Sorry this chapter's kind of short, but I thought I needed to show everyone's reaction to it, and to show how far apart the Dynamic Duo has already drifted. Anyway, hope you like the chapter, please review.
The team filed off the bioship back at the cave feeling completely helpless. Dr. Fate explained that Klarion had, indeed, been there at the same time Tula had. The entire night had been a set up, right down to the overly staffed "meeting" with all the heavy hitters the Light could get their hands on. All that work, all that planning, just so the Light could get their hands on one of the team. Mallory sank into a chair at the kitchen table, followed by the rest of the team. Robin stood behind his chair, staring at Batman as he filled in the rest of the League that had been involved.
"How are we going to get her back when we have no idea where to look?" Rocket asked.
"We will find her," Kaldur said decisively, glaring at the center of the table, his hands clenched into fists against the synthetic wood. The team exchanged glances, but no one said anything. Mallory looked up at Robin, who had his eyes narrowed as he stared at his mentor. Batman finished talking to the Leaguers, and he and Superman walked over to the table and stood at the head.
"The League will make this its top priority. It is starting to look like tonight wasn't a coincidence, that the Light had this planned from the beginning. We will be searching for Aquagirl in every logical place on earth, we'll find her soon," Batman said, his tone as calm as if he were briefing them on a training exercise or giving them notes on a mission.
"No kidding?" Robin said sarcastically, not looking at Batman.
Batman narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What was that?" he asked, his voice so low it was almost a whisper.
Robin raised his gaze to look his mentor in the eye, his expression one to rival the Bat Glare. "I said, no kidding?" he said, his voice full of anger and bitterness. Mallory's heart raced in her chest, and she felt the others, even Superman, freeze as they waited to see what Batman would do. He narrowed his eyes until they were no more than slits in his cowl. "Is there something you want to say?" he asked, though nothing about his body language suggested that he would want to hear it if Robin did have something to say.
"You did this," Robin said. "This was your intel, your plan. You're supposed to be the world's greatest detective, and you let the Light play you for a fool. And now the best you can do is say that it's the League's top priority? Were you even going to admit that this is your fault? God, how arrogant are you that you just move on, when you point out every little detail that everyone else does wrong. Do you really think you're perfect? That you can't be wrong? Do you-"
"That's enough," Batman said, his tone calm, but Mallory saw the angry tremor in his hands before he clenched them into fists at his side.
"So you really can't take criticism. That's good to know," Robin continued, his anger showing more and more.
Batman just stared at him, then his comm beeped and he half turned to answer it. "Batman here," he said, then waited. Mallory could feel Robin's anger coming off him, almost like she could feel when fire was around her. She didn't move, didn't even breathe, afraid that any outside interference would send Robin into a rage. "I'll be there in five minutes," Batman said, and he turned back to Robin. "If you want to continue this, it will have to be later. I'm needed at the Watchtower." With that, he spun on his heel and stalked to the zeta tube. Superman looked around awkwardly, then hurried to the tubes himself, not wanting to have to deal with Robin's anger by himself.
The team remained frozen for several minutes after the Leaguers left, the stillness feeling electric. Zatanna was the first one to move. She leaned forward in her seat to get closer to her boyfriend. "You know, it's not really his fault. This isn't the first time the Light's tried to trap us."
Mallory winced. She wouldn't have tried to defend Batman this soon, if at all, but she kept an eye on him to see if it would work.
"This was his plan, Z! This happened because of his arrogance! How can you not see that?" Robin snapped.
Zatanna recoiled at his tone, and Wally shook his head. "Ok, so it's his fault. But fighting about it isn't gonna get us any closer to finding her, so you need to stop trying to place blame and figure out how to track where she is," the speedster said firmly.
Robin scoffed. "Yeah, since when are you the voice of reason around here?" he asked.
Wally's face hardened. "Since you stopped thinking clearly," he shot back.
"Guys, stop. This isn't helping anything," Mallory said.
"Stay out of it, Mallory. We're not even talking to you," Robin said.
Mallory glared at him. "No, I won't. This concerns all of us, and we can't be wasting time and energy fighting each other when we need to be using it to find Tula."
Robin opened his mouth to say something else, and Kaldur said, "Enough." His tone was firm, calm, and full of pain, and it drew everyone's attention to him. "If we begin fighting amongst ourselves, we may as well just admit defeat," he said. Mallory took a calming breath, and sat back in her chair. She knew he was right. Kaldur turned to Robin. "If you truly cannot find a way to deal with your anger, you need to take a step back. It is a distraction, and we cannot afford to lose focus of what really matters‒ finding Tula."
Robin sighed and finally sank into his chair. "You're right, sorry. It's just been building up for a while."
The room drifted into silence, his sentence hanging in the air around them until the computer announced Tempest's return to the cave. Mallory jumped to her feet, expecting the worst. Sure enough, Garth started for the table as soon as he materialized in the cave.
"Where is she?" he asked, his tone almost panicky.
"We do not know‒ yet," Kaldur said.
Garth stopped just inches away from the leader. "How could you let this happen to her?" he asked, pain in his voice. His body language suggested that he was ready to throw a punch, and Mallory stepped up before that could happen, moving in between the two Atlantians.
"He didn't know. It was bad intel, and half the team got caught in a fight we couldn't handle. Kaldur decided that the whole team would get in on the fight. Tula volunteered to stay behind to trail Black Spider. By the time we finished the fight, she'd been taken," she explained. The story seemed to drain the last of her energy, and she found it hard to stay standing, but she stayed between the boys stubbornly. She wouldn't let Kaldur take the blame like she knew he would've if he'd told the story.
Garth took a breath and paced a few steps in each direction, raking a hand through his hair as he let the information sink in. "So, who took her?" he asked.
"Klarion," Zatanna said from the table.
"The Light," Garth muttered, and Kaldur nodded solemnly. "What are we doing to get her back?" Garth asked.
"Well, we found her comm at the site. The best we can do is check facial recognition, maybe try the magic side of it," Robin said.
"So, all we can do is wait around until a computer finds her?" Garth asked.
Wally shrugged. "Pretty much," he said quietly.
Garth stopped pacing and stared at the floor. Mallory offered him her chair, and he sat down. She went to another chair next to Gar and put an arm around him. He looked scared and confused, and she couldn't blame him. The last few minutes had been emotionally draining and tense for any of them, and he was so much younger and greener, and he'd never really seen this side of everyone.
"You ok?" she asked the boy quietly.
He looked up at her with those big, sad eyes that reminded her of a puppy. "It's gonna be ok, you'll see. We'll get Tula, and we'll take down the bad guys. That's what we do."
Mallory smiled tiredly. "You bet it is," she said, and he put on his usual smile. "You guys want anything? I'm starving," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. The team took the distraction gratefully, and Gar brought back some snacks and drinks for them. One by one, the team left to go home. Eventually, Mallory was alone with Megan, Gar, Zatanna, and Conner. She sighed and looked at the clock.
"I don't know if I should go to my parents' place or not," she said.
"It's kind of late," Conner pointed out.
She nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can go over tomorrow and tell them about Tula," she said, more to herself than anyone else. The rest of the team went to their rooms one at a time, but Malory stayed at the table for a long time after, surrounded by darkness, thinking about everything that had happened, feeling guilty for not seeing that the hotel was a trap, and wondering what was happening to her friend right then.
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