Okay, so it's been a while since I've updated, so you guys may want to refresh your memory on what happened last chapter, because then you can get into the zone and stuff. Ya know?

Bethany's POV:

As I ducked under one of Bane's punches, I realized how tired I was. Fighting Blaze twice had taken its toll on my muscles.

I stepped back and Robin moved in, performing some sort of acrobatic flip off of Bane's face. Then he was backhand-springing to create space between him and Bane. I took that as my cue to move forward. My feet felt a little sluggish, but I forced them to move.

I punched weakly at Bane's temple, but he easily dodged it. I crouched down and swung my leg around to kick him off his feet, but my leg glanced off of his knees. Bane looked down at me, slightly confused as to why I wasn't fighting well, but then smiled and kicked me in the gut. Hard.

I skidded a couple feet away and landed on my butt, coughing. I felt like a little kid again, who was still a newbie at fighting. Aw this sucks Bane butt.

But luckily, my little failure at fighting a few seconds ago had given Robin some time to jump onto Bane's back, cutting the tube that was pumping venom into Bane's arms.

"NOOO!" Bane bellowed before his body started to shrink.

Robin was beside me in an instant, ignoring the yelling coming from Bane behind him.

"Are you sick?" He felt my forehead.

I shrugged out of his grasp and stood up. I was thinking about other problems and the unanswered questions I had.

"You're just tired, I think. How long were you fighting Blaze for before I got here?" He came to stand next to me. We both looked out at all the villains who were tied up in front of us, the rest of the Team headed towards us.

Ignoring his question, I decided to ask my own. I was confused. I turned to face him and crossed my arms defensively.

"Why did you help me?" Did he really think I would just forget the reason I ran from them in the first place? Stupid heroes.

"Huh?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"Why did you come? Why did you guys still help me, even though you blamed me for what happened?!" I raised my voice again. My temper was returning. By now, most of the Team was gathering around. I ignored their questioning gazes.

Robin faced me now, "I never thought you were the traitor. And neither did the Team."

A flush covered my face and I quickly looked away.

"Why didn't you tell me?! God, Robin!" I let out an exasperated sigh.

He grabbed one of my hands and said, "I tried to, but you ran off."

I didn't move away from his touch. I was tempted to just lean into him, but I resisted.

"How did you find me?" I demanded.

"Well, I tried to trace you using the Zeta Tube computers and to find your bike, but you were too smart for that. Then Artemis had gone to your room while we were in the hanger and she found the note."

"You're welcome, everyone, by the way." She muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Robin ignored her and grabbed my other hand so that we were facing each other. It was like the Team just faded away and now it was just Robin and me.

"You should have told me. Told us, I mean. About the note. Even if you didn't want to be on the Team anymore, we still would have helped you. That's what friends are for."

I couldn't help it. Honestly, sometimes I think my arms have a mind of its own. Suddenly, my arms were around his neck and his arms were wrapped around my waist. He buried his face into my neck and breathed deeply. I can't believe I had even thought of leaving. How could I have left him? I wouldn't have been able to.

"I never want to see you leave. Ever. Stay with me, and don't leave," he whispered. His words had my heart thudding all over again and I couldn't stop the butterflies in my stomach.

My fingers tangled themselves in his dark locks and I nodded against him, my eyes closed, basking in his warmth.

"I won't," I promised softly.

We stayed like that for a little longer before I had the audacity to open my eyes.

And the Team stared at us with their mouths gaping wide open. Especially Wally's. Artemis had a slight smirk plastered all over her face.

Superboy cleared his throat, "Ummm, so when we're you going to tell us about... whatever that is...?" He pointed at us still embracing.

I jumped away from Robin, immediately regretting the decision because I felt the chill of the night again. But he reached over and grasped my hand, threading his gloved fingers through mine and pulling me close as he turned to the Team.

"Well, it only just happened about-" he tried to reply.

"DUDE! What the hell?!" Kid Flash yelled. He dashed in front of us, leaning down to yell in Robin's face. He spoke so quickly that I almost didn't understand what he was saying, "That's not fair! You made a move on Bethany and didn't even tell me! I wanted to make a move first, and you knew that! Bro! You can't just do that, you violated Bro Rule Number 1! What the fu- ow!" He rubbed his arm from where Artemis had punched him. "Well at least I still have Megan."

He turned to wink at her. She laughed and grabbed Superboy's hand.

"Actually, Wally," she giggled happily, "We wanted to say this earlier, but then the stuff with Blaze happened. But Superboy and I are now dating!" She sighed before saying, "I love these Earth traditions."

Kid Flash gaped at them, incomprehensible nonsense coming from him.

"W-W-W-WHAAAAT?" He held his hands out waiting.

In response, Superboy swiftly leaned down and kissed M'gann on the cheek really fast. Her green cheeks tinged and he grinned over at Wally.

