Roy's eyes opened to a familiar sight. Shawna wrapping a bandage around his shoulder. She was focused on it as always. Taking care not to hurt any more than she had to. She was that way with all of them. Unless she was treating Digger, then she seemed to forget how to do things gently.
It was calming.
The fact that he was handcuffed to a chair and had an anti-meta device around his neck was a new development though.
"Welcome back." She was smiling at him. For a moment, he wondered if he hadn't dreamed it all. The fight, Scudder and Dillon turning the others against them…falling off that building.
She pulls slightly on the bandage and he hisses a little.
Guess he didn't imagine getting shot by a laser beam.
Roy looks around, any sense of normalcy or familiarity disappearing in an instant. He's sitting on an old wooden chair. Well, old might be unfair. Antique is probably the better word. The arms were carved into duck's heads and the seat was actually quite comfortable. The fabric itself even screamed wealth.
He was in some kind of study. It was like one you would see in movies. Leather bound books covering shelves built into the wall, a small metal ladder leaning off to the side. There were paintings on the walls that he wanted to get a closer look at. Not the kind you find in a store, the sort one might purloin from a museum. He was certain that one behind the desk was a Degas. Which was worth well over twenty million.
This might be the nicest safe house he had ever seen.
Shawna was still looking at him. She had finished working on his shoulder and was now just sitting there, on a small…footstool? Ottoman?
He doesn't quite know what that's called. He's never seen so much intact furniture in a place the Rogues have occupied for more than a few minutes.
That table has coasters on it. That more than anything else tells him there is something very wrong happening here.
"Roy? You back with us?" Shawna takes his chin and turns his face back towards hers. He decides to focus on her, at least her presence makes sense.
"What happened?"
"You got hit by a laser and we…"
"Not that. I mean this! I mean, what the hell is going on? Why did you betray us…"
"I didn't betray anybody. I was doing what we've always done. Looked out for myself, and you…"
"Shawna, you…you're being mind-controlled…"
"Roy, seriously? I make one decision, a decision half of the Rogues agree with, and I have to be mind controlled? What, just because Snart didn't come up with the idea means its shit? How many of his plans have been terrible?"
"That's not what…"
"And seriously Roy, look at what he did to us. To all of us. Becoming international terrorists was just the beginning. Your powers almost freaking broke. Do you have any idea how many injuries we have had over the past few months? I'm pretty sure Digger is just being held together by duct tape at this point. And don't even get me started on how lucky we were that Mick didn't die from all his burns. And then Snart was sidelining me, I mean I could see the writing on the wall."
"Shawna what…"
"He was going to disband the Rogues. Going to take off with his sister and leave the rest of us to just be cannon fodder while they ran."
"Snart wouldn't do that."
"Maybe not a year ago, but he's changed. You know that shit in Metropolis messed him up. You can't read people too well Roy, but I can. I saw the way he acted, like he was going to bolt at any second. I could see it in his eyes. Now the chip's out of his neck, it will be worse. But what happens if his powers mess up again? What happens when he just can't control them? Huh? We just wait around to become collateral damage? I'm done with that Roy. Done with letting someone else decide what happens to my life."
Roy was certain his mouth was hanging open slightly. He tried to think of anything he could say that would convince her that she was wrong. Anything that could make her see that she wasn't thinking clearly.
He tried to sit up straighter and his shoulder protested. She leaned forward and put a gentle hand on his chest.
"Don't move."
"I'd rather not be sitting down when whatever happens to me, happens."
She pulled back her hand, confusion on her face.
"What? Roy, nothing's going to happen to you."
Roy pulled on his cuffs slightly.
"Then why am I wearing these?"
"That…that was just a precaution. If you were to wake up and it was Scudder or Dillon in here you know? Like, you know it's us and we wouldn't…"
"You dropped me off a building."
"I was going to catch you! If Baby Flash hadn't run in I would have had you a second later. I wasn't going to hurt you. I just…wanted you to understand how I felt. Betrayal Roy, I feel it all the time with the Rogues now. Just waiting for someone to push me aside and leave me. I wanted you to come with us. I had to…"
"So you just made a deal with Luthor? That's the plan?"
"It's more complicated than that. But yea. We give him the chip and we can just disappear. No one will be looking for us. He'll say that we all died. Scudder said something about some face-changing tech we could steal. Go somewhere no one knows us. I've always wanted a boat. We could just sail off and be free of all this. This isn't what we signed up for. We shouldn't have to pay for Snart's mistakes. We will look out for each other. Come on Roy, you know I'm right."
She sounded so earnest. So sincere. It…it did seem like Shawna was in there. Like she was making all the decisions. It wasn't like when the Reverse Flash took over Mardon or when Grodd controlled people. He was almost inclined to believe her. To believe that this was what she really wanted.
Except for one little detail.
"You dropped me off a building."
She actually rolled her eyes at him this time. Like they were arguing over whether pineapple belongs on a pizza. Not attempted murder.
