A/N: Last chapter :( It has been a great ride guys! This chapter, I believe, is a great way to wrap this up in a way for me to pick things back up in the sequel. I don't think I put in too much language this cchapter...Um...I own nothing.
Oh yeah, at the end there is a sort of back and forth of past to present. I hope it isn't too confusing.
I'd like to thank everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed, or simply enjoyed this story!
The last Review Responses:
Miss Dunkelbunt: Thank you so much for submitting a review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Also, don't worry, for I have developed a plotline for the sequel!
mixxi: Aw, thanks for saying complimenting the descriptions! And thanks for being a constant reviewer throughout the story! I appreciate the feedback! :D
kuromi123: Looking back, I noticed that you reviewed almost if not every chapter. Thanks a bunch for being so dedicated! You're suggestions were actually very helpful. I'm not going to spoil anything, but they did lead to me thinking up certain elements that are going to be in the next story! Once again, thanks a ton for being such a wonderful reader!
AvenJackel: I was very surprised, and highly pleased, to read your review. It was so positive and everytime I look at it I smile. Bonus points for saying awesome ^^ Thank you for the super awesom review!
Chapitre time!
Yes, I did spell chapter like that on purpose.
Chapter 10- Dawn
The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.
―Jim Rohn
"You sure you're ready?" Jason asked Dick, putting on his helmet as he carefully watched his brother.
Dick nodded, "It's been close to five months, I'm positive I'm ready."
"You still have nightmares."
"So do you."
"Touché."
"In all honesty Jay, I need this. I've been going stir crazy just hanging around the apartment."
Jason appraised his younger brother. Finally he nodded and ruffled the younger boy's hair. "I understand," he said, and with a glare added "But know this; I'm gonna be keeping a close eye on you."
Dick chuckled. "I expected nothing less," he said as he fixed his messed up hair.
"Sorry to ruin your little love fest," Arsenal, aka Roy Harper's third alias, spoke up from where he and Cheshire were by the window of the apartment, "But that arms shipment isn't going to wait all night for us to get there. We all know how cranky Hood gets when he doesn't get new toys, so can we please get a move on?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Jason, now decked out as the Red Hood, said nonchalantly, "Oh, here's your mask kid. Know what we're gonna call you yet?"
"Nothing has sounded right so far; I'll tell you when I know. Now come on, I haven't stopped an arms deal since leaving Gotham!" the overly excited fifteen-year-old Dick Grayson exclaimed. He was wearing a suit similar to his Renegade outfit, except in the places where that one had been red, this one was blue. When asked about it, Dick had explained that Renegade was a part of who he was now; he couldn't just completely toss out that part of his life (despite how much he secretly wanted to). He also added that where Renegade had worn red, which Dick had associated with the blood of the lives he'd ruined, his new suit had blue, because according to him, that color had a lot of symbolism that related to his new persona. Freedom, strength, new beginnings, protection…That, and he really liked blue.
Arsenal looked at the masked teen and said, "I think we should set some ground rules before we let you do this Dick. As this is your first hero gig in a while, I think it'd be best if you….Shit! That little-"
"Watch your language Harper!" Red Hood interrupted in amusement, getting ready to grapple after his brother who'd taken off during Arsenal's attempted rule giving.
"That kid spends way too much time with you, I swear, each time I see him he does something else that- Oh for the love of God! He was right there!" Following his brother's example, Red Hood had taken off while Arsenal was talking.
Cheshire just shrugged, "Did you expect him to hang about? Come on, I've got a target, Hood needs some toys, and the kid has to create a name for himself."
"He needs to pick a name first," Arsenal muttered under his breath, "By the way, why am I doing this? Cheshire?" Looking around, the archer once again found the person he'd been talking to gone.
"Is it that hard to just say goodbye?" the exasperated red-head asked as he readied an arrow to zip line from, "I swear some people have no manners."
"You sure you're ready?" Wally asked Kaldur as they walked down the halls of Mount Justice.
"Yes. I believe so," the Atlantian responded.
"Dude, it's okay to be nervous. I mean, after today you're going to be leading, like, ten people."
"And the number will only continue to grow as time goes on."
"Exactly!" the speedster exclaimed, "So, how're you feeling about all of this?"
