Apollo threw another shoe at the wall. He'd feel bad later about trashing the room, but if "Artemis" did the same to his, the teen would totally understand.
Last night had been a disaster. And as a certain thirteen year old would say, heavy on the dis. The robotic monsters they'd seen and fought had all been destroyed, but not without pretty serious damages in return. Martian Manhunter was still comatose from the burns he was covered in, while Wonder Woman, Hawkman, and the Green Lantern John Stewart all had broken bones from various crash landings (or in the case of the Thanagarian, broken wings). Nearly everyone else had cuts, burns or bruises that ranged from mild to nothing to laugh about. Supergirl and Martian Junior were among the next worse off, but the last time Apollo had seen them, the couple were being treated in the Mount Justice medical bay side by side, holding hands.
The worst of their failures, though, went hand in hand: after the excitement had begun to die down, Captains Atom and Marvel had gone through the ruins of the facility, finding an unconscious Batman lying where he'd clearly been tossed through a wall or two, but no sign of Robyn. And after the explosion, there was nothing to salvage in the way of information, making the entire mission pointless.
Kicking one of the twin beds, Apollo thought his mood couldn't get any fouler.
There was a knock at the front door.
Poking his head out into the hall, the teen was just in time to hear Paula answer it. "Oh, come in, Mr. Harper."
And just like that, the universe once again proved Apollo wrong.
A young man a few years older than him stepped around to the hall entrance, wearing jeans and a red and black jacket. If the name hadn't been enough to let Apollo know who this was, the ginger hair was.
"Guess I can't call you Reyna, huh?" He drawled, leaning against the doorframe.
An eyebrow went up as the guy looked him up and down. "It's Roy. Guess I can't call you Artemis, either." Grumbling, Apollo turned around to go sit on the bed he'd been using.
"What, exactly, do you want? I'm kind of busy." Harper followed him in, then stopped with wide eyes surveying the damage.
"Uh-huh. Busy ruining Arty's room? You better hope she doesn't find out about this before you go home, or I wouldn't bet on your continued existence."
Apollo muttered something incomprehensible, deciding not to bother glaring at the intruding archer.
"So where's your speedster friend?"
"Willow tripped inside the facility while she was looking for Robyn. Idiot's landed herself in the infirmary with a concussion."
"Well, at least speed healing out to take care of that pretty quick." Apollo just nodded in agreement. Roy looked at him closely before sighing. "Come one kid, you need some fresh air."
The younger teen glared at him half-heartedly, before sighing and rising from his seat. Waving to Paula, who'd retreated into the kitchen, the two of them said they'd be back soon, and slipped out the door.
Despite everything he'd gone through in the past few days, Apollo still couldn't help but walk through Gotham and think that there was nothing out of place. He started commenting on some of the things he recognized from back home, and Roy just let the younger teen ramble, making a noise of interest every now and then.
"Gerry's Grocery, geez, it looks just as beat up here as bad home. Bet the fresh-baked bread is just as good though. Oh, and there's the Rosado Building... We call it that 'cause of the giant extended family that live there, I'm pretty sure that they're from Ecuador. And this is the boundary of Triple H territory... Aw crap." Roy jerked his head up at Apollo's sudden curse. A little ways ahead of them, a group of lean muscled young men stood in the entrance of a grimy alley that looked like any other. One of the guys had noticed Apollo, and was staring at him with a puzzled frown. As Roy watched from the corner of his eye, the man reached over and nudged one of his buddies, pulling three of them out of their conversation.
"Who are those guys?" Roy muttered out of the side of his mouth.
Apollo responded in kind. "Back home, they're called Helga's Hottie Hellions, though I kind of doubt the name carries over. Typical jerks, and wannabe gangsters; I've managed to get on their bad side, stepping in to break up some bullying efforts and fights before they can go down."
"Is it possible that they recognize you, or are just signaling us out as potential victims?"
