Author's Note: Hey, I'm sorry this took so long. I've been really busy lately. Anyway, I don't want to keep you. This one is based off the episode "Failsafe." Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: None of these things (not including Des) are mine. Not even close.

Chapter Fifteen

Higher Purpose

As the alien spacecraft fired its final beam, Batman joined the rest of the League in ashes. The screen faded away, and was replaced by an incoming transmission from Zatara.

"Tornado… did you—" he began, but the android cut him off.

"Yes, Zatara," he said. He stood facing the monitor, his back to the team, who were still processing what they had just witnessed. A fleet of hostile aliens, who in a matter of minutes ripped a good portion out of the Justice League. Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, both Green Lanterns. Not to mention Superman and Batman. "We saw. Celestial defenses have failed. Initiate all terrestrial measures." Zatara nodded.

"Affirmative, see you in the field," and with that, the screen faded away as well. Red Tornado turned to face the team.

"I must join the League," he informed the teens. "We will protect the planet at all costs. But should we fail, the responsibility falls to you." The team exchanged solemn glances, all realizing the same thing. It was true what Tornado had said; soon responsibility will fall to them. The fate of the world rested on the League's shoulders, but it may prove to be too heavy of a burden. Despite the impending doom, Aqualad took a step forward.

"We stand ready," he proclaimed boldly.

XxXxX

For the next hour, the team was glued to the monitors in the Mission Room. They hoped and prayed that the Justice League, the mightiest heroes on Earth, would defeat this foe. But they watched as heroes fell, one by one, all over the world. Flash and Zatara in Central City. Green Arrow, Black Canary, Hawkman and Hawkwoman in Taipei. Wonder Woman in Smallville. Red Tornado fought on in the small Kansas town, radioing in to the cave suddenly.

"Red Tornado to Cave," the transmission said. "I fear I am all that remains of the League." They watched him fight on for a few more seconds, before a blast from one of the ships hit him from behind, and he was vaporized, like all the rest. There was a moment of silence in the Mission Room, as they let it sink in. Once again, it was Aqualad who spoke up.

"We are Earth's heroes now," he informed the others. Superboy seemed angry. Possibly due to the sudden death of his "father."

"So what're we waiting for, a theme song?" he inquired aggressively.

"A strategy," Aqualad corrected him. He had snapped into leader mode. But now he was so much more than the leader of Young Justice. He was the leader of Earth's last line of defense. "Earth weapons are ineffective, and it has been made tragically clear a direct attack will not succeed."

"Then what do you propose?" asked Desmond. Robin began typing into his holographic computer.

"Checking satellite imagery…" A large holo-globe appeared in the middle of the room. It showed various sections of red clusters, most likely signifying where the aliens were focusing on. "Here's where the aliens are now." Superboy walked up.

"This one get lost?" he asked, pointing to a red dot far north, in the Arctic. Robin seemed surprised.

"That's Superman's Fortress of Solitude," he said. Superboy raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?" he asked incredulously. He almost sounded jealous. Robin ignored the question, and continued with his reasoning.

"Its power source must have attracted the alien's attention," he stated. "At least enough to send a scout ship to investigate. Superboy took a few steps away, seeming to be angry.

"Must be some fortress…" he mumbled. M'gann went to console him. "No, it's okay. I guess there's a lot about Superman I'll never know. Uh, you know, now."

"We will target this lone ship," said Aqualad, beginning to strategize.

"Yeah," said Kid Flash, getting into a combination of angry and excited. "Break it down. Build more. Hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo!" Artemis gave him a smack on the arm. She whispered angrily,

"Martian and Kryptonian in the house." Wally looked sheepishly at them, and tried to muster a laugh.

"Uh…" he tried. "Not that all aliens are automatically ugly."

XxXxX

They had gone over the plan countless times in the Bio-Ship. M'gann would camo in, and disable the ship's communications, and try to ground it. Artemis would use one of her foam arrows to seal the door shut. Then they'd dismantle the thing, pulling off the laser so M'gann could attach it to the Bio-Ship, allowing them to give the aliens a taste of their own medicine. When they finally arrived at the northern destination, they were taken aback by how awe-inspiring the Fortress of Solitude really was. Made entirely of crystal, it was basically thousands of giant, sharp looking formations criss-crossing to form a huge headquarters for the man of steel. The large metal front door had a Superman S emblazoned onto it, signifying whose fortress it was. The team was decked out in their polar wear, all their costumes white instead of the regular colors. Even Superboy's classic black and red shirt got a color change.

