Mount Justice

November 5, 19: 47 EDT

M'Gann, Conner, and I came out of the bioship, our hands full. Well, M'Gann was levitating her boxes, so her hands weren't really occupied with much. Conner and I, on the other hand, were both carrying one large and extremely heavy crater.

"Did you get everything?" Batman asked as we came walking out.

"Everything," I tried nodding with the slight weight of the crater on my shoulders, "And more! We bought the groceries."

Wally came up to me, a small greeting smile on his face. I grinned back, and he tried taking the weight of the box off my shoulder, but I only flicked him off. I could handle a tiny crate; besides, Conner was carrying it with me. Wally rolled his eyes, and went off to see if we bought any cookies.

Conner turned to me. "I can level it down. Thanks, Diana."

"No problem, Con." I flashed him a smile, and went over to try and start small talk with M'Gann. Artemis, and Zatanna had come down from the elevator, and were talking about who knows what. I really wanted to chat with Artemis, as I had barely gotten to say a word to her in a little while, but I still didn't feel comfortable with Zatanna. I felt as if she didn't like me, and maybe it was because when she first met us, she was affectionate with Dick.

"Hey, Bat—" I turned around, but was met by an empty space. The box of groceries that Zatara had been carrying with his sorcery had fallen down on the floor, spilling its contents.

"Dad!" Zatanna shouted. Her face was contorted with shock and worry.

Kaldur turned to all of us, "Team, to the mission room. Timeless, contact Robin ASAP."

I nodded, my hands trembling as I took out my phone. Batman, Zatara, and Red Tornado had disappeared, but not us. What was happening? Did it mean that Dinah and Ollie were gone, too? What about Roy, and what if Dick was actually gone, as well?

I pressed the call button, and had to wait for three whole rings.

Ring.

Come on, Dick.

Ring.

Don't tell me you're gone, too.

Ring.

Damn it, Richard!

"D? I'm so glad to hear you're all right!" A heavy sigh left me, and I smiled into the call.

"I'm glad to hear you're okay, too." I started biting my thumb, "Something bad happened."

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"We've set up a—a refugee center at the high school gym," Wally talked through the comm link that was set up on the computers in the Mission Room. "Any luck with—"

"No," Dick said, rapidly and almost groggy. "Can't reach the Batcave, the Hall of Justice, or the Watch—or any adult hero!"

I typed in the name of a random country, trying to get some information out of all of this. Norway's adults were gone, as the video cameras in the city demonstrated. There were children running free on the streets, some laughing, but some of them crying. I felt a pang of hurt; my family was gone, too. These children were going through something terrible, and the pain intensified by every second.

I turned to my right, looking at Zatanna's screen. She was scrolling through a social site for kids. There were people posting like crazy in there, most of them reporting the same thing. One of the children was talking about how there were no heroes to protect them, now. Everyone was about ready to break down in tears.

"Children all over the world are posting the same thing," Zatanna reported, "Every adult, eighteen or older, has disappeared."

"The video cameras in the streets of the cities are still working," I noted. "The older kids, seemingly fourteen to seventeen, are helping calm the younger down. Everyone is in a pretty catastrophic state, though."

Zatanna ran a finger through her hair, "…The sorcery necessary to pull this off is scary big."

"And we need you to track its source," Dick stated. His eyes were dimmed, and darker than normal. Losing your parents once was enough, but losing your family again was torture. I could relate to the feeling.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Zatanna asked, incredulous.

"I got this footage," I typed in a code, and a video popped up. "It's your dad helping the League track Wotan, and that was last month."

Robin, and Zatanna came to stand at both of my sides. We watched in silence as Zatara spoke an enchantment at the digital globe in front of him. The globe spun, and a red dot was marked on the place where Wotan was supposed to be. I turned to Zatanna, but she still seemed unsure.

"But—but the words, I mean, they're only part of it!" Zatanna exclaimed. "The rest takes training, and…I—I'm just not on Zatara's level."

"I know it's hard," I started.

"But try to stay whelmed," Dick gave Zatanna a reassuring smile. It made me feel jealous, which only made my head start pounding with guilt. Dick was only helping Zatanna. "We'll find your dad, Batman, Canary...All of them! That's what we do."

