I've been AWOL for a hot minute...I'm so sorry, this past month has been crazy busy for me.
To : Thank you! I'm glad you like it - and here is the next chapter!
To KingPenguinJG: I saw the trailer! I was a little disappointed that it was mostly old footage, but it did give me enough of an idea to know what I'm going to do to end this part of the story and close out season two. Yes Karla is bi/pan...I'm glad you think I portrayed it well; her sexuality is very important to me. Anyways, I'm glad you like the story, and also I have not read the new red hood comics yet/know what you're talking about (i've been so busy lol) but when i get around to it, we'll see! (ps more jason in this chap)
To BrazioRios: Thank you so much!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my b Karla
GOTHAM CITY
May 27, 12:33 EDT
Jason wandered down the hallway of Wayne Manor, chugging a bottle of water. He'd been in the gym since nine-thirty that morning, and he was starving. Heading towards the kitchen, Jason paused to peek in. Alfred was standing at the stove. He must have heard Jason's footsteps, for the elderly butler turned to look in the direction of the door.
"Ah, Master Jason," Alfred greeted the young man with a gentle smile. He gestured towards the pan on the stove, where he was preparing some eggs. "Would you care for some breakfast?"
"Thanks, Alfred," Jason said gratefully. "That would be great." The dark-haired boy headed over to the sink, filling his water bottle back up. He took another long sip, draining the bottle, and then crushed the plastic in his hand. "Is Tim here?"
"I believe Master Tim is still away," Alfred responded, not taking his eyes of the pan as not to burn the eggs. He was busy scrambling the eggs with his spatula. "I do not know when he will return."
As if on cue, Jason heard the familiar sound of the grandfather clock being pushed back from inside the BatCave. Alfred turned the heat off under the pan and moved it aside, stepping past Jason to greet Tim.
Jason waited in the kitchen, shifting uncomfortably. He didn't dislike Tim, per say. Still, their encounters were few and far between, and nearly always awkward. Jason couldn't blame the younger boy – after all, Tim's first impression of Jason was being beat unconscious. So, Jason preferred to keep his distance when possible.
"Jason?" a voice called – it was Dick, not Tim, who was talking. For whatever reason, Dick seemed to want Jason to come say hello. Sighing, Jason turned around, pushing the door to the kitchen open. It looked like he wouldn't be able to get away with avoiding the younger boy this time.
But to Jason's surprise, Tim was nowhere to be seen when he stepped into the entry hall. Jason blinked, looking around. Dick was standing next to Alfred, still dressed in his Nightwing uniform. He was scowling, and Alfred looked concerned, his eyebrows pressed together.
"What's going on?" Jason asked, warily. Seeing Nightwing in full uniform, especially this early in the day, especially with that expression on his face made him a little nervous.
"The Team is missing," Nightwing replied briskly. Jason's eyes widened at Nightwing's statement.
"The Team is – the whole Team is missing?" Jason repeated incredulously. Nightwing nodded grimly. Jason's eyebrows creased as he processed this information. "So, Karla and Barbara and Tim…" Jason's voice trailed off as anger flashed through his body, hot and fiery. Jason clenched his hands into fists and took a few deep breaths.
"Yeah," Nightwing affirmed, not seeming to notice Jason's sudden rage. He sighed, leaning against the wall of the hallway. "A rookie – Blue Beetle – made it out. He says a boom tube opened up right beneath their feet. Transported them all god knows where." Jason managed to relax his hands as he looked up at Dick.
"You don't buy it," Jason realized, reading Nightwing face. Nightwing frowned again, and he turned away slightly.
"I don't know," he replied at last, his voice quiet. "I just came by to tell you what had happened, so you two wouldn't be expecting Tim home." Nightwing sighed again, straightening his shoulders. "I'll be leaving now," he said curtly. "I need to start looking for any leads."
"Wait – " Jason reached his hand out. Nightwing turned back, raising his eyebrows expectantly. "Can I come?" Nightwing stared at Jason, his eyes narrowing behind the domino mask slightly. Jason scowled at Nightwing's slightly incredulous expression. "I can handle it," he muttered, clenching his jaw.
A long moment passed, and finally Nightwing nodded. Jason's shoulders slumped with relief, and he couldn't help the grin that spread over his face.
"I suppose I could use the extra set of hands," Nightwing admitted, still looking just a little begrudging at his own acquiescence, as though he still thought it was a bad idea. "Suit up – "
"Excuse me, Master Dick," Alfred broke in, speaking for the first time. "If I may insist that Master Jason, and perhaps yourself as well, eat something before leaving." Alfred's voice was gentle, but it was clear that his statement was not a suggestion.
Nightwing sighed, and then smiled. He nodded.
"I know better than to argue with you, Alfred," he admitted, albeit reluctantly. Alfred smiled serenely, pleased to have gotten his way without a fuss. He dipped his head to the younger men before turning around.
"As you should, Master Dick," Alfred replied, heading back towards the kitchen to finish preparing the meal.
Jason turned to look at Nightwing again. The older boy's shoulders were slumped, and his head was drooping downwards. As though he felt Jason's gaze upon him, Nightwing lifted his head.
He smiled at Jason weakly, but Jason couldn't bring himself to muster a smile back.
"Come on," Nightwing said with a sigh. He reached out and squeezed his little brother's shoulder affectionately. "Let's eat."
Jason paced the bottom level of the War World's docking bay, while Nightwing surveyed the catwalks above. Once again, Jason was wearing his old Robin uniform with a leather jacket. Like the other Robins, Jason also had access to a holographic computer in his gloves, which he was currently using to scan the room for anything out of place.
The large room was quiet – neither he or Nightwing was talking, and both of them had long since learned how to move silently. Jason's feet slid over the ground without so much as whisper.
The docking bay was huge – Jason and Nightwing had been on the War World for nearly four hours, and they'd only covered the entirety of the bay twice. They were taking their time the third time around, as clues were harder to come by than they'd originally anticipated.
As he walked around the large room, Jason noticed something odd – a change in texture underneath his foot on a particular step. Walking a few paces backwards, Jason trained his masked eyes toward the ground. There was a deep gash in front of him, a slice into the hard metal of the floor as though someone had pierced the floor.
Jason bent down, measuring it with his fingers - the cut looked familiar. He frowned, shaking his head slightly. This didn't make sense. Jason turned to his holographic computer, typing on the keyboard until he had pulled up what he was looking for – pictures of Raptor's sword.
