M O U N T  J U S T I C E
November 5, 19:40 EDT

Reese had heard a lot of strange things in her short life. And she meant a lot. But, honestly, what Dick had just told her no doubt took the cake.

"Wait," the brunette cut Robin off, holding up a hand as the two stood next to each other in the cave, waiting for M'gann and Conner to get back from their errand run. Reese was careful to keep her voice down, because even though no one else in the room had super-hearing, Wally was a notorious eavesdropper. "You're saying someone actually, like, actually-actually broke into Wayne Tech and robbed it? Seriously?"

Robin gave a small nod, and both birds glanced past Red Tornado to where Batman was standing, his face expressionless per usual.

"Seriously?" Silverbird repeated, and though she knew Dick was telling the truth, she had to admit, it was pretty dubious. 

Wayne Tech was one of the most secure companies in the country, and Bruce had security systems for his security systems. He had to, considering he was Batman. But, to know that someone had actually robbed the place? It was more than a little unbelievable.

"It happened a few days ago," The Boy Wonder whispered behind his hand, leaning over so their conversation wouldn't be detected by the others. "B thinks it had to have been an inside job because the robbery went down when the defense systems were updating,"

"What'd they steal?" Reese hissed, and her eyes widened when she saw Dick's face turn pale as he turned to glance at her.

"Tech from the R&D department," he said quietly, and Reese's mouth dropped open. 

The R&D department was the secret section hidden deep within Wayne Tech, and it held most of the Dark Knight's prototype gadgets. Even the Batmobile had been designed there. It was also the most secure department in the company. 

Or at least, it was supposed to be.

"Who has access to that place?" Reese whispered again, flicking her eyes over to glance at Batman again. She was about 80% sure that Bruce was listening to their conversation, but he hadn't interrupted them yet.

After a moment, Dick gave a small shrug.

"Me, B, Lucius," he listed simply. "Batman and I already cleared Fox though, so it's not him. He's been working the case non-stop for the last seventy-two hours, but we haven't found anything yet,"

"Wow," Reese said slowly. "Sophisticated thieves,"

"Yeah," the thirteen-year-old's voice was quiet and morose as Dick looked down at his feet. "That would be an understatement,"

"Hey," Silverbird added softly, lightly bumping her hip against Robin's as the Bioship entered the cave. "You'll find the thieves. You and Batman. World's Greatest Detectives, right?"

Dick still looked a bit hesitant, but after a moment, he gave a small smile and glanced back over at Reese as the Bioship's back ramp opened.

"World's Greatest Detectives," he repeated, half to himself for a moment before he focused on Reese. "Thanks, Rhysalin,"

The brunette didn't say anything else but smile, because, at that moment, M'gann and Superboy exited the Bioship, each of them carrying large crates that were presumably filled with whatever it was that Batman had asked them to get.

Well, Conner was carrying crates. M'gann was levitating some more, but Reese figured it wasn't that big of a difference.

"Did you get everything?" Batman asked, and Reese glanced over at the Dark Knight, realizing that the reason his voice sounded even gruffer than usual probably had to do with the recent robbery. She did not want to be the thief when Bruce finally found them.

"Everything on your list, Batman," Miss M answered cheerily, as she levitated the boxes she was carrying down onto the ground. "Plus groceries,"

"Cookie fixings?" Wally asked, grinning as he scooted up to the box that M'gann had just set down and the Martian smiled.

"Snickerdoodle," she began, before glancing over at where Silverbird and Robin were standing. "And chocolate chip,"

"Yes!" Reese exclaimed, catching the package of cookies that Kid Flash tossed to her out of the air with one hand, and from the corner of her eye, the brunette was pleased to see that Dick was smiling, and she glanced at him, waving a cookie under his nose. "Want one?" she asked, but Robin only smirked.

The next thing Reese knew, her hand that had been holding the package of cookies was empty, and Dick was shaking the box under her nose, and even though she wasn't able to see his eyes behind his mask, Reese knew they were glimmering with laughter.

"Come and get it," he whispered, before bolting across the cave, and it was a few seconds later that Reese ran after him because she had been blushing when Robin first ran off, considering when he had teased her, they had been nose-to-nose.

"Robin!" she cried out, as she chased after him, bypassing Zatanna and Artemis as they exited the elevator, the blonde holding Zatanna back before she could get run over by the two, but Dick only cackled, waving the box of cookies in the air.

Noticing that Robin was basically just weaving between the crates and boxes, Silverbird estimated where he'd be next, and vaulted straight over one of the crates, startling Kaldur as she jumped over the box right in front of his nose.

Luckily, she had guessed correctly about where Robin was going to be in his zig-zag movements, and the brunette slammed into Dick as he rounded the corner of one of the crates, sending him sprawling across the cave floor as they both tumbled to the ground. 

Reese swiped the box of cookies off the ground from where they were just out of reach of Robin's fingers and dangled them in front of his face from where she was sitting on his back.

"I win," she murmured smugly, and Dick let out a huff, feigning annoyance, but his wide grin spoke otherwise as he glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Please," he scoffed teasingly, though he did take the cookie that Reese handed to him and munched on it. "I let you win, pretty bird,"

Reese opened her mouth to retort, but before she could say anything, Batman, Zatara, and Red Tornado all disappeared in a flash of light.

