Dick Grayson

Louisiana Bayou

Friday, October 12th, 2012

"Switching flight controls to manual," Miss Martian says. Kid Flash takes the controls and there's barely a dip as he adjusts the bioship's flight path. Looks like someone's been putting in his flight hours. I make sure the case on my back is securely fastened and position myself over the hatch. The Louisiana Bayou is down below, the perfect hiding spot for the Injustice League.

"Radio check," Aqualad orders.

We all tap our earpieces and count off. Miss Martian flies to the center of the bioship and lands next to me. I nod at her and hold out my hands. She grabs them tightly, gripping around my wrists just like I showed her.

"Drop zone approaching," Aqualad announces.

"Ready one," I say.

"Ready two," Miss Martian adds, camouflaging herself to be almost transparent.

"Now."

The hatch opens and we free-fall into the bayou. Miss Martian uses her telekinesis before she starts flying, so instead of having my arms wrenched out of my sockets it just feels like catching a trapeze bar. We land softly on the ground, just outside the farthest reaches of the conservatory's security perimeter.

'Mind-link established.' She tells me. The rest of the team can contact us by comms, but for now, it's just the two of us.

I nod.

'There are four maintenance doors we can access from this position without having to cross too many sight lines. We don't know what kinds of security they've set up, but we have to assume there's some kind of magic trigger in addition to cameras and motion sensors.'

'What about Poison Ivy?'

I point at the massive growth protruding from the top of the conservatory like a satellite.

'That plant thing is huge. She's used up most of her energy and focus on it. As long as we don't start hacking, slashing and burning, she's shouldn't notice us.'

'Okay.'

'Move slowly. If you see anything out of the ordinary, use extreme caution. Whatever you do, don't touch those.'

I point at one of the little plant-buds sticking out of the mud. It's a modified version of Ivy's favorite perimeter alarms, and if I'm guessing right, they'll probably release some variation of Joker venom. Just to be safe, I clip my rebreather to the holder on my glove. We set off for the closest maintenance door. Miss Martian flies next to me, staying a few inches above the ground to avoid setting off any traps. I pick my way through the trees slowly, making sure to stay far, far away from the little plant bombs.

'Can you open it from here?'

'Yes.'

'Open it a little, see if any alarms go off. They're probably relying on magic and Ivy's security, but I'd rather ambush them than get ambushed.' I climb into the nearest tree, clinging to a branch about six feet off the ground to make sure I'm clear of any ground traps. Birdarangs in hand, I nod at Miss M. Floating above the ground, she holds out her hand and her eyes start glowing green. The innocuous door opens slowly, just a crack at first and then wide enough to roll a baseball through. We freeze, waiting for blaring alarms or a sudden rush of supervillains looking for a fight.

But there's only silence. After five minutes, I nod at Miss Martian. She looks relieved.

'Ready?' She asks.

"We're about to infiltrate the conservatory," I report over the comms.

"Ten minutes until the flyby," Aqualad answers. That's our distraction to blow the vines without getting torn apart by the entire Injustice League.

"Acknowledged," I turn to Miss Martian.

'Open it.'

The door opens all the way and Miss Martian flies in first. I sprint after her, jumping over a row of alarm buds that form a subtle perimeter around the building. We shut the door behind us, leaving a tiny opening so that it won't lock behind us.

'All the maintenance hallways lead straight to the atrium. There's no surveillance cameras, we just have to worry about Wotan and Ivy's traps. Find the conservatory, do a headcount, then regroup.'

'All members of the Injustice League accounted for.' Miss Martian says, flying back into the hallway where I'm hiding. A root the size of my entire body punctured through the wall and embedded itself deep into the floor, leaving a hole big enough to fit through.

'Then we go to phase two. Make sure to keep track of them, if anyone sneaks up on us, we're in trouble.'

I open the case and take out a smaller box with half the explosives in it. Miss Martian takes it and pulls one of the charges out to inspect it.

'Try and space them out a foot from each other for maximum damage. All you have to do is push the anchor pins into the plant and they'll stick. I'll blow them all remotely once we get Aqualad's signal.'

'Are you sure you've got ground? I can cover the whole thing.'

'We need to be as quick as possible. I'll get the roots, you get everything I can't reach.'

'Be careful.'

'You too.'

Miss Martian camouflages herself again and flies away. I take a deep breath, taking a belt out of the case and clipping it around my waist so that my half of the explosives are in easy reach. Then I climb through the hole left by the gigantic root. Three quarters of the conservatory is taken up by the gargantuan plant growing all the way through the ceiling. It's an enormous mass of green and brown vines, leaves and roots covering every visible surface. There are glowing orange lines that look almost like circuits running all over the surface. It makes for great cover… as long as Ivy never realizes I'm there. If she does, it's an instant death trap.

The Joker is standing in front of the magic display screens, waving his hands around to control the plants wreaking havoc around the world.

