So I want to preface this chapter with a rather important realization that I had. The reason this story has been taking so long was I was trying to get to a point in the plot and had the basic idea of how to get there. But I now realize I was working to the ending that I want the wrong way which made me more hesitant to work on this story since I was so uncertain on how to actually make things happen the way I want to. So you guys don't actually know the first plan I had which is good, but this new way that I'm working on it should really help me finish this story out the way I want it to end. Yeah, but it was really important for me to realize all this, so I had to tell someone. Anyway, I'm feeling more motivated now that I have a good plan and I am going to finish this story before May (I don't want to make any promises I can't keep so hopefully before May but not later than May). Now that that's all sorted out, here's chapter six, I don't own Young Justice, but I'll admit that I am enjoying season 3 quite a bit. I've got the next chapter about halfway done, so look for that in the next two weeks, maybe sooner. I hope you enjoy, follow, favorite and review.

Chapter 6

Resign

/rəˈzīn/

verb

1.

voluntarily leave a job or other position

2.

accept that something undesirable cannot be avoided

The room was timeless, without any clock or change to the façade of the outside world there was no way for him to know how much time had passed. Klarion had made a point by taking away his sense of time and depriving him of any interaction to the outside world. Or perhaps the Lord of Chaos was unaware how lack of exposure to others could affect humans.

Even more problematic, Dick could feel his exhaustion setting in, it wasn't like he was going to allow himself to sleep, but he had practice surviving on little to no sleep. However, if his lack of sleep continued, if there was an opportunity to escape, he'd already be at a disadvantage before he began. He'd need Bruce.

Yet, no matter what type of detective work Bruce could do, finding the interdimensional area Klarion was keeping Dick in would be difficult. Despite all the technology Wayne Industries had been able to produce, they still had next to no ways to replicate magic, much less control the advanced magic related to interdimensional travel. Once Bruce figured it out, he'd have to rely on their consultant for magic.

Knowing Bruce, it'd take him too long to actually ask for help. More likely than not, he'd wait until he'd exhausted every option. Dick muffled a laugh, Bruce was probably running around like a mad man trying to do just that. It was a good thing Alfred was there to look out for his health.

If only Dick could somehow get word out Bruce, he'd be able to speed this up. And hopefully be back in the manor before the next week. Even if he had to resign himself to working for Klarion to get to that point.

It was then that a familiar red portal opened beneath his feet.

Ra's narrowed his eyes as the holograms of the other members of the Light appeared. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw Klarion appear, after a week of missing these meetings Savage had finally harassed him to participate once more. Yet, the witch boy looked impatient, there was no doubt he had Talon trapped in some way.

The Detective had only asked Ra's one favor, to get Talon away from Klarion long enough for the young acrobat to send a message to him. While a member of the Light, Ra's first responsibilities were to further his own goals, and in that area the Detective would be of much more use than Klarion.

"Perhaps you would enlighten the rest of the Light on what you have told me, al Ghul," Savage prompted.

"While the Nano technology developed for New Year's has been in development, we are missing a crucial component which is not on the market as of yet. In fact, only one copy of the program we need exists. This chip is found in the Jump City Branch of Wayne Enterprises located in a secure location within the building. However, as the League of Shadows and Sportsmaster remain occupied securing other components for our project, we lack access to anyone otherwise capable of securing the chip undetected, therefore distracting the Justice League from our plans," Ra's informed. It would be the perfect job for someone trained by the Detective. Upon Ra's informing Owlman of the Light's plan, the anti-villain had immediately set to work in creating the chip, either to use as a bargaining chip or bait.

The affect was nearly instantaneous. A smug smile lit up Klarion's devious features, and it didn't take long for Vandal Savage to see the expression either. "Do you have a candidate for this job, Klarion?" he questioned. The Light's leader looked impatient with the Lord of Chaos as he often did due to the other's rather mischievous nature.

"I do, in fact. Allow me a moment to summon him and inform him of the situation, Savage." Without waiting for a response, Klarion's screen was blank, having been swiftly shut off. It was just as Owlman had suspected.

Upon hearing the opportunity, Klarion had viewed it as the time to cement Talon's place with the Light as a loyal pawn. It would have been wise on his part to offer the boy up for such a task when many members of the Light remained weary of Owlman and Talon as independent cogs who could disrupt their plans at any moment. But Klarion wasn't weary enough to have considered this as a trap, a mistake that would lead to Owlman and, by extension, Ra's victory.

