COMPLICATIONS

THE EARLY morning sun shone through the windows of the Quinjet – Raven's face glowing in its luminescence as she fought off sleep. Lowering her head, she looked at her hand, seeing Caucasian skin slowly replace the pale blue of her palm. Pulling her sleeve, she shut her eyes and breathed deeply – calming her mind.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jaime moved up to her.

"Oh, yeah, yeah I am." Her eyelids fluttered open.

"Rough night, huh?" He sat beside her.

"It was rough for everyone."

"Well, at least we're back home." He stretched. "Things should get back to normal."

"Is there a normal for us?"

"Well, regular then." He chuckled. "At least I hope it will be." He points at his back. "The Scarab's been real quiet since the last mission; said he detected something, but hasn't said a word since."

"We could all use a break anyway." She crossed her leg. "I need some sleep."

"You and me both." He sat back.

She glanced at him and chuckled to herself – looking to the window and seeing buildings rise up in the distance as their ship descended. Unfastening her seatbelt, she moved over to the main doors as the hangar bay opened – moving up to the ship's exit. Opening the door before the vehicle landed, she bumped into Artemis who stepped back in confusion.

"Uh, you in a hurry?"

Raven giggled. "I'm fine."

Artemis' brows stitched as Raven disembarked, turning to Wally whose mouth fell agape in shock. The vehicle landed and the Teammates disembarked, Artemis moving up to Raven who hovered lazily toward the main entrance.

"Raven, are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure, why'd you ask?"

"Cuz you're kinda acting … off." She frowned.

Raven smiled and patted her cheek. "You're so funny."

She flew off, leaving the blonde dumbfounded as she headed for the door. Raven winced and held her head, feeling her eyes go heavy as she fell to her feet and staggered a bit. Artemis came to her side, alarmed when the door opened and Mac entered the building – moving up to Daisy.

"Tremors, looks like we're in trouble."

"What happened?" Daisy moved up to him.

"This." He held up a tablet, showing her surveillance footage of Supergirl flying off with the missile. "This was caught by the Russian secret service."

"The Russwedish secret service." She chuckled.

"Whatever." He scoffed. "Words spreading and Phil's on his way, he –," The hangar doors opened and he huffed. "He's already here."

"Man, we can't catch a break." She groaned.

"Nope."

"Who's that?" M'gann flew over to them, pointing at the jet.

"The boss." Mac turned to her.

"Director Coulson? What's he doing here?"

"Asking you what the hell is going on." Phil walked up to them. "Only the second mission and your ops get spotted by the FSRB?"

"The what?" Wally raised his brow.

"Our FSB." He sighed. "Look, we can't have these kinda things happening; if word gets out about the Severed City or these heroes –,"

"I've already reminded them of that." Daisy frowned.

"Then what happened?"

"I let it happen – it was my fault." Kara walked up to him, interrupting Daisy. "I didn't catch up the missile quickly enough and it reached the city."

"Well, we've gotta make sure this project of ours goes smoothly or I'll shut it down. I have the government breathing down my neck and I don't want to start a war because America was accused of infiltrating the Russian secret service."

"The Russwedish secret –,"

"Whatever." Phil interrupted her and shook his head, seeing Kaldur behind him. "Who's that?"

"I'm Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis." He walked up to him.

"Ah, a walking fish."

"That's racist." Daisy turned to him.

"Sorry, my humour's a little low tide." He chuckled, offering a hand. "Phil Coulson. Welcome to SHIELD. I assume you're part of the team."

"Yes, I was its original leader." He shook his hand. "I'm honoured for you to have me – I've been told you're organisation's quite prestigious."

"Not the word I would use, but I'll take it. Daisy and Mac will run you through some rudimentary tests before you can join our operation."

"Yes, but I have some very important information to tell you."

MAC PULLED up documents on the screens in the briefing room. "Lex Luthor, CEO of Lex Corporations based in New Washington. He's a powerful business man and peace broker responsible for the reuniting of North and South Korginia –,"

"Kor what?" Wally raised his brow.

