"You're cheating!"
"You can't cheat at Monopoly."
"Says the business man's son." Wally muttered under his breath as he slid his character to the other side of the board. "You own like half of the buildings, and all I have is a railroad. This sucks." He picked up a chance card and read it, eye twitching. "Oh, and now I have to pay my car insurance bill. Just my luck."
Dick grinned and rolled the dice. "It's not my fault that I'm a pro at this game. Maybe if you weren't so distracted by looking for Artemis, you wouldn't be losing so badly."
The older teen had spent the entire hour they had been there casually looking around for the blonde archer. Dick only knew he was keeping an eye out for Artemis, because every time someone entered the room, he would slump over after he caught sight of their faces. After so many people came and went, Dick could only assume who he was waiting for.
And he was totally right.
Wally's face became as red as his hair. "What?! I am not looking for Artemis! I'm just, uh, admiring the framework of the Cave. I haven't really looked at it in a while, and-" he noticed Dick's unimpressed look, and he scowled. "I am so tracted right now, I'll have you know!"
Dick actually snorted at that. "Tracted? Is that supposed to be the opposite of distracted?"
"Uh, duh! See, you're not the only one with the mad English skills." He watched as Dick bought yet another property, and he groaned. "I don't know why I thought playing monopoly with you would be a good idea. You're better than me at everything."
"Except races," Dick pointed out with a grin. "If you haven't noticed, I have absolutely no powers." He passed go and collected the usual two hundred dollars, which only added onto Wally's frustration.
"Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, report for mission briefing." Batman's voice came over the Cave's speakers, and Dick hopped up to his feet.
"Saved by the bell. Next time, I'll make sure that you go bankrupt," he teased as Wally stood as well.
"I hate you," Wally grumbled as he moved past him. "You're my best pal and all, but I hate you so much."
Dick only snickered.
xXx
"Rumaan Harjavti is the democratically elected President of Qurac," Batman told the Team as they watched news footage featuring the man shaking hands with Bruce Wayne. Dick remembered when that had happened; he had been so bored when he was stuck at home with Alfred. "Harjavti has been praised as a fair, wise leader. A humanitarian."
Kid Flash snickered quietly and leant towards Robin. "Suuure. Any friend of Bruce Wayne's..." he whispered with a smirk, and Robin fought hard to keep a stoic expression.
Batman continued as though he didn't hear the comment, but Robin would bet his inheritance that he did. "But five days ago, Harjavti allied himself the dictator of the neighboring nation of Bialya, Queen Bee."
Robin scowled. Oh yeah, he remembered her. She was the one who had her minion mind wipe him and the Team, and she also indirectly made Robin convert back to his Renegade persona, which was not a fun time.
Superboy grunted, and Robin could tell they shared the same feelings. "Bialya, huh? Not a big fan."
"Few are," Batman responded. "But Harjavti suddenly backed Queen Bee's baseless claim that Qurac and Bialya were one nation in ancient times, and has announced that the countries will unify in two days at a ceremony in Qurac."
On the newscast, Harjavti spoke, "After the ceremony, I will step down as President so that our rightful monarch, Queen Bee, may rule."
Batman swiped the tab away, and a new one appeared that showed Queen Bee addressing her audience, "I laud president Harjavti for unifying our peoples and I will gladly come to Qurac to be crowned sole leader of our nation."
"And the Quracies are OK with this?" KF asked in disbelief. Robin shared his puzzlement; the citizens of Qurac wouldn't automatically accept this radical change in their government. And didn't a President have limited power? It didn't seem like he had the ability to just hand over an entire country. Something was off about this picture.
"Hardly," Batman answered, and brought up a new screen, this one displaying Quracies protesting in the streets. "They're well aware of the brutality of Queen Bee's regime, but Harjavti has censored the press, silenced all legitimate protesting and invited the Bialyan military into his country, to enforce Martial Law."