"I told you, I was going to catch you. I was just…just showing you how, how…"
"Shawna. You can't really believe that Scudder or Dillon will…"
"Man, screw them. We get this done and we break away from them. I'm saying it's us. You, me, Mark. It's the three of us, like always. We stick together. None of them have been through what we've been through. They do their thing, get this deal with Luthor done and the three of us just…"
"What about Mick?"
Shawna stops for a moment. She glances back towards the hallway. The others had to be close by somewhere. Though considering the state of this room, he's inclined to believe he's in a mansion of some kind. He wonders if there are different wings to this place.
"Mick's…he can tag along for a bit. But I figure he'll just go off on his own. Way he's been talking, I think he's done working with other people. Done with a lot of things."
Roy couldn't figure this out. Why the hell was Shawna so willing to trust that Scudder and Dillon wouldn't just turn them all over? He just needed to play along. The others would come find him before too long. He just needed a little more time. Figure out how she was being controlled. Figure out how to get her free. And the others.
"Where are we?"
"Dillon's old family estate or something."
"Isn't that…an obvious place to hide?"
"I guess not. Turns out her family used to be hella rich. Her and Hartley would have gotten along."
Roy doubted that very much.
"The cops know Dillon's working with us. They'll search here…"
"They won't find us. Some kind of tech that blocks their machines or something. Scanners, even heat sensors won't be able to detect us. Plus, since they made the deal with Luthor, he's keeping the cops away from here…"
"When."
"What?"
"When did Scudder and Dillon make this deal with Luthor?"
"What does that…?"
"Shawna, think about it. If Dillon has had a place to hide all this time, why the hell was she hiding out in run down motels with us? And when did they make this deal? Recently? It would have had to been prior to them coming after us. Because we have been watching them and Luthor non-stop for months. So why would they act like…"
"Roy you're not listening to what I'm saying. We're safe here, and once we get the chip…"
"Shawna, you're not…you're not this naïve. You know you can't trust them. Please. Shawna. Let me go. There's still time to…
"Shawna is a lot of things, but naïve isn't one of them." Dillon was hovering at the entrance to the living room. There was a small smile on her face. "Shawna has made the incredibly smart decision of taking her life into her own hands. She's not going to follow anyone's orders any more…isn't that right Shawna?"
It's only a moment, the briefest of seconds, but Roy swears he sees Dillon's eyes flash.
Shawna looks back at Roy and that earnestness is still there. But, now the desperation he saw on the rooftop was back as well. He thought for a moment there he might have been getting through to her.
"You'll understand Roy. You'll see that we are safer here than we ever were with Snart."
"I'll explain it to him Shawna. You go help Mick with…that thing."
Shawna gives him another smile. Roy wants to grab her wrist. Pull her back to him. He doesn't know how he could convince her to listen. He just doesn't want to let her out of his sight.
He pulls futilely on the handcuffs keeping him in the chair.
She leaves the room and Dillon takes her place on the footstool in front of him.
Roy averts his eyes. He does it out of habit, out of a feeling of a perceived threat. He doesn't know what he saw, but he's certain Dillon has done something to Shawna. Maybe to the others too.
"You know, I don't think you and I ever had a real chance to get to know each other Roy. Seems like a real wasted opportunity. I feel like you and I would really get along. We both appreciate the arts, the finer things in life. Since you have a little extra time right now, what's say we have a little chat."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"You've…you've done something to them. Brainwashed them…"
"Brainwashed…oh Roy, that's adorable." She runs a hand alongside his face. Like a babysitter with an errant child learning to speak.
She stands up and walks over to a nearby bookshelf. She lightly runs her fingers over the spines. She stops by one particularly large tome and pulls it off the shelf. She starts flipping through the pages.
"This was my grandfather's study. He loved all these books, read every single one in this room. Took him almost his entire life. Said a book didn't belong on a shelf if it hadn't been read. That any fool can buy a book. But a wise man doesn't let knowledge go unlearned. I would sit on the floor just over there, playing with my toys, and he would sit on the couch and read. We could go hours, just sitting in each other's presence. He understood how important the quiet moments were. My parents on the other hand…"
"Christ, really?"
She looks up from her book, frowning slightly at his dismissive tone.
"Something the matter?"
"Please tell me you aren't going to go into some long speech about how your parents didn't understand you, so you grew up to be a supervillain. Because I hate to break it to you, but that's basically all of our stories. You're not special."
She smiled again.
"Well, I suppose you would know all about absent parents wouldn't you Roy."
Roy continued to glare at her. She turned back to the book in her hands. She stared at it a few more seconds then put it back on the shelf.
"I suppose I'll give you the short and sweet version since you don't appear to be in the mood to have a real conversation. This used to be my home, then through some…difficult circumstances, it wasn't. Then I met Sam. We fell in love, pulled a couple jobs, particle accelerator hit…tale as old as time."
"A regular fairy tale."
"It really was. Then Snart almost ruined everything."
"All of this is for revenge on Snart?"
"Oh honey. No."
Roy was genuinely confused for a moment. She smiled wide, and for the first time since she entered the room, Roy felt something like menace in her words.