Zatanna cracked a relieved smile at both of us. I grinned back, because even though we were not technically on great terms, it was nice that some of the tension was gone. I frowned, maybe the awkwardness between Zatanna and I was only in my head.

"Hey, guys?" Zatanna said, hesitant. "Uh, I'm going to go prep the spell. I—I may need some time to do it, so I would appreciate some privacy."

Dick, and I nodded. Zatanna walked off into the hallway that lead down to the secluded rooms of the Cave. I sighed, and sat down on the floor when her footsteps subsided. I felt tired, and somewhat glad that I had Dick all to myself now. We could talk in private, and I could reveal my harbored emotions.

I slung a lazy arm on Dick's shoulders, and moved close to him so I could whisper in his ear. "Dick, I don't—I don't think I can go through this again."

Dick knew exactly what I was talking about because he went through the same thing. There was just something about losing your parents that broke your soul in half. Then, losing your parents for a second time, adoptive or not, was enough to rip apart the very fabric of space and time in your opinion. I felt Dick's arms stop moving from my waist to my back, and I realized that I had slowed down time. I shuddered, and returned everything back to normal, or as normal as it could ever get.

Dick's mouth ran from my forehead to my temple, making the skin tingle along the way. His lips then leisurely made their way down to my cheek, tickling me just slightly. "Neither can I…but what choice did we have?"

Hid lips met mine.

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"Wally, Kaldur!" I embraced both members of the founding Team, "How are the kids?"

Wally shook his head, "Babe, if I have to see another orphan kid…I think I might break down."

Dick's arm around my shoulders tightened, and tensed. I felt his anger, and his discourage to do this mission. It was like seeing his parents falling down from the rope in the circus. It was like watching my mother die in the bed at the hospital. Everything was terrifying, and raw.

"I do not want to leave the children like this," Kaldur stated. "We will make a video, much like the one we did in the metal suicide mission. The world needs to know they are not alone."

Wally sped out of the room, and after a short six seconds, he came back out as Kid Flash. Dick, and I took our time into getting inside our rooms. We kept looking down at the floor, exchanging knowing glances that were full with worry. When I reached my room, I took Dick's hand, and squeezed it. He needed as much assurance as I did.

I got changed into my uniform, hands shaking and lips trembling. I had just finished getting into my costume when my phone rang, alerting me of a new caller. I took out my cellphone, eyes wide at the caller ID.

"Barbara!" I exclaimed, "How are you holding up, wait, that's a stupid question. I—"

"Diana Rosa Crane," Barbara hissed, "Where the hell are you? I was worried, and I tried calling Dick, but he didn't answer his stupid phone!"

I passed a hand through my tangled hair, "Barbara, just calm down. I, uh, went with Dinah to Star City. Oliver was supposed to meet us there, but then they disappeared."

"…" There was a long pause on the other end, "Ana?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared, no, terrified." Barbara sighed, "Bette and I are here in Gotham, but I don't know what to do. The Justice League is gone. All the adults are gone! No one even knows what happened to them."

"Babs," I sighed, "Just—It's going to be fine."

"How would you know?"

"I have a gut feeling," I laughed; it was such a lame excuse. "Try to help out the little ones, all right? I'm doing just that here in Star City. Vas a estar bien, you're gonna be fine."

"We'll get through this won't we?" I could almost picture Barbara's small smile. It made me grin, too.

"Of course we will," I remembered the small assuring words, "That's just what we do."

"I'll see you back in Gotham after all this is over?"

"Of course you will."

"Okay. Be careful."

"I would say the same for you."

The line dropped, but I still held the phone close to my ear for a few seconds. I felt terrible for having forgotten that Barbara was in Gotham, and alone with no adults. Most of the villains may be gone, but that didn't mean that common criminals weren't scurrying around the streets.

I sighed, and placed the phone on my bedside table. I jogged out of my room, some of my irrational nerves eating me up. I had just had the stupidest thought. What if Kaldur, Wally, and Dick had just disappeared, too? It was idiotic for me to think that, but it still made me run down the hall to the Mission Room.

