AN: So, I've gotten some complaints about Tommy being a wuss in this reboot all I have to say about that is...

DISCLAIMER: The show is great. Watch it.

Sunlight streamed into wherever I was through some shroud. When my eyes fluttered open, I was back at Dinah's apartment. I sat up from the floor, my plain white blanket falling off of my chest. I could hear someone in the kitchen moving things around. I stood up and walked over to see who it was. I was greeted by Dinah's smiling face. She game me a warm smile as she stirred a bowl of something. Though something was off about her.

"Dinah?" I asked, "What's-?"

I stopped when I noticed that she was stirring an empty bowl. When I looked into her eyes, they were lifeless. She opened her mouth to speak, but when she did, only a series of loud clicks and clacks came out of her mouth.

I jolted forward, smacking my head on the red glass that was in front of my face. My head rang, partially from the hit, partially carryover from Grant's right cross. My vision was blurred so badly that I couldn't make out anything but red for a moment. I rubbed my masked eyes to clear away some of the haze so that I could assess my surroundings. As my vision slowly started to return, I saw that I was in some kind of pod. For some reason, my Speedy suit was still on me, sans my belt and quiver. Just beyond the glass was a circular red room with a large pillar in the center. There seemed to be pods connected to the red metal walls side by side, with the only break being for a circular door. In the other pods around me I saw several people. There was an African-American boy, a Native American boy, an Asian girl, a Latino boy, a causation woman with a swath of red hair, and a man that looked to be half fish. They were all unconscious, my pod must've malfunctioned or something. I recognized the red-haired woman from my days working with the Light as Selinda "Shimmer" Flinders, a member of the Cult of Kobra, an ally of the Light. I had no idea what she was doing here. I could only assume the fish-man was Lagoon Boy. There were several metal probes that were zapping Lagoon Boy with electric shocks. On the column in the center of the room was a computer console where an alien was looking at some readings. She looked normal enough, despite the leathery green exoskeleton. It still had two arms, two legs and a head. It was even wearing some kind of red outfit. It actually looked a bit like a woman in it's shape. I was actually kind of underwhelmed.

I started to think up a way out of there. If I started banging on the pod, I'd draw too much attention and probably just end up hurting myself more than the pod. I didn't likely have a chance at convincing them that I wanted to rejoin the Light. They'd never believe me. Even they did, there was no guarantee that that would be a ticket out of here. Shimmer was proof of that. True, she may have also betrayed the Light; I was gone for nearly over a month. It was too big of a gamble for me to take. Beyond that, I knew nothing about these aliens. They may not care what the Light wants. One thing I knew was that I definitely couldn't wait for Oliver, Dinah or Nightwing and his Team to come and get me. They all had probably already written me off. Heck, I hadn't even been on any official missions. I was barely a son to Dinah, I was hardly Speedy, and I sure was nothing resembling a member of their Team. I was more of a burden to them than anything, and they all must've been relieve to be rid of me by then. No, I couldn't rely on anyone else to get me out. I had to get out myself.

The door opened and another of the aliens walked in, this one looking a bit more like a man and wearing blue, along with Aqualad. What really surprised me was the fact that it spoke, and in English.

"Kaldur'ahm this is the scientist in charge of all Meta-Gene research," the alien in blue spoke.

"I understand you are responsible for providing several our out test subjects. Gratitude," the alien in red said, confirming my hypothesis that she was female... I think. Aqualad nodded his reply then walked over to inspect the pods. I quickly let my head roll forward and played dead. "I assume it would interest you to know that in this lab we are attempting to isolate the Meta-Gene by stimulating potentially dormant powers in average humans."

Aqualad stopped in front of Lagoon Boy, right next to my pod. I could feel my breath catch. "But La'gaan already has powers," Aqualad pointed out, "He is Atlantian, hardly an average human."

"Ah, but his powers are based on training and sorcery," the alien scientist remarked, moving closer. "Beyond that he is an average Atlantian, is he not?" She frowned when she looked at my pod.