"Honestly, I am…anxious," Kaldur admitted, "Up until this team formed, I was a soldier. Now, I am a leader. The transition has been unexpected, if not difficult. I do not know if I am ready, or if I will ever be ready, to lead the number of aspiring heroes we are expecting to recruit in the near future."
"Kal, you're going to do fine! Sure, you're going to make mistakes, but you're only human. Er…Atlantian. You're not perfect, nobody is. The fact that you have doubts though makes me confident that you're the right man, er…Atlantian, for the job. If you felt perfectly fine then I'd be worried."
"But what if I fail? I have already failed once…"
"Dude, he was with Batman when he-"
"That is not what I was referring to," Kaldur interrupted, "When I made the decision to leave him behind, I made him feel insignificant. I made him question his place on this team."
"We decided to leave him Kal. It was a group decision, not just yours. And sure, he probably felt confused and angry, but wanna know something about Rob? He always believed in you. So do I, and the others, they all believe in you."
"You are surprisingly good at calming nerves Wally," Kaldur noted.
"Yeah," the speedster said sheepishly, "I've had a lot of practice with Artemis."
"And how are things with the two of you?"
"Same as always, I eat, she snaps, we argue, I eat, we argue some more, I eat, she rolls her eyes, I do something stupid, she laughs, I laugh, we make up, I eat some more."
"Do you not get tired of arguing so much?"
"You kidding? It makes everything more exciting. Besides, our arguments are usually dumb anyway and we know it. We just like trying to outwit each other."
"That is…good to hear?"
Silence ascended the pair as they continued walking down the halls. It was odd how, in the time since the first Robin's death and Red Arrow's fall from grace, Wally and Kaldur had gotten closer together. Now the only two sidekicks (partners) remaining from the original four, the two vigilantes were the only link the other had to the good ol' days. When Robin was cackling and disappearing. When Roy would throw a hissy fit, but still be there for his friends, his brothers. When Kid Flash was crashing into doors and getting on the Batman's nerves. When Kaldur's job was following orders and not making his own.
In the good ol' days, they were still children. Young, inexperienced, eager to please, eager to learn, and eager to fight the good fight. In the good ol' days they were invincible. They were protected, and sure, they knew they could get hurt, maybe even die, but it was in the back of their minds. In the good ol' days, the responsibility fell to the mentors.
Now, they were growing up. Their lives were falling apart around them, their friends were going rogue, or dying, and they found themselves surrounded by new faces, new battles, and new responsibilities. Responsibilities that, as fledgling heroes, they never imagined being so stressful, never even imagined falling to them before they got old like their mentors. That was probably the underlying message.
They were growing up.
They were the future.
The past was in the past, the present was now, and the future was what they were looking towards.
That was the reason behind the announcement Aqualad made later that day, as he stood before the Team. His team.
"I would like to introduce you to four new members of Young Justice. Meet Tempest, Aquagirl, Cyborg, and Outburst."
"You sure you're ready?" a now sixteen year old Dick Grayson asked cockily, eskrima sticks grasped in each hand.
"Are you?" Jason asked irritably before attacking again.
Dick just smiled and let the elder charge, then at the last possible second he ducked down while jabbing the eskrima stick in his left hand into Jason's gut. Winded, and a bit vexed, Jason stumbled backwards and pulled out his collapsible bo staff.
This was their third round of sparring that night, the previous two of which Dick had won. It appeared as though, however unpleasant, his training with Deathstroke was really paying off. Now, the not so young anymore ex-Boy Wonder was able to exhibit three styles of fighting. The finesse, meant to incapacitate but not seriously harm, style of Batman. The more street like, choppy, and yet somehow still honed and professional style of Red Hood. The strict, calculated, sharp, meant to seriously harm and kill, style of Deathstroke.
All good, all effective, and all dangerous.
Jason was pinned again.
"You know what?" the twenty one year old anti-hero asked as his little brother pulled him up, "Screw you."
Dick rolled his eyes behind his mask, "You're just a sore loser."
Jason extended his middle finger.
"Now that's just rude Jay," the ever so common voice of Roy Harper said as he appeared on the other side of their typical sparring building.
