I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Suspicion
The days slogged by in a crawl. Everyone was barely able to process what had happened. A year after they'd beaten Luthor, a year after they'd lost Brion, Megan, Conner, Garfield, and Martian Manhunter had taken a month long trip to Mars. And then, things had gone all wrong. First, they had found out the King was murdered. Then the Zeta Tube they'd built on Mars was destroyed just as Martian Manhunter was using it, though, thankfully, not in time to kill him. Then it was the satellite that allowed communications between Earth and Mars. And then, it was Conner.
While stopping a bomb carrying a virus that would wipe out all green, red, and yellow Martians, one given to Megan's terrorist brother by Darkseid, Conner was caught in the explosion and was now missing and assumed dead. He'd been vulnerable due to an inability to recharge his cells with solar energy for days, and there had been Kryptonite laced into the bomb. All they'd found was a shadow silhouette. Nothing else. His hologram had been built among the other fallen heroes, and since the incident, everyone was reeling. Cassandra had begun having nightmares again, Artemis had been so distracted by grief that she'd been given time off from the college she was working at, and Wally had taken time off from his own job to stay home with her and their child. Everything just seemed so bleak and grey now.
"Cassius," Rose said, walking into their room, where Cassius was holding Cassandra.
Cassandra had been reading a new book, but the main character's brother had died and it had brought Conner to her mind, and she'd broken down again.
"What's up?" Cassius asked.
"Artemis called," Rose said. "She needs us."
"What's happened?" Cassius asked.
"Two people tracked her down and followed her from her house to the library in Star City," Rose said. "Both claimed to be deserters from the Shadows and the Light, and claimed the other was trying to become a mole. One's name is Onyx, and the other is Cassandra Savage."
Cassius's face hardened, and he glanced at Cassandra, only for her to take a deep breath, swallow, and nod.
"Okay," Cassandra said. "Where?"
"They're on their way to the Vault," Rose said.
Cassius nodded and stood, the girls both heading to the Batcave and changing quickly. Then, they took the Zeta Tube to Star City before Cassius flew them into the air. Within seconds, an explosion sounded from the left, and Cassius spun, racing to the scene. What he found was an ambush by the Shadows. Cassius dropped Cassandra behind a sniper that Arsenal was struggling to hit with his prosthetic arm's laser cannon, then dropped Rose behind a group Artemis was fighting. He himself dropped in front of an armored transport bringing more Shadows.
Goo flooded from his right arm, forming a massive fist before he smashed a punch down into the front of the truck, smashing the engine and embedding the front end of the truck in the ground. The truck flipped forward, only for Cassius's hand to stop it and let it fall back into the ground. And when the Shadows tried to exit, he beat them all into submission in seconds. He turned back to the rest of the fight, finding Cassandra Savage and Onyx were both free, but only to help finish off the Shadows. He walked over to them, glancing at Cassandra's amputated left arm and scarred face, then at Onyx.
"So, you two are the deserters?" Cassius asked.
"That's right," Savage nodded as Cassandra and Rose stepped up beside Cassius.
"Yeah, I'm not buying it," Cassius said, goo surging forward and binding their arms behind their backs, even Savage's stump.
"Isn't that a little excessive?" Savage asked, raising her left shoulder to indicate her amputated arm being bound.
"No," Cassius said. "I know who you are and what you can do."
Savage shrugged, and they all got back into the two heavily-damaged vehicles, continuing to the Vault. Once there, they locked up both supposed deserters before Cassius, Artemis, and Rose went to question them. Their stories were unsurprising. Onyx claimed the attack was to make Savage's story believable. Savage claimed it was proof that she was telling the truth. Once they'd finished their questions, they headed back out to where Will, once again dressed as Red Arrow, Arsenal, Cissie, Stephanie, and Tara were waiting with Rose.
"What's the verdict, Cassandra?" Artemis asked.
"Both," Cassandra said, glaring at the monitors.
"Both what?" Arsenal asked.
"Lying," Cassius said.
"So we should have both arrested?" Will asked.
"No," Cassandra shook her head, then signed, "both were lying, but were also telling the truth. I don't trust them, but I can't confirm that they're still Shadows, yet."
"Helpful," Arsenal said. "I thought you were supposed to be able to read anybody."
"She can," Cassius said. "Except Joker. But this is complicated. Let me put it this way. If both of them were lying about being deserters but telling the truth about the other being a mole, their body language would be mixed up for lying and telling the truth. With enough training, anyone can mask their body language to at least that extent. And ever since we took Cassandra, I'm sure Lady Shiva's been teaching recruits who pass training and make it to a higher rank than grunts to do it, since Lady Shiva has the same power as Cassandra."
"Yes," Cassandra agreed.
