Disclaimer: DC Comics owns Young Justice

Tempest: Chapter Sixty-Two: Blackhat Operation

AN: There was a question posed about Amy's sponsoring of Gratia Art when it's really Oracle. Publicly, it's known that Amy Isley-Allen in the sponsor, only the artists in charge know that Oracle really gave them their start up and they're under the impression that Amy's just a front Oracle uses when she doesn't want to take credit for something, which is all the time.


It was almost one in the morning on Amara's end, but she was known to work late into the night, particularly when she was working on Oracle-related things and the idea that Wally had given her a little while ago, of making her own darknet site with a bit less illegal, in some areas.

"What're you going to call it?" Wally asked in her ear as she typed out code.

"I'm thinking I'm going to stick with the Oracle theme," Amara conceded, "and call it the TempleofDelphi…does that sound too weird?"

"Not if you're sticking with the Oracle theme," Wally said and Amara could almost hear his smile. "Are you thinking of branching out with having other people be Oracle too?"

"I'm coming up with a sort of 'code game'," Amara grinned. The idea of bringing others into the fold was both thrilling and terrifying, because one mistake and Amara could end up with a serious problem on her hands. "I'm limiting it to girls, though, Soothsayer's put me off of boy hackers."

"This is the same Soothsayer that you made out with, right?"

Amara scowled. "Yes," she said flatly. "I'm thinking there's going to be a total of five of us, Oracles, I mean, and I'm going to open it across the world so that people can get on at different times based on the time difference in their hemispheres."

The site itself was looking rather similar to BlackNet, Amara couldn't deny that, having a black screen full of green words and tabs. TempleofDelphi wasn't going to have nine circles like BlackNet did, it was going to be at least slightly more legitimate than BlackNet. Murder and treason were out, no hitmen were going to be allowed on her site if she could help it. There was one tab labeled Investigations, and that one was for the job requests that clients sent in that related involving any sort of investigating. The Thefts tab was strictly for requests that involved stealing, which was mostly Masquerade-focused, now that Amara thought about it. The last tab was called Goods For Services and it was where people in need could request for help with gaining necessary items such as expensive medication or food, in exchange for performing favors for Oracle.

Of course, the tab names were subject to change, but the major parts of the site would remain.

Amara checked the time. "Almost midnight in Keystone," she mentioned, "feel any older?"

"Not really," Wally wheedled, "being sixteen will be mad cool, though!"

Amara rolled her eyes, being at her measly thirteen.

"Okay, but I've got a personal question for you," he added suddenly and Amara paused, actually leaning back from her work.

"All right," she said slowly, caution ringing in her voice.

"Does Artemis really think I'm cute?"

That had Amara's eyebrows arching; as far as she'd known, the only opinion from a girl that Wally had cared about in the past few months had been M'gann's and he'd been so hung up on her that it was almost sad, especially since she and Conner were an item now. Talk about awkward.

Of course, she could also understand the attraction. Artemis was beautiful and kickass, what wasn't to love?

Wally and Artemis had been spending a bit more time together lately since M'gann was practically stealing Amara for basics in cooking. They'd moved on from spaghetti to potatoes and now M'gann was getting into fish (after burning several pieces of tilapia on her first try). That meant that Amara's partner had more free time on her hands.

"Maybe a little bit."

"Amy!" Wally bemoaned.

"I guess you'll just have to ask her yourself," Amara said with a shrug he couldn't see, a smile twisting her lips upwards.

"Amy!" he added more emphasis to her name just as the clock hit midnight.

"Oh, look at that," Amara said loudly, "looks like its November 11th, happy birthday and good night!"

"Hey—!" Unfortunately he never quite finished before Amara turned off the phone and shook her head at it before dropping the phone to her desk and switching back to BlackNet. There was a waiting message from Soothsayer and Amara scowled at the light that indicated it before ignoring it. He'd been extra aggravating over the past few days, almost like he was trying to piss her off.

