A/N Happy New Year, my dear readers. And what better way to kick the year off than with a new (and long overdue) chapter? It has been a while since I've updated, and this chapter picks up pretty much directly where the last one left off, so I thought I might give a quick recap of what happened last time; Flo was revealed to be the traitor, Ethan is being controlled by her, Mckayla became a Green Lantern, Alex and Troy formed a sort of alliance to take down Granny Goodness, and finally, Chris sacrificed his life by allowing Allie to fire him into the core of Brimstone, the nuclear monster, and destroy it.

So now that that's out of the way… enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Six: Scars

Jesse West allowed his eyes to flutter open slowly. The first thing he noticed upon regaining consciousness was an odd tingling sensation throughout his body. The second was a sharp pain in his chest. He looked at his hands and took note of a strange purple aura around his body, outlining him and producing a gentle, rhythmic hum. "What the hell?" He muttered weakly, examining his body to see that the aura completely covered him. He placed a hand on the wound at his chest where Flo had stabbed him, and found that it was almost completely healed, only a small puncture now. "Okay, even I don't heal that fast," he spoke aloud, looking around the room. It was dark, illuminated only by the purple glow around him. He could vaguely make out the filth-laden concrete walls of the room, covered in cracks and cobwebs.

A dead spider fell from its web and landed on Jesse's arm. The moment it touched the aura around his body, it healed, springing back to life, and began crawling around on his arm. Baffled, Jesse smacked the spider and killed it again. Once more, the aura revived it, and it continued to crawl. "And there you have it folks… a new threshold for freaky shit has been broken," Jesse attempted to stand, but found that his legs were bound to the thin mat beneath him, unable to move. "Maybe I'm dreaming…?"

"Nope," a familiar voice echoed, and the rotted-out wooden door creaked open. Zatina Blood stepped into the room, a smile on her face. "Not dreaming."

"Well I know that now," Jesse grinned, "If I were dreaming, you'd be naked."

"Sorry for the horror-movie lighting… not exactly a steady flow of electricity in this place," Zatina clapped her hands and uttered the words, "nO Thgil." On her command, the room filled with artificial light, a sort of magic light bulb materializing near the ceiling to brighten the surrounding area. "Much better."

"You're getting good at that whole magic thing," Jesse smiled. "Hey, speaking of dreams, I had this crazy one while I was passed out… it took place in old-timey London, and I was a mummy, but like, a sexy one. And then I joined this Korean pop band and I had this school girl uniform, and-"

"Jesse."

"Yeah?"

"Stop talking, dear."

"Sorry," the speedster gave her his famous half-grin, and then looked once more at the aura bathing his body. "So… what's this?"

"Medical Stasis Aura. It accelerates your natural healing process. And since your natural healing process is already accelerated… your wound closed up in about twenty minutes. I just kept you unconscious because I figured you could use the rest."

"Well, thanks."

"No problem. I'm not as good with the medical stuff as Flo but… well… I guess I'm going to have to learn now, huh?"

"Crap, Flo…" Jesse frowned, "Did she get away?"

"Yup. She and Darkseid both. Darkseid was wounded, though. Connor got him with the Raidon bullet."

"Damn. How's Q?"

"Q," Zatina's gaze dropped, and she breathed a deep sigh. "Jesse… about Quinton."

"What about Quinton? Is he okay?"

"He's… gone."

"Gone?" Jesse's eyes widened, "Gone how? What do you mean 'gone?' He can't just be gone!"

"After that ship he was in exploded… we never found him. Sky spent hours looking for a body among the rubble with his x-ray vision. All of us dug around, looking for something. But… we don't think he made it out of that explosion, Jesse. I'm sorry."

Jesse sat silently for a long time, a contemplative look on his face; as if he were trying to comprehend the information that had been given to him. "No," he finally said in a voice so low that it was barely audible. "He's alive. Somewhere. He has to be."

"I hope so, Jess. I hope so."

"Can't you just conjure up some magic person-finder spell?"

"I've tried. Nothing is resonating."

"Maybe he's too far out of range…"

"He managed to make it out of the range of near-limitless magical power, while wounded, within the course of a couple hours? Jesse…"

"I get it, Z. I'm not stupid," Jesse lowered his gaze, "Just hopeful."

"And that's what I love about you," she pulled him into a hug. "And hey, at least there's a chance he's still out there… not like Chris…"

"What do you mean? What happened to Chris?"

"He sacrificed himself to destroy Brimstone. He morphed himself into a lead dampening rod, and Allie fired him right into Brimstone's reactor core," Zatina pulled back from the hug, keeping her eyes level with Jesse's. "He didn't make it. We're having a funeral later."

"So Chris is dead, Quinton's MIA, Flo betrayed us, Ethan's being mind-controlled, Corey is dead, Troy betrayed us, and nobody knows what the hell is up with Alex… we're dropping like flies. That's eight of us, Z. Eight of us out of the picture now."

"Yeah… I know."

"This sucks. For the first time in my life, I have friends, and now I get to watch them die one at a time? Bullshit. It's just like Jessica all over again…"

"When are you going to let Jessica go?" Zatina tightened her grip on Jesse's arm, "You've been dwelling on her death your whole life, Jesse. What happened to your sister wasn't your fault, you need to realize that."

"I do realize that. But that doesn't make it hurt any less."

"We've all gotten hurt," Zatina laced her fingers through Jesse's, holding his hand tightly. "And we all have our own ways of dealing with it. You make jokes about it, Tommy writes about it in his journal, Allie channels the frustration into sarcasm…"

"What do you do?"

"I talk to you," Zatina smiled, "And you always find some way to brighten my day." She leaned in and kissed Jesse. They held it for a long moment, but suddenly he pulled back, an exasperated look on his face.

"I… I should be out looking Q."

"Jesse, we searched for hours…"

"But I didn't. I wouldn't feel right about it if I didn't at least try."

"Okay," Zatina lowered her eyes, seeming disappointed.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just… we never get any time to ourselves."

"Well…" A grin appeared on Jesse's face, "I am the fastest man alive." He laid back on the mat, pulling her down with him. "I suppose I should be able to make a little time."

…

"It's not the nicest place we've taken refuge, but it'll work for the time being," Mckayla sighed, the dim green glow of her ring illuminating the small, collapsed area beneath the streets of Central City.

"Darkseid has literally driven us into a hole. Wonderful," Connor grumbled, kicking a chunk of debris.

"We couldn't risk going back to the Clock Tower. Darkseid probably has a squad just waiting for us to show up there," Tommy reasoned.

"We made a serious dent in Apokoliptian power today. Not only did we destroy a large portion of their forces, but we wounded Darkseid himself. He isn't going to let us rest anymore, he sees us as a threat now and he won't let up until we're all dead," Kavita pointed out. "We shouldn't stay in any one place for too long. We need to keep moving and not leave a trail."

"But we need some sort of plan first," Tommy argued. "We can't just charge on blindly. We're all wounded, embarrassingly low on equipment and weapons, our roster has been nearly cut in half and some of us are still sick from exposure to Brimstone's radiation."

"Well you're supposed to be the big brilliant leader," Connor spat, approaching Tommy. "How about you make us a plan instead of bitching about how we don't have one?"

"Connor," Allie grabbed her half-brother by the sleeve, "Stop. There's no sense in us fighting each other."