Studying both the end of the blade and the mark on the ground, Jason couldn't help but notice the obvious similarities. It was as if Raptor had slammed her blade into the ground to do – what, exactly? Why would she do that?
Frowning, Jason turned around, thinking hard. Raptor had been in the BioShip the entire time, all the way up until the fight was over. There was no reason for her to have had her sword unsheathed while in the War World at all. Boom tubes were controlled from somewhere other than where the boom tube opened, so it wasn't as if she'd been trying to destroy the controller.
"Jason," Nightwing called. The younger boy turned around. While he'd been mulling over the oddity of the mark on the floor, Nightwing had descended from the catwalk. The older hero was looking at the airlock controls, which were completely destroyed. "Airlock's damaged," Nightwing murmured unnecessarily as Jason walked over to his side.
Jason leaned down, plucking something from the floor. He held it out to Nightwing to examine – it was one of Robin's birdarangs. Nightwing frowned, scanning it with his wrist computer. Jason watched as the results appeared on the screen – the birdarang had remnants of some sort of nanites on it. They were unfamiliar to Jason, but Nightwing seemed to recognize the mirco-technology.
"Birdarang must have scratched Blue's armor," Nightwing said aloud. He looked at Jason, his forehead creased. "Why would Robin throw it at Blue?" Jason shrugged, gathering that Blue was the Blue Beetle who'd made it out.
"New kid has bad aim?" he offered, not really believing it himself. He doubted Tim would have made it far as a Robin if he had bad aim. Sure enough, Nightwing shook his head adamantly.
"Not even a little," Nightwing replied, standing back up. He looked at Jason. "Did you find anything else?" he asked. Jason nodded.
"Over here," the younger boy responded, leading Nightwing over to where he'd found the cut in the floor. Jason toed the gash. "It matches Raptor's katana – like she stabbed the ground." Nightwing shook his head slowly, bending down to take a look for himself.
Jason's analysis was sound – the cut definitely looked like Raptor's blade. The question was why she would have it out in the first place.
Nightwing looked down at the birdarang in his hand again, frowning. He turned the weapon over, as if examining it even more thoroughly would answer his questions.
But it didn't. There were far too many questions – and no satisfactory answers.
TAOS
May 29, 20:08 MDT
Nate shoved off the ground several times to gain speed on his skateboard, whipping around a corner with a wide grin. As much as he missed his friends – and yeah, school, because Nate was a certified nerd – he couldn't help but admit that this was a lot of fun.
Nate's eyes scanned the darkened streets. They quickly fell on Nate's next target – a few vending machines selling only Reach drinks nestled innocently at the corner. Nate pushed of the ground again, so that he was speeding towards the vending machines as fast as he could go.
Putting his hands up to create a battering ram, Nate felt his skin and bones turn to steel. He smashed into the vending machines, elbows first. The two devices crumpled easily underneath Nate's strength, leaving behind nothing more than a pile of scraps and a puddle of Reach juice.
Smirking, Nate changed trajectory, heading back towards the empty streets. As he rolled along the road, brushing tiny pieces of machinery off of him, Nate could see his new friends vandalizing other Reach propaganda.
Sam catapulted herself off of a billboard with Gordon Godfrey's and the Ambassador's face plastered over it. The wood of the board collapsed with a creak, sending a shower of wood down onto the top of the skyscraper.
The Japanese girl landed back on her skateboard, looking satisfied. Catching her eye, Nate grinned and gave Sam a thumbs-up, before coasting over to her on his board. Ed came whipping around the corner as well, a levitating Virgil following the Argentinean boy closely.
The four friends came up on a clearing where they could see Tye shrinking back from his astral form to his regular self. He was standing in front of a broken water tower.
"Ah, nice one, Tye!" Virgil said with a broad grin as he landed, tucking the metal manhole cover underneath his arm. He clapped the other boy on his shoulder. "You are seriously getting a handle on your powers." Tye smiled faintly.
"Thanks, Virgil," he said. Then he scowled, his tone of voice darkening. "But I'd rather get a handle on the Scarab that turned my man Jaime into the Reach's little blue puppet." Tye glared at the picture on the shattered water tower, which was a picture of Blue Beetle grinning broadly.
Before anyone could say anything, either to comfort Tye or agree with him, Ed's phone began to ring. The boy reached into his pocket, pulling the device out to accept the call. The other teens crowded around him to see the message. Lex Luthor was looking at them through the screen, his eyes betraying cold satisfaction.
"I wonder," he ventured, his eyes falling on the wreckage in the background. "If the Reach can appreciate the irony of their own creations working against them." Nate scoffed at Luthor's choice of words, rolling his eyes in irritation.
"Hey," Ed snapped. "They did not create us. They kidnapped us!" Tye moved closer to the screen, nodding his head.
"And experimented on us against our will." Lex Luthor chuckled looking nearly amused at the teenagers' defiance – or as Nate liked to call it, statement of truth.
"And with that in mind," Luthor replied, still smiling oddly. "If you truly want to hit the Reach where it hurts…" Luthor trailed off enticingly, grinning when Sam, Nate, and Virgil all stepped closer, curious to hear Luthor's suggestion. "I believe I can show you the way."
THE WAR WORLD
May 30, 03:36 UTC
Jason's fingers drummed silently against his knee as he watched Miss Martian with anticipation. The Martian had shown up at the Watchtower two days ago, fresh from her escape of Manta.
Despite Nightwing's repeated attempts to get Miss Martian to rest, the alien was adamant that she help locate the Team when she'd heard what happened. Unfortunately, even her attempts were nearly futile.
"Anything?" Nightwing asked finally, breaking the tense silence of the BioShip. Jason glanced over at Miss Martian. She sighed, and the green light faded from her eyes as they returned to their normal brown.
"No, nothing," she replied, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "I can't sense any of them," she added, swiveling in her seat to face Nightwing, who sat at the controls of the BioShip. "But the War World is so big that they could easily be out of my range."
Jason groaned, slumping in his seat and tugging at his hair in frustration. He glared out into space, at the seemingly never-ending sphere of metal beneath them that was holding their friends somewhere.
"We've been flying this surface grid pattern for hours," Jason griped. "Can't we try something else?" Nightwing sighed, rubbing the back of his neck to try to work out some of the knots between his shoulders.
"I think so," he said with another sigh. "Miss Martian is clearly exhausted – "
"I can do this!" Miss Martian cut in, her eyes blazing. Nightwing nodded rapidly, holding his hand out to placate his old friend.