"Korea and Virginia."

"Oh…"

"You think Lex Luthor has something to do with Hydra?" Phil stood across from Kaldur, looking at the screen curiously.

"Undoubtedly. He's been behind several dubious acts in our world since the founding of his company and is a common adversary of Superman. He was a member of the Light, an organisation that plotted to rule the Milky Way. He is definitely still up to something." Kaldur frowned. "We need to stop him."

"Well, all things considered, I think we should do nothing for the time being."

"Wha-why? We can't leave Lex to continue his plans – who knows what he's up to?" Wally rose to his feet.

"We don't have enough evidence to have him officially arrested and we can't prove anything. Even if we did, he's a well-respected public figure and there's no way we could apprehend him without putting ourselves in the light." Phil turned to him.

"Director Coulson, we can't wait for there to be evidence to strike – he's dangerous. He could be working to bring back the Light or worse." M'gann frowned.

"I'm sorry, but temporary inaction is our best course of action." Phil's brows stitched. "The world's too volatile now and the slightest info leak relating to Changed Regions could cause war. SHIELD needs to remain in the dark and our main obligation is to the normal world – the world without heroes and aliens. People need to feel safe and know that they're safe. If they didn't, especially now, there'd be utter chaos."

"Are you kidding me? Leaving Lex alone to his dirty schemes will lead to total chaos!" Connor shot up. "He owned Cadmus, the organisation that cloned me from Superman. He could be working on an army, plotting to start a war – he could be doing anything! We can't just sit back and let that happen."

"With all due respect, I'll have to agree with Connor on this." Kaldur turned to Phil. "Lex Luthor is not one you leave unwatched. He had vehicles parked outside your world's Atlantis, which means he knows about the Changed Earth. He's dangerous."

"Look, it's not that I don't believe you, but this is a very delicate situation. Any wrong move would expose your existence and SHIELD's. And if he does know about Changed Earth, then it'd make him even more difficult to deal with. Suppose we apprehend him, with his multiple contacts worldwide, he could easily release the info he knows of Changed Earth to multiple third parties and cause a chain reaction that'd lead to a third world war. We can't proceed until we have more evidence and a way to deal with him quietly." Phil frowned.

"So, what do we do now?" Kara turned to him.

"Continue with your Hydra investigations and leave Luthor to SHIELD. We'll find a way to take him down – we won't let him succeed with his plans."

"We understand." Kaldur sighed.

Mac looked around the room – seeing Phil leave. "Well, get some rest – we'll call for a briefing when we have another assignment for you."

ARTEMIS AND Wally stepped out of the briefing room and Dick closed it behind him, seeing Barbara standing across from him – her arms folded as she leaned against the wall. Seeing the others move down the hall, she glanced around and gestured for them to walk on.

"I'm guessing you're gonna be looking into Luthor's involvement with Hydra?" She smirked.

"I didn't say anything." He shrugged.

"C'mon, I know what you're thinking – he might as well have begged you to hack into LexCorp for incriminating evidence."

"Well, you read my mind then."

"Nobody knows you better." She smiled. "C'mon." She grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall.

RAVEN WALKED into her room and closed the door behind her – smacking against the wall and groaning. Sweat beaded down her brow and she breathed heavily, shaking her head and moving toward her dressing table.

Pulling her sleeve upward, she looked at her arm, seeing her skin having changed from the tip of her fingers to her elbow. She slowly began to disrobe – feeling her body feel heavy as she removed her cloak and shirt.

Her left arm was a different skin tone now, the change spreading over up to the left side of her chest. A tear trickled down her cheek and she touched it – her brows stitching in confusion as she felt sadness overwhelm her.

Stepping back from the mirror, she levitated and began to meditate – breathing deeply and shutting out the world around her. Purple energy exuded from her body when a pang hit her head and knocked her to the floor. She pushed herself up and looked at her arm – seeing her aura spread up the appendage and her skin change quicker. She closed her eyes and clenched her fist, stopping the exudation.

