This May Not Have Been a Good Idea

Altitude decreased and yes, the fasten seatbelt light flashed on in case you were wondering. Where they were landing was two time zones ahead of their normal, and so the sun was directly above making it noon. Jet lag was going to a bitch.

But Red Robin had a better idea of where they were. He had been able to get a good enough look at the airport to find out that it was Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport. They were in Louisiana. Either this was a pit stop to refuel or this was the destination.

Their jet didn't pull up to one of the gates. In fact, it wheeled some distance away from the terminal itself, close to one of the large buildings where repairs and maintenance could take place. They were bid to remain on board while A.R.G.U.S. agents went about making sure that the perimeter was secure.

That, and await two helicopters. The chopping noise gave them away, and how the airport had to come to a stop to let them in. Okay, judging by the fact there were two of them, they were not at their final destination yet. Since the next leg of their journey was also by air, it wasn't going to be close. Another couple hundred miles maybe?

The teen vigilante stood up first, which signaled to the rest to do the same. None of them were in a talking mood just yet. They had plenty of time to talk during the flight, but most of it had been morose. What else could it have been considering the circumstances?

Two A.R.G.U.S. agents were at the door, one unlocking the latch. The other faced them and issued the next set of instructions.

"We're moving quickly here folks, the less time we're on the ground, the better. We should have a gurney next to the boarding stairs, so we will need to move your friend in the yellow first. That'll take the longest and we need for you to reach the helicopters in a timely manner."

"If it will increase our velocity, I will carry Kid Flash to this gurney," Starfire volunteered.

The A.R.G.U.S. agent held up a hand. "We really don't want to aggravate his injury any further. We'll take it from here."

"I wouldn't mind," Kid Flash remarked, his eyes drifting to the Tamaranean. Then passing the Tamaranean to a small cabinet that was cracked open, exposing snacks that had not been offered to any of them. His headgear was back on but that did nothing to hide where his eyes were being directed.

"It is of no inconvenience. I believe flying him to this gurney will be of greater velocity than having our friend walk down these boarding stairs," Starfire continued with her offer.

The A.R.G.U.S. agent paused then glanced to his fellow agent. The other agent shrugged his shoulders, which meant the agent speaking to them had to make a decision.

"Well, if you don't aggravate his injuries, then there shouldn't be a problem?"

You could hear the hesitation so very clearly. These adults didn't have a lot of faith in them, did they? Still, the guy was right that getting Kid Flash onto that gurney needed to happen first. The rest of them could still move quickly, but their speedster still needed to take care of his leg. Plus, they were going to be going into those helicopters, apparently. That gurney was probably what Kid Flash was going to be strapped to during that ride.

Nodding to Starfire, Red Robin gestured for the rest of them to move out of the way and allow their alien friend to take custody of Kid Flash. You could tell the superfast Titan was not protesting as Starfire held him up against her, one of her arms wrapping behind his back while the other supported both of his legs, picking him up into a bridal carry.

Her footsteps were careful and she moved down the jet's aisle, her body turned so that she wasn't potentially brushing Kid Flash's leg into any of the seats. The last of the latches were unlocked and the A.R.G.U.S. agents worked to open the jet's hatch door. Positioned right in front of the doorway was the boarding stairs and located at the bottom up it were two more A.R.G.U.S. agents and the fabled gurney.

The agents still with them in the plane took point and stepped through the doorway. Starfire was next to follow, keeping her body turned as she maneuvered both herself and their crippled teammate out of the plane. Red Robin followed after with the rest after him.

The air was muggy and hot. What might have started as a nice sunny day had some overcast marring the sky. In the distance, you could see the airport full of activity with planes being allowed to land and pull up to the main terminal, reaching their assigned gates to let off passengers. Other planes were leaving, racing off the tarmac to head up into the sky. On the ground, smaller vehicles, whether they be pulling luggage carts or small crews who would be pulling up a ramp to make loading and unloading easier for them.

