Hey guys! I know it's been a while, but hopefully this was worth the long wait. I'm currently the majority of the way through my midterms, I've just got Bio on Monday. I've actually had this chapter sitting around for a few weeks now, but I just couldn't find the time to edit it. Editing takes up a good chunk of the time it takes me to put out a chapter, mostly because I don't have a Beta reading these over (which is why they have so many typos, let me know if you see those and I'll go back and fix them) so I try to be really thorough during the editing process to make up for it. I like to let it sit for like twenty-four hours and then come back to it so I have a fresh brain, and I've wound up rewriting entire scenes that way. That process plus the actual initial writing probably takes me anywhere from eight to sixteen hours to finish a chapter, partly because I pretty much flat out refuse to put out anything under 7000 words unless it's a double-upload. Anyway, there's nothing I hold nearer and dearer to my heart than procrastinating, so I expect I'll have a new chapter up pretty soon as I desperately avoid studying under the pretense of attending to other responsibilities. Responses to reviews are at the end! Go read them, even if you didn't review because I leave really interesting tidbits there.


MOUNT JUSTICE

October 1, 18:11 EST


Leaned against the walls of the mission room, grape sucker dangling from my fingers, I had one eye on the spar happening between Rob and Kaldur and the other on our current chaperones. Captain Marvel was watching the spar, munching on what was either a protein or chocolate bar with vacant-eyed satisfaction. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Zatara was watching the boys with his arms crossed, taking them in like he was sizing up an opponent. The light of the ring lit up their faces in a way that was strangely reminiscent of the glow of a television in a dark room. It was a quiet evening, and I was trying to crack the meaning behind Zatara's tight expression when the boy's spar drew to a close.

The lights came down, and they regarded each other with the kind of affectionate camaraderie that spars generate. I ditched my position against the wall just as Connor and M'gann walked into the room, Wolf at their side. Their mouths were curved into soft smiles, eyes warm, looking for all the world like they were head over heels in love. Rob scooted closer to Kaldur and I, drawing a hand up to his face, "you know they're a couple, right?"

I nodded, suddenly curious, and Kaldur smiled down at us, "I believe I knew before they did." He turned back to them with no shortage of fondness, a wistful expression on his face. I thought again of the mysterious Tula, who apparently had one hand wrapped around Kaldur's heart at all times.

The squeak of sneakers on flooring had the three of us doing a one-eighty, Artemis and Wally emerging from the other entrance to the room. They seemed to be walking in comfortable silence, a sense of ease worked into the way they held themselves. Rob's voice was sarcastic, "do we tell them?"

Kaldur seemed to be a second from a laugh, "it is not our place."

I rolled my eyes, "maybe they need someone to hit them over the heads with it."

"Who needs to be hit over the head?" Artemis asked, hands slipping into her pockets.

"Rob's idiot friends," I said as smoothly as possible, cursing her good hearing, "they make disparaging comments about women, I was suggesting we hit them over the head with a book of etiquette."

"And you're a real paragon of etiquette," Dick drawled, catching on immediately.

"Hey! I know it all, Cat made sure of that. I just choose not to adhere to any of it."

Wally shook his head, pointing to the adults, "so if Zatara's our babysitter of the week, why is he still here? And why is he eating my snacks?!"

Before I could make a snarky comment, Glados' voice rang out, the Zeta Port to the left glowing with someone's arrival, "recognized, Batman 0-2."

I was caught between a wince and excitement, if Bruce was making an impromptu visit, that meant shit was going down. Which meant a mission, but also that something very, very bad was currently underway. I felt the rest of the team tense up too, and as Bruce strode in we braced for impact.

His voice was grave, "computer, national news."

A GBS feed popped up in a hologram, Cat Grant's ridiculously perky voice floating from the screen, "the initial attack was short-lived," the camera cut away from her standing in front of a wall to footage of what looked to be giant-ass plants growing in the middle of Metropolis city. "But Metropolis was only granted a short reprieve." More footage of Clark swooping down to rescue civilians from the roof of a skyscraper as the plant wrapped its tendrils around it, crushing the concrete and steel with chilling ease. "And despite the intervention of Superman and the Justice League, there seems to be no end in sight."

She stopped talking, the footage cutting to the Eagles and Green Lantern hacking away at the plant. Rob was the first to speak, "should we get out there?"

The hologram disappeared, and Bats turned to face us, "no. The League will soon have the situation under control, that's not why I'm here. According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus Blockbuster formula to Kobra."

"Who combined it with Bane's Venom to create Kobra Venom," Wally said.

"Which The Brain used to create his animal army," Rob continued, furthering the rabbit hole I was falling down.

"And upgrade Wolf," Superboy added, rubbing the aforementioned animal under the chin fondly.

"The Brain also used inhibitor collars," M'gann threw in, "like the ones at Belle Reve Penitentiary."

"Batman," Artemis said, voice cautious, "is it possible that plant thingy is on Kobra Venom too?"

"I had Green Lantern run a spot analysis," he said, hand waving in the air to materialize a hologram keyboard, "the vine's cellulose does contain trace amounts of a Kobra Venom variant."

"These cannot be coincidences," Kaldur said as Rob pulled up his own keyboard, already tapping away, "unrelated criminals are cooperating with one another worldwide."

"Exactly," Bats said, "it's now clear our enemies have formed some kind of… secret society of supervillains. The attack on Metropolis is only the beginning."

