BEFORE WE GET TO THE STORY, SOME ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announcement 1: Shortly before posting this chapter, I published 'Fight or Flight: Side Stories', which will be a wonderful compilation of all the oneshots and extras that have no place in the main story. Chapter One has been posted, Hal Jordan's fabled 'How to Deal with Thanagarians' cheat sheet.
Announcement 2: OVER A HUNDRED FOLLOWERS?! YOU GUYS! When I first posted this story, I had no idea it would gain this kind of traction. A huge thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, reviewed, and PM'd. Every little bit has made this story better!
Announcement 3: And now I address the elephant in the room that is romantic pairings. When I first started outlining this story, I had no specific pairing in mind. I thought to myself 'I'll just see where the story takes me.' And this story has taken me to a wonderful world of powerfully platonic relationships. In short, there will be NO romantic pairing in this story. I'm sorry to everyone who was expecting something, but the story I'm trying to tell doesn't require romance to work. If I've just shattered your dreams and you decide to stop reading, that's perfectly A-Okay with me. HOWEVER! One of the reasons I decided to create 'Fight or Flight: Side Stories' was to explore 'What If's' and 'AU's'. And a major 'What-If' is definitely 'What if our lovely protagonist did find herself falling in love?' I've already got plans for a good dozen or so oneshots, and I'll be cranking those out in tandem with our regularly scheduled installations of Fight or Flight.
Well, that's enough from me for now. See you at the ending author's note!
BIALYA
SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2010
12:02 EEST
Gasping for breath, Hawkgirl pushed herself up onto her hands and knees from under a pile of sand, panting as she desperately tried to fill her lungs with air. Shaking her wings and giving a couple of cursory flaps, torrents of small granules dislodged from her feathers. Now that she was no longer suffocating, she shakily rose to a kneeling position.
A vast desert stretched as far as her eyes could see (which was pretty damn far), with only a smattering of rocky outcroppings to her right and a set of tire tracks leading off into the distance marring the seemingly endless dunes. The sun was shining directly overhead, but the heat didn't bother her. Judging from the dryness of her mouth, she had presumably been out in the desert for an extended period… or she had gotten sand into her mouth as some point while she was buried.
Either way, it did not bode well.
Casting a look around and expanding out her senses, she confirmed that she was alone for the moment (though she did sense a faint heartbeat near the rock formation she would definitely be checking out). Curling her wings around her torso, she effectively created a feathery shield around herself as she tore her helmet off of her head.
Her brunette hair was a sweaty and tangled mess. Pulling off the hair tie keeping her braided hair in a bun, she quickly unbound and finger combed it. Braiding it again as tightly as she could, she made sure her bun was pressed as tightly to her skull as she could manage before putting her helmet back on.
Feeling a little more put together and reoriented, she stood up and started to make her way towards the nearby rocks. It wasn't long before she could hear someone speaking aloud to themselves, male from the sound of it, and familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
Keeping low to the ground with her wings flattened against her back, she crept around the edge of the small canyon-like structure to locate the source of the voice.
When she saw who it was, she nearly stumbled from shock. Robin was standing by himself, examining a black swatch of torn fabric in his hands. Despite the fact that she knew Robin, she was still incredibly cautious. Thus, she crept up behind him as silently as she could, before suddenly lashing out and slapping a hand over his mouth and hooking her arm around his waist.
Really, she should have seen the resulting stomach jab and strike to the jaw coming.
Staggering backwards as she released him, she rubbed at the right side of her face as Robin whirled around.
That was Robin, alright.
"Hawkgirl?!" He said incredulously, tucking away the piece of fabric into his belt. "What the heck are you doing here?"
She scowled at him. "I think I should be asking you the same question."
"… Fair enough." He deflated a little. "Just so we're on the same page, you have no idea why you're here either, right?"
Hawkgirl opened her mouth to reply that of course she knew… before she realized that wasn't right. She didn't know. Blinking rapidly, she tried to recollect her thoughts. The last thing she remembered was… eating breakfast with her parents and mentally prepping herself for what was sure to be a long day of combat training.
Maybe that's what this was?
