It is almost three in the morning and I am so tired. BUT I FINISHED IT! Whoo.
A good chunk of my motivation for slogging my way through this chapter (it's a labor of love) can be attributed to finally getting the chance to see Shazam!
The chapter I offer to you is 'Alpha Male' (which I know I should have finished like, two weeks ago). But I have not been idle, no sir! In the interim I've been working on multiple oneshots that should be published… soon? Hopefully? One's nearly complete, and then another's outlined, and OH MY GOD I JUST REMEMBERED THE IDEA FOR A ONESHOT I HAD EARLIER
Anyway, I'm going to go write down this oneshot idea before I forget it again and then proceed to get mad at myself for not writing it down.
Enjoy!
EDIT 8/21/2019: Altered Sky's inner monologue prior to Brain and Mallah's escape, to mention the others' inherent abilities that could easily have prevented said escape. This edit came about after I watched Aquaman (the new DCU one) and they mentioned that Atlantean's have excellent night vision. It made waaay too much logical sense, so I'm making it canon. Long story short, Kaldur can see in the dark now.
MOUNT JUSTICE
SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2010
06:34 EDT
The morning had been… hectic, to say the least. Repairs had been going on almost all through the night and into the morning, and it was the resulting ruckus that roused the sleeping teens in the lounge. Hawkgirl had disengaged herself from the makeshift cuddle pile on the floor first, in order to properly stretch out her wings. They were slightly stiff from laying on her back all night.
An underlying tension hovered over all of them, and instead of amicably chatting amongst themselves, they remained eerily quiet and shuffled off towards the bathrooms to take care of their morning ablutions. Once they had properly showered, changed back into their uniforms, and consumed hasty breakfasts, they all ended up sitting around a table in the hub. Green Arrow and Black Canary seemed content in leaving them to their self-imposed silence.
Most of them sat, though Conner was seemingly adamant in standing, with Wally flopped over with his head lying on his crossed arms. Shifting slightly to stretch out her wings a final time, Ski'Lira took her own seat, and promptly dug out her phone, seeing she had a few unread messages from various times over the course of the past few hours.
Dad: Sleep well, fledgling, dream of glorious battle. You did well today. We're both proud of you.
Dad: Morning
Dad: Just as a heads up, don't expect to be home anytime soon
Brow furrowing, she tapped out a reply.
Sky: What does that mean?
Dad: Bats has a plan, apparently.
Speaking of the Batman, Aqualad broke away from the group when he caught sight of the vigilante, heading towards him and quietly requesting for a private meeting. The two ended up on the other side of the hub just as Green Arrow made a reappearance after disappearing for a short period. He had a white bowl filled with snack food in hand, and she recognized one of his trademark strategies for cheering people up and/or placating them, offering food.
Placing the white bowl on the table in front of Wally, Oliver was immediately met with a vehement refusal. "Thanks, but no thanks."
The mere concept of Kid Flash refusing food was enough to make her put away her phone and pay attention.
"Yeah." Robin added. "What we want are answers about Red Tornado and his siblings!"
"Exactly!" Wally's hand lashed out as Oliver attempted to take his offering back. "Leave the bowl." Once it was back in his grasp, he promptly starting shoving food in his mouth.
A noise from across the hub caught her attention, and she dialed in her hearing towards the location, overhearing Aqualad quietly confiding in Batman. A minute twitch on his face confirmed that Conner was listening in too.
Really, if they wanted to have a private conversation, they should have just left the room entirely.
"It was during the Tai Pei mission with Red Arrow. Sportsmaster revealed the possibility of a mole within the team." Ski'Lira's brow furrowed slightly, the action unseen thanks to her helmet. When had that happened? It must have been after the mics were blown out, there was no other time where she'd been out of contact with Aqualad during the course of the mission. "In light of last night's attack, Tornado would appear to be the traitor. But whether he betrayed us willingly or was pre-programmed is still –"
Superboy moved faster than any of them could stop him, surging across the room and physically grabbing Aqualad by the front of his shirt, snarling in his face. "You knew?! That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'Gann!"
Miss Martian took to the air, immediately flying over and clearly panicked. Hawkgirl was close behind her, keeping her eyes locked on SB and a hand on her mace, just in case. "Conner, what are you doing?" The Martian girl demanded, a frantic edge to her voice.
"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!"
Hawkgirl positioned herself so she was standing off to the side of the two, ready to leap in at a moment's notice and physically tear the Kryptonian off of Kaldur if she had to. Kaldur was durable, but an angry Kryptonian had a strength that could bypass that entirely if he were so inclined.
"You knew?" Robin piped up.
"But didn't tell us?" Wally finished, both of them sounding thoroughly betrayed.
"I sought to protect the team from-" Kaldur's attempt at an explanation was interrupted by an irate Artemis.
"Protect us from what?!" The blonde sneered. "Knowledge that might have saved our lives?"
Superboy angled his head, his eyes meeting his girlfriend's. "You almost died!" He insisted.
"Enough"
Batman's voice cut through the chaos like a sharp knife. Conner dropped his grip and Hawkgirl removed her hand from her mace, though she didn't move from her position, well aware that this could still go south at the drop of a hat.
Everyone's attention was on Batman, with both Green Arrow and Dinah standing behind him on either side. "With Red Tornado… missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors." He informed them coolly, leaving no room for argument. "Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."
The man in question stepped forward from where he'd been patiently waiting by the zeta tubes, ever present grin plastered on his face. Captain Marvel perched his hands on his hips in a token pose. "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys!"
His eagerness and sincerity was refreshing, really.
Ski'Lira's eyes snapped back to Conner when he leaned over toward Aqualad, dropping his voice to a threatening whisper. "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna-"
Batman interrupted for the second time, going so far as to step towards Conner and Kaldur until he was looming over both of them. "Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us." He paused for a moment before stepping back. "I have another assignment for this team."