Robin shook his head fractionally; this didn't add up. "Queen Bee has to be controlling Harjavti. Doesn't she have the power to enthrall most men?" That was the only explanation he could come up with. Harjavti was a democrat, so it seemed highly unlikely that he would accept Bee's reign out of his own free will.
Batman studied him carefully, and Robin paused when he realized that he didn't know about Queen Bee's abilities before today. Huh. "And some women," the Bat finally answered. "But not long distance, and we have confirmation that she hasn't left Bialya. Something else is at work here. Find out what." He focused his gaze on his protege. "Robin, you're team leader."
And just like that, Robin's good mood completely evaporated. What did he mean, Team leader?!
Kid Flash, not sensing his sudden change in mood, grinned. "Promotion, sweet!" He rose his hand for a high five, but Robin ignored it.
"Me? What about Aqualad?" He asked, a familiar ball of dread forming in his stomach. The last time he was team leader...
"Busy helping Aqualad," Batman said, not missing a beat. What was the deal with him? He knew about Robin's fear of leading. "You're the next logical choice." Ah, there it was. He nearly forgot that Batman and Bruce were two totally different people. Bruce cared about his feelings. Batman, for the most part, did not.
"...Great," he mumbled, frowning at the ground. Of course he was the most logical choice; he was second in command. He used to love that title, but now it just left a bitter taste in his mouth.
All he could do was hope that he didn't screw this mission up.
xXx
"We're right above the Qurac-Bialyan border," Robin announced, eyeing the holographic map his glove produced.
"A border that the Bialyans are in the process of ignoring." KF grumbled as they watched a couple of Bialyan tanks roll over barbed wired fences.
"There's no opposition," Superboy noted. "I guess Harjavti really is in bed with Bialya."
"I really don't expect opposition here; it's an animal sanctuary," Robin pointed out, reading the information on his holo screen.
Miss Martian stole a glimpse of the screen as well, and gasped. "The Logan Animal Sanctuary?"
Robin looked over at her, surprised. "You've heard of it?" His glove didn't mark the sanctuary as an important location or anything, so how was M'gann of all people familiar with it?
"Guys," Kid interrupted. "Tanks have caused a stamped. There are civilians in harms way!"
Superboy grunted in acknowledgment. "I see them, a woman and a small boy."
"We have to help them!" Miss M exclaimed, sending Robin a worried look. "They could die!"
A part of Robin wanted to help them, but he pushed those feelings away. Mission first. "We're way off mission here." He paused, remembering something. Sure, Batman and Deathstroke would ignore the civilians without much thought, but Robin wasn't going to become either of them. He was his own hero now. "Deploy," he ordered. "But stealth mode. If the Bialyans know we hit them, this becomes an international incident." He waited for his teammates' nods of understanding before he stood. "Open the hatch."
Minutes later, he found himself clinging onto Wally's back as they zipped through the squadron of tanks. While his teammates destroyed the enemies tanks, Robin could only hang on tight and enjoy the show. Using any of his weapons would be a dead giveaway, and his ability to destroy things that used any kind of technology wasn't strong enough to take down monstrous tanks.
Needless to say, he was more than relieved when the family was rescued and he could finally put his feet on the ground. "Are you alright?" The speedster asked the two.
The boy studied Wally's face for a minute, then turned his attention to Robin. After another split second, his face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Mom! Mom! Mom! We were just saved by Robin and Kid Flash!" He said excitedly, staring at the two heroes in awe. Robin felt his face heat up; he still wasn't used to people being able to recognize him so easily.
"Well, Superboy and Miss Martian helped too," KF said casually, but Robin could tell that he liked the attention. Robin could understand the feeling; he liked having a fan.
"We diverted the Bialyans around the sanctuary," he told the woman. "You should be safe now."
The woman obviously didn't hold them in the same light as her son did, if her unimpressed expression was anything to go by. "You might have made things worse. Bialyan border crossings are a way of life here. Usually they wreck a few fences and move on, but engaging them might have made us a target." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Mom... uncool," the boy complained.
