Young Justice #2 - Shot Through The Heart

by

F. I. Melis

'Howdidthishappenhowdidthishappenhowdidthishappen.'

Bart Allen leaned against the wall in the hospital waiting room. His shoulders were hunched as if he'd been struck repeatedly. His golden eyes stared across the hall watching the doctors move. '

They were.. so slow. So slow. Shouldn't they be moving faster...why do they go so slow.'

They had cut her shirt open. Blood made the fabric cling to her. Why haven't they done anything. He got her here as fast as he could. They needed to move faster. But they couldn't could they. They could only go as fast as anyone else. He was alone here. He was the only one.

A nurse came by and ruffled his hair, another nurse came by and asked him if he wanted to change his shirt. He'd started to shake his head but somehow she just yanked the blood stained shirt off of him and shoved a shirt that came from a set of scrubs. He blinked on a daze before his golden eyes drifted back to the scene in the Exam Room..

'so slow what. what are they doing now..'

There was a crackle of sound. Someone.. he strained to look seemed to be saying Charging. another he actually heard as a nurse entered the room carrying bags of what seemed to be blood. he heard. ..

"Clear!"

Then they touched these paddles to Cissie.. her body Jerked. He flinched. He'd seen this.. 'seen this on tv.. they do this.. when the heart's stopped.' Bart wanted to look away, but how could he his friend was in there.

'SoSlowSoSlowSoSlow..' the thought kept chugging around in his mind like a locomotive, but Bart was frozen where he stood. The thought changed, it was him. He was the one too slow.. he could have been faster . something anything.. to have gotten her there.

Ten Minutes Ago.

"Cissie?"

Robin sounded odd. Bart turned then his world seemed to slow. Robin was holding the blond girl, she had sagged against him Blood was flowing from her slight body onto the boy's. "Oh GOD, Cissie!" Robin crouched down supporting her body trying to shift her with out making the wound wose, Bart was there before he took his next breath. She couldn't be hurt that bad, could she. he's fixed her before. But it was that much worse this time. There, protruding from her chest obscenely was an arrow. Its shaft wet with the girl's blood; it gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight. Kon was without words, his eyes were set on Cissie's face pale against the grass. He looked as if his mind was far away. Next Bart heard Cassie.

"Ci-cissie?" She was quiet. Almost as if someone had kicked her in the stomach, it was Secret who whispered.."Which way did it come from." Robin pointed and the smoky girl swooped away. Cassie suddenly got a cold look in her eyes and followed Secret. Bart had turned to follow but a hand had grabbed onto his t-shirt.

"She's not dead Bart.. not yet.. you.. you have to get her to the hospital. now. We'll join you there as soon as soon as we can." Robin's voice was calm, but anyone could hear the frayed edge that ran along it. It was the way he sounded during NML. As if the world was out of control, and not even he could save it. Bart's eyes locked on Cissie and the arrow again, it was so slight he'd almost missed it, but the arrow moved slowly with the girl's dying pulse, it was lodged in her slowing heart. Robin scooped up the girl again and passed her to Bart, "Impulse. GO." Bart had needed no other words.. He went.

Now.

Bart was alone staring at the tiles in the ceiling of the hospital. Each one the same and stark against the ceiling. It was horrible. Every sound, movement, twitch was agony. He was alone here. He'd had to answer questions to the police. He'd told them what had happened. an arrow came out of no where and hit her. They looked skeptical. They looked as if they even might want to take him down town. The young hero just enfolded himself on his seat, his arms wrapped firmly about his legs.

Then the next thing that happened was the slow motion movements of the doctors and nurses wheeling Cissie on her gurney out towards an elevator, he popped up in an instant, "What's happening!? What's going on!?" But instead a woman with a rather old hand pushed him back and way as they all moved into the elevator. Words came in bites and snatches.

"Operate.."

"Surgeon"

"Bleeding out"

He sagged to the seat again and just sat there shaking helpless at all he was unable to do.