For them, it was an ordinary day with a small disruption to it. The air traffic controllers would be monitoring the skies, more than likely instructed on how to let them in and out of the place while making sure all outgoing and incoming flights were as slightly disrupted as possible. What he would give right now to be one of them.

Starfire took to the air, drifting down until reaching the gurney. Kid Flash was placed down as gently as the Tamaranean was able and the accompanying A.R.G.U.S. agents went to work to secure their injured teammate. Had to hand it to them, they were quick, and by the time Red Robin himself was at the bottom of the steps, Kid Flash was being wheeled off to the helicopters.

Once his feet were on the ground, the masked teen stepped to a side and allowed the others to go ahead. Only once Cyborg stepped off the stairs did Red Robin begin moving, keeping pace with the titanium young man.

"Keep trying to see where they're taking us," Red Robin said softly, making sure that his head was up and faced forward. No sense giving away his unease.

"Once they start heading where they want to take us, I'll be able to triangulate a possible location," Cyborg answered, not looking down. Good, they were on the same page.

There was another reason for him to walk next to their tech expert; he wanted to be seated next to him on the helicopter so that they could continue to confer with one another. The rest of them would be split up between their two rides, a four and three split. Right now, Cyborg's access to the internet and all its information was too important to remain blind.

Kid Flash's gurney was being loaded up into one of the copters. Both he and Cyborg ended up in that one while the rest got to pile into the other. He was offered earphones with an intercom attachment to it, and Red Robin accepted it. From the outside, the whirling blades that had never stopped turning were loud enough.

As he took his seat and strapped in, the gurney was being secured as well. Kid Flash was accepting his own earphones, and while they did muffle the sound of the whirling propellers, you could still hear the hum dully. Must be an old set they were offered.

Once the helicopter's doors were shut, it was less than a minute before takeoff and they began the next and hopefully final leg of this journey. Who knew where they were going to?

It had been a while since he had last been to Jump City, but Bunker recalled that it had been…more livelier. There was a pall that had seemed to settle over the city, and when you knew about what had happened yesterday, it made sense.

The first time he had come here, it had been using the trains and whatever transport he could sneak onto. This time, a pair of twins with superspeed and a psionic brick-based tether had drastically shortened the amount of time getting here. He was keeping them all out of sight still, wanting to scout out Jump first before making any kind of commitment.

The Tower was dark in a way that indicated no one was currently home. The twins had ventured in and in minutes had come back to tell a familiar story of destruction inside the building. At least it was still standing and didn't have its base bombed out from under it. There were no other signs of life, and there were no signs of corpses.

Bunker was concerned and a little relieved. No body meant the possibility that one was still alive. In this crazy world, you needed one to confirm that you were.

Even outside of the city limits, you could see the Tower. He felt longing to go there, but knew that keeping a low profile was more important than what he wanted. Pantha was pacing, arms crossed, just a bundle of nerves that would check on any sign of movement from the Tower and resume pacing.

It was the news of the attacks. Bunker had a feeling he knew who it was, but wanted to wait for the confirmation. If Titans South was just a stepping stone to Titans West, then he was both concerned for the other Titans teams and angry that any of them were targeted in the first place.

He was also concerned about the twins. They truly weren't involved in any of this, whatever it really was, and were involving themselves. That meant they were putting themselves at risk, might as well draw a target on their backs while they were at it. Don't get him wrong, the Hispanic male was grateful for their help, but he didn't want them getting hurt when they didn't need to. That was what he and Pantha had signed up for.

Crickets—yes, literal crickets—were the only soundtrack he was listening to right now. He was listening for any sounds like footsteps or something trying to sneak up on them. Nothing so far, but why take any chance here?

There was still so much neither of them knew. Who attacked them, why, and for what purpose? If he closed his eyes for too long, he could see Thunder getting shot point blank in the head. He was going to need so much therapy after all of this was over.

Upon opening his eyes, the twins appeared oh so conveniently. It was a superspeed thing and he wanted to say he was used to it. Not really, but you could give off the appearance that you weren't bothered and so that was what he did.

"Mr. Bunker! We did what you told us to. No one saw us!" Mas declared.