"Listen Connor," Tommy spoke softly, "I know that you don't think I deserve to lead this team. I know you're allegiances still lie with Corey, and you don't think I'm worthy to fill in for him. And you know something? I agree with you. But Corey is gone now. And with his dying breathe, he asked me to take over his team. If you have any respect for him at all, you'll honor that wish."

"I've been trying… and look how it's worked out so far. The first mission you led us on, and Chris died. The rest of us almost died. I don't know what Corey saw in you that made him think you were right for the job… but I don't see it, Grayson." Connor turned around to face Allie and said, "You should lie back down. You're still sick."

"I'm fine Connor," Allie argued.

"You got up close and personal with Brimstone. You absorbed more radiation than any of us."

"He's right," Tommy took a step forward. "It can take a while for symptoms of radiation poisoning to manifest. You need to try and rest, keep your body strong."

"Fine…" Allie sighed. She ran a hand through her hair, and chips of ash, grime and blood came tumbling out. "But I'm taking a bath first. Mckayla said there was a pool with some relatively clean water near the end of this tunnel."

"Yeah, follow me. I'll show you," Mckayla took off down the dark tunnel, using her ring to create a green flashlight. She motioned for Allie to follow.

Allie looked over her shoulder at Kavita and asked, "You want to come along?"

"No thanks," Kavita shook her head. "After Flo messed with my mind and obstructed my memories, I don't really want to be submerged in water for a while."

"Good point," Allie shuddered a little, and then followed Mckayla down the tunnel.

As the two girls disappeared from view, the door on the far left creaked open and Jesse and Zatina stepped out into room. "Jesse's awake," she announced.

"And as good looking as ever," the ginger-headed speedster added, blurring into view next to her. "We got any food in this place? Fighting all day and then healing from a fatal stab wound in twenty minutes really works up an appetite."

"No, we don't have food," Kavita muttered. "Or any supplies for that matter."

"I'm working on that," Tommy folded his arms, thinking for a moment. "Z, how about a stealth mission?"

"Ooh, sounds exciting," Zatina's eyes flashed with a brief purple glow. "What do you have in mind?"

"Yes Tommy, please tell us the master plan you're about to pull out of your ass," Connor rolled his eyes.

"We need to get our numbers back up. Ethan, Flo, Troy, Chris, Quinton and Alex are all gone. The seven of us remaining don't have the firepower to take on Apokolips now."

"I disagree," Connor chimed in. "I shot Darkseid with that Radion bullet. He's wounded. If we can get to Apokolips before he has a chance to heal, we can take him down in his weakened state and end it there."

"Except that he still has an army of monsters, drones, advanced tech, traps, warriors and a brainwashed New God at his disposal," Tommy retorted. "And we barely have any supplies left. Going to Apokolips now would be a suicide mission."

"What do you suggest then?" Connor snapped.

"That's what I was getting at before you interrupted me," Tommy scowled, then looked away from him. "We need more firepower behind us. We need Kio and Prome."

"The Cadmus Kids?" Jesse frowned, "They're like, nine. Doesn't bringing them into this seem a bit irresponsible?"

"They're already in it, Jesse. And by neglecting them membership, we've just been putting them in more danger. If they're with us, at least we can keep an eye on them. And frankly, having the power of Firestorm on our side sounds promising right now. He could be our countermeasure to Ethan."

"So you want to recruit Kio and Prome… where do I come in?" Zatina inquired.

"We left them at the Clock Tower; they needed to rest after their Firestorm transformation. Darkseid no doubt has the Clock Tower crawling with guards by now, but Parademons aren't too smart… with any luck, they haven't found the infirmary yet. I was hoping you'd be able to get in, pull them out and get back here without drawing too much attention."

"Absolutely not," Jesse cut in. "You are not sending her into a trap by herself. No way."

"I'll do it," Zatina smiled.

"Did you not hear what I just said? I don't want you to go alone."

"Then come with me."

"Z… you do realize this is a stealth op?" Jesse frowned, "I don't exactly have the best track record with those."

"Hmm…" Zatina grinned, "Just a second." She put her hand to Jesse's mouth and uttered the words, "hceeps sih leaS."

Suddenly, Jesse's mouth contorted and morphed into a long zipper. Enraged, a fierce muttering sounded emerged from his throat. Laughing, Zatina unzipped his mouth and allowed him to speak. "-the hell! That is not okay at all!"

"Now I can shut you up when I need to," She smiled.

"If you were literally anyoneelse, I'd punch you for this." Jesse then looked around the room and noticed the absence of a certain blonde Kryptonian. "Where's Sky?"

"He's…" Tommy sighed, "He's out finding us a burial site. For Chris."

"Oh…" Jesse looked down at his feet, "Just Chris?"

"Yes Jesse, just Chris. We aren't giving up on Quinton, I promise."

"Should we get going?" Zatina asked, hoping to change the subject. She wanted to keep Jesse's mind off of his missing friend as much as possible.

"Whenever you're ready," Tommy nodded.

"You up for this zippy?" Zatina flashed Jesse a smile.

"Not funny," Jesse grumbled, playing with the zipper she'd conjured over his mouth.

Zatina turned to the nearest doorway, the one she and Jesse had emerged from a few moments ago, and placed her hand on the rickety, decaying wooden door. "Rewot kcolc ot latrop: Nepo!"

A bright wave of violet-colored energy flashed over the doorway. She turned the doorknob and pulled it open… and the doorway now led directly to the fields nearby the Clock Tower, over a hundred miles from their current location. "That is crazy," Jesse shook his head.

"Space-time magic. I can use doorways to create a special warp that shortcuts me to any desired location, as long as-"

"Z, please don't explain it. I already have a headache."

"Sorry," Zatina reached over and zipped Jesse's mouth shut. "Game on, dear."

Zatina looked back to the others and said, "Wish us luck." Jesse murmured something through his zipper that sounded like "Cushy duck." The two then vanished through the doorway, Zatina closing the portal behind her.

…

Jesse and Zatina crouched atop a high hill about half a mile from the Clock Tower. "Mooz Noisiv," Zatinacast, magically willing her eyes to zoom in on the Clock Tower, scanning the building carefully from afar. "There doesn't appear to be anyone outside… it looks just like we left it."

"Trap," Jesse said after unzipping his mouth. "They make the outside look abandoned to give us a false sense of security, hoping we'll just stroll in unsuspectingly."

"Well…" Zatina smiled, "That's just what we'll do."

"Um… Z, I like this adventurous side of you and all, but that's the opposite of a good idea."

"Just watch," Zatina held out her hand, focused a large quantity of magic and recited the backwards incantation, "Egami Rorrim."

Suddenly, two perfect replicas of Jesse and Zatina manifested before them, standing stiffly, as if awaiting a command.

"What the hell? You cloned us?" Jesse waved his hand before his nonresponsive clone's face, "And they're brain dead, apparently."

"They have no consciousness of their own; they just obey backwards commands… sort of like three-dimensional mirror reflections. Watch," Zatina waved her hand and uttered, "Mpuj Eciwt." Without hesitation, the two clones jumped twice, and then returned to their stiff, perfectly postured positions.

"I can't tell if that's awesome or terrifying," Jesse grinned.

"Now…" Z waved her hand again, "Gnidliub eht reten dna rood eh ot klaw."