"Until Klarion returns, we have a different matter to discuss he is best left out of," Savage begun, "Due to rather unforeseen events, Luthor and I decided Talon has outlived his purpose and as such, disposed of him."

Ra's allowed a fake shock to flow through his features, fooling even the wisest member of the Light was an easy task for an assassin. None of them were built from the same material, each with their own tricks. And the cruel environment Ra's al Ghul had staked his claim in gave him more skills than his peers. "You've killed the boy?" Ra's asked disbelievingly. He couldn't wait for Savage and Luthor's shock the moment Klarion returned with the boy in tow.

Luthor nodded, "We understand your affinity towards Owlman and Talon, al Ghul, however, in a recent attempt to convince Owlman to join the Light, Talon's interference proved to be dire to our attempt to sway his mentor in joining."

"Are you insane?"

Every member turned to look at Queen Bee in surprise. Even Ra's hadn't expected such a reaction from the villainess. But upon seeing their confounded looked, with the expectation of the Brain's who could not change his expression, she pressed forward. "Owlman's control over the majority of villains on the planet will make it difficult, and perhaps even impossible to further grow the Light or hire mercenaries. Not only that, but Owlman won't stop until the Light is destroyed!"

"Honesty, Queen Bee must you be so dramatic-!"

"Queen Bee is right," Brain agreed, "While the Light may be powerful, Owlman is not secretive. As of now, despite some of our plans and involvement being discovered by the Justice League, Owlman still remains at the top of their wanted list. We operate in the shadows, while Owlman is well known throughout the world. It would be impossible for us to compete with him."

Savage was silent, even as their attention had turned to him. His screen beeped and he eyed the other members before shaking his head, "We will have to discuss it at another time, for now, we will listen to Klarion's candidate for the job. Do not speak a word of this to him."

"Welcome back Kl…." Savage's voice tapered off as the smug Talon appeared beside Klarion as his screen once more joined the call. It was the first time Ra's, and probably any other member of the Light had seen their leader speechless. The Demon's Head didn't even have to look to know Luthor's jaw had dropped.

"Hey there Lex, Savage, fancy seeing you guys again so soon," Talon teased. His grin was wide, and while he was avoiding looking at Ra's, he knew the boy had caught onto the plan, "But past events aside, Klarion said you had a job for me?"

"How do we know he is loyal to the Light?" Ocean Master spoke up for the first time. Out of the group of villains, he was perhaps the most unexposed to the legends of Owlman and Talon that had spread across the surface, and thus the most neutral to whether they joined the Light or not. As long as they didn't interfere with his attempts to lay claim to the throne of Atlantis, he seemed impartial to the anti-villains.

Talon looked over at Klarion briefly, "Let's just say I owe him a favor." It was easy for the boy to recognize that wasn't enough of a reason for the rest of the Light but he allowed a moment of silence before he laughed. "What? Did you honestly think I have any sort of undying loyalty to the Owl?"

No one responded, even Klarion was silent. Ra's knew the boy was bluffing, but even he couldn't help but feel slightly fooled at the boy's nonchalant questions. The Detective had served the acrobat as a good mentor for him to act this well in front of his enemies.

Looking at each member of the Light, Talon smirked. "Jeez, shows how much you guys know about being villains. Being with Owlman was convenient at the time, he is the number one villain on Earth, even you guys could learn a thing or two from him. But running from the Justice League or whatever plots you had to get Owlman to join the Light? Count me out. Besides, I heard the Light's paying more anyway."

Finding the teenagers new suits had been an easy task. Bruce was no fool, the moment anyone saw a group of teenaged sidekicks parading after the villain of Gotham City it would be easy to put two and two together. He'd already had Alfred tailor uniforms that would account for mutations like superspeed, strength and so forth and tailoring them to fit each teenager wasn't a long task either.

Getting them all to his usual meeting place with Selina had been a different story entirely. He showed up almost ten minutes late with the gaggle of teenager behind him who apparently couldn't sense his exasperation with them. As he did a quick headcount, making sure none of them were running around Gotham, he barely heard Selina drop onto the rooftop in her suit.