My blood chilled, mind flashing back to my latest evening with Tommy as Rob spoke tersely, "you got that right," he pulled up photos of different plants, a new picture popping into existence every second, "plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, Star City, Taipei-"

He was cut off by the pictures turning into sudden static, the harsh buzzing of it filling the room. Wally stared at Rob, baffled, "dude-"

"It's not me!" Rob said, fingers speeding up as he tapped away at the keyboard like he would a piano, "someone's cutting the satellite signal, all satellite signals!"

The static came into horrifying focus as the Joker's face popped up. I jumped backwards, memories of a water tank, a crowbar dripping in blood and the feeling of his breath hot in my ear flooded my head as he stared down the camera. M'gann, seemingly sensing my distress, reached out and smoothed a psychic hand over my mind like someone would stroke someone else's hair.

Joker knocked two fingers against the camera, the sound of it echoing in the silent room. It sounded almost hollow, like when you knocked on the screen of an old-fashioned CRT TV. He spoke in a raspy voice, "ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this-" his hand flew up, the pocket knife he was holding unfolding with a soft snick, "important announcement." He turned the camera, the frame leaving him to settle on Wotan, Atomic Skull, Count Vertigo, Black Adam, Poison Ivy, and Ultra-Humanite. Joker's voice played over them, "from the Injustice League."

"Original," I muttered, unable to keep the shakiness out of my voice as Joker's laugh sent a chill down my spine.

"We are responsible for the attacks on your cities," Count Vertigo said, "if you wish to save them, a ransom of ten billion American dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations, there is no time limit. But, the longer your governments wait…"

Joker's hand stretched across the frame, swinging the camera back to himself, "the more we get to have our… jollies."

He laughed again, the screen fading back to static. I stared blankly, searching for a quip but I came up short. I just felt shaky all over, Joker's maniacal laugh filling my head again and again.

Bats' fingers drifted up to his comm, "roger that Aquaman, the UN will prepare the ransom as a fallback. But it won't come to that."

Robin typed away, rewinding the video, "Count Vertigo, The Joker, Poison Ivy, Ultra-Humanite, Atomic-Skull, Black Adam, Wotan, seven heavy-hitters. Probably behind nearly everything and everyone we faced."

My mind was going a mile a minute, trying to factor in Cadmus and Santa Prisca and the League of Shadows and Bialya into all of this. I was brought back to that conversation with Tommy again, the grave look on his face as he begged me to stay safe. Wally turned to Rob, "there's your secret society."

"Not so secret anymore," Artemis said confusedly

"Perhaps after India they realized we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer," Kaldur suggested.

"But would we have?" I asked, voice quiet. A hush fell over the room, and my heart jumped into my throat.

"Yeah?" Wally broke the silence, clearly impassioned in an over-the-top way that reminded me vividly of an Ash Ketchum-brand cartoon character, "right now, I say we go kick some plant-creature butt!"

"The Justice League will handle the plants," Batman said, "I have a different job for this team."

"New drinking game," I snarked, "take a shot every time you tell us 'I have a different job for this team'."

"That does not seem like it would produce an enjoyable morning after," Kaldur muttered, and I resisted the urge to give him a high-five.

Bats ignored us, "with the plants attacking so many different locations simultaneously, there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it."

"You realize what you're really asking them to do?" Zatara asked, Italian accent dripping with fatherly concern.

"They're ready," Bruce said simply.

"Ready? Ready for what?" Wally asked stupidly, and Artemis punched him in the shoulder with an annoyed look for the umpteenth time in ten minutes.

"Ow!" he hissed, "will you cut that-"

She rolled her eyes, "hello Wally," M'gann was clearly rubbing off on her, "if the big guns are fighting plants, who do you think we'll be fighting?"

"I don't know!" he said sorely, rubbing his arm, "I guess we'll-" Cutting him off by pointing her finger at the screen, he took in where it was paused on the supervillains. His eyes widened, "ohh."

"Well Batman," Zatara said with slight disbelief, "I trust you're correct."

"I trust you can locate the enemy," Bruce retorted. He almost sounded defensive of us, and I felt a small kernel of pride burn in my chest. Bruce believed in this team.

"Indeed," the magician sounded grave, "Wotan's involvement suggests sorcery is part of how the plants are controlled." Zatara turned to where we were clustered together, "Robin, if you will provide a holomap." Dick pulled up a 3D model of the globe like his life depended on it, and Zatara approached it with outstretched hands, "I'll search for signs of concentrated sorcerous activity." His voice became low and booming as he began to chant, the backwards words seeming to hold power even by themselves as he uttered them. A little red dot flickered, "there. That is where you will find the Injustice League's central control system."

"Coordinates locked in," Rob said, "the Louisiana Bayou."

"We are on our way," Kaldur said with a nod, and we all took that as a sign to go get changed.

Dashing to my bedroom, I located and threw on my uniform with the kind of speed that would have put Wally to shame. Yanking my gloves on as I nudged the door open with my foot, I practically ran out of my room with my mask still clenched between my teeth. The boys were already in the hangar, turning to face me as I entered, fingers busy shaking my braid out. Kaldur's voice was curious, "how do you do that without cutting yourself?"

I paused, hands still in the process of pulling my hair back in my standard high-pony, "I dunno, just got used to the claws I guess."

"She used to cut up her face all the time," Rob said with a grin, "she'd scratch her nose or cheek without realizing her gloves were on and she'd leave these like bleeding scratches. And then she'd get yelled at."