She decided it was better to share this potential revelation instead of keeping it to herself. "I remember preparing for training. Perhaps this is part of that?"
"I know you're parents are intense, but even they wouldn't dare to drop you in the middle of Bialya."
Hawkgirl's wings flared briefly from surprise. "Bialya? Are you absolutely certain?"
He merely activated the holographic screen attached to his glove, showing their current location, smack dab in the middle of the Bialyan Desert.
This definitely wasn't good.
H
When night fell, it was a relief to the both of them. Or at least mostly to Robin, seeing as he was far more susceptible to extreme temperatures than she was. In addition, the Boy Wonder had provided a small amount of water for the both of them, courtesy of an emergency stash in his utility belt. It wasn't much and they had to ration it very carefully, but it was at least something.
Hawkgirl was more than a little worried for her human companion, but he had waved off her concerns with a joke and a smile.
It did little to reassure her.
They had both agreed early on that having her fly them anywhere was a bad idea. With zero cloud cover and empty desert for miles, they would be far less conspicuous on foot than in the air. Even then, Hawkgirl had offered to carry him, but he insisted that she try to preserve any strength she had just in case of a skirmish.
Robin led the way as they ran across the desert, using his hologlove to track a signal that had caught his attention on his map. "Wish I could remember why I put a GPS marker here." He pondered aloud.
As they rose over the crest of a dune, Ski'Lira was the first to spot the strangle metal box sitting at the bottom of a shallow bowl, snagging Robin's shoulder and yanking him down into cover.
"Huh!" Robin said as he took a look for himself. "Guessing that's why."
He leapt down to inspect the device just as Hawkgirl registered multiple heartbeats just up ahead. The moment Robin came within spitting distance of the box, a small platoon of masked, armored, and armed goons emerged from where they had been lying in wait behind the sand.
Unhooking her mace from her belt, she took to the air just enough to swoop down off the top of the dune, putting herself in the middle of the fray. Now that she was at a different angle, she could see distinct yellow emblems emblazoned on the front of every soldiers' helmet.
"Her Majesty wants them alive!" One of the soldiers commanded in Arabic.
She was very glad that it just so happened to be one of three Terran languages she was fluent in.
Robin locked eyes with her, which was the only warning she received before he calmly dropped a smoke pellet, obscuring the immediate area with smoke and giving them both free reign to attack.
Trusting Robin to handle the ones closest to him, she sought out the source of the nearest heartbeat and cracked her mace over his head before he could notice her, although his weapon did discharge as he fell, alerting two nearby soldiers to her presence. They ran forwards to try to get a visual on her, but that just brought them into combat range.
Whirling, she smacked one man with a wing, knocking him off balance as she drove her fist into the other one's stomach. As they both lay on the ground, she dealt harsh kicks with her booted feet, knocking them unconscious.
By that time, the smoke had dissipated and the soldiers started to regroup, aiming their weapons straight at Robin.
Ski'Lira moved without a single thought.
With a powerful flap of her wings, she put herself between the younger boy and the line of soldiers just as they started to fire. Putting her gauntleted hands up in front of her chest and ducking her head, she did her best to cover her more vulnerable areas, guaranteeing Robin's safe escape.
She winced as she felt a stinging pinch in her left bicep that grew into a radiating pain. Gritting her teeth, she stood her ground.
The barrage of gunfire came to an abrupt halt as a blur sped through the ranks, removing their armaments from their hands. Who could only be Kid Flash skidded to a halt, depositing his stolen armful of guns onto the sand.
Kid Flash took out the two guys nearest to him in quick succession as Robin kicked another in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. Uncurling herself from her defensive stance, Hawkgirl launched herself at the nearest goon, slamming the butt of her mace into his face and instantly knocking him unconscious. Two more thugs made a good attempt at sneaking up on the teen heroes, only to be flung backwards by some unseen force.
Said unseen force revealed themselves a moment later, a floating female with distinct green skin and red hair. Judging by the appearance and the power set, it was a safe bet to say that she was Martian in origin.
Meanwhile, Kid Flash grabbed one guy by the leg, spinning him around to build up momentum before throwing him into two of his comrades, taking out three of them in one fell swoop.
