"God fucking damnit!" Oliver came out of the portal shouting angrily. He kicked a table over. A crowd began to form slowly. The away team limped away from the rapidly closing portal. Clint slumped down wearily. Frank clutched a weeping leg wound and slumped down next to him.
"What the hell happened?" Clark asked the exhausted group. Felicity was busy coordinating a second mission, Barry peering over her shoulder.
"Chiron had left already when we got there. But the kid Strange wanted us to retrieve…"
"Where is he?" Diana asked. Oliver's face darkened. Bruce Wayne placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head tightly. The crowd continued to gather, drawn by Oliver's initial outburst.
"Sixteen. He was sixteen Diana." The emerald archer said. He dropped his quiver and set his bow down. He walked off without another word. Dean stepped up, raising his voice.
"We still have another active mission going people. Someone help Smith get these two to the infirmary. Clark get the heavy hitters organized, team two might still need you guys." He said.
"That might be sooner rather than later guys." Felicity said. The ops center on her desk was alive with the crackling of energy weapons discharge and frantic shouting.
"Laurel is on that team isn't she?" Dean asked. Barry nodded. "Fuck. I'm going after him." He turned on his heel and jogged after Oliver.
"Man Down! Man Down! We need a fucking extraction right now." Thomas was shouting.
"Stand by. Portal opening now." Felicity said, gesturing at Castiel. A dozen weapons trained on the slowly opening golden portal. Thomas and Cooper came through first, supporting a limp blonde form between them. Sam and Steve came through, flanked by a dozen armored figures. Smith had returned from stabilizing Frank in the infirmary.
"Shit! Laurel." She said, she dropped to her knees and checked her vitals. "What happened?" She demanded. Thomas dropped into a crouch next to her.
"Plasma shot, or something similar. Near as I can tell it was a through and through. Fucking third degree burns all over. Portal dropped us into a warzone." He said. There's a heavy clack of armor as one of the newcomers crouched down next to them.
"How can I help? RC-1136, I've had some medical training." A heavily filtered voice said. Without a second look, Smith passed him a roll of gauze bandages, and a can of bio foam.
"Jam the nozzle there. Squeeze." She pointed. "Bandages go on top." The soldier nodded. Laurel let out a pained scream and tensed.
"Sarah…" Her eyes focused on something over Smith's shoulder.
"Ah Christ." Sam turned away.
"Why…where's mom?" Laurel mumbled. "Cold…" Oliver came back, hot on Deans heels. He stopped dead at the sight before him.
"There's too much…" Smith took her helmet off and tossed it aside. She ran a hand through her hair.
"Let me see her! God damnit! Let me fucking through!" Oliver was struggling with Dean.
"Ollie?" Laurel asked. Her face contorted again. Oliver punched Dean and pushed his way through.
"Laurel I'm here."
"Hurts…" She whimpered softly. "It hurts Ollie.."
"You just lay here okay? I'm gonna go see about getting you a blanket alright?" He said, trying to smile. Her hand lashed out and gripped his tightly.
"Don't…go." Her eyes went wide. Her breath was coming more rapidly. "Ollie I'm scared." She said. Oliver's breath caught in his throat.
"I'm not going anywhere. You're going to be okay. I'm here Laurel." He said quietly. Smith grabbed his shoulder. She gestured to keep pressure on the more damaged area. Oliver put weight on the wound. Laurels grip went slack.
"Fuck." Smith said. "Fuck. One…two…three…" She started on CPR. Oliver sat back, staring blankly at the scene before him.
"Dean! Crash cart!" Dean pushed the silver cart over to Laurels prone form. He passed the defibrillator paddles to Thomas.
"Get her shirt open." He told RC1136. The armored soldier ejected a blade from his knuckle and cut her shirt open. He took the paddles and placed them as instructed.
"Charging." Dean said. Smith stopped CPR and backed off. Oliver hadn't moved. For him the world had narrowed down to this scene. He got up suddenly and headed towards the bunk area. Strange was sitting cross legged on the floor. Oliver bodily hauled him to his feet.
"Help. Her." He gritted out.
"Death is sadly beyond my powers Mr Queen." The sorcerer said. He looked past Oliver, his expression softening. "I'd suggest you go say your goodbyes. Ms Lance is not long for this plane of existence."
Oliver shoved Dr Strange back a step. He stumbled back toward Laurel. Smith stood up.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fucking Fuck! God Damnit!" Smith kicked over the crash cart. She ran a hand through her blonde hair. She kicked the cart again, denting it. She strode quickly for the infirmary. She passed Oliver, stopping briefly and looking at him like she wanted to say something but she looked away.
"Where the hell are you going Jenn?" Thomas asked.
"I have patients I can still help." Smith said. Clark came and ushered the armored soldiers to a set of empty bunks.
"Barry." Clark said.