"That building has a mess in it," Menos continued. "Looked like there was a big fight. We didn't find anything else."

Still no bodies. Good. There was still hope.

Approaching the twins, "What about the other location? Where the attack happened? What did you see?"

The twins shared a look with one another. "Um…you see, Mr. Bunker, we did not know…where that was," Menos answered apologetically.

"But we did see large rocks sticking out of the street! Like very big rocks! Kinda like walls! And…and those streets were blocked off!" Mas tried to make up for their perceived failure.

Still, rocks coming out of the street? Given that description, that had to be Terra's work and not Americans ignoring the conditions of their streets. Rocks shaped like walls in the middle of a city, not manmade but Terra made. Sounded like they found the site of the first attack in this city.

If Bunker were to use his deductive skills, the first attack was out in the open, middle of the streets. That was meshing with what the twins had told him back in Cancun. The Titans here survive, retreat back to the Tower, and it was there they were attacked a second time. That would explain the damage that the twins were reporting.

"And what about the tank? Should we tell them about the tank?" Menos asked to Mas

"I don't know. Is it important?" Mas asked back to Menos in answer.

Bunker's head went up. What was this about a tank?

"There has been escalation here," Pantha stated. "Our comrades appear to have weathered this. Tell me, were you able to establish contact with the Titans here?"

Twin heads shook in the negative. "No, Ms. Pantha. We made sure no one saw us, just like Mr. Bunker told us. And we didn't see anyone who looked like any of them."

It was good that the twins were listening to him, so points for their ability to cooperate. It was a bit disappointing that none of the other Titans were around, but Bunker found he couldn't blame them. There was just so much they didn't know and because of that their move was not figured out yet. Also, what about the tank?

So he asked about it.

"There were too many Police around, but it looked like a lot of people were hurt and—oh, and the tank was on its side so it wasn't moving, but it was big and there was a lot of damage around. Buildings and everything!"

So on top of being attacked, someone went rampaging through Jump City in a tank. No idea if there was a connection. Now, they could look into it themselves, but there was still the matter of the missing Titans. Even if under attack, he was sure they would have done their best to stop that rampage.

"There was even a car under it! Blown up too! Well, maybe not completed under it, but it looked like it might have run into it," one of the twins continued to speak, and Bunker wasn't really paying attention to who it was right now.

Was the car something relevant? He didn't have his own boots on the ground to make a positive ID of it. It all kept coming back to the fact they knew so little so every detail that was given had to be scrutinized to figure out where it was suppose to go in this big, grand puzzle. Naturally, because he was the leader of this ragtag group, it was expected of him to put those pieces together to make sense of it.

Bunker couldn't. He just couldn't. He was a man of action, but also a man of passion. He was passionate about the T.I.T.A.N. Initiative so maybe that's why he became leader of Titans South. The others weren't as interested in the position or lacked enough of the skills to do it. So did he, but maybe he was making up for it with charisma? Well, charisma alone did not make for a great leader, and on that front he felt he was failing.

"What do we do now?" Pantha voiced, facing him with eyes hidden by her mask.

Get a closer look at the devastation? Hope to find some kind of clue? Come up with a plan to find where everyone was? So many choices…

All he knew for sure was that a man in a mask had decimated their team, destroyed their home, and possibly was involved here. No hard evidence yet. The original Titans were missing, they were attacked in the streets, in their home, and a tank got involved at some point. These were the facts as he understood them.

Let's try this from a different angle. What was it that Titans South wanted to do? Avenge their fallen teammates, catch the bastard responsible, and to do that, they needed to bolster their ranks. Getting the original Titans with all of their experience to help out with that improved their odds of success.

Find the Titans. Find Titans West. That was something they could focus their energies on. Hell, that lot could also fill in so many of the missing pieces to this puzzle while they were at it.

Nodding his head, Bunker faced his current team here. "We find Titans West and regroup with them. We're gonna have to find them first."

