Chapter 36

A/N: hey y'all! Back for another chapter! Glad to see y'all again and hear y'all's reviews. Once again, is just own my OCs and the story, nothing else is mine (sadly).

/comms/

Telepathy/flashbacks

Isla Sorna, January 25, 13:45HDT

Onyx landed in a clearing he used to sunbathe when he was with the pack. Looking around at the familiar foliage, he felt…strange, almost out of place back on the island he used to call home. It seemed like so long ago that he was here hunting with the pack.

Movement came from his right and he glanced over his shoulder at his mother as she landed just behind him. "You sure about this?"

He nodded, "They need to know what happened to me and know I'm alright. Besides, if this goes well maybe we can set up a new base or something here."

Diana smiled slightly at her son's optimism. "We'll see," she said glancing to the foliage uncertainly, "I doubt your pack will be so welcoming of the people who took you away from them."

"Then I'll just have to make them understand what really happened," he smirked, crossing his arms confidently.

Wonder Woman shook her head, putting her hands on her hips. "Well, don't come crying to me if they don't believe you."

Onyx rolled his eyes before turning towards the brush and releasing a loud screech. He went quiet after a moment, and Diana could see his jaw twitch every now and then as he listened. After a minute, she heard a faint cry from further in the distance and saw her son's tail immediately go still and flick upwards. Onyx released a few short, but loud, barks.

He turned away from the jungle, practically bouncing as he joined her. "The pack's on its way!"

Leaning against a tree, the Amazon woman smiled, "Seems like you're happy to see them?"

Gold eyes looked to her and a small bit of guilt bloomed. "Sorry," he mumbled looking down, finding his shoes to suddenly be fascinating. "It's just…"

Resting a hand on his head, she ruffled his hair, pulling him close. "I know, you miss them. They're your family as much as we are and I'm sorry it's taken us this long to come see them again."

"It's ok, I know you did your best—"

Diana cut him off, "No Onyx, it's not ok. It shouldn't have taken us this long to come back here. This was your home, and I should've known you would've missed it and the family you had here. Why didn't you tell me you wanted to visit sooner?"

Onyx glanced away, chewing in the inside of his cheek. "I…I thought…"

"You thought what sweetie?"

He shrunk in on himself, pressing closer to her, "I thought you'd think I wanted to leave."

"Never," she reassured. "You have every right to miss this place just like I miss Themiscyra at times. And you know you're welcome to come here whenever you want. Remember, I could never get mad at you for wanting to visit this place, it was your home."

"Thanks Mom," he replied, pulling back looking slightly more at ease than he'd been before.

Several loud barks came from the forest and the pair stepped back, watching the foliage as it began to rustle. A grey and red dappled muzzle began to appear from the brush as Titania slowly emerged, sniffing the air. Amber eyes landed on them and the alpha female stopped in her tracks, clearly looking both of them over. "Nightmare?"

The young hybrid stepped forwards, wearing a nervous smile, "Hi Mama."

The pack clearly stood in shock, obviously caught of guard by the sight of their missing packmate. Releasing a breath through her nose, Titania stepped forwards, leaving the brush before stopping about a meter before the hatchling she adopted all those moons ago. "You're alive."

Onyx looked down sheepishly at that, guilt constricting his chest. "I'm sorry for not coming back sooner Mama," he apologized brushing the side of her jaw with his own cheek. "At lot has happened since I…disappeared."

There was a growl from the alpha and he flinched as he felt teeth scrape against the crook between his neck and shoulder. "I thought you were dead!" she hissed, pressing her muzzle against his head. "We searched the island for weeks since those humans took you."

"And I'm sorry for that," he apologized once again pulling back and averting his eyes. "But I'm here now."

"Yes," Titania snorted, her gaze flickering behind him as she glared, baring her fangs, "and I see you've brought one of your kidnappers."

Gold eyes widened, and he stepped between his mothers. "Alpha no! She saved me from the ones who took me," he defended. Taking a breath, he looked his adoptive mother in the eye, his heart twisting. How was he supposed to tell her that this was his biological mother? He loved Diana, but Titania was his mother too, she helped raise him when no one else did.

