Ch 14: Concentration
AN: Sorry for the poor quality and late posting of this chapter, but this was my week:
Monday Afternoon:
My Boss' Boss: Hey, MY boss' boss is coming in on Wednesday, and isn't using all of his time in the division meeting. Can you do your final presentation then instead of three weeks from now?
Me: Of Course!
Me (Internally): *Rage face* Ffffffuuuuuuuu-.
Wednesday Night:
Me: It's late and I'm so tired and this chapter MAKES NO SENSE, and what am I going to do?!
Late Thursday:
Me: Screw it. There's no way I can hold onto this for another night. Here you go, Flopsy.
Anyways, cheers for my beta. I only go this to her last night, and it's already back. Hopefully y'all at least get a tease of the emotions here, and I can expand on it in the future.
XxXxX
Everything is going just fine until Wally calls for help.
The data Artemis collected from the Legion is spot on, as are Batman's predictions of the villain's behavior. Although a few members hadn't been tracked down over the last week, all of the heavy hitters had been accounted for. Most were still taking refuge in the 'more secure' Legion lair, but a few had had required some tracking of either the magical or mechanical variety.
Shayera is fallowing a trail of the former. She's been assigned to work with Zatanna to take down a couple of the biggest threats; Grodd and his right-hand woman, Tala. Luckily, the two were exactly where they're supposed to be; hiding out in one of Grodd's secondary fortresses. With Artemis' info, it is no trouble at all to draw the two to an unfortified location and begin their attack in earnest.
Tala's magic is ineffective against Hawkgirl's mace; she's able to block the hurled spells and smash straight through the sorceress' shields. With her out of the way, there's nothing to protect Grodd from Zatanna's magical entrapment. It's the easiest take down Shayera's ever been a part of. She's almost offended that these villains who have caused so many of their headaches in recent years.
It's about the time that she starts thinking about letting one of them up for a second round that Wally's call comes through. It's also when things start to go wrong. "This is Flash, to the Justice League! We're under attack in Paris! Requesting immediate back up!"
Shayera glances at the villains at her feet, bound and unconscious."We're done here, Flash, and I'm itching for a real fight. Zatanna and I will be there as soon as the teleporter techs clear us."
"Great. We're around the Eiffel Tower, but come in low, we're fighting-"
"Hold that thought a second." John's voice crackles over the Founder's channel. "Anyone else seeing giant vortexes suddenly appear in the sky?"
Batman cuts in to answer him. "Reports are coming in from every team; there're hoards of small robots monkeys descending upon every team dispatched by the League today." Shayera doesn't see what they mean until she's almost blasted in the back by three of the things.
"Yrf eht stobor!" The circuitry within her attackers fizzles, courtesy of Zatanna's spell. This gives her enough time to ready her mace for the next wave. She nods a quick thanks to her partner, and turns as much attention she can back to her comm line.
"Flash, can you stall for a few minutes?" Superman is saying. "We have to take these things out; they're targeting innocent bystanders."
The response wouldn't sound hesitant to anyone that didn't know Wally as well as she does. "You know I'm pretty quick… I'll come up with something until you guys can get here. Protect the civilians."
It's the expected response, but something about that pause sets her on edge. Wally's the type of person that will tell you to drop him from ten thousand feet so you can protect yourself, all the while hoping he'll come up with something before he hits the ground. When has he ever hesitated to demand that they help others first?
Shayera turns back to her own battle in time to shield her partner from another of the monkey-robots, but a part of her concentration is still listening to her brother's fight. Wally seems to have forgotten his comm is even on, and she can't bear to close the one link she has to him right now.
It's because of this that she's able to hear Wally's conversation with Artemis as they regroup.
"What happened?"
"Some of the MONQI's got me when I was dodging Amazo." Shayera nearly fumbles her next attack.
Wally's fighting Amazo. It took the whole League to bring him down last time; this time he has only Artemis as back up. Is this the power of the Anomaly? It's keeping the entire Justice League busy, yet it still has the power to send their most powerful foe after the Flash. For the first time, Shayera understands what Artemis and her teammates have been up against, and how it's possible for them to have failed so many times… But Artemis is speaking again, so Shayera focuses.
