Oh my gosh! So sorry for the long wait between updates! I've been on a roll writing this story and it completely slipped my mind that I kind of had to post it too...(blushes in embarrassment). So anyway, finished writing this story and have already started the sequel. For continuity's sake I'll still post in chapters so it doesn't look like a word vomit. :)

Shout out to: Jasmine Nightshade and Robin For Life! The only one's to coment on the past four chapters! You guys are amazing! (::) x 50 for both of you! (and thanks for showing me how to make the cookie symbol (::)! :)

ENJOY!

"Where are they?"

Diana leaned forward in her seat, peering over Batman's shoulder at the screens in the Bat Plane's cockpit. She could see the data on the screens, but the one screen she desperately wanted to see information on was disconcertingly blank.

There were no colored blips on the tracer screen.

"I don't know." The dark knight answered grimly. The fingers of his left hand were flying across one of several keyboards, causing data to stream across several screens.

He was searching for Robin, that much she could tell, but that was all. Computers and technology had never been her strong suite. She only understood the raw basics.

Meaning most of the data on the screens was meaningless to her.

"Why aren't their com's working?" she asked, deciding to ask a question he was more likely to have an answer for.

The dark knight remained silent, and for a long moment she didn't think that he was going to answer. But at length he finally did. "A computer virus managed to infiltrate the com systems for the team. I've already set the leagues computers on it they're tracking the origins of it. The com links will be up again in a couple hours at the latest. But in the meantime, I can't track the team through their individual com's."

Diana bit her lip, looking out the window at the glittering city of Gotham below them. The city was massive. "Is there another way to track Robin? Or any of the team?"

Again the silence.

Again the eventual answer.

"Possibly."

A low groan rumbled in the tunnels.

The hyena's eyes flickered open to utter darkness. She slowly rose. Her legs were shaky, but she could stand.

She could move.

She wasn't entirely certain what had happened, it was beyond her understanding. But she was fairly certain she was still in the sewers. She flicked her ears uncertainly, listening for any sounds out of the ordinary.

She could hear water dripping and flowing nearby. Those nasty little nibblers were squeaking off in the distance. Some of them were doing a bit of their perpetual gnawing a little closer at hand.

The hyena gave a soft laugh.

There had been times where her pack mate had been unable to provide food for himself, let alone her. On such occasions, she'd been the one to provide a meal. Those pesky little nibblers could be quite tasty!

Especially when he took them out of their skins and held them over the heat that crackled!

She licked her lips at the memory. She'd never really cared for plants before, but again he had shown her those could be tasty too in his hands!

The hyena's head suddenly shot up. Her pack mate!

Memory of the water crackling and turning white came back. Of her furless friend, and those other two legs he seemed to want to bring into the pack, screaming in pain. She remembered the pain. And she remembered her pack mate talking to her…

His instructions.

She bared her teeth and started scenting, searching the air for her missing friend. She didn't like taking orders. It went against her nature. But she trusted his instructions. She trusted him.

There.

She started moving, placing her paws carefully in the murk. Her powerful nose and sensitive ears would guide her through the dark tunnels more surely than any of her friends magic devices. She would find her pack mate. The hyena snapped her jaws, her teeth clicking together in the silence.

Those two legs would feel her bite if he'd been hurt!

M'Gann gazed around, wide eyed, as she followed the men and children who had taken her friends.

The sewer walls had been broken down here, the tunnel expanded into a sort of cavern. The tunnels were lit here, though the lighting was yellowy, and very dim. The floor of the cavern to her left appeared to have been turned over and planted.

Recently.

She could see more children out there in that makeshift field near the back. That part hadn't been worked over yet. The kids back there had old shovels, hoes and other hand held tools. They were hard at work turning over the soil, the smallest and youngest kids pushing the seeds into the soil while the older ones wielded the tools.

They were all dressed in much the same fashion as the ones currently dragging her teammates. But some of these kids showed a few modern touches. This one had a stocking cap, that one wore jeans, or another had tennis shoes. Several of the children had shoes, sandals for the most part. But not all of them. Some only had one shoe. Many were completely barefoot.

Remembering how some of her teammates complained about the mountains cold floors when they were barefoot, M'Gann pitied these children.

They slipped into a hallway, this one scrupulously clean. As they passed, two small girls silently scurried from a side passage to clean up the filthy trail left behind by the wooden sleds.

