*Blood and graphic stuff in this one so watch out*
Chapter Fifty Four
Used To Bad News
"Every MFD must be disabled before they chrysalis to secure Earth's safety." Captain Atom explained. "Each MFD is protected by multiple Reach drones, and each drone is the equivalent of a Beetle warrior. Blue Beetle has located twenty of them around the world. There's forty one of us here, so you'll be in squads of two, with a single team of three."
The assembly of superheroes were all paying rapt attention to Captain Atom as he spoke from a small podium, explaining their mission to them. After so many times of having missions briefings in closed, private places, it felt strange to be receiving orders in the middle of the city like this. But it was the only place the varied team of every kind of hero could meet. Some of them didn't have the proper 'clearance' to meet at the Warehouse or the Watchtower. Lex Luthor certainly wasn't going to be allowed to go to either place.
Morgan pulled at the end of her braid and subtly readjusted the mask covering her eyes as she listened to the Captain speak. She was keeping her eyes firmly on Lex Luthor as he and Blue Beetle downloaded the anti-Reach virus onto a few dozen egg-shaped devices. It was freaky and weird that she suddenly found herself taking orders from one of the men directly responsible for her wings and her father's death. The thought made her stomach roll over with absolute hate and she had to keep herself from flying at him and punch his teeth out.
She forced herself to stay put because right now, there were more serious matters to worry about. Her revenge would have to be delayed if it meant saving Earth. And, ironically, Lex Luthor somehow turned out to be their last hope. If his plan to disable the MFD's with his anti software really worked, Morgan would owe him her life. He'd have saved Earth from destruction.
Well, with the help of every available Superhero in America, but it was still a hard pill for her to swallow.
She told herself she should be grateful. At least he'd actually found a way to save them all.
When Nightwing had found her earlier that evening and told her to suit up, he'd explained the entire deal to her. Black Beetle had indeed been dealt with for good, but as Blue had destroyed his Scarab, he'd discovered a plan by the Reach. A plan so horrible nobody should've had the heartlessness to actually execute it.
Perhaps in an act of spite or simply to save face – Morgan wasn't sure what had made the Reach do it – they'd planted twenty 'Magnetic Field Disrupters' across the planet, which would completely ruin Earth and kill everyone and everything on it. And the plan didn't have an off-switch. As Nightwing had told her, quoting Blue Beetle, this plan had been an endgame. A checkmate.
And now the only person on the entire planet with a possible solution was Lex Luthor. The thought would make her nauseous if she wasn't already feeling queasy with the possibility of the world ending.
Morgan remembered just how angry she'd gotten when Nightwing had told her that part.
"- and then totally out of the blue, Lex Luthor contacts us over Secretary Tseng's private line to the Watchtower and tells us he has the solution to saving Earth-" He'd began.
Morgan had interrupted him at this point, stilling her own actions. She'd been in the middle of suiting up, but she'd dropped her hold on the left sleeve of her Sparrow get-up in surprise when she realized what he was getting at. "And you believed him?" She growled out.
Morgan couldn't actually see her mentor, but his two seconds of silence made her angrier because they were answer enough. "Are you insane?"
She grabbed hold of the blue curtains separating her from the rest of the room and yanked them to the side, marching towards her mentor with a serious scowl on her face.
He took a startled step back, probably more surprised than scared. "It's not like he's going to gain anything from letting the planet get destroyed." He pointed out. "He'll want us to succeed."
Morgan didn't care. "He helped kill my dad!" She reminded Nightwing fiercely. "And now you expect me to work with him?"
Nightwing appeared sort of uncomfortable as he looked at her with sympathy. "Look, I know it's not going to be easy.." He trailed off weakly before swallowing. "Can we please talk about this when you're dressed?"
Morgan realized herself quite suddenly and turned crimson before darting back behind the blue curtain, breathing deeply to calm her own nerves.
A small mirror on her bedside table caught her reflection and Morgan turned even redder when she was faced with her own state of undress. The upper part of her suit was hanging limply and uselessly around her hips, revealing her entire bare torso, only clad in a simple, black bra. Not even a sports bra – which would've been fine because he'd seen her in that before – but a normal, revealing, cleavage-enhancing one.
Good grief.
She got dressed quickly and hastily braided her hair before reemerging, still looking quite pissed.