She gasped and scrambled off of Dick as Robin stood up, and Zatanna let out an urgent cry of "Dad!". But it was no use.

The three Justice League members who had been in the cave were gone.

And it seemed like they weren't the only ones. All over the country, adults and people over the age of eighteen had all disappeared, just like Batman, Zatara, and Red Tornado had.

Reese had tried calling Roy, but her call went straight to voicemail, which wasn't unusual now that Red Arrow had struck out on his own, but what was unusual was that Silverbird hadn't been able to reach her dad or Black Canary either. And Dinah always answered her phone.

So, while Artemis and Wally went with Conner and M'gann to help the latter two's classmates in Happy Harbor, Reese stayed behind at the cave with Dick, Zatanna, and Kaldur, to see if they could try and figure out what had happened, and where all the adults had gone.

So far, they hadn't been having much luck. After a while though, Wally called with the progress he and the others had made at the Happy Harbor High School.

"We've set up a refugee center at the high school gym," the speedster explained. "Any luck with--"

"No," Robin answered, sounding a bit frustrated at the lack of headway he had made in trying to contact their mentors. "Can't reach the Batcave, the Hall of Justice, or the Watch--" he was cut off as Reese suddenly dug her elbow into his ribs.

As much as she liked Zatanna, Reese knew that the League's satellite headquarters was still supposed to be a secret, even from some of their allies. 

She herself had learned about it a few months after she had met Roy and Dick in Star City, three years ago, at the point in time where she and Robin were getting to know each other better, and he hadn't wanted to lie about anything.

"The point is," Reese added, glancing over her shoulder at the young magician, but it didn't seem as if Zatanna had noticed the Boy Wonder's potential slip-up. "We can't reach any adult hero. Even Red Arrow, but he turned eighteen already, so that was a dead-end anyway,"

"Looks like we're on our own," Wally said after a moment, and Reese gave a small nod, even though KF couldn't see her. "Kid Flash out,"

A few seconds after Reese and Dick had ended their call with Wally, Zatanna spoke up from her spot across the center circle, making both birds turn to look at her, the magician pulling up several holo-screens showcasing the homepages for some social media sites.

"Traditional media's offline," the other girl began. "But kids all over the world are posting the same thing: every adult, eighteen or older, has disappeared. The sorcery necessary to pull this off?" Zatanna added, glancing at Dick and Reese, eyes wide. "Scary big,"

"And we need you to find its source," Robin explained, as Reese shifted her arms, in which she was holding Zira, the baby gorilla sound asleep as Zatanna's eyes widened even more.

"How am I--" she began, before Reese cut her off, not unkindly.

"Robin pulled this footage," she began, nodding her head as Dick pulled up the cave's security feed from a month ago, from just before the Team defeated the Injustice League. "It's Zatara helping us locate Wotan and the Injustice League after their crazy mutated plants attacked the world,"

The security feed replayed the moment that Zatanna's dad said the spell and the subsequent arrow that had appeared on the holo-map.

"But..." Zatanna began, suddenly self-conscious. "The words? That's only part of it. The rest takes training and--Reese, Robin, I'm just not on Zatara's level,"

Dick and Reese glanced at each other before the brunette turned back to the older girl.

"Look," she said softly. "I know what it's like, having to live up to someone else's grandeur. Trust me, I do. But, Zee, you're our only hope. And like Robin says--"

"Try to stay whelmed," Dick piped up, giving the magician a smile. "We'll find your dad, Batman, Green Arrow, and all of them. That's what we do,"

A few minutes later, Kaldur walked in, after presumably trying to reach Atlantis, but judging from the downtrodden look on his face, he hadn't had any luck.

There were millions of kids across the country who were suddenly without parents or parental figures, and the Team had no idea on how to help them. Conner, M'gann, Wally, and Artemis were trying, but that was just in Happy Harbor, one town in the teeny-tiny state of Rhode Island.

What about the other forty-nine states in the country? What about the other hundred countries in the world? How were eight pre-teen heroes supposed to protect all of them?

She must have been pretty lost in thought, because Dick suddenly nudged Reese in the ribs, making the brunette look up to see Robin staring at her, one eyebrow raised.

"What's going on in that head of yours, pretty bird?" he asked quietly, and Reese straightened up.

"We can't protect every kid on Earth," she began, an idea starting to form in her head as Dick, Zatanna, and Kaldur all stared at her. "Obviously, there aren't enough of us for that, and we would be spread way too thin. But, what if we put a message out for the kids of Earth, telling them to protect each other? That way, everyone's leaning on each other,"

For a moment, the three people in front of Reese all stared at her, eyes wide, before Dick's face suddenly split into a wide grin, and he cupped Reese's face in his hands, eyes shining behind his shades.

"Rhysalin, you're a genius!" the thirteen-year-old exclaimed. "I could kiss you!"

For several seconds, it was dead-silent in the cave, before Dick realized what he had said, and Reese realized what he had said, and they both jerked away from each other, faces beet-red, to stand on either side of Zatanna and Kaldur, who were both trying very hard not to laugh.

"Uh...thanks," Reese said quietly, staring down at her shoes, as Dick spluttered out a response a few feet away before Robin turned to tap his commlink.

"KF, can you get back here?" he began, voice still sounding a bit strangled, and a few seconds later, Wally sped in, Artemis, Conner, and M'gann on his heels.

