A/N: I don't think I said this in the beginning, but this story doesn't follow the story line of the show. A lot of things mentioned are from the original story line, but basically things involving the light and Roy being a clone are not mentioned or involved in this story, for all of those who might be confused if you have read this much. I mostly put that in here for this and future chapters.
Chapter 5: Laughs and Smiles
The team walked to the bio-ship, a bit nervous, but overall anxious about their latest mission.
"What could be so important that Bats would miss a potential opportunity to catch the Joker?" Kid Flash asked the team generally.
"Obviously something big if it involves all the remaining members of the League who aren't on the other off world League mission, so it must be important." Artemis said in a 'that should have been obvious' tone. "If they aren't at Watchtower, then I would assume one of them would be here just in case, though."
"The real question is how important is this mission if B trusted us to handle it with absolutely no screw ups?" Supergirl asked. The whole team turned and looked at Kid Flash.
"One little slip-up every so often and y'all just can't let it go," Kid Flash sighed as his seatbelt strapped him in.
"One?!"
"Every so often?!"
"Try twice every mission," Superboy interjected.
Everybody laughed and Kid Flash let out an annoyed puff of air and crossed his arms like a child throwing a temper tantrum; that caused everyone to laugh harder.
"It's okay, dude. There are other people in the world who were born clumsy like you," Supergirl said and Kid Flash glared at her. "But they get out of that stage eventually. The day will come, I promise." Supergirl put a hand on his knee, a genuine smile gracing her lips that both Kid Flash and Robin found absolutely breathtaking. Supergirl never had the heart to be mean to someone and not make up for it in some way. It was just who she was and the boys knew it; made both boys smile, if only in the slightest.
Artemis, seeing this, couldn't control the anger and jealously welling inside her. 'They only look at her like that,' she thought outraged.
The boys' smiles turned into frowns as Supergirl looked over at Artemis with utter annoyance at the blond's latest comment.
"You shouldn't make such empty promises, Supergirl. I know some thirty-somethings that are still clumsy as hell."
That statement caused uproar of laughter by the speaker, the male Kryptonian, the female Martian, and the Atlantian. Kid Flash and Robin could not bring themselves to laugh or even smile due to the disturbed look on their favorite Kryptonian's face.
After a few minutes, Supergirl started to chuckle, confusing the archer, speedster, and the Boy Wonder. "You're totally right, blondie. He might not grow out of his clumsy stage, but last time I checked his clumsiness saved your ass on almost the exact same amount of missions." Supergirl smirked as everyone, save Artemis, laughed. "Guess he'll grow out of his clumsiness when you grow out of your stage of needing to be saved." Supergirl winked at the other, who glared daggers at her. "Face it Barbie, you're just as much as a damsel as he is a klutz."
If there was one thing Rose couldn't stand, it was someone messing with one of her boys. Another one on the many ways she protected them. She had been doing it for Dick since they met. Whenever someone picked on him at school or when the paparazzi got in his face, asking questions about his parents, she would be there to 'handle it'.
It was also the fact that she couldn't stand Artemis. Sure, she and Wally would go back and forth, but it still pissed her off when they did, seeing as the archer was always the one to attack first. She didn't like seeing her boys hurt and bullying counted as both physical and emotional pain. She wouldn't stand for any kind of pain; internal or external. It hurt her to see them in pain and God knows she doesn't need any more pain.
"We have arrived at our destination," Miss Martian announced as they landed the camouflaged bio-ship atop a building two blocks from the warehouse whatever major crazy was hiding in.
"Everyone knows their job and who their partners are?" Aqualad addressed the team as a whole, who nodded in turn. "Good. Switch to camouflage mode."
Miss Martian made her usual red, white, and blue outfit into her own version of camouflage, complete with her usual white shirt and blue skirt were replaced with a black, skin tight one piece, along with her shoes.
Kid Flash hit his fist to the lightning symbol on his chest, turning his normally red and yellow uniform to black and grey mixture.
Supergirl did pretty much the same thing with the 'S' shield on her own chest, changing the ordinarily red and blue throughout her outfit black, and where the yellow trim was throughout the outfit was turned sliver. The solid red of her cap was also black with silver lacing on the back, but red on the inside.
