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BROOKLYN'S POV
"And you need my help because?" I question, my arms crossed over my chest as M'gann glances to Kaldur for help. "I told you I'm not rejoining the team."
"And I don't expect you too," M'gann reassures me.
They called me into the Batcave for a small meeting, which was supposed to be just them and I.
Nightwing, Batman, and Oracle all decided to join in as well to my annoyance.
Miss Martian is asking me to join in on the team for a mission to Russia.
It all seems a bit like an ambush.
"Artemis is more than capable of doing a recon," I point out, "I don't see what I would add."
While Artemis and I weren't trained the same, I know we both have a very good background in stealth.
"Artemis is leading Gamma," Miss Martian fills in, slight concern on her face, "Gamma with Forager, Brion, Tara, and Halo."
I bite back a snarky comment about how Nightwing was supposed to train them and if they weren't ready, it would be his fault. I bite it back because I know I'm just pissed he has been avoiding me ever since I saved them on Santa Prisca.
"All of which have very limited recon experience," Oracle cuts in, causing me to look at her, Nightwing and Batman next to the computer. "Whereas you-"
"Have too much?" I deadpan, causing them to fall silent, sensing they are coming up on a touchy subject.
"You also know Russian," Batman says after a moment.
"No, I don't," I answer. He narrows his eyes at me, causing me to roll my eyes, "It's creepy you know that, Bats."
"We have a polar stealth suit for you," He says, ignoring the comment.
"So you knew I would say yes?" I raise an eyebrow at him.
"This is you saying yes?" Nightwing questions, speaking for the first time since I walked in the room, his voice full of pure annoyance.
I look back to M'gann, ignoring Nightwing's words the way he has been ignoring me as I say, "Of course, I will help," I tell her, and she smiles at me gratefully. "I promised you that I would help anytime I can, and I meant it." I just can't join the team.
I don't know how long I am going to be able to dance on this tightrope I've been walking on for the last year. I don't know home much strain it will take for the rope to snap and for my life to fall apart.
But I know I'm not going to take anyone down with me.
"Do you have experience in snow?" Aquaman questions as Batman hands me my suit.
My glaze falls to the floor and I am glad I wore my mask so they can't see the slight catch in my composer.
"Yes," Is all I provide.
Ra's al Ghul thought that I should be able to stand the cold even in a tank top and shorts.
It was apart of the training, the way to get better, he would tell me as I nearly froze to death while he kept ordering me to practice.
He thought of everything. That's probably why he was so successful as the Demon's Head. At whatever cost, he will win. Or try to I guess.
"Good," Aquaman smiles, "You will meet with myself and the team tomorrow for briefing and the mission will take place on the 17th."
"Sounds like a plan," I mutter, looking down at the suit in my hands.
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'Recognized-
Beast Boy:B19'
"Oh, hey," Artemis says when Garfield walks in, "you're a little late, Garf-"
"Fifty-two takes. 52!" He exclaims angrily.
"Okay, we will talk about it later," Artemis mutters causing me to laugh.
Gar looks up at this, his face lighting up as he runs to me, hugging me.
"Your back!" He exclaims, making me smile as I wrap my arms around him, us stumbling a bit because of how much force he put into the hug.
"I am," I say as I pull away and frown, "And you grew up," I point out, taking note that he looks very different from when I first met him.
"That tends to happen when you don't see someone for a year," He grins, "I'm glad you are back."
"Okay, everybody," Artemis says, getting our attention, smiling at our reaction before she gets serious, "Miss Martian was needed at the Meta-Human Youth Center," She informs us, "So she assigned me to lead Gamma Squad."
"This will be a covert mission. Recon only," Aquaman picks up where she leaves off.
Gar scoffs next to me, leaning over to Forager, "They always say 'recon only,' " He says using air quotes, "It never turns out that way."
Forager clicks his tongue in response, taking in what he said.
"The mission had better 'turn out that way', since the League is not allowed in Russia without prior consent," Aquaman scolds, trying to get it through to them that this isn't a mission to mess up.
"Russia?" Geo-Force questions, on edge. I know his people and they are under tense relations, which means he is someone to watch out for on this mission.
"We're being sent to investigate Russia's Ploshchad 52 base," Artemis informs him, answering his question. "We have intel of a possible government sponsored meta-program there."
"No doubt the Russian equivalent of Bedlam," He responds angrily, letting me know this is a very sensitive subject, and for a moment, I consider the idea that maybe the really did need me to go and watch them.
"I understand Markovia suffered under the former Soviet Union," Aquaman says, trying to defuse his anger, "but do not pre-judge. Yes, this may be Russia's equivalent to Bedlam, or it may be their equivalent to Taos."
I look around the room of the watchtower, taking in the group.
So maybe Artemis really does need my help after all. This is the most rag-tag team for a recon mission in Russia to date.
