Tempest: Chapter Forty-One: Lost in the Desert
Robin had a rather intense headache, and the heat wasn't helping things. He groaned as he stumbled forward to lean against the nearest cliff-face, still rubbing circles into his brow in an attempt to alleviate the throbbing in his skull, though it had little effect.
He peered around a mass of dusty stones, his boots leaving light indents in the sand as he turned his head in the direction of a an engine and his eye widened behind his mask, leaving him to duck for cover on a small ledge on the cluster of high-reaching stones.
The jeep that moved past his hiding location was carrying soldiers, all dressed in dark clothing, but Robin was more surprised to see the Bialyan seal…Bialyan Republican soldiers? But what were they even doing in—
Robin pulled the holographic computer up from his gauntlet, doing a cursory check of his location only to stare in surprise, because he was right in the middle of Bialya.
"Better question," he muttered to himself, "what am I doing in Bialya?" Then he caught sight of the date on the lower part of the screen and he gaped at it. "In September? What happened to March?"
He reached for his ear, intending to radio Batman on his comm when he recalled a flash of a memory –or at least, what felt like a memory, because Robin sure didn't remember it from any mission recently.
"Maintain radio silence at all times," Batman's voice echoed and Robin withdrew his hand from his ear, muttering to himself: "Or not."
He looked around where he was hiding, but there was no sign of the enemy, at least, for now, so he leapt back down to the sandy ground, only to find a piece of ripped fabric on the rocks there.
Robin grabbed it up, looking upon it with interest. It was black with the same red 'S' that Superman wore. Robin narrowed his eyes…now that was odd.
There was a distant sound of yelling and gunfire in the distance and Robin could hear the distinct boom of thunder and crackle of lightning.
He twisted towards the direction of the noise, staring at the storm clouds appearing in the distance, right at the source of the noises.
"Storm Chaser," he muttered.
But she wasn't even supposed to be in the field at this point, she was still operating as Oracle, and she could only last so long on her feet before she collapsed from exhaustion.
Robin took off running in the direction of his friend, his eyes fixed on the sky, surprise coloring his face; he'd never seen her make a storm like that before.
It didn't take him long to reach his destination, ducking behind a nearby collection of stones to look upon the scene.
Amara was dressed in her Storm Chaser uniform, but there must have been some changes made to it since the last time Robin had seen her in it, but that had been months ago. Her eyes were bright and full of lightning as she gritted her teeth towards the soldiers advancing on her. There were more strewn across the ground, shocked into unconsciousness.
She seemed to be doing fairly well, considering the circumstances, but she was also stumbling around, her movements sluggish. Exhaustion was clearly taking her over and one moment she was releasing a bolt of lightning from her hand, and the next, her knees were hitting the ground and she was slumping into the sand, the lightning fading from her eyes.
It took a matter of moments for Robin to pull out his batarangs and dispatch the remaining soldiers before rushing forward to his friend's side.
"Amy?" he questioned quietly, pushing her onto her side in order to ascertain her situation. Sand caked a side of her face, tangling into her hair, with her face white with pain.
"Oh, thank God," Amara said with a groan. "I think I've had enough of Bialyans to last me a lifetime…are you going to tell me what I'm doing here, or why I'm wearing this?"
She gestured towards her whole body and Robin was almost completely certain that she wasn't that tall the last time he'd seen her.
"No idea," he said, offering her his hands, which she took rather grudgingly, using him to pull herself upright and looping her arm over his shoulder without being prompted. "But we are in the middle of the Bialyan Desert."
Storm Chaser turned to gape at him in comprehension. "You're joking," she said, before spluttering, "I don't even remember getting dropped off in the Bialyan Desert!"
"Same here," Robin mentioned and Storm Chaser pressed a hand to her forehead, rubbing in circles over her temple as he helped lead her towards one of the abandoned jeeps, with the owners of the jeep, spread around them, unaware of their enemies. "And apparently it's September."