I rolled my eyes, finishing up with the ponytail and tying my mask around my face. Artemis came down the hall a second later, M'gann floating next to her. The Bioship woke, flipping around and expanding from its former egg-shape until it was fully formed. There was no speaking as we ascended the ramp, a tension settling over every single member of the team. Once we lifted off, there was no turning back.

M'gann laid her hands on the Bioship's controls, face grave, "takeoff in five, four, three…"


BAYOU BARTHOLOMEW

October 1, 18:52 CDT


An uneasy silence had fallen over the Bioship in the half-hour we had been flying, a common anxiety drifting around the little cabin like a constant hum. The only noise was Wally was chewing on a banana he had pulled out of god-knows-where, and the soft grating noise of what was basically an industrial nail file as I sat and sharpened my claws. I was watching the back of Dick's head as he fidgeted, and when he counted his birdarangs for the fourth time in ten minutes, Kid broke the silence, "what's in the duffle?"

I followed his gaze to an inconspicuous, army green duffle bag that was tucked underneath Kaldur's chair. I regarded the Atlantean warily, pausing halfway down a claw. His voice was both grave and decisive, "Plan B."

Before I could interrogate him on just what Plan B was, M'gann whimpered in pain, hand flying to her forehead. Connor was the first to speak, plain concern practically dripping from his voice, "you alright?"

"Dizzy," she said quietly, dragging her hand down her face.

"Martians get airsick?" Rob asked.

"She does look a bit greener than usual," Kid pointed out, face drawn in concern.

"Not me," M'gann said, "Her."

Artemis and I exchanged a weird look, speaking at the same time;

"I feel fine."

"I'm good."

"Not her," M'gann said, gesturing between the two of us, "the Bioship. She's trying to shield us but-"

The Bioship started to take a nosedive, going haywire as it plunged downwards. I grabbed onto my seat for dear life as it flipped over, righting itself too low over the river. From the front window I could see two figures as we flew past, one of which was most definitely Count Vertigo. A string of curses flew from my mouth, "fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckshitnofuck!"

A huge force slammed into the bottom of the ship, sending us tumbling through the air in a way that reminded me of the time I had rolled a Maserati across four lanes of traffic on a busy Beijing highway. We hit what felt like water with a shocking amount of force, and a white-hot pain burned down my neck as a muscle in it decided to mutiny. As we finally, finally came to a stop, a thunk from the outside of the ship alerted us to yet more danger as we were tugged deeper into the water.

A large tearing noise came from above, and Black Adam's ridiculously creepy face peered down at us, teeth bared as he tore through the Bioship. M'gann yelped, hands flying to her head, "he's hurting her!"

Connor was out of his chair before any of us could move, driving a fist into Black Adam's jaw. As we rocked back, water started to pour into the cabin and Artemis shook her head as she grabbed a rebreather from her belt, "no. No way I'm nearly drowning three missions in a row."

Dick slipped under the water next to me, and I fumbled for my own rebreather, the roar of the water pounding in my ears. Artemis held one out to the chronically unprepared Wally, and his face softened, "wow. Uh, thanks."

I rolled my eyes, "can you two stop flirting and hurry the hell up?"

As I slipped my rebreather into my mouth, Superboy grabbed M'gann by the shoulder, "We need to get out, open a hatch!"

She slapped herself on the forehead, "hello Megan! Of course."

She swam downwards as the water rose above our heads, opening a hole in the bottom of the Bioship. A mindlink bloomed viciously in between all of us, carrying Kaldur's voice, "out! Everyone out!"

We took turns escaping through the hole, entering the dark water of the Bayou. It didn't take long to surface, and we rose out of the Bayou as a unit, stumbling into a section of the forest only to watch the Bioship get yanked underwater by the thick tendrils of Ivy's plant. "She's in shock," M'gann said, panting, "she'll need time to recover."

A blast of pain knocked me off my feet, alongside everyone else, and Wally's voice filled my ears, "Vertigo!"

"Count Vertigo to you, peasant," the man snarled, and I managed to lift myself up onto my forearms, the splitting pain making tears blur my vision. Superboy rose to tackle him, but Black Adam practically materialized out of nowhere, slamming him back into the ground. The pain was mercifully ceasing, and Kaldur pulled out his waterbearers, sending a wave of water rushing towards Vertigo.

Kaldur's voice flew across the mindlink, "Robin, Catgirl, Miss Martian, disappear. We will keep them busy, you three fulfill the mission objective."

A deep-seated sense of wrong ached in my chest at the thought of abandoning them, but I did as we were told and slipped into the shadows alongside Rob. I couldn't breathe, and I felt too-light, like I hadn't eaten properly all day or something. We were in so far over our heads we might as well be in freaking Atlantis. I felt like a little kid who lost their parent in a grocery store, scared, alone, and desperately wishing for some kind of authority to take over and help. I took a second to lean against a tree trunk, hands laid over my eyes as I breathed. I tried to visualize the blood in my veins being swapped for ice water, retreating as deep into myself as I needed to be to deal with this. There were cities to protect, lives at stake if we didn't complete this mission. The panic subsided with ease, and when I opened my eyes I found M'gann's face hovering in front of me, "that was creepy levels of compartmentalizing."

"I've been practicing my whole life," I said dryly, following Dick as he trudged through the dark, already tapping away at his holo-computer. I could sense his tension through the mindlink, but there wasn't really a constructive way to deal with it at the moment so I watched it fester uneasily. Knowing him, he'd bottle it up and let it build until after the mission was over, opting to let it out in the relative privacy of Wayne Manor.