"Are we all ready?" Aqualad asked us as I came out, being the last one to get changed. The three of us nodded. "Robin, start a transmition."

A holographic screen appeared in front of the four of us, reflecting our faces. We all looked beaten up, mostly by losing our family. But we had to do this. The children had to know they weren't alone.

"Attention, children and teenagers of Earth." Aqualad started, "I am Aqualad. These are my friends, Robin, Timeless, and Kid Flash."

Robin spoke up, "We are using Justice League tech to cast and stream to every TV, radio, computer, and smartphone on the planet."

"We know you must be scared, and angry," Kid Flash continued. "We know that with your parents missing there's a temptation to run wild. But please, stay calm."

It was my turn, "We'll find all the adults that have gone missing. I promise you that. For now the oldest children, of ages thirteen to seventeen, must take charge."

"Take care of your younger siblings," Robin said, "Take care of kids who have none."

"Protect them," Kid Flash proceeded to speak in different languages, "Protegé le."

Then, Robin and I proceeded to repeat the same message in a variety of languages. We started with Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Swahili, Portuguese, Swedish, Malaysian, and all the rest. The kids needed to know, even just a small portion of our message so they would be sure of what to do.

"It is up to you," Aqualad concluded. "Please, help in any way you can."

Robin cut the video montage, and the four of us stepped out of our little formation so everyone could see us. This felt an awful lot like the suicide mission, with the whole Justice League gone, and the world resting on our shoulders. It was a hard responsibility to carry. It was one that I had to do, though. It was our duty as protectors of the universe.

Suddenly, Wally just left us in dead silence. He was heading toward his Souvenir Room. I locked eyes with Robin, and he nodded. One of us has to go comfort him. He's seen a lot today.

I sucked in a tight breath, and watched as Dick went out of the Mission Room to confront Kid. Wally was from a very close family, as everyone had each other's backs all the time. He was from a family that included three different surnames. He was feeling the pain much more than the rest of us, for he knew what a real family was like.

"Kaldur," I looked at the oldest member of our group, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." He answered curtly, but I could see past the strong façade. I knew him well enough, even if it was only for almost one year.

"You've always been a terrible liar." I walked over to Kaldur, and wrapped my arms around him. He smelled like the ocean, salty but sharp. With some reluctance, he wrapped his own arms around my back. We held each other there for some time, just trying to extract some comfort from the other.

Robin came out of the dark hallway, and I looked at him. My cheek was pressed on Kaldur's shoulder; to I had to stand on my toes to get a better look at my boyfriend. Dick nodded; assuring me that Wally was going to be fine.

"I'm going to try and contact anyone in Atlantis," Aqualad murmured in my ear. I nodded, and we let go from our embrace.

Robin walked up to me, yawned, and swung an arm around my waist. He leaned on me, his eyes closed. All this worrying was probably making him tired, and I, as well. We had to save our energies for the real fight, though. It was the one where we found the ones responsible for the adults disappearing, and we kicked their butts.

"How are you holding up?" I whispered in Dick's ear, "You look like they beat you up with a crowbar."

Aqualad turned to us, but left without a word. He knew we needed our time alone to comfort the other. I looked down at Dick, whose head was resting on my shoulder. I pressed my cheek on his forehead, and sighed. The warmth that Dick's body gave out was calming.

Robin looked up at me, "It's almost like losing your family again. Batman, and Agent A were the only people who really cared about me for a long time..."

"I know," I nodded. "You told me so many times, and I'm sorry. But they're not dead, at least, we don't think so."

Suddenly, Aqualad and Kid Flash walked into the room. They stepped side to reveal Zatanna behind them, "I'm ready to try my dad's location spell." The magician stepped out of the shadows, and walked over to the middle of the Mission Room. Robin got out his arm computer, and opened a holographic imitation of the Earth.

We called Artemis, M'Gann, and Conner to come back to the Cave. When they were here, everyone started to tell encouraging words to Zatanna. Artemis was standing next to the magician, a hand on her shoulder and a smile on both of their faces.

I placed a hesitant hand on Zatanna's other shoulder, "Good luck?"

