WESTERN MONGOLIA
DEEMBER 11, 18:00
The cavern was silent. Dark shadows crept at every corner, and the center was bare with cold stone. Suddenly, a slight hum grew from seemingly nowhere, and LIGHT filled the room. One by one, screens came to life at the head of the cavern, and five faces appeared. Two screens remained dormant. One voice, the first face to appear, spoke to the others.
"Are all members present?"
"Yes." The rest of the voices seemed to speak in unison.
"Then we shall begin."
GOTHAM CITY
DECEMBER 11, 17:47
Batgirl peered out at the old Museum of Gotham. It had been shut down for renovations, but now it was the center of Alpha Squad's attention. By Alpha Squad she meant Blue Beetle, Guardian, and Bumblebee. Not her. She was thinking about Dick. (Not in that way) She was thinking about Dick Grayson, and how Artemis was almost definitely in Bludhaven right now, seeking him out, trying to drag him back in the game. Barbara hated to admit, she had a point in consulting him. Usually she wouldn't mind, but she knew Dick, and she knew that any bit of inclusion in the Team's activities would be enough to launch him right back in the thick of it.
He needs more time, she thought. When Wally died, they had all suffered, but it was different with Dick. A part of him died that day, too. No one knows the amount of pain he had to go through. Barbara felt guilty as soon as she thought it. Artemis does, spoke a voice in the back of her head, Artemis didn't just lose her best friend, she lost the love of her life. Perhaps she was the right one to talk to him. Batgirl had thought about Dick returning, about how she felt that being a part of the Team again would only distract him from his grief, when he needed to see it through. Then again, Artemis never stopped fighting, never took a break, and maybe, just maybe she could instill the same characteristic in Nightwing.
"Batgirl?"
Barbara was taken from her thoughts by Blue Beetle, who had flown over from the other rooftop across from the museum. "Yeah Blue?"
"I said, we're ready."
Batgirl shook her head and thought back to Aqualad's briefing. In that museum was Dr. Jonathan Crane, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. He had gone missing weeks ago, only to turn up long enough to sneak a hurried video message to the League, telling of his location. The message ended with the doctor's captors finding him, and they did not take kindly to his plea for help. "It's time to go." If he's even still alive, Barbara thought grimly.
o_0_0_o
Batgirl slipped through one of the many hallways, and took cover at a corner. Jaime buzzed up behind her, and she placed a gloved finger to her ear. "Guardian? Bee?"
"Right here," came the reply, and Barbara saw the two approach at the other end of the hallway. "No sign of anyone." Separating them was a wide room, and at a silent nod Alpha rolled out into it, approaching a solid metal gate. The four spread out, while Batgirl approached the computer terminal and began tapping away on her own forearm.
Blue Beetle landed near a glass case and peered inside. "The gun that killed Luigi 'Big Lou' Maroni. Unknown assailant." That is incorrect, Jaime Reyes. The real weapon resides underground, at his grave in Gotham Cemetery. "A bit dark, don't ya think?" For him, yes, considering he lies in a coffin. "Remind me again when you got a sense of humor?"
"So, Gotham girl, you ever come here?" Mal asked, surveying the walls.
"Once when I was little," Batgirl replied, not looking up. "My dad was always pretty busy, so someone else took me."
"Babysitter?"
"Bruce Wayne."
Mal and Karen stopped and turned to Batgirl. "Girl, you know Bruce Wayne?"
"Something like that." A few more seconds passed. "I'm in." The door started to lift off the ground with a rusty creak sound. "Alpha, form up." Batgirl brandished a batarang, Blue Beetle readied his sonic cannon, Guardian got into a fighting stance, and Bumblebee shrunk down, her stingers sparking. The door retracted all the way up, and the squad tensed. Nothing. Slowly, the four heroes advanced into the room, their footsteps echoing. The opposing wall was almost entirely window, where a thin wave of moonlight began to shower the room.