The final soldier, who was making a valiant effort in trying to flee, was targeted by an arrow that changed mid-air into a bola, wrapping around his legs and sending him crashing to the ground. The origin of the arrow was another teen standing atop a nearby dune, a long-haired blonde wearing an arrow that was highly reminiscent of Green Arrow's.
Even though the battle was done, Hawkgirl was far from relaxed, as she had zero reason to trust these two strangers, even though they had arrived with Kid Flash.
As they regrouped, Hawkgirl took a moment to glance at her arm, satisfied that the bullet wound wasn't obvious, despite the fact that she was still bleeding pretty steadily. Ah, one of the wonders of wearing dark red. Your enemies didn't get to see you bleed.
Robin made his way towards Kid Flash, and the two locked hands in greeting. "KF! Man, it's good to see another familiar face. And this one's much friendlier!"
Ski'Lira shot a glare at him, to which he responded with a cheeky smirk.
"Hey, Rob" The speedster replied. "Memory loss?"
"Six months. Let's hogtie these creeps and compare notes."
H
They'd ended up using rope from the own soldiers' supply to immobilize them. Judging by their insistence on capturing both Robin and herself, Hawkgirl assumed that the rope had initially been meant for them. Honestly, it would have been hilarious if they had tried such an attempt. The looks on their faces as they easily broke out from their bonds would have been worth it.
Once they were safely bound (and knocked unconscious), they all gathered around the Martian girl, who promised to explain.
"So… We're a team?" Robin asked for clarity, sounding skeptical.
"The four of us and Superboy." She confirmed, hands clasped together as if begging for them to remember. And if they really were as close as she claimed, she probably was.
"Then this must be his." From his utility belt, Robin grabbed the chunk of cloth that Hawkgirl had seen him with earlier. Now that she could see it clearly, the red 'S' emblazoned on the fabric was clear.
The Martian's face lit up with joy, taking the cloth and practically cuddling it to her chest. "Yes! Did you see him?"
"I think we did." The blonde archer offered.
"Feral boy?" Kid Flash rubbed at his chin before perching his hands back on his hips. "Some teammate. He attacked us."
"He didn't know who we are." Jerking her thumb at her own chest, the blonde frowned. "I don't know who we are."
Brow wrinkling a little, Robin spoke up. "I remember Batman ordering radio silence. Our team must work for him."
A team of young heroes being led by Batman made… marginally more sense, Ski'Lira supposed. Honestly, the Dark Knight was the only Leaguer she could see successfully wrangling such an eclectic group of teenagers together.
She still didn't believe that the Martian was telling the truth, but the lie was becoming more believable.
"How do you know we don't work for my mentor?" Pointing to himself, Kid Flash jumped as his suit reverted to its usual, brilliant yellow. "Whoa! This is so cool."
Both Robin and the archer subtly pressed their own emblems, only for nothing to happen.
"We look ridiculous!" The blonde snapped before whirling on the speedster, who hadn't yet ceased changing his outfit back and forth between black and yellow. "Quit touching yourself!"
Hawkgirl let out the quietest huff of amusement, before everything went white.
She regained a sense of self in a strange, fractured room, images of herself and the other teenagers with her plastered all over the glowing walls. Experimentally flexing a fist, she was a little unnerved as she realized that she wasn't breathing, feeling, nor did her heart beat. It was more than a little disconcerting. The eerie effervescent glow that surrounded herself and the others certainly didn't help matters.
A shimmering, solid white silhouette appeared before them, which then started to speak with the Martian's voice. "I brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far. But I need your help." The girl herself fully materialized, her eyes glowing pink. "Together, our broken memories can form a hole. If you open your minds to mine."
The other girl stepped back and crossed her arms, immediately going on the defensive. "You want to paw through our private thoughts?!"
"I have no wish to intrude, but-"
Robin swiftly interrupted. "We need to hack our minds to grok what happened to us. Got it. Go."
Judging by the blank expressions around her, Ski'Lira assumed she was the only one that caught the reference. Or they were just too engrossed in the matter at hand to take note of it.
"My brain's all yours." Kid Flash offered, trying to sound as smooth as he could manage. It didn't work for him at all. "Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."