"AAAAND ANOTHER ONE GOES KABOOOM!" the Joker sings, cackling as he shatters an apartment building in a spray of broken glass and crumbled bricks. On screen, Captain Marvel flies through the wreckage to try and hold the plants back from destroying the next building, "Whoopsie! Not kaboom, more like, SKOOOSH PEW WHAM-HAHAHAHAHA!"

Black Adam and Wotan scowl furiously at the Joker's back, pausing briefly to lock eyes with each other like they're daring each other to make him shut up. Clearly they're regretting this team up. I duck under a root to pull out the first set of explosives, fighting back a grin. What did they think teaming up with the Joker would look like? They probably haven't realized there's a ninety-eight percent chance he'll try to gas all of them by the time this thing wraps up. Maybe Ivy warned them, but chances are low.

Actually, what's up with that? She hates him. The previous record for their team up was twelve minutes and nine seconds before she tried to murder him. Whose brilliant idea was it to put them both in this league together?

"Who needs Kobra Venom when you've got good old Joker venom?!" the Joker cackles.

"They both work well in concert," Count Vertigo growls.

"Too well, maybe," Ivy says. I hold my breath as she walks past my hiding spot to crouch down over a nearby root, "We're putting considerable strain on my baby."

She does something that makes the whole section of vines around me turn from a sickly brown to a deep green. Ultra-Humanite's heavy footsteps follow, and then little yellow lights turn on across the entire plant. I drop onto my stomach, squeezing into a little crevice beneath the mass of roots where I won't accidentally get zapped by the electrified plant.

'Not good. They're charging it!' I warn Miss Martian. 'Stay clear!'

'Got it.'

Wotan starts chanting and the circuit lines running through the whole plant start glowing and shifting. This is not good. Even with the amount of explosives we brought, we were counting on the structural fatigue to propagate cracks. The Injustice League has the power to keep the plant from ever getting near its limit. If we blow it now, it might be too strong to destroy completely.

"We will keep her healthy and safe, Ivy. But she requires more power."

More power? Shit.

"Skull!"

Suddenly, the whole plant starts glowing with white energy and the little crevice I'm in starts to get hot. Really hot. But only for a few seconds, then the glowing stops. The bad news now is that there's no way we can take the plant out with all of them ready to supercharge it up again. We're going to have to get rid of them somehow. The good news is that Atomic Skull's energy beams aren't actually radiation, so I don't have to worry about getting massive amounts of radiation exposure.

"Much better!" Ivy exclaims. I hear footsteps as she and Ultra-Humanite walk towards Wotan. I've planted charges everywhere I can reach on this side of the plant, so I move on. There's still a lot more ground to cover and explosives to plant.

The Joker keeps up a constant stream of chatter that annoys the rest of the league, and even though it's creepy it's also super helpful to keep track of where they all are. For instance, Ivy is on the far side of the room with Wotan standing nearby to stop her from making another lunge at the Joker. It doesn't stop them from arguing nonstop.

"Poor little heroes. Nothing they do is quite enough. Ain't it grand?! AHAHAHAHAHA?"

"Of course it's grand, they're my babies," Ivy snaps back.

"Yes, well, the planty things are well and good, but the real magic's all in the flick of the 'ol wrist."

"Oh please, you're just waving your hands around while my plants do all the real work!"

"For your information, my hand waving is a delicate symphony of orchestrated chaos! It's a juggling act! A balance beam that—"

"Never stops talking! Ugh, how does Harley stand to be around you without strangling you?"

"Will you both knock it off?!" Black Adam demands.

"Yeesh! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the lair."

"Shut up!" Ivy, Adam and Vertigo yell at the same time.

'Devices planted.' Miss Martian reports.

'One more. And… done.'

'Let's get clear and blow it.'

'Wait.' I stop her. 'They've been charging the plant this whole time, so it's too strong to blow. We have to take some of them out to weaken it. Plus, it won't be over once we destroy the antenna. The less of them we have to fight then, the better.'

'How are we going to do that?'

'I'll set off the perimeter alarms. As long as they know it's me, either Joker or Har—I mean, Ivy will come running.'

'Are you sure?'

'It's a Gotham thing.'

'On your mark.'

'I'll distract her if you make sure she stays quiet. Meet me in the hallway, I have a plan and there's only a medium chance it'll go horribly.'

"Oh Boy Wonder…" Ivy sings, trailing her hand along the wall as she walks down the hall towards my hiding spot, "Come out, come out wherever you are."

"Looking for me?" I drop down from the rafters, landing softly on the ground. I see Ivy's hand twitch and the faint rumbling in the floor means I only have a few seconds before the attack comes.

"There you are! I thought you and Batman were a no-show. It hurt my feelings that us Gothamites mean so little to you these days."

"Don't get too excited, Batman's got other stuff to do today."

"Then he's going to miss all the fun… of watching you die!"