Karen spoke. "Uh, guys?" The rest followed her gaze to a chair in the middle of the room, in it was a limp body, its scrawny arms dangling over the side and head hanging low.
Batgirl narrowed her eyes. "Blue?"
It was a moment before he responded. "No vitals. We're too late."
"Shit." Barbara raced forward, putting a hand on the body's shoulder. She immediately pulled back, feeling it rustle beneath her. Straw? It was on her glove, the ground, and it stuffed the shoulder of what she thought was Jonathan Crane. Batgirl yanked the chair around, and the body spilled out and onto the ground.
"Is that a…?"
"Scarecrow." Barbara replied, her mind racing.
Suddenly, the door they had opened clicked, and started to race downwards. "Trap! Go!" The squad bolted back, the door closing rapidly. Blue Beetle shot ahead of the group and started to reach out for the door, when there was a flash of white-hot, blue energy. It collided with Blue, and sent him soaring through the air and tumbling along the ground, smoking. A voice sounded from the corner of the room as the door shut with a heavy thud.
"Why leave? We're just getting started."
BLUDHAVEN
DECEMBER 11, 18:42
"New place. I liked your old one."
"Me too."
Artemis stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind her. She looked around, taking note of how the floor creaked automatically when she walked in. He can't seriously be okay with that, she thought, especially for someone who prides himself on being light-footed. It was a small apartment, a living room, kitchen, and a hallway which she guessed led to a bedroom. "So why this place?"
Dick had walked farther into the room, taking off his domino mask. "There's a techno-drug dealer I've been tailing. Has a place across the street for the time being. See?" Artemis took off her own mask and looked out the window, where there was a light on in a room directly across from her. "He's got ties to a Cobra splinter group that has operations here. Those guys we just busted? They're part of it. I'll have to have a talk with them at the precinct tomorrow."
Artemis smirked and looked at her friend. "Dick Grayson the cop, huh?"
"Detective. It's only temporary."
"Crimefighter in the day… also crimefighter at night?"
Dick took off the shirt of his costume and draped it over his couch. "Honestly, I haven't been doing much at night."
"Or much of anything." Artemis looked pointedly at his stubble, and around at the messy state of the living room.
Dick didn't answer.
It was then Artemis realized that he was standing there in his underwear. "Sorry," he said, "I thought I had clothes out here."
She sighed, walking over to one of the walls. "Nothing I haven't seen before."
"Let me go change." He looked down at himself. "It's cold in here."
"Sure it is."
"It is!" The former Boy Wonder's indignant reply was faint as he disappeared down the hallway. Artemis hardly heard him. Her gaze was fixed on the wall, more specifically the pictures. He had pictures everywhere, framed on the walls of his apartment. There was one of him and Barbara, dressed up and smiling at Junior Prom. Artemis remembered that night - Dick, Artemis, and Wally busting 2 arms deals in half an hour, the boys in their suits and herself in her prom dress – practically racing to the dance with not a moment to spare. Next to it was of all four of them later that night, and Artemis smiled at the thought of Wally sneaking in, pretending to be various Gotham Academy students from Dick's grade when questioned. Artemis was a year older but wanted to spend it with her friends, and she still remembered that night as one of the best of her life.
She walked further down the wall, passing pictures of younger Dick – mathlete of the year, athlete of the year, one of him and Bruce when he graduated High School. She walked and soon she was in the hallway, looking at all the pictures. Him and Zatanna, him and Connor and Roy, although the latter didn't seem too enthusiastic about things. Dick, on the other hand, was smiling. Just as he was in all the photos. Smiling that bright smile and beaming into the camera with that teasing, fun gleam in his blue eyes. Artemis knew immediately what had been missing when she looked at Dick now.
There was no smile. Not in the way Dick Grayson was famous for. That ever-present gleam in his eyes had vanished, replaced by something dull. Something foreign. Something familiar. She knew exactly what was behind those eyes. She knew first-hand. The man in the bedroom Artemis had begun to approach was not Dick Grayson. The man in there was haunted by grief, by loss, and Artemis wasn't sure if he would ever be the same.