Robin had them fan out to look for anything, something, a clue, a hint. Cassie to the sky and the others toward the forest from where the arrow had come. Kon rankled under this treatment. It was still hard for the Metropolis kid to come to grips with what he saw as the ultimate back stabbing from his 'chum.' Still there was a job to do.

Cissie.

The image of the blond girl stood before him in an instant. The thought ran through his head, 'Why.. why Cissie. she didn't even wear a uniform anymore.. what was the point.she shouldn't be a target for anything..'

A branch caught him across the face and a thorn scraped the skin, he cried out at the unexpected pain. A swift move brought his hand to his face to wipe at the. blood. It glistened on his hand for a moment and then started to dry. It was still a new sensation for him.. pain at the slightest injury. He'd almost missed it.. that flash of red off in the distance. "Hey you!" He didn't hesitate.. with as quick a move as he could manage Kon-El took off after the slight figure ahead of him making his way deeper into the woods.

Robin stood examining the scrap of fabric he had found. Scarlet.. almost the color of ..'Don't think about it Tim. Don't think about what it resembles. Its just red. Not like fresh.. no .. its just red.' He clenched his fist remembering the scent that had filled the air.. it was a scent he'd never expected today. Not in this place. He'd let himself slip. He'd gotten too comfortable. The boy raked his hands through his hair, he needed to be focused.. not Tim Drake. He needed to be Robin. A quick move and he was making his way tracking the marks that the sniper had left. The slightest shift and twist. A snapped twig here.. a foot pressing a moment to long in a patch of mud. Interesting.,.. split toe shoes.. needed for gripping. No treads on them though. smooth.. molded to the foot probably. He opened his fist to look at that bit of fabric and scowled once more. then another footprint caught his attention. Kon. 'Oh . no.. ' A chill came over Tim, this was intentional. "Kon.oh god.'

"C'mon out red.. gotta lotta talkin' t' do.." The figure had been no bigger than Impulse, and certainly wasn't anywhere near as fast. 'Where the hell did that cat go..dressed redder than a Scarlet Pimpernel, can't just disappear." He stepped confidently past the next tree.. that's when he saw him. The runner looked like a red ninja on crystal meth.

"Lookin' for Me?" With an easy move the Asian kid knocked an arrow into place. He gave an almost manic grin at Kon who, oddly, felt as if an icy finger ran up his spine. Something wasn't right here.. but he sure as hell wasn't going to let Chuckles know it.

"Yeah.. c'mere I want to talk to you about what you did to a friend of mine.."

The boy laughed, "Yeah I bet you do.. but I'm not gonna.." The crimson arrow was released at Kon. He didn't react in time moving his body seconds to late. It took a moment.. but Kon realized the arrow had missed him by the thinnest of margins.

"HAH!"

Before the noise left his mouth a flutter caught his attention, a soft lock of hair fell from his temple to land on his shoulder.

"You missed. Now c'mere."

"Did I? Or maybe I was testing somethin'." Again that creepy grin came out towards Kon, "You were right Eric.. he's not that invulnerable after all."

Superboy didn't even see the fist that slammed into his side.

Cassandra Sandsmark hung low in the sky. Her body skimmed just above the trees. All her thoughts were Quite un-Amazonlike. Her best friend in the world is in the hospital with goddess knows what kind of injuries. An arrow.. what kind of sick bastard shoots at Arrowe..Cissie.. with an arrow. It had to have been a message.. but a message of what?

'He knows.. he has to know.'

That much was certain, the sniper did have knowledge of who they were.

'When I get my hands on this dumb ass. toast. He's so toast. Charred crunchy toast.' With her thoughts so otherwise occupied, she missed the ghost who was desperate to get her attention. Until..

Coils wrapped about the tanned leg, "AUGH.." Cassie whipped about to thrash whoever was trying to grab her, only to see.. Secret.. the little beige spook.