Honestly, she'd much rather be getting a text from Roy who'd been complaining of headaches lately and hadn't been going around on patrol as much due to them. Amara was suspecting migraines, but Roy kept telling her not to worry about it and that he was fine, which was probably why he hadn't called her much; he didn't want her to nag him about seeing a doctor.

There was a different message waiting for her from Dorian Gray and Amara allowed herself a small smile and was halfway into clicking the chat open when she was distracted by the buzzing of her phone and Nadira's picture appeared behind her name, which was odd because the GCB girls were pretty good about getting early nights just so they could wake up early for practice.

"Nadira, what're you still doing up?" was the first thing she said when she answered the call.

The small chuckle became static on the opposite end. "Coming from you? Who is still awake?" Even over the phone her accent was thick but it didn't make it any more difficult for her to understand Nadira.

"I'm known for staying up late," Amara admitted, "what's your excuse?"

"We need help," Nadira said finally and Amara paused in typing. "You remember the guy you beat up when we were walking together?"

"The one that's been following Sofia around?" Amara presumed, remembering the guy she'd pulled her expandable baton on. "Yeah, I remember him."

"We've been trying to get her to go to the police, but when Adara called them, they said they couldn't really do anything since we couldn't really prove that he's been following Sofia because we haven't been taking pictures and writing it down. They can't do anything until he hurts her, but Sofia's getting scared; she's not eating much and she's barely sleeping."

Amara was annoyed but she wasn't entirely unsurprised. The police in Gotham City weren't exactly the greatest, though they'd improved since Commissioner Gordon had taken the reins.

"What exactly are you asking help with?" Amara asked carefully. She wanted to help Sofia, especially with something as serious as a stalker but she was the new girl, she didn't know the girls as well as they knew each other and she didn't want to overstep her bounds.

"We want to get her out of the house, you know, without him noticing, and you're the sneakiest person we know."

Amara decided to take that as a compliment. "Who is he?" she asked instead. "He's not a boyfriend, if Sabine is to be believed." And Amara suspected that she was.

"No," Nadira agreed. "Remember how we told you Sofia was adopted from Columbia and brought here?"

"Yeah and she gained emancipation," Amara remembered the story.

"The family has been trying to get her to come back for ages," Nadira explained. "She's one of the best dancers even if she's one of the youngest and they were really big on fame and fortune, and they can't get that if she remains emancipated. Her stalker is their oldest son."

Amara chewed on her lip. "I have a safe house in Gotham," she said before adding quickly, "don't ask me why, but it's going to take a little time for me to figure things out…give me three days?"

"Whatever it takes," Nadira said seriously before ending the call and Amara dropped her phone back onto the table.

"Fuck," she muttered.


The 'surprise' –because, to be perfectly honest, Wally had known all about that as soon as they'd started planning it– party was in full swing with cakes –two to satisfy Wally's hypermetabolism– and presents and laughter.

Zatanna looked over her slice of cake, but she couldn't help but feel like she couldn't eat.

"Don't worry," Amara said with a wink, "I watched M'gann make the cakes; they'll taste okay."

"Then why aren't you eating?" Zatanna pointed out.

"I have a reaction to buttercream," Amara shrugged. "It makes me sick to my stomach. Not sure why, but Wally only has it for his birthday cakes so I always eat before I show up so he doesn't have to feel bad about me not eating."

"Oh." Zatanna's brow furrowed slightly as Kaldur offered Amara a cup of soda instead and she laughed at something he said. She'd been with the Team now for a few weeks, but she didn't think she could get over how casual they all were with each other, how well they knew each other. She was like an outsider looking in.

Conner and M'gann were close together, looking very much like they'd like to find a dark corner to escape to, Wally was stuffing his face eagerly with cake while Artemis laughed at the mess he was making, and Amara, Dick, and Kaldur were all lounging with Zatanna on the couch.

