Not too long of a wait. I've actually been finished with this chapter since the day or day after I posted the previous chapter. I was just trying to get finished the first chapter of Singed and the first Chapter for Conley's story. I recommend you check her out too. She'll have a lot to do with this story as well.
Anywho, This is the last chapter for Guidance. The following story is Singed.
I hope you enjoy and tell me what you think!

Thanks go out to the following for reviewing:
storygirl99210- Erik's so much fun to write for though. I have to admit that.
ivyslade- hehe, Codylicious? That's made me laugh so much!
MollyGrace 16 - It IS going to be a separate story. I hope my message above cleared that up for you.
aoa1012- Aw, thank you! And you never know. You'll have to continue reading. ;)
ForgeandGred4Ever- Why thank you!
LadyFelton1994- Well, you no longer have to wait!
PokerFaceLovesJaime- I hope this is soon enough for you. :D
ShadowlightStarlight- I KNOW! That was soooo sad. I cried. I ACTUALLY cried. :'(
ScarlettRunsRed- Wow. Thank you! I'm sooooo flattered. I would die if someone actually took
Cody and put her into a comic book. Or if someone just drew her. I'd love it!
And I hope I didn't leave you hanging too long.

Chapter 37
The End of a Chapter

So many things had been going on. Cody had never really gotten a moment to sit back and relax since New Year's Eve. The missing sixteen hours, the Light, the missing real Roy Harper, the clone Roy that she had known. Business had been busy as well. So much paperwork had to be done. Work, school and training were taking up the majority of her time. Cody hadn't had the time she wanted to go and see Mark to wish him a happy new year. She had to settle with just a call, like she had been doing oh so much as of late. She couldn't remember the last time she actually got to speak to him face to face.

She hadn't even had time to properly rest her injury for it to heal. At school – besides gym class – and work was okay for the most part, but training wasn't doing anything for her. She hadn't told the League about it nor had she told her teammates. She didn't think it was that much of a problem. It was just a flesh wound. She was keeping it clean and wrapped, but training was making it bleed over and over again.

However, though the physical pain was always present and she was very much aware of it, it was nothing compared to how her mental state was. Cody was sane, very much so in fact, but she couldn't relax or stop thinking about everything that was going on.

Roy. She had no idea what he was going through. She wanted to be there for him, but how was she supposed to do that? How do you comfort someone who just found out that they've been living someone else's life? Cody had never known the real Roy Harper; she had only known the clone. What was she supposed to do with that?

And what was going on between them? Cody knew she had feelings for Roy, but what about Roy? Did he have feelings for Cody? She knew he didn't think she was a child, but he never did tell her what he thought about her. And with everything going on now, was it really the time to bring it up? No, Cody thought. She could wait to talk about those things. Right now, all she really wanted to do was be there for him, even if she didn't know how to really do that yet.

And Kaldur? She had no idea what was going on there either. Yes, Cody had feelings, strong feelings for both boys. Kaldur was a little easier to be around, but she was a little more nervous to approach him with those kinds of "thing" because he was caring and nice to everyone. Was she just over thinking all of the things that had been going on? She didn't think so, especially after their kiss. She didn't know though, but she didn't think it was the right time to approach him either. She still hadn't talked to him about their almost kiss on her birthday either. With all the work that had been going on, they just didn't need to worry about any relationship things. She didn't want to make things any more stressful than they already were for anyone.

She had all the time in the world to figure it out. Right now just wasn't the time to bring it up. Maybe when things cooled down.

Despite all of that, Cody was starting to get anxious about some other things too. It had been a very long time since she had any encounters with her old "friends." She knew that Master had wanted them underground, but how long did he want them to stay down there? Where they just waiting to attack? If so, when, where and what were they planning? What had Erik meant when he told her all of those things at the Watchtower?

On top of all that, she still couldn't get in contact with Carson and her boys. That was really worrying her. She knew Master didn't have them, but what was wrong? Where were they?

All of the stress from worrying was causing her to not sleep well. Not sleeping well wasn't doing any good for her injuries either. So, any way that it was looked upon, Cody's injuries were going to take forever to heal. And being injured was somethingth at annoyed Cody a lot. She didn't like not being able to do the things she normally could with as much ease as usual.

Cody walked out of her bathroom, her tank top in hand. She had just finished putting new bandages on around her midsection. It was weird. The bandages looked as if it were a strapless tank top, besides that fact that it was made up of several layers of gauze. As Cody was about to slip on her tank top, she froze at the sudden gasp coming from the room she had just entered.