"I'm not happy about this." She'd told him coolly. "But I trust your judgment."
He'd smiled halfheartedly at her in reassurance. "Our only chance is to trust him." Nightwing had sighed. "If this works.. We all get to live."
Morgan had sighed as well and impulsively hugged him. He'd gone taut as a bow for a second before relaxing and wrapping firm and secure arms around her as well.
"We can do this." She'd mumbled with half of her face pressed against his chest. Her mentor's hand had travelled to the back of her neck and into her hair, guiding her face away from his chest so he could meet her eyes.
"We have to." He'd agreed solemnly.
And now, here she was, listening to Lex Luthor explain how they were going to do things. Her fists clenched involuntarily by her sides, her jaw tense.
"You'll all be issued multiple Reach-tech eggs, containing anti-Reach software." He sounded too pompous as he spoke, like he considered all of them to be far beneath him, and Morgan absolutely hated that. "While one.. hero runs interference with the drones, the other simply has to touch the MFD with the egg for the virus to take over."
Her tense muscles eased up somewhat when Nightwing placed a warm hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him briefly, his look and hand clearly saying what he wanted to tell her. Take it easy, you'll be okay.
"Do you really think we can trust Luthor?" Morgan could hear Cassie whisper behind her.
"It's his world too.." Robin pointed out, reminding Morgan of Nightwing telling her something very much along those lines only half an hour earlier. "Pretty sure he doesn't want it reduced to space dust. Besides, we don't have much of a choice."
Morgan hated how absolutely right he was. She hated how she didn't have any other choice but to trust the man that had her father killed for knowing too much.
"Alright, I've got every squad's assignment." Captain Atom announced. "We'll distribute these eggs – and go."
"Ladies and gentlemen.." Luthor spoke up, holding aloft one of the anti-Reach eggs. "The fate of the world is in your hands."
Nightwing let go of her shoulder and took a step forward so they were standing next to each other. "Let's go." He encouraged, approaching Captain Atom just like everyone else.
As soon as each squad was put together and given their location, they zeta'd off, the street quickly clearing off.
Morgan opted to stay at the outskirts of the group, figuring she'd get assigned a squad partner soon enough, without her having to get in line as well. The most likely outcome was that she'd get paired up with Nightwing anyway, since he was her mentor.
After only ten seconds of waiting, Morgan felt a presence appear next to her.
She almost rolled her eyes and definitely let out a harsh sigh when she turned to spot Lex Luthor watching her. "I'm this close to punching you, so you might as well scram before I lose my tiny self-control." She warned him tiredly, already knowing the threat probably wouldn't work.
To her infuriation, he chuckled once. "Such a temper for such a small thing." He mused.
She leveled him with a fierce glare like, I'll show you just how much temper this small thing really has.
"I can't help but marvel at the irony of your spot on this team." He calmly went on, like her glare didn't faze him one bit. "You're the third product of the Light to join the Superheroes instead of work against them like you were originally meant to do."
The third?
It took her a moment to remember that both Superboy and Red Arrow were of the Light too.
She knew he was trying to make her curious. Or get some sort of reaction out of her. She knew he was baiting her. But she still allowed herself to get baited.
"No matter what, I was never going to join your crusade." She hissed behind clenched teeth, hating how easily he got a rise out of her. "I was never going to become your soldier."
"My dear, you were never meant to become our soldier." He sounded like he was almost surprised that she would've thought this. "You were supposed become a hero and join the Justice League. Become our inside man. Then that failed and we created Red Arrow instead."
His sharp eyes pierced her, nailing Morgan to the spot.
"So, in a way, you actually did what we wanted you to do."
Despite knowing that she hadn't done what the Light had wanted her to do, knowing that Morgan was doing what she did out of her own free will, she still felt dread and shame pool into her stomach. She realized that she'd never get rid of that part of her heritage. Despite everything she did to fight against them, parts of Morgan would always be of the Light.
"Sparrow," She shook her head and focused on her approaching mentor, doing her best to push the whirlwind of emotions and thoughts down and focus on more pressing issues. Such as the world ending. "We've got our mission. Let's go."
She nodded at him and turned towards Luthor one last time, needing to have the last word.
"Despite what you may think, I never belonged to the Light. And I will see you dismantled if it's the last thing I do." She told him in a low, threatening voice.