"I'll admit, that making Snart pay was, a very large part of this for quite a while. But then I realized, I was thinking too small. Taking over the Rogues, well that was child's play. Getting half of you to turn on each other took a lot less effort than I thought."
Roy smirked.
"You're lying."
She frowned for a half a second, then smiled again. She walked towards the chair, she circled it, and ran a hand down his neck. He tried to resist the urge to flinch away but didn't quite catch himself in time.
She leaned in until her lips were right next to his cheek.
"You really don't like people in your personal space do you?"
She smiled and sat down on his lap, draping an arm around his shoulders. She touched the bandage around his shoulder lightly. Not enough to hurt him. Just enough to remind him she could if she wanted to.
"Ok, I admit. It was a teensy bit harder to turn you all than I thought it would be. I did initially dream of getting to Lisa first, the idea of making her be the one to kill her own brother was…intoxicating. The look in his eyes when she would drive the dagger into his chest…Can you imagine? I supposed the look of betrayal when Mick kills him will have to do."
Roy could hear it in her tone, the amusement, the viciousness. She was completely certain of her abilities. None of this lined up with what he thought he knew about her. He had dismissed her. Dismissed her as nothing more than the girlfriend of a much more powerful meta.
"Lisa would never…"
"Oh she would have, I just didn't have enough time to get her alone. She avoided me. I suppose we can't get everything we want. I don't brainwash people Roy. That implies that I'm making them do things they don't want to do. And this…this is exactly what they want. Mardon wants off his leash, Shawna wants to run, Mick wants to burn everything in his path. Give me a little time Roy, and I can help you too. Help you stop suppressing all those things you really want to do. No more rules Roy. That's what I offered them. That's what I helped them to see. They don't need rules, don't need to be reined in. They need to be free. Do you even know what real freedom is Roy?"
She smirked, leaning in closer. Roy hated that she was this close. That it made him this uncomfortable. He tried to lean away but she grabbed the collar of his shirt, her knuckles pressing into his shoulder.
He grit his teeth while she pushed harder. He kept his eyes focused on the odd armrests of the chair. He felt her shift, her lips are near his ear. Her words are barely a whisper.
"The destruction of Snart was just the tip of the iceberg."
Roy thinks about head butting her. He barely contains the urge. He needs to stay calm. Wait for the others to come. Find out what he can. The others will need to know.
"What are you after then?"
"That would ruin the surprise Roy."
She kisses him on the cheek then stands up. She walks to the entrance and pauses in the doorway.
"Don't worry sweetie. I'll be back, then I can help you too. Show you everything you've been missing." She blows him a kiss and leaves without another word.
Roy felt like screaming.
How could they have not seen it? How could they have not noticed what Dillon was doing? They were all so focused on Luthor. So sure he was the real threat…Even when they didn't trust Scudder, they barely thought about Dillon. Roy never even noticed her most of the time. Scudder was the one who was always doing the talking. The one making all the noise. Roy didn't think he had heard Dillon speak more than a few sentences in the months they were working together.
"Damn it." He started pulling on the cuffs again. His left shoulder was aching, not allowing him to get much purchase with that arm. But he pulled and pulled on the right one.
After a few minutes he had to admit that he just didn't have the upper body strength on the best of days to pull a wooden arm off of this stupidly comfortable chair.
He leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment. Allowing himself to just breathe.
So destroying the Rogues wasn't the end game. Just a fun bonus for her in her mad plan for…something.
When would she have made the deal with Luthor? The timing didn't make sense. And Scudder…what was his real role? He must know what Dillon was doing. It must have been why they tried to grab Snart in the first place, to get the chip out and give it to Luthor.
Roy sighed. He doubted he would be the one to figure all of this out. When the others came for him, they could figure this out together.
As long as the others weren't captured by Luthor…
No, if they had the chip, Dillon would have handed it over. Shawna said they didn't have it yet. So someone had to have gotten away.
He isn't sure how long he is kept in the chair. He knows a few hours pass. It's still light out, so it couldn't have been more than a day. No one else comes to see him, and he has no way of trying to figure out what is happening. No way of getting information about what Dillon is really planning.
All he can do is sit and wait for a rescue. He hated that he found himself in this situation so often. Why was he…
It wasn't just the sound of the explosion, and the shaking of the house, and the books flying off the shelves. It was the sound he could hear just underneath it. A sound he actually recognized.
The Mario Kart theme.
The building shook again.
Axel was here. And he was apparently trying to blow up the entire place, with appropriately themed bombs no doubt. Roy had seen him working on ones shaped like turtle shells a few weeks ago.
God he hoped the kid wasn't alone. Even Axel wouldn't be that crazy to...
Damn it. He couldn't even finish that thought. Of course Axel would come alone if he felt like it.
He tried at the cuffs again but to no avail. Dust was raining down on him from the ceiling. At least he hoped it was dust. Old house like this it could be lead paint or asbestos. God knows what's…
"Time to go."
Roy turned to see Mark striding into the room. He pulled out a pair of keys and uncuffed Roy's hands. Roy was going to try and say something, try to reason with Mardon.