Aqualad pressed his finger to the golden 'A' on his belt, simply changing the blood red of his shirt to a lighter shade of black. Robin, Artemis, and Superboy didn't need to go stealth because their outfits were already dark enough to count as such.
The warehouse where their suspected target occupied had three levels, plus a basement, so the team was split into two pairs and a group of three. Superboy and Miss Martian were stationed on the top floor. Kid Flash and Robin the second and Supergirl, Artemis, and Aqualad, the first.
"Remember what Batman said; recon only. No one goes anywhere alone and do not engage unnecessarily." Robin addressed the team with his 'usual formal in the field' tone.
"And please, try not to make it necessary," Supergirl added with a wary look in her eyes. She and Robin exchanged glances, having one of their silent conversations. "Okay."
"Let's go."
Aqualad looked at Miss Martian, who nodded.
"Link established." The green skinned girl's voice rang through their minds. The door to the bio-ship opened and everyone walked out into the crisp Gotham air taking in the feel of the city.
The late November air was cold and thick, promising snow. The sky was clogged with the dark, brownish smog that always covered the city, making it hard to determine whether it was day or night to nonresidents. The residents were used to their city being constantly shrouded in darkness. The only light that illuminated the sky came from the city streets below and the GPD blimps that were on constant patrol.
"It's mid-day. Does it always seem so dark and depressing here?" Superboy asked.
"Yes," Robin, Artemis, and Supergirl answered simultaneously. Everyone turned to look at the blond archer; some (Robin and Supergirl) with knowing smirks, already aware of the situation with the blond archer.
"What?" she looked at them all with an annoyed expression. "I have a cousin who lives here and is in the spelling bee a lot."
"Though she is somehow never able to W-I-N," Robin whispered to Supergirl and Kid Flash, who laughed. That earned the Boy Wonder a nasty glare from the blond archer.
"That's okay, Artie, not everyone can be a W-I-N-N-E-R. I lost my gymnastics tournament to Gotham Academy's D-I-C-K Grayson," Supergirl added. That caused Artemis and Kid Flash to laugh until they were in tears, while Robin glared an intense Bat glare at Supergirl, who shrugged with a smirk on her face. The actions of their fellow team members confused the remaining three.
When he finally came back up for air, Kid Flash explained the multi-meaning to the Gothamite's name.
The looks on her team mates faces caused Supergirl to laugh just as hard as Kid Flash moments ago.
Superboy still looked slightly confused and, at the same time, amused. Miss Martian developed a light pink hue to her normally rich green complexion. Aqualad merely rolled his eyes at his team mates' childishness.
Superboy looked over at his human, or at least partly human, teammates and found Supergirl and Artemis in another laughing fit that caused them to stumble over their own two feet as they walked. He idly wondered how the two hadn't suffocated from the lack of oxygen they had done over the past few hours from all the laughing.
Kid Flash was trying to calm down a still irritated, Robin; that made him wonder. "Why is Robin so upset about some joke meant for some kid anyway?"
This caused everyone to stop in their tracks. Aqualad and Miss Martian, curious to what the answer might be, turned to look at the youngest member of the team. Artemis, Kid Flash, and Robin all had worried, speechless expressions on their faces, dumbstruck on how to answer.
Supergirl, on the other hand, burst out into the umpteenth fit out laughter that day, which caused all eyes to go to her. "He-he…" she tried, but every time words tried to slip past her lips, more laughs and giggles would take its place.
Once she was finally able to come down from her laughing high, she wiped a tear from her eye and spoke. "Robin and Richard are pretty close," Robin and Kid Flash's eyes grew wide. "Practically the same person."
No one said a word, processing what had been said.
As usual, Miss Martian was the first to say something. "Hello, Megan!" her slapped her hand to her forehead with her signature catch phrase and giggled. "Robin and Richard live in the same city, which means they most likely know each other. Robin must have been upset because Supergirl was talking about his friend."
Recognition and understanding appeared on the Atlantian and Boy of Steel's faces.
"That makes sense." Superboy concluded, walking ahead with Miss Martian right behind him.
"I am sure Supergirl did not mean to insult your friend Robin. Interesting name though," were Aqualad's only words as he followed his other two teammates.