"Cassie! Something's happening.. there!"

Wonder Girl didn't question her friend and teammate. She just swooped downwards in the direction pointed a blur of green and black seemed to twitch for a moment. A shadow or a flicker.. if anything. It was familiar to her. Beyond words. It was someone she knew.. or thought she knew but when she got there.. only a laugh hung on the breeze.. the figure speeding so quickly away that he exceeded the speed of sound. And all that was left was a note with the words 'For Bart Allen' across it written in a hand with an almost mechanical precision.

"What is it?" Secret hovered about and tried to push a ghostly tendril through the note and frowned murmuring, "I can't get through it." The girl took the envelope from Cassie and scowled even more.

'Whoa! So that's what it felt like to have your bells rung.'

Kon glanced up from where he laid on the ground. A blond boy grinned down at him, somewhere about the same age as the clone. His hair cropped short in a rather military fashion.

'Muscular. must have powers up the wazoo.'

"Always wanted to pound a Kryptonian.. you'll have to do. after all your even more normal than me.. now.." Eric swung about and his leg kicked out to hit the Metropolis kid square in the chest, "C'mon.. at least fight back.. mean.. I'm going to beat the dog snot out of you, but I want it to look more fair than just me slaughtering you.."

Kon gasped for air and scowled; he staggered up from the ground moving to shove a fist into the guy's side. Yeah he was aiming for a kidney.. yeah it was not exactly fair.. but then.. well. He was taking a beating and needed to buy himself some time.

To bad it didn't work.. the guy twisted just so.. the fist hurled by the clone not even catching.

"Y' see. I'm army. I've been trained.. I know your thoughts before you even think'em.. I mean like now." Eric grabbed the boy by the wrist. Kon heard an awful noise, and felt an awful pain. Something went crunch in his hand.

"You're thinkin' ouch.. damn my hand.. now I can't scratch my ass." Kon-El found himself grabbed by the shoulders and a knee slammed into his stomach, "Oh crap.. now I'm gonna lose my lunch."

Kon dropped on to the ground doubled over gasping for air, "Actually I was thinking.. Damn.. how can he be that stupid." With his good hand, Superboy grabbed up a handful of dirt and winged it towards the blond jerk.

Bullseye!

The dirt collided with blond boy's eyes and he gave a yell of fury. Kon wasted no time and staggered to his feet, determined that he was going to prove Impulse wrong about him being slow. But first.. he had to get away.. and he plunged into the woods.

A yell sounded after him, "Yeah you run wussy.. you only got the first taste of Ultran.. I'll finish the job later."

"ah. yeah. whatever .." Kon ran heedless into the woods trying not to think of his hand or the pain he was in. Getting the hell away seemed like the best option right now.

Cassie took the envelope from the girl, and tried to tear it open. No luck there, "Hey.. no." She tried again, "This is so not cool."

Secret watched with a slight scowl on her beige face. "I suppose we shouldn't open it considering its for Bart."

"Oh yeah.. there is that." Cassie stared at the note sighing, "What I wouldn't give for x-ray vision right now.." She shook her head, "Okay..lets get back on track."

"Oh? Oh." Secret's eyes looked far away.."I.. have to go Cassie.. somethings.. wrong.."

Before Cassie could even ask what was wrong.. the little ghost had swirled away in a puff of smoke. "awwww jeez now what..Suzie." Wonder Girl's blue eyes flicked over the wooded clearing and wondered where her friend went. Other things took over though.

"Do you always look like some sort of bleach bottle Barbie cheerleader clone?" The voice came from a tree. "Or is that just your super power."

The blond girl rolled her eyes, "Okay.. I am sooo not a cheerleader.."

There was a laugh, "Oh I am so sure." Then with a light twist a figure came out of her hiding spot, gruesomely dyed hair framed her face in a shaggy mass of lavender. Her lips were pained black and her eyes were rimmed in the same color, the irises rather amber-like in color. "Anyways.. I've gotta job to do cupcake.so hold still a little bit.."

