A/N – I don't much to say as I usually say stuff at the end. Other than I don't own Young Justice and Dark Justice are totally mine.
5 years before
"Identification: Black Canary."
"OK, it's the official, the recognizer is broken. Do I look like Black Canary to you?" Kid Flash exclaimed as he appeared in the kitchen. Artemis and Robin both blinked in surprise before busting out laughing as Kaldur chuckled quietly to himself, attempting to be polite.
"I don't know KF; you two do have the same shaped face – very feminine." Robin managed to get out between chuckles.
Kid Flash glared. "When you get identified as Megan we'll see who is laughing." He grumbled with narrowed eyes.
Megan then appeared in the doorway as if she had been called with Superboy right behind her. Both seemed confused as to why everyone was laughing.
"You OK Wally?" she asked looking concerned. Superboy just stared blankly.
"Actually, it's Black Canary now." Artemis muttered just loud enough to be heard, sending all three into another fit of laughter. Megan and Superboy still looked lost.
"Don't mind them," Kid Flash said sending them all an irritated look. He turned to Megan and Superboy. "The recognizer thingy is broken – it keeps giving people all the wrong names. How it got that way I don't know." He smiled at Megan. "Mind helping a guy out here beautiful and knocking them out with your mental powers so I can prank them in a painful and embarrassing fashion?"
Megan smiled at Kid Flash's puppy dog look. "Sorry Wally, no." She said, shaking her head slightly in amusement.
Kid Flash's smile grew. "Then can you kiss it better?" he asked. Artemis rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Identification: Superboy."
Superboy blinked in shock. "It really is broken." He said in amazement, as if just realizing this. The team turned to the doorway, wondering who it was coming through.
Red Tornado was met with a group of expectant stares. He gazed back, cocking his head slightly.
"Is there a problem?" he asked. They all quickly looked away.
"Identification: Wonder Woman."
Kid Flash blurred beside his best friend, a mischievous grin on his face. "I bet it's Martian Manhunter." He whispered conspiringly.
Robin matched his grin perfectly. "I've got my money on Superman."
"I heard that." An intimidating voice said as Batman appeared. Kid Flash and Robin looked at each other and busted out laughing, much to the others confusion. Kid collapsed onto the kitchen floor in his hysterics.
"N-no…way…dude!" He choked out between fits of laughter.
Batman was not amused. "Kid Flash. Robin." He growled. Both quickly attempted to rein in their laughter, not wanting any punishments from the Dark Knight.
"Sorry Batman," Robin said, attempting to pull Kid Flash to his feet. It took a strong pull, but soon the speedster was upright once more.
Kid Flash put on the straightest face possible. "Sorry Bats." Batman glared at the teen but quickly turned to Red Tornado.
"We're fixing that." He stated clearly, as if it was already fixed. Red Tornado didn't get the chance to respond as Megan interjected.
"Do you have a mission for us?" Megan asked cheerfully, floating several inches off the ground with hopeful eyes. She twirled in a circle of joy when Batman nodded.
"Ooooh, what is it?" Kid Flash asked immediately, holding out the 'o' sound in 'oh'. He was just as excited as Megan. In fact, the whole team was ready for their next big mission.
Batman and Red Tornado both looked at Young Justice. Red Tornado looked as emotionless as ever, but Batman's mouth was set into a hard line.
"The Justice League has gotten some disturbing information lately. It seems that lone heroes all over the world are disappearing with no obvious reason. No, Red Arrow has not been targeted yet." Batman said seeing Kid Flash and Robin's worried looks. "But many heroes and heroines are in danger and the Justice League has put the mission as top priority. We've gotten a tip from one heroine who got away as to whom she believes the next target is. But more importantly we've found something disturbing about the pattern as to who's being attacked – all the independent heroes and heroines that are disappearing are young. They're going after younger heroes with little connections, probably hoping no one will notice.
"As such we are giving you all a simple mission – stay put and no heroing for now." Batman finished.
Young Justice stared at Batman in horror. "No helping people?" Kid Flash sputtered out.
Batman nodded looking unaffected but serious. "Yes. The mentors have all come to an unanimous decision – our protégés will all be staying out of the limelight until we find out who it is kidnapping the young heroes."