She stepped closer and looked directly at me. She pressed a button on the front of my pod and a pair of arms came out of the sides of my pod on the inside, just like Lagoon Boy's. I did my best to remain still, but I couldn't stop the anxiety from twisting my stomach into knots. The arms each produced four prongs and stabbed into my shoulders. Twenty volts surged through me whole body, forcing every one of my muscles to tense up. My head reared back and I let out an involuntary roar of pain through clenched teeth. I could taste metal and blood.

"Why are you using such a high voltage on Speedy as opposed to La'gaan?" Aqualad asked.

"This specimen had been altered pre-birth to resist outward trauma and advance his physical attributes. Otherwise, much like La'gaan he is an ordinary human. However because of his special alterations, we must increase the tests accordingly," the scientist alien told him.

"My, he sure is a screecher," the blue alien commented.

"Yes, keeping him conscious is another of the ways we have increased the potency of his tests," the scientist added. "His outbursts are just one of the side effects I'm afraid."

"Could you at least silence the pod?" the blue alien asked.

The scientist smiled, "I could..."

"Huh, well, let's just continue on our way then. Leave the subjects to their tests," the blue alien insisted.

"Of course, Ambassador," the scientist agreed.

Then they all left the room. At least, that's what I think happened. I couldn't really tell because through it all I was screaming in agony.

I didn't remember blacking out, but I remember the next dream I had. Well, I wasn't sure if it was a dream or a memory. What happened was so realistic, and yet highly improbable. I was a young boy again. It was long before I had ever gone on a mission for the Nest. I had just finished a day of training with Grant and Rose under Slade. My arms were bruised and bleeding from training with wooden swords. I laid down on the ground inside a small tent that held my father and I. In reality, it was much too small for anyone, let alone a man and his son. There was a small gas lamp in the corner with a pitiful flickering flame that danced in the bit of breeze that fluttered through the flaps of the opening as it pathetically tried to keep it out. I watched it sway gracefully as I nursed my aching arms. I had just as many bruises from Slade's punishments for failure as bruises from actual duels. Likely more. I was the worst with any close range fight scenario compared to Rose and Grant. Because of this, I always got severely punished.

My father watched me with his usual cold eyes. This must've been before I had realized that it was abnormal for him to be so cold to me. The only thing colder than his eyes was the weather. We were somewhere high north, so far north that I could feel the freezing wind in my bones, and the thin sleeping bag that I had did little to protect me. I didn't complain, I knew that would only result in a scolding. My father wore a large parka on top of sitting next to a heater to help shield himself from the cold.

Then, something that I had never expected would happen in a million years, happened. My father, silently, stood up, walked over to me, wrapped his thick coat around me and went back to his seat. When I looked up to see why he would do such a thing, he was turned away from me, scribbling some notes on a small pad of paper. Knowing he would ignore any questions, I rolled over to try and sleep again, extremely confused by his actions. The heavy coat was more than enough to shelter me from the harsh cold.

Suddenly I snapped forward, once more hitting my head on the glass. This time my head was already buzzing too much for me to feel it. Every cell in my body was screaming. My throat felt like I had been swallowing wood chips. Cold sweat soaked my suit, plastering it to my skin. I breathed in the air like it was my life force, making my throat burn. My pod split in the center, opening up and freeing me. I fell forward out of the pod and into the arms of someone I couldn't see. The world was a haze to me, that I was too numb to care about.

"Oh, god, Tommy," a familiar female voice gasped, "what did they do to you?"

"R-Rose?" I murmured hoarsely. My voice failed me.

"Don't worry, Tommy," she told me, "I'm getting you out of here."

I was too weak to fight back as she pulled one of my arms over her shoulder and took my weight. Slowly she lead me to the door.

"W-wait-" I stammered, "we ha-ave to help the-e-"

"I don't have time to get everyone out," Rose insisted. "Besides, you're all that matters."

I didn't have the strength in me to stop her from dragging me out of the room before we had abandoned everyone else. Two months prior, I wouldn't have thought twice about them, but now I felt some obligation to help them. And I felt like a failure for not.

"Ho-ow di-" I struggled.

"I came in with the new shipment of test subjects," Rose explained, "Grant and I were assigned to help with guard detail. As soon as we got back, I ditched the others and found you."