Both clones turned and began to walk at an even pace toward the Clock Tower. "They're going to go inside through the front entrance," Zatina explained, "That will draw the attention of the guards inside. I'll make us invisible and we'll slip in the back, while they're distracted, and snatch Kio and Prome from the infirmary."

"Assuming they're still in there," Jesse frowned. He then knelt into a running position and said, "Let's get moving, the faster we get out of here, the faster I can start looking for Quinton."

…

Chris's funeral pyre was lit, sending pillars of mournful smoke into the night sky. The pyre had been carefully assembled from fallen timbers found in the most remote section of the woods that Sky could find. "I ran an aerial sweep over the perimeter, didn't find any Apokoliptian presence… I figured this was as good a place as any," Sky said sullenly, watching the fire with an absent minded expression. The remaining members of the team stood circled around the blaze, a solemn atmosphere among them; Tommy, Allie, Connor, Mckayla, Kavita and Sky.

Allie stood silently, the flames reflecting in the tired, weary gaze of her emerald eyes. She was sleep deprived and weak from her battle with Brimstone, starving and cold, covered in dirt, ash and dried blood, her clothing tattered and burned. Gently, she felt Tommy wrap his jacket around her torso. The leather reeked of sweat and smoke, but it was warm nonetheless. "You don't have to..." Allie began to give the jacket back, but Tommy stopped her.

"You're already in bad shape, the last thing you need is a cold," he reasoned. "It isn't much… it's dirty and smells like fried ass, but-"

"Thank you."

"Yeah. No problem."

"I should probably find some place to scavenge for clothing… the last of mine was pretty much incinerated by a walking Cold War threat."

"That's okay, you're hot when you're on fire."

"Thomas Grayson, did you just make a joke? Did it hurt?!"

"More than you can possibly imagine."

The two laughed, but it was immediately followed by a long, awkward silence. With a thankful nod, Allie turned back to the fire. She wanted to cry; Chris had died right before her eyes, Quinton was missing and possibly dead, Flo had betrayed their trust... she had every reason to cry. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. It required far more energy than she had to give. She'd been internally deadened to loss; the sadness was present, she recognized it well, but she didn't feel it. It just sat there, festering inside of her chest, impossibly heavy yet entirely dormant. "You think Jesse and Z are doing okay on their own?"

"I think they can handle themselves," Tommy said with a slightly forced amount of confidence. "She's so timid that it's easy to forget Zatina is probably the strongest one of us. And Jesse… well, he never ceases to amaze, in his own special way."

"I hope so," Allie sighed, "I just don't want to lose anyone else."

"Allie, are you okay?" Tommy asked, studying her carefully. "You're kind of hard to read right now."

"None of us are okay," Allie answered softly, automatically, almost entirely devoid of feeling.

"But you're usually the one trying to fix that."

"Guess I'm just a bit jaded after all this."

"Join the club."

"Things are really bad, Tommy." Allie stared ahead, the fire dancing behind her eyes.

"I know."

"Chris asked me to fire him into the core of that monster... he destroyed it. And he died in the act. Right before he died... do you know what he said?"

"What?"

"He said... 'Thanks for being my friend.'"

"It meant a lot to him, Allie. There weren't many people who Chris really connected with, other than you."

"Yeah. And then he died."

"Allie-"

"And mom died. And Quinton's gone. Why is it that everyone I care about... everyone I ever get close to... always end up getting hurt?"

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Tommy managed a smile, trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah..." Allie lowered her gaze, "That's what scares me."

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"You can't promise that. None of us can."

"Allie," Tommy grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I promise."

"We should head back to the collapsed tunnel," Connor suggested, "We can't stay out in the open too long. Especially not with a fire going, it's a beacon to Apokoliptian scouts."

"He's right," Kavita agreed, "When I was working with the Furies, we were trained to seek out fires during tracking missions. More often than not it leads to the target."

"Sky, put out the fire," Connor said, turning away.

"Wait…" Mckayla held up her hands, "We should leave it… its Chris."

"What if they see it burning and track us from here?" Connor argued, "We need to put it out."

"It's Chris," Mckayla repeated. "How about showing some respect for our friend?"

"I'm going to respect him by not dying for him," Connor shoved his hands into his pockets. "There's nothing meaningful about the fire, Mckayla. It's his body. It's nothing but a collection of atoms."

"Connor," Allie said in a small voice, "Leave it burning. We'll cover our tracks. Just… let it keep burning."

Connor was quiet for a moment, looking at his half-sister with an expression that seemed to blend frustration and admiration. "Okay," he said, "Let's get going."

As the group turned and began heading back toward the tunnel they'd crawled from, Allie grabbed Tommy and whispered, "Thanks for not getting involved in that… I don't like it when you and Connor fight."

"I know," Tommy managed a small grin, "That's why I kept my mouth shut."

...

Jesse and Zatina stood outback, behind the Clock Tower, and listened for the moment when the commotion would start. Suddenly, the sound of blasters firing roared through the air. "That's our cue," Zatina grinned.

"How long will those clones be able to hold their own?" Jesse asked.

"Well I didn't instruct them to fight back so… not long. We have to get in and get out quick," Zatina harnessed her magic, her eyes flashing purple and called out, "Elbisivni su ekam."

A flash of magic washed over the two of them, and they became invisible to the eyes of everyone but themselves. "This will only shield us from natural vision, not radar detection, so be careful," she warned.

"Careful is my middle name," Jesse grinned.

"I thought your middle name was Rudolph?"

"You hear that, Z? That's the sound of sarcasm flying right over your head."

"Sarcasm is the refuge of a cynical mind,"

"And cynicism is the bulwark of an intelligent man."

"I've never heard that one before…"

"That's because I made it up just now. Sounded smart, huh?"

"You're damn right it did. Now get behind me, I'm going to warp a portal right into the basement level of the tower."

"Hang on," Jesse put his hand in front of her; "You've shown off your magic plenty today. I'll get us into the basement. Take my hand."

"What are you-"

"Just take my hand."

"Okay…" Zatina sighed, taking his hand in hers.

"Alright, this is going to feel like you swallowed a jackhammer, but it's actually kind of fun." Jesse began to vibrate at high speeds, channeling the kinetic energy into Zatina as well. Phasing their molecules fast enough to slip through solid objects, Jesse dove through the brick wall, taking Zatina with him, and phased them directly through the floor on the opposite side, touching down in the basement level of the Clock Tower.

"Holy crap…" Zatina fell back against the wall, remarkably dizzy and worried she might throw up.

"You okay?" Jesse asked, simultaneously checking the surrounding area to make sure the basement was free of guards.

"You do that on a regular basis?" Zatina gasped, trying to regain her balance. "It feels like every atom in my body just went through a paint shaker!"

"You get used to it," Jesse shrugged.

"I certainly hope so," she clutched her scalp in an effort to keep her vision in line. "Whoa…"

"What?"

"Do, um… do you like, have orgasms when you do that?"

"Uh, no…"

"Oh… well, me neither…"

"Okay then," Jesse stifled a laugh. "Which way is the infirmary again?"

"Left corridor, I think."

"Let me run a quick check, make sure the way is safe." Jesse sprinted at supersonic speeds down the corridor, finding no enemies present. All of the guards must have gone upstairs to battle their clones.

Spying the doorway, Jesse blurred into the infirmary, making a quick check to ensure there were no threats around. "Looks clear," he called back to Zatina, "I'll be here waiting for you."

