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Chapter: 37
"What!" Liam cried, definitely much to loud, his head came up and thunked into the top of the air vent as he felt panic rush over him like a tsunami. Sparks…literalsparks flickered around his hands and up his arms. He gasped and ripped his palms from the metal flooring of the vents in surprise. This was just too much…it wasn't possible, he couldn't be…he couldn't be bionic. But, he actually could. He barely remembered what had happened after he found the lab…he only remembered some of it. He only remembered the time it took him to find it, the small glimpse he had inside it and then nothing until he woke up and Cassidy was in front of him flocked by her goons. There was a block missing, they must have erased part of his memory,
"Liam. Calm down. I know you're freaking out right now…but I need you to calm down. If you break this device we'll never find him in this maze of a building," Tim was saying,
"You're telling me to calm down," Liam stated, "after telling me that I'm bionic and have fucking superpowers!"
"Yes. Specifically powers that are centered around electricity…and we are currently in a metal vent system…so if you want to fry us go ahead and lose complete control over yourself," Tim stated, moving forward again until he came to a stop, pulled his legs in front of him and leap down a drop in the vent system. They must be going down a floor. Liam was still reeling from what Tim had said, but he forced himself to follow the vigilante down the shaft and into the next section of vents. They continued along through the vents silently for a minute or two, going down another shaft to the eighth floor,
"I'm sorry for dropping this all on you. I thought you knew,"
"What on earth could possibly make you think I knew I was bionic," referring the word bionic for himself felt weird. Sure he had worked in the building and for the people creating these superpower chips under false pretenses in an attempt to weaponize the people implanted with them, he had not known what was really going on or suspect them until later…and he'd been so low down on the food chain that he didn't really matter to anyone who worked there…why would they choose him to become bionic,
"I don't know you! I don't know your habits and how you normally act. I thought you were lying when you said the lights in your dorm building flicker randomly all the time…it just seemed like…well…you knew," Liam didn't say anything for a moment,
"Why me?"
"I don't know…and sadly since Tori murdered Cassidy we'll never know,"
"What about Mac?"
"I wouldn't know and there's no way to talk to him. He's still in custody and awaiting trial," Tim replied,
"I need to know why," Liam said, "I was pretty much a guppy surrounded by sharks in that place. I wasn't even a street kid,"
"Neither was Tori," Tim stated, "Maybe Cassidy recognized you. Maybe this was their plan all along, they were just waiting for you to find the lab," he slid down to the next level Liam following close behind. They crawled in silence for a few moments before a thought struck Liam,
"Oh my God…do I have the Triton App?" he gasped,
"Liam…um…don't think about that," Tim said though it sounded like he was going to say something else,
"Oh my God, I do don't I?" Liam asked, not dropping the subject. A spark flew from his hand making a hissing noise in the silence of the vents,
"Liam," Tim hissed,
"Sorry," Liam snapped back as they dropped down another level, "Who knew they had vents connected through each level," he mused, momentarily distracted,
"It's kind of stupid on their part," Tim agreed, "One more drop and then we'll have to be stealthy and make our way to the room where Adam's being held,"
"Can't we just take the vent there?"
"According to the blueprints the section of the vents we're in don't enter that room. They stop a hallway or two away from where he is,"
"Great," Liam huffed, "I'm so not ready for this,"
"Well think of it this way Sparky, once we're out of here you can freak out as much as you want as long as you take out a few guards with you,"
"I hope that was a joke," Liam grumbled, "And Sparky? Really?"
"Well you do spark,"
"Then I'll just call you Restaurant Boy," Liam replied with a smirk. Tim groaned,
"I get enough of that from Jason,"
"Never call me Sparky and I'll never call you Restaurant Boy,"
"Deal," Tim stated before sliding down the final shaft. Liam followed and shortly they reached the end of the vent system. Tim silently kicked out the frame and pulled himself out. He gestured for Liam to stay before looking out and around the area to make sure they were completely alone. The lights were still out giving the hallways a creepy CSI set feel…which did not calm his already haywire nerves. Tim finally waved him forward and together they crept down the halls to the room where Adam was supposedly hiding. It was behind a locked door. Tim crept forward and pulled out a lock picking kit,
"Keep an eye out. The guards may be patrolling the building if they found out a piece from the fuse box is missing," he said,
"And what am I supposed to do if they come over here?" Liam hissed, already peering out around the corner,
"Oh I don't know, taser them?" he said like it was obvious,
"With what?"