"I know this is all very new and intimidating," Dick added, looking to Zatanna over his sunglasses, "but I promise you, some day you'll get used to watching Wally eat."

That made Zatanna smile and Amara laugh before the latter's eyes shifted to where their mentors were situated.

"Hang on, I see Ollie, be right back!" she called pulling herself over the couch in a way that kept her from jostling the soda too much. "Hey, Dinah! Can I borrow your man? 'Kay, thanks."

She grabbed Green Arrow's arm before either one could say anything, dragging him away from the convergence of Amara, Wally, and Artemis' mentors, Dinah a bit bemused and Barry just short of laughing outright.

"Have you heard from Roy recently?" she asked him quietly and Ollie froze, looking down at her through his domino mask.

"Not recently," he conceded with a grimace, "but we've been…out of sorts for awhile." He was clearly still upset about that matter, but Amara didn't comment on it. "Why? Has something…has something happened?" No matter their difficulties, Roy was still his kid and he'd walk through fire for him.

"He's been…off," Amara admitted cautiously, but she couldn't help but feel like she was betraying Roy's confidence. "He's been having a lot of…headaches. I think its migraines but Roy won't go to the doctor to get diagnosed."

Oliver's brow creased. "I could talk to him," he suggested, eager to bury the hatchet that Roy was so content to leave unearthed.

"That probably won't end well," Amara muttered under her breath when the intercom turned on above their heads.

"Attention, Team! Suit up, polar stealth. Mission briefing in five. Amara, I have a different task for you."

Everyone looked to the atmokinetic who growled in petulance and scowled. Of course, she was technically still on probation, so it wasn't completely surprising, though still rather vexing.

"Fine," Amara forced past gritted teeth, stomping off to find her laptop, only reappearing a short while later in the monitor womb with everyone else suited up in similar white and grey outfits staring as Batman's projection, but Amara knew that if she'd been suiting up, she wouldn't have bothered with anything less than her usual black and blue.

"What happened to the mentors?" Wally asked, taking note of the noticeable absence of the adults that had been there five minutes previously.

"They already have their own assignments," Batman said before beginning the briefing. "A massive ice storm has paralyzed North America from coast to coast. Satellite imagery has detected five flying ice fortresses, source unknown, which seem to be responsible and must be stopped." A second image displayed on the screen and Amara had never seen anything like it, but the snow and ice had been rather difficult to wade through when she and Harley had gone to meet Pamela for lunch. The last time she'd seen anything like that had been when Mardon still possessed the Weather Wand.

And if Mardon was involved, it explained why Batman wanted her as far away from it as possible; Amara wasn't well known for keeping a cool head around Mardon.

"Well, can't the Watchtower blow them out of the sky, or something?" Wally asked.

"What's a Watchtower?" Zatanna asked, looking from one member of the Team to the other with clear confusion on her face.

Batman heaved a heavy sigh, his head tilting towards Wally in what could've only been disapproval. Amara switched her weight to her right leg, leaning slightly into Wally with a small smile when he swallowed.

"The League's orbiting headquarters is not weaponized, and with both Green Lanterns off-world, I need all hands on deck."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Dick was almost positively gleeful. "The League and the Team, fighting side by side?"

"Woah! Really?" Wally was just as excited, his eyes gleaming behind his cowl and Artemis spared him a smile on his right side.

"Superboy," Batman continued as though he hadn't been interrupted, "use the Super-Cycle to rendezvous with the Batplane at Ice Fortress One. You'll drop off Robin and Aqualad, then continue on with Wolf to meet up with Black Canary and Red Tornado at Ice Fortress Two. Miss Martian, Artemis, and Zatanna, take the Bio-ship and rendezvous with Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter at Ice Fortress Three. Oracle will coordinate between the League and the Team and work to shut down the ice fortresses without dropping them out of the sky, if at all possible." Amara made an expression just short of disgusted, like she couldn't actually manage it, because Amara could totally manage it, trust her on that. "Other Leaguers will deal with Ice Fortresses Four and Five. Sending all coordinates now."