Jesse found a light switch, needing more visibility, and flicked it on. He looked to the center of the infirmary, at the two empty pods, both broken open. Kio and Prome were gone. "Damn it…" he muttered, "Parademons must have already gotten to them."

Suddenly, a hatch on the ceiling began to wobble, being forcibly pulled open. Jesse, knowing he was invisible, remained totally still, careful not to make a sound. The hatch tore open, and two Parademons came crawling in… followed by Flo.

Jesse bit his lip, using all his strength to force himself not to scream. Entering the room right before was the traitor, Flo Curry. She wore Apokoliptian clothing; tight-fitted black armor, which revealed her naval but provided ample protection for the majority of her body.

Zatina began to enter the room, still under her invisibility spell, and Jesse quickly blurred behind her, cupping her mouth. As lightly as possible he breathed, "Shhh."

At first Zatina was confused, but then caught sight of the rest of the room's occupants and understood. The two stood silently, watching Flo and the Parademons search the infirmary.

"Where are they?" Flo asked, sounding frustrated.

"Are they looking for us?" Zatina thought, "No, they wouldn't have known that the two they killed were clones, would they?"

"Where did they go?" Flo created a torrent of water, drawing the moisture from the air in the room, and flung it on like a tidal wave, smashing all of the tables and beds that littered the room. Flo sighed, looking around a moment, and then pressed a button on the gauntlet of her armor. A holographic projection of Darkseid appeared. Darkseid was clearly wounded, sitting slouched back in his throne, the wound from the Radion bullet clear on his chest.

"Report your progress," Darkseid demanded.

"The Cadmus projects, Khione and Prometheus, are both gone."

"Then the heroes have already gotten to them?"

"I don't think so, Lord Darkseid. We've had the perimeter tightly monitored for days, and we just moments ago ambushed Jesse West and Zatina Blood. We took them out before they even had time to fight back."

Zatina smiled, feeling good about herself, that she had been able to fool Flo with her clones, at least for the time being.

"This news does not reassure me," Darkseid scowled. "If Thomas Grayson and his team have not recovered the experiments, and they are not where you left them, then where might they be?"

"I don't know sir," Flo said sheepishly, "It is possible that they awoke and escaped on their own. I'll deploy a tracking team to search the surrounding one-hundred mile radius and try to find them."

"I want those children found," Darkseid said, the hint of a threat in his voice. "Together they harness the power of Firestorm, a power which could prove threatening if allowed to fall into the hands of our enemies."

"Understood Lord Darkseid, I will see to it that the children are found," Flo ended the transmission, and then looked around the room one last time. She looked to the two Parademons that had escorted her and commanded, "Tear this room apart for any traces they might have left behind."

Flo then climbed back up the ladder, disappearing through the hatch. The two Parademons stayed behind and began clumsily searching the room for traces of Kio and Prome.

One of them walked up mere inches away from Jesse, breathing directly in his face. Jesse cringed at the monster's breathe, and it was all he could do to not gag. Tears welled in his eyes as his senses were assaulted by the stench. He clenched his fists, forcing himself to keep quiet. After several minutes of breathing in Jesse's face, the Parademon turned around and began looking around on the other side of the room.

Jesse released a long, silent breathe, and he and Zatina moved quickly but quietly back down the corridor, out of the room. They did not speak until they were back outside, back behind the Clock Tower.

"They don't have Kio and Prome either," Jesse said.

"I know," Zatina nodded, "That's good news, right?"

"Probably…" Jesse shrugged, "I mean, yeah it's good that they haven't fallen into Darkseid's hands, but that raises the question… where are they really?"

"We'll have to consult with the others, draw up some ideas as to where they might have gone."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Jesse nodded. "Let's get back to the others, tell them what happened."

…

Haven't had much time to write lately, with everything going on. Friends dying, disappearing, betraying… we're hungry, tired, weak, wearing thin. Maybe I could have prevented some of this. I should have lead better. I shouldn't have split us up, should have put more effort into uncovering the traitor before it was too late… this isn't the first time I've let this happen. Alex, Troy, Flo… all of them managed to play me like a fool, working to their own ends right under my nose… maybe Connor's right. Maybe I don't have what it takes to lead this team.

But who could replace me? Connor's too brash, too quick to go to extremes. Allie's has the opposite problem; she's too compassionate, she could never make the necessary calls. Jesse wouldn't be able to take it seriously enough, he'd turn it into a game in his mind like he does everything else. Zatina's too timid, too reclusive. Mckayla's like Connor, too drastic. Sky is… Sky, that's all there is to say about that. And Kavita could do it, but the team doesn't trust her enough… she hasn't been around us for very long, and she has a history with Apokolips, the team wouldn't feel comfortable with her in charge.

No… it has to be me. I have to own up to this. I have to learn from my mistakes. I have to do better. We're weaker than we've ever been now, but at the same time, we're stronger. There are no more secrets, no more fears of betrayal, no more wondering who's really on your side. Those of us who are still in this… we're in it together, and Darkseid knows that. It's got him terrified. He pulled out all the stops in Central City, because he didn't plan on us leaving there alive. He revealed his traitor, he revealed his control over Ethan, he attacked us with Brimstone and even showed up in person… he planned on that being our final stand. We surpassed his expectations. We beat him yesterday. We took heavy loss on our side… but we won the battle. And now we're on to win the war.

Thomas Grayson

July 1st, 2029

Tommy closed the journal, leaned his head back against the wall, closed his eyes, and allowed his mind to wander for the first time in almost a year. But letting his mind wander was no great adventure; he already knew where it would go. "Allie…" he sighed. I need to find her. She's at the end of her rope, I can tell. She's got a strong will, but under all this pressure, I can see it breaking. She'd be there for me… I need to be there for her.

He got up from the dark, solitary corner he had found and began to walk down the collapsed corridor, vaguely conscious of the fact that it could collapse at any moment. He didn't know where she was, and he certainly didn't know his way through the tunnels. But he'd become so hardened against danger that the prospect of being lost in a dark, dangerous tunnel almost seemed inviting to him.

Down the tunnel, he could faintly hear water splashing. Well, that's either her or the tunnel's going to flood and drown all of us, he thought. He followed the sound, hearing it gradually grow more audible as he navigated the vast network of tunnels. Finally, he stepped out into a more open section of the catacombs, filled with water. The first relatively clean water he'd seen since leaving the Justice Cave eight months prior.

In the center of the pool was Allie Queen, having come to wash some of the blood and ash off of her body. She came up for air gracefully, her platinum blonde hair clean for the first time in weeks.

At that moment, it occurred to Tommy for the first time that he had just walked in on her naked. His mind immediately filled with discomfort, and he tried vanishing from sight before she noticed him. Unfortunately, Allie had been trained every bit as well as him, and was remarkably difficult to sneak up on. The moment he took a step backward, she was aware of his presence and spun around, letting herself sink deeper into the water to cover her body. "Tommy?"

"Uh… sorry, I, uh… I'll leave…" he stammered, remaining in one place.

"Okay… you'll leave… when?" Allie grinned.

"Oh, yeah, uh… now? Now."

"Wait, was there something you wanted to tell me?"

"Huh?"

"I was just wondering if you had a reason for coming down here before you went brain dead," she smiled, moving to the edge of the pool and propping her arms up on the concrete at his feet.