"You're hands doofus," Tim replied, "You know, because you're Sparky?" Liam glared at him, opening his mouth to growl at him when Tim beat him to it,
"Yeah, sorry. Last time I promise,"
"You're so annoying,"
"I get that a lot….oh, and we're in," Tim said opening the door. They dashed inside to find a nice living room with a flat screen tv an antique rug and floor to ceiling windows as well as a bar stocked with various wines, beers and scotch. Next to all that was a series of monitors and machines hooked up to a larger tube like machine in which a boy was trapped inside. He was dressed in blood spattered clothes and looked very tired and worse of wear,
"Adam!" Tim cried, rushing forward and starting to hack the nearest keyboard. Liam moved nearby as well, examining the various parts of the machine,
"Crap. I can't hack this. It's triple encrypted, plus it requires three separate passwords,"
"Can't you try?"
"Yeah, if we had two weeks of nonstop hacking time," Tim snapped, "It's time for plan B," he said taking out a batarang. In just that moment the kid, Adam, looked startled and rapped on the glass of the tube,
"Don't worry we aren't going to hurt you," Liam said as Tim approached him. Adam shook his head and jerked it at something…something behind them. Liam and Tim whirled around just as the lights in the building flickered back on,
"Well hello Timothy…it seems you've stuck your nose where it doesn't belong yet again," It was Lex Luthor. Panic rushed in again and Adam's back smacked against the other side of his prison rather loudly, "And it seems you've brought a friend,"
"We know you funded Mac's experiments when the Court refused to aid him anymore, and we're not the only ones who do. The best you can do is turn yourself in,"
"And why would I do that?" Lex said, guards were filtering in, machine guns and daggers and they looked very, very ruthless. Liam felt sick to his stomach, "Adam will not testify against me, his fear of me is too great. Other than him…and perhaps Liam Crowne over here—oh and if you're going to go gallivanting around with vigilantes, the best you can do is wear a mask—there are no witnesses," There was one, his brother, but Liam wasn't about to rat him out,
"Your word wouldn't count, Timothy. You work outside the law. And as a matter of fact…you are breaking and entering Mr. Crowne…this doesn't bode well for you,"
"We do have more evidence," Liam stated, surprising himself and Tim, "Emails. You sent emails out concerning meetings and payments that needed to go out regarding Mac's experiments. You sent them to a middle man and we got them," he didn't want to say hacked in case this was being recorded. If it was discovered that the emails were hacked into it wouldn't be viable evidence. Lex made a face,
"Hmm. You mean Grant's email? Did he give it to you or did you hack into it?" Liam nor Tim answered, "It hardly matters. I know he let you in the building," with that he nodded to one of the guards and the spoke into a radio he was carrying with him. A moment later two guards marched in dragging a third between them. Liam's legs nearly buckled, it was Grant. Bloody and bruised…alive but slightly injured, "Now. This is what's going to happen. Either you—," Lex pointed at Liam, "—come with us and cooperate or we kill your brother where he stands," Liam panicked. If he went with them he and Grant could be held for ransom…Liam shook his head, they didn't have any parents and Arthur didn't care about either of them…why would he need both of them,
"Why would you need—,"
"—He wants to blackmail Tori into not testifying in court against Mac. Other than you and Adam, she's the only one with any real sway against Mac…though there are the few kids we've found," Liam frowned at Lex, still trying to decide what to do. Tim continued though addressing Lex,
"You don't want your name being mentioned in the court either, do you? And for some reason you want this plan to continue even if kids are being hurt and killed in the process," Tim interrupted, "This is not your MO Luthor. Yes the need for money and power, but not the death of innocent kids and teens…why are you really doing this?" Lex looked frustrated,
"It's not that simple. The players on the other world are more powerful than I knew…and the one in charge over there is something I wouldn't like to deal with again,"
"Again?" Tim asked, "Who is…? Is it Vandal? We've had problems with him in the past…he's in charge of whatever the alternate world is doing?" Lex ignored him,
"Am I going to have to kill your brother or will I have to kill you?" he snarled at Liam. Grant let out a snarl and surged upwards, breaking the guards' holds on him,
