There you go, the second chapter written up to make up for missing last weekend!
I hope you all enjoy it! By the way, I forgot to mention to you guys that I wrote another story recently, just a one-shot to get off of my chest so that I can focus on this fic more, it's called 'There's always someone' and is about Kid Flash if anyone is interested in checking that out!
Soccernin19: Wow! You're a fast reviewer! Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy this one too! :3
On to the story!
After a walk that had felt as though they would never return to the Bio-ship, Wally and Kaldur finally arrived at the red wall of the crashed ship which had quite literally been the beacon which guided them back. The two boys had fallen silent after their discussion about crime and whether or not it was ever right, even for people who were trying to help like themselves. Wally would have been quite happy to make small talk on the way back, anything to keep his mind off of the way that Artemis had looked at him before he left the safety of the ship, but Kaldur seemed too deep in thought to speak. He was pondering over whether he felt guilty or not. He still hadn't worked it out. Wally knew that he would figure out his own view soon enough and when he did, he would probably share it with someone, and that someone just wouldn't be him.
Wally banged on the side of the Bio-ship and called to the other half of the Team inside the Bio-ship, "Hey M'Gann! We're back, can you let us in?" Wally called loudly. He was impatient to get inside the ship where the temperature was just that little bit warmer than out here. Not only that, but the giant snow coat he was wearing was annoying him to no end, he could barely even move in it and he couldn't help but think that if he put the mobile phone in the coat's giant pockets then it would become lost forever. He wasn't aware of the physical toll of opening the ship once more would take on M'Gann and perhaps if he had known then he wouldn't have even asked. Just stayed outside in the cold until she felt better, but everyone knew that was an ill-conceived plan and so it was just altogether better that Wally remained ignorant to the stress on both M'Gann's body and on her mind.
M'Gann had heard the three raps on the side of her ship loud and clear, and the words that followed were heard too. The boys had made it back in plenty of time and now she could only hope that they had been successful in their mission. The Martian took in a deep breath and braced herself for the effort opening the ship was going to take and then once again forced a small opening in the side of the ship. This time was unlike the others, whilst she waited for Wally and Kaldur to re-enter the ship she was shaking from the exertion and wondered whether she was finding it more and more difficult to open the ship because she was exhausted or whether it was because the ship was resisting her more and more every time she tried to move her. As soon as she registered that every part of the boys were inside the ship, she released her hold on the ship thankfully and collapsed into a seated position on the floor, breathing hard.
Of course Wally noticed the exhaustion that M'Gann had just demonstrated in keeping the ship open and of course he wanted to go and check that she was alright, but he felt as though he didn't have time. He just needed to call the Bat and get this whole nightmare over and finished with. Wally tossed the mobile phone over to a surprised Connor and then smirked, "We went out to get the phone, so you get to call Batman." He stated as though there was some sort of compelling justice behind his words. He just shrugged off the glare that Connor was tossing his way and walking over to check on M'Gann before he went to check on his best friend. The Martian was sitting with her head cradled in her hands and Wally couldn't imagine the pain that she must have been feeling.
"Thanks for that honour Wally. Just give me a damn number to call and I'll do it." Connor threw back. Wally recited a number that he knew off-by-heart as he bent over to check on M'Gann. The speedster could only hope that Bruce didn't answer by stating his name because he had given Connor the personal mobile number of Bruce Wayne. Robin had tried to keep his knowing their identities from Bruce for a long as possible, but after a while it became apparent that he had known for a really long time. So instead of chastising them both, Bruce had simply embraced it. Besides, by using the personal phone number that mainly Robin used to contact him, the Team were likely to get through to the caped crusader a whole lot faster than through the normal channels. The speedster was glad that nobody questioned where he had gotten the phone number from, how he knew it so well and where exactly the call was to because it would raise some very awkward questions.
After establishing that M'Gann would be alright with a good rest, Wally walked over to where Artemis was waiting next to Robin. He was much surprised and pleased to find that Robin was looking at him with his usual playful intelligence rather than the delusional absence that he had left with earlier. Keeping quite whilst Connor held the mobile phone up to his ear, Wally sat down next to Robin contentedly and began to take off his snow kit. Out of the corner of his eye Wally couldn't help but notice Artemis' small smile. She's never tell him why she was smiling but in her own mind she would always know that she was happy he had returned safely and this mission had gone smoother than the last venture out.
Aqualad looked over to where Robin was laid out on the floor with Artemis close by his side and he couldn't hold back his smile. He was smiling because he was proud of his team, they were all so loyal to one another and they had come such a long way since that struggle for power a long time ago when the leader was still being decided. He wasn't being vain because it wasn't him who had changed them for the better, they had done that all of their own accord. Not only that, but they had long since learned to play to each other's strengths and cover for each other's weaknesses. This was truly a team that every mentor could be proud of. The irony was, he was proud of his team and yet they were in a horrible situation that probably could have been avoided. It didn't make sense that he should feel anything positive right now, but he supposed his positivity could only be a good thing. Everyone needed someone to smile through a bad time, so why shouldn't it be him?
Connor finally got through to Batman; he heard the familiar voice answer with an irritated-sounding 'hello' followed by an awkward silence as Connor went through what he wanted to say. He gave the Bat no further opportunity to speak as he got everything he needed to say out, "It's Superboy. Listen, Robin's not well at all. The Bio-ship's down and we had to steal a phone to contact you. We crashed and Artemis and M'Gann are both hurt. But Robin has been in a critical condition for most of the time that we have been in Siberia. We gathered little intel, but we do know that there are two shipments of grenades being sent just north of where we are to Tomsk, and also to another place called Krasnoyarsk – though we have no idea exactly where or for what reason. We need help, and fast."
