I felt myself being pulled closer to him, his cheek rubbing against my own and sending an awkward shiver through me. Slowly, I felt my originality coming back to me, so I decided to go with it.

"Heh, now I sound like something from one of those bloody sappy TV shows!" I stated, pulling away and rolling my eyes.

"That means I get to be your hot co-actor?" Wally winked at me at released me completely. At least the tension between us had eased up a little. "So... what did you mean by, uh... what you said before?"

I was definitely starting to feel back to normal again, apart from the pain that still came with the cuts and wounds, but now, I barely noticed it.

"This." I brought my face closer to him, so that our foreheads and noses were touching, but just wiggled my nose against his before pulling back.

"Dude, you had me going and everything!" he complained, folding his arms jokingly. I merely shrugged and turned away, walking to the wall. Before I reached it, I felt Wally grab my arm, pull me toward him and kiss me. Damn it!

"...Yep, I'm good." I chuckled before walking off again. A groan escaped my lips, causing me to double over in pain. "Hey, T, you alright?"

"Y-yeah... I'm fine," I responded, clinging onto my stomach. "There's something I need to tell you." Wally looked intrigued at my response and stood in front of me, hands on his waist. There was just something about that pose that made me feel like melting. Perhaps it was that he wasn't talking.

"Droughtstorm... I know what it is... What he is... I've met him before, I just don't remember when... He's able to control the weather... And I'm sure he seeks myself and Cade, though I don't know why."

A loud crash behind me made me jump out of my skin.

"Mother of the sheep!" I screeched, unsure of what I was saying or what it was supposed to mean.

"What is that?!" Wally's voice was a little rattled, but he reclaimed his focus as he found my falling into his arms... Once again.

"This is happening too often..." A massive hole in the wall of the boys' toilets appeared and I found myself and Wally confronted by an enormous ship, coloured in blue waves and yellow sand.

Droughtstorm.

"That is Droughtstorm! I'm sure! But... I think it's his ship... I must go..." Something came over me. A very strange feeling. I could barely see anything other than the ship ahead of me.

"Tempest, you can't go! You could die!"

"Wally, do not attempt to save her." The sound of that voice brought me out of my trance, but not for long. I was in touch with reality just long enough to see Cade walking into the bathroom, his eyes glowing blue.

"But she could be killed! I-."

"I apologise, but you must not attempt to save her. She must go with our master." I found myself brought back into the trance, losing all feeling over my body. The strange sensation trickled through me as my feet brought myself to the edge of the floor, where the blasted area of the wall stood.

I knew that Wally was about to say something, but I didn't hear anything.

"Shanelle. Leonne. You have been found. Come with your master and no harm shall befall your friends," a metallic voice in the sky announced. I was still hearing the name Shanelle, but I had absolutely no idea what it had to do with anything – I was Tempest! With the trance still in control of my body, I found myself being picked up and placed into the ship with no say in the matter.

"Tempest!" Wally called, using his super-speed to try and catch me before I was gone forever, but he was too late. I was already inside the ship.

"Oh... my head..." I could still hear Cade and Wally's voices, despite myself being inside the aircraft. What was going on?

"Tempest is gone! What did you do?!" Wally screeched. I heard footsteps, followed by the sound of Cade stuttering. As much as I wanted to do something, I wasn't able to. I could just listen and hope for the best.

Suddenly, a loud bang shook the ship, and I just managed to see a worried-looking Wally crawling along the roof, attempting to access the inside. No words passed my lips; the only part of me capable of working was my vision, not my thoughts.

"Tempest, you have to snap out of it! You have to think for yourself! Don't let him control you!" Wally screamed from outside of the ship, but I remained staring at him, uninterested by anything he said. I was with my master, and I would be safe.

I would be safe.

I continued watching Wally as he made his way about the top of the ship, trying to gain access to me, but just failing.

Time passed and soon, I felt the ship starting to fly off, Wally still clinging on. I didn't know what to do or say, so I continued staring. Eventually, with much difficulty, he managed to enter the ship without Droughtstorm noticing, or so it seemed.

