A/N: What's up, my dudes? Been a while hasn't it?

Humanity

Mount Justice

October 10, 16:58 EDT

In the days following the Injustice League's attack, I fell under the scrutiny of Dinah for my no longer secret relationship with Kaldur. I was subject to multiple interrogations (How long has this been going on? Why didn't you tell me? How could you not tell me? The list goes on.), only to be rescued by Oliver and Roy, who finally convinced her to get off my back. That didn't stop her from watching my every move during her week as den mother at the Cave though.

I wouldn't say it out loud, but on her last day as den mother, I was internally rejoicing. Not being able to kiss my boyfriend for a week was getting on my nerves. Luckily, the vast amount of sparring we had been doing helped me vent. Today, I was working with Connor on his close contact fighting.

"Remember, stay light on your feet. You like to ground yourself a lot, but in close contact, you can't linger too much in one place. You have to constantly be on the move." I reminded him. He nodded and got into a fighting stance, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet, ready for my move. I swung at him heavily, but he dodged it easily. He stepped forward, sending several short jabs my way. Most of them I blocked, but a few made contact. He was fast, that was for sure. He pushed me back to the edge of the training platform, almost making me collide with the chair that Wally was sitting in. I evaded his last jab, ducking under his arm to expose his back. I raised my foot and shoved it into the small of his back, sending him to the ground.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. But as piece of advice, I would avoid putting someone like me in a corner like that. Experienced fighters will tend to use a corner to their own advantage." I offered a hand and helped Connor stand, "Your footwork was way better that time though. Nice adjustment."

He smiled, "I have a good teacher."

I smiled back up at him gratefully. Connor was becoming a great friend of mine over the course of our time on the Team. It was hard to believe that only three months ago he was nothing more than a science project.

"Good work, everyone!" Canary called out to the six of us who were able to fight, "In fact, it's been a very productive week."

"Yeah, for everyone except Kid Malingerer." Artemis nodded toward Wally who was still lounging in his chair, a glass of pineapple juice in his hand.

"Hey! Arm broken in combat against the Injustice League here!" He pointed to his broken arm. Behind us, Canary laughed softly.

"I've really enjoyed being your den mother this week."

"It's been great having you around for the week." I stated, "Everyone's improved. Except... you know... Wally."

Everyone but the redhead laughed.

"That's just mean, Kara." He pouted.

"Recognized: Zatara, one-one." Zatara emerged from a zeta tube and immediately went to working typing away at a holopad.

"Access granted. Zatanna Zatara, A-zero-three. Authorization: Zatara, one-one."

A girl about Robin's age stepped into the Cave quietly. She looked uncertain at first, but her expression lightened when she saw me.

"Glad you could make it, Z." I smiled and went to hug her.

"Oh my god, Kara! I haven't seen you in months! It's so good to see you." She replied, returning my hug.

"Team, this is my daughter, Zatanna." Zatara explained to the others. I released her and we faced the Team together. M'gann flew over to introduce herself, but was cut off by Robin.

"I- I'm Robin. Uh," He turned to face everyone else, "And that's Megan, Wally, Artemis, Kaldur and Connor."

"Welcome to the Cave." Kaldur said.

"Thanks." Zatanna replied shyly.

"So, uh, a-are you joining the Team?" Rob asked, a bit too excitedly. The thought, 'Oh, he's got it bad,' echoed in my mind.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Zatara cut in, "This is strictly a visit."

The sorcerer turned to my mentor, "Though I am sorry we missed the training-"

"Does anyone else get the idea that we're still on probation with Zatara?" M'gann asked, establishing a psychic link.

"Not just Zatara. I mean, why is Marvel still hanging around?" Connor asked.

"Because we like having him around." Wally pointed out, an almost smug look on his face.

"You like having him around because he waits on you hand and foot." Artemis shot back.

"And your point is?"

"I have to admit, I miss RT. At least we had some freedom when he was our supervisor." I interjected, "He trusted us."

"Yeah, but that doesn't excuse the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him. He was a traitor! That machine nearly got M-, all of us killed!" Connor argued.

"Are you guys having a psychic conversation?" Shit. Zatanna. We all looked over at her in shock, BC and Zatara included.