"Or underwhelm you." Robin pointed out with a snicker. "Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"
Hawkgirl couldn't help her frustrated growl and shot him a look. "The English language is hard enough. You're trying to make it worse." Turning to the Martian, she offered a slight nod of acceptance, giving her free reign to poke around in her brain.
That just left one reluctant member of the party. She didn't relax until Kid Flash wrapped a hand around hers. "Last six months only and only what you need." She requested.
Nodding, the telepath closed her eyes. A moment later, glowing blue constructs vaguely shaped like ends emerged from her body, enveloping the top of their heads.
Ski'Lira had never once consumed narcotics of any kind (not that it would affect her superior physiology anyway), but she imagined that's what this felt like. She was bombarded with foreign visuals and sounds, impressions of emotions and physical sensation. And then things suddenly clicked.
H
Standing in the Hub of Mount Justice, the Team was gathered in front of Batman, a holographic map beside him showing a display nearly identical to the one Robin had on his hologlove earlier.
"The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan Desert. Spectral analysis revealed element non-terrestrial in origin. Find out what happened at that site, what landed there. Bialya is a rogue state ruled by Queen Bee, and not a member of the League's U.N. Charter. All communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times. You'll land in Qurac on Bialya's border, two clicks from the hot zone."
H
Binoculars firmly situated in front of his eyes, Robin scanned the desert, but saw nothing. He knew that Hawkgirl was doing the same in the opposite direction, though she was just using the power of her own, admittedly impressive, eyesight. Everyone else was departing from the bio-ship, with Superboy carrying a massive crate on his back that sufficiently dwarfed him.
"All clear." He reported, moving to rejoin the others.
H
Overlooking a makeshift camp from a rocky outcropping, Artemis and Robin watched the movements of the soldiers moving in and out. "The Bialyans control the site." Artemis reported.
H
"Set up here." Their team leader ordered, allowing Superboy to drop his burden and activate it, the box expanding so it could be used to scan the surrounding area for anomalous readings.
Robin used the in-built computer on the device with singular focus. "We'll be up and running in no time."
H
"Jackpot!" Kid Flash exclaimed, looking over his friend's shoulder at the display. "The site's lousy with zeta beam radiation."
"Detecting non-terrestrial trace elements from the tent." Robin added.
"I'll check it out in camouflage mode." M'Gann volunteered, already launching herself into the air.
Their leader immediately agreed. "Good idea. Go."
"And retreat at the first sign of danger. Isolating yourself from the rest of us will just lead to more trouble." Hawkgirl said, her tone leaving zero room for argument.
Superboy stopped her before she could leave. "Careful."
"I will." M'Gann answered.
"And maintain telepathic contact."
"I will, Aqualad."
They all snapped out of the mindscape, still feeling slightly disconnected, before shouting in unison. "Aqualad!"
"Where is he?" Robin demanded, sounding about as frantic as Hawkgirl felt. "What happened next?"
"I don't know!" M'Gann cried. "That's the last thing I- we remember!"
It was at that moment that Wally realized that he and Artemis were holding hands, jerking his own out of her grasp and face screwing up in slight displeasure. "Ehh. We landed twenty four hours ago. If Kaldur's been wandering the desert that long, well, that's not good for a guy with gills."
"Now that I know to look for him…" Without wasting any more time, the youngest member of their group activated his hologlove. "He's close! But he's not moving."
H
Regaining six months' worth of missing memories was downright disorienting. Ski'Lira had spent the duration of their race to find Aqualad taking mental stock, as it were. She couldn't tell whether or not she had pieces missing, but she had no doubt that after they reported back to the League, Batman would probably have Martian Manhunter do a thorough check on all of them.
They had managed to find Kaldur fairly quickly after Robin picked up his signal, but he was already unresponsive, muttering to himself in Atlantean in his unconscious state. M'Gann had propped his head up in her lap, biting her lip in worry. "I can't restore his memories in this condition."
"He needs immediate rehydration." Robin said. "Call the bio-ship."
"It's out of range…" She turned to face Wally. "But you can get him there fast."
