It would be an understatement to say that I did not feel good the next morning. When Cassie knocked on my door to wake me I could barely hear it over the pounding in my own skull. Releasing a feral groan I rose to sit on the side of my bed. The room swayed sickeningly for a few moments until a few steady breaths calmed it. Ignoring the pain in my skull and head I stumbled towards the en-suite, praying that a hot shower would make me feel less like death.

The steam was blissful for the first few moments. It blocked out my senses, the water cascading down my skin was so comforting I almost forgot about the moments before I fell asleep the night before.

Almost.

The memories came back – murky mind you – along with another sickening feeling in my gut that had nothing to do with the alcohol I consumed. Not directly anyway. For a moment I pressed both palms and forehead against the cooler white tiles. Inhaling and exhaling.

Even if I didn't suffer from a mental break-down in the next few hours, this day was still going to be hell.

Gritting my teeth against the cowardice rising rather quickly, I got out of the shower. Dressing quickly into the clothes Cassie had given me on the plane. Black on black, the sleeveless top and leggings not far off the flexible material of Lycra. A battle for another day, I thought. Allies were already dropping like flies at the moment.

I left the room as I tied up my hair, jogging down the stairs to Wonder Girl's Room. Five pairs of eyes trained on my form as I entered. Four of which I met with my own.

"Sorry I'm late," I muttered. Planting my feet and crossing my arms – my best attempt at looking ready for the mission. I could feel Nightwing's gaze like a weight on my face, but on speaking he returned to his lecture like my interruption hadn't happened.

"We split up. Superboy and Card Queen will head to the business park we found in a similar location to that of Emily's memories. You two will check and see if there are any signs of another entrance to the facility. Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Emily and I will fly across to the island and go from there. We'll retain all communication on comms. If either party come up with a dead end we return to the ship to await any signals from the other. Understood?"

Usually, there answer was immediate. An almost 'Yes Sir, yes sir!' This time however, they paused, chancing wary glances at me. I could see they were waiting for me to argue as I usually did. Personally, I would have rather had a smaller team with me on the island. Four seemed like a lot of noise for whatever's down there to pick up on. However I couldn't summon the energy at that point. The hangover, the lack of sleep and the fact that I'd have to make direct eye contact with our sergeant major made it impossible for me to muster up a good argument.

Instead I shrugged. "Well what are we waiting for," before turning going back out the door I came in moments previously.

The day was overcast, not unusual for Ireland, perhaps even dryer then its ordinary autumn morning. I spied darker clouds far in the distance. I prayed they weren't headed this way, the last thing I wanted was to be terrified, angry, hungover and wet. Burying my hands deeper into my pockets I turned my gaze towards our destination. Inis Clearan seemed miniature from the main land but being the one of four that would be searching for this supposed entrance to a secret laboratory it could still take hours. I started to take a few deeper breaths, feeling my heart rate speeding into panic mode.

"Relax," a voice said behind me. I turned to see Cassie stroll up to stand next to me. I immediately scolded myself for the disappointment flooding my chest. Typical, the one person I needed to tell me that was returning my silent treatment over an argument where I wouldn't sleep with him. Why had I chosen that moment in my life to gain self-respect?

"I'm fine," I lied dully and badly. She raised an eyebrow but thankfully didn't comment.

"Nightwing told me to tell you to absorb my flight powers so that we can carry the other two over."

I couldn't help but glance quickly back towards him. His back was to me having some sort of heated conversation with K.F.

"Right," I answered, holding her out my hand. She didn't take it straight away causing me to catch her eye again. Damn that eyebrow thing. "What?"

"Are you two fighting?"

I choked on my own breath for a moment. "What! N – No! I – we – it's just that…"

"Articulate." At the smug smile I was finished.

"Can we just get on with this please?" I hissed grabbing her hand from her side before she started the interrogation. Her powers washed over me, the feeling of super strength was similar to Superboys', however the sudden lightness of flight was a new thing altogether. Images raced through my mind, most too fast to see properly however a dark haired woman with Cassie's eyes followed by a flash of lighting fuelled by a deep feeling of rage stuck as I broke contact with her skin. Groaning loudly I stumbled back, the visions doing nothing for the pounding in my skull.

"You ok? What did you see?" She asked far too brightly.

"Can't remember…" I mumbled, massaging my temples and praying that the day will end shortly and I could sleep for a long time. After a final deep breath I focused on the new powers pumping through my system and raised easily into the air. For a brief moment I forgot everything and smiled.

One thing is for certain. Flying is and always will be awesome.

The flight over was smooth, not including the nerves that squirmed in my stomach. As an almost retaliation for my coldness before we left, Cassie went straight over to K.F. when pairing up for the flight. Leaving me take… well, the other one.

Remaining mute I copied exactly how Cassie went to carry the speedster, wrapping her slender fingers around his wrists so that he could grip her wrists in turn. Praying my palms wouldn't sweat I hoisted him into the air with me, my added strength making his weight turn to nothing.

On landing on the rocks lining the lake's edge I felt him tense as if to speak, before he could I had opened my moth instead.

"I need to focus." The sentence and cold tone hadn't intended to use was enough before I started walking towards the line of trees ahead of us.

We were lucky, something I'm not used to saying very often. Once through the trees the island opened into a large stretch of grass and to the east, a cluster of ruins.

I'd read the first night on picking this place out of my head that Irish monks during medieval times would find the most remote places in the country to settle and be closer to God. This led to a huge amount of small church's being built in these locations. The ruins had survived relatively unscathed, the rock merely turned white from exposure, the roofless foundations forming triangles pointing towards the sky. In any other situation I would have found them fascinating. Instead all I could think: "If I were a secret door…"

We searched the smaller ones closest to us. Tapping the old rocks for anything hollow, pressing them in case of any levers or buttons. I'd lost complete track of Nightwing until is deep voice called out to us around midday. By then the sun although low in the sky had broken through the clouds and a fine sheen of sweat was forming on my brow and the back of my neck.

We all raced towards where he called, K.F. easily beating us but Cassie and I not far behind while in the air. Nightwing stood inside the largest of the previous churches we'd been searching. In front of him was what appeared to be a small room. Made from the same rock as the other churches the doorway leading into it was covered by a black, tarnished gate and it seemed to be the only structure on the island with a roof.

Bingo.

"Cassie," Nightwing called. "Get this grate off will you? And try not to make the structure collapse.

"How'd you find this?" K.F. asked the same question on my mind but was too stubborn to ask.

"X-ray vision goggles," he said tapping his mask. "And further analysis indicates that the roof of this room is made of cement.

"No cement in the olden days," Cassie muttered as she pulled the black bars clean off their hinges. Nightwing entered first his wrist band throwing a beam of light into the empty space. After a quick once over he zeroed in on the far corner, staring over his shoulder I noticed that space the size of a post-it was a different shade and texture to the stone surrounding it.

Slipping out a blade from his belt the boy wonder chipped away at the cement, the chiselled clink pulling at my already frayed nerves. When it was all a gone a sort of hum echoed around us causing everyone who had filed in to the small space to jump.

"It sounds like…" K.F. started.

"An engine," Nightwing spoke as he pressed something against the newly carved spot. A faded green light filled the air around us, emitting from a small arrow pointing downwards.

"It's an elevator," my voice cracked a little from not using it in the last few hours. Just then the rocks at our feet shuddered as the ground squeaked and groaned telling us it wasn't made out of the substance that covered it. So slowly, I wanted to scream the ground began to descend, leaving behind the medieval walls above our heads.

"Looks like we're heading down then…" was all Nightwing said as we made out descent, the green light causing our faces to turn the shade of what we all felt inside.