"Of course," he amended. "But there's no need to overtax yourself so soon after your kidnapping. Besides," he continued. "We're not giving up. We'll start over where the Team disappeared." Jason closed his eyes, trying not to groan out loud. He was sick and tired of dead ends.
"Alright," Miss Martian murmured, turning to face forward once more. "If you think it best."
The five runaway teenagers were back at their safehouse. Predictably, given the fact that the house was occupied by five mostly-unsupervised adolescents, the apartment was a mess. Take-out food containers and paper plates littered the living room area.
The teenagers were now gathered around the computer sat on the living room table. Lex Luthor's face was now being projected onto the laptop he'd gifted the teens. Next to the computer was the device that had been waiting for them when they'd reached the safehouse.
"It's called Father Box," Luthor told the teenagers. Nate leaned over, picking the piece of tech up hesitantly. It looked to be alien in origin, something that automatically made Nate wary. "It can open a boom tube, or gateway, to the War World and back again. It has also been programmed to location Kryptonian DNA." Nate's eyes widened at that last piece of information.
"Kryptonian?" Virgil repeated from behind Nate. The teenager was once again hovering on his electrified manhole cover, sitting cross-legged. "You mean you're sending us after Superman?" Luthor shook his head.
"Superboy, actually," the bald CEO corrected. "One of the eleven young heroes captured by the Reach." A tab on the computer opened up, displaying pictures of said heroes. Nate flinched when he saw White Canary's face among the missing, and his heart began to pound. His friend was captured?
"Those guys saved us from the Reach!" Virgil exclaimed. The picture shrunk again, revealing Luthor's face once more. He nodded once, arching an eyebrow at the group of teenagers in front of him.
"Precisely," he agreed. "Care to return the favor? And in the process, strike a critical blow against the Reach?" Nate bit his lip, thinking it over. If Sara was captured, he wanted to go after her. But at the same time…
"Dude," Tye said, staring at Luthor incredulously. "You want us to break into the War World and rescue superheroes?" The boy shook his head. "If they got caught, what chance do we have?"
"¡Misión suicida!" Ed muttered, frowning.
"Kamikaze," Sam agreed with Ed, albeit probably unknowingly due to the language barrier.
"My friend's there," Nate said, crossing his arms over his chest. The brown-haired boy lifted his chin defiantly. "I'm going." He hadn't expected to be backed up by anyone, but to Nate's surprise, Virgil was nodding his head.
"I'm in," he declared. Nate looked at Virgil in surprise, and the other boy nodded back at him. Tye, Sam, and Ed were staring at their friends in shock. "There's no way the Reach expects us!" Virgil argued, seeing the facial expressions of other three.
"Right," Nate agreed, jumping on the chance to convince the other three. "With the combination of the element of surprise and our powers, we can take them." Nate shrugged. "Who knows – maybe we're the only ones who have a chance." Tye snorted, leaning back against the counter. He looked dubious.
"That's a big maybe," he replied, warily.
"Besides," Virgil piped up. "We owe them." Luthor smiled darkly on the screen.
"My thoughts exactly," he agreed. Ed, Tye, and Sam exchanged a look, and Tye sighed, crossing his arms.
"Fine," he muttered, shrugging as he resigned. He didn't look particularly angry at not getting his way so much as concerned. Ed nodded as well.
"You had me at 'we owe 'em,'" Ed agreed. Sam reached out, taking the Father Box that Nate had set back down on the coffee table. Her two-toned eyes darted over the machine as she looked for a switch or a button of some kind. Upon not finding one, she looked up at Luthor,
"Dou yatte tsukau no?" She asked, holding up the piece of tech. She spoke in Japanese before switching to English. "How does work, please?" Luthor nodded.
"The War World shielding prevents Father Box from pinpointing Superboy's exact location from Earth," Luthor informed the small group. "But – it can boom tube you within a few miles of it. Once you're inside," he continued. "It will lead you to Superboy and the others. And when you're ready, it can bring you all home." Sam stared at the Father Box, still looking slightly dubious.
"Simply ask, Asami," Luthor encouraged her. "And it will obey." Sam glanced over her shoulder, and her friends nodded affirmatively. They were ready to go.
"The War World, please," Sam requested.
At first, nothing happened. Then Father Box beeped loudly, and the mechanics began to glow. The floor beneath Nate's feet shimmered, and he couldn't help but let out a startled shriek as he and his friends plunged through the portal where the floor had been.
The boom tube opened up in the ceiling of the War World, depositing the five screaming teenagers and three skateboards on to the ground.
Nate hit the floor with a loud thump and groaned. He sat up quickly, rubbing his shoulder, which had taken most of the impact of the fall. His five friends were also in various states of disarray around him as they struggled to push themselves up as well.
Blinking his eyes a few times, Nate looked around the room they were in. He looked in front of him, and his heart skipped a beat – there were several Reach soldiers surrounding of the teens.
The five runaways clambered to their feet, forming a small circle so that their backs were basically pressed against one another. The Reach soldiers clicked and clattered to one another in their language, surrounding the runaways menacingly.
"Hello!" Sam said hopefully, smiling at the Reach soldiers. None of the warriors returned her greeting, but one of them stepped forward. He was brandishing his spear menacingly.
"Oh, we give up, we give up!" Virgil cried suddenly. He threw himself forward, so that he was on his knees in front of the lead soldier. Virgil put both of his hands above his head so that it was clear he wasn't holding a weapon. "We are so sorry!" he continued. "It was stupid to come here – stupid, stupid, stupid!"
Nate, Sam, Tye, and Ed all exchanged looks. They had all been surprised at Virgil's sudden surrender, but now they knew what he was doing. Ed was the first to react, kneeling next to Virgil and placing his hands on his head.
"He's right!" Ed agreed. Behind Ed and Virgil, the other three teenagers had fallen to their knees in a position of surrender as well. "We don't want any trouble," Ed begged. "We just want to go home."
The Reach soldier in front bent down, pulling Virgil up by the collar of his t-shirt. Virgil kept up his scared act for one second longer, and then smirked.
"Fooled ya," he gloated, stretching his hand out.
Electricity crackled around Virgil's manhole cover, responding to his motion. It shot towards him, and Virgil moved his hand across his face. The heavy metal circle smashed into the head of the Reach soldier, and the warrior crumpled to the ground.
Out of the corner of his eye, Nate could see Ed disappearing, teleporting somewhere. Sam pressed her hands together, and her chi flickered to life around her.