"How bad is it?" Shayera waits for his quip.
'Just a scratch, Babe'.
'Nothing to worry about except Monkey Fever.'
'I'm hurt bad, beautiful. Maybe you should kiss it better.'
The reply never comes. Instead, she just hears Artemis breathe, "Oh." It sounds more like an 'Oh no.'
Wally explains in a strained voice that the League is under attack too, and Shayera tries to focus on her own battle in the silence that follows. The swing of her mace and beat of her wings begins to fall into a rhythm as she tries desperately to end this fight, to get out of here and save Wally…
She realizes how long its been since either has spoken. She's never heard Wally stay quiet this long; any moment now he's going to have a stupid plan, or a joke, or he's just going to jump back into the fray with no sense of caution. Or maybe things are different with Artemis being there; Shayera knows she's feisty, a fighter. She'll make some desperate plan to hold it off until help arrives. He'll make something work, like he always does.
The hoped-for levity never comes. Instead, when Wally speaks again, he simply says, "We're on our own. There's no one left to call."
Her heart breaks at the despair in her little brother's voice.
XxXxX
Batman doesn't let the line drop after Wally's request is denied and the speedster tries to end the call. He knows he needs to concentrate on the battle before him, but he rationalize that half of his attention would be speculating on the state of the Parisian battle regardless. There's no harm to keep Wally on the founder's comm channel. At least this way, he knows what is happening (he knows that Wally isn't dead yet), and knowledge is always an advantage. Still, he starts to lose the sounds of the distant battle to the struggles of his own, so he's startled when Wally begins to speak again.
"Holy cow! Where did you come from?" Wally's panicking; and Bruce grows concerned. Certainly there isn't another threat entering the battle?
"Relax, Flash. I'm Nightwing…"
Nightwing. His son. (Not his, his.)
In Paris, with their Wally. (Not their, their.)
"Fight now! Talk later!"
They're losing. (They are losing.)
Because even if he and Clark defeat these robots, and save all the civilians. Even if Amazo is brought down, and the Anomaly is stopped. Even if Wally survives, they have lost him.
Because they're here.
Wally won't choose them over them. (Bruce wouldn't choose here either. There he has a family. There Wally has a family.)
It wasn't supposed to be like this. (Nothing is supposed to be like this.)
But he should have known. Things never go this well for him. (Though they seem to go really well for him.)
So Batman resolves himself, and throws everything he has into this fight. (Because he will never win that fight).
Maybe they can end this quickly, and save their speedster (their speedster) and his son (his son) and he can learn to be happy knowing they're out there somewhere, alive and happy.
He certainly will be.
XxXxX
"Artemis!"
Clark flinches as Wally's desperate, distorted cry emanates from Bruce's comm. He's long since lost his own comm in the fray, relying instead on super-hearing and Bruce's ever-sturdy cowl for news on their endangered speedster.
"Didn't see… that one coming… punk." Wally's voice is strained, his breathing heavy.
An unknown voice speaks up. "Get another compress on that wound. We're going to need him again."
Even straining his hearing, Clark catches no more discussion from the Paris end of the line. Wally has stopped talking all together. It's the scariest thing Clark has never heard. As the minutes tick by, Superman's concern for his friend grows, as does his anger at the 'Anomaly.' Innocents are being attacked. His friends are in danger. Wally might be dying. The pressure builds behind his eyes as he surveys the flock of robots attacking them. This needs to end. Now.
"Batman." His voice is low, nearly a growl. "Duck." The Caped Crusader has never been one to follow orders; he must sense the threat in Kal's voice, because he rolls out of the way without hesitation. The moment the man is clear, Clark lets heat pour from his eyes.
Their enemies burn.
XxXxX
John is in one of the first groups to return to the Watchtower, and considers himself to have been very patient in the precious minutes it takes for the rest of the League to fall back. Someone has initiated a consecutive mass-teleportation in the wake of the battle, and the Leaguers coming through the teleporters are increasingly on edge; everyone knows this is one of Batman's contingency plans for a widespread attack of unknown origins, to be used only in emergencies.