"Don't you touch him!" Grant yelled as he punched one guard in the face and elbowed the other in the side of the head before leaping towards Lex only to be stopped by two other guards. Before Liam could do anything Tim launched himself into the brewing fight, stopping two of the guards from shooting Grant with their guns with two blows from his bo staff. Liam stood by the console, unsure what to do…he wasn't a fighter…but he was bionic. It was a little contradictory. He was supposed to be a super soldier, yet he didn't know how to fight,
"Liam!" Tim called from where he stood fighting the guards. Liam snapped his head in his direction, "Duck!" Tim yelled, he launched himself at Liam and they both tumbled to the ground as bullets soared after Tim. Clearly Liam was kind of in the way without really trying. From where they crouched behind the monitors and machines Liam took a moment to make sure he wasn't riddled with bullets as Tim glanced at the fighting, lowering himself back on his knees, though, Liam thought he saw the vigilante wince…but figured he was just seeing things. Grant had somehow gotten a gun and was picking them off one by one, moving from one area of cover to the next. He couldn't tell if Grant was killing them or just wounding them,
"Try and get Adam out. We need to get out of here yesterday," Tim said before leaping over the console and back into the fighting. Liam sighed before crouching slightly and looking at the console…it was a complex piece of machinery,
"He asks me to get his friend out, but does he ask me if I know how?" he muttered to himself. He glanced over at Adam, watching the fight with fear and slight awe. He then looked back at the keyboard before rolling his eyes and muttering, "Fuck it," he grimaced and closed his eyes as he slapped his hands down on the piece of machinery. There was sparking and a loud almost miniature explosion as he overloaded the device with electricity. The tube's door slid open and Adam stumbled out. Liam caught him as he slumped and saw that a few bullets had ripped through the glass,
"Shit," he muttered looking up and around for someone who had medical training…or was at least knowledgeable in that aspect and only saw Grant, smacking a goon in the head with the butt of his gun, "Grant, get over here!" he called, lying Adam down and looking for the wounds. There were few but the bullets were still in the wounds that were there. Liam knew exactly what that felt like,
"You'll be fine Adam," Grant said, taking a roll of bandages out from a pocket and balling them into pads. He handed one to Liam, nodding to the bullet wound near his lower left side as he used one for Adam's shoulder wound, "Put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. They're not fatal but we do need to get the bullets out and stitch up the holes and we don't know if a vein was nicked or not. Also, sepsis is not very fun and very likely if we don't get him help soon—like real medical attention…,"
"Red Robin!" Liam called, "We need to leave now!" Grant looked down at Adam,
"I need you to teleport. Anywhere, just get all of us out of this building,"
"B-but…" Adam groaned unable to finish his sentence,
"Yeah…it'll hurt. But it'll work," Grant stated seriously as Tim tumbled over to them. They all grabbed onto Adam,
"Take us to Wayne Manor. You know what it looks like. Take us to the Cave," Tim told Adam as bullets sailed over their head and pounding feet neared them,
"I took the others to a cave before…" Adam muttered. His words slightly slurred,
"No! Don't think of the other world!" Grant cried, but it was took late. There was a loud whistling pop before blackness.
Tori and the rest of the team arrived back at the warehouse in Bludhaven they were calling their base after dropping the kids off with some of the remaining members of the Justice League. Everyone was exhausted. It had been a long night, especially for Tori. Nightwing had sent the younger heroes to get food and medical supplies for themselves. The warehouse they used was connected to another one that had a medical area. Tori was there with Nightwing and Jason, helping them stitch up wounds and ice swollen limbs,
"It's not broken," Tori told him. Lighting poking and prodding his ankle, "But your wrist might be,"
"Thank you Dr. Tori. It's not like I didn't know that," Dick bit out, glaring at his injured appendages, "You really let go out there Tor. They'll ask questions," Tori sighed, glancing at Nightwing and Tim—Robin—who were chatting intensely in the corner by the entrance to the second half of their base; then at Garfield who was eyeing her curiously as M'gahn, with a worried and clearly guilt ridden expression—for some reason that Tori didn't know—, wrapped up a cut he got. Cassie was wrapping up her shoulder while icing the other one and Bart was having a clearly animate discussion with Jaime about something. La'gahn and Superboy were off somewhere either both sulking or glaring at each other,
"I know. But what else was I supposed to do?"
