Long Past Dawn

I slip out of the shadows and into the back of a Kobra team, they don't question me and must assume that I was one of the ones knocked out. As we get to the entrance of the tunnel there's a loud bang and I see a giant indent in the tunnel wall from either the Blockbuster monster or Superboy. Either way, it's the right direction.

When I'm finally standing in the tunnel the rest of the team is running head of us while trying to dodge both bullets and Blockbuster. Seeing as it's pretty much all gone to hell I keep on running without anyone noticing until I'm almost in front of the last of the Kobra agents. Nobody seems to have noticed who I really am so I might as well block them off before they can.

I sprint the last of the way to an old support beam and run slightly past it before turning and trying my best not to get shot. As I'm about to shoot out the beam I realize I never checked to see if the gun was loaded, I sigh but no time like the present I guess.

Holding the gun up I hear a few of the Kobra agents yell at me in Spanish but I just smirk as I fire at the support beam and a steady stream of bullets hits into the rotting wood.

There's a crumbling noise and after a few more bullets I start to run clear of the caving in support. The Kobra agents must realize that I'm not on their side and what I've done because behind me I hear curses in Spanish and the sound of them running back.

A moment later and the tunnel is blocked off and I have to stop running and catch my breath. My eyes water slightly from the dust in the air and when I look up I see the team looking at me with distrust. Have they really not figured it out? Well, I guess I am in the full Kobra uniform plus I have a loaded gun...

I take off the mask covering half my face and smile, "Hey."

They relax a little when they see it's me and I throw back the hood. I'm still panting and I cough as the dust finally starts to settle. "Had to go back and get something," I say as Kaldur snaps a glow stick create a light source.

Robin stands with his back to Kaldur, looking to the cave in, while Wally leans heavily on the wall, Superboy calmly stands beside and M'gann is on the other side.

"How can my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Robin questions. I don't exactly remember electing him team leader but I don't bring anything up.

"Your first mission!" Wally snorts disbelievingly and I'm about done with these two.

"Ok, enough is enough. Neither one of you is a leader and if you wanna continue your stupid argument then you can take it up with me back at the cave." I say as I glare at the two and they immediately shut up.

Kaldur sets down the two pieces of the glow stick, nodding to me before looking towards Robin. "You do have the most experience. But perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared."

Wally stands and I look over at Robin trying to figure out what he's thinking. "Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are clearly defined. You two do not need to talk. But this team is new. And a leader needs to be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play part in an unknown plan."

Robin turns and physically swipes the idea away. "Oh, so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands?" then looks down with a pained groan. "Ah, who am I kidding?" he questions, there's slight sadness in his tone. "You should lead us, Kaldur. You're the only one who can."

"Please!" Wally shouts. "I can run circles-"

"Wally, come on." Robin cuts him off, I'm slightly surprised he used his real name during the mission. "You know he's the one, we all do."

"Hello, Megan!" M'gann says, placing her hands on her h.i.p.s. "It's so obvious."

"Coulda told ya." Superboy concurs, leaning against a support beam slightly behind Kaldur with his arms cross and smiling. He turns his attention towards Wally with a frown.

Wally brings his hands off his h.i.p.s and over his shoulders as he shrugs, then brings his hands back to his h.i.p.s and smiles. "Okay."

"Scarlet?" Kaldur asks as he glances over at me.

I pause for a moment thinking over what to say, "To be honest, as long as it's not a crap plan and it doesn't go against my morals, I don't care who it is." I pause and breathe out, "So I think that fits you pretty well."

"Then I accept the burden," he says as he walks towards Robin pausing as he places his hand on his shoulder. "until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon." Robin is smiling the whole way through the speech and confirms the terms with a small nod. Kaldur then looks over towards me, "And Scarlet, I know you'll always be here to step in if a mission goes bad."

He turns away and looks to all of the Team. "Alright, our priority is preventing that shipment from leaving the island." they all gather around.