Kid Flash, Robin, and Artemis all turned to gape at the Girl of Steel. Kid Flash and Robin with twin looks of astonishment and gratitude while Artemis' was filled with jealously and anger at the dirty blond's next words and the boys' reactions.
"I don't know why you guys worry so much, and I certainly don't know why you're so surprised. I always have your backs. And remember my rules," she turned her back to the three and began in the direction of the others. "Don't bet against me and don't doubt me."
Both boys smiled after her, remembering the times when the dirty blond saved their asses from villains and mentors alike with clever wordplay and simple –and some not so simple–logic. Even when all hoped seemed lost.
Of course, most of the time, violence was necessary with villains in the end, but Supergirl was the only person smart –or dumb depending on how you look at it– and brave enough to have a civilized (in his mind) conversation with the Joker and be able to keep up, mentally. It's a bit eerie because, what does that say about her sanity if Supergirl can have a conversation about the human anatomy and how to properly disembowel, castrate, and the best places to cut people enough to make them bleed out slow and painfully without dying? How to make a bomb in every nontraditional way?
Though she was a Bat and even Dick knew a bomb like the back of his hand. Plus Rose had always been into biomedical stuff. It was weird, but if it could save a bus load of kids, then whatever.
Robin could out smart anybody; villains, businessmen, other heroes. Everyone. No matter what was going on, no matter what the topic. He could and would out do you.
The only person to ever out smart Robin at his own game was Supergirl. It was one of the many reasons why he loved her. She was great competition, easy to talk to, and understood him. Much like Kid Flash, but in a different way and in different areas.
Kid Flash was the exact same way. Supergirl didn't put up with his bullshit and wasn't scared to call him out on it. She was the only person, aside from Artemis, to ever call him out on it. That was one of the reasons why he and Dick got with the blond archer, because she was like Rose in so many ways. Though the girls have never gotten along very well, the real reason just might be because they were similar in so many aspects.
Rose was a brunette, but Supergirl was a dirty blond. Though Artemis' hair was a few shades lighter, it still looked silky smooth, like Rose's. Rose had snarky comebacks and witty comments and remarks. Most were quick, well thought out, and detailed. One would think she had them on her mind for an extensive amount of time. Artemis' comments were snarky as well, but obvious. Rose made people reevaluate whatever the cause was they had for saying something to make her retaliate, to make them want to impress or even out do her. Artemis on the other hand was more like a constant banter that would get boring fairly quick.
But she was the closest they can get to the real thing, so they what they could get, even if it was exactly what they wanted.
Robin gave out a sigh, coming out of his thoughts, before walking on again. "Come on guys, we have a mission to finish."
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(A/N: Not big on fight scenes, so forgive me if this one is sloppy and a bit rushed.)
"This was supposed to be a simple recon mission." Artemis said through the mind link to no one in particular.
"Yeah, but someone wasn't paying attention to all the floor panels before running ahead." Robin said, mainly to his partner.
"How the hell was I supposed to know they had pressure sensors in front of that lab?" Kid Flash exclaimed, punching another goon in the face with extra force from his annoyance.
"Well maybe you would have known if you were listening when we went over the blueprints. Then maybe-"
"Guys!" Supergirl interrupted. "We're supposed to be fighting them, not each other."
"Where are you anyway, SG?" Kid Flash asked annoyance clear in his voice.
Now that everyone thought about it, they hadn't seen the dirty blond in a while.
"Weren't you supposed to be with Aqualad or Artemis?" The Boy Wonder asked, looking to either fore mentioned person for an explanation.
"Miss-Super-Independent thought it would be a good idea to split up and went to check the basement by herself." Artemis spoke up when the ebony's lens covered eyes landed on her. "Said it would make the mission run quicker since we weren't done with our section anyway."
"She what?!" Robin shrieked high enough for everyone to wince at the sound.
"Don't worry Rob. I'm on my way now. I just got caught up with-"
"SG? What is it?" Kid Flash asked after he knocked out the last goon.
There was no response.
Robin turned to Miss Martian, who put her hands to her head and eyes began to glow a light green.
