A/N
Please feel free to review with any criticisms or to ask anthing you want answered.
Sorry for the massive wait! I'm 99% certain I can now regularly upload this for you guys, so please try and forgive me.
"If you are going through hell, keep going."
- Winston Churchill
Episode I: Moving Mountains, Part II
Boots clattering on the cold, hard ground inside of Mount Justice, Robin moves alongside his mentor with his eyes falling upon the familiar rooms. The gym, forever painted with several holes in the wall, a reminder left by Superboy of a time when he was an enraged time-bomb which little to no inhibitions against outbursts of fury. Everything feels so normal, yet abnormal.
Kyle used to joke about how Conner wasn't even one year old and had the hormone problems of a pregnant woman.
Now, there's no more jokes, no more joy- the place almost feels empty despite it being occupied by the members of the team.
At least they haven't visibly changed much: Superboy with his permanent frown, Wally with his welcoming smile, M'gann with her constant curiosity, and finally Artemis, whose face seems to be torn between moody teenager and light hearted kid very often.
"I need to do something," he mutters to the tall and muscular figure of the Batman, who doesn't give an inkling on whether he gives his consent, but doesn't refuse either.
Leaving his mentor's shadow- quite literally- he hurries off towards their rooms, passing what once belonged to Kaldur along the way.
Just the thought of the traitor sends a chilling amount of morbid excitement down his spine, and for a second, he wonders if this is what Bruce feels whenever he's on the verge of breaking the code.
To be honest, he doesn't know whether he could trust himself- or anyone else in the team- to not kill Kaldur upon meeting him, and that truly unsettles him more than any feeling of regret or sadness.
Without knowing it, his feet halt at the door to Kyle's room, the picture he drew of the entire team still stuck to the entrance.
Conveying his childish humour, he drew a picture of the entire team of children, with him standing in the middle doing the Superman pose. Kyle always did have an interesting way of expressing his fondness of the team, and this was one of those ways.
We're all going to miss you, Robin thinks, opening the door to find the usual amalgamation of strewn, unfinished drawings and empty chocolate packets lying next to the bin where he tried- and usually failed- to throw them into it. He was an untidy person, that's for sure, but they loved him for it.
Whilst everyone would be anxious for an upcoming mission, he'd be lay across the couch watching a show with a bowl of snacks without a care in the world. When times got tough, he was the one to pull the team together using sharp wit and crude jokes.
No matter what, he's still here in his eyes, running around the hallways with Wally, Conner rushing after them because they played a prank on him.
This is what Batman always talked about.
There is no happy ending for people like them, only the long and hard grind for peace and justice- it might never end, but that's the risk they must take.
Hand reaching into his utility belt, he grasps a piece of paper out of a pouch, and brings it out.
Scribbled inside is a note left by Kyle.
It reads, 'It's YJ or the highway. Always remember.'
He gave it to Robin just before the team and the Justice League faced off against the Light and Project Solar Dawn, as a reminder nothing could stop them when they're together.
Gently placing it onto the former Green Lantern's bed, he leaves the room and swiftly returns to the centre of the mountain, Wally shooting him a supportive smile.
Everyone is there with their mentors by their side, so he does the poetic thing and stands next to his.
Bruce drapes his cape so that it rests behind him, which is the closest thing he ever gets to a hand on the shoulder when they're in their costumes. It's a comforting, albeit minuscule gesture by his adopted father, so he welcomes it.
The original Green Lantern stands by himself, arms crossed and a look on forlorn contemplation on his face.
Green Lantern and the Batman share a momentary glance, before the Lantern coughs and takes a deep and calming breath.
"I know that things haven't been... easy lately, for anybody, and I can definitely understand that," he starts, turning around to face away from the group.
"I've had my fair share of loss, from my father to close friends. But whenever I wanted to sit back and grieve, I came to the conclusion that although one life has been extinguished, the world still goes on. It still needs our help. Because of that fact, we need to rely on you once again."
Taking over from his clearly distraught peer, Batman steps forward, saying, "We haven't heard anything from the Light recently and Lex Luthor had gone underground, which means they are still out there and probably regrouping."
"Now's the time to stand up, and not let them get away with what they've done. He'd want justice."
Artemis, who's head had been glued towards the ground during the entirety of the briefing, speaks up, a fiery determination within her voice.
"What do you need us to do?" she asks, eyes focused and concentrated.
"For now," the Flash answers, "have a sparring session and get limbered up whilst we talk."
A few minutes later, and unsurprisingly, the training session turns south. Considering the majority of them haven't been maintaining their skills outside of the team, Robin thinks it went fairly well, but it was painfully obvious emotions took over logic during the session.