His mother sighed. "I'm sorry, I should be thanking you," she said, though she still didn't sound very grateful. "This is my son, Garfield. I'm-"
"Marie Logan!" M'gann finished, a delighted twinkle in her eyes. "I can't believe I'm actually meeting you in person!"
Robin was again bewildered by his friend's knowledge on the Logans. Did he miss something?
Marie simply ignored the martian's exclamation, and strode over to a limping wildebeest. She frowned at it sadly, and stroked its back like it was a beloved pet. "The oryx is sick. And I think you injured this wildebeest."
"Uh... Sorry?" Superboy sounded as confused as Robin felt.
"I suppose it was unavoidable," Marie said, though her voice held some annoyance. "But both need to go to our clinic."
"The boys can do that," Miss M said quickly. "You and I can, um, fix your fences!"
Wait. Hold the phone, when did this turn into a family bonding session with the Logans? "That's not exactly our-" he protested, but was cut short.
"Robin," M'gann said pleadingly, sending him waves of her mixed emotions. Desperation, a desire to impress... Robin frowned and cut the connection. He knew all to well what it was like to desperately want to impress a role model, but...
"Please mom?" Garfield asked his mother, tugging on her hands.
"...Fine," she and Robin finally agreed.
"Yes!" M'gann and Garfield cheered happily.
"Thank you so much, Robin." The Martian told him separately through the mind link. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"
"...Just don't tell Batman about this," he thought begrudgingly, turning away and ignoring the waves of happiness his friend sent him in return.
Damn it, he was such a softy.
xXx
"Ah! Get it off!"
Robin turned his head just in time to see a greenish brown monkey snatch Kid Flash's candy bar, and then the animal hopped away to the safety of Garfield's shoulder. "It's okay!" Gar said with a delighted laugh. "Meet monkey."
"Good name." Superboy eyed the creature with disgust. "But I hate monkeys." Monkey let out a shriek and his newly acquired chocolate bar at Superboy's face, and the clone growled in warning.
Robin couldn't help but laugh at his friend's expression. "Looks like Monkey hates Superboys."
KF smirked. "Dude, be glad he onky threw a candy bar." He joked as Gar led the three of them into his house.
"So, pretty weird about Miss Martian and my mom, huh?" Garfield asked as Robin and Kid Flash sat themselves down on two of the open seats in the living room.
Superboy rose his eyebrows in question. "What do you mean?"
"I mean she looks exactly like Marie. Except, you know, greener."
"She does?" Wally questioned, sharing a glance with Robin.
"Well yeah, especially back when Mom was a TV star in 'Hello Megan!'"
KF stared at him. "Wait... Hello Megan is a TV show?"
Robin was lost as well. "I thought it was just something she said all the time."
"Yeah, on the TV show." Now Garfield sounded confused as well. "It was way before we were born, it only has one season. You can't even find it online." He frowned at the clutter of tapes held under his television. "I know my mom has a tape somewhere..." He knelt down besides the television set, and started to search the tapes for the right one. Soon enough, Gar emerged from his place, a proud smile on his face as he help up the tape. "Hello Megan! the pilot episode." He blew away the collection of dust on its surface before popping it into the VCR.
"Whoa, you still have VHS," Wally commented.
"Wait," Superboy suddenly said, angling his ear towards the window. "...I hear an aircraft headed this way." Without another word, he raced out of the house. Wally gave Robin a startled look before doing the same, leaving him alone with Garfield.
He stood, giving the kid the sternest look he could muster. It was difficult; he wasn't used to being leader, but being the adult was a totally different situation. "Gar, stay put," he ordered flatly before running after his teammates. When he came out to the front porch, he saw Superboy scanning the skies, and M'gann and Marie were finally returning.
"What is it?" Miss M asked, noticing their apprehension. The sound of two incoming airplanes answered her, and Marie's surprised gasp was drowned out by the sound of guns firing. Superboy and Miss Martian both covered for her immediately.
