***

I let myself fall down on the bed, ignoring the disgust I felt. The physical exhaustions that I felt was quickly replaced my mental exhaustion after what just happened with Dick. His words still replaying in my mind, but I had to force a new determination to not let them affect me.

A loud thump in the hallway had me sitting up instinctively, without a second thought grabbed my whip slipping on my heeled boots and running into the hallway. There Kory was struggling to hold back two of the teens that belonged to that psycho family we've been running from. With a flick of my wrist my whip had wrapped around the boy's neck pulling him roughly towards me as he fell on his back. He twitching from the electricity that was running from the whip still wrapped around his neck.

At that moment Rachel and Gar stepped out of the room, brought out by all of the commotion. For a moment I wondered where Dick was during this little altercation, and realized that there was one more member of this odd family missing.

"Get her out of here, Gar." Kory yelled as she struggled to contain the girl. They didn't need to be told twice as they ran to the exit and towards the parking lot, I could only hope that Dick was somewhere outside incase there was trouble.

I was about to help Kory when the boy stood up, swinging his bat towards me. I had just enough time duck down and grab his arm twisting it back until he let go of the bat. Catching it before it hit the ground I tested it's weight in my hand, memories of Harley and the other girls coming back to me. "A friend of mine loves these." I commented as I twirled the bat in my hand. "Good thing she taught me how to use it."

Holding the bat with both my hand I slammed it down on the boys head, snapping the wooden toy in two. The boy fell down unconscious and I smiled as I looked over at Kory who had pushed the girl through the window. Kory and I shared a look of mutual appreciation before we ran towards the exit without a word.

Rachel and Gar were standing in the empty parking lot looking lost before their eyes met ours. "Where's Dick?"

"I don't know." I replied breathlessly, and at that moment the family reappeared infant of us. This time with a new addition to their family as they seemed to have replaced the father that Kory had burned to a crisp.

"Fuck. Stand back. Get behind me. It's time to burn, assholes." Kory ordered as she raised her arms up protectively, while Rachel, Gar and I immediately did as we were told not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of her deadly abilities. Unfortunately, things didn't go as Planned as Kory's palms burned bright before practically fizzling out. "Fucking night!"

"Well that was anticlimactic." I muttered feeling slightly disappointed that Kory wasn't going to fry these people to a crisp and end it all. Stepping forward I tightened my grip on the handle of my whip preparing for another fight.

Suddenly, I heard to familiar sound of gas canisters hitting the ground. I almost smiled at the memory of all of Bruce and Dick's little toys, instead I held my breath as the gas spread through the air familiar with its effects. As Dick emerged from the fog of gas I had to force myself not to roll my eyes, but it was also odd to see him back in his Robin suit.

"Dick?" Rachel questioned as she looked up at him in awe.

Gar had a similar look on his face as he shook his head. "That's Robin."

"About time you showed up." I yelled, while the kids looked up at him like they were seeing Superman. "But you always did like to make a dramatic entrance."

Dick wordlessly jumped off the roof of the car and started the fight against the family. For a moment it was only Dick, Kory and I, until Gar and Rachel seemed to gain the courage necessary to join in on the fight. It was slightly frustrating being limited in how much I could fight considering that I wasn't in the right attire. Now I realized that I had to make more conscious decisions about how to dress for the rest of this little trip.

As individual fights were happening around me, I was struggled to contain the mother. No matter how many times I brought her down she would simply get back up, swinging her kitchen knife viciously. In one slight moment of distraction I failed to move aside to escape the blade and I felt it slice across my cheek.

I felt burn of the cut in my cheek quickly followed by rage as I touched my fingers to my face. Seeing the scarlet blood on my fingertips only increasing that rage, as the lights flickered around us. "You really shouldn't have done that, pinche vieja estupdia."

"Step back." I ordered the others as I raised my arms towards the building. Feeling the electricity running through the walls and calling it towards me, being pulled by my rage. I had enough of running away and although I was blinded by my anger I still greatly desired ending this all. This was a little trick that I had only dared do twice before, one occasion being the incident that allowed me to discover my powers. Both times were nearly fatal to me, but in this moment that hardly mattered or crossed my mind fully.