The Bio-Ship touched down some twenty feet away from the alien craft. Artemis and M'gann prepared to leave. Quietly, before she could go, Desmond caught Artemis' attention.

"Hey, Artemis," he whispered. "Uh… be careful out there. I mean, duh, but… be extra careful, okay?" Then, without warning, Artemis leaned in, and planted a kiss on Desmond's kiss, leaving him red faced as she dropped through the hole M'gann had created. Had this been under normal circumstances, Des would have been ecstatic, and the other guys would be giving him high fives and pats on the back. But this was a solemn day, so he repressed his joy, focusing on the mission at hand. In a moment, M'gann mental-linked in.

Communications disabled, she told them. There was a crash as the alien ship fell to the ground. Propulsion disabled. The team dropped through the hole, landing on the icy ground. They watched as Artemis fired an arrow at the presumed door of the ship, and the foam that coated it. The aliens fired a few lasers in retaliation, but it hit no one.

And ETs are sealed inside, confirmed Artemis from her hiding spot behind a chunk of snow and ice. Now the rest of the team acted. Aqualad sprang up from the arctic waters he'd been hiding in, causing the ship to shake around on the unstable ice. Aqualad landed on the ship, and it prepared to fire a beam, but Kid Flash zipped in and knocked the two of them out of the way. Shifter and Superboy rushed in, the latter grabbing onto the cannon and raising it into the air, so it couldn't hit anyone. Robin flipped onto the ship, and began scanning the cannon.

Indentifying weapon structural stress points, and links to the ship, he explained. There was a moment of him fiddling with his holographic computer, then he pointed to three areas, with each one saying: Here, here, and here. Once he had pointed them out, Desmond phased his arm through the metal exterior, grabbed a fistful of wiring and electrodes, and yanked it out. He repeated the step twice more, and Superboy yanked the cannon off of the ship. M'gann called the Bio-Ship over, and Superboy held the cannon near it while M'gann tried to connect them.

Rerouting system to integrate weapon into ship's bio-matrix, she told them. I'll need to de-camouflage for a few minutes. Just when things were starting to look up, the sound of two more ships flying in signaled their attention.

We may not have a few minutes, Robin warned, as the ships drew nearer. Aqualad told Miss Martian to fire the cannon at the new ships, but she explained that the weapon systems were offline to incorporate the new cannon. Just then, Artemis sprang into action.

Got'cha covered! She exclaimed. She fired a few arrows, hitting both of the ships. Now get inside, I'm almost there! She turned, and began to run to the Bio-Ships as both of the assailants fell out of the sky. One crashed through the ice and sunk, but the other landed, and skidded towards the team. It turned its cannon towards them, and prepared to fire.

Artemis, behind you! Exclaimed M'gann. The archer turned, pulled back an arrow, and was blasted in the face by the orange beam. When the light died down, their friend Artemis was gone. "ARTEMIS!" shrieked M'gann, forgetting the telepathic link. Suddenly it was like everyone on the team had been punched in the gut. There was an overall sense of pain and loss shared amongst the team. That, and anger.

"ARTEMIS!" screamed Desmond, fury and rage growing inside his body. "NO! Artemis, no!" Aqualad, although definitely feeling the same emotions as everyone else, still had a responsibility as leader.

"Everyone, get inside," he shouted. "Shifter, to me!" Desmond pulled himself together, nodded, and got ready to practice a strategy he and Kaldur had been working on. Aqualad pulled out his weapons, and slashed at the ice. It fell away, revealing a straight path of water to the fallen ship. He willed a chunk of ice onto the water, and Desmond jumped atop it. Aqualad created a large wave, and propelled Desmond forward like a surfer riding a huge swell. Once he reached the end of the water, where the ship was, the wave forcefully pushed him off, sending him sailing through the air. As he glided to the ship, Aqualad willed the water below it to lift it upwards. Desmond shot directly through the ship like a cannon ball, causing it to explode in the middle of the air. The ashes fell to the ground as Desmond solemnly walked back to the others. M'gann was openly weeping, and Conner wrapped his arms around her. Kid Flash and Wally were staring at the ground in disbelief. Desmond walked up to Kaldur, who had a hard expression set on his face.

"We're going to kill them," Desmond whispered to the team's leader. "We're going to kill every last one of them."

