The Age of Shade-The Power of the Crystal

by YJnightwing

Shade, Robins best friend,is about to face her biggest challenge. A secret partner teams up with the light creating the deadliest weapon ever made. Join Dawn as she discovers new powers,new friends,and new enemies. Secrets will be revealed,friendships will be tested, trust will be broken, and Dawn must find the strength to face the new enemy as the Power of the Crystal is released.

37. Insecurity

Insecurity

Disclaimer- I don't own Young Justice or any of its characters, only own original plot strands and OC's.

Italics- telepathic communication

---

Dawn's POV

After checking in with Sasha and making sure she is good for the night I teleported to the cave at around 6 in the afternoon.

Bruce and Dick are in Gotham City doing their dynamic duo thing and I was planning on joining them when Aqualad texted me about an hour ago asking if I could come to the cave for an emergency meeting.

After seeing the text I asked Bruce if he and Dick could handle the mission without me since I immediately knew Aqualad wanted to talk about something important.

After a lot of begging and promising that I won't let others distract me from my missions ever again Bruce finally allowed me to skip since it wasn't a major mission anyway. A minor villain escaped from prison last night and instead of hiding out or skipping town like a smart person he decided to cause chaos in the streets hoping to get his 15 minutes of fame.

Nothing Gotham's Dark Knight and Boy Wonder can't handle on their own.

After Bruce gave me permission to skip I changed into my Shade uniform and teleported into the cave. Once inside I quickly stepped into the main hangar, guessing that's where Aqualad will most likely be.

Usually I'd bring Zaphira with me, but she's in Gotham helping Batman and Robin track the recent escapee. Zaphira's worked with the team on multiple occasions, but she hasn't gone on very many missions with Batman yet. And since she's first and foremost a member of the batclan its important that they work together every once in a while; hence the reason she's out kicking criminal butt with Bruce and Dick in Gotham City.

I saw Aqualad waiting for me in the middle of the hangar with his arms folded across his chest the minute I stepped out of the zeta beams and quickly floated over to him. My eyes flickered around the room and I quirked an eyebrow when I realized we're the only ones here.

"Did I do something wrong Kaldur?" I asked as I landed, but Aqualad quickly shook his head.

"No Dawn you are not in trouble. I requested your presence because I wanted to talk to you about an important matter involving the team. Green Arrow just called to tell me Roy is joining the team and-"

"Wait Roy's joining the team? Like as in this team?! Since when?" I unintentionally cut him off while stepping back in shock.

Aqualad sighed and placed his hands on his hips.

"Yes this team" he firmly answered before giving me a look that basically said don't interrupt me again.

"Sorry" I muttered under my breath while raising my hands in surrender before gesturing for him to continue.

"As I was saying, I'm glad he's joining but you and I both know he hates the idea of this team more than anyone, and I fear he has not had a change in heart despite his new membership. He still believes there is a traitor in our mists and I suspect he is joining the team for the wrong reasons" Aqualad stated and I quickly caught on.

"You think he's joining just to search for this nonexistent mole?" I guessed and Aqualad nodded.

"Well for Roy that would make sense" I acknowledged while placing a hand on my cocked hip.

"Not that I don't love the information Kaldur, but why are you telling me this?" I asked curiously and Aqualad huffed.

"You know Red Arrow better than most. I just want to make sure he doesn't cause any...unnecessary rifts between the team. Just like the rest of us he has to be convinced that there is no mole before he can fully appreciate the team" Kaldur evenly stated and I nodded in understanding.

"I'll keep an eye on him and try my best to make him see reason" I answered and Aqualad smiled.

"Thank you" he said before glancing up at the clock over my shoulder.

"The others should be arriving soon. Roy is scheduled to arrive in about 15 minutes" Aqualad stated and just as he said this Zatanna, Superboy, M'gann, Wolf, and Red Tornado walked into the room.

I waved and smiled as they walked in.

"Hey guys" I greeted as they trickled in.

"Hey Shade" Zatanna cheerfully greeted as she floated over.

As I greeted my friends I noticed that everyone is in civvies except for Aqualad and I.

I chatted with the group for a few minutes until the zeta beams announced Wally's arrival. I turned and watched as Wally sped inside the cave before stopping beside me.

Since he's not currently vibrating with anticipation I assume Aqualad and I are the only one's who know Red Arrow is coming. I guess Aqualad simply told the available members to be here at this particular time for a team briefing to get everyone in the same room without giving away the surprise.

"Hey Wally" I greeted as he slung a casual arm around my shoulder.

"What's up Shade, long time no see" he joked with a grin plastered on his freckled face and I rolled my eyes before bumping my hip against his.

"Yeah it's been 6 whole hours since I last saw you. That's just sooooo long" I sarcastically teased causing him to chuckle and nod.

"I know its hard Shade, but next time try not to miss me as much" he continued before pausing when he heard the zetabeams activating.

I glanced around Wally's arm and saw Green Arrow and Red Arrow surprisingly walking together for the first time in what seems like forever out of the zetabeams.

"Red Arrow?" Wally questioned with scrunched up eyebrows before turning to see Roy walking in fully clothed in hero uniform.

"Red Arrow!" Wally cheered once he saw it really was his friend and not just his imagination.

Roy cracked a small smile when he saw Kid and walked over to join the rest of the group.

"Not that I don't love the visit, but what are you doing here" Wally asked Roy who was just about to answer when the zetabeams cut him off.

"Recognized Artemis B07" the computer announced as Artemis materialized in the Zetabeams and walked in only to pause when she heard Green Arrow's voice.

"Artemis! Just in time. Look who's agreed to join the team" GA announced as everyone turned to face her.

Roy and Artemis glared at each other before Wally lifted his arms and cheered.

"Finally!" he screeched, but I didn't move my eyes away from Artemis.

I don't know what, but something seems…off about her today. When she first walked in she looked distracted and preoccupied, but now she just looks irritated and tense. The last two emotions are probably due to Roy's unexpected appearance.

It's no secret that the two don't particularly like each other.

Artemis placed her hands on her hips and glowered at Roy as she walked forward.

"Sure, the team's needed a real archer" she stated with a sharp bite to her voice.

It seems Wally and I were the only one's who heard her since we reacted to her irritated undertone while the others didn't react at all.

Failing to hear her comment Green Arrow immediately started to speak, not paying his current partner's weird demeanor any attention. Wally reluctantly turned away from Artemis and faced Green Arrow as the man made his way to the middle of the room and activated a holographic keyboard.

As everyone focused on GA I discretely floated over to Artemis and whispered in her ear.

"You okay Artemis? You look distracted," I asked quietly and she glanced at me.

"I'm fine," she answered curtly, but I can definitely tell she's not fine.

"Yeah and I'm the Flash" I joked before getting serious.

"You don't have to tell me now, but I'm here if you need to talk" I whispered before giving GA my full attention.

"Ok people listen up! The Dynamic Duo's on a case in Gotham, but Batman gave me a heads up," he said as a holographic picture of Sportsmaster appeared behind him along with two videos of the criminal in an airport.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Artemis' silent gasp and the way her eyes doubled in size before she quickly masked her surprise. Seeing as how this is her evil father that no one but Robin, Batman, Green arrow, and I know about, I can understand the reaction.

"Sportsmaster was spotted coming through Louis Armstrong New Orleans international airport" Green Arrow told the team.

"In full costume? Nervy" Zatanna stated and GA shook his head.

"In street clothes" he corrected before continuing.

"Facial recognition software picked up the ID. Find out what he's up to" he suddenly ordered and I flexed my fingers preparing for a mission.

"All of us? Seems like overkill for a shadow job" Conner exclaimed and Tornado nodded seeing the logic behind his words.

"Perhaps a small squad? Miss Martian's camouflage abilities seem ideal," he suggested, but Ollie had a different idea.

"I thought the sidekicks…sorry ex-sidekicks could suit up on this. Aqualad, Kid Flash, Shade, and Red arrow" Ollie responded, quickly correcting himself when he saw the glare's he received after saying the word sidekick.

The four "ex- sidekicks" smiled at each other loving the idea of a team up.

"Good, stakeouts make me crazy" Conner commented while crossing his arms over his chest.

"We could use the night off" M'gann nodded and Superboy grinned.

"I want in. With M'gann and Robin out no one's logged more hours piloting the Bio ship besides Shade" Artemis suddenly blurted out.

"Artemis, are you sure?" GA asked skeptically, knowing her history with Sportsmaster and not wanting her to do something she'll regret later.