"Uh, thanks, Timeless." Zatanna raised an eyebrow at me.

Then, we all watched in small murmurs as Zatanna chanted the words backwards. The globe turned once, and then, a red dot stilled on the eastern coast of the United States. I raised an eyebrow; it was uncannily close to where the red dot stopped when we were going to stop the Injustice League.

"Coordinates locked," Robin exclaimed. "Roanoke Island. You did it!"

Zatanna looked down, as if unsure of this all. She seemed insecure, which was odd because she had just performed the spell perfectly. But I recognized that look; it was the same one that I saw in myself when I was eight years old. It was the same look of insecure doubt of ever seeing your family again. I didn't have the courage to comfort her, though.

We all walked in front of the holographic computer, trying to figure out why the signal came from Roanoke Island. There were a lot of things that could be happening there, but we also needed to know where exactly in Roanoke Island was the signal from.

"Shazam!"

Suddenly, a little kid with excited blue eyes appeared into the Cave. He looked like an innocent civilian, but if there was one thing everyone here learned, was that the most innocent were the most malicious. I decided to speak up from all the shock, "Kid, I'm just going to say this once. Where the hell did you come from, and why are you here?"

"Quick!" The kid looked at Miss Martian, "Read my mind!"

M'Gann's eyes went green before she gasped, "He's Captain Marvel!"

Kid Flash snorted, obviously unconvinced. I couldn't agree anymore with him. "Pschh, yeah, and I'm Speedy Gonzalez. Look, just because he believes he's Captain Marvel—"

"Gee, Wally." The kid smirked, "Do I really have to bring in nachos and pineapple juice to get on your good side?"

Everyone stared in amazement at the little boy, and I snorted. This kid could say he was Captain Marvel, and I would believe ever word he said. Who else knew Wally's order of a snack as well as Captain Marvel? His comment only made me snort, and believe his charm was the same that Captain possessed at times.

"Well," I laughed, "It's nice seeing you so…young, Cap!"

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We all stood in a line in front of Captain Marvel, who had introduced himself as Billy Batson, the ten-year-old boy who was graced with super powers. Aqualad was explaining the rules, threats, and the plan of what we were going to do if we were trying to combine the two dimensions of the kids and adults into one, once again.

"There will be threats in both dimensions," Kaldur started, "And we may not be familiar with out opponents. But the key to this mission is a coordinated simultaneous attack. Our best chance against sorcery is to strike fast, disrupt their efforts. And hope the two dimensions emerge naturally into one."

I sighed in relieve, and gave Dick a small smile. He returned it, and took my hand to rub his thumb over my knuckles. We finally had a plan, and we knew what we had to do. We would be able to get our families back, and everything would return back to normal.

We would all be all right.

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Robin threw his birdarangs, and Artemis launched her mini arrows at Klarion the Witch Boy, who seemed to be the one responsible for the two dimensions separating. Klarion blocked the explosion with his sorcery, and smirked at the two of them

"That's the best you can do?"

Robin and Artemis looked at each other in mock shock, but it soon morphed into real fear. Klarion used his powers to shoot red lighting at them, and as soon as it made contact with the ground, it exploded into a fiery inferno. Artemis skidded to the right, barely missing the lighting. I couldn't see Dick anywhere, though.

I panicked, but I couldn't give away my secret location. I needed to stay quiet, and still until the signal was given. Dick could be hurt, though, and I wouldn't even know it. As much as I wanted to check Dick for his injuries or any sort of damage, I just couldn't go in the field, yet. A nagging thought ate me up. Robin could be…No. He was fine.

The maroon mist cleared, and I could see Robin making his way to his feet from the other side. I sighed in relieve, and watched as Artemis and Robin both ran to opposite sides. If Dick was alive, then he was all right. No point in worrying over his bruises if I knew it was going to be inevitable.

Aqualad gave us all a warning, 'Team, Now!'

I jumped out from behind one of the many bushes in the clearing, and charged at Klarion. Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Superboy were hurrying beside me, as all of us had run from different hiding spots. Klarion created a red force field, and it was definitely one that could very well rival my own.