"Explain."

Glancing back at Diana, she gave him a soft smile before taking a breath to calm himself down, "She's my birth mom. We were…separated when I was a hatchling, and we found each other again," he explained cautiously, trying to make it simple enough for his reptilian brethren to understand. With a purr, he stretched his neck out again, brushing his nose against the alpha's muzzle, "Which would've never happened without you Mama."

Amber eyes regarded him for a moment, and Onyx sighed as Titania licked his cheek; accepting his explanation. He knew she would've wanted the same had her own hatchling been lost. "I'm glad for you my Strange Hatchling. When will you be returning?"

"Well…I won't be returning permanently," Nightmare hesitantly began, wincing as he saw anger flash in the alpha's eyes. "Mama, I'm of both worlds. The raptor, and the human. I can't just remain in one." The alpha looked slightly unhappy by that; pack stuck together. "But, I do promise to visit more, maybe even with my human pack more in our nest. They can hunt."

She had to admit, her strange hatchling was right, he never truly could live completely in both worlds. He was human just as he was raptor; each side had demands of him. So if a few adjustments to the pack were needed to make this life easier, then the pack would gladly help it's strangest member. It was what they did.

The alpha female snorted, of course if she was going to accept humans then they'd need to know how to hunt. They weren't going to be having useless mouths to feed.

-.-

17:45HDT

"Hey guys!" Onyx waved as the Bioship landed on the roof on the former InGen complex now serving as the raptor's nest.

"Hey Onyx," Wally greeted as they got off the ship, "man, feels weird being back here."

"Tell me about it," Onyx replied, crossing his arms and looking out of the island he used to call home. "Feels like a lifetime ago I was here with the pack."

"Feels like forever ago we were hunting you down all over the island," Robin chuckled.

"You still owe me for tossing me down that hill!" the speedster remembered.

"You tripped."

"Are you sure this is safe?" Raquel asked.

"There's no safer place on the island," Onyx reassured rubbing Blue's head as she and Indie examined the area. "Mom's here with us, my pack's here, and we're a group of overpowered teenagers. I think we'll be fine." Motioning with his hand, he waved his friends inside, he wanted them to meet his other family, "C'mon."

Bounding down the stairs, he led the way through his old nest, listening to his team's quiet murmurs and the distant calls of his pack members chattering. He entered the main nest, looking to see his mother sitting with the alpha. "Hi Mom, hey Mama," he greeted, switching between human and raptor.

"Hey Onyx, your team here?" Diana greeted looking up from where she was gently playing with some of the hatchlings.

"We're right here Diana," Robin waved.

"You sure they can hunt?" Titania grumbled looking over the youngsters warily. Her gaze landed on the other three non-human creatures. The furry beast would be too obvious with it's fur color; but the blue raptor and the strange one, they looked useful. As for the humans…she would take her strange hatchling's word for it. Nightmare wasn't one to endanger the pack.

"Yes Mama, I'm sure they can hunt. We've hunted many times together, successfully."

The hatchlings, oblivious to their alpha's wariness, turned excitedly at the prospect of new packmates. "PLAYMATES! PLAYMATES! PLAYMATES!" they chittered bouncing at the feet of the young heroes.

"Aw, they're cute," M'gann smiled crouching down. Looking at their colorful scales, she thought of her own pet Rainbow, and a smile came to her face as she came up with an idea. Her skin color changed to Caucasian and scales appeared on her face, neck, and arms as a tail grew from her back, her clothes accommodating for the changes.

The hatchlings squeaked, darting behind their elder brother, before peeking back out. Grey was the first hatching to build up his nerve and he crept back out, nervously sniffing the stranger. "Night! She looks like you!" he chittered, his tail perking up and wagging as he heard his older brother chuckle.

"I suppose she does."

This prompted the many other hatchlings, to start asking questions, "What does she really look like?"

"Can you change your color too Night?"

"Why was she green?"

"Does she speak raptor?"

"Can the others change their scales?"

