanna folded back the entrance of the tepee. Chief Shadow stepped outside of it, and stuck out one of his large hands. Snowflakes gently drifted onto his fingers and palm. He sighed.
"Up here, winter has already come. This is why we preferred to never live at such a high elevation. Where are Bart and Jaime?"
"I don't know. When are they here?" Zatanna chuckled.
It was true- Jaime and Bart would most definitely contribute to helping the tribe, dropping off large supplies of food and lumber among other things, but then they were gone again, just like that. Zatanna began to feel like a third wheel, but she didn't mind. At around the time they began to spend more time with just each other rather than her, Nina, a young woman of the Longshadows, had just given birth to her first baby. Zatanna began to regularly help Nina with her daughter instead of spending time with Bart and Jaime, so things naturally fell the way they did.
Zatanna still laughed at the conversation she had with Nina one night.
"You should have a baby of your own, Zatanna. Either Bart or Jaime should be the father. Could you imagine how Godly the child would end up being?"
Zatanna laughed. "I'm not interested in being a mother, Nina, nor am I interested in having either of them as the father. But, thank you for the idea."
"I am just suggesting!" Nina chuckled as well as she came to her own defense, "A Godly child sounds ideal."
"It does, but who knows? There's no guarantee that the child would be Godly. And even if I did want either Jaime or Bart as my child's father, that would never happen. They're never here!" she exclaimed.
Nina loudly laughed. "That's true!" she admitted. "Where do you think they're at all the time, anyways?"
"Hey, look, there's snow." Bart pointed out as he looked up in the sky. "Ah!" he screamed as he suddenly slipped, and he felt Jaime grab his arm right before he went tumbling towards the ground.
"We're on a mountain, ese." Jaime reminded, "Watch where you're going."
"Wouldn't have been the first time I would've fallen down a mountain." Bart mumbled.
"And there doesn't need to be a second." Jaime looked up, "I'm surprised it is snowing, though. It's only-" he paused, "September fourteenth."
"Khaji Da have to tell you?" Bart asked.
"He always lets me know what day it is."
"Lucky. I wish I had a little smart bug that let me know what day it was. It's all a blur to me. I swear it just turned into August the other day."
"Yeah, but the benefits don't outweigh the cost." Jaime mumbled, "Oh, shut up- yes, yes, I know I should be grateful for being chosen to be the host of one of the most advanced pieces of technology in the- I get it!"
"There you guys are!" Zatanna shouted from behind them. "What are you two doing just standing there? Come on, we've gotta help the Longshadows prepare for winter!"
"Oh, hey Z." Bart gave a small wave. "Prepare for winter how, though? What does Chief Shadow want us to do?"
"You'll have to talk to him." Zatanna folded her arms. "Come on now!" she turned around and started to walk back.
"She seems a bit irritable today." Bart commented.
"It's probably from hanging around Nina too much." Jaime suggested.
"Why is it just us now? Why aren't we doing a lot with Zatanna anymore?" Bart asked.
"She just prefers to stay close to camp, and we don't. She's still our friend, Bart. There's nothing to worry about." Jaime insisted.
"But we're not as close as we used to be with her." Bart countered. "It's sad."
"People drift away, Bart. And sometimes they can come drifting back. It's just how things work." Jaime explained.
"Was Zatanna ever your best friend at one point?" Bart asked.
"Sure, she was pretty neck-and-neck with tie at certain points." Jaime shrugged.
"Who is now?"
"That's pretty obvious. I'll give you a hint; he's walking right next to me."
Bart chuckled. "Well, no offense Jaime, but I think I'm having trouble deciding between you and Dick on my greatest-friend scale. But I haven't seen Dick in a long time, so you win by default."
Jaime laughed. "Seems skewed, but alright. I'll go with it."
They entered the camp, where Chief Shadow could be standing, waiting.
"Bart, Jaime, I must request that you both wander off less." he said.
"Sorry, Chief Shadow." Jaime apologized, "We won't."
"Very well. Now, what I request both of you do is to find and kill bison. We must skin them and use their hides for warmth, and we don't have enough. Make sure the kills are clean." Chief Shadow commanded.
"Right on it. We'll be back as quick as we can." Bart took off, and Jaime followed suit.