"I'm not saying you were wrong—well you were wrong when you killed all those aliens—," Tori rolled her eyes at this. Not in a rude way but she knew that he was just waiting to lecture her about that, "But throwing that guy into the wall and cutting off his hand? That was overboard and they noticed it. I thought you didn't want them knowing? And since we still have no way home we still need them to trust us,"
"When did all that killing happen?" Jason asked, "Can you knot this stupid suture for me?" he added, shuffling over careful not to tug on the stitched up slash on his arm. She stepped over to help,
"When we were getting the abductees to the bioship," Dick said, "Thankfully only Tim was there,"
"Then he's definitely ratting Tori out to Nightwing right now," Jason said, snipping the end of the knot that Tori had made for him, "I'm going to get a beer,"
"This is a teen hideout, they don't have beer!" Tori called after him,
"A coke than. Whatever! Oh and Dick, there's donuts in the fridge!"
"No, don't you dare—," Tori started only to put a hand to her head as Dick leap off the table, stumbled and nearly fell before hobbling off after Jason. Tori sighed in annoyance…now they had both left them alone with judge-y jerk number one and judge-y jerk number two. She could feel their stares on the back of her head and hear their footsteps near. Before they could corner her though there was a loud popping noise followed by four loud grunts,
"What the—!" Nightwing cried. Tori whirled around to see a very odd sight. Her brother, her other brother and some guy in an almost military-like uniform splayed out on the floor crouching over another very familiar looking bionic kid,
"Liam?!" Tori cried in shock,
"Tori," Liam said simply, blinking slightly,
"Tori!" Tim cried, leaping to his feet, and glancing around the room with his bo staff out clearly looking for any threats,
"What the hell is going on here!" Nightwing growled marching over to them clearly startling the kid—Adam, the young bionic who brought Tori, Dick and Jason to this world—who appeared wounded on the floor. Robin not far behind and the rest of the team pooling around nearby,
"No! Adam don't!" cried the armored man—he sounded familiar—right before he, Adam and Liam all disappeared again with a distinguished pop. Tori blinked as Tim glared down at the spot where they had all just been,
"Now I know how you, Dick and Jason felt when Adam ditched you here," he grumbled,
"Red!" Tori cried gleefully moving to launch herself at him for a hug, but he held up his hand,
"No jumping hugs Tori. I…well—," he glanced at the company they had, "—kinda have a bullet wound…or two,"
"Timothy Jackson Drake what did you do!" Tori growled at him,
"Don't full name me!"
"What just happened, where were you and how did you even find Adam!"
"I was—," Tim started,
"Timmy!" it was Dick. He and Jason had returned from the kitchen,
"Ha. Now you're stuck here too loser," Jason sneered half-heartedly,
"No time for jokes or hugs, he's been shot let's fix him up!"
"Wait! Hold up! What the hell is going on here!" Robin yelled. All four alternate worlders finally really noticed the audience they had. Tim zeroed in on Robin who had just spoken while the rest all watched on with confused expressions,
"Okay! Everyone out!" Nightwing called,
"No way. I'm staying. I want to know what the hell is going on!" Robin snapped,
"Is that me?" Tim asked. Tori grinned impishly and nodded,
"Was I really that short?"
"Trust me Replacement, you sure were," Jason said as the rest of the team marched out, still clearly curious as to what just happened,
"You're me?" Robin asked,
"Yeah. From another world that is," Tim replied as he unbuckled his cape/wing harness and tossed it on the ground before un-zipping the kevlar lined and plated armored tunic, wincing a little at the movement. Tori fetched some tweezers, a bandage and suture thread and Tim pulled off his blood stained under armor shirt, sucking in a breath as he did so. Only two had hit him. One in his shoulder and the other grazed his side,
"I got it," he said flatly as Dick took the tweezers.