Everyone fell silent to see whether they could catch a bit of Batman's response. All they heard was a raised, angry sounding voice on the other end of the line and Connor winced before holding the phone away from his ear at arm's length. He made an 'it's not pretty' face towards Artemis and Aqualad before holding the phone back closer to his ear again and grunting along to whatever it was Batman had to say. But unfortunately, Connor never got to hear the end of Batman's advice because a loud boom erupted from behind him and the material of the Bio-ship's walls got blown inwards.
Kid Flash saw the explosion in slow motion and his fast mind was torn between who he should protect. He looked between his best friend and the girl who he only was beginning to realise now that he might just be falling for. He looked towards the large slabs of metal flying towards him and the horrified expressions on both Robin and Artemis' faces. It turned out in the end that he didn't have to make the choice as Connor threw himself over Robin and shielded him, so Wally turned around and threw Artemis to the ground underneath him so that the both of them were also shielded by Connor's near-impenetrable skin.
The fire of the explosion still reached Kid Flash's back despite the protection from Connor and he felt his skin burning excruciatingly and let out an anguished cry. Robin had tried to yell out in shock, but all that came out was a strangled sort of gasp as the shockwave flew past him. Connor's face remained virtually emotionless aside from the growing anger that was building up quickly in the pit of his stomach. M'Gann had spontaneously grabbed Aqualad and thrown a force field around the both of them. She didn't make a single sound, but Aqualad noticed how her face twisted in pain and she flinched in worry that her shield might give in each time something hit the field. Artemis felt a lot safer being protected by Wally, and so her scream was one dedicated both to the shock of the attack and to the fact that she could see something had harmed the speedster who was clinging to her as though if he let go she'd burn up in the fire around her.
Robin got a few gashes on the pieces of flesh that weren't covered by Connor; he even managed to get a few cuts from falling debris across his forehead and on his right cheek. Everything simply bounced off of Connor and so that debris was no problem, but the ash going into his lungs was an issue. M'Gann's head felt as though it was tearing from side to side now and Kid Flash wasn't sure whether his back even had skin anymore. The worst thing out of everything for M'Gann however was the fact that in her head she could hear above everything else the sound of the Bio-ship howling in pain as she was torn apart. Tears began to stream down M'Gann's face for this alone, someone had just killed her long-time friend, her vessel, and whoever that was would pay dearly for it!
After the fire died down and only ash and smoke was left over, everyone aside from Robin sat up a little bit to investigate what was going on. The explosion had left the whole team without the ability to hear properly, there was a high-pitched ringing in their ears that threw off their concentration. M'Gann and Connor in particular suffered, Connor's super-hearing amplified the pain of the high squeaking sound and M'Gann's previous headaches were only worsened by the attack. Robin attempted to prop himself up so that he could lend a helping hand to stop whatever threat this was, but Connor smiled kindly and pushed him down shaking his head at the younger boy caringly. Even if he did get up, Robin was too physically weak to actually help.
Connor managed to hear Artemis calling Wally's name out in a panicked way. The voice echoed in his head a few times and the sound was dull as though he was hearing the sound from under the water or something. But it still lead his disorientated head around to see where Wally was stumbling uncoordinatedly out of the Bio-ship and towards the threat without any hint of a plan. This of course made Aqualad shake his aching head in frustration, and follow after him thinking that if he didn't follow then Wally was only going to get himself killed. It had to be the android, what else could it be?
Artemis' head had taken another bang from the shockwave following the explosion and couldn't even rise to her feet without falling back down again. It was clear that she would be incapable of fighting just yet and M'Gann sensed this through everything and told her to stay put with Robin. With that, M'Gann stood up, relying on her dulled sense of sound to guide her through the thick ash and rubble around her so that she could assist everyone else who had gone out to help. This left only Robin and Artemis staring petrified at the disappearing forms of their friends. They couldn't see beyond the ash and they could only hear the sounds of a fight beginning to take shape. Hearing that and knowing that neither of them could help was painful enough in itself without the worry being thrown in there.
"Artemis. I – I don't feel good." Robin stated. It seemed as though the stress of the situation or perhaps the shock had made Robin take another turn for the worse and he threw up to the side facing away from Artemis. The archer felt green just looking at Robin, but she knew that if she wanted to help him then she would have to look. She rubbed Robin's back and waited for it to be over and for him to stop retching before she felt his forehead again. She was dismayed to find that the kid's temperature was on the rise again.
"Don't do this Robin, calm down!" Artemis pleaded with the smaller teenager. Robin looked up at her and smiled. He took a few deep breaths not only to calm him but to encourage Artemis to calm herself too. The breaths didn't seem to help at all; in fact they only seemed to make his breathing worse with all of the ash in the air. The both of them couldn't really stop themselves from panicking, they had no idea at all of what was going on and they couldn't even see their friends. They had both fallen into silence, with Robin getting gradually sicker again and Artemis' growing a lump in her throat that threatened to choke her as she tried not to cry.
A loud, mechanical laugh pierced the claustrophobic air inside what remained of the Bio-ship. The sound sent a chill down Artemis' spine. So, this was where it would all end then. Everyone was too tired to realistically defeat this opponent and they were all injured or lacking in strength in some way. It was difficult to have faith when all logic was against you.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you like!
Varishi x
(If you spot any mistakes, do let me know!)