"Uh, Batman?" Wally piped up. "I think you skipped—"

"Kid Flash," Batman said, "a young girl in Seattle is in desperate need of a heart transplant. With all conventional air traffic grounded by the storm, you'll need to pick up the donor heart in Boston and run the three thousand miles across country."

Amara couldn't help but feel bad for Wally simply because he'd been looking so forward to teaming up with the League, especially since it was occurring on his birthday. Amara was one thing, but Wally was something else entirely.

She patted his arm consolingly before tightening her grip on her laptop and heading back into the corner of the MedLab that contained Oracle's monitors, clipping a headset to her ear. "Talk to me."

"You have the schematics for Weather Wizard's Weather Wand, don't you?" Batman's voice echoed in her ear and Amara glowered.

"Do I have the schematics for Mardon's wand?" Amara grumbled under her breath, tapping her fingers against the keyboard, sending the details out to him. "Fuck you, buddy."

"You do know I'm still on the line, don't you?" Batman asked wryly and Amara paused.

"Yeah, of course I did," she scoffed. "The Weather Wand can function over a wide area but it works best with optimum focus on selected areas, and it's incredibly unstable. I never got it to work for me. Best guess is that it could've powered one of the Ice Fortresses, but not all of them, and maybe they could've been able to replicate the energy source over to the others." She was starting to ramble, she knew, but the Weather Wand had always been a sore point for her. "You'll have to scan each Ice Fortress separately because if you blow up the one with the Wand in it, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty." Amara didn't know what would happen, but the threat of going nuclear would probably be enough to deter the others.

"You will be able to hack the fortresses if we get connected." It wasn't really a question.

"Barring any complications," Amara said shortly and couldn't help but feel like she should be knocking on wood.


"Are you in?" Aqualad's calm voice echoed in her ear as Amara tried to find his Ice Fortress' kill switch.

"Yeah, just give me a –what the fuck?" Amara had to actually take her hands off the keyboard, stunned at the sight of the code writing itself across her screen.

"What's wrong?" Aqualad asked.

"It's a blackhat operation," Amara nearly seethed. It'd been awhile since someone had actually tried to hack her, and whoever this person was, they were good. "I'm being hacked, you're going to have to get Robin to help you on this one."

Luckily they were on the last Ice Fortress, but unfortunately, the hacker was more talented than Amara in hiding within the code.

"The machine unloading snow is increasing to danger levels," Aqualad warned even as Amara heard the tell-tale signs of Robin's arrival, but she was more preoccupied with trying to keep from being shut out.

"No, no, no," she muttered, diving under the table in order to rip out the plugs from the wall. "You fucking bastard!"

"Disabled," Robin's voice echoed, "how are you doing, Oracle?"

"This asshole used my code, Robin," Amara snarled, so incensed that her fingers sparked with electricity. "He used my code against me, okay? I'm going to fucking rip the bastard apart if I ever see him!"


"How bad is it?"

Amara was surrounded monitors and various cords and servers. It was a mess of chaos and considering that Amara tended to work best in disorder, Dick shouldn't have been surprised, but her eyes were wild and her hair looked like she'd been yanking on it.

"Bad," Amara said hollowly as he sat down carefully close to her. The rest of the mission had completed without a hitch once Robin had picked up the slack that Amara had left behind, the Weather Wand safely removed from the last Ice Fortress, and Wally had managed to get the donor heart to young Queen Perdita of Vlatava despite some interference with Count Vertigo, so there was a win on both sides, but it had done little to improve Amara's mood.

She didn't quite know how to describe how she was feeling, but 'taken advantage of' was pretty high on the list.

"I'm going to need clear the entire system of Trojan Horses and any other sweet little presents he left behind in my code," Amara said bitterly. "The entire system's going to be down until I figure all this out." She made a wild gesture with the hand clutching several different cords that looked like she'd ripped them out of the computers themselves and Dick had to actually lean back.