A Reach soldier bent down, brandishing his spear at Nate. Nate closed his eyes, and he couldn't help but smirk when the Reach soldier thrust his weapon at Nate and it bounced off his metal skin harmlessly.
Standing up, Nate punched the alien soldier in the head once, and he crumpled to the ground. Behind Nate, Tye's astral form had grown around him, and the boy swiped aside the several of the remaining soldiers in one go.
"Hoo-hoo!" Virgil shouted triumphantly as he shot electricity at the soldiers. "Now you gone done woke up the big man!"
Several of the remaining soldiers began to fire at Tye, but he simply batted them aside, sending them flying across the room. Several others surrounded Nate and Sam.
Sam propelled herself into the Reach, easily knocking them over and landing on her feet. Nate, on the other hand, simply hit them in the face. His heavy steel fists did plenty of damage without any finesse.
Virgil's hand was glowing with electricity as he conducted his manhole cover around the room, knocking over his adversaries. One of the Reach soldiers had snuck up behind him, but before Nate could intervene, Ed appeared in front of the soldier.
"SAdios!" Ed said, grabbing the spear and teleporting away with it. Tye stepped up, pulling his foot back and booting the last warrior across the room.
As the alien landed, a train pulled up right behind him. The doors of the train hissed open, revealing dozens of more soldiers.
"Shit," Virgil said, his brown eyes going wide. He waved to his friends. "Ed, Tye, Sam, Nate! Time to go!" He stretched his hand out, bringing his manhole cover back towards him. He hopped on it so that he was levitating a few feet above the ground.
Nate grabbed his skateboard and began to speed after his friends as fast as he could. Sam was using her chi to project herself forward, and Ed was on his board as well. A handful of the Reach soldiers began to pursue the teens as they attempted to make their getaway, focusing mainly on Ed and Nate as the two boys on their skateboards were more vulnerable than their friends.
Ed managed to avoid the lasers by teleporting short distances back and forth, weaving in and around the blasts. Nate was able to catch them on his body without any harm due to his invulnerability in his steel state.
Seeming to realize that the two boys were evading injury, one of the Reach soldiers said something to the others. The clicking tone of the words sent chills down Nate's spine and made him shudder.
Suddenly, Nate found himself airborne, his skateboard disappearing from underneath his feet. He could see Ed flying forwards too, and Nate realized the Reach soldier must have been telling the others to target their skateboards, and that the pieces of wood littering the ground was his board.
Nate's eyes widened as he realized that he and Ed were falling straight towards a massive drop. They were over the edge and about fifteen feet into a freefall when Ed twisted in midair, grabbing onto Nate. Nate felt the oddest sensation, like his molecules were compressing and rearranging at a near-instantaneous rate, and then he and Ed were crashing onto the ground right behind the Reach soldiers.
Ed kicked his foot out, shoving one of the soldiers over and creating a domino effect so that all six of them toppled over the edge. Nate wasn't able to do much more than groan – teleporting hurt.
"And that's what you get for blasting my board!" Ed shouted down at the falling enemies, sounding annoyed. He stood up, looking at Nate on the ground sympathetically, "Sorry about that," Ed apologized, holding his hand. "It's more complicated with two people." Ed seemed to be in mild pain as well, as he was gripping his side and grimacing slightly.
"Can't complain too much," Nate replied, taking Ed's hand and letting the other boy haul him to his feet. Nate winced. "You did save my life." He grinned at Ed, a careful hand pressed around his ribs. "Thanks."
"De nada," Ed said, smiling back at Nate. He headed back towards their other friends, and Nate limped after him. Tye's astral form was shrinking again, until the boy was back to normal size and on the ground.
"Dude!" Virgil called as he landed right behind Tye. Sam skidded to a halt behind Virgil. "Did we know your, uh, long-shadow was laser-proof?" Tye grimaced, reaching up to rub his chest.
"Ugh. More like…laser-resistant," Tye corrected as he got to his feet slowly. "Those beams stung." Nate nodded his head in agreement, glancing down at his arms.
"I wish my clothes were at least laser-resistant," Nate griped, glaring at the small holes on the arms of his t-shirt. "Stupid Reach ruined my shirt."
"Hey," Virgil said, clapping Nate on the arm. "At least your actual arms are intact." Nate shrugged, agreeing. Virgil turned towards Sam, raising his eyebrows at her. She nodded her head, reaching into her vest pocket and pulling out Father Box.
"Superboy, please," she requested. Father Box beeped, acknowledging Sam's request. Part of the pattern on the device started to glow and Sam smiled. "This way!" she announced, leading her friends down the corridor.
"Haven't you already scanned every inch of the place?" Miss Martian asked Nightwing, who was currently walking around the docking bay that the Team had disappeared from for the fifth time. Nightwing grunted.
"Yeah," he said shortly. "But I'm obviously capable of missing obvious clues. I totally should have noticed Blue Beetle's defection after Green Beetle 'fixed' his Scarab." Jason sighed, turning to face the other two heroes. He was currently examining the airlock, trying to figure out why it was damaged.
"That's my fault," Miss Martian replied, walking up to the younger hero. She placed a hand on Nightwing's shoulder. "You asked me to scan Green's mind and I vouched for him without delving deep." Miss Martian's voice dropped low, and Jason strained to catch her next words. "I was so afraid to use my powers after what I did to Aqualad," she continued. "I allowed Green Beetle to feed me the exact information the Reach wanted. So Blue Beetle trusted Green…and Green turned him.
Jason's brow furrowed, tuning out the rest of Miss Martian's words. What she'd done to Aqualad? What had she done? And why did she care?
Aqualad's betrayal had happened just after Jason had died, but when he'd been resurrected, Jason had been filled in on the past year that he'd missed. Several young new heroes, a current alien invasion, and Kaldur's betrayal. And of course, Artemis's death at Kaldur's hand.
So why did M'gann care about Aqualad? Nightwing's response to her guilt-fest answered Jason's question.
"Except you never would have been in that position if I had trusted you with the secret of Aqualad's deep cover mission." Jason's eyes widened almost comically, and he nearly choked upon hearing Nightwing's revelation. "I put you, Aqualad, Artemis, the whole Team in unacceptable danger." Miss Martian didn't reply, instead dropping her gaze, and Jason broke the silence.