She got to her feet and looked into the mirror, seeing that her neck and chest had changed in tone. She held her face and sifted her mind, wondering what was happening. She felt a chuckle bubble within her and she laughed.

KARA SCREAMED loudly, her throat sore and her voice rasping as she felt fear overwhelm her. The city around her went up in flames as she saw three orbs glow in the ashen sky – the horrid sounds of chaos filling her ears as she looked around in a panic. She balled up and leaned against a wall – ignoring the glass shards the cut into her skin and bruised her hand.

She turned to her left and screamed again – her weak arms pulling her as she scrambled to her feet and tried to run. She fell over and grazed her elbow, turning over and feeling the unrelenting fear manacling her.

Small metal robots crawled toward her, covering the ground like ants and moving up to her feet. She moved back quickly and bumped into debris – trying desperately to stand as they began to wrap around her. The machines blanketed over her, covering her body and rising up to her neck. They enveloped her and entered her mouth – burrowing into her throat and suffocating her screams.

KARA SCREAMED loudly, firing a laser at the ceiling and shooting up on her bed – looking around in a panic. M'gann barged into the room, looking around worriedly as Kaldur and Dick followed after her. The blonde shifted her gaze around her bed repeatedly – awake, but not out of her dream.

"Kara!" M'gann ran toward her and hugged her. "Kara, it's okay, we're here."

Kaldur looked at Kara, seeing her eyes darting back and forth – still seeing what wasn't before her. "Kara, it's us, we're here."

"It's only a dream." M'gann rocked her back and forth.

Kara blinked repeatedly and wrapped her arms around her, holding her close and crying into her shoulder. M'gann patted her on the back and spoke to her softly, consoling her as she awoke from her nightmare.

"It's okay, you're safe now." She pulled back.

"What happened?" Kaldur moved up to her.

She glanced at him and sifted her mind, wiping her tears away quickly. "I-it's nothing." She sniffled.

"That definitely wasn't nothing." Dick frowned.

"A dream that holds on for that long had to have had some trauma behind it. You can share it with us; we can help you." Kaldur's brows stitched.

She thought hard and frowned. "I'm –,"

Wally barged into the room. "Whoa, I just heard screaming – what happened?"

"Kara had a nightmare." Dick turned to her.

"But I'm fine now." Kara frowned.

"Well, that's some bad luck, huh?" Wally leaned on the door. "Sucks for you cuz Raven was laughing all night last night."

"Raven was laughing?" M'gann raised her brow.

"I know, right?" Wally laughed. "She's changed into someone else all of a sudden – she's so happy."

"Raven was happy?" Kaldur frowned.

RAVEN GIGGLED as she patted Daisy's head fondly – her face nestled in a pink scarf that draped over purple pyjamas and dipped into her cereal. Frowning at the odd behaviour, Daisy pulled the garment out of the milk and went back to her breakfast.

"Guess this is what I get for trying to get to know you people." Daisy munched angrily.

"You're pretty." Raven giggled and hiccupped. "Excuse me." She laughed then turned to Dr Cello who sat across from her. "And you, quit being so quiet; you're dampening the mood." She frowned.

"Yeah, you're gonna wish you didn't ask that." Cher frowned.

Daisy's eyes drooped and she turned to Cher who sat next to her at the large white table in the kitchen. "Did she ever act like this in the comics?"

"Once in the 2003 TV show, but not this much." Cher took a bite out of her toast.

"Fools! I am Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, yousa in big dudu dis time!" Dr Cello pointed his spoon at the ceiling.

Daisy groaned and turned to Mac who sat in the living room. "Hey, Mac, you think Phil will notice if I killed one of his 'brilliant' scientists?"

"Hey, you dragged me into this, Tremors – being around aliens is bad enough, I'm not gonna socialize." Mac turned back to his videogame. "And in case you didn't notice, that includes that nut job."

"We can be immortals, immortals! It's Mr Steal Yo Girl!" Dr Cello danced around.

