Chapter Eighteen:

I walked Jay back to the door of his warehouse. The steady silence threatening to make me bolt back to the jet but I forced my steps forward. I mean, I did kind of owe him. He saved my life god knows how many times tonight, the least I could do was say goodbye. He didn't seem perturbed by the lack of communication however. His brow was creased as if deep in thought as we stood outside the metal door. The sun was peaking above the concrete canopy of Gotham city, its light casting us all in an orange hue.

"This is my favourite time in Gotham." I said smiling lightly. "It's like the sun is erasing all the horrors of the night before to give us this one, brief moment of quite before everyone wakes up and gets on with their lives."

He was watching my face closely. "I always wondered why you'd get out of bed around now." His tone was mildly warm which I was relieved about. I was afraid he was taking that time to recall why he was pissed with me on entering the Triad meeting.

I shrugged, feeling a blush to my cheeks. "It's stupid," I said, wishing I hadn't spoken. "I must really hate silences if this is the shit coming out of my mouth."

"Not stupid. Honest. You never open up to anyone unless they're totally not expecting it. I've learned that over the years."

I decided to ignore this – not wanting to go into detail of how 'close' we were. That would not help anything. Instead I clapped my hands together. "Well, I best be off. Gotta go and figure out why I'm being hunted."

He smiled. "Maybe you'll get the full answer this time."

"Maybe." I turned to leave but something stopped me. "Jay?"

"Yeah?"

"I – " I changed my mind. "Um… will the Triad not come after you? I mean whoever hired you will certainly know where you live now right?"

He shrugged and visibly cringed as it tugged at his stitches. I knew how that felt. "I'm hired help, everyone knows it. I'll just tell them that you were the highest bidder for my… expertise."

I nodded, understanding. "Well, for what it's worth, we still make a good team."

He glanced at something over my head. "We'll always make a good team. At… everything we do."

I glowered at him as he laughed. "Whatever Jackdaw."

"Just remember our deal Em," He called as the door shut behind him. I swear I could still hear his chuckle behind the steel sheets.

When I stepped back into the jet it was obvious that Nightwing had filled the others in on my adventures. They all began bombarding me with questions, basically causing me to repeat the whole tale even though I doubt our team leader had left out any details. By the time I was finished with my interrogation I felt myself losing total train of thought as they discussed to talk about the next step. I knew I should be listening but I kept zoning out, the wall of the plane becoming of great interest to my eyes before it blurred…

"Emily?" A voice pulled me out of my reverie. "Hey!" Fingers clicked in front of my face as I jumped. I glanced into Cassie's frown; the others were all staring at me levelly.

"Yes," I answered automatically, but their gazes didn't waver. "No? Sorry… what was the question?"

Cassie sighed. "When was the last time you slept?" She asked, she didn't sound angry more wary that they hadn't considered this.

"Um…" I tried to shake the fog which had crept across my brain without me realising. "Yesterday? No… was it two days ago?"

"And eaten?"

I frowned, considering. "I think I had breakfast the day Martian Manhunter paid a visit." They all made exasperated noises. "Hey! Cut me a break! Things have been slightly mental this week!"

"You should be looking after yourself," Card Queen sighed. She was paying less attention to me now, inspecting her nails. "If you get run down you may as well sign the team's death warrants as well as your own."

Aw. That was probably the most affectionate thing she's ever said to me.

"I'll keep that in mind I grumbled and stood up, taking a different seat as my old one was too crowded.

"Let her sleep," Nightwing said as I tucked my feet underneath me and pressed my head against the wall. He said something else but my consciousness was slipping. I gratefully allowed the darkness to suck me under.

At first, all I could see was thin, white mist. Slowly my surroundings materialised, came into a sudden focus. I could feel my heart pound in my chest as I realised I was standing in the Laboratory. Something had changed since my escape; I felt no need to run. The cameras were gone and the corridors were completely deserted. I walked casually down the maze of hallways yet found nothing. Just an ocean's horizon of white walls.

"Hey!" A voice behind me made me jump. I turned to see a young boy standing behind me. He was no older than eight, his bright blue eyes standing out from his pale face and messed locks.

"Hello," I said back. "What are you doing in my dream?"

"I'm not in your dream," he replied and without any elaboration turned and sprinted back the way I came.

"Wait!" I called and ran after him. "I don't know who you are!"

I ran for what felt like miles, pushing my feet to move until the felt like they were cutting through water instead of air. When my steps grew too heavy I stopped. Colour stirred at the corner of my vision and when turned I saw a door directly to my right. Despite the uneasy feeling growing in my stomach I pushed down the handle and walked into the room behind.

I knew that room. I knew it better than I knew anywhere I'd ever been. I'd memorized every corner over twelve years. Before I could turn to leave the small Lab again I heard sniffling. Without thinking about it I strode forward. There he sat, huddled in the back of my old cage. I approached him, crouching down so that we were at the same height.

"Don't be scared," I told him gently. "There's no one here. We can go wherever we want."

"We can?" His voice was hoarse.

"Of course." I smiled reassuring him. As I reached out my hand the uneasy feeling intensified in my gut but I ignored it. "This is my dream after all."