As she speaks, the floor erupts with vines. I flip into the air, dodging the shoots and leaves and landing on a fast-growing vine. I slide down it and jump to the ground before breaking into a sprint. Ivy sends waves of plants after me that I duck under, jump over and slide through.

'Get ready…'

I reach into my belt and pull back my wrist like I'm about to throw it, telegraphing the movements as much as I can. The hardest part is letting the attack happen. The vines grab my arm first and cocoon around me, lifting me off the ground.

"Agh!" I grunt as the vines start squeezing. My voice echoes off the walls and a psychotic cackle answers.

"HAhahahahaHAHA having fun without me Ivy?" the Joker shouts from inside the dome.

"Just a little bird infestation," she calls back, raising her clenched fist, "But don't worry, I'll have it handled in a second."

"Stop playing with your food and finish him already!" Ultra-Humanite growls, "If he's here, there will be others."

I thrash against the vines, gasping for air as the plants just get tighter.

'Robin!' Miss Martian calls.

'Not yet!'

"Oh, I am going to enjoy every second of this. This little vermin has been a thorn in my side for years, and once he's dead I'll use his body to fertilize my baby."

"One… problem…" I wheeze.

"And what's that?" Ultra-Humanite raises his gun to point it at me. Ivy rolls her eyes and the vines tighten, cutting off the last of my air. Or at least it would if Miss Martian wasn't telekinetically holding them back.

'Now!'

I press the button on the trigger in my hand, and the gas pellets planted along the walls explode. The vines holding me drop away and Miss Martian pulls me out of the blast radius of the gas. Eight of the pellets hit Ultra-Humanite dead on and Miss Martian slams her palms onto his temple. The psychic reverb is almost tangible as she commands him to sleep and he drops like a stone. I sprint as soon as I hit the ground, charging Ivy before she can react. A flying sidekick to the chest knocks her back, followed by an elbow strike to her head while the wind is still knocked out of her.

'The problem is, I don't want to be fertilizer.' I think decisively.

Miss Martian lands next to me.

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah. You?'

She nods. I reach for the special cuffs Batman gave me at Mount Justice.

'Will those work?'

'Bat-cuffs with built-in inhibitor chips. Specifically designed for heavy hitters like Ultra-Humanite.'

'What about Ivy?'

I reach for a vial on the other side of my belt.

'This will temporarily neutralize Ivy's innate resistance to biochemical substances and make sure she takes a nice, long nap.'

'Batman?'

I nod.

"Oh Ivyyyyyy! I'm not hearing any screaming…" The Joker calls from the other room. I type a command into my wrist computer playback.

"I'm going to enjoy every second of this [...] you stupid clown!" the recording is a little choppy, but it's good enough for five seconds of editing.

"Well someone's huffy!" The Joker calls. He pauses, "Get it? Huffy?! AhahhaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's a good one! HAhahaha!"

The perimeter alarms go off a second later.

"Gentlemen, we have company," Atomic Skull announces. His voice is quiet and smooth and it glides across the walls of the dome, "Count Vertigo, Black Adam, Wotan, show them a proper greeting."

'If I take the Joker, do you have Skull?' I ask.

'He's mine.' Miss Martian nods.

'Don't let him hit you. He has a three second cool-down between blasts. It's short, but he's an open target.'

'Got it. Be careful.'

'You too.'

"Aqualad to Robin and Miss Martian! Enemy has engaged! What's your status?" our comms chirp at the same time.

"In position. Ready on your signal. Be advised, Black Adam, Wotan and Vertigo are coming your way," Miss Martian answers.

"Understood. Are you clear?"

"We're out of detonation range but-"

"No time, we've been hit! Are you clear?" Aqualad interrupts, and there's no time to argue.

"Yes!"

"Blow it."

The Haunt

Sunday, October 14th, 2012

"Are you doing all right?" Slade asks. I look up from the laptop screen, saving my code again for good measure. Hardison's projects are hard enough and I am not restarting this one from scratch.

"Yeah? Why?"

"It was hard to miss the giant plants that attacked the entire planet," he says dryly, "And rumor has it the sidekicks were the ones responsible for putting an end to it. I can't imagine that was an easy fight."

"I'm fine."

"Of course, that's not the only rumor…"

"I'm sure it's not," I mutter under my breath, trying not to roll my eyes. Is he really trying to get me to tell him League secrets?

"During the fight, it seems Robin took on the Joker."

I keep my face as blank as I can.

"And?"

"Apparently Robin said something to him that made the Joker angrier than anyone has even seen him. That's particularly impressive as it can be nearly impossible to genuinely get a rise out of him."

"Really?!" I snort, "That's what you want to know?"

"I admit that I'm very curious."

I fight back the urge to grin and ask, "Have you heard of the Egg Register?"

Judging by the irritated silence, that's a no. I take a second to appreciate that I've finally found something Slade knows absolutely nothing about, which feels amazing.