"'Cause I don't know if that's cool, or really rude." The two Leaguers stared at us, before I finally caved. Canary's 'mom glare' is my one true weakness.

"Alright. We were talking about Red Tornado. The League hasn't told us anything about their search since he went missing. We deserve to know what's going on."

"The League is still searching for Tornado along with the other androids who attacked the Cave and their creator, T.O. Morrow. Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority." Canary tried to assure us. It didn't work.

"But you've found none of the above." Robin pointed out.

"Not yet. But Tornado is Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. The Team is not to pursue this." Canary snapped, her eyes drifting to me. I was infamous for finding loopholes in my superiors' orders, something I picked up from Roy.

"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a tour of the Cave?" Zatara suggested. We all turned to Zatanna, finding her snuggling with Wolf, who leapt up when he saw Captain Marvel return with a plate of nachos.

"You guys are giving a tour?" Marvel asked excitedly, "Cool!"

"Actually, I was hoping you could take Wolf outside. He needs the exercise, we'll join you in a few." Connor suggested to get Marvel off our backs. It worked.

"Sure, sure! I can do that, come on, Wolf!" Marvel took off with both Wolf and Wally's nachos.

"Wha- my nachos!" The speedster cried. Connor grabbed the collar of his shirt and tugged him toward the group as we began to make our way to the hangar. Zatanna walked next to me and after a few moments, as I linked hands with Kaldur, I heard her mutter a clothing spell, changing her outfit from the modest attire she had on to something more comfortable.

She jogged toward the front of the group to speak with Kaldur, catching Robin's attention on the way.

"We're not really taking a tour, are we?"

"No. We're hunting down that robot." Connor answered for Kaldur.

"Yes, we are." He agreed.

"Oh, out loud and everything." Zatanna replied.

"What about new girl?" Artemis asked, jabbing a thumb at Zatanna.

"I'm sure she won't tell." Robin argued.

"I can't tell. Not if you kidnap me." A mischievous glint appeared in her light blue eyes. Artemis and I both smirked.

"She'll fit in just fine." I commented.

We were able to board the Bioship without any problem, but shortly after we left the hangar, Dinah called us.

"M'gann, the Bioship wasn't cleared to take off."

"We're kidnapping Zatanna!" She caught herself just in time, "To show her Happy Harbor."

"We won't be gone long, BC." I assured my mentor, my voice steady and relaxed as I lied through my teeth. There was a brief pause before a reply.

"Uh, roger that. Have fun."

"Okay, we have maybe 12 hours tops before Zatara sends a search party for us," I said as soon as BC was offline, "So, Boy Wonder, where do we start?"

Robin thought for a moment before giving an answer, "Well, Batman is the greatest detective in the world, and he's searched in every logical place. So we're gonna need an illogical plan to start. You know... a truly dumb idea."

The two of us dramatically turned to look at Wally. Everyone else followed our example, waiting to hear what Wally's 'truly dumb idea' was.

Wally crossed his arms over his chest and put on a proud face, "As a matter of fact, I do have an idea. Let's go to Belle Reve."

"Why would we need to go there?" Connor questioned.

"Because Ivo's there." Wally shrugged. I smiled as I realized what his plan was.

"He's smarter than he looks, guys. Seriously."

Belle Reve

October 10, 18:32 CDT

I readjusted my mask as I walked beside Hugo Strange through the halls of Belle Reve Penitentiary.

"Thanks again for allowing this, Warden Strange." I thanked Strange as the Team approached the interrogation room where Ivo was being held.

"It's no trouble at all, Wildcat. Although I must ask that you restrict your time to no more than five minutes. For the safety of our inmate, of course." Strange glanced over at Connor briefly.

I nodded, "I understand completely."

Strange opened the door to Ivo's interrogation room, allowing the eight of us to file in. Ivo sat chained to a small table, his hands folded, no expression clear on his face.

"This isn't a standard interrogation, we're on a schedule. Let me take the lead on this." I said quietly, before stepping forward to stand in front of Ivo. I silently set my hands on the table, allowing me to look down on Ivo.

"Long time no see, Anthony. I don't have long, so let's make this quick. We need your help." I started in a calm, quiet voice. Ivo looked up at me in question.