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We drop down from the bio ship in our polar stealth suits, mine being the same suit in white and gray aside from a head piece like Selina's to hide my brown hair.
Don't ask me how long it took me to figure out how to tuck all of my hair in that thing, just know that it took more time for me to change into my suit than ever. And I was tempted to just cut my hair off before having to remind myself this isn't my normal suit.
Forager is look out so he is staying with Bioship. Smart choice considering he would draw a lot of attention.
Geo-Force runs in front of us and melts a hole in the ground with his lava, before his little sister picks up a large boulder for us to get on.
We climb on and she uses it to carry us down underground, down the tunnel Geo-Force made.
Beastboy sends us his view from the sky outside, and Tigress nods when she sees we are clear, signaling for Geo-Force to make a hole in the wall that we go through.
Halo quickly glows green and shields us from being seen as a female science looks out the window right at us.
She moves on and we get closer, our contacts translating the Russian for us, meaning me speaking Russian wasn't even needed.
Bruce is annoying sometimes. I will repay him for this though. He doesn't seem to realize Damian listens to me more than he does to him.
I listen in, the people talking about transforming people into heroes through a painful process, but it is clear that the participants are the willing kind. This means this is something we aren't going to interfere with.
Almost as if she is reading my thoughts, Tigress makes eyes contact with me, nodding before she points two fingers away from the window, singalong for all of us to clear out.
We all crawl through the hole again, Tara closing it to cover our tracks.
"Forager," Tigress says as she presses her communicator, "prepare for extraction. Our mission's complete."
"It is?" Halo questions in confusion.
"Why are we not stopping this?" Geo-Force asks, equally confused and slightly more upset about it.
"Because it's not our business." Tigress shrugs, trying to keep him from blowing a fuse by making him understand.
"If volunteers want to be heroes, who are we to say no?" I jump in, supporting Tigress and hoping Geo-Force will drop it before he burns a whole through the ground we are standing on.
Up until now they have been a perfect recon team, but I'm worried the hot-head is going to get us killed.
"But their government will use them as super-soldiers for propaganda and who knows what," He exclaims before he adds, " They want to be the Russian Justice League!"
"And that's not our business either," Tigress frowns, but turns away before he can question her further.
We follow her onto the boulder and Tara lifts us again through the tunnel.
"Tigress, Beast Boy's feed," Halo says suddenly, causing our contacts to switch to his view, and I groan when I realize who it is.
"Noted," Tigress responds to her, "I have confirmed IDs on Black Manta, Captain Boomerang and Monsieur Maliah, all of whom should be in Belle Reve prison wearing Inhibitor Collars."
"I thought that place was supposed to be escape-proof," Geo-Force huffs.
"It is," Tigress mutters back, her annoyance with him starting to show.
"Did anyone tell them?" Halo questions innocently.
"In their defense, no place is fully escape-proof," I smirk slightly, trying to lighten the mood, "In my experience."
Tigress sighs, "It looks like they're planning a little surprise party for the Russians."
"And is that our business?" Geo-Force asks, snarky, causing me to shoot him a glare, making him shut up.
We see the plan of attack for them and wait until the shoot a rocket at the building to interfere, Tara stopping the rocket with a boulder, the alarm going off on the building at the explosion.
So much for recon.
Again.
Before they can get away, we break through a wall to where the villains are, the boulder bursts into dust. When the dust clears, we are staring back at Captain Boomerang, Black Manta, and Monsieur Maliah.
"Tigress," Black Manta, a.k.a Kaldur's biological father, snares, "You and I have a score to settle."
"Really? 'Cause I'm pretty sure your son and I settled that score two years ago," Tigress retorts, making me smirk.
Monsieur Maliah starts firing at us, but Halo starts glowing red, surrounding us in a protective shield as we all get ready to fight.
Geo-Force creates lava around his feet, Tara picking the boulder from outside the forcefield to throw as Tigress gets an arrow ready. I slip out my claws, them hovering over my belt for my throwing knives if I need them.
And just as we needed him to, Beastboy comes charging in as a Rhino, taking out Monsieur Maliah and Boomerang and giving us an opening to spread out.
Halo drops the forcefield, growing yellow to shoot beams at them, Tigress shooting arrows as I throw a few knives their direction.
Tara and Geo-Force are next with rocks and lava as they chase after Captian Boomerang with Halo.
Tigress and I share a look before running after Black Manta, both of us dodging his lasers and rockets.
Tigress flips off a ledge, shooting an explosive arrow at him, knocking him back. Before he can even get his footing, I throw another explosive at his feet, him falling on his back this time as he close in on him.
He gets up faster than both of anticipate, him shooting at us, and I roll out of the way before he can hit me, grabbing snow while I do so in both hands before throwing it right in the eyes of his helmet.
