The Oncoming Storm

by Greed720

A tempest is coming, one that will take the world by storm. Its name, well its name is Perseus Jackson the Son of Poseidon. The question is, can the world handle him?

24. Chapter 24

AN: Hello all, and Merry Christmas! Here I am back again with another chapter, only this time between updates wasn't too bad! The response to last chapter was mixed, which I was sort of expecting. Though I was surprised that most of people's issues were not Percy getting beaten, but Diana being a bit heavy handed when it came to trying to help him acclimatise. Honestly, could I have done it better, maybe. Then again I think it hit the right notes, and in a way worked at showing how unfamiliar Diana is when it comes to dealing with male family member she cares a lot about. Especially when that family member is as emotionally distorted as Percy, and also an equal. Their relationship is a complex one, one which I will be exploring more as the story progresses.

Not much to say other than that though, other than that I hope you all have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year, and you enjoy the chapter.

Another thing while I am at it, is this. I am a part of a discord group, there's tonnes of others there, plenty of writers, admittedly mainly PJO, but other stuff too. Feel free to pop along and say hi, I'm always happy to chat about the stuff I am writing. So if you fancy it please do to join by sticking this: discord .gg / QDKQfPwa into discord, with no spaces, or using the link on my bio.

Thanks for reading and please do leave a review, that or feel free to PM, I am usually much better at answering those!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or anything from the DC universe.

( - )

(Last Time)

"I also want to see if you can learn to fly." Diana then added unexpectedly.

"Wait, what?" Percy asked, suddenly nonplussed.

"Your control over the wind and lighting; elements of your father's Domain over Storm, are improving, and with my father and the other gods having all but left this realm, and thus their domains, I suspect you might be able to refine your control to even greater heights. The domains are now controlled by nature, instead of by the divines, which means my father might not limit his brother's spawn as much as he probably did on your world. Who knows, with some practice, your connection to Storms might allow you to learn to fly just as well as myself." Diana nodded, her lips curving upwards in a genuine smile, and her blue eyes warming up, as she saw him suddenly grin.

Flying would be a pretty cool skill to pick up.

( - )

Chapter 24

( - )

(With M'gann at Mount Justice)

Entering the Mount Justice base with a sigh, M'gann had barely stepped into the common area before, with a tired sigh, she telekinetically hurled her school bag to one side of the main room, and then slumped into one of the leather sofas in the common area.

Today was her fourth day of human high school, and already the shine had worn off. High school, and school life in general, was nothing like the 'Hello Megan' tv show that she had used to on Mars when she was a child, had portrayed it to be. The kids weren't all confident, friendly and charismatic, and there was little in the way of comedic hijinks.

Instead, the school children she had dealt with so far were an eclectic mix of judgy, insecure, and hormonal teens; with that description applying to the so called 'jocks', cheerleaders, nerds, popular kids, basically to all the cliques she had heard about. Almost all of them were hormonal, self-conscious and unsure of themselves.

In some ways, looking into their heads was like looking into a mirror.

Everything she hated about herself was reflected within the churning minds of her classmates, which was probably why she very quickly reigned in her telepathy and instead tried to live as a normal human. Not that that was very easy, as many of her classmates wore both their hearts and their neurosis on their sleeves.

If she had to deal with another spotty, acne ridden teen trying to pick her up with cheesy chat up lines that made even Wally's look suave and sophisticated, or one more insecure girl glared at her because their boyfriend, or someone they fancied, tried to chat her up, she would lose it.

It was probably her own fault really, for choosing the human form she did, considering the fact that she was apparently surrounded by gawky human teens with no sense of self control

Letting out another sigh, she dropped her human form with barely a thought and returned to the green skinned, red haired form she had taken while on earth.

She wasn't sure what was wrong with her.

It was strange really, as she'd been looking forward to going to a human high school, and living the quintessential popular high school girl's life for years. More than that she'd been looking forward to making friends with other human teens. With people who she had thought would be better than her fellow Martians, and who wouldn't judge her based on the colour of her skin.

Turns out, aside from her teammates, most school aged humans were creepy and gross.

M'gann shook her head at that, her face buried in one of the couch cushions.

She was being unfair to her classmates, she knew that.

As Black Canary would put it, and had put it in fact during one of their counselling sessions, she was projecting.

Her classmates weren't that bad, she was just in a bad mood, and was allowing that to filter through into her everyday life.

The last week or so since returning from Bialya had been awful.

At first, she had tried to distract herself from her troubles by mithering her uncle into helping her train her telepathy up.

Thankfully, he had accommodated her request, and now visited the base several times each week for someone on one telepathy training sessions. His visit had the added benefit of allowing her to spend more time with her distant uncle, plus it was nice seeing a familiar face every so often. The main reason though was to improve her control over her telepathy, and already she was showing slow but steady progress in that regard.

That in itself was heartening, as she never again wanted to be in the situation she had been placed in while in the Bialyian desert.

M'gann's heart sank at that thought, her brow furrowing as her treacherous mind brought up memories of what had happened in the desert during her brief time as an amnesiac.

The entire incident had been her fault.

She had allowed another telepath, Psimon, to hack into the temporary mental link she had formed with the others for communication purposes, which in turn had allowed him to lash out with a psychic attack at all the minds connected to her own, overwhelming their minds and scattering the last six months of memories they had built up.

Or in Percy's case, as he had allowed her to form a much deeper connection with his mind, even more memories. In fact, Percy had lost almost a year of good memories, and, from what she could remember while fighting and mentally assaulting him in the desert, had almost been sent back into that maddening place that his own mind identified as 'The Pit'. She had only got a few glimpses at the maelstrom of memories that swirled about in the depths of her mind, but what she had seen, even now, caused her to shudder. The Pit was an apt name for the hellish scenes she had dredged up from the depths of her leader's mind.

M'gann let out another groan at the thought of Percy, her body hunching over as she curled up into a foetal position on the couch.

She had not seen him since the end of that ill-fated mission, not since Wonder Woman had taken him back to Themyscira for healing and recovery.

She missed him greatly.

Over the time she had spent with him, she had become used to the comfortable presence of his mind. Unlike the others, he had no qualms about letting her in, and often allowed her to speak in his head and to listen to his surface thoughts. It was a measure of trust, and a connection she had come to cherish like no other.

In fact, once or twice he had even allowed her to maintain their mental link for days at a time, and not just while they were talking. Whether he knew exactly what such a thing entailed, she wasn't sure, but either way, he had trusted her enough to allow her to maintain the connection.

This connection had in turn allowed her a peek behind the serious, stoic facade he usually wore when dealing with the others, and instead at the kind, funny, sarcastic, man he was inside.

It was wrong in a way, she knew that.

After all, it was only a one way connection at the moment, and she had never had the courage to put herself out there and offer to share her mind with him. She would still be doing all the work telepathically speaking, but it would be a two way flow of emotions, feelings, and surface thoughts. Unfortunately she had never taken that step, because such a thing was far more personal than he would ever understand, not with his culture being so alien to her own. It was the kind of thing a courting couple would do, or a husband and wife. It was a show of absolute trust.

Still, despite her minor deception and cowardice, she didn't regret having formed her connection with him. She had not listened in on his inner thoughts, or deliberately invaded the privacy of his memories. Instead, she had mostly just basked in the presence of his mind. The calm, warmth he exuded beneath his spiky exterior, soothed her when she was feeling anxious, and sad. And the melodic, melancholic song that resonated throughout his mind, it harmonised with her own thoughts and feelings.

She missed him a lot.

In fact, her heart seemed to ache without him around, and she wasn't sure why.

It was, she thought, an almost human emotion and not a logical one like she was used too.

Then again, what did she know?

Just as they had warped her perception of what life as a human teenager was like, the episodes of the TV show, 'Hello Megan', where everything could be fixed in a short thirty minutes, had not prepared her at all for real life among the humans. Everything she had learned about them from the show was wrong. The species was just so different to the Martians she had grown up with, in some ways they were kinder and more accepting than her kin, in others however they were aggressive and judgemental.