"There's a church in London that has the world's only official clown registry. When you become an official member of Clowns International, you get your makeup and outfit painted onto an egg and it's like a personal copyright. It's a really big deal in the clown world."

"And the Joker…"

"About three years ago, he tried to join and they put out a statement saying that he will never be recognized as an official clown and he'll never get an egg in the registry. It's his biggest weak spot."

"I see."

"What are the rumors saying?"

"Nothing even remotely correct, as usual. I think the dominant theory was something to do with his hatred of Poison Ivy."

"I mean, that happened too."

"You took on both of them by yourself?"

"No, it was a team effort," I pause, "But even the way it turned out, it feels… too convenient. Not that it was too easy, the fighting was definitely real, but now that there's faces to put to everything that's happened, it doesn't make sense. The Injustice League has a lot of power and they're super dangerous, but how is anyone supposed to believe the Joker came up with a plan to team up with a ton of random villains, including Ivy who hates him, and convinced them all to go along with it? And if it wasn't his plan, then who would've ever included him? When the plan fell apart, he tried to kill all of us, including them, so they'd be right not to include him. It just doesn't make sense that they're behind everything."

Slade doesn't say anything for a while and I wonder if I've said too much. But nothing I said was a secret; the Injustice League's broadcast went out to the entire world, and he already knew I was there.

"What do you want me to say to that?"

"What?"

"I think you already know the answer. You're just waiting for it to be someone else's idea."

Shit. That means I was right, that...

"They're not behind it, are they?"

Slade doesn't break eye contact when he answers, "The Injustice League is not behind everything."

I stare at him. My heart is pounding in my ears.

"Do... do you know who is?"

There's a long pause.

"If I did… that's a line you're not ready to cross."

My stomach drops. Right. He's the bad guy. How do I always forget that?

"Right," I turn around, sitting back down in front of the laptop. I have to get back to my coding anyway. Slade snorts.

"There's no need to get defensive. Besides, as long as we're sharing, I've uncovered some information I believe you'll be very interested in."

"What?"

"T.O. Morrow."

I wait for him to keep explaining but he doesn't. Am I supposed to know who that is?

"What about him?" I prompt after a few seconds, raising an eyebrow, "Who is he?"

Slade shakes his head at me, letting out a huff of air in his version of a laugh.

"Yellowstone National Park."

"What?"

"He's maintained an underground laboratory beneath Old Faithful. My sources tell me that it's been drawing power for the first time in about a decade."

I stare at him.

"I have no idea who that is."

Mount Justice

Friday, October 19th, 2012

"Here's your pineapple juice, Wally!" Captain Marvel flies in, holding the glass in easy-reaching distance for Wally to grab, "I put a tiny umbrella in it, just like you wanted."

Uh-oh. It's like watching Jay meet Roy for the first time before I found them dropping water balloons from the balcony at Ollie's Christmas party. Except Wally doesn't know that Billy's a ten-year-old who just wants to older kids to like him. He's got an actual earnest smile on his face when he asks, "How's the arm doing?"

Wally sighs dramatically, holding his cast in the air like a Shakespearean actor monologuing to a skull.

"I just wish it was better already. But really, it's nothing some nachos can't fix."

"Oh! I can get you nachos!"

Aaaaand Captain Marvel zooms off to go get him food. That's it.

"Wally, knock it off!" I snap, turning around to glare at him.

"What?" Wally defends.

"Hyah!" Artemis grunts, spinning in midair to catch me off guard with a roundhouse kick to the temple. I duck, letting her foot pass over my head before driving my shoulder into her hamstring and pushing her hard on the small of her back. She lands a few feet away and rolls smoothly to her feet.

"He's not your butler!" I tell Wally.

"Says the guy who actually has a butler," Wally grumbles.

"Cave butler," Kaldur and I correct at the same time. M'gann giggles as she drives Kaldur back with a combination of punches and redirections.

"Why don't we have a cave butler?" Conner asks. While we're down a sixth fighter, he gets to be score keeper and that means making up obscure rules for us to follow.

"This isn't a naturally occurring cave," I answer, blocking a punch and jabbing Artemis in the kneecap.

"And the Batcave is?" Artemis raises an eyebrow, redirecting the hit to get me off balance.

"Yup."

"Thirty seconds," Black Canary calls.

"No hands!" Conner announces, updating the score system.

Artemis lunges at me with an elbow strike that spins into a back-kick combo. I dodge and block with my forearms before trying to grab her in a headlock. She kicks the back of my knee and slips out before I can tighten my grip. Kaldur bursts out laughing. Artemis jumps over my sweep kick and turns to look, so I look too. M'gann is grinning at Kaldur, brandishing her giant, shape-shifted crab claws at him.

"What? He said no hands. These are aren't hands," she grins, clicking them together.

"Are powers permitted at this time?" Kaldur asks Conner.

"No."

M'gann redirects her smile at him and I can hear her puppy eyes from across the room.