"Still? Are you kidding me? Look I got better things to do than trade words with you chica.." And with that Cassie turned away from the little punk. Her mistake.

The girl threw herself at Cassie and the pair began to struggle quickly, it wasn't any fight that the heroine was used to. It was like the strange girl was trying to entangle herself with her. To put her hands somewhere anywhere. She hadn't noticed the hands at first.. The fingers were long and slender but almost withered. Cassie could see the veins through the translucent skin. Each standing out with their frail grasp on life. She knew then that she sure as hell didn't want those hands on her.

Wonder Girl twisted agilely and threw out her leg in a roundhouse knocking the girl off. "Back down.. I don't want to hurt you."

"Too late for that.." And it was true. The girl was bleeding from several scrapes she had acquired. Cassie almost got a pang from the wounds she saw. But she couldn't back down. She was Wonder Girl carrying that mantle with Donna's blessing, she wears Diana Trevor's Emblem, she's been trained by Artemis, and has fought at the side of Wonder Woman. She would not back down.

The girl launched herself at Cassie. The blond girl struggled to get a grasp on the girl to knock her off again. She struck to back hand the little punk but the other girl moved like a snake and suddenly her hands were all over Cassie's face.

Again Cassie moved to try and throw her off all while the girl spoke to her, "I'm called Serenity you know.."

Words began to echo in her mind...

'sleep.. It would be so nice to sleep . dreams await.. sleeeeeeep.' It was too hard to resist.

The place was dark. Some place that was a nothing in-between everything.

A slight beige figure wrapped her arms about her knees and pressed her head to them. Someone else was in this place of blackness. Equally diffuse but the coloring was less neutral. They were all more faded, muted as if they weren't quite supposed to be where they are.

The little voice started, "I know you can't hear me right now Cissie. You are in a Coma.. you slipped into one on the operating table. You could be dying. I sensed it, you know I sense all stuff like that." She pressed her hands together, twining her smoky fingers. She mumbled, "This is the church.." She raised her index fingers and pressed them together, "This is the steeple.." Secret paused in her game and returned to the talking, "I know you are scared but I took you away from where you were.. here at least I can protect you from the nasties and things that wanted to eat you because of your goodness and all. I don't know if I have that kind of power to save you. I probably don't not at all. Right now we just have to wait for the doctors. And.. if I have to, I'll say good bye. But right now.I'll just keep an eye on you.."

Robin touched the ground as he came out into a clearing. There had been a scuffle. Kon's footprints here.a body.. landed here awkwardly. He scowled and must have been too late. However it looks as if Kon got out of there. But there were two others.. they seemed to be heading in the same direction.. but on a slightly different trajectory. Split toed shoes. Robin clenched his teeth. That's the one he wants to talk to. That's the one who was the sniper.

With a harsh curse and a quick intake of breath Tim plunged further into the woods.

Kon stumbled into a clearing taking a shaky breath, he didn't think he was being pursued anymore. The pain in his wrist and hand burned along every nerve. There was a catch in his side that he had a sinking suspicion was a couple of cracked ribs. He doubled over starting to sag to his knees. Then it caught his sight, a figure with hair that looked like it had gotten drenched with grape kool-aid on top of a slight blond girl who didn't seem to be struggling. Now normally he'd make some sort of crass comment about girl on girl action. But before the joke even came he recognized the blond.

"GET OFF OF HER!" He threw himself at the other girl aiming his shoulder square towards the girl. His weight enough to easily knock her off of Cassie. He glanced at the other girl but she seemed down for the count, her body crumpled on the ground. He bit his lip but turned back to his friend reaching out to pat her face, "C'mon Cass.. wake up wake up.. I sort of need an airlift right now.. c'mon Cassie don't do this..yo! Wonderchick! C'mon."