I sped up a little, coming to walk at his side. He turned slightly towards me, not taking his eyes off the holographic map floating above his arm, "I'm using Zatara's intel to try and pinpoint their location."

Absentmindedly I popped a fresh pill, senses re-expanding as it took effect. The smell of something indescribably awful filled my nose and I wrinkled it, "we're definitely headed in the right direction."

M'gann piped up from my left, "what makes you say that?"

The tiniest of shivers ran down my spine, "that plant, it smells terrible. Like it's rotting."

Her head-voice was bright, "isn't that good? Maybe it's dying."

"No," I said, "that's how Ivy's plants smell. It's not like they're dying rotting, it's like autumn-smell rotting. I can't describe it, but trust me it's distinctive."

"This way," Rob said, taking a sharp turn even further into the underbrush. I swept away the last vestiges of my fear, taking a deep breath and following him further into the dark.


"I've lost contact with Aqualad and the others," M'gann noted, above our heads in camouflage mode as a scout. "Should we-"

Rob cut her off, "sorry, that's not the gig." He drew away a large piece of foliage, revealing what looked to be a giant, dome-shaped greenhouse.

An eerie green light glowed from within it, and I couldn't help a shiver racing down my spine. M'gann's impassioned voice filled my head, "but what if they need us? We can't just abandon the rest of the team."

"That's not what we're doing," I said, attempting to comfort her, "we'll go back for them as soon as we get this place shut down. But until then, it's our mission and Kaldur's orders to do what we came here to do. There are civilians out there who need us, the rest of the team, including Connor, can take care of themselves."

I just barely caught the hint of a blush through her camouflage, "I'm not saying it because of Connor-"

"If my boyfriend was in trouble, I'd be worried about him too," I said, stopping her, "but the boy's like over six feet of pure, bulletproof, super-strong muscle. I think he'll be fine. Try and keep some professionalism about you two, before Bats gives you a lecture on letting personal attachments get in the way of the mission."

She was definitely blushing now, and Rob rolled his eyes, "anyway, this is the Injustice League Central Control System." His voice grew a little smug as he spoke, obviously pleased with himself, "looks like that plant is acting as an antenna to control the other plants worldwide."

A slow rumble came from under our feet, and just as the three of us whipped around, Poison Ivy's drawling voice floated through the air, "well hello there." Giant tendrils exploded out of the ground, wrapping around each of us like boa constrictors. I could barely breathe, kicking fiercely as the plant squeezed my ribs. A loud thump came from where Ivy was standing, and I looked back at her to see Ultra-Humanite standing there with his gun pointed at our heads. Ivy's voice was self-satisfied, "and goodbye."

M'gann's eyes glowed green for a moment, and before I could register what was happening, Ultra-Humanite yanked his gun arm down and fired at the plants holding us.

We didn't waste a second, dashing back towards the dark safety of the forest as soon as we were free. Ivy raised her arms above her head as I darted past her, "sorry Boy Wonder, I'm putting an end to your little reconnaissance mission."

As Dick dodged vines stabbing out at him, I wheeled right back around, "like hell."

As I struck out at her, Ivy took up a smirk, "Catgirl, tell me, how's your mother doing? It's been so long, maybe I should pay her a little visit."

I growled in response, managing to deal her a solid kick in the chest. All her plants exploded at once as M'gann flew back towards us, seemingly done with Ultra-Humanite, "Robin, Catgirl, she's made contact."

"Artemis?" Robin questioned, and we both looked up towards the sky as a loud hum approached. A large, glowing, orange cage floated over and past us.

M'gann's voice was a little smug, "no."

The Bioship materialized out of thin air, slamming into the top of the cage. It dissolved immediately, and we took off running towards the Central Control System as the sound of the rest of the Team starting a fight filled the air. We bypassed the door and headed straight for the roof. Curling an arm around Robin's shoulders, I let him tug us up to where the plant was using his grappling hook. Handing giant stacks of explosives to M'gann and I, the three of us got to work covering every single inch of the plant in them.

Less than a minute later, the plant was entirely dotted with little red explosives. A shout from below prompted me to smack Rob in the shoulder, "hurry up!"

We crouched down as the explosives started to beep, the little red lights switching to green smiley faces as a wave of fire and general air pressure tore through the plant. Standing slowly, we took in the fight below us, Ivy's horrified face the closest thing I could see. Rob crossed his arms, "timber."

I couldn't help a sharp laugh, tempered quickly as Ivy screamed, "no!" She flung her arms out at us, a tangle of vines shooting out from the ground towards the roof. M'gann flew forwards, psychically ripping the plant to shreds.

A sudden beam of light from behind us hit her, and she went spiralling through the air as Robin and I whipped around. The Joker and Atomic-Skull stood there, and clown-face himself spoke raspily, "children. Children foiled our plan?" Another beam came from Atomic-Skull and we ducked as Joker continued to monologue, "inconceivable, unacceptable! Retributionable!" His face screwed up a little, "that last one might not be a word. So sue me."

Rob ran down off the roof to M'gann's side, and I tried to take in the chaos around me. Atomic-Skull sent another beam at us, sending us running. Ultra-Humanite roared at Superboy and Wolf, only for Black Adam to swoop down and grab Connor by the neck and throw him into a tree. Vertigo stalked towards Artemis, forcing her to the mud with his waves, Kid growled out a "leave her alone" before being hit solidly in the back by a blast from Wotan, whose booming voice filled the glade, "enough!"