They turned into another corridor, and at the end of it they entered a large concrete room. A sort of raised dais was at one end, with a couple doors behind it. A slender balcony wrapped around the room above them, surrounded by a metal railing.

Sitting in a massive wooden chair on the dais was a man M'Gann could only assume was the mastermind behind the kidnappings.

Like the children, he was dressed in old school clothing. Dark brown pants, fancy white dress shirt, long brown coat with the lacy ends of the shirt sleeves sticking out, and a rich red cape with a high collar. He wore boots that M'Gann could only describe as pirate boots, and carried a wooden staff. His black hair was shaggy and unkempt, and he wore a set of thick rimmed black glasses with the left eye blanked out, like an eye patch.

The man slowly rose as they entered, keen eye going over the prisoners. "Why have you brought me these?" he asked irritably, his voice of a high, almost nasal quality that M'Gann found annoying.

The implied arrogance in that voice grated on her nerves.

"These are the ones who were snoopin' around." The short one grumbled, sending an almost negligent kick at one of the sleds and nailing Kid Flash in the shoulder. He seemed to've taken a dislike to the red headed speedster. "Ya said you wanted any intruders who got too close to be brought to you to be dealt with."

"I know what I said, yes, yes, yes. I do." The man answered, waiving his hand carelessly. He stepped down off of his dais to get a closer look at the team. He seemed almost gleeful as he stared down at the different faces and the insignia on their uniforms.

"We can find a use for these children. Yes, yes, yes, we can!" he murmured thoughtfully. To the short man he added. "Put them with the other naughty children, and make sure they cannot escape."

The adults nodded and orders were given to the children to drag the sleds and their cargo from the room and into "the holding cells". M'Gann chewed her lip, debating. Should she stay with her friends?

Or should she try and learn more about this man and whatever it was he was up to?

"Possible? How?" Diana asked leaning forward again to peer over Batman's shoulder into the cockpit again.

The dark knight didn't answer, continuing to simultaneously type in commands to the computer and pilot the Bat Plane at the same time.

He finished inputting whatever data into the computer and returned his hand to the controls.

"Computer. Voice recognition. Code in: Găsiți Inima mea. Access Code: În al treilea rând de zbor Grayson."

Diana frowned, unable to place the language the dark knight was using. She had heard him use this strange language on a couple other occasions, but only ever with Robin. He was the only other person she'd ever heard speak it.

But, after a moment the computer's voice spoke and the red blip appeared on the screen.

Access. Granted. Initialize. Tracking device. Engaged. Displaying location. Robin.

"He's in the sewers. And he's not moving." Batman growled, the leather of his gloves creaking as his grip tightened on the controls. He banked the Bat Plane to the left.

"Can you tell if he's hurt?" Diana asked anxiously.

Batman shook his head. "He's not hurt. Not yet. He's either in surveillance mode or captured."

"Captured?" Diana repeated. "Captured by who?"

"The Sewer King."

"Uhhg….Anyone catch the license plate on that semi truck?"

Artemis rolled her eyes at the newly awakened speedster. "Yep. We saw it all. It mowwed you down and we chased after it and pulled it over. We got the license and registration and everything. Driver's due in court next Tuesday."

Wally gave her an annoyed look. "Ha ha. Very funny." He looked around at his surroundings. "So…anyone know where we are?"

The others sighed and shook their heads.

They were in a small room with brick and concrete walls. Each team member had been shackled to the wall at the wrists. And each had either regained consciousness or was in the process of it.

A laugh came from the other side of the room. There were two boys chained to the wall across from the team. One was a short boy of twelve or thirteen with blonde hair. The other was older, possessing the same facial features and brown hair as Thomas. This had to be Tony. It was the blonde who had laughed.

"You" he said. "are in the domain of the Sewer King."

"I didn't know the old maniac was inducting super hero side kicks into the ranks of his 'beloved children'." Tony chuckled.

"We're not sidekicks." Artemis growled.

Tony raised his eyebrows. "No? Then what would you call yourself? Because as far as I can see, sidekick's the only word that really applies."

"Let them alone Tony, they aren't sidekicks." Coyote groaned from his spot along the wall behind a still unconscious Conner.

Tony jumped, then leaned forward with a completely shocked look on his face. "Coyote? How on earth did the Sewer King catch you?"

Coyote made a face. "By surprise." Looking past Conner to Kaldur, he asked. "Are we still linked?"