Not the easiest task on the best of days.
But then Mardon grabbed Roy by his injured arm and yanked him forcefully to his feet.
Roy barely resisted the urge to throw up at the manhandling.
Right.
Mark was pissed at him for not letting him kill either of the West children.
He had kind of forgotten about that little detail. Still, didn't mean the man had to be so violent.
"They're going to kill you Roy. We gotta go."
Roy was certain he was looking just as dumbfound by this conversation as he had been by the other two he had today.
"What?"
"Kid Flash and his cronies. Attacking the house like this. They didn't know what room you were in. They were just going to kill you."
"Mardon, listen Flash isn't trying to…"
"Not going to let that happen."
"I…" The house shook again, Roy watched as long cracks began to tear in the walls. Roy was certain this house wasn't going to survive an all-out attack by the Rogues.
Wouldn't be the first building the Rogues have destroyed during an internal fight.
Mardon was pulling him towards the back of the house. Roy could see a fight happening outside. He could see the telltale signs of Axel's presence, but he also saw something zoom past the window. That confirmed that at least Kid Flash was here too. Though why that seemed to bother Mark so much, Roy couldn't fathom.
Roy was too focused on trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He almost didn't duck in time when Mark pushed his head down, forcing him into a car. Or when Mark put one of the handcuffs around Roy's wrist and attached it to the door.
"Mark…"
The man ignored him, slamming the passenger side door closed. He rushed around to the other side of the car, jumping into the driver's seat. He even ignored Roy as he began to hotwire the car.
"Mark. What the hell are you doing? Not like you to run away from a fight." He can't believe he is actually trying to convince Mardon to stay behind and fight the other Rogues.
But this isn't like him. He doesn't run. He fights and then he fights some more. Most of the time the man doesn't even know what he's fighting about. And now he just wants to run?
Mardon gets the car started and puts it in drive. He floors it, and the tires squeal as they pull out of the garage.
Roy tries to shade his eyes as they start down the driveway. Roy can finally see some semblance of where he is. It's an old estate, the kind they put on lists of historic landmarks. He can imagine at one point it must have been incredible. But now there are signs of disrepair. Places where the veneer of wealth has begun to fade.
The yard out front was overgrown, in need of basic maintenance.
Even more so now that Mick was setting a row of hedges on fire.
Roy managed to spot Hartley ducking out of the way of the flames. Shooting a sonic blast back towards Mick. He couldn't spot Dillon or Scudder anywhere. Or Shawna.
Mardon was muttering to himself over and over again. Roy hadn't been able to figure out the words at first, but even now with the sounds of the fight outside, he could start to make out the words.
"Not again. Not again…"
"Mark. Listen to me. We need to go back. Dillon, she's done something to you. To all of you."
Roy wasn't entirely sure that Mardon could hear anything Roy said.
Which, may have been a bit of a blessing, because Roy was certain he must have made the most unmanly screech when the car began to slide sideways.
The car spun in a circle then slammed directly into a wall of snow.
The windows of the car began to ice over.
"No! Damn it."
Mardon used his powers to open his door. A gust of wind knocking it completely off the hinges. Roy was thankful Mardon hadn't done it to the door Roy was currently cuffed to. That could have ended badly.
Mardon charged out of the car, and a few seconds later there was the familiar sound of lightening hitting objects close by.
Roy slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the key to the handcuffs.
Thankfully Mark hadn't seen him pull that little sleight of hand. He removed the cuffs and pushed open the partially frozen door. He removed the anti-meta collar from his neck and shoved it into his pocket. Maybe he could put it around Dillon's neck and that would stop whatever she had done.
The scene that greeted him was…alarming.
And that may have been a slight understatement.
The fight between the Rogues yesterday, or whenever it had been, had been at night. It hadn't been possible to see everything that was happening.
Now, in the light of day. With everyone apparently deciding to just try and kill each other on the front lawn, it was a completely disturbing sight.
Mardon was flying again.
Which didn't really surprise Roy. Mardon was always trying to intimidate people with that trick. Keep you off guard by forgetting you had to look up for potential threats. The man was circling above. There was ice everywhere around the car and the driveway, but there was no sign of Snart himself. He flew low a few times, trying to hit Kid Flash as he ran circles around Mick. The kid was focusing on putting out the pyro's fires.
Kid Flash stopped abruptly and spun his arms in circles, using the force to knock Mardon out of the sky.
Hartley was keeping Mick busy. Using his sonic gauntlets to knock the man to his knees. Roy caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Just in time to see Shawna appear behind Axel.
"Axel!"
Roy yelled a warning at the youngest Rogue, and pushed down the sick feeling in his stomach at the look of betrayal that Shawna leveled at him. Axel hit her with a sticky bomb. Her arms were stuck to her sides. It didn't keep her from disappearing but it meant she couldn't grab anyone with her powers and drop them in a lake.
She was gone before he could even think of a way to stop her.
Roy headed towards where Kid Flash was attempting to keep Mardon down.
"Sorry Mark."