"Absolutely" Artemis firmly reiterated and Green Arrow relented.

"Alright well the five of you take the bio ship and head out immediately," GA ordered and we all nodded before heading towards the bioship.

Aqualad and Wally went off to prepare for the mission while Artemis went to prep the bioship. The rest of the team and the two League members left shortly afterward leaving Roy and I the only one's in the room.

"Well look who decided to join the kiddy club," I hummed at Roy with a coy smile playing on my lips.

"Don't even go there Dawn" Roy protested as he started to walk away.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Roy" I faked ignorance as I floated after him and he rolled his eyes behind his mask.

"Uh huh yeah sure you don't" he replied sarcastically and I laughed before placing a hand on his shoulder causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Seriously Roy all jokes aside, I'm glad you're joining the team. It took you long enough but I'm glad all the same" I told him before jumping on his back and wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I knew you'd see reason eventually and stop being so damn stubborn" I joked and ruffled his hair as he continued to walk down the hall before eventually swatting my arm.

"Okay, okay, okay alright all ready I get it Dawn you're excited. Now can you please stop with the harassment?" Roy pleaded and I complied with his request.

"I'll stop for now since we have a mission, but trust me this is far from over Red Arrow" I smiled mischievously and Roy groaned as he lifted a hand to fix his ruffled hair.

I slid off his back and gave him a soft pat before flying off for the bioship.

I silently flew inside the open door and saw Artemis sitting in the large pilot seat. I gave her a curt nod before moving to sit in my designated floor seat.

Red Arrow was the next to arrive, but Wally and Aqualad weren't far behind him. Wally changed into his hero uniform but covered it up with a pair of black pants, black boots, and a black and red jacket. He tucked his yellow and red motorcycle helmet under his seat before sliding his mask into his back pocket.

Once everyone was inside Artemis grabbed the control balls and guided the bioship out of the hangar.

Artemis guided the ship to a high altitude and after a few minutes Aqualad broke the cabin's heavy silence.

"Red Arrow, Dawn can you help me secure the equipment in the back" Aqualad asked, but we all know it was more like an order than a request.

Roy and I nodded before standing then disappearing to the back of the ship leaving Artemis and Wally in the front by themselves. After walking through the opening to the back the hole automatically closed behind us.

I grabbed the handlebars on Wally's motorcycle while Roy and Kaldur worked on securing Roy's small speedboat to the wall. They worked together to lock it into place before coming over to help me back the motorcycle into its proper slot.

"I gather you did not join the team for the camaraderie" Aqualad suddenly asked Roy out of the blue without looking up from the motorcycle.

"There's a mole on your team Kaldur. You don't wanna face it, so I will. And suspect number one is Artemis" Roy responded and I crossed my arms.

"Roy we've been over this. There is no mole, it was just a story Sportsmaster fabricated to scare us and break the team up from the inside. Plus you haven't been on this team nearly as long as the rest of us. Artemis is a good person and she's definitely not a traitor" I defended my friend, but Roy just scoffed.

"Lets face it Dawn, the fact that I'm not close to any of them is the reason I'm here in the first place. You're all blinded by your so-called friendships that you wouldn't see a blindside coming if it stared you right in the face. There's a mole on this team, and I'm gonna find it" Roy snapped determinedly before exiting the back room without giving either Aqualad or I a chance to retaliate.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed as I leaned against the back wall.

"Well convincing him is going to be a lot harder than I thought" I muttered to myself and Aqualad nodded.

"Indeed" he agreed before we walked back to the front of the ship and returned to our seats.

---

It took us about an hour and a half to get to Orleans Parish, which is where Sportsmaster is, but when we arrived the team split up into individual groups to cover more ground.

Red Arrow is hiding in the woods watching Sportsmaster's small lodge while Aqualad is in the river beside the lodge waiting for Sportsmaster to leave on his boat. Wally is waiting on his motorcycle ready to follow Sportsmaster from the highway about a quarter of a mile away.

I'm close to Red Arrow's position, but farther down the strip hiding in the treetops ready to follow Sportsmaster from the air. Artemis is still in the bioship watching everything from afar, but I can tell she's not happy about it.

I watched as Sportsmaster left the lodge and headed for the dock where a large speedboat is waiting for him. I shifted in the tree as he hoped aboard and started the boat up.

"Target's heading North" Red Arrow said through the com since M'gann isn't here to establish a telepathic link.

Roy ran for his water vehicle hidden among the ferns while I floated above my branch and watched Sportsmaster leave the dock. I slipped into the shadows and flew off as silent as a mouse making sure to stay slightly behind him at all times.

"Pursue, but maintain a discreet distance. And that goes double for you Artemis. Sportsmaster's proven adept at spotting Martian camouflage when in motion" Red Arrow clarified and if I had to guess I'd bet a substantial amount of money that Artemis is narrowing her eyes at Roy's comment.

After a short ride Sportsmaster stopped and parked his boat near the shore. He made sure to properly dock the boat before stepping out and walking onto the bank.

Red Arrow came up behind him a few moments later and parked behind a pile of large broken tree branches floating in the water to block himself from view.

"He's stopped. Hold your position. I'm moving in for a closer look," Red Arrow said into the com as he ditched his boat before climbing a tree to watch Sportsmaster with a pair of binoculars.

As Red Arrow climbed the tree I silently landed on a tree branch a few trees away from Roy's.

We watched Sportsmaster as he walked through the woods like a man on a mission. Red Arrow continued to vigilantly watch Sportsmaster, but I tore my eyes away from the man and glanced to my left when I felt the disturbance message the earth sent me through the trees. An uneasy feeling slithered into the pit of my stomach and I immediately knew something is wrong.

I flew over to Roy and crouched down beside him.

"Roy something's going on to our left. I just felt a weird vibration that I shouldn't get from a unpopulated forest," I whispered in his ear and he reluctantly turned away from Sportsmaster to look at me.

After seeing the serious and worried expression on my face Roy used his binoculars to see in the direction I pointed to. For a while he didn't say anything, but after a few tense seconds he cursed under his breath.

"What? What is it?" I asked while Roy pocketed his binoculars and pulled his bow free from his back.

"Artemis is fighting Cheshire" Roy hissed as he hopped out of the tree and ran in Artemis' direction.

"What the hell is Cheshire doing here? And why is Artemis fighting her?" I asked aloud as I flew low to the ground easily passing Roy who's running on foot.

"That's a very good question," Roy irritably grumbled as he ran.

He stopped running when we got close to the fight and strung an arrow before shooting at Cheshire.

Cheshire was talking to Artemis when we came up, but turned in our direction when she heard a familiar whizzing sound. Despite hearing the sound she didn't have enough time to dodge the net Roy's arrow shot out of its tip.

The net knocked Cheshire off balance and wrapped her around a tree. Once she was contained Roy and I stepped out of the shadows and revealed ourselves.

Roy already has another arrow notched and aimed at Cheshire's chest before the girl could struggle much.

"Why Arrow if you wanted another date you only had to ask" Cheshire flirtatiously teased making me want to gag and Artemis to chock on her own spit.

"You two are dating," she screeched in disbelief and Red Arrow lost his steel like composer for two seconds before regaining it.

"Wh…what? No!" he fiercely denied while glancing at Artemis.

"Why deny the attraction. After all Arrow, you're here" Cheshire said emphasizing the last part a little too much and my eyes widened.

"Shit I think she just blew our cover," I whispered to Roy who snarled.

Cheshire brought up her sai's and slashed out of her net confinement while both Roy and Artemis readied their arrows.

"Really I'm so fond of you three. I couldn't bare to hurt you…" Cheshire said before trailing off.

She threw her sai into the ground blade first making it protrude from the grass so the hilts facing the sky.

"Much" she finished in a darker tone and after a short pause she rushed forward.

She sprang forward like a rocket and knocked Artemis' legs out from under her before jumping away. Roy fired an arrow but she dodged and threw three small bombs at his feet blinding him with the resulting smoke. While Roy was distracted I flew forward and tried to kick Cheshire in the side but she easily evaded the attack.

I spun on my heels and aimed for her head, but she blocked with one of her blades. We exchanged a quick flurry of punches and kicks before she managed to spin and kick me in the back tossing me away from her. I stumbled for a second, but that second was all she needed.

While I was distracted she ran for Roy and tackled him to the ground just after he saw Sportsmaster leaving in his boat.

