Chapter One: Just Another Day
The Watchtower
October 14; 14:26
Black Canary was assessing missions with Captain Atom when the Team came back.
"Welcome back, Team," she greeted turning away from the monitors. "I assume that the mission was a success?"
"Yes." Aqualad answered with pride. Behind him, the rest of the Team in the mission smiled as well, "The mission went well and we managed to retrieve all abductees and Krolotaians."
"Good work, Team." Black Canary beamed before turning her attention to Captain Atom once again. "Go enjoy the rest of the day off."
A chorus of gleeful cheers erupted. Beast Boy raced towards Blue Beetle and Bart, and chatted about their plans of playing video games. Robin and Wonder Girl held hands and went their own way; Superboy grumbled about getting some rest and M'gann went to the evidence room. Kaldur watched as the Team dispersed, although, he let his gaze linger on the blonde woman who strode in the direction of the grotto.
It had only been just three months after the invasion; everyone had fallen back into their lives' normal routine. However, changes were eminent especially to the senior members of the Team. The most prominent change, for the lack of better word— Kaldur would say they had been quite reclusive, himself included.
Kaldur sighed. Despite upholding the responsibilities of being a leader, he could not help but think he was beginning to fail them as a friend. He could try and talk to them, ease their pain one by one, especially Tigress; but there was no guarantee it would work. For one, it was not easy opening up something so sensitive, even to your friend. And after all, the pain of losing someone could linger for the longest time, no matter what one would do.
"Kaldur?"
The Atlantian broke out of his reverie when he heard Black Canary's voice and felt her hand on his shoulder, "Yes?"
"Is there something wrong?" Canary asked worriedly.
Kaldur shook his head. "Everything is fine. Would you like to have the report now?" he said.
If Black Canary sensed Kaldur's rigidness, he was thankful that she did not ask about it any further. Instead, she shook her head and changed the topic. "Not really, I was just about to discuss a few more possible missions within the week or so."
He was quite thankful for the next hours, the mission and other agendas he and Canary discussed took his mind off the worry and pain currently enveloping the team.
"Still working I see."
Barbara lifted her head to see M'gann. "How did your mission go?" she asked the Martian, stretching a bit.
M'gann gave a tired smile. "It was a success, but exhausting." She levitated a chair in front of the table Barbara was working on. "You should rest Batgirl. You're tired."
"Just a few more hours. I think this new lead is what we've been looking for." Batgirl started to type again. "You go rest, M'gann."
The sound of keyboard clicking was the only thing heard in the room. M'gann bit her lip and leaned back on the chair. "You should too. When you arrived in the morning, you quickly went to work. When we left for the mission, you were working. Now that we've arrived, you're still working." M'gann stated with great worry laced on her voice. "You know Batman and Nightwing don't like it when you overwork yourself."
M'gann inwardly smiled as Batgirl laughed. "Those two— as if they don't overwork themselves."
"Technically," the Martian started, "It's Batman who overworks. Nightwing can moderate his work time, if I remember correctly."
The two girls shared a laugh before staring at each other. "How are you, M'gann?" Batgirl asked, startling the alien. M'gann blinked and suddenly, let a small frown appear on her face, knowing exactly what she meant.
"I'm good," M'gann said, hugging herself. "I think. It's quite a difficult time still but, I guess I'm managing."
Batgirl nodded and leaned back on her chair, abandoning the computer for a moment. "That's good." She muttered. "I guess, everyone in the Team, is fairing—"
"We're drifting apart." M'gann suddenly interrupted. "I'm sorry. I mean, it's unintentionally of course, but still—"
"You feel it too?"
Batgirl received a nod. She sighed and stared into space.
"D— Nightwing and I were talking the other day you know. Tim and I have been updating him about the Team. He was glad we're doing good and said that maybe he would not go back anytime soon yet. Like us, he's dealing with it in his own way." Batgirl chuckled before continuing, "After that, he started to reminiscence his times with Wally. There were really good friends and he really misses him a lot." She offered.
M'gann sadly smiled. "I remembered when we were just starting the Team. Wally was hitting on me. I find it, really sweet. No romantic feelings by the way," she took a deep breath before continuing, "He was a really a good friend and comrade. I couldn't thank him enough for his companionship." Her gaze shifted to the stars outside. "I didn't think he'd have this much impact."
Batgirl shrugged. "Maybe we never realized it until now. That's how it usually goes, sadly."
Silence enveloped the room, before being broken by a loud, tired sigh. "I miss him." Batgirl said with a forlorn look. M'gann's sad smile widened a bit, before saying, "I do too. We all do."
"It doesn't get better, does it?"
M'gann stared into the stars on the other side of the window. "In time, maybe— hopefully"
Batgirl shook her head before stacking the papers and pushing away from the computer desk. "Maybe we should rest. It's a really tiring day."
M'gann nodded in agreement. "I have the day off tomorrow. Do you want to hang out? I can invite Zatanna with us," the alien offered as she stood up.
"That sounds lovely," Batgirl whispered as she gave a smile.
"Batman."
The Dark Knight halted as he heard the alien call his name. "Yes, J'onn?" he asked as he turned around to face the Martian.
The Martian Manhunter was silent for a few moments before saying, "May I have a word?"
"Of course," Batman motioned J'onn to follow him in the monitoring room. There, they saw the Flash and Shazam* in their respective seats and Black Canary standing in between.