Then she turned on her heel and followed after her mentor, pretending she didn't hear Luthor's parting words.
"It may very well be the last thing you do, if you don't tread lightly."
"I can't believe Artemis and Kid Flash got to go to Paris, and we get stuck with New York." Morgan sighed.
"We're not here on sightseeing." Nightwing reminded her, all serious and business-like.
Morgan rolled her eyes and pushed herself off of the wall they were hiding behind. They were on top of the roof of a huge apartment building, trying to sneak as close to the MFD as possible without the drones noticing them.
"Alright, I'll distract the drones and you plant this thing." He pushed an egg at her, keeping his eyes firmly on the drones flying around the MFD.
"What? No!" Morgan immediately protested. "I've got flight and telekinesis, I'm much better suited to distract those things. And sneaking in the shadows is, like, your MO. If one of us is capable of getting close to the MFD, it's you."
"Morgan, those drones are the equivalent of a Beetle warrior, they're far too dangerous for you to engage." Nightwing sighed harshly like he couldn't believe she was arguing with him now of all times.
"And they're less dangerous for you to engage? As soon as the egg touches the MFD, the drones will stop, so if you really want to make sure I don't get hurt, you should put your energy into stopping it."
Nightwing looked blankly but firmly at her. "I'm distracting the drones." He simply said, like he'd run out of arguments and was now trying to force his will through.
"No, I'm distracting the drones." She instantly insisted.
"Dammit Morgan, just this once will you let me be the overprotective boyfriend?" He snapped in frustration.
Morgan was about to protest, but paused once his words properly registered. "Boyfriend?" She asked in a kind of small and hesitant voice.
Sure, they'd been doing a lot of kissing and cuddling and couple-stuff and he'd already told her he was going to ask her out on a date when the world was done being saved, but Morgan wasn't sure he was technically her boyfriend. He hadn't asked her yet, at least. Some part of her hadn't dared to hope that an actual relationship, with labels like 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' was even up for suggestion.
He was glaring at the ground like that wasn't how he'd planned for this particular conversation to go. "I kinda assumed.. after everything. You know, once this is all over, that we'd.."
For the first time in the eight months she'd known him, Nightwing sounded well and truly uncertain. And Morgan was entirely unsure how to react other than to smile at him and inwardly shout gleefully because he was actually asking her what she thought he was asking her.
"Let's worry about saving the world first." She smirked and impulsively wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, bringing his face closer, to assure him that she wasn't actually opposed to what he was trying to suggest.
He smiled at her and nodded once, bending down to capture her lips briefly. "I'm distracting the drones." He whispered against her lips after a few seconds before kissing her briefly again.
He made a very compelling argument, Morgan decided. And he was totally cheating, kissing her like that.
"Fine." She gave in just this once, only because her head was kind of spinning from the way he'd just kissed her combined with the whole 'boyfriend' thing.
He smirked devilishly at her before launching himself over the wall and at one of the drones, instantly gaining both of the flying machines' attention.
Morgan clutched the egg to her chest and waited for Nightwing and the two drones to move away from the MFD so she could approach it. He had landed himself on top of one of the drones and was somehow using it to steer both drones away. Morgan smiled involuntarily at the sight; thinking that that was her boyfriend and he looked wildly impressive and good looking whenever he did crazy stuff like that.
She darted out from behind the wall herself and ran towards the MFD, egg in her outstretched arm
"Morgan, watch out!" She heard Nightwing shout and she instinctively jumped away and rolled across the roof, narrowly missing getting blasted by the drone he wasn't currently riding.
"This is why you should've been the one to plant the egg!" She called back as she used her telekinesis to blast the drone away from her. She really wasn't good at the sneaking part.
Somehow, she managed to reach the MFD and she hurriedly placed the egg against its side, grinning when the machine instantly shut down.
"We did it!" She cheered.
Nightwing hopped off of the drone and took a step towards her, when suddenly, the drone crashed to the ground in front of him. To avoid getting crushed underneath it, Nightwing took a large leap backwards. Morgan gasped in surprised when his step backwards took him too close to edge and his heel caught against the small bump that framed the roof, his eyes wide and arms flailing as he lost his balance and tumbled over the side.