I frowned up at her, her image slowly coming more into focus. I couldn't understand why she would ever help me. "Why?"

Her jaw clenched. "Shut up and move your feet."

She dragged me through whatever building we were in. It all looked extremely alien, and extremely uniform. Every hallway looked the same. The only trouble we encountered were a couple guards every here and there, but each time we did, Rose was able to hide us both before we were seen. I couldn't tell how, but she seemed to know exactly where she was going. I desperately wanted to question her, but the more I tried to talk, the worse my throat reacted. It was like I had ate a pinecone or something. Luckily, my strength was slowly returning to me. Before long I was walking on my own again.

We had made it through about five separate hallways when the alarm sounded. It came in the form of a loud blaring siren that echoed across the halls.

"No. No. No!" Rose hissed. "I shouldn't have set off any alarms! I did it just how they did!"

"N-ot- u-u-us?" I offered.

She bit her lower lip nervously. Placing a finger to her ear, she called through her comm-link, "Ravager, what's going on?" After a moment, she added, "I think I see someone, I'll pursue." Turning to me, she said, "Looks like your friends came to get you, they broke out all of the prisoners. They might be a way to get you out of here, but we have to find them, and fast. Grant thinks that I'm chasing you right now."

"Fr-i-e-n-d-s?" I sputtered.

"Your new Team?" She told me.

My eyes went wide. I was certain that this was another dream at this point. None of this was possible. I was never so lucky. No one ever cared for me enough to actually risk their life for me. No. It must've been a mistake. Or, they were here for Lagoon Boy. That must've been it. And weren't Beast Boy, Blue Beetle and Impulse all captured as well? They were probably just trying to get them all back. If anything I was an afterthought. They absolutely wouldn't wait for me.

"Rose!" Ravager's voice boomed down the hall at us.

"Crap," she swore.

"What's going on?" He called, "What are you doing?"

She turned to face him, he was at the other end of the hall in full combat gear. "I'm taking Tommy back to his pod."

"The laboratories are the other way," Ravager informed her.

I could sense Rose's nerves set on edge. "Oh? I forgot. This place all looks the same."

Ravager's voice took on a dangerous tone. "Rose, you have an photographic memory."

Rose sighed, "Screw this." She stood defiantly in between Ravager and me. "I'm getting Tommy out of here."

"What?" Ravager demanded.

"Tommy is our family. I can't leave him here to be tortured," she proclaimed.

"He's a traitor!" Ravager said.

"I don't care. He's family, and you know that," Rose accused.

"Did you have anything to do with the Traitor's new team finding our location?" Ravager asked.

She shook her head, "I don't care about the Light or the Justice League. For all I care they're both stuck up and self righteous. I have no reason to help either of them."

Ravager stormed up to look at her face to face. "Are you really willing to betray your own brother for him?"

She matched his hard gaze. "Yes."

Ravager glared from her, to me and back. I noticed that he had a hand on his knife's handle the entire time the were "talking."

"Speedy!" a voice called from down the hall.

I looked up to see Beast Boy and Miss Martian. Miss Martian looked how I felt. She just kind of floated in place like a dazed boxer. Beast Boy charged forward. Halfway to us, he transformed into a rhinoceros. He charged at Ravager and Rose full force. Rose flipped backwards, spring-boarding off of of his back. Ravager simply jumped out of the way. Beast Boy skid to a stop next to him and changed into a large gorilla. He grabbed Ravager by the arm and threw him into the wall. Then he transformed back into a half-monkey-kid and ran over to me.

"Speedy, are you OK?" He asked.

Unable to really talk, I just gave him a thumbs up. He smiled at me. "I hope you're just as good without the bow."

I glared at him and stood up straight. Rose walked over to us and Beast Boy turned into a green Bengal tiger. He roared at her aggressively. She responded by pulling out a pair of bladed tonfas. I stepped in between them and held out my hands.

"No..." I croaked.

Beast Boy transformed back and gawked at me. "What? She's the enemy!"

"I set him free," Rose informed him.

"What?" He asked. He looked to me in confusion. I just nodded. "You trust her?"