With a gesture, a holoscreen popped up behind him, displaying a newspaper article from the Daily Planet.
"Gotham Mayor Attacked by Guerilla Gorilla?" Kid Flash read aloud.
"Batman, please!" Robin said, practically begging. "Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase!"
"I never joke about the mission." Robin looked away at the admonishment, seemingly chastised. "I've checked the sources, I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out."
Aqualad gave a solemn nod before the other members of the team started filtering out of the room, though Hawkgirl stayed behind with him.
Wally sent a glare Kaldur's way as he passed. "Hmph. 'Your team'."
Hawkgirl watched with narrowed eyes.
H
Superboy shooed away an eager Sphere who had attempted to board the bio-ship just before Captain Marvel flew in, landing silently in front of them.
"You're coming with?" Robin asked.
"Sure!" Captain Marvel's grin widened, if it were possible. "We'll have a blast."
Robin frowned a little before leaning towards Wally, speaking quietly. "Translation, he blames us for the Red fiasco. Doesn't trust us." The Boy Wonder shot a pointed look towards Aqualad.
"It's a big club." The redhead agreed, and the two turned in near unison to board the ship.
Hawkgirl did not like the look on Aqualad's face. Also, did they know anything about Captain Marvel? Because he was probably the most well-meaning goofball on the entirety of the team that she didn't think was physically capable of holding a grudge or being intentionally mean. He'd once chastised her father for swearing too much in the middle of a battle.
Katar told her later the only reason that he let it slide was because he thought it was funny.
But seriously, what was it with her team and focusing on personal matters in the middle of missions? Priorities, people. When she made it into the ship, she pointedly steered Aqualad towards the seat farthest from Conner, placing both herself and Captain Marvel between the two of them.
Conner shot her a slightly wounded look after she sent a heated glare his way, but she merely ignored him after that. It was always Ski'Lira's prerogative to guarantee the safety and wellbeing of the members of her team. And right now, it was her specific priority to make sure that nobody else hurt their leader, physically or emotionally. This was far from an ideal situation for all of them (those on the Team, that is, because Captain Marvel seemed fine), but she was going to do her best to try to provide as much support as she was able.
NORTHERN INDIA
SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2010
21:36 IST
The mood on the flight over had been downright tense. Captain Marvel, amicable as ever, had attempted to engage the members of the team in conversation, only for it to fall flat. In an attempt to diffuse the tension at least a little (and take some pity upon the hero), Hawkgirl directly engaged him, asking him about how he liked working with her parents.
Getting him to admit that he thought her mother was kinda scary was priceless.
And if she felt a flutter of personal pride when he admitted he was excited to get to work with her too, well, that was nobody's business but hers.
Eventually though, the talking petered out until they were once more stuck in silence.
By that point, they were almost to the designated landing zone anyway. M'Gann directed the bioship to come to a stop, the exterior thoroughly camouflaged (as it had been for most of the journey). Both Artemis and Robin attacked grappling hooks to the interior of the ship as the bottom peeled open, allowing them both to drop down safely to the ground. The moment their hooks were detached, they fanned out and scanned the immediate area, weapons at the ready just in case. Meanwhile, the ship landed softly in the clearing, allowing the rest of the team to exit.
"All clear." Robin told them once he'd rejoined them.
"Switch to stealth." Aqualad directed as he activated his own stealth suit. "We'll review mission parameters."
Kid Flash frowned as he tapped his emblem, turning the yellow of his suit into its dark counterpart. "Parameters? We don't need no stinkin' parameters."
"It's recon. We know what to do." Robin agreed, and the two promptly turned to leave the group entirely.
Aqualad moved after them, brow furrowed. "Kid, Robin-"
Robin whirled around, clearly irritated as he stared down the Atlantean. "The four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us!"
"Or did you forget that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Sliding his goggles over his eyes, Kid Flash ran off into the forest, with Robin following him.
Soon, the two were both out of Hawkgirl's immediate sight (as the foliage was far too dense to see clearly), though she could still hear them making their way through the trees. Her focus snapped away from the duo as she heard a commotion behind her.
Conner snagged M'Gann by the bicep, as if he were about to drag her off. "Come on, I'll keep you safe."
In immediate retaliation, M'Gann tore her arm out of his grip and shot him a death glare that could probably melt through steel, clearly communicating mentally.
Whatever she said apparently shocked him, as Conner's blue eyes widened, looking a little hurt. "I just want to protect you."
Artemis, bless her heart, immediately intervened at that. "Like Aqualad protected us?" She jabbed him in the chest with the tip of her bow. "I'm not sure your protection or your patronizing is good for our health."
With that, the two girls wandered off into the forest by themselves, though Artemis paused at the tree line long enough to look back at Hawkgirl, a questioning look in her eyes. Ski'Lira gave a subtle shake of her head. There was a flash of disappointment in the archer's grey eyes before she promptly turned her back and continued on her way.
Superboy let out a low growl. "Why didn't you stop them?" He demanded of Aqualad, hands curling into fists. "You're supposed to be in charge."
"I am-" Yet again, Kaldur wasn't given the time to explain before a member of his team merely up and left, Conner leaping off into the distance.
The trio stood there awkwardly for a moment before Captain Marvel cleared his throat. "Um… Did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?"
Aqualad let out a small sigh, his green eyes flicking around before landing on her. "I suppose you will be leaving too?"
"My place is here." She assured him, gesturing towards the direction of their intended route. Aqualad seemed a little relieved, though still clearly disheartened as he led the way forwards, Captain Marvel following after him.
As much as she wanted to start scolding Aqualad for rolling over like a chastised dog because his teammates were being mean (unreasonably so, in her opinion, but she knew there were extenuating circumstances at hand), so didn't. This was the kind of lesson that needed to be learned the hard way. He was in command now, and he needed to act like it.