"Tempest, stop doing this. You need to be yourself again. You need to understand just how much this team needs you. How much I need you! Please! Please..." His voice connected with my ears, but yet, held no meaning to me whatsoever. That's when I felt it. His hands on mine. He held them, intertwined. A spark ran through me, again knocking me out of my trance. At first, I was a little fuzzy, unsure of what happened, but as soon as I started realising what was going on, I knew that both Wally and I were in trouble.

"You need to leave. Now." I tried pushing him toward where he came in, but Wally was just determined as I was.

"No. I'm not leaving without you. We need you, Tempest. I need you!" I felt his hands grab onto my wrist, refusing to let go.

"Don't be stupid! You have to leave before you don't have that choice!"

Tempest! I'm not leaving without you!" his voice was slightly angry and full of determination – it made me blush a little and feel a bit worried at the same time.

"Fine... We'll go together..." I tried jumping with him, but something held me back. Something sharp and metallic. Turning around, metal claws were all over me, grabbing onto whatever they could to hold me back. Well, this would not end well.

"Tempest!" I heard Wally call, also being held down by the claws, only they were holding him against the edge of the ship on the inside.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" I lied, feeling something prick into my back. "Uh, Wally, what's on me?" I could see slight fear in Wally's eyes as he looked at what was behind me.

"I... I don't know what that is! It's some kind of robot thing!" I wasn't able to turn around; the claws made sure of that. The unidentifiable thing continued to prick into my back, causing the very slight pain to soon become more severe along my spine. I tried as hard as I could not to scream, but it was too difficult and found myself sweating and panting like a lady in labour.

"Tempest, it'll be okay. Don't think about it..." As noble as Wally's intentions were, it didn't help that I was in absolute agony and already trying not to think about it.

"What else am I suppose to think about?! Bloody unicorns and dragons?!" I found myself spitting out, a little regretful of what I had just said. But what else was I expected to say?

"Sorry, I was just trying to help out!"

"Well, please just shut up!" The pin that was putting me into agonising pain continued moving about my back, being joined by two other pins, which sped up the process, but hurt a hell of a lot more.

"Tempest, look at me!" As much as I wanted to look down at the ground and die, I knew that I had to listen to Wally, so I looked up, the pain obvious by my expression. "Tempest... I love you!"

My world froze as I heard those words. They circled my head and for a few seconds, I completely forgot what was happening, until I was released, feeling completely numb and barely able to move. Wally was staring down the way he entered the ship, smiling at the distance between him and any kind of ground.

"There's a rooftop right near us. We can escape that way!" he stated, trying to grab onto my hand. I couldn't feel anything or do anything, everything was completely dead. I watched as my limp body was dragged along the metal ground, unable to do anything but stare. Wally had crouched near a small hole in the side of the ship, about to jump down, still holding onto my hand.

"Can you move?" I wanted to shake my head, but damn it, I couldn't even blink properly at him! "I take that as a no..." He continued to climb out of the airship, his hand still gripping onto mine.

"Alright... I have to jump. You'll come down with me, but we'll both be safe, okay?" Even though his words seemed reassuring, I wasn't completely sure that it would all end well, and after it happened, I was positive it wouldn't.

We both fell from the aircraft, Wally's expression a little scared as mine remained completely dead. I saw as Wally landed on the rooftop, but I hadn't – I was a little off and continued falling, Wally trying to catch me but being too late. With a gruesome thud, I found myself sprawled over the ground, no pain in me whatsoever.

That was what worried me.

Even though I couldn't feel anything, I soon saw everything fade right in front of me and woke up in a brand new place with walls made of rock and more modern flooring. Hold on, this wasn't a new place... This was the headquarters!

"Is she going to be alright, Bats?" I knew that voice: Robin! I was still unable to move any other part of me other than my eyes, so I tried as hard as I could to get a good look at what was happening around me, to no avail.

"She seems to be in shock, with no control of any of her body. Everything, including her ability to speak is disabled," Batman started explaining before rolling me onto my back and making my face squish against the surface I was lying on. "I noticed this symbol on her back. It's related to the villain that we've only seen on rare occasions called Droughtstorm. He is able to control the weather and bend it to his will. It seems that Tempest was unluckily picked as a recruit, but somehow, she managed to escape and partially break the bond."

