Chapter 24: Remembrance

I fly just as fast to Bialya as I did getting back to Earth. Thankfully it doesn't take me as long getting to the Middle East.

I've been and seen plenty of beautiful places around Earth, but never Bialya. Probably because of the fact it refuses to join the United Nations Charter. And that is probably because of their ruler, more accurately dictator, Queen Bee. The League has had problems with Bialya in the past, keeping her from gaining more power than she already has. Though its said that she can bewitch all men to do her bidding. Like Poison Ivy, only without all the chlorophyll.

I keep my distance from the surface, hiding myself in the clouds. If the Team has been compromised, the Bialyan military will be looking for them. And as much as I'd like to punch someone in the face, I'd rather find them before gunfire breaks out.

I keep looking throughout the desert sands until I notice something. I fly down to take a closer look.

Touching down on the ground, I walk over to what I noticed: a small crater made in the sand. I turn to my right and find another crater. I levitate myself a few feet and see more craters, making a path.

"Superboy."

I get to my feet and twirl my staff in hand. "Who are you? Do you know where I am?"

But he doesn't answer me. He instead launches towards me. I jump over him, dodging his tackle. I land right behind him and kick him in leg, making him kneel. Or at least he should be. Kicking him didn't seem to budge him. What is he made of? Steel?

The boy swings his right arm towards me. I block it, just in time. I grab a hold of his arm and twist it behind his back. He tries grabbing for me with his other arm, but I stay away from it. I keep twisting until I hear a pop from his arm. Still, he throws me a couple of feet in front of him. At least I finally got something done on him.

The boy looks to his arm, feeling the pain I've just inflicted onto him. He grabs a hold of it with his left hand. Tightly and quickly, he moves his arm downward, popping it back in place. What? What is he?

I grab for my white silk ribbons in my back pocket. I throw one towards him, wrapping it around his left hand. Got him!

He looks at the ribbon and me angrily. He grabs at the ribbon and begins lassoing it. With me still holding onto the other end. He spins me in the air in an ongoing loop, making me want to be sick. Unfortunately, it comes to an end when he slams me into the ground.

Laying in the ground, I haven't felt this bad in a long while. I look up to see my opponent standing above me. Just who is this guy? Is he a Shadow? God, how did they find me…

"Do your worst. I've taken worse beatings from far more terrible men."

He raises his fists up high in the sky, ready to slam into me. Just as he's about to, something grabs ahold of him, sending him flying miles across from me.

I sit up from my spot on the sand. I didn't get a good look at what took that maniac away from me. Still can't from how fast it's moving. All I can see is a blur of green.

"Calm down, Superboy!"

But he doesn't answer or calm down at all. He grabs at me and throws me into the ground. I roll in the sand as he lands on his feet.

I look up to Superboy. The look on his face, all that rage and hatred. What happened to you?

I get back to my feet and levitate slightly above the ground. "I don't know what's happened to you, but I don't want to fight you Superboy. You're my friend."

He yells in response to my gesture. So much for friendship.

He launches himself at me. I create a barrier construct around him, trapping him in a spherical green ball. Knowing him, the barrier won't hold for long.

Superboy already starts making cracks in the sphere. I can't fight him, he's too strong for me and my constructs. I need to do something… Got it!

My ring glowing brighter, I reinforce my sphere barrier. I also shine the sphere intensely bright, blinding Superboy for the moment, giving me enough time to create a baseball bat construct.

"Sorry about this Superboy. You'll understand." I ready the bat, arch it back, and have it swing. The bat makes contact with the sphere, sending it flying into the sky. What a hit! Should consider going pro if I hang up my ring.

I turn back and fly over to Sara, who's running in the opposite direction. Probably still thinks Superboy's gonna hurt her. I lower myself down in front of her. She stops at the sight of me.

"Hey, don't worry. He's gone for now." I look over the horizon in Superboy's direction. "Impact onto the ground shouldn't hurt him really. Though he'll definitely be angry at me for hitting him like a baseball. Now, where—"

I bring my attention back to Sara, or at least where she should be. She's gone. Where did she vanish to now?

I feel cold steel against my neck. Sharp. A blade. But how—

"Who are you?" Sara?

"What are you doing? This isn't funny."

"I'm not playing. Now I'll ask again. Who are you?"

"I'm your friend."

"I don't have any friends."

"Yes, you do. Sara—"

Her blade tightens against my neck. "How do you know my name?"

"She told me your name."

"Who!?"

"Dinah."

The blade drops to the sand. I turn around and see her expression: shock and joyous at the same time.

"You know Dinah?"

"Of course I know your sister. How could I not?"

"Do you know where she is? Is she okay? Is she worried any?"

"Dinah's most likely in Star City, more than likely fine. And she's always worried about you. No matter how many times you tell her not to be."

"She must be worried sick about me, all the way out in… in—"

"Bialya."

"Bialya? What the hell am I doing in Bialya?"

It takes my brain a minute or two to piece it together, but I finally figure it out. Oh my god. You've got to be kidding me.