As always, Superboy went on a rampage, and the team is lucky the floor has a fantastic durability considering the amount of time Conner slammed his fists against the ground in frustration.
Halfway into the session- and many bumps and bruises later for the human members of the team- Artemis missed an arrow, which is a rare occurrence for the blonde archer.
All in all, the carefully constructed synchrony built by the team since its inception has undoubtedly taken a downfall, and the Batman hasn't let his thoughts gone unnoticed, as per usual.
Standing in front of the gathered team, the Dark Knight's spine is perfectly straight, showcasing his full height, amplified by the ears of his cowl. If Richard didn't know who was behind the mask, he'd probably be intimidated by the silent presence, and being truthful, he still is slightly.
"Kid Flash," Batman's deep and stern voice calls the speedster, who nervously nods, glancing at Robin.
"How would you describe the team's performance?" Batman questions, though he definitely knows the answer.
Kid Flash almost chokes as he answers, "Uhhh... terrible?"
Batman fixes the speedster with a glare, causing Wally to make a barely noticeable whimper.
"Worse. It was unco-ordinated, sloppy, and I expected better," Batman monotonously criticises the performance, and Dick doubts anyone of them would make a country argument; well, apart from Conner, who would happily argue with the Dark Knight.
Once more, Robin finds himself wondering whether his adopted father cares that they have spent most of their time grieving.
Kyle would have made a quick joke at Batman's expense at this point, which always used to make him inwardly laugh and cringe simultaneously- the Lantern really did know how to turn a dreary situation around.
"We need a few weeks to regain our co-ordination," Robin tells Batman, the members of the team nodding, some more reluctantly than others.
Apparently, Conner isn't interested in waiting and training. Makes sense, as the clone has always been the type of person who wants to get to work from the start.
Batman replies briefly, "We don't have time."
Giving his mentor and father a thorough examination, he comes to the conclusion he's hiding something from them. Usually, he wouldn't pressure Bruce into telling him as the man has a stubbornness only Selina Kyle could ever crack, but he can't afford to place his team on the line without them knowing what's going on.
"No-one on my team is doing anything until you tell us what you're hiding," Richard Grayson states, slamming down his cards onto the table with an air of clear annoyance in his voice.
Silence envelops the team and the Batman, as the Dark Knight's eyes examine his apprentice.
By now, he's used to the constant games of mental poker with Bruce. All of Dick's cards have been placed onto the table, and now Bruce is deciding whether to go all in or fold under the stakes. Normally, the Wayne would go all in and raise the stakes higher, however the young acrobat let's Bruce knows he's serious by returning the ferocious bat glare at his mentor.
In the corner of his eye, Robin can see Kid Flash wincing at the sight of the two glaring at each other with an endless determination.
After a long while, Batman does something unexpected and folds.
"An informant I have within the Light is saying they're planning something big, and I don't know whether it will be happening soon or in the future. We need to be ready," he informs the team, and they nod in unison after sharing brief looks at each other.
Batman leaves for the main computer with his cape swaying with every step, and once he's out of human earshot, Wally zooms up to Robin and grabs him by the shoulders.
"Dude! You are awesome!" he compliments his younger friend, hitting him with a friendly slap on the back.
"Robin," M'gann's soft voice mumbles.
"Yeah."
"You called us your team," she says with everyone staring at him expectedly.
With Kaldur being a traitor, and him having what he would describe as the most experience, it would only seem natural for him to assume the leadership role temporarily.
"Sorry," he apologises, but Artemis shakes her head.
"No, Robin, I think I speak for all of us when I believe you should be our leader," the archer speaks.
"Then, I'd be honoured to lead."
Sat patiently at the breakfast table inside of the Justice League watchtower, Shazam returns the various smiles and nods sent his way by the members of the League, both old and new.
Whilst in his magical form, he doesn't really need to eat to sustain himself, but he can't resist Hawkwoman's homemade pasta; she's seated opposite him, observing earnestly.
"Well, aren't you going to eat it?" she asks, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Without a word, he starts to fiddle with the food, taking a few small chucks out of the bowl. Usually, he would jump around the entire world for a chance to eat this dish, however the Young Justice team being reinstated has put a serious dampener on his otherwise spectacular day.
When a superhero stops a bus from crashing, and prevents a bank being robbed, it's normally a sign of a quiet and relaxed day. Being a member of the Justice League entails massive amounts of top tier threats to the planet, so it's nice to go back down to the hometown and have some fun crime stopping.
"Do you think they're alright?" Shazam asks in between mouthfuls of the pasta.