The two rolled for a bit before Cheshire managed to get on top. She pulled one of her sai's out of its holster and twirled it in her hand before pointing the tip of the blade against Roy's cheek.

"Oh too bad lover boy" Cheshire whispered before taking off her mask and leaning down to kiss Roy, only breaking it once she made sure Artemis saw them.

"But at least a kiss is still a kiss" she purred before grunting when Wally ran in and pushed her off of Roy causing her to tumble and flop against the ground due to his speed. The sai she was previously using to threaten Roy fell out of her hand as she skidded across the dirt.

"And a sai is just a sai" Wally imitated her voice as he held the sai in his hand.

"And quite the souvenir by the way" Wally added as he admired the blade before Red Arrow sat up.

"Artemis tracer arrow on Sportsmaster now! Dawn follow behind" Roy ordered and I nodded as Artemis notched an arrow and aimed for Sportsmaster's boat.

My feet had just left the ground when Artemis sighed and said she couldn't make the shot because he's too far out.

Roy roughly barged past Artemis and strung a tracer arrow of his own.

"Move!" he barked before aiming and firing an arrow that passed over my shoulder before hitting the back of Sportsmaster's boat successfully attaching a tracker to its bumper.

As I flew after Sportsmaster I heard the sound of Roy's boat below me so I know he's following close behind, which sparked an idea in my head. As I flew I lifted my hand and shifted the water around Sportsmaster's boat making it choppy and rough so he couldn't cut through the water as fast as before. This allowed Roy to cover the distance between them and drive up parallel to Sportsmaster.

When he was close enough Roy moved in to attack Sportsmaster but unfortunately never got the chance.

Sportsmaster grabbed a bag from the bottom of his boat and threw a handful of tennis ball sized grenades at Roy causing the water around his boat to explode. The resulting wave capsized his boat and Roy fell into the water.

Even though I saw him go under I didn't stop my pursuit and continued to follow Sportsmaster knowing that Roy is most likely okay. After taking care of Roy Sportsmaster turned to the back of his boat and plucked the tracer off his bumper. He stared at it for a second before dropping it into the water along with a handful of bombs to stop Aqualad from following him. I guess he must have sensed someone was following him from under the water.

"Aqualad move!" I yelled just seconds before the water where Aqualad should have been blew up spraying water droplets everywhere.

"AQUALAD!" Roy's scream filled my ear and worry creeped into my system as I followed Sportsmaster not wanting to loose him like the others, but still wanting to make sure Aqualad is okay.

I sighed in relief when I heard Aqualad's voice over the com reassuring us both that he's fine. Once Kaldur confirmed that he's fine and alive I focused all of my attention on Sportsmaster.

Sportsmaster, having heard my warning to Aqualad, looked up for the first time and saw me following him.

He tossed a few bombs into the air hopping to knock me out, but I avoided the blasts. However when a net full of bombs went off in front of my face the resulting smoke blinded my vision as I shot through the dark cloud.

I quickly used the wind to disperse the smoke cloud, but not fast enough.

About two seconds after I cleared the smoke my eyes widened when I saw a large tree branch sticking out over the river directly in front of my flight path. I didn't have enough time to dodge it and unfortunately smacked right into it with a loud umph.

I groaned and fell into the river while Sportsmaster sped off.

"Shade…Shade are you okay?" Aqualad's voice asked in my ear and I answered him once I broke the surface.

"Yeah I'm fine, but I lost Sportsmaster" I answered while slapping the water in anger.

"Rendezvous at the shore with Wally and Artemis. We've already informed them of the plan, which we'll fill you in on once you get to shore" Aqualad told me and I acknowledged the order before floating out of the water and heading for the shoreline.

I landed on the soft dirt just a few seconds after Roy and Kaldur got there. They both glanced at me as I walked up.

"You okay?" Aqualad asked and I nodded before cracking my back and asking them the same.

In their own words both boys confirmed they're fine and that Sportsmaster didn't do any serious damage. After we finished talking I felt a wave of wind on my face as Wally suddenly appeared out of thin air to stand in front of us.

"So we threw the fight, as ordered after Artemis planted the tracer" Wally said to Aqualad causing me to raise an eyebrow and look at him like he's gone crazy in the last five seconds.

"You threw the fight? Why the heck would you do that?" I asked while glancing back and forth between the three boys waiting for someone to fill me in on what the plan is.

"I ordered Artemis and Kid to place a tracker on Cheshire then throw the fight so we can follow her back to Sportsmaster. This way we figure out who they're working for and where they're hiding without letting them know we're following them" Aqualad explained and I nodded.

"Makes sense to me" I shrugged accepting the plan just as Artemis walked out of the trees.

"Cheshire's heading north" she informed as she lifted the tracking device to show us the screen with a blinking dot moving North.

"Sportsmaster was headed south," Roy skeptically commented before muttering under his breath "kinda like this mission."

I sharply elbowed him in the ribs and he flinched before sending me a glare out of the corner of his eye, which I happily returned.

"Quit it" I mouthed to him when no one was looking.

He simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Maybe he'll double back. Maybe she will" Artemis offered with her hands on her hips, her face showing me that she doesn't like Roy publicly doubting her.

"Either way, they'll rendezvous and we'll find them," Wally said trying to lighten the mood and I smiled at his effort.

"Agreed. There's still time to complete this mission and label it a success" I added before Aqualad pitched in.

"Sportsmaster acquired an attaché case. We need to learn what it contained. If you had stayed aboard the Bioship-" he started to say, but Artemis quickly cut him off.

"I saw Cheshire sneaking up on him," Artemis sharply retorted while pointing at Roy who narrowed his eyes into dangerous slits.

"Then you radio a warning" Roy growled lowly.

"And if she found you by hacking our frequency?" Artemis defended in the same harsh tone.

"She has a point Red, if Cheshire hacked the frequency then she could've attacked you sooner or learned that this is a group mission rather than a solo one" I said backing Artemis up.

"It is true, we have come to rely on M'gann's telepathy over our radios" Aqualad acknowledged Artemis' point and Wally took the reins.

"So lets stop looking to place blame and start looking for Cheshire," he firmly suggested and Artemis moved the tracker in her hand.

"Here" she said as she threw the device at Roy who caught it with his right hand.

"Since clearly I can't be trusted, you track her" she sneered bitterly and I stared at her face.

I can tell she's slightly hurt and worried about Red's suspicion, but there's also another expression hidden underneath her emotional mask that I can't quite interpret at the moment. It almost looks like unease or regret, but I'm not sure.

Wally looked back and forth between Artemis and Roy before stepping forward and snatching the device out of Roy's hand. He gave Roy a hard look before zipping over to Artemis and offering her the device back. He didn't even realize the way his face instantly softened when he looked at her and tried to hand her the tracking device.

I smirked to myself knowing the strong feelings forming between the two, even though neither party dares to admit it.

"Artemis" he whispered when she didn't take the device from him.

She stared at him for a second before sighing.

"It's fine, I'll follow in the Bioship" she responded dejectedly before walking back to the ship.

Without thinking about it I started to follow her until I heard Roy's voice calling my name.

"Shade, where are you going?" he asked curiously and I didn't stop my rapid walk as I turned back to look at them.

"To talk to a fellow teammate if that's alright with you. You might wanna try it some time," I responded sharply before turning back to the front and flying after Artemis.

"Hey Artemis wait up!" I yelled as I caught up right before she made it to the bioship.

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder when I called her name and paused when she saw me flying towards her.

"Aren't you suppose to be following Cheshire from the sky" she asked with a raised eyebrow and I shrugged.

"Yeah but I wanted to check on you first. I know Roy can be a little…intense sometimes, but I want you to know that you have nothing to prove. Not to me, not to Red Arrow, not to the team, not to anyone. You've earned your spot on this team and we're not letting you go anywhere even if Red Arrow's back. You're a bad ass superhero and teammate but more importantly an awesome friend, don't forget that" I told her while placing a hand on her shoulder.

Artemis briefly looked down at the ground before lifting her head and giving me a grateful smile.

"Thanks Shade" she thanked me and I grinned before waving my hand at her.

"What are friends for" I smirked before lifting off the ground.

"I should probably get going before Aqualad yells at me for hindering the mission progress. I'll talk to you later Artemis and stay safe" I ordered before waving and flying back to the shore were I left the boys.

I flew out of the tree line just as Artemis shot off in the bioship and saw that the boys are just about to depart.