I veered a little to the left as Rob reared back, sending birdarangs Wotan's way to no avail. The smoke cleared, revealing a force shield, and in retaliation, the sorcerer sent blasts of light towards all of us. The blasts were paralyzing, I could hardly even breathe as the pain seemed to radiate from every single nerve ending in my body. I had no idea what was happening until the pain suddenly stopped, the first words I heard being "the Helmet of Fate…"

I rolled over to see Kaldur standing there, poised with the helmet held over his head. Wally yelled, hand stretched out in utter horror, "no Aqualad, don't!"

Black Adam swiftly punched him in the face, and Superboy punched Black Adam, and all I could do was sit there and watch as Aqualad slipped on the helmet, replaced by Doctor Fate in a flash of golden light.

I rushed to Wally's side, helping him to stand as he took in the sight, "ah, dude."

Doctor Fate's voice was louder than thunder, "WOTAN, YOU ARE MINE."

I didn't stop to take in whatever devastation he was wreaking, eyes firmly attuned to where Joker stood above Rob with his pocket knife drawn, deepening his voice to mock Doctor Fate, "Wonder Boy, you are mine."

I practically flew across the field as Joker slashed at Rob, whip uncoiling in my hand as I sent it towards him from behind. It wrapped around Joker's throat, and he came to a dead stop as I gave it a sharp yank. He just cackled, staring down Rob with crazed intensity, "I've always wanted to carve this bird…" He wheeled around to face me, "but I suppose I can settle for flaying the kitty cat!"

The whip suddenly became my detriment as he rushed towards me, knife gleaming in the dim light. I stumbled, spine coming to meet a tree trunk as I couldn't back up any further. Joker's breath was hot on my face, knife held to my throat. He chuckled, "tell me little kitty, what should I take first? That brazen little tongue of yours? Those pretty little eyes? Why not all the skin off your face?"

I was shaking, unable to do anything but stare into his eyes and hope to whatever gods that were up there that someone would help me. My prayers were answered that instant, when Dick's gloved hand tore the Joker off me. I crouched, coming back up to knee the green-haired man in the balls. As he groaned and cursed in pain, I darted off to the left, letting Rob send a birdarang flying towards him, knocking his knife a few feet away.

Shouting filled the air, and I tipped my head to realize that entirety of the Justice League was in the sky, a blast from Zatara incapacitating Wotan as they descended. The tattered remains of the Injustice League banded together, immediately circled by the League members, and I had never been happier.

Bats' steady voice was the most calming thing in the world, "it's over." I damn near cried when he spoke, the low, gravelly tone filling me with steady reassurance.

Vertigo and Co. raised their hands in surrender, and the Count glared at Batman, eyes positively venomous. "There will be another day."

"Another day?" Joker demanded, utterly unhinged at this point, "another day?! There won't be another day, not for any of us!" He laughed maniacally, raising his arms and twisting his gloved fingers like a puppet master.

Plants rose from the ground, spores popping up from them and releasing some sort of gas. Batman ran towards the him, "Joker Venom spores, don't breathe!"

I slapped a hand over my mouth as Bats punched Joker out, but before the gas started to spread Doctor Fate rose into the sky, "FEAR NOT," he raised his arms, forming a golden glowing ankh, all the gas spilling into it and disappearing "FATE HAS INTERVENED."

This wasn't good.


Villains now rounded up, the rest of the team and I faced Kaldur from one direction and the League faced him from the other. Wally strode forward, visibly upset, "what were you thinking?! How could you let him put on the helmet? Nabu will never release him now." The anger had seeped out of his voice, and instead he looked resigned and grieving, "Kaldur will be trapped inside Doctor Fate forever…"

A low hum filled the air, probably unnoticeable to everyone but Superboy and I. We both jumped, looking up and towards Doctor Fate. It grew higher and higher in pitch as Kaldur's hands drifted upwards, and just as I was about to shout for everyone to get down, he lifted off the helmet. The Doctor Fate garb disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Kaldur standing there, quite serious, with just the faintest hint of a haunted look in his eyes.A beat passed before a slow smile crept over Wally's face, his voice awe-filled, "Nabu let you go?"

"He almost did not," Kaldur said, voice steady and calm like he hadn't just come to face to face with the nearly one hundred percent likelihood of having his body snatched until he was as old as Mr. Nelson had been, "but your friend Kent was most helpful." The Atlantean's voice took on a casually playful tone, "he says hello."

Wally grinned up at him, but the happiness slipped off his face as Batman's rough voice filled the air, "we're done here." We all turned to him, his face cold and severe as he regarded us, "the supervillain society has been neutralized. As for your performance…" he let the words hang in the air for a second, and the seven of us stood there, ankle-deep in the Bayou, splattered in mud. Tension hummed in the air, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was trapped in Schrodinger's box. Bruce's face was as grave as ever as he opened his mouth again, "it was satisfactory."

We immediately shared grins of relief, and I couldn't help a little swell of pride blooming in my chest. By some miracle, we had done it. We had faced down a team of supervillains who had given League members more than a headache by themselves, and come out on the other side victorious. Even if we had had a little help.

I turned to the others, "who's ready to go home?"


MOUNT JUSTICE

October 2, 00:03 EST


Despite the fact that we were all freshly showered, attended to medically, debriefed, and there was absolutely no reason to stick around, the entirety of the team was crammed on the couch in the living room of the Cave.