It was all so confusing.

One thing she did know, however, was that she missed Percy and desperately wanted to reunite with him.

Yet at the same time she dreaded seeing him again.

After all, the last time they had properly interacted, she had tried to kill him.

With that in mind, how would he react to her?

Would he still want to be friends with the girl that had lashed out in anger and impaled him with a metal spike?

Would he still trust her enough to share his mind with her, after her own weakness had allowed his memories to be erased, even if only temporarily?

A part of her didn't want to know the answer to these questions, because she was terrified of what the answer would be.

Percy, after all, for all his kindness and strength, was also incredibly unpredictable. That was one thing she had noticed about him. More than that he was also distorted, his emotions and mind were nothing like those of other humans, or even that of Atlantean's like Kaldur's. Sometimes, even when nestled within his mind she didn't know what he was going to say or do next.

No doubt the phenomenon was due to his heritage, after all a demigod was surely built differently to ordinary humans, or even to the few other aliens she had met. In some ways he was more alien than either Caleb or herself.

A part of her found that fascinating.

Right now however it just added to her anxiety.

"Hey Megan, is everything okay?" Caleb asked suddenly, breaking her out of her funk. Looking up she could see him approaching, a look of genuine concern on his strong, handsome face as he shrugged off his own bag and looked down at her. "I waited for you after school, but Mel said you rushed off the moment the bell rang?"

"Yeah, sorry," M'gann replied, forcing herself to sit up and smile now as she gazed up at the clone. He was handsome, and definitely her type. She might be inexperienced in romance, but she could recognise that much. At the same time however, despite what early 70's human TV suggested, she didn't feel attracted to him like she thought she would be. Her heart didn't flutter at the sight of him, and there was no zing moment.

Instead, she thought of him more like a slightly immature, but loveable, younger brother of sorts.

Only, she thought, she hoped her relationship with him wouldn't sour like her relationship with her twenty eight actual siblings on Mars had done.

"I was just feeling tired. I'm not used to school, and being around so many, I just find it a bit much sometimes." M'gann said truthfully.

"Yeah, I get that." Caleb nodded, crashing down on the sofa beside her and sending her a grin. "I kind of prefer it when it's just the team. But even so, it is nice to meet new people, even if some of them are assholes."

M'gann smiled wanly at that.

Unlike her, Caleb had surprisingly taken to high school like a duck to water. He had been a little wary at first, and had probably rubbed a couple of people up the wrong way due to his attitude. But after barely half a day he had mellowed enough to start making friends with some of the girls and guys in their class.

From what she could see, spending so much time around Percy, Robin, Kaldur and Wally, had helped him acclimatise to people, and had brought him out of his shell a bit. Plus, she imagined the prospect of dealing with normal, happy go lucky teens was practically a walk in the park when it came to dealing with Robin's cocky attitude, Wally's childishness, Kaldur's overly serious demeanor, and Percy's stoicism.

That, and she suspected that Caleb's budding friendship with Captain Marvel had also had a lot to do with things, too. Certainly she had noticed that he had mellowed out a little more over these last few days, and had even begun to let the older hero's childish attitude rub off on him. In a way it was nice to see him acting like a kid.

As Wally said a few days prior, the two of them had seemed to have formed something of a 'bromance'. Often times she had seen them training and sparring together after school, before later on bailing, as they instead headed into Happy Harbour in casual clothes and played on the arcade machines. That or they monopolized the couch and TV and played video games there, with Wally occasionally joining in at least once, after he came around for a brief visit yesterday. On occasion, they would even play around with Caleb's new toy, the metal sphere they had recovered from Bialya.

It was sweet in a way, as it allowed Caleb to experience the childhood that had been taken from him by the nature of his creation. He had been force grown in a lab, and had much of his memories and experiences implanted within him. It was nice to see him actually building up some real memories and experiences, even if the two of them could be loud at times.

Not that she entirely disliked it when they were both around, after all it at least gave her a reason to continue baking. In fact, just yesterday, before her uncle J'onn arrived for their training session, she had whipped up a plate of blue cookies for the boys as a treat for when their training ended.

"I think I just need to give it more time. Meeting new people is always hard, I mean, I was super nervous before I met all of you for the first time." M'gann smiled, patting Caleb on the shoulder. He was no longer wearing the Superman shirt he favoured, instead he was wearing a blue shirt now, with the design of some kind of van on it and a guitar. "And now I feel like I've known you all for years."

"Yeah, it has been great." Caleb nodded enthusiastically, before he frowned. "I kind of miss them, though. They've not been around for a while, and I've not seen Percy since that night… you know, the one before things went down in Bialya."

M'gann sighed at that and nodded.

"I know, but the holidays are over now and everyone has school. Some of them still come around in the evenings though, Wally was here yesterday, and Artemis and Batgirl both the day before that. It'll be better on the weekends, and once everyone has settled into the new school year, you'll see." M'gann said, more to herself than to Caleb.

She was beginning to feel lonely just rattling around the base with their just being the four of them, or rather two, now that Tula had gone back to Atlantis for the rest of the week, she had left four days ago, and Kaldur had gone off on some 'private business' with Red Arrow yesterday evening.

"Plus Percy should be back soon." M'gann nodded. Of the team only Robin and Percy had not been back since the mission. Percy she assumed was still on Themyscira. Or at least she thought so, unfortunately he didn't have a phone, or not one that wasn't connected to his hero armour anyway, and so had not called or messaged. Robin meanwhile, according to Batgirl -who herself had been interning of sorts with Green Arrow-, had been off on a high intensity training course with his mentor, Batman. "Red Tornado said he would be back at the weekend, so we might even see him tomorrow. Tula might also be here too, she did say the end of the week, which could mean Saturday or Sunday too."

"I hope so," Caleb nodded. "It's been quiet around here without them. About Red Tornado though, have you seen him around much either?"

"No," M'gann shook her head. "But I'd imagine he'd be off doing some League business."

"Maybe," Caleb nodded, before with a slight grin he pushed himself off the sofa. "Hey, by the way, what do you think of a pizza and a movie tonight? Billy said he was coming over tonight, and he said he'd pick up pizzas and a brand new action movie he's been dying to see, on his way over."

Smiling slightly at how enthusiastic Caleb seemed to be about his friend Billy, aka Captain Marvel, coming over to play, M'gann shook her head. "Perhaps another time. I'm not really feeling an action film right now."

Caleb's smile dimmed slightly at her response. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sure," She nodded back. "Besides, Artemis and Black Canary are coming over tonight, so I might go hang out with them."

"Okay, well we'll be here if you change your mind." Caleb replied, his grin once again back in place.

( - )

(Sometime Later)

"Keep it moving. If you stay still you'll just make yourself a target." Black Canary snapped, her brow furrowed as she pursued her fellow blonde across the training mat, her eyes narrowed as she kept her opponent in sight.

Unleashing a swift roundhouse kick, which Artemis dutifully dodged, Black Canary then twisted and unleashed an additional two back kicks, driving Artemis away, before she ducked a counter strike from the blonde teen and instead darted forward and landed a solid knee into the younger blonde's stomach, folding her in half and winding her.

"Keep aware of your surroundings. Now the enemy is closing in, they are flanking your team from the south, you don't know their number. The villain with super strength is still attacking Robin, driving him back. Kid Flash is down and has broken his arm. Miss Martian is still on the defensive, and using her telekinesis to shield you all from gunfire. Aqualad is also down and badly injured, he's bleeding out from the gunshot wounds he suffered. Superboy is still covering him. What do you do?" Black Canary continued, giving Artemis a second to catch her breath, before she lunged forward again, dodging the younger blonde's bow as she swept it round to try and keep her back, and instead continued to press and harry her.