"Go Kid, Arrow and I will return to the River. Shade will take to the skies and pursue Sportsmaster from the air. And we will ALL follow as originally planned" Aqualad said emphasizing the word all while discretely glancing at Roy before walking back to the river.

Wally placed his helmet over his head and prepared to leave, but before he could do so I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side.

"I saw what you did there Wally. Someone's got a thing for a particular green archer" I teased in Wally's ear and grinned when I saw his face go red.

"Uh ew Dawn I don't have a thing for Green Arrow, that's creepy" he responded and I groaned before slapping the back of his head.

"Not Ollie you smart ass, you know exactly who I'm talking about and don't even try to deny it" I stated before driving my finger into his chest.

"You my friend have a thing for Artemis" I laughed as Wally stuttered trying to think of a response.

"I-I do not!" he practically screeched and I laughed while walking away.

"Sure you don't," I sarcastically responded over my shoulder before walking back to the shoreline.

I heard Wally mutter to himself before running off to collect his motorcycle and follow his designated route.

When I walked back to the clearing Aqualad was already gone, leaving Roy the only one still remaining. He's leaning against a nearby tree with his arms folded firmly across his chest.

"You know you could have dialed the skepticism back just a bit," I told Roy as I walked over to him.

"You know you all just got played right," he firmly stated rather than answer my initial comment.

I groaned and dragged a hand down my face.

"And why do you say that?" I asked while rubbing my throbbing temples.

I watched as Roy pulled out his own tracking device and showed me the screen. I stared at the screen and raised an eyebrow not understanding what he's trying to tell me.

"Uhhhh is that suppose to mean something to me?" I asked while flicking my eyes back to Roy's and away from the screen.

"I placed a tracker on Artemis' quiver and-"

"You put a tracker on Artemis!" I yelled, but Roy just continued like I hadn't interrupted him.

"She's going south, just like Sportsmaster was before we lost him. Now why would she do that if she said Cheshire is going north?" he said before pocketing the device and it suddenly clicked in my head.

"You think she placed a fake tracker and is going after Cheshire and Sportsmaster herself," I guessed and Roy nodded.

"That or she's distracting us long enough to let them know we're coming" Roy confirmed before walking over to his boat.

"Let me guess, you're going to follow Artemis instead of going north to try and catch her in the act" I said while doing quotation marks with my hands when I said act.

"You've known me long enough to know what my answer is Shade. Did you really expect anything else?" he effortlessly responded before staring at me.

"Are you coming or not?" he asked and I silently stared at him for a few minutes debating the best course of action in my head before rolling my eyes and nodding.

"But let me be clear. I'm doing this to indulge you and make sure Artemis isn't getting herself into trouble, not because I think she's a spy. There could be many reasons why she's going south instead of north and we can't just jump to conclusions without the full context of the story" I reminded him before flying off in the direction the tracker told us Artemis is going.

"Believe what you want to believe Shade, but when she comes back to stab you all in the back don't say I didn't warn you" Roy grumbled to himself before following after me.

---

We followed Artemis' tracker and it eventually led us away from the river and onto the mainland a couple miles south from where we left Wally and Kaldur. When the tracker started to lead us inland Roy parked his boat behind a bush while I landed on the ground. I crouched down and without hesitation Roy climbed onto my back before loosely wrapping his arms around my neck. Once he was secure I lifted off the ground and flew us both towards Artemis since it's a faster mode of transportation than having Roy run the mile and a half we had to cover.

About ten minutes after we stared flying the tracker stopped moving and I saw a large warehouse in the distance. I lowered us down to the ground when I saw the warehouse and Roy jumped off my back.

We ran through the trees and crouched behind some bushes to canvas the area before deeming it safe enough to approach. Roy strung an arrow in his bow and made sure he's ready to fire at a moments notice before running forward leading the way.

I flew after him and he stopped when we reached the front garage like door. The door has a password protected lock so I hunched over to disable the security system while Roy watched my back and made sure we didn't get attacked.

Everything was going well, until it wasn't.

A few seconds after we reached the door I'd almost cracked the security code when Roy and I were thrown back by a large explosion blasting the door beside us off its hinges. We landed on the ground and skidded before stopping.

I rubbed my head and groaned as I looked up before going wide eyed when I saw a sharp javelin protruding from the ground where Roy and I were just standing not two seconds ago. I looked up and narrowed my eyes when I saw Sportsmaster standing on the roof hovering above where we used to be.

Upon quick glance I saw Artemis fighting Cheshire inside the warehouse and quickly realized that she blew the door to save us from getting speared.

However, I didn't get much time to think about that before Sportsmaster lunged for Roy and I. He tried to bash my head into the ground on his way down, but I rolled out of the way before springing to my feet.

Roy fired an arrow, but Sportsmaster dodged it and lunged for Roy. The two engaged in a hand-to-hand battle, which I was about to join until I saw Cheshire knock Artemis' feet out from under her and preparing to attack her with her swords.

In a split second decision I flew forward and slashed Cheshire in the side with a wind attack sending her flying across the room and away from Artemis.

The attack was effective but it didn't last long since Cheshire quickly recovered and pounced on me. I fell back from the force but brought my legs up and kicked her chest as we fell forcing her off of me and into the air. She flipped before landing on her feet behind me and I went into a bridge before jumping to my feet ready for a fight.

Artemis picked herself up and strung an arrow before joining my side as Cheshire glared us down.

Cheshire was just in the process of running towards us when one of Roy's arrows hit her side distracting her from the attack.

"Arrow to Aqualad located Cheshire and Sportsmaster. Rendezvous at my coordinates" Roy quickly relayed to the other members of our team through the com before stringing an arrow as Sportsmaster ran for him.

"Acknowledged. Sending Kid and Shade ahead" Aqualad answered in my ear as I attacked Cheshire while she's distracted.

"No need Aqualad, I'm already here," I informed him.

Artemis and I teamed up to try and disarm Cheshire, but even though the fight is two against one Cheshire is managing to hold her own. When one of us got close to delivering an impactful blow she'd pivot, twirl, or flip out of the way before lunging for the person who didn't attack her.

After a few more attempts Cheshire tried to separate us by throwing a small group of green darts and a sai at my face to keep me occupied while she fought Artemis.

I pivoted to avoid the sai she threw to distract me from her real attack and barely had enough time to fall on my stomach to avoid the darts aimed at my face.

As I looked up I saw Sportsmaster hurl one of his javelin's at me and quickly rolled out of the metal poles deadly path. He aimed for me again, but this time instead of dodging I kicked it away sending a wave of pain shooting through my foot.

As I cursed to myself and bit my lip to keep from yelling Roy suddenly appeared by my side and shot a wind arrow at Sportsmaster causing said man to fly back and out of the warehouse. Without releasing his bow Roy lowered his left hand and pulled me to my feet.

"You good?" he asked with a touch of concern and I nodded while shaking my foot to try and dispel the tingling pain.

"I'm fine," I answered curtly as we walked backward until we're back to back with Artemis ultimately forming a three-backed triangle.

The three of us stepped in perfect unison as we moved around in a circle formation changing opponents and keeping the two criminals back. Roy and Artemis shot arrows at the two while I fired wind disks or ice balls out of my hands.

"So you're pretty much allergic to radioing a warning" Roy spat at Artemis as they both fired an arrow before turning simultaneously.

"Artemis to Arrow…look out" Artemis dryly drawled and I laughed at the sarcastic bite behind her words.

"Alright you two, since we're the only ones here we have to work together if we want to make it out of this alive. So if not to protect your own hides than for my sake can you two please pretend you can remotely tolerate each other for the next ten minutes" I begged while summoning a wave of wind to knock a stack of boxes onto Sportsmaster forcing him to the ground.

"No promises" Roy and Artemis responded simultaneously before glaring at each other for saying the same thing.

"You two are absolutely hopeless," I concluded before shooting into the air to avoid the spiked ball Sportsmaster threw my way.

Sportsmaster attacked Roy with his chained spike ball ultimately splitting our group up once again. Cheshire took advantage of this and managed to kick me in the cheek sending me crashing into a stack of boxes.

"Well that hurt," I grumbled as I pushed myself out of the box pile and moved my jaw around to relieve some of the pain.

When I managed to drag myself out of the pile I saw Cheshire knock Artemis into a pair of boxes and she got stuck in them.

As Artemis struggled to free herself Cheshire unsheathed one of her sai's and stalked over like a deadly cat until Wally ran in and bumped into her sending her flying across the room.