"AWWW DANG IT!" Kid Flash face palmed, "Now that only leaves one girl on the Team left to date! And that's Artemis!" He made a retching noise.

"Ugh! As if!" She smacked him on the shoulder again.

"I think I would much rather date Aqualad than you," he spit back at her.

Aqualad took a wary step back. I giggled and leaned into Robin's shoulder.

But then Robin stood straighter and moved his hand to around my waist. He turned to Aqualad.

"Who were you calling on your comms?"

Aqualad straightened up and said, "I was calling the Justice League. They will want to take care of the villains here today."

Just then, we heard lots of rustling from above and we all looked up.

Heroes were flying down from the sky, majestic and magical. It was the most mesmerizing view I had ever seen.

Green Lantern had a few of the flightless heroes standing on a green platform that he made with his ring, including Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary. The Hawk heroes were here, Superman and Wonderwoman were here, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, and a bunch of others that I had only heard of.

They all landed with such grace and power and surrounded us. Some walked off to gather up the villains that were scattered across the clearing, the rest headed towards us. The Team scattered and met with their family members or mentors.

Batman headed towards Robin and I. Oh boy. I let go of Robin's hand, feeling slightly improper in front of Batman.

I could feel his piercing eyes through his mask. He seemed to look at me for a moment. I was still covered in dried blood and my costume was stained and wet. My hair was tangled and stringy with sweat and other unknown things and I smelled of something burnt. All of my weapons were scattered around the ground somewhere and my utility belt seemed almost empty. Batman's judging eyes could probably see every detail, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he asked Robin to fill him in on what happened.

Robin gave him the quick overview, starting from what happened when we had gotten back to the Cave after finding out Blaze knew our identities, and then ending all the way to the present.

"So that is the 'Blaze' you are talking about?" He nodded in the direction of where we had left Blaze.

We turned around to see her still tied up, but she had somehow gotten up and was trying to hop her way out of the clearing. Her hair was a flame licking her head and her eyes were sockets of fire once again. Kelli had turned back into Blaze. Before anyone from the Justice League could interfere, I was already barreling at her. I body slammed her and then promptly landed right on top of her sprawled body.

She groaned something that sounded like "bitch" but I didn't care. I delivered a precise and strong punch directly on her right knee cap. She yelped and jerked from the pain in her joint. She wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Just to make sure she didn't try anything, I sat on her back. She tried to burn me with her hands, but they were so awkwardly stuck in the tangled chord that had her bound. She couldn't reach me, as long as I stayed directly on her lower back.

Batman nodded appreciatively at me when he passed and crouched in front of Blaze's face. She glared up at him.

"Who do you work for?" Batman's voice was low and demanding. It had this edge to it where it made you immediately succumb to his wishes.

At first, you could see she was indecisive in whether or not she wanted to answer, but then her face straightened and she smirked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She smiled a bloody smile.

Ooohh. I almost felt bad for her. She was SOOO gonna get it from Batman.

Instead of showing annoyance, Batman kept his face carefully blank. He leaned in and whispered something to her ear. I only caught the words "Julius Stonebridge" and "powerful friends" and something about "destroying your life," but honestly, who knew? It was Batman. He could have threatened her with anything.

When he was done, he leaned away from her to study her expression. Blaze was silent for a moment, probably weighing her options, but then let out an exasperated sigh.

"Now I will only ask one more time. Who do you work for?" Batman stood up and looked down on her menacingly.

"Who else would have orchestrated this entire thing? The Light, of course." She was still glaring at him, but with her fiery eyes, she looked twice as angry. Now that I knew it was Kelli, It was weird to hear her talk without saying the word 'like' every two words. But I guess that was also part of her cover.

"What's in it for you? Why are you helping them?"

She sighed dramatically again before she spoke, "The Light knows about your little Team you have going on here." She motioned with her head at the Team that was scattered around the clearing, talking to their mentors.

Then she continued, "When the Light discovered that the people who kept foiling their plans were just a team of teenage operatives, they decided to get their own."

"And they just happened to find you by coincidence?"

"No. I found them," she grinned proudly, "I proved my worth and they trained me in order to take down your precious little Team of operatives. I studied with the League of Assassins. They taught me to control my powers and use it to my advantage."

"Where does Huntress come into all of this? Why did the Light want her?"

"What? You don't want to know who is in charge of the Light or who I work for?" She feigned innocence, "I would have though you'd be more interested in that."

"I already have an idea. And you wouldn't know anyways. You're just a tool that they've been using."

She glared at him and bucked against me, but I kept her firmly on the ground. Batman lifted her face with the toe of his boot so she would look at him.

"Remember what I said earlier. I will follow through with what I said. Unless you cooperate. Why did the Light want Huntress?"

She huffed and then yanked her head from his shoe and then continued speaking.

