~Please read the Author's Note this time, even if you normally skip!~
A/N: Hey guys! You all are just so awesome! Over 50 reviews! So, as a thank you for all the great and supportive comments, if this fic gets 100 reviews, I will write a one-shot YJ fanfic of your choice :) Just leave your suggestion for a topic in a review, and I will post them in the Author's Note of the next chapter. Then, you all can vote for one of the posted topics until this fic reaches 100 reviews.
This was this best way I could think to properly thank all of you, so I hope you'll offer you're suggestions and vote! But for now, enjoy the chapter :D
11:02 PM
"Rocket? Rocket! Raquel, wake up!"
The dark-skinned girl slowly regained consciousness and cracked open her eyes to find Kaldur's deep grey ones staring down at her, filled with concern.
The Atlantian let out a breath in relief and then offered her his hand. "Good, you are awake. Are you injured? Can you stand?"
Raquel took his hand and sat up, letting out a groan as she began to take notice of the throbbing pain in her skull. She clutched her head then quickly checked her hand. "Well, my head feels like it was run over by a monster truck, but there's no blood, so I guess I'm alright."
He chuckled lightly and pulled her to her feet, holding her arm as she steadied herself. "Headaches are common after-effects of Robin's personal concoction of sleeping gas. Batgirl uses it as well, so I suppose I should have been better prepared for this. Forgive me."
Raquel just stared at him. "What? Sleeping gas? I thought I got knocked out by the collapsing build...ing..." Her voice drowned away as she finally took in their surroundings. They were in the middle of a filthy alleyway with no identifiable signs, stores, or aspects. It could've been any alley anywhere in Gotham. In one direction, the pathway was dimly lit by multiple street lamps hanging from the sides of the buildings. In the opposite direction, the alley was dark, with only a handful of lights to show the way. "Um, where the heck are we?" she finally asked, "Where's the building? And where are the others?"
"The building never collapsed," Kaldur replied, brushing the grime off his knees.
Rocket blinked, wondering if she had heard her leader correctly. "What? But Kid Flash set those bombs that-"
"-released Robin's sleeping gas, which he laces with a weak hallucinogen," Kaldur finished for her.
"So... where are we then? And the others?"
Kaldur gave a tired sigh. "Unfortunately, it seems my attempt at a peaceful solution was boring our gamesmasters," he replied with a twinge of annoyance in his voice, "And so they decided to make this a little harder for us by splitting us up."
Raquel's mouth dropped open. "They got bored? It hadn't even been a half hour yet!" She groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. "What kinda short-attention-spanned children are we dealing with here!"
Kaldur smiled dryly. "Sometimes I forget that, other than Wally and Roy, none of you have had to withstand the BatKids practical jokes before."
Rocket looked up from her hands and eyed him suspiciously. "The way you talk, Kal, it sounds as if you've already met Batgirl."
"That is because I have."
"What? But...before, you said—"
"I am one of the original sidekicks, Rocket. Is it really that surprising that I would have met another of the original sidekicks?"
"Well, no, I guess that makes sense," Rocket replied, "But then... why are you doing this?"
"I have met her, but I still do not know her identity, and I know even less about Robin. I wish to understand my friend better, and this is the only way to get such information out of them. That is why I am doing this." Kaldur checked his watch. "It is already past eleven, and we are wasting time sitting here. Let us continue."
Raquel grumbled at his change in subject but quickly decided that he was right; they really did need to get moving. "Alright then, let's go this way," she suggested, pointing down the slightly more lit pathway, "After our last little encounter, I'm not so eager to run down a dark alley this time."
Kaldur smiled slightly. "I think that is a good idea."
"I told you we shoulda taken the darker alleyway!"
"You said nothing of a sort, Raquel," Kaldur grumbled back with an aggravated sigh. The two heroes had been maneuvering their way through Gotham's backstreets for nearly a half hour without any sign of the BatKids. "Perhaps we should go back to searching the rooftops."
"What? Why would they stay out there in the open if we're tryin' to find them? Really, try using your head, Kaldur!" They continued walking down the dank alleyway until they were halted by a fork in the road. "Go right. It's darker that way."
The Atlantian let out another shaky sigh, obviously losing patience. "Alright, we will go your way, again. Because your intuition has been so helpful so far."
"Was that sarcasm I just heard, fish face?" Raquel fumed, picking up her pace to keep up with Kaldur's quickening steps, "Honestly, I get absolutely no respect! I might be the newbie here, but that don't mean I got no common sense. If you would just trust me, you'd see that my gut is usually righ—"
"It's a dead end, Rocket."
Snapping back to reality, Raquel found herself faced with nothing but brick and cement. "W-what? No, there's gotta be somewhere else here where they could be hiding…"
Another sigh from Aqualad. "Why will you not just except that you were wrong?"
"Because I wasn't wrong, Kaldur, we just must've missed something on the way here because you were too busy doubting me to pay attention to anything around you!"
"Rocket, stop—"
"No, I will not stop! There has to be something…"
"Rocket, please be quiet and listen to me."
Raquel stepped in front of him, eyes sharp as daggers. "You know what, Aqualad? I am really getting sick of this. I mean, look! You're not even paying attention to me right n—"
"Shh," Kaldur silenced his irritated teammate with a single digit pressed to her lips. And it did silence her, but for only a moment. She blinked her eyes a few times, surprised by the sudden contact, but her confused expression quickly shifted back to annoyance.
