Disclaimer: DC owns my soul and, by extension, everyone that isn't an OC in this story.
AN: Sorry for the long delay between updates. School and real life caught up to me faster than I thought it would. School's going to be done soon, so I should have more time to work on this story. Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Desert Storm
As Sylvia, Alan, and the others materialized, the two things that struck Sylvia were the intense heat and the miles of desolate scrub of the desert. So we're doing some counterterroism stuff, Sylvia thought as she surveyed the scene around her. In the distance she could see what looked like a town. Hurricane saw where Sylvia was looking and nodded.
"So greenie, you see our target," she said approvingly. "Good. You might last longer than our last one. We had to send him back after one mission for incompetence. They don't make greenies like they used to." Sylvia winced inwardly at the memory of Jake Lewis. She hadn't liked Jake very much, but she still felt bad for him when he had been discharged in disgrace after his first mission. To have trained for so many years, and then to be sent back for incompetence was horrible. To make matters worse, no one had seen him since he had been let go by the League. Sylvia silently resolved that Jake's fate wouldn't happen to her before trying to get her focus back on the mission at hand.
"Everyone listen up," ordered Shock as the team gathered around him. "This is a small strike mission and needs to be conducted with absolute secrecy. The President wants to avoid another international incident with those damn UN folks who don't understand the word 'national security.' Understand greenies?" Both Alan and Sylvia nodded.
"Good," Shock continued. "Zoom, you're going to go around the perimeter and make sure all the guards are taken care of. After that, return here and make sure that no one else approaches. Tornado," he said pointing at Sylvia, "you're with us. Our job is to destroy this base. If casualties happen, don't worry about them. We are here to protect our country, not to worry about if the terrorists live or die." Sylvia nodded.
"Let's go. That's enough with briefing the greenies. If they don't get it right, then it's their fault, not ours for not briefing them enough," urged Warhawk, who was gripping her mace eagerly and was full of nervous energy. At the nods from both Shock and Hurricane, Warhawk shot up into the sky and began streaking towards the camp, a wide grin on her face.
"Shock, you're with me," said Hurricane, sounding resigned as she held out her hand to her fellow leader. Shock took the proffered hand just as reluctantly as his partner held it out. "Zoom, get going. Tornado, come with us," she ordered as she rose up into the air with Shock gripping her hand. After a brief smile at Alan, Sylvia rose up into the sky to follow the rest of her team.
Out of everything that she had learned to do in the League in order to channel her powers, Sylvia loved flying the best. There was something awe-inspiring being able to see the world as gods may see it, being able to see the larger tapestry instead of the individual bits and pieces. Reluctantly, she reined herself in and followed her leaders. She would much rather just fly for the fun of it rather than flying for a mission. Today's perfect for flying, though Sylvia as she glided from thermal to thermal.
Sylvia squinted, so as to get a better look at their target. It really didn't look that much like the terrorist cells she had seen in the training clips, but maybe that was the point. Maybe the terrorists had adapted and were now looking like an ordinary village.
"Tornado, use you wind powers to knock down buildings," came a voice in Sylvia's ear. Sylvia nodded to herself and started to power up. Now was the time to show that she truly belonged in the League! Turning, she started to unleash the miniature tornados she could command at will, turning them lose on an assortment of buildings in her path. From the corner of her eye, she could barely catch the blur that was Alan; the swooping Warhawk gleefully smashing things with her mace; Hurricane unleashing hail the size of watermelons and throwing them at structures; and Shock actually going into a building to fight the terrorists.
Chastising herself quickly for getting distracted by her teammates' actions, Sylvia turned her attention back on what she was doing, just as one of her tornados lifted the roof off of one of the huts. Looking inside, instead of seeing the cash of guns like she expected, all she could see was the terrified gaze of a little girl and her baby brother. Her mother was lying beside them, unconscious.