"Where's my son?!" Marie demanded once the stream of bullets died out.
"It's okay, I ordered him to stay inside," Robin reassured.
Instead of relaxing, she only tensed up even more. "He's eight, he doesn't do orders."
To prove her point, the barn doors slid open, revealing the disobedient Garfield. "Mom! It's okay, I got the animals out!" Just then, one of the aircrafts swooped down low and fired a stream of bullets at the barn, which blown to bits almost immediately, and also managed to send Garfield flying. Miss Martian gasped and flew to the boy's aid, holding him close as she brought him back to safety. Gar's mother took him from her as soon as she touched the ground, staring at her son's unconscious form fearfully. The planes didn't halt their attacks, though, for the pilots obviously felt no remorse for what they have done. Miss Martian and Superboy shared a look before leaving the group to deal with them, vengeance heavy on their minds.
"I told you there would be consequences," Marie told Robin angrily, voice raw with emotion.
Robin stared at Garfield's unmoving form regretfully. If this boy died, Robin would hold himself responsible for the rest of his life. "Always," he murmured in response. There were always consequences when he was leading. All he did was being death wherever he went. "Let's get him inside..."
xXx
"He's in shock," Marie informed him once they had hooked Garfield up to the necessary medical equipment. It was a good thing that Marie was a vet, or Gar wouldn't have been able to get the immediate care he needed. "He needs a blood transfusion now." She looked at Robin, then at Kid Flash, who was standing in the doorway silently. "Are either of you O negative?"
"No," Robin said softly.
"Sorry," was KF's response.
"Neither am I," she said regretfully. "It's the hardest to match. I kept a supply in the clinic..."
"I can run him to the nearest hospital," Kid suggested.
Robin shook his head. "The nearest hospital with this type of blood supply is half an hour away, even at your top speed. Longer by bioship."
"He doesn't have that much time. What's Superboy's blood type?" She asked hopefully.
Robin winced. "He's Kryptonian, and Miss Martian-"
"-might be able to help." Everyone turned to face Miss Martian, who was standing in the doorway behind Kid Flash. "My shape shifting occurs at the cellular level. I think I can morph my blood to match his."
"Please, try." Marie said desperately.
M'gann nodded firmly, a spark of determination in her eyes. "I'll need to concentrate. No distractions."
"Out! All of you out!" Marie ordered immediately, urging everyone to leave the room as quickly as possible. Robin was barely able to make it out the door before it slammed shut. He stared at it blankly, a familiar ache in his chest. Garfield was one of his few fans, and he totally failed him...
"Dude, come on." Wally gently tapped his shoulder to get his attention, and nodded towards the living room. Robin mechanically obeyed, sitting back down on the chair he had occupied before.
"And on top of all this, Harjavti steps down tomorrow. Subjecting all of Qurac to this danger." He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, the stress of everything suddenly weighing heavily on his shoulders. "KF, can you find a news station?"
"Sure, which remote is it?" He picked up two remotes and looked them over before trying one. The television turned on, and they were greeted by the theme song of the tape Gar put in earlier.
"Hello Megan!" On screen, a familiar redhead appeared, the theme song playing in the background. Startled, Superboy, Robin, and Kid Flash gathered around the television set, watching the freakishly familiar girl.
"...Maybe it's a coincidence?" Superboy said after a moment of shocked silence.
"Mom, I'm going to the library to study!" The show's Megan announced.
"Didn't you invite a certain someone to study here?" The doorbell rang, and Megan slapped her forehead.
"Hello Megan!" The imaginary audience laughed in the background as the girl climbed down the remainder of the steps, and they cheered when she opened the door and greeted a male with shoulder length black hair. "Connor!" She exclaimed as she stepped forward to embrace the male.
Superboy did not look amused, but KF certainly was. "Oh yeah, pure coincidence," he whispered to Robin.
"It's done," Miss M suddenly announced behind them, and Wally scrambled to turn the show off. "All we can do is wait."