The speedster shook his head in the negative. "He's too heavy and I'm too low on fuel. Right now, I couldn't even carry her." He made a vague gesture towards Artemis. "What about you, Hawkgirl?"
Hawkgirl rose an unseen brow. She was more than capable of carrying Aqualad herself, but there was one glaring problem. It was still far too dangerous to fly. "They have tanks. I would prefer not to be blasted out of the sky by a tank." If only she could camouflage herself like M'Gann, then this wouldn't be a problem.
"Why not just levitate him back?" Artemis offered.
"I can't." M'Gann answered, sounding apologetic. "I have to find Superboy. Six months ago, he didn't exist. He has no memories, just animal impulse. I'm the only one who can help him."
"Superboy's indestructible." Kid Flash pointed out. "Just ask those tanks that Hawkgirl's so afraid of. It's Aqualad who needs your help. Like, now."
Just as Hawkgirl was about to reprimand Wally for insinuating she was afraid of something, M'Gann let out a short cry, squeezing her eyes shut tight and slamming her hands against her temples. "No! Superboy's in pain!" The telepath immediately took to the air, flying away from them as fast as she could. "We can't wait!"
Cupping his hands around his mouth, Robin yelled after her. "We still don't know what erased our memories! It could happen again!"
But she didn't stop.
H
With a slight shift, Ski'Lira readjusted her burden, namely the unconscious and delirious Atlantean she had slung over her shoulder in a Fireman's carry. She and the remaining members of the Team were trudging single file through the desert, with Robin leading them via his handy holomap. An approaching noise caught their attention immediately.
"Quick, over there!" Robin ushered them all into a crouch, leading them behind a massive rock. They all ducked out of sight just in time to avoid being spotted as a caravan of jeeps stopped right where they had been.
Ski'Lira laid Aqualad down onto the ground as gently as she could manage, wincing a little as he started to mutter incoherently again.
"Shh, Kaldur" Artemis whispered, kneeling down next to his head. "Quiet now."
"We can't risk a firefight with Aqualad KO'd like this." Letting out a sigh, Robin scrubbed a hand through his unruly black hair. Hawkgirl watched silently as he crept back over the other side of the dune, disappearing from sight.
"It's not just him." Kid Flash admitted reluctantly. "I'm way out of juice."
"And I'm almost out of arrows." Artemis offered.
It was at that point that the speedster finally realized the person he had been talking to was missing. "Ugh, I forgot how much I hate it when he does the ninja thing." Kid Flash then suddenly changed the topic, addressing the archer of the group directly. "Hey, you never said why your dad would want you to kttk!" He drew his finger across his throat, signifying death. "Me!"
Ski'Lira decided it was in her best interest to take their moment of distraction to check on her bullet wound. Shuffling herself sideways, she pulled off her gauntlet and rolled up the sleeve, grimacing as she felt a fresh rivulet of blood leak down her arm. The good news was that the bullet hadn't hit anything important. The bad news was that the bullet was still in her arm.
It definitely wasn't the worst gunshot wound she'd ever had, nor the most minor, but it was still troublesome. For the moment, she rolled her sleeve down and then back up to the wound act as a makeshift bandage, wiping as much blood as she could off onto the sand before replacing her gauntlet. Unless someone was looking very closely, they wouldn't notice.
All the while, she vaguely registered Artemis recounting the plot of some movie she'd seen recently before Kid Flash pulled her into another bout of bickering.
Thankfully, Robin returned as silently as he had left, sitting near them and startling them with his presence. "Yeesh, get a room."
"Dude, where were you?!" Wally hissed.
That earned him a signature Robin Smirk™ in response. "Breaking radio silence."
A short ways away, a repetitive cackling started echoing throughout the desert, pulling the platoon of soldiers milling around away from their position, where they were promptly engulfed in smoke as the birdarangs detonated.
"That's our cue, move!"
At Robin's direction, Hawkgirl picked Aqualad up again, slinging him back over her shoulder as they all sprinted away.