"Sara, what day is it?"

"What?"

"Do you know what day it is?"

"March 4, 2011."

"That's what I was afraid of."

"Afraid of what?"

I raise my fist. I bring out from my ring a map of Earth. My location on the planet, the weather, the stars in the atmosphere, and the date. September 4, 2011.

"That can't be right."

"But it is right. It seems your memories of the last six months have been erased."

"Six months? It can't really be six months now."

"I'm sorry Sara." I take a step closer to her, but she backs away. She takes out her bo staff, wanting to smack me with it probably.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? For all I know, you could be lying about all of this. Just to get to me!"

I look over Sara, but what I see isn't just paranoia. I see fear in her. She's putting on a brave front, but she's afraid to accept the truth. That six months have passed by, and that she's been more open to others besides her sister. And that scares her, more than I thought it would.

"Look me in the eyes. They're the windows to our souls, or so my mom would say the are. Look through my windows and see if I'm lying."

I make my mask disappear, revealing my green eyes to her. "A Green Lantern with green eyes. What are the odds?" I smile at her remark. You have no idea.

She moves closer to me, until we're face to face with each other. Sara stares into me for a good minute. And I stare back into hers. Luminescent blue eyes. Beautiful soul.

Sara gasps as she steps back. She drops her staff. "You're right. It really is September. What have I been up to since March?"

"Well I can't speak for you from March to June, but since July we caught your attention and curiosity. And since August, you've since joined a team of other young heroes besides myself. You've been a great addition since."

"I'm part of a team? Who else is on this Team?"

"Well there's Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis and me. And you, the White Canary."

"White Canary…" She looks to herself, most likely piecing together the outfit finally. "A bit on the nose, but I like it. And who are you? Other than being a Green Lantern I mean."

"I'm Kyle Rayner. I helped convince Dinah into joining our band of misfits."

"You did? We must make one hell of a team."

"You have no idea."

"Well it's nice to meet you, again." She smiles as she brings her hand out towards me.

I meet her hand with my own, shaking it. "It's nice to meet you too, again."

"So, how do you plan on finding the rest of our team?"

"Well Red Tornado told me that you all dropped in at Qurac, which is right at Bialya's border. So that's a good start."

"Red Tornado? As in the robot that can generate wind? He sends us on missions too?"

"Actually, he's more like our den mother for when we're at the Cave."

"Our base is in a cave?"

"Yes, but that's not what's important." I float slightly above the ground. I lower my hand to Sara. "Are we gonna go or what?"

"You want me to fly with you? I'm not sure about that."

"Sara, do you trust me?"

"I… I do."

"Then trust that nothing will happen to you. Okay?"

She takes my hand, slowly grabbing it. "Okay."

I send a green aura around Sara, making sure she'll travel by my side with no problems. Maybe some wind in the face, but other than that, she'll be good.

"Hold on." Next thing she knows, we take off and head for the border.

I've flown through the night sky before in planes before. But flying like this, I gotta admit, it's freeing and thrilling.

Kyle and I are still flying over Bialya, it now being nighttime, heading our way over to the border. We've been at this for a little over an hour, so hopefully it won't be much longer getting there.

With everything that's happened, having my memory of the last six months erased, meeting this GL again apparently, I'm trying to keep my head on tight. I'd like to think I'm doing a fair job of that. I just hope I can get my memories back, or at least fill in the gaps of what I've been up to the last couple of months. Getting into trouble no doubt.

Though it's comforting having someone by my side through all this. I'll admit, I was a little hesitant with Kyle at first. But looking into those green eyes of his, I knew right away he was a good person, strong in character and loyal to the end. Even though I don't remember him at all, I do trust him. Either I'm a complete sap for believing a complete stranger or I've got more faith in him than I thought I do.

As we keep flying through the air, I hear gunfire repeatedly. "Stop. Do you hear that?"

We stop midair. Kyle closes his eyes, focusing on any noises. He opens his eyes. "Yeah I do."

"You think our team is where that's coming from?"

"Oh, it's them, no doubt about it. Let's join them in the fun." I'm about to drop into gunfire with a group of people I don't remember knowing. This will be fun.

Kyle flies us over to the firefight, which we can see above. We see Bialyan soldiers fighting young costumed vigilantes. A boy in red in black and a cape, another boy in yellow that moves too fast, a girl in green with a compound bow and quiver of arrows. And a girl who is green, wearing black and blue. Is that a Martian? Man, we've got a full house on us.

"More Bialyans are headed their way." I point north of us, Bialyan soldiers marching their way with guns in hand. "I've got an idea."

"This ought to be good."

Kyle flies his way over to the Bialyans, holding me below him with his hands. I hope I land where I need to.

"On my mark… Now!" He lets go of me. I feel the rush of the wind blow from below me. I look down and see Bialyan soldiers below. I land right behind one soldier, sweep his legs under him and have him fall to the ground. Two more soldiers look to me, one on each side. I dig into my pockets and pull out my white ribbons. I release them to the soldiers, the ribbons wrapping around their arms. I pull the ribbons, pulling the soldiers towards each other. I jump as they crash into each other. I land in front of them, looking at my work. Not bad, hero.

