AN: Okay guys, last chapter.
Thanks for coming on this ride with me- thanks for reviewing and favouriting and alerting the story. Thanks for keeping up with the characters- I know there are a lot of 'em- and thanks for baring with me during the gaps between updates (I'm still sorry about those).
For the record- I've got two YJ multi-chapter fics in the works- I'm not abandoning the fandom or the show just because CN say it's over, so look out for those.
Now... Onwards!
Blue Bird: Chapter 18
The two teams reconvened beside the bulkhead that split the mountain in half- and Arsenal, rather than face the glares of the younger heroes, set to work tapping out a message in Morse code to whoever was listening on the other side.
"You couldn't have offered just a little help?" Artemis asked, still cradling her injured arm.
"You handled it." Red Hood pointed out.
Wally smirked- "He does have a point." The speedster brushed an imaginary speck of dust off his shoulder- "I don't see what all the fuss was about."
"He isn't the threat." Tigress said- "He's- he was- an inexperienced assbutt who can't keep up a proper fight to save his life."
"Which is probably why he is- as of now- dead." Arsenal piped up- stopping in the middle of his conversation with the future Flash. "And Fleet Feet wants to know if we can go home now."
"Tell him 'yes, as soon as we get the door open'." Nightwing said, turning back to his teammates, "Now, did anyone get a body count on the people we need to send back?"
"In total?" Batgirl began ticking people off on her fingers, "You, me, Ravager, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Impulse, Tigress, Flash, Red Hood, Starfire, Arsenal- that's it, right?"
Ravager, who had leant Batgirl her hand when the red-head had run out of fingers, nodded- "Sounds like it, and if you forgot anyone, well... they clearly aren't important enough to do any damage to the time stream."
"That is good." Starfire said, nodding, "Now our only obstacle is this door."
"Couldn't you, I dunno, blast through it?" Wally asked, "It seems to be your solution to everything else."
The speedster shrank slightly as the alien princess turned her gaze on him, bearing a thoughtful expression; "The idea is not without merit." She conceded, "However, I feel it would be somewhat counterproductive to collapse the key structure upon us-"
"Yeah," Robin cracked a smile, "Especially seeing as the vast majority of it's occupants aren't invulnerable."
"Around now is the time when I wish we had a teleporter with us." Tigress muttered.
"Which one?" Ravager asked, "Misfit, El Dorado, Red Devil, Raven or Herald?"
Tigress considered for a moment, then; "Herald. I know 'im, he's nice enough and he does time travel if we ask real nice."
"Oh, okay, I'll just call him on my inter-timeline cell phone." Ravager said, sarcasm leaking into her voice, "Oh, wait! That's right, I don't have one."
"Is everything a challenge to you?" M'Gann asked- eyes darting between the two women.
Ravager smirked; "Only the challenging things, Miss Moonbeam. Where I come from, that's the way you survive.
"Yet more proof of how well you and Tigress would get on if you stopped insulting each other for ten minutes." Batgirl said, "I'm going to work on the door; you're coming too, Wingnut."
She snagged her team leader's arm, and walked away- heading for the control panel for the door, and leaving the others in awkward silence.
"She's right, y'know." Robin said.
Tigress snorted- "She's right about everything- sometimes I think she's some kind of oracle, or something."
The ex-archer sat, and leaned back against the rocky wall, not meeting anyone's eyes, and there was silence again, aside from Arsenal's tapping against the door. Wally coughed.
"Right. Awkward." The speedster said, "Anyone wanna play twenty questions or something?"
"Twenty questions?" Ravager asked, "I pegged you more as a 'seven minutes in heaven' kinda guy."
"He played that last week at some guy's birthday party." Artemis deadpanned- "He ended up in the closet with a friend of mine, and got absolutely nowhere."
"Meanwhile the party's host ended up in the closet with his best friend- she kissed him." Batgirl called from where she and Nightwing were working on the lock.
Red Hood made a gagging noise- "I don't need to know what you may or may not have done to my siblings while hiding in closets- Barb, so I think we'll step off memory lane and stick to twenty questions."
Starfire frowned- "I am... unfamiliar with this game- explain?"
"We sit in a circle and ask each other questions until everybody's answered twenty." Ravager said, settling on the floor between Artemis and Arsenal- Robin did a headcount.
"Let's see, Arsenal, you playing?" Robin looked, enquiringly over to the final third of the outlaws, who nodded, and rapped out a quick message to the future Wally, before settling more securely beside Ravager, and patting the floor for Tigress to join him. She did, and Robin smiled, sitting between the present Wally and Artemis- "Whelming. That means we've got eleven- two questions per person each- unless the other two want to join in..."
He trailed off, glancing in their direction and shaking his head- "Never mind, let's just play."
The others settled in a circle- Starfire beside Tigress, Red Hood next to Starfire, then Aqualad, Superboy, Miss Martian and Wally.
"Who's going first?" Artemis asked.
"Got any bottles?" Arsenal asked- there was a general shaking of heads, and he shrugged, "Jus' an idea."
"I've got a crossbow bolt, if that helps?" Artemis dug around in her quiver with her good arm, and passed the object to Robin, who grinned-
"Perfect."
He placed it on the floor and spun.
It landed on Red Hood.
Ravager's grin was almost predatorial as she set the ball rolling; "Why does your helmet look like a giant red-"
"Ask the Joker." Hood deadpanned, "Next?"