"Are you sure?"

"Powers are fine," Conner amends.

"Alright, I think that's enough for today," Black Canary steps forward, stopping the timer. She's grinning and shaking her head at us, "Good work guys. We've gotten a lot done this week."

"Yeah, some of us have," Artemis says, glaring pointedly at Wally. He stops slurping his pineapple juice to protest.

"Hey! Arm broken in combat against the Injustice League, here," he waves the cast around and we all roll our eyes. Okay, yes, I do feel bad that he's in pain but also he could be a little less needy. He had Billy bring him an armchair to watch us train! It's not like there's anything wrong with his legs!

Black Canary laughs, shaking her head.

"You know, I've really had fun being your den mother this week."

"You are welcome to hold the position longer, if you desire," Kaldur offers. Conner snorts.

"Not like the League is doing anything about our old one," he mutters. I lock eyes with Kaldur as Black Canary stiffens.

"Recognized: Zatara, A-11."

The zeta beam goes off, interrupting that particular line of thought. When the light fades, Zatara walks to the computer without saying a word. Conner looks at me and I shrug, trying to tell him I don't have a clue what's going on either. But Canary looks like she knows what's happening by the way she goes to stand by Zatara. The rest of us follow, with Artemis dragging Wally off the couch before he can protest. When the light fades for a second time, there's a girl about my age standing in front of us with her arms crossed over her chest. She's wearing a school uniform and looks about as unenthusiastic about being in a room full of superheroes as anyone has ever been. Luckily, Zatara is quick to make introductions.

"Zatanna, this is the team. Team, my daughter, Zatanna."

'Dude, say hi!' Wally practically shouts at me over the mind link.

'What?'

'Do it or I will! Ow!'

'Will you shut up?' Artemis elbows him.

Luckily, M'gann flies in to the rescue.

"Hi! I'm Megan, this is Wally, Artemis, Robin, Kaldur and Conner."

"Welcome to the cave," Kaldur adds.

Zatanna smiles shyly, looking at her dad for direction before nodding at us.

"So, are you joining the team?" Artemis asks, stepping forwards and putting a hand on her hip.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Zatara cuts in quickly, not giving Zatanna any chance to respond, "This is strictly a visit, although I am sorry we missed the training."

"You didn't miss much. Today was a slow day," Wally grins. We all turn to glare at him and he raises his hands quickly, "Kidding, kidding."

Zatara and Canary are getting lost in a discussion about training methods, and Zatanna looks like she wants to curl up into a ball and hide. From the looks of it, she's not going to last long in this business.

'Do the rest of you get the impression we're still on probation with Zatara?' M'gann asks.

'Not just Zatara.' Conner points out. 'I mean, why is Marvel still hanging around?'

'Billy's harmless.' I say.

'And we like having him around,' Wally cuts in. Artemis smacks him.

'You just like having him around because he waits on you hand and foot.'

'And your point is?'

'Wally, stop taking advantage of him!' I snap.

'How am I taking advantage? He's offering!'

'It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's tenure as our supervisor.' Kaldur says, crossing his arms over his chest.

'At least he trusted us.' I snort. 'Besides, did you see the way Canary reacted when Conner brought him up?'

'The League is just ignoring the fact that he was a traitor! They just let him get away!' Conner growls. 'He nearly got M'g—all of us killed!'

"Are… you guys having a psychic conversation?" Zatanna asks. We all stop yelling and turn to look at her, "Cause, I can't decide if that's cool or really rude."

Conner is the one who looks at Canary and Zatara's stares and makes a decision.

"Fine. We were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack and the League hasn't told us anything!"

"The League is searching for Tornado, as well as the other androids that invaded the cave, and their creator T.O. Morrow."

Oh.

Oh shit.

Yellowstone.

Old Faithful.

That's what Slade was talking about.

'Robin?' M'gann whispers. I freeze. 'Don't worry, it's a private link. Are you okay?'

'I know where Tornado is.' I tell her, forcing myself to relax so no one else notices our silent conversation. Zatanna is still caught up listening to Canary's explanation.

'What?! How? Where?!'

'T.O. Morrow has an underground lab in Yellowstone National Park, but M'gann, I can't tell them how I know.'

'Slade?'

'He told me last week, after the fight with the Injustice League.'

'You're still working with him?! Robin, you know he's not-'

'Yeah, and we'll deal with that later! Right now, we have more important things!'

"Yeah, and you haven't found anything," Artemis retorts.

"Regardless, Tornado is Justice League Business. The Team is not to pursue this," Canary frowns, her voice sharp. I don't know what my face is doing, but I know there are at least four matching unimpressed expressions staring back at her.

"Ahem, why don't you all take Zatanna on a, uh… tour? Of the… cave…" Zatara suggests awkwardly. I roll my eyes and glance over my shoulder to where Zatanna is curled up on top of Wolf. Conner blinks like he just noticed she wasn't standing next to Zatara.