I flew over to the pair as Wally helped Artemis out of the hole. In the back of my mind I noticed that Wally is in full Kid Flash uniform unlike before.

"Aqualad and I found the tracer on a caboose! And I don't mean Cheshire's" Wally said as he pulled her out.

"She must have ditched it" Artemis smoothly concluded and Wally chuckled.

"Yeah figured," he said before pausing to raise an eyebrow.

"Wait, then how did you, Shade, and Red end up here?" he asked and before Artemis could answer a bright red light flashed from the back room.

The three of us paused as we turned to see where the mysterious light came from.

Unfortunately while we were distracted Cheshire recovered and leaped out of the shadows to tackle Wally to the ground. Artemis instantly snapped out of her trance and strung an arrow to help her friend.

"We've got this! Go" I reassured her as Wally gave Cheshire a solid right hook and I flew in to help him out.

Artemis hesitated for a second before running for the back room, which is still flashing red.

I twirled my hands and formed a water hammer similar to what Aqualad does with his water bearers. I flew over to Wally who is struggling with Cheshire and whacked the hammer into her side.

She howled as she sailed away from Wally and skidded on her butt before climbing to her feet.

I helped Wally to his and we both faced Cheshire with our arms raised. We rushed her at the same time and moved to punch her when the unexpected happened.

Instead of hitting flesh Cheshire's body engulfed itself in a blue fire before turning into solid ice. Unable to stop our fists Wally and I punched Cheshire's iced figure breaking it into a million pieces.

Wally and I stared at the shards in shock before turning when we heard another cracking sound and saw Roy did the same thing to Sportsmaster's ice body.

"Soooo I guess its safe to say that they escaped...somehow," I said while kicking a nearby piece of ice as Artemis walked out of the back room.

She told us that she saw Ivo, The brain, Klarion, and Mala in the backroom before they all turned to ice and crumbled. She couldn't tell what was in the case, but from the occupants of the room it can't be anything good.

Aqualad arrived a few seconds later and we quickly filled him in on everything that happened before making our way to the bioship. I sat in the pilot seat this time and drove us back to the cave since Artemis drove on the way here.

Ever since I learned of the bioship's existence I begged M'gann to teach me how to fly it, not that it took much begging since the martian was more than happy to show me. Other than M'gann I've logged the most flying hours on the bioship and after seeing the usefulness of having multiple team drivers Batman ordered M'gann to teach the other members. The best flyers are M'gann, Robin, Artemis, and I.

The ride back was filled with tense silence and I was thankful when I saw the mountain in the distance. Aqualad quickly rose to his feet when I landed the bioship and called a team meeting with everyone at the cave.

The rest of us followed after him as he exited the bioship and walked into the main hanger where M'gann, Superboy, Zatanna, Wolf, and Red Tornado are already waiting for us.

"Let me be clear, we failed. Though the Injustice League is in custody their allies still scheme and we have learned nothing of their plans" Aqualad debriefed the team once he had everyone's attention and Roy scoffed.

"Gee I wonder why" he spat while glaring at Artemis, not at all trying to hide who he blames for our failure.

"Hey! Who found out Sportsmaster was working for Brain, Klarion, and Ivo" Artemis defended herself, but Roy already had a comeback planned for that argument.

"Yeah great intel, except Ivo has been in Belle Reve the whole time! And the guards just checked. It's the real Ivo, not a robot" Roy retaliated while stepping forward to get in Artemis' face.

"You know I'm getting pretty tired of you dumping on her," Wally suddenly yelled at Roy coming to Artemis' rescue and stepping forward so he's in-between her and the older archer.

Roy raised a disbelieving eyebrow before lifting the small tracer in his hand.

"Her tracer so? Cheshire ditched it" Wally said, but Roy cut him off.

"No Artemis ditched THAT to send us on a wild goose chase," Roy explained while pointing to the tracer in Aqualad's hand.

"She put this one on Cheshire" Roy finished while pointing to the different tracer in his hand.

As Roy continued to speak Wally's face went from angry to confused before finally settling on incredulous.

He stared at Roy for a second before slowly turning to Artemis with hurt evident in his eyes.

"Artemis?" he said hoping she'd defend herself and fiercely deny Roy's accusations, but when she didn't respond Wally's whole demeanor changed.

His face scrunched up in anger and he glared at Artemis with such intensity that it could rival mine as his whole body tensed up like he's preparing for battle. It got so bad that I almost winced at the look on his face, which is saying a lot.

Wally is known as the joyful, playful, and funny member of the group. Seeing him angry and with a deep frown on his face is not good, especially when its directed at you. I instantly felt bad for Artemis, especially when I saw the pained look on her face when she saw Wally's expression. Her eyes glistened with the beginning of unshed tears, which is a look I've never seen on Artemis face before.

"Are you that freaked out about Arrow joining the team that you had to prove yourself by bringing down the bad guys solo? Please tell me I'm wrong" Wally hissed with a voice like ice and Artemis opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately decided not to.

She closed her mouth and lowered her gaze to the floor unable to look into Wally's disapproving eyes anymore.

"Well nice going. What you proved is that you're insecure and selfish," Wally continued in a harsh tone before throwing Cheshire's sai to the ground, which he brought back as a souvenir.

"Keep the sai. This is the right souvenir for the mission" he hissed as he grabbed the decoy tracer from Roy's hand before leaving the room.

As Wally left the rest of us, except for Roy, Aqualad, and Artemis, glanced around not knowing how to respond to the current situation.

Artemis looks like she was just trampled over by a train and Wally is pissed beyond belief so there's no use talking to him until he calms down.

"So how will you betray us next time!" Roy hissed, still not letting the matter drop despite the thorough reprimanding Artemis already received.

"Alright lay off Roy! She got the message," I yelled at the archer stepping in-between him and Artemis just as Aqualad took action as well.

"Enough!" he ordered while placing a firm hand on Roy's shoulder.

I can tell Aqualad is far from happy with Artemis, but he knows when someone has had enough scolding and humiliation.

I'm not happy with Artemis either, but I can understand her actions more than most since I know her backstory. I can't really blame her for trying to handle the situation on her own, especially with Roy breathing down her neck, but I wish she would've included us in her efforts.

"If making a mistake was a betrayal, we would all be traitors" Aqualad told Roy before turning to the team.

"I must report to Batman, the rest of you get some sleep," he said before stalking off to inform Batman of the mission's failure.

After being dismissed the others quickly departed not wanting to stick around the tense atmosphere anymore than they had to, leaving Roy, Artemis, and I behind.

I glanced back at Artemis who hasn't moved since Wally yelled at her. Her body is strung up tighter than a drum as if she wants to punch something, but her eyes betrayed her inner emotions of complete and total defeat.

Roy moved to follow the others, but paused long enough to pour salt on the wounds.

"You're not who you say you are. This isn't over, not by a long shot" he warned her before I pushed him in the back.

"Seriously Arrow that's enough. She made a mistake just like every other human being on the planet. You've made your point abundantly clear and she's been thoroughly reprimanded. Now leave," I snapped at Roy while pointing at the door.

I love the guy because he's like family to me, but sometimes he can be a real pain in my neck.

Roy stared at me for a few seconds before walking off and disappearing into the cave without saying another word.

Once I knew he was gone and out of ear shot I turned around and moved to talk to Artemis who is still frozen in place and staring at the ground.

"It's not as bad as you think Artemis. This will all blow over by tomorrow once everyone's cooled off. The boys are just stressed and upset about the mission. Wally will come to his senses soon and apologize for his overdramatic reaction. Everyone makes mistakes Arty, it's a way of life" I told her softly before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, I'm sure M'gann's got some fresh cookies waiting for us in the kitchen. How about you and I steal a stack, pop some popcorn, and watch a movie in my room" I offered with a soft smile trying to cheer her up.

"No thanks Dawn, I'm just gonna go home. I'll see you later" Artemis quickly refused in a dejected and empty voice before speed walking over to the zeta beams.

"Artemis!" I tried to call her back, but she already walked through and disappeared in a flash of light.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and huffed before turning on my heels intending to head for the kitchen. When I walked in I saw Wally sitting at the counter hovering over a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.

While munching on the fourth cookie I've seen him wolf down in the past three seconds he stared at the tracer in his hand, absentmindedly twirling it back and forth between his fingers.

I silently walked over and plucked the tracer from his hand earning a high-pitched protest from the speedster. I ignored him and grabbed a cookie from the pile before leaning my elbow against the counter.

