Summary: YJ S1 Ep 21
Disclaimer: I don't own DC
Bruce had a new mission for the team. However, only a select few of them were chosen to go on the mission. Kaldur was busy in Atlantis helping Aquaman, Artemis was busy training with Green Arrow, and Zatanna had twisted her ankle in a training sim the previous day so she couldn't come, since she was stuck off her feet for a minimum of 2 days. Dick was actually pretty annoyed that they had a mission because before the briefing, he was busy nursing and taking care of Zee. Normally, he would be all for a mission, but at the moment he would have far preferred to spend time with the beautiful sorceress than go to some far-away nation for covert ops. In any case, Dick, Wally, Connor, and Megan were the strike force for this assignment, and Dick was chosen to be in charge pretty much by default. Great. Last time I was in charge some pretty bad stuff happened. Can't wait to see how I screw this one up...Everyone paid close attention as Batman explained the mission to them.
"President Haarjavti is the ruler of the nation of Qurac, a small nation bordering that of Bialya. He is a fair and wise leader who has always acted in the best interest of his people." Wally whispered over to Dick.
"Suuuuure, any friend of Bruce Wayne's." Dick glared at him to shut up before Connor or Megan heard and got suspicious.
"However, a few days ago, Haarjavti randomly allied with the leader of Bialya, Queen Bee." Connor snorted.
"Not a fan."
"Few are. She rules her country with an iron fist, not caring for the needs of her subjects. However, Haarjavti randomly chose to back her baseless claim that Bialya and Qurac are in fact part of the same overarching nation, and is offering it over to Queen Bee. It is likely that she has used some form of manipulation to achieve this." Huh. Manipulation WOULD be the standard MO for her.
"Doesn't she have similar powers to Ivy? Controlling anyone who's attracted to women through pheromones?"
"Indeed, but she needs to be in close proximity for it to work, and we have confirmed she has not recently left Bialya. Something else is up. Find out what." As the team left to head to the Bioship, Bruce pulled Dick aside. "Are you okay with leading? I know last time things didn't exactly-"
"I'll be fine. Promise." Bruce nodded before Dick walked off. Yeah. Promise.
The team rode to Qurac, but were distracted by an animal stampede. Dick noticed they were tense, so he pitched in. "These things happen all the time. No need to worry. It is an animal sanctuary down there." Megan's eyes widened.
"The Logan Animal Sanctuary?!" How did she-
"Yeah. You know it?" They then noticed a woman and her son stranded in the path of the stampede. Megan gasped.
"We have to help them!" Dick sighed.
"We're way off mission." Screw the mission. People need help. "Okay, deploy. But stealth mode only. If the Quracis know we hit them, this becomes an international incident." Everyone nodded as they sprung into action. The ship blasted the stampeding wildebeests out of the way, and Megan and Connor redirected a few as Wally sped the civilians out of the way. Dick landed next to them, and the kid gasped. He started gawking over the heroes, but his mother was less than stellar.
"This stuff happens all the time. You shouldn't have interfered." Oh, so you getting squashed was a better option?
"Mooooom!" The woman sighed.
"I suppose I owe you thanks. We need to get home before more show up."
"Ooh, can they come? Pleeeease." We're already way off mission, here.
"Ooh, yes! We can come with you!" Why is Megs so excited?
"Uh, that's not exactly our missi-"
"Please, Robin?" Megan looked so eager to get to know them, and Dick really didn't want to be a dick and stop her from whatever she wanted to do with them, so he caved in. Man, it is WAY harder to deal with this when you're not trying to copy Bruce!
"Fine." The team followed the two home, and by this point it was getting to early morning. The boys hung out inside with the boy, Garfield, while Megan assisted the woman, Marie Logan from what M'gann called her, in repairing their house.
"So, what's up with Miss Martian and my mom?"
"Whaddya mean?"
"They look exactly like one another. Especially when Mom was a star on 'Hello Megan'!" Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up there!
"Wait, 'Hello Megan' is a TV show?"
"I thought it was just something she said."
"Yeah it was...ON the TV show. Here, let me find the pilot episode." He pulled out a very old tape and loaded into his VHS before they were interrupted by gunshots going off outside. Dick turned to Gar as the others ran outside.