A low rumble caught Ski'Lira's attention, originating from the vegetation behind them, a clear vocalization of a predatory animal, but she passed it off as ambient noise. This place was full of all kinds of wildlife, it was only natural that they were curious about the interlopers in their territory.
H
All three of them were on high alert as they trekked through the jungle, trying to remain as unnoticed as possible for as long as they were able. When Hawkgirl expressed her concerns about Captain Marvel being too easily spotted thanks to his bright uniform, he flew up into the canopy, where the dense layer of leafage concealed him relatively well. Eventually, they stumbled across a trail, Captain Marvel flying down to join them. Seeing a set of distinctive tracks in the mud, Hawkgirl crouched down next to them, mentally calculating the size of the creature as she tried to pick up an accompanying scent trail
"Gorilla" She told the others, before mentally chastising herself for briefly turning into Clayton from Tarzan. "Definitely at least week old. No one else has been through here since."
"Guess this is where Mayor Hill's monkey business went down."
"Gorillas are apes, actually, not monkeys." Ski'Lira corrected him drily, setting back on her heels trying to calculate where the animal had gone off to. If she could find the direction it left in, they might be able to locate a den or at least a smaller scope of where the gorilla's territory was.
Or it could all be moot, considering the gorilla apparently toted around a machine gun. Honestly, she had no idea what to expect.
"So… at least we've confirmed the story, right?" Captain Marvel pointed out. "Aqualad?"
The Atlantean turned back to face him, his mind clearly on other matters. "My apologies, Captain. I am… plagued by doubts." Marvel cocked an eyebrow. "Perhaps… I was wrong to withhold."
Standing up straight, Hawkgirl opened her mouth to give her two cents before a sudden commotion sounded off nearby. Something big was clearly traipsing through the forest, large enough to topple trees and set the ground shaking underneath their feet. The three moved into a tight circle, focused entirely on the newly approaching threat, which was headed straight in their direction. Hawkgirl's mace was a reassuring weight in her hands.
The crashing became louder and louder, until the source emerged from the foliage.
It was a ginormous, blatantly mutated elephant.
At least twice the size of a normal pachyderm, the beast bore unnatural bony spikes that emerged from its grey hide. The hide itself was torn away in places, ripped almost, revealing the smooth red muscle underneath it. Its tusks were sharpened to points, each one bearing an extra curl, giving it four total implements for goring that would no doubt tear through flesh like it was wet tissue paper. Judging from its rough shape and body structure, it was most likely male.
In one single moment, this mission had turned from an absolute shit show into one of the best days of her life.
Captain Marvel immediately engaged the beast, only to be caught dexterously by its trunk and thrown into a tree, sending him careening to the ground.
And that's when the second elephant emerged from the other side of the clearing, the bull elephant's female companion.
Ski'Lira couldn't help the peal of delighted laughter that left her lips. Truly, these were absolutely magnificent creatures. They reminded her a little of some of the domestic herd animals they had on Thanagar. And besides, it wasn't every day that one had the chance to face down giant monsters in the middle of a jungle.
Her reaction seemed to snap Aqualad out of his funk at least a little bit. "Why are you laughing at a time like this?!"
"WHY ARE YOU NOT?!"
Taking to the air, Ski'Lira was able to dodge as the first elephant charged straight for them, with Aqualad merely jumping out of the way and sprinting. He attempted to turn a fast corner to throw the beast off, but it still managed to catch him with the side of its tusk, tossing him towards the prostrate Captain Marvel.
She drew her attention away from them in order to avoid the swiping trunk of the second elephant, who seemed just as irate as the first.
Captain Marvel appeared in her line of sight as he charged the larger elephant mid-air, sending it sliding backwards through the sheer force of a single hit. Hawkgirl attempted to shout a warning to caution him about the second elephant, but he was already batted out of the air by it. She opted to pursue the first elephant who had trundled out into more open ground.
Flying over its massive body, she landed deftly in front of it as she popped the head off her mace, allowing spools of chain to pool out of it. Snagging the chain in a hand, she spun it around as she dodged a flailing trunk and both tusks, building up sufficient momentum before throwing it upwards. With a strong flap of her wings, she bore herself aloft (also managed to dodge another strike from the elephant), chasing the head of her mace and snagging it out of the air as it reached its apex.
The result of her little game? A giant loop of silvery chain wrapped around the creature's neck like a makeshift lasso. Landing skillfully on the back of its giant head, she planted her feet firmly and tightened the chain, wrapping the ends of the chain around her wrists in order to guarantee a good grip. Of course, this meant that the long handle and spiked ball were dangling awkwardly from her wrists like particularly gaudy and severely oversized jewelry, but she was ignoring that fact in favor of trying to gain control of the elephant.
Captain Marvel seemed to catch onto her plan, and flew in close in order to take advantage of its distraction courtesy of its temporary imprisonment (honestly, she was probably just annoying the elephant more than anything at this point, but as long as she was distracting it and keeping it in place, the easier it would be to take down).
That's when Aqualad shouted from a nearby ridge. "Remove the collar!"
"On it!" Captain Marvel replied as he flew into position. "Hawkgirl?"
Gritting her teeth, she dug her heels into the leather hide of the raging bull elephant and pulled with all of her might. She wasn't trying to strangle him, that would be downright barbaric (not to mention she was pretty sure its skin was so thick, she couldn't have done damage to him unless she was aiming to maim it intentionally, which she obviously was not). Instead she strongly encouraged it to perform a simply action, and she succeeded.
The elephant reared back thanks to her intervention, giving Captain Marvel a sufficient opening to dodge in under its deadly appendages and destroy the collar with a single punch. When the contraption crumbled off of its neck, she could immediately sense a change in the creature's behavior.
Calmly, it lowered back to the ground, completely non-hostile.