"That's just ridiculous," Storm Chaser said, trying to cover her shock, "if it was September, I'm pretty sure I'd be walking by now!"
Of course, her injuries were partially psychosomatic, so it was also possible that her mind could have been telling her that she wasn't completely healed even when she was…but it wasn't exactly easy for her to believe that.
"This is all giving me a headache," she groaned, burying her head in her hands while Robin ripped out the wiring under the jeep's steering wheel in order to hotwire it and bring it to life.
"Tell me about it."
"You haven't seen anyone else, have you?" she asked him suddenly as he took off driving before any of the soldiers came to.
"Just you," Robin said, his brow furrowing. "Why?"
"A bit of a coincidence, don't you think?" Storm Chaser arched an eyebrow, an action that Robin could barely take note of with how her mask was positioned on her face. "Two sidekicks in the Bialyan Desert? What're the chances of that? What about Wally? Or Roy?" Her movements turned a bit frantic at the thought of her cousin or her partner until Robin reached over to grab her arm before she could get too worried.
"Hey, I'm sure they're fine," he assured her.
"Yeah, of course they are," Storm Chaser murmured, "they're good at keeping out of trouble, that's more of my job."
She shot Robin a grin and he gave one that was just a touch exasperated. She was nothing if not an adrenaline junkie.
Robin inhaled suddenly. "Do you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Storm Chaser asked blankly, inhaling sharply, searching for anything that could have made Robin start in surprise, but she found nothing.
"Flowers," Robin said, vaguely startled.
"Flowers," Storm Chaser repeated dubiously. "I don't know how to tell you this, Robin, but we're in the middle of the desert! Where are you even driving?"
Her irritation made the smell stronger, but Robin bit his tongue before he could point that out. "There's a GPS marker in the middle of the desert, one of ours."
Storm Chaser shot him an odd look. "Wayne Tech?"
"Has to be," Robin said with a frown. "But I can't remember if that was me or someone else?" His frustration at his memory was clear as day.
"I'm going to go with you, just based on our current situation," Storm Chaser snorted.
"Snarky," Robin muttered under his breath.
"Pain makes me snarky," Storm Chaser ground out, hiding her eyes behind her hand as she leaned against the side of the jeep. "My nerves feel like they're on fire," she groaned.
It wasn't the first time that Robin had heard that complaint, but he hadn't heard it in awhile; she must have been pushing herself really hard.
"Are you all right?" he asked her in concern.
"Don't ask me to move in the next few minutes," she muttered in reply.
Thankfully, it took several hours before Robin and Storm Chaser reached the location of the GPS marker that Robin had left behind some time ago.
Robin and Storm Chaser abandoned the jeep in favor of moving on foot, which was the best choice, given how much noise the engine made.
Two heads peeked over a smooth hill of sand, taking note of what appeared to be a mysterious apparatus of some sort, metallic and with blinking lights.
"Think that's the thing at you left a GPS tracker on?" Storm Chaser whispered.
"Do you see anything else questionable around?"
"Touchy, touchy," Storm Chaser murmured, a smirk brushing across her lips. "It's probably guarded." Though, for all intents and purposes, it appeared as though there was nothing there.
"Probably," Robin agreed.
"Good," Storm Chaser said dryly, "I'm out of practice."
"I don't know, you were doing pretty well a few hours ago," Robin returned easily. "What was that? Your own personal storm?"
Her cheeks flushed with color. "If you want to call that a storm…it did come out a bit stronger than I'd been trying for." She scratched her cheek uncomfortably. If she was being perfectly honest, nothing she tried to do had come out the way she'd expected. Her body didn't move right, but she'd been expecting that with how many months she'd been confined to a wheelchair. It was anything she tried with her atmo-kinetic ability, it came out much stronger than she'd anticipated.
"Don't we have a trap to spring?" she added when she saw Robin's smirk, moving before he could stop her, and he followed after her as soldiers sprung up from the sand, their guns firing off, punctuating the air with yells in Bialyan that Storm Chaser didn't understand, but it was enough for her and Robin to spring into action.