I locked eyes with Rose. "Yeah..."

"What happened to your voice?" BB asked.

Just then, the hallway was immediately swarming with alien guards. They poured out of every hall around us. At the same time, Ravager pulled himself up from where he had fallen after failing to become a wall mounted painting. I looked at Rose and BB. I pointed at Ravager then myself. They both seemed to get the idea.

"You sure?" Rose asked hesitantly.

As an answer, I reached into her belt and took her retractable metal baton. I snarled and charged at Ravager. With a flick of my wrist the baton extended fully. He was taken off guard by my sudden attack. The alien guards behind him reacted faster than he did. They all charged to meet me. There were seven of them in between me and Ravager. The first one to meet me didn't even get a chance to attack. My baton shattered his helmet, knocking him out cold before he could even cry out in pain. The second tried to stab me with a spear made from the same red metal as everything in the ship. I caught it just beyond the claw-shaped blade and with one swing of my baton, broke it in half. Jamming my elbow into his chest, I sent him flying into another guard who instantly collapsed. The fourth guard to reach me aimed his spear at me. A laser shot out from the center of the claw-shaped tip aimed at my chest. Leaping into the air, I spun and drove all of my momentum through my boot into his face, sending him to the ground. The fifth, I ambushed immediately. Before he could respond, I stepped into his guard and smacked him across his wrists, forcing him to drop his spear. Catching it, I hooked it behind his legs to trip him. Swinging it over my head, I plunged the butt of the spear into his gut and drove him into the ground. As the next two reached me, they both aimed their spears to shoot more lasers at me. I spun the spear over my head and knocked away the first guard's spear so that he shot the other guard. Then, I struck my baton across his head, knocking him back. He stumbled back a few steps just for me to kick him in the chest. He fell to the ground hard and I cracked the butt of the spear into his helmet. Rolling right off of him, I hurled the spear at Ravager, now the only one standing directly in front of me. With just the slightest movement, he twisted his head and the spear soared right past him.

"You finally going to take me on?" he asked.

I growled deep in my throat, "You sta-arted this."

"What's the matter, traitor? Cat got your tongue?" He pulled out his knife and readied himself for the fight.

Stepping up, I swung my baton over my head at him. He dodged to the side, but I dropped down low and swept his leg out. He just rolled back and kicked me in the face. My teeth cut into my lip and I tasted blood. Leaping up, I cracked the baton across his shoulder. He stumbled back a few feet. I quickly followed up with a second strike to his hip. This one, he blocked with his knife. With a hard counter, he sent me sprawling. He stabbed down at me with his knife, but I lifted up my leg and stopped his wrist with my foot. He tossed the knife into the air and caught it with his other hand. He tried to stab it down at me again, but I caught his wrist. Looping one leg around his neck and the other around his torso so that his arm was between my legs, I arched my back as much as I could. With a loud POP his shoulder came out of his socket. A loud shout of pain escaped his mouth. Taking another knife from his belt with his free hand, he stabbed me in my foot. I let out a grunt as I rolled away from him. We both stood up facing each other with caution. A scowl on my face, I pulled the knife from my foot and threw it away.

"Those heroes have trained you well..." he grumbled. reaching behind him, he pulled out a baton of his own. "But you're still just a little brat."

Dashing forward, he swung the baton over his head at me. I blocked it with my own and jabbed the tip of my baton into his dislocated shoulder. He stifled a shout, poorly, and kneed me in the chest. The hit was strong enough to knock out all of the air in my lungs. He followed up with a swift elbow to the back of my head. I steadied myself before I fell. Gritting my teeth, I hooked my baton around his neck. While pulling his head down, I thrust mine upwards into his face. He didn't hesitate for a second. He bashed me across the skull with his baton, sending me reeling. I tried to attack his injured shoulder again, press my advantage, but he twisted his body and blocked with his baton. Jumping into the air, he spun and kicked at my head with both feet. I rocked back on my heels, craning my back so that I just avoided kissing his boots. When he landed he shoved the handle of his baton into my stomach. He pressed a button and a blade shot out of the other end of his baton, turning it into more of a short spear. He flipped it around and stabbed it into my side. There was too much adrenaline in me to truly register pain. It was more of an annoying pressure in my side. I took hold of his wrist and using his weight against him, threw him over my shoulder into the wall. He slammed hard into the metal wall. The sound reverberated throughout the entire hall. It didn't take him nearly as much time to recover as I would've liked. Within seconds he ran full throttle at me. On his way, he picked up one of the guard's spears and hurled it at me. I pulled the bladed baton out of my side and ducked under the spear. He smashed into me with his good shoulder and started shoving me back. Reaching up, I brought my baton down on his bad shoulder so hard that the pain sent him to his knees. Holding the bladed baton to his throat, I pulled off his mask. His nose was broken.