Wally had been given the most room due to his brand-new cast, which he had demanded we all sign. He was leaned against the right armrest, Artemis sitting criss-cross over his legs. M'gann was on Connor's lap on the center cushion, legs draped over Artemis. Kaldur sat off to the left with Rob shoved in next to him, half-sitting on the couch, half on the armrest, and I had draped myself over the back of the couch, one arm resting on Dick's shoulder for balance. We had been cycling through shitty made-for-TV movies, currently waiting for the pizza place to text Wally's phone so he could go run and pick it up.

The main character and her love interest had just cleared up all the miscommunication from the climax of the movie, and the camera started panning out as they kissed. A familiar tune started to play as the credits rolled, and I practically sprang up off the couch as it picked up, "I love this song!"

Artemis wrinkled her nose, "isn't it from Tom and Jerry?"

I gasped in fake indignation, "how dare you, this is Louis Jordan."

I walked to the front of the couch, moving the coffee table aside with my foot as I tugged Artemis off the couch. She stumbled as she came to stand and I spun her to the music. Her voice was unamused, "I can't dance, Arabella."

"No such thing," I said with a shake of my head, grabbing her forearms. "Just move."

I glared at Connor, who promptly set M'gann on the ground and grabbed her hand, pulling her in to dance. The tell-tale splotches of pink on her cheeks told me I had done my job well. Turning back to Artemis, I hummed quietly underneath my breath as I guided her through some basic steps.

Is you is or is you ain't my baby?

The way you're acting lately makes me doubt.

Youse is still my baby, baby.

Seems my flame in your heart's done gone out.

I feigned an epiphany as I wheeled her a little closer to the couch, "you know, I think our problem is that I'm too short. You need a partner who's closer to your height." I tugged at the collar of Wally's shirt, "come help."

In seconds I had swapped myself for Wally, settling his good hand on her waist as I twirled past them. I landed on the now half-vacant couch, legs coming to rest over Kaldur and Rob's laps, "our work is done."

They looked up at the two couples, M'gann resting solidly against Connor's chest happily as he smiled down affectionately at her, and both Wally and Artemis were blushing, fumbling their way through a basic jazz square, but they were laughing with each other. Kaldur grinned down at me, "good job, Agapía."

The Atlantean stuck out like a sore thumb, and I cocked my head at him, "what does that mean?"

He frowned, "I don't think it's quite translatable. It's a term of endearment an older brother might use for a little sister. 'Sweetheart' is close, I think? Or perhaps 'my dear one'?"

I smiled up at him, "aww, thanks Kal. What do little sisters call their older brothers?"

"Prostós is very common, it would literally translate to protector or guard, but it doesn't quite capture the full meaning."

I nodded, "I think I get it." I could almost taste the feeling, the quiet sense of safety Kaldur or Roy made me feel. Roy. Who was gone and probably mad at me, I was sure as hell mad at him.

Rob seemed to sense my dip in mood, and he tapped my foot, "why don't I get a cool term of endearment?"

I rolled my eyes, "you've never randomly given me one in a foreign language." He wiggled his eyebrows, spitting something out in what vaguely sounded like Arabic. I screwed up my nose at him, "you know I hate it when you do that."

"Do what?" he asked, feigning innocence.

My voice was deadpan, "start speaking in one of our non-overlap languages."

Kaldur raised an eyebrow at the exchange, "what are you two speaking of?"

I pouted up at him, "when we started training together, my mom got us to write down every language the two of us could think of off the top of our heads in a list. She drew a line halfway through and told us to learn a half each."

He looked impressed, "and what was the purpose of this exercise? How far down the list are you?"

"I'm a little faster than Boy Wonder over here, so I know French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, and a little bit of Russian. Which is like a quarter of the way down my half. She thought that additional languages would be helpful superheroing-wise, and wanted us to be more cultured, and we're supposed to switch halves at the end. But it makes way more sense for us to learn different halves because when we're together we'll have all our bases covered."

"That is so not fair," Dick protested, sunglasses slipping down his nose a little, "you got all the romantic languages, once you've learned one you've practically learned them all. And you didn't need to learn the alphabet."

"Anyway," I said, teasing him by glossing over that, "Dick likes to randomly speak in languages I can't understand. Especially to Bats, and I never have any idea of what he's calling me."

"Like you and Cat don't have casual conversations in French all the time," he shot back.

"I think this started with you two trying to come up with nicknames for each other," Kaldur said gently, an amused grin on his face.

"Yeah," Dick said brightly, "hurry up Ya Amar."

"Wait, the hell does-" I tried to wrap my tongue around the word, "yah kah-mar mean?" The pronunciation was clumsy, but it was a solid attempt.

He grinned at me from behind his sunglasses, "wouldn't you like to know?"

"Fine then, maybe ma puce for you? You're as annoying as a flea." I paused for a second, a particular term of endearment sticking in my head, "no, ma moitié is better."

Now it was his turn to frown, "what's that?"

I copied his earlier grin, "wouldn't you like to know?"

His phone was already in his hand, "I could totally just google it."

I bit the inside of my cheek, for some reason that seemed like an awful idea, "then I could google whatever the hell you said earlier."

He seemed to hesitate too, and I wondered what awful thing he had called me in Arabic, but the credits drew to a close, cutting off Louis Jordan while they were at it, and a commercial for a Slam-Chop started playing. Connor and M'gann seemed to realize just how affectionate they were being in front of us, springing apart, and Wally and Artemis were already starting to argue again. Mercifully, Wally's phone alerted him that our pizza was waiting and he zipped out of the room before they could really get into it.