"We're looking for T.O. Morrow. Where is he?"

"Why would I know where Morrow is?" He asked smartly. I grabbed the collar of his prison orange and hoisted him onto the table.

"Because you and Morrow have been competing for the top spot in the android game for years. So the real question is, why wouldn't you know where he is?" I growled.

A snarky grin formed on Ivo's face, "Fair point. But why should I tell you where he is? I have nothing to gain from sharing that information with you."

"He knows," Kaldur deduced before turning to M'gann, "Do what you must."

"No." I stopped M'gann as soon as she received the order from Kaldur, "Zatanna."

Z stepped forward and focused her gaze on Ivo. I released him and he slunk back into his chair.

"It won't be the first time I've faced a telepath." He snorted.

"She's not a telepath." I shot back. Zatanna set one hand on the table before speaking.

"Trulb tuo S'worrom eurt noitacol!"

"Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath Yellowstone National Park, one hundred meters south of Old Faithful." Ivo clapped his hands over his mouth as soon as he finished speaking. Everyone else had also been stunned into silence, with the exception of myself and Z.

Ivo sputtered, trying to get an explanation as to what we had just done, but I ushered everyone out of the room without a word, hoping to get to Yellowstone as soon as possible. Once we were on the Bioship, I leaned back in my seat, casually setting my feet up on the ship's dash.

"Block out all external communication. Soon, Canary, Batman too, I imagine, will know of our visit with Professor Ivo." Kaldur said as he sat beside me. I pulled my mask off and removed the comm from my ear, setting it in a compartment in my belt.

"Look, I'm trying to be all nonchalant here." Robin had turned to Zatanna, and was no doubt trying to question her about her powers.

"Why? Be as chalant as you like." Z flirted back, making a dopey grin appear on the Boy Wonder's face.

"I think we're just trying to get a handle on your powers." Artemis spoke for him, "Could you teleport us to Tornado? Or Morrow to a cell, or force his bots to surrender?"

"Or create peace on earth for all time?" Z replied, "Zatara couldn't even do that and I'm nowhere near my dad's level. I need to know a spell cold or at least have time to prep it. Plus all magic requires energy which usually comes from within; I can't just make the impossible happen at will."

"How did your dad describe it to me, Z? Magic is only magic if it's used in an attempt to accomplish the impossible?" I asked her with a grin as I slid my mask back over my face.

She smiled slyly at me, "Something like that."

I started to laugh, but Connor cut me off with a growl.

"What's our ETA to Yellowstone? I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor."

"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Kaldur asked calmly.

"Aren't you?" Connor shot back.

"I am not convinced. And even so, that makes him but the victim of his creator's programming." Kaldur replied, "Certainly, he deserves a chance to prove he's more than the weapon others designed him to be."

Connor looked away, his fists tightening slightly as he did so. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he knew Kaldur was right.

We landed in Yellowstone a few minutes later. Everyone switched to stealth mode, and left the Bioship, but Kaldur and I stopped Zatanna at the ramp.

"I suggest you remain behind." Kaldur told her.

"Is that an order?"

"Of course not." I replied for Kaldur, "But remember that when you go out there, you're not training anymore."

She gave me a nod, "Good. I've been looking forward to this. Emit ot yrt tuo eht wen kool!"

Her outfit changed once again, this time to a uniform similar to her father's.

"Very nice." I smirked under my mask before leading both Zatanna and Kaldur off the Bioship.

We met up with everyone, and took off toward Old Faithful.

As we approached the geyser, I could feel the wind pick up and the earth beneath me shake ever so slightly. If I was a normal civilian, I would have simply disregarded both as being nothing more than a front moving in and the geyser preparing to erupt. But I was anything but normal. The wind became stronger the deeper into the park we got until it stopped us before what appeared to be a small mountain. We stopped while Robin scanned for a compound under the mountain.

"Ivo was right. There's definitely something down there." The Boy Wonder concluded. We began to push toward the mountain again, but were held off by several strong gales of wind. I looked up in the direction of the gales' origin and sure enough, there he was.

Rising slowly above the peak was none other than Red Tornado. The robot carried himself toward us aboard a red cyclone, which for whatever reason, suddenly made him much more intimidating than I remembered him being. With a simple raising of his hand, a wall of red cyclones surrounded us on all sides.