Roy caught Mark's eyes and hit him with his calming powers. The man just sort of plopped down and sat on the ground. He stared up at Kid Flash.
"Your daddy killed my brother."
He said it so detached. As though commenting on the color of the sky.
Kid Flash didn't say anything. Just stared at the man on the ground. Then he turned and looked at Roy.
"Remind me never to get hit with your powers."
Roy smirked. A loud explosion caused them both to turn.
One of Mick's gauntlets was on the ground, flames flying into the air.
Hartley was staring at Mick. His hands still raised. Mick was glaring at the kid.
"I was able to find the frequency that causes the metal in your gauntlets to vibrate to the point that they will ignite the fluid stored in the upper chamber. Stand down Mick, or I will do it to the one still on your arm."
Mick growled.
"Let's see you do it kid. Gotta get your first kill in sometime. Might as well make it memorable."
Hartley glared at Mick.
"I will do it."
"No you won't."
"He might not. But I will."
Snart appeared on the other side of Hartley. Ice on his fingertips, frost forming on the ground around him. Mick laughed.
"Is that right? All these years, all the bullshit. And you'd just kill me now."
"Not to be childish, but you tried to kill me first."
"If I had tried to kill you, I would have done it in your sleep. Lit you up before you were even able to so much as scream."
"Mick…"
Mick kept his remaining gauntlet pointed directly at Hartley. The flames started to swirl around his hand.
"Not going to put my flames down Snart, so you gotta make a choice here. Me, or the traitor."
Snart's eyes flicked over to Hartley then to Mick.
"Damn it Mick…."
Whatever choice Snart had made was suddenly irrelevant.
Scudder reached through the window behind Mick and pulled him inside.
Kid Flash tried to run and grab Mick but it was too late. By the time he reached the window, the portal had returned to just glass.
"Shit. Sorry. I should have grabbed him…"
"Not your fault kid. I should have frozen his legs to keep him from leaving." Snart turns away from the window. "Roy. I see you managed to get yourself kidnapped again."
"Character flaw of mine."
Axel appeared and put an arm around Roy's shoulders.
"It's these cheeks man. Look at this face. It just screams Kidnap Me!" Axel attempted to pinch one of Roy's cheeks and Roy slapped his hand away.
"Mardon's over there."
"Good. We will take him back to the black site. See if we can't figure out what Dillon's done to him."
Kid Flash had moved over to stand by Hartley but turned at Snart's words.
"You really think it's Dillon? I mean, we don't have anything that says she's capable of this. I thought it was something Luthor had done."
"Digger believes she has some kind of power to control people."
Hartley rolled his eyes.
"Because Digger's such an expert on metahumans."
"No. But he is an expert in manipulations. He seems to think she is working towards some other goal."
Roy absently rubbed at his shoulder.
"She is. Dillon said it wasn't just about the Rogues. At least not anymore. She had the others working on something. Shawna said the plan was to give Luthor the chip and disappear. But I didn't get the impression that Dillon had any plans to fade into the night."
"Well then, sounds like he need to regroup. What do you say we blow this popsicle stand?"
Despite everything, Roy almost laughed out loud.
Captain Cold was back.
Snart walked over to where Mardon was still sitting on the ground still staring blankly around him. Mardon barely reacted when Snart cold cocked him, knocking the man out. Roy pulled the anti-meta collar out of his pocket and extended it to Cold.
Cold gave it a glance for a second, then raised his eyebrow.
It took a second to understand Cold's confusion.
"For Mardon. Not you."
Cold took the collar hesitantly then placed it around Mardon's neck.
"It will be prudent to keep him unconscious until we figure out what's happening."
Roy nodded as Axel, Kid Flash, and Hartley joined them.
"Dude this place is like hella creepy. I bet there are at least a dozen ghosts living in it. There are legit graves out back. A small little graveyard! And three of the graves said Roscoe Dillon on them? Did the dude die like three times? Oh my god guys, is this zombies or…"
"It's not zombies, one of the graves said Junior and the other said the Third."
"A convenient way of hiding that you're an immortal zombie dude who keeps coming back to life. How much money to you want to bet that there is a portrait in the attic aging because…"
"Axel, focus. Any sign of any incoming Luthor issues?"
Roy answered before Axel could start on another tangent.
"Shawna said the place was protected, that Luthor had tech keeping anyone from detecting it. He's been keeping the cops away."
"Well, that must be nice. All the more reason for us to get out of here. Baby Flash, if you would be so kind."
"I really hate you guys, you know that right? I'm serious about you guys dropping that nickname."
Despite his annoyance, Kid Flash grabbed them all and took them to where they had left Digger.
Lisa was giving Hartley a death glare but she didn't try to attack him when he entered the black site. So that was something.
Roy didn't think too much on the looks Hartley was giving him. They seemed to be half anger, half confusion.
There just wasn't the time for that conversation right now. He's not sure Hartley would believe anything he had to say. Or that Roy wanted to say anything in front of the other Rogues.
They just needed to get through this…then maybe he could talk to Hartley. If the kid would even listen.