Storm Chaser leapt onto one's back, channeling enough electricity to knock him out before diving off when another soldier opened fire on her, apparently unconcerned for his associate's well-being, though the next second he'd been thrown off his feet by a dark blur before rushing off to grab the weapons of the others.
"I'll hold that, thanks!" Kid Flash called, skidding to a stop, his bright hair the only indicator of his identity and then he squarely punched the one that had been aiming at Storm Chaser in the nose.
"That's for trying to shoot my cousin," he told the unconscious soldier and Storm Chaser shook her head in exasperation.
"Amy! Have you been hanging out with Rob this whole time?" he asked, grinning widely and his cousin grinned back before leaning heavily on her knees, her legs shaking with effort.
"I could've had worse company," she laughed before Kid Flash rushed over to his best friend to clasp hands with him, leaving Storm Chaser to eye the two female newcomers that had arrived with Kid Flash with an air of speculation, because she was pretty sure she'd only seen one of them, and it was only in a photograph of Sportsmaster's known relation, though the other did look a bit like Martian Manhunter.
"KF, man it's good to see a familiar face!" Robin ignored Storm Chaser's huff at that.
"Hey, Rob, memory loss?" Kid Flash presumed.
"Six months," Robin complained. "Let's hog-tie these creeps and compare notes."
Binding the soldiers up didn't take that much effort, though Storm Chaser spent most of it catching her breath, waiting for the tremors in her legs to ease.
"A team of sidekicks?" Storm Chaser asked dubiously when the when the one known was M'gann –or Miss Martian– explained what she remembered. "I'm sorry, but I work with one partner, you know, Speedy." Her words caught in her throat. "I mean, I worked with Speedy before I was sidelined." She gestured down to her legs as an answer. "Oracle doesn't do a whole lot of field work, if you get my drift."
She pulled a granola bar out of one of her pockets of her utility belt, handing it to Kid Flash, who took it eagerly, taking a large bite and chewing noisily. The girl named Artemis arched an eyebrow at the casual movement.
"I know it's hard to believe," Miss Martian said patiently. "But it's true. The five of us make a team, the five of us and Superboy."
"Superboy?" Storm Chaser was unfamiliar with the name. As far as she knew Superman didn't have a sidekick, but Robin dug around in one of his utility belt pockets, pulling loose a scrap of cloth that had the 'S' that Superman was known for.
"Then this must be his," he said, handing it over when Miss Martian brightened.
"Yes! Did you see him?"
Kid Flash and Artemis shared a surprised glance.
"I think we did," Artemis realized.
"Feral boy?" Kid Flash queried, rubbing at his chin in bemusement before frowning. "Some teammate. He attacked us."
"He didn't know who we are," Artemis defended. "I don't know who we are!"
"I remember Batman ordering radio silence," Robin mentioned, drawing all their attention towards him. "Our team must work for him!"
"How do you know we don't work for my mentor?" Kid Flash jerked his thumb towards himself.
Storm Chaser couldn't silence her snort at that. "More likely we work for my mentor, Dad's only good with teaching speedsters, remember?"
"Hey!" Kid Flash spluttered in outrage.
"We need our memories back," Artemis said loudly while the two cousins bickered, and a moment later Robin, Storm Chaser, Artemis, and Kid Flash found themselves in a place they didn't recognize, a bluish-violet light surrounding them with what appeared to be little slices of memories containing each one of them all around.
It was an odd thing to describe.
Miss Martian appeared before them, seeming to bend out of nothing and Storm Chaser could only assume that whatever they were in was a construct of hers. "I brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far…but I need your help. Together our broken memories can form a whole, if you open your minds to mine."
Storm Chaser didn't know why, but the very idea of that sent a trickle of fear down her spine.
It seemed Artemis was of the same mind. "You want to paw through our private thoughts?" she demanded defensively and Miss Martian raised up her hands in a calming gesture.