"Erm," Artemis gasped, backing off as she tried to formulate a response. "Send Kid Flash out to hassle and distract the villain attacking Robin. Have him make an opening for Robin to exploit with a smoke bomb or something."

"Then what." Black Canary pressed, sliding beneath another swing of the bow, and almost landing another punch.

Artemis, however, danced back, her eyes wide and her breathing ragged.

"I order Superboy to engage the enemy. Miss Martian, I tell her to go on the offensive. I tell her to collapse the trees on the gunmen." Artemis gasped. Sweat beaded her forehead, and her chest was heaving. Despite that, she maintained her composure and re-engaged Black Canary, by attacking her with her bow, forcing her to raise her arms in defence, and then followed it up by unleashing a kick at her exposed kidney.

"Sloppy." Black Canary cut in, her expression hardening, as she stepped into the kick and caught it mid-kick. Before Artemis could react, she punched the girl's inner thigh. The blow was measured, hard enough to numb the leg and bruise, but not hard enough to cripple. "That's your leg, you need it. You fell for a feint, overcommitted, and now you're crippled."

Artemis grit her teeth to hide her gasp of pain, even as she dropped the bow, and lunged forward with her other leg, trying to topple the older woman, and knock her to the ground.

Twisting her body, Black Canary took the momentum from Artemis's lunge and redirected it by slamming the younger blonde into the ground, hard.

"By going on the offensive, Miss Martian's defence has failed. Several gunmen have managed to get around her, and have finished off Aqualad, he's dead. Superboy has become surrounded, he's now cut off from you. Miss Martian is now being attacked from all sides. Robin and Kid Flash have managed to take out the villain, but Robin's now out of gadgets and injured." Black Canary said, giving Artemis enough time to stagger back to her feet, before she once again started to pursue her across the training mat.

"Shit," Artemis gasped. "Right, Robin comes and helps me. Together we bring you down. Kid Flash supports Miss Martian, she is more vulnerable than Superboy. Superboy returns to us."

Batting aside some weak punches, Black Canary drove forward, shifted a leg behind both of Artemis's and rammed her with her shoulder, once again knocking her onto the ground.

"Kid Flash is tired and trips. The gunmen take advantage and he is gunned down. Seeing Kid Flash die distracts Miss Martian. She, too, is gunned down. Both of them are killed. With Miss Martian dead, the hidden telepath she was keeping at bay makes his move. Superboy is rendered comatose. You and Robin manage to defeat me, but are now tired and surrounded on all sides." Black Canary said, taking a step back, her arms folded as she watched Artemis push herself onto her hands and knees, her damp, sweat soaked hair hung limply around her head.

"I… we… surrender…" Artemis groaned, rolling onto her back with a grasp.

"Simulation over. End result, Aqualad… deceased, Kid Flash… deceased, Miss Martian… deceased, Batgirl… deceased, Aquagirl… deceased, Superboy… captured and on his way to lab, Robin and Artemis... captured, interrogated and killed." Black Canary summarised, unfolding her arms now, as she grabbed a bottle of water from the side. Her eyes momentarily met M'gann's stunned gaze, before she then walked over and offered the half empty bottle to the gasping Artemis. "The mission is a failure."

"Yeah, thanks, I got that." Artemis muttered. She was too tired to snap, instead all she could do was sit up, ignoring the pain in her abs, and take a small gulp of water. "That was brutal.

"It's the life you've chosen. We aren't playing cops and robbers, this isn't some school yard game. This is a game of life and death. We go on the field hoping for the best, but expecting the worst." Dinah said softly, her expression softening as she offered Artemis a hand up. "For your first time, and considering the pressure I was putting you under, you didn't do too badly."

"Everyone died." Artemis said bluntly, taking the hand and allowing herself to be pulled up and onto her feet. The girl didn't seem to be in the mood to be comforted. "Well, except, Percy. But that fucker didn't even come on the mission."

"No, which is why you were leading." Dinah smiled, taking the water bottle back and wiping a few beads of sweat off her brow. "Percy is older and has more experience than you, both in leading, and in fighting. It was one of the reasons that many in the League were happy he was made leader. But he won't be leader forever, and as the team grows and expands, and some members graduate into the League, it will become necessary to break it up into squads, and some of those squads will need leaders. You asked for this training, remember?"

"I know," Artemis groaned, pushing her sweaty, blond bangs out of her eyes as she loosened her hair from its ponytail and shook it out.

"Like I said before, it wasn't bad for your first time. You managed to get into the enemy complex quietly enough, you took out the guards, acquired the data you needed, and got out. The first part of the mission, although not flawless, was a success." Dinah smiled, giving Artemis's shoulder a squeeze. She preferred to teach using a mixture of positive and negative reinforcement. Push them hard during the training, but during the debrief try to focus on the positives, and then highlight the things they need to improve upon, and make them come up with their own answers.

"That was easy though, we had good intel, a good selection of skills, we knew the layout. If we were on the field and this was a real mission, we probably wouldn't have even needed a leader." Artemis scowled. She folded her arms in front of her, and glared at the overhead screen, upon which were displayed pictures of each member of the team, most of whom now hard red X's across their profile.

Dinah rubbed her temple, and sighed. Artemis had a point, everyone on the team was skilled enough that they could have completed the first part of the mission without any supervision. By now they knew each other's skill sets and personalities enough to work on the fly.

"But then things went wrong." Dinah said, forcing a smile as she finished Artemis's sentence for her.

Artemis grunted, and nodded.

They had started out the training as just a verbal conversation about how things went, with Dinah throwing in obstacles that required Artemis to adapt and think on the fly. Things had only got physical when the mission had got physical, and for the purposes of the exercise and realism, both physical and psychological pressure had needed to be put on Artemis. This exercise had been designed for conflict. Things were supposed to go wrong, as it was only when things went wrong that a person's leadership skills could truly be tested.

"Yes," Artemis grumbled, running her hands through her hair.

"The reason why that is, is because that's when a leader is needed the most. When things go smoothly, it's fine. But when things get rocky, and established roles begin to break down, that's when leadership is vital. So, focusing on the last bit, what do you think went wrong?" Dinah asked softly.

"I got everyone killed." Artemis replied bluntly.

"Yes," Dinah nodded with a sigh. She wasn't going to soften the blow, it wasn't what Artemis required right now, nor would it help her in the long run. "But why?"

"I didn't expect an ambush. Things were going so smoothly, I let my guard down. Percy is paranoid enough that he would have had Megan constantly on watch, constantly looking out for any trouble. I didn't, which is why we got ambushed, and why Batgirl and Tula got killed, and Kaldur got injured. It's why we got forced into a bad environment for a fight and surrounded," Artemis said, her eyes angry and downcast as she glared at the floor.

"Caution is good, yes. Like you said, you should have had Megan on the lookout, especially because things went so easily. If you had, you would have had more warning, and been able to adapt better. But, don't be too harsh on yourself. Tula and Batgirl were hit and went down before you had a chance to react. Kaldur was hit by an IED the withdrawal, it was a cleverly laid trap, one which Megan's telepathy wouldn't have helped with. This scenario was rigged to make sure there was conflict." Dinah said comfortingly. "There were very few ways you could have avoided it."

"Stop taking it easy on me." Artemis snapped. "I fucked up and people died."

Dinah tilted her head at that, her brow furrowing. Artemis had been more on edge of late. In fact, ever since Biayla her temper had been frayed. Sure, she had been respectful about asking for help, and had put in the effort. But as a councillor, Dinah could tell there was something that was troubling her.

What it was, however, she wasn't sure. It would require some digging, which was something she was loath to do at the moment. Especially after her most recent fuck up with regard to Percy.

She had betrayed his trust, and betrayed her own integrity and principles. The demigod had a right to secrecy, and a right to his secrets, and yet she had allowed herself to be talked into digging into those secrets, and stealing a blood sample.