"Oh my God." Daisy huffed.

Cher shook her head and sipped her coffee when she saw Kara enter the room. "Ah, there's my favourite girl." She turned to Connor who sat on one end of the table. "Sorry, Superboy."

"What'd you just say?" He growled.

"Just ignore her." M'gann patted his shoulder.

"Okay, look, Cher, I don't wanna be rude, but I'm really not in the mood for this." Kara stooped over.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not gonna bother you." Cher walked up to her.

"Good." Kara huffed.

Cher tapped Kara's chest, making her costume spread over her clothes. "Yay, it worked!"

Kara groaned. "Cher, seriously, can you just drop it?"

"No!" Cher rips off her clothes, unveiling a suit underneath, fishing out a bouquet of flowers and going on one knee. "Baby, I love you, will you marry me?"

"Uhh, what?" Kara raised her brow.

"Marry me and I'll take everything you have!"

"Um, I don't roll that way." Kara stepped back.

"And I'll drink your milk!" Cher gestured to her side.

A cricket chirped and everyone froze in shock, Wally stepping back from the table. "I think we should give you some privacy."

"What!? I'm not agreeing to this!" Kara turned to him.

"Fools! What gives you the right to drink milk!" Dr Cello shot up, pointing his spoon at them.

Cher froze in place, sifting her mind. "This plan turned weirder than I thought it'd be in my head."

"Ya think?" Kara raised her brow.

Dr Cello fished a cocoanut out of his jacket and smashed it on her head, dashing out of the room. She stood in shock, looking at the others in the room who were dumbfounded as the scientist ran toward the hall.

Dick stood at the entrance, leaning against a wall in the hall, stroking the bridge of his nose. "I feel like I'm in Arkham Asylum."

"Well, we have The Joker here." Barbara pointed at Dr Cello who ran past and laughed maniacally.

"I'll take over the world! One cocoanut at a time." Dr Cello smashed a cocoanut on the ground, releasing a puff of smoke, disappearing in it.

"What the hell?" Dick frowned.

Barbara shook her head. "Anyway, what'd you wanna show me?"

"I –,"

A crash met their ears, alarming the two as they went into the kitchen where the others looked at Raven in shock. She seethed as she looked around – her bowl of cereal smashed against the wall and her eyes glowed red. She stormed out of the room, moving past Barbara and Dick who watched her leave in confusion.

"What's her problem?" Daisy raised her brow.

RAVEN SLAMMED the door behind her as she entered her bedroom and went into the bathroom and moved up to the sink. She turned on the faucet and washed her face – breathing heavily as she looked into the mirror and saw her distraught reflection.

Her eye liner ran down her face – her lip twitching as she was relieved that her skin colour didn't run down with it. She turned off the faucet and jerked back in shock as a black aura exuded from her body. Her breath quickened as it collected together, forming an apparition, the shape of a demon standing over her.

FINGERS MOVED hastily over a keyboard – Dick's eyes darting back and forth as he typed on his laptop in his room. Barbara sat beside him, adjusting her gloves and checking her utility belt as she suited up.

"Y'know we might not need to go into the field even if I find something, right?" He glanced at her.

"In this line of work, I've learned to be prepared for anything … well, except for now cuz I'm gearing up in a relaxed way. Don't tell Batman." She whispered.

"I won't." He chuckled then continued typing. "… Cuz he'd probably give me a similar lecture regarding my form."

She chuckled. "Yeah." She holstered her grappling gun. "So, you find anything?"

"Not quite …" He typed a bit more then stopped. "Whoa, take a look at this."

"What?" She moved up to the screen.

"LexCorp's R & D department's been using satellite scans to find alternative sources of power after discovering a spike in what they're calling Yellow Core energy in Africa –,"

"Afrisia." She corrected.

"Afrisia and its signature is identical to that of the energy SHIELD forensics found on the Hydra base we found outside Las Dubai. According to their research, it emits a very low radiation sig that's hard to trace, but has been spotted in multiple locations on the continent. It seems they've been doing scans for months now, but haven't gone on the ground to find anything."

