"Wally!" Scarlet jumped into the speedster's arms and grinned, and Wally did, as well.
"Hi Wally." Dick grinned, glad to see his friend again.
"Hey? No hug for me?" Roy asked, stepping out from the shadows.
"Roy!" Scarlet jumped down from Wally and raced over to her oldest brother, jumping into his arms.
"Who still gives the best hugs in the world?" Roy asked.
"Roy does!" Scarlet grinned, and Roy ruffled her hair.
"That's right. Good to see you, kid." he grinned. With the leaguers here, there'd be no way things could go bad like last time...
"Dick, Scarlet." Batman called quickly. Both children trotted over to their father.
"I have an important meeting, alright. I want you to stay with Roy. Understood?"
"Yes, Tati." Scarlet gave her father a quick peck on the cowl, and Dick hugged his father briefly before he stood to go. As soon as he was gone, they trotted back over to Roy.
"Now, what do you guys want to do?" Roy asked, looking around.
"Let's explore!" Wally stared, and Dick nodded. "Sounds good. Even we don't know all of this place!"
And so it was settled. They explored the ventilation shafts, the game room, the offices, even the control room, where Green Lantern showed them everything, before heading off to explore all the winding corridors...
When they were quite into a game of tag, Scarlet staggered, looking pale.
"R-roy..." she stuttered, looking troubled.
"What's wrong?" Roy asked, instantly seeing something was bothering the little girl...
"I-I don't feel good..." she said, clutching her stomach. Roy, when he'd lived on the Indian reservation, had seen lots of kids get sick and knew what was going to happen before it did, grabbing the trash can and gently nudging it under her as she gagged a few times before starting to retch...
"It's alright, birdie, just let it come..." Roy soothed, guiding her to the bathroom and ditching the trash can for the tolite. He rubbed soothing circles on her back as she continued to retch, puking her guts out...
"I... want Tati..." she choked between fits of vomiting, and Roy nodded to Kid Flash, who stood in the doorway with Dick, unsure what to do. "Get Batman." he ordered, turning back to Scarlet.
"It's alright, birdie, it'll all be over soon..." Roy soothed the girl, and she finally stopped, still kneeling in front of the tolite, sweating and shuddering. "Dick, wet cloth." Roy ordered, allowing the girl to lean against him as he took the cool cloth and dabbed at her face...
"That's it... feel any better?" he asked hopefully.
She shook her head. "Worse. R-roy- I w-want Tati..." the girl dissolved into tears , and Roy nodded. "Don't worry, birdie, he'll be here any minute..."
He just hoped she'd be alright...
Batman had been in the meeting for around two hours when there was a knock on the door.
"We're in a meeting!" Superman called, ever polite.
"It's an emergency!" everyone recognized Wally's nervous voice and the speedster let himself in, looking more than a little scared.
He was pale as a ghost, a bit of sweat on his face...
"Wally, what happened?" Flash ran to his nephew.
"Scarlet's really sick! Roy and Dick are with her, but she keeps throwing up and she looks really sick..." suddenly Wally's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. Flash caught him before he hit the floor, staring at his form. "Wally!" he cried, shocked.
"Get him to the med bay." Superman said, and Flash obeyed. Green Arrow and Batman had run out before Wally's collapse, desperate to find the others, and they tore down the hallway, Batman following a small blip on his communicator.
"East wing." he said, turning with Green Arrow. They had no idea what was going on, but something deep within them told them it was bad...
They grew closer, and heard the sounds of crying mixed with retching. "Shh, it'll be alright, birdie..." Roy soothed. They opened the door to see Scarlet kneeling in front of the tolite, puking her guts out, and Roy rubbing her back as she shuddered and cried...
Roy gave them a desperate look, and Batman stepped forward. "Scarlet..." his voice showed his concern.
"Dad! Dad, make it stop..." Scarlet pleaded, turning back to vomit more. "It... it hurts..."
"What hurts?" Batman scooped the small girl up, holding the trash can in front of her.
"M-my stomach..." Batman could feel the heat radiating off the small form and stared, starting to walk briskly towards the med bay with Scarlet in his arms. By the time they'd reached it she'd passed out, and Wonder Woman, Hawkman, and Green Lantern stared.
"I need help with her, now." Batman ordered, starting an IV and checking her temperature. 103. She shivered and whimpered from her position, lying on the bed unconscious...
Flash, Superman, and Zatarra didn't look up from Wally.
"D-dad..." Dick staggered into the room, looking awful, and Batman caught his son as he collapsed, staring. Not Dick, too...
"Relax, Dick. You'll be alright." he assured his son, and Dick quickly dozed off on a bed as well...
"What happened?" Oliver asked as a very shaken looking Roy walked with him towards the med bay.
"I... I don't know, Ollie." Roy admitted. "We were exploring the tower, and then, Scarlet just said she felt sick and... it happened. I didn't know what to do so I sent Wally for help..."
"It's alright, Roy. We're just trying to figure out what happened, is all..."
Roy nodded, feeling kind of dizzy but brushing it off. The league needed his help, now...
Roy's eyes widened when he saw all three of his friends- no, his siblings- on beds in the med bay, unconscious or asleep...
"There are too many coincidences." Batman said, shaking his head. "All three of them just come down with something at the same time? Unlikely..."
"It could just be a stomach virus..." Hal suggested.
"No, it isn't. Scarlet and Dick have a genetic mutation, Delta 42, that's common in Europe. It makes them immune to most viruses." Batman said firmly.
"Then what is it? What's wrong with them?" Roy asked, looking at his siblings nervously. "They'll be alright, won't they?" Everyone saw Roy was looking shaky and scared, but in reality, he was having trouble standing...
Suddenly he ran over to the trash can and started to puke, gasping for breath.
"O-ollie..." he rasped, suddenly scared.
"Roy! Just relax, buddy..." Oliver looked, for once, scared as he rubbed his protege's back.
"Ollie- s-something's wrong..." Roy panted. "I- this isn't normal... help me, Ollie..." he pleaded, and everyone stared.
"Roy- relax- we're going to figure out what's wrong with you, I promise..." Oliver said, and Roy nodded, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he was unconscious.
"That isn't normal. Something happened to them..." Batman said, helping Oliver carry his protege to an empty bed.
"I've already decided to put the tower on quarantine until we figure out what happened. It's clear something caused this to happen to them- and we need to find out what. Fast." Superman said, motioning to the four sick kids before them.
"Maybe they got into something, chemicals, maybe..." Hawkman suggested.
"They didn't." Oliver said, looking concerned and desperate. "Roy was with them the whole time and would've had the sense to stop them..."
"Uncle Barry!" Wally sat bolt upright, chest heaving, and started to vomit as well, until he finally passed out again...
"They're all running fevers." Dinana pointed out. "They could had contracted some intense disease..."
"Like food poisoning?" Hal asked.
"Good chance of it, especially since they're almost all vomiting..." Superman said, and everyone turned to Batman, who nodded.
"It could fit the bill..." he said calmly.
"Let's try and figure out what they've eaten in the past twenty four hours..." Flash suggested, starting to make a list. They spent an hour reconstructing lists of everything the children had consumed within the past day, but nothing matched...
"This is useless. It definitely isn't food poisoning..." Batman said grimly. They all looked over at the four deathly still bodies that laid in the cots.
"Then, what is it?" Diana asked.
The silence they were met with was their worst nightmare- it confirmed they didn't know.