"Why, Tornado?" M'gann shouted up at him, "Why are you doing this?"

Then I saw it. Just behind him, carved into the earth, were the words 'Play Dead'. He was trying to save us.

"Message received." M'gann telepathically confirmed with all of us. With a small nod, Connor glared up at Red.

"Who cares why? Nail him!" He and I charged toward RT.

"Superboy, Maneuver 7!" I called out over the screaming winds. The clone surged ahead of me before turning on his heels and lacing his hands together. He leaned down as I approached, stepping into his cupped hands and lifted me upward toward Tornado. Good idea, right? No. Very much no. I ended up with a metallic fist in my face which resulted in a collision with Connor back on the ground. I could have bounced back up no problem (except, of course, the surging pain in my jaw) but we were going ahead with RT's plan. Connor and I remained sprawled out on the ground, pretending to have been struck so hard that it actually killed us.

One by one I heard the others 'fall' around me until we were all 'finished off'. The earth began to shake again. And then I heard a new voice. Deeper, more metallic than Tornado's and definitely not T.O. Morrow's.

"Quite a performance, brother. But we both know that's all it was. I have all your memories, Tornado, plus a next-gen processor. I know your next move before you do." Another Red robot? Seriously? How many did Morrow make?

"Blowing a message into the sand?" The new Red asked almost carelessly, as he lifted the slab of stone bearing the message into the air with a wave of his robotic hand. We all began to stand ourselves back up and amid the dust and wind, I was able to see this fourth Red robot. He was bulkier than the others, made of a darker red metal, but between his body plates, a stream of bright red light coursed through him like lava flowing down from a volcano. He hurled the stone toward us, but thanks to Kaldur and Connor, we were able to avoid being crushed.

"Zatanna?" Robin asked, concerned for his new crush's safety.

"I'm good. But Red Tornado's getting away!" We all looked up to see the robot flying away from the fight.

"Is he abandoning us?" Artemis shouted psychically as she notched an arrow in the direction of our Red Volcano friend.

"I don't believe that!" M'gann called back. Bless her heart, she was so optimistic. As she and Connor launched toward Volcano, I made my way to the stone pillar where the robot was standing. I pulled a charge from my belt, armed it and set it on the pillar before taking cover from the shrapnel that would follow the detonation. A large pair of rock hands extended from the ground slamming into Superboy and M'gann, causing them to crumple to the ground below. I looked around to see everyone else worn out, exhausted. We couldn't beat this thing. Hell, we couldn't even run it down.

I activated the charge and sent Red Volcano falling downward. Artemis loosed an arrow aimed at Volcano's head, but he caught it just inches before it struck him.

"Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allows me to anticipate your every move."

"Ekoms emoceb a dolbdnilb!" A wisp of black smoke wrapped around Volcano's eyes, catching him by surprise. I grinned lightly under my mask.

"Tornado never knew my moves." She smirked.

"And I bet you have some good ones." Robin grinned goofily at her, but it fell to a look of embarrassment when he realized what he had just said, "Sorry. That may have come off too Wally."

Z gave him a small giggle, "I don't mind."

"It's adorable what you two are doing." I cut in, "Really it is. But we're kinda in the middle of something right now."

Volcano tore through the smoke blindfold, his eyes flashing bright red. The ground beneath us shook as magma rushed down the sides of the mountain.

"Uh, guys." Wally's voice rang through my mind, "He's activating a Stage 2 eruption. If it gets to Stage 3, we can kiss the hemisphere goodbye."

"Hit him from all sides." Kaldur ordered.

"I've got an idea! Kid Flash, get ready." Zatanna set a hand on KF's shoulder as he got into a runner's set position, "Ekoms dna srorrim, etaerc Dik Hsalf snoisulli!"

Multiple Wally appeared in puffs of smoke and began to run toward Volcano.

"I use a scaled-down version whenever I want to sneak out of the house." Z explained. Volcano destroyed the false speedsters quickly before grabbing Wally by the throat. But before he could crush the speedsters windpipe, a rush of water struck the Red in the chest sending him barreling into a nearby pool of lava, dropping Wally as he fell.