"The cocky little bastard deserved it," muttered Jason.
"Why?"
"He's just upset he lost," taunted the seriously pressing his luck Dick as he put away the eskrima sticks.
Roy examined Dick, he hadn't seen the kid for about a month now (he and Jason were another story, seeing as they crossed paths on occasion during their extracurricular activities) and he was surprised to find that the kid couldn't actually be called a kid anymore. Now about half an inch shorter than Jason, Dick could no longer be considered small for his age. His face had lost all remaining bits of baby fat as well as that naïve innocence that was always reflected in his eyes, now he had that mischievous "I'm up to no good" spark that most teenagers have.
It's only been a month, Roy thought in slight shock at the young man his figurative little brother was turning into, he was probably like this before and I hadn't noticed yet.
"Roy?" Dick's voice, and hand waving in front of his face, brought the archer out of his thoughts.
"Sorry," the red-head apologized, "What'd you want?"
"I asked if you could help me modify the motorcycle I bought last week."
"Oh sure, what do you want me to do with it? New paint job? New engine? Fix something?"
Dick smirked, eyes alight, as though he had a secret that only he knew about, "Something like that."
Roy looked towards Jason in confusion, the other young man just shrugged nonchalantly, while fiddling with his handgun.
"Bats…" was all the archer said before taking off. He was not going to catch the crazy that all members of the Batfamily seemed to have.
"You sure you're ready?" a smiling Bruce Wayne asked his ward, nine year old Richard Grayson.
"I've been looking forward to today for ages! Of course I'm ready!" the boy exclaimed, bouncing in excitement, "I can't wait to meet the Superman! It's going to be so cool!"
"And living with the Batman isn't cool?" the billionaire asked with a mischievous smirk.
Dick's eyes widened, "Of course it's cool Bruce! There's no way this Kent guy can be any cooler than you!"
"You sure you're ready?"
"Yeah, it's what I've been preparing for."
"You got a name yet?"
"I've been thinking about it, and I believe I do."
"Dick, this is Clark Kent. He's-"
"Superman!" young Dick exclaimed, interrupting Bruce's introduction, "Wow, you're wearing glasses! Is that for your secret ID? It's not real good, is it? Has Lois figured it out yet? Do you know who Bruce is? Wait, yes you do! He told me you do! Isn't Batman like, the coolest hero you know, not counting yourself? Are you really from Krypton? Are you and the Flash really special friends like that magazine said?"
"That's enough Dick," Bruce said hastily, before Dick could ask the Man of Steel anymore inappropriate questions.
"It's fine Bruce," Clark said in amusement, "The boy's just curious."
"Dick, remember what I told you earlier?" the billionaire asked his ward, ignoring the other man's careless handling of such a profane question.
"Oh yeah! Sorry Mr. Kent. I'm only supposed to ask one question at a time," Dick apologized.
"It's fine, so what do you want to know first?"
The boy's face scrunched in concentration. He wanted to ask a real good question, after all, it wasn't everyday you met Superman for the first time. In the end, he settled for, "Do you know any stories from Krypton?"
Clark tilted his head in puzzlement, boys of Dick's age had never asked him that before. With a shrug, the Kryptonian knelt down to the boy's height and said, "I may know one."
"Really? What's it about?"
"Really? What is it?"
"It's about two heroes. They went by the names of Flamebird and-"
"Nightwing."
A/N: The end! Fini! Over! Fin!
Don't fret! In a month, or two...or three... the sequel will be up! Huzzah! In it, most, if not all, questions shall be answered!
For example: Will the others find out Dick is alive? What did Deathstroke do to mentally screw up Dick so badly? Will Deathstroke return? What characters will I bring in?
SPOILER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW, SKIP THIS!
Three characters that I will definately have are:
1. Starfire
2. Joker (he was mentioned, but I never specifically wrote him in this one)
3. Tarantula
If you don't recognize someone (most likely Tarantula) look them up. Just be warned, it might spoil something I'm doing, but since this is an AU created from my mind, nothing will be the exact same.
OK, SPOILERS ARE OVER!
Thanks you for reading and I hope you all enjoyed the story! I also hope you all check out the sequel. I'll probably post something in here before it comes out to pump you all up.
Bye!