Chapter 7

Goodbye, Sunshine

M'gann POV

"I just wish Wally… would forgive… me…" were the last words I said. I knew I was fading, and I wouldn't last long, but that last sentence was completely true. Seeing what the White Martians did made me realize that I was wrong. I understood in that moment why the Green Martians kept us in check.

I was so sure that I would go down, not up. I had done awful things; I had deceived the entire Justice League, murdered one of my teammates, and set the entire White Martian race on the world. Earth couldn't survive an attack like this.

I felt the last bit of life leaving my body, and I knew it was over, so I took in the last few seconds of peace before being sent into the burning chaos. I waited. Waited. Waited. The chaos need changed. Instead, there was Wally, standing over me.

"Wally, I'm so sorry," I said as he pulled me up by the hand.

"Don't worry, Beautiful," he said with a smile. "It's all over now."

I felt my feet lift off of the ground. Robin and Artemis were still down there, kneeling over my empty body, and I could have sworn I saw tears coming down Robin's cheeks.

"I don't deserve this," M'gann said. "I did so many awful things, Wally, I… I killed you."

"Doesn't matter," Wally said, looking me in the eyes and smiling. "I forgive you. You're coming with me, ok? Our old buddy Kent is waiting for us, and wants you to meet Inga."

"But Wally… you're too young… you," he cut me off again and wrapped his arms around me.

"You're young, too. But danger is part of the job description. We put our lives on the line every time we go out there and fight the baddies. I made a choice, M'gann. I protected Artemis, and I understand why you did it."

It was silent while we kept floating up, through the roof of the building on the top of the mountain, through the clouds, until we finally reached golden doors, slowly opening as we approached. Wally tightened his grip on my hand, "You ready?"

I nodded and followed him through the doors, temporarily blinded by the warm, bright light.

Robin POV

I held M'gann's body to mine, unable to hold back the tears. I heard Artemis sniffling beside me, obviously forgiving the Martian as well. I knew she understood why M'gann did what she did. To Artemis, survival had always been top priority.

After a few minutes, Artemis finally put a hand on my back, "We should go find the League and warn them."

I nodded, rubbing tears away from my eyes. I gently placed Megan's body on the floor and moved over to the walls, finding the bombs still there. "We'll get rid of the building, so they can't come back."

"Is Ra's still here?" Artemis asked, walking up beside me.

"Doesn't matter. We'll blow it up, if he's gone, fine, if he's still here and gets caught in the blast… good riddance, until someone gets him a Lazarus Pit."

I picked up M'gann's body, which was surprisingly light for her size. Artemis led the way, ready to defend if any unwanted guests were to find us.

We made our way out with ease and I detonated the bombs. As we got farther away from the fortress, the Batplane landed in front of us and Batman walked out, and man, was he pissed!

"Get away from her, Robin," He ordered, motioning to M'gann's body in my arms.

"Bats, it's not what it looks like!" I said. Bruce glared, and I eventually set the body down on the snowy mountain ground.

Bruce kneeled next to the Martian and checked for a pulse, then turned to us, "You killed her."

"We didn't," Artemis said. "The White Martians did, and if we don't do something fast, then everyone on earth is gonna die."

The situation got worse when J'onn floated down, running to M'gann and holding her cold, limp body in his arms. "The White Martians betrayed her…" he stated, staring down at his niece.

"There was nothing they could have done, J'onn," Bruce said, setting a hand on the Martian's shoulder, showing the most emotion he possibly could in the moment.

"There's only one way to defeat the White Martians now," J'onn said, lifting M'gann's body and standing up. "I must return to Mars and bring my people to earth. You all must keep them occupied until I return."

Before anyone could argue, J'onn was taking off, flying faster than I'd ever seen him fly before. Batman turned to me, "We need to talk."

He ushered Artemis and I into the Batplane and took off. We flew in complete silence and I could feel anger radiating off of Bruce in waves. I felt myself eventually dozing off as I lost track of time, but was jerked awake as we pulled into a rough landing.

Bruce exited the plane and turned to me as I got out, "I'm gonna take a look at that head injury, then we're having a meeting with the team. Artemis, come with us."

We both exchanged worried glances and followed Bruce out of the landing bay of Mount Justice and into the infirmary. "Sit," he said, using his 'I mean business' voice.

I climbed up onto one of the examination tables, not even surprised that he knew about the injury… Batman knows everything. He walked over and grabbed a mini flashlight from one of the counters. He returned and ordered me to take off my mask, so I did, and he shown the flashlight in my left eye, then my right. I had been through it several times before, so he didn't bother telling me what to do.

He had me stand up and tested my balance, and confirmed that my balance was off when I wobbled as he pushed against me. I saw Artemis leaning up against the wall, looking very confused as to why she was here for this, until Bruce finally began to speak to us.

"Artemis, you know Robin's true identity now. You must promise to not reveal this to anyone, as the revelation of one heroes identity could reveal the identities of all the others. This is a secret that must be protected with your life."

"You knew?" I asked, amazed that Bats knew this much.

"I also know that you told…" he started, but stopped himself. "Well, you told somebody else."

"Wait, Wally knew?" Artemis asked, but dropped the subject when Bruce flashed her a glare.

"The point being, if you're not ready to guard this secret with your life, when Martian Manhunter comes back, he can make you forget," Bruce said.

"I'm ready," she said. "You can trust me."

Bruce nodded, "I thought so."

He led us out into the main hall where Superboy and Kaldur were waiting. He pulled up images on a massive holographic screen of Miss Martian, Ra's Al Guhl, and the true forms of White Martians.

"You four disobeyed direct orders, yet again. Because of this, an army of White Martians have been set lose on the world. We have reason to believe that Ra's Al Guhl was the one calling the shots with M'gann."

"What of M'gann?" Kaldur asked.

"Miss M was killed by another White Martian," I said. "We both saw it. She died in my arms."

"And good riddance," Conner said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She didn't mean it," Artemis said. "She wanted freedom; M'gann never meant to hurt anyone!"

"M'gann's dying moments are not of importance right now. Martian Manhunter has returned to Mars to round up an army to stop the White Martians, but for now, we need all hands on deck for this. We need to keep the White Martians in check until Manhunter gets back."

"We are ready for orders, Batman," Kaldur said.

"Superboy, you and Wolf will meet up with Superman and the Green Lanterns in Portland, Maine. You can take Sphere to get there. Aqualad, you and Aquaman will team up with Captain Atom, Zatara, and Hawkman in Manchester, New Hampshire. Artemis, you, Green Arrow, and the Hawks will meet up in Hartford, Connecticut, where you will proceed through Rhode Island. Robin, you're with Wonder Woman, the Flash, Red Arrow, and Black Canary, and I. We'll be patrolling the Massachusetts area. The rest of the League will be split between Vermont and New York. Suit up and get going."

I changed into a fresh uniform and met with Bruce back in the main hall.

"You ready?" he asked, a little bit of the concerned father leaking through the cowl.

"I was born ready," I said with a smile.

…to be continued…

A/N: Yeah, it was kinda short, but this seemed like the best place to end it… I literally have the whole ending all planned out in my head, so now I just gotta get there. Also, if you want something to hold you over until the next update… i just started a new story! For those who follow the New 52 comics, the enemy in this story will be making a massive crossover appearance in all the Bat comics in May, from Batwing to Red Hood, even Catwoman gets an issue with them, though it's mainly focusing on Dick Grayson! ooooh you better win, my lovely little bird boy!