We all were running with incredible amounts of adrenaline coursing through our body, so when we noticed the force field, all of us weren't fast enough to stop. My body slammed against the maroon wall, and I was sent flying back at least two meters. I groaned in pain. Klarion was so getting it, now.

Zatanna came up after the second line of our team's offense didn't work and muttered a quick spell that I couldn't really make out. Figuring out words that were said backward wasn't really my thing. Klarion threw Zatanna back, but luckily, Superboy ran as fast as he could to catch her.

As I was getting up, I realized that we didn't really have a plan anymore. Aqualad seemed surprised that Klarion was as powerful as he was right now, and that troubled me. Kaldur has barely ever seemed surprised by something.

Miss Martian flew up on top of the force field, and started throwing heavy rocks at it. I sighed; the force wasn't really going to do much manage to the protective wall. If I could only get a brief distraction from Klarion and try to attack with a force field of my own, then maybe I'd be able to break it down.

An arrow swished by my head, and was about to land on Klarion's cat, but the said boy disrupted the arrow's course. That was all that I needed. I put my hands up, and felt a tugging emotion vibrating deep in my chest. I used Klarion's little effort to into saving his pet to throw all that I could at him.

I launched force field after force field, each stronger than the previous one. Klarion glared in my direction, a vicious snarl set tight onto his lips. He didn't have to mutter a spell, like Zatanna, but he just flicked his hand and I was flying through the air. Conner was somewhere knocked out, so he couldn't catch me. I slowed down my body, and stopped time with it. Then, I was gently falling down the ground. It was a soft landing, and I was pleased with the results.

At least I wasn't knocked out.

My little victory didn't last long, though. Klarion soon was smirking, but a troubled expression set in his eyes, as well. He knew we had teamed up with the adults, and he could see that his master plan was soon dissipating. Klarion shot stinging white lighting in all of our directions, and Robin and Artemis were soon down. Only the people with super powers were left standing, which made it all the worse for me.

"Zatanna, no!"

I glanced up, all my pain crushing me down. Zatanna had the helmet of Doctor Fate right on top of her head, and before I could scream a protest, she had it on. She was Doctor Fate now, and there was no way of knowing whether she would be back into her real self or not. Despite my pain, I felt an increasing guilt swallowing me down. Somehow, I felt like it was my fault that she was doing this.

Zatanna's eyes glowed white, and the helmet became a full-body suit, the same one Doctor Fate had always had. She flew up in the air, and floated on top of us for a few minutes. The cross figure of Doctor Fate appeared behind her body, golden and violet flashing across her body. It was beautiful, it was enchanting, and it was scary.

"Klarion," Zatanna's voice was mixed up with Fate's, "This ends now!"

Zatanna launched a bright yellow beam toward Klarion, and he did the same with his own red one. It suddenly felt like the air had been incinerated, and the weather had been increased by thousands. The one good thing of all of this was that the electric shocks from Klarion weren't directed in any of my teammate's directions anymore.

Aqualad, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Superboy, and I all regrouped, and left Robin and Artemis in a safer place to rest unconscious in. I let a hand run through Robin's sweaty raven hair, and I sighed. He would be okay, he was breathing, and that was all that mattered. As long as he was alive, he was all right.

Aqualad nodded at me to get going, and I did the same back. Zatanna, or Doctor Fate, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and I were soon pounding on the maroon force field surrounding Klarion. It was a pain, having to do this. It should have been so much easier, and so much faster. But Klarion always seemed to find a way to get under our skin, and make us stall.

Suddenly, the helmet was disappearing from Zatanna. It was like watching a broken replay of some show, as the helmet kept disappearing and reappearing on Zatanna's head.

"Ha! There, see!" Klarion shouted, "When the world's divided, the helmet is split in two! You're not all here, Nabu! And you're losing hope and that poor, soon to be dead, girl! She gave up herself for nothing."

I felt my body physically growing weak at that thought. If Doctor Fate really was losing hope then chances were that we weren't going to get through this. It was just a matter of time before things ended up against us, if Nabu didn't cooperate. And what would happen to Zatanna, then?

