Hacker

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

Genre: Romance/Adventure. Flash/OC

Rating: T

Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if she hadn't used the puppy dog eyes. She'd been sort of desperate, but they hadn't looked liked they'd let up until she pulled the face. You could always tell – their eyes seemed to soften and even Raven's lips would twitch into a semblance of a smile. So in the end they let her, finding a building that looked safe, and waited outside for her because the girls weren't there and boys going into the girl's toilet? They'd been near her school, and so they'd relented and let her go since it was the only place she hadn't been attacked in yet. So she listened to Pink on her iPod and sang out of tune while washing her hands. It was her own fault really – she was just asking to be attacked. The only notice she had was when she caught him coming up behind her as she looked into the mirrors.

She swung round and he shoved her into the sinks, her head cracking up against the mirrors. Slightly dazed, she managed to knee him, causing him to double over, before kneeing again him the stomach. She had no doubt that there was someone waiting by the door in case he failed – the pattern was predictable – so she tore open her bag and shoved her hand in, desperately feeling for anything she could use.

He'd managed to make some semblance of a recovery by the time she found it, so she hadn't actually meant to do it. She couldn't bang him round the head because he was too close, so she panicked and as her hands closed, his fingers slipped into the gap and…he ended up with his fingers stapled together. He hadn't screamed, which was good, but he was still coming for her so she smashed him round the head with the stapler instead. He fell to the ground in the heap and it was only then she realized her hands were shaking.

And the fact that she was still listening to Pink shocked her slightly.

She felt for his pulse, which was steady and strong. And he was already groaning, so she had to move fast. Leaving the stapler where it was – it was no use to her covered in blood and now dented from the bang – she looked around for any feasible escape exits. A window was open above one of the stalls, so she grabbed her bag and chucked it out. Standing on the loo, she started sliding out head first, which was the only thing that saved her when the room exploded.

She literally shot out, thrown by the force of the explosion. Her leg was on fire, the smell of chemicals mixed with smoke sending her into a coughing fit as she twisted, trying to put it out. Tears were slipping down her face, her coughs turning to sobs as she sat up, every movement of her leg sending waves of pain through her.

Pulling at her bag, she shuffled through it, finding some scissors. Her hand was still unsteady as she began to hack through her jeans, leaving the calf exposed. "Oh God." She whispered, her eyes shutting involuntarily. "I need…antiseptic, gauze, painkillers, where's the first aid thing?" Mumbling to herself, she searched through her bag. Her hand wrapped around a solid object, which when she pulled it out turned out to be a communicator. She shakily turned it on, and waited for someone to answer the call. "Ellie, where the hell are you?" Nightwing barked at her, relief evident in his voice.

"I'm round the side. I can see the street if I squint," she muttered drowsily, staring off to where a street lamp was glowing.

"Starfire's coming to get you. Stay where you are," Nightwing ordered before signing off.

Shutting her bag, she closed her eyes and lay down.

"Ellie, you are damaged," came Star's concerned voice a few moments later, as she gently picked her up.

"Just need some gauze and stuff. I think there was," she yawned, covering her mouth with her hand quickly, "some knockout gas. But I only got a tiny bit, cause I jumped out the window."

"How did you get to the window so quickly?" Starfire asked, flying slowly around the corner.

"There was a guy. But I stapled him." She giggled. "Stapled him."

"Ellie, I am not letting you out of my sight until we get to safe house. How the hell do you get yourself in these situations?" Nightwing cried as Starfire landed. "It's a good thing you turned up when you did. Her wound looks pretty bad. Raven, do you think you could…"

The question was left incomplete as a harsh guttural sound forced the Teen Titans and their guest to turn around. Several creatures with heights of seven feet, red scales, three toes with curled toenails, another toe located at the back, and Roman Armour was what she first saw. The faces were surprisingly human-like, until you noticed the bloodlust in the pupil-less eyes and the teeth sharpened to points. Jabbing spears at them, they appeared to be trying to communicate.

"Dude, this is so not my day." Beast Boy complained before turning into a green gorilla.

"Titans, go!" Nightwing shouted as Starfire gently laid Ellie on the floor, settling her blue and white bag beside her.

"I should not have left the stapler in there," she whispered as the others threw themselves into battle. Nightwing stayed next to her, fending off any of the monsters who came close.

But there were more coming. They seemed to appear out of thin air, three appearing with every one down. Cyborg had lost an arm due to the attack and Beast Boy was bleeding heavily from a stab wound to the side. Nightwing was slowly becoming overwhelmed and both heroines were surrounded.

One of the creatures managed to get past the defenses, and grabbed Ellie. She had been smashing most of them who came near with her bag, which was surprisingly heavy. Jabbing upwards with her left hand, the creature caught it and crushed it, before scraping his nails along her face, leaving three bloody gashes. It missed her eyes by centimeters as she let out a scream.

A starbolt sent him crashing down, as Starfire hovered above Ellie, her green eyes flashing furiously.