Unlooping the chain from around one wrist, she merely allowed the weapon to drop harmlessly onto the ground, freeing the beast. Kneeling down, she fondly patted the elephant on the head and rubbed it gently behind the ear. Leaning over the side of its head, she met its blood red eye, which had lost its haze of fury. Stroking around its face a little more, she briefly folded her body over and pressed her forehead against the bull's before jumping off. Giving the trunk a last pat, she scooped her mace up from the ground as the creature rejoined its companion, both peacefully making their way further into the forest.
"Truly magnificent beasts…" She smiled a little, grateful that the larger of the duo had given her the chance to pet him before he joined his mate. "I'm going to eviscerate the person responsible for imprisoning them and feed their remains to whatever apex predators reside in this region."
"They did look pretty cool." Captain Marvel agreed as he landed next to her, Aqualad moving to join them. "Oh, and I saw a tiger earlier."
"And I missed it?" She let out a disappointed huff and let out a particularly vicious Thanagarian swear in a low voice.
"Pretty sweet the way you figured out the problem was the collars." Captain Marvel told Aqualad.
The Atlantean looked pensive. "But the collars indicate an intelligence behind this attack. The rest of the team may also be at risk." He activated his comm. "Team, report status." A high pitched noise erupted from the device, causing him to wince. "Ugh, comm is jammed. And Miss Martian failed to establish a telepathic link before we split up."
"Actually, you let everyone split up before communications were set." The present League member pointed out.
"They would not listen!" Aqualad insisted.
"I guess." Marvel admitted, though he didn't sound wholly convinced by the argument. "But back at the Cave… Batman stopped everyone from arguing with one word."
"Because Batman is… Batman."
Marvel offered a shrug. "Hey, you don't have to tell me. When I first joined the League, all he did was boss me around. And it's hard not to take it personally. But I never disobeyed an order, and that's probably what kept me alive."
Understanding dawned in Kaldur's pale green eyes. "Batman takes command. He has to for the good of the League." He sent a smile the hero's way, starting to look a little more like himself. "Thank you for helping me understand."
"Hey, Wisdom of Solomon." Captain Marvel pointed at his head.
That's when Kaldur finally addressed Hawkgirl. "Why have you not intervened? I expected you would be more… vocal about my lackluster command?"
"You're asking why I didn't shout some sense to you and potentially cause you bodily harm?" She clarified.
"… Yes."
Reaching out, she lightly punched him on the shoulder, not anywhere near hard enough to hurt. "You're still my leader, Aqualad. I agreed with your decision and followed your command, it's the other's fault that they refused to listen. Besides, I was hoping you'd grow a spine on your own. I can't be your scary, aggressive backup all the time. Leaders need to be assertive, and that's not something that can be easily taught." She idly gestured towards Captain Marvel. "But sometimes one just needs some advice from someone with more experience to at least get them on the correct path."
"If you thought this… why did you not say so yourself?"
"I was planning on saying something if this situation either escalated to a dangerous point or at the conclusion of this mission, whichever came first."
Despite her attempts at assurance, Kaldur still didn't seem to believe her intentions. "But… I kept a secret from you. All of you. We were almost killed. And I recall you berating me for making the same mistake with Clayface."
Ski'Lira frowned. "That was a completely different situation. With Clayface, you made a bad judgement call mid-combat that jeopardized us all, but with this… I would have done the exact same thing in your position. Infiltration 101, if you have a list of potential spies, you don't immediately tell them you think one of them is a spy. That's bad form and definitely something that could get you killed. Your caution was logical."
Aqualad's eyes dropped slightly. "…The others do not seem to think the same."
Inhaling and exhaling, Ski'Lira craned her neck back, stretching out her wings a little. "Aqualad, I am about to point out something fairly obvious, and I want you to listen and remember what I'm about to tell you." She waited patiently for his affirming nod, guaranteeing he was doing as she had asked. "We are children. Despite how often we've been told that we're 'mature we are for our age' and 'we deal so well with pressure' and whatever extensive training each of us have gone through individually and as a team, none of us have reached the level of maturity for our respective species. That means that we are rash, we don't always think things through, and sometimes we blame something else for our problems when we're clearly upset by another matter entirely. Adults make the same mistake, but we are more prone to it, because we are teenagers."
The Atlantean was clearly struck speechless, opening and closing his mouth a few times in aborted attempt to speak, before finally seeming to settle on a response. "You… have a point."
She sent him a sharp smile. "Of course I have a point. We were just betrayed by someone we trusted, someone who cared for us at one time or another, and on top of that we all came very, very close to losing our lives. This is a natural response. I'm just as upset as the others are, but I know that you are not at fault here." Her face sobered. "But it's our job as their leaders to lead them when their logic has left them, and they need to know that they can trust us to take care of them even if they are emotionally compromised. Like they clearly are right now, despite how much they would probably deny it."
"… Are you sure you don't have the Wisdom of Solomon too?" Captain Marvel asked, sounding a little awestruck. "Because that was pretty awesomely put."
Ski'Lira tipped her head towards him. "Thank you for the compliment, Captain. But it's just extensive education in Thanagarian military history, psychology, and a little common sense."
Aqualad's hand flew to his head, fingers pressed to his temple. At her inquisitive look, he mouthed 'Miss Martian', confirming that she had managed to establish a telepathic link. A familiar rumbling nose graced her ears, and she watched as Captain Marvel's attention shifted to something hiding in the bushes.
"Cool, the tiger! I'll be right back!"
"Captain, wait!" Aqualad called after him, but it was too late. He shot Ski'Lira a long-suffering look. "Hey, Speed of Mercury."
The Thanagarian gestured to the direction their minder had disappeared in. "I can retrieve him."
Letting out a small sigh, Aqualad nodded his assent, albeit he still looked slightly reluctant. "Bring him back as quickly as you can."