"How do we do that?" Pantha was a woman of action herself, but it was more a point her in the right direction and get out of her way kind of action. She was a team player, don't get him wrong, but if it was something she couldn't punch, then she had to rely on others.

Giving it some thought, Bunker removed his communicator from his waist. The gadget was standard issue for all Titans teams, designed by Cyborg, and connected to the same network that the Initiative claimed for itself. It was secure, no chance for someone to hack it from outside of the network; or at least no one had figured out how to yet.

Opening it up, he began fiddling with it. Making a call was an obvious option, but he refrained from that. Just consider it as maintaining their low profile. When you weren't making calls with it, you could use it like a portable computer. So, a modern day smartphone with Cyborg's seal of approval.

Alright, push this button, rapidly tap that one, how come there was no keypad…wait, of course, the touchscreen, so much easier right now…

"Um, Mr. Bunker?" one of the twins inquired, not really paying attention to which one right now because communicator. "What are you doing?"

"Ssh," Pantha hushed. "Let him do his work."

Come on, come on, there had to be something—ooh, that might be promising, open up the network a bit more on this device, so what they could do, what programs there were, so many programs…hmm…hmmm…hm. Let's try this one. No, no, not that one, how about this one? No…

A few trial and errors later, and…ah ha!

"Found them!" Bunker exclaimed.

Pantha stood up straighter, uncrossing her arms. "Found who?"

"The other Titans! The ones suppose to be here in Jump!" Bunker explained excitedly. "I'm tracing their communicators from mine, I'm getting a location…they're…not…here. They're not in Jump, why?"

"Where are they?" Pantha pressed.

"East. Not Titans East east, but very far east from here. They're halfway across America right now," he continued to explain.

"Then we need to follow," Pantha summed up, balling her hands into fists. "If they are that far, they are either running and being pursued, or there is something else happening."

"And they could use our help all the same," Bunker concluded, nodding his head as he closed up his communicator. "We're way behind; we need to catch up quickly."

"We can help!" the twins spoke up, speaking simultaneously.

They could. Superspeed. They'd be over there in minutes. However, if the danger that had hit Titans South was the same chasing Titans West, it would be very dangerous for these untested twins to go. Options were limited, though, and you could only move so fast flying on psionic bricks. Still, they had gotten from the Yucatan to the coast of California in record time, and time was something they may not have.

Well, it wasn't like they were running out of it just yet either, right?

"If you're volunteering, then we accept," Bunker told Mas y Menos, both of whom cheered. "But!" he cut off the little celebration, "We are going to need to gear you up first. We'll stop off at Titans Tower over there and see what we can dig up. Hopefully it's only a few minutes, but we also need to have some ground rules laid out before we get to where we're going. Understand?"

"Yes! Understand!" both twins agreed, talking in stereo once more.

Pantha was blank, but not about to say anything just yet. She would go along with this so long as they reached their new destination.

They had a plan now. That was something. It gave them something to do and anticipate.

Even if missing some pieces, Titans South was still in this game.

Wonder Woman was still trying to…come to terms with the situation.

The League had faced its defeats before. There would be others, she knew this. She also hated defeat, even if it was in a spar. Victory over a challenge, over a worthy foe, testing your limits and exceeding them, doing what was right because it was right…she understood these and embraced them.

A defeat was temporary. You learned from it, grew, and then took your new knowledge and applied to achieve victory. The foes they had faced in the past had targeted them as a primary objective to their overall goal. Eliminating or incapacitating, it was all the same. When it was all on the line, and the margin for error was nonexistent, the League was capable of achieving the impossible.

The weakness she felt…the only time she had come close to feeling that way was when she had begun to learn how to fight. Memories of being ground into the dirt by Artemis and the various trainers that her mother had allowed mocked her, but she had overcome and become a warrior without peer. To see pride not only in her mother's eyes, but those of her various trainers had been rewards in and of themselves.