"Fine yeesh," Nightwing and Robin watched eyebrows raised as Tim took out the bullet and sewed up the wounds himself without so much of a grunt or two of pain,
"So. What have you guys been up to?" he asked as he tied the sutures,
"Fighting aliens. Getting sidelined a lot," Dick said,
"Getting attacked by an insane Wolf and Superboy," replied Tori,
"Nearly getting blown up again," Jason growled, angrily sipping from his coke bottle,
"So a normal Tuesday?" Tim joked as he put his suit back on,
"Eh more or less," they all said with a shrug,
"Okay, now a hug?" Tori asked,
"Fine," Tim said, rolling his eyes. Tori squealed and gave her brother a big hug,
"Okay, great, you got your hug. Now…what the hell just happened?" Nightwing asked,
"Well…a wounded bionic kid who I just rescued—,"
"With the help of my brother apparently! Why the hell would you bring him with you! He's got no training!" Tim grimaced,
"Well…I didn't exactly get permission for this rescue mission…"
"Ohhhh B is going to kill you," Jason chuckled,
"We were spread thin with you guys gone. This needed to be done. Through this unauthorized rescue mission I also found out who funded Mac's experiments on our world,"
"We found out that almost the same thing is happening on this world only concerning biology and mutations, not technology," Dick said,
"Who's the funder?" Tori asked intently,
"Lex Luthor,"
"Of course it is," Jason said bitterly,
"You're getting side tracked. What happened?" Nightwing said,
"Oh, well…we got caught, but we got Adam out so now Lex has no way to communicate or go to and from this world and your brothers and I teleported away…unfortunately um…this world's Nightwing startled him which was why he teleported away again. He was also injured—,"
"—Wait…did you say brothers! As in plural!" Tori nearly screeched. Tim winced again, "Did you bring Cameron with you!"
"No! It wasn't Cameron, he's twelve I'm not an idiot!"
"Then who—," Tori blinked, "Oh…Grant…why the hell was he there,"
"Ten bucks he says Grant's working for Lex," Jason muttered, taking another swing from his coke bottle,
"Seriously Jay, you're drinking that like it's beer…stop it's weird," Dick muttered,
"I wish it were beer. And shut up. Don't tell me how to live my life," Jason snapped back. Tori glared at them before giving Tim a questioning look,
"Yeah…he was working for Lex,"
"God damnit Grant," Tori sighed,
"That's not all," Tim said, "Lex was going to use Grant and Liam to blackmail you into not testifying against Mac,"
"Will this never end," Tori groaned,
"Don't worry Tori," Tim said putting a hand on her shoulder, "I got both Liam and Grant out. Ali and Cameron are in Gotham with Stephanie…or at least with their Uncle so if Lex tries anything they'll be fine,"
"How many siblings do you have!" Robin interrupted. Everyone glanced at Robin and Nightwing, still standing there listening and wanting answers,
"Um…five," Tori said,
"We didn't know that," Nightwing said, "We apparently didn't know a lot about you guys," he was glaring as he said this,
"Yeah. Like why you fight with swords. Why do you fight differently than any of us…oh and why you went to my house!" Robin snapped,
"You're still mad about that?" Dick asked,
"I'm only mad because I don't understand why!" Tim look at Tori in surprise,
"You went to Drake Manor? Why?" Tori gave him a look,
"You know why," Realization flickered across his face followed by a saddened frown,
"Oh," he said stiffly,
"You know why! Why were they there," Robin demanded,
"Tim. This isn't why we're—," Nightwing started,
"Because we're half-siblings," Tori interrupted,
"What?" Both Nightwing and Robin echoed,
"Tori and I are half-siblings," Tim said hollowly, his thoughts still probably on his dead father and mother,
"I never grew up in Drake Manor…I wanted to see it," Tori said. It was a lie and it rolled thickly off her tongue, but they didn't know if Jack would die in this world and they wouldn't want to place that burden of knowledge on Robin's shoulders. Especially if it doesn't happen,
"But how…? Does that mean you're related to Dick too?" Robin asked Tim,
"No, we share the same father. Dick's related to Tori's mother's side of the family," Tim explained,
"I…okay, wow. How long have you known that?"