Since she had gained the confirmation she wanted, Hawkgirl spread her wings and with a powerful flap took to the air. Speeding through the densely packed trees, she flew as quickly as she was able while dodging the plethora of obstacles. His trail was easily to follow, both by the broken branches and debris stirred by his movement, and the scent of lightning and magic that seemed to perpetually hang over the hero. She had expected to find him chasing after the tiger he'd seen and coax him into coming back easily, but instead, an unnatural whirring noise and the war cry of a gorilla proved that it would be much harder than she expected.
Doubling her speed, she erupted into a clearing, folding in her wings and landing on the forest floor heavily. Captain Marvel was ensnared, four metal pillar emitting a blue light that kept him paralyzed on the ground. She wasn't sure if it was some kind of isolated gravity manipulator or a paralysis machine, but either way the caped hero was down for the count. Standing over him was the 'Guerilla Gorilla' they'd been hunting down, along with an unhappy tiger.
Without hesitation, she let out a war cry and charged at the gorilla, her clawed gauntlets curled into fists. She managed to get in at least two solid hits to the torso before he promptly backhanded her, sending her skittering backwards. Ski'Lira was largely unaffected by the blow, but it provided enough of a distraction for the tiger to leap at her.
Dodging the initial lunge of claws and teeth, she ducked and rolled to avoid the predator's onslaught. Landing gracefully in front of her, it batted at her with claws fully extended, and she barely managed to avoided having them rake across her thigh. So engrossed was she in trying not to be torn into ribbons by the large feline that she didn't notice the actions of the gorilla until it was too late. Ski'Lira looked up just in time to see a tree hurtling towards her, freshly ripped out of the ground.
Her attempt at avoiding it did not go well, and she ended up sprawled face first, the tree laying across her back. Luckily, her wings were extended and partially exposed, so there was little risk of injury to her feathered appendages. However, she was still very trapped by the tree.
Ski'Lira was strong and she knew it. The last time she was tested, her maximum lift weight was clocked at around half of a ton. But the tree that the (most likely) genetically enhanced monkey had just tossed her was definitely over that by at least a hundred pounds, if not more. On top of that, she was trapped in far from an ideal lifting position. That didn't stop her from trying, especially since the gorilla clearly had something in mind for Captain Marvel.
As she struggled to free herself, she could only watch in frustration as the gorilla kept Captain Marvel subdued, dragging him off into the forest and off into the distance. Mere moments after they'd disappeared from sight and she'd redoubled her efforts to escape, a voice erupted in her mind.
"Link established." Miss Martian said coolly.
"Should you really still be giving us orders?" Artemis immediately piped up.
"And should you really be following them?" Miss Martian snapped back.
"Listen, please." Their leader interrupted, or at least attempted too.
Unfortunately for Kaldur, Kid Flash still seemed to be in a mood. "Oh good, Aqualad's voice in my head. I've so missed that."
Ski'Lira attempted to use her growing frustration to fuel her strength, but instead it was just making her more distracted and making the task even more impossible. "Hey, Kaldur." Robin said. "KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. 'Course, since we're moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves."
"If he did, he wouldn't tell you." She could practically feel Artemis' sneer over the link.
"Superboy, are you online or just pouting?" M'Gann asked.
The Kryptonian was just as helpful as the others. "Busy, call back later."
"Hawkgirl?"
Instead of answering the Martian's inquiry, she opted to address Kaldur directly. "Aqualad, rendezvous to my location now."
If he gave any kind of acknowledgement, it was swallowed up by another derisive comment from Kid Flash. "What gets me is how nonchalant he is about telling us."
At that point, Aqualad emerged from a nearby set of trees, eyes darting around the clearing before locking onto her trapped form. Ski'Lira ceased paying active attention to the mental link, vaguely registering an absurd amount of use of the word 'chalant'.
Curling his fingers under the tree, Aqualad's teeth gritted with exertion as he started to lift. Not one to sit idly by, she added her own strength into the mix, and soon the hefty weight was rolling off of her. Sticking out a hand which she took gratefully, Aqualad visually inspected her for injuries. "Are you alright?" He asked aloud.
"Fine." She insisted, and it was the truth, as she really wasn't hiding any injuries from him… this time. "But they took Captain Marvel. I tried to stop them, but-"
"You did your best." He swiftly assured. "I am just glad you were not taken too."
The jeering had gradually crescendoed until it became nearly unbearable, the voices sliding together so it was difficult to keep track of who was who. If they were there in person, this would be the time where she'd start resorting to physical violence.
"Did he really think you or I could have been the mole?"
"We've known each other for years!"
"Trust is a two-way street."
"And you know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them."
"Not that we'd do that."
"Never."
"Enough"
If she weren't so well-trained (and desensitized to scary people, mostly from growing up around Batman), she probably would have jumped at Kaldur's sudden cold tone. Face warped into an angry expression she'd never seen on him before, he grasped the nearest metal pillar with one hand, his fingers sinking into it like it was made of butter. Ripping it out of the ground with a cry, there was a small explosion of sparks.
She never thought she'd see the day where Kaldur snapped.
It's always the quiet ones that are scariest when they reach their breaking point.
"Captain Marvel has been captured and we must act as a team to save him." Aqualad demanded, and she couldn't help her small smile. Look at him go, he was finally coming into his own!
"Hmph." Kid Flash didn't seem to sense the threat. Honestly, she was probably the only one that did at this point, considering they couldn't see the fiery expression in his eyes or the obliterated contraption at his feet. "Under your leadership? I don't think-"
"This is not up for debate." Ski'Lira had to actively resist the urge to clap, opting to keep quiet and let Kaldur continue. "You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over, if you wish it to be so, I will happily step down and allow Hawkgirl to take over as leader. But until that time, I am in command here."
There was a beat of stunned silence, and she relished in the blessed quiet that they were granted with, at least temporarily. Hawkgirl decided to drive the point home, finally speaking up. "And if one more person mentions the words 'traitor', 'mole', or 'chalant', so help me I will end you. Just like that goddamn gorilla that just tried to kill me with a tree. The bickering ends now."
