The Hunt ⋆ Young Justice (o.h.)

four : within hours

( CHAPTER FOUR : WITHIN HOURS )

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HEARNE HAD BEEN HAVING A NICE DAY. A good, relaxed day. She had spent the past two days with Athena, enjoying the time that she'd lacked recently. But it was Athena's idea to spend more time with the team, to try to "bond" with them.

She didn't care about bonding with the Team. She wouldn't. She didn't make friends, not with them, not with anyone else. She wouldn't. It didn't make any sense to spend her time at the Cave, but Athena suggested it, and Hearne did what she said.

They had been watching a documentary, one on the crimes of a United States president, when Athena's phone rang. She held up a finger in apology as she took the call, the calm composure of her face slipping away.

"It's Bruce," she said. "He needs you."

"Now?"

Athena nodded as she hung up the phone. "Take the Zeta to Gotham, and hurry. Your team's in trouble."

"They're not my team."

Quickly, Hearne changed into her suit, the skin of her freshly-applied tattoo aching as the fabric ran over it. She grabbed her curved dagger as an afterthought, deciding that it was the best weapon she owned for this situation, and sprinted out of the house without a word to Athena.

The Zeta-Tube greeted her as she stepped into the other side, the warm streets of Gotham meeting her.

Her muscles tensed as Batman dropped down beside her, soundlessly against the pavement.

"Why didn't you call me beforehand?" she hissed, eyes narrowed on the man.

"I wanted to give you and Athena time alone, I thought they could handle it."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but next time, call."

They climbed up a fire escape ladder on the side of a building, reaching a glass-paned skylight that looked down into a warehouse below.

"You know they don't trust you," he said. "Not like they should."

"Whether or not they trust me is up to them," she said. "I am not asking for their trust."

"You should be."

The enemy stood below the skylight, a muddy creature, approaching Aqualad who sat on the ground, the others limply laying on the ground to the side.

"I'll drop down, throw disks that will blow his arm. You come down after, target his other arm." He looked toward the dagger in her hand. "Can that do anything else?"

"It can blow an arm off," she answered vaguely. "Go."

Batman dropped down, the glass breaking beneath him as two disks hit the enemy square in the arm, the mud of his arm splatting against the walls.

Hearne dropped down shortly after, landing in a kneeling position, the tattoo on her arm growing hot beneath her suit as her dagger glowed black.