Cody's eyes instantly fell on M'gann, who was sitting at the chair at Cody's desk. The Martian's eyes were wide, horror and shock written all over her green face. "Cody," she said quietly. It almost wasn't audible, but seeing as Cody's hearing was trained, she could just make it out. "W-what happened? Are you okay? Why haven't you told any of us about this? Who did it?"

Cody had to cut M'gann off in order to speak. She felt kind of rude doing so, but if she didn't then she would never get to answer anything that M'gann asked. She figured that the green girl would rather have her answers that just keep rambling on and on.

"I'm okay, Meg," she said. Cody slipped her shirt on rather painfully as she walked over to her bed and sat down on it, facing the Martian girl. "It's just a flesh wound that I got when we were at the Watchtower."

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" she pressed.

"Because there's a lot going on right now and I didn't want to put any more stress or worry on anyone anymore than they already are," Cody answered. "Plus, it's not like it's the first time I've ever gotten injured. I've taken care of a lot of things worse than this on my own before."

"Still, you should have told someone," she added. "You wouldn't have had to go through training if we knew."

"But I wanted to train! How am I going to get better if I don't push myself to do better when I'm at my worst?" Cody explained.

"At your worst? Cody, are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

"Meg," Cody said, "I'm fine. It didn't mean it like that. I just meant, what if I get hurt in battle? That doesn't mean I can stop and just give up or not go on. I have to learn to fight while being injured. I've done it before when I was being trained by Master and I continued it on my own. It nothing, I swear to you."

M'gann still looked uncomfortable. She just sat there in Cody's chair looking down at her hands. Cody moved a little closer, which made a shot of pain washed over her whole body, but she ignored it. "M'gann," Cody said, "You okay? Is there something you wanted to tell me?" She thought it was best to change the subject.

"Oh yeah," she said. She still seemed a little down, but there was that slight sound of her usual happiness in her voice. That relaxed Cody slightly. M'gann reached behind her, picked up something on the desk and handed it to the older girl. It was Cody's cell phone. "You left that in the kitchen," she started to explain. "You got a text from Wendy saying there was something really important that you need to do at the office right away."

"Okay," Cody said. "Thanks. I'll get going right now."

"Are you sure you're okay to go on your own?" Megan asked as she followed Cody out of her bedroom. "I don't want you to strain yourself or make it any worse."

"Make what any worse?" a male voice asked.

"Nothing at all," Cody said, making sure that M'gann heard the tone in her voice. She was warning her to keep it a secret. However, she knew that Robin could hear it too. "She's just concerned that I couldn't sleep last night and that I have to go into the office today to finish something rather important. She just doesn't want me to exhaust myself, right?"

"Y-yeah," she agreed.

"Really?" Robin asked, eyeing Cody.

She nodded her head and put on a smile. She really was glad that they cared enough to worry, but she didn't want to put that upon anyone. "I'm okay, Rob. Thanks though." She kissed the boy on the cheek before she started to head off to her the Zeta-transport. She was very much aware of a pair of footsteps trailing behind her though. "Is there something I can help you with, Rob?" She asked turning around as they entered the training hall. She could also see that Kaldur and Artemis were sparing while Wally and Conner watched. M'gann had joined them.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he pressed again.

Cody sighed. "It's nothing I can't handle," she replied slightly snappily. Apparently she spoke a little loudly because the attention of the other's in the room was pulled towards her and the boy wonder, which was exactly what she didn't want.

"What is it you are able to handle?" Kaldur asked, making his way over to the two with the rest of the team following close behind him.

"She says she's not sleeping well," Rob said.

"Is that so?" Kaldur said. "Is there something wrong, Cody?"

"No," she almost whined. "Guys, you know for a fact when I say can handle myself that I can, right?"

"I guess," Wally said.

"No, there is no guessing allowed. Do you trust me to tell you when I need your help?" she asked.

"Yes," Artemis said.

"Okay, so when I tell you I'm okay, you'll believe me, right?" she asked. "If I need help, I'll know who and where to call."

There was hesitation in the air as she waited for someone to respond. She was almost ready to give up when she heard Kaldur say, "We trust you, Cody."

"Thank you," she replied. "Now, I really need to get to the office."

"What's the hurry?" Wally asked.

