Chapter Four

Beneath

"It's too tiiiight."

I rolled my eyes as Aurora whined. Her uniform had arrived this morning and I was helping her with it. It was similar to mine, but the suit was grey and the band separating her chest plate from the rest of the uniform was purple. Gold and purple, Queen Bee's colours.

"And too warm and my legs feel itch-"

I pulled the mask over her mouth. "Much better."

I smirked as I heard a faint 'Bitch,' and patted the side of her face. "I know. At least you have part of your face free. Full masks are a bitch in the sun." I replied.

Aurora yanked the mask off her face as I started to braid her hair. "Why am I even wearing this?" She grumbled.

"Queen Bee thinks you're ready." I replied.

"Stop being so fucking cryptic, ready for what?" She snapped and I rolled my eyes.

"For your first mission dumbass." I told her. The scowl dropped off her face, to reveal blind panic.

"M-M-mission?" She whimpered.

"The Queen is busy so the commander will brief us later." I explained.

"I can't- I can't do this." Aurora said, her breath coming out in small puffs. She staggered backwards, hitting the wall with a thump and sliding down. "I can't!"

I approached her slowly, recognising the early stages of a panic attack. I used to have them a lot when I was younger. "Aurora-"

"You said you would help me!"

"Aurora-"

"You said you w-would get me out of here!"

"Aurora, listen to me!" I exclaimed. Her head snapped up to face me, the terror evident on her face. "We're going to breathe together okay? Just in and out." It was something Scarlett used to do with me. Deep breath in, hold it and let it out slowly.

"You- you said you would help me." She whimpered.

I grabbed her hand. "And I will, but to help you now, you need to breathe okay?" She gripped my hands tightly and we just sat there for God knows how long.

Someone knocked the door. "[Open up!]"

Aurora had calmed down from her panic attack but, at the sound of guards, she looked like she was going to have another one. "Don't listen to them, okay? Just breathe."

"[Open the door Nightfall!]" A guard called, sounding agitated.

"Just breathe." I said.

"[Open the door!]"

"Breathe."

"[Open the goddamn door!]" He sounded angry now.

"Breath." With that, the door burst open and three guards burst in. Aurora and I sprang to our feet. "[Can we help you?]" I asked.

"[Why didn't you answer the door?]" One of them asked.

"[I was busy.]" I replied, narrowing my eyes.

"[You answer the door when we call.]" He commanded.

"[Or what?]" I snarled. In reply, my head snapped to the side as the guard slapped me. Aurora gasped and sprang forward, but I shoved my arm in front of her and pushed her back.

"[Don't talk like that to me. Now come, the commander wants to see you both.]" He told us. I put my mask on and the guards led us out. I kept my hand on Aurora's shoulder as we walked through the halls. We walked into the hanger, Sam already waiting for us in full uniform. I joined him at his side and he nodded at Aurora, noticing her red eyes. I shook my head, I'll explain later.

The commander marched out and stood in front of us. "[You will be protecting the shipment that comes through here, making sure no harm comes to it. Icicle Jr, Devastation, Shimmer and Mammoth will be assisting you.]" He explained briefly.

I raised my eyebrows. "[What are we shipping?]" Sam asked.

"[The cargo that was delivered here by boom tubes.]" The commander replied.

"[And what was the cargo?]" I added. It had arrived in large crates when we picked it up, giving us no indicator as to what it was.

"[You do not need to know. You just need to protect it.]" The commander told us. I rolled my eyes. Great.

"[And Psimon?]" Sam asked. As far as I knew, the asshole was still in hospital because of the fight between him and M'gann. Serves him right.

"[Still currently indisposed. Now go. Start patrolling]" He said. We did as he instructed.

My eyes darted around the area, the device that blocked communications catching my eye. Were they expecting trouble tonight? We continued patrolling for an hour, nothing unusual happening. Aurora's eyes had gone back to normal, losing their red colour. Icicle Jr kept sending smiles and winks in my direction, making me roll my eyes. Keep it in your pants man.

After another hour of patrol, a noise made me look up. Thanks to the serum, my hearing had become sharper. I was able to pick up on small noises and this one sounded suspiciously like a grapping hook. Hm….

I couldn't help but smile as I saw Batgirl. That meant the team was here! My smile faded as I remembered Psimon was here and they most likely didn't know.

Oh shit.

I had to get to M'gann somehow, but the question was: where would she be? Would she even let me near her to speak to her? My eyes caught sight of Aurora again and I got an idea. This could be a chance to get her out of here! I just had to find opportunity.

My thoughts were interrupted a loud roar, coming from Devastation. I sprinted towards the noise, Sam following close behind.