"Whoa, so Luthor's trying the same thing Hydra's doing? Creating some kinda super weapon?"

"Or he's selling it to Hydra." He frowned.

"Wait, if they know it's in Afrisia, why haven't they gone to search for it yet?"

"They probably know what SHIELD knows." He sat back. "That moving around in Changed locations like these is dangerous especially with the element they're using. For all they know, there might be another organisation looking for it that's already there."

"So, what do we do now?"

"We're gonna pay a visit to LexCorp."

THE STARRY night sky stood over San Fransokyo, beautifying the already colourful sight as blimps littered around. Atop one of them lay Hiro and GoGo who looked at the stars as they relaxed in the evening.

"I think I'm in love." She looked around in awe.

"You already said that." He chuckled.

"Not you, I mean this view." She sighed. "I wish I could fly."

"Could build you a suit."

"No, it wouldn't be the same. I mean fly on my own and stay in the stars for as long as I want."

"Well, we can dream."

"Yeah, we can." She smiled.

"Y'know it's been really calm lately – no villains to fight and Dr Cello isn't around anymore."

"He said he took a job." She turned to him.

"Really? What job?"

"Dunno, said it was 'top secret'." She gestured.

"Yeah, right." He chuckled.

"It could happen." She glanced at him and the two burst into laughter.

A red line shot above them, jerking them up as they looked up in surprise. "Did you see that?" He turned to her.

Supergirl flew over San Fransokyo, looking down at the city as she proceeded with her search. Night after night, nightmares plagued her and it wouldn't be long before she'd break down again on another mission. She had to face her fears head on.

She swooped down and pressed the 'S' on her chest, going into camouflage mode as she looked around with her X-Ray vision. A low, high-pitched sound met her ears and she stopped, hovering over an alley. She clenched her fists shakily as she looked down – sweat beading down her face as fear manacled her. Shutting her eyes angrily, she screamed and shot into the ground, bursting through the concrete.

SUPERGIRL SMASHED through the roof of an underground hallway, drawing the attention of soldiers that patrolled the expanse. They opened fire on her and she dashed up to them, punching them down while evading the bullets. She fired lasers at the remaining men, clearing the hall and walked onward.

She looked around and saw different machines in several rooms. On one of the walls was a poster – a skull with tentacles spreading out. Hydra. She frowned as she moved through the building, hearing the voices of several men in the building as she proceeded.

She turned to her left and walked down another corridor – past a surveillance camera that zoomed in on her. An alarm sounded and she cursed under her breath, seeing several soldiers enter from the opposite end. She fired lasers at two of them and they shot at her, some of them wielding large cannons.

She shielded her face from the bullets and received an energy ball to her abdomen, knocking her back. She struggled to her feet, gritting her teeth as the onslaught continued. She dodged another energy ball and shot a laser at man's head – backtracking as she was overwhelmed.

She sent lasers across the ceiling, letting tiles rain on the men and stepped back, panting as she held her stomach in pain. An energy beam hit her in her chest, sending her hurling back – bouncing off the wall and smashing against one at the end of the hall. She raised her head stiffly, seeing the men move through the rubble as an automated canon slid down from the ceiling.

A loud ringing invaded her ears and she bent over, holding her head in aggravation as the men moved in on her. The bullets pelted her relentlessly, biting at her as a soldier charged his cannon. Fear swam through her tremulously, the sound whining in her mind as they drew closer. She clenched her fists tightly till her knuckles turned white.

She shot a laser at the man, screaming wildly as she burned the men, slicing their bodies to bits and destroyed the automated canon. She fell back and breathed heavily, getting to her feet as she saw the sight before her. Severed limbs and bullet cartridges littered the floor, moving up to a pile of rubble that stood up ahead. Shaking her head, she flew onward, avoiding the ground.

She moved over the rubble and continued down the hall – failing to see through the walls on either side. She turned to a door on her right, hearing a higher pitched ringing than earlier coming from inside. She clenched her fist and punched the door down, entering the room.