Aqualad shot her a grateful smile as his angry expression melted into his standard neutral one. "Thank you."
"It's what I'm here for." She pointed out. "Scary backup, remember?"
His brow furrowed a little. "I do not think you will be holding that position much longer, considering the circumstances."
Ski'Lira flared out her wings, taking to the air. "We'll see about that."
H
It was almost disappointing how comically easy it was to follow the trail Captain Marvel's captor had left behind. As she led them through the forest, Aqualad worked on coordinating with the rest of the team, so that they were all able to rendezvous together.
Hawkgirl held up a hand, stopping Aqualad in his tracks.
"What is it?" He asked over the link, as it was far too risky to speak aloud.
Giving an experimental sniff, she caught a distinct tang of metal and something else that definitely didn't belong in the middle of an uninhabited jungle.
"Something up ahead."
"Be careful." M'Gann urged.
Creeping forward, Ski'Lira made her way a little further forwards until she saw a much larger gap in the trees. Narrowing her eyes, she caught sight of the source of the unfamiliar scent.
It was an overgrown structure, made primarily of concrete that was in the process of being reclaimed by the vegetation of the jungle. But it was the large metal pylons ringing the building that gave her pause, as they appeared to be of similar make to the ones they had encountered earlier. Making her way to a nearby tree, she planted her clawed gauntlets in the bark and hauled herself up the trunk, stopping her ascent to crouch in the nook of a large branch, giving her a good vantage point.
"Whoever is responsible for this, I'm positive that I've just located the base. There's new tech everywhere." She informed the team.
"What kind of tech?" Kid Flash piped up, sounding a little eager at the prospect.
"Not sure… They look a little different from the pillars I saw before, and they're surrounding the base like a perimeter fence."
"Is there any indication of who we may be facing?" Aqualad asked.
Even though it was pointless (since they couldn't see her), she shook her head. "Not that I can see."
"Then what's the plan?"
There was a beat of silence after Robin spoke, but Aqualad quickly recovered and gave his order. "Reconnaissance first, then we come up with a plan. We cannot risk going into this completely blind."
H
Underneath her perch in her tree, Kid Flash and Robin were concealed by the brush, the latter with his holoscreen illuminated and the former utilizing the infrared function on his goggles.
"I'll fly over." M'Gann suggested form her own hiding spot in the tree next to the Thanagarian's, though she had the added benefit of turning herself invisible to completely avoid possible detection.
"Negatory." The resident speedster had a frown on his face as he peered towards the compounds. "The field is stamped like a dome over the whole compound."
"Pylons are insulated, but one good shock could cause a momentary gap." Robin added.
Ski'Lira was more than a little relieved that they'd returned to professional detachment rather than trading barbed insults and drawing attention away from the objective. Her enhanced eyes caught on something, an out of place square of metal near an alcove. "There's a panel."
"I see it." Artemis confirmed, her grey eyes locked on the mechanism as she nocked an arrow.
"Then be ready to hit it. Be ready, all of you." Sprinting near silently out of the undergrowth, Aqualad approached the perimeter alone. Holding his hands up with his palms out, his tattoos glowed with bright white light and he thrust his hands forward. Electricity sparked in front of him, and Hawkgirl was forced to immediately avert her eyes to avoid being blinded.
One of the pitfalls of night vision.
She heard more than saw the resulting effect, as Aqualad seemed to disrupt the field long enough for Artemis to fire a single arrow through at his call, disabling the control device and depowering the entire system.
Giving it a beat to make sure she wouldn't have to deal with anymore unexpected light surges, Hawkgirl snapped out her wings as Kid Flash sped over, and she took to the air alongside Miss Martian. No sooner had the members of the team gathered at the entrance than their next obstacle made an appearance.
Crouched on top of the roof, teeth bared, was a larger than average and clearly malformed macaque. It proceeded to open its toothy maw and screech at the top of its lungs. The call resounded through the clearing before amplifying as it was joined by a slew of its fellows, an entire horde of macaques rising to the challenge. In tandem, red lights flashed on that seared into Hawkgirl's vision as a droning high-pitched alarm went off.
Needless to say, the sudden influx of ocular and auditory stimuli briefly overwhelmed her. The horde jumped down and targeted the members of her team. Flying up into the air, Hawkgirl gave herself a few moments to clear her head a little. Fighting while disoriented was never pretty. Thankfully, she was able to get ahold of herself quickly.
"Remove their collars!" Aqualad shouted, trying his best to be heard above the cacophony.
"Sounds easy when he says it." Robin griped, and he was promptly tackled to the ground by two of the macaques. Just one of them was nearly the same size as him.
Her wits fully regained, Hawkgirl folded in her wings and dive bombed straight towards the struggling Robin, snapping out her wings at the last second and slamming her booted feet straight into his attackers. The force and shock of the attack sent them prostrate on the ground, dazed. Hawkgirl didn't hesitate, landing on the ground next to them and ripping the collars off with her bare hands.
Robin flung two birdarangs once he was back on his feet, aiming them just past Artemis, who was very nearly attacked by two more macaques. Both of the projectiles hit their mark, freeing two more animals from whoever (or whatever) was controlling them.
The sound of impact drew Hawkgirl's attention, just in time to see Kid Flash being flung by the beret-wearing gorilla. Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of her quarry. She cracked her knuckles and neck from side to side before sprinting at full tilt towards the big ape.
Slamming her shoulder into his torso, she managed to disrupt his balance just enough to snag one of his wrists and reach down and snag his ankle with her other hand. Clawed fingertips digging into the stringy fur and pressing into the tough flesh beneath, she gritted her teeth and let out a resounding war cry as she forced his body to the side and off the ground. Keeping up with the momentum, she swung around and around, grip tight as she executed a perfect hammer throw with a five hundred pound male gorilla.
