chapter two: the jury's out; life hates me
"Nightwing is going to kill me." The words are said blankly; Tim has passed the exit to panic and hysteria and has arrived at eerie calm. "That's it. I'm done for. Tell B I love him and Cassie I'm sorry I never returned one of her Fruits Baskets books."
Superboy snorts and Robin can clearly see the half-kryptonian roll his eyes. "Nightwing doesn't kill."
"Not yet he doesn't." Robin says, a hint of hysteria entering his expression as he surveys what remains of a four-story warehouse. He and Conner wince in unison as the last remaining wall crashes to the floor, a cloud of dust and debris billowing out and gently covering them from head to toe.
I am so, so screwed.
"Hey man, you'll be fine. I mean, we completed the mission." Superboy holds up a hard drive between two fingers. "Things could have gone worse."
And things could have gone a whole lot better, too. Robin thinks to himself as he gingerly touches his ribs. Yup, those are most definitely sprained, possibly broken. Great. His life is the epitome of that meme, the one of the dog inside the burning house saying 'this is fine'. He should print it out and keep it on hand to give people when they ask him, 'Tim, how are you, how's life?' and he could reply 'oh you know, ha ha, fine, everything's fine. Want a visual aid?'
Tim pushes a mud-covered lock of hair out of his eyes and looks over at Superboy, who is wearing the remains of his tattered shirt, covered in dirt and mud from his pants to his head, but otherwise looks fine. Tim knows that he doesn't look much better, his cape ripped in several places and there's some sticky, gross something caked on his boots and shins. The thought of collapsing in one of the Manor's hot-tub sized baths while listening to his audible book Oathbringer sounds like absolute heaven right now.
Superboy kicks a chunk of concrete out of there way-what probably used to be a part of the ceiling- and Tim resists sneezing as another cloud of dust explodes into the air because, ow, his ribs are still hurting.
"Come on," Superboy says as they make their way out of the ruined plot. "We should head back."
"Well, no use delaying the inevitable." Tim mutters as he and Superboy head towards the SuperCycle.
"Hey, you did good." Superboy says punching Tim's shoulder lightly. "We're all alive and I have what we came for. So, the mission was a success."
"Ugh." Tim groans out in reply.
The mission, a simple recon mission, which Tim had been assigned field leader for, could be called a success if you forgot about the recon part. Which, ha ha, was the part Nightwing had stressed, underlined, put in fourteen font Calibri bold and deliberately pointed out in pink highlighter. He'd assigned Tim, Superboy and Static (Static had been called away right after by Black Lighting, and he was more than happy to leave explaining to Robin and Superboy) to the mission and it shouldn't have been a problem for them, but like everything in Tim's life, it had gone wonderfully, gloriously, sideways.
Kind of like the time Tim had tried organizing a nice Father's Day outing for Bruce (Tim's own father has a seven year running streak of not being home for the holiday or his own birthday, and to this day Tim still doesn't know where his parents had been at the time) and had taken Bruce to his favorite Korean place in downtown Gotham. The plan was for them to grab food and then head back to the Manor while blasting The Clash and watch Spirited Away and hopefully finally finish the last two episodes of Firefly.
But instead Bruce had somehow gotten food poisoning, (which considering he's Batman is honestly...ridiculous) Tim had had to drive them back to the Manor in silence because Bruce was like, legit dying, and they hadn't watched either the film or the t.v. show because Bruce had spent the rest of the night throwing up.
Wonderfully, gloriously, sideways.
"And besides," Superboy adds as they climb over crumbling pieces rumble. "He can't really say much considering the amount of recon missions he's messed up."
Tim just looks at him.
Truthfully though, Tim is grateful and happy that his brother is once again leading the team. Nightwing's return to the cave is an extremely recent one; after the Reach invasion and everything that happened, it had taken time and space for life to return relatively back to normal, or as normal as it could.
Nightwing's leave of absence in the months after Wally's death and returning to the team had left Kaldur and Batgirl in charge, commanding the team and working in conjunction with the League when needed. The change in dynamic had been felt by everyone, and Tim is insanely grateful that Dick is back. When he'd left, he had asked for space, and so Tim had respected that, remaining in contact with Dick briefly through comms. only. It was stressful, because as hard as it was for Tim to respect Dick's wishes, it was like, ten times harder for Bruce, who had become more moody and secluded during that time, which had inevitably made Tim stress out more, which had in turn made Bruce stress out even more, and yeah, stressful.
(Tim is insanely grateful to Barbra, who is able to speak and work with Bruce in a way Tim and any of the past Robins aren't able to. And she doesn't mince her words, so when she tells Bruce to stop being a butthead and trust Dick, she literally says 'Bruce, stop being a butthead and trust Dick'. Alfred had given her an approving nod and Bruce a pointed look.)