I turn my head up and see four more soldiers aiming for me. I decide to run the opposite direction when they start shooting at me. I keep running until I don't hear anymore gunfire. I turn back to find Kyle having caught all the soldiers in a bulldozer construct. He raises them up, then slams them into the ground. Kyle lands next to me, high-fiving me. I could get used to this.

"Let's get with the others." I follow Kyle as we run over to meet our team.

"Hey guys!" Kyle yells to the rest of our team. They all look our way, looking surprised no doubt to find the both of us out here. Out of the four of them, I only recognize Robin and Kid Flash. Proteges to Batman and the Flash. The green girl, she's a Martian—Miss Martian—so she's got to be Martian Manhunter's. The girl with the bow—Artemis—never seen her before. Though if anything she's probably training under Green Arrow. But I can't help but feel that she seems familiar to me for some reason…

"GL!" Robin says as he high fives Kyle. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Here to save your butts, no duh. Canary's beacon told me you guys were in trouble, so I rushed from Oa to get here."

"Umm, dude, I don't see Black Canary anywhere", Kid Flash says.

"I think he's means me" I say entering the conversation. "Hi, I'm White Canary."

"Oh man", Kid Flash says. "How many beautiful girls do we have here exactly?" Did he seriously just say that?

Kyle punches him in the arm. Thank you. "Memory wiped or not, you're still the same Wally as ever."

"Your name is Wally?" His head drops in response.

"Can anyone tell me why we're all out in the middle of a desert?" Artemis asks.

"We're all part of…"

"A team", Kyle finishes the Martian's sentence. "You all were sent to Bialya on mission to find something non-terrestrial. My best guess is you guys found it, but whoever had it didn't want anyone to know about it. They then somehow erased your memories of the last six months, making you guys forget about the last two months we've been together." He looks around to see everyone, myself included, watch how he deduces the situation.

"Okay, smart guy, what happens after our memory gets hazy?" Kid Flash asks.

"I don't know, I wasn't here for any of this."

As Kyle, Wally, and the bowman argue amongst each other, I notice Miss Martian is quiet right now. She must be pretty scared.

"Hey", I say to her, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm just worried about Superboy."

"Kyle told me that he was grown in a pod sixteen weeks before he and his friends found him. If that's the case, he probably doesn't remember anything."

"Oh god…" She closes her eyes, then opens them. She places her hands on her head. Her eyes start to glow white.

What follows next, I'm in a weird… I don't even know what do call it, with Kyle, Robin, Artemis, and Kid Flash. I look up and a see pictures of all of us. Memory fragments.

"I've brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far", Miss Martian says as she appears before us. "But I need your help. Together, our broken memories can form a whole, if you open your minds to mine."

"You want to paw through our private thoughts?" Artemis defensively asks.

"I have no wish to intrude, but—"

"You need to hack our minds to grok what happened to us. Got it. Go." Robin says quickly.

"My brain's all yours. Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you" Kid Flash says. This guy is so full of himself.

"Or underwhelm you. Hey, why isn't anyone just whelmed?"

"Please, let's not have that conversation again", Kyle says.

"If it means getting back my time with you guys, I'm in", I say.

"Me too", Kyle says. "Just consider my brain an open book. Read me." I chuckle at his joke.

Artemis looks to all of us, not sure what to decide. She probably has some things she wants to keep to herself. I can't say I don't blame her. Wally takes her hand, reassuring her that we'll be okay. "Last six months only, and only what you need."

Miss Martian nods in agreement. She then summons five blue psychic hands, grabbing at our heads. Something tells me this is gonna leave us with headaches.

First memory that I find watching is Batman debriefing us on the mission. "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, and 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, two clicks from the hot zone."

The next memory I see is the Team landing in Qurac. "All clear", Robin says. Superboy brings out a heavy piece of machinery.

The next one is of me, Artemis, and Robin finding the site. "The Bialyans control the site."

"Set up here", someone says. Superboy drops the machine, turning it on. "We'll be up an running in no time", Robin then says.

"Jackpot!", Kid Flash says. "The site's lousy with zeta beam radiation."

"Detecting non-terrestrial trace elements from the tent."

"I'll check it out in camouflage mode", Miss Martian says.

"Good. Go."

"Careful", Superboy says.

"And maintain telepathic contact."

"I will, Aqualad." Aqualad!

"Aqualad!"

"Where is he? What happened next?" Robin says.

"I don't know! That's the last thing I—we remember."

Artemis and Wally let go of their hands. Just get a room already. "We landed 24 hours ago. If Kaldur's been wandering the desert that long, well, that's not good for a guy with gills", Wally says.

"Now that I know to look for him", Robin says as he brings up his map of the area. "He's close! But he's not moving."

"Then let's go get him!" I say to everyone.