"Wendy just said it was important," she answered as she walked passed her friends. "So I have to get down there as fast as I can. I'll see you guys later!"

Cody got into her truck and drove off.

xXx

Five hours. Cody had been sitting behind her desk for five hours doing paperwork and making phone calls. It was getting close to eleven o'clock at night when she got up to go take a bathroom break. Before getting up from her desk, she took a sip of her water and then left.

She was back within minutes. Sitting back down, Cody's stomach dropped, but she ignored it. It had been happening a lot as of late, but she thought it was just because of the injury to her stomach. She just shook it off and took another gulp of her water before continuing on with some paperwork.

The thought of Roy came to her mind. Cody glanced over at the phone and sighed. She picked it up and dialed Roy's cell phone number. She didn't really expect him to pick it up. However after five rings, the line was picked up.

"What?" Cody heard Roy's voice ask.

"Roy?" Cody asked. "It's Cody."

"What is it, Cody? I'm kind of busy," he said.

"I just wanted to see what you were up to," she admitted.

"More like check on me to make sure I'm not getting into trouble," he interrupted.

"No, more like me wanting to make sure you're doing okay," Cody corrected. He was starting to make her angry. She wasn't holding it against him though. She knew that finding out what they did couldn't have been easy. That still didn't give him a reason to be rude to her though.

"Roy, I'm worried about you," she added.

"I'm fine!" Roy protested.

"No, you're not," she said.

"You don't know how I feel," he said.

"No, I don't and you're not talking to us. Roy, it's been a week since anybody's been able to get in contact with you. How do you expect us to understand how you feel, to help you, if you won't let us?"

"I don't expect any of you to want to help me," he muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Cody asked.

"I'm a copy," he said. "I'm not the real Roy."

"You're the only Roy I know. Yes, you may be a clone, but that doesn't make you any less of a person. You've been living these past few years. You're a human being and you can live your own life." Cody sighed.

"Why do you want to help me?" he asked.

"Because you're important to me, Roy. You should know that."

"Cody," he sighed. There was a sudden loud explosion coming from the background on the phone. "I have to go."

"What was that?" Cody asked.

"I'm working," he answered. "I've got to go."

"Roy?" There wasn't a reply. "Roy? Roy!" Then the dial tone. Uh! In annoyance, Cody picked up the bottle of water and chugged the rest of it down. What was he doing? What kind of "work" was he doing? As far as she knew, the League wasn't putting him on any missions. This had to have been something that he was doing all on his own. And in the state of mind that he was in, she wasn't sure if it was such a good thing. She was going to leave it though.

It wasn't until she finished the bottle of water that she realized what had happened. The reason she kept drinking the water was because her throat was dry and she wasn't feeling too well. It was because her water was spike with Plinium Ivy. It was a poisonous plant that would weaken whoever drank the extract made from it.

So the feeling she was getting in her stomach wasn't because of her injury.
Crap, she almost groaned.

Very subtly, Cody looked around the room to find a ceiling panel slightly agar. Great, she thought. I bet Erik's up there. He's getting a kick out of this, I just know it. That annoyed her beyond belief. This has to be what he was talking about at the Watchtower. He knew this was going to happen! That little rat!

I have to call somebody. I won't be able to handle this on my own, she thought. Turning to her computer, she hacked into the security cameras and sent live feeds into the Cave and to the Batcave. That way, I anybody in the cave was there, they'd see it. And Cody knew that Bruce would get it no matter what. She knew she tripped some sort of alert doing it. She'd get help.

Glancing up at the security camera, she picked up her cell phone that was in her locked desk drawer. She tried to call each of her teammates several times, but none of them were answering. What the heck is going on? Where is everybody?

She couldn't use her comm. link because she left it in her room. Normally she would always have it in, but due to M'gann surprising her, she had left it on her desk.

It was then that she decided to call the cave and leave a message, sounding as if she was just talking to a friend. However, she left several hints that something was wrong. Once she was done, she sighed. They're not coming, are they? She asked herself. The last thing she did was pull out a piece of paper and left a message before looking up at the camera to make sure they knew it was there.

Cody had never felt more scared in her life. What was she going to do? It was just like her nightmare where she was weak and defenseless. She couldn't fight. She couldn't get a hold of her friends and teammates.