Morgan ran as fast as her feet could carry her to where he'd fallen, all too aware of the fact that he didn't have his grapple gun with him because it had malfunctioned some days ago and he hadn't been able to repair it. She'd been with him when he'd tried to repair it for goodness sakes.
Not even giving herself time to consider what she was actually doing, Morgan launched herself over the side of the building as well.
"Dick!" His name was wrenched from her mouth almost involuntarily as she felt panic prickle at her skin. He was not allowed to fall to his death. She folded her wings firmly against her back and kept her arms and legs straight, trying to somehow catch up to him as they both plummeted towards the rapidly approaching ground.
Nightwing was facing her, his arms and legs spread as if to brake his fall, his mouth opened in a silent gasp.
She could tell she was catching up to him, but she couldn't be sure if she'd reach him in time. The building had been tall – really tall – but they were falling at an impressive speed and they'd reach the ground at some point. Sooner rather than later, she feared.
She wanted to call out to him again, hating how they were now only a few feet from each other but still so far away, only the wind swallowed her voice and made it difficult to even breathe. Her hair was whipping around her face, making it difficult to see. Morgan reached an arm out to him and he did the same, their fingers brushing briefly. The contact made hope spark in her chest and she willed herself to reach just a few inches closer to him.
Their hands reached forward again, and this time, they clasped firmly. Morgan could've cried with relief, if they hadn't still been in danger. She used her hold on his arm to crawl closer to him, wrapping her arms around his chest as if she was simply hugging him. He wrapped his own arms around her back and Morgan could feel his chest move up and down in fearful breaths.
Immediately, she spread her wings and did everything in her power to brake their fall. They were already close to the ground and she tried to tilt them at an angle so they wouldn't fall directly onto the unforgiving pavement.
She had greatly slowed down their fall when they finally reached the ground. Morgan could only pray that it had been enough as she turned so she didn't land on him when they crashed. A painful shock rattled her bones, originating in her right arm when she finally hit. She felt more than heard the crack in her arm as it took most of the brunt of her fall.
What little air she'd had in her lungs was promptly knocked out of her as she and Nightwing tumbled along the sidewalk, their limbs entangling as they were thrown around like ragdolls.
Eventually, they skidded to a halt. Every inch of Morgan's body hurt, but she was mercifully still alive. The pained groan that sent hot air ghosting into her left ear and along her neck let her know her mentor had also survived the fall. Morgan was just as relieved as she was in pain. Which meant she was very relieved.
They lay there for a long time, simply too beat up to actually consider moving. Morgan felt squished under his weight, but the movement of his breathing, proving that he was still alive made her think it was worth it.
Eventually, Nightwing hoisted himself up on his elbows and slid off of her, his movements stiff and his face a grimace.
He jostled her right arm and Morgan had to stop herself from screaming in pain.
The agony made tears well up in her eyes and she tried to blink them away, only for the salty liquid to trickle down her face instead.
"Sonofabitch that hurts." She bit out behind clenched teeth, not daring to move because she knew that would make the pain intensify. "Oh god, please make it stop."
She felt almost desperate with the need for the blinding and furious pain in her right arm to stop. This was way worse than the bruised ribs and sprained wrist she'd gotten back when the Cave blew up. This was way worse than the cut she'd gotten from fighting that street thug. This was way worse than any pain she'd ever experienced before in her life and Morgan wanted it to stop.
"Please make it stop, please make it stop, please make it stop.." She kept begging over and over with tears leaking down her face, not entirely aware of what she was saying. She felt like she been lying there for hours, unable to see, feel or think about anything but her arm.
Nightwing seemed to fully wake at her agonized sounds and he was kneeling by her in an instant.
"Morgan?" He asked uncertainly and worriedly, his hands hovering above her face as if unsure where to place them. "Morgan, what's wrong?"
She bit down on her lip and squinted up at him with wet eyes, shaking her head because she didn't know what else to do.
He straightened slightly and let his eyes trail over her body, trying to figure out where the pain she was evidently in originated from. She saw his eyes find her right arm, and she didn't miss the way his jaw tensed and face grew pale.
"Shit."
Morgan wanted to see what it looked like, but she was afraid to move because it would make the pain worse. She was also afraid of what she would see if she chanced a look at her arm. The look on her mentor's face terrified her enough already.
