Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited or Teen Titans.

Connections

Chapter Seven: Time to Breathe

The flight back to the Metro Tower was a quiet one. Dick had asked to be alone, so Raven and Wally had moved closer to the front of the jet, but not so close that Shayera could hear them. Much to the flame haired Thanagarian's annoyance.

The Scarlet Speedster glanced over at the dark empath nervously, trying to keep his eyes forward the entire time. Eventually, he just gave up and turned to face her.

"So do you think it's really that Slade guy?"

Raven looked quite surprised by Wally's sudden question. "I suppose it's possible. He's proven impervious to death before."

"Yeah… I know how that can be."

A wry smile crossed Raven's face. "What? The 'being impervious to death' thing?"

"Hey, you'd be surprised," he responded, a slight smirk on his face.

There was a silence for a few moments. The smile faded from Raven's face.

"I felt you go, you know," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" Wally asked, frowning slightly, though it was more from not understanding her words than not hearing them.

"I felt it… when you disappeared into that… that other plane."

Flash's brow loosened in comprehension. "You mean when I went into the Speed Force…"

She nodded, a look of indescribable pain on her face as she closed her eyes. "I thought you were dead. I wanted to go out and find you, to know what happened to you. And then you came back… but I still wanted to find you… To make sure you were all right."

"…Raven…" Wally wanted to reach out and touch her; to hold her. To do something other than just say her name.

She smiled. "You always called me Raven. You never used any nicknames like the others did. Like you did for all the others."

"Well… it was your name. I only used the nicknames for their superhero identities. But Raven wasn't your disguise… it was you."

She opened her eyes and looked into his. "Whatever the reason… thank you."

It was times like this that Wally was glad his suit was red; when he blushed furiously, it didn't seem to register that much. Back when he was Kid Flash, the yellow of his suit would turn a slight orange. Or at least, it seemed that way to his young, self conscious mind.

Shayera brought the Javelin in for a landing, chancing a glance over her shoulder to see Wally and Raven talking quietly. A small smile spread across her face as the Javelin touched down and the engines deactivated themselves.

As the group of four stepped down off the ramp, Wally spotted Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E waiting for them.

"You have fun?" the hulking white robot asked. Flash could all but see the wry smile on his face.

"All yours. Just don't sit in the third chair on left," he said, waving a hand in front of his nose. Shayera shook her head, and Raven's face communicated the same message.

Stargirl hid her smile, but then spotted Nightwing stood at the back, his arms crossed and head down in deep thought.

"Hi. I don't think we've met," she said, extending her hand. Dick didn't reply. "Um… hello?"

The ex-Boy Wonder looked up in mild surprise, then smiled slightly. "Oh, sorry. I'm Nightwing," he said, shaking her hand politely. Wally could see that he really didn't want this conversation to continue for too long.

"Oh, okay. Supergirl's mentioned you now and then." She smiled, and then paused. "Are you a member of the League? I don't remember seeing you around."

Raven leaned over towards Wally. "Please tell me I wasn't that obvious when I liked you."

Flash chuckled at the joke, prompting the others to look over at him. He raised his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry. Carry on, carry on." He looked over at Raven, an easy smile still on his lips.

"That was so not cool."

Raven's face returned the smile. "Never have been, never will be."

The Fastest Man Alive nodded his head to the exit of the landing bay. "C'mon. I'll show you around." He turned to look at Nightwing, who was still trying to remove himself from Stargirl's adoring attentions.

"Nightwing, you coming?"

"Please," he said instantaneously, quickly giving a wave to Stargirl and following the other two out.

Shayera stood motionless for a moment, simply standing in front of Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. After offering a faint smile and a shrug, she left the landing bay as well.

"Courtney! Get your butt back here! You're not certified to fly those things yet! Courtney!"

The winged heroine couldn't help but smile.

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John Stewart crouched on the rocky cliff, using his ring to make his costume blend in with the brownish grey environment. After talking to the military personnel at the base, he had discovered that 'Captain Marvel' (if it really was him) had only managed to find half of the plans required to build the nuclear fusion device. If he wanted to build the whole thing, he would have to come back.

He had toyed with the idea of calling for backup, but then remembered that Captain Marvel still had a Justice League issue communicator in case of emergencies. It was conceivable that he was listening into their transmissions, so John decided to remain quiet and wait for him to come back.

Despite his tough military training with both the Marines and the Green Lantern Corp, John found himself nodding off as he waited for Captain Marvel to return. He was suddenly knocked from his drowsy state by an explosion from the base. He jumped to his feet and assessed the situation.

Whoever it was, it sure looked like Captain Marvel. He was throwing the tanks around as though they were toys. After disposing of the heavy artillery, he made quick work of the troops, whether they used RPG's or semi automatic weapons. Green Lantern activated his ring and jumped into action.