"She is still connected and very much so conscious." The Martian said aloud, growing a puzzled look upon her face.
"What is it?" Aqualad asked, walking over to the group.
"She is looking at someone; talking to them, but for some reason I can't see who it is."
"Maybe she is in a dark room or the person hasn't stepped into view yet." Artemis tried.
Miss Martian shook her head. "No, I'd still be able to hear through her. It's almost like she is blocking me, or at least attempting to. Like she doesn't want me to know who it is."
The team exchanged confused looks.
"Why wouldn't she want us to see who we're fighting?" Superboy asked.
"I'm seeing something." Miss M announced, gaining everyone's attention back. "She is still new to using my powers or maybe hers aren't working right, but I'm seeing something."
The green skinned teen was obviously still having trouble concentrating, so Superboy took one of her hands in his. "What do you see?"
"It's broken and in pieces. I'm getting more fragments than a clear image." She squeezed the Kryptonian's hand, causing him to squeeze back in comfort. "I see a big, open space with rows of long tables around it, like a laboratory you see in movies. There's glass beakers filled with liquids of all different colors."
"That must be the lab they were using to make their chemical." Kid Flash commented.
"There is a man, standing at the other end of the room; he looks like he's talking to Supergirl." The Martian cringed.
"What?" Robin asked, taking a step towards the telepath.
"His appearance is strange, and his smile is really creepy." Her confused expression grows even more. "His face is really pale and his hair and outfit are strange."
Robin's heart sped up just the slightest. That could still be any of the criminally insane Arkham escapees, he needed more.
"Strange how?" He and Kid Flash seemed to be on the same wavelength because the speedster was the one to step forward with the question.
"His hair is a sickly green and his suit is a loud purple."
Both boys' eyes widened.
"Joker!"
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Supergirl was sick and tired of Artemis and her bitchy attitude. The whole time she would either complain about how Supergirl was getting in her way or how her way was better and less obvious than the Girl of Steel's. Please. She was the one whole was trained by the goddamn Batman. The Prince of Stealth. And she was going to tell her how her way was too obvious? The way Artemis wanted to go would have a couple of goons on her in seconds.
She was just fed up with the other girl.
"Aqualad, I think this would go a whole lot faster if I went to check the basement while the two of you finish this level." The dirty blond turned to the leader of their team with the most desperate look on her face.
"I'm not sure that's the best idea." He told her. "We're not supposed to go anywhere alone. It's too much of a risk."
"Plus, none of us wants to return your body to a pissed off Superman and Batman and suffer their wrath due to your dumbass mistakes." Artemis commented from behind the girl.
Supergirl rolled her eyes behind her red domino, turning to face the blond archer. "I think you have that backwards Arty, seeing as though I just had to save your ass from getting shot, not two minutes ago."
The previous Girl Wonder smirked when the blond's eye brow twitched.
"I can handle myself, plus if something happens with my powers, I have my utility belt." She turned back to the Atlantian, patting her belt.
After a few moments of silent consideration on Aqualad's part, he nodded and the dirty blond took off to the basement.
She went from room to room, searching for something, anything, but all either had computers, with irrelevant information, or were completely empty. She was starting to wonder if this was some kind of trap or diversion, until an alarm went off and five huge muscular guys rounded the corner. She must have set of an invisible alarm. That was just great.
One of the men radioed others her location before they all began to surround her, guns and any other weapons ready.
The Kryptonian teen looked at all the guys before letting a sigh. "I actually feel a little bad for you guys. I had to deal with this annoying blond bitch. I haven't fought much this whole evening, and I'm bored as hell." She smiled darkly. "This will be fun."
Two of the guys charged her at once; she jumped up, causing them to collide with each other. Another guy behind her fired his gun at her, causing her to flip out if the, now semi, circle and land her feet on another's face.
"Oops," she looked down at the guy she landed on. He probably had a broken jaw from the looks of it.
Not paying attention, the gunman grazed her arm, causing her to cry out in pain before she stood and knocked the guy across the room with a bit of difficulty.
"Powers are going." She said to herself, seeing as though all the guys were either unconscious or disoriented, as she looked down at her arm. "That's not good."
"This was supposed to be a simple recon mission." Artemis said over the link.