"But why would they target us?" Megan asked, confused. "Few people even know about Young Justice, let alone who's in it. Why would we be at risk?"
"Because that's the kind of heroes they seem to be going after." Batman stated clearly. "We don't want these people getting our partners. So right now you need to lay low. We would like to advise you to stay here for now, but you can go home if you want. Either way Young Justice is taking a little break."
Robin glared full out at his mentor. "'A little break'? Batman – we're heroes, not cowards! What kind of heroes would we be if just gave up and hid at a little threat?" Robin raged, eyes burning behind his domino mask.
Batman glared at his partner. "You'd be smart ones. You kids are still inexperienced in many ways. And you will listen to your superiors. None of Young Justice will be helping anyone for right now."
"It's just until we figure out where the other heroes have gone." Red Tornado said, daring to interrupt a fight between two Bats. Luckily the two Bats ignored him.
Robin scowled at Batman and stormed out of the kitchen. Kid Flash, just as furious as Robin but not stupid enough to interrupt his argument with Batman, followed him out of the room in a red fuming blur.
Batman left the way he came seeing no use staying there. Artemis however hadn't gotten her own anger out and began to rant at Red Tornado, who merely stayed there and let her yell at him until she became too angry to speak anymore and left the way Robin and Kid Flash had. Superboy himself was furious but stayed silent, and Aqualad left for his own room, irritated but defeated. He could not and would not defy his King's orders.
Miss Martian wasn't really angry at all – more, she felt disappointed that her Uncle J'onn didn't trust her to take care of herself, so much so that he and the other mentors had put them under house arrest.
Artemis's door slammed loud enough for everyone to hear and Megan sighed, getting out some ingredients. She needed to bake something. Superboy went to the fridge to get out some milk and eggs, falling quickly into their routine. Red Tornado left like Batman, leaving Young Justice alone in their house arrest.
Batman came back several hours later and fixed the recognizer thing; though no one came to greet him they were all so angry. It wasn't until late that night that everyone had calmed down enough to come out their rooms.
Megan had actually made something edible tonight, so they all ate Megan's food for dinner. Dinner was silent and Megan couldn't help but feel awkward – Robin, Artemis, and Wally were all silently seething while Superboy stared at his food moodily and Kaldur sat calmly resigned but making no move to cool his friend's tempers like he usually did.
Today really was a mess.
A fist slammed onto the table. Artemis turned her fiery gaze to each of her teammates, a dead serious look in her eyes.
"Who cares what Batman says?" She asked with thinly veiled fury. "I say we help people anyway. I don't care if they know we're disobeying them – it's our job!"
For once Kid Flash was in total agreeance with the female archer. "Uncle Barry should know better than to tell me to lie low. I mean, do they expect us to just watch people get hurt and not do anything? Dude, it's just not happening." Wally said. Even in civilian clothes he looked like Kid Flash.
"I will not disobey my King's orders." Kaldur said firmly, catching the two hyped up hero's attention. "I couldn't if I wanted to. He has instructed that I do not work as a hero until they find the kidnapper. There are no loopholes – I must listen."
Robin looked hesitant too even though he was angry. "Guys, I don't think we can be heroes, even if we wanted to. Batman would find out and then he might cancel Young Justice as a whole."
Wally looked at his best friend with a raised eyebrow. "Come on Rob, our mentors are being idiots and we know it! We are better than they think – they're just underestimating us like they did that day we found Superboy! We need to show them that we're strong enough not to be captured like those lone heroes! I refuse to be underestimated." Wally said, channeling his inner hero.
"Guys," Megan whispered. Her voice was so quiet after all the yelling that it caught all their attention. "It's not that they're underestimating us. It's not even really about the fact that they care about us too much to risk our safety, though that's definitely part of the reason." Megan was now tearing up, looking incredibly dejected. "The bigger reason is that they don't trust us. Not one bit. If they trusted us to take care of ourselves they wouldn't have put Young Justice on suspension. They'd trust us to know when we were in real trouble and to call for help. But they don't. So they've shut us down."
Megan was now crying full out and disappeared from view, turning invisible. They all saw her chair topple over and hit the ground, and her sob out of the room.