Releasing him at the apex of the swing, she watched with more than a little glee as his body careened into the concrete wall of the base. She saw Miss Martian's hand shoot up and her eyes glowed, no doubt adding a little extra oomph to increase the force (most likely she had also been the one keeping the gorilla from breaking out of her hold as she prepared to throw him). The combined conclusion of their efforts resulted in a gaping hole in the side of the building, giving them an easy entrance point.
Hawkgirl and Miss Martian exchanged a wordless high five as they led the way into the gloomy building.
Whatever money their mysterious villain had definitely went into outfitting the interior of the base. The entire place was renovated into an oddly lit laboratory, equipment positioned carefully all around the space. The centerpiece was the metal lab table surrounded by machines, with the trapped form of Captain Marvel splayed across its surface. No sooner had they made their grand entrance than they finally found themselves face to face with the culprit.
Well… face to electronic face. Face to jar?
"It's the Brain!" Kid Flash shouted, a little unnecessarily.
"Uh, I can see it's a brain." Okay, so apparently it was necessary, as Artemis had no clue who they were looking at right now.
"Not a brain, The Brain."
The mobile mastermind approached his enforcer, who had staggered to his feet, his fur splattered with concrete dust and small chunks of debris. "In the flesh, so to speak… Mallah."
Retrieving a remote, Mallah (which was apparently the gorilla's name) pressed a button. A series of pylons erupted from the ground, completely surrounding them and promptly activating. Blue light rippled inwards, washing over them and forcing them all to the ground.
It was a good thing that they had a plan… and a telepathic link.
"Miss Martian, Superboy, now."
At Kaldur's signal, M'Gann used her telekinesis to snatch the remote out of Mallah's grasp, gaining control of the device herself and deactivating the device keeping them hostage. They all leapt to their feet as the wall behind Mallah exploded, flooding the room with even more debris. Superboy was framed in the newly made hole, an enlarged white wolf at his side like a faithful hound.
Hawkgirl was immediately besotted. Conner had given them a rough description of his companion, but it hadn't prepared her for the reality of the deadly predator. Said predator let out a snarl as it ran straight at Mallah, jumping and tackling the gorilla to the ground. She dismissed all thoughts about the beast, instead focusing on taking down Mallah.
"We take him down as a team." Hawkgirl ordered, acting in Kaldur's stead as he was fending off the Brain to attempt to get to Captain Marvel. "One at a time, strike hard, strike fast, then dodge. On my mark."
Kid Flash followed her direction, zooming over and executing a perfect leap attack of his own, striking the gorilla in the chest a well-placed kick, before he sped out of the way.
Swinging over the gorilla via a grapple hook attached to the ceiling, Robin nailed Mallah in the jaw with a kick of his own.
Miss Martian merely lifted a hand and levitated the ape, before slamming him onto the ground.
Superboy took the simple approach, merely running in and aiming a punch. But mere moments after his hit landed, the gorilla managed to aim his Gatling gun, blasting the Kryptonian straight in the chest and sending him flying backwards.
While he focused fire on Superboy, Hawkgirl swooped in behind, managing to land a heavy blow to the back of the ape's neck. But instead of taking him down, it only made him focus on her instead. She was promptly forced to fly out of range and dodge a hail of gunfire.
Twisting around and avoiding the bullets, she managed to catch sight of Artemis and Robin sneaking behind Mallah. The archer loosed a well-placed arrow at the mechanism on his back as Robin aimed a birdarang at the gun itself. The two projectiles made the Gatling gun practically fall apart around the gorilla.
Meanwhile, Aqualad had managed to dodge the lasers long enough to get to the captured hero, breaking off his restraining collar and freeing him.
"Thanks!" Captain Marvel said happily, rubbing at his wrists. "Now, one good turn deserves another." Without a beat of hesitation, he kneeled down and removed the collar from the tiger crouched at his feet.
The team had managed to surround Mallah, and the big gorilla knew that he was in a bad position. He let out a challenging roar, his master sitting quietly beside him.
"Try it." Superboy crossed his arms. "I hate monkeys."
Hawkgirl immediately tamped down the urge to correct him, this was neither the time nor place. Instead, she just answered Mallah's roar with a low growl of her own.
"No, Mallah." The Brain spoke up, sounding almost bored. "This will not be our Waterloo." His metallic body proceeded to unfold, revealing red tinted machinery underneath that she couldn't even begin to fathom the purpose of. "Au revoir, mes amis."
"Get down!" Apparently Kid Flash had some inkling of what was about to happen, so they all braced.
But then the lights snapped off.
It took a second for Hawkgirl's night vision to kick in, and she knew she was the only one that had any possibility of stopping Mallah and Brain as they very clearly began to retreat. (The others technically possessed the capacity to do the same, namely Aqualad's own night vision, Miss Martian's telepathic sensing, and Superboy's enhanced senses, but she was the only one in a prime position to stop the retreat and she was the only one that had processed the distinct lack of explosive devices first. She had no idea how, but she was.)
With a snarl, she surged forward, only for Mallah to deck her straight in the face. So much for her moment of heroism.
When the lights switched back on ten seconds later, everyone was exactly where they had been, except for Ski'Lira. She was crouched on the ground on all fours, one hand pressed to a profusely bleeding nose.
"Wait, that big weapon thing was a light switch?" Kid Flash asked incredulously.
"I hate that damn gorilla." Hawkgirl lamented.
H
As she watched the rest of the team from her perch, Hawkgirl kept a wad of gauze pressed firmly to her face. Her nose wasn't broken, but it was a very near thing. Instead, the nosebleed was just annoying more than anything else. The gauze was courtesy of Robin, who had swiftly intervened when she tried to use the hem of her shirt to stem the blood flow.