"Maybe you should go and see, after you tell me how good it is," she responds, and motions for the newly entered Wonder Woman to sit down with them.
"How are you today, Shazam?" the Amazon greets him, taking a much more cordial tone than she would with anyone else, more than likely because she- along with several members of the League- know he's just a kid inside of a man's body.
"He's fussing over the team again," Hawkwoman answers for him, and Wonder Woman nods knowingly.
"We all are," the princess attempts to console the hero, giving him a comforting rub on his hand.
"I heard that Hal isn't taking it very well," Hawkwoman comments.
"He's irritated that Batman would push the team to come back before they are ready, and I understand his concern, but... too long, and we might just lose them forever. The team needs to be our hidden weapon again, lest the Light succeed in their mission to destroy the next generation of heroes," Diana explains to the two, an unusual downtrodden expression on her face. "I wish times weren't this desperate, however, they are."
"Things never seem to get better, do they?" Hawkwoman sighs.
"It will, I promise," Shazam chirps up with an unanticipated burst of hopefulness. "One day, every single sacrifice we've made, and every victory we've won, will add up. One day... people are going to be happy."
A thoughtful silence follows Shazam's brief vision of the future. A major part inside of him believes what he's saying, and for the first time, it isn't Achilles talking. Billy Batson knows that the world is going to be safe, it just needs a bit more sacrifice and hard work to get there.
"You should get going, Shazam," Diana breaks the silence.
Hawkwoman takes the bowl away from him just as he was beginning to enjoy the taste, to which he almost growls and snatches it back. "I guess it's as good as usual."
Standing up with a victorious smile on his face, a hand from Diana grabs his forearm.
"We'll take care of them, Billy," she says, letting his arm go and flashing him a friendly smile.
Entering the mountain through the zeta-tube and in a more jovial mood than at the beginning of the day, Billy heads straight for the recreation room, where the television is- Miss Martian and Superboy love to hang around that area, from his personal experience. Though, that does include the time Superboy broke the TV after a joke he made towards the clone.
The good times- it's a shame I don't have the power to turn back time.
Seeing as though no-one is there, the hero dashes for the main area, once more finding it devoid of people.
"Where could they be?" he asks himself, placing his hands on his hips in thought.
"Where would anyone who lost someone close to them be," Solomon speaks to him from within his own mind, providing much needed words of wisdom as usual.
"The hologram room," he answers the mental question, inwardly thanking the ancient philosopher.
Wasting no time, he utilises his super speed, skidding to a halt at the entrance to the memorial.
Coughing away the nerves creeping up his throat, he enters.
They turn to look at him briefly as he enters, though none question his presence, each returning to their watchful gaze upon the holographic picture of their fallen peer.
Stood there with one hand on his hip and the other proudly showing off his Green Lantern ring, it appears as though the boy never left them, his cheery demeanour soaking into the atmosphere even after his passing.
However, the moment doesn't last too long, as Robin finally talks to him.
"Nice to see you," the boy wonder greets him, a faint smile on his youthful face.
Even though it isn't exactly the most joyful of smiles, a deep section of Billy's heart is thankful the circumstances haven't yet poisoned him into becoming a mirror image of the Batman.
"It's good to see you too... all of you," Shazam returns the greeting, moving to gain a better view of the hologram.
He comments, "His smile was the key, you know. No matter how bad their day had been, his smile alone could make anyone's day better. It was the key to finally getting some peace in this world."
"Now it's lost," Miss Martian inputs, struggling to hold back the tears.
Interestingly, Superboy places his arm around the Martian to comfort her, his eyes entirely focused on the still electronic form of the lantern.
"I don't think so," Shazam states.
Kid Flash's face conveys his confusion, but it wasn't until he inquired about what he meant that it was certain.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," the magical being begins, "that smile... it doesn't have to end with him... let's do right by him and honour his sacrifice by carrying on and not giving up."
The team visibly takes in his words individually: Kid Flash and Robin seem thoughtful, Miss Martian and Artemis are forlorn, and Superboy simply seems annoyed. Perhaps more annoyed at himself as per usual, but Billy- well, Solomon- does notice those circumstances, and this isn't one of them.
"When are we getting out there?" the Kryptonian clone asks through gritted teeth and a tense jaw.
Just as he was about the respond, Shazam's League communicator begins to buzz.
"Yep," he answers through the comm.
"Tell the team to meet me in the centre for a briefing," Batman commands in response, with his normal sense of authority.
"Uhhh... now," he shrugs apologetically. "Come on, guys."
A/N
Question Time!
1) Rating out of ten, and why, if you can.
2) Any criticisms?
3) Thoughts on the Wonder Woman film?