Leslie first moved to Superboy. She took out a needle filled with liquid. "Now, Superboy," she said gently. "I'm going to give you some anesthetic so you won't feel any pain."
Superboy nodded as she pushed the needle into his arm. He was virtually indestructible, but he wasn't so sure about it when it came to surgery.
Batman had left, for he and the other League members had received a call to the watchtower, and they all left, for it was an emergency.
While Leslie worked on all of the Team, the Teen Titans stood in a different room, so they wouldn't see anything, continuing cleaning up the mess. Starfire kept glancing anxiously around the corner.
"Star, chill. It's just surgery. Robin isn't going to get hurt," Beast Boy assured her as he sprayed some special soap on a side table.
"But what if it hurts? Placing a tracker on someone's lungs? Won't that be unpleasant?" she asked anxiously.
"Star, I don't like the idea either, but if they get it placed somewhere obvious, like their arm or something, then it's easy for someone to take it off." Raven put a hand on her shoulder. "Besides, the Light is still after them. Didn't you see how powerful they were? Even if Slade and Madam Rouge teamed up, they would be no match for them."
After a couple of hours, they heard Leslie say, "Alright, you all are done."
Immediately, Starfire flew around the corner and threw her arms around Robin. "Are you okay?" she asked him worriedly, looking deep into his eyes.
"I've been through worse," he assured her.
Leslie packed up her things. "I'll be going now. If you need me again, let me know." She exited Mount Justice.
The two teams breathed a signs of relief. "Thank god that's over," Wally sighed. He turned to the others and grinned. "Wanna play some Super Mario Galaxy with us, Aqualad? We could show you the true purpose of video games."
"Apologies, Kid, but I'm afraid we still have a mess to clean up," Aqualad said with an amused smile on his face. Wally groaned. "Aw, man."
The Team and the Titans got back to cleaning, but after ten minutes, they heard a voice hiss, "Finally."
They whirled around. Standing a few feet from them, was Roland Desmond.
"What...how did you get-" Wally spluttered.
"I snuck into the Watchtower, created a distress signal to trick the Justice League, and used a zeta tube to get here," was the answer.
"Wait...so the signal was fake? You lured the Justice League away?" Robin's eyes widened. "Why?"
"Let's make a deal." Roland spread his arms. "All of the League's sidekicks except for Green Arrow's one come with me to the Light. In exchange for another person's life."
Immediately, two beefy men appeared with a five year old boy pinned between them. He squeaked in fear. About ten more surrounded the Team and the Titans.
"Don't get me wrong, I stole him from his family. Now will you make the trade or not? Decide now, because if you all try to run away, fight, or call for help, he'll be dead in an instant," Roland warned. The man on the right of the boy put a gun to his head.
The Teen Titans looked torn. The didn't want that little boy getting hurt, but there was no way the Team would last long if they went to the Light.
"You're working with the Light? How come? You know how sinister they are," Cyborg demanded.
Desmond shifted. "Sinister? Pfft."
Aw, how sad, Robin thought, staring at the boy. He knew what it was like to lose a family, after the death of his parents. He looked so frightened that he thought he was going to faint from fright.
Roland had stolen him from his family. Robin didn't want to go to the Light, but he didn't want anymore families losing each other, after what happened to him and Bruce. The five year old boy's family could fall apart if he passed away.
He looked into the boy's eyes. Suddenly, he was eight again. He was standing on a trapeze, in Haly's Circus. The rope snapped and his parents were falling...falling...
He snapped himself back into the present before any tears fell. He knew what he had to do.
Robin looked at the Team. They seemed to be thinking the same thing as him.
"Guys." He turned toward the Titans. "Make the trade."
They looked shocked, but the Team nodded.
"Wh-What?" stammered Beast Boy.
"Listen to your leader." Aqualad stood by Robin. "We'll be alright."
"B-B-But..." Starfire squeaked. She grabbed Robin's hand and squeezed, looking desperate.
He knew what she was thinking. She had only been reunited with him for less than a day. Plus, after the secrets of the Team were spilled, she had become even more possessive of him.
"Listen, we'll be fine," Miss Martian assured. "You know how many dangerous missions we've been on."
"But..." Jinx started, anxiously looking at Kid Flash.
"If we don't do this, he'll die," he said, pointing toward the five year old boy. "Besides, he has a family. They could fall apart if we don't do this."
"What about the League?" Raven asked.
"Tell them we'll be fine and why we chose to do this," Artemis spoke up.
"Starfire." Robin placed a hand on Starfire's cheek. "I know how much you love me, but you have to learn to let me go. We'll be alright, we promise." He turned towards Roland Desmond. "Alright, we'll come with you to the Light. Now let the boy go."
"No," he answered. "He comes with us. When we reach our destination, I will send him back to where he came from."
Roland had a point. If he let the the boy go now, the Titans would call the Justice League and both teams would chase them all the way to the Light's reach.
"Fine," Superboy snapped. The Team all walked up to Roland and his men, ready to come with them.
Robin had only just taken a step before Starfire pulled him into her arms, shaking. Her lip was quivering.
"It's okay, Star," he said gently, kissing her on the cheek. "I'll be fine. I'll try to come back to you, I promise."
"Well, are you going to come or not?" Roland spoke up.
Robin gently separated himself from Starfire. He gave her one last I'll-come-back-for-you look before he stood with the Team, ready to go.
Before they knew it, all of Roland's men pulled out napkins drenched in what smelled like chloroform. Before the Team could do anything, the napkins were thrown over their mouths and noses.
The entire Team instantly crumpled to the floor, unconscious.
Immediately, the whole Titans were ready fight. "You hurt one hair on their heads..." Cyborg growled, his blaster open.
"Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't do anything if I were you for the boy's sake," Roland warned, pointing at the the five year old, who was still pinned between two men. "This is just so they wouldn't get any funny ideas and so they wouldn't see where me and my men are going, so they wouldn't try to escape."
The Titans were still furious, but Raven's black magic vanished, Starfire's eyes returned to their normal color, Beast Boy turned back into himself, Cyborg lowered his arm, and the Titans East lowered their weapons and hands.
"Much better." Roland and his men turned around and left the Mountain, holding the unconscious Team and the five year old boy.
As soon as they were out of sight, Starfire slid slowly down to the floor, tears silently making their way down her face.
"Hey, okay, Star," Beast Boy patted her shoulder. "The Justice League put trackers on their lungs, remember? Anytime soon, they'll go look for them."
"Yeah, Star," Cyborg piped up. "You know how great and powerful the Justice League is. They'll probably save the Team in no time."
She sniffled. "Okay."