H
QURAC
SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2010
02:25 EEST
Returning to the bio-ship was a relief for all of them. Ski'Lira set Aqualad down on a biobed, rearranging his limbs so he was laid out more comfortable. Stepping back, Hawkgirl leaned against the nearby wall as Artemis took over from there, a massive first aid kit at her feet that she was already rifling through for the necessary materials. As Artemis began the process of hooking him up to an IV, Kid Flash and Robin started going through their crates of supplies for the mission, primarily searching for food and water.
"Hey, HG" Robin called out to her. "Can you come help open this crate? I think it got a little crushed in transit."
Pushing herself off the wall, she joined him, taking a moment to inspect the industrial plastic crate. The latching mechanism was almost completely crushed. Most likely, it had rammed into another crate during their flight here. Opening it would be simple.
Wedging her gauntleted fingers underneath the crack, she yanked the lid off of the crate, the hinged lid hitting the bioship floor with a sharp bang. Just as she was about to start sorting through it, Robin snatched her forearm.
"Your wrist is bleeding!"
Hawkgirl rolled her eyes. "No, it's not. The bullet wound on my bicep is bleeding."
Artemis whipped around so fast the end of her hair nearly whapped her in the face. "Did you just say bullet wound?!"
"When did you get shot?!" Kid Flash asked, semi-hysterical.
"Just before you, Artemis, and M'Gann showed up." Hawkgirl explained.
"Wait…" Robin released her wrist, staring at her. "When you jumped between me and the…? You were shot?!"
"I'm more concerned with the fact that she was shot and didn't tell us!" Artemis' voice raised, towards the end, but she quickly quieted herself as she remembered their unconscious teammate's presence.
Ski'Lira honestly had no idea why they were so upset. "It didn't hit an artery."
"Not the point." Artemis growled, setting back to work on Aqualad. "Someone please patch her up before I shoot her myself."
Robin immediately volunteered, despite Hawkgirl's repeated protests that she could wait until they returned to Mount Justice. She was forced to lay down on the second biobed, with Robin having switched out his standard gloves for surgical ones. When he'd asked if she'd like some kind of anesthetic, she'd laughed at him.
As he set to work, pliers in hand as he searched for the bullet, he cleared his throat. "Hey, uh, thanks."
"For what?" She asked, making sure to keep her body completely still as she did so.
"Taking a bullet for me."
Hawkgirl scoffed. "Please, you all know I would take a bullet for you anytime."
Robin stopped in his work as Kid Flash spoke up from the other side of the ship. "Um… no…?! We didn't?!"
"Oh. Hm. Well, now you do."
"Hey, everybody!"
M'Gann's mental interruption caused Robin to jerk just enough to drive the pliers a little deeper into the muscle of Ski'Lira's arm than he planned, but he still managed to get a careful hold of the bullet.
"I've got Superboy. He's back to normal and we're on our way."
Ski'Lira blew out a relieved breath, only for it to turn into a pained hiss.
Aqualad had snapped upright, gasping loudly and startling Robin again, forcing him to rip the bullet out a little less than gently. Muttering apologies, he set the bullet onto a nearby tray and started cleaning and stitching up the wound.
"Who are you?!" Kaldur sounded downright frantic, barely calming as Artemis pushed him back down onto the bed. "And how did you get inside my head?"
They could practically hear the forehead slap over the mental link. "Hello, Megan. Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something."
"Aw man, me too." Kid Flash bemoaned. "I didn't get a souvenir from the mission."
"Don't worry. Got the souvenir thing covered."
"What about the bullet Robin just pulled from Hawkgirl's arm?" Artemis grumbled. "Great souvenir right there."
"Hawkgirl was shot?!" Superboy shouted across the link.
Groaning, Hawkgirl closed her eyes. Her teammates were ridiculous.
This is a friendly PSA. Don't be like Ski'Lira and hide gunshot wounds from your friends who are highly trained in first aid. It's a bad idea. Don't do it. You know what? Just don't get shot. Period. Also vigilantism is illegal. Retcon. This is a friendly PSA. Don't be like Ski'Lira. As cool as she is, she's allowed to be stupid and reckless with her physical health because she has alien healing powers.
Well, that's all from me for now. Next time, a nice original tale starring Robin and Hawkgirl. Fun times will be had.
Have a lovely day, all!