"Owlman how nice of you to come," she purred, taking in the sight of him with the sidekicks with an amused smile, "Although you seem to have had your hands full with some new kittens."

"Who is that?" West whispered to his companions. The speedster really should learn to talk quietly, how the team had earned the place of the Justice League's covert operations team was beyond Owlman. If he was in charge of them even for a week, they'd be able to go more than five minutes without saying something that could blow their cover if someone was listening.

"This," Owlman answered, "is Catwoman, one of my associates."

Selina laughed, "There's no need to be so distant, Owlman, not after I risked my tail to get that information from the Demon's Head you wanted." She held up the flash drive victoriously, pulling it out of his reach when he tried to grab for it.

"Drop the act, Catwoman. Quinn is the one who received it. Ra's followed the appropriate protocol to pass information about the meeting, as he usually does," Bruce growled. Sure, he didn't mind Selina's teasing from time to time, but Dick was involved this time, and she should know better when it came to him. "Now give me the drive."

Selina frowned at him, "That's no way to ask a lady for something. Agree to let me help you get Talon and I'll give it to you."

Well that was unexpected, Bruce thought. Yes, he knew Selina treated Dick like her son, but she was always looking out for herself first. And getting on the Light's bad side was one of the worst things she could do. He even told her such only to receive a laugh in return.

"You worry too much, Owlman. You can't do this by yourself, no offense kittens, but you won't be able to keep up with him. Not when he's looking for Talon. I'm not planning to go to the Light myself," she added when Bruce opened his mouth, "But you'll need someone to watch Gotham while you're out. Some of the newer crime lords have already been more daring since they heard Talon was gone. Let me handle the streets."

"Owlman perhaps you should-"

Bruce silenced the Atlantean with a single glare. He should have left all of them in one of his safe houses while he made the exchange. He would have if he didn't think they would instantly make a mess of wherever he left them before going after him. With a silent huff, he nodded. "Fine, but no killing."

Selina grinned, handing the drive to him. "Good, and don't worry about Gotham," she gave him a swift peck on the cheek, electing the gasps of the sidekicks behind him before jumping backwards, and onto another roof. "And don't worry about Gotham, Harley, Ivy and I will take good care of her!"

Of course, she'd involve the fellow villainesses.

Talon looked down through the grates of the ventilation shaft as the Wayne Enterprises' scientists left the room as their shift ended. As soon as the doors slid shut behind them, he dropped down from the shaft, quiet feet landing against the white tile of the lab. He had ten minutes before the first patrol of security guards would check the vault room security office.

It wasn't a big window, but enough for him to seamlessly complete the mission. Using the 'skeleton key' access codes he'd long ago written for Wayne Enterprises as a back door for himself and Bruce that wouldn't be traced back to their civilian identities, he broke into the system, looping the video feed for the vault room which lay through the heavy steel and lead doors off to his right.

It took another minute before he safely disabled the security systems which would alert the main guard area that all protocols controlling the vault room security were still on even after he'd shut them off. With that he finally opened the vault room doors, setting each protocol he'd set of to automatically turn on again in five minutes. If he was still in the vault room by the time the doors shut, he'd get in contact with Klarion to get him out.

Even without being able to see him, Dick knew the Witch boy was watching him, and likely was showing his progress in the mission to Savage. Despite the lack of time, Dick scanned each or the small drawers in the vault room before he found the right one, having known where it was all along but understanding it would look suspicious if he'd gone right to it.

Since the alarms were already disabled from his previous codes, he went ahead and opened the drawer, pulling out the small green chip. From one of his pockets in his utility belt, he fished out the duplicate created to replace the original. The duplicate chip was blank.

At least the Light thought it was.

Dick had uploaded all the information he had on Klarion's inter-dimensional space, an analysis of the material it was made of included. There was more information about the nanotechnology Dick had skimmed off the rest of the meeting when the Light explained to him what its purpose was and the possibility to reverse its effects now that it had the chip from Wayne Enterprises included. He'd added information about the Light that was missing from Bruce's files, including Queen Bee and the Brain's reactions to hearing Savage and Luthor had tried to kill him—Klarion wasn't nearly as weary enough as he should be, the moment Dick had a private moment, he'd found Ra's had sent him the feed for the mission.

Now, all he had to do was wait for Bruce. And until then, he'd hopefully be able to glean more information about the Light as they grew more trusting in him.