"Bond? What bond?" M'gann asked. I couldn't see her, but I knew she was worried... And standing on my left.

"The bond between Droughtstorm and his victims. He uses highly-intelligent robots to connect him with the victim mentally. Apparently, Tempest was strong enough break the bond when the initialisation process started. I'm just unsure why..." I was rolled back onto my back, looking like a limp bag of beans being pushed around. Looking up as much as I could, I saw Batman looking slightly at Wally, who seemed a little nervous.

"Why are you looking at me?" his voice cracked a little as he tried moving closer to my side.

"Why wouldn't we be looking at you?" Robin asked, laughing, "You're always the one that it ends up being whenever something strange happens."

"Dude!" If I could have laughed, I would have, but seeing as I was incapable of it, I didn't.

"Come on, let's take her to the kitchen. She needs some food in her." I was unsure of who was talking, but saw myself being lifted up and dragged to the kitchen. Because having one of your friends drag you along the ground to the kitchen was definitely a very sexy sight.

~~~.~~~

Arriving in the kitchen, I saw Conner picking me up by my waist and propping me up on the bench next to the sink. My entire body started falling backwards as soon as he let go and I almost fell off of the bench completely.

"I gotcha!" Wally called. I didn't know what had happened, but I sensed that he had caught me as I was falling backwards and held onto me while putting me back on the bench.

"See? This is why we look at you," Robin stated to Wally.

"Are you feeling better?" Artemis asked, looking a little worried. Again, I found myself unable to answer her. The only thought running through my mind? DAMN YOU, DROUGHTSTORM!

"I take that as a, 'She still can't talk and that's the only reason she won't answer you'," Wally interjected, laughing at his own little joke.

"At least I didn't drive her from the team and force her to wear a stupid t-shirt!" Artemis retorted, folding her arms. Wally was behind me, trying to hold me up, so I couldn't see his expression.

"Excuse me, but I did-!"

"See, he admitted it!"

"I DID NOT DRIVE HER FROM THE TEAM! She left on her own... account..." My eyes roamed my head, trying to see Wally, but it didn't work. I knew he was feeling a little depressed at what he had just said, but I was sure that he would be over it in a few seconds.

"Um, guys, Batman wants you. He told me to look after Tempest," I heard Cade's voice float through the air. Great, another thing I could only hear. Perhaps they were all turning into ghosts?

"You guys can go, but I want to stay here, make sure that Tempest is alright."

"Wally, you need to go." For some reason, Cade sounded very demanding, before clearing his throat. "Batman wants to talk to you."

As reluctant as he was, Wally finally agreed, handing me over to Cade, who nearly missed me for a second. I wasn't sure; I couldn't FEEL anything.

Watching everyone leave, I felt a little nervous. I was in the arms of a person who had tried killing me a multitude of times prior, completely alone with him, just us in the room. I knew that he had lied about Batman wanting to talk to them. If he did, he would just call them via the intercom. So what did he really want with me?

I was still unable to feel, but it seemed like my heart missed a beat as I watched him release me, my body slowly sliding down to the ground. Before I had completely touched the ground, my arm still connected to the top of the bench, I found myself remaining still, as though something had stopped me from sliding off of the bench. With no idea what it was, all I could do was let my eyes roam around the room, not knowing what to look at. And then I saw it.

Cade was holding a knife in his hand, pointing it at me before thrusting it into my back. My head dropped, I saw the blood making its way to the ground, from my back and down my arm from my hand. The sight was nauseating, but I managed to refrain from being sick... Or doing anything for that matter.

Looking ahead, my body still lifeless, I saw Cade collapsed in front of me, on his knees and tears in his eyes.

"I never wanted to do that... But it's the only way..." his words pierced through my heart, like the knives that pierced my flesh and muscle. At the time, I thought that he just hated me as much as a person could hate another, but only time would allow me to see that...

He saved my life.