"Oh, now I'm being 'shh'-ed?" she protested, lightly slapping his hand away from her, "First Supey calls me fat, then Rob and Kid knock me out, and now this? Honestly, what is wrong with you boys tonight!"
"Raquel," he hissed this time in an urgent whisper. Rocket snapped out of her vent and noticed the intense, prepared glare in her leader's eyes. He was focused on a dark corner of the dead end behind her, his eyes trained on some unapparent adversary.
"Well now, I am impressed," crooned an enticing voice from the darkness, "It seems the Bats aren't the only superheroes with a sixth sense."
Raquel froze in place, slowly turning around and shuffling back to Kaldur's side. There was something about the woman's voice that bothered her. It was comforting like a lullaby, yet at the same time, threatening like the hiss of a viper.
But as always, Aqualad's composure did not falter. "Show yourself," he demanded, guard down but still prepared, "It is cowardly to mask your presence when engaging an opponent."
A soft chuckle sounded from amidst the shadows. "Masking my presence? Maybe you aren't quite Bat-level after all. But no matter. When a handsome hero wishes to see me that badly, how can a woman refuse?" A figure began to emerge from the endless darkness, emanating an emerald hue and cloaked in a fragrance of roses. Vines twisted around her ankles as sashayed across the cold, damp cement, and her brilliant crimson hair danced around her shoulders like the falling petals of a rose.
"Poison Ivy," Kaldur muttered under his breath, probably cursing his luck. Raquel couldn't blame him. One of the oldest and most dangerous crime queens of Gotham, and it just had to be today that they cross paths with her.
The green-garnished villainess flashed him her most bewitching smile and stretched out her hand. "Did you come to Gotham to play, little fish?" she cooed as her vines roped down her outstretched arm and brushed against Kaldur's cheek like a pet cat, "C'mon, sweetheart. Dump the side dish and come have a little fun for once. Our last meeting ended so… abruptly, that we barely got to know each other."
The vine crept its way around Aqualad's body and gave him a slight tug, but hurriedly recoiled as an old plank of plywood suddenly smacked into the weed. "Side dish? SIDE DISH?" Raquel steamed, her makeshift weapon creaking under her death grip, "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE CALLIN' A SIDE DISH?" She was not happy.
"Raquel, wait."
"What! What now? Why should I—wait a minute," Rocket thought for a moment before continuing, "Why didn't you use my codename in front of her?" Silently studying her teammate's face, she finally realized that he hadn't pulled away from that vine's grasp and would have happily let it envelop him if she hadn't smacked it away. His eyes looked somewhat glazed over, and he had a sort of distant expression plastered across his features. "Aqualad?" she tried to provoke a response with a firm tug on his arm.
His unfocused gaze remained on the villainess, and his limbs went slack. "Maybe," He mumbled out in monotone, "Maybe we can… talk this out."
"Kaldur, no, this isn't the time for your peace-keeping mumbo jumbo!" she hissed at him in frustration, masking the panic slowly building within her. There was definitely something wrong with him.
"Oooh, so your name's Kaldur then, little fish?" Poison Ivy asked with a seductive smile. With a flick of her wrist, a vine shot out from a crack in the concrete behind the heroine and wrapped itself around her ankles before yanking her feet out from under her.
Raquel gave a small yelp of surprise as she practically face-planted into the damp ground. "Kaldur!" she called out to her teammate as the vine wrapped its way around her body, constricting her breathing, "Don't just stand there, fish face! Help me!"
Stepping over her squirming captive, Ivy strutted over to the zoned-out hero and gave him a sly smile as she stroked his cheek endearingly. "You don't want to do that, right, Kaldur?" she purred softly.
"I… I don't want to… do that," he repeated, seemingly mesmerized by the woman before him.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Raquel roared from the floor, viciously throwing her weight in every direction as she attempted to free herself from the botanical ensnarement, "What did you do to him, Ivy!"
"Oh, he just came to his senses, is all, and realized that he deserved to trade up."
"That's it!" Raquel choked out between labored breaths, "Let me… let me outta here right now, you stupid evil plant lady, and…and I'll take you out… hard and fast!"
The villainess seemed amused by her suggestion, and with another flick of her wrist, the vine that had been tightening its grip on Raquel's throat unraveled and slithered away. Raquel gasped in the dank night air, panting as she glared up at Poison Ivy.
"I suppose just killing you would be too boring," the crime queen scoffed at the panting girl before turning back to Aqualad and leaning in close. "Kaldur, dear," she hissed into his ear, "Be a good little fishy and take care of this… problem. And after that, it'll just be you, and me."
"As you wish," the Atlantian replied in monotone. Whipping out one of his water-bearers, a glowing blue sword emerged in his hand, which he pointed down at Raquel. "Stand and fight," he demanded.
Still down on her hands and knees, Raquel looked up at her leader before hanging her head with a groan. She pushed herself onto her feet and grabbed the plank of wood she had dropped. "This is really not my night."
Hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, and now that all my summer traveling is finally out of the way, I should have more time to write for you guys :) So don't forget to leave your suggestions for the one shot in a review so that I can write the best 'thank you' fic I possibly can! :DDD