On the surface it seemed small and innocuous, after all she had merely taken a sample of some blood he had spat out. But beneath the surface it was a betrayal of her position of care and trust. It was also a betrayal of Percy's confidence, and a betrayal of her friendship with Diana.

Dinah withheld a grimace at that thought.

Her conversation with Diana had been brief, and very unpleasant. She had told her what she had done, and after receiving the coldest glare Diana was capable of, had been told in no uncertain terms that she would be admitting her part in things to Percy, the first chance she got. She would also tell the others in the League, and accept whatever sanctions they had.

In hindsight, it was a very controlled and muted response to what it could have been; a part of her had initially thought that the Amazon would resort to violence. That side of her though, was foolish.

Diana, she knew, had incredible poise and control, she was like Superman in that regard. She had a great deal of power, but because of that she also had incredible restraint. Diana would never resort to violence, not unless truly pushed. Nor would she needlessly endanger others. It was something all those with great power learned, even some supervillains.

That said, she was still pissed, and had all but ended their friendship.

Or at least until she had admitted to Percy and the League what she had done, and had accepted whatever punishment both the League and Percy thought appropriate. It was archaic in a way, but Diana meant a lot to her, as did the young team she had been training, and nurturing. As such, she had accepted Diana's ultimatum without question.

She had not tried to make excuses, and had not taken it easy on herself.

She had fucked up, and had accepted the consequences, and was now trying to learn from her mistakes and redeem herself.

Focussing back on Artemis, and seeing the anger and frustration in the younger woman's eyes, she knew what she had to do.

"Yes, you fucked up. If this had been a real mission, and you had been leading the team, you would have all died. You need to get better if you ever want to earn the responsibility of leadership." Dinah said bluntly. "This test was designed to push you, pressure you and force you to adapt. It disregarded the personalities of the others, as in this test they were completely reliant on you, and had absolute faith in your leadership. You, however, failed them. Now tell me, why?!"

"I didn't adapt to the changing situation. I panicked when you put me under pressure and I made rash calls." Artemis replied, her expression was not downcast any more, but instead determined. "After Tula and Batgirl went down, I panicked. I tried to stick to the initial plan, and fight and get to the extraction point. After Wally got injured by the super strong guy on the way, though, we got stuck. Wally and Kaldur were injured, which slowed us down, and that forced us into a position where we had to stand and fight. We were fucked basically, as we were surrounded, and fighting in hostile territory which benefited our ambushers. So I told Robin to keep him busy and relied on Caleb's durability to protect Kaldur and Wally. I left the main defence to Megan, while I took on one of their assassins."

"Your first response to the ambush was poor, you showed a lack of flexibility, that got you and your team corner. After that though, as things escalated you got better, you reacted quickly, and although not perfect, you analysed the changing situation and came up with a decent strategy. You were surrounded and trapped, your options were limited. Robin had the gadgets and training to keep an untrained fighter, no matter how strong, at least occupied. Megan's telekinesis was useful for defence, but she was handicapped by an enemy telepath. Caleb's durability would have allowed him to tank the stray bullets and stop them from hitting the injured. It was a reasonable strategy, all things considered. But, with hindsight, what would you have done differently?" Dinah pressed.

"Well, aside from not panicking at the beginning, I would have had Caleb take down the superstring guy. Megan I would have told to withdraw with the injured, all while protecting our minds from the telepath and searching for additional reinforcements, this would have allowed her more time to concentrate. Which means she could have defeated the telepath. Robin, I would have ordered him to come and help me. Together we could overwhelm the assassin attacking me, and then we could have used arrows and his gadgets to hide our retreat and force the gunmen to retreat. With his strength, Caleb would have made short work of the super strong guy, and could have taken up the rear for a fighting retreat." Artemis said, a frown on her face as she pondered over the options she had.

"That sounds reasonable. The most important word you said though, was retreat. You were at a disadvantage, the moment Batgirl, Tula and Kaldur went down you should have been aiming to withdraw, not stand and fight, especially not in enemy territory." Dinah said.

Artemis grimaced, but nodded.

"The fact you also recognise the asset Megan is to the Team, is important too. Telepathy aids with communication, a direct link would have allowed free flowing information between all members. As you rightly surmised, she would have also aided in providing information about possible reinforcements, or at least once the enemy telepath was down. Which is why, if you were forced to stand and fight, the best thing you could have done, would have been to take out the enemy telepath." Dinah continued, a smile on her face as she glanced over at the watching redhead.

In response, Megan blushed.

"It was also a good idea to have Robin help you, that would have reduced the pressure on you, and given you more time and space to assess the changing situation and react." Dinah added, before once again patting the younger blonde on the shoulder. "We have work to do, but I see potential. So for now, rest up, think over the scenario, and we'll pick it up again in let's say twenty minutes?"

Artemis nodded, before with a groan she rolled her muscles and wandered over to where Megan was waiting, a towel in one hand and a freshly made protein shake in the other, both of which she offered to Artemis.

Smiling at the byplay, Dinah wiped the sweat off her forehead, and took a quaff of her water.

Artemis was coming along well.

It was nice to see.

( - )

(In the Batcave)

The sound of clashing swords echoed throughout the dark, and gloomy batcave as Robin and Batman both sparred back and forth, their blunted blades little more than silver blurs as they fluidly danced and flipped around one another, their capes whipping around behind them as they moved. On one occasion or another, when an opportunity presented itself, one of the fighters would throw in additional kicks or punches. Their strikes were targeted, aimed to hurt and hinder, not kill.

The two of them had been fighting continuously, for close to a half hour at this point.

Sweat drenched Robin's face as he dodged and avoided Batman's continuous onslaught, the boy's hands were blistered, despite him wearing gloves, and his dark hair was soaked through with sweat and hanging limply down his face, partially obscuring his vision as Batman continued to force him back.

Holding back a slight smile at his protégé's efforts, Batman continued to force Robin onto the defensive. His grip on his own practice blade tightening as he ramped up the pressure even further, and started to increase the force and speed of his blows.

Robin was new to wielding a sword, but despite that, the boy was a fast learner. He had picked up the basics of swordplay quickly, and so Batman felt confident in pushing the young teen further than others might feel appropriate.

That said, the boy was by no means a master of the blade.

No, far from it.

But he was good though.

His reflexes were on point, but then again, that wasn't a surprise. Batman had trained the boy for nearly four years now; not only hand to hand combat, but in how to wield a bo staff, escrima sticks and the many non-lethal gadgets they both used in their hero work.

Teaching him swordsmanship, however, was different.

A sword was potentially lethal, arguably more so than any of the other weapons and gadgets he had taught the boy to use. Sure a bo staff, or escrima sticks could be used to kill, as could some of the other gadgets he had given to Robin, but if used properly, like he had taught him, then it was easy to avoid lethal force. A sword however was different, it was deliberately sharp, and dangerous. It had been designed to kill. A single slip up, a single mishap or mistake, and you could nick a major artery and kill someone.

It was why he had initially been reluctant to allow the boy's requests.

Or at least he had until he remembered who else was on the boy's team. Aqualad would have been the ideal choice for a training partner, the boy was controlled, level headed and sensible. Unfortunately, however, his skill with the sword was distinctly average. He could spar with Robin and teach him the basics, but he couldn't teach the prudence and caution required to use a sword in a high stress battle. Aqualad's water blades were different to live steel.

Which of course meant Perseus would have been Robin most likely choice for a teacher. After all, Perseus was all but a master with the sword. He had only fought or heard of a few others whose skill trumped his. Whether the demigod would have obliged the request, he was uncertain, but either way he knew it would be much better for him to teach Robin how to use a sword responsibly, then allow him to learn at the feet of a potentially dangerous and unstable demigod.

Thankfully his own skill with the blade, although not at the same level as several other members of the League, Diana included, was still good enough that he knew could instil in the boy the idea that a mistake with a sword in fast paced combat could very easily inflict a fatal injury. Which is also why he had ramped up his training.

Not that Robin complained.

