Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I pretend to have any ownership of Young Justice or the DC Universe. I do however take full ownership of Catlyn.

I'm so glad that people keep coming back to read more, but I would really appreciate some feedback before you favorite.

Captivating Sympathy
Chapter Three: To Bell A Cat

Recap: The team ran through the double doors to the power plat just as Robin slid down a pillar and crumpled to the floor.

Superboy appeared beside him, backing off slightly as Robin tried to sit up. "Whose your friend?" he asked, glaring at the towering red android responsible.

"Didn't catch his name," Robin said before yelling after Superboy's retreating back, "but he plays kinda rough."

Catlyn knelt beside him as the villain started speaking.

"My apologies, you may address me as Mr. Twister."

Twin tornadoes were produced from a valve beneath the gauntlets on both arms.

Superboy tried to burst through them, but they proved too resilient and he was ensnared in a third sent racing towards him. He spun in the cyclone much as the ship had, only he was unable to escape before crashing into the cement wall. He fell too the floor with a grunt, landing on his stomach.

Megan watched in shock before turning to Aqualad and Kid Flash who donned his trademark goggles.

Catlyn tried to help Robin up, but he stubbornly stood up under his own power, clutching a wound on his side and glaring. From her position on the ground, she scanned their adversary for a weakness in his fighting style.

Aqualad gave the nod and the team was off, nearly trampling Catlyn who held her position low on the cement floor.

Kid Flash took off and with a low, front hand spring, catapulted him through the air. With his feet mere inches from Mr. Twister's chest, a wall of wind changed his course and he was sent flying out another set of large double doors. He was traveling with such velocity that he created a trough in the ground a good twenty feet before coming to rest.

Catlyn wondered if their foe had tornado generators in the back as well. She wanted to yell out that frontal attacks were going to prove costly to the team, but it was too late.

Aqualad and Megan were captured by two twisters before they were even in range to attack and were sent all the way across the power plant, colliding hard with walls and pillars before landing on the concrete below.

Robin watched as his teammates were more or less decimated without leaving so much as a scratch on their opponent and glared fiercely when Mr. Twister spoke once again.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero. I was not however expecting children." the robotic voice said.

Robin gritted his teeth and clutched an exploding disk behind his back.

Catlyn reached out to tug on his jacket, to tell him not to reveal his weapons prematurely. The element of surprise could still see them through this battle.

He growled and threw the exploding disks. "We're not children!"

Or maybe it wouldn't. She dropped her outstretched arm and sunk even lower to the ground.

More wind was generated, causing one disk to explode heedlessly while the other embedded itself into the adversary's chest. With a flick of a large finger, the disk was detached moments before it detonated.

Catlyn thought it strange that Mr. Twister didn't react to how deeply the disk was embedded.

"Objectively you are," he corrected. "Have you no adult supervision?" he taunted. "I find your presence here quite, disturbing."

"Well, we'd hate to see you disturbed," Robin spat sarcastically as the members of the team that had tasted plaster moved to gather behind him. "Let's see if you're more turbed once we kick your can!"

After Robin's bit of banter with the towering foe, Megan raised both hands to the level of her chest, clenched her fingers and pulled her arms back.

The effect was near instantaneous. A low hanging, rounded piece of metal was crushed, releasing steam that targeted Mr. Twister.

Using the steam as a smoke screen, Superboy leaped into action, only to be blown away once again. He collided first with a metal beam of infrastructure before falling into Megan, affectively knocking her out of flight.

Aqualad and Robin avoided the pair as they plummeted to the ground only to be sucked up by twin cyclones and made to collide themselves.

Using her team's attempts at a frontal assault as a distraction, she belly crawled toward the tornado creating menace. She only got a quick glace before Mr. Twister turned slightly.

"Indeed, that was quite turbing. Thank you." he taunted before flying out the double doors Kid Flash had been forced out of earlier.

"Why didn't you fight?" Superboy snarled at Catlyn who was still down near the ground. He raced towards her, towering over her with menace in his eyes. "Tell me!" he demanded.

Catlyn was caught between fear and pride. In this instance, her pride won out. She stood up quickly, fists clenched at her side and her eyes fixed in a hard glare. "Fighting is more than swinging your fists like neanderthals! You have to have a strategy!" she hissed. "The lines he uses to generate tornadoes are on his back. That's his weak point," she reported. "If we attack him there-"

"Fighting a man with his back turned is not honorable," Aqualad scolded in his even voice.

The sounds of combat wafted in from outside, ending the conversation.

Megan led the team, following the path taken by Mr. Twister. "I got ya Wally," she said, holding his body telepathically and letting him down gently.