The other heroes stared at where Megan had disappeared. She was right, and they had let their anger at their mentors cover up the fact. Their partners didn't trust them to take care of themselves at all. They were treating them like little kids who couldn't handle themselves because that's exactly what their mentors saw them as. Megan was completely right and it hurt.
The angry rebellious mood from before was now heavy and depressing. The Young Justice team went to bed that night upset and disappointed in themselves.
The next morning everyone went into the kitchen for a half-burned breakfast still depressed. Megan was cooking like it was Thanksgiving, desperately trying to get past her own sorrow. Everyone ate in silence.
"Identification: Kid Flash."
"Identification: Miss Martian."
The team turned to the doorway knowing full well that both Miss Martian and Kid Flash were inside Mount Justice. Batman must not have fixed the recognizer properly.
A red figure blurred inside the kitchen then halted at the stove. The Flash grabbed a piece of overly-crunchy bacon and chewed it happily. However, noticing the team's depression he frowned slightly.
"What's wrong kids? Wally?" Flash asked, leaning against the counter. Artemis wondered for a moment if Flash had a cold – he sounded a bit different from usual. She angrily pushed the worried thought away.
Wally said nothing, refusing to even look at his uncle. Flash frowned even more.
"What's do think's wrong Flash?" Black Canary said sarcastically, entering the kitchen. Her voice, sarcastic as it was, was not unkind – it bordered on understanding.
Flash sighed sadly and closed his eyes as if just remembering. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Look Wally, I know you're upset, but we really are worried about you – all of you. I don't know what I'd do if you just disappeared like how these heroes are disappearing." Flash sounded like he really did understand, but Wally just ignored him.
Black Canary sighed. "Come guys, say something."
Silence continued to prevail in the Mount Justice kitchen. The teens weren't eating, but they weren't looking at Flash or Black Canary either. Unable to take the silence any longer Superboy finally spoke up. He always kept his emotions in – but for once they needed to be spoken.
"Superman has all the reasons he needs not to trust me, but for the other mentors not to trust their partners – it's not right. You have every reason to trust your partners. They've done nothing to make you not trust them." Superboy said. There was real conviction in his voice and it surprised both older heroes.
"Not trust you guys…?" Flash asked, sounding unsure. "Why would we not trust you guys?"
Wally finally snapped. "Because you're putting us on lock down!" Wally screamed. "Megan's completely right! Superboy's right! You guys don't trust us, even after all we've done!"
Black Canary stiffened slightly, but they both stood there calmly taking in every word Wally said.
"We trust you." Black Canary said. She had as much conviction in her voice as Superboy had a minute ago. But there was experience in it as well. "You don't know how much we trust you – we'd trust the whole world to you if we could. And one day, we will. We don't underestimate you guys at all, Wally."
Robin noticed Flash try to disguise a flinch as a twitch when Black Canary said Wally's name, and wondered briefly what that was about. But he pushed it to the back of his mind, focusing on the current situation. None of them could doubt Black Canary was telling the truth even if they'd wanted to.
Black Canary's words soothed Young Justice and dispelled all the sorrow from the team. Megan brightened back up, as did Wally, and that enough to cheer up the whole team. Flash and Black Canary stayed around for breakfast, Flash eating as much as Wally and Black Canary smiling at them all sweetly.
After breakfast the team went into the living room to relax a bit, quickly getting into silly arguments about what movie to watch. Flash and Black Canary excused themselves, saying they needed to check up on some of the other technology in Mount Justice to see if it had broken like the recognizer.
As soon as they had found the hidden holding room that they were sure Young Justice didn't know about yet the two slipped inside and relaxed. Flash activated his armor and Black Canary shifted back into Lady Martian, her sweet grin becoming a cocky smirk.
"I'm almost surprised we tricked them with you flinching like that. Ever heard of acting, Wally?" Lady Martian said with that cocky smirk. Flash flinched and growled lowly at her before shaking his head exasperatedly.
"Sometimes I wonder why I'm still friends with your ass. You have absolutely no redeeming qualities." Flash muttered under his breath. He left the 'anymore' unspoken, knowing she would hear it in his thoughts – she was no longer stingy about reading people's minds, even their Superman's.
"Besides, you weren't exactly the best actress either – and you're our main undercover agent! You deliberately baited me there, so don't expect me to not react. You know me better than that you bitch." Flash continued.