Several work desks filled the massive lab – humanoid robots moving about in a working frenzy that led up to large, oval machines lining up the walls. She hovered down the expanse in the middle aisle, moving up to a large, cylindrical robot that floated via rocket boosters on it – its top tapering out into a large rectangular shape.

"If you're wondering why the robots aren't reacting to your presence, it's because I told them so." The robot turned to them, revealing the rectangular part to be a screen showing a wide, fissured man's face. "If you are wise, you will leave now. My men are on the way as we speak."

"That … that's a big head." Supergirl chuckled.

"I've heard such foolish remarks thousands of times, but I take no offense because they come from beings with intellect that pales enormously compared to mine." He frowned.

"And you are you?"

He looked at her curiously then huffed. "I assume you'd like to know who's responsible for your demise. Very well. I am MODOC, the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Conquest, and you have stumbled onto one of my laboratories."

"Really? So you work for Hydra?"

"How do you know about that?"

"That's all I needed to hear." Her eyes glowed and she turned to a machine standing at a wall across from her.

"Wait, don't destroy that machine! If you do, it'll –,"

She fired a laser at the machine, destroying its wall and releasing a gas that spread through the room. MODOC hovered back, looking around the lab in fear as it permeated the air. He summoned a holographic screen before him, entering a code into it.

"Initiate the Deep Dive Protocol." He flew out of the room.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere!" She chased after him.

MODOC moved through a cloud before him and she made chase, stopping abruptly as it entered her mouth. She gasped in halting breaths, falling to the floor as the robots evacuated the room and an alarm blared. Tiles underneath the large machines opened, sucking them into pods and shutting afterward.

Kara suffocated as the gas swooped into her mouth and nostrils, flooding her airways as she began to choke. Blood trickled out of her eyes, ears and mouth, veins pulsating throughout her body as she felt herself swell up.

Tears mixed in with the blood as pain radiated throughout her body, every inch screaming in agony as her skin began to redden. She fell over and tried to scream, her gullet blocked by the gas the walled her gullet and nostrils, stopping her from breathing. She tried to scream and went limp, her hand slumping on the floor as blood pooled around her.

Water burst through the main door, carrying soldiers with it as Kaldur and M'gann entered the room. Seeing Kara on the floor, the two came quickly to her side, seeing her veins cover her body as she slowly bled out.

"Oh my God, what happened to her?" M'gann's eyes dilated.

Kaldur placed his ears on her chest. "She's going into cardiac arrest – we need to get her out of here now!"

"On it." Her eyes glowed green.

Kaldur slid his arms under Kara and lifted her gingerly, M'gann placing her hands on the two as she turned them invisible and sunk them through the floor. Several soldiers barged into the room, training their guns around as three large robots with yellow chests looked around.

WALLY FROWNED as he sat at his desk, looking at Dr Cello who smiled at him determinedly. The two sat in their cluttered lab and before them stood a large treadmill attached to several computers and a large conductor. Raising his brow, the redhead stood up and examined the machine.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Run, Barry, run!" Dr Cello smiled eagerly.

"Um, I'm Wally."

"Name rhymes – it's close enough." Dr Cello walked up to him. "This machine should – hopefully – be able to collect samples of the energy surging through you so I can study it. I discovered YEAST energy, but I've never had enough to properly analyse it, but with your help, I will."

"So, you're basically ripping off Barry's Cosmic Treadmill? Can it handle my speed?"

"Yeah." Dr Cello sat at his computer and turned to him. "So, get on the treadmill and let's see if we can collect some of your energy."

"For the record, it's called the Speed Force." Wally walked onto the treadmill.

"Tomaito, Tomato, Hakuna Matata – whatever floats your boat, Muchacho." Dr Cello turned to the computer.

Sighing in aggravation, Wally stretched out and waited for the machine to turn on. Hearing the beep, he began to jog – startled a little as its speed kicked in faster than he thought. He ran faster, his arms and legs blurring as he sped on as the treadmill quickened.