"You're pissed with Bats." Arsenal said- "So why d'you wear his symbol?"
Hood glanced down at his chest, and shrugged- "Sentiment."
"The most impressive statement you ever made?" Tigress asked.
"Blowing up Black Mask's HQ with a missile launcher."
"And why is Black Mask not dead in the aftermath?" Starfire enquired-
"To paraphrase myself- 'Wow. He really can move when he wants to.'"
Arsenal snorted, and Ravager smirked- then the game continued. After Red Hood they spun the arrow, but before they could begin questioning Tigress, Batgirl cried out in success and the door opened, sending Arsenal, who was leaning against it- clutching his time machine- sprawling backwards against Impulse and Flash's legs. The elder speedster immediately stooped to help the archer to his feet.
"You took your time." Beast Boy said, materialising from Cyborg's shoulder- where he'd been roosting as some kind of alien bird.
"Sure." Red Hood deadpanned, "Because it's not like you've got two speedsters who can vibrate through solid objects, or anything."
"The cave's proofed against speedsters, Hoodie." Impulse said, "Or did you forget?"
"'Never bothered to find out." Hood shrugged, "Golden Boy, Swan Queen and Demon might be okay with working with you assbutts but I, personally, like having a well stocked fridge."
"You learn to lock your food in a special fridge under your bed-" Tigress said.
"Right next to the lead box of kryptonite." Ravager muttered.
There was a pause-
"She's kidding, right?"
Every eye was drawn to the present-day speedster, and every one of the time-travellers shook their heads. Wally, Conner and M'Gann- all of whom had been standing near Ravager at the time- very hastily took a side step away, exchanging worried glances. Tigress managed to stifle an uncharacteristic giggle, and Arsenal cracked a smile.
Starfire, however, remained unamused- she folded her arms and cleared her throat; "I believe it would be prudent if we were to return to our own time now?"
"Give me a minute?" Nightwing asked- the others nodded, and the older acrobat touched Robin's shoulder, indicating that he wanted to talk. Batman's protegee nodded, and followed.
"What's this about?"
"The future." Nightwing replied- "I have a couple of requests to make."
"No promises." Robin said.
"I'm not expecting any." Nightwing nodded in appreciation, "Just a few things- you're going to hear that you trust too easily, Hell, most of the time they'll be right- just don't loose that whole trust thing."
"So you're telling me to keep something that'll come back to bite me in the butt more times than it'll actually help me?" Beneath his mask, Robin raised an eyebrow.
"I know it's confusing, but trust me, when it helps, it saves you life- when it doesn't, you can recover from it." Nightwing said, "Example? Ravager."
Robin turned slightly so he could see the teen, she'd taken off her cowl, and was smiling- bantering with Red Hood and Arsenal, occasionally swatting away Beast Boy, who had turned into a variety of winged creatures and was trying to land on her head, shoulders, arms, hands- Robin turned back to Nightwing.
"What about her?"
"The way she sees it, she has a debt to you- a debt that'll never be paid off in her eyes- eye- that's her reason for saving people. Then- you met Damian, right?" Robin nodded- "He started out as someone no-one would want as a hero. You trusted him to turn his life around, and because of that, he did."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Robin asked, "Because you're here, shouldn't that make it preordained?"
"I wish." Nightwing said- "But something's are never that simple."
He turned to rejoin the group, and Robin followed. No-one seemed to notice their return.
"So, uh, how does this thing work?" Flash was asking, his cowl was also down- revealing the familiar- green-eyed face of Wally West, almost exactly the same as it had always been.
"Y'know, cuz- I think it's like a cosmic treadmill." Impulse said, pushing up his goggles and squinting- "Except, without the treadmill bit."
"Will it work on all eleven of us?" Batgirl asked- eying the machine with something close to the pinnacle of distrust.
"Booster Gold said it could transport up to twenty." Ravager said- "He said it was designed for the Legion of Superheroes."
"Legion of what now?" Arsenal asked.
"The L.O.S.H. is a group from the thirtieth century." Impulse said- "This piece looks like a Brainiac 5 piece- we have some in the Flash Museum."
"Why?" Red Hood asked, "I thought those prom queens were Supey's pen pals."
"Let's argue finer points later." Batgirl said- "I wanna go home before our Batman gets back from Infinity Island."
"Agreed." Cyborg said- "Let's say our goodbyes and fire it up."
People shook hands in silence, Red Hood gave a two fingered salute, and Tigress tried to avoid the speedsters. Then all eleven of the time travellers stood together in the middle of the room, while the time machine at Arsenal's feet began to warm up.
"Everyone say 'Lexcorp'." Arsenal said.
"I'd prefer to say 'Smallville'." Nightwing countered, and Batgirl trod on his foot.
"This. Is. All. Your. Fault." She growled.
Then the time machine activated, and they were gone. Wally sighed in relief- "Finally."
"We never did find out who Nightwing was." M'Gann pointed out.
"Just one of life's mysteries, I guess." Artemis said.
Robin laughed, and the others stared.
"I wouldn't say it's a mystery, guys." The teen wonder grinned. "It was kinda obvious."
"Perhaps you would care to enlighten us, Robin." Kaldur said.
Robin's smirk widened. "How could you not see it?" He asked.
"See what?" Wally countered.
"Nightwing was me!"
~fin~