She opened the door to Dick's bedroom, and he almost jumped. "Jesus, Artemis, I could've been naked in here."
"Again, nothing I haven't seen."
"Hey. What did I say about that business in Tokyo? We never speak of it."
"Everything was going fine until-"
"It's not my fault acid burns through everything. Plus, it worked as a great distraction."
"For Donna, yeah." The two laughed and Artemis sat down next to Dick on the edge of his bed. "I don't think she looked you in the eyes for a whole month after that." He smiled, and Artemis turned her attention to the wall. More pictures. The Team in its entirety after Zatanna joined, believe it or not the first team photo they actually took out of uniform. Another of Tim and him, using the younger boy's head as an armrest. To its right was one that made Artemis smile. Dick had taken it on her first day at Gotham Academy. Then, it was merely Artemis Crock, looking like a deer in headlights, as some cackling freshman held her close and snapped a selfie, only to vanish as soon as he had appeared. Now, it meant much more. We'll laugh about this someday.
"Did we?" Dick spoke aloud, almost as if he could read her thoughts. "Ever laugh about that, I mean?"
She turned to him. "Probably. You little asshole, dropping hints like it was your day job."
"Brilliance in hindsight."
"Is that what they call it?"
The two fell silent, and Artemis looked back over. She looked at his nightstand, and saw two frames. One was of Dick and the rest of his family, the Flying Graysons. The other was a simple photo, but the one that pulled at her heartstrings the most. It was Dick, maybe about 15, in a T-shirt and jeans, his arm draped over the shoulders of the boy next to him. Red hair. Freckles. Annoyingly handsome grin. Features of the boy Artemis would give anything to see again, to feel again, even if she saw them all the time in her dreams.
"I miss him, Artemis."
"We all do."
More silence. Tension grew in the air, as if they were both waiting for the question to come up.
"How are they? The Team, I mean."
Artemis looked at him. "Fine. You'd be proud of Tim. Barbara too. They're natural leaders."
Dick let out a small smile. "Not that I ever had any doubts."
"You could come see for yourself…"
"No." Dick sighed and got up. "I'm taking a break, remember?"
"Dick Grayson was never one for taking breaks."
"Times change."
"But they don't have to change the person."
"Problem?"
"A bit, yeah."
Dick turned, raising his voice. He clearly didn't want to talk about this. "What do you want Artemis? You didn't come here just to chat. You want me back on the Team, don't you? You're asking me to come back."
"And what's so wrong with that?" Artemis stood up too, raising her voice, exasperated. She knew where this was going. "You were our leader, Dick. And you think it's okay to just shut us out like this? Pretend you have nothing to do with us?"
"It's not like that and you know it, Artemis. Besides, Kaldur has Tim and Babs, you said it yourself."
"They need you too, Dick. Maybe you would realize that if you didn't sit here on your ass for five months!"
Dick turned, angry. "What the hell, Artemis? Are you serious right now? All I've been doing is working. Thinking. Trying to make sense of it all!"
"What?"
"Wally goddammit!" Dick looked away, breathing heavily. The silence stretched between them. "I can't be with the Team now. We started it. Me, him, and Kaldur. And now he's gone. He disappeared, Artemis. I can't just take that as fact and move on."
Artemis lowered her eyes in thought. "You're looking for him." She whispered. Her eyes flicked back up to her friend, who walked to the edge of the room, pulling open a door. Inside was a minefield of research. Corkboards, whiteboards, computers, everything. Research on the Flash, Kid Flash, Speed Force Theory, any scrap of information that could only serve the desperate. With one look into his eyes Artemis knew it was breaking him. "Dick…" The raven-haired boy looked at her, a fire in his eyes. "Don't do this to yourself."
"Fine, it's not the way you would handle it," he spat, "what do you care?"