It only took him a few seconds to school his features into a calm mask. Morgan figured it was more to avoid scaring her than it was because he wanted to hide his emotions.
"Just.. Just stay still, I'm going to get you help." He promised, pressing a hand to his ear. When he spoke next, it was with his leader voice, sounding as calm and focused as ever. "This is Epsilon squad. We've dealt with the MFD, but Sparrow's hurt. She's going to need a doctor. I'm afraid to move her."
Morgan bit desperately down on her bottom lip and took in deep and harsh breaths as she forced herself to lie as still as possible. It felt like her entire body was fighting against her, the need to squirm in pain nearly too powerful to ignore.
She didn't hear the rest of Nightwing's exchange, momentarily lost in her own body. Then his face was above hers again and she made her eyes refocus, letting them latch onto him like he was an anchor that kept her sane.
"They'll be here in a moment." He assured her, stroking her bangs out of her face. "Just stay where you are."
She nodded and gasped out again, trying to find her voice.
"Are you okay?" She managed to stutter out, realizing that he'd just been through the same fall as her. He could very well be just as injured as her.
He nodded and tried to smile reassuringly, still stroking her hair. "I'm fine. You.." He swallowed and looked very solemn all of a sudden. "You saved my life."
She realized that she had, and that almost made the pain bearable.
"Am I.. am I gonna be alright?" She asked next, even though she dreaded the answer.
"Of course you are." He replied immediately, more ferocity in his voice than Morgan thought he was aware of. his fingers dug into her hair as his other hand wiped away her tears. "You're going to be just fine."
She hated how she could tell that he wasn't actually sure. Hated that she could see that worried and doubtful look on his face even though his eyes were covered by a mask.
"But you're.." He cleared his throat nervously and Morgan saw his eyes flicker towards her arm. "You're bleeding a lot and I have to stop it."
His hands left her hair and face, and moved towards her arm, making Morgan's eyes widen in sudden panic.
"No!" She protested immediately, absolutely terrified that he'd touch the arm and make the pain worse. "No, don't!"
He ignored her and pressed both hands firmly onto what she thought was just beneath the crook of her elbow. White hot pain licked at her very core and Morgan let out that scream she'd held in earlier.
"Please let go!" She cried out desperately. "Let go!"
Her other arm grabbed hold of his left one, wishing she'd had the strength to pull him off.
"I'm sorry!" He sounded like this almost hurt him as much as it hurt her, though he didn't lessen the pressure. "I'm so sorry but I have to stop the bleeding!"
Her legs shook as she involuntarily kicked out, hitting nothing but air and pavement. "Please stop." She breathed.
His wide, mask-covered eyes met hers as he shook his head, mumbling apology after apology.
Once it became clear that he wasn't letting go, Morgan tried to relax her body and focus on anything but the pain as she waited for help to arrive. The rational part of her brain knew that Nightwing was only trying to protect her and make sure she didn't bleed out in the middle of the street. The part that was clouded over by pain and panic hated her cruel mentor for making the pain worse and didn't understand why he thought this was helping her.
As the minutes stretched on, her breath only became more ragged as the pain didn't subside. She could feel her right hand getting gradually soaked in some thick and sticky liquid and it was with a sense of nausea and dread that she realized it was her own blood. She could hear her mentor's breathing as well and was surprised when it sounded just as ragged and shaky as her own.
Those five minutes felt like five eternities, every second a millennia, but eventually she saw M'gann out of the corner of her eyes. The Martian covered her mouth with a worried hand and seemed rooted to the spot for a moment.
"Miss M, help me!" Nightwing barked at her when several seconds had passed by.
M'gann shook herself awake and her eyes turned a glowing green as she reached a hand forward and levitated Morgan's carefully off the ground.
As gently as she'd tried to do it, it was impossible to completely avoid moving Morgan's arm around and the blonde let out another anguished scream, her back bucking on instinct.
"Shh.." Nightwing shushed her and tried to sooth her by running an – unfortunately blood-soaked – hand through her hair again as the three heroes moved down the street.
"Morgan, do you want me to put you to sleep?" M'gann offered softly as she stood on Morgan's other side.
Morgan considered it for a moment, biting down on her lip. "Do it." She whispered.