Since coming to Man's World, she had learned defeat came in many forms, all of them bitter. This defeat was just as bitter, but the return to weakness increased that bitterness. She still could not truly understand how she had been brought to her knees…and at the same time she did. To think she would hear that name again, Heracles…

She knew the story. Her mother never said anything about it. Hippolyta didn't need to. All of Themyscira knew and used it to explain why they hid from the world and kept to themselves.

Their foe had used the Latin form of the name, and being enmeshed in Man's World had taught her to recognize it. To be bound, that had been one aspect of her training…

It wasn't practical, not in a fight. The Amazon recognized it, but the psychological blow was still stinging. Their opponent had come prepared, that much was clear. To try something different, denying a long and engaged fight was to his advantage.

It was also becoming clear that defeating the League was not a priority. It was a necessity. Based on the information that Batman had passed along, this Deathstroke was a cold-blooded killer. By all rights, he should have killed them, but hadn't. Maimed and injured, then his confession about recognizing their importance. The goal was the Teen Titans, not them.

The forces they had stationed at Titans Tower in Jump City had reported back. They too had been defeated and left alive. The Titans were unaccounted for. There was a sign of a struggle, but no sign of any deaths so far. Hopefully that would continue. Unfortunately, they could not confirm it.

She gave a sigh, and glanced back to the doors behind her. Behind them was an operating room. Superman was in there, still. The man who was operating on him, one Doctor Mid-Nite, was still operating. Wonder Woman had been assured of his skills, but she had never seen them in action. It was…stressful to say the least.

Flash was waiting nearby with her. He was restricted by Doctor Mid-Nite until all signs of any concussions could be cleared. Flash had tried to assure him that he healed fast and could be out there, but Mid-Nite insisted after surgery. The weight of the state of Kid Flash was still weighing on her friend, and she empathized with it.

Hawkgirl and Green Lantern were following the leads Batman had provided. They were seeking out anyone with the ability and motivation to hire out for Deathstroke's services, and so far there was no word from them yet. Hawkgirl was the detective between the two, and Lantern would be providing back up just in case.

J'onn…J'onn was still in bad shape. The burn scars on his torso hadn't healed, and her friend was curled up on a bed, unresponsive. His injuries were both physical and psychological. Time would be needed for him to heal. For the time being, he would need to remain inactive until he could recover.

This could not keep happening, but Wonder Woman could not identify anything that would prevent it. It would need to be addressed, but how and when? The path that led to the future that had once isolated Batman from the League could not be repeated. Memories of another person from a different time that had almost been forced on and nearly overwrote her own self if not for J'onn's intervention were urging such a course. Her will was stronger than these memories from which they lacked any true strength thanks to J'onn. He wasn't able to completely eliminate them, but he was able to take away any strength they had.

Her current thoughts were interrupted when the doors opened, and in stepped an individual in hospital scrubs and a face mask. Beneath that was a costume, one that possessed dark colors and a mask with an opening for the nose and mouth. Square, green-colored lens covered the eyes and Wonder Woman was able to make out her reflection in them.

"How is he?" the dark-haired Amazon asked, approaching the masked doctor and vigilante.

Removing the face mask from his mouth with a gloved hand, "I was able to remove the bullet and the Kryptonite. The measures needed to be able to operate were unorthodox, but right now the immediate danger is passed. If you know of any ways to speed up his recovering, I suggest you do them."

"So Big Blue is out of danger?" Flash was at their sides in an instant. "He's gonna be okay?"

"I only said that the danger is passed. The poisoning from the kryptonite radiation remains and either his body filters it out, or whatever methods you know of are used," Mid-Nite explained.

Wonder Woman placed a hand on Flash's shoulder. "Sunlight exposure should be able to help," she reminded the speedster.

It took Flash a second to grasp that information. "Oh yeah, of course!" A red-gloved hand gave a soft slap to his head. "Supes is like a solar battery. Some good ol' sunshine will get him up and running in a heartbeat!"

All that really needed to be known was that the immediate danger was past, which Mid-Nite had confirmed. She felt relief flood her body; with enough time, they would be almost back to full strength. Then they could return to finding Deathstroke and stopping him.