"I just… wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed a bit, I don't know… off, earlier."

"Well, Sunshine, some of us actually try and cope with loss and sadness rather than just shoving it in a metaphorical bottle and throwing it on the pile of pent up feelings."

"So… you're okay, then?"

Allie laughed, rolling her eyes. "It's really cute watching you try and understand how the emotions of normal people work, you know that?"

"Shut up Allie," Tommy gave an exasperated laugh. "Besides, I'd hardly describe you as normal."

"Well, you've got a point there."

"Yeah, um… could you, maybe, put some clothes on please?"

"Tommy, we were raised together; it's not like you've never seen me naked before."

"Yeah but... not since we were like, six. Its… you know… different now."

"Alright, hold on," Allie motioned for Tommy to turn around. Facing the wall, he could hear her climb out of the pool and walk casually toward where she'd discarded her clothes. After about a minute he heard her say, "Okay, my modesty is once again preserved."

Tommy turned around and saw that she'd slipped his jacket over her body, zipping it up. It was big enough on her that it covered everything down to her thighs. "It's the only piece of clothing I currently possess that isn't torn up and charred," she shrugged.

"That's fine," he said, burying the awkwardness in his voice. He wanted to say that it looked good on her, but couldn't quite bring himself to it. "So… I'm not really good at this…"

"What?"

"You know, opening up… talking to people about things."

"Tommy, I'm fine. Don't worry about it," she smiled, sitting at the ledge of the pool, dipping her feet into the water. "Yeah, I'm sad that Chris is dead, and I'm freaking out over Quinton being gone, I'm tired, and I'm starving and I'm even scared. But if I weren't capable of dealing with that, I wouldn't have even made it this far."

"Yeah… I guess," Tommy sat down next to her. "I just kind of rely on you to brighten my day. And I really don't like seeing you sad."

"I promise to never steal your thunder ever again, Sunshine. From now on, you have a monopoly on broody, depressed demeanors."

"See? This is what I mean. Who else could be so delightfully sarcastic?"

"It's a defense mechanism that one develops out of necessity when she grows up with people like you and Quinton," she smiled. "He was always pissed off and reading, and you were always pissed off and punching things."

"Wow… not much has changed."

"Not at all," she laughed. Then a more serious expression appeared on her face. "Do you think he's alright?"

"Q?" Tommy grinned, "Of course he's alright. He's Quinton Sage. If anybody could figure out a way to survive an explosion, it's him."

"I don't want a forced reassuring answer, Tommy. I don't need you to patronize me, I just need you to tell me the truth… do you think he's okay?"

Tommy sat for a moment, quiet. "I don't know," he said finally. "I want him to be okay. But I don't know."

"I'm surprised Jesse isn't more freaked out over it."

"Jesse has his own way of dealing with things. He'll write it off as a joke because that makes it less stressful for him."

"Yeah…" Allie smiled, laughing a little.

"What is it?"

"It's just… we all know each other so well, with all the shit we've been through together. We know each other's ins and outs, what makes us all tick…" she moved her hand carefully to his, meeting his fingertips with hers, "And yet we have this baffling inability to actually articulate anything important to one another."

"Well, we've all sort of been programmed with trust issues, the way we had to grow up. And knowing there was a traitor in the group didn't help that at all."

"Flo… last person I ever would have suspected. Well, second last, after you."

"Really? You would have suspected Flo over me?"

"Of course, Sunshine. I can always tell when you're lying."

"Good to know," Tommy grinned, looking down at his reflection in the water. "She caught all of us off guard. Flo was the perfect example of a wolf in sheep's clothing."

"I'm going to kill her."

"You sound awfully confident about that…"

"I am. She deserves it. After what she did to us… especially Quinton… she deserves it. Next time we see her, I'm going to kill her."

"No you won't."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. I can always tell when you're lying."

"Not funny."

"Not trying to be. You couldn't do it, Allie. I have no doubt that you'd hurt her, probably make her want to die… but you wouldn't go all the way. You'd find something in her eyes that would stop you."

"Tommy-"

"No, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. That's why I love you, you can always find something good in everyone, even if they themselves can't see it. You-"

"What did you just say?"

"…I said you have a knack for seeing the good in people."

"No, before that."

"I said that's what I love about you."

"No, that's not what you said."

"It is to."

"No, you said, 'that's why I love you.' That's different."

"Is it?"

"Yeah," she leaned in closer, "It is."

"I, um… I don't really understand why…"

"This is why." Carefully, she leaned in and kissed him. Tommy was caught off guard at first, but made no attempt to resist. After a few seconds of processing the situation in his mind, he was kissing her back. Finally, she pulled away, blushing. "Get it now Sunshine?"

"Not quite…" he whispered, "Why don't you explain it to me again?"

Allie laughed, a bit of nervousness weighing in her voice. A smile on her face, she grabbed Tommy and shoved him into the pool. Just as he came up for air, she jumped into the water and tackled him back under. The jacket came floating up to the surface.

The two rose from the water in the midst of a deeper, more aggressive kiss. Within the following minutes, Tommy's shirt came off. She pressed him against the far wall of the pool, her fingernails digging into his back, and broke their kiss to look up at his face, trying to judge his reactions. He proved difficult to read, as usual.

"Have you wanted to do that as long as I have?" She whispered.

"Only if you've wanted to since we were twelve."

"Hmm… I've got you beat," she grinned, "I wanted to at eleven."

"But I'm older than you… I was probably twelve by then, so technically we're tied," he grinned back.

"Fine, Tommy, you win," she rolled her eyes. She ran her fingers tentatively down his chest, feeling the mosaic of scars that decorated his body. He seemed to have more scars than he had skin; each of them a sign, a reminder of an old battle. She ran a hand down his back, finding the roughness of scar tissue present there as well. He takes so much pain, she thought. How does he live through it all?

"You have them too," he whispered, as if he were reading her mind. It was true; Allie had no small share of scars to her name. Most notably were the wide gashes on her back, from her whipping at the hands of her torturers at The Hole. And then there was the freshly scarred gash on her stomach, where Troy had stabbed her. "I can never forgive him for that," Tommy said, running his hand gently down the scar, and then on to her hips.

"Let's not talk about him," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "He's just another scar I'd rather forget about."

"I kind of like the scars," Tommy said, running a hand down her back. "They make us who we are. They show what we've been through… and remind us what we're fighting for."

"Our scars don't have to define us, Tommy," Allie said, looking into his eyes. "We can be more than that," she planted a kiss on his neck, "We can be whatever we want to be."

"In a perfect world, Allie," Tommy frowned.

"Listen, Sunshine, I've waited a long time for this," she cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to meet her gaze. "You are not going to ruin it for me."

"It's just…" Tommy ran his hand through her hair, "What if something were to happen to one of us? If we got close like this, and then I lost you…"

"There's always that risk. Even if we weren't rebels fighting a war against alien oppressors, there'd be that risk, Tommy. You can't let the fear of loss control your life."

"I know," he sighed, "I love you, Allie."

"Wow, I need to savor this while I can," she smiled, "I have a feeling I'll never get you to say that out loud again."

"Not a chance in hell."

"You stubborn asshole."

"You annoying bitch."

"Why the hell do I love you?"

"Not a clue. I certainly wouldn't love me."

"I blame my mother. I don't think she raised me very well."