The news finally turned on. "My fellow Quracians,"
"Is that Harjavti?" M'gann asked, coming closer to the television set.
"Queen Bee's rule is a gift to Qurac," the President announced to his citizens.
"Hey, that guy in back!" Connor pointed to a bald man wearing a hood. "I know him."
Robin whipped out his holo glove and used it to zoom in on the man's face. Besides him, M'gann stiffened. "It's Psimon, the physic we fought the last time we were in Bialya. If he was working for her then, he must be controlling Harjavti for her now!"
KF ran a hand over his face warily. "I still remember the headache I got when he brain blasted us."
Robin studied Psimon's face. He failed Garfield, but he wasn't about to let an entire country down. "We have to get Harjavti away from him." He deactivated his holo glove and squared his shoulders.
Marie entered the room. "I think it worked, Garfield's stable."
Robin nodded stiffly. "Good, because we have our mission." He moved his eyes between his three teammates slowly. "No more distractions. We have to end this, now."
xXx
Robin thoroughly scanned the room from the safety of an air vent, searching for any sign of Psimon. Not seeing him, Robin nodded at his teammates. "Harjavti's alone." He told them as he removed the cover, before jumping down to the floor below. Not waiting for his friends, Robin marched over to the dazed looking Harjavti, who looked at him through misty eyes. "Where's my daughter?" He groaned and brought his fingers to his temple. "Where's Psimon?"
"Forget him. Let's get you out of here."
The two doors leading to the room suddenly burst opened, and intimidating black and red weapons were pointed at the heroes from all directions. A man wearing a military uniform came in after his men, smirking. "Well well, American heroes, here to assassinate the President." Robin gave him a steely glare. "Such a shame we arrived to late to stop them."
"Those are Apokoliptian weapons," Superboy told them with a mental growl.
Robin nodded. "I thought so. They feel different than most technological weapons." The buzzing in his head felt... cold, if that was possible. "These guys will use these weapons to kill Harjavti, we get blamed, and Queen Bee gets to rule Qurac!"
"I found Psimon!" The invisible Miss Martian suddenly announced, and Robin could feel her mental presence moving away from them.
"Wait!" Robin called, but was ignored.
"I'll get her," Superboy said gruffly, but Robin shook his head minutely.
"No. The mission is Harjavti." And they couldn't stray away from that mission a second time.
"What's our plan?" KF asked, looking at him from the corner of his eye.
"... I want to try something." He closed his eyes, concentrating on the strange feeling in his head, and the cloud of emotions that threatened to suffocate him. His overwhelming disappointment with himself stood out the most, and all of his past failures came together in a blob of memories. Not being able to fight against the tanks, being helpless while Gar was dying right in front of him, not having enough control to stop M'gann from disobeying his orders and running off...
His mind wondered.
Being helpless while his mentor was shot down in space, not going back to save Kaldur, sacrificing Connor, killing Wally and himself in a pointless attempt to destroy the mother ship...
Something snapped.
The guns that the soldiers were holding suddenly exploded in their hands, catching them off guard. Wally and Superboy took advantage of their surprise by quickly taking them out one by one. While they did that, Robin sped forward and grabbed the commanded by the front of his uniform, slamming his back against the nearest wall. The man's eyes flashed fearfully, and Robin narrowed his own in disgust. "I should kill you for everything that you've done," he said lowly. "But count yourself lucky that I was taught not to." He then delivered a punch to his temple, feeling great satisfaction when he slumped onto the ground.
"Dude, how did you do that?!" KF zipped over to his side, grinning widely. "That was so cool! I didn't know you could just make things explo-"
"We can talk about that later," Robin snapped, shoving past him to get through the door. "First we have to save the teammate who foolishly ran into battle. Alone." He then ran down the hallway, not waiting for the other two to catch up.
"M'gann, we're coming," Connor told his girlfriend through the link.
