Author's Note: I'm getting back into the swing of things! Though slightly shorter, I liked writing this chapter. There may be some foreshadowing near the end; see if you can catch it. I'm joking, it's not that hard to find if you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Everyone besides Desmond belongs to someone else.

Chapter Twenty Seven

A Night in Blüdhaven

"Anything new?" asked Conner over the communicators, sounding bored. "Stakeouts make me crazy. Have I mentioned that?"

"Yes," came the resounding response from Robin, Zatana and Shifter. The four members of Young Justice were on a stakeout in the city of Blüdhaven, which Desmond hadn't been back to since his first meeting with Red Arrow. Speaking of Red Arrow, Desmond wasn't quite sure how he felt having him back at Mount Justice with Artemis. If he pulled something funny, he'd never forgive himself for taking the stakeout mission.

"What exactly are we looking for, anyway?" asked Zatana. "Specifically, I mean."

"Bright flashes of red, usually," said Superboy. "Intergang's got a lot of alien weapons that give off a weird red glow." Since Superboy was the only one on the team who'd had previous interactions with the mysterious, alien tech dealing crime syndicate, they all had to look to him for advice.

"Is Batman sure about this?" Shifter asked. He was positioned on a rooftop overlooking a large courtyard, and he also had several alleyways in his line of sight. "Where does he get this intel anyway, the Bat-Computer?"

"Don't joke," said Robin impatiently. "I don't know if he was right or not."

"Well so far," said the Kryptonian. "I'd go with not." They'd been positioned in their respective spots for a little over an hour now. It was nearing midnight. Batman had informed them that he had reason to believe Intergang would be making some sort of transaction with another gang at eleven. So far there'd been no sign of them.

"Sorry Rob," said Zatana. She was sitting on a building across from Desmond, but with a view of the outer streets. "I don't think they're coming. You'll need to tell Batman that no one showed." Robin sighed over the communicator.

"I guess you're right," he said glumly. "Fine, let's rendezvous at the meeting point."

"Alright," said the three other heroes. Desmond rose from his post, and looked towards the previously agreed upon meeting point. He watched as Robin, illuminated by the moonlight, sprang from the billboard he had been perched on. He flipped in the air, landed on a rooftop, and kept on running. Shifter followed suit, running from the edge of one rooftop and leaping to the next. Soon he reached the meeting point with Robin. Zatana soon floated down from the sky, and Conner landed with a thud next to the other three.

"Well, now what?" he asked, sounding slightly impatient. "We can't just call it a night, can we?" Desmond and Zatana shared a glance.

"Yeah we can," said the young magician. "I'm beat." Desmond nodded in agreement, but Robin shook his head.

"No, Superboy's right," he said. "Batman sent us out here to do some good. Even though we can't do it the way he intended, we can still probably find some way to aid the people around here." Shifter shrugged.

"Well, boy wonder," he said. "Any ideas?" Robin mused on it for a bit. He looked as if he was about to say something, but then a noise caught everyone's attention. The sound of screaming, and a sudden wave of heat hit them all. The turned to where it was coming from, and found there was a convenience store nearby. Up in smoke.

"Move!" shouted Robin. He didn't need to tell them twice; Shifter and Superboy both ran to the edge of the nearest building and leapt off towards the burning store.

"Etativel!" shouted Zatana, and rose up into the sky. She levitated towards the store as well. Robin pulled a grapple launcher out of his utility belt, and shot it towards the flaming store.

Desmond and Conner were first on the scene. Flames were shooting out of the two front windows of the store, and people were screaming and fleeing. Robin and Zatana arrived, and Rob quickly took control of the situation.

"Superboy, Shifter, get in there and see if anyone needs to make it out," he said. "Zatana, work on putting out the flames. I'll see what started the fire. Go!" The others nodded, and Des and Conner ran in through the doors. For a moment Desmond could see nothing past the orange blaze and the grey smoke. His density was raised, so it didn't hurt much, but he really hoped his suit was flame retardant.

"Help!" came a strangled voice. "Someone help me, please!" The boys both moved towards it, but then another voice called out from a different direction. The heroes split up, Desmond going left and Superboy going right. Shifter heard the voice coming from the back of the store. He sprinted towards it, phasing through stands of magazines and shelves full of food. He eventually reached the back corner of the small store, to find a woman lying on the floor. Shifter quickly helped her to her feet.

"Can you walk?" he asked concerned. She nodded warily.

"I think so," she said. "But my daughter. She's in the bathroom in the back." Desmond weighed out the options. He could save this woman before him, but couldn't guarantee the daughter's safety. And vice versa. He held out a hand.

"Grab on!" he shouted over the roar of the flames. The woman did so, her hand shaking violently. He quickly lowered both their densities, and rushed through the wall nearest them. When they were safely out, Desmond released her hand. "Go around the front ma'am. Another hero, the daughter of Zatara, is out there extinguishing flames. I'll get your daughter."

"Thank you!" the woman called, and Shifter phased back through the wall again. He made his way for the back of the store where the bathrooms were.

"Shifter to Robin," he called, pressing a hand to his ear. "A woman will be meeting Zatana around the front. Her daughter is trapped inside. I'm going back in."