I yelled out in pain as the surrounding electricity entered by body as I immediately redirected it towards the family. All I saw was sparks of blue as the family fell unconscious or dead. I wasn't sure, what I did know was that if they weren't dead they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. My victory was short lived as exhaustion came crashing down on me, it's weight unbearable as I focused all my remaining energy on standing up straight.

"That was awesome!" I heard Gar exclaim through the ringing in my ears, his words becoming hazy as I began to feel incredibly lightheaded. "Why didn't you do that before?"

Wanting to prove to myself that I could push through the feeling of vertigo I felt I attempted to take a step forward. Immediately regretting it as I stumbled forward, and for a moment I closed my eyes to wait for the impact of hitting the floor. But it never came as I felt an arm wrap around my waist before I was lifted up my feet. Slowly I opened my eyes to look up at the face of Dick Grayson looking as stoic as ever as he carried me back towards the motel.

"I can walk." I muttered weakly, hating that fact that I felt so weak. Especially, weak enough that I had to be carried by Dick Grayson. In the back of my mind I knew it was stupid pride, but that didn't subdue my frustration.

"You shouldn't have done that." Dick said sternly and I could hear the concern in his voice, but his concern not something I wanted. Definitely not something I deserved. Regardless of his scolding I was pleased that he didn't correct me about my ability to walk on my own. "You could have killed yourself."

"Don't tell me you worry about me Boy Wonder." I said softly as I rested my head on his shoulder feeling the energy drain out of me by the second. "You'll make me blush."

"I'm being serious Chey. You shouldn't take those kinds of risks."

I wasn't sure if he continued to scold me about my recklessness as his voice slowly began to fade away, and no matter how hard I attempted to fight it the darkness won over like it always seemed to do with me.

***

I sat up on the bed feeling disoriented in a foreign motel room that I initially didn't recognize until all the memories of the last couple of day began to return to me. Although I still felt weak I reached out towards the lamp calling a small amount of electricity towards me, now needing it give me energy to even think straight.

As I felt the welcome energy running through my veins again, I look a deep breath of air finally feeling like I could breath again. I practically stumbled my way into the bathroom, needing to take a look in the mirror and asses the damage. The fact that the cut on my face had healed didn't help my case considering that I have never looked more pale.

Quickly splashing cold water on my face I put on my shoes, and headed into the quite and empty motel corridor. Every step I took was measured as I the last thing I wanted was anyone finding me on the disgusting floor of this motel. One of the rooms at the end of the hall was cracked open and as I peeked inside I was disappointed to find the mother and father of our little family tied down on chairs.

Heading outside to try to find the others I was shocked to find that it was nearly dawn. As I carefully walked my way over to an unknown mini van, that I assumed belonged to our late night visitors, I met Dick's warning eyes. Brushing off his nonverbal way of telling me to go back inside I approached him, Rachel and Gar. My stubbornness always winning over. "You should still be resting."

"I'm fine." I replied dismissively, unable to accept that Dick was right and that I should still be in bed. Rachel and Gar were both looking at me with worry and uncertainty that honestly made me feel worse than I felt. "Please continue your conversation."

"So, uh, Batman..." Gar began with a nervous chuckle as he looked at Dick with hopeful eyes. "you know him?"

"Of course he knows Batman." Rachel stated proudly, and I was surprised by her strong connection to Dick. Just like Bruce, Dick was drawn to strays. Birds with broken wings that according to them needed fixing, I was one of them. Luckily I left their nest early.

"Are we gonna see him?" Gar continued to say eagerly, excited by the possibility of meeting Gotham City's treasured Dark Knight. "Uh... I'd really like to meet Batman".

Dick attempted to hide his small smile, but failed to do so. I wondered why he claimed to hate Bruce, when he clearly felt prideful of him too. "No, you're not."

"It would be a lot more fun to meet Superman or The Flash." I stated as I leaned against the car, still not feeling completely secure balancing all of my weight my feet. Feeling Dick's eyes on me I looked up to find him carefully studying me, like he expected me to fall over dead at only moment. "They are so much more fun to talk to."