Yellow electricity surged out of Wally and Dr Cello turned to him, watching eagerly as it began to increase. Images flashed in Wally's mind as he ran – seeing flashes of lightning as a black figure appeared before him. He yelled and fell back, rolling off the treadmill and onto the floor.

"Wally!" Dr Cello came to his side. "What happened?" He helped him up.

"N-nothing, I just tripped." Wally dusted himself.

"You sure?" Dr Cello's brows stitched.

"Yeah." Wally frowned. "I'm gonna get a glass of water." He left the room.

Closing the door behind him, Wally stepped into the hall and looked at his hand – seeing static between his fingers. He clenched his fist and walked down the expanse.

"Y'KNOW, I wonder what'd happen if Daisy found out we left the Door." Barbara went on com as she crouched on a rooftop.

"Kinda the same thing that'll happen when she finds out about M'gann, Kaldur and Kara leaving the base." Dick's voice came.

"Huh, guess it's a trend now. I wonder who else's left."

"Just them. Blue, KF and Superboy aren't stealthy enough to leave and Artemis just isn't willing to. She's become very complaisant since we ended up here."

"I did wonder about that. She's very quiet too." She fished for her binoculars.

"Guess we all deal with grief differently."

"Thought she was there when Raven said our earth's still out there."

"Well, I haven't known her to be very hopeful. Raven wouldn't leave the nest either, so we're the only ones who're gonna be in trouble when we get back."

"You mean they'll be in trouble cuz we hacked the surveillance and they didn't."

"Kaldur, M'gann and Kara didn't think about that, did they?"

"Kinda proves how powers negate meticulousness." She chuckled.

"Yeah. By the way, I'm beating you to entering the building."

"What?" Her eyes dilated in surprise.

Nightwing cackled and she got off com, muttering to herself as she looked through her binoculars and studied the building across from her. It was an eight storey high-rise building with two men standing guard at the main entrance. Going into infrared, she spotted about several roaming the building, each armed by her calculations and manning each floor.

Pocketing her binoculars, she leapt off the roof and stretched her arms out – spreading her cape and gliding to the opposite building across from her. Moving over the street, she shot her grappling gun, latching her onto a window and pulling herself onto it.

Climbing into the building, she quietly walked down the hall and pressed her earpiece – tapping into the radio frequencies of the immediate area. Hearing the voices of a guard calling in his location, she moved into a hallway to her left. Seeing a guard standing on one end of the hall, she fished up her tranquilizer gun and shot him in the neck, putting him down.

She entered a hallway to her right, seeing Nightwing looking at his glove. The pads on his palm glowed and he placed it on the scanner on the door. She moved up to him and he looked at her, nodding as a beep came from the scanner, unlocking the door. He stood in the doorway and tossed a Batarang at the ceiling, sticking it there.

"Okay, that should give us ninety seconds before the cameras come back on." He whispered.

"Good, get what you can and let's get outta here." She stood at the door.

Nightwing entered the dim office, moving up to the large desk and turning on the computer. He started keyboarding and inserting a flash drive, creating copies of all the files. Looking at the time given, he huffed and turned to her.

"We don't have enough time to empty the drive."

"So, just add another disrupter." She looked into the hall.

"It'd need ten minutes."

"Well, then this's a bust – we can't have the slightest piece evidence proving that we're here." She frowned.

He started keyboarding. "I'll have to add a virus that'll transmit their surveillance feeds and files to SHIELD archives."

"Aren't we trying not to get caught?"

"SHIELD definitely knows we left the base by now."

"Okay." She sighed. "Just be quick." Her eyes dilated in surprise and she backed up.

"What is it?" He shot up.

Soldiers entered the room, each armed and spread out. Barbara and Dick recognized their badges. SHIELD.

"You're under arrest." A soldier trained his gun at them.

As always, Follow, Favourite and Review and Await the Awesomeness as we dive deeper into the universe. Thanks for reading.