He spat blood and smirked at me through bloodied teeth. "You gonna kill me, Crane? You gonna kill your big brother, Grant? Your daddy always thought you were different from us killing machines. So go on, prove him wrong. Traitor."

A growl grew deep in my chest.

"Speedy!" Beast Boy's voice called to me. When I looked up, he and Rose were getting overrun by two dozen guards. Rose was backed against a wall with no weapons left except for a single pair of brass knuckles. Beast Boy was busy guarding Miss Martian, who was seriously struggling. More so than she should've been, I thought.

I hesitated for a moment. That was all of the time Grant needed. He grabbed the bladed baton, shoved me against the wall and shoved the blade up against my throat as he pinned me to the wall. "How do you like that? Your new friends suck. I guess it only makes sense. After all, they accepted a traitor into their midst."

"Not a trai-tor," I stammered.

"Not a traitor? You abandoned us and joined the enemy!" He shouted. "But now, you'll watch as the Reach soldiers kill your friends. And as for Rose, well, you know personally how upset father can get."

Images of Slade's cruel punishments flashed through my mind. Rose's stern face looked at up at me, hiding all of the fear that I knew she was feeling. I knew she was terrified, but not of the dozens of guards around her. Whips and beatings were for failure. Betrayal? That would be straight up torture. Slade wouldn't care that she was his daughter. I couldn't bear the thought of her going through that.

"No..." I hissed through my burning throat.

"What was that?" Grant asked, "No? Well then you shouldn't have corrupted her." He hissed with rage.

"No...!" I could feel some kind of pressure building in my chest.

Grant leaned in close and hissed into my ear, "You betrayed us, Tommy. You betrayed me! This is your fault."

I could picture Rose's face as she watched her own father torture her. I fought back tears as I watched her try and fight off the guards. Everything that had happened in recent months came flooding through me. Rose. Grant. Slade. My father. Dinah. Oliver. Roy. White hot anger burned deep in my gut. It all built upon each other. It all built and built like a massive bubble. I felt so useless to help. I couldn't help my father. I couldn't help save Mount Justice. And I couldn't do anything then to help her. Her, Beast Boy, Miss Martian. They had all risked everything to save me, now, I was going to watch them all...

"NooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Halfway through my shout of rage my voice changed. My scream dropped four octaves, and increased in volume by about twelve hundred percent.

Everyone in the hallway was instantly crippled. All of the guards, or "Reach soldiers" as Grant called them, Rose, Beast Boy, Miss Martian and Grant all grabbed the sides of their heads, and collapsed to the ground in pain. Beyond that, any of the Reach soldiers that were directly in front of me all got launched forwards so hard that they crashed into the wall, and then through the wall. The force of my shout actually propelled them through a solid metal wall. The main issue was, my shout was actually hurting Rose, BB and Miss M as much as the Reach soldiers. Also, I couldn't stop.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

I just kept screaming. I screamed until my throat felt like it was going to burst. It took me running out of air to actually stop. When I did, I doubled over into a coughing fit. At first I was terrified that the second I took another breath I would start up again, but a few cursory breaths, and words to myself, showed me that I was fine for the time being. Though, I didn't have the time to just stand there and recover. I ran, still coughing, over to where Rose had fallen against the wall. She was curled into a fettle position with her hands clamped firmly on either side of her head.

Tenderly, I brushed my hands over hers. She reacted violently, lashing out against my touch, but she stopped when she saw that it was me.