If anything, since Bialya, Robin had been pressing him to increase the intensity of their training. He had identified weaknesses within his skill set and sought to cover them. That included mastering a sword in combat, something that could be used to inflict more damage, and thus could be used to more quickly and efficiently incapacitate a criminal.

It was admirable in a way.

Which was another reason why he had agreed to his specific training requests.

Though he had set down the law in regard to when he would be allowed to use a real sword on a mission, and the lengths he could go to.

He trusted Robin, but he had been young once, too. He didn't want Robin to go in half-cocked, make a mistake and kill someone. That would ruin the boy's life, ruins his heroic career, and who knows what else.

He did not want Robin to become a loose cannon like a certain demigod he knew.

Batman's expression hardened at that thought, even as he parried several of Robin's strikes, and countered with a brutal riposte.

He had tried to raise his concerns at the recent meeting with regards to Perseus, his origins and his potential effect on his teammates. Unfortunately, despite his concerns, Diana and others in the League had not understood his reasoning. Instead of more oversight, they were pushing for a more hands off approach in regard to the Team.

The rest of the founders were mostly in agreement with Diana; that Red Tornado, Black Canary and Captain Marvel, should be given collective responsibility for training and supervising the Team. With the argument being that all three of those heroes already worked with the team, but unlike himself, J'onn and Diana, had no personal or close connection with the members. They were, as Martian Manhunter suggested, objective.

Fortunately, he and the rest of the founders, however, did still have operational responsibilities regarding assigning the Team missions.

It grated on him a bit, but for the sake of League cohesion he had not put his foot down, or strenuously objected.

Or at least, not for the moment.

A part of him had, admittedly, pondered revealing Captain Marvel's secret as a way of shooting down the idea and retaining a supervisory link with the Team. He didn't, though, The most recent fracas with Perseus had made him see the possible ramifications of doing such a thing. Not only had his fellow Leaguers been more interested and surprised by Perseus's origins, than worried or concerned. But they had also been unhappy with him, Batman, for digging into the other heroes' past.

Their short-sightedness annoyed him.

Pushing forwards and scowling at that thought, Batman batted aside one of Robin's swings and replied with a straight punch, the force of the blow bloodying the boy's nose, and knocking him straight off his feet and onto the floor.

"Ow," Robin groaned, rolling to get back up.

"Your footwork needs improving. You're also throwing your full weight into some of your strikes, overcommitting, this disrupts your balance and makes it harder to react to counter strikes. Work on it." Batman said shortly, his eyes narrowing as he re-engaged the boy. His blade almost a blur as he slapped the boy's overextended leg -the flat of his blade would likely leave a bruise, but in his mind that was a better than losing his leg, which he would have done had this been a real fight- and continued to press him, occasionally dealing a stinging hit to correct some of the more obvious issues with the boy's form.

He was getting better.

Just a week ago, he had barely been able to last a few minutes. Now he was able to keep fighting for close to half an hour. He was able to fight through the pain of his burning muscles, and the exhaustion.

His dedication was heartening to see.

But in terms of his well being, and the overall efficiency of the training, pushing him this hard was not necessary. All he would do, would be to tear his muscles and cause damage to his body that would impede future training.

"That's enough." Batman said, catching Robin's blade with a single hand, before with a flourish of his own sword, he disarmed him. "You're getting better. Have a break. I also suggest a visit to Mount Justice, it has been a while since you spent time with your teammates."

Thinking on the Team reminded him of something else he had noticed. Robin, and to a lesser extent, Batgirl, had mostly been in Gotham this last week. Part of that was due to school starting again. He had sent them both to the same Private Academy as before, the same Private Academy that he had enrolled Artemis in using the Wayne Foundation Scholarship fund. She was one of twelve new scholarship kids. Another reason, however, was due to the increased, and self-imposed training. Neither of them had had a proper chance to socialise with their fellow teammates since the Bialya mission.

Robin nodded tiredly, even as he leant backwards, his hands on the back of his head as he took deep breaths.

Bonds were important, Batman had come to learn that since joining the League.

Unfortunately, Robin was not only learning how to fight and be a hero from him, he was also picking up some of his bad habits too.

For the boy's own good, it would be good to break him of some of the worst ones.

"I think that you are at a stage now, where you have the basics of swordplay down. You now need to build up experience. We will continue your training on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday nights, time permitting. When not at school, or on patrol with Batgirl or myself, I suggest spending more time at Mount Justice. On the field you may come across opponents with a variety of abilities, I would suggest engaging your teammates in sparring matches to build up strategies for how you can deal with such an eventuality." Batman pressed, his expression blank as he put away the practice swords and turned back to Robin.

"Right, I was going to go back anyway. I've been speaking to Wally and Kaldur a bit. Or well Wally at least, Kaldur's been MIA ever since he went off on some patrol with Red Arrow. It'll be good to see them again, the others too. This last week has been weird without them." Robin replied.

Batman nodded at that, his eyes narrowing.

Wally West, he knew, had been spending the last few days with the Flash. In their off time they were attempting to reconstruct the experiment that had originally given the Flash his powers, only correctly this time, in the hopes of boosting Wally's abilities to something nearing the Flash's own. From what he had been told there had not been much in the way of tangible results, yet.

Kaldur meanwhile, he knew, was not MIA. Instead, he had recently joined up with Red Arrow and gone on a mission to Taipei. Currently, he was monitoring the situation, and keeping an eye on Lex Luthor -the soon to arrive negotiator for the peace treaty set to take place at Taipei. But that was all he was doing. After all, Luthor had his own security detail, and Red Arrow and Aqualad were both competent and were there already, keeping an eye on things. For now, he was content to observe and only intercede if necessary. After all, it would not do for the Justice League to be seen to be interfering in global politics, or being too heavy handed in areas that had not offered them jurisdiction. Besides, his fellow Leaguers had been on at him recently about giving the young heroes more scope and responsibility. This would be a good test.

Looking away from Robin now, Batman barely blinked as the door to the Batcave opened and Batgirl walked inside.

Nodding to her as she entered, Batman gave her a small, tight smile. "Right on time. Robin has finished training for the day, and from your presence here, I take it you have finished training with Green Arrow too?"

"Well, hello to you too," Batgirl replied dryly, rolling her eyes and flicking her red hair over her shoulder as she walked down the steps and joined them on the training mat, her green eyes shifting from the sweaty, but calmly breathing Robin, before reverting back to him. "And yeah, training is over. He went over some of the finer points of marksmanship, and took me on a short patrol around Starling City. It was good, nice to patrol a city that isn't a complete hive of scum and villainy."

"I'm glad," Batman nodded.

"Which does mean I'm pretty knackered. I don't think I've much left in the tank, or at least not enough for another training session." Batgirl continued nervously.

"Don't worry, our training for today is over. I was just suggesting to Robin that he head over to Mount Justice to meet with the rest of the Team. I believe a number of them are there as we speak." Batman replied with a small smile. Barbara Gordon was a hard worker, and very dedicated, but she could be snarky at times. Then again, so could Robin.

"Oh, that sounds like a plan." Batgirl smiled, walking over to Robin and throwing an arm around the younger teen's shoulders as she did so. "So let's head over. Though, I'd suggest that you get a shower first, you've got some bad BO right now." She then continued, withdrawing her arm now, as she instead grimaced and feigned holding her nose to block out the stink.

"Coming from you?" Robin shot back, his brow furrowing and his previous exhaustion forgotten as he instead turned and started bickering with Batgirl.

Holding back a smile at the sight of his sidekicks acting like the kids they were, Batman shook his head and turned away.

It was time he got back to work too.

Only this time he would need to put on his Bruce Wayne costume.

( - )

(With Tula in Atlantis)

Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on the cold, swirling water around her. She could feel her heart steadily beating in her chest, she could feel the blood pumping through her veins. She was at peace, and her mind was clear.

She was completely in the moment.