Between watching Batman's back, acting as mediator between his brother and Bruce when needed, his studies and AP classes, time spent with the Team and trying to get more than four hours of sleep each night, the past few months simultaneously feel like they've crawled and flown by. Time with Cassie is fun and rewarding and whenever Bart is around Tim can always count on something happening, and he's still kind of surprised at the friendship he's developed with Conner. (Steph says it must be a tradition because hey, look at Clark and Bruce, and Dick and Donna- she's also convinced that Alfred and Martha Kent are secretly BFF's too which actually wouldn't surprise Tim). Regardless, Tim is grateful for the time he gets to spend with them all, the friendships that they've grown; it has led to some crazy, ridiculous moments and some of Tim's favorite memories.
"ETA to the cave, two minutes, Rob." Superboy's voice cackles through his comm., bringing Robin out of his thoughts. He nods his head, although Superboy can't see him from where he's sitting up front.
"Got'cha," Robin replies.
And some not so favorites, like heading back to Mt. Justice with Conner to deliver his report to Nightwing. Tim may or may not pull the 'you did worse when you were my age' card like Conner suggested; the only issue with it is that it's the same excuse Dick will throw at Bruce. (Which Bruce always pointedly ignores which means Dick knows how to pointedly ignore it too which means Tim's chances of that actually working are very, very low).
It's only a few minutes later when Superboy and Robin disembark from the SuperCycle in the Cave's garage and begin making their way towards the main room.
"You still have the hard drive?" Robin checks with Superboy. The clone nods and tosses it over to the third Robin.
Tim catches it and mentally starts lining up his reasons for why their covert operation turned into an event that might be visible from the Watchtower (which Steph is never going to let him live down) as they make it to the upper level and in front of the doors to the rec room. "The day of reckoning, here we go."
Superboy rolls his eyes. "You are such a drama queen."
Tim retorts deadpan, "What can I say, I work with Batman, I've learned from the best."
Superboy laughs as the doors swish open and they walk in.
"We're-" Conner freezes mid-sentence as he and Robin stare at the scene in front of them.
If Tim is that dog in the meme staring blankly saying 'this is fine', the cave is the house on fire. Like, it's literally on fire. The couch is burning along with the carpet and one of the side chairs next to it. On one side of the Cave Tim can see Cassie and some blond dude he's never seen before fighting, gusts of wind whipping past. Someone, a teenage girl, is shouting something. Her words seem to affect Gar who's transformed into a tiger, his approach towards her halted, but she has no effect on Blue Beetle, who's desperately trying to beam another guy who's returning his shots with firebolts from his hands.
Kid Flash is a blur, whizzing by from one end of the cave to another, trying to hit yet another dude with dark hair who somehow manages to duck out of the way, moving next to another guy who looks like he's actually controlling the water that's pouring from the ceiling's sprinkler system. He's holding a wicked looking sword in his hand and on his other side is a blond-haired girl, a dagger in her hands and an expression of shock and irritation on her face.
Okay, we're battling people from Avatar: The Last Airbender or something, Tim thinks to himselfas he and Superboy leap forward to help their friends. This is fine, totally fine.
(\M/)
\/
Percy knew it. He knew it was too good to be true. Life, the universe, the gods, whatever, smiling upon him and giving him a break from shitty situations and totally disrupting his life, that was a big. fat. joke. If he weren't fighting for his life, again, in a place where he's got no idea how he's even gotten there,again, against superpowered beings, again, he'd take a moment to laugh at himself and then probably cry.
The horrible transition that was watching as Hazel collapsed, being caught by those...things, the voice that had reverberated inside his skull, then blacking out to find himself in an underground cave with kids who look like they're heading to Comic Con has given him vertigo like he's never experienced. Even with the water raining down Percy still feels sick, like someone's taken a cheese grater to his stomach and twin hammers to his head.
And of course, their situation went from bad to worse before he'd even been able to blink because there was some kid who'd just appeared, standing right in front of Leo and talking a mile a minute. The poor demi-god reacted just as well as Percy did, jerking back and shoving his hands up. Unfortunately, Leo can shoot fire from his hands. Which is wicked cool, but not so beneficial in moments like these, because then the next second someone had shouted something and Leo went flying backwards, crashing against the wall behind them. The fire, which should have burnt the kid's face clean off, had dissipated into thin air and suddenly the kid was across the room. Percy hadn't even seen him move.
Nico, his eyes wide, had muttered a string of curses that basically perfectly summed up their situation. Percy was actually really impressed.