"Gar, stay here. I mean it." He tried to say it in his best Batman voice so that Gar would listen, and then he ran out to join the others. They saw fighter jets attack the barn, and Connor and Megan rushed in to fight as Wally got Marie out of there. Not much I can really do here! Marie ran over to Dick.
"Where's Garfield?"
"He's fine. I ordered him to stay inside."
"He's eight! He doesn't do orders!" I did. They turned to see Gar by the barn, letting the animals out before getting caught in the crossfire of an explosion. Marie rushed to him as Megan caught and brought him down.
"We need to get him inside." Dick tried to stay calm but was panicking. A kid had just been severely hurt on his watch. He had no clue what to do. He can't die! Not on my watch...Megan and Connor finished off the jets as the others brought the injured boy inside. Dick used his limited medical training to analyze the injuries and come up with a plan.
"He needs a transplant."
"I figured. Are any of you O-?" Crap.
"No, I'm AB+ and Wally's B-."
"I-I can run him to a hospital." Dick shook his head as he brought the holo-computer up.
"The nearest hospital is 20 minutes away at your top speed, you won't make it in time."
"What about Superboy?"
"He-he's Kryptonian. And Miss Martian-"
"Might be able to help." Dick looked at her. I'm no doctor, but mixing alien and human blood doesn't seem very safe. "My shape shifting occurs on the cellular level, so I might be able to get my blood to match his." Marie nodded and desperately shooed Dick and Wally out, where they met Connor in the living room. Dick plopped down on a couch, stressed out of his mind. He ran both hands through his hair as he thought out loud.
"And on top of all of this, Haarjavti hands over power to Bee tomorrow. K-KF, find a news station." Wally pressed a button on the remote, and all three of their eyes went wide. What the hell?! The 'Hello Megan' theme song played on the TV, and Dick noticed the cast. Huh. Marie plays Megan? No wonder Miss M was so psyched to meet her. Connor awkwardly tried to break their shocked silence.
"M-maybe it's a coincidence?" The TV then showed a scene of what looked to be the primary love interest of the show. Dick and Wally had to stifle laughs as Marie's character yelled out his name.
"Connor!" Connor's eyes widened and he threw a glare at the others as he heard them snicker. Yeah. Some coincidence. They then heard Megan fly up, and Wally stumbled to change the channel.
"Garfield's gonna be okay." Thank freaking God. M'gann noticed what was on the TV. "H-hey, isn't that Haarjavti?" Dick turned back to see him, and his perception skills also picked up on someone hidden in the back. He paused the TV and pointed him out.
"Ugh, Psimon. I remember when he brain-blasted us in Bialya. Major headache."
"Well, this explains the sudden change in opinions for Haarjavti. He's being mind-controlled." Marie walked out, interrupting them.
"Garfield has been stabilized."
"Good. Because we have our mission." The team travelled to Haarjavti's home, where they found Queen Bee's guards in the main bedroom. M'gann set up the mind-link.
-Those are Apokoliptian weapons. Seriously dangerous-
-Alright, we just need to find Psimon and take him- More guards appeared out of nowhere, and Dick and the others took up battle positions. Megan sensed Psimon's presence, and she flew away to find him.
-No, wait, Haarjavti is the mission! Don't take Psimon alone!-
-Don't worry, I'll be fine- Ugh. Dick, Wally, and Connor made short work of the guards and ran after Megan.
-Miss M, we're on our- The three of them screamed and fell to the floor.
When Dick woke up, M'gann helped him to his feet. "Psimon?"
"Y-yeah. He brain-blasted you all. I stopped him." Dick nodded, too disoriented to notice the facial movements which would have given away M'gann's lies. They made their way back to Marie's house after explaining the situation to Haarjavti, and Dick radioed back to Bruce.
"Nice work. In a few hours, Bruce Wayne will publicly fund Haarjavti's return to independence. See you soon, Dick."
"Yeah. See ya." Dick hung up before going to bed. Marie was kind enough to offer the team residence in her home. The next day, M'gann morphed into Queen Bee to defame her in front of the public in order to restore prominence back to Haarjavti, and once they got back to Marie's place, Dick thanked her.
"Sorry ya had to lie to everyone like that."
"I-it's alright. No worries." The team then turned the TV on to see Bruce Wayne fund and back Haarjavti's return to as the rightful, benevolent ruler of Qurac.