"You know, looking back on it, I'm not sure an apocalyptic dystopia is really an appropriate environment for raising children. Shame on her."

"Right! Somebody should really let Child Protective Services know about this."

The two laughed, but there was an underlying sadness at the memory of Dinah. "I miss her, Tommy."

"Me too."

"Do you think she'd be proud of us, if she were here to see us now?"

"I know she would," Tommy grinned, and then looked around, remembering that they were in a dirty, decaying collapsed subway tunnel that had filled with water, and currently floating in it naked. "Well, maybe not if she saw us right now, but, you know…"

"Yeah, I got it Sunshine," Allie laughed. "We should probably get back to the others… things have been peaceful for like, twenty minutes, so we're overdue for another catastrophe."

"I guess you're right," he sighed, trying to hide the worry on his face. His mind was racing with so many variables; he hadn't meant for this to happen, not yet. He never intended to tell Allie how he felt until after their war was over; after the smoke had settled… assuming they were both still alive, of course. He didn't want to distract himself from his leadership duties with a relationship. Every fiber of his sensible being was screaming at him to pull away from her, telling him it was the wrong time, that he had more important things to focus his energy on than a love life. He knew it, deep down; he knew that every second he spent in her embrace was a mistake. But if he told her that now, it would break her heart. He couldn't bring himself to do that to her.

Allie, reading Tommy's face and knowing something was amiss, said, "You're going to run away, aren't you?"

"What…?"

"You always run away. Every time I finally start to get underneath that thick exterior of yours… you wind up pushing me out."

"Allie…" he choked, unsure of exactly what to say. He was torn between what he wanted and what was necessary. What he knew was right and what felt right. He was prepared to feed her an excuse, tell her that his responsibilities as a leader were more important than his own happiness, but then he saw the threat of tears in her eyes, and realized that he could no longer spare her any pain by pulling away. "Not this time," he spoke softly. "I'm not running away any more."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He kissed her again, and pushed all of his internal negativity away. I can make this work, he thought, I can balance my emotions and my responsibilities. I'll make it work.

Meanwhile, just some fifty feet away, around the corner leading into the room, Connor Queen stood in shadow, listening to the conversation echo gently through the surrounding area. "Wonderful," Connor muttered under his breathe, "Just fucking wonderful.'

…

Sky Kent laid back, arms folded behind his head, floating among the clouds. He closed his eyes, drifting pleasantly through the sky, and allowed his super hearing to run wild, picking up every miniscule noise far and wide.

He could hear mothers crying over in the desolation that had once been Central City, mourning the loss of loved ones in the chaos. He could hear the laughter of children who had survived the calamity, excited to be living a life no matter how hard. He heard people on other ends of the earth, murmuring in their respective languages. Sky couldn't understand them completely, but occasionally he could pick out names he recognized well; "Onların lideri Thomas Grayson olduğunu," one Chinese woman said.

"Sie nennen ihn Jesse West, und er ist der schnellste Mann der Welt!" Exclaimed a man in Germany.

"Jevais de se marier l'un avec l'arc et la flèche, ils l'appellent Allie Queen!" A French man stated.

They're talking about us all over the world, Sky smiled. Word of us is spreading. Everyone knows who we are and what we're doing… we've given them hope.

Sky thought of the many sounds of the world as music. Some songs were sad, others happy, some funny, some angry… by the time he finished listening, the experience was always cathartic to him; an absolute resonance with every minute facet of the human heart, a complete look at the emotional spectrum that permeates us all. People are beautiful; Sky thought to himself, I just wish more of them would take the time to notice it.

Currently, the songs coming from his friends were extremely varied; Jesse's heartbeat was a bit faster than normal, his breathing a bit off… he was worried, hiding immense stress over the absence of Quinton. But whenever he was near Zatina, that all slowed down, evened out… being around her calmed him. She was just the opposite; being near Jesse made Zatina's heartbeat speed up a little, and even the pitch in her voice would change; she would become more confident, more fulfilled with him at her side. Their heartbeats a love song in Sky's ears; one of his favorites.

Then there was Connor, who was clearly frustrated. He would grunt and sigh periodically, pacing back and forth and a slightly faster pace than one would normally walk. His song, to Sky, was an ominous beat… contained, but volatile, ready to explode. And under the circumstances, Sky decided that was probably justifiable. Connor had lost two of his closest friends in the past week; he didn't trust Tommy as a leader and he certainly trust him with his sister.

And Kavita, a song filled with impatience, frustration, uncertainty. She still felt guilty over the time she'd spent as Granny Goodness's lapdog, and worried that she'd never be able to atone for that. Her song was sad, mournful, reflective. And Mckayla… Sky liked to think of her song as a tribal beat, a roaring drum filled with determination and ferocity, but lined with a subtle violin, a flare of compassion.

"People are music," Sky spoke aloud, a grin on his face, "And I'm the only one who hears it."

Down below, he could hear Jesse and Zatina's heartbeats jump from one location to another, and he knew that they had warped back to the tunnel. "Guess I'd better go down there," he sighed, adjusting himself so that he were facing in that direction. Suddenly, breaking the sound barrier in an instant, he took off soaring toward the tunnels.

…

"What happened?" Tommy questioned, having dried himself off and gotten dressed just moments prior.

"Well, there's good news, and some bad news," Jesse said. "Good news, Apokoliptian forces haven't gotten to Kio and Prome. Bad news is… neither have we."

"Where are they then?" Tommy inquired.

"We don't know," Zatina shook her head. "By the time we got there, they'd already escaped the infirmary. Flo showed up on assignment from Darkseid to retrieve them, and she seemed just as surprised that they were gone as we were."

"Flo was there?" Allie raised an eyebrow.

"We didn't confront her, although I really wanted to," Jesse answered. "She was all decked in some slutty Apokoliptian armor too. And she killed two clones of us that she doesn't know were clones… didn't even care. It seemed totally casual to her."

"I'm hating her more and more every minute," Mckayla bit the inside of her cheek. "Did you hear anything about where she might be headed next?"

"She talked about putting together a search party and looking for Kio and Prome," Zatina said. "Darkseid really wants them found."

"Darkseid was there too?" Connor questioned.

"Just as a hologram."

"Sort of like Tupac, but less awesome," Jesse confirmed.

"How was looking?"

"Pretty terrible. You definitely wounded him with that bullet."

"So we need to get to him before he can heal," Connor nodded, "Stomp him out while he's weak."

"Don't forget about Ethan," Kavita interjected. "He still has him up his sleeve."

"Flo's magic is controlling him, right? If we take her out, the spell over Ethan would probably break," Mckayla reasoned.

"But Darkseid still isn't defenseless," Kavita argued. "He's got Kalibak, the Female Furies, hordes of Parademons, super advanced tech, weaponry and drones and… and God knows what else. You guys haven't been to Apokolips. I have, and I can promise you that if we go there now, we're all going to die."

"I agree that we're too weak right now to make a move like that," Tommy nodded. "We need to build our resources back up. Get our hands on some weapons and equipment, some food, some transportation..."

"And we need to find Quinton," Jesse interrupted. "Have you all forgotten about him?"

"Nobody has, Jesse," Sky put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I spent four hours searching that wreckage with my x-ray vision. I never found him."

"Then he isn't there, obviously!" Jesse pulled away, "Look, I know he made it out of that explosion, okay? I just know. He's Quinton! He's always managed to surprise us before! He's constantly surpassing our expectations."