"Why does one of them smell like fish?"

"Big brother! One of the girls has wings!"

"What's the white thing?"

"Can I bite the sunshine hair? It looks fun to swing on?"

Onyx laughed nervously at the flurry of questions. He forgot how inquisitive the little hatchlings could be. Fortunately, he was saved by Zatanna. "I nommus a der llab!"

A bright red ball landed in the middle of the floor, bouncing up and down. Almost immediately, all the hatchlings were on the strange object, chasing it around the room. Before long, Wolf, Indie, Blue, several of the adults, Conner, Roquel, Onyx, Skylar, Robin, and Wally joined the game with the new toy.

"They're energetic," Artemis chuckled taking a seat watching the pack play. She had to admit, it was weird, in all the stories she'd heard about the raptors she'd had an image of these violent, bloodthirsty monsters. Yet, here she was sitting among them, watching them play.

"They're cute," M'gann said sitting next to her.

"Gosh, I wish I could take one home," Zatanna cooed, watching the little hatchling stumble over their own legs.

"I admit, it is nice not being on the end of the raptor's targets," Kaldur agreed plopping next to them rubbing the head of one of the other raptors, earning a deep rumble from the creature and a friendly lick. "It is hard to believe we once fought this pack, and now we sit among them as friends."

"That's probably only cause we had one of their own vouching for us," Artemis reminded pointing to their resident raptor hybrid before grimacing as Conner tackled him. She ended up repressing a snort a second later as they were covered in excited hatchlings.

"True, otherwise they probably would've eaten us," M'gann winced thinking of their last, less than peaceful, trip to Sorna, "especially after the last time we were here."

"Don't remind me," Kaldur huffed. A snout pressed against his neck, causing the Atlantean to jump. Glancing to his left, he saw one of the raptors sniffing at him, or, more importantly, his gills. A tongue came out, causing Kaldur to leap out of his seat at the odd sensation as it brushed against his gill. Looking back at the creature, he could almost swear it looked amused. Said raptor was then tackled playfully my Indie and Wolf a moment later, causing the girls to scramble out of the way as they chased each other around.

"You kids alright?" Diana chuckled.

"Yeah," Artemis laughed sharing a smile with her teammates. Maybe Sorna wasn't as bad as they initially thought.

-.-

21:32HDT

"I think they actually wore Wolf out for once," M'gann chuckled glancing at the canine as he sprawled on the floor, legs up in the air, tongue lolling from his mouth, and two hatchlings sitting on his chest.

"Someone had to," Conner huffed, looking over the piece of meat the hunters had brought back earlier from a hunt. Onyx and Diana had apparently been cooking it for a while; unfortunately, they refused to tell them what they were eating until they actually tried it.

"Man, this is really juicy chicken," Wally moaned around a huge mouthful.

"Dodo," Diana corrected watching the boy's eyes widen at the prospect of eating what'd once been a previous extinct species.

"I now understand your obsession," the speedster responded sharing a look with Onyx.

"Once we finish this I can't wait to bring out the stuff for smores!" M'gann grinned.

"Ooh! That sounds good."

Skylar meanwhile raised a confused brow, "What's a smore?"

"We'll show you soon Sky," Zatanna reassured.

"Well, at least we don't have to pretend to be homeless," Conner remarked. "Those tents seem pretty flimsy to me, I'd rather sleep in the raptor nest."

"Hope you don't mind cuddles," Onyx smirked teasingly. "Packs are very close."

"As long as they don't bite of scratch," M'gann smiled, happy to participate in this new Earth interaction. While it wasn't human, it certainly seemed interesting considering that the raptors appeared quite intelligent.

"Eh, we still have a while before that," Robin remarked leaning back, putting his hands behind his head. "You know, one of the best things about sitting around a campfire is telling stories."

"Oh! Kaldur, I'd love to hear how you became Aqualad!" M'gann immediately jumped on.

"I think he meant scary stories," Skylar commented.

"Who cares, this'll still be interesting," Raquel smirked leaning forwards.

"I suppose I could do that you don't think it'll be too boring?"

