Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

Missing

I was beyond puzzled by Dick's willingness to leave my side. For one, if my friend had been kidnapped, I would have likely had a stroke and demanded they never leave my side. Before the three of us "split up," Dick made a quick call to Barbra to explain the game plan. We would spread out in search of children, especially those needing immediate help, and would gather them at the academy. I was thankful to know that I wasn't the only sane person left as she shrieked at us over the phone. You know, as a completely rational person would.

We promised to meet up with her soon, and went our separate ways, promising to keep our phones turned on in case anything else happened. I pulled my backpack and weapons out of Linh's car and checked them for trackers before tucking them safely into my jacket. I probably resembled a drug dealer or something as I tried to hide them before Dick could see. It would have been nice to use the vehicles to get around, only the roads were completely blocked off.

The moment Dick was out of our sight, I began to sprint down the road. Cars, nearly all of their engines still on, were crashed all over the streets, creating an impossible labyrinth of torn metal, glass, and bumpers. Every adult driver had vanished, leaving no one to steer them. I swallowed hard. I wondered how many people had been injured. As much as I wanted to immediately start looking for kids, I understood the kind of responsibility instantly fell onto mine and Artemis's shoulders.

The League would normally handle situations like this, but seeing as there were no Leagers even here, it was up to the Team to figure out a plan, decide what to do. Artemis and I picked up a stray motorcycle that had relatively survived crashing into a lamp pole, and drove ourselves to the nearest Zeta Tube to the Cave.

Because of the dire circumstances were in, mixed with my panic, I'd say it took us about three minutes to reach the Cave. And I was nearly hysterical. For all I knew, George- wherever he was- was already carting my dad off to some laboratory! When we finally teleported into the hanger, most of the Team was already here.

There were several wooden crates lying about, all filled to the brim with our monthly groceries, Wolf's dog food, and anything else a secret hideout might need. One thing was for sure, Costco probably loved us. But the food and supplies remained widely untouched, except for a crate that had fallen over, its contents spilled everywhere and unattended.

M'gann, Connor, Kaldur, Wally, and Zatana stood near the Bioship, talking among themselves. They looked distressed, voices raised and speaking quickly. I felt a twinge of surprise to see the young magician. It wasn't very often she visited, so I figured she was probably here with her father... before he disappeared. Wally quickly took notice of our arrival, and in a flash of red hair he was by our side.

"Artemis!" Wally said and ran up to us. "Good, you're here!"

I noticed a couple of snickerdoodle cookies held tightly in his hands. When I raised my eyebrows at it, Wally gave me a defensive look.

"Hey, everyone deals with stress differently." He shoved another cookie in his mouth.

We went to join the rest of the group, all wearing matching serious expressions. There were deep creases in Kaldur's forehead, ones that he only seemed to get during desperate missions. His grey eyes were stormy and stoic, almost so that I gulped and felt bad for the evil guys.

"I'm sure that you've already aware, but we have a situation." Kaldur said, his expression darkening.

I nodded furiously, unable to contain myself for a second more.

"Yes! Thanos happened! Someone went snappy snappy- and Poof! Gone!" I exclaimed, all of my words jumbling together.

I probably looked hysterical- I was waving my arms, I was panting, and my hair was all windblown from speeding on a motorcycle. Not to mention my eyes were probably red from whatever nasty chemical Linh's collar sprayed me with.