He quickly created a green bubble around 'Marvel', who looked around in alarm at his sudden captivity. When he saw John, he smirked.

"I remember you, human."

An eyebrow rose on the Green Lantern's face. The smirk intensified.

"You couldn't stop me then, and you can't stop me now," 'Marvel' continued, before knotting his fists together and slamming them down into the bubble.

John grunted from the strain of trying to maintain the bubble under such pressure. 'Captain Marvel' managed to create a thin crack in the green energy sphere, and pushed his fingers through. He began to pull the crack in opposite directions, attempting to open the bubble by force.

John tried his utmost to maintain the bubble, but 'Marvel's strength was too much. He yelled in pain as the bubble was ripped apart. He looked up in time to see Marvel charging towards him at superspeed. His fist collided with John's chin, sending him toppling backwards into the cliff face. Upon impact, John created an indentation in the rocky wall. Grunting, he pulled himself out, only to be greeted by the sight of 'Marvel' charging towards him yet again.

He didn't even have enough time to erect his force field before his opponent slammed into him full force, collapsing the cliff face onto him.

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Flash tried to concentrate on what Mr Terrific was saying on the monitor, but constantly found his eyes wandering to the dark empath that was currently sat patiently at a table talking to Dick.

"Flash? Are you listening?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Shayera's gonna be along in a minute."

"What did you find in Fawcett City?"

The Scarlet Speedster shrugged. "Zip, except for a hitman called Slade coming after us."

An eyebrow cocked on the Watchtower administrator's face. "Slade? As in Slade Wilson?"

"You know him?"

"Only by reputation. He's called Deathstroke in most circles. Only works for the best, and even then, only when the targets are a challenge. Somebody must really hate you."

Flash nodded with a sigh. "You want a list?"

A smile tugged on Mr Terrific's lips. "Did you happen to run into Captain Marvel?"

"No, it was weird. I thought we'd run into him for sure, especially since we were going to the school."

"Why would going to the school make a difference?"

Wally's eyes widened beneath his mask. He remembered how Superman had told the original seven about Marvel's abilities and secret identity (though he didn't know the kid's name). He also remembered how they were sworn to secrecy on the subject.

"Uh… never mind." He cocked an eyebrow. "Any reason you asked?"

Mr Terrific was silent for a moment. "I'm guessing since you were the most prominent name on the case file, you should know. The plans for a Nuclear Fusion Device were stolen from a secret military base."

Wally's face remained blank.

"You may remember an entity that possessed the League and attempted to throw the device into the sun and blot it out."

"The snake men?"

Mr Terrific nodded. "Right. Well, someone has stolen the plans for it, and also taken the parts needed to make such a device from a Wayne Tech facility in Coast City. Both places had a hole torn in the wall; almost like an accidental calling card."

"Okay, I'm with you so far."

"Captain Marvel was seen taking the plans for the Nuclear Fusion Device."

"No way…" Something clicked in Flash's mind. "Hey, have you got a picture of those two holes?"

Mr Terrific nodded. "Let me just punch them up for you."

The two images appeared on the screen instantly. Wally's eyes widened beneath his mask. It looked like the exact same hole that was left in Tetch's lab.

"Flash?"

He shook his head. "Uh, yeah?"

"Something wrong?"

"I think this might have something to do with our case."

"How do you figure?"

"There was a hole just like this one in the Mad Hatter's lab. All of his mind control equipment had been stolen."

"Not exactly concrete evidence, Flash. It doesn't prove that they're linked."

"I know, I know… but you've got to admit, it's one hell of a coincidence if they're not." Mr Terrific nodded his head thoughtfully.

"Where are you off to now?"

Flash shrugged and let out a sigh of frustration. "No idea. The trail's run dry."

"Well, I'll keep my eyes and ears open for anything."

"Thanks, Mr T." He looked over and saw Shayera approaching. "Ah; here's Shayera for you." As he passed by Shayera he gave her a high five, as though tagging her in to a wrestling match. He winked at her, a grin on his face. "Have fun."

"You too," she replied slyly, returning his wink. Wally frowned slightly, though the smile remained on his face.

What's that supposed to mean?

As he approached the table where Raven was sat, he realised that she was nowhere to be found. Nightwing sipped on his mug of coffee, and stared into the brown liquid once he had set it down on the table.

"Where's Raven?" Wally asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to his friend.

Dick nodded over in the direction of a nearby computer terminal. Wally followed his nod and saw Raven talking to someone on the screen.

"She's making a call to Cyborg; telling him why she left the Tower unguarded."

Wally smiled. "He wasn't too pleased, huh?"

Dick shrugged nonchalantly. "He'll let it go; he always does. You remember how many times he would yell at you, me and Roy?"

"Yeah," Wally laughed.

"And I was the leader. I tell you, you two made me less respectable."