Flash walked over to the large security monitor just a few steps from the thick lead door. It was on the same wall as the door was, and just as big as the other monitor. Flash sat in the dusty chair in front of the keyboard, causing the dust to fill the air. Flash coughed a bit, waving the dust away at super speed. He pressed the power button, activating the monitor.
"Hook, line, and sinker," Lady Martian said seductively, batting her eyelashes. Flash rolled his eyes, having a sudden empathy for Artemis when they were younger and he would always hit on Miss Martian.
"Just activate the damn containment cells already, my Lady." Flash commanded her, irritated. Lady Martian smirked at the sarcasm at the end of his sentence – Flash always said that when she got on his nerves. That and called her Megan, a name that brought up memories too strong for even her, and experienced telepath, to repress.
Sometimes she wondered who fought with Flash more, her or Tigress.
Lady went to do her job anyway – she would listen to Flash, as he and Nightwing were in charge of this whole operation. Sure, Trident could change their plans any moment, but there was no reason to. Those two had really thought this through, she had to admit.
The chair and monitor weren't the only things covered in dust. The whole containment room was coated in it. The cells were three walls of plexiglas infused with lead and titanium and one metal back wall that were at least three feet thick of lead-infused titanium and who-knows-how-many feet of mountain behind it, making it near indestructible. You could still see clearly from both sides of the plexiglas, but the door into the each cell only opened from the outside, requiring a pass code then a finger print to unlock. There were giant X's made of metal which held a cuff at each end of the X, meant to hold the captives in an eagle spread style against the wall. A single light bulb hung directly overhead the center of each cell.
Lady Martian smirked happily. There were just enough cells to hold the mentors and their younger selves in, safe and sound. Funny how, by keeping their younger selves under house arrest in Mount Justice to avoid the Light, the Justice League was actually putting them in Dark Justice's way. And while Lady Martian considered herself a heroine – and she was, so much so that her uncle would be proud of her if he was still alive, damn it – sometimes she wondered if they were the best people to watch over their somewhat childish selves. They weren't the same heroes their mentors, or even their younger selves, had been.
Lady Martian took out the special light bulb she had stashed on her. It was designed to give out artificial red sunlight; for the mentor Superman of course. They had even tested it on their Superman – it worked perfectly on the clone, and should work on original Superman with no bad side effects besides temporarily removing his powers. She also pulled out several small circular metal devices with a bird on them. She quickly attached them to the wall, high enough up that you'd have to fly or float to retrieve them. She waited a moment by the cell doors before turning impatiently to the Flash.
"Open the cell doors already Flash – we don't have forever." Lady Martian snapped. Flash rolled his eyes.
"There's a lot to reload Lady. It takes a while and trust me, I'm living it for much longer than you are." Flash shot back. "Now one more second and I'll have the entire future tech system loaded in. Not one piece of Wayne tech from now can sense it, Nightwing's positive."
"I don't really care about you and Birdbat's mutual nerdiness – I want to get done and get out so we can move on with our plan." Lady snapped, using the group's nickname for Nightwing. She didn't care how this preliminary stuff worked, she was ready for the main event.
Flash ignored her and kept typing too fast to follow. "Here we go, cell doors and passwords. One more second…there." Flash pressed a button and all the cell doors opened. "Fix 'um up and we'll be out of here. Let's hope Young Justice doesn't notice how long we've been gone."
"Robin might, but Kid Flash has the intelligence of a doorknob – he'll never notice." Lady Martian remarked smugly.
Flash pressed a quick sequence of buttons with a cocky grin. "There – now mind readers and all other types of telepathic powers are disabled when inside the cells." Lady Martian scowled at him but was silent, wanting nothing more than to beat her teammate and sometimes friend dead.
~Chappie two is nice and edited. I'm so happy for all the reviews I got!
I wonder what the Light is up to now? Keep reading and you'll see!
I will tell you that I enjoyed writing the conflicts between Flash and Lady Martian in this chappie. They used to get along so well as Young Justice but now that they're Dark Justice they clash. Tigress and Flash get along about as well as they do, though they do get along in some sense. And though Young Justice is a bit suspicious, they just realized they are yet.
~For I Will Run You Over