XxXxX

The flight back to the Hall of Justice was somber. Aqualad had decided that the team better make a PSA of sorts, letting the people of Earth know there were still people fighting for them. But no one really seemed camera ready at the moment. Kaldur had a stern expression planted on his face. Superboy kept grumbling profanities about the invaders, while Robin just stared straight ahead, not saying a thing. M'gann was trying (and failing) to stifle her tears, and Wally kept trying to say something to get everyone's spirits up, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never get the words out. Desmond had his hands clenched into fists, and his jaw set. Thoughts of anger and revenge flowed through his mind, intertwined with memories of Artemis. The two of them taking down Killer Croc, that night on the Ferris wheel, their confessions about their parents. Then he thought of how he was going to take down these aliens; destroy every last one. M'gann seemed to sense his distress, as she mental-linked to him, and only him.

Hey Des, she tried. I get it. Artemis was like a sister to me. And don't worry, we'll avenge her. And when this is all over… she had to mentally stifle tears, We'll give her a real burial. Desmond sniffed back tears of his own, and thought back his thanks. Just then they arrived at the Hall of Justice. It wasn't pretty. Three alien ships were attacking, and the US army was just barely holding them back. The camouflaged Bio-Ship flew in, and opened a hole above one of the ships. Superboy dropped onto it, and started beating it with his fists. The ship moved over another, and Desmond repeated the process. Then the team used the new cannon to disintegrate the last of the three. When Des and Conner had taken care of their ships, and the team landed on the ground, the soldiers cheered. Desmond heard one of them whisper something about Superman, and wouldn't take his eyes off Conner's shirt. Conner seemed to overhear it too.

"I'm not Superman," he corrected. A middle aged man with many badges, probably a general, walked up to the team.

"I don't know who you are, son," he said, addressing Superboy. "And right now, I don't care. You wear the S, and you got the job done." Conner just mumbled once again that he wasn't Superman. "Tell that to the enemy," the general responded, before giving a salute to Aqualad. "General Wade Eely, US Air force," he said.

"Aqualad," Kaldur replied. "Justice League," no one corrected him, because they all felt it true now. In this dark time, they were the Justice League. "We'll help you salvage as many of the alien cannons as possible. Then we start taking back what is ours." They set to work getting cannon parts, and helping remove the rubble from the battle. Soon the area was cleared, and the team walked into the Hall of Justice. Desmond had never been before, and his first experience was depressing, to say the least. All the statues were demolished. He could only make out a few details here and there; Martian Manhunter's head, Batman's cowl, Superman's iconic S shield.

"They're really gone," Robin whispered, standing by the rubble of his fallen mentor's statue. M'gann couldn't take it anymore, and she rushed to the statue of her uncle J'onn. She knelt beside it and wept. Suddenly she stopped, raising her head up. She floated away from it, and telepathically raised the remaining statue up from the ground. Underneath was none other than the real Martian Manhunter, rubbing his head like he'd bruised it.

"Uncle J'onn!" Miss Martian exclaimed, flinging the statue across the room. She swept in to give him a hug, but Aqualad stepped between them.

M'gann, check his mind, he thought. Make sure he is whom he appears to be. M'gann nodded, and in a moment grinned broadly.

It's him, she thought. He's real. And he's alive! Superboy was not so quick to believe.

"But we saw you get disintegrated," he remembered. "You and Superman. And everyone!"

"Yes, I remember," recalled Martian Manhunter, standing up with the help of his niece. "But I… cannot remember how I survived. Or how I arrived here."

"Maybe you were density shifting, and the beam passed right through you," M'gann reasoned.

"Scrambling your brains along the way!" finished Robin. Martian Manhunter put a hand to his forehead.

"My mind is clouded," he began. "I feel certain I had something important to tell you." Suddenly, from the back of the room, KF smacked himself in the head.

Hello Wally! He thought, taking his own spin on M'gann's catchphrase. Come on! The rest of the team turned to look at him, and saw that he'd zipped over to one of the fallen ships. The rest of the team followed curiously. I knew it, look! It's giving off Zeta-Beams. The same stuff that powers our Zeta-Tubes. This thing doesn't disintegrate, it teleports! They're alive!

Maybe… thought Robin.

No maybes, they're all alive! Wally retorted. Desmond felt that a weight had been lifted off his chest. Artemis was alive. And he was going to get her back.

Alright, nice cliffhanger! Anyway, I'm sorry it took so long. But it might be this way for a while, as I'm thinking of starting a new fic. I WILL keep working on this one. Both at the same time shouldn't be too hard. Anyway, please review and favorite if you liked it, and above all KEEP READING!