"You mean fight against." Dick corrected, and although he seemed serious I could still hear the amusement in his voice.

"Same difference."

Gar turned towards me with wide eyes, excitement radiating off of him in waves. "Do you know Batman?"

"Unfortunately. I'm still holding a grudge from that one time he put me Arkham." I admitted, as memories from my brief stay came flooding back. "I don't think I'm that crazy. Especially not crazy enough to have had Joker as my cell neighbor."

"Crazy no. Dangerous yes." Dick once again corrected, as he adopted his very Bruce Wayne like demeanor. Regardless of his tone, I couldn't ignore that fact that I did enjoy being classified as dangerous.

Kory finally appeared beside us, and I wondered where she had gone to. "Any luck?"

"I'm gonna find out who's running this freak show." Dick replied, and by his use of 'I'm' it was clear to me that this was something that he was planning to do on his own. It was then that I noticed the car GPS had been set to a previous address in Chicago.

"Yeah, I'll come with you."

Dick defiantly shook his head as his eyes strayed back towards the motel. "They'll kill any cops who try to handle them."

"Oh, I know what to do with them, all right." Kory replied and I couldn't help but smile at her implying wanting to kill these people. Mostly because I wanted to do the same. The fact that they were still alive was irritating to say the least, especially after the energy hit it took.

"Kory, no killing. Please. There's been enough." Dick stated predictably, always one to do the right thing.

Rachel stepped forward then, a look of accusation aimed at Dick. "I thought we weren't splitting up.

"I'm coming back. I promise." Dick stated firmly, before he turned to meet my eyes. "Keep them safe. And rest up, we're going to need you at your full strength."

"Of course, I'll make sure we stay out of trouble." I assured him and although he gave me an unsure glance, he drove off. We watched him for a moment until he was out of sight, it was an odd feeling to see him leave me. Especially when he has always been the one chasing after me. It was a feeling that I certainly did not enjoy. "Alright kids time for bed."

Rachel and Gar shared a disappointed look before the they walked in the direction of the motel. As Kory and I trailed closely behind them Kory explained the little information that she and Dick were able to get from our little group of prisoners. According to them they wanted to 'deliver Rachel,' to who was still a mystery.

Once we were inside the motel and after I made sure that Gar and Rachel were in separate rooms, I began to pick the locks of two other rooms for Kory and I. "You know I could just blast the doors down."

"I don't know about you, but I'd like some privacy." I replied as I finally heard the click of the lock on the door. "How about you go check on our guest while I open another room."

Kory didn't say anything as felt her move away towards the direction of the rooms where we held our enhanced super family. "Oh, shit." I heard Kory say as I had just opened the second room, the look on her face instantly drawing me to her. Already fearing that our little happy family had escaped, instead when I looked into the room I felt like I was in a Stanley Kubrick movie. The entire room was covered in blood and other matter that I didn't want to look too closely at. "Dick's gonna think I did it."

"Wait." I muttered mostly to myself as I entered the blood soaked room, recognizing what this had to be. Or at least what it resembled. The heads of the father and mother were cleanly blown off, and I didn't have to look in the other room to know that the same had happened their children. "Their like the nanite bombs they implant into the Suicide Squad."

"I'm sorry... the what now?"

I turned to her forgetting that not only did she not have any of her memories, but also seemed to be from another planet. "The Suicide Squad is a group of well... rogues that are forced into missions by the government. Their implanted with these bombs at the base of their neck, that way if you step out of line your head goes boom...just like this."

"Do you think they're involved in this?"

Shaking my head I stepped out of the room, immediately regretting having stepped inside in the first place as I saw the bloody footprint that I left behind. Then I thought of Harley and when the got roped in with Amanda Waller, this simply wasn't making any sense. "No. Amanda Waller can be many things, and she may be wrong about others but her intentions are good regardless. But whoever is behind this is being very careful about cleaning up after themselves."

"This looks like the opposite of clean to me." Kory commented as he eyes swept the room one last time in disgust.

***