"Not at all, I'd love to hear it," M'gann said.

"Well, I grew up in the city of Shayeris, a city in Atlantis. You see, surface dwellers think Atlanteans are all the same, but our kingdom has many cities, many people, and many cultures" he began to explain.

"So basically here but underwater," Zatanna commented.

Kaldur nodded, giving a light chuckle in amusement at the statement. "I suppose so. Anyways, when I was twelve, I completed my education and began my mandatory service in the Atlantean military, which is a standard for all at that age," he stated after seeing a few horrified looks crossing their faces. "After a while I was transferred to the prestigious Conservatory of Sorcery in the Atlantean Capitol of Poseidonis. Queen Mera is the headmistress of the conservatory and wife of King Orin, Aquaman. It was a difficult time for me."

"Why?"

"It was difficult, as it would be for anyone at the age of fourteen I suppose, but it was also the time in my life where I met the friends that I know will be with me for a lifetime," he answered, before continuing on with his story. "Then came a horrible day when Poseidonis was attacked by Ocean Master. I cam remember it vividly as it was the day Aquaman nearly met his end. They fought for what seemed like hours, and their clashes seemed to sha'ke the very city to its foundations. And then, Ocean Master gained the upper hand and nearly defeated Aquaman—actually, Aquaman was defeated," he corrected. "Garth, a fellow student, and I intervened on the King's behalf. It was the only thing we could think of doing. The danger didn't occur to us because the only thing that mattered at the time was that our King was in trouble. It may have been one of the most foolish things Garth and I had ever done, as we nearly met our own end."

"So did you die?" Robin interrupted a teasing smile forming on his face before he yelped as a small stick hit him in the back of his head.

"No," Kaldur deadpanned, rolling his eyes. "However, Garth and I quickly realized that we had no hope of defeating him whatsoever. But the time we spent engaged in battle against Ocean Master was enough for our king to recover. And that was all he needed as Aquaman trumphed over Ocean Master, driving him away from the city and saving us all!"

"So how does this lead to you becoming Aqualad?" Conner questioned.

"Aquaman's a being of two worlds. On the surface, he fights for justice for all beings; under the sea, he's a leader to many. Both roles carry the weights to responsibilities, overwhelming responsibilities only the best of men can carry for so long. But even Aquaman can't do it forever. Realizing that on the surface that both Batman and Green Arrow had taken on apprentices that could one day take over their respective mantles, King Orin had been contemplating the same idea," he started again, intending on giving them the answer on how the rest of the story related to his status as Aquaman's protégé. "With this in mind, he approached both Garth and I with the possibility of becoming his proteges. I must admit, the prospect intrigued me immediately as I had never been to the surface world and I am the to admit that I'm a bit of an adventurer. Many is the day in class that I'd dream of visiting distant oceans and one day, even the surface world. Both Garth and I seriously considered the King's offer. My friend ultimately chose to continue his studies at the Conservatory. For me, however, the chance to visit the surface word was a dream come true. So, at the age of fourteen, I became Aqualad. I miss my friends Garth and Tula, but the chance to do work with my mentor and king was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I like to think the work I'm doing makes a difference. The rest of the story you know. Aquaman brought me to the surface world, and here I am with all of you."

"Wow, so you wanted to be Aqualad?" M'gann asked.

"Yes, the chance came and I could think of no other path."

"Man I don't blame you, it took me forever to convince Icon to start heroing!" Raquel exclaimed. "I would've killed for that chance!"

"So how did you get started Raquel?" Diana spoke up, leaning forwards in interest at hearing how one of the newest heroines got started.

"Well," she leaned back rubbing the back of her head nervously, "you see, it was actually you guys that inspired me," she motioned to the team. "It may sound cliché, but I always wanted to make a difference in the world. And when I got my powers, I saw it as a chance. Though, Icon initially was completely against the idea. So, I started without him. I began with small things, robberies, muggings, those sort of things. And as I got more confident, I began going bigger. But my biggest day was when Joker's killer plants attacked! You see, I'd finally managed to convince Icon to try out being a hero, and that was the same day the plants attacked. So, we went out and spent the whole day rescuing people and fighting those things. It was exhausting, but so worth it. Anyways, from there we kept doing it till, ta-da, here we are!"