"Why do you both look so weird?" Artemis was the first to speak, staring at Robin and Silverbird with an odd look on her face.

Luckily, thank God for Aqualad, Kaldur saved them both from further embarrassment, walking forward, and setting a hand on Reese's shoulder.

"Reese has an idea for how we can help the children of Earth," the Atlantean began calmly, and Wally, M'gann, and Artemis all erupted into grins and even Superboy cracked a small smile.

But, all that was on Reese's mind was Dick, and what it was exactly that he had said. He'd said he could kiss her, and while that wasn't exactly an uncommon thing to say, he'd said it to her.

Maybe Reese was overthinking things (she'd done it before), but...did that mean that Dick wanted to kiss her? Did he like her too?

➳➳➳

Twenty minutes later, Dick had changed into his Robin suit and hacked into every satellite feed on the planet but was still currently waiting for the others to be ready to start the broadcast that Reese had thought up.

God, what had he been thinking? He couldn't believe he had said that. In front of Kaldur and Zatanna no less.

Dick currently wanted to slam his head against the wall of the cave. 

The truth was, he hadn't been thinking. How smart Reese really was regularly left the young Boy Wonder awestruck, making him lose control of his words, but he couldn't believe that he'd said he could kiss her in the cave, in front of their friends.

Not that Dick didn't want to kiss Reese because believe me, he did, but not here. He didn't want their first kiss to be in Mount Justice, in front of everybody. That would be so undeniably awkward, he'd probably chicken out before anything even happened.

"You ready?" Reese's voice from over his shoulder startled Robin so much he jumped. 

But, considering he had been trained by the Bat for the last almost five years, Dick managed to get control of himself again fairly quickly, turning around to face the brunette from where he had been finishing the final broadcast set-ups.

If he studied her, Dick was still able to see the lingering traces of Reese's blush from earlier, and he thought the faint rosy tint to her cheeks made her even prettier than usual, but then he kicked himself.

So not the time Grayson, Robin thought to himself. Professional. You gotta be professional.

"Dick?" Reese saying his name made the Boy Wonder look up again, glancing around to make sure the others weren't in the cave, and when he concluded that the coast was clear, Dick finally met his crush's eyes. 

Though, classifying Reese as his 'crush' just felt...wrong. Not because it wasn't true, but because their relationship was so much more than a silly little fling of pre-teen puppy love. Truthfully, Dick didn't really know how to describe his feelings. Just that they were a lot stronger, and a lot deeper, than any usual teenage crush.

"Yeah?" he asked finally, hoping to whatever was holy that his voice didn't betray his inner teenage turmoil. But, knowing Reese, she probably saw straight through his facade. Great.

"You okay?" Reese's voice was quiet, but then again, she had always been a fairly soft-spoken person, so Dick wasn't that surprised. "You look a bit...tense,"

"I'm fine," Robin answered swiftly, but judging from the skeptical look on Silverbird's face, she didn't believe him. "What about you?" When in doubt, change the subject. "You ready to be our translator, pretty bird?"

Reese, at some point, had taken her hair out of its ever-present fishtail braid, and now she ran a hand through the dark brown strands as she huffed out a breath.

"Translating our message into every language on Earth?" she clarified but didn't give the Boy Wonder a chance to say anything before continuing. "That's a lot of foreignity, Robin. I mean, I know I can do it, but--"

"You'll do great, pretty bird," Dick said quietly, reaching forward, pushing down his embarrassment, and taking Reese's hands in his. "I promise,"

In order to hold her bowstring better, Silverbird always wore a pair of fingerless gloves, and now, Robin lightly kissed the very ends of her fingertips, nothing more really than a brush, but still, he was beginning to feel bolder, and he opted to throw professionalism out the window. 

Screw Batman.

Somewhere along the way, the two of them had stepped a little bit closer to each other, and, considering the top of Reese's head stopped at Dick's browbone, the Boy Wonder literally had to look down at his partner in order to meet her eyes.

"Can we...talk?" Reese began quietly, and Dick blinked, opening his mouth to answer her when suddenly, the brunette lurched away from him again.

Two seconds later, Wally sped into the cave, his feet skidding against the ground as he stared at the two birds for a few seconds before nodding his head towards Dick. 

Reese must have heard him coming before Kid Flash entered the cave, which also explained why she had reacted so dramatically. Dick had to admit that sometimes, super-hearing had its advantages.

"Broadcast ready?" the speedster asked, his usual joking tone void from his voice. Robin gave a small nod, a bit ticked that he and Reese had been interrupted (again), but right now, the Team had bigger things to worry about.

Readying the cave's holo-screens to record their message, Robin stood with Silverbird, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, with the twelve-year-old standing in the front.

From where he stood next to her, Dick heard Reese let out a breath, and when he glanced at her, he noticed her hands were shaking. 

The four of them may have all been standing in front of the camera, but Reese was the one who'd be giving the message, and she was the one who needed to get their message out there.

Really, Dick, Wally, and Kaldur were there for moral support. And also to show that the situation that had all the adults disappearing was serious since they were the only four public proteges that the rest of the world knew about.

Reaching over, Robin gave Silverbird's smaller hand a reassuring squeeze, and he sent Reese a small smile before the brunette let out another breath, this one stronger than the first before she gave a small nod to Dick, who then reached forward and linked up the cave's feed with the rest of the satellites that Robin had already hacked into.