"You know," I said before taking a bite out of my cookie "Artemis was very upset when you left."

Unlike before Wally's face has a mixture of anger, regret, and hurt etched on his features like he doesn't know whether to be angry with Artemis for deceiving him or sad that she didn't trust him enough to tell him her plan.

"She lied to us Dawn. She didn't trust us!" he growled while throwing his hands into the air before angrily biting his seventh cookie in half.

I stuffed the last of my cookie in my mouth before wiping the crumbs from my hands as I walked around the corner to stand in front of Wally.

"You ever stop to think that her actions weren't guided by selfishness, but by fear. I don't know if you noticed but from the minute she stepped in his morning she's felt more than a little threatened by Roy's presence on the team and his constant badgering about her abilities. Because of this she felt the urge to show him she can actually contribute to the team. You and I both know she can, but we all have our insecurities Wally. You can't tell me you've never been insecure to the point where you did something you probably shouldn't have just to prove a point" I said as I sat in the chair beside him.

"I'm not saying what she did was right because it wasn't. She shouldn't have tried to handle everything on her own, but she didn't deserve to be humiliated and yelled at by the people who claim to be her friends for one stupid mistake.

And while I'm on the subject, be honest with yourself Wally. Are you really angry solely because of what she did, or because you have feelings for her and you feel like she doesn't trust you as much as you trust her. Believe me when I say she trusts you Wally, probably more than she wants to admit, and your words hurt her. The fact that she reacted to your words at all and to the extent that she did should tell you a lot more than her actions today ever could. She reacted to your words Wally, not Roy's, not mine, not Aqualad's, your's because she cares, she just doesn't know how to articulate that yet" I told him before standing to my feet.

As Wally listened to my speech I saw his face go from angry to confused to realization with a twinge of regret mixed in.

He sighed and placed his head in his hands.

"I screwed up big time didn't I?" he asked and though his voice was muffled by his hand I understood him and placed a tender hand on his shoulder.

"No, I think you'll find that Artemis will forgive you a lot faster than you think. Just remember this conversation the next time you want to blow up on a friend in front of an audience" I said as I leaned down to give him a hug from behind.

"I'm heading back to the Manor. Get some sleep Wally, I'll see you tomorrow" I whispered in his ear before giving him a sisterly kiss on the cheek.

I unwrapped my arms from his body and grabbing two more cookies from the pile.

"Night Dawn" Wally murmured before grabbing my hand as I started to leave.

"And thanks for the talk" he said with a soft smile and I grinned at him.

"Anytime" I responded before walking towards the zeta beams and heading to Gotham.

I quickly typed in the coordinates before stepping in and teleporting into the batcave.

Robin and Bruce beat me to the cave having finished their mission about thirty minutes ago. Zaphira is silently sleeping in the corner, Batman is creating some new batarangs, and Robin is working on his laptop while leaning against the couch's armrest.

I flew over to the couch and plopped down in front of Robin placing my head in his lap while splaying the rest of my body out on the couch.

"Well someone looks exhausted" Robin chuckled as he shifted to give me more room and placed his laptop on the table.

"Yeah you could say that" I responded as I closed my eyes and lifted a finger to float the two cookies I brought from the cave up to his face.

"M'gann made cookies, thought you might want some," I offered as I shifted to get comfortable.

"Oh chocolate chip" Robin grinned like a crazy person as he grabbed the cookies from the air and gobbled them down with the speed of a hungry speedster.

"I heard your mission was far from successful" Bruce suddenly butted in and I released a mix between a whine and a groan before placing a hand over my face.

I felt Robin's hands on my shoulder and had to bite back a groan of pleasure as he started to message my shoulders.

"That's one way of putting it. Or you could say one major huge epic crazy disaster" I answered before sighing when Robin hit a particularly tight spot.

"How much did Aqualad tell you?" I asked curiously and Batman stopped sharping a batarang to inspect it in the light.

"Everything" he answered bluntly and I raised an eyebrow.

"So you know about the fight at the cave" I asked and I couldn't see it but Bruce nodded grimly.

"Yes I do, do you think intervention is required" Bruce asked and I laughed but shook my head.

"Nah that would only make things worse. This is something that has to be worked out at its own pace by the people directly involved. It's bad now, but I'm sure it'll blow over in a couple of days" I reassured him before yawning.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are a good masseur? It's really relaxing," I whispered to Robin as I started to feel sleepy.

Robin laughed and just as I was about to fall asleep my phone buzzed on the table.

I almost used my telekinesis to throw my phone across the room and crush it into a million pieces for interrupting my blissful peace, but instead I decided to simply ignore it and allow it to go to voicemail. However that plan failed when Robin looked down at the caller ID. He grabbed the phone with one hand and continued the message with the other before speaking.

"You might want to answer this, it's Jake," he said and I whined before lifting my hand to have him place the phone in my palm.

He returned to rubbing my shoulders as I answered the phone without looking at it and lifted it up to my ear.

"Not that I don't love hearing from you Jake, but-"

"Dawn I need your help" Jake yelled into the phone quickly interrupting my protest and my eyes shot open when I heard the fear and exhaustion in his voice.

"Jake's what's going on" I asked suddenly feeling very awake despite almost falling asleep two seconds ago.

Robin immediately stopped his message and Batman paused at his workstation when he heard my voice. Hearing the commotion Zaphira herself even awoke from her slumber and perked her head up.

"I barely made it out, and I don't know if I can escape this time without help" Jake said into the phone and from the way his breathing is heavy and short I can tell he's running.

I hopped off the couch and stood to my feet getting ready to leave once Jake told me his location.

"Jake what's wrong?" I asked quickly though a feeling of dread crept into my stomach as I have a creeping suspicion that I already know what it is.

"I've been made. The BlackKnight's know I'm a double agent," he screamed into the phone and I heard the sound of gunfire in the background.

"Oh shit!" I cursed before clinging to the phone with both hands like my life depended on it.

"Jake, Jake you have to tell me where you are? Where are you?!" I asked into the phone with a high voice and Batman leaped up from his chair now knowing the situation is serious.

He immediately went to the Batcomputer and got to work on tracing the call.

"I'm right outside of Gotham. I'm about five minutes away from the docks close to port A" Jake answered and I motioned for Robin and Batman to get ready to leave, but they're already way ahead of me.

"All right Jake, we're on our way. We'll be there soon," I told him and was about to say something else when the line suddenly went dead and a sharp buzz filled my ear.

I glanced down at the phone to see it said connection disabled before growling.

"Dang it!" I screamed before throwing my phone on the couch.

"Send out the emergency signal to the team. We need to leave now and we're going to need all the help we can get. Jake's been compromised and the BlackKnights know he's a double agent. They're out for blood" I yelled at my partners in slight distress before zooming over to the zeta beams and activating it for departure.

"Initiate code Alpha Red" Batman ordered into his com as the four of us teleported to the mountain and ran into the main hangar.

Since Batman initiated code Alpha Red the loud ringing sound of the emergency alarm reverberated throughout every inch of the cave. Red lights flashed everywhere bathing the room in a deep red silhouette. A few seconds later Red Tornado and the rest of the team except for Artemis ran into the room with their weapons raised and suits on.

Speaking of Artemis, she just now teleported into the cave with her bow in hand and her watch bleeping with the same sound coming from the cave's sirens. Once everyone was in the room Batman cut off the alarm and I flew into the air to grab everyone's attention.

"Jake's in danger! The BlackKnights know he's a spy and are after him. He's heading for the Gotham City docks and we have to back him up," I quickly explained before Batman took command.

"Everyone to the bioship" he ordered completely in Batman mode and everyone immediately sprinted for the ship.

We all rushed inside in record time and the second the doors were closed M'gann took action. Instead of creating chairs and waiting for everyone to take a seat thick poles formed from the roof for everyone to grab as M'gann put the bioship on its fastest mode and shot off into space to get to Gotham as fast as possible.

"What is the plan Batman?" Aqualad asked my mentor knowing he's in charge for this mission.

"Our top priority is extracting Jake from his pursuers safe and sound. Miss Martian, Shade, and Red Tornado you three have the our knowledge the BlackKnights only have one person that can fly, which gives us an advantage. The rest of us will stay on the ground and find Jake. Once we find him, we focus on getting him and everyone else back on the ship before leaving.