"Woah, thanks," he said looking at his team members. "Where's Cat?"

"I'm here," came a small voice as Catlyn came into view, her head hanging low.

"I would have thought you would have all learned your limitations by now," Mr. Twister said matter 'o factly.

"What do you want?" Aqualad yelled.

It startled Catlyn to hear her teammate in a way that wasn't calm and collected.

Mr. Twister flew in the air. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, almost laughing. "I'm waiting for a real hero."

"Read his mind," Aqualad commanded. "Find a weakness."

Right, because that's honorable, Catlyn mentally cursed.

"But, I thought I wasn't supposed to do that," Megan said both worried and confused.

"It's okay with the bad guys," Robin snapped.

Megan closed her eyes and put two fingers to her head in concentration before clenching her eyes in frustration. "I'm getting nothing," she reported before opening her eyes. "Hello Megan," she said with her trademark knock to her forehead. "Mr. Twister is Red Tornado in disguise," she exclaimed excitedly, gesturing to the floating android. "He's inorganic, an android. How many androids do you know that can generate tornadoes?"

"Red Tornado sent us here," Aqualad realized.

"After saying we'd be tested soon enough," Robin spat to Wally. "This is his test, something to keep us busy."

"Speedy called it," Wally said disheartened. "We're a joke."

Aqualad slammed his left fist into his right palm in an outburst of anger before turning and walking to the floating android.

"This game, so over," Wally decided as he and Robin followed Aqualad's lead.

Catlyn thought about the limited information she had on Red Tornado. Testing the team like this didn't seem to fit with what she had seen from him so far. Rather than argue, she watched her teammates along side Superboy and Megan. Surely they would know better than she would.

"We know who you are and what you want," Robin said angrily.

"So let's end this," Aqualad said in a disgruntled tone.

"Consider it ended," Mr. Twister grumbled before raising his arms into the air and generating two tornadoes. The sky above them darkened and an ominous feeling grew within the pit of Catlyn's stomach.

"An impressive show," Aqualad yelled over the sound of the increasing wind, "but we will not indulge you! We will not engage!"

Lightning flashed within the eye of the created storm, illuminating the look of uncertainty on Wally's face.

"Uh, guys? Can Red Tornado do that?" he asked in reference to the lightning that was becoming more and more frequent.

"You think I'm tornado? How ironic," the android said before an explosion from the lightning blew everyone back several feet.

Catlyn curled up into a ball, feeling the appearance of several bruises coming.

The ground rumbled beneath her and Superboy's grunts affirmed her suspension that he had tried to engage him in battled head to head once again.

Electricity crackled louder and louder as Mr. Twister approached, but soon disipated.

Catlyn chanced to look and saw him staring perplexedly, slightly off from their position on the ground.

Megan placed a hand over Wally's mouth.

"Fine then, I won't deny you children have power, but playing hide and seek with you will not help me achieve my objectives. So stay concealed," Mr. Twister warned. "If you confront me again, I will show no mercy!" He clenched his fist and electricity crackled around it before he departed.

"What happened?" Wally asked dazed.

"I placed the bioship between us," Megan said quietly.

Superboy decimated a boulder on the side of the trench he made upon landing. "And that's supposed to make it right?" he grumbled prior to walking over to Megan. "You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado," he accused.

"She didn't do it on purpose," Aqualad defended.

"It was a rookie mistake. We shouldn't have listened," Robin admitted.

"You are pretty inexperienced," Wally said shrugging. "Hit the showers. We'll take it from here."

"Stay out of our way," Superboy snarled at both Megan and Catlyn before taking off and bounding after Mr. Twister with Kid Flash and Robin hot on his heels.

"I was just trying to be part of the team," Megan said, hanging her head in defeat.

"To be honest, I'm not sure we even have a team," Aqualad said as he too ran after his male teammates.

"I thought it made sense," Catlyn lied as she placed a comforting hand on Megan's shoulder who gave a sad smile in return. "Let's follow them," she said, standing up and pointing to the ship.

Megan opened the hatch and the two climbed into the ship.

Catlyn chewed on her bottom lip before resigning herself to asking Megan. "Is it normal for villains to cause pointless damage in order to get a hero's attention?" What she was really wondering was if even the villains the team fought were more honorable than she was.

"I don't know. I'm going to contact Red Tornado," she admitted before getting him on a holographic screen in front of her. "The team really needs your help," she said, pleading with him to join the fray.

"If I were to intervene, it would not be to help," Red Tornado said. "Still, it is an odd coincidence that, this twister, shares my elemental abilities, and my immunity to telepathy" he concluded.