Taking a deep breath, she focussed on one of the pieces of advice she had been given, and instead of trying to force the water to obey her, she instead guided it, and directed it.

Shifting her arms through the water, she could feel the delightful feeling of the cold ocean water caressing her naked arms.

Exhaling and taking another breath, the delicate gills on her neck fluttering, she opened her eyes and pulled on the surrounding water.

A funnel of water formed from her right hand as she drew it in front of her, swirling her left hand against the funnel increasing its size, and the speed at which it swirled. It was struggling and trying to fight her, it was beginning to grow untameable. Instead of trying to contain the angry sea, she instead started to coax and guide it.

Drawing on the well of magic within her, she pushed the rapidly growing funnel of water outward.

It was getting bigger, and moving faster. Around her, she could feel the current getting stronger, which in turn rustled the gossamer-like dress she was wearing.

Soon enough the funnel of water had grown too big, and had begun to spread out from where she was floating, entombing her within its protective walls, even as she continued to push it out, her mind focussed and her breathing steady. All the while she swirled her arms through the air, flowing from one motion to another as she not only guided the water, but became one with her, her stance and posture flowing as fluidly as the water she sought to manipulate.

She couldn't yet control it on a molecular level like Percy, but her control was still more refined than it was when she first left for the surface.

She'd improved.

Taking another breath, she raised her arms above her head and forcefully pushed them outwards.

In response, the walls of the deep sea whirlpool spread out, even as the opening of the funnel closed, creating a fast moving, dome-like shield of water around her. It was nearly ten metres in diameter, and at least three metres high. It was large enough, and strong enough, to protect at least several dozen people.

The walls of the dome were nearly a foot thick, and, so long as there was water available, would continue to regenerate. It's exact strength and durability, she wasn't sure of, she hadn't sufficiently tested it yet. But it was a large-scale piece of magic, one based, not on incantations like her normal spells, but on pure water manipulation.

Glancing at her shaking arms, Tula examined the intricate, glowing blue tattoos that snaked their way from her hands, up her arms, around her shoulders, and to her core.

Her stamina had improved, and she was in control.

She wasn't sure exactly how long she could keep the defensive dome up for, but she was only just now feeling the strain.

Taking another breath, Tula focussed on the shield, her hands outstretched as she reached out for the magic infused water, before, with an exhalation, she clenched her hands into fists.

The dome of water exploded outwards in response. The walls ripped themselves apart as she redirected the energy she was using to guide the water, into creating solid spears of water, spears which she then infused with the stolen momentum from the fast moving shield.

Within a few moments, the entire dome burst apart, like a large bubble of air, or an egg, and what it birthed was hundreds of tightly condensed spears of water which shot out in all directions. Some of the spears struck the surrounding arena walls, gouging out pieces of coral and stone, or denting the metal panelling. Other spears meanwhile slammed into the sandy floor, sending up dusty clouds of wet sand and silt. Still others just shot out into the deep blue sea, travelling on for several hundred metres before eventually breaking apart and being consumed by the ocean.

Closing her eyes, Tula waved one hand through the air, clearing away the cloud of silt with barely thought, her other hand meanwhile she clenched into a claw like shape as she tore it through the water, forming a serpent like dragon from behind her. The serpent was a construct of water, sand and silt.

Following through with the motion, Tula willed the newly formed dragon to lunge upwards, almost flying through the water, before it slammed into its target.

Or at least it tried to.

Before it could hit, her target panicked and threw up his own shield, momentarily slowing the dragon as it wasted valuable seconds ploughing through his hastily made defences.

Kicking up into the air, the target took advantage of his bought time, his eyes wide and his legs working hard as he artfully avoided the dragon, even as it changed its trajectory and chased him for a few more seconds, before, as it lunged for him again it dispersed, raining down sand and silt on him.

"Neptune's beard, Tula! What was that for?" Garth shouted, kicking his legs to get out of the cloud of sand, his hands already scrubbing the silt out of his dark hair and eyes.

"I asked to be left alone, Garth." Tula replied, with a frown. Before, with a sigh, she shook her head. "No, sorry, you're right. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry, that was stupid of me."

"Well, yeah, a little bit…" Garth replied, a surprised look on his face as he looked down at the redhead.

"I'm sorry. I was just a bit on edge. I wasn't expecting company, and I reacted without thinking it through properly." Tula said, rubbing at her eyes. She was tired. She'd been training for several hours now.

Not that that excused her actions.

Still, Garth had been annoying her a lot of late.

In fact, he'd been annoying her ever since she came back from the surface. She didn't like being followed around or stalked, and that was what it almost felt like.

Yes, they were close, and yes they were still technically going out. But she wanted time to herself to think things through, and so far he hadn't allowed her much of that, despite her requesting it of him.

So far she had either been with her parents, with Queen Mera or with him. This had been the first time in a week, aside from when she was sleeping, that she had had time to herself, and even then, that was only because Mera had left her to her own devices for an hour or so while she attended to some personal things.

"Yeah, I've noticed that. You've been a bit distant of late?" Garth said, a frown on his face as she swam down to her level. "Have I… done something to upset you, or something like that?"

"No, it's not you, not really. I've just had a lot to think about, and have been quite busy. I'm sorry." Tula waved him off, swiping some of her red hair out of her eyes, as she met Garth's gaze. "I've had a lot to do. I'm only back here for a week, I'm heading back to the surface tomorrow, so I wanted to take advantage of my time and catch up with my parents, get some more training in with Queen Mera, and well, like I said before, I've also had a lot to think about."

"I get that, you're only down here for a bit, and then you're going to run off and play heroes again, I get it. I just thought you'd have some time to, well you know, spend time with me, your boyfriend, before you go!" Garth muttered, a truculent expression on his face.

"I'm not playing at being a hero." Tula replied, her tone turning frosty for a few moments, before with a sigh she reigned in her temper and shook her head. "No, you're right, I should have made time for you."

Garth nodded at that, before a few moments later he forced a smile. "Well, there's still time before you go. We can head out to the city, maybe get some food in and see a show. There is a band with an octopus drummer in it playing at Oceanus's, we can head there for a few drinks and a dance after say, dinner, tonight?"

"Garth," Tula said softly, her lip quivering slightly.

"Hey, or we can catch a light show, I know this awesome volcano that is about to erupt!" Garth pressed on quickly.

"Garth, we need to talk." Tula pressed on, she felt like she had a lead weight in her stomach.

"We can talk later, where do you fancy heading for dinner?" Garth said quickly, the smile on his handsome face more forced than ever.

"Garth, this isn't working." Tula replied, standing her ground now.

"What isn't working?" Garth replied, his smile completely gone now, and his dark eyes locking onto hers. His expression was tense, and his gaze was intense.

"This," Tula said, gesturing between the two of them. "I'm just not in the right headspace right now. I still care for you, and still want to be friends. But, I don't think trying to keep a long distance relationship going will work out, not right now anyway."

"How do you know that, we haven't even tried it properly?" Garth scowled.

"I'm sorry, Garth, I am." Tula said, her heart sinking as she saw the hurt in his eyes. She didn't want it to be like this, she wanted things to end amicably. But she had kept putting things off, because she didn't want to hurt him, nor did she want him to hate her. She had been a coward. "Being a hero, it's hard work, it's long hours, and it can be pretty stressful. I don't think I can manage being in a relationship, and training, and acclimatising to the surface world, and hero work all at once. It's not you, I still care about you, a lot. It's just bad timing. I didn't think things would be this intense."

"Then quit, and stay here." Garth said bluntly.

"No, I've made a commitment to the Team, and to myself." Tula shot him down, mentally hardening herself now.

She liked being on the team, and enjoyed learning new things. She had met cool new people, and a literal descendent of Atlantis's patron god, Poseidon. Likewise, she was also exploring new places on the surface, places she had never even thought about visiting before. She was in a good place right now. But it was also all new to her. She wasn't in a strong enough place mentally to balance her new life with her old, something had to give.