I snatched up the remote, flicking through the channel guide until I hit a new movie, determined never to bring up the conversation again lest Dick actually follow through on that threat. As soon as the movie started to actually play, Wally came back, carrying four pizza boxes.

We handed slices around, reserving two of the boxes for Wally. I taught M'gann how to do cheers with pizza, and we all cracked jokes throughout the shitty Cinderella retelling. Halfway through the 'ball' scene, it hit me that I was ridiculously happy. We were all smiling and laughing and in one piece, even after everything that happened today. I peered around in the half-darkness, trying to commit every single detail to perfect memory. I never wanted to forget it, the rare grin on Artemis' face as she teased Wally, M'gann and Connor's hands, 'sneakily' intertwined between them, the gentle smile on Kaldur's face, the way Rob's hair was sticking up everywhere. I couldn't shake a sense of dread, like this was the beginning of some kind of end.


GOTHAM

October 4, 12:23 EST


As I approached our magnolia tree, I noted with annoyance that Dick's friends were spending lunch with him, Babs, and I today. She was already sitting there, looking rather annoyed. Dick's friends were a necessary evil, integral to him maintaining his SID as Bruce Wayne's somewhat spoiled adopted child. Some of them were even pleasant, but the majority were skirt-chasing idiots who gave me the insane urge to fling myself off the nearest tall structure.

As I came within eyesight, Cameron — my favourite of the bunch, started to wave at me, "Arabella!"

I waved back with a grin, and the whole group turned to face me. Dick had brought the entire pack of boys he hung out with, the eight of them all equally popular and rich. Settling in on the grass next to Babs, I smiled at Cameron, "how was your summer? I can't believe we don't have any classes together this year."

He grinned back at me, blonde hair glowing in the afternoon sun, "pretty good, my sister got married in Greece so I got to go travel over there for like a month and a half."

"Lucky," I whistled, Cameron and I shared a deep and appreciative love for both the Greek classics and mythology, and his mother ran the Gotham Gallery of Art and Antiquities.

A British voice floated over from the crest of the hill our magnolia sat on, "Arabella?"

Will and two of his friends appeared. He was in his usual state of 'I'm-trying-too-hard-to-look-like-I'm-not-trying-too-hard', blazer ditched somewhere in preference to just his shirt, the sleeves rolled up and tie too loose around his neck. I rolled my eyes, "what do you need?"

He adopted an expression of mock offense, "why do you assume I need something? Can't I just want to spend some time in the company of one of my dearest friends?" He spotted one of Dick's friends on his approach, all humour draining from his face as the two of them took each other in, "Covington."

The boy he was glaring at glared right back up at him. What was his name? Nathan? Nate? Nathaniel. I glanced between the two of them, "Will, what do you want, get on with it."

"Well this fucker's head on a pike would be great, but secondary to that I want you to come to a party of mine."

I blinked at him, "like, tonight?"

He turned to me, the hard anger leaving his face once he laid eyes on me. He shook his head, "no, on the thirtieth. Really it's Jessi's party —" Nathaniel winced at her name, and if I wasn't going to interrogate someone about his and Will's apparent feud beforehand, I definitely was now. Will continued, "but since it's at my house, I'm a technical host. It's a Halloween party, so come in costume unless you want her to crucify you. Bring your friends if you want."

"And if I elect not to go?" I dared, trying to get his mind off Nathaniel.

He grinned as we fell into our usual banter, posture easing as he slid his hands into his pockets, "then Jessi'll have your head. She was going to invite you herself but I was in the area so I told her I'd do it. Glad I did that now," he turned back to Nathaniel, "I don't want you within ten feet of her, Covington." He looked over at Dick, "great company you keep, Boy Genius."

I tensed, the nickname so eerily similar to the standard for Robin I had to wonder if Dick's SID was compromised somehow. I forced myself to remain lighthearted if not a little disinterested as I probed into it, "clever nickname you got there."

Will snorted, "Grayson's in my AP Math, top of the class too. I'd say 'Boy Genius' suits, not that he has any common sense apparently."

"Okay," I said with an eye roll, "if you're done with insulting people, I will come to your Halloween party and bring all my hot friends."

He nodded, giving me one last parting grin before glaring at everyone else. Dick was speaking before I had the chance to, "what did you do, Nathaniel?"

"I don't want to talk about it," the boy said stubbornly, taking a pull from his water bottle.

I raised an eyebrow, "you know Jessi Vasquez and I are good friends, right?"

"Then I really don't want to talk about it," he muttered, the tiniest hint of fear colouring his voice. Dick's boys knew not to fuck with me at this point, and his unwillingness to tell me what the hell was going on was only worsening my opinion of him.

Lunch passed awkwardly after that, Dick's group of boys leaving about halfway through. As soon as they were gone I whipped out my phone, hitting Jessi's contact as quickly as possible. She picked up on the third ring, "hello?"

I cut straight to the chase, "do you know someone named Nathaniel Covington?"

"Oh." Her voice was utterly dejected, deeply saddened in a way I had never heard her before. "Why, did you run into him?"

"Your oh-so-charming brother came to invite me to your Halloween party, and Nathaniel's a part of Dick's little posse of idiots he keeps around for no apparent reason." Rob immediately looked offended and I made a small concession, "except Cameron and Michael, they're gems. The rest can burn."

Babs cackled beside me, finally a little more lively now that the boys were gone, and Jessi spoke uncharacteristically quietly, "Nathaniel and I were seeing each other for a bit, I caught him with someone else and we broke up."