Lisa walked past Hartley without so much as a glance, she was focused on her brother.
"Digger's asleep, should be fine. What happened?" She gives Roy a once over with her eyes. He gives a short smile. She seems to take that as confirmation that he was fine.
Snart and Axel drop Mardon on the ground. Axel put a pair of cuffs on the man. Roy never figured out why the kid kept those on him. Of course, he couldn't figure out why the kid did half of the things he did. He had asked him once about the domino mask and Axel's only response had been 'for the aesthetic.' Roy hadn't been sure what to make of that. Mainly because he hadn't realized Axel knew what that word meant.
"Managed to grab Mardon, what to you need to see what's happening to him?"
Hartley was looking down at his phone, but stopped and bent down beside Mardon.
"At minimum an EKG, CAT and MRI machines, and the equipment to run some blood tests."
"I think we know somewhere we can…"
Kid Flash put a hand up at Snart's words.
"Whoa, hold up. Before you guys start planning out another heist. I'm pretty sure we have all that stuff back at STAR Labs so…"
"Great. Then you can bring it all here."
"What? I mean it would be easier just to take Mardon to…"
"Easier, yes. Safer, no. Bring it here kid." Snart's tone brokered little room for debate. For a moment, Roy thought that Kid Flash might say no. Might decide that heroes shouldn't be stealing their own equipment to help out a bunch of villains who may or may not be brainwashed.
The kid sighed and shook his head slightly.
In less than two hours Kid Flash was able to bring every piece of equipment Hartley needed back to the black site. The interior of the abandoned building looked like one of the most expensive pop up hospitals in history.
They were all sitting around, waiting. There was little else to do at this point. They found some chairs and tables in the back storage room. Lisa, Digger, and Roy were currently playing the most unenthusiastic game of poker ever seen by man. Axel was typing on his laptop. Kid Flash had run off a few hours ago. Something about checking in with other people. All they could do was wait for Hartley to figure out what was happening to Mardon.
Who, thanks to some sedatives, was still unconscious. He was currently in the MRI machine. Hartley had mentioned that he had sent some of the results to Caitlin to get her opinion, though he didn't say who the patient was.
Snart hadn't been happy but had to concede that none of them were doctors.
Maybe Shawna could have seen something if she was here. Roy tries to push that out of his head. The look she gave him when he warned Axel…
She would forgive him.
Once they got everyone fixed, she would have to forgive him.
Hopefully.
"Son of a bitch." Hartley's exclamation broke the somber silence that engulfed the large room.
"What is it?" Snart wandered over.
Hartley looks as though the words he is about to speak physically pain him.
"Digger was right. The Rogues have been influenced by Dillon."
"What did she do to them?"
"Did any of you spend much time around her?"
Digger shook his head.
"She didn't seem to like me much for some reason."
Hartley scoffed.
"Someone didn't like you? What a surprise."
Lisa was standing behind Hartley looking at the readings on his tablet.
"None of us spent much time with her…but Shawna, Mark, and Mick did. They were in the Mirror Verse for extended periods of time. You're saying her powers…?"
"I'm saying, it looks like her powers can alter the brain chemistry of people. See this here? The amygdala controls things like memory, emotions, and survival responses. Think fight or flight."
"So her powers change parts of the amygdala…"
"It's not so much changed as, separate parts are interacting in ways they shouldn't. Her powers twists things, for lack of a better term. Making emotions like anger or fear stick to memories they might not have before. Suddenly things that were forgotten or forgiven, feel like they are life and death scenarios. Shawna's abandonment issues, Mardon's brother, Mick's obsessions. All of these core parts of who they are, now have all these intense emotions that aren't fading, they just keep building. They are stuck in this constant heightened state. Mardon's unconscious and look at how his brain is still lighting up."
Roy glanced at the Snarts.
"She said she originally wanted to get to Lisa first. But she didn't have the time. She must have wanted to do this to all of us."
"But she couldn't get the rest of us alone long enough."
"I think she thought it would be easier to turn us on each other."
"Hm. Wasn't expecting them to fight the urge to kill us. You heard Mick, even when he wanted to kill me, he didn't do it in my sleep. Which he could have at any time. He waited for a fight. So she couldn't just plan that someone would kill me and she could take the chip from my dead body. Had to make it into an all-out war."
"How do we fix it?"
"We might be able to create a machine that counteracts her powers. Using my vibration tech and Axel's…unusual aptitude for his absurd ideas to actually work…"
Axel scooted his chair right next to Hartley's.
"Sweet talker."
"…we can counteract her powers. Reset their brains in a way. It's not just blocking her powers. If we did that, it could take weeks or months for their brain chemistry to go back to normal. We can develop…"
Snart holds up a hand.
"It will take longer for you to explain it to us than it would to just build it. Get to it. Once you have a working prototype we will test it on Mardon."
"What if we like…get a decimal wrong or something and fry his brain." Axel glanced over to Mardon.
"Then I would suggest double checking your math."