The Atlantian shook his head. "I do not know. It is entirely possible the link was severed when we all lost consciousness. Miss Martian would be required to establish a new link."

I can do that. M'Gann stated silently into their minds. She was still invisible, hovering above their heads near the door.

Then do it. A newly awakened Robin grumbled silently in her direction, knowing she would hear him.

In situations like this she didn't pry, but she was especially mindful of the louder thoughts of her teammates. Her teammates weren't telepathic. But after prolonged exposure to her telepathy and frequent use of the psychic link they'd gotten the knack of "shouting" their thoughts.

Link established.

Oh. Joy. Coyote groaned silently. So glad to have the Martian mental chick's voice in my head again. As if it isn't crowded enough in here already!

Zatanna leaned forward, a worried look on her face. Granted, they'd only heard Coyote's psychic voice a few times very recently, but his voice had sounded odd to her ears this time around.

"Coyote? ..Are you ok?"

"Huh?" Coyote frowned, and M'Gann was surprised to feel genuine surprise and confusion coming from him. "Mm…Yeah, Zee. I'm fine. It's just another blasted headache. Our bout with the electro shock therapy didn't help."

Robin snorted. "I'll bet!"

Miss Martian, Superboy has yet to awaken. Is there anything you can do for him? Kaldur asked silently. He was pulling on his chains, testing the strength of them.

"Don't bother, Billy and I have been here for who knows how long. Those chains are good and solid." Tony said sadly.

It would only take a minutes work to wake him. M'Gann answered silently at almost the same moment. I can…Someone's coming!

The team froze. Coyote straitened, and the others could tell that he was listening and smelling for their captors. "I can hear them." He said aloud for the boys benefit. "Tony, any ideas what's going on?"

Miss Martian, keep Superboy unconscious until my signal. Our captors are more likely to let their guard down around an unconscious prisoner. Kaldur thought grimly.

Tony snorted. "Probably parade you in chains in front of his 'beloved children'." He answered. "It's a sort of warning to the kids. Behave, do exactly as he says or you'll be punished. You'll end up like these 'poor, unfortunate, naughty boys'." He made a disgusted face. "Lately he's been using us as leverage. Behave, or the naughty boys will go play with the 'pretty pets'."

"Pets?" Wally asked.

Robin nodded. "Batman busted the Sewer King a while back. If I remember right, and if he holds true to pattern, the Sewer King keeps a series of tame alligators as pets. Perfect way to keep little kids intimidated, and get rid of unwanted guests."

"How horrible!" Zatanna exclaimed.

Billy gave a half hearted shrug. "Maybe, but as far as the Sewer king and his temporary hired muscle are concerned, it works."

A key rattled in the lock, and all fell silent. The same men as before entered the room. One by one, each heroes shackles were released from the wall and attached to a longer chain. How they were detached, they couldn't tell.

Additional shackles were clipped around Wally's ankles to hobble him.

They must not know how my power works. Zatanna thought at the others, careful to hide her grin. Otherwise they would've been careful to gag me!

Could you open these shackles when the time comes? Wally asked, making a face at the frustration of being hobbled.

Zatanna bit her lip as Artemis was attached to the chain behind her. Maybe, but I might not get them all at once.

I can get my own. Robin answered from his spot a couple teens ahead of her. And once Superboy's free he can at least break the chains. You'll still have chain hanging from your wrists but you'll have you hands free.

He chuckled silently. The fact you can use chains as a weapon is a plus.

Kaldur nodded as he was attached to the end of the line. Very well. Robin will free himself. Zatanna, when you cast your spell make sure that Kid Flash's hobbles are one of those that open. It would be easy to trip over them if Superboy were to simply snap the chain and leave it attached.

The teens silently watched as Conner was once again loaded into one of the sleds by the children. Once the boy of steel was in the sled the short man grabbed the beginning of the chain and gave it a vicious yank, making the team stumble forward.

" 'aright you brats! Get movin'! Can't keep the Sewer King waitin'!"

Billy and Tony watched the team shuffled past from their place against the wall, still shackled there.

"Good luck." Billy murmured, casting a nervous look at the guard. He might be a 'naughty boy', but he still wasn't supposed to talk.

Tony nodded. "Good luck." He agreed.

Coyote grinned. "Don't worry, we'll try not to become alligator appetizers!"

Lol, will update as soon as possible!

Review! I need's the support!

Until next time...