It's changed him. Not one bit of the man in front of her resembled the Dick she knew. "I care about you, Dick. This isn't you."
"Well at least I'm doing something about it! You're acting like you don't even care that he's dead!" he yelled. It got quiet, and Dick went plunging back to earth. Instant regret. He reached out to his friend. "I-"
She backed away. "Don't you dare." She knew he felt bad, he slipped, but everything Artemis was holding inside, everything she had fought hard to contain, came flowing out. "He was my world. I loved him. Not a day goes by where I don't think about him. When I close my eyes, I hear him. I hear him laugh, I hear his voice. When I wake up in the morning and I'm not in his arms, I roll over. And when he's not there, I think about how he could be in the bathroom. Or the kitchen. Then it all comes rushing back. He's not going to be next to me. He's not going to be in the bathroom or the kitchen, either. Not now not ever again. Because he's gone." Tears began to form, rolling down her cheeks.
"And I'm afraid, Dick. I'm afraid that one day I'll wake up and I won't miss the feeling of being in his arms. That one day I won't expect him to be in bed, or in the bathroom, or the kitchen. I'm more afraid of that than of anything I've ever been afraid of. Most of all I'm scared that trying so hard to prevent that day will break me." She looked up and added softly, "Like it's doing to you."
His eyes flicked up, and she continued. "I know Dick Grayson. What I saw back there? That wasn't you. You were defeated. Distraught. But was that you told me? Back at Mount Justice all those years ago?"
Dick was silent for a few moments, then he spoke.
"Get traught."
"That's right. Get traught, or get dead. That's what you told me. And that's what I'm telling you now. Don't let your grief take over your life."
Dick looked into her eyes. He saw pain, lots of it. But he also saw strength. Strength to not let the pain take over her life. Strength he knew he had, but had been pushing back. "I just… I don't want to forget him, Artemis."
She moved forward, taking his hands in her own. "And we won't. We don't have to wear him on our sleeve, using his death to dictate everything we do. Because he's in here," She placed their hands on Dick's chest, just above his heart. "He always has been." He nodded, understanding for what felt like the first time. "That's how he would want it."
Dick felt tension release, like he was free of his burden. It wasn't that easy, he knew, and it would be a while before he was fully at peace with his best friend's death, but in that moment, with Artemis, he felt the best he had in a long time.
She reached up and hugged him, hugged Dick Grayson for the first time in a long while. It was long overdue. They had lost Wally. Bestfriend. Boyfriend. Hero. Together, they wouldn't forget him, they couldn't forget him, and although it would be tough, the two had each other, and that alone was plenty comfort for them both.
WESTERN MONGOLIA
DECEMBER 11, 18:04
The cavern remained bare, and on the screens were the faces of The Light, deep in conference. "It is time for the first candidate. Who will speak first?" The first voice asked.
"I will, Vandal," another voice answered. A hologram appeared in the middle of the cave, for all to see. "I propose Bane. He brings superior strength and a tactical mind. Not to mention his army is a great resource." Consenting murmurs ran through the others, but Vandal Savage spoke.
"An asset, yes. But a pawn he must remain. If we put him in a position equal to ours, we may lose the services of The Kobra. He and his cult are a valuable asset as well, and ever since their... disagreement, we can not afford to lose one in favor of the other, Bee." Queen Bee thought about it for a moment, then nodded. Vandal continued. "Lex?"
The projection changed from Bane to Deathstroke, and Luthor spoke. "I suggest Deathstroke. We all know he is much more than a mercenary, and he has done fine work as Sportsmaster's replacement."
The rest nodded in approval. "With the Brain in detainment, Mr. Wilson would serve as a splendid addition to our ranks. Certainly a more active one," said Savage.
A cackle broke out from another screen. "I don't know, Lex. The guy's a bit of a stiff. Trust you to shove him forward."
"And who do you propose, Klarion?"