"Nice hit!" Robin and I looked to Kaldur, who had a confused look on his face.

"The hit was not mine." He looked around for the source of the wave, surprise on his face when he found the origin. I followed his gaze and my jaw dropped. It was one of the Reds that attacked us in the Cave. A second wave of water rose behind him, lifting him into the air. He sent another rush of water at Red Volcano, keeping him from moving out of the lava pool. Above him, balls of fire flew from the hands of the second Red that attacked us. And to top it all off, Red Tornado flew in to save the day.

The three Reds converged on Volcano.

"Sister! Brothers! Stop this!" Volcano was shocked as the trio submerged him under the surface of molten rock, Tornado on his chest, the other two pulling Volcano under. A few moments passed before the ground began to shake again. Tornado began to sink beneath the surface, his metal body beginning to melt.

"Superboy! Grab Tornado!" Kaldur called out to the clone. Connor nodded and leapt over to the side of the mountain. Jumping over the lava pool, he grabbed Red with one hand, pulling him from the pool and setting him on the ground in front of us. His legs were almost gone, his cape burned halfway through. My guess was that his voice box was turned off because he remained silent the entire time, even when the mountain began to erupt in a cloud of ash and smoke.

"Tornado! Red Volcano has activated a Stage 3 super volcano eruption; it can't be reversed now. We need to vent the pressure building up in the mountain now! But the ash cloud will bring on a worldwide nuclear winter unless you divert it!" Wally went full-on science geek, instructing RT on how to save humanity; 'cause let's be honest, the human race would be destroyed, not the planet.

"Triangulate around the pressure locus!" Wally shouted toward Rob, how pulled a map of the mountain up on his wrist comm. He located the points in record time.

"There, there, and there!" Artemis nodded pulling a flare arrow from her quiver and loosing it with unrivaled accuracy. The three flares hit their exact targets, releasing a massive cloud of black volcanic ash into the sky.

"RT, now!" I yelled. Red lifted himself up into the air, far above the ash cloud and out of sight. Tense moments passed as Tornado funneled the ash and smoke into the upper atmosphere. Once the cloud had vanished, the magma spilling from the mountain began to cool and solidify. Wally pumped his fist in the air.

"Yes!"

Red Tornado began descend toward us on a red cyclone, but about ten feet from the ground, the cyclone disappeared, causing him to crash to the ground.

In Morrow's lab, we set RT onto a lab table and stepped back to let Robin and Wally work on repairing him. While they worked, I stepped away, glancing at the various blueprints that lined the walls. Morrow was truly a brilliant mind, it was a shame that it was an evil mind too.

"That should do it."

"Yes. I can speak again." Red's familiar voice echoed through the compound.

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the planet." Kaldur spoke with admiration in his voice.

"The planet would have survived. It was humanity that was saved. Though not by me. My brother and sister are the true heroes this day." Red replied humbly.

"My point is this: you were never the mole. Never a traitor." Kaldur set a hand on RT's metallic shoulder.

"No. I left to protect you from further attack and to find my creator, Morrow."

"Cool." Wally called out, holding a large robotic hand that he had found, "Souvenir."

"Reddy, we can rebuild you. Better than you were before." Robin offered with a smile, but RT turned his head away.

"I do not believe I should be repaired."

"Why did you volunteer to be our den mother anyway?" Connor asked, arms crossed over his chest, a soft glare on his face.

"I was the pragmatic choice. I do not require sleep. I have no secret identity or second life to live."

"But you do have some of the most advanced A.I. programming in the world. You were designed to learn, adapt and evolve." I added, smiling kindly under my mask.

"Hello, Megan. You wanted to be more human." M'gann grinned.

"And you couldn't do that with the League. They're stiffs." Artemis laughed lightly.

"You're definitely not gonna learn emotion from Batman." Rob gave a half-hearted chuckle, as though he knew his mentor was watching him, "Trust me."

"Then the Cave was not only a proving ground for us, but for you as well." Kaldur concluded.

"I do not know if these statements are accurate. But perhaps... they are true. And if I understand the term correctly, I have come to... care for all of you." My gaze softened at the Leaguer. And from what I saw, so did Connor's.

"See? Practically a meat bag already." He said with a small smile.