He shoots a laser to stop it, but by the time he realizes it was a distraction, I'm kicking him hard in the stomach, flipping back as I do, giving Tigress the change to shoot him with another arrow.
Behind him my eyes lock on Halo as she flies in the air, Geo-Force and Tara nowhere in sight as she faces Captain Boomerang.
"Go!" Tigress says, following my line of sight as she watches Black Manta get up, "I've got him."
I nod watching as Halo freezes.
"Well, now, you're everything I like best in a woman," Boomerang laughs, smirking at her as I start running to them. "An easy target," He says before throwing a boomer age at her.
I expect her to dodge, but she doesn't, the blade lodging itself in her chest, blood seeping through the wound.
I stop, my eyes widen as she hits a tree before falling.
"Halo!" Geo-Force shouts, coming to her side.
Panic sets in before I remember she can heal herself and I focus on the mission again. My eyes find Boomerang just before Beastboy rams into him again.
He groans as he gets up, but before Beastboy even has a chance to fight him, he is led away by Maliah.
All mine then.
"How much you want bet my knives have more precision and accuracy than your boomerangs?" I quip, glaring at him as he looks to me.
"Let's find out, shall we?" He smirks, throwing to boomerangs at me but I throw my knives at them, stopping them in their tracks.
His face falls, causing me to smirk, "That did take long at all," I say before I run at him.
He tries to punch me, but I grab the arm, slamming my elbow down on it, causing him to groan before I punch his jaw, sending him stepping back and closer to Manta and Tigress.
"Fall back!" He orders as we start throwing everything we've got at them, "Boomerang, we need cover!"
"Best idea I've heard all year," Captain Boomerang says, throwing a boomerang down that releases smoke into the air.
"Gamma, HUDs on infrared," Tigress orders, and we all move to put them on, but stop when we hear another voice.
"No need for that," Rocket Red 4 says, aiming at us, " Move and you'll die."
"Halo, boomtube?" Tigress mutters.
Hap groans in response, glowing purple.
"She's still recovering," Geo-Force answers for her, "So we fight," He declares, his face shining with determination.
"No, stand down," Tigress orders instead, "We have no quarrel with the heroes of Russia. We didn't come here to attack you." She says, talking to the two "heroes" in front of us.
"In fact, we prevented an attack," I add, studying the two in the armor.
"You expect us to believe this?" Rocket Red 1 questions before they get knocked out of the sky as a rocket hits them.
Halo somehow manages to protect us with a forcefield as the three villains start aiming at the other Rocket Red soldier before they hit them down to the ground.
"Can't maintain shield," Halo grunts in pain as all of the fire is drawn to us, causing me to look at her in concern.
"Forager, now," Tigress says, and Forager uncloaks the Bioship, firing at the bad guys.
"Halo, drop the shield," Tigress nods to her before adding, "Gamma, go!"
Halo groans and falls to the ground as the rest of us run in different directions, me going to finish my little conversation with the dear Captain for what he did to Halo.
"Not you again. I hate cats," He groans, his aussie accent thick.
"I have that affect on a good bit of people," I remark with a smirk before I throw my knives at him.
He dodges a few, but I manage to cut him after I realize his dodging pattern, him hissing.
He throws a boomerang at me, but I flip out of the way, making sure to watch as it comes back to him, waiting for him to be too distracted catching it before I close in.
He realizes and swings at me, but I dodge, punching him in the gut before grabbing his head and leading it straight into my knee.
He fall back on the floor, groaning, but he doesn't get up again.
I look back to the others, Beastboy, Tara and Geo-Force taking care of Monsieur Maliah while Tara protects Halo.
I run towards Tigress as I realize she is on the ground, but stop a few feet away, the Rocket Red soldiers appearing, aiming at Black Manta.
Without giving him a choice to figure out how to get out of it, he is electrocuted, groaning as he crumbles to the ground.
The others move to us, Geo-Force helping Halo stand as Beastboy and I help Tigress to her feet.
"Wait, aren't you Tork?" One of the soldiers ask and it's only then that we realize Beastboy is in his human form.
He ignores the comment, looking to Tigress who is holding her shoulder in pain.
I step slightly in front of the group, my eyes trained on the two soldiers in front of us.
"Again..." She groans, "We're not here to fight you which should be obvious, since our ship could've attacked you while camouflaged," She points out, "All we ask is that you allow us to take these escaped convicts back to Belle Reve prison."
"Do you think us fools? You American meta-humans have violated Russian sovereignty," One of them glares, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.
"We are not Americans," Geo-Force says, meaning Halo, him and his sister.
"And we're not your enemy," Beastboy step forward with me.
Tigress straights up the best she can when being in pain as she says, "You can take us in. We won't resist." She says before looking to me and back to them, "But word will get out that your top secret base was infiltrated by two separate covert American meta-squads."