"This brat thought she could sneak in!" Devastation roared at me, trying to keep the laughter out of her voice. "I bet her little friends are here, sound the alarm!"

I sighed. Well that had gotten harder. I stiffened, getting back into character. "[You heard her, sound the alarm! Put this place on lockdown!]" I snarled at the guards.

"And who the heck are you?" Devastation asked the girl. "Wonder baby? Wonder brat?"

"Enough." I snapped. Her teasing was distracting and giving me a headache. God, Devastation's voice annoyed me.

"Come on Nightfall, lighten up. I'm just having a little fun with the blonde wonder over here." Devastation laughed. The girl grunted, trying to wrestle out of her grip.

"Devastation, Nightfall, what's going on?" Icicle asked. "Who is that?"

"She's less than forthcoming on that point junior, but I'm betting she's not here alone." Devastation replied.

"[Find the others.]" I told the guards, along with Sam and Aurora. "[We will deal with her.]" The less people around, the bigger chance this girl had to get away. They nodded and marched off, as Icicle got ready to hit her with one of his blasts. Aurora gave me a worried look and pulled her away, whispering something in her ear.

To my surprise, the girl managed to lift Devastation off the ground and throw her down, making me smirk. Thank god for the full mask.

"Stop her!" Icicle commanded. I put the blades into my gauntlets and fired them as Icicle shot his ice blasts at her. The girl easily blocked the knives with her bracelets. Must be one of Wonder Woman's.

"Such every inch of the facility." Psimon's voice alerted me to his presence.

I headed inside, back into the hanger and towards the computer. I scanned the camera feeds for any indication as to who was here, when a small sound grabbed my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Batgirl sneaking across. The girl was silent but my hearing was just too good.

I went after her, keeping my steps silent. My eyes widened like hers when I saw the cargo however. It was teenagers! Innocent teenagers! The team better have a way to get them out of here, or I will do it myself.

I snapped back to attention as Batgirl turned around and I saw Psimon watching me closely. Couldn't fuck up now. Her eyes widened in surprise as I went for her.

She was on the defence as I slammed my fists into her. My fist slammed into her forearm, letting a sound that made me wince. I ducked out of the way of her fist and her kick, before slamming my fist into her gut and threw her to the ground. As a last measure, I kicked her temple, making sure she was out cold. God damn, I needed to go easy.

"Put her in a pod." Psimon commanded. I nodded and picked up the girl. Now was the time to not drag her along the floor.

"Are you serious?" Icicle exclaimed as I placed her in the pod and closed it. "These kids are runaways, strays, no one's going to miss them! But a bat brat!"

"Batman himself is out of the picture and if anyone else misses her, Psimon says he just doesn't care." Oh she would definitely be missed. Nightwing would be pissed and don't get me started on her dad.

"Psimon." Devastation grabbed him. "I like the way that pretty brain of yours works."

I nearly vomited right there. Oh good God.

Psimon gave the others orders, including Aurora and I. We had to load the plane. This was perfect, if I got Aurora on the plane, helped the team get to the plane and got them away, she would safe! This was going slightly better than expected.

I pushed the crate into the plane, Aurora following me. As soon as we got up there, I hissed in her ear. "Hide now."

"What!" She said. I pressed my hand over her mouth.

"Find somewhere to hide and make sure it's comfortable, cause I am getting you out of here." I whispered.

"Are you serious?" She asked, looking relieved. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet, I still have to get the plane to the team." I said. I let out a grunt as Aurora suddenly wrapped her arms around my waist in a tight hug.

"Thank you." She whispered.

I couldn't help but smile. "No problem kid. Now look after yourself."

"Will do. Tell Sam I said thanks as well." I nodded and gave her a two fingered salute, as she transformed into what looked like the colour of the plane. She then stepped back into the shadows. I marched off the plane. Hopefully the kid would be okay.

Loud beeps echoed throughout the hanger. I frowned. Why were we going into lockdown? "What's going on?" I asked. Devastation shrugged, looking around the hanger.

"The planes fully fuelled, what's going on?" Icicle asked.

"The Martian is here, posing as Shimmer. We're engaged in psychic battle." I couldn't help but smirk at that. M'gann always won against Psimon, that always took the cocky bastard down a peg.

"Uh dude, you don't exactly have a winning record against her." Icicle spoke my thoughts.

"I don't have to win, I only have to keep her attention on the psychic plain while you kill her in the material world!"

Haha no, stay away from my friend.

(Was she still my friend?)

"Devastation is right, your brain is pretty." Icicle noted. Dude, don't be creepy.