"Okay, okay, okay," he said, holding his hands up and walking over to the elder heroes. "First of all – this guilt-off is unnecessary." Both heroes stared at him, their eyes wide. Jason rolled his eyes and motioned dismissively with a hand. "She says she messed-up, Nightwing says he messed-up worse…both you need to get over it. Mistakes have been made – so what?" Jason began to tick things off on his fingers. "Save the Team, save Blue Beetle. Boom – we're done." Nightwing dropped his head, but Jason could see the beginning of a smile crossing his face. Miss Martian nodded.
"Jason's right," she told Nightwing quietly. Then she smirked, some of her spunk returning. "As a certain thirteen-year-old was once fond of saying: 'that's just what we do.'" Nightwing nodded his head, the corners of his face creeping up slightly.
"Okay, second of all," Jason broke in, deciding that he'd officially not been an asshole for thirty seconds: way too long. "Dick – literally, what the fuck? Kaldur's not a traitor?" The smiled slipped of Nightwing's face and he groaned, pressing his hands to his forehead.
"I forgot you didn't know about that," he admitted with a long sigh. "Yeah. Kaldur's not actually a traitor; he's undercover. Artemis is also undercover." Nightwing frowned. "I thought Raptor would have told you – she found out that night she, uh…" Nightwing trailed off, and although Miss Martian looked confused, Jason knew what he meant.
Karla had found out her brother had lied to her the night the Talon resurfaced. Which…couldn't be a coincidence.
Normally, Jason would have been furious at Nightwing, but the raw guilt on his face told Jason that Nightwing already knew that lying to Karla had been a mistake. Instead, Jason was more concerned about something else.
"Shit," Jason whispered, as several things clicked together in his head. Nightwing looked at him, frowning.
"What?" Nightwing asked, alarmed by the expression on Jason's face. Jason's eyes flicked back up.
"I just realized – doesn't Raptor's emotional state tend to trigger a reaction by the Talon?" Nightwing nodded slowly. "Nightwing," Jason said. "She told me about her – whatever with Blue Beetle, and how it ended. Don't you think that might cause her to be a little unstable?" Nightwing shook his head.
"No, Raptor's professional. I don't think she'd let it get in the way of anything." Jason shook his head. His heart was pounding as he spoke.
"Normally, I'd agree," Jason muttered. Raptor was professional, but what if she wasn't the one driving the car? Jason's eyes flicked to Miss Martian. "But Karla told me that she's been hallucinating again."
Miss Martian's eyes widened – she had helped evaluate Karla right after she'd left the Court, and she knew what Jason was talking about. Nightwing also seemed to realize what Jason was getting at.
"If the Talon is with the Team, wherever they are," Jason continued slowly. He looked up at the elder heroes. "You don't think – "
Before Jason could finish his horrible thought, that maybe the Talon had turned on the Team and killed them all, a loud clang cut him off, followed by a loud screech. All three heroes turned towards the source of the noise – the air lock – and fell into battle stances.
But before the heroes could attack, a familiar series of beeps and whirs sounded from outside the airlock, and the door opened with a hiss. Jason sighed in relief, relaxing as Sphere rolled into the docking bay.
"Sphere!" Miss Martian cried in relief, laughing. The alien tech beeped happily, rolling over to the three Team members. Jason reached his hand out, patting Sphere gently with a small smile on his face. Miss Martian grinned as she hugged Sphere, and then gasped when she realized something. "Can you take us to Superboy?" she asked the alien tech.
Sphere beeped several times, and then cracked open in the middle, turning into the Super-Cycle. Nightwing grinned.
"I think that's a yes," Nightwing said, looking more optimistic than Jason had seen in a long time.
Miss Martian and Nightwing seemed to have all but forgotten the conversation the three heroes had been having just moments before, but despite the hopeful turn of events, Jason couldn't.
Father Box led the five teenagers through the winding corridors. Every now and then, there would be a patrol of Reach soldiers that needed taking care off, but it didn't take long for the runaways to reach a large door.
"Nate, can you get us through?" Virgil asked. There were no controls in sight, leaving the only option as breaking and entering. Nate grimaced, looking at the door dubiously.
"Doubt it," he replied, reaching out to touch it gently. "Not quickly, at least." He turned to look at the others. "Tye?" The long-haired boy was already closing his eyes, letting his astral form grow around him just as much as needed.
He bent down, hooking his fingers under the door and hauling it up, holding it so the others could slip through. Nate's eyes widened as they entered the huge room.
"Oh, man," he muttered, surveying the scene in front of him.
The room was huge – and it was entirely filled with red pods. Must of the pods were empty, but one of them held a huge yellow alien-looking guy (honestly, nothing surprised Nate anymore) and the others…
"There they all are," Virgil said quietly, his eyes also wide with shock.
"Uh-huh," Nate muttered, his mouth feeling a little dry. Several of the pods contained the heroes that they were looking for. The members of the Team looked unconscious, suspended in various positions and floating a few inches of the ground of the pod.
"They look like they're frozen," Ed noted, frowning in confusion.
"I think they're in stasis," Nate replied. The other four teenagers gave him an odd look, and Nate shrugged. "Buddy of mine is obsessed with science," Nate explained, a fond smile flickering across his face as he thought of Ray.
"Smart whelp-meat," a voice drawled from behind the five runaways. Nate's shoulders tensed, and he turned around slowly, his heart hammering. Behind the five teenagers stood the Reach's best warrior – the one who'd taken out most of the Team on the Reach ship – Black Beetle. "You five will be able to experience it for yourselves soon enough."
"Guys," Virgil stage-whispered to his friends, looking just as scared as Nate felt. "Nate and I saw this freak take out all the heroes on the Reach ship." Nate nodded, unable to speak.
"Please," Black Beetle said, making a show of stretching and cracking his knuckles as he started forwards. "Don't let that stop you from attacking me. I could use the exercise."
Tye was the first to react. He hadn't shrunk from his astral form yet, so he ran forwards, charging at Black Beetle head-on. As Tye's astral form made two fists to bring down on Black Beetle, the alien punched Tye in the abdomen.
The strong uppercut sent Tye flying across the room, so that he crashed to the ground with a loud grunt. Black Beetle flew up into the air, his sonic cannon whirring as he flew towards Tye, shooting him with the cannon point blank.
Tye cried out in pain, his face screwing up as his astral form dissolved around him. The boy flopped the ground with a thud, curling up on his side. Nate's heart hammered. If Tye didn't stand a chance, what could the rest of them do?
"Please tell me that guy didn't take out our big gun in three seconds flat," Ed said, looking at his other friends imploringly.