"Back off!" Jason had yelled over Piper and Annabeth shouting Leo's name, and sent a blast of wind right back at the blue person bug...thing.
Everything had happened in less than five seconds. And it took less than one for everyone, except Leo who was still slumped against the wall, to draw their weapons and enter the fray.
I hate my life, was Percy's final thought as he uncaps Riptide.
(\M/)
\/
Kaldur turns off the lights as he and Barbra start making their way to where the younger heroes are waiting for them, hopefully still going over their case files. (But knowing them as well as he does, he has a feeling that they've tossed them away a while ago despite Cassandra's protests.)
"I just spoke with 'Wing, he said he'll be here in about five minutes," Barbra says as she falls in step with him. They are both in plain clothes; sneakers, jeans, and for Barbra, a white t-shirt that has the words U.S.A. Academic Decathlon 2016, Sponsored by Wayne Enterprises on the back. Kaldur's top is simply plain grey. Clothes made by the surface world still, after all these years, feel strange, but after living here for so long, finally not unpleasant. Now, Kaldur finds himself enjoying the feeling of different textures and cloth types on his skin as it's distinctly different from anything made in Atlantis.
Kaldur nods at Barbra and smiles, still grateful that their friend has returned to lead the team. Losing Wally is a pain that is still poignant and hurts, an ache that has settled in Kalur's heart next to the heartache he still feels from losing Tula. Dick's return has helped lessen that, somehow. "It will be good to have him officially back."
Barbra returns the smile. "Yeah, I- did you hear that?" Her eyes narrow as she tilts her head to the side, listening carefully.
Kaldur frowns, tense. "What is it?"
A series of sounds reach their ears, noises they hear all to often when battling villains and fighting for their lives.
They exchange a glance then take off running.
There are so many possibilities for what could be happening in the rec room- memories from a time in Kaldur's past when he and his friends had nearly died at the hands of Red Tornado's siblings flash through his mind. This time though, Kaldure doesn't feel fear for himself but for the young heroes under his command- his charges.
Batgirl is speeding up, an aura around her that reminds Kaldur of Batman despite her casual attire. She reaches the doors first and wastes no time getting them to open, revealing the rec room in all its chaotic glory. It is not the scene Kaldur was expecting.
Its pandemonium and chaos, voices shouting, fire, water, and wind blasting through the air, the furniture completely ruined or on fire, and scorch marks decorating the walls. Part of him is relieved; he doesn't recognize any of the intruders which means they're not some of the villains he was fearing they were. But that also means that they are complete unknowns, and they are inside his cave, attacking his heroes.
"Robin!" Batgirl yells. She's already released two batarangs quicker than Kaldur can blink, and he jerks his head to the side in time to see a blond-haired guy send the Boy Wonder flying through the air. Robin slams against the wall of the cave, falling to the ground, motionless.
The memory of Superman laying a hand on his shoulder saying 'Batman...Robin, he didn't make it,' about another boy in a red and black costume snaps Kaldur into gear. He follows Batgirl into the room, magic floods his veins, fear and anger, his heart.
"Enough!" Kaldur summons water through the vents and piping the cave even before he realizes he's doing it, the water gushing forwards and pooling into the room. His tattoos are glowing and it takes Kaldur a second to realize there's something terribly wrong about the water; someone else is controlling it.
"Enough!" It's as if there's an echo. One of the intruders, a black haired boy, shouts, and the water coalesces around him before slamming out, hitting everybody and knocking them to their feet. The boy's eyes are incredibly wide, his hand raised and outstretched before him like he's giving someone a blessing, and Kaldur is amazed and shocked at his level of control over the water. It's strong enough to send even Superboy stumbling backwards.
The effect is like someone's pressed the pause button on a remote; the Cave goes dead silent and motionless, everyone staring at each other without moving.
Kaldur breaks the eerie calm first. "What is going on here?" Kaldur demands, walking forwards, completely dry. His voice is steely. "Who are you, and how did you get inside this cave?"
He surveys the room, taking in his uninvited visitors who are gazing at him in bewilderment, confusion, and apprehensiveness. Kaldur thinks they would have looked like completely normal teenagers if he hadn't just seen them just go toe-to-toe with apprentices of the Justice League.
"Uhhhh…" One of the boys is staring at him, his gaze locked on something on Kaldur's neck. "Are you, like, part fish?"
A girl standing next to him elbows him in the side. She steps forward, raising a hand slowly, clearly not wanting to break their momentary truce just yet. "That's what we'd like to know as well," she says evenly. "I mean, what's going on here-not the fish thing." She glares at the curly haired boy who'd asked the question.