"Affirmative, Shifter," Robin responded. "Attention Superboy. I've found the source of the flames. Two thugs with a flamethrower. Meet me at their position."

"Got it," said Superboy.

"I'll meet up with you after I save the girl," said Shifter. He took his hand off the communicator and ran towards the bathroom door. He kicked it down, and walked in. The flames had reached the inside of the room by now, and a small girl, maybe seven or eight, was sitting in the corner, screaming. Desmond out a hand.

"Where's my mommy?" shouted the girl, clearly terrified. Desmond, not being good with kids, reached forward and grabbed the girl by the arm.

"She's safe," he assured the child. "Come with me, I'll get you back to her." The girl wiped her face of tears, and nodded. Desmond wrapped both his arms around the small girl, and sprinted through the flames. Their densities lowered, Shifter and the girl phased through the flames. He felt them stinging him slightly, and hoped the child wasn't in pain. He ran past the figures of four people (Robin, Superboy, and the two thugs) in a struggled, and finally burst out of the front door.

"Shifter!" came Zatana's voice. He looked to where she was, the woman he had rescued standing behind her. Desmond ran over, and carefully placed the girl on the ground. She embraced her mother tightly.

"Thank you," said the woman, sounding exhausted. "Thank you so much." Desmond nodded curtly, then turned to Zatana.

"How's it coming with those flames?"

"Not too bad," she said. Then she raised her arms high over her head. "Retaw Emoc Htrof!" A gush of water shot out of her hands, extinguishing some of the nearby flames. Desmond nodded again.

"Robin and Superboy are handling the thugs that started this fire in the first place," he informed the magician. "I'm going in for back up." She nodded in response, and Desmond hardened himself to brace the flames.

He found Robin and Conner fighting the two would-be store robbers. As Robin had said, one of them indeed had a flamethrower in his hands. The other carried a baseball bat. Desmond ran up.

"How's it going?" he asked Robin, who tossed some explosive discs at the flamethrower-totting criminal. The fire that spouted out of the machine melted the discs in the air.

"Not great," Robin admitted. "Where'd they get a flamethrower anyway?" Desmond shrugged. He moved over to Superboy, who was throwing food items at the bat wielding thug.

"Maneuver sixteen!" they said, almost simultaneously. "I'm launched first!" called Desmond, acting slightly childish, despite the situation. Superboy grabbed Shifter's wrists, spun in a few tight, fast circles, then launched Shifter at the thug with the bat. With his heightened density, Shifter's collision with the thug sent them both to a shelve full of cereal. It crashed to the floor, and Desmond lifted the man into the air. He slammed his forehead into the thug's, then tossed him into a wall, where he slumped, unconscious.

Just then, the man with the flamethrower walked up. "Hope you like things hot!" he said, making cliché bad puns. He blasted flames towards Shifter, who had just enough time to sink below the floor before the spot he had been standing in was engulfed in flames.

"Hey Pyro!" called a voice behind the robber. He turned, but could do nothing as Robin through a thick line of wire around his body. With the click of a trigger in Robin's hand, electricity lit up the wire, electrocuting the thug, and making him fall flat on his face.

"Taser wire," said Desmond, walking up to Robin, who was standing over the fallen thug. "Nice."

"Where does a common street thug get a flamethrower?" Robin asked again. Just then the police arrived. Zatana had put out all the flames, and followed them inside. Robin gestured to the fallen thugs. "They're all yours, officers." He told them. They exchanged a look, then looked back to Robin.

"You're Batman's sidekick, aren't you?" asked one of them.

"We don't really like the term sidekick so much," Desmond informed them. "We're a team. Young Justice." The cops exchanged another look.

"Yeah, whatever," one said, helping a thug to his feet. "How 'bout you just stay out of Blüdhaven for a while, huh?" Desmond and Robin exchanged confused looks as the police led the thugs out of the front of the store.

"That was weird," said Conner. Desmond, Robin, and Zatana nodded in agreement.

XxXxX

Robin piloted the Bio-ship back towards Mount Justice in silence. Zatana sat near him, also not speaking much. Desmond and Conner were chatting away for a while, but when they realized the others weren't saying anything, they quickly quieted down. Eventually Shifter had to ask Robin what was up.

"Rob?" he called. He spun his chair around to face the boy wonder. "What's on your mind, dude?" Robin sighed.

"Those cops," he said. "The thugs. Blüdhaven!"

"What about?" asked Zatana.

"Well, when we were leaving, I saw one of the thugs hand the cop a wad of money. I think they're corrupt. And that flamethrower. How easy is it for street thugs to get weapons like that in this city."

"What can we do about it?" asked Superboy. "We're going all over the world, we don't have time to focus on one city."

"But Batman does!" said Robin. "Batman focuses all his energy on Gotham. Yeah he goes other places for League missions, but mostly he and I are in Gotham. I just… I just wish that Blüdhaven had its own protector." With that he lapsed back into silent thought. Desmond could tell the young hero felt strongly about this. He didn't know if Robin could truly do anything about it now, but maybe one day he'd find a way. For now, however, he'd have to settle for sticking with Young Justice.

So yeah, two in such a short amount of time. I don't know when the next will be up, but I hope it'll be soon. Anyway, please continue to read and favorite, review if you want. See y'all next time!