The Witch Boy changed the hologram to a face that made the other founders groan. "As a lord of chaos, I'm always welcoming to those with an eccentric side. I know he's a bit... occupied right now, but when he's back on his feet, I propose we give The Joker the respect he deserves."
A resounding "No." came from the other four.
"But what if-"
"NO."
"Oh, fine. None of you are any fun, anyway." Klarion pouted and snapped his fingers, cutting the connection.
Queen Bee turned to the remaining founder. "Ra's? who have you brought for us?"
The projection in front of them changed to a familiar face.
"Ocean-Master? Have you forgotten his disgrace?"
Ra's voiced his defense. "Of course not. He is expendable, no different from before. With Manta imprisoned in Atlantis we could use an eye on the inside. Someone else familiar with opposition to their King." The others remained silent in thought, and he continued. "Once we find a way to bring Manta back, if we choose to reinstate him, we throw Ocean-Master aside. This time we can refrain from leaving him alive."
Vandal Savage sighed. "This proposition should require further deliberation. As do all of our candidates. It is time we move on to the next matter. One you, Ra's, will have to pay close attention to."
GOTHAM CITY
DECEMBER 11, 18:09
"Ocean-Master?"
The villain grinned and spun his trident. "You sound surprised."
Guardian knelt to help up Jaime, and Batgirl eyed up the Atlantean. "To be fair, this isn't exactly your forte." She looked around at the scattered straw. "Whatever the hell this is."
Ocean-Master began to walk menacingly towards the heroes. "I'd argue points for creativity. But," his trident started to glow. "I'll spare you the villainous monologue."
Batgirl dodged quickly right, escaping the burn of blue energy that tore through the room. Bumblebee took off towards their attacker, and Barbara tossed batarangs in his direction. Ocean-Master swatted them down and growled with pain as Karen stung the side of his head. Bumblebee weaved around his head, shooting sparks at his helmet. Jolting forward, he thrust his head into her, sending her plummeting to the floor.
"Oh, hell no you didn't!" Guardian left Blue Beetle and charged Ocean-Master, dodging a blast. He swung at the Atlantean, and the two traded blows. Ocean-Master caught Guardian's punch, and twisted his hand. He leaned in close.
"Oh, hell yes, I did." With a laugh, he backhanded Mal with his trident, sending him sprawling on the floor.
Batgirl looked up from her spot by the door, trying to get it open. "Blue, cover me!"
"Got it!" Jaime yelled, constructing a plasma cannon and firing it at Ocean-Master, his blast meeting with the Atlantean power of his trident's. The colliding forces lit up the room, and it was blinding.
"It doesn't look like you have much time, girl!" Ocean-Master shouted over the energy. As the light filled the room, a thin cloud of gas became visible. Barbara looked over her shoulder at the scarecrow, laying limp on the floor. Shit. Ocean-Master smirked as he noticed her gaze. "Getting it now? Not just any Scarecrow. The Scarecrow." Barbara turned back to the door, her vision hazing. Darkness crept at the edges of her vision, like black claws tearing back her grip on consciousness. She became aware of Jaime growing weaker next to her, and she wondered if it was the gas somehow creeping through the Scarab's protection. His knees buckled, and the trident's energy overpowered him, sending him back to the ground.
Batgirl rolled over, only just realizing she was on the ground as well, and saw Ocean-Master walking to her. Next to him was a man, one she had seen before. It was Crane. She tried to speak, but words never found their way to her mouth. She watched with dread as Crane looked at her, and put on a mask. A Scarecrow mask. The villain wasn't only here, he was Crane. It was a trap.
A familiar yet haunting feeling began to rise up in Barbara's chest. Fear. Fear was there. Fear was everywhere. Fear was all she felt.
So there's part 1 of "Fear". Lots of things starting to come into motion here, so watch out for the next chapter. What's next for Dick and Artemis? Will Alpha Squad find a way to combat fear? And just what are those dastardly Light guys up to? Find out in "Fear pt. 2"! And, as always, remember to Read, Review, and Recommend!
Yours, TheHer0