Oh my God, Sylvia thought, horrified as she gazed upon the scene before her. These aren't terrorists were attacking. We're attacking civilians. Before she knew what she was doing, Sylvia grabbed up the family in a whirlwind and gently dumped them outside of the town, using her winds to create a shield of debris to protect her from the view of the other team members.
Sylvia started using her tornados again, but not as destructively as before. She tried to do as much external damage to the buildings as she could without actually injuring the people inside. It took all of her control to keep using her powers instead of simply flying off and facing the consequences of her actions. By the time Hurricane had contacted her and told her that the mission was over, Sylvia was relieved. She didn't know how much longer she could keep up the illusion of destructiveness any longer.
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"…I'm telling you Alan, they were civilians. There was no way they were terrorists," Sylvia told Alan as they wandered the Capitol Mall a few days after the mission in the last days of a golden summer. During the time between arriving back at base and now, Sylvia had tried her best to convince Alan to believe what she had seen during their first mission. So far, he was still unconvinced.
"As far as you know they could have been terrorists in training. You're just going off your emotions Sylvia and you know how dangerous that can be." Alan rubbed his temples. Sylvia had been prating on and on about what she had supposedly seen. All of this nagging was starting to give him a headache. He turned to face the Lincoln Memorial before addressing Sylvia.
"Sylvia, it's not that I don't trust you. I'd trust you with my life. But I'm afraid that if I take your statement for what it is, I don't know what I'd do."
"So you don't want to believe me because your afraid that this could turn your life around in a way you hadn't planned is that it?" Sylvia demanded, hurt showing in her eyes. "I never took you for a coward before Alan, but I guess I was wrong." With that, Sylvia stalked away. Before she was completely out of earshot, however, she turned around and yelled at Alan, "What would the Flash think if he saw you like this Alan?" With that parting shot, she walked into the bustling city, leaving Alan thinking on the steps of the Capitol for a good, long while.
Why doesn't he believe me? Sylvia thought for the hundredth time as she looked on the animals in the Smithsonian Zoo. Whenever she needed time to think, and if she didn't feel like flying, she came here. The animals were always so peaceful; nothing ever seemed to disturb them. The otters were her favorite. They always seemed so playful and happy with life. Normally, watching the otters for a half-hour or so would calm Sylvia down and make her view things in perspective again, but she had been here for two hours now and the zoo was going to close soon. With a sigh, she got up and made her way back to the base.
When she entered, she found everyone in a state of organized chaos. Everyone was moving around and talking about something. Sylvia ignored all of this and made her way to her room. Her room was small, with only enough room for a bed, closet, desk and a small bookshelf. If she wanted to use a computer, she had to go to the communal library on base.
Maybe they do that to keep us isolated and monitor what we learn on the news, Sylvia though cynically as she lay down on her bed. She had never really questioned her life as a League member before, but after seeing those terrified faces, she had started to question everything.
Sylvia had been born in Oakland, to a family that had lost members to gang warfare. When Sylvia had started to demonstrate the ability to control the wind at a young age, her frightened mother had turned her over to the government, afraid of what would happen if her daughter got into the hands of one of the local gangs.
Sylvia had arrived at the training squadron as a young, frightened child who had never been out of the city she had been born in before. Almost instantly, she and Alan had gravitated to the other, in partly because they were the only minorities in the room at the time. By the time the first month of training was over, they were fast friends, despite their different backgrounds.
Alan had grown up in a large Chinese family in Seattle, where he was the only son. Unlike Sylvia, Alan's family had been ordered to send their only son to training. Alan had come reluctantly at first but now he thought of the base as his only real home, with trips to visit his family as a painful reminder of what he could never truly have.
Sylvia groaned. That might be why Alan was so hesitant to accept what she had seen. He was afraid that by accepting it, he would lose a home for the second time. Sylvia, although she would rather not have to leave, knew that there was no way she could stay here after what she had seen. What to do, what to do? Sylvia pondered. Before she could reach a concrete decision, her communicator went off, summoning her to the Armory for another mission.