"I dunno - would you have known I was a male version of your fellow archer?" Roy had to admit, he would have believed it more if Apollo was in costume, but right now they were both dressed in civilian garb. Of course, regular clothes were what these thugs must be used to seeing.
"Maybe they just think you're a relative." The group of thugs, six in all, had moved out of their alley and onto the cracked sidewalk directly ahead of the two teens. "Either way, we've got trouble."
"Ya think?"
-CC-
Cailin stared at the ceiling of the medical bay, idling tracing the lines of the stone. She'd never been in this room before - at least, not as a patient. Visiting teammates while they had various injuries patched up, sure, but never actually laying on a berth with her own wound.
On the Watchtower, when exposed to kryptonite for the first time, the clone had been shocked by how much it had hurt, even in just those few seconds it took to disable and cure Superwoman.
Being stabbed by the stuff, though, was much worse. And evidently took much longer to recover from. Since Willow had been moved to the West household for her recovery, the room was deathly silent, and the clone desperately wished there was TV in here she could set to static in order to distract herself.
"Hey," A voice said weakly from her left. Cailin turned her head to look at Mar'gann on his own berth, who was supposed to be sleeping. "Negative emotions impede recovery, you know."
"Something else from Hello Morgan?" The girl teased. Her boyfriend smiled back wanly.
"No, just common sense. And it's supposed to cheer you up."
Thinking about that, Cailin decided to take a risk. She checked first to make sure that they were really alone in the bay, then sat up. As the teen carefully swung her legs over the edge of her berth, being mindful of the bandaged one, Mar'gann's eyes widened.
"What are you doing?" He hissed in alarm. "You aren't supposed to be up and about yet!"
"I'm cheering myself up." Cailin replied, hopping on her uninjured leg to his berth. "Scoot over."
Mar'gann blinked in surprise, but did as she said. Once there was (barely) enough room, the other teen sat and then laid down beside him.
"No more negative emotions," She explained simply, wrapping an arm over her boyfriend's shoulders. Mar'gann smiled at her, and soon the two fell asleep in each other's embrace.
At the door to the medical bay, Superman shook his head, lips curling into an unintentional smile. He stepped inside just long enough to deposit the box of homemade food his Ma had insisted on the Man of Steel picking up for the injured teens. Then Superman returned to the zeta tubes, and headed for the Batcave.
He wasn't ashamed to say, the massive cavern always gave him the creeps. Super hearing meant that he picked up every flutter of bat wings or drip of condensation, and all the echoes that were created. Unable to understand how Batman could stand it, Superman just focused now on heading for the large computer where said man was furiously working.
Apparently, the swaths of bandages covering and supporting most of his arms, torso and legs weren't enough to dissuade the Dark Knight from his efforts. After waking up a few hours ago, the first thing Batman had done was ask about Robyn.
The Leaguers knew that would be the case, and had made sure the soon-to-be-enraged man was at home and being treated by his own people when it happened. Unsurprisingly, once Alfred told him the information that had been relayed by Superman and Flash upon delivering their injured comrade, Batman got off his bed and went straight for the computer.
"You know it was a trap, correct?" Typing furiously, there hadn't been any other indication of Batman knowing he'd arrived, just the flat out question.
"Yes; they must not have counted on the League being there along with the Team." Superman watched him in silence for a few moments more. "What, exactly, are you doing?"
"I'm trying to cross reference all the information about the two sites, and see what connects them. It could be a lead to finding what other bases of operation there might be, and where Robyn could have been taken." At mention of the girl's name, Batman paused and let out a sigh. "I tried to shield her when the explosion went off, but there's a likely chance she'd just as injured as I am. And I highly doubt whoever took her while be very interested in treating those wounds." Though it went unspoken, Superman could easily hear the concern in his friend's voice. Now, not only was the original Robin missing, but his alternate as well. And from the closeness he'd already gained with Cailin, the Kryptonian knew that Robyn must have grown on Batman as well.
It was impossible to not like the slim teen, no matter which of them was being referred to.