"Hey, it's not our fault you had a zest for random acts of destruction."

Nightwing laughed. "You remember that time when we were fighting the Hive Five in that theatre?"

"I remember that gooey stuff going everywhere. And then Cyborg saying-"

"-'No more pie!'" the two said simultaneously, their sudden burst of laughter causing Shayera and the rest of the staff to look up at them. The two gradually calmed down, and Wally wiped a tear from his eye.

"Man… now that was a good day."

"Yeah… say, what's Roy up to these days? I haven't heard much from him recently."

"Uh, let's see… he's a reserve League member like you and the other guys… Oh, and he likes to be called Arsenal now. But we still call him Speedy to tick him off. Especially Ollie," Flash added, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Wait… doesn't Ollie have another Speedy? A Speedy that's a girl?"

"Yep," Wally replied instantly, the smile on his face growing. Dick paused for a moment, then smirked.

"I doubt Roy likes being compared to a girl."

"Why not? We did it enough back in the day. I mean, how much can you play with your hair?"

Raven's voice interrupted the proceedings. "I seem to remember that you two did it enough." She turned to Wally. "You even made your own formula."

"Oh, did he?" Shayera's voice added with a very amused tone. She leaned forward resting her elbow on the thoroughly embarrassed speedster's shoulder. "Care to give me a few tips?"

"Hey, it's not like he didn't do anything with his hair either," he said defensively, pointing at Dick. "Some days, his hair would be so shiny, you'd be able to see it from-" Wally stopped suddenly. "…a satellite."

Shayera cocked an eyebrow. "Wally?"

"Just a sec." He shot away and over to the computer terminal where Shayera had been making his report to Mr Terrific. The others soon joined him. Mr Terrific's face appeared on the monitor.

"Watchtower."

"Yeah, Mr T. A quick question for you. When Captain Marvel left, did he still have his communicator earpiece thing?"

"Yeah. He was put on reserve League member status, so it's rarely on."

"But you could still track it though, right?"

He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose… but only where he's been frequently. The latent signal isn't strong enough to last for too long, and even then… it'll be hard to get an exact lock."

A grin spread across the speedster's face. "Great! Could you do it?"

"Already on it."

Flash sat in a nearby chair and leant back, propping his head on his hands as they waited for the results. The other three just stared at him in shock.

"Well… that was new," Raven said quietly. Dick and Shayera just nodded.

"Flash?"

He was instantly at the monitor. "Got something?"

"Well, like I said, it's very hard to track from up here. The signal keeps on fading in and out. But the last I could make out he was in Jump City. Judging by the strength of the signal, he's been going back and forth through there quite a bit, and in the past few weeks, too."

Flash looked up at Raven, who had an equally surprised look on her face.

"I had no idea. There were no sightings or indications he was there at all."

"And being covert isn't exactly his style," Shayera added.

Nightwing crossed his arms. "All right. Raven and I will check it out."

Flash stood to his full height. "But-"

Dick put a hand up to stop any further objections. "You should stay here in case any other leads come up."

Wally slumped, and Shayera put a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"He's right, Wally."

"Okay, fine," he huffed, and shot a mock glare at Nightwing. "Are you sure you're not still the leader?"

Offering only a small smile, Nightwing headed for the teleportation room. Raven hesitated for a moment, then headed off in the same direction, disappearing around the corner as she walked into the corridor. Wally stood, almost frozen in place as he watched them go. Shayera loudly cleared her throat, and Flash looked over at her.

Widening her eyes slightly, Shayera nodded several times in the direction that Raven had left. A grin spread across his face, and he quickly followed. He turned the corner and zoomed down the corridor until he caught up with Raven.

"Wait, Raven!"

She stopped and turned to face him, a slightly surprised look on her face. And something else that Wally couldn't quite make out. Relief?

He came to a halt in front of her. "I… I didn't want you to go without me telling you… how sorry I am."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "You don't have to apologise, Wally. What happened was as much my fault as yours."

"I know, but after that… I'm sorry I ran away like I did. I was young, and stupid… and I know that's no excuse, because you were young too, and-"

Raven put a finger on his lips to silence him. "It's all right, Wally. I know. You… you may not have known this, but… because of what we did, and how close we were… I could feel how afraid you were. I could feel how you hated yourself for what you were doing…"

She took a deep breath, and looked deeply into his eyes.

"That's why I couldn't bring myself to be angry with you… even though the others continually said I had every right to be. Because I knew."

Flash reached up gently stroked Raven's cheek. "I… I wanted to come back so many times… but every time, I just… I couldn't…"

"Wally… I know. You don't need to keep on punishing yourself." She paused, putting a gentle hand on his arm. "You didn't even need to back then."

