More Young Justice Trash

Separated (Part 10)

Clark could hear all of their heartbeats, each was pounding in double-time, but above the others, one resounded; it was deafening, unlike any heartbeat Clark had ever heard. That must be the clone.

The kids were frozen where they were tied on the floor, huge wet eyes watching the trio cautiously. Several of them were actually trembling from shock, bruised or scorched from the battle. None of them could mask their fear under the influence of the lasso.

"I know you must be scared, we don't want to hurt you." Wonderwoman said in a gentle voice, lowering herself to the children's level. "We just want to talk, okay?"

She was met with continued heavy breathing and heavier heartrates. None of the children wanted to meet her eyes. 

"We understand." The Atlantean said in a low voice.

"Good." Diana smiled a quarter-inch. "Now, Batman's going to ask some questions... You won't be able to lie while you're touching the lasso, so don't bother trying."

Batman sunk towards them, his eyes snapping between the children. "It's no use asking your names. Artemis Crock was on a missing children list, and only one Atlantean defector is yet to be located, probably because Kaldur'ahm wasn't in the ocean at all." He paused, "It took me quite a while to track your friend to a traveling circus which had an accident here once. In the wake of that accident, it was hard to find any media coverage regarding the disappearance of the victims' son..." Batman stood back, drinking in the visceral fear which just seeped off the children. Usually Bruce felt confident when the enemy was reduced to this state... but these were just kids. He needed to change his approach. "But that's all in the past, isn't it? You're different now than before you dropped off the charter."

"What he's trying to say," Superman interjected, "Is that most kids your age don't run around in homemade costumes fighting bad guys."

"We didn't start out to fight crime..." Barry's nephew began, "First we met in a youth clinic, I put out my knee while running, Dick was malnourished... we both needed company, so..."

"Then we ended up in a tent encampment in a park, that's how we found Kaldur." Richard, or Dick as his friend had called him, squirmed uncomfortably under the heavy gilded rope. "Basically nothing's been normal since then."

"That's when we started stealing medicine, food and blankets and stuff. It was pretty easy with Wally, I mean, no one could stop him."

"Plus, what we didn't use, we could distribute to others in need..."

"Then the story with Artemis was kind of funny," The redheaded boy sniffed, trying to lighten the air. "She got profiled by GCPD, I pretended she was my foster sister to get her out of it."

"And he won't stop insisting I'm indebted to him!" The girl hissed.

"Tell me," Batman lowered closer to them. "How did you find the clone? Where did you find the escaped martian?"

"We found each other." The Martian piped up. "My-- the escape pod I used landed me near the place where Superboy came from, once he was freed he came to see what the noise was, and we just stuck together. We kept walking until we got to Gotham, then one day Kaldur offered us a blanket and we just... stuck around."

"...Superboy." Clark muttered, staring at the clone. 

"Why are you pretending to be a green Martian?" Bruce ordered. "Do your friends know what you really look like?"

"Of course we do!" The clone grunted, speaking for the first time. "It's just easier for her to talk like this."

Clark reeled hearing his own voice come from that experiment. It was his voice, but bitter, angry, chalked with vitriol he couldn't comprehend.

Batman stepped back, assessing the kids. They were telling the truth, they had to be, but it was a truth sadder than what he'd been hoping for; Bruce had clung onto the idea of some outside party manipulating these children, but their tale of poverty and coincidental comradery was much more dire.

"When did you start interrupting drug trades?"

"We only did it the once." The smallest boy said. "Usually we just... y'know, steal food for our neighbors, or beat up smalltime abusers, pop the tires on cop cars... then one of the nice women who we'd take food to accidentally ODed on infected coke, so we started doing out research, asking some questions, finding out which strains were laced..."

"Where are you living now?"

"Nowhere, man." Barry's nephew almost laughed. 

"What he means is that you raided out last housing situation." The Atlantean explained. "Which is to say, we've been on the street since we were chased out."

Bruce caught a sideways look from both his colleagues. Maybe he should have brought it up with them first before acting, but in his defense it was his city, and he'd thought he'd been dealing with a violent gang.

"Batman," Diana said, "may we talk?"

He nodded, and the three leaguers broke off into a huddle.

"I say we take them back with us." Clark said. "Give them somewhere safe to sleep while we figure out what to do with them."

"It's certainly more humane than leaving them on the street." Diana agreed. "But are we sure they won't get into anything they shouldn't?"

"The hall? We don't have much stored there at the moment." Batman concluded, and with the other's agreement, it was decided.

"Please, where are you taking us?" Kaldur asked apprehensively as they were lead through the darkened alley ways of Gotham. Each teen's hands were bound in the golden lasso of truth, leading them in a row like prisoners. 

"You don't need to be afraid," Wonderwoman said in a low voice, "we aren't going to hurt you."

"They're sending me back." M'gann said. "They're sending me back! No!" She tore at her restraints, her wrists reshaping and sliding out from the lasso. Instantly she took off running.

"M'gann!" Conner tried to run after her, pulling the other four teens to the ground.

"Excuse me." Batman knelt, removing something from the pocket of Artemis' cargo shorts.

"HEY! WHAT--"

But the bat was already gaining on M'gann. She couldn't run fast, still clumsy on two legs. Batman over took her and held up his fist, snapping on the lighter. 

Startled my the sudden flame, M'gann toppled back on the concrete. "NO!"

Batman took his thumb off the igniter. "We aren't sending you back..." He muttered, lowering himself close to M'gann's face. "Not yet anyway." and with that he pulled the Martian off the ground and escorted her back to their friends.

Any moral the kids might have had was crushed, Conner was actually fuming that Batman had laid a finger on his friend. The trio continued leading them towards what looked like an ancient, deserted phone booth.

Superman stepped inside and be can striking the buttons meticulously. "What's the visitor code again?"

Batman stepped in to input the code himself, and instantly the booth roared to life, sucking them both into a flash of light.

M'gann shrieked, yanking desperately on the lasso. 

"There's no need to fear," Wonderwoman assured. "Just walk in."

With nothing else to do, Kaldur lead the way into the blinding light of the phone booth.