"I have no wish to intrude," Miss Martian assured her, "but—"
"You need to hack our minds to grok what happened to us," Robin realized, "got it, go."
Robin had nothing to hide…but Storm Chaser couldn't help but feel as though she did.
"My brain's all yours," Wally mentioned with a distinct glint in his eyes. "Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."
Storm Chaser rolled her eyes and Robin snorted.
"Or underwhelm you," he gibed. "Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"
"Maybe because it's not a word," Storm Chaser pointed out, "maybe you should just stick to what I do, you know, crashing the mode."
Robin scoffed and Kid Flash sniggered before turning to look at Artemis who still appeared a bit on the fence about the whole thing. Storm Chaser arched an eyebrow when he took the archer's hand with a comforting smile; that was new.
"Past six months only," Artemis said finally, "and only what you need."
"Well, if everyone else is fine with it," Storm Chaser shrugged, "I guess I am too."
Miss Martian gave a serious nod before extending her hands and four blue hands stretched out from her to latch onto their heads, giving Storm Chaser an uncomfortable feeling as though she'd just been plunged into ice.
She shut her eyes and focused, the memories from herself and the others slowly piecing together.
Batman was standing beside a screen in the monitor womb that holographically displayed the Bialyan Desert.
"The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan Desert. Spectral analysis revealed elements non-terrestrial in origin. Find out what happened at that site, what landed there. Bialya is a rogue state ruled by Queen Bee."
The image on the screen shifted to a dark skinned woman with calculating eyes and a sly smirk.
"It's not a member of the League's UN charter. All communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times. You'll land in Qurac on Bialya's border."
Storm Chaser saw through Robin's eyes as he was on the lookout and while Superboy carried down the metallic apparatus from the Bio-ship. "All clear."
Then they were sneaking along the sand, peering over a ledge to look down upon a small camp that was being guarded by Bialyans.
"The Bialyans control the site," Artemis' voice echoed.
Robin and Storm Chaser were using the apparatus to test out its capabilities, scanning the nearby area.
"Jackpot," Kid Flash said. "The site's lousy with Zeta-beam radiation."
"Detecting non-terrestrial trace elements from the tent," Robin agreed.
"I'll check it out in camouflage mode," Miss Martian said, floating up into the air.
"Careful," Superboy warned.
"Yeah," Storm Chaser looked up from working on the buttons on the apparatus to fix Miss Martian with a serious stare. "Those bullets won't go through you if you're in camouflage mode."
"And maintain telepathic contact," Aqualad agreed.
"I will, Aqualad."
It was like a light bulb had suddenly lit inside all of their heads as the memories formed a bit more clearly.
"Aqualad!" they all said as one.
"Where is he?" Robin demanded suddenly. "What happened next?"
"I don't know," Miss Martian said worriedly, curving a finger against her lips. "That's the last thing I –we– remember."
Kid Flash and Artemis jerked away from each other suddenly before Kid Flash spoke. "We landed twenty-four hours ago. If Kaldur's been wandering the desert that long, well, that's not good for a guy with gills."
"He needs a lot of water," Storm Chaser agreed, eyes flashing up to the sky, "like yesterday."
Robin fumbled as he pulled up his holographic computer from his gauntlet, focusing on their trackers that each member of the Team had on them. There was a red cluster that was the five of them, and then there was one rather close to their location; Superboy must have had his deactivated hours ago.
"He's close," Robin uttered in relief, "but he's not moving."
Storm Chaser voiced the word that no doubt summed up the entire situation: "Fuck."
Storm Chaser had such a big headache that making the clouds open up above them when they found Aqualad wasn't too hard, in fact, she probably did it on accident.
Aqualad had been murmuring in Atlantean, unfortunately, none of them spoke that language, and Storm Chaser could only make out one word 'Tula' the name of the girl that Aqualad loved, the one that he'd found out had fallen in love with his other friend Garth.