"Wish I could," Nate muttered, grimacing and swallowing hard.
"Scatter!" Virgil shouted, his eyes tracking Black Beetle's movements. Ed glowed yellow, vanishing from sight instantaneously. Sam, Nate, and Virgil, on the other hand, were only able to move a few yards away before Black Beetle shot them down.
Nate felt himself be thrown backwards, his back landing on the ground. He moaned, coughing as all the air left his lungs.
"Note to self," Nate wheezed quietly as his head spun. He could vaguely hear Black Beetle taunting Ed. "When fighting a giant alien, steeling up first is probably a good idea."
The sound of approaching footsteps (a lot of approaching footsteps) made Nate lift his head, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw a small army of Reach soldiers running towards the still open door. Nate knew that the runaways didn't stand a chance against Black Beetle, let alone Black Beetle and company.
Before Nate could even attempt to get up to try to close the door via the controls, someone was landing in front of him. The person was dressed in red and black Kevlar, with several spears from the Reach slung across his back. His clothes were torn and ripped as though he'd been fighting in them for days.
The teenager slammed his hand on the controls, effectively shutting the door on the Reach soldiers. Nate managed to sit up, startling slightly as Ed appeared next to him in a flash of golden light.
"Gracias, amigo," Ed thanked the hero who'd shown up from out of nowhere as he helped Nate to his feet. "Um…who are you?" The boy turned to face the two runaways, taking the spears of his back and handing one to each of the other boys. His hair was shaved in a faint red shadow across his scalp, and he was wearing a mask.
"The guy who will save your asses if you listen carefully," he replied. He had a low, gruff voice that was oddly familiar to Nate. "You can't beat Black Beetle head on," he continued. "But keep him off balance and we might just stand a chance."
Might was the operative word in that sentence. Tye, Sam, and Virgil managed to get up to rejoin the fight, but even with all five of them, it was still a struggle. Most of their hits had no effect on Black Beetle, and if they did manage to harm the alien, his armor stitched itself back up easily.
Nate ran at Black Beetle, firing the Reach weapon in his hand as he got closer to the alien. The boy's heavy footfalls clanged against the ground, metal against metal, as he got closer to his adversary.
Black Beetle saw the steel human coming closer and whirled around to bring a fist down on Nate. Nate managed to catch the blow, grabbing Black Beetle on either side of his wrist. Nate grit his teeth, straining to keep his hold, and began to squeeze.
The armor beneath Nate's grip began to collapse, and Black Beetle shouted out in anger. The alien twisted, aiming his sonic cannon at Nate. Before he could fire, Black Beetle was being knocked aside by an electro-magnified stasis pod.
Black Beetle clambered to his feet, his teeth clenched as he scowled at the runaways around him. Ed began to fire the laser spear from afar, while Sam used her chi energy to blast the alien from all sides, bouncing around to change her angle.
"I am starting to get annoyed," he muttered, his sonic cannon firing up again. The runaways scattered, heading for cover among the stasis pods. Nate dove to the side, narrowly missing getting caught in the fire.
"Ed!" Nate shouted, not really knowing exactly where Ed was. "Ask buzz-cut what the plan is!"
"¡Sí, estoy en ello!" Ed replied, vanishing from sight. Nate flinched as the stasis pod right next to him got blown up by a sonic blast and made a dash for cover once more. Peeking out from behind his new hiding spot, Nate blinked in surprise when he saw the yellow alien who'd also been in captive in on of the pods. He was now lying face-down on the ground.
"What the hell?" Nate muttered. Black Beetle paused in his random firing of stasis pods to look around, and his eyes fell on the alien on the ground. If possible, the Reach warrior looked even more enraged.
"Mongul!" he shouted in an accusatory manner, turning away from searching for the teenagers. "This is all your fault." Mongul slowly rose to his feet, blinking his eyes open. He snarled when he saw Black Beetle across the room from him.
"Reach…" he replied with a sneer. Black Beetle growled and both alien launched themselves at each other, meeting in the middle. It was clearly a well-matched high. As they grappled, neither of the aliens payed attention to the humans in the room.
"Ohhhh," Nate murmured to himself, realizing what the redhead's plan was. It was a good distraction to cover their rescue. Nate crept out of his hiding spot and rejoined his friends. Usually the runaways turned to Virgil for direction, but this time even Virgil was looking at the redhead for instructions.
"You guys free the Team," the guy ordered. "There's something else I need to get." With that, the redhead sprinted off, leaving the runaways alone.
"Come on," Virgil said. He pointed at the control units on one of the stasis pods, and electricity crackled around, short-circuiting the mainframe and making the barrier fall down. As soon as the pods opened, the superheroes inside fell from their suspended state down to the ground of the pod.
Nate and Ed began using their stolen spears to fire at the controls of the stasis pods. It was much quicker and easier than figuring out how to actually open them. As soon as Ed had opened the pod with Superboy in it, he teleported into it to support him. Superboy was still unconscious, but Ed turned towards his friends to shoot them a thumbs-up, indicating that the hero was okay.
Although Nate was relieved about that, he was currently more concerned about someone else. Nate scaled one of the stasis pods in order to duck into the one that held his friend. Sara was unconscious, as was the other occupant of the pod – a girl with dark hair braided back from her face.
As he looked at her, the girl sat straight up. Her muscles were tensed automatically as she looked around the pod, her movements jerky and awkward. Her masked eyes locked on Nate's form, and she frowned. Without saying a word, the girl moved to the edge of the pod and dropped downwards, flipping to the ground easily.
Nate blinked, a little perturbed. Before he could think any more about the other girl's odd actions and lack of speaking, he noticed Sara waking up. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she groaned before opening them. She looked up, her blue eyes locking with Nate's, and blinked a few times.
"Nate?" she asked, sitting up a little. Her voice was groggy and raspy sounding. She grimaced, wrapping an arm around her waist like it hurt. "What the – what the hell is going on?"
"Hey," Nate said back, grinning. He maneuvered Sara so that he was holding onto her before jumping out of the pod and hitting the ground. He was about twenty feet up in the air, but his joints were currently steel, and he felt no pain. "You so owe me Taco Bell after this," he teased her. Sara blinked, looking around.
"Get us out of here alive," she quipped back, realizing the situation they were in. "And maybe I'll agree." She unwound herself from his body, standing freely. The rest of the Team was also freed, although some of them appeared to be worse-for-wear.