Robin laughs, crosses his arms, and takes on a Wally-like smirk. "Funny. I had the same thought."

I nod and lean against the wall before I reach into my pocket. "Now that everything's been decided, do we have any idea what's in this?"

I hold up the vile of venom I was able to sneak out and the team looks at me in surprise. "You got a vile out?" Robin asks, slightly shocked.

I nod and he and Wally share a look. "From what we found it's a mixture of venom and the blockbuster formula," Robin shares after a moment. "And Sportsmaster is the buyer."

I nod and we get up. It's time to start moving again. "But it still doesn't track. He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula or to get Kobra to do his dirty work." Robin adds as we run.

Wally and Robin run in the front with Kaldur and Superboy behind and behind them M'gann and I fly behind them.

"And neither of them have the chops to bond Blockbuster with Venom." Wally agrees. "That took some major nerdage."

"I believe the expression is 'tip of the iceberg'," Kaldur states, but we all come to a stop when we see Bane standing in front of the exit. Something long and metal dropping from his grip. Joining at least half a dozen more just like it on the ground.

"Halt, niños," Bane commands, something bright green sticking out of his left hand. "I'm feeling explosive."

Behind us are explosives on the second to last support beam, judging by the cave in I made earlier, we wouldn't make it out in time if he presses that button.

"You betrayed us. Why?" Kaldur asks, sounding honestly confused. And as much as I want to say told you so, now isn't the time.

"I want my factory back," Bane states simply.

"Kid, you'll need a running start," Kaldur says through the mind link, Wally he's told and slowly starts taking steps backward.

"So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying," he smirks proudly before continuing. "If the latter, the Justice League would certainly come to avenge their sidekicks. And when the smoke cleared Santa Prisca would be mine once more." he holds out the trigger. "Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect." he didn't notice the blur and went to hit the button on to find it missing.

"With what?" Wally's voice asks from behind Bane. Leaning smugly against a nearby tree as Bane turns to him. "This trigger thingy?" he continues to question, showing Bane the still intact trigger in his hand.

"We're not so easy to kill off," I smirk at him as he goes to punch Wally but was pulled back and away by an unseen force. Or rather M'gann's telekinesis. Now being held a good ten feet off the ground I join her where Bane can see us.

Superboy drops into a fighting stance. "Finally." sounding both pleased, amused, and some frightening degree of desperate. M'gann looks to him and fully settles into his stance. "Drop him."

She looks up innocently as she drops her hand, the force holding Bane diminishes and he falls right into the hard uppercut from Superboy.

As he stumbles back I freeze him in place and his eyes glare at us, full of hate. As I dust off my hands with a smirk I hear helicopter blades whirring in the distance. Seems like it didn't take them long to regroup.

We all run over to the cliffside overlooking the factory again. "We need a plan..." I mutter as I look over the factory.

"Is there any chance you could sneak back in Scarlet?" Kaldur asks as he looks over at me and I shake my head.

"They'll have found those agents by now, and I assume they'd be able to put two and two together, especially seeing as what happened in the tunnel," I explain as I watch them load up the helicopter.

Kaldur nods at my explanation before turning silent for a moment. "We can't let that shipment leave this place," Wally states as we watch.

Kaldur nods before he starts to explain his plan.

A few minutes later we're all in position and I hide with Wally behind some bushes near the helicopter pad.

"The helicopter is operational, exalted one," An agent states the obvious as Sportsmaster walks back down towards the chopper with the silver box filled with venom. Only to be stopped as Wally runs in and takes out the two furthest agents in the rows on both his sides, then over to one of the agents now shooting at him. Kicking him in the c.h.e.s.t and knocking him away from the gun.

"Take the shipment!" Kobra commands. Two more agents come up behind him, and as Sportmaster goes to leave Superboy drops in, cracking the concrete only a few feet away from the helicopter.