"On it." The Flash said. A dozen footlockers appeared near the open bunks. Oliver hadn't moved an inch through all of this. He started into motion again, dropping to his knees next to Laurel. Strange placed his hand on the archers shoulder. Oliver jumped up, throwing a punch. Strange easily ducked it and continued dodging the follow up blows. Dean watched the whole scene with a strange detachment. Strange caught his eye and stopped dodging. Oliver caught him in the jaw, sending the sorcerer spinning. He followed him to the floor and kept punching.
"This is your fault! This is your fucking fault! "He shouted. He beat the sorcerer until his face was a bloody pulp. He rolled off of the other man and collapsed exhausted. Dean helped the archer up, half walking, half dragging him to his bunk. He dropped him heavily and pulled a blanket up to his chin. He went back for a bottle of Oliver's favorite vodka, leaving it at his bunk.
"You're gonna want this later man." He said. Oliver was staring blankly at the ceiling. He made no acknowledgement of Dean's presence.
The hunter walked back towards Laurels body. Strange waved a hand over his face, healing the damage.
"He needed that. I've been doing this a fair bit longer than Oliver and I guess I'm more used to it than he is. I've lost more friends than I care to admit. I hate it but you get kind of numb after a while." Dean said.
"You were pretty messed up about Charlie dude." Sam said.
"That's different." Dean replied. "Everyone has someone who feels immortal. Like they're always going to be there. But in this line of work…"
"No one is immortal." Batman finished simply.
"Help me with her Bruce." Dean said. Aquaman and the Dark knight both started forward.
"Someone is gonna have to tell her old man." Hal said.
"I'll do it." Bruce said. "He hates me a little less than Oliver."
They lifted her onto a stretcher and walked her upstairs. Bruce left and came back in a slightly rumpled suit, as Arthur and Dean set down the stretcher outside.
"He's on his way." Bruce said simply. Arthur went back inside, Dean shifted awkwardly and looked at Bruce.
"You want me out here?" He asked.
"He doesn't know you. He knows me, he's also probably gonna start throwing punches. You don't want to be here." Bruce said.
"Does he know you're Batman?"
"No. But if the world ends none of that is going to matter right? I figured I can talk to him a little easier if he knows the truth. It's a calculated risk." Bruce said.
Dean nodded and headed back into the warehouse. Bruce adjusted his tie and calmly waited.
Back in the warehouse, the new soldiers were having a rapid conversation on short range comms. Republic Commandos are rarely thrown, but this was something no training manual could prepare them for something like this.
"Dar, thoughts on what's going on?"
"Sarge, I could not tell you even if I tried. They saved us, and it seems like they lost one of theirs doing it."
"What was up with those Super Battle Droids? I've never seen them shrug off anti-armor like that."
"I thought the alien monster things were more worrying Corr."
"I've seen uglier Atin." Corr responded.
"I swear if this is another joke about my scar…" Atin replied.
"This is Niner, checking in with all squads, let's see what we have munitions wise." Omega squad's sergeant called out.
"Sarge, we've got about twenty mags, eighteen anti-armor rounds, twenty sniper mags and twelve thermal dets, plus Darmans bag of tricks coming from Omega squad." Corr said.
"Boss here. Delta's got about the same. Sev has a concussion rifle, with about a dozen shots. Fixer has a slicing kit with him. Scorch has his own bag of tricks. He's also got a collapsible plex." Delta squad's leader said. A colorfully armored hand patted a matte black case.
"Ordo here, The Nulls have as much as we could carry. We've got a couple hundred mags, a mini repulsor lift, heavy weapons, I even think Jaing has a vibrosword."
"We were evacuating." Scorch said.
"Your point?" Mereel-another Null- asked.
"I'm just saying-"Scorch said.
"Bad idea brother. Abort. Abort now." Corr said.
"It's odd that-" Scorch kept digging.
"We secured mission vital equipment. We grabbed what we needed to operate effectively in a situation we had not evaluated." Jaing said all ice.
"Bunch of weirdos…" Scorch muttered.
"Comm is still open son." Niner said.
"I knew that!" Scorch muttered, laughing nervously.
"Incoming guys." Darman warned. Dean approached the group of soldiers. They all straightened up abruptly.
"Hey guys, I'm sorry about everything. Laurel was pretty well liked around here." He said. A dozen helmets bobbed knowingly.
"We talked to her briefly when your team showed up. She uh…she seemed like a decent girl. " Niner said awkwardly.
"Did they tell you anything about why you guys were here?" Dean asked.
"Something about saving the universe, then these monsters showed up. Cut through the platoon we linked up with like tissue paper." Fixer said.
"This is gonna sound crazy but we came from another world. We were sent by a…higher power to come retrieve soldiers to help us. We need you, and anyone else you guys can muster." Ordo rattled off.
"Photographic memory." Mereel said, noticing Deans weird look.
"That's…creepy. Look I'll send someone over to talk to you guys once we've handled this okay?" Dean said. "Ask anyone if you guys want food, liquor, whatever." He turned to go talk to the Justice Leaguers clustered around Felicity's desk. "I swear to god, we need a freakin orientation video or something." He muttered.