The girl who'd been in the same pod as Sara was standing slightly away from the rest of the Team. For whatever reason, she still looked highly alert and uncomfortable.
"Let's go!" A voice shouted. The superhero with the buzzcut was running back across the floor. His arms were full of various weapons. He ran towards the controls for the door, looking back to make sure the Team was moving. Nate squeezed Sara's arm and then ran forwards so that he and the rest of the runaways as well as the one Team member were in front of the other weary superheros.
"Okay, get ready," buzzcut-guy cautioned the rest of the Team, raising his hand towards the control. "There's a squad of Reach soldiers waiting for us." Taking a deep breath, Nate fell into a fighting stance, brandishing the Reach soldier's spear. Buzzcut nodded once, and then pressed down on the control.
The door slid open with a creak, and Nate braced himself for a barrage of laser beams. But when the metal door slid completely open, Nate's mouth fell open.
The Reach soldiers had already been decapacitated. Standing over the sea of unconscious warriors were three other heroes – members of the Team who had evaded capture, Nate was guessing.
The buzzcut guy grinned, his shoulders relaxing as he ran forward to greet his teammates. Nate turned back to look at the other superheroes, waving them forward.
"Coast is clear," he announced. All of the Team members were extremely weary – heads hanging with exhaustion, and although they heeded his instruction and began to walk forward, it was clear that it was very difficult for some of them. Nate and his friends exchanged a look, and then walked back to help them.
Jason's eyes scanned the room anxiously. He relaxed when he saw his friends. One of the random teenagers in the room - Jason had no idea where the hell five of these kids had come from - was helping Batgirl walk. Robin was being supported by Wonder Girl but appeared to be in one piece. And…Raptor.
The girl was off to the side, by herself. She was weaponless, as the boy who could only be Arsenal was holding all the utility belts, as well as Guardian's shield, Raptor's swords, and Wonder Girl's lasso. Jason was guessing that the Team had been stripped of their weapons when they'd been taken, and Arsenal had collected them back.
"Hey, fearless leader," Arsenal greeted Nightwing with a cocky smirk. "Better late than never." Jason could hear faintly hear Nightwing asking Arsenal several questions, but Jason was already moving forwards. Jason ran to Raptor, and then slowed down, unable to anticipate what the greeting would be.
Raptor looked up at him. Her eyes were covered by her domino mask, and Jason couldn't tell what she was thinking. He offered his hand to her a little hesitantly.
"Let me help you," he said, going for a middle ground greeting.
"I am fine," she replied without missing a beat, looking ahead instead of directly at Jason. Her hands were trembling almost imperceptibly, but her vacant tone of voice, her eyeliner, and her refusal of assistance told Jason one thing.
She was refusing to show weakness, and he was betting that the only reason she wasn't attacking anyone was the fact that she was unarmed and outnumbered, as well as weak from her capture.
But Jason knew – he wasn't talking to Karla. He wasn't talking to Raptor. He was talking to the Talon.
And Jason wasn't sure if Karla would be coming back this time.
Nightwing and the Martian girl lead the Team and the runaways back to a docking bay, where everyone boarded the BioShip. Nate looked around, smiling slightly. The last time he'd been here the Team had been rescuing him.
"Oh, how the tables have tabled," Sara muttered in his ear, no doubt guessing what he was thinking. Nate nearly choked with laughter, and he started hacking. Snickering, Sara abandoned him to his humiliation as everyone began to stare at him.
Tye pounded Nate on the back several times, smirking with amusement.
"Well," Nightwing said, walking up to the runaways. Nate struggled to quiet his coughing, muffling the sound with his fist. "I think congratulations are in order," Nightwing said, smiling. "No training, no guidance, and yet you pulled it off. When we get back, after a debrief, there might be a place for all of you on the Team."
"Wow," Virgil said, sounding awestruck. "Really?" Nate crossed his arms over his chest, and he could see Sam and Ed exchanging looks as well. Nate could also see Sara, standing behind Nightwing next to a young black woman wearing a yellow and black suit. Sara had been grinning at Nightwing's offer, but her smile faded when she saw Nate's face.
"So, now that we saved your butts, you're cool with us not being S.T.A.R. Labs' guinea pigs," Tye replied, sounding about as unimpressed as Nate felt.
"Dude, chill!" Virgil scolded his friend. Nightwing opened his mouth to respond to Tye's sarcastic comment, but Arsenal – that was buzzcut's codename – cut into the conversation, stepping in front of his leader.
"Before we head back we need to talk about Blue Beetle," Arsenal said, crossing his arms over his chest. "He betrayed us." Nightwing frowned, but again, he was interrupted before speaking.
"Look who's talking!" An unfamiliar voice snapped. All of the runaways swiveled around to look at the speaker. The young woman who'd been standing next to Sara was stepping forward, her eyes blazing. "Last thing I remember is you blowing an airlock without warning!" She accused Arsenal. "Nearly got us all killed, and absolutely guaranteed our capture!"
Arsenal scowled, glaring at his teammate. Nate saw Nightwing's forehead crease – clearly this was news to him. Arsenal stepped forward, stalking up to the young woman. His shoulders were tight with irritation.
"Hey!" he snapped, defending himself. "After eight years on ice, there's no way I was getting grabbed again. And in case you hadn't noticed, my escape resulted in you being free right now to stand here and complain! So how about a thank you?"
Nightwing walked up behind Arsenal and placed a hand on his shoulder. He had heard enough to know what was going on now. The younger hero turned around to face his leader.
"You're right, Arsenal," Nightwing agreed. "Thank you. And after we get back to Earth," Nightwing continued, his face hardening. "You're off the Team." Arsenal didn't say anything, but his face went cold and stony.
"What?" Sara exploded from behind the group. She'd been watching the entire time, but now she stalked forward, just as angry as Bumblebee had been a moment ago. "That's not fair!"
"Yeah," Virgil agreed. None of the runaways had expected this turn of events. "If it wasn't for Arsenal we wouldn't have rescued anyone!"
"That may be," Nightwing agreed, still frowning. "But this isn't the first time he's pulled this kind of stunt: intentionally endangering the lives of teammates in order to further his own agenda or guard against his own personal demons. It's unacceptable. So until you prove yourself a team player, you have no place on this team."
Nate scoffed loudly – he couldn't help it. This whole thing was ridiculous – Arsenal saved the whole Team and he was being punished?
"That's not fair," Sara said again stonily. Her eyes were cold and icy as she stalked forwards towards her leader. "That's a double standard." Nightwing looked towards Sara, raising an eyebrow.
