Scarlet Justice: Identity - Young Justice Fanfiction

The Family Reunion of The Century

Dick's POV

It was quite cool in the middle of the desert at this time of night

Captain Atom was the first to great us on the outskirts of the League's base. Thankfully he gave us a ride. After a long day, my limbs were ready to give out. Kristen clutched the boomtube to her chest but didn't greet the Captain. When we touched down in the main courtyard, there were many more faces to see.

The courtyard was in the center of the base, the facilities surrounding us in a wide oval. On the outside, I had seen a couple training fields and such, but no personnel. I assumed we weren't ready to use this one yet and why would we when the Tower had all this and more.

The crowd awaiting us included Conner, M'gann, Artemis, Kaldur, and Zatanna.

The group rushed us with questions. I was going to note the solemn feeling around us but it seemed to be they were trying to hide it. Soon Kristen and I were separated as Z pulled her aside and I forgot my initial concerns.

"Man, am I glad to see you two," Conner and I gripped each other's forearms and reached for a hug. "Everything went according to plan I see."

"I told you guys, piece of cake," I had to force myself to smile for that one. It felt like I was trying to push a needle through a wall of concrete. No one received my attempt at a joke. 

"We're expecting Darkseid in at least another 4 hours or so," Artemis reported and I snorted in response. Leave it up to her get right down to business.

"Well, without his female body guards, we should expect a fair fight," Kristen joined the conversation, giving Artemis and M'gann a hug. "Is everyone here?"

"The last squad just landed about 45 minutes ago, but we had been started on recovery a good 6 hours beforehand," M'gann said. She seemed quieter, a little distracted. "All the 10 are accounted for, and we made sure to leave a wide open path for the Eclipse."

"So what's taking them so long, 4 hours is a longer wait time than we anticipated."

Kaldur patted me on the shoulder, "Let us take it with stride my friend, I'm sure you and Kristen need the rest."

"Don't say another word, Kaldur," Kristen sighed loudly and leaned into me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, making sure to hold on tight. If I didn't, maybe she would slip away from me again.

"Besides," Artemis gave me a cold look. "You guys have missed a lot."

Surrounded by friends and a heavy layer of confusion, Kristen and I made our way through the base towards what looked like a lounge space. I was about to go inside before Artemis stopped us. The others just looked on like they were holding the largest secret.

"Can someone please-"

"Shhh," M'gann cut Kris off. It's better if we speak this way.

M'gann, what happened? I asked.

Kaldur met my gaze and I was taken aback by the grief in his eyes. Not everyone is accounted for.

What's going on? Come on, guys, you said we were good to go for Phase 3. Kris seemed to be getting more impatient by the second. 

We are, Conner grunted. Look, Beta squad was around the fifth of sixth squad to make it to base-

Beta, beta, who was on that squad? I looked over at Kris but she must have already figured it out. Her eyes were wide but she didn't interrupt.

Cassie was...injured before the squad could return and...

"No," A wisp of air left my mouth. "You can't be-"