"S.B?" Her eyes flickered open looking blearily up at Kon-El. She gave a drowsy gasp, "Be-behin-." Again she started to drift away rapidly. Behind? Behind? He turned his head to look. Hands. pressed to his face the clammy skin touching all over. If he still had his TTK this wouldn't even be a challenge."

The harsh little voice growled out, "Awww concerned for the little perky thing..don't worry..she'll be Just Fine."

'Sleeeeep so nice to sleep..' He felt the voice in his mind but another voice was quick to answer.

"Hands off lady!" Robin sprang forth from the woods moving agilely he landed on his hands and flipped forward. His hiking boots hitting the girl right on her breast bone. She fell backwards and landed in a pile glaring up at him. The Boy Wonder crouched down waiting for the next move.

Kon pushed up onto his feet and tugged on Cassie's hand. Her eyes blinked rapidly, staggering upwards. "What was that."

Serenity was watching from the ground, her eyes fixed on Robin. "Your turn then.. S-Boy can wait.." She pressed off towards the other teen her hands outstretched ready to touch him in her special way. The boy pushed back ready to strike at her again.

"Reni.. stop." The archer's voice come from the tree. His body doubling over so he could hang from the branch upside down by the knees. Eric crouched on the ground his eyes fixated on Superboy with a smirk.

"He's not for us. Angel's supposed to take him special."

The girl straightened her stance scowling at the trio. "Fine! Just Fine. Angel gets to have ALLLL the fun. Its not FAIR." She stomped off to join her friends folding her arms across her skinny body.

The archer waved his gloved hand towards the three members of Young Justice, "Don't worry you'll be hearing from us soon enough.. later kiddoes."

They each touched their hands to their wrists and in a mosaic pattern of ill-green light vanished away leaving nothing of themselves but their footsteps.

Kon was the first to speak, "Great.. just great.. that @$$ was the joker who shot Cissie and he gets." He also stopped speaking rather quickly.

"Yeah he gets away but you heard him we'll get another chance.. jeez Kon." Cassie scowled annoyed with this fact too.

"Relax Kon.." Robin began immediately trying to settle things. He so didn't need this right now. What is it with this team, sometimes they were family and others they were.. oh wait still family.

"Relax.. why should I relax! Ow jeesus.. Okay um. OW.guys. I kind of think." And with that Kon-El suddenly gave a slight jerk and crumpled to the ground.

"KON!" Cassie was there in a moment trying to get a reaction from the clone, "Wake up wake up you idiot. C'mon.."

Robin placed his hand on Kon's forehead, "He's slipped into shock. He must have taken a harder beating than we realized. Cassie could you do the honors.. we better get him to the hospital." He froze, "Cissie."

Bart Allen had managed by some small miracle of grace to doze off. He missed the chaos that happened when Cassie came in cradling the injured Kon-El. He missed the nightmare that was getting the Super-Cycle to stay in the parking garage. He managed to sleep through a lot of things. Probably all for the best the way his mind runs.

He woke up though.. his head was on Cassie's lap. Her jacket was stretched out to cover him he clutched at it and blinked a bit as he looked upwards. Cassie.. she was asleep. He turned and there was Robin, he was leaning against the blond girl's shoulder. He looked haggard and pale. Kon was there too. he.. he had a cast on? What happened to him.

The speedster's hand rubbed at his eyes and then something fell from Cassie's jacket. He blinked again. Bart wasted no time in snatching it before it touched the floor. It would be an easy thing to put it away, but a name was on it .. and it was his name. Something moved on the envelope. its nothing someone who couldn't see like Bart would notice.. but Bart could see that fast without thinking about it. Scanning. DNA.. approved..

It shifted again and unfolded and then from somewhere within the little piece of paper a glow of energy washed across the surface forming an image..one that Bart Allen was more than a little familiar with.

"Hello Bart. Guess who."

Inertia.

Next Issue: Is Inertia the one at the core of this? What's his deal this time? And who the hell are all these cohorts. Join us in Thirty!