My face fell, "Jessi, I'm so, so sorry." Jessi got attached to people quickly, and once she deemed you worthy of her affection she cared about you fiercely. The girl had no concept of walls, she was all vulnerability, a real bleeding heart.

"Why? It's not like you had anything to do with it," she said.

"It's called empathy, you absolute loon. I'm bringing chocolate to Math for you tomorrow."

I could almost hear her smile through the receiver, "thanks Ari, I've gotta go, but I'll talk to you later."

"See you soon," I murmured, hanging up.

Before I could even set my phone down, Babs was interrogating me, "what was it, don't keep us in suspense."

My voice was quiet, "he cheated on her." Babs lost her enthusiasm immediately, and I turned to Dick, "I want him gone."

He raised an eyebrow, "I can't just cut him out of my life for no reason."

"I'm your reason," I said viciously, already envisioning the boy's nose breaking under my fist. I shook my head, "look I'm not asking you to stop talking to him altogether, that's not fair of me, but just know that the next time I see him sitting up here I'm going to break his face."

The bell sounded from the Academy, signalling to its students that it was time to get back to class. I didn't bother with more than a half-hearted goodbye to Dick and Babs, anger settling in under my skin. I couldn't believe that anyone would do that to Jessi, sweet, loving Jessi. Much less someone Dick would associate with.

Practically stomping into Townsend's class, I took my usual window seat, Artemis already sitting in her spot behind me. She raised an eyebrow as I took a seat, "who pissed in your cereal?"

I frowned, "you know my friend Jessi? You went to her recital."

"The pianist? What about her?"

I cast my gaze around the room, deeming it safe enough to murmur underneath my breath to her, "Rob hangs out with this guy who cheated on her."

"Wait," Artemis said slowly, "as in, like, he knows that the guy cheated on her? You still haven't explained why you look ready to put someone through a wall."

I glared at empty air, "we just found out now, I'm not mad at him, I'm mad at the asshole who cheated on Jessi. I can't believe someone could hurt her like that, what kind of awful human being must he be? It's like if someone intentionally hurt M'gann."

Before Artemis could comment, Townsend pulled the class into order, "okay guys, I know we just got back from lunch but I need you to focus. We're starting Much Ado About Nothing today, so everyone grab a book."

I leaned down to whisper to Artemis as I got up to grab us copies, "I would eat his heart in the marketplace."

She snorted at the reference as I walked away, and the anger under my skin started to settle as my eyes settled over the familiar words of the play. Instead, it was converting itself into a deep, pure loathing. The next time I saw Nathaniel, it wasn't going to be pretty.


REVIEWS:

Dawn Racer: Aww, thank you! I'm in love with Arabella too, I wish she was real so we could be best friends and she could give me advice.

Guest: Thanks for being so nice with your criticism! Without giving too much away, I kind of consider this to be the starting point for Arabella's character. The season one arc of this story is mostly setting up who she is, establishing connections with other important/major characters, and getting ready for the real original writing that comes after, which I'm very excited for (you should see my outline.) Which brings me to my next point, and it's something that

I REALLY WANT TO ADDRESS

(sorry, that was for all the people who scroll past responses to reviews because I want them to see this too,) and it's a concern that a lot of much less nice reviewers have had. Under absolutely no circumstances, will Arabella and Dick be getting together in the first arc of this story. My outline for this fic is huge, like it fills up a freaking duotang. Their romance is really more of a subplot for like, the entirety of the story, and it's pretty much the epitome of a slow burn. What happens in between point A and point B, I won't tell you, but just know that their relationship is really complex and there's a point in the first arc (some of you might guess it) where it and the plot kind of take on a tonal shift that I'm sure you'll appreciate. And I promise I'm not trying to make Arabella Selina's mini-me, they share a lot of similar qualities but you'll see, especially as Arabella gets older, that they're different in a lot of ways too.

Awesomeness3013: Okay well first of all, I love that you binged this and I'm happy you like this enough to do that. And thank you! I really want Arabella to feel like she's a genuine part of the team, and not just shoehorned in because I felt like writing an OC insert. Sorry you had to wait so long on an update!

The Midnight Angels: Thank you! I do too.

SparkBomb'sFaith: Thank you for the compliment, and oh boy get ready to suffer on the them getting together bit. I think you'll really love the Failsafe chapter, I've been itching to write it since I began this story.

Mikado X Goddess: Thank you! Sorry to make you wait! My answer to your question has to be spoilers, mostly, but yes Chalant is alive and well in this story.

FanaticalFanatic: Yeah it definitely felt more organic to send her with Artemis and M'gann, especially with her 'women protect women' complex. I'm glad you think they fit together well, that's such a huge priority for me. I can't really comment on Zatanna's introduction because spoilers, but I promise it won't turn out like you think!

Guest 2: Your point is mostly valid from the point of view the audience has. I would argue that it's hard for you to tell me whether something is or isn't in Arabella's character, but Arabella and Will's relationship isn't like that, and he knows that she'd know whether he was sneaking around trying to figure out her identity, and she'd never talk to him again/rain hellfire upon his existence. Please keep in mind that she and all the other superheroes have information on his illicit activities that could get him thrown in jail just like his dad. Also, that was intentional. Arabella lets her guard down around Tommy in a way she doesn't with other criminals. It may or may not come up later on, we'll see.

The rest are mostly people asking me to change the ship, which isn't happening. I can't really say anything there except don't like, don't read. Simple as that. Also the Guest who called Connor and M'gann's relationship messed up can pry Supermartian from my cold, dead hands. See you next time!