"Go again?" he asks Blockbuster. The monster roars, Wally takes out one other Kobra agent between the two super-strong forces, just as he gets within striking distance a stream of water takes out the monster. "Sorry. Not the plan." I look over to ensure that Kaldur isn't being ambushed as he holds the water stream.

Sportsmaster gets behind Superboy, using the cover of the helicopter and hits him with a bright red blast from his gun on the teen's back. He gets two more shots, then starts rapidly firing as he manages to force the Superboy backward. In his distraction, M'gann goes unseen.

Until she tries to swoop in and help, only for Sportsmaster to hit her hard, disabling her camouflage and get her in a chokehold. All while still shooting at Superboy. I click my tongue, knowing it wouldn't be that easy.

While still in hiding, I aim at his gun and freeze it. Sportsmaster looks down at the gun and throws it to the side in annoyance, but this gives Superboy the opening he needs. Superboy is able to land a blow on him making him slide back a few paces.

Sportsmaster clicks his tongue and grabs a metal stick which grows in length to the size of a large metal pipe. Superboy growls and the two continue fighting.

Wally takes out one of the few remaining cultists' guns, swiping his mask in the process. "Souvenir." then continues to run as the agent falls unconscious. Shimmer and Kobra take a step back.

In a second a bola wraps around Shimmer's body and knocks her to the ground. Looking to the source Kobra glares at Robin. "I know you hate getting your hands dirty." Robin snarks as if he did the cult leader a favor.

"True," though he reaches up and takes off his cloak. Revealing his shaved head and matching pale body. "but sometimes even a God must stoop to conquer."

Robin smirks and charges at Kobra, bringing a knee up with a high jump. Only for Kobra to block it with one hand. Robin's eyes widen, but narrow as he drops back down and goes to sweep out his feet.

Kobra only needs to lift one leg. Robin pushes off the ground once more, a roundhouse aiming right for Kobra's face. Which the Cult Leader catches with a singular hand, then front kicking Robin in the c.h.e.s.t and watching as he flips to land on his feet once more and slide back a few feet. His teeth clenching, but he doesn't attack again. "What's wrong, boy? You look disconcerted."

Wally runs around, taking out three more Kobra agents standing in a semi-circle. The fourth remains and goes to shoot at Wally only to be shoulder checked by him.

Kaldur continues to push Blockbuster farther with the water stream. Putting away a water-bearer his hand sparks like the eel that his tattoos mirror would. He touches the water to conduct the electricity. Lighting the monster up like a Christmas tree. His tattoos turning back to black as he puts his other water-bearer back. As Blockbuster stumbles back into the cliff wall I turn to him and my crystals grow out of the rockface and encase his arms and torso until he can't move.

Kaldur nods at me and I nod back before noticing a Kobra agent coming up behind me. I stand up and high kick him in the face before grabbing him and pinning him to the ground with a lock hold on his arms. I quickly knock him out and look around to see if there's anyone else.

Something in the helicopter catches my eye and I look in to see one other person I don't recognize. He looks to be my age and I'm confused as to why he's here. He's just sitting in the helicopter looking bored with his floppy blond hair covering his eyes. A shiver passes through me as I look at him, even though I can't see him clearly he seems familiar.

"Scarlet! Behind you!" Kaldur's voice shouts at me through the link and I spin around t see Blockbuster coming straight at me. I'm shocked, how did he break free?! Glancing over I see my crystals have disappeared completely.

I block a punch to my face and jump into the air as my wings spread out. Blockbuster growls and I look around for help but everyone is busy with someone. I try to figure out a plan as I dodge blows and land a few myself. Crystals won't hold him so what should I do? This would be a really good time for some godly powers not going to lie.

But no lightning comes from the sky to help me so I guess I'm on my own for this one. I get high enough so I can't get hit and roundhouse kick him in the head as hard as I can. He stumbles back and I hit him as hard as I can. He stumbles to the ground and I rise in the air before I tuck my wings back and let gravity give me the rest of the power. My fist lands right in his face and knocks him out cold, with the force of it creating a large dent in the cement.