John is simply annoyed. This isn't an unknown attacker as far as he's concerned. It doesn't take the Bat's detective skills to figure that out. He knows that the Anomaly is trying to kill Wally, and that it's been successful in every universe so far. He knows it has the power to cross dimensions, and practically warp reality as they know it. That an army from another dimension appeared at almost the exact moment the Hot Shot asked for help can't be a coincidence. The League was being delayed, leaving Wally as vulnerable as he'll ever be.
He's seen this tactic employed dozens of times during his career as a Marine, then as a superhero; even employed it himself a few times. It's common wisdom to take the easiest route possible; no need to bother eliminating the opponent when all you need to beat him is time. These armies weren't sent here as a threat to the League, nor as a promise of another invasion. They weren't even just a warning. Not really.
No, hundreds of lives were threatened, millions of dollars in damages were incurred, and the entire Justice League was kept busy for almost an hour as a mere distraction.
John also knows what it means that the distraction is over; that Wally might be…
He returns his focus to the materializing heroes, mentally counting how many groups are left. Finally, finally the last group is materializing, and he's able to get back on the platform to get down to Paris. Wally needs them, now, and nobody's going to tell him otherwise.
"Clear the platform!" One of the technicians has the gall to try and shoo John out of the way. "We have another group that needs to come up, and the medics will need clear access!"
John resists the urge to strangle the man. He's been following the reports since his group returned to the Watchtower. Each group succeeded in their initial objectives despite the robot army's sudden appearance, and no one was seriously injured. Wally needs reinforcements more than anyone needs medical aid. Why doesn't he understand that?
"Whoever it is can afford to wait a few extra seconds, you have to send us down as reinforcements for Flash!"
An odd expression flashes across the technician's face, and John feels his stomach drop.
"Who do you think the emergency transport is for?"
XxXxX
J'onn has to count them twice when they materialize on the platform.
Wally. Artemis. M'gann. Two dark-haired boys. Their dark-skinned friend.
That's six people.
He only feels four minds.
There's the rushing vortex of Wally's mind and the hard edges of Artemis'. Further prodding reveals two strangers; a steel wall, and a shadowy haze. There is no hint of the sorcery-veined mindscape he associates with Atlanteans or the complex infrastructure of a Martian's mental self-representation. Where are the other two?
Where is his niece?
He watches the medical personnel approach the group from a distance rather than pressing forward like many of the other leaguers. For him, the details of the blood-spattered group are inconsequential; he already knows that two of the slumped figures won't respond to physical prodding. He's still trying to feel for them mentally, because even protected minds have a presence. The only time a being has no mental presence at all is when they are... No. The universe would not be so cruel. Wally's friends (his niece) must survive.
Suddenly, the largest boy (that's the El crest, it must be Superboy, then) is scooping M'gann up in his arms. J'onn is simultaneously concerned and relieved as two more mental presences make themselves known. His niece is unharmed; their comrade is less lucky. He's a little embarrassed too; M'gann was performing common, if not simple, medical aid. He should have recognized the technique. It's been so long since he's seen anyone join minds so closely, though... Underneath it all, he can't help but feel a little pride at her power, her talent.
He mentally follows their progress as the group moves towards the Med Bay. His niece is distraught. They all are, really, and who can blame them? Still, it is his niece's mind that he reaches for. When she feels the press of his thoughts, she yields without hesitation. If anything, she is welcoming, grateful of his presence; he will not let that trust down.
Through her mind, he can see the horror of the past hour, particularly the agony and despair in her elder brother's mind. His determination redoubles; they will not let this boy die. He vows to help as he can.
He sifts her mind and sees that he is in luck; she was raised on the same tales as he. It only takes a slight tug on her memory of The Tale of Four Wanderers for her to understand his meaning.
'That's never been done before. Not with non-Martians.'
'I have faith in you. More importantly, they have faith in you.' He resolves an image of Wally's confident grin as emphasis. 'You won't let them down.'