"Told them to stop wandering off and you sent them off right away?" Zatanna teased, smirking at Chief Shadow.
Chief Shadow let out a small smile as his eyes met Zatanna's. "I do not think I could keep them in the camp, anyways." he looked back out to the distance where he watched them fly and run into the distance. "What I'd give to be a young man like them again."
Zatanna gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "You're young in the soul, chief." she reassured, and smiled. "Young in the soul."
The sunshine of dawn shone through the glass dome of the private lab.
Dick quietly entered, large suitcase in hand. It was filled with many things that he needed. Food, clothes, water, money, steam balls, but most importantly, Bart's suit.
He loaded the suitcase into the back of Nightwing, got his gloves and goggles, and opened the walls that lead to the backyard, wincing as they let out loud groans. He hopped into his machine, and pulled the directions to Windland in his pocket. It was difficult obtaining the map itself, but more importantly, his destination was all the way across the country and would take weeks to get to. It'd just be around October by the time he arrived, and of course he couldn't tell anyone of his departure.
Well, he told one person, and that was Wally West.
He'd gotten to know Wally a bit more ever since he arrived, and Wally just clicked with him. He loved to teach Wally about engineering, and in exchange, Wally would teach him about the art of business. His wife was very interesting as well. She was a professional archer, martial artist, and chef, and taught Dick a thing or two in all of those aspects.
So, Dick had grown fond of the new couple, and he wasn't surprised. Having getting along with Bart so well, it was no wonder he'd come to like his relatives. He told Wally about his plan to find Bart, and promised him to not tell anybody about his departure. Mostly because if it was told, the departure would be stopped. Wally swore he wouldn't say a word, and Dick trusted him.
He started the engine, and snapped his head in the direction of the sound of yelling. A very irritated and tired Tim was screaming his name, demanding to know what he was doing, and Dick knew he couldn't just stop and explain now.
He exited, taking off into the sky.
Only to see the shape of Robin following him just some distance away a minute later.
Zatanna's shriek was so loud that it echoed across the sky.
Bart was the first to zip out of his tepee, gasping at the sight. Zatanna began to collapse to her knees, and Bart caught her just before she fell.
"What's happening?" Chief Shadow demanded, then he gasped as well. "Nina…"
Bart watched in shock as Zatanna cried in his arms.
Jaime walked out of his tent, confused for a moment before approaching the bloodied, mangled body of Nina. He crouched down, and his armor covered his body. The rest of the tribe began to gather.
"What was it? An animal?" one of the male tribe members asked.
"No." Jaime shook his head in surprise. "Khaji Da says this was a human attack."
Bart could see Chief Shadow's eyes narrow, and he readjusted his grip on Zatanna.
"What do you mean human attack?" the large man demanded.
"He's scanning the blood on her right now. He says she fought back, and she didn't die here. Her body was dropped off. Hence why we didn't hear it happening."
Zatanna gasped. "Her daughter!"
"Huh?" Bart asked.
"When Sky got fussy, Nina would take her on walks to calm her down." Zatanna sniffled, a panicked look in her eyes. "Where's Sky?!"
The entire tribe stood with wide-eyes, and they frantically began to search for the lost daughter.
"Bart!" Jaime yelled, and Bart nearly jumped.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Come here. I need to talk to you in private."
Bart gently let Zatanna go, and he walked up to Jaime and crouched down with him. "What is it?" he whispered.
"Do you remember the town of Jesterson, and how there was bloodstains?" Jaime asked in a low voice.
"Yeah?"
"Well, this isn't just Nina's blood. She's also covered in Jason's blood."
Bart didn't know how to react, all he knew is that his face went pale and he felt his heart beat faster.
"Hermano." Jaime looked him in the eye, "We need to finish what we started. We need to kill Jason and Starfire."
"But where are they?" Bart asked.
"I don't know." Jaime admitted, and looked down. He sighed, his armor pulling back, and he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure what to do."
"We'll figure it out." Bart insisted, and pulled his friend up onto his feet. "Come on. Let's go talk to Chief Shadow."
x
"No. The last thing I want you two to do now is to leave camp." Chief Shadow insisted.
"Chief, please." Bart begged, "We need to track them down to kill them."
"And do you have any leads as to where they might be?" the chief challenged.
"Well, no, not exactly-"
"Exactly." the chief interrupted.