"Great," Artemis sighed. "I'm going to go see if I can get some help. You mind watching her?"
"We've got this," Rose nodded.
Artemis nodded and left. Cassius formed himself and his girlfriends goo thrones, everyone else taking off, trusting the three of them to be able to handle the two of them in the event of a fight. Time crawled by, and after a very short, feeble attempt at making conversation by Onyx, which was answered by silence and glares, all of them remained silent. Finally, sometime the next day, Artemis finally returned with Looker, a Meta-teen they rescued when the Shadows ambushed Troia and Garth. She had telepathic abilities and volunteered to try and read their prisoners.
"You're wasting your time," Cassius said. "Even while we were there, we were trained to ward off psychic interrogation."
Looker narrowed her eyes for a moment before sighing, nodding as she admitted defeat. "You're right, to my senses, they both seem sincere."
"Are you sure that's what's happening?" Artemis asked.
"No," Cassius said. "That's the whole problem."
"I'm no Miss Martian," Looker agreed, shaking her head. "Is there anyone else you can call?"
"If I could get inside of their heads, I could find out," Cassius said. "I learned to steal hidden memories by piggybacking a psychic link from Deathstroke."
"I can't connect that deeply," Looker said.
Cassius nodded, frowning. "Then we're low on options. I'll have to question them directly again. Individually."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Artemis asked.
"No," Cassius admitted. "And I'll need an informed second opinion."
"You've got two of those," Artemis said, gesturing to Cassandra and Rose.
"Can you get in touch with Cheshire?" Cassius asked.
Artemis groaned, then nodded. "I'll try."
Cassius nodded, and Artemis left again, only to return a couple of hours later with Cheshire.
"So, your girlfriends just aren't cutting it, huh?" Cheshire asked.
"You're not here to help me," Cassius said. "You're here to help Rose keep an eye on the one I'm not talking to while Orphan and I talk to them one at a time. This time more in depth than just their sides of the story."
"What am I, chopped liver?" Artemis asked.
"No, you're not allowed to fight," Cassius said.
"Excuse me?" Artemis demanded.
"Artemis, you're starting to show," Cassius said, throwing her a flat, stern glance.
Artemis glanced down, one hand resting on her slightly swollen abdomen, then sighed. "I didn't think anyone had noticed."
"Everyone noticed, Sis," Cheshire said.
Artemis sighed, sitting down and gesturing for Cassius to start. Cassius nodded, he and Orphan walking into their first victim's room. Onyx looked up at them as they sat down, then glanced past them at Cheshire.
"That's Cheshire," Onyx noticed. "The one that got away. She was the one who inspired me. She gave me hope that I could escape."
"Don't ever meet your heroes," Cassius advised her. "They're often very disappointing. So, let's talk background. Cassandra's obvious, famous, even. But what about you? Broken home? Broken family?"
"Actually, I was raised by my maternal grandfather, and he was a hero," Onyx said. "Will Everett, the Amazing Man."
"All-Star Squadron, World War Two," Cassius said. "Why should I believe you?"
Onyx shrugged, sighing. "I was recruited into the Shadows at age eleven by Sensei."
"Sensei himself?" Cassius scoffed. "Sensei doesn't recruit."
"He promised he could train me to be the best version of myself, and for a while, I believed him," Onyx said, Cassius watching her expression carefully. Her expression was drained. Somewhere between tired and flat.
"What was life like in the Shadows?" Cassius asked.
"It was good at first, on Infinity Island," Onyx said, staring at the table. We were like a family. It was tough love..." she paused, taking a breath. "Still, I felt like I was part of something. But when the Shadows moved to Santa Prisca, when the Great One and Sensei were replaced by Deathstroke and Lady Shiva, I realized I was being used as little more than a weapon."
"How did you find Artemis?" Cassius asked.
"How?" Onyx asked flatly, one eyebrow raised. "Are you kidding me? She still goes by Artemis Crock, even after marrying Wally. It took me three minutes on the internet"
Orphan stood, Cassius doing the same, and both turned away.
"Wait, you've got to believe-" Onyx was cut off by Cassandra sweeping her left arm out from under her as she was pushing herself up on the table, leaving her to slam her chin on the table and fall to the floor as Cassius and Orphan walked out of the room.
"I don't have to believe anything," Cassius said. "This entire time we've been talking, Orphan and I have been studying your body language. It matches to what you're saying perfectly. You're the perfect level of nervous, the perfect amount of angry, regretful, depressed. It's too perfect. Anyone who actually wanted us to believe them would be so nervous that we'd lock them up or throw them back to the Shadows that they'd be stammering. You've been trying to manipulate us since you arrived."