"What are you grinning about?" Artemis asked Kid Flash as they made their way to the bioship.
The redhead promptly whipped out Mallah's stolen beret, popping it onto his head. "One word, souvenir."
"Two words." Artemis said as she picked up her pace. "Gorilla lice."
It took a moment for that to register, but Kid Flash immediately ripped it off his head once he did, holding it as physically far away from him as he could. "Oh man!"
Next to the bioship, Kaldur snapped the last collar off the only remaining trapped animal, one of the macaques. Captain Marvel was crouched down next to the tiger that he'd befriended during his captivity, which he could apparently speak to. "That's the last of the collars?" The tiger gave an affirming roar. "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" A growl. "Good." He gave the tiger one last round of petting. "I'll be back for a visit, I promise."
Content with the assurance (and the pats), the tiger bounded off as Captain Marvel waved. Once the feline was out of sight, Captain Marvel spoke his mind. "I think I'll call him Mr. Tawny."
Meanwhile, Conner was dealing with his own tagalong. Kneeling in front of the wolf, Superboy seemed unwilling to stop petting him. "The rest of the pack is gone, what are you still doing here?"
"I think he wants to stay with you." M'Gann suggested kindly.
He looked at her, hope in his eyes. "Can I keep him?"
Damn. Ski'Lira would never admit it aloud, but Conner was absolutely adorable. There was no way any of them could say no to that (and anyone who did would receive a swift punch in the face).
"Ha!" Kid Flash crowed. "First the sphere, now this beast? Dude, you sure make a habit of collecting strays."
"Maybe because he's such a stray himself." M'Gann offered, settling down on the ground next to the black haired teen and putting a hand on his shoulder, clearly in the midst of a telepathic conversation. It seemed that the two had managed to iron out their issues.
Which was a relief, because Hawkgirl thought she'd have to give Conner a talk about respecting women and treating them equally, but that didn't seem to be the problem here. Bullet dodged.
Though she supposed she could have passed that along to Black Canary, just to make the lesson sink in more.
But that was all moot now anyway, though she kept that in mind in case something similar ever came up later.
"Well, he's gonna need a name." Kid Flash piped up, getting the couple's attention. "How about Krypto?"
"Pass." Superboy denied it immediately.
"Besides, isn't that taken?" M'Gann pointed out.
Putting his hands on his hips, Kid Flash angled his head upwards towards Ski'Lira. "HG, are you ever going to get down from there? You know we can't take him with us."
Hawkgirl let out a grumble. "Superboy gets to keep his dog." With the greatest of reluctance, Hawkgirl dropped down from the head of the mutated bull elephant. She stroked his trunk a few more times, savoring these last few moments she had left with him. "Farewell, Great T'Phon. I hope you and Berilia live well."
"Great, she named them." Wally griped. "Now she's never gonna let this go."
Hawkgirl whipped her head towards him while she kept petting Great T'Phon. "They are to be great guardians of this forest and protectors of their pack, they deserve to have names."
Great T'Phon gave her one last nudge with his trunk before he trundled off towards Berilia, the two elephants disappearing back into the jungle.
With everyone gathered back by the bioship (plus their new companion), Robin caught Aqualad's attention, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. He had been unusually quiet since the lab. "Look, I need to know… Why did you keep the mole intel a secret?"
Aqualad set his jaw. "The source of the tip was Sportsmaster."
Artemis was the first to react, every movement of her body betraying her shock and vehemence. "What?! You can't trust him!"
"I do not." The Atlantean insisted. "It seemed possible, even likely, that he was attempting to divide the team with false information."
"And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded." Robin admitted. "But you had to consider it might be true."
"Yes, as leader, I did. In which case, I did not wish to alert the traitor."
There was a pause, but then Robin was finally smiling again, something that Hawkgirl hadn't seen since the med bay the night before. "Hate to say it, but… makes sense."
"I am still prepared to step down."
Kid Flash interrupted. "All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader?"
Everyone on the team raised their hands with certainty.
Captain Marvel headed over, clapping the team leader on the shoulder. "Guess it's unanimous." Shaking Aqualad's hand, he gave them a last wide grin. "See you tomorrow!"
"You're not coming back with us?" Aqualad asked.
"Nope, gotta fly!" Without further preamble, Captain Marvel took off, disappearing quickly into the wild blue yonder.
At that point, they were all more than ready to follow Captain Marvel's lead and leave India.
"So, what are you gonna call him?" Miss Martian asked as she and Superboy boarded the bioship.
"What's wrong with Wolf?"
"Generic, but acceptable." Wally accepted Conner's pick, not that he really had a choice in the matter anyway.
"Thank you." Aqualad's quiet words stopped Hawkgirl in her tracks, and she turned to face him, leaving them the only two outside the ship.
"For what?" She prompted.
"Trusting me."
Hawkgirl took a moment to properly word her response. "I distrusted your loyalty once, believed that you held us all in low regard and did not care for us, and yet you proved me wrong. I would be a fool to make such a mistake again." She offered him a smile and a tip of her head before she made her way inside, more than ready to head home, and more than a little proud that Kaldur'ahm had finally come into his own.
This chapter in a nutshell
Batman: "Can you all not almost die for ten minutes?"
Artemis: *Almost drowns again*
Skylar: "We are children!"
Captain Marvel: "As a definitely real adult, I can confirm that."
Superboy: "I've known Wolf for an hour, but if anything happened to him, I'd kill everyone on the Team and then myself."
Skylar: *Singing* "I want to see my little boy" *Elephant crashes through the trees* "Here he comes. I want to see my little boy."
As always, I highly appreciate your feedback! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, because I liked writing it. Well, it was a little frustrating (mostly because everyone being mad at Kaldur for no reason is just so infuriating), but let me tell you, getting to write Captain Marvel made it all worth it.
Love that boy. Definitely gonna write a Captain Marvel-centric chapter.