She knew she was being selfish, but at the same time, for her own happiness and mental health, she knew what she had to do.

"Is it Kaldur?" Garth asked suddenly, an ugly expression on his face. "I knew that snake always liked you, but I thought he had more honour than this. I didn't think he would try to steal you away the moment you were out of my sight."

"It's not Kaldur, no." Tula frowned. She didn't like the implication of his words. "He's my friend, yes, but he didn't steal me. Nobody stole me, and nobody ever will, I don't belong to anyone, not even you."

"Then who is it then? That Perseus guy you keep banging on about, the supposed 'son' of Lord Poseidon? Is that what it is, he flashes his fancy pedigree, and you become a bed warmer for him?" Garth snapped nastily.

Tula felt her face flush red with anger. "No, it's not Percy. He's also my friend, and that is it. There is nobody else, Garth. I just don't want to be in a relationship right now. I've got other things I want to do, other things I want to focus on." Tula spat, trying to reign in her temper now.

"Whaleshit. I bet the moment you get back up to the surface, you'll be chasing one or other of them!" Garth hissed, his own face blotchy with anger.

"Fuck you, and grow up." Tula snapped back, her eyes glinting with anger.

She had tried to end things peacefully, she had been honest with her reasoning and tried to make him understand.

He was having none of it though.

Garth shook his head at that, and turned away. "I thought you were something special, Tula. I thought you loved me. You're pathetic."

With that said, he started swimming away.

He didn't even bother to look back.

"Well, that went well." Tula muttered, her hands balling into fists as she fought the sudden urge she had to jam a spear of water up her ex's backside. "You idiot."

( - )

(With Aqualad and Red Arrow in Taipei)

"This is Cat Grant speaking from the ongoing peace summit in Taipei. The talks of peace between the leaders of North and South Rhelasia have broken down. In order to help get the process back on a track, an unknown UN peace arbitrator has been called in. No one knows who it will be, but speculation is rife, with some even claiming that the mysterious arbitrator could be the Man of Steel himself, Superman." Cat Grant smiled, her perfectly coiffed blonde hair bouncing around as she spoke to the camera, and vaguely gestured at the busy area behind her. She was currently in Taipei, standing outside of a large glass and steel skyscraper, the building that was the centrepiece of the ongoing peace summit. "Though, I suspect the Man of Steel will not be coming, as I heard the arbitrator will be arriving by limo not flying."

"Red Arrow to Aqualad, can you read me?" Red Arrow muttered as he hid behind a pillar. He was currently decked out in a smart suit, with red sunglasses covering his upperface, and a wire and earphone in his ear. He looked like an everyday bodyguard, he didn't stand out much in the sea of suited guards, reporters and diplomats.

Narrowing his eyes, Red Arrow clenched the innocuous silver case holding his bow tighter as he waited for his old friend to reply. He was on edge at the moment, and the nattering crowds, and the flashing lights of cameras and cellphones weren't helping matters.

"This is Aqualad." Aqualad's voice filtered back to him.

His friend, likewise in a suit so as to avoid detection from the would-be assassins, was hidden from sight on the other side of the building.

They were both lying in wait, waiting for the peace arbitrator to arrive, and for the League of Shadows to make their move.

After all, according to his intel the Shadows had taken out a contract on the arbitrator, and from his own experience, once the League of Shadows committed to something, they saw it through to the end. It was about saving face. They were big players in the criminal underworld, and thus had a reputation to uphold.

They would be making a move, and he knew it. He could feel it in his gut.

It was also due to this gut feeling that he had allowed his friend Aqualad to tag along. Originally he had just wanted to use the League's database and some of their resources, only when he had asked, Kaldur had been quite insistent on being involved. Strangely so, actually, something had lit a fire under his reserved friend, so much so that he didn't take no for an answer. That said, he also knew that the League of Shadows were hard core, and although he might be arrogant, he was not arrogant enough to dismiss help when freely offered.

"I've got a possible bogey, what's Cheshire's height?" Red Arrow replied, his eyes narrowing as he fixed his attention on the person of interest. Cheshire was a known quantity, and exactly the kind of elite field agent that would be sent on a mission of this calibre.

"From memory…, Cheshire is, I'd say, 1.76 meters tall. Or five foot six inches, depending on which measurement you use. She should be in Belle Reve though, I imagine we would have been alerted if she escaped."Aqualad replied, with him pausing only slightly as he rifled through his memories for the necessary info. Prior to setting off, they had both done their due diligence and had taken the time to research the League of Shadow's best known infiltrators.

"Haven't you realised it yet? When it comes to the real deal villains, prisons have revolving doors. Either way, the bogey doesn't match up. She's five foot eight." Red Arrow dismissed, his gaze lingering on the bogey as he used the sensors in his red glasses to scan the height of the woman in question.

The woman was wearing large sunglasses that hid most of her face from view, and had a dark baseball cap on her head, covering her hair and shadowing her features. Add in her jeans and smart jacket, and she had blended into the crowd well. Despite that however, her build and posture still stood out to him. There was something about her that concerned him.

Call it a gut feeling, but for some reason, despite her innocuous appearance, she stood out in the crowd.

"She could be wearing heels?" Aqualad replied.

"Possible, but I have visuals. No heels and a leather jacket. Can you spot her?" Red Arrow replied, biting his tongue to avoid replying with a scathing response.

Despite being a member of the junior Justice League, Kaldur had still offered to help out. He also had experience, minor though it was, of the League of Shadows. As much as he'd like to shoot his friend down in a metaphorical sense, mainly for not coming with him when he first decided to go independent, he didn't as it wasn't warranted or helpful at the moment.

"I see her, doesn't stand out that much to me." Aqualad replied promptly.

"Maybe your time in the junior Justice League has dulled your senses then. But I still think there's something off, keep an eye on her, from what I can tell the arbitrator is about to arrive. When he steps out of his car, that's probably when the Shadows will make their move. It's public enough that it can't be hidden, and if it goes down now in plain sight, it'll put an end to the peace summit" Red Arrow replied, his eyes narrowing as he saw a limo rolling up the road, and the crowd of reporters and observers shifting forward in excitement. He had a gut feeling something was about to happen. The atmosphere felt charged, and ready to explode.

If he were doing the assassination, and wanted to make a point. This would be the moment that he would strike.

"Be on your guard, if they're going to make their move, now would be the moment." Red Arrow warned, his eyes narrowing as his fingers twitching as he prepared to pull out his bow. As he spoke, a large, shiny black limo pulled up in front of the peace summit building, and the reporters moved in like piranhas in a feeding frenzy.

Surveying the crowd, Red Arrow's attention was once again caught by the tall woman with sunglasses, as she started forwards, one hand rising to remove the hat, even as the other moved up to pull off her sunglasses.

"Aqualad, move!" Red Arrow shouted, moving from behind cover himself now, his gaze fixed on the suspicious woman.

As he moved, he twisted the handle of the case and withdrew his compact bow, the bow unfolding within the same motion, even as he drew an arrow from the inside of his unbuttoned jacket. It was a concussion arrow, one which packed enough 'umph' to knock a would-be assassin on their arse.

In response, the guards around the plaza, those of them that were being attentive, turned to look at him, not the suspicious woman, some of them lifting their guns in response to his drawn bow.

"Freeze, drop your weapon and get down on the ground!" The nearest guard, a bulky man with broad shoulders, a shaved head and sunglasses shouted.

"Shit." Red Arrow muttered to himself. To blend in, he had decided not to wear a costume. At the time, it had been a tactical decision. The downside was, he now looked like an everyday guy who just had pulled out a weapon in the middle of a crowd.

"It's alright, I'm a hero! The arbitrator is about to be assassinated!" Red Arrow tried to warn, his posture tensing as he sensed an additional pair of guards coming up behind him.

"I said get down!" Another guard shouted, this one carrying an assault rifle.