"We can't just not leave camp. This goes for any of the tribe members, not just me and Bart." Jaime argued.
Chief Shadow sighed. "I will arrange this, then." he said, "We will send out large groups of armed people at a time. Nobody may leave alone. When the large groups are sent out, one of you Gods must travel with them. The other two will stay at camp. And we will resume regular patrol procedures. Understood?"
"Understood." the other two replied in unison.
"So what will we do about Sky?" Jaime then brought up. "Chances are, if she wasn't killed, then The Outlaws took her."
"And are probably holding her for ransom." Bart added.
"Fine, then. Bart." Chief Shadow turned to him, "You will be the only one allowed to leave camp alone. You will find her and bring her back, but only that. Do not attempt to assassinate The Outlaws alone."
"He'll get killed by himself!" Jaime protested. "If anything, you should send me out there! I'm the one with the bug on my back!"
"Now is not the time for arguments, Jaime! You are to stay here!" Chief Shadow shouted.
Jaime didn't attempt to respond to him. He glanced over at Bart, a dreaded look in his eyes.
"Go when you feel you are ready, Bart. You are both dismissed."
They exited the tepee.
"I guess I'll fill up on something then head off." Bart shrugged.
Jaime bit his lip and didn't respond. Bart continued on, munching on a few pieces of fruit in his tepee. Jaime followed him in, and still didn't say a word, he just sat and read- or tried to read, at least- a spell book that never made it back to Zatanna's tent.
"You okay there?"
Jaime looked up from the book.
"No."
"Thought just as much." Bart stood up once he finished his meal. He opened his arms. "Come on. Say goodbye to me, her-man-oh."
Jaime got up, hugged him, and laughed a little. "Not 'goodbye'," he insisted, "This isn't goodbye. I'm going to see you again, ese."
"'Course you will. Can't just die on my best bud, can I?" Bart chuckled a bit.
Jaime laughed, but Bart knew he didn't find it funny at all. He could sense the nervousness in Jaime's tone of voice. "No, you can't." he separated their hug, still keeping one hand clasped on Bart's shoulder.
"I promise I won't." Bart reassured.
They were silent for a few moments.
"Really, I won't die." Bart reassured once again, "Well. I'll see you, Jaime." he sped off suddenly, and Jaime felt his hair be blown back by the sudden gust of wind.
He couldn't felt but feel sick to his stomach.
Tim had been trying for hours, but Dick finally had to land due to running out of steam. They were in rural Pennsylvania, nearly on the border of Ohio, and there was no train station in sight. Dick was glad he had brought extra steam balls.
"Dick!" Tim shrieked as he landed. He walked towards Dick as he replaced the steam ball. "What are you doing?!"
"Replacing my steam ball." Dick said, tossing the empty ball into the backseat of Nightwing.
"You know what I'm talking about!"
Dick didn't respond.
Tim's voice softened. "You're going after Bart, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Dick nodded. "Did Wally tell you?"
"Wally knew about this?" Tim cocked an eyebrow.
"Well, then that's a no." Dick concluded.
"No- I just heard the backdoor of our lab being opened. You know how loud it is, Dick. And I wanted to see what was going on."
Dick didn't respond for a few moments. He then switched the subject. "Need a ball?"
"No, I have my own."
"Oh. Okay. So you're coming with me, then?"
"I guess now I am." Tim grumbled. "I hate to be so pessimistic, Dick, but this is stupid."
"It's not stupid." Dick argued.
Tim sighed. "It'll take us weeks to get there."
"I know."
He sighed again, but didn't say anything in response, figuring it was useless to have an argument now.
Dick began to eat a snack he brought with. Tim's stomach growled.
"Do you have anything to eat?"
"No."
Dick tossed him a chocolate bar.
"Now you do." Dick smiled at his little brother.
Bart swore he spent the entire day searching the entire west for Sky. There was no sign of her or The Outlaws.
After four days, he began to wonder if Khaji Da had gotten everything wrong, and Nina truly was attacked by an animal and her daughter eaten. His stomach dropped when he came across Windland on the first day, however. Rotting bodies, broken buildings, charred-black everything. It was disgusting, and it was horrifying. And it could become The Longshadows within a matter of hours if he, Zatanna, and Jaime didn't take them out in time.