"Tommy?" She shouted. She seemed to be extremely dazed.

I winced at her sudden outburst.

"Come on, we need to move!" I instructed, my voice still hoarse, but usable.

"What?" She shouted in confusion.

"I said we have to go!" I repeated.

"I can't hear you!" She shouted, panic starting to slip into her voice. "Oh god, I can't hear!"

I placed my hands on either side of her face and forced her her to look at me. "Focus. You're alright. We need to go. Now."

I was unsure if she had begun to get her hearing back or if she just read my lips, but she nodded all the same. We roused BB and Miss Martian. both of whom seemed to recover alright. I guess Martian blood beats my father's serum for healing.

"Come on," Beast Boy said, "I can smell the others, they're this way!"

"You can smell them?" I asked.

"Don't ask," BB said.

"Uh, OK..." I relented. This wasn't the time.

"Since when can you scream like that?" BB asked.

"Now, apparently," I said, following him as we all ran through the ship.

"What?" Rose shouted.

"Nothing," I told her.

I began to seriously worry that Rose's hearing would ever come back. I was honestly struggling with not panicking over whether or not I had deafened her. Ahead of us, a small group of Reach soldiers ran out from a corridor. BB transformed into a gorilla took them all out without even breaking stride. Miss Martian didn't even react.

"Are you OK, Miss Martian?" I asked. "You seem distracted."

Her vacant stare didn't shift at all from a blank expression. Gorilla BB just frowned at me. As if I didn't have enough to be concerned about.

We got to a large circular door shaped like a beetle.

Gorilla BB glared over at Miss M. Suddenly I could hear his voice in my head, "Can't you at least get the link back up?" He paused for a moment. "Oh, uh, thanks. Now come on! We're sealed out of the docking bay." Looking towards the door he asked, "What's going on in there?"

Nightwing's voice answered in my head, "Don't know. I'm cut off aboard the Bio-Ship."

"We're fighting Black Beetle and Shimmer. Lagoon Boy, Robin and Bumble Bee are already down and- Conner, look out!" Wonder Girl's voice chimed in. "Superboy's down. It's just Batgirl and me now."

"Wonder Girl!" I shouted with concern.

"Wonder Girl?" Rose asked.

"You can hear?" I pointed out, astounded.

"Now," she stated. "Who's Wonder Girl?"

BB ignored us and turned to Miss Martian. "You've got to get int there!"

"What? H-How?" Miss Martian asked, dazed.

"What do you mean 'how?'" BB demanded. "Density shift!"

"Ri-Right," Miss Martian said, seeming to come to grips a bit. "I can still do that."

She walked up to the door and stuck her upper body through it like it wasn't even there, but then the whole door glowed and she went completely limp.

"What happened?" I asked.

Suddenly something started pounding on the door from the inside, almost like it was trying to get out. My adrenaline was starting to wear low and I was starting to feel panic creep into my heart.

"I don't like this..." I muttered.

"Speedy, Beast Boy," A voice called from behind us.

We turned to see Blue Beetle and Impulse walk up behind us. Impulse pointed at Rose, "What's she doing with you?"

"No time to explain," I said, "she's with us. Right now, we need to get in there!"

"I think I can help," Blue said.

"How could-" I was cut off as he put his hand on the side of the door.

The door glowed again and opened up, allowing Miss Martian to fall unconscious to the floor, to reveal a large circular room. In the center stood a tall broad alien in a suit identical to Blue's, only black. The room was filled with the unconscious members of the Team. Wonder Girl was laying passed out just at my feet.

I dropped to the ground beside her and cradled her head. "Cassie!"

She stirred slightly at my touch, but seemed to be out cold. Already bruises were forming all over her shoulders and arms. Seeing her like that, I felt something in me burn.

"Hey everyone who wants to hear tomorrow," I shouted, getting the attention of everyone who was still conscious, "cover your ears."

"Not again!" Rose gasped.