"Yes sir, Captain. Captain of our hearts and minds. Captain of this great ship known only as…"
Snart turns away from Axel and Hartley, he motions to the others and they walk away, giving the two geniuses space to work.
"What are you thinking boss?" Digger's voice was still a bit strained. The man sat down as soon as they got near a chair.
"It's what Dillon said to Roy. She's not after us. That controlling us is too small, she has larger aspirations."
"You think she's going to try and control someone else?"
"I think she already is."
"Who?"
"Luthor."
"What? You saying she's…"
"She wasn't behind Evergreen Acres or the manhunt, that was all him. But what Iris said about Luthor planning another explosion. If a reporter can figure out he is behind an upcoming terrorist attack, then any investigative agency will be able to as well. It's sloppy, and while Luthor is a great many things, sloppy isn't one of them. It reeks of desperation."
"Shit. What do we do?"
Snart glanced back towards Axel and Hartley, towards Mardon laying on the table.
"We save our other members. Anything else is secondary."
Roy agreed with that. Let Luthor blow up an entire city. Maybe destroy himself in the process.
The other Rogues were the only thing that mattered.
There were times when Lisa hated the fact that her brother had brought the Rogues together.
Not because she hated any of the members, or the lifestyle, or the jobs they pulled. But because, for the longest time, she had only ever had to care about two other people.
Len and Mick.
That was her family. Those were the two idiots she worried about when a job went sideways.
She still remembers the call she got from Len after that cursed warehouse fire. The stupidly calm voice he had tried to use to tell her that he and Mick were no longer partners. And that Mick had disappeared from the back of the ambulance. It had taken months for her to find out where Mick was.
Months of trying to convince the two of them to stop being such idiots. She had realized fairly early on that it was futile of course, but that wasn't the point. You don't just ignore the fact that they had stuck together for so long. You fight for those kind of things.
Eventually they figured it out. She knew they would. The cold gun was just an excuse to bring the family back together.
But now it wasn't just the three them. Now it was Shawna, and Roy, and Mark, and Digger, and Axel. And having to care about that many people was exhausting.
Watching someone you care about get hurt, it made her chest ache in a way she hadn't felt since Lewis went to prison. After that, Lenny became her impervious older brother that nothing could hurt. Lewis had been an outlier, only able to hurt Len because Len allowed it to protect her. No one outside of Lewis could ever hurt Lenny.
Ridiculous of course.
But she had held on to some childish thoughts for a lot longer than she should have. Like the fact that her father might one day see the error of his ways. Stop drinking. Realize how good she was at school, come to one of her ice skating shows. Pay attention to her without it ending with bruises.
Some people were just garbage. Didn't change just because they were related to you.
Seeing Digger unconscious, leaning against the wall of an abandoned Kmart, had made her chest constrict in a way she didn't feel like thinking on. She doubted she ever really would.
She was able to tell he was breathing. So she focused on scoping out the place. There were no mirrors, no surfaces that Scudder could use to get to them. And none of the others knew about this place. She was certain she hadn't been tracked. Doubled back at least a dozen times. Not taking any chances.
It should be safe for the moment.
She finished her second circuit of the empty space before she finally sat down beside him. When he woke up properly she was going to yell at him for this. For making her have to think about these kinds of things. It was the fact that she had nothing to do. Len had wanted her to come here, check on Digger, make sure the place was safe for them.
She knew what Len was doing. Getting her away from the fight. From what might happen between the Rogues.
She had seen the exhaustion in his eyes. The pain from more than just the surgery.
So she had let him have his moment. Let him have some illusion of control in protecting her.
She gives Digger a quick look. She sees his jacket and boomerang holster hanging over a nearby chair. He must have moved over here when he realized he might just pass out and collapse onto the floor. She sighs slightly, then maneuvers him so that his head is laying on her legs.
She takes out her newly acquired burner phone and makes sure there are no missed calls. There wouldn't be of course, it had been less than two hours since she and Len had parted ways. The problem with burner phones is they didn't usually have any good games on them. No way to keep her mind from…
"…Lisa?"
Digger's got one eye open, the confusion in his face there for only a moment.
"You never to manage to stay out of the way of sharp objects do you?"
"I have a naturally magnetic personality love."
She lets him have his little smirk.
"Mhmm."
His eyes slip closed again.
She is going to kick his ass later. Not for the idiocy of his comment, that's just par for the course with him. But for leaving a message at that hotel for her.
Maybe kick her own ass a little for instantly thinking to check there.
At least Lenny hadn't asked how she got a message from Digger. No need for that awkward conversation any time soon.
The bandages around his chest are spotted with red. She smiles softly at the ridiculous Hello Kitty band aid stuck in the middle of his chest. Axel no doubt.
Digger's breathing has evened back out. Not a sure sign that he is actually unconscious, but still. She takes a quick look around. No one there but the two of them.
She runs a quick hand across the side of his face, her fingers then moving through his hair. A light touch. Nothing any outside person could see. He might not even feel it.
She's allowed her small indulgences in kindness every so often. Her soft, gentle moments. As long as there were no witnesses.