"But he's not invincible, Jesse," Kavita spoke softly. "Look, I won't count Quinton dead until we have evidence but…"

"But nothing. He's saved our lives… how many times now? And the moment he needs our help, you're all turning away!" Jesse backed up, "Well I'm gonna' go find him."

"Jesse, wait-" Zatina tried to stop him, but he disappeared into an orange blur, vanishing from sight in an instant.

"I'll go after him," Sky sighed, "Make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

"You don't have to do that."

"I'm the only one who can keep up with him," Sky shrugged. "And I'd hate to see him get careless and wind up in trouble. You know… again."

"Thanks, Sky."

"No problem," the blonde Kryptonian shot her a smile and then blurred off, following Jesse's trail.

"Alright, while those two out doing… whatever, let's start spit balling ideas for a way to build our resources back up," Tommy suggested.

"Hold on," Connor interrupted, "I'm not sure our news report is over."

"What do you mean?"

"Anything worthy of note happen lately, Tommy? Something you'd like to share? Something that might affect the entire team negatively?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tommy scowled.

"Okay," Connor stepped in front of him, wearing his usual cocky smile. "If you're sure there's nothing you should tell us, I trust you."

"Connor, whatever you're doing, stop it," Mckayla pleaded to him. "Haven't we learned our lesson about fighting among the team?"

"Right," Connor smiled, "Just like we've learned not to keep secrets from the team. Right, Tommy?"

Tommy leaned in and spoke only so Connor could hear him, "If you want to talk, we can do it in private. I don't need you standing here and challenging my authority in front of my team. I'm willing to keep my mouth shut and not fight with you. I'd appreciate it if you could do the same."

"Alright," Connor backed off, "But the moment you let your little fling get in the way of your judgment on the battlefield, you and I are going to have a very public discussion."

"Stop it..." Allie said, her voice suddenly weak. Without warning, her vision blurred and she started to stumble.

"Allie?" Tommy caught her before she fell over, "Are you okay?"

"What did you do to her?" Connor shouted.

"Seriously? You're blaming this on me now?"

"Move," Zatina pushed past Connor and felt Allie's forehead. "She's burning up… did this just come on suddenly?"

"She was fine a few minutes ago," Tommy insisted.

"Radiation poisoning," Kavita pointed out, "She was exposed to Brimstone's radiation more than any of us, remember? And they were up close and personal when his reactor exploded."

"Symptoms of radiation sickness typically take time to manifest… she's been sick ever since the encounter with Brimstone, and we're just now seeing the affects," Mckayla reasoned.

"Shit…" Tommy felt her skin, astounded by her rapidly rising temperature. She was shivering now, and a far-off look gleamed in her eyes. "Z, can you treat it?"

"I… I don't really know how to combat infections like this. I'm good at treating physical injuries; I have no idea how to tackle radiation sickness. I'll try, and I'll do what I can… I should at least be able to slow it down. But she needs medicine, Tommy."

"We need to figure out where we can gather up supplies… fast."

"Agreed," Connor breathed a concerned sigh, "I'll head up top and ask around, see if anybody might happen to have some medicine we can borrow."

"Good luck," Mckayla frowned, "Medicine is such a rarity these days that whenever someone does have it, they covet it like gold."

"It's worth a shot anyway," Tommy reasoned, nodding for Connor to go. Allie was drenched in sweat now, her fever taking hold. "Hang on Allie," he whispered, "I'll get you through this… I promise."

…

"Jesse!" Sky shouted, racing behind the speedster. "Slow down, we don't know if there are enemy scouts out this way!"

"Don't really care," Jesse yelled back, sprinting through the wreckage of Central City. Nearing the speed of light, he dug rapidly through the rubble and debris, looking for any signs of life.

"Jesse…" Sky grabbed him, "I've been through all this a dozen times. Quinton isn't here."

"Then he's somewhere else. I just need to figure out where he might have gone and-"

"Jess, would you agree that Quinton is a pretty smart guy?"

"Smartest I know."

"Don't you think if he's alive, then he'll figure out a way to get to us?"

"What if he's hurt, though? He could be lying wounded somewhere!"

"If he were wounded, he wouldn't have been able to get out of this area, and we would have found him by now because we've torn this area apart."

"Yeah… okay, good point," Jesse crossed his arms defiantly.

"And I know that I don't know Quinton as well as you do, but it's not like he's a stranger to me… and from everything I know of him, it seems like the last thing he'd want is for us to waste time and energy looking for him when we know, realistically, we probably aren't going to find him."

"Alright," Jesse groaned, "Yeah, you're right."

"You wanna' get back and-" Sky paused, looking to the left, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Hang on," Sky bolted off in that direction.

"Sky? Hear what? Sky, get back here!" Jesse ran after him. The two came to a stop in front of a large chunk of debris, and Sky scanned over it with his x-ray vision.

"How did I miss that…?"

"Miss what? Sky, what's under there?"

"Get back," Sky motioned for Jesse to give him room. Then he grabbed the chunk of rock and raised it over it his head as easily as if it were a feather. Beneath the debris was a metallic arm, clawing at the dirt ferociously. Protruding from the broken metal plating of the arm were several wires, from which sparks surged.

"Is… is that Chris's arm?" Jesse stammered.

"I think so," Sky nodded, "That's awesome!"

"…And terrifying."

"But mostly awesome," Sky picked the arm up, studying it intently.

"Don't touch it!"

"Why?"

"Dude, it's a dead guy's arm! What more explanation do you need?"

"It's a cybernetic arm, Jesse, that's barley even the same thing."

"Well, its freakin' creepy," Jesse backed up a little. "Hey, uh… was Chris a lefty?"

"Don't think so, why?"

"Well, think about it, he spent a lot of time alone in his workshop… what do you think he did with that arm?"

"Uh," Sky's eyes bulged and he tossed the arm back on the ground. "Good point."

It landed with its palm facing up, and Jesse noticed a blinking beacon on the palm. "What's that?" He questioned, kneeling down to get a better look.

"Low battery warning, maybe?"

"I don't think so…" Jesse touched the blinker carefully, "It's blinking in a varying set of patterns… almost like its transmitting a signal."

"Hang on…" Sky stared ahead for a moment.

"What are you doing?"

"I can see the electromagnetic spectrum."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. And you're right, the arm is definitely sending out some sort of radio transmission."

"Sky, you're telling me you've been able to see radio waves this whole time, and you haven't told me about it?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Well…" Jesse paused a moment, unsure of how to respond. "It matters, okay?"

"Okay…" Sky shrugged, "Well, this means Chris was sending out a transmission before he died. Question is… to who?"

"Let's find out," Jesse began flipping every switch he could find on the arm.

"What are you doing?"

"Pressing colorful buttons."

"You sure that's safe?"

"Don't be a pussy, dude. What could possibly-" suddenly, the palm of the arm opened up into a cannon and released a powerful sonic blast that knocked Jesse off his feet and destroyed a large chunk of stone in front of them, shattering it into pebbles. Sky took cover from the blast, and the moment the smoke cleared, he shot Jesse a glare.

"You were saying?"

"Sorry," Jesse grinned sheepishly, getting back up on his feet. "Maybe you should hold this."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea," Sky took hold of the arm, studied it for a moment, and then pressed the blinking beacon. It sank in easily, like a button would, and then a bright blue stream of light shot forth, morphing into a holographic image several feet from them.