"Anything I can do to help?" he offered.

"Not unless you can go back in time and tell me not to trust Soothsayer with my code," Amara bemoaned and Dick arched an eyebrow.

"Soothsayer?" he repeated. "I thought he was your rival on BlackNet…why would you trust him?"

Amara bit on her lip as she pulled out a motherboard, trying to reconnect the wires to it. "When I left for Russia after, you know," she cast a look towards Dick, "I needed to leave someone in charge of Oracle because I was going to be offline and I wasn't sure for how long, so he took over for me. He's aggravating, annoying, and complete bastard but I did trust him." She gritted her teeth together. "He's putting me off men."

Dick arched an eyebrow.

"You don't count," Amara added, "I actually like you."

His cheeks turned pink but she didn't notice; she never seemed to notice.

"It's going to take me a few hours to sort out at least the Cave's security measures from this mess, but it's going to take me longer to deal with everything else." Amara sighed. "What time is it?"

"Almost dinner," Dick said, checking his watch. "Flash said to make sure that you ate before he left…I think he came in to see you?"

"Did he?" Amara asked blankly, staring at him in incomprehension.

"We'll get you something," Dick said. Now that the Ice Fortresses had been dealt with, the snow that had once clogged up the roads was clear, at least in parts of the country where it wasn't already naturally occurring.

He leaned over and grasped Amara's hands as they twitched over cords. "Hey, this isn't your fault, you know that, right?"

"You're not as good at lying," Amara pointed out, drawing her hands back with a sigh. "If I hadn't given my code to Soothsayer, then we wouldn't be in this mess, I wouldn't be in this mess." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'll be fine, Richard, you go home; you've got school bright and early tomorrow."

Dick rolled his eyes, pressing the sunglasses more firmly up on his nose, only allowing Amara a moment to catch the color of blue behind them. She didn't see why he went through the trouble of wearing them around his friends, but maybe that was just one of Batman's many rules. It was too bad; she liked the color.

"Call if you need anything," he said and Amara bobbed her head, though privately they both knew that she wouldn't.

So he left her to her tinkering, trying not to think about how when the battle had ended Zatanna had beamed brightly at him and kissed his cheek with enough force to make his face turn red, and he couldn't remember a time that Amara had ever made him feel like that, not counting the times she'd been playfully flirting like she did with everyone.

Dick felt like he was being pulled in two directions and he wasn't quite sure what to do…Wally was definitely out, being Amy's cousin, but maybe he should call Roy.


Maybe Roy should call Amy.

The pressure in his head was building and Roy had no idea what had caused the rather abrupt sensation of pain that had been growing over the past few weeks (or had it been more than a month? Roy wasn't entirely sure).

He hit the speed dial for Amy, looking down on her smiling picture, green eyes gleaming, lips sly, a look he was sure she'd perfected from Jade and he held the phone to his ear, trying to ignore his pain.

"Yeah?" came the grating response and it was surprising enough that Roy briefly forgot about his pain.

"You okay?" he asked, which was ironic given how un-okay he was.

"I'm learning not trust more people than I have fingers," Amy said, her sigh echoing, "what about you? How're you doing?"

Roy felt like the world was tilting, the sunlight blinding. "I'm, um, I'm—"

It wasn't like him to stutter and he could hear the worry in her voice: "Roy? Roy, what's wrong?"

"I need help," he finally managed, breathing out sharply, reaching out to steady himself on a tree that wasn't there, sending him sideways.

"I'm coming," her voice seemed far away now. "Roy, stay on the line, you hear me! Roy!"

And that was the last thing he heard before his world faded to blackness.


AN: Dramatic ending, right? Next chapter should be heavy in the feels department, but we'll see :). Reminder that this fic is going to get very AU in a couple of chapters and season 2 is definitely not happening.

As always: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!