M'gann's eyes flashed green again and it was the last thing Morgan saw before her eyes fluttered shut and her world turned dark and blessedly pain-free.
Nightwing had never seen an arm bent in that sort of angle before. And the sight made him absolutely sick to his stomach, especially because the arm was Morgan's. It was obvious that she'd been stupid enough to try and break her fall with it, which had completely screwed it over.
He'd been kicked out of the Watchtowers infirmary because he'd been pacing too much, and now he was watching from the other side of the window as she underwent surgery. First time Morgan was on the Watchtower, and she was unconscious. Not how he'd imagined it to go.
There was a permanent frown on his face and his arms were crossed across his chest as he stood unmoving. M'gann was beside him, probably more because she knew he needed company than because she wanted to watch the surgery.
Three fractures in one arm. It would've been impressive if it hadn't been absolutely horrible.
They'd already been told Morgan would be fine, but he still couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. Besides, he needed to be at the Watchtower either way. As long as some of the squads were still working on bringing down their MFD's, he needed to be there to monitor their progress. He wasn't leader of the Team anymore, but he was still sort of second in command. They all expected him to be there and keep an eye on things.
Currently, he wasn't as much keeping an eye on things as he was watching his girlfriend – at least, future girlfriend – get her arm fixed. She hadn't woken since M'gann had made her fall asleep. He wondered if she'd need M'gann to wake up again or if she'd do it naturally.
He wished M'gann would say something or that the low hum of the Watchtower's engine wasn't the only sound around them. The silence did little to block out the way Morgan's scream kept bouncing around in his head. It had been absolutely bloodcurdling when he'd pressed down on her wound, and he couldn't forget the sound. It made it all worse that he knew he'd been the one to draw it from her mouth.
He shook himself mentally. He'd done what he'd done to save her life.
Didn't make that scream feel any less horrible.
His eyes picked up the sound of somebody approaching from behind them. By the pace of the steps, he could tell they were stressed. Most likely the bearer of more bad news.
Like he ever got anything but bad news.
"We've got a problem." Wally spoke up.
Nightwing repressed the urge to sigh because of course they had a problem, and turned around to let his friend know he was listening.
"Blue Beetle located a twenty first MFD at the North Pole." He explained. "Flash and Impulse are already there, but the MFD had already gone chrysalis when they arrived."
Nightwing paused for a moment. He knew he needed to be there to keep an eye on things. But he found himself reluctant to leave Morgan, even though she was in capable hands.
"Show me." He eventually requested, following Wally and M'gann to the Watchtower's main room.
They reached the others just in time to hear Lex Luthor's plan over the communication system.
"Together, you and Impulse should be able to negate the chrysalis by running counter to its energy flow."
"Is it really that simple?" Flash asked.
"I wouldn't call it 'simple'" The Atom spoke up from his spot on Captain Atom's shoulder. "You'll be attempting to choke it's power by using your own speed trails, it'll take a massive amount of kinetic energy."
"Do you think it'll be enough?" Artemis doubtfully asked.
Nightwing turned to look once Kid Flash didn't answer. The Zeta tube answered for him.
"Recognized: Kid Flash. B03."
He knew he should've felt relieved that Wally was on his way to help out Flash and Impulse, but for some reason he felt only dread. In the back of his mind, he somehow knew things were about to get bad.
Whoops.
This chapter is a tiny bit late, but I spontaniously slept over at a friends, so I wasn't near my computer all day. And then when I tried to upload, FFnet didn't work uuuuuuugh..
I've been rewatching the first season of YJ and, holy crap, I'd forgotten how adorable they all were? Like, Robin is such a little shit, Connor is just so clueless and angry, M'gann uuugh, sweet M'gann, she just really wants so please everybody and have lots of friends, Artemis is so distrustful and sassy and Wally is such a hyper idiot and Kaldur just tries so hard to keep this group of idiots somewhat together and he's so levelheaded and patient.
And Robin is such a little shit. There's a reason he was my ultimate fave character, which was what started me on my Robin/Nightwing obsession.
Funfact: Originally, her dad's old colleague was supposed to be a white man, who was the real evil one and utliamtely killed her dad. Then I figured I'd rather have a black woman in a more tragic sort of ally/sort of antagonist sitation, because, you know, representation. The mad, white, male scientist is an extremely used cliche anyway.