"Whoa…" Sky mused.

"Pfft, this isn't even the first hologram I've seen today," Jesse rolled his eyes.

The light formed into a large computer, floating computer screen image. Several markers were illuminated on the screen, and the top read, in block letters, "Apokoliptian Points of Access."

"What does that mean?" Sky asked.

"Not sure…" Jesse touched one of the glowing points on the screen, and a miniscreen popped up, revealing a stream of data written in Apokoliptian text. In the corner of the screen was a tab that said "Translate to English." Jesse selected the tab, and after a moment all of the text had been translated.

It was a list of Apokoliptian battle plans from The Invasion. "Oh my God," Jesse's eyes widened, "Sky, I think these are Darkseid's archives!" He minimized that screen and opened another access point. This one was a spreadsheet with the names of all the children kept in the different orphanages on both Earth and Apokolips. "Dude, Chris totally hacked Apokolips! This is their entire mainframe!"

"Why didn't Chris tell us about this?"

"I don't think he had time. See this time tag in the corner… it says the hack was completed four hours ago. He had this program running when he died."

"Wow," Sky looked over the vast array of information now at their disposal. "That's incredible."

"Darkseid put a spy in our midst," Jesse grinned, "Now we have one in his. With this, we can keep track of everything Apokolips does… every order Darkseid sends out, every piece of information they come across, every dirty little secret they have… we'll know about it."

"See if you can find some idea in here as to where we could go to get some supplies. You know, weapons, food, medicine, clothing… something."

"Hang on," Jesse began looking through the list of headings for different informational categories. "Well look at that."

"What?"

"Here, Apokolips has put together a list of possible places we might be using as a hideout right now."

"Is that right?"

"Yup. Isn't that adorable?" Jesse laughed, opening the file. "They have some places listed in here we don't even know about. How helpful, Mr. Darkseid."

"Anywhere we could get what we need from?"

"Okay, look at this," Jesse stopped at one item on the list, "The Hall of Justice. During the Invasion, it was one of the first places that got attacked… the building was pretty much destroyed, but the Justice League had a bunch of rooms underneath the Hall where they may have stored some supplies we could scavenge."

"Sounds good to me."

"Let's go tell the others. The sooner we get moving, the better."

...

"What are we doing here?" Alex Luthor asked, following Troy into an abandoned, rundown warehouse in Coast City.

"Just watch," Troy said smugly.

"I'm getting really tired of your whole secretive act. If I'm going to help you, you need to let me in on a few of those deep dark secrets of yours."

"Calm down Alex," Troy smiled, stopping at heavy steel door. "I'll tell you as much as you need to know, and as much as you're ready to hear."

"That's not reassuring."

"Wasn't supposed to be. Now, tell me Alex, are you familiar with a man named Roger Hayden?"

"Not particularly."

"In our parent's day, he was a second-rate super villain called the Psycho-Pirate. He fed off the emotions of angsty teenagers, mostly. During the Invasion, he avoided execution by cutting a deal with Apokolips, as many villains did. Roger Hayden… his agreement was particularly disturbing. He would pretend to open safe havens, places of refuge, for children on the run to Apokolips. He'd promise them safety, food and care. But in reality, once the kids were in his clutches, he'd turn them over to Granny Goodness. That's how your sister got caught. And me and Corey… the first time."

"So why are you telling me this?"

"Well," Troy grinned, pushing open the door, "Would you like to meet him?"

"What the…" Alex gasped, looking into a small, dimly lit, blood-soaked room, at the center of which was a wooden desk and chair. Sitting in the chair, with his wrists clamped to the table, was a man covered in blood, bruises and lacerations. He trembled, his eyes growing wide with fear the moment he saw Troy.

"This is Roger Hayden," Troy said casually, picking up a hammer from the table. "He's been in my captivity for the past couple of days…" Without hesitation, Troy swung the hammer down and smashed his hand. The man let out a scream of agony, tears pouring down his face. "And he's going to tell us where to find our common enemy, Granny Goodness."

Troy brought down the hammer again, bashing the man's hand a second time. Bone shattered, and flesh ruptured under the weight of Troy's strike, setting forth a gush of blood, washing over the skin as it turned a sickening purple color.

"Would you like to smash the other one?" Troy asked calmly, holding the blood soaked hammer out toward Alex.

"No…" Alex took a step back, trying to hide his disgust.

"Suit yourself," Troy shrugged, then grabbed his captive's hand and forced him to look at him. "Where is Granny Goodness?"

"Please… let me go home…" the man pleaded, sobbing. "I've already told you everything I know. She's visiting one of the Earth-based Extraction Stations this week…"

"Which one?"

"I don't know."

Troy brought the hammer down and crushed the other hand to a pulp. "Sure about that?"

"Stop!" The man screamed, "I – don't – know!"

"Alright then," Troy swung the hammer again, this time smashing the man's eye. Immediately the area around the eye blacked, blood pouring from the ruptured organ. "Let's try a different technique."

Troy flipped the hammer around, blood dripping from its head, and aimed the claw end of the tool at his victim.

"Why don't you just use your truth powers on him?" Alex asked, afraid of what Troy was about to do. "You could just make him tell the truth with your touch, couldn't you?"

"I could," Troy smiled, "But I find doing things the old-fashioned way is a hell of a lot more fun."

He's insane, Alex thought, a bead of sweat running down his face. I knew he was a dirt bag… but he's a full on psychopath!

"You ever hear that wives tale about telling lies, Mr. Hayden?" Troy hooked the claw of his hammer on the inside of the man's jaw. "They say if you tell a lie, your tongue will turn black and fall out. Let's test that, shall we?"

The man tried to object, tears spilling from his eyes, but he couldn't speak with the hammer claw in his mouth.

"Where is Granny Goodness?"

"I don't know," the man murmured as best as he could over the hammer.

"Fibber, fibber," Troy shook his head, wagging a finger disapprovingly. Without warning, he ripped down on the hammer with all his strength, and tore the man's jaw off of his face. Bloody, broken teeth fell into shambles onto the floor and the blood-soaked jaw hit the floor soon after. The man's tongue remained dangling out of the roof of his mouth, dripping with gore. "Well, it didn't turn black, but your tongue did fall out," Troy smiled. He reached out with his free hand and grabbed the man's throat, crushing it with terrifying ease. He dropped the suffocating, jawless man on the floor, leaving to die soaked in a pool of his own blood.

Troy turned around, covered in blood, hammer in hand, and looked to Alex with a casual expression. "Wasn't that fun?"

"Boat loads," Alex did everything he could to hide the sense of horror that had overtaken him. "So… you've just killed our informant. How do you suppose we find out where Goodness will be now?"

"Oh, her?" Troy laughed, "I already know where to find that bitch. One of my sources filled me in earlier."

"Then what was the point of that?"

"This guy was trash, Alex," Troy spoke with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Trash needs to be taken out."

"Most people don't enjoy taking out the trash as much as you seem to."

"Most people have less exciting trash."

Troy headed for the door, walking as if nothing had happened. "We should get going soon, we still have another stop to make."

Troy closed the door behind him, leaving Alex alone in the room, the pool of blood slowly expanding onto his feet. "My God…" Alex breathed, "What have I gotten myself into?"