December 7th, 2012/Gotham City Underground

Aqua Lad

Kaldur kept against the wall, silently moving through the shadows. Dressed in his stealth outfit, his fingers kept twitching. Did he want to get in a fight? Maybe. It would have been a nice stress reliever if nothing else. Next to him, Zatanna kept her head down, trudging through the Gotham Underground wordlessly.

They had never been paired together before, but then again the group dynamic had never been like this either. Cassie had quickly partnered up with Robin, which he hadn't seemed to mind. That had left Zatanna, Robin's usual partner, with Kaldur. She didn't seem particularly thrilled with the switch, but refrained from complaining. The relationship with Wonder Girl and Robin was odd. They didn't seem to be more than friends, but acted secretive and removed. After the whole incident with Cassie, Kaldur figured it wasn't his place to ask.

He signaled to Zatanna, and the two stopped to crouch down. They had been traveling through the Gotham sewers for around a half hour, and all they had seen so far was rats. Batman had earlier reported that the Injustice Gang had been active and sent the team to investigate. Superboy had sat this one out, staying in the Watchtower to oversee something Canary called 'an interesting plot twist'. M'gann had teamed up with a rather sullen Wally and was currently on the other side of the underground network. There had been no sign of Artemis, her fate up in the air.

"Miss Martian to Zatanna. Are you in position?" M'ganns voice rang in their heads.

"Kaldur and I currently in the East tunnel waiting for developments."

"Don't." Robin sounded unusually brusque. "We're dealing with heavy hitters like Poison Ivy and Joker, we need to have the element of surprise and not risk them finding us first."

"Who's all there?" Kaldur asked.

"We know Joker's there, meaning Harley Quinn won't be far behind. I think Count Vertigo, Poison Ivy and Black Atom are in the party as well." Robin recited. "Good luck team."

Zatanna gave Kaldur a tight smile and stood. "You ready?"

The Atlantean joined her, pale eyes scanning the near darkness. "I suppose I am. Let us go."

Zatanna faltered. "The Joker... is he as bad as Robin acts?"

Kaldur pursed his lips. "The Joker is psychotic Zatanna. I have never met him, but he kills for fun. I cannot imagine someone like him being any kind of good."

"Do you think Harley Quinn will be like how she was in the stimulator?"

Kaldur sighed, not wanting to waste any more time conversing. "I think she is dangerous. It would be nice to not underestimate."

"Wise choice." Kaldur heard the click of the gun before he even noticed her behind him. "You even start to say a spell, and fish boy loses his head." Harley giggled.

Suddenly, a vine of ivy shot out, launching into Zatanna's mouth. She struggled but it wrapped itself around her, binding her hands and keeping her mouth gagged.

"Do not make me hurt you." Kaldur growled.

"Oh, I'm not worried!" Harley seemed unfazed. "Red's gonna make sure you behave. Ain't that right?"

Kaldur felt a wave of pheromones hit him as Ivy's spores embedded into him. His knees felt weak, and when the green eyed goddess appeared, Zatanna choking on some plants didn't seem to be such a big deal. She smiled, small hand beckoning him.

"You'll be good for me, won't you?" She purred, smiling softly. "Why don't you give me a kiss?"

Kaldur stumbled forward, leaning in despite Zatanna's frantic sounds. She looked at him with those bright eyes and chuckled. Right before their lips brushed, Kaldur smirked. It all happened too fast for anyone to know what exactly occurred. Kaldur suddenly wasn't by Ivy, but by Zatanna, his swords cutting the ivy. She began reciting a spell as soon as she spit out the dead plants. Ivy shrieked, falling to the ground to gather the dead leaves to her chest. Harley held the gun out, not trembling, only when she shot the only thing that came out was a bang sign.

"My gun!" She shrieked at Zatanna, who just laughed.

"You," Ivy rasped at Kaldur. "How did you... you can't resist me!"

"Actually," Kaldur hacked off a branch growing close to him. "I prepared for you in advance Ivy."

She howled, launching a full scale attack at him. Kaldur dodged, using his swords to shred the flowers that came out him. Within moments, she was subdued. He wiped sweat from his brow.

"And Harley?"

"Just took off down that tunnel." Zatanna pointed.

"Poison Ivy has been subdued." Kaldur reported.

"Black Atom is a goner too." Cassie chirped in.

"Consider Count Vertigo down for the count." M'gann added.

"Then let's take Joker and HQ down in the main tunnel." Robin ordered.

Kaldur nodded and the two set off in silence. Soon, they appeared in a large cavern. Facing away from them was a tall, lanky man in a ragged purple suit. Harley clung on his arm, an oversized hammer at her side. The shadows seemed to ripple opposite them, and Kaldur could almost make out Robins form. The green haired head cocked, turning slowly.

"Harley, is it just me, or do you smell a little birdie?"

Robin cackled from the shadows, a batarang embedding itself above Harley's head. She squealed and moved away, completing a series of flips. She giggled, swinging her hammer at Kaldur's head. He ducked, slashing with his sword but she moved the hammer away before he could hit it. She pulled a small cylinder off her belt, throwing it to the ground. Instantly, green smoke billowed out. Kaldur choked as the nauseous green gas invaded his lungs.

"Joker Venom, try not to breathe it in." Robin ordered.

Feeling a maniacal laugh rising up in him, Kaldur rolled out of the way of Harley's oncoming attack. He crouched, catching sight of Robin and Jokers form through the cloud. The Boy Wonder was much more adept, but the Joker was holding his own. It wasn't until too late that Kaldur noticed Harley. She had another gun, and was aiming at Zatanna. Before he had time to react, Zatanna would be dead. Fortunately, he didn't have to. Before he could even move, an arrow came whizzing from one of the tunnels, knocking the gun from Harley's hand.

He turned, only to find a gas mask being put on his face. As he breathed in the sweet, and probably cure carrying air, his vision began to clear. Meeting a pair of stormy grey eyes and a green mask he managed to smile.

"Artemis?"

A/N: Sorry for the abrupt ending. And, sorry for being such a slacker. Feel free to cyber bully me. Anyways, review? Please? Also, I'd like to know your guys opinions on two stories that I have and which you'd rather see.

Jason Todd comes back from the dead to kidnap Barbara Gordon (I always imagined him having a crush on her.) It's filled with protective Dick and set with the new team.

A Sherlock Holmes story with Dick and Wally. Wally is engaged to Linda Parks, but agrees to come out of retirement to solve one last case and gets caught up in murder, theft and a mysterious blonde archer.

You can vote in reviews. Thanks to Wondergirl556 and everyone who read through this long note.