"Nightwing, take her to the League!" Raven shouted as she sent another car smashing into the approaching army. "We don't have access and we can't protect her here!"

"I can't just leave!" he argued, a birdarang cart wheeling into a creature.

Green light filled the area, as Starfire let out a scream of rage, sending numbers of them sprawling. "Go! We must protect her, and protect her we must!" she shouted, smashing her foot into another one of them. There were just too many.

Nightwing lunged at Ellie, and dragged her away from one of them, turning on the communicator in his ear. "Nightwing to Justice League. I repeat, Nightwing to Justice League. 081654, this is Nightwing and guest requesting teleportation. I repeat, Nightwing and guest. Backup required in area code."

Ellie kicked out at one of the creatures with her good leg, her eyes rolling around wildly as she let out a scream of pain. Her broken hand was crushed against Nightwing's chest as he bent over her, sending another one flying with a birdarang.

"This is Mr. Terrific to Nightwing. Permission granted."

A scream to his right, caused him to turn round, gripping Ellie to him tightly. "Star – "

The suddenly quiet room startled him. "Green Arrow, Super Girl and Black Canary report to front. Back up required," sounded over an intercom, followed by, "Emergency Medics report to front, two injured, one unconscious. I repeat, report to front."

Nightwing twisted to see Mr. Terrific standing at the desk. He jabbed a thumbs up before repeating the message. Nightwing stayed kneeling until the medics turned up and slipped Ellie onto the stretcher. Her eyes flickered as she tried to focus on him. "Nightwing," she rasped, "It really hurts."

"You're going to be fine," he whispered. Turning round he called to Mr. Terrific. "Where are Superman and the others?"

"They're in the conference room – the Original 7 are having a meeting because they're decommissioning the Watchtower, after Fla – where are you going?"

Nightwing had already sprinted off, blood splattering around from his wounds. Dodging past Supergirl, he hurtled around the corner. "Was that…?" she asked, startled, turning to Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Green Arrow shrugged. "He was moving so fast, I'd have thought it was Flash except he was wearing black."

"Nightwing is coming," J'onn said quietly in the meeting room.

Flash stood up fast and smiled cheekily. "Dick's coming? Now we can get the party started."

J'onn shook his head.

"There is something wrong. I believe he is in need of medical attention." Batman's face darkened considerably as Superman slowly stood up.

"Can you tell what's wrong with him?"

J'onn shook his head. "His thoughts are too confused, though he seems terrified for those he left behind."

The door slammed open, a breathless Nightwing on the side. His costume was in tatters and a drop of blood was sliding down his face.

"Richard," Wonder Woman gasped.

"I need you to look after Ellie for a few weeks," he ground out, staring at Batman.

"Ellie?"

"There's been around five kidnap attempts over the past fortnight – human, alien, they've been coming in waves. We kept her in the tower, but they keep breaking in. Until we can figure out why, she's safest here. Please. We don't have anywhere else," he whispered.

Glancing around at his teammates, Superman nodded. "Of course. The tower won't be shut down for a couple of months until we get sorted out back on Earth. She can stay here until then."

Relief obvious on his face, Nightwing breathed out a thank you before turning away.

"Dick!" Flash called, concerned.

"I'll catch you later Wally – I need to go back and help." He disappeared around the corner.

Green Lantern caught Flash's arm as he moved to chase him. "But, GL-"

He shook his head. "They've got people. We need to figure out what's going on and then see to this…"

"Ellie," Hawkgirl reminded him. Turning her attention to J'onn, she asked, "Is she with the medics?"

His eyes glowed softly before he nodded in response. "She is unconscious, and her injuries are quite severe. Her left calf has second degree burns, the bones in her left hand have been shattered, and there appears to be a poison in some deep scratches on her face."

Flash winced. "Hope she has super healing or something."

J'onn shook his head. "She appears to have no special powers."

Batman sat back in his chair. "It would explain why the Titans are protecting her. If she had powers, then she wouldn't be in as much need. I wonder where her parents are," he murmured, almost to himself.

Superman shook his head. "We aren't going to get anything sorted out today. One of us needs to go check with the medics. Diana, do you mind finding a room for her somewhere in the 'Tower?"

"Of course not. How old is the girl?" she asked, turning to J'onn.

"I do not know. I gained my knowledge of her injuries from the doctors." Nodding, she left, closing the door behind her.

Superman sat down again slowly. "Wally, go check with the medics – we need to know how she's doing and so on."

The smile on the speedster's face had vanished as he nodded, before fleeing the room.

"We really could do without this," the Man of Steel sighed.

Hawkgirl shrugged. "We made a commitment to protect all innocents. For us to do that, she needs to stay here. So I say she stays." Hefting up her mace, she rested it on her shoulder. John followed her out as she walked out the room.

"I'll find out some information about her once Flash finds what he can. It'll be fine, Clark." Batman said, sounding almost optimistic as he stalked out of the room.

J'onn had also vanished, no doubt back to monitoring duty.

Superman sighed. "I really hope so, Bruce. I really hope so."