"You're giving a tour? Cool!" Captain Marvel exclaims as he walks in carrying a plate of nachos. Summoned by the smell of food, Wolf bounds over to him and tries to eat the plate out of Billy's hands.

"Actually, I was hoping you could take Wolf outside," Conner steps forward before I can say anything, "He needs the exercise. We'll, uh, join you in a few."

"Uh, sure! Sure, I can do that. C'mon Wolf!"

Wolf follows him, but he's really only following the plate of nachos. Kaldur moves us along to the kitchen quickly, where Zatanna lets out a snort.

"We're not really taking a tour, are we?" when I look over, she's grinning. She's also wearing a purple tank top and a pair of white jeans that she definitely wasn't wearing twenty seconds ago.

"How did you-"

"Magic," she winks at me, and suddenly I see all the way through the 'I'm a bored teenager' act. And I feel really stupid for judging her so fast.

"No, we're not. We're hunting down that robot," Conner says, glancing at Kaldur for confirmation.

"Yes. We are."

"Wow… out loud and everything," the look on her face is flat out diabolical. Okay, I take back everything I thought about her prior to a minute ago.

"What about… new girl?" Artemis asks hesitantly. I make eye contact with Zatanna and we share a grin.

"What, are you worried she's going to tell on us?" I tease Artemis.

"I can't tell," Zatanna picks up where I left off, "Not if you… kidnap me."

Yup, it's confirmed. Zee's a badass.

"Oh, she's gonna fit in great," Artemis says.

Of course, the problem starts when we step onto the bioship and M'gann immediately starts flying due west. Almost like she knows exactly where our target is. Which she CAN'T KNOW!

'Where are we going?' I ask over the mind link.

'Yellowstone. Isn't that where you said?'

'M'gann, how do we explain to the rest of the team how we knew where to go?'

The bioship dips a tiny bit and I fight back a curse.

'Then what do we do?'

I get an idea suddenly.

"Batman and the League have been searching for weeks and haven't found anything. And they're been searching for Tornado and Morrow in every logical location. If we're gonna do better, we need an illogical solution," I turn around to look at Wally, "A truly dumb idea."

Wally pouts and looks at the rest of our teammates, and sure enough we're all staring at him. Then he shrugs and decides to roll with it.

"As a matter of fact… let's take a trip to Belle Reve."

Wally, I could kiss you.

Gordon Residence, Gotham

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

"—and then we blew exhaust holes in the sides of the volcano and stopped it from erupting and taking half the planet with it."

"That's crazy!" Babs exclaims, "What happened to Red Tornado?"

"He's fine. Batman, GA and some of the other leaguers are helping him run diagnostics on his code, and they're installing failsafes for him to use in case anyone tries to corrupt him again. But for now, we've got our Den Mother back."

"Your life is insane," she grins.

"Yeah, basically."

"I'm serious! Last week, you stopped the giant plants trying to take over the entire world, yesterday you stopped a massive volcano from exploding while fighting evil robots, you're friends with aliens, fish people, a guy who can run faster than the speed of sound, and meanwhile you're also taking AP Calculus with the rest of us mortals."

"You forgot a master archer and a magician in training."

"Damn, how could I have forgotten Artemis, she's my favorite."

"Babs!"

"Except you, dummy. And Za…Zee-Zee?"

"Zatanna."

"Do you have a crush on her?"

"Babs, I just met her."

"That's not a noooooo…" Babs sings, a wicked grin stretching across her face.

"You're the worst!" I can feel my face getting hot, "I don't have time for a girlfriend. She's really cool and nice and I hope she joins the team. That's it."

"I'm just saying! The Boy Wonder's a catch."

"BABS!"

"Fiiiiiiiine. I'll stop. So," she flips a page in her notebook dramatically, "What's up next for you intrepid young heroes who definitely are not crushing on each other?"

"Now that Tornado's back, the League will probably back off us a little. No more constant supervision, so that's good. I think they're still planning to have us do a failure sim tomorrow."

"What's that?"

"It's like a virtual reality disaster simulator. They put us in an unwinnable situation to see how far we get."

"So it's like a video game?"

"Nope. The Martian Manhunter is going to link our minds up to the simulation, so it'll feel like we're really there."

Babs stares.

"That sounds really scary."

"Not really. I mean, we'll know it's a simulation, and it's important for us to train for the worst. What if something big happens and the League can't respond to it? We have to be ready to step up."

Babs shivers.

"Still…"

There's a knock on her door.

"Hey Dad!" Babs calls, "Door's open!"

Commissioner Gordon opens the door slowly, poking his head and smiling.

"You got home early!" Babs grins.

"The only good part about having meetings all day instead of real work. Good to see you, Dick."

"Hey Mr. Gordon," I wave.

"Dick, you know you can just call me Jim."

"No, I can't, it feels weird."

Besides, at least I don't call him Commissioner. Getting around that one was rough.

