...Hi? *dodges every sort of weapon imaginable* I am so sorry for disappearing off the face of the earth for forever. I was crazy exhausted with work and by the time I would get home there would be no motivation for writing. And when my work slowed down I was struggling with the chronic disease of writers block.

But I'm back! And I will never give up on a story! The only reason one would remain unfinished would be if the internet as a whole was suddenly destroyed...or I was dead.

I'd like to thank Reader, freedomofimagination, NoctisLuCa, xxDividedFatesxx, 425rudy, AkariWarriorofSoul, greaser7, songo32065, Akari Tatsumi, PainInSilence, wickie4, BlueEyedAlchemist, DarkImpulse-One, Cassidee June, Mangalover4321, Unichicken, ScarlettN, Thewickedmusician, Kira Sema, Meridianpony, poppypatch2010, Asia the Jester, FictionallyLost, martepumpkin, Natsume1111, Angelus Umbrae, Nmncartoons, XxCheekyPaddyxX, Ladnik, and Christinme for favouriting and following.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. If I did, we would have a season 3 by now...or at least a movie that at least ties up all the stupid loose ends that were left. (there is a petition to have Netflix acquire the rights to publish more seasons! It only needs 600 more signatures!)

Chapter 23: Recoveries and Diagnostics

J'onn was in the observation room when Batman found him. Miss Martian was lying in one bed, and Robin the other. Both were attached to a multitude of machines that blinked and beeped, and they all seemed to mock Batman when he entered.

Look at your failure, they seemed to scream, look at what you did! You weren't there to protect him and see what happened. Protective measures must be put in place; you can't lose him!

Bruce sometimes wondered if he belonged in Arkham just as much as the criminals that resided there.

"How is he?" Batman growled out. He just couldn't tear his eyes away from the small figure of his ward, no, his son. How had he not noticed how tiny he was before?

"It is hard to say," J'onn monotoned, "physically he has some injuries that will take some time to heal, but none that he has not encountered before. Mentally...it is almost impossible to tell. I did a surface sweep of his mind. You cannot tell it is his mind except for intuitions and gut instincts. M'gann has either absorbed his mind into her own or buried it so deep that he may never fully come out. A deeper search could be disastrous."

It took only moments for Bruce to absorb the information. "What happens to Robin if Miss Martian has absorbed his mind into her own?"

"He would be gone then. There would be no way to get him back."

That wasn't an option. The second was better, although it either meant coma or permanent brain damage. He wasn't Bruce Wayne, billionaire, for nothing though. He was sure he could find a solution to whatever medical problems presented themselves.

"Bruce..."

"No names near your niece. We have no idea how aware she is right now."

Manhunter sighed. "Batman, I would like for their bodies to stabilize before we attempt any...mental rescue missions. Both bodies will need to be strong for this."

"How long?"

"Several days. Their conditions might change then as well. Let's leave the situation as is for the time being."

J'onn waited a couple of moments for a reply. When none came he put tendrils of his mind out. Nothing. The Bat had left.

**********breakline**********breakline**********breakline**********

"Kid? Kid, you with me?" A voice seemed to break the darkness surrounding Wally. That voice was familiar; with it came memories of running, of freedom, of family.

He pried his eyes open with great effort and the face of his uncle came into sharp focus. He had his cowl off and his blue eyes showed concern and worry- judging by the dark circles.

"Ugh, Uncle Barry, did ya get the number of that truck?" Wally tried for a smirk, but he feared that it came out a little wobbly.

"Do you remember what happened to you, Wally?" Barry didn't go for the joke, which worried Wally more than anything. "Anything at all?"

"Um...I was at the Cave with the rest of the Team...and I was talking to M'gann...and then nothing." Wally shrugged his shoulders and picked at the sheets. "Why? What happened?"

"...There was an attack on the Cave, not unlike what happened with the Reds, actually. The rest of your teammates are recovering now. You should do the same."

"Are they all okay?" Wally started to sit up. Was Rob okay? He wouldn't be able to stand it if he wasn't. After all that had happened to him already...

"Bats is being pretty protective right now so I don't know much, but I'm guessing he'll be okay. Don't worry, kid, I'm sure the two of you will be planning your next prank before you know it."

**********breakline**********breakline**********breakline**********

Artemis woke up with strange memories of tea parties and smiling cats warring with injured friends and so much screaming. Shifting her head to the right she saw the reason why. On a medical table, one of those ones with wheels and all that, was a wide, black ribbon. It was turned over to show many different wires and blinking lights that had been carefully fused to the silk fabric.

She grew up in Gotham; she knew what that meant. Mad Hatter.

Well, that explained a lot.

She turned her eyes to the left of the bed and froze. There was a second bed in the room and it wasn't unoccupied. Kaldur was sleeping in that bed, his face more relaxed than she had ever seen before. It was...strange. She always viewed him as the stoic, older leader, the person who had all the solutions. Now, with him asleep, she realized that he was practically the same age as her. It was weird that she never viewed him as such before.