A few seconds before the feed started broadcasting, a thought suddenly shot into Dick's head, and he lurched forward, tapping away at a holo-keyboard for a moment before standing back again, to face the confused and puzzled looks of Silverbird, Aqualad, and Kid Flash.

"Auto-translate," he explained simply, giving a small shrug. "That way, we can get the same message out all at once," And so that Reese wouldn't end up overworking herself trying to remember every language on Earth all at once, but Dick didn't say that last part.

The holo-screen the Team was broadcasting from suddenly beeped, signaling that it was almost time to begin, and Robin squeezed Silverbird's hand again, making the girl glance over at him.

"You'll do great, pretty bird," he whispered, and the younger girl nodded again before she turned back to the holo-screen, taking a deep breath before she started to speak.

"Attention, children, and teenagers of Earth," her voice was quiet, but after clearing her throat, Reese started again, a little bit louder. "I am Silverbird. These are my friends Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash. At the moment, we're using Justice League technology to broadcast and stream this message to every TV, radio, computer, and smartphone on the planet. We know you have to be scared right now, and angry, and every emotion in between. But, please, even with your parents gone, and under the semblance that there aren't any more rules, do not run wild and stay as calm as you can. We will find a way to bring the adults back, I promise, but for now, your older brothers and sisters, and your friends need to step up. Take care of your younger siblings, take care of the kids who have no one. Protect them. It is up to you. And please, help in any way you can,"

With that, Robin stopped the live feed and set it on a repeating loop, so even if some kids hadn't seen it the first time, they would end up noticing it eventually.

As soon as the camera stopped rolling, Silverbird stumbled back a few steps, her entire body trembling, and Dick lunged forward again, wrapping an arm around Reese's waist in case her legs ended up giving out from the adrenaline rush.

"You did it, Rhysalin," he whispered, grinning at the brunette as Reese wrapped her hands around his free arm. "You did so well, pretty bird,"

"God, I hate public speaking," Dick heard Reese murmur softly after a few seconds of her getting her bearings again, and despite it, Robin found himself laughing, and was even more relieved when Silverbird gave a small smile herself.

"I will go check on Zatanna," Kaldur said suddenly, making both Dick and Reese glance over at their leader. "To see if she has made any progress in learning her father's spell,"

That was actually a good idea, so both Robin and Silverbird gave nods of agreement before Aqualad walked out of the cave, leaving Dick and Reese alone.

At some point after the broadcast had ended, Wally had walked out too, so quietly that not even Reese had heard him leave, and when he noticed that the redhead had disappeared, Dick glanced around for his friend.

"Where's KF?" he asked, looking around for a moment before turning back to Reese. "You think he went back to the high school?"

But, Reese only shook her head. "No," she answered simply, shrugging when Dick raised an eyebrow. "Conner, Artemis, and M'gann came back with him before we did the broadcast, and I'm pretty sure that Superboy and Miss M's classmates have Happy Harbor covered. I think--" suddenly Silverbird cut herself off, and sighed, before glancing up at Robin again. "You know what?" she began again. "I think I know where he is, but it's probably best if I talk to him alone,"

"What?" Robin asked, thoroughly discombobulated. "Why?"

"Just trust me," Reese told him, squeezing his hand for another moment before she let go. "Okay?"

Dick was being honest, he was still a bit confused, but there was no one he trusted more in the world than Reese. Giving her a small smile, Robin watched as the brunette walked out of the main cave, heading down a side hallway. The Boy Wonder didn't know how Silverbird knew which way Kid Flash had gone, but he trusted that Reese knew what she was doing. 

She always did.

➳➳➳

True to her suspicions, Reese found Wally standing in his trophy room, staring at the middle shelf, where the Helmet of Fate was sitting on its stand in between Jade Nguyen's Cheshire mask, and the beret that Wally had gotten off of Monsieur Mallah in India.

"Kaldur finally got through to Atlantis," the brunette said quietly, walking into the room as the speedster turned to look at her. "I heard him tell Robin just before I found you. No adults under the sea either,"

"So," Wally added slowly after a few seconds, turning his head to stare at Nabu's helmet, eyes narrowed in both thought and desperation. "How desperate are we? I mean, this thing?" he gestured vaguely towards the golden helmet. "Could definitely come in handy,"

"I don't think we're that desperate," Silverbird told her friend softly. "Not yet. Kent had to reason hard with Nabu last time to have him allow me to take off the Helmet after the Injustice League, and he had to reason with him that first time when you put it on at the Tower of Fate. I don't think a Lord of Order is going to be so forgiving a third time around,"

Wally heaved a sigh, but before he could say anything else, Zatanna's voice came from behind the two, and they turned around to see the black-haired girl leaning in the doorway, Kaldur standing behind her shoulder.

"Guys?" Zatanna asked softly, seemingly not wanting to interrupt the conversation. "I-I'm ready to try my father's locator spell,"

Giving the magician a small smile, Silverbird followed Aqualad, Zatanna, and Kid Flash back into the main cave, where they met up with Artemis, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Robin, with Dick pulling up a blue holo-globe, much like he had done when Zatara had first executed the spell.

Walking forward so she stood apart from the rest of the Team, Zatanna raised her hands, one of which was holding a generic magician's wand, before pointing them both towards the glowing globe.

"Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!" Then, just like Zatara's spell had before the bayou in Lousiana, a small beacon appeared on the map, this time situated on the Eastern Seaboard, and Silverbird couldn't help but smile again.

It seemed like Zatanna was a lot stronger than she thought.

"Coordinates locked in!" Robin exclaimed after a moment. "Roanoke Island,"

"You did it," Reese tilted her head towards Zatanna and sent the magician another smile. "Nice job,"

H A P P Y  H A R B O R
November 6, 00:05 EDT

The Team was making the final preparations they each needed to before leaving for Roanoke when suddenly, the hairs on the back of Reese's neck stood on end, the way they always did in a thunderstorm.

Robin abruptly whipped around from where he had been standing beside Kid Flash and leaped towards Silverbird, slamming into her and knocking both of them to the ground just as a massive lightning bolt struck the floor where Reese had been standing a split-second before, along with a loud voice that shouted "Shazam!".

When the flash of light cleared, there was suddenly someone new standing in the cave, a young boy maybe a few years younger than Reese herself, dressed in a red hoodie, white t-shirt, and jeans.

"It worked!" the kid exclaimed, only to be met with a seething Robin as Dick grabbed the front of his sweatshirt and yanked the boy forward until they were face-to-face.

"Who are you?" he growled, more than a little bit pissed off and freaked out that the girl he loved almost got electrocuted by this kid. "Where did you come from?"

If Dick hadn't sensed the danger heading towards Reese in the seconds before the lightning bolt struck, she would've been killed. And he would not be able to deal with that.

The kid's eyes widened as he took in the irate protege in front of him, and he started to look a bit freaked out himself.

Robin felt a hand grab his forearm, and he turned, still scowling, to look at Silverbird, who was standing next to him, gently tugging on his arm and silently asking Dick to let the kid go.

Abruptly, the Boy Wonder released his grip, letting the newcomer stumble back as Robin straightened up again, the anger leaving him in a moment. Reese didn't let go of him, but Dick didn't know if that was for comfort, or to keep him from doing something stupid.

"Quick!" the kid exclaimed, making Robin turn towards him again. "Read my mind!"

Glancing towards M'gann, Dick saw Miss Martian's eyes glow green for a few seconds before she suddenly gasped, the greenish glow leaving her eyes as they returned to normal.

"He's...Captain Marvel," the martian breathed out.

"Yeah," Wally muttered, pointing a thumb at himself, thoroughly unconvinced, an Reese had to admit, it was pretty unbelievable. "And I'm Speedy Gonzalez,"

"Look, KF has a point," Silverbird agreed but held up a hand when Wally suddenly grinned. "And this is the only time I'll agree with you, but just because this kid thinks he's a Justice Leaguer, doesn't mean--,"

But, the younger kid just smirked and crossed his arms. "Gee, Reese, Wally," he began. "Do I have to bring the speedster nachos and pineapple juice and get kidnapped by a psychotic gorilla with Silverbird to get on your good sides?"

For several seconds, all anyone could do was blink, before they all glanced at each other. After a couple more moments, everyone turned to look at Reese, who sighed again.

Looks like her job as a human lie detector was going to come into play again.

Walking forward so she was standing in front of "Captain Marvel", Silverbird tilted her head to the side.

"What's your name?" she asked because, for all they knew, the real Captain Marvel could've told this kid about waiting on Wally and getting captured by Monsieur Mallah in India with Reese, all because of some sort of elaborate recount of his Justice League missions.

"Captain Marvel," the kid answered simply, and Reese hissed a breath out from between her teeth.

"Your real name," she clarified, and the kid put his hands on his hips.

"Geez," he retorted. "Haven't you ever heard of a secret identity? I mean, sure, you don't hide it, Miss Rhysalin Blaire Queen, but Robin does, and if he suddenly appeared in a flash of lightning in a cave--"

"Just tell me your name!" Reese cut him off again, clenching her fists at her side, and the kid sighed again.

"Fine," he muttered, looking increasingly put-out about it, but he complied anyway. "My name is Billy Batson, but I can change into Captain Marvel--and an adult--because of this magical sorcerer and a rock that gave me superpowers. There. Happy?"

To say that Reese was speechless would be an understatement, but after a couple of seconds, she turned back to face the Team, who was watching both her and Billy expectantly.

"He's telling the truth," Silverbird said simply, and her friends' eyes widened before Wally held up a hand again.

"Wait," the redhead cut in, waving his hand towards Billy. "Your last name is Batson? As in, like, Bat-son? Seriously?"

Robin elbowed him in the ribs again, and KF rubbed his side, wincing as Billy started to explain what exactly had happened.

It seemed like the adults hadn't all disappeared forever, but they had been sucked into another dimension, one without children. And while the rest of the Justice League was trying to control the inciting pandemonium, Batman, Red Tornado, and Zatara had been left in Mount Justice after their proteges had "disappeared", trying to figure out what was going on, much like the Team had done when their mentors vanished.

There were now two dimensions coexisting at the same time. One without adults, and one without children, and it looked like the only way to get everything back to normal was to defeat the magic-user (or users) responsible at Roanoke and merge the dimensions back into one.

Luckily, it seemed as if Captain Marvel was able to travel between the two dimensions, and by having Billy hop back and forth between the two, the Team and Justice League were able to devise a plan that would hopefully set everything back to the way it was supposed to be.