I look around me and see Sportsmaster. Still fighting with Superboy and holding M'gann, he begins to back up into the loading bay of the chopper. "Thanks for the workout, but I gotta fly." then pauses long enough to throw M'gann into Superboy and knock both of them to the ground.

I watch silently, not making any motion to stop him and I don't look for that boy again. M'gann and Superboy also don't move as the chopper takes off. M'gann shows the trigger that they took from Bane to Superboy with a smile. Then presses the top.

Sportsmaster doesn't even know the explosives are there until it detonates. Setting the loading bay of the chopper on fire and blowing out the back. With that much of the chopper wreaked Sportsmaster loses control, seeing where he's going to crash he jumps out of the helicopter.

The chopper lands directly on the factory, destroying the whole thing. I smirk, imagining Bane's face as he watches, frozen, from the cliff face.

But it's not over yet, I look over to see Robin get knocked to the ground, and Kobra's massive foot stepping onto his c.h.e.s.t. He can't seem to move the foot keeping him pinned.

"I am plagued by mosquitoes!" Kobra proclaims, glaring down at Robin.

"Good," Robin says, smirking as he feels the pressure release slightly. "because this mosquito is mighty concerted over your pain!" he uses helicopter kicks to fully knock Kobra's leg off his c.h.e.s.t, then rolls into a handstand and spring back towards the rest of the team.

We stand defiant and ready to fight, Kobra glances to the side, then steps back calmly. "Another time then." He says before he disappears into the shadows.

Robin attempts to follow but is shocked to find only shrubbery and darkness. He walks back to find us still waiting.

"We picked the right guy to lead," Robin tells Kaldur sincerely. "Automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman!" then walks away laughing. I chuckle and shrug, he's not wrong.

Kaldur can only look down in thought.

***

Mount Justice; July 28th; 13:06 EDT

"A simple recon mission." Batman gets within inches of Kaldur's face as he berates him. "Observe and report!"

He then backs off. "You'll each receive written evaluations detailing your many mistakes." Batman walks past me and I stand at full attention for once. As much as I want to say that they cut radio transmission I don't think that would help our case much.

He comes to a pause beside Superboy, who is the last one in their line. "Until then - good job."

My head snaps up in shock, I then look to Batman out of the corner of t my eye. "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy." We all relax and stand slightly more comfortably. "How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success." I watch him as he continues and starts walking away. "And how you choose who leads determines character." Robin smiles, and Kaldur looks down at him and does as well.

"You've proven that well. Dismissed," He says and I let out a breath of relief. That lecture wasn't nearly as long as I had expected.

I sigh and slump slightly as the other's all head to the rec room. But I walk over to Batman. "What is it?" He asks when I walk up.

I pull out the vile of venom and hand it to him, "I was able to grab one before the factory went up."

Batman looks down at it and surprise flashed over his face for a moment before it returns to being as measured as ever. "I'll send it to be tested," Is all he says.

I nod silently and turn to join the other's who have left me behind. "Dawn," Batman calls after a moment and I turn, surprised he's using my real name. "I've received reports about your powers failing and that you've been looking into your past again."

My mood sours at the two memories. I didn't expect Stephen to rat me out but I also guess I never asked him not to and as for my powers... I'm still working on that one. "I'm fine," I say curtly.

"Is that what you are or what you're saying?" Batman asks with a raised brow and I hate that he can see through me so easily.

"Yes," I growl in reply as my wanting to leave only grows more.

"Diana and I worry about you," He says and though I take note of him using her real name I don't follow it up. "You can always take a break."

I don't need a break, what I need is answers. But I don't say that. "Is that all?" I say as he sighs and I take that as a yes.

I never seem to know what's going on anymore, but I'm going to find out, that's for sure.