"Raven! Let's-" Dick stopped mid sentence as he saw Wally and Raven stood in the corridor. He cleared his throat and looked down sheepishly. "Uh… erm… sorry."

Flash smiled. "I see he's got over his awkward stage."

Raven sighed. "Like a bull in a china shop…"

"Raven… I know that… that we could never be like we were… but…"

"Wally…" Raven replied slowly, letting out a heavy sigh as she did so. "…you'll always be an important part of my life, but… we can't… it wouldn't…"

"I know, I know, but... I could at least come over to the Tower and see you, right?"

A gentle smile emerged on the dark empath's face. "I'd like that."

"Great," he replied, the usual Flash grin returning with a vengeance. "Uh… I guess you'd probably get going now."

Raven shook herself from her reverie. "Right. I'll… see you later."

"I'll be here. Probably. Or in Central City. Or at the Watchtower. Or maybe at Earl's Diner; I might get hungry."

Flash's grin grew as Raven let out a small laugh and walked around the corner. He simply stood in the corridor for the next few minutes, grinning like an idiot while the League workers walked by, giving him strange looks as they went.

Before long, Shayera was stood beside him. "So? How'd it go?"

Wally didn't respond. He just turned and walked down the corridor, the grin still firmly plastered on his face.

"That good, huh?" She said quietly, then followed her speedy comrade.

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Shayera knew she wasn't a patient woman. Many people had told her so many times. But she knew she wasn't this bad. Her eye twitched imperceptibly as Wally's tapping finger increased in speed. She put hand on his.

"Wally!" He looked up in shock. She took a deep breath. "Just… calm down."

"Right, right. I'm just worried. They should have checked in by now. What if they're in trouble?"

"Well, of course, they are incredibly weak and helpless, so obviously they won't be able to defend themselves."

He shot her a look. "I'm pretty fast and strong. Does that stop you from worrying about me?"

"No. Sorry. I suppose I'm just getting antsy myself. I'm not used to having nothing to do."

"Tell me about it. Do you remember that time Bats-" He stopped himself and put his hand to his ear. "What? Dick, slow down, I can't- Dick? Dick?" He stood suddenly, knocking the chair over.

"They found Jinx, but they're in trouble."

"We should call Mr Terrific for backup-"

"We'll do it on the way, c'mon!" He shot out of sight and towards the teleportation room.

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As they beamed in, Wally was surprised by the devastation that surrounded them. Whoever had taken Nightwing and Raven out, they were good. They were in the forest that acted as a makeshift border for Jump City, though Wally had rarely been here when he was with the Titans. Trees were overturned, the stumps still smoking slightly from whatever had caused them to fall in the first place. He saw something glinting on the floor, and knelt to find the shattered remains of one of Dick's birdarangs.

Shayera stood beside him, looking around the forest with her mace drawn.

"Are we getting any reinforcements?" Wally asked, looking around the darkened area. Moon light glinted between the trees, making him squint.

"Mr Terrific says the League's spread pretty thin at the moment. He says he'll send some help as soon as he can."

Wally nodded and stood. "Where could they have gone? It took us, what, like three minutes to get here?"

"Some people can move fast. And if Captain Marvel is involved, that would explain how wrecked this place is."

The Fastest Man Alive shook his head. "It couldn't be Captain Marvel who did this." He pointed to the smoking stumps of the collapsed trees. "See? Still hot. Unless Captain Marvel's suddenly got heat vision without telling anyone, I don't think it was him."

Shayera nodded, impressed with her friend's deductive reasoning. She spotted something in the distance and froze.

"Wally… look." She pointed to the distance, and Wally looked to see the Jump City observatory, with a newly installed telescope.

"Now, last time I checked, that wasn't there." He looked over at Shayera and nodded in the direction of the observatory. "C'mon, let's-"

A noise behind them made them turn. Stood before them was Jinx, a pink glow in her eyes and a blank expression on her features.

"Jinx?" Wally breathed. "Is that… you?" He walked forward slowly, only to be greeted by a wave of pink hex energy, sending him flying back and into a tree.

Shayera charged towards her, her mace ready to strike. Jinx snapped her fingers, and the mace was suddenly blown from her hands. Flash pulled himself to his feet and saw the mace flying towards him. He attempted to run out of the way, but another bad luck hex from Jinx and Wally tripped over his own feet, landing him flat on his face. The mace landed on his head with a resounding thud.

Shayera flew towards Jinx quickly and grabbed her by the collar. She suddenly noticed something on Jinx's forehead glinting in the moonlight. This moment of distraction was all Jinx needed. With a wave of her hand, Shayera was sent flying back into a tree. A snap of her fingers, and the tree collapsed onto Shayera. She attempted to roll away, but the tree simply followed her. She was knocked unconscious instantly. The last thing she saw was the glint of metal on Jinx's forehead.

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(A/N: Well, again, not much to say except… review!)