Then, Doctor Fate launched one last brilliant strike. Aqualad, Miss Martian, and I were pounding on the force field to break open like the nutshell we knew it was. Klarion started losing it, shouting pleas for us to stop, but we didn't. It was just a matter of time before all of this was over.

Klarion's force field dissipated, falling apart as easily as it had been on. I wiped some sweat off my brow, at least that was over. Doctor Fate launched a golden cross to encase Klarion in it. Finally, Kid came barreling in at record speed. He grabbed the yellow diamond, the one separating the two dimensions, and threw it at Zatanna.

After that, most of it all was a blur. It was a bright white flash, one that lasted more than a few seconds out of my comfort zone. I'd never been one to like the ringing sounds those white flashes created. It unnerved me. But then, all the adults were back, so I wasn't so completely annoyed at the tingling it left as an after taste.

Somehow, Klarion was able to escape the golden cross of a prison Nabu created for him. So, I stumbled down to Zatanna, as she was still floating on top of us all. Doctor Fate hadn't released her, and we were all starting to get anxious. It was worrying, because it had happened before with Wally and Kaldur.

I heard two low grunts and groans, and instantly, I was at the two unconscious members' sides. I grabbed Robin's hand, and pulled him slowly up his feat. He was holding the side of his ribs, which seemed odd to me. When people were knocked unconscious, weren't they supposed to be holding their heads?

Then, I remembered that Klarion had managed to sneak a winning punch on Robin's side. Dick gave me a small moan of pain, and I was soon wrapping my arms under his arms. He weighted more than me, and that made it all the more difficult. I tried not to show my discomfort, though. Robin needed me as his support, quite literally.

Zatara came marching forward, "Fate! Great Nabu, release my daughter."

"No." Doctor Fate growled.

At that, I felt my blood run cold. Sure, I wasn't really the best of friends with Zatanna, and we couldn't share a conversation without feeling awkward, but she was an ally. It was a built-in subconscious feeling of wanting to help any friend of mine, or a friend of a friend. It was just impossible for me to not feel like Zatanna becoming Doctor Fate was just as terrible as Dinah dying.

"Take me instead," Zatara raised his arms in defeat. "My skills are already at their peak. My body is physically stronger, better able to restrain the strength of your power."

"All true," Nabu considered, "But if I remove the helmet what guarantee do I have of you keeping your word?"

"My word," Zatara muttered, and I felt it almost getting lost in the wind.

Nabu came down back onto land, and stepped foot a few meters away from Zatara. I felt terrible, not when Zatanna removed the helmet without a clue of what was about to happen. I didn't feel bad even when Zatara looked at her with such sadness and love in his eyes. It was when she started screaming as realisation hit her, which was perfect for breaking you at that moment. I never understood, but losing your dad seemed to be the worst thing in the world for her.

I stopped time, and I don't know exactly when I did it. Time just seemed to slow down, and then freeze up. The scene of everyone's broken faces hit me real hard on the chest. That's when I realized; this was Zatanna's dad. It wasn't her father, or just her biological parent. This was her dad, and it was someone who she loved dearly.

I don't know for how long I just stood there, in the middle of everyone, crying my eyes out. I knew I was being overdramatic, and that Zatanna was the one who needed comforting. Not me. But still, I couldn't help the tears flow out of my eyes. This was just something…

This wasn't how it was supposed to end, but somehow, I knew there wasn't a second chance.

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When I opened the door, I tried to do it as quietly as I could. I still wasn't sure if everything returned to normal, and to be quite honest, I was scared of whatever I would find inside the house. It could have been perfectly empty, not a sound echoing through the halls. Or it could have been noisy with sobs or things breaking.

"Mom?" I whispered, and through the thin veil of silence, I heard a collective gasp. Then, there were two others.

I was soon enveloped in a crushing hug, one in which three people were doing the embracing. Dinah was there, her eyeliner smudged under her eyes, and tears streaking down her cheeks. Ollie was there, too, looking as relieved as the day he proposed to Dinah and she said yes. And Roy was there. He seemed so angry, but so blissful at the same time.

I let out a choked sob, "I missed you."