There's nothing I can do, Cody thought. She took in a deep breath and then stood up. She glanced at the camera. She wobbled as she started to walk to get her coat and then fell. Here we go, she thought before seeing Erik jump down from the ceiling; a horrid smirk on his face.

xXx

That night, after Cody left to go to work, Robin went out to the movies with Zatanna. Artemis and Wally went off to the beach to talk. Megan and Conner went out to dinner while Raquel went back to Dakota City. Aqualad went got a swim in the Ocean. Red Tornado was still at the Watchtower. Nobody was home.

So when Cody called, that message was left on the screen. It was unusual for the screen to be up on its own. Normally it had to be brought up. But the message and video feeds being sent brought them up. When someone got back, they would see it up and get curious. They would see what happened and maybe something could be done for Cody.

Several of the teammates got back at the same time. Everybody except Raquel arrived back. M'gann was going to cook dinner for everybody so they all had to be back at the same time.

"What's this?" M'gann asked, looking up at the monitors.

"A message?" Robin asked, looking at the content. "It's from Cody."

"Why would Cody send us a message?" Wally asked. "She could just call us."

Robin pulled out his phone and checked it. "She did," he said. "Three times."

This caused everybody else to get curious and to look at their phones. It was the same for everybody else.

"Something does not seem right," Kaldur said. "Robin, play the message."

The message started to ring throughout the cave.

"Hey, Mark, it's just me," Cody's voice said.

"Mark? Isn't that her friend from the beach?" M'gann asked.

"She has Mark's number. She talked to him a couple days ago," Rob said. "She wouldn't make a mistake like this."

"Something's wrong," Artemis said.
"Shhh," Conner hushed them, trying to hear the message.

She paused as if she was listening to someone else on the other line talking. Nobody was there though. "Yeah, I know. It's been a long night. I've been stuck here for several hours. There's just so much paperwork…Yeah, I'm okay. I think I'm coming down with something though. I'm kind of dehydrated despite how many bottles of water I've drank….My head hurts too. Maybe I'm getting a cold or the flu. My whole body aches."

"M'gann, was this what you were worried about earlier?" Kaldur asked the Martian.

"No," she replied quietly. "She-"

"Megan, if something's wrong, we need to know," Wally said.

"She got injured during that fight at the Watchtower," she blurted out. "She said she was fine and nothing for us to worry about. That's why she didn't tell us."

"If Cody says it wasn't anything to worry about, then I believe her. However, if she stated that she has these symptoms as well, she must have them. Perhaps she's been poisoned again?" Kaldur said.

"I agree with Kaldur," Rob said.

"So what have you been up to?" she asked. "You did? I've been wanting to see that too. It's the one with the ninja in it, right? I love those kinds of movies….Well, you know me. I also love myself a good heartfelt movie as well. Maybe we should go see one sometime…Hey, it's getting late. I'll let you go….Yeah, I love you too. Tell everyone that too….Yeah, night!"

The line went dead.

"What's going on?" Artemis asked.

"I don't know," Robin said. "But she sent a video as well."

"Play it," Kaldur order.

The first thing they saw was Cody sitting at her desk, typing away. They figured she was setting everything up with the security cameras; sending them the feed. They confirmed their suspicions when she glanced up at the camera while getting her cell phone out of her desk. They listened and watched as she spoke on the phone; hearing her give the message once more.

"Come on, Cody," Rob said. "Give us a hint. What's wrong?"

"She doesn't look well," M'gann stated. "She looks ill."

"She did say she wasn't feeling well," Wally said.

"She's uncomfortable," Artemis said. "She's hiding it well, but you can tell she's not herself."

"She's scared," Robin said, realizing the emotion.

It seemed the group was taken aback by that statement. They all knew it was true, just to think that Cody was scared was alarming. She didn't like people to see her fears. She wanted them to feel safe. She hated to worry people.

After the call, they heard her sigh and place a note into the desk. Her expression dejected. It had been at least thirty minutes since the beginning of the video. It was evident that she thought they weren't coming at that point. It almost looked as if she were about to cry.

"Cody," Kaldur muttered. "What's wrong?"

It was then that Cody got up from her seat. It was very obvious that she wasn't herself. M'gann gasped when Cody stumbled over her own feet and fell to the ground. "We need to go help her now!"

"M'gann, we have to know the situation first!" Kaldur said. "We don't even know if she's still there."

"Erik," Conner growled, making everybody's attentions go back to the screen.

Erik had dropped down from the ceiling, a giant smirk on his face. "I really hate that guy," Wally said.

"How do you think Cody feels?" Artemis added.