"And everyone will know that Russia's so called 'heroes' aren't living up to the name," I remark, crossing my arms, "I bet that will increase funding and volunteers."
The stare at us for a few moments before the woman sighs in annoyance, "Just go."
"Good choice," I say, causing them to glare harder.
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"I spoke with Warden Economos about the three dangerous felons who escaped Belle Reve under his watch," Aquaman says as he appears on the screen in the Bioship.
He had to make sure the three felons were put back behind bars while we were still traveling home.
"Let me guess, he had no idea they were gone?" Tigress crosses her arms over her chest.
"He admitted nothing, but, yes, that was my impression," He confirms before he adds, "He claimed the situation was being "handled" and promised to send someone up to explain."
Yet he is the Warden?
"Oh, someone other than the man in charge of the place?" Tigress voices my thoughts, crossing her arms, her tone giving away how annoyed she is.
"Apparently," Aquaman responds, equally annoyed with the situation, "How did the new team members do on the mission?"
"Uh, you know they can hear you," Tigress raises an eyebrow.
"I do."
"Halo got banged up pretty good, but the rest did okay," Tigress' expression softens as she looks at Halo, who seems upset about the whole thing.
"And Tara?"
"She did fine," Tigress smiles at the girl, in reassurance.
"And did Shadowcat play nicely with the new members?" He questions, though it's clear this one was a joke; he is trying to lighten the mood after hearing about Halo.
"I'm always nice," I scoff, causing him to chuckle.
"She did good," Tigress smiles to me, "A little rough on Boomerang for Halo, but I can't say I wouldn't have done the same."
"That's surprisingly good considering her track record," Aquaman jokes, causing me to frown.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I narrow my eyes at the screen.
"Pretty sure we have a list," Gar joins in, smiling.
After a few seconds of silence, the four of us laugh a bit, because we all know of a few missions I've been on where the outcome has been less than ideal.
"So, what now, boss? Press conference?" Beastboy questions, eager to start informing people about Belle Reve.
"Tell the world Belle Reve is not as escape-proof as advertised?" He questions, asking me and Tigress to share a look.
Doesn't seem like the best idea.
"I wouldn't recommend it," A voice says, to him.
"Amanda Waller," He says, and we watch as he studies her with calculated eyes, "What is the former warden of Belle Reve doing here now?"
"My job and my duty when your people aren't interfering," She retorts, her eyes staring back at him in the exact same way.
I narrow my eyes at the video of her, not liking this one bit, a pit growing in my stomach as she talks to Kaldur.
"So it was an op," Aquaman states, "Manta, Maliah, Boomerang, all working for you."
"Not for me," She corrects him, "for the U.S. Government, which I represent."
"By tapping into Belle Reve's previously untapped source of meta-individuals?" Kaldur says, unable to hide his annoyance.
"To run hazardous missions we wouldn't risk our people on." She defends, causing me to cross my arms.
"And by not risking 'our people' she means risking people like my aunts," I speak up, unable to hold my tongue.
I haven't gotten to see them in the year I was away. I haven't even had the chance to see Selina. I've only been to the bat cave and that's it. It's too risky for me to be seen.
Still, it hurts a bit when I think of them, even with me texting them constantly.
"And yet you risk loosing Manta on the world?" Kaldur says, not willing to relay my message.
"There are carrots and sticks," Her lips pull into a tight line, "Very persuasive sticks. Our operatives know they're extremely expendable."
"Is that supposed to make it better?" I mutter, and Artemis sends me a look of sympathy.
"I see," Kaldur glares at the woman, "And if your "Suicide Squad" is caught or killed?"
"They're disavowed. Task Force X does not officially exist." She states as if she has thought of everything.
Just as if they were trash being thrown to the side. Are the good people? No. But they are still people.
"Then why reveal it to me?" He asks, realize she must have a reason.
"Clarity. You expose my operation, and I expose your little playgroup, including the fact you have very questionable people joining in," She says, causing Artemis and I to share a look, but she continues with, "Given current public opinion, the League has way more to lose than I." She says before walking away from him.
"Big talk. She's totally bluffing," Beastboy says, anger seeping in his voice.
"We all have secrets to keep," Kaldur says, causing Artemis to nod and me to look to the side, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes.
I'm starting to think my life consists of more secrets than not, and nearly all of them are ones I keep from the people I care about the most.
But he is right. We all have secrets to keep.
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A/N:
this is one of the episodes so we are getting into integrating into the season, but don't worry, there is a lot of stuff I've added that Isnt in the season. Also Brooke fits so perfectly because dick stops showing up as much in the second half, making it all make sense because he would be avoiding her.
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how are y'all feeling?
fav friendships on the team?
what do you think is going to happen next week?
random but what hogwarts house do you think each of the girls are in and why?
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thanks for reading, don't forget to vote & comment !!
xoxo, author