Yet, a frontal assault may not be the best strategy here. Learning more about him, anticipating his next actions, and developing a plan to incapacitate him would be a better course of action for the League. It did not need to be only the founding members; this Deathstroke had been able to handle their newer recruits, all of whom had their own accomplishments and abilities.

Wonder Woman would learn from this latest defeat, strengthen herself from it. She would rely on her allies and comrades for support. In the meantime, finding where the remaining Titans were was a priority. Of those from Titans West, seven remained unaccounted for. It was her hope that all were still alive. Somewhere.

Finding them before Deathstroke did would be a priority. It had to be.

You could hear the wind buffeting against the helicopter as stormy clouds blew in. This was not the kind of weather to be flying in, but you had to trust that the pilots knew what they were doing.

Beside him, Cyborg muttered, "I don't like this."

Red Robin only glanced at him, only picking up the movements of the cyborg's jaw and lips. The stone hard facial expression that the young man had gave away the dislike.

Peering up ahead and through the helicopter's windshield, a large complex was coming into view. The closer they got, the more massive it seemed to become. Walls of stone with guard tower attachments, a single road that led in through metal gates, and a virtual swamp that surrounded it all, and there was a startling lack of architecture, you know, designs that would make the place distinctive.

In the center of all of it, was the core part of the complex. You could make out what might have been windows, but it was hard to tell what might have been on the other side of them. It helped to give this feeling of foreboding. If Raven had been in this particular helicopter, the masked teen knew he would be getting a very unique kind of confirmation of what this place was.

Cyborg nudged him, drawing his attention back to his cybernetic teammate. The older male did not speak, but he did gesture with his head downwards and towards his left arm. A panel had been unlatched, exposing a screen with several words glowing from it.

This is a prison.

Red Robin's eyes snapped up to make eye contact with Cyborg, his forehead wrinkling slightly. All Cyborg did in answer was to nod his head, his single human eye flickering downwards to draw the teen vigilante's attention back to his arm.

It's called Belle Reve.

His eyes narrowed. There were prisons out there whose reputations preceded them. Because of his background in Gotham, the names Arkham and Blackgate were some of the first names that came to mind. Ones beyond that city included Striker's in Metropolis and Iron Heights in Central City.

Belle Reve was another one with such a reputation, but most of it was always hearsay. You only heard about things but were never given any hard evidence. What little he did know was that it was maximum security, some of the worst of the worst were funneled there, many had superpowers so it was designed to keep such individuals in there. One of the bits of hearsay was that it was one of two prisons that could hold psychics. Again, hearsay.

Why was A.R.G.U.S. sending them here? Trying to think about it logically, would the Terminator try to break into one of the most secured prisons in the country just to come after them? It seemed like a lot of effort to do that. Yet…the man had gotten through security at Titans Tower, taken on the Justice League, and had driven a tank through several buildings just to come after them.

He didn't know what to feel about this. Was it a mistake? A great idea? Something else? As the prison grew closer and closer and its size larger and larger, the hollowness in his gut became stronger.

The rooftop was wide, enough that both of the aircraft could safely land on it. Curiously, he noted how there were multiple sections that were painted in that familiar way, you know, as if to dictate where a helicopter should land. There were multiple ones, each with a distinctive H marking them off.

Towards the far end of the building was a small group of people, their features muddled by distance. They had to be the welcoming committee then, more than likely armed.

There was a slight shudder as the aircraft touched down, and Kid Flash noticeably stifled a groan. His leg must have been jostled a bit.

But it was showtime now. Red Robin removed the earmuffs from his head and began unbuckling himself. Cyborg was going through the motions himself while the door to the helicopter slid open. It was not surprising to see prison guards moving in to start moving Kid Flash out. The gurney's legs were allowed to open up once more and the injured Titan was being wheeled towards their new custodians.

Stepping out, the masked teen kept his head low as the propellors above continued to whirl. The wind that picked up whipped his cape about as he did his best to keep up with Kid Flash's gurney. From the other helicopter, the rest of the team filed out, hair and loose garments falling victim to manmade wind.