Down below, he could see the crowd panicking, reporters and civilians both, even as more guards and soldiers began to converge on him, and cameras shifted his way. More guards were heading for the limo, ploughing through the crowd as they sought to secure the vehicle.

Dropping his bow, he put his hands on his head and sank to his knees.

He had fucked up.

He could escape, but chances were he'd be shot in the attempt.

He was surrounded, and had prematurely broken his cover.

Looking away from the approaching guards, Red Arrow could only watch as the real assassin threw her cap to the side revealing a silvery, white mohawk and pale skin. Her face he could see -now she was no longer wearing sunglasses, and now it was no longer shadowed by her cap- had a white and balck skull tattoo completely covering it.

Cursing at the sight of her, he could only shout a warning to the guards in the plaza, even as she shoved through the crowd. Before, with a wicked smile on her face, she then let loose a high pitched, sonic scream, the force of which blew a dozen reporters, civilians and guards off their feet, even as it hit the limo and flipped it over. The intensity of the screech shattered the windows of the car, even as the force of it rolled the limo over until it was upside.

"It's Silver Banshee!" Red Arrow hissed, already going for his fallen bow, even as the guards and soldiers around him reacted. "Aqualad, move in!"

"On it!" Aqualad's voice rang in his ear, even as his friend broke cover and rushed Banshee, a pair of water blades already in his hands as he leapt to engage the villain. Like him, Aqualad was dressed in civvies, but unlike him, the confused guards in the plaza didn't move to intercept, even as he rushed straight for Silver Banshee.

Drawing another arrow, Red Arrow was about to move to back up his friend. Before he could, however, he was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Don't even think of it, kid." The same guard as before said coolly.

He could feel the cold, icy barrel of a gun on the side of his head.

"I'm a hero, Red Arrow, we got intel about a League of Shadows assassination, I'm here to stop it!" Red Arrow spat, struggling to keep his temper in check, as several other guards also levelled their guns at him, even as some of their fellows moved to intercept Banshee, their own weapons raised as they fought their way through the panicking crowd.

"Never heard of you, and never heard of them. As far as I'm concerned, you could be an assassin yourself. Someone cuff him, we'll sort this out after the area has been secured, and the other perp has been brought down. Shoot him if he makes trouble." The same guard snapped back.

With a murmur, the other guards started following their apparent leader's commands.

Looking on helplessly, Red Arrow could only watch as Silver Banshee used another shriek to incapacitate some guards, before she then dodged several slashes from Aqualad, before once again let loose another shriek, only this one hit Aqualad directly, knocking him off his feet and ascending him hurtling several metres backward.

From where he was kneeling, Red Arrow could see his friend hit the ground with a dull thud, a trail of blood following him as Banshee's scream tore straight through him.

"Aqualad!" Red Arrow shouted, his eyes widening and his temper flaring as he saw his friend go down.

Without another word he threw himself backwards, and into the guard behind him, his elbow already rocketing backwards as he rammed it into the guard's nose with a wet crunch.

Around him, he could see the other guards moving in, one of them had already fired their gun.

Grunting in pain as he felt the bullet graze his side, Red Arrow pulled another arrow out of his jacket. This one was an ice arrow, and contained a compact liquid nitrogen mix, one which would freeze the moment it made contact with air.

Slamming the arrow in the ground as he leapt forward in a half roll, Red Arrow bit down on his lip as he felt another bullet strike him in the thigh, even as a third bullet smacked into the ground beside him, clipping his ear but ultimately missing.

Ignoring the pain, and the sudden rush of cold as the area behind him blossomed into ice, cocooning the half dozen guards that had been holding him in its icy grip, he instead staggered forwards towards the clearing plaza.

Blood was running down his leg and side, and his hands were shaking from the pain.

Despite that, however, he still managed to knock a fresh arrow, even as he went to back up Aqualad.

As he moved, he could see Aqualad struggling to his feet again, water swirling around him as he lashed out at Banshee, the water taking the form of axes, hammers, and swords as he tried to drive her off.

He was struggling though, Red Arrow could see that much.

He had blood trailing out of both ears, and he had bloody tears pouring down his face, from both the burst blood vessels in his eyes and from his nose.

He was still fighting though, even as Silver Banshee danced away, occasionally taking to the air in order to avoid his wild swings, before retaliating with another screech, or by firing off another shot from the large, black pistol she had also drawn.

"Kaldur!" Red Arrow shouted, fighting back the agony from his wounds.

Drawing his bow he let loose a concussion arrow, one which was aimed at Banshee's feet.

The arrow exploded, tearing up the concrete and driving the two fighters apart.

With a smirk, Banshee leapt backwards, her feet skimming the ground as she used her flight to partially aid her. A cocky smirk spread across her tattooed face as she glanced over at him. Raising her hand, Banshee's smirk became almost feral as she fired her gun again. Only, instead of firing it at him in retaliation, she instead fired it at the injured and stunned Kaldur, the bullet hit him in the head, and the force of the shot knocked him to the ground in a spray of blood.

Red Arrow saw red. His pain was forgotten, as he instead started continuously unloosed arrows at the smirking bitch. His arms were aching, his vision blurred, and sweat caked his face, but he continued his onslaught nonetheless.

With a laugh, Banshee continued to dance and dodge, occasionally letting loose another shriek to blast away arrows, or prematurely set off the effects they carried. She also made sure to unleash the occasional sonic screech at the guards, keeping them down and out of the way as she toyed with him.

All the while, as she fought, she continued to move forwards, her grin still in place, and her weapon still loaded.

"Die!" Red Arrow hissed, his gaze flicking from Kaldur and back to her, even as he grabbed his last arrow.

So far he had been keeping on the move, matching her movements with his own as they duelled across the plaza. It was taking its toll, though. The wound in his thigh was burning with pain, and his right suit leg was wet with his blood.

They were fighting a battle of attrition, and he was losing badly.

Something had to give, he knew that.

It was as he thought this, however, that something did give.

The door to the limo burst open and an attractive looking woman, in an immaculate grey suit crawled out of the wrecked vehicle, her right arm already, somehow, shifting into the form of a high-tech gun.

Widening her eyes at the sight of the woman, Silver Banshee swivelled on the spot and shot at the newcomer with her pistol.

In response, the grey suited woman's apparently robotic arm opened like an umbrella creating a shield that deflected the bullet, even as she unleashed a beam of pure energy at Banshee.

Snarling in response, Silver Banshee leapt into the air, her smirk absent as she soared up into the air, before with another smirk at him, she hurtled away and into the clear blue sky.

Letting out a grunt as he saw her escape, Red Arrow collapsed to his knees, his vision blurring as he first looked over at the unmoving, blood covered Kaldur. Before a few moments later, and with a grunt, he glanced at the grey suited woman. Only for his eyes to widen as he saw her turn back to the flipped limo and help a completely unscathed, bald man in a suit out of it.

The arbitrator, Red Arrow, thought his vision going dark as his blood loss took its toll, it was Lex Luthor.

( - )

AN: Duh duh duhhhhhh! What a nasty cliff hanger to leave things on! :D

Now you'll have to wait for next year!

Aren't I a rotter!

Not much to say other than that, this was a difficult chapter to write as I had to juggle around a lot of characters. That said I think I hit all the notes. This was more of a Character Development chapter, with minor set up, as you might expect the next chapter will be a bit more meaty.

Also before people whine, the pairing is still undecided. I have ideas, but nothing set in stone. I'm going to let the story develop naturally and decide what makes sense. I've found I prefer it that way as opposed to contorting and twisting the story so it includes the pairing I want.

That said, I hope people did enjoy the story and continue to read.

Please leave a review, comment etc. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to PM me, I'm usually good at answering them.

Also I am on a discord with a load of other writers, so if you fancy popping over to ask questions or offer suggestions about this story, or any of my other ones, or to find new authors you might not have come across yet, please feel free to use the link in my bio or the link at the top of the page.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next year!

Greed720.