"Sounds wild," Zatanna chuckled.

"It was," she grinned. "Anyways, Sky, didn't you say you used to be a supervillain or something? What made you change sides?"

"Yeah, you did switch sides pretty quickly," M'gann remembered.

The redheaded girl's green eyes widened and she looked away, reaching out and scratching Blue. "I…I'd rather not talk about it."

Wally looked like he was about to ask again, when a shiver ran up his spine. Turning, he found Onyx glaring at him with a slight red tint to his eyes that hadn't been there earlier. The message was clear: don't push it. "Alright then," he said leaning back in his seat with a smirk, "let me tell you how I got started; it literally goes back a couple of generations, each generation of Flash started with a bang! Jay Garrick was in a freak lab accident; boom there it is! During the forties and fifties he was everywhere! The fastest man alive! Jay Garrick was the world's first Flash! Then one day this guy come along, a huge fan of the Flash. Wanting to know all about Jay Garrick—r"

"Wait, did he know his name?" Raquel interrupted sounding confused.

"Back then, secret identities were not as big of a concern as they are now," Diana spoke up. "Heroes were a lot more open with who they were. However, that meant it was easier for their enemies to find their weaknesses."

"Oh."

"Anyways," Wally drawled wanting to continue his story, "he contacts Jay and they spend hours talking about his adventures and the accident that turned him into the Flash. This guy goes so far as to re-create the accident that created the original! However, while Jay's was an accident, this one was set up in a lab, he wanted it to happen! Result? Still a big ass explosion, but lo and behold he becomes Speedy McSpeed-Speed himself! Now he's the Flash—well, not the original Flash, but the new Flash, the one we all know—and this time he's even faster than Flash—the old one—it gave him ever more speed! So check this! great minds think alike cause like Flash was a fan of the first Flash I was a fan of Flash—the second one not the first one. Though I did become a fan of Jay too after I got to know him, anyways, long story short, one day I was in my uncle's house and stumbled across his notebooks and got the shock of my life! That was the day I found out my uncle was the Flash! Once the shock wore off, I kept reading. He was keeping a journal of all the experiences and experiments, most importantly the one that turned him into the Flash—the second one not the first one."

"We get it already!"

"When I found that, I kept hinting to my uncle that he could maybe use a partner. I tried to convince him; I mean, by this time Bats already had Rob and Green Arrow had Speedy. This was a no brainer!" he grinned. "I've gotta admit, Flash was a bit resistant at first…"

"Does this sound confusing to anyone else?" Conner muttered.

"Just let me finish!" Wally scolded tossing a half-hearted glare. "So, having seen the journal, I tried to re-create the experiment with my own chemistry set. And what do you know, I was able to do it!"

"It actually worked?" Kaldur asked looking surprised.

At the question, the redhead grimaced, "Well…not really at first. It kinda landed me in the hospital."

"Of course it did," Artemis muttered.

"But, a couple of weeks later I was off and running!" he smiled. "I couldn't wait to show my uncle! When he saw I had powers how could he not want me as his partner?!"

Onyx smirked playfully, "I can give a few reasons." Artemis and Robin snickered at the jab and Diana cuffed the back of her son's head.

Wally, meanwhile ignored his comrade's commentary, "You guys should've seen his face when I showed him! This time he jumped at the chance to have a partner. Flash couldn't wait to show the world! He was beyond ecstatic and couldn't contain his excitement. It was the greatest day in the history of the world! Why do you ask?"

"For the record we didn't."

"That's that day the world got Kid Flash! You are welcome."

"We're all thrilled you're so speed capable," Robin said rolling his eyes behind his glasses.

"What's the matter? Jealous?"

"Yeah right, of you?"

"Robin, how'd you get started?" M'gann asked taking a bite of a smore.

"HA!" Wally laughed. "Are you kidding? Bats won't even let him tell us his real name! Supey could probably give a better origin story!"