The welcoming committee remained where they were, the Titans having to do the work of reaching them. As they drew closer, more details could be made of them. There were a lot of guards, all of them holding shotguns though thankfully none of the gunbarrels were aimed at them. All were in uniform, ramrod straight and alert, and appeared no nonsense. What a lovely combination that would make with their crew.

There was one exception, a single individual who stood out. The guards were all male, big and stocky with skin color and facial hair providing any diversity. The short, squat woman in their midst stood out like a Fruit Loop in a bowl of Cheerios.

A dark blue sweater jacket hugged a…shall we say a wide body very snugly over a white dress blouse. Below was a long dark blue skirt that hovered around calves and above a pair of black high heeled shoes. She wore jewelry, though minimal. That was mainly the heavy-looking earrings that dangled just under the shortly trimmed black hair.

Stern eyes gazed over the group of costumed teens and young adults, lips colored with a dark lipstick pressed together to almost resemble a straight line. Severe was not a strong enough word to describe that facial expression.

Authority seemed to radiate from her. How she kept both hands behind her back, her own straight posture, the controlled emotions, all of it. This was clearly the person in charge.

The gurney was wheeled to a stop and Red Robin made sure to place himself just ahead of that. That brought him uncomfortably close to the prison guards and their boss, but he wasn't about to just let any of his teammates stand that close either with him at least attempting to make a show of shielding them.

Before he could open his mouth, the woman took the initiative. "Welcome to Belle Reve, Teen Titans. I am Amanda Waller, warden of this facility, your caretaker, and liaison to A.R.G.U.S. for the time being. This will be your home for the foreseeable future but don't get comfortable. There is much we have to discuss about your boarding and…" the pause seemed to be deliberate here as she looked over the group with eyes that gave nothing away, "...medical attention. This way."

Those last two words were spoken more like a command than an invitation. The guards parted around this Amanda Waller like the Red Sea while she merely turned on her heel and began heading towards the rooftop access. None of the guards took their eyes off of them; they seemed to be waiting for the team to follow the order.

It seemed, though, that this warden was ignoring the Teen part of Teen Titans. "Where exactly are you going to be putting us?" Red Robin stated the question bluntly.

Waller came to as abrupt a halt as the words that had come from the Titans' leader. She remained facing forward, not even deigning to look back. "Need I remind you that you came to us for help cleaning up the mess you got yourselves into. Remember, one of the deadliest men on the planet is gunning for you, and don't think he doesn't have long distance capabilities. I can't think of anything dumber than standing in the open, waiting to be sniped without warning. You will be permitted sanctuary here, but if you think you are in any position to demand anything, then the offer of safety can be revoked. Your choice."

Not even his own mother had ever reprimanded him in such a cold tone of voice. It was a tone that made you feel small, microscopic even. You wanted to get in line and follow just so you didn't offend or annoy the speaker with something as insignificant as being treated like a human being.

When the masked teen didn't speak up quickly enough or at all, Waller resumed walking with a pace that indicated that she was fully in control here. It didn't need to be said that either they followed or not at all. The guards watching them were going to be of no help either, their hardened eyes focused on them.

Red Robin shared looks with the others. He received only looks of uncertainty or guarded council. No one was offering an alternative because either they didn't know of one or that their current situation might be the best they had. As the leader, he had to consider what was best for the team, and right now finding sanctuary was at the top of the list. Newer injuries needed to be checked over for any infections, and older ones for any potential downturns.

Already, he was on his fifth and sixth thoughts about this decision to turn to A.R.G.U.S. for help, but what else could they do? Who else to turn to? The last thing he wanted was to bring anymore people into this. This had to remain a Titan problem. It couldn't go any further than it already had.

Raising a hand, he gave a gesture to the rest to follow after Waller. The gurney was pushed forward once more, and he kept pace with the crippled speedster. Behind him, footsteps that clanked from metal, padded with flesh, or clicked with the underside of shoes and boots gave confirmation that the others were following his lead.

He could only hope that he wasn't leading them into a worse situation.