R O A N O K E
November 6, 01:01 EDT

Klarion was a Lord of Chaos, and thus, remarkably hard to sneak up on, but honestly, Reese wasn't even surprised that bratty Witch-Boy was involved.

Following their planning with Batman and Zatara, with Captain Marvel acting as their carrier pigeon, the Team headed to Roanoke Island, where Zatanna had managed to track the magic's signature.

And though both Robin and Artemis were adept at being stealthy, they were no match for Klarion, and he managed to stop the wing-dings that Dick threw towards him, and arrows that Artemis shot, without batting an eye.

"Is that really the best you could do?" the Lord of Chaos admonished the two, before sending a blast of lightning straight at them.

The ground in front of Dick and Artemis exploded, throwing them backward, and while it wasn't good (in fact, it was very, very bad), it gave the rest of the Team, namely Silverbird, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Superboy, an opportunity to move in and try to defeat Klarion themselves.

Of course, that didn't work either, because as soon as they got close, Klarion activated a red dome-shaped shield around the dimension-splitting pentagram, and all four of them quite literally bounced off of it, flying backward in different directions.

As Reese lay dazed on the ground, trying to make the stars in front of her eyes disappear, Zatanna stepped in front of her and extended a hand towards Klarion.

"Etativel mih ffo eht margatnep!" she shouted, and while a small section of the dome lost its color for a moment, it was back to normal seconds later, and Klarion was still standing.

"Tch," the Lord of Chaos tsked as Silverbird sat up, rubbing her head. "Baby magic,"

Then, Klarion said another spell, and waved his hand again, before Zatanna was thrown back through the air, but luckily, Conner managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

M'gann telekinetically threw large boulders on the shield, trying to break it, but they didn't do much damage, or any, for that matter, and, with the demeanor of someone who quite literally, had nothing to lose, Klarion turned around, opened his mouth, and blew a stream of fire straight at Miss Martian, though she managed to dodge before she was hit.

Finally managing to get to her feet after being thrown off of Klarion's shield, Silverbird glanced over at where Artemis was standing next to Wally.

"Listen," the speedster was telling her. "When Fate possessed my body, he defeated Klarion by attacking the cat!"

Reese snapped her head to the side where, outside of Klarion's shield, a dark orange tabby cat sat calmly, licking its paw. That had to be Klarion's familiar, the brunette realized. His anchor to the mortal world. Defeat the cat, and Klarion got sent back to whatever demonic dimension he came from.

"Good," Artemis muttered, pointing an arrow towards the feline. "Not a big cat fan anyway,"

She let the arrow fly, but Klarion saw it coming and made it instead turn into a ball of hunter-green yarn, which bounced harmlessly to the ground in front of his cat as the Lord of Chaos started to laugh.

"Show him what the familiar to a Lord of Chaos can do, Teekl," he cackled, and as Reese was trying to process the fact that his cat had the weirdest name, Teekl started to change, turning into some kind of massive sabretooth-like tiger.

Silverbird ran forward, shooting several arrows at the now monstrous-cat, but they just bounced off Teekl like bullets ricocheting off of Superman, and the familiar lashed its paw out, catching Reese in the chest and throwing her backward.

The razor-sharp claws had ripped through the front of her jacket but hadn't broken through Silverbird's skin, which the brunette was insanely grateful for, but she had to roll to the side to avoid getting her head crushed by Teekl's paw.

Before Reese could even begin to think about escaping from Teekl this time, the monstrous cat swiped her aside again.

Rolling, Silverbird only just managed to avoid Teekl once more, and the cat instead slammed into a tree, destroying it and making splinters fly everywhere, and the familiar turned to the twelve-year-old, growling menacingly and poised to strike.

But, before it could, Conner slammed into the massive tiger-cat, hefting it up and throwing it down the path.

"Go!" Superboy shouted over his shoulder at Reese as he squared off against the familiar. "I've got this kitty-cat handled,"

Though she was still slightly worried about Conner, Superboy was more indestructible than Silverbird was, so she turned back to Klarion's pentagram, just as the small jewel in the center of it, which Reese had noticed when the Team arrived, started to glow, lightning arcing out of it.

And the jewel suddenly having an electrical charge did not seem to make Klarion happy.

"So..." the Lord of Chaos sneered as Reese crept up behind him, an arrow already drawn. She didn't think it would do much damage (it hadn't so far), but it was worth a try. "You've teamed up with the grown-ups. Teamwork's so overrated,"

Klarion waved a hand just as Silverbird let go of her arrow, and bolts of lightning erupted from the gem, flying through the air and hitting members of the Team.

Kaldur used his Atlantean sorcery tattoos to redirect the lightning, but Reese and Dick were hit head-on, and they flew backward.

Reese was 95% sure she blacked out for several seconds, maybe even minutes, because when she opened her eyes, Billy was with M'gann, and his voice was sounding inside her head.

'That's so cool!' he was exclaiming, sounding excited, and vaguely, Reese wondered what he was talking about, but before she could think too much on it, his voice turned serious again. 'I mean, it's the gem, at the center of the pentagram. Destroy it, and we win!'

'That's all I needed to know,' Zatanna spoke next, and when Silverbird turned around, she saw the young magician holding the Helmet of Fate in her hands, which the Team had disguised as a rock when they first got to Roanoke.