"We don't know how we got here," The blond guy adds. The smaller teen next him is gazing at Kaldur without blinking, his pale skin stark in the lighting of the cave.
-Recognized: Nightwing, B03-
The automated voice echoes through the cave and Kaldur can see the unknown teens jump slightly. They're clearly unsure of the situation and more than a little confused, and Kaldur has a gut feeling that, despite their initial attack, their intent is not malicious. He's not exactly sure why, but he's seen their expressions on enough civilians he's saved throughout the years and on some young heroes when they first join the team.
Kaldur motions for the Young Justice members present to back down a step, the boys listening but Cassandra moves over to join Batgirl by Robin's side.
A few seconds later Nightwing steps inside the Cave. It's a testament to the first Robin's training and skill that Kaldur can tell he's taken in the situation, assessed, and made a judgement on how to approach it within seconds of arriving at the Cave.
The unknown group of teens look at him wearing varying expressions of shock and disbelief.
"I thought that only happened in Star Trek." One of the boys says. Kaldur can hear a slight tremor in his voice.
"What in Hades is going on." Another whispers, but it's quiet enough that they can all hear him.
Nightwing glances across the Cave, taking in the disaster, unknown, disheveled teens grouped on one end of the cave to the other end, where Batgirl is supporting Robin. Kaldur can see the whites of Nightwing's domino mask narrow to slits. Blood is trickling down the side of Robin's face from where he collided with the wall, and he's holding his side with one hand.
"What," Nightwing says, his voice low and dangerous, breaking the silence that has descended in the Cave. "Is going on."
"Oh snap." Gar murmurs. He and Blue Beetle shuffle over closer to Kaldur, Kid Flash looking between Nightwing and the others.
The newcomers shift, clearly picking up the undertones in Nightwing's question. They exchange glances, some silent conversation taking place between them.
After a moment, the dark-haired boy who had controlled the water steps forward, lowering his bronze blade and returning Nightwing's look without flinching. Kalur is impressed.
"We don't know. I swear, we didn't mean to come here or hurt anybody."
Nightwing appraises him and Kaldur slowly moves forward to stand beside the young adult. He says in a low voice, "I do not know who they are, but I am inclined to believe him."
"Scarab says he's telling the truth." Jaime says cautiously. His arm, the one that's formed a small cannon, is still half raised. "And that they're from 'unknown origins, not identifiable', whatever that means."
"Percy is telling the truth," one of the girls, her blond hair matted and wet from the water, says coming forward to stand next to the one she had called Percy. She looks more composed than she did when Kaldur had first seen her, and again, his gut is telling him that she is not lying. "We're from New York, I mean, we should be in New York. We don't even know how we got here."
"Where is here, anyways?" The curly haired guy asks, looking around the ruined room.
Nightwing crosses his arms over his chest and clenches his jaw, and Kaldur will never not be amazed at the way he is now able to control the room, just like Batman did all those years ago with a much younger, newer, version of the Team. Nightwing inclines his head to Superboy, who nods and closes his eyes. Kaldur knows that his friend is listening close enough to hear their headset and detect any lie to the best of his abilities.
Nightwing slowly moves towards the two teens who had spoken, his footsteps making no sound despite the water puddled at his feet and his movement graceful.
"I'll ask again," Nightwing says. "What. Is going on."
Kaldur can see the apprehension rise up in the intruders, their expressions and stances quickly becoming closed and guarded.
"We don't know." The teen, Percy replies just as evenly. "Like I told your friend, we have no idea where we are or how we got here."
"Who are you?" the other girl asks Nightwing. Her voice is slightly melodious and peaceful, and something prickles at the back of Kaldur's neck. The guy with blond hair stands next to her, his blue eyes gazing at Nightwing then each of the other heroes standing in the room.
Cassandra opens her mouth to answer, but Nightwing cuts her off. "Tell me why and how you got here." There's no room for argument; it's the same way Batman gave the Young Justice team commands in the past, the ones they knew not to disobey or question. Kaldur notices Superboy murmuring into his comm., most likely informing Nightwing of something. The first Robin catches Kaldur's eye and nods minutely.
Kaldur relaxes slightly and mimics the head movement to Barbra. Superboy must have relayed the same thoughts to Nightwing as Kaldur did.
There's a brief moment of what feels like a stalemate, neither person moving, before finally the blond girl nods and Percy lowers his hand.
He says clearly, "We don't know how we got here, and we have no clue why. We didn't mean to hurt anybody." He takes a step forward. "Please. We need help."
.
.
.
.
(why in the world didn't conner hear the commotion and when babs did? well, even the author doesn't know. comic book reasons. (also thank u for all the comments, see u next week!))