"I call your dad Bruce," Babs points out.

"Yeah, but I call him Bruce too."

"Are you staying for pizza night?" Commissioner Gordon asks.

"Shoot, I forgot that was Wednesday, I can't tonight. Rain check?"

"Fine, but you're coming next time!" Babs demands, poking me in the chest with her finger.

I hold my hands up in surrender.

"Deal."

"Need a ride home?" he offers.

"That would be great!"

Mount Justice

Friday, October 26th, 2012

After the Failsafe

M'gann is sitting on her bed, facing the wall without moving.

"M'gann?"

She stiffens before hunching in on herself, tears dripping down her face. I shut the door behind me, making sure it's locked before sitting on the bed next to her. I don't know what to say so instead we just sit in silence while she sobs.

It's a long time before she takes a breath. When she talks, her voice is a mixture of pain and guilt and self-hatred.

"I'm so sorry."

I try to take her hand but she pulls it away. I take the hint and keep my hands to myself.

"M'gann, we don't… blame you," I say quietly, "You didn't know it would happen and it didn't occur to anyone that there was any chance of it happening."

"It was my fault. I did that to us."

"You didn't do it on purpose. You didn't know it would happen. This is NOT your fault. Besides, at least we know disaster simulators are… a disaster."

She doesn't smile.

"Oh come on, nothing? Not even an eye roll?"

"How are you joking around right now?"

"Because that's how I deal with trauma?" I grin.

"Robin, that's not funny."

"Well, I'm not kidding," I lean back, lying down on her bed to stare at the ceiling, "What did you and Canary talk about?"

M'gann sighs heavily.

"She told me I need to practice with my powers more."

"What do you think?"

She looks down at the ground.

"What if I hurt someone? What if I pry too far and do something I can't take back?"

"But what if you do it accidentally because you don't know your limits?" I point out.

"It's not worth the risk!"

"Isn't it? That's why we train together, with supervision of the people on the planet who are the most capable of dealing with it if something goes wrong. That's why you have a mentor. I mean, what did Manhunter say?"

She sighs again and I pull her down on the bed with me. This time, she doesn't pull away and the two of us lie side by side. The heat from her body and the smell of her orange blossom shampoo calm me down more than anything has since we all fake died. This is familiar. This is safe.

"I'm scared to ask him. I think he's been avoiding me."

"Well no shit. He's probably horrified that—"

"I messed up so badly," she interrupts.

"What? No! M'gann, the only way to end the simulation was to kill you. He's your uncle! He loves you! If we're massively fucked up just having seen each other die, think about how he's feeling."

"What if he can't forgive me?" she whispers.

"You won't know what he's feeling unless you talk to him. Besides, there's no one on the planet who understands what you're going through more. He's the only other Martian on a planet full of Earthlings. Maybe he's been through something like this before."

"You think?"

"You don't know until you talk to him."

There's a long pause.

"What did you talk to Canary about?"

Now it's my turn to share. Fair's fair I guess.

"Oh, you know, I became team leader and immediately got everyone killed. Myself included."

"Robin, that's not fair."

"No, it's true. I sent Conner to his death as a diversion. And what's worse is that he knew exactly what I was doing and went along with it anyway. I mean, how am I supposed to live with that? I made a plan knowing that it would get every single one of use killed and followed through with it. If it had been real… I was willing send my last three teammates to their deaths and die right along with you. I was ready to die. I have a family, M'gann! I literally didn't even remember they existed. What would it have done to them if Batman and I both died fighting aliens?"

Now it's M'gann's turn to reach out and I let her fingers intertwine with mine.

"I died. I sacrificed myself for the mission, for the good of the entire world because it was the only way to stop the invasion. But if it had been real, I would've died for nothing. All of us died for nothing. I killed all of us for nothing and now all I can think about is that nothing is worth dying for."

The next words stick in my throat and the ache in my chest hurts so badly I have to sit up so I can still breathe.

"I don't want to die."

The look on M'gann's face can only be described as heartbroken, but instead of saying anything she just wraps her arms around me in a hug. I lean in, letting her hold us both up while tears pour down my face. The wetness on my shoulder means I'm not the only one crying.

Then the alarm on her phone goes off, completely ruining the moment.

And honestly? That's fine with me. The hug was nice, but really it was a horrible moment.

"Those are the cookies," she says, using her telekinesis to turn it off without moving from the bed.

"You should probably get them," I tell her.

The kitchen is empty when we get there. It's Wally's turn with Canary, and it looks like Conner took off a while ago. M'gann floats over to the oven to check on her cookies.

"Do you want to put a movie on?"

I shrug.

"Is there anything you want to watch?"

"Something funny?"

It takes a few minutes to find something that looks remotely funny and not likely to give any of us breakdowns. I put it on and sit on the couch. M'gann passes me a cookie and sits next to me.

"It's hot," she warns.

"Thanks."

"What did you pick?"