Miss Martian had left them in order to fly off in search of Superboy in frantic worry at something she'd heard in the deep recesses of her mind, leaving Storm Chaser to fly them all through a rainstorm of her own making, with Aqualad still unconscious.
"Are we sure he's not going to wake up and freak out?" Artemis asked when they made it back to the Bio-ship and hooked their comrade up to an IV in order to rehydrate him.
"You might want to step away," Storm Chaser advised with a smirk, "pheromones can be overwhelming and highly suggestive."
Surprise colored Artemis' eyes, but she took several steps back while Storm Chaser pressed a hand against his arm and the other against his cheek.
Storm Chaser breathed out deeply, her eyes fluttering shut as she focused on Aqualad.
"How is she doing that?" Artemis muttered to Kid Flash.
Kid Flash shrugged, glancing towards Robin. "We're not really sure. Probably something she inherited from her biological mom. She doesn't use it a lot."
"It's a bit handy," Robin agreed, though there was a frown present on his lips.
"You know I can hear you," Storm Chaser mentioned dryly, her eyes still shut as the smell of flowers filled the air.
Robin coughed and Kid Flash flushed in embarrassment while Artemis sniggered.
I've got Superboy, echoed loudly in their heads, Miss Martian's voice rather cheerful. He's back to normal, and we're on our way.
Then you can work on Aqualad, Storm Chaser said in reply, gritting her teeth when Aqualad stirred under her hands. Since he's, you know, a bit out of it.
Hello, Megan, Miss Martian chirped and Storm Chaser could imagine her slapping her head with her hand. Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something.
Aw, man, Kid Flash complained. Me too. I didn't get a souvenir from the mission.
Since their first mission together, which had been Happy Harbor for the rest of the Team except Artemis and Storm Chaser, Wally had taken to grabbing a keepsake from the mission. So far his souvenirs included: a robotic eye, the mask and hood of a Kobra cultist, the arrow Artemis fired into Gotham Academy, Cheshire's mask, and the Helmet of Fate.
Don't worry, Miss Martian said almost glowingly. Got the souvenir thing covered.
Storm Chaser yawned widely. "Anyone else really exhausted?"
"Yes," Artemis and Kid Flash agreed before shooting glares at each other.
Robin stared at Storm Chaser blankly. "You've stayed up for three days once."
"That ended with me in the hospital, remember?" Storm Chaser pointed out, wrinkling her nose as she remembered that day in particular, when nightmares plagued her so much that she couldn't sleep for fear that she'd awaken with Merlyn standing over her. "And I've got my shift at the flower shop, remember?"
"Weren't you quitting?" Artemis asked, flummoxed. She was pretty sure Storm Chaser had mentioned it once or twice.
"I've got another week left." Storm Chaser waved a hand, unconcerned.
Reporting the details of the mission to Batman was usually just Kaldur's job, since he was technically the leader of the Team, but all members were required to be present, so Amara stood dutifully beside her cousin, her leg twitching every so often as Kaldur explained all that had occurred in Bialya, despite being unconscious for most of it.
Amara's phone gave a sudden buzz and she frowned at the caller ID. Wally nudged her, arching an eyebrow at her as she answered it with a fierce tone, turning slightly away from the group.
"If you keep calling this number, I'm going to change it again," she said through gritted teeth and that caught Wally's attention.
Then she started in surprise, reeling back. "This is Storm Chaser, what d'you mean he has me listed as his emergency contact?"
By then she had gained the attention of everyone in the room.
"What emergency?" Amara asked a moment later, drumming her fingers against her leg before breathing in sharply. "I'll be there shortly."
"What was that about?" Wally asked when she cut off the call, but Amara only grunted before hitting Roy's speed-dial on her phone.
"Hey," she said, "I need a favor. Are you close to a Zeta-tube?"
"Pretty close," came Roy's reply. "What d'you need?"
"I need a ride to Belle Reve," Amara said shortly, "someone just tried to have Weather Wizard killed."