"Yeah, but someone wasn't paying attention to the floor panels before running ahead." Robin explained, obviously annoyed with getting caught.
The Girl of Steel was going to tell explain how it was her fault for mission's compromise, until a certain redheaded speedster replied before she could.
"How the hell was I supposed to know they had pressure sensors in front of that lab?"
At least this wasn't her fault.
"Well, maybe you would have known if you were listening when we were going over the building's blueprints. Then maybe-"
Supergirl rolled her eyes at her team mates' immaturity. "Guys! We're supposed to be fighting them, not each other." She turned a corner, heading back to the stairs when she noticed a room at the end of the hall that she hadn't checked yet.
"Where are you anyway, SG?" Kid Flash asked irritably.
"Weren't you supposed to be with Aqualad or Artemis?" The Boy Wonder asked.
"Miss-Super-Independent thought it would be a good idea to split up and went to check the basement by herself." Artemis' voice rang through her head, and the dirty blond rolled her eyes. Figured the blond bitch would rat her out. "Said it would make the mission run quicker since we weren't done with our section anyway."
"She what?!" Robin shrieked and Supergirl winced at the pitch in her mind.
She jogged down to the hall and turned the door's knob "Don't worry Rob. I'm on my way now; I just got caught up with-"
"Hello, my dear." An all too familiar voice echoed throughout the room. Supergirl gasped her blood running cold as ice through her veins.
"SG? What is it?" Kid Flash asked, worry apparent in his voice.
The dirty blond didn't respond, frozen in place from both shock and fear; involuntarily flinched and took a hesitant step back, causing Joker to smirk.
"Where is bird boy? I know Bats wouldn't let you come here by yourself. Not after last time." He was trying to get under her skin, but she had some pretty impressive self-control.
She knew Dick would totally have a heart attack if he found out she was alone with Joker, so with the little bit of power she had, she tried to block off the major parts of her mind so Miss M wouldn't be able to see, but not enough to accidentally over power the Martian. Enough that the team would finish up were they were and save her ass after.
"He's around," she walked over to one of the tables, with a false image she had spent years perfecting, and picked up one of the beakers filled with chemicals, mixing it a bit by swishing it in the air, trying her best to appear unfazed by his comment. "Batman had something else to do so he sent me and-"
"Your little team of mini 'Super Friends'." Joker finished with a chuckle. "I knew you were coming, I was just playing games with you."
"What are in these anyway?" Supergirl asked, trying to change the subject to something useful. People don't understand that in order to beat Joker is to play his game, act like you're interested.
"Always curious." He leaned against the wall beside to his right, still a distance away from the Kryptonian. "I always liked that about you. I actually prefer you over Boy Blunder. You're chatty, unlike him and Bats."
Supergirl turned her head a fraction to look at the clown before turning her attention back to the beaker in her hand. "Curiosity is like an extra piece added to my DNA, and I'm a girl, we talk more than boys."
"I know what you mean," he nodded his eyes, staring off into space as though he was remembering something. "Harley is quite the Chatty Cathy herself when she wants to be. But like you said, girls talk."
Supergirl smirked. "You never did answer my question."
The Arkham escapee looked a bit confused before he seemed to get his thoughts back in order. "Oh, right. The beakers."
"Joker venom, right?" she mused. "Though it doesn't look like the usual stuff."
"Among other things, yes." There was a double meaning there that the previous Girl Wonder couldn't quite place.
"You don't seem very talkative today. That's very unlike you. You're always willing to talk about your work and not just with me, with Batman and Robin as well. What's so different this time?"
At that exact moment, two doors, on either side of the room, burst open. The team came through the one behind Supergirl, while Scarecrow walked through the other, creepy mask and a dozen henchmen in tow.
"Well this should be interesting."
Everyone spread out in the room, Artemis and Miss Martian taking one half of the henchmen while Aqualad and Superboy took the other. Robin and Kid Flash handled Scarecrow and Supergirl stayed with Joker.
Supergirl tried to fly, but her powers really didn't want to work today.
"Power problems?" Joker asked in a semi interested tone. "That's okay. You don't really need them to fight little ole me, do you?"