"Gee, Bruce Wayne sure got here fast! Almost like he-" This little piece of- Dick elbowed Wally hard in the stomach, causing him to cough and stop speaking.
"Don't you have a souvenir to collect?" Wally smirked before grabbing the 'Hello Megan' disc. The team and Marie looked to Megan.
"Something you'd like to tell us?" She sighed before standing up and facing the group.
"G-growing up, I was ridiculed and bullied a lot. I d-didn't have any friends and I was an outsider. But then, when my uncle brought back a copy of 'Hello Megan' for me to watch, something just...clicked. Maybe it was the similarities in our names, maybe it was something else. All I know is, Megan helped me through a very tough time, and so I...might have borrowed her appearance when I first came to Earth." Dick then looked to Wally before turning back to M'gann.
"Which begs the question...what do you really look like?" Megan sighed before morphing into a bald, freckle-less version of herself. Seriously? That's it? I kinda expected something more...different.
"Bald M'gann? Eh, still hot." Wow. Right in front of her boyfriend, huh? Connor walked up to her.
"You know you don't have to wear a mask for me."
"I do it for me. Megan is who I am, on the inside. Please don't be mad." Marie smiled before comforting Megan. Dick tuned this out as he was left to think about M'gann's situation. It actually reminded him a lot of the situation he was in when he was first orphaned. Dick had been ridiculed by high-rollers and classmates alike for being a charity case and circus freak. The only friends he had in that initial period were Barbara and Luke. He had tried to change himself a bit over the years to be more like Bruce, both in and out of costume, but of course that failed miserably. He had to be himself. And he learned to accept and be proud of who he was over time. She can't hide behind Marie's mask forever. It just...doesn't work. Didn't work for me either. Wally nudged Dick.
"Dude, saving a country! Not bad for your first run as leader!" Dick smiled.
"Yeah...I guess." Gotta say, this leading thing ain't half bad. Just so long as I stick to Robin and not Batman. Still, too much stress if ya had to ask me. I'd rather Kal take over. Megan went to check on Gar, who was sleeping, before they left. The others just went back to the ship after saying bye to Marie. Dick noticed that Megan was tense during the ride back, but he shrugged it off as just her letting the nerves of revealing so much out.
Once the team landed back in the cave, Dick made a beeline for Zatanna. 2 days away and he was somewhat concerned for her condition. He knocked on her door, and she answered it, on her feet.
"H-hey! A-are you f-feeling better?" Zatanna blushed. He had just come back from a mission and was checking on her. Damn, he's really sweet.
"Y-yeah. I'm feeling better. So, h-how was your mission?"
"Great. Some stuff happened, but I'll tell you about it all later. I gotta go check in with Bats."
"O-okay. See ya." They both blushed as Dick awkwardly left for Bruce and Zatanna went back to her bed.
Dick was debriefed by Bruce, who congratulated him on a job well done before allowing him to go back to see Zatanna. "You two have been spending a lot of time together, huh?" Dick turned slightly red.
"Y-yeah. I-I-I mean, I did tell her my ID, so we've grown p-pretty close. Sh-she's pretty g-great." Bruce smirked.
"Alright. Just alert me before you two choose to do anything. And be responsible. I don't want to have to deal with...any complications."
"Wh-what's there t-to be r-responsible about? We-we-we're just f-friends!"
"You sure that's all you two are? Doesn't seem that way to me." Dick slightly growled under his breath before nodding and walking off, not wanting to give Bruce another chance to taunt or question him. He's either in serious denial, or he's incredibly clueless. How did I manage to train such a dense idiot?
I don't know why, but this chapter was a serious drag to write. Maybe it's cuz I finally got to actually write some chalant chapters and I don't wanna write other stuff, and it was a really long episode to cover and I couldn't skip much cuz Dick was actually here for a lot of it. I tried to post it yesterday, but I just couldn't write it all in one sitting, so I delayed it a bit. Sorry if it was rushed and might suck, I just really wanted to get past this one and get on to more of Dick and Zee. Next 3 chapters will all be Chalant fluff because I can't help myself. After that is gonna be a Dick/Artemis bonding chapter. Feel free to review and leave comments or suggestions. Next chapter up soon.