"Well I knew for two years…this ass has known for four!" Tori stated,
"Well, to be fair we all thought you were dead," Jason replied, earning a glare from all three of the other alternate worlders,
"Hey, aren't there Crownes—," Tim started,
"I don't exist here," Tori said,
"You don't?" Tim asked surprised,
"Yeah. No survivors from the Crowne Manor Fire," Tori stated,
"Interesting,"
"Okay. This is not the point. This is not why Robin or I came over here. We came over here because you lied to us," Nightwing stated, glaring at Tori,
"You should hardly be giving us a lecture on lying," Jason snarled,
"I do when innocent lives are at stake," Nightwing said in an equal tone, "She killed aliens on that ship. She was out of control from what Robin told me. I cannot condone that. I usually kick people off the team or arrest them for that kind of behavior but given your…unique…situation I will give you a chance to explain yourself," Tori stood in silence…pondering whether she should explain why she did what she did. But that would involve talking about the Court, William Cobb, her death and so much of what she never liked to discuss. She wasn't sure that would even clear her in this Nightwing's eyes, but they still needed them to get home…Adam was wounded and they don't know how seriously teleporting messed with his wounds. Steeling herself and taking a deep breath she opened her mouth only to close it as a hand fell on her shoulder,
"You don't have to explain anything," Tim said, shooting a glare at Nightwing, "We don't need them. Once Adam is healed he can find us just by picturing one of us and teleporting. You don't owe them anything Tori,"
"Then you'll have to leave," Nightwing said, "Murderers cannot be here,"
"She is not a murderer. Just because you don't understand why she acted the way she did doesn't make her a monster…she's not the villain you're making her out to be," Dick snapped,
"It's not just the fact that she kills that's causing this decision. It's what else she—and all of you—have hidden from us. She exhibited extreme speed, agility, and strength while fighting, and you all knew and know why yet you didn't tell us," Barbara said, entering the room—probably eavesdropping in her bat trained way—and walking up to stand next to Nightwing, "We know you are us from another world, but we hardly know you and if her presence doesn't prove it, the differences between our world and your's shows that we are truly different versions of ourselves…and we've been betrayed before. You have to understand why we are taking this angle," silence reigned as all eyes turned to Tori,
"It's your choice," Jason said, "You heard Tim. We don't need these assholes," Tori bit her lip, still warring over what to do, what to say and how to say it when a new voice interrupted all thoughts of explanation,
"How are you still standing?!" It was Garfield. He marched over to the group with a huge puzzled expression, "You're wounded…how are you still standing!" All eyes again shifted to Tori. She stared back even as Jason groaned and muttered,
"Damn it," Nightwing eyed Tori warily,
"Wounded?" he asked,
"It's nothing. Just a scratch really," she said as she shot a glare at Garfield. You said you wouldn't say anything you little…tattle she thought bitterly,
"No it wasn't! It was the giant staple…it went right through her!"
"Tori?" Nightwing said, a hint of worry in his tone,
"Oh so now you care for the so called murderer," she growled,
"He could be lying for all we know," Jason said,
"No! I pulled it out when I got her! It was covered in blood!"
"He's just a kid—," Jason started,
"—he's not lying. I heard you and Tori talking on the bioship. She wanted you to make sure it had stopped bleeding," Superboy said, stepping into the room as well,
"Lying again?" Babs said skeptically,
"More like withholding information," Jason replied icily,
"If you're injured we need to—," Nightwing started,
"—No. I am not injured. I don't need help—" Tori said, "—But I can explain,"
"Tori…are you sure?" Dick asked, "You don't need to,"
"No. It's fine, but be warned it's a very, very, very long story," Nightwing glanced at everyone who had entered the room and gathered around the vigilantes from the alternate world,
"We're listening."
A/N: So...I'd really love to hear what you all think of the Liam being Bionic angle. I haven't received any comments regarding that or about anything in fact. I'm trying not to be pushy, but please:
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Next chapter on Monday as usual.
I'm actually close to the end of this story. I still haven't decided if there will be a fourth part. And if there is it would be going into the future. I don't know how many people like those kinds of stories, but that is what it would be. And when I say into the future I mean the future of their lives. Marriage, kids, balancing hero-work with family with regular work, etc. It would be kind of almost like one-shots but with more of a plot. There would still be a story centering around the characters in this story but as adults with their families...if they have families ;)
Tell me what you think of that too please!
P.S: I also changed one little thing in this chapter because it was bothering me. I accidentally put Syphilis as the thing to be worried about for bullet wounds when it was actually sepsis...they are EXTREMELY different...so I really needed to fix this because I felt embarrassed that I would accidentally mix them up and it was incorrect.