"The Addams' Family."

"What's it about?"

"It's about this family that's really creepy and Goth but the joke is that they're really happy and nice people. Just different. I don't remember what happens in the movie but it's cute."

"It sounds perfect."

I don't realize I fell asleep until M'gann taps me on the forehead lightly. I look up at her, blinking groggily.

"…wha?"

"You should just lie down," she suggests, trying to hide her grin.

"Don't make fun'f me," I mumble, but I'm half asleep already, "I wan' the couch."

"All yours," M'gann giggles.

I lay down, putting my head in her lap and stretching my feet out.

"Hey!" Artemis snaps. I lift my head and sure enough she's sitting on the other end of the couch, looking a little bit annoyed. But not too annoyed.

"Hi 'Mis," I mumble without moving.

"Robin, get off."

"no thanks."

"Ugh. Fine. But just this once."

"mmhm."

"Fester Addams! My brother, returned to us after twenty-five years!" the TV blares.

"Room for me to squeeze in?" Wally asks.

"If you wake him up, you're in big trouble," Artemis threatens. I don't bother to tell them I'm not asleep, because it's close enough. And opening my eyes is too much work.

"No problem," Wally grins. I can't see him do it, but I know his bragging voice well enough to see the look on his face. He lifts up my feet and the couch shifts as he squeezes in between Artemis and the armrest, "Tada!"

"Shh."

"Tada," he whispers.

I drift again.

"Kaldur, there's room," M'gann says quietly.

"ZZzzzzzzz," Artemis snores.

"I don't wish to intrude."

"Kaldur, sit on the couch," Wally orders.

"Shh," M'gann hisses. The couch dips as she squeezes closer to Artemis and Kaldur sits on her other side.

"This mamushka, we dance for you!" declares the TV, "Mamushka!"

Dinah Lance

Mount Justice

Dinah was worried. She was furious at herself, angry with the other members of the League, but mostly she was worried. The parade of young heroes coming to talk to her had been concerning mostly in that she'd been completely wrong about what was bothering each of them.

Of all of them, Conner's confession had helped him the most. Dinah was proud of him for being able to process his thoughts on his own, and she suspected there would be a pretty interesting mission report about wherever he and the Sphere had gone off to.

But the rest of the Team was struggling. Kaldur and Dick with the guilt from leading, M'gann with the guilt of hijacking the simulation, and Artemis with uncertainty about her role on the team. As ridiculous as it sounded to admit it, she was the most concerned about Wally. He'd flat out refused to talk about the failsafe, refused to address his feelings, and with the responsibilities from his new abilities, Dinah was concerned he didn't have any healthy outlets.

The failsafe was truly a disaster, and the team had been having a hard enough time since the Reds broke into the cave and accusations of betrayal had been thrown around. Dinah believed in the kids, she really did, but this was a lot for anyone to handle.

Maybe it was too much. Maybe the team would start to fracture around the edges and it was only a matter of time before they'd have to disband for their own good. Dinah didn't know what she could do for them if that that happened.

She was a combat specialist. Team psychologist was never supposed to have been her job.

Would the team be okay?

"Canary?" Conner asked. Dinah blinked, looking down at the notepad in her hand.

"I'm sorry, Conner. I got distracted. What were you saying?"

Conner shrugged.

"Just… thank you for being here. I appreciate that I can talk to you and you won't judge me."

"Of course. That's why I'm here. You are always welcome to talk to me."

She glanced up at the clock on the wall and nodded, "Why don't we finish here? We can always talk more later, but I'm sure you're hungry."

"Sure."

Outside the office, echoes from the TV bounced off the cave walls. That was a good sign, wasn't it? The team hadn't had a movie night in a while, so if they were willing to spend time with each other it meant they might be willing to recover together.

Dinah sighed, knowing it wasn't what she hoped. M'gann was the only one left. Kaldur was scared to spend time with the team and risk feeling like he wasn't wanted, Artemis didn't like the reminder that she'd been the catalyst for her teammates' suffering, Wally's coping mechanism had always been to run away (unsurprisingly), and who knew where Dick had disappeared to.

Still, she followed Conner into the kitchen on the way to the Zeta Chamber. And when the room came into view, she stopped short, hands flying up to her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.

There was a movie on, but the team had long-since stopped watching. Kaldur was on one end of the couch, head dropped as his chest rose and fell in even breaths. M'gann's head was resting on his shoulder and Artemis was leaning on M'gann. Wally was on the other end, leaning away from his teammates, but he and Artemis were holding hands, fingers interlocked in a tight grip. And Dick was sprawled out over his teammates, head in M'gann's lap and feet on Wally's legs.

They were all fast asleep, and it was the cutest thing Dinah had seen in her entire life.

Maybe things would be okay after all.

AN: Shoutout to Unpretty on tumblr for coming up with the idea of the Joker's grudge against the clown egg registry, she's awesome and you should check her out if you love Batman.