If I'm correct the BlackKnights will bring out most of their heavy hitters for this chase since Jake is a pro so this is a search and rescue mission only. We take down as many agents as we can and must to get to Jake, but we don't linger. We're not prepared for a full on fight with the BlackKnights so lets not make this one. We get Jake, we get out, is that understood" Batman explained sharply and we all nodded.

"Good, and make sure to stay in small groups. The BlackKnights are highly skilled and having someone fighting on their own is dangerous. We won't be able to stay in a large group so watch each others backs and stay sharp," Batman ordered before glancing out the window when Gotham City's lights appeared in the distance.

Robin and I guided M'gann to the docks and Batman ordered everyone to prepare for drop zone.

I peered out the window as everyone spread out and my eyes widened when I saw Jake in his BlackBlade uniform fighting off a horde of BlackKnight agents in the middle of a large circle. His blades are only silver blurs as he blocked and attacked the agents around him like a seasoned pro.

Even from this far away I can tell that even though he's holding his own, he's starting to tire and won't last much longer under this on slot of people.

"Prepare for drop zone" M'gann ordered as we hovered above the fight and everyone pulled out their weapons or readied their powers.

Batman and Robin pulled out their batarangs, Roy and Artemis strung trick arrows, and Aqualad unsheathed his water bearers to form two long swords. Wally lowered his goggles, Zatanna readied her magic, M'gann lowered her hood to conceal herself, RT formed a small tornado around his waist preparing to drop, and Superboy clenched his fists to crack his knuckles. Zaphira and Wolf stood between Superboy and I both tensing their muscles and growling in preparation for battle.

"Good luck everyone and no unnecessary risks," Batman declared with firm narrowed eyes and everyone responded with a yes sir before waiting for M'gann to open the hatch.

M'gann lowered the bioship closer to the ground so the people that can't fly won't break anything when they jump out before opening a large hatch in the floor allowing everyone to dash into the fight.

I jumped through first and dove headfirst directly above Jake summoning a large pillar of wind as I sliced through the air. Before anyone noticed our arrival I threw my hands out and surrounded Jake in a funnel of wind blocking him from the other fighters who were starting to close in. Immediately after forming the funnel I forced it to widen in width throwing a handful of fighters back and enlarging the circle around Jake giving him more room to breathe.

Once I accomplished this I disbanded the tornado so the rest of the team could hop down and surround Jake in the now enlarged circle.

The second everyone touched down on the ground chaos ensued.

The BlackKnights, after a few seconds of surprise, rushed back in full force upon Jake and my friends.

The team lunged forward and everyone engaged the enemy making sure no one made it past the circle. Batman, Robin, and Zaphira worked together on the left to take down agents while Aqualad, Superboy, and Wolf worked as a group on the right. Inbetween the two groups and completing the circle is Zatanna, Wally, and Artemis fighting towards the north while Jake teamed up with Roy on the south.

From the air Tornado, M'gann, and I used our powers to weed out some of the agents and keep the BlackKnights that started to get too close to our teammates back.

I flew through the air and lifted a large chunk of earth in front of M'gann and I to protect us from a wave of bullets coming our way. M'gann's eyes glowed bright green as she lifted her hand and tossed the smaller handguns out of the BlackKnights hands and into the water.

This eliminated the bullet problem, but she couldn't lift the rocket launchers that a few select members of the group possessed.

Lining the outside of the circle a small band of BlackKnights wielding large rocket launchers fired at the three of us without hesitation since they were brought in just in case Jake called for back up.

M'gann and I split in order to avoid getting hit, and although we both avoided the attack the resounding shockwave caused us both to stumble through the air. I quickly righted myself and looked up to see M'gann did as well, though unfortunately we're farther apart then before.

I kept an eye on M'gann as I dodged missiles and arrows from the ground to make sure I could help her if she needs it like Batman said.

After cleanly dodging two missiles I almost missed the third. I knew I couldn't dodge it in time so I lifted my hands and used my telekinesis to dismantle the missile in mid air having the pieces hang in front of my face. After dismantling the missile I hurled the pieces at the BlackKnights tossing a whole section in the back to the ground and consequently creating a small opening for the rest of the team.

Seeing our small opportunity I swooped down and flew over to Batman who's fighting a small group with a mixture of different weapons in their hands. I flew past him and tossed the group aside with a water whip before he threw a net batarang at the fallen men trapping them on the floor for a couple of seconds.

"Opening on your six," I told him through the link as I passed letting him know the plan without alerting the enemy.

He turned and saw the small opening in the circle before nodding in confirmation while drop kicking a guy in the face.

"Change of plans, everyone converge on the opening to my left. Shade and Tornado provide cover while the rest of us fall back. Miss Martian prepare the bioship for departure" Batman ordered through the link before running for the small opening in the circle.

The rest of the team plus BlackBlade followed behind him while Miss Martian disappeared in the camouflaged bioship and landed the ship on the ground away from the fight to prepare for take off.

As the team ran for the ship jumping, flipping, and bulldozing through people as they did so Tornado and I flew overhead to push anyone who got too close away and out of range before they could do any real damage or hinder the teams pace.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the large group sprinting after us at top speed while M'gann opened a hatch and ramp in the bioship for everyone to run up. Knowing the group would descend upon us before everyone was safely inside I turned and landed on the ground while the others continued to run.

Robin was the first to notice my landing and turned to follow me, but I shouted at him in my head.

"Get to the bioship! I'll be right behind you," I commanded while lifting my hands and surrounding them in large glowing flames taller than me.

He hesitated for a second, but Wally understood what I am trying to do and grabbed his arm to forcibly drag him to the ship.

As the team ran for the ship I twisted my fingers and caused the floor in front of me to wobble and shake. The BlackKnights stumbled but continued their pursuit just slower than before buying us all a few extra seconds. I then clenched my fists and raised my hands above my head causing a huge wall of dancing flames to rise into the air blocking our side of the pavement from the BlackKnights. Some of the BlackKnights have on fire resistant suits, but my fire is too hot and thick for them to walk through unscathed despite their specialized uniforms.

I kept the flames up and roaring to keep the BlackKnights back while Batman helped everyone onto the ship. I slowly started to draw back and step closer to the ship while making sure to keep the flames going.

Suddenly out of the wall of fire two small black knives flew out and hit my arms leaving small gashes in my biceps. I hissed as I felt the knives pierce my skin leaving behind a familiar cold numbing feeling that spread throughout my arm even after they passed by.

The flames flickered and I heard my teammates yelling my name as a black form surrounded by billowing black energy stepped through the flames like they were harmless ribbons. Realizing I couldn't hold off the BlackKnights any longer I released my hold on the firewall and flew for the bioship which Batman and Robin are standing inside ushering me towards while holding out their hands. Robin continued to hold out his hand while Batman threw batarang after batarang at Shadowdeath trying to slow him down as he flew towards me.

I felt an ice cold hand wrap around my ankle and before he could react or dodge I formed a large ice bat and slammed it into his side. He slammed into a warehouse and the ground shook from the impact.

The second I was free of his grip I shot into the bioship and hit the front windshield since I couldn't slow my speed down in time to avoid it. I quickly brushed off the pain and yelled at M'gann to get us out of here before the BlackKnights could fire their heavy artillery weapons.

Miss Martian didn't need to be told twice and the second I was inside she shot into the sky like a rocket.

As we flew away I glanced out the window to see if David would follow us, but saw something I didn't expect.

Standing in front of the BlackKnight thugs is none other than Roman, Red Blade, Shadow, and Shadow Strike standing and watching the bioship leave like they knew exactly where it was despite the fact that we're camouflaged. I watched as David stalked out of the burning warehouse with a scowl on his face. He licked at the small trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth with a small grin and looked like he was about to follow us when Shadow Strike placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

Shadow Strike shook his head and whispered something in David's ear before staring up at the window like he is staring straight at me though I know he can't see me.

Despite the mask covering his face I know he has a wicked smirk over taking his face under that mask. That masked look let me know this is far from over. We may have won this battle and gotten Jake out safely, but the war is just beginning.

When M'gann shot off and out of Gotham City leaving the BlackKnights in the dust everyone sighed and collapsed on the ground except for Batman who had to retain his strong unshakable persona despite the fact I know he's tired as well.

I glanced around and assessed everyone to see how we faired. There are a couple of small injuries and a few bruises, but considering our last encounter with the BlackKnights I would definitely count this as a major win.

The second I knew everyone was okay and not dying of a critical injury I sprang to my feet and crushed my brother in a bone-crushing hug. His sharp hiss of pain however quickly resulted in me releasing him from my grip. He immediately moved to grab his side which I'd accidentally aggravated with my arm.