"Well played, Erik," Cody's voice was heard over the video. "Well played." She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. She sounded weak and out of breath.

"I always told you I'd get you back, Girly," Erik said. "Big brother's not here to protect you now."

"I never needed Carson's protection," Cody spat.

"You'll be eating those words tonight," Erik said. He walked up to the girl and kicked her in the stomach, causing her to fall back down and clutch her stomach. She groaned and tried to get back up, but he kicked her down again with a laugh.

"That's where she's injured," M'gann stated.

"What do you want?" Cody croaked.

"What do I want? You, of course," he said.

"You're usual fix or pain? Trying to get rid of those lovey dovey feelings?" Cody harassed.

That got Erik. He pulled her up by the hair and threw her across the room, hitting the filing cabinet on the far wall. A small yelp of pain could be heard from the girl, making everybody cringe slightly.

"What was she talking about?" Zatanna asked.

"She once said that Erik was in love with a girl and that he wanted to make her life a living hell because of it," Robin said. "She just didn't say it was her."

"Sort of," Erik said. "Mostly it's business for the Master."

"Of course it is," she huffed. "Whatever Master wants, Master gets."

"Absolutely," Erik said. "He's gotten a lot more temperamental since you've been gone. Punishment it a lot stricter."

"I'll believe that." She struggled to get up. She managed to do so by using the cabinet to support her. "That doesn't mean I'm going in without struggling."

"There's no way for you to fight me in the condition you're in," Erik said.

"I can try whatever I can," she answered. "Plinium Ivy poisoning or not. I'm not going to make it easy for you."

"I figured as much," Erik said. Moving too fast for Cody in her state, he leaped forward, and pinned her to the wall before she could even blink. "But this sure will be fun, Girly!"

Cody struggled, but couldn't get out of his grasp. She tried even harder when he pulled out a small tanto and started to carve the skin on her stomach, breaking open her injury even more. The girl screamed out in pain. Nobody heard her though. Only the people watching the old video feed.

"I've never seen her so defenseless," Robin muttered, a look of horror on his face. "I've never heard her scream like that before."

"She knew this was coming," Wally said. "That's why she tried to call for help."

"She just said if she needed help she'd call us," Artemis added.

"And we weren't here," Megan cried.

The screams continued as Erik continued to carve. Soon though, her screams stopped as her eyes started to droop.

"No!" Robin yelled.

"She's not dead," Kaldur stated. "Master wants her alive. He wants to use her. Erik won't kill her if he wants her."

Erik tossed the girl over his shoulder after placing his tanto away. He chuckled and started to whistle a happy tune as he towards Cody's desk. He picked up her backpack and slung it over his other shoulder before turning to leave. As he did so, Cody was able to glance up at the camera before she passed out. With that, Erik and Cody were gone.

"She's gone," Zatanna said.

"We'll go to the scene," Kaldur said. "We'll get clues. We will find her."

xXx

It didn't take them very long at all to get to Cody's company. They broke in and looked around the office. Most of them were in tear as they did so. After a while of looking around, Wally and Conner took Artemis, Zatanna and M'gann out of the room because they were getting too emotional. Kaldur and Robin were still in the room though.

Kaldur walked over to Cody's desk and found the note she had written. He had it in his hands while Robin came up behind him and said, "I spoke to Batman. He's on his way. He said that she hacked into the Batcave and sent the same video. He's on his way. He wants to look around. Having the best detective in the world will be a big help."

Robin walked around and stood next to Kaldur who was staring down at the note. "We'll get her back, Kaldur."

"I promised I'd be there for her," Kaldur stated.

"I did too," Robin said.

"No matter what, I told her I'd keep her safe," he added.

"You're not the only one to promise her that, Kal. I told her the same thing. And now we have to find her and get her back home where she belongs; with us." Robin looked up at him. His pale eyes seemed darker than usual. "We all care about her, Kaldur. She's family to us. We'll all do everything we can to get her back."

"I am aware of that," he sighed. "I just cannot believe I let this happen."

"You couldn't have prevented this, Kaldur," Rob said. Changing the subject slightly, Robin looked down at the note in Kaldur's hands and asked, "What's it say?"

Kaldur handed him the note. He opened it to read, "In the end, everything will be all right. So if it isn't all right, then it is not yet the end."

"She's right," Kaldur said. "This is not over."

So Singed should be up. I posted it before this so that way you can go right on and read it after this. Hope you like it!