"Look, I was a Shadow since I was eleven," Onyx defended herself, still massaging her chin. "I don't know how not to manipulate my reactions, but I swear I want to learn. I just want to learn how to be a human being again."
"Not my problem," Cassius shrugged, walking away from her cell and toward Cassandra Savage's.
He walked in with Cassandra, sitting opposite Savage and glaring at her openly.
"Why did you leave the Shadows?" Cassius asked.
"It's not just the Shadows, it's the Light," Savage responded, voice angry and hurt. "It's anything my father touches."
"Because he killed your sister?" Cassius asked. "Because he took your arm?"
"Because he is without anything resembling human emotion," Savage responded. "He took me from my mother when I was four. He told me she was dead. Then shortly after he killed my sister Olympia, who raised me, I learned my mother was alive and well. She had a husband and two more children. Vandal cheated me out of my childhood, my family, so he could turn me into his puppet, his one-armed puppet, for his little cult of personality."
"Why Artemis?" Cassius asked. "Because she has the youngest child? Because she's the most likely to be exhausted? How did you even find her?"
"Lady Shiva sent Manta Troopers out a few weeks ago," Savage explained. "It's part of how we recognized that Artemis was not currently with the Justice League's covert unit. Since she wasn't currently fighting with the Shadows, it felt like she was the safest option. She wouldn't have any new grudges against the Shadows to stop her from believing me. I couldn't go to you because you'd be just as likely to kill me as listen to me, same for Rose. Cassandra...Your Cassandra, would have just gotten you, if you weren't already with her at the time. That left Artemis."
"And why should I trust you?" Cassius asked. "You, Vandal Savage's daughter, wanting to jump ship? The first in history to leave daddy's side? Not buying it."
"I came here to be protected," Savage said. "Yes, I sought out Artemis, and yes I can understand why she'd call you two in to question me, but I was expecting that at some point. Hoping for it, even. You've made a career out of taking in defecting Shadows. Stealing their prized members from them. If anyone can protect me from the Shadows, it's you. And if anyone's word that I'm sincere, that I'm clean, will be believed, it you."
Cassius watched her for a moment before leaving the cell with Orphan. Once he reached Artemis and the others again, he sighed heavily. "Same story as before. Both of their body language matches their story perfectly. Too perfectly." He considered. "Void would kill them both to be safe. Truthfully, I'd kill both just to make sure that the Shadows aren't that much closer to Cassandra and Rose."
"I agree with that logic," Cheshire offered. "I can do it. I'm not a hero."
"But the problem is that Savage raised a valid point," Cassius said. "I've made it a habit of stealing Shadows from the Light. And if I had listened to logic at any point, I never would have rescued Cassandra and Rose, or be with them now."
"So, what, you think Savage is being truthful?" Artemis asked.
"No," Cassius said. "I think that both are hiding things." He sighed. "Cassie, did I miss anything?"
"Cassandra's body language was more honest than perfectly matching her words at the end," Cassandra signed. "Onyx matched perfectly from beginning to end. I think Cassandra is more likely to be telling the truth."
Cassius nodded. "And this is why I had you with me." He kissed the side of her head.
"You need to get better at covering your tracks if you're going to be living in the same house as my daughter," Cheshire said, just as Cassandra looked over at Cassius, who sighed silently.
Only he, Rose, and Cassandra had noticed the new arrival.
"Or, maybe Lian needs both Crock sisters living in that house," Artemis argued. "You know, to...keep her safe."
"Before you go, Cheshire," Cassius said, then spun, sending a strand of goo flashing up into the shadows over a pipe near the ceiling, then whipping his arm back down, the goo yanking Black Spider out of the shadows, only for him to use his artificial webbing to catch himself, Cassius releasing him and allowing him to drop safely to the floor.
"You're as sharp as ever," Black Spider commended. "When'd you notice me?"
"As soon as you arrived," Cassius said. "But I was busy." He raised a hand, pointing to Cassandra's cell. "Orphan, Ravager, please attend to Savage. If she's an ally, I'd prefer she be alive, and if she's a loyalist, I'd like to extract information from her whenever we have a sufficiently powerful telepath available."
"Right!" Rose and Cassandra both nodded, sprinted for Cassandra's cell just as someone reached up from below the camera and crushed it.
"And take Onyx with you!" Cassius called after them, avoiding balls of webbing Black Spider was hurling at them all. "Let her try to prove herself or expose herself!"
Neither girl responded, but Cassius didn't need them to. And he also didn't need to worry about whether or not Onyx was an enemy. Between the two of them, they could handle Onyx, Cassandra Savage, and whatever low-ranking Shadow had been sent with Black Spider easily. So instead, he focused on Black Spider. Black Spider hurled a ball of webs at Cheshire, knocking her sai out of her hands, then another at Artemis, stripping her of her bow, then her crossbow and sword a moment later. However, as he moved in to strike at her, a second Cassius erupted from a goo puddle in the shadows to Black Spider's left, slamming a punch into his head and sending him hurtling at the first Cassius, who clotheslined him, sending him crashing to the floor before restraining him with goo.