"That's how we can plan," Catlyn said, turning to the martian.

"Hello Megan," she smiled, hitting her forehead before concentrating on reaching everyone telepathically. "Listen to me," she started, "all of you."

"What did we tell you," Superboy's familiar snarl answered back.

"I know! And I know I messed up, but now I'm very clear on what we need to do."

Catlyn found herself clutching her head, the feeling of madness creeping up once more. It was something she was going to have to get used to if this plan was ever going to succeed.

"Please," Megan pleaded, "trust me."

Catlyn was deposited behind a damaged boat rental post, her whip at the ready.

People ran from the tornado generating android, only pausing as a red blur was seen shooting across the sky. Further inspection revealed that Red Tornado had come to save what remained of the lakeside town.

"Hit the showers boys," Megan said in Red Tornado's robotic voice as the android landed in front of the male population of the team. "I was hopping you could handle this. Clearly, you cannot."

"But we've got a plan now," Robin protested.

"The subject is not up for debate," she replied, dismissing the matter and the team who departed with their shoulders slouched.

"I was beginning to believe you'd never show up," Mr. Twister confided in a cocky tone.

"I am here now," Megan said as if that settled the matter.

Unseen by Mr. Twister, Wally waited for his cue. He ran as fast as he could, spinning his arms and generating his own tornado. With this strategy he met an actual cyclone from Mr. Twister head on, disappearing before his wall of wind could dissipate.

"We are evenly matched Twister," Megan observed before calling forth Wally for another tornado, this time, pelting Mr. Twister with rocks of a substantial size.

"No we are not!" Mr. Twister disagreed, ramming his fist into the ground, creating a wall of wind to deflect the incoming debris. Getting tired of going twister to twister with Red Tornado, he resolved to shooting electricity, following his opponents every move. When Red Tornado took cover behind a beached boat, he shot his electricity at the gas tank, creating a sizable explosion and knocking Red Tornado to the ground.

That was just what Catlyn had been waiting for. With Wally as her steed, they raced up behind Mr. Twister who had not noticed their arrival. Catlyn hopped off Wally's back and looked at him questioningly. Was it really alright to attack from behind now?

Wally gave a "hurry up" motion before departing for his next part of the unspoken plan.

"Remain still android," Mr. Twister commanded as wires flowed from his fingertips. "Reprogramming won't take long."

Megan turned her head and grabbed hold of the wires before her head morphed back to its usual appearance. "Longer than you might think."

Catlyn snapped the whip and ensnared the neon blue hoses on the back of Mr. Twister and pulled as hard as she could. Her efforts were rewarded when she felt them give and detach, leaving him unable to generate any more cyclones. She dove into a forward roll, narrowly avoiding Mr. Twister as Megan sent him sprawling into a Wally created tornado.

Mr. Twister's path was adjusted and he was flung into an area where Superboy was ready and waiting for him.

Superboy landed a hard punch on Twister's chest before wrapping one of his powerful arms around Twister's upon which time he continued to pummel his torso. Electricity crackled and Superboy gave one final punch, letting go of his adversary and sending him into the lake.

Aqualad had time to find a boat anker before a definitive splash announced that it was his turn. He sped through the water and swung his impromptu weapon, landing a clean hit on the android's chest. Using the eel tattoos on his arms, he produced several hundred volts of electricity and used the anker as a conductor.

Not able to take the voltage which was amplified under water, the suit exploded, detaching one arm in the process and sending him back on solid land and back to Megan.

She took hold of him telepathically and relieved him of his other arm while Robin ran beneath the pair and knocked Twister out of the sky with the use of his exploding disks.

The android got to his knees and looked at the team that was finally acting like one.

Much to Catlyn's surprise, Mr. Twister's chest opened, revealing what looked to be a scrawny, lanky, monkey-esque man. An android inside of an android she thought, hoping the suit held the power and there wasn't going to be another round.

"Foul! I, I call foul," it said, reaching out as if for assistance.

Not trusting its intentions for a second, Catlyn ensnared it within the grasp of her whip, holding him in place while Megan levitated a boulder.

"M'gann no!" Aqualad protested, but it was too late. The boulder plummeted to the ground and crushed any possible threat the android contained.

Robin and Wally looked bemused and slightly disturbed at what had just transpired. Robin's expression melted into anger and frustration as he looked to both girls. "Don't know how things are done on Mars, but on Earth, we don't execute our captives! And you," he said turning to Catlyn, "why did you do that!"

Anger flared up inside Catlyn so much so that she trembled letting it loose. "What? Is it not honorable to kill an android?" She began walking away from the group without waiting for a response. It's not like she really belonged with them.