He shook his head but took my hand anyway, his eyes were closed. "No it's not." Suddenly he opened them. They weren't blue anymore. They were pupil and white-less, flooded only with flames. He wrenched my hand forward, hauling me into the cage before disappearing. I spun around to see the lab had disappeared, replaced be angry flames licking their way around the cage. A voice – part the boy's part something monstrous echoed around me as the fire sucked all the oxygen from the air.

"Not your dream…" the voice announced gleefully as I choked. "You're nightmare."

I screamed.

I jolted into consciousness. My eyes blurred at the sudden movement as I pressed my palms to my temples, trying to breathe evenly. Cold sweat stuck to the back of my neck and I shivered at the temperature

Just a dream… I chanted silently. Just a dream…

On focusing my vision I glanced around, praying I hadn't woken anyone up. Card Queen was curled up in a tiny wall opposite me, looking vulnerable and almost cute in her slumber. Her loosely clenched fist rose to her face as if she had sucked her thumb as an infant. When I looked across the jet I had to resist the urge to snort loudly. Nightwing sat bolt upright, his arms crossed and his head slightly bowed as he slept soundlessly. I swear he actually looked like a bat.

With the thoughts of new teasing material at my disposal I happily stood. Moving forward as quietly as I could until I found the member I was looking for. Cassie and Conner sat asleep next to each other, Cassie's head lying gently on his shoulder. As gently and briefly as I could I absorbed his powers, smiling when after a wash of more exhaustion, Conner turned slightly, lying his head on hers and throwing an arm across her lap.

Stinging on my wrist brought my attention to my blasted wound. Trying not to think about it I tugged the neatly sewn sutures out until all that was left was a slight rosy tinge to my newly healed skin.

"Makes you wish you the boy of steel eh?" a whisper from the front of the jet made me jump. Kid Flash sat in the cock pit looking pleased with himself sitting in the big seat.

"What are you doing awake?" I asked, walking over and sitting in the nearest seat.

"Someone has to fly the jet!"

"Nice try," I chided, rolling my eyes. "I know this thing has auto-pilot."

"Fine," he allowed. "It's… hard to sleep when your metabolism is running as fast as mine. Especially since I've only been awake a few hours. I'll catch a power nap later."

"How long have we been flying?"

He frowned at me. "You've only been asleep an hour and a half." I gaped at him. "I'm serious, you should curl up again and grab some more 'z's before we land.

I thought about my dreams, nothing particularly surfacing in my memory of them apart from the heat and the fear. I shivered.

"Nah, I should be good to go for a while still."

"Suit yourself."

The flashing lights of the controls caught my eye. "So, is there a big red button for – I dunno – heat seeking missiles in here?"

He chuckled. "Not quite. The jet doesn't have too much weaponry, sure it has the basics in automatics but that's just for emergencies. The J.L. expects us not to have to rely on the jet for anything other than transport and cover.

"Can it really go invisible?"

"Sure, we can't just fly through cities and expect the media to ignore us. Plus, when we land near an enemy base it comes in real handy in keeping the element of surprise."

"Makes sense. So… how far are we?"

"Another three hours at least. This thing is fast but the Atlantic is a big ocean." I nodded, unwillingly slipping into silence. "You nervous?"

"About what?"

"You know, seeing it all again."

I thought about it. "Not nervous… just…"

"Terrified?" He offered, I didn't answer. "It's ok to be you know."

"Imagine knowing that you're willingly going to the setting of every nightmare you've ever had."

"Yeah… when you put it like that –"

"It's fine," I back peddled, seeing the pity in his eyes. "There's no point complaining about it. I have to do this, for Sadira."

He seemed to study me for a second. "You remind me of someone."

"Oh… who?"

"Tall dark and silent back there," he jerked his chin to the rest of the eta league behind us.

I choked on a half-gasp-half-laugh. "Thanks, that's really flattering."

"That was a compliment."

"Sure. I'm a quiet, brooding, stern and intense twenty-one-year-old with a nasty temper and seriously messed up idea of training teammates."

He had to cover his mouth to stop an outright burst of laughter. "You are most of those things… but you're also strong. You don't let your past haunt or hinder you; you get on with things so that your friends can have their moments of weakness."

I tried not to blush. "You two are obviously close."

"Closer than he likes to think about."

"I would never have pegged the two of you as friends."

"Neither do I sometimes," he chuckled. "Look, I know it's taken a while but… after seeing your loyalty to that kid back in Happy Harbour I now get why you worked for Slade."

"Thanks… I guess."

"What I mean is, well – " he reached up and pulled his mask off, the red and yellow fabric acting as a kind of hood. "I trust you. We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Wally West, resident of Central City and the product of a chemical explosion in my school chem. Lab."

I gaped at him; I guess this was the way with Kid Fl – Wally West, prone to quick decisions that seem to come out of nowhere. I cleared my throat. "Um… pleased to meet you Wally."

He seemed to enjoy my expression. "I would shake your hand but uh, I'm still a bit put out after last time." I rolled my eyes and shoved him. Glad that the rest of the journey would pass quicker now that I had a friend who can fill any silence with chatter.