She really didn't, but Joker was unpredictable and liked to play dirty, so invulnerability really would have come in handy, just to be on the safe side.
The blue and red clad sidekick took a fighting stance as the other pulled out a knife.
"Are knives and crowbars, like, the only weapons you have, or are they just your favorites?" the dirty blond asked and simultaneously dodged an attempted jab at her thigh.
"Guns are too quick, though sometimes they are necessary, but aren't as fun. I like making my victims suffer at the realist level." He laughed sadistically as he continued to try and slice Supergirl up and she continued to dodge, almost getting cut once. Her previous injuries were becoming more and more apparent.
Scarecrow gave some kind of signal that caused all the remaining henchmen to evacuate, drawing the attention of the team, Supergirl included.
Taking her eyes off the Joker for a few seconds was enough time for him to slash her forearm and knock her into one of the many tables on his way to the same door Scarecrow and their henchmen exited.
"We'll finish our little dance later, girly." He yelled to a slightly disoriented Supergirl with his signature laugh and he slammed the door shut behind him.
The team looked around, slightly confused as to how everything went.
Superboy helped his girlfriend off the floor, where she had been kicked down. Aqualad made sure Artemis was okay before going over to help Supergirl, who was more concerned with getting a sample of the liquid chemical than her own health and well-being at the moment.
"That was too easy." Supergirl declared as Aqualad helped her to her feet. "Joker doesn't usually stop coming until one of us is either unconscious or-" She didn't finish the sentence; she looked up at Robin in apology, but the Boy Wonder did not meet her gaze.
"Why would they spend so much time working on this and just ditch it like this?" Kid Flash brought them back to the matter at hand.
"It doesn't make sense. Joker might be crazy, but contrary to popular belief, there is a method to his madness." Supergirl added.
"Something doesn't feel right." Robin stated. "Almost like-"
"Wait," Superboy interrupted. "Do you guys hear that?"
Everyone fell silent. The entire building was silent, minus a faint ticking.
Artemis saw it first.
30 seconds.
"Guys!" she yelled. "We have less than thirty seconds to get the hell out of here."
No one wasted any time; Kid Flash ran to the door Joker and Scarecrow went through.
"It's locked!"
'Typical Joker.' Robin and Supergirl thought simultaneously, bitter even in their own minds.
"Back the way we came." Aqualad ordered more than suggested.
Everyone ran back down the halls, around the corners, and up the stairs. They all barely made it through the door before the building exploded behind them; the pressure from the blast throwing them all off their feet, in different directions.
Superboy, being more than resistant to explosions, was up and checking everyone first, namely his girlfriend; followed by Aqualad, Kid Flash, and then Artemis. Robin and Supergirl landed together, farthest away from everyone else.
"SG, are you okay?" Robin asked as he helped the female Kryptonian to her feet.
"The blast didn't kill me, so I think I'll live." She groaned and the Boy Wonder chuckled. "Oh, and I got a sample for B."
"Always remembering and picking up the slack for me." Robin laughed as he helped the dirty blond to her feet.
"What would you do without me?" Supergirl laughed, then groaned again when Kid Flash came over and picked her up, insisting on carrying her back to the Bio-Ship.
'Let's hope I never have to find out.' Robin thought as he and the rest of the team made their way back to the Bio-Ship.
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On top of a roof, right behind the team, were Scarecrow and Joker, watching the sidekicks as they headed off to lick their wounds and analyze their data.
"Did you do it?" Scarecrow asked, taking an eye off the team to look at his accomplice.
"Of course I did." Joker sounded humorously offended. "Superbrat didn't suspect a thing."
"Perfect, shouldn't take too long for the effects to kick in. Even though they got a sample, they won't figure any of it out till it's too late."
"This should have a killer outcome." Joker laughed into the chilling Gotham night air.
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A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. Had a lot going on lately and I just got a 4 day weekend, so I should be working on updating chapter 6 then. Let me clear this up right quick because I don't remember if I said this or not in the beginning, I don't have a problem with Artemis. I just made her a jealous bitch in this story because that is her role here. She and my character get along the same way she and Wally do in the show, depending on how you look at it. As always reviews of all variety are much appreciated. Thanks guys!
Chapter 6 coming soon.