"Wait, Zatanna!" Reese cried out, holding out a hand. "Stop! You don't know what you're doing!"

"I know enough," the other girl responded simply before she pulled the Helmet onto her head. In a flash of light, Zatanna was gone, and in her place was Doctor Fate, though Zee's dark hair flowed from beneath the bottom of the Helmet.

Fate flew up into the air, and a golden holographic ankh appeared in the sky, just as Fate lurched towards the Lord of Chaos.

"Klarion!" the Doctor exclaimed, his voice a strange combination of Nabu's and Zatanna's own. They were nothing alike but spoke in unison with one another, resulting in an odd medley of tones. "This ends now!"

Klarion sneered at the appearance of his oldest enemy, as M'gann spoke to Billy again.

'Billy, tell Zatara!' the Martian said hurriedly, and the younger boy gave a hurried agreement before yelling "Shazam!" again and disappearing.

Klarion, meanwhile, sent a blast of reddish-white magic hurtling towards Zatanna/Fate, but the Doctor matched it with a golden magic blast of his own.

Robin was still out cold, and M'gann levitated him out of the way as the Team rendezvoused again. Reese crouched beside Dick, gently placing her hand on the side of his face. He'd be okay, but the Boy Wonder wouldn't be joining the fight again anytime soon.

"Go, Kid," Aqualad told Wally, just before the speedster ran in the opposite direction, away from the fight, and for all of six seconds, Reese was thoroughly confused, but after a look from Kaldur, she realized that their leader probably had a plan.

Then, making sure that Robin wasn't going to end up going anywhere, Silverbird joined Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Doctor Fate in trying to break down Klarion's dome.

Since her arrows had done zero damage earlier, Reese decided to use her other abilities, to see if they would be of any use, and let loose a Canary Cry, the hypersonic soundwave flying towards the red dome, and while the waves made the shield ripple as if it were a pond that someone just dropped a pebble into, there wasn't any more damage than that.

Klarion was getting more and more pissed off from Doctor Fate's own attacks, and made little balls of menacing red magic and started to toss them like tennis balls towards the Lord of Order, but as she glanced up at where Zatanna was still possessed by Nabu, Fate's form flickered, and for all of two seconds, Reese saw her magician friend again, before Doctor Fate was in Zee's place.

That little tidbit seemed to amuse Klarion immensely.

"Ha!" the Lord of Chaos cackled again triumphantly, his eyes turning to demonic pinpricks of red. "See? When the worlds divided, the Helmet split too. You're not all here, Nabu! And you're losing hold of that poor, innocent, soon-to-be-dead girl. Heh, she gave herself for nothing,"

"No, Witch-Boy," Fate retorted, his voice still a weird mixture of Nabu's own and Zatanna's as he flew higher up in the air and summoned more magic. "Fate decrees her sacrifice will not be in vain,"

The blast of magic hit Klarion's shield with the force of seventy freight-trains, and that, combined with the efforts of M'gann, who continued to throw even bigger boulders at the dome, Kaldur, who had turned his water-bearers into a sledgehammer and was uh...hammering at the shield with it, and Reese, who let loose another sonic scream, Klarion wasn't able to keep up.

The magic shield dissipated around the Witch-Boy amidst Klarion's ensuing temper tantrum, and Fate summoned another ankh, throwing it towards the Lord of Chaos and trapping him like the stocks from the 1600s, if only for the moment.

"Now, Kid!" Aqualad shouted over his shoulder, and Wally sped in, running across the pentagram and grabbing the gem before Klarion had time to blink.

Ah, Reese realized. So that had been Kaldur's plan. It always helped to have a speedster on the Team.

"Doc!" Wally skidded to a stop a ways away from Klarion and lobbed the gem up into the air, towards Doctor Fate. "Catch!"

Nabu caught it and started the spell that would--hopefully--bring the two dimensions back together again.

"Yam eht owt emoceb eno ecno erom!" As soon as the spell was over, the pentagram glowed again, and four more sorcerers appeared on the other spots indicated in the immediate vicinity.

Silverbird wasn't surprised when she recognized them. Wotan, Felix Faust, Wizard, and Blackbriar Thorn. Reese wasn't sure how Wotan had escaped from prison, since he had been captured with the rest of the Injustice League when the Team and Justice League fought them in the bayou, but whatever.

Speaking of the League, along with Klarion's fellow evil-magic-users, among the others that appeared were Batman, Zatara, and Red Tornado. Captain Marvel was there too, but Silverbird wasn't entirely sure if Billy counted as an adult or a kid.

Klarion's buddies fell to the ground as soon as they appeared, and the Lord of Chaos glanced around, before shrugging and looking almost sheepish. 

"Well," he began. "They sure don't make evil immortal sorcerers like they used to. Oh well," Klarion then snapped his fingers, and the ankh he had been trapped in dissipated like blowing sand, and the Lord of Chaos stood up, brushing off his jacket. "Fun while it lasted. Teekl!" the familiar, who had been crouched over Superboy, growling in Conner's face, glanced up, and ran towards Klarion, shifting back into a tabby cat on the way. The cat jumped into Klarion's arms, just as the sorcerer made a portal appear in the air in front of him. Before he jumped through, Klarion glanced over his shoulder again. "See you later, armadillos! Unless I see you first," he exclaimed, before jumping through, cackling maniacally, and then he was gone.