"The Light found a particular interest in her after hearing the reports of her fight with Devastation. It was quite interesting, indeed, that a girl who shows up from a completely different universe was able to defeat a villain who's likened to Wonder Woman. The fight against Devastation ended up proving to the Light that she was useful.

"They saw Bethany as a lost child who could easily be swayed," she continued, "So they hired their own teenage operative to spy on Bethany: me. Many times, I tried to get Bethany to come with me after school, so that I could kidnap her and bring her to the Light, but she always refused for some unknown reason. I was always nice to her, but I could tell she could tell something was off. I could see it in her eyes. She made up the shittiest excuses so that she wouldn't have to come with me."

That made my mouth drop open. But then it struck me.

"Were you the one that drugged my drink at that party?"

She smiled back at me, her bloodied teeth making her look homicidal, "I had a friend do it. I told them you were looking for a heavy buzz, so they hit your drink up with the strongest drug that they had. I was suppose to take it from there, but I got held up with your friend Dicky-poo here." She jerked her head at Robin and he frowned.

I looked at him in confusion, "What does she mean? What did you do to her?"

"I had my suspicions from the very beginning. But you confirmed it for me during that car ride to the party, when you said your instincts were telling you something was off about Kelli. So I tried to investigate a little bit while you were in the room. I should've waited to do that, otherwise, Grant would have never caught you." He shook his head.

Huh. I guess that was why it had taken Dick so long to get back to the room.

"So you know Bethany's identity. Who else have you told?" Batman asked.

She laughed, "I should have told the Light that I knew who this Huntress was that they kept trying to find. But I didn't tell anyone. I wanted to keep the information to myself, you see. I wanted to raise my position in the Light by proving myself to be worthy and capable."

"You were going to present Bethany to the Light all by yourself." Batman stated.

Ignoring Batman's comment, she continued, "I didn't tell them that Richard Grayson was Robin and Bethany was Huntress. Or even that Batman was actually the freaking Bruce Wayne. I was going to give them all that information myself, gaining me respect and power in the Light."

Batman leaned back, thinking. A slight smile etched itself onto his face. What was he planning?

"So you blackmailed Bethany into coming here tonight so that you could give her to the Light. You were going to do it tonight. You were so close, but you failed."

"I should have told them before! But I wanted to... I just wanted power... I STILL YEARN FOR THE POWER! I..." But we drowned her crazed rant out.

Her flame filled head and eyes had heated considerably. I jumped off of her back and stood with Robin and Batman. Blaze was going crazy. She had started writhing on the ground, yelling about her claim to power in the Light. Batman had pushed her over the edge. Now she was going to wallow in the pain of her mistakes. Now she wouldn't have anything that she had worked so hard for because she had made that one little choice: to bring me to the Light all by herself. Her selfish desire for power had caused her failure.

Batman and Robin turned towards me, ignoring Blaze, who was still yelling at herself.

"Are you guys okay?" He mainly looked at me. Robin put a hand to my back and rubbed soothingly. Then he grasped my hand. I felt uncomfortable holding hands in front of Batman, but oh what the hell.

"I'm fine," my voice croaked and I cleared my throat, "I'm fine," I tried again, a little more firmly.

"I will have to order you another costume. Maybe upgrade it a little bit. But other than that..." He paused, struggling for the words, "Good job, Bethany. Both of you. Good job."

My eyes widened in surprise. Praise from the Bats? Never thought that I'd ever hear that. Ever.

He only briefly glanced at our joined hands before nodding. He opened his mouth to say something again but was cut off with the strangled noise of a gasp. We both whipped around to see what had happened.

It was Blaze.

There was one of my knives sticking through her chest. More importantly, it was embedded right through her heart.

She had stabbed herself in the heart.

"No!" I cried out. I dashed to her side and yanked out the knife, receiving another gasp from Blaze. I tossed it to the side.

Blood started to spread, starting from her heart and making its way down to her stomach. It continued to spread at a rapid pace. How had this happened? I looked around and saw all of my weapons lying around the clearing. She must have grabbed one of my knives that was lying around from my fight with her earlier.

"NO!" A strangled scream escaped my throat. She didn't deserve to die this fast! She needed to suffer for her crimes!

She gasped and gulped for air, but in a few seconds her flaming hair receded until it turned to a normal curly blonde. Her eyes turned back to normal. Her body started to pale an unnatural shade of gray and her body stopped emitting so much heat. My heart started to pound and the blood rushed in my ears.

"Shouldn't she be healing by now?" I asked. The panic filled my shaky voice.

There was silence from both of them. Then Robin spoke up.

"She stabbed herself in the heart. She immediately killed herself. I don't think that will heal." His voice was low and soft.

I just stared at her body.

I was holding a cold and lifeless body for the second time that night.

And never before had I ever felt such a mix of emotions. Never before had I felt so angry, sad, and helpless.

Ugh, school starts soon. Gotta stay whelmed.