Instead of the martian, they were greeted by Psimon, who smiled at them as he sent waves of pain at them through the hacked mental link. Robin immediately fell sideways, the feeling of knives being embedded into his very soul being too much for his body. Soon, everything went black.
What he didn't know was that it wasn't Psimon who blasted them.
xXx
Robin felt dizzy when he finally came to, a queasiness in his stomach threatening to bring his lunch back up. A few feet away from him, Wally groaned. "Yep, there's the headache."
"...Psimon?" Robin asked, forcing himself to stand while simultaneously ignoring the way his stomach protested against the sudden movement.
M'gann smiled sadly. "He brain blasted you. I stopped him." She looked towards the center of the room, where Psimon was collapsed on top of a pile of rubble. His eyes stared in front of him, but they weren't seeing. It was like looking at a zombie. M'gann suddenly stiffened and gave Robin a concerned look. "Are you okay? I felt your emotions spike earlier, and now they-"
Robin didn't bother to hide his irritation. "Yeah, I'm fine. Now enough sitting around, we still have one last thing to do."
xXx
On the television screen, Queen Bee approached the President's guards, looking affronted when they wouldn't let her past. "What do you mean the President won't see me?! He invited me!"
Harjavti stepped out onto his balcony. "Not of my free will, no! But now, that I am free of your minion's thrall, the Quraci people will never suffer your tyrannical rule!"
The queen sent him a weak glare. "Mark me, Harjavti! You will suffer for this! Qurac will be mine!"
Robin turned the TV off just as Queen Bee entered the room, her features morphing back into M'gann's. Robin nodded to her. "Though that looked totally faked, I think it should be enough. Now the public should be convinced that Queen Bee was behind this."
KF put a hand on his shoulder, grinning excitedly. "Dude saving a country? Pretty big win for your first turn as 'leader.'"
"Yeah, thanks." Robin said bitterly, shrugging him off. "Let's just go home."
"Can we check on Garfield first?" M'gann asked hopefully. "I'm worried about him."
Robin grit his teeth; here M'gann goes, leading them to places other than their destination, again. "Fine," he snapped. "But no other stops."
Kid Flash watched as he all but stormed out, and looked between the other two heroes. "Uh, am I the only one picking up on these mood swings?"
Connor frowned. "He was fine earlier, just quiet."
Wally nodded slowly. "He might just be stressed." His eyes widened after a sudden thought came to him. "Shoot! Deathstroke works with Queen Bee sometimes, right? That's probably why he's been so distant! He was worried about being kidnapped by that one eyed creep!"
Superboy tensed. "I forgot all about him. He could be in Bialya right now, or even in Qurac for all we know. We should probably stay near Robin, just in case."
Kid nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's catch up with him. I don't want him being alone when Deathstroke could snatch him at any second." He dashed out the door with Superboy following close behind.
Neither of them noticed how silent M'gann was.
xXx
"Garfield...?" M'gann whispered as she pushed his bedroom door open. A feeling of guilt weighed heavily in her chest; just a few minutes ago she had a chance to spill the beans about what she truly was, but she lied instead. If the Team ever found out about it, they would definitely hate her now. But what could she do? If she told them the truth, they would be absolutely disgusted with her!
As the light from the hallway lit up the bedroom, M'gann soon realized that she was not alone with Garfield. "Shh," Queen Bee whispered, putting a finger up to her smirking lips. "It would be a shame to wake him." She put a hand on Garfield's head in an almost motherly fashion. "I might have to order my little thrall here to damage himself." M'gann's eyes glowed as she prepared to attack, but Bee shook her head. "Ah ahh, he had orders to do just that if anything happens to me."
M'gann was cornered. Queen Bee had her just where she wanted her. The martian's eyes dimmed and her shoulders slumped, a resentful feeling growing with every breath Bee took.
Bee's smirk widened. "Now, about your performance. A bit over the top, I think, but you haven't practiced me the way you've perfected the role of Megan." She stood up, noticing the flash of surprise on M'gann's face. "That's right, poor Psimon's not the only one who knows your true form." She leaned closer to the younger girl's ear. "And if you don't cooperate, I'll make sure everyone knows what you really are." She stepped back, grinning a Cheshire cat grin. "Understand?"