"Aren't you going to stop him?" Wally asked, skidding to a stop in front of Doctor Fate, but Nabu just stared at him blankly.

"To what end?" he asked. "Klarion is chaos personified. He cannot be contained,"

Seeing Robin stir from beside her, Reese helped him stand, and Dick winced, holding his ribs with his free hand.

"Ugh," he groaned, still a bit spacey after being knocked unconscious by the lightning. "Did we win?"

"At a cost," Kaldur said simply, and when Dick still looked a bit confused, Reese leaned over.

"Zatanna put on the Helmet of Fate," she explained quietly, and Robin winced again, glancing up at where Doctor Fate still hovered in the air as Zatara walked forward.

"Fate!" the older magician shouted. "Great Nabu, release my daughter,"

For several tension-filled seconds, Doctor Fate didn't speak, before finally, just when Reese thought the Lord of Order wouldn't say anything at all, Nabu gave his answer.

"No,"

Reese's eyes widened in shock, and she felt Robin tighten his grip around her shoulder as Doctor Fate gave an explanation for why exactly he wasn't letting Zatanna go.

"Witness the havoc wrought in these hours," Nabu began. "The world needs Doctor Fate, and the girl's natural affinity for the mystic arts makes her the perfect candidate,"

"You can't do that!" Artemis cried out.

"Yeah!" Reese agreed. "Zatanna has her own life to live! You can't just take that away from her! Kent would never allow--"

"Kent Nelson did object," Nabu interrupted, turning to look down at Silverbird. "Strenuously. So I released his spirit to the afterlife. He is gone,"

Across the way, Reese saw Wally look stricken, and she knew that despite the short time the speedster had spent with the original host of Nabu when he had put the helmet on in Salem, the two had been close.

Reese clenched her eyes shut, feeling tears well up in the corners. Kent had been nice, and he was willing to inhabit the Helmet for a little bit longer if only so Nabu would let both Wally and Reese go. He had been the one who had given Reese the golden arrowheads in the first place, the arrowheads that were currently her and Dick's lifeline, connecting them to each other.

She couldn't believe he was gone.

"Take me instead," Silverbird snapped her head up, to see Zatara standing in front of them all, his arms spread out. "My skills are already at their peak. My body is physically stronger; better able to withstand the strain of your power,"

"All true," Fate retorted. "But if I remove the Helmet, what guarantees have I that you will don it?"

"My word," Zatara said simply, before spreading his arms even wider. "Ekat em daetsni,"

For a few seconds, Fate didn't move, and Reese began to fear that Zatara's bargain wouldn't be met, but then, Doctor Fate had landed in front of Zatanna's father, and Nabu took off the Helmet, Zatanna in control of her body once more.

When she saw her father standing in front of her, the young magician grinned, and she ran forward and embraced him.

"Remember," Zatara said, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his daughter's forehead. "I love you," Then, after taking the Helmet of Fate out of Zatanna's hands, he turned to Batman and the other gathered heroes. "Take care of my girl,"

"You have my word," the Dark Knight responded, before Zatara stepped back again, and raised the Helmet above his head.

"No!" Zatanna exclaimed, shrugging off the hand that Reese extended towards her. "This is my fault! Dad, don't! Dad!"

But, it was too late.

A flash of light and Zatara was gone. Turning away from Zatanna without a second glance, Doctor Fate flew up into the air and levitated the four captured sorcerers with him.

"Leave these to Fate," he said simply, and with another flash of light, all five were gone.

As soon as they disappeared, Zatanna fell to her knees, and Silverbird, Artemis, and Kid Flash all crouched beside her, trying to provide some semblance of comfort, but what they could do to help, none of them were really sure.

M O U N T  J U S T I C E
November 7, 09:16 EST

The next morning, the Team was helping Zatanna move into the cave, this time permanently. 

When Reese had returned to Star City the night before, she had found her Dad in their apartment, and Oliver had hugged her so hard Reese almost couldn't breathe, but for once, Reese was okay with that. Because at least she had her father, adoptive or not.

Zatanna though...

"My room's right next door," M'gann told Zatanna as she, Artemis, Reese, and Dick all set down boxes in Zee's new room. "If you need anything..."

"Thanks," Zatanna said quietly, giving M'gann a small smile before she glanced away. "But, right now, I'd like a little alone time, okay?"

"Of course," Artemis responded before they all started to walk out.

But, before she left, Reese paused in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder at where Zatanna was still standing in the center of the room. She knew what the black-haired girl was going through, losing her biological parents four years ago, but still...that pain? It never went away.

And, as she and Dick walked down the hallway behind Artemis and M'gann, Reese was able to hear Zatanna's sobs.

-----

Reese is me whenever I have to speak in front of people. I literally had an anxiety attack a few years ago when I had to read one of my stories in front of a total stranger to get a summer scholarship for writing. I got the scholarship, but still...total nightmare.

I'm on Christmas break right now, so I will be writing a lot over the next two weeks, and hopefully, I will be able to finish the first part of this book by New Years' and start on my plan for the five-year gap. I have an outline for it and everything! :)

I posted an announcement on my message board a few weeks ago, but I did make a Disalyn Spotify playlist, and the link is still there if you want to check it out, it's the link in my bio.

Next Up: Coldhearted (Reese and Wally need their bonding moment too, don't you think?)

~Matia~