There's a tentative brush into his own mind – it's been so long since he's been around other telepaths that he hadn't yet realized that the whole conversation had been within her mind – and her gratitude sweeps in, along with the hesitance of a reluctant question.
'Not now, we will speak at a later time. Return your awareness to your friends. They need you.' He pulls her injured friend's heartache and guilt from the air.
'You all can make this fight easier for him. I will do my best to filter interference for you.'
There's one last brush of gratefulness into his lonely mind. 'Thank you, Uncle J'onn.'
Then she's gone.
XxXxX
Diana heads to the Med Bay as soon as she is able. The medical report indicates Wally has a serious wound in his leg, but she knows he won't have it seen to, not while his friend is still in surgery. As one of the more responsible founders, she takes it upon herself to make sure their speedster takes care of his own health for once.
She stops short when she turns down the medical corridor for the second time in as many weeks.
The young heroes from before – the heroes who had rescued their speedster in the League's absence – are piled atop one another, woven together seemingly with no thought spared towards personal boundaries. Diana can't help but think that they look like children despite the blood and sweat and tears that mar their bodies, evidencing their recent struggles.
She smiles, thinking of how Wally might stamp his foot and pout at that insinuation. Still, in this one unguarded moment she can't help but admire how at peace they are. They exude an air of innocence, not the cynical paranoia of the seasoned heroes they are. She's not sure if the world is cruel or kind for gifting Wally such friends, then forcing them to suffer the tragedy of a dozen lifetimes.
A weight on her arm startles her from her examination of the group, and forces her to take note of her surroundings. She is not as alone as she first thought. J'onn is here, sitting across the hall from the group. He's facing the younger heroes, legs folded and eyes closed as if meditating. Shayera is pacing at the other end of the corridor, occasionally shooing nosy leaguers away with not small amount of irritation. John is attempting to change the bandage on Flash's leg without jostling the younger heroes too much.
"Won't that wake him?" She asks quietly of Clark, whose hand had originally jolted her from her reverie.
"No. J'onn says they won't wake… not until their friend has awakened from his surgery. It's some Martian therapy thing." Clark shrugs, eyes serious. "He's trying to filter out mental interference, apparently, so I'm not sure if he can hear us, but before he went under her said the best thing we could do is be here for him… them."
"The one they're operating on is Atlantean, and he needs several pints of blood for a transfusion." John adds from where he's kneeling. "I think Batman went to bully Aquaman into getting what he needs."
She can't help a small smile at the thought. Bruce will never, ever admit it, but he does care for them, even if the ways he shows it are unorthodox. If only he weren't so stubbornly guarding his heart he might realize how much they each return that affection.
After a few moments wistful contemplation, she joins John in checking the unknown heroes for injuries, leaving Clark to guard this side of the corridor. It takes a few hours, but Bruce eventually returns with the needed blood, as well as food for the founders, who have refused to leave their silent vigil over the younger heroes.
It is both an instant and an eternity later when a surgeon steps from the operating room and informs them that the procedure was a success; the boy will live, and is being awoken now to check for other trauma. Diana hasn't left the children's side in all that time. She reaches out to cup Wally's face as the younger heroes begin to stir.
"Hmmfeldible?" Diana smiles as Wally slowly returns to consciousness.
"I'm sorry to wake you guys, but the surgeons just finished with your friend. They say he's going to be fine."
She sees so much in the glance the five share, and yet knows that she's seeing only a little of what's actually there.
"Yeah, we know."
XxXxX
Dang it, Bruce. Quit being so pessimistic. You're depressing me. Thank goodness a certain birdy is around now to force you to be cheerful.
If anyone is wondering, this was the line up for the main six + partners:
Batman: Bizzaro and various
Superman: Giganta and various
(They're the only two founders involved in the fight at Legion HQ)
Green Lantern and Black Canary: Heatwave, Volcana and Killer Frost
Hawk Girl and Zatanna: Tala and Grodd
Martian Manhunter and Dr. Light: Star Sapphire and Sinestro
Wonder Woman and Super Girl: Metallo, Blockbuster and Queen Bee (Who may or may not have taken control of the other two…)