"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to hurt you. Are you injured?" I asked before slapping a hand on my forehead like M'gann does.

"Hello Shade of course you're injured, you just winced in pain. Better question is how bad is it?" I asked as I watched him grimace.

Jake chuckled slightly before gritting his teeth as the laughter caused pain to shoot up his back.

"I've had better days and worse days. Nothing serious just a few bruised ribs and a few cuts. Nothing I can't handle" he assured me before lifting a hand to take off his mask.

He offered me a genuine but tired smile and said "thank you for coming to get me" before turning to the rest of the team.

"All of you" he emphasized and Wally patted a soft hand on his shoulder careful not to jostle his injured side.

"Well we couldn't leave our resident sword wielding ninja behind now could we," he stated cheekily before opening up the compartment in his suit to grab a protein bar, which he gobbled down in two seconds flat.

"You have some major explaining to do BlackBlade" Batman interrupted as he folded his arms over his chest putting a damper on the cheerful mood.

"Can't that wait until tomorrow Batman, I don't think any of us can stay awake for an entire debrief, plus people have injuries that need to be tended to" I pleaded with Bruce who stared at me for a few seconds before glancing back at Jake who looks like he's about to collapse at any moment, along with the rest of the team.

Everyone's either sitting or splayed out in chairs with their heads in their hands as they fought to keep their eyes open now that the adrenaline of the fight wore off.

"Fine, we'll debrief first thing tomorrow morning" Bruce complied, since he himself doesn't really want to go through a whole debrief and interrogation investigation tonight either.

After this the rest of the ride was done in silence as Megan guided us back to the cave. As we made our way back to the mountain I walked around and used my healing water to heal the team's injuries.

I managed to heal everyone except for Jake who I couldn't really get to because of his uniform getting in the way of me seeing the injury, so we decided to wait until we got to base to patch him up.

"How bad are your arms?" Batman asked barely above a whisper as he crouched down beside Robin, Jake, and I.

I glanced down at the two gashes in my arms and placed my hands over them.

"Not bad considering David was the one who made them. They don't hurt as much as the last time we fought" I answered as water seeped into the wounds and started to heal them.

The water glowed for a few seconds and made the wounds a little smaller before the glow disappeared and I felt the healing energy stop working. I sighed and evaporated the water knowing I could do no more with it.

"David's energy is making it hard for me to heal it all the way. This is as far as I can go," I explained after seeing Robin's quirked eyebrow when the water stopped glowing.

Batman glanced down at the slightly smaller wounds with narrowed eyes while Jake lifted his hands and raised my arm to see the cuts.

"The cold still affecting you?" Jake asked while looking into my eyes since he knows exactly how much David's knives can affect people.

I shook my head and rolled my shoulders trying to rid my arms of the numbness the knife's inflicted.

"A little, but it'll go away in a bit. It wasn't as bad as it could've been," I answered and Jake eyed me wearily but let the subject drop not wanting to press it.

"Prepare for landing" M'gann announced as she flew into the mountain and started to lower down to the ground.

After M'gann finally landed the bioship everyone exited and immediately split off to their rooms for some much needed rest.

Everyone said his or her tired goodnights and Bruce left the cave after making sure Robin and I are okay.

Robin walked up to Jake after everyone left to find their rooms and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're alright," he said and Jake grinned before nodding at Robin.

"Me too" he answered before Robin moved to my side and glanced at my arms.

"Come on we need to get those taken care of since you can't heal them yourself" he ordered and I nodded before guiding Jake to the nearest medical wing.

The doors automatically opened when we got close and stepped inside.

"Jake I need you to take off that uniform so I can heal your side. I can't reach your injuries through all that Kevlar," I stated as Robin raided the cabinets for some cleaning supplies and gauze.

As Jake slowly moved to take off his shirt and padding Robin cleaned and wrapped my arms which were thankfully not freezing cold anymore.

"Thanks" I smiled at him before moving over to Jake who sighed when he finally lowered his arm after struggling to take off his shirt.

I moved my hands around and covered them in warm water before placing a hand on his side. I felt the water hum to life as I worked on healing Jake's bruises and cuts.

Since David's knives sapped some of my energy I couldn't heal all of his injuries completely, but I managed to close up all the cuts and fix some of the bruises left on the skin.

"You're still going to be sore as hell for the next couple of days, but your injuries are healed" I commented as I lowered my arms and watched Jake stretch in satisfaction.

"Have I ever told you that you're the best sister ever?" Jake insisted as he hopped off the hospital bed and wrapped his arms around me.

"Not nearly enough" I quipped back while carefully wrapping my arms around his shoulders so I didn't jostle his injuries.

Robin, seeing the sibling moment going on, decided it was best to leave us alone. He whispered a soft goodnight before silently slipping out of the med bay and making his way to his room.

I slipped out of Jake's arms and slapped his chest causing him to wince since he's still sore.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again you hear me, you nearly gave me a freaking heart attack" I whisper yelled while Jake raised his hands in surrender.

"It wasn't my intention to get chased and almost killed a million times today. Trust me when I say that was so not in the itinerary" he defended and I sighed before ringing a hand through my hair.

I quickly shook my hand and pulled it loose when it got caught in the brown tangles.

I stepped forward and once again wrapped my arms around Jake reminding myself that he's actually here with me and not in any danger or dead.

"I almost lost you back there," I whispered as I placed my head on his chest.

"You can't get rid of me that easily sis" Jake softly responded while rubbing circles on my lower back like he used to do when we were young.

He kissed the top of my head and gave my hair a light ruffle before slinging an arm around my shoulder.

"Well seeing as how I'm not feeling up to going to my apartment and I don't have a room at BlackKnight headquarters anymore you think I can crash here for the night" he asked as a loud yawn escaped his lips close to the end.

"Yeah you can bunk with me tonight. The cave has extra rooms but they're not set up yet and I don't think either of us has the energy to get a bed together so you can just stay with me. My beds big enough for both of us to easily fit in as long as you don't slap me in the face" I teased as Jake grabbed his BlackBlade shirt and we walked towards my room.

He laughed and rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't have slapped you in the face if you'd have stopped kicking me in the side" Jake quickly responded referencing a night long ago where he slapped me in the face after I managed to kick him a few times in my sleep the last time we slept in the same room.

"That was so not my fault, you were in my space and I was 7" I defended as I typed in the code for my room and we stepped in.

Jake rolled his eyes and snorted.

"I wouldn't have been in your space if you didn't decide to sprawl your entire body across the bed like you owned it giving me only a fingertips length to sleep on" Jake scolded me as I rummaged through my drawers to grab some night clothes.

I grabbed a pair of large baggy sweats and a t-shirt I stole from Conner's room and tossed them at Jake's face interrupting any continued argument he may have had.

"Oh shut up and change all ready," I said as I went into the bathroom to change into my own nightclothes.

As I closed the door behind me I heard Jake grumbling to himself from the other side of the door.

After changing, brushing my teeth, and combing the knots out of tangled tresses I walked out to see Jake in the sweats and t-shirt. His BlackBlade uniform along with his katana's and throwing stars are neatly folded in the chair in front of my desk.

I tossed my dirty uniform into the laundry bin planning to wash it tomorrow and quickly hovered over to my bed using my powers to fold back the covers.

Jake quickly followed my lead and got in before I did.

He crawled over to the corner closest to the wall and shifted so his back is facing the wall. He probably doesn't even realize that he's unconsciously placing himself in a position where he can see everything in the room and where no one could sneak up on him or get him from behind.

I noticed but didn't comment on it seeing as how the second I plopped down on my soft mattress my eyes grew a thousand times heavier. I yawned and pulled the covers over my shoulders snuggling deep under their warmth.

"Lights off" I said and the room's lights instantly went off plunging the room in complete darkness.

"Night Jake" I whispered to my brother as I felt myself falling into the welcomed embrace of sleep.

"Night Dawn" were the last words I heard before my eyes closed and I fell into a deep and much needed slumber.

---

So Jake's cover has been blown! I thought about splitting this chapter into two separate parts, but I decided to make this one long one since I haven't updated in a while and then the next chapter will be about what happened to get Jake in so much trouble.

What did you think about the chapter?! Things are finally heating up since we only have two more episodes before the season 1 finale of the show (que excessive screams immediately).

Anyways I hoped you all liked it and please R&R!