Lenny had always been such a stickler for the rules. Always had to have a plan. It was Lewis' influence of course. Going on jobs with their father, seeing the way Lewis never had a concrete strategy. How it always ended with in his failures being taken out on the two of them.
So Len never faltered, never strayed from the rules he put in place. He needed them. They were a reminder to him. A reminder that he was nothing like Lewis. He took comfort in the semblance of control.
She had always taken a different approach. Rules didn't hold the same appeal to her that they did to her big brother. Not to say that she was completely careless on a job. And she had, over the years, begun to see the wisdom in having an air tight plan in place. Even made up a few rules of her own along the way.
But what was life without a little chaos.
Digger unconsciously leaned towards her touch. She kept moving her fingers through his hair.
Maybe she breaks her own rules every once in a while. No real harm in that.
She's got Digger situated differently by the time the others get back, laying in the corner, her jacket under his head. Enough to show she checked on him, but nothing else.
They come in carrying Mardon between them like a sack of potatoes.
She reigns in her rage at seeing Hartley. Telling herself she needs to stay calm for now. Figure out the situation. She doesn't know if she would have been able to do that if original Flash was here instead of Baby Flash.
She still owes the Flash for what happened to her brother. And she fully intends to make him pay, in full.
But that was vengeance for another day.
Hartley starts going on about something about Dillon's powers being the ones that caused the others to turn.
She felt the knot in her chest loosen just the slightest bit.
Mind control.
They could fix that. That was something tangible. That was a problem that could be fixed with a machine or a gadget or something that Axel and Hartley could come up with.
That wasn't something that couldn't be undone. Something that she had always feared.
During the street fight, she had been so certain she might have to kill Mick.
Not the first time she's thought that.
But when he leveled those flames at Lenny, when she saw the look in his eyes…
She'd only been scared of Mick once before. Scared for Mick, well that had been a near constant part of her life for years. But scared of him…
It had been a job they pulled together without Len. She thinks Len had been in Europe somewhere. It wasn't jail. If it had been jail he would have just broken out to help her, or Mick would have been in lock up with him.
Mick was just supposed to be the driver. They'd known each other for years at this point, but she was still relatively new to the life. She'd done a few smash and grabs, a few cons on some older men, but nothing like what she needed Mick for.
She'd gotten information about a safe this millionaire had in his summer estate. Supposed to have lots of shiny gold necklaces.
She knew all about the safe, had it all planned out. Just like big brother had taught her.
Of course, what she didn't know is that the security guard she had paid off had already stolen most of the necklaces. That he was planning on shooting her during the robbery and blaming any missing jewelry on some unknown partner.
She'd see people shot before. Blood didn't bother her, broken bones were old hat, bruises were nothing a good concealer couldn't fix.
Mick strangling a man to death had been new.
Of course he had done it to protect her. Of course she had appreciated it, even at the time. It wasn't why he had done it that had scared her.
It was the look in his eyes. No remorse, no second thoughts. Just another dead potential witness.
She'd smiled, even as they were driving away. The rush of the job still buzzing in her veins. The cops chasing them, Mick driving as she fired out the window. The security guard had tripped the alarm when he realized Mick was there. That it wouldn't be as easy to kill her as he had thought.
She'd kept that smile in place when she thanked him for saving her. Both of them swearing to never let Lenny know about what had happened. They'd even gone out for a pizza at that Italian place she used to love, back before she'd ever been to Italy and realized what good food actually was.
But that night, when she was alone. She had been afraid. Afraid for a moment that this friend of Len's might do the same to her one day.
Might just kill her and never think on it again.
Over the years of course, she had written off those thoughts as ridiculous. Mick was Mick. He'd kill a cop, or a mobster, or any other asshole that pissed him off. But he wouldn't kill her. Or Len. Or any of the Rogues.
The look in his eyes in the street. The way he had attacked Len. He would have killed Len. He would have killed her.
And he wouldn't have thought anything of it.
Until they unscrambled his brain.
When he was free of the mind control, what would he do then? If he had killed Len, or her? If he killed another family with his fire? She can imagine the scenarios for what Mick would have done then.
To anyone around him.
To himself.
She knows it's the same for Mardon and Shawna. If Roy had died when Shawna pushed him off that building. If Mardon killed any of them, as much as he may think it wouldn't bother him, she knew the truth.
It would have destroyed them.
It would have been the end of them all.
And they each would have blamed themselves. For not being able to fight it, for giving into whatever Dillon's powers had done. And the remaining members would have had to deal with the guilt of not seeing the signs. Of not realizing what was happening to their family right in front of their eyes.
How could she have not noticed the way Mick was acting. Why didn't she try to talk to him more? Why did she just let him go off into the Mirror Verse?
Why, why, why.
That's what would had done them in.
But they can fix this. It wasn't too late, no permanent damage had been done.
They can undo mind control. They can get their family members back. They can kill their enemies, hopefully very slowly, and they can start to put some semblance of their lives back together.
She tried not to think on how naïve that all sounded.
Childish hopes.
Apparently she still hadn't gotten rid of all of them.