"You already told me his, you rescued him from Cadmus right?"

"Yeah, we did."

"Y'all know how I got started," Onyx smirked, "y'all were there."

"Technically it started here," Conner remarked.

"Wait? Here?" Zatanna asked.

"Yeah, this is where I lived before the Team found me," Onyx nodded looking around the nest. "I called this place home ever since I could remember."

"Not like we could forget," the other hybrid spoke up. "This is where they…made us. Weaponized us. At least you managed to escape," she murmured looking out a window, "the rest of us weren't so lucky. Course, the rest of us were more cooperative than you were."

"True."

"What does that mean?" Wally questioned.

"Let's just say Onyx was more…temperamental," she said shrugging as her boyfriend tossed her a glare.

"More like those scientists were all assholes," he growled digging his claws into the ground as they all saw his eyes flash scarlet for a moment. "They deserved what they got. They're just lucky I didn't do worse."

"True," she agreed.

The group went quiet, feeling some guilt run through them. How could they not? They all had a good idea what happened to their friends in the hands of the Light.

Trying to lighten the mood, Wally turned to M'gann, "Hey, you haven't told us your story."

Blinking in surprise at the change of subject, "Oh…well, you did tell all've your stories. I guess, well, I'm from Mars—ugh! Hello Megan!" she facepalmed. "You guys already knew that. Anyways, all Martians live in underground cities cause the surface is uninhabitable. Our families are very intertwined. As you already know, we communicate telepathy, it helps large families maintain a sense of community and stay close."

"Large? How big's your family?"

"Martian families are quite large. I have twelve sisters and seventeen brothers!" she answered and Wally choked on his smore. "And my extended family I have over three hundred cousins!"

This time coughing could be heard from Onyx, Skylar, and several of the others as they tried to avoid choking.

"Most Martians looked very similar, mostly green like Uncle J'ohn, but there are others with…differences," she began. "There're also Martians that're red and white, like me."

"But they don't treat the white Martians as equals right?" Artemis recalled.

M'gann nodded sadly, "Yeah. My parents were both green, and I was raised in what you call a liberal house; my family has no issues with White Martians. Others…aren't as tolerant. And their treatment of the White Martians was horrible…"

"So, how'd you come to Earth?" Raquel inquired.

"Well, whenever Uncle J'ohn would come to Mars he'd show us his exploits on Earth with the Justice League," she began. "He grew to be a beacon of hope and stood for what our society could achieve. He became the most famous Martian in our history! On his last return to Mars it was declared a day of planetwide day of celebration. However, he did come back with a specific purpose in mind. Having learned about all of you—Robin, Aqualad, KF, and Speedy—he decided it was time to introduce a younger Martian hero to Earth. So, he declared he'd hold a competition to find the next Martian champion that'd be returning with him to join the heroes of Earth! Like over half the Martian population, I decided to enter the contest. However, I was coming to Earth. The competition was fierce and dangerous, as well as exciting and consumed and touched the lives of every Martian on the planet. At first, my uncle didn't seem to want me to enter the competition. I thought it was just cause he knew that our adevntures could be life-threatening and dangerous. But I didn't let that stop me! From everything I'd heard of Earth till that point, I knew I had to go there! I was determined to win! And I did it! I won the competition!" She jumped from her seat, floating in the air with her arms thrown up, causing several members of the raptor pack to release startled cries. "My heart soared! I was coming to Earth! This was the most exciting day of my life! And now I'm here will all of you! Part of the Team! I love it!"

"And we're glad to have you here M'gann," Kaldur smiled.

"Well, I don't know about you," Robin yawned. "But I think I've had one smore too many. I'm ready to hit that sack."

"You can say that again," Raquel agreed.

Onyx nodded, stretching out before crawling over and plopping down beside his mothers and the rest of the pack. Following his lead, the rest of the team lied among the raptors, officially accepted into the pack.

A/N: hey guys, I figured this'd be a fun little filler chapter. Hope y'all enjoyed it. I'll see y'all next time!