This time, I tried to focus it. I tried to aim it. With a quick glance to make sure none of my friends were behind him, I glared at Black Beetle, and let loose.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

This time, my scream was far more condensed, and far more devastating. Everyone still conscious in the room save for me and Black Beetle covered their ears and turned away. Black Beetle seemed to actually have trouble moving against the shear force of the sound waves. The ground began to shake as if a massive tremor had struck us. The very walls around us creaked and cracked as my shout reverberated against them. Little spouts of water began to pour into the ship through in between the cracks that formed. Black Beetle's armor began to slowly peel itself from his green exoskeleton in large chunks.

Despite all of this, he still slowly made his way towards me. I tried to shout even louder, causing even more of the surrounding metal of the fortress to fracture and burst. Black Beetle just kept walking towards me. Slowly but surely. His hand transformed into a long blade. Just as I ran out of breath, he stood just over me, a smirk on his lips.

"Not bad," he mocked as his armor knit itself back together, "all in all, I'd say that was the best attack you meat have thrown at me so far, but it wasn't enough."

He raised his hand-scythe above his head and brought it down to slice me in half. And he would've too, if Blue hadn't blocked it with a matching blade. He blocked Black's attack and pulled me back in an instant.

"Little brother, one way or another, I am getting you back on mode," Black Beetle promised. "You are of the Reach, and cannot escape it."

"I have to," Blue muttered.

He tensed up for a moment, then ran in to clash with Black.

At this point, my adrenaline levels had plummeted. I could feel my body loosing strength by the second. Rose ran over to me to steady me before I fell.

"Whoa there cowboy," she said, "You've got to stay awake."

"Uh," I hissed. "I'm doing my-"

I could feel a dull gnawing pain coming from my side. I touched it just for a spike of white agony to shoot all up my left side. All at once I could feel the pain from my fight with Grant as well as from the pod. It all hit me like a truck. I struggled to stay vertical.

"Hey," Rose hooked an arm around me and took my weight, "You've lost a lot of blood, idiot, you can't pass out now."

"Who're you calling idiot?" I grumbled.

A red haired girl in a jogging uniform with a utility belt hooked around her shoulder ran over to us.

"Who are you?" She asked Rose.

"Who are you?" Rose asked her.

"She's a friend," I muttered as I struggled not to black out.

The red haired girl seemed to struggle for a moment. "Just get on the ship. We'll deal with this later."

With that, she ran over to help the other Team members. Not seeing a reason to argue, Rose dragged me onto the ship where the others were quickly filing in. Nightwing gave Rose a second glance from the driver's seat, but didn't seem to have the time to argue as Rose pulled me into a corner and began cutting away my suit to treat the gaping stab wound in the side of my body. While she worked, the rest of the world began to melt away from us.

"Hey, I made this suit myself," I complained.

"Yeah, I can tell," Rose snorted, "It's lousy with red."

"Well I am Speedy," I pointed out.

She smirked at me as she applied sterilized my wound, making me hiss in pain. "Oh yes, the big hero."

I smiled at her, "Looks like you're a hero now, too."

She frowned at my comment, "I don't think it's going to be that easy."

"Ah, it'll be fine," I waved off her comment, getting a bit whoosy from blood loss, "just find a long lost hero relative."

She grinned, "Yeah, about that..."

"Don't tell me you have one?" I questioned.

"No, but apparently you do," she laughed.

I shrugged, "I got connections... apparently."

She finished dressing my wound and sat against the wall of the Bio-Ship next to me. She leaned her head against my shoulder and I put mine on hers, not really caring who stared at us. Not caring about the questions we would raise. All I cared about was having Rose safe and with me.

"Do you think Grant will be OK?" She asked.

I couldn't even respond. I had no idea what was going on with her, let alone with him. I still couldn't tell if he really wanted to kill me or not.

"Grant and I have never been on the same page..." I muttered.

"Yeah, well now you're in two separate books!" She snorted humorlessly.

I chuckled. "I guess so."

Her laugh died in her throat. "Just... tell me it's all going to be OK?" She asked.

I took her hand in mine and kissed her bloodied knuckles. "I hope so." Was all I could manage. "I really hope so..."

AN: Did that help? If you're not happy yet, then just wait, I still have big plans for this story. And as always, thank you for reading.