"You said you trusted me," Megan smiled, levitating the boulder to reveal the decimated machine beneath it. "That's why I couldn't read his mind," she explained.

"You could have clued us into that before," Robin scolded. "You told Catlyn."

"No I didn't," Megan said innocently.

Wally's eyes brightened when he saw one of the android's disconnected eyes. "Cool, souvenir," he said, flipping it into the air and catching it.

"We should have had more faith in you. You deserve an apology," Aqualad said, placing a hand on her shoulder and glancing subtly at Superboy.

"She's not the only one," Robin mumbled before walking after Catlyn and heard one of Wally's lame puns from behind.

He found her sitting on the edge of a dock that had remained intact with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, holding them close to her chest. He sat down next to her and looked out over the lake, at a loss for what to say until he remembered her wording: honorable.

"What Kaldur said really got to you huh?"

Catlyn nodded but didn't look at him.

He nudged her shoulder with his. "Come on, it's time to get back to HQ," he said, taking one of her hands in his and standing up.

She shook her head and gently pulled her hand out from his. "I'm not going," she said, still not looking at him.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Robin asked as he sat back down. He took a gentle hold of her chin and turning her head, dropping his hold on her when he saw how terrified she looked. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her close to him. "What's wrong?"

Catlyn shook her head again, but tears had already started to prick her eyes. She couldn't lie her way out and sighed. "I don't belong here," she said simply.

"What are you talking about? Of course you-"

"I don't know how I can do the things I can do. I don't know why I needed these skills. What, what if we weren't fighting on the same side back then?" she interrupted. "What if I was like Twister?"

Robin chuckled, "You mean an android?" he joked. He gave her shoulders another squeeze before continuing. "It doesn't matter who you were before, you're you now. We're all just turbed you're on the team," he smiled. "And being part of the team means we have to get back to the ship before they leave without us, so let's go." He bent down and hoisted her over his shoulder, keeping an arm wrapped firmly around the back of her knees.

Catlyn gasped, "Robin! Let me down!" she demanded.

Even though he couldn't see her face, Robin knew she was smiling again. "Can't do that," he insisted. "You might make a run for it."

She struggled a bit before giving in, but not without first issuing a command, "Don't you dare fart."

Out of everything he was expecting she might say, that was missing from the list. He laughed, doubling over for a time before calming down and starting back to the others again.

The team in its entirety was gathered around a metal table with the remains of the android on its surface.

"I was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you," Kaldur said to Red Tornado.

"Agreed," the android said simply.

"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" Megan asked.

"No. This was your battle," Red Tornado explained. "I do not believe it is my role to solve problems for you, nor should you solve mine for me."

This announcement took everyone by surprise, effectively tearing their attention away from whatever projects they had been involved with.

"But, if you're in danger," Megan reasoned.

"Consider this matter closed," he said, ending the conversation and taking his leave.

"Batman, Aquaman and Flash, they'd have jumped right in to fix things," Wally marveled.

"Guess if we're going to have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need," Robin mused.

Catlyn nudged him with her elbow and Wally whispered, "Dude. Harsh!"

"And inaccurate," Red Tornado corrected without turning. "I have a heart, carbon-steel alloy." He stopped walking and turned, "I also have excellent hearing."

Catlyn giggled softly, "And a sense of humor."

Robin chuckled nervously. "Right, sorry. I'll strive to be, more accurate."

"And more respectful," Kaldur added for him.

It seemed sufficient enough for Red Tornado who resumed his walk down the hallway.

"Speedy was so wrong," Wally said boastfully.

"This team thing," Robin started.

"Might just work out," Kaldur finished for him.

"Wait, does Speedy have super speed too?" Catlyn asked confused.

"No, he's a archer," Kaldur clarified.

"So is Wally actually the Flash's kid?" Catlyn tried again.

"No, but we are related," Wally explained.

"Congratulations Wally, your name officially makes no sense," she said, flinging her hands up into the air with frustration.

Her outburst was received with a variety of reactions: Kaldur smiled, Robin chuckled and Wally sulked until he couldn't hide his smile anymore.

Megan looked happily at the unity of the team, not realizing she was alone with Superboy until he looked at her.

"Sorry," he said simply, sincerely, before following the others, leaving Megan who smiled ever wider.

I hope you like this chapter. I don't know what it is about this fanfic, but I can't seem to shut up. Did you like the Robin/Catlyn fluff? I'm trying to keep him in character, which I hope I'm not failing at. If you have anything in mind you think I could improve on, please let me know.