"...Y-Yes." M'gann squeezed her eyes shut tight. Even as she was in the process of agreeing, she couldn't believe herself. Was she really putting the entire Team's lives in danger?!
"Excellent." She looked at something to her right. "Tell the girl what you want done."
A dark chuckle met M'gann's ears, and the blood in her veins went cold from hearing it. She used to think Robin's laughs were creepy, but this was absolutely terrifying. It was so evil, so ruthless and intimidating... "It's a pleasure to finally meet one of my apprentice's teammates." The man stepped into the Light, his one eye gleaming behind his orange and black mask.
"Deathstroke," M'gann whispered, a tightness forming in her throat. Without thinking, she mentally checked on her youngest teammate to make sure he was alive and well. Relieved when she found him to be safe, she returned her attention to Deathstroke. "If you try to hurt Robin..." Instead of sounding threatening, her voice came out in something akin to a squeak.
There was another bout of laughter. "Now, why would I do that when you're perfectly capable of doing so?"
M'gann froze. "W-What?" She shook her head frantically. "No, I would never hurt him!"
Deathstroke took a step forward, and she automatically took a step back. Now she understood why Robin was absolutely terrified of this man; M'gann could hardly stand to breathe in the same room he occupied, she couldn't imagine having to train with him.
All of a sudden, he was right in front of her. M'gann let out a startled squeak, but it was silenced when Deathstroke put his hand over her mouth. "You will cooperate, or the entire world will know your secret," the man hissed at her. M'gann could only stare at him through wide eyes, her heart beating frantically in her chest. "Will you listen?"
M'gann found that she was too scared to say no, so she nodded her head stiffly, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.
"Good." He released his grip on her and took a small step backwards. "Now, don't get too worked up, you don't have to physically harm Renegade." The way he said Robin's old title made M'gann feel sick, he said his name like he was talking about a pet. "All I require is that you hurt him emotionally."
"Hurt him emotionally? H-How?" She asked quietly, not daring to argue against him anymore. She had a feeling that he would hurt her without a second thought, and wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she didn't cooperate.
Deathstroke shrugged. "How you do it is up to you. One thing is for certain, you must stop being friends with him."
"... Why?" She whispered hesitantly. She didn't want to be mean to Robin. He was like a little brother to her, and it would hurt them both if she had to treat him so coldly. And Robin already felt like an outsider on the Team. What if her being mean to him only drove him farther away from them?
"That is none of your concern." He held her gaze, and she fought against her sudden urge to bolt out of the building. He was so... creepy. "Just see that it is done. If you don't..." he nodded to Queen Bee, who smirked at her coldly.
M'gann closed her eyes. "I'm so, so sorry Robin. I hope that you'll forgive me someday." She thought to herself, before nodding at the two villains. "I-I'll do it."
"Good," Bee purred. "Now, leave the room and pretend that this encounter never happened. We'll keep in touch."
M'gann nodded silently, and fled the room as fast as she could, not wanting to stay near the two any longer than necessary. The tears that she fought so hard against finally fell from her eyes, and she went into camouflage mode to avoid being seen by her teammates.
"I'm such a bad person. I don't even deserve to be on this team!" She mentally wailed, dragging herself into the living room silently. When she caught sight of Robin, she nearly broke down into hysterics. "We're supposed to protect you from him, and now I'm helping him get to you. I... I'm sorry Robin."
And even though she knew that it was the wrong choice, she never brought up her encounter with Deathstroke and Queen Bee.
xXx
AN: How long has it been since I've updated? A month? Time goes by fast when you're the author, but I've heard from a couple of people who say that it's a lot slower when you're the reader. Sorry guys! I'm trying my best here, I swear!
Thanks for all of your comments! Your lovely words never fail to make me smile! :)
See you next chapter!