"We'll take it from here." Batman ordered, not giving the two heroes a chance to say anything.
Flash shrugged and tapped Shazam on his shoulder, "You heard the boss." He said, before running off. Shazam, after being left behind by Flash, smiled. "I'm going, I'm going." He flew off as he muttered something about grabbing a snack on the way home.
Black Canary raised a brow. "They still have an hour. Is it something important?"
Batman slightly nodded his head before turning to the Martian Manhunter. "What was it you want to talk about?"
But before the Martian Manhunter could talk, the mechanical doors opened and revealed Hal Jordan and John Smith.
"Sorry to interrupt," Hal said walking ahead of John, "but we need to tell you something urgent."
The Martian frowned, obviously displeased by the interruption. "What I have to say is, quite important as well."
"I'm sure what you need to say could wait, Hal." Black Canary said, stepping forward and placing a hand on the alien, urging him to continue.
The Martian nodded in gratefulness before speaking, "I had a vision— one that seemed to be a premonition."
"Premonition?" Batman asked, confused. He, along with all of the members of the League, was aware of the powerful psionic abilities the alien and his niece has. However, he was also aware that premonition was not one of them.
"It may seem odd since I possess no such trait, but yes." The Martian turned to the two leaders of the League, "I am not even certain if the premonition is something we need to worry about. But the images were quite alarming enough I had to consider the possibility of it being true."
"And what did you see in this vision?" Black Canary asked.
The Martian clenched his jaw and was silent. "To be frank, it confuses me. It was only a series of mysterious and blurry flashes of figures and some kind of— destruction. But one prominent image in it was a crash here on Earth."
The two Green Lanterns suddenly turned to each other, and this was noticed by the Dark Knight.
"Hal, John?"
Hal swiped to the right and typed in the holographic keyboard that appeared. A monitor that showed numerous galaxies then appeared behind him. "There has been an unknown energy signature that has been randomly erupting a few days ago. Just a while ago, we got intel from the other Lanterns that it erupted again and continued to do so. They added that it's starting to have a pattern." He pointed on the far north-western part of the monitor, effectively zooming into it. "Luckily, there were a few Lanterns near this particular area. However, when they investigated it, they said it was one of the dead galaxies. There was literally nothing in it."
"The energy signature is still present though," John added. "And, like Hal said, is continuously growing. We few Lanterns already theorized that if it would grow and start moving, it may hit planets, including Earth which is blocking its path."
"The Green Lanterns were already on the move," Hal interjected. "They've already manage to put up reflectors for any dangerous energy waves. Though, we're still trying to figure out how to reposition the planets, if possible."
The information brought by stunned Batman and Black Canary into silence. Canary held her chin as she dived into a deep thought. "We'll have to talk about this. Call all League members available today. Those who can't attend today will have to be briefed tomorrow. Hal, John, please prepare every single detail we need— from the energy source to the plans of actions. " She ordered and the two Green Lanterns nodded before walking to the conference room.
Black Canary turned to the Martian Manhunter. "As for J'onn's, we need to consult Dr. Fate about this."
"I've already contacted him." Batman's gruff voice came. "He says he won't be able to come tonight, but he will arrive early in the morning tomorrow.
Canary nodded. "Let's start the meeting then."
"...and that's it. Once again, we save lives and one step closer to stopping the Light."
Artemis stared at the holographic image of Tula as she finished her narration. He sighed and closed his eyes. It had been a tradition ever since she lost Wally. Her hand traveled to her chest, as if she was preventing it from breaking any further. She clutched her chest as tears threatened to escape her eye.
Her eyes furrowed in frustration. She hated this; hated everything that happened to her and to her friends, hated being weak. Tears now escaped her eyes and she stared at the hologram. She was strong; everyone knew that, she knew that. But for now, she realized, was the time to be weak, for a little while.
She snapped out of her reverie when she heard the metallic doors open. She wiped her tears away before turning around and saw Kaldur. "Hello Kaldur." She whispered.
Kaldur did not say anything and only watched her as she turned again to the holographic image of Wally, losing herself in thought.
"How are you Artemis?" He asked.
He noticed that she flinched when he called her by her real name. She had never been called by that name ever since she became Tigress. "I'm good." She managed to choke out.
Kaldur stared at her for a few moments before walking towards her. When he reached her, he touched her shoulder in a brotherly manner. "I know it has been a few painful months—"
"Yes," Artemis interrupted, removing his hand on her shoulder. "But we shouldn't dwell on the past. Life doesn't evolve around it." She added, turning towards him. "Don't worry Kaldur, I'll be fine. I'm managing." She was silent after her sentence, emotionless and unreadable.
Kaldur let Tigress walked away from him, but spoke before she could exit, "If you need anyone to talk to, know that your friends are here."
Tigress bit her lip and stayed silent. "I know that," she said before seeing her way out.
Kaldur let his shoulder drop. He had hoped to have talked to Artemis more than that. He sighed as he realized that, as much as he did not want to admit, he knew he had to try and act fast, or the Team would collapse if this deterioration were to continue.
On his peripheral vision, he caught sight of Tula's holographic image. Seeing her made him realize that he needed to talk about this to someone who knew the Team as much as he did.
Kaldur clicked his tongue. He hoped Nightwing had a few minutes to spare.
Author's Note: Forgive me if it's so... dull. Read and review!