"How's Oliver doing?" Sam asked.
"He's a wreck." Dean said simply.
"We all are." Barry said. He looked pale. The Avengers had gathered around the table as well. The mood in the entire building was somber, like someone had sucked the air out of the room.
"I hate to do this, but we gotta start talking about our next step." Dean said. Steve and Sam both nodded immediately.
"We need another target from Strange, and we need a way to stop that fucking monster if he shows up again." Thomas said.
"Was he there?" Dean asked.
"Not this time, but we felt him…watching us I guess? It just felt off. From the start." He said.
"Why? It doesn't make sense." Clarks white knuckle grip was bending the edge of the table.
"He's testing us." Clint said. "Going for the weak links, trying to demoralize us."
"I don't like being tested." Tony said. "We need a way to hit him back."
"That's something I can get behind." Diana said.
"I think keeping our heavy hitters in reserve was a bad idea. I think we need to keep one with any away team. To make sure this doesn't happen again." Hal said, clearing his throat loudly.
"I hear that." Dean said nodding. Diggle was staring off into space, cradling a drink.
"I just can't believe…I need to get some air." Felicity got up from her chair and left.
"Look, Digg has the right idea. We need to take tonight recover, come at this fresh tomorrow. Who is up for some very heavy drinking?" Dean asked.
"I'm in." Bruce Wayne said. He was coming down the stairs, suit dirtied, with a fresh black eye. "Detective Lance is going to make sure she gets a proper burial."
"You Winchesters really like your liquor." Clark said.
"I find it's an integral part of the grieving process." Dean said.
"That's our dad talking." Sam said.
"Well he wasn't wrong." Dean said. "C'mon who's in?" He rummaged through a crate and started pulling out shot glasses. Everyone at the table took a glass as Dean went around pouring shots.
"Where's Arthur?" Diana asked.
"I sent him back to deal with the new guys." Dean said
"I still disagree with flannel shirt being the leader here. However this is a plan I can get behind." Tony said lifting his drink.
"Can I?" Roy had wandered over from the infirmary, shoulder still a swath of bandages.
"Of course." Dean poured another drink. Diggle coughed loudly.
"Uh…well I never thought we'd have to do one of these for Laurel. The new folks might not know this but we uh…we lost another Black Canary, a few years ago. Laurels sister. Man…I just…I thought we were done burying members of the Lance family." Diggle said, voice cracking sharply.
"What was her sister's name man?" Dean asked.
"Sarah. Her name was Sarah." Roy said.
Hours passed, the group got drunker, and the stories flowed more quickly than the alcohol.
"…and she's just lying there with a dart in her neck, high as a fucking kite. Oliver drags her back to Verdant more pissed than I've ever seen him. She thinks he's Sarah, starts screaming her god damn head off. She…She was always chasing Sarah, even after Sarah died…" Diggle trailed off suddenly, and downed another shot.
"Jason was the same way. He hated being compared to Dick. Of course Dick didn't also have to live in Barbara's shadow that whole time." Bruce broke in suddenly. His gaze was fixed on the amber depths of his glass.
"Didn't he challenge Nightwing to a sparring match?" Barry asked.
"Yeah" Hal laughed. "Dick kicked the bejesus out of him."
"Didn't Laurel take a swing at Dick too?" Roy asked.
"Yeah and she put up more of a fight." Diggle said. Bruce shot him a look.
"Dick was just very good at winding Jason up. He had a temper." The dark knight replied.
"Sounds like you guys really cared about them." Steve said.
"You guys are a team right? You understand." Roy said.
"More than that, we're fighting a war. You lose people fighting a war" Dean said.
"What's your point Dean?" Sam asked.
"It's like dad always said you know? Grief is a luxury for civilians." Dean said simply.
"This conversation explains so many things." Thomas chuckled. He tilted his head and downed another shot.
"How's Jennifer holding up?" Dean asked.
"She blames herself. She's not doing too great, trying to focus on her other patients right now." Cooper said.
"Vale is circling the drain." Hal said. "The Spartans have all been with her all day."
"I am going to throw Locke into the god damn sun." Clark said quietly.
"Clark." Diana said warningly.
"No. He is beyond saving, he needs to be put down." He said.
"No one is disagreeing with you. We still need to be smart about this." Bruce said.
"We're all exhausted alright? We've got shit to do tomorrow. I'm doubling our training. I'm also going to talk to Strange about missions. We need to keep people busy." Dean said.
"To Laurel and Sarah. They died doing the right thing. They died heroes." Diggle said. The group chorused "Heroes." and downed their drinks. Dean collapsed the table, and gathered the glasses. Everyone, slightly drunker, shuffled towards their bunks.
"Felicity hasn't come back yet." Barry said.
"Give her time." Dean said.
"What about Oliver?" He asked.
"He'll recover. He has to." Dean said.