He was fighting the urge to return to camp, but Chief Shadow had given his orders, and his orders were that he was to find Sky. And Sky wasn't at camp.
That first night, Bart had a nightmare. He dreamed that The Outlaws actually did kill everyone in the Longshadows except for him, Jaime, and Zatanna. They spent their nights together in the freezing snow, trying to run away from the seemingly invincible criminals, but it was no use. He watched Zatanna and Jaime die right in front of him. Then, Tim and Dick appeared for some reason, but by the time they'd gotten there, Bart was killed right in front of them. Bart awoke from that nightmare breathing heavily and gasping at the sight of a human silhouette, laughing to himself as he realized it was only a scarecrow.
I am going to find Sky. I am going to kill The Outlaws. I am going to save the Longshadows. He told himself to try and calm down as he listened to the crickets in the night. He fell back asleep, and didn't wake up until dew from the morning grass dripped onto his face.
"I don't exactly want to break the law." Tim looked around nervously at the train station surrounding them.
"What choice do we have, Tim? Literally all of the balls are empty." Dick snorted at the sentence, then shook his headd. "We'll just fill them up real quick, grab some snacks, and get back to flying. No biggie."
x
Tim couldn't stop checking over his shoulder as he screwed off the pipe to a train and put his first steam ball into the pipes that connected. It wouldn't be long before the train would start moving, and he'd need to get his task done quickly.
"Hey, kid! What are ya doing?" a small man in dirty suspenders and horrendous teeth yelled. Tim panicked, picking up a rock and throwing it at the man.
"Oh god!" he yelped as the man fell backwards to the ground, unconscious. Again, Tim checked his surroundings. Nobody seemed to notice what had happened.
He let out a sigh of relief, whispering "Sorry." to the fallen man.
Bart's blood went cold as he heard the crying of a baby echo through the mountains.
He sped to the source, and peeked over a boulder.
Jason and Starfire were standing there, looking down at the little girl in Starfire's arms. It was most definitely Sky, and Starfire was calming her down.
Grab her and go. Grab her and go. Grab her and go. Bart kept telling himself.
He was about to act on it, when he heard Jason speak.
"Y'know, Star, I know we can't have kids of our own." he said, and smiled at her. "Maybe we shouldn't kill her. Maybe we should raise her. Have her be our daughter. Train her to be one of us. Make her our perfect little soldier. We've already had her for a few days, after all."
Starfire smiled at him, "I would like that." she admitted, "I am not exactly fond of murdering children."
"And that would be the ultimate revenge." Jason went on, "We'll definitely take out Bart and Jaime, and their witch bitch too, but they'll die knowing that one of their people has become one of ours, after trying to stop us for so long. That is the most disgraceful way to die."
"I agree." Starfire laughed. "Jason, you are twisted, but that is what I love about you."
"Why don't you say we take this back to the base?" Jason suggested.
Starfire nodded. Bart slipped back behind his rock as they began to walk back.
He couldn't help but panic a bit. He couldn't do this by himself. He wanted to go back and get Jaime, but by the time he'd get him, he'd lose track of Starfire and Jason.
He followed them, and felt his heart drop into his stomach as he stepped on a twig.
Out of all things he should've noticed.
He could hear Starfire and Jason stop in their steps, and Bart's heart beat so fast and hard he was certain that they heard him.
"Must've been a rabbit or something." he heard Jason say, and they continued to walk.
Bart followed them until they walked into a very tight crevice just behind a waterfall.
So that's where they're hiding. Under a waterfall.
He wondered what to do now. He was smaller than Jason and Starfire, but he'd still have to squeeze through the opening get inside. If he sped his way inside, he'd probably rip the flesh off of his shoulders. No, his only option would be to vibrate through, but vibrating through things like rock exhausted him, and he wasn't in the mood to do a naked baby rescue.
So, he stalked.
Bart stalked the entrance of that base for a long time. He could hear a few words every now and then, but couldn't really make out what they said. He only left to grab some things to eat, but other than that, he made himself comfy in the bushes, watching the entrance. Nobody had exited.
By the time night fell, a soft green illumination poured its way out of the cave entrance, and the only noise was the sound of crickets again, and the occasional laugh from the base.
Bart tried his best not to do it, really, but those bastard crickets lulled him to sleep.