"Nice!" Artemis grinned as the original Cassius leapt into the air and up to the second floor balcony, landing in the doorway of Savage's cell.
Inside, Onyx, Rose, Cassandra, and Savage were struggling a surprising amount against Rictus, a newer Shadow with a strength-enhancement Meta power and white-and-black, bone-themed armor, complete with a vaguely reptilian skull mask, through which a pair of reptilian eyes glared. She had decent power, her main threat was that her strength had been augmented with cybernetic upgrades, including her arms, one of which Rose had just amputated, only for it to fire a thruster in its palm to return to her stump, reattaching seamlessly just in time for her to backhand Savage toward Cassius, who ducked under her. Cassius shot forward, slamming a punch into Rictus and slamming her into the wall, cratering it, only for her to throw one back. He leaned aside, drilling a pair more punches into her helmet in return, then caught her next retaliatory punch. He spun, hurling her, but she flipped, landing on her feet, only for Cassandra to hurl an explosive batarang into her chest, hurling her off of the balcony and to the ground floor. However, just as everyone moved to follow, Rose shoved Cassius aside, barely retracting her arm in time to avoid having it amputated by Lady Shiva. Cassius spun, forming a pair of wakizashi instantly, only for a knife Shiva had thrown to stab into his pelvic hurdle, dropping him to the ground, screaming in agony. Rose and Cassandra both lunged, but Shiva, who wore a rebreather mask, stomped on a small sphere she'd dropped onto the ground, sleeping gas filling the room instantly. A second later, she stepped out of the cell with her sword to Cassandra's throat.
"That's enough!" Lady Shiva announced. "Anyone makes a move, especially either Cassius, and I cut her throat. Since you refuse to surrender what's mine, I'm taking what's yours. If you want this hero back alive, you'll bring that," she aimed her sword at Savage for the briefest of instants, "to Santa Prisca. Leave your Metas, your Team, and the various Bats at home, or this orphan dies."
"Let her go, Shiva, or I'm going to kill you!" the Cassius Clone warned her.
"No," Shiva said calmly as Rictus and Black Spider joined her, just as Shade rose from the floor behind them. "You have twenty-four hours."
Then, the four of them sank into the shadows Shade controlled, bringing Orphan with them, Black Spider saluting before he vanished. The Cassius Clone leapt up to the top, absorbing the Cassius who'd been wounded, then carried Rose down to the ground floor, setting her down gently just as she stirred.
"Where's Shiva?" Rose groaned, then gasped. "Where's Cassie!?"
"Shiva took her," Cassius said seriously. "She told us to bring her Savage within the next twenty-four hours."
Rose nodded, instantly drawing her pistol and aiming it at Savage. "Then let's go."
Cassius set a hand on top of Rose's gun, and she lowered it, not taking her eyes off of Savage.
"Take me back to Santa Prisca," Savage sighed. "I didn't come here to trade someone else's life for mine."
"It's hilarious that you think your life is even remotely as valuable as hers," Cassius snorted. "I'll have Nightwing send us a ride. Artemis, you're staying on the plane."
"Yeah," Artemis nodded. "I'd be no good to you on Santa Prisca. But what if-"
"He probably is," Cassius cut her off. "And if he is, I'll deal with him. But I'm not, under any circumstance, leaving that island without Cassandra, or dying before she leaves it."
"Do you really think Shiva would-"
"Yes," Rose and Cassius both cut her off.
"Shiva doesn't bluff," Rose said.
"And she considers Cassandra the ultimate failure," Cassius added. "She won't hesitate to kill Cassandra. She'll probably kill her anyway, if we don't rescue her."
Cheshire nodded.
"Are you coming?" Cassius asked.
"No way," Cheshire scoffed. "I don't care if Orphan dies. Let me out. Now."
Artemis opened the door for her, and Cassius turned to Savage and Onyx.
"I don't trust either of you," Cassius said flatly. "As far as I'm concerned, you're both moles. But you're also both going. Either you'll try to double-cross us, and probably die, or you're telling the truth, and you'll probably still die. We're not protecting you, so if you can't fight well enough to deal with whatever we face, you're on you're own."
"Understood," Savage nodded.
"I never thought I'd be going back," Onyx shook her head. "But yeah. I can live with that."
"Good," Cassius nodded.
A few minutes later, Superbike had arrived and they all got in, Artemis driving and speeding toward Santa Prisca as fast as she could.
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