"In what way?" Nightwing asked. Sara took a deep breath and shook her head slowly. She didn't want to say it out loud – Raptor was her best friend and exposing that she wasn't entirely stable seemed like something a friend wouldn't do. Sara's silence spoke volumes, and Nightwing's face suddenly tightened as he seemed to realize what she meant. Shaking his head, he walked away.
"That's enough," he said. "Now let's get on board and get out of here. We can discuss this further when we're not behind enemy lines." Sara glared at Nightwing. She hadn't had a problem with the Team's leader until this very moment and now? Now she had a big problem with him.
Nate glanced at his friends. The five runaways had gotten pretty good at reading each other, and they all knew that they were in agreeance about what to do next.
"Sounds like there's nothing left to discuss," Ed replied with a causal shrug. Virgil nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.
"See, we don't need your help getting back to Earth," he told the Team members in a self-satisfied manner. "Or your offer to join the Team." Nate smirked, raising his chin.
"We kinda have our own way of doing things," Nate added, raising his eyebrows. Tye glanced at Arsenal, and also Sara, who was still standing by her friend's side.
"What do you say, bro?" Tye asked. "Wanna ride with us?" Arsenal didn't even hesitate. He grinned slightly, walking over to join the group of teens.
"Sounds like a plan," Arsenal replied. He glanced back at Sara, and Tye seemed to read his expression.
"You coming?" Tye asked Sara, extending the invitation to her. Unlike Arsenal, Sara didn't respond immediately. She glanced over her shoulder, and then shrugged, a smirk spreading across her face.
"Well, Nate seems to think I owe him, and in extension the rest of you, Taco Bell, so…" The blonde girl headed over to the group as well, placing a hand on Arsenal's shoulder. "And I'm with this guy, no matter what."
Sam reached into her vest pocket and pulled out Father Box. Nightwing's eyes fell on the piece of alien tech and he stepped forward, his mouth falling open in shock. He put his hand out in a futile attempt to stop the ragtag group from leaving.
"Wait!" he cried desperately. "Is that a – "
"Home, please," Sam requested. Before Nightwing could finish the rest of his question, a boom tube opened up beneath the feet of the six teenagers, and they disappeared.
TAOS
May 30, 00:33 MDT
The boom tube opened up in the ceiling of the living room, and the six teenagers dropped about fifteen feet to crash land on the ground of the dirty safehouse apartment.
"So," Luthor's voice said, ignoring the pained groans of the teenagers. "Am I right in assuming congratulations are in order?" Nate rubbed his head, scowling at the computer screen, which he now realized was where Luthor's voice was coming from.
"Have you been waiting there this entire time?" he muttered, more to himself than to Luthor.
"Luthor?" Arsenal asked as he shot to his feet. He glared at the bald CEO on the screen, his teeth grinding together as he realized what had happened. The runaways had been played.
"Ah," Luthor said, seeing Arsenal. He clicked his tongue slightly, his eyes sliding away from the screen. "You brought home a souvenir."
"Two, actually," Sara replied, clambering to her feet as well. She raised an eyebrow at Luthor. She glanced at Nate, a teasing but slightly annoyed smile on her face. "I let you guys go and you go running straight into him? Man, maybe you can't take care of yourselves."
"This guy's the reason I'm missing eight years of my life and my arm!" Arsenal seethed. He shook his head. "Don't you get it?" he asked the runaways. "He didn't care if you rescued the Team – he was using you!" Sara closed her eyes, realizing what had happened. The pieces all fell into place.
"You guys were the distraction," she said quietly. "You lured Black Beetle away from guarding the crystal key."
"So one of his other pawns could steal it!" Arsenal finished. Luthor chuckled from the computer screen.
"Mm…Deathstroke's more of a bishop, really," he quipped. Sara rolled her eyes in disgust. "But I'm not sure I understand the problem," Luthor continued, shrugging innocently. "You rescued the heroes and dealt a blow to the Reach." He leaned closer to the camera, smiling appealingly at the teens. "Isn't that exactly what I promised you?"
Sam looked at Father Box, which she was still holding in her head. Without a word, she tossed it carelessly so that it landed on the keyboard of the computer. She pressed her hands together, activating a chi blast to destroy both devices gifted to the runaways by Luthor.
"No more promises," Virgil said. His voice was dark with anger - he was sick and tired of being played.
"Whatever," Nate muttered, crossing his arms sullenly. "We're good on our own." The other runaways murmured in agreement, and Sara placed a hand on Arsenal's shoulder.
"I believe you," she said, all traces of teasing gone from her voice. She glanced at Arsenal and raised an eyebrow. He nodded. Sara turned back to the other teenagers and smiled slightly. "And so, we'll leave you on your own."
Karla was standing in the middle of a circus ground, a familiar place for her. She couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face. Everything here seemed so real. She could even smell the butter of the popcorn and the sugary-greasy smell of funnel cakes.
"Karla?" a voice said hesitantly. Karla frowned, shaking her head. That voice…it was familiar, but it didn't belong here. Not in this place. Not in this memory. "Karla," the voice said, more strongly. Someone caught onto her arm, and Karla turned around.
M'gann was standing behind Karla, dressed in black uniform. She smiled sympathetically at Karla.
"You have to come with me," M'gann said.
"I don't want to," Karla replied. A feeling of panic exploded in her chest, and her heart began to race. She looked around at her happy circus-memory. Suddenly, it seemed less real. The smells were gone, and the colors were starting to fade.
"I know," M'gann said, her eyes sad. She squeezed Karla's arm as the world faded to black. "I'm so sorry."
Raptor's eyes flew open, and she gasped, her arms going out instinctively to steady herself. Someone grabbed her, holding her arms steady as she struggled to claw herself back to the present.
"What?" Raptor whispered, blinking a few times. M'gann was standing in front of her, holding her up. She let go of Raptor's wrists, looking at the younger girl with concern.
"Are you okay?" the Martian asked quietly. Raptor closed her eyes, struggling to comprehend what was happening. When she managed to process the Martian's question, she opened her mouth to answer it.
But for the first time ever, the automatic answer of 'I'm fine' didn't leave her lips.
okay so that's that. i'm sorry if this is kinda choppy or something i got really really tired while i was editing but i wanted to finish and get something up tonight.
anyways.
please leave a review and let me know what you thought! i love feedback so so much, and i really appreciate it!
thank you!