The plane started to take off and Psimon commanded us to stop it. I ran ahead, planning some way to keep them off the plane. Devastation went for Batgirl, I stayed behind. The girl managed to fight Devastation and Mammoth off, throwing them both off the plane. She then went after me.

The girl was good, managing to fight me off and land some blows that nearly had me in tears. I couldn't breathe for a moment, I was pretty sure she cracked one of my ribs. I looked over my shoulder as I heard Mammoth grunt. He threw a vehicle toward us, making my eyes widen. I flipped off the plane and pulled the vehicle with me, making it skid along the floor.

"Why didn't you stop her!" Devastation roared at me. She looked ready to rip my head off.

"They were getting away, I couldn't have stopped them." I told her, my voice passive.

She groaned and turned away, I was pretty sure I heard her complain about me being a 'useless bitch'. But I didn't care. I smiled at the hanger door. Hopefully, this meant Aurora was safe and going home. Kid deserved it.

Look after yourself kiddo.

"Where the hell is Fox?" I heard Psimon shout.

Uh oh.

THIRD PERSON P.O.V

Aurora sighed quietly, her legs aching after staying in this position for so long. She had to though, that was what Lila told her to do. Wait until you find Nightwing, tell him I sent you. Get to Nightwing. She could do that.

She let out a sigh of relief as the plane landed and the door creaked open. Pushing herself into the corner, Aurora waited for the man she was supposed to find. The abductees were moved off the plan and she couldn't help but smile. They were like her; they would be going home to their parents. At least, she hoped they were.

"Is that all of them?" She jumped in surprise, startled at the male voice. Aurora peeked out from behind where she was hiding and couldn't help but grin in happiness. It was Nightwing! She was about to jump out, until the female voice put her right back into the corner.

"All the abductees we could find, hopefully all the abductees there were." The woman replied. Aurora tried to see who it was, but was only greeted by red hair and a grey uniform.

"You did good work today Babs." Nightwing said. Aurora raised her eyebrows slightly, catching sight of the smile Nightwing sent in the girl's direction. Combined with the tone of his voice, she had a feeling there was something there.

"Heh, its Cassie you should be telling that to. She did good work today." This Babs person replied. "I have to go interview the abductees but I'll talk to you later."

"See you in the cave." He called, before turning to look around the plan. Aurora gulped, before stepping out of the shadows.

"N-Nightwing?" She scowled, hating how her voice sounded. What she didn't expect was for the hero to whip around and jump towards her. Aurora shrieked and tried to duck out of the way. "Please don't hurt me!"

"Who are you?" He growled, pinning her down, chest against the floor and arms behind her back.

"Lila sent me!" She exclaimed. The pressure lifted slightly against her arms.

"What?" He asked.

"L-Lila sent me! Lila Nadia Archer, Nightfall? Queen Bee's assassin person? She said she knew you!" Crap, crap, crap, was she lying?

"Yeah I do. Why did she send you?" He asked, still not letting the girl get to her feet.

"Can you let me up first?" Aurora asked. "Please?" She tried.

"No sorry, precautions." He told her. "Now why did she send you?" Nightwing asked.

"Queen Bee kidnapped me." Aurora said. She really hopped he would let her up soon, metal was uncomfortable on your face.

"You were one of the abductees?" Nightwing asked.

"No, at least I don't think so. I got taken in January." She explained. "I was one of her experiments." She added.

"What can you do?" He asked.

"Well maybe if you let me off the floor, I could show you!" She exclaimed.

"Right, right sorry." Nightwing said. "But you do realize if you run, I will taze you."

"What?!" Aurora exclaimed, she had never been tazed before.

"You must be new to this." He muttered, before letting her get up. "Okay let's see what you can do."

Aurora got up and brushed off her uniform, before letting out a sigh to compose herself. She then transformed, feeling her skin tingle as she transformed into the superhero in front of her. He blinked in surprise, before running his hand through his dark hair. "Wasn't expecting that." He muttered.

"I guess we have a lot to talk about then." Aurora said, raising her eyebrow.

OH MY GOD GUYS I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER IS REALLY SHIT. IT'S MOSTLY FILLER AND SETTING SOME STUFF UP FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. But I think you guys might enjoy the next chapter. Here's a little preview:

"Hope I'm not too late to the party." I said, approaching the group.

"Lila?" Kaldur said.

IT'S WHAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.

THE MOTHERFUCKING REUNION.

mayemerald9- Thank you! Sorry it was so depressingL.

Taeniaea- Thank you!

ChaoticKosMos xD- Thank you! Good luck on your exams!

Guest- Sorry it wasn't so soon!

Johanna- Thank you! ALSO DID YOU THINK OF THE SHIP NAME? I THINK YOU DID.

Kaldur/Lila ship name= Kalila