And he looked so...vulnerable. She guessed that the normal word people normally used was peaceful, but that wasn't what she saw now. He was defenceless right now; if someone wanted to take him out now it would be all too easy. He wasn't their invincible leader, he was a teenager just like her who was figuring things out as he went along.

That was an unsettling thought

**********breakline**********breakline**********breakline**********

Superman walked up to J'onn and crossed his arms. "How is everything going?"

J'onn turned his red eyes on the Kryptonian and Clark squirmed under his gaze. He could never help but feel that the Martian was looking into his very soul when he turned his head like that. He felt like a flawed person and he didn't feel, well, super.

"It is going as well as expected. There is not much physical responses from the two of them and they have very little brain activity. We can only wait until they stabilize before any action is taken." J'onn nodded his head towards M'gann and Richard.

"I see," Clark turned to look at the two as well, and he fully intended to spend some time watching over them. J'onn interjected before he could.

"Shouldn't you be...elsewhere, Kal-El?"

"Where else should I be?" Clark was confused.

"Perhaps at Connor's bedside to see if he is alright when he awakens?"

"...Who's Connor?"

**********breakline**********breakline**********breakline**********

"Hey! You awake? Answer if you're awake, dude."

Connor tried to wince as the noise assaulted his ears, but it came out as more of a slight twitch. Wait, where was he?

He had been...fighting Bane! And then zombie Robin had run into the wall and then gas had filled the room and suddenly Superman was there and he was telling him what a pathetic failure he was and...

"Calm down, man, you're gonna tear your IV!" Hands suddenly grabbed his shoulders and tried to force him to lie down again. But he couldn't; Cadmus would put him in a pod again!

With a roar he surged forward and swung out his fists towards the person/Superman/Cadmus/Lex Luthor that had been forcing him into that awful place again. He heard a cry of pain and realized something seemed...off. That person sounded familiar.

With what seemed like a huge effort, he peeled his eyes open in time to see Wally crash into a blinking medical device and crumble to the ground.

Crap.

"Wally! What- I'm- Where am I?" Superboy looked around confused and saw grey walls and stark beds and so many machines.

"We're...koff...on the Watchtower, Supes," Wally gave a smile, but cringed and grabbed at his ribs right afterwards. "The League took us here after the attack on the Cave."

"Oh." Superboy looked down at the IV in his arm in confusion for a moment (how did they break his skin to get it in there) before looking at Wally. "Sorry. Are you hurt?"

"Just a scratch, man, I-" Wally coughed again and looked in shock at the hand covering his mouth.

"Wally?" Superboy started to pull back the covers on his bed to help out when the door to the room opened.

Flash entered looking concerned "Hey, everything alright, I heard a commotion...Wally!"

The speedster was by Wally's side in a split second, and he grabbed the hand that KF had been trying to hide. And because Flash had turned it over to look at it, Connor could see it too. There was a splattering of blood on the hand.

Connor felt a horrible churning in his gut. He had done that. He had hurt Wally. Badly.

"Come on, Kid, we're getting you a new room," Flash started steering his nephew to the door, ignoring Wally's protests the entire way.

At the door Flash turned around and narrowed his eyes at Connor, "You are not going to leave this room, understood?"

Connor nodded once, too shocked to do anything else. The door slid shut behind the Flashes and Superboy released the breath he didn't know he was holding. He had heard Wally joke about something he called 'Daddy!Bats' and had dismissed it. The look Flash had given him...that had been Daddy!Flash.

**********breakline**********breakline**********breakline**********

Barry closed the door behind him and sighed. Wally had not taken kindly to being moved to a new room, but there was no way that he was leaving Wally and Superboy in the same room. Not after what he had seen.

He didn't blame the clone; he knew there were still trace amounts of fear gas in his system. But Connor obviously didn't have the training to control his fear or his strength, and that was a dangerous combination.

Oh no, he blamed Clark.

He found the Kryptonian in the cafeteria edging through awkwardly. It was almost like he was trying to avoid someone...Barry frowned, this stopped right now.

"Clark," he called out.

Superman jumped and whirled around, before relaxing once he saw that it was Flash. "Oh, hey Barry, how's Wally?"

"He'll be okay, but that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Clark seemed to be getting nervous again, maybe because Barry wasn't smiling at all. Good, he should be.

"Connor's doesn't have the training he needs right now, and I don't care about your excuses; it's your job to make he has that."

"...Who's Connor?"

Barry's eyes narrowed even further. Seriously? "Connor is the name that Superboy took as his secret identity. You've been neglectful in your duty, and for some reason we as a league have allowed this. I'm here to tell you that you can't do that anymore."

"I...he...he's got Canary and Batman...he's fine." Clark looked close to panic now.

"But neither of them are Kryptonian. They can't understand his strength; only you can. Because of that you have a responsibility to teach him what you've learned so far. Do it, or else."

With that Barry walked away.