Back at it again with another YJ fic bc seriously, I've had this plot bunny of an OC for ages, man.

And I KNOW: Grayson sister OCs are super super cliche and overdone...but I'm hoping that this is at least less cliche and overdone because I've never seen a story like this (and if I had, I wouldn't have written this bc I would have been satisfied by reading it) so anyways. Hope it's not terrible.

More notes at the bottom if you care.

Disclaimer: I only own Raptor/Karla Grayson. That's it.

MOUNT JUSTICE

January 1, 18:18 EST

Raptor was leaning against the Cave wall near a sleeping Wolf, idly watching Nightwing and Lagoon Boy spar for the third time that night. And also for the third time that night – her brother kicked Lagoon Boy's ass. Raptor sighed loudly, kicking the wall in frustration. She was bored. And mad.

The Atlantean landed on the ground with a loud grunt. He swore under his breath and slammed his fist into the ground.

"Neptune's beard!" Lagoon Boy uttered his favorite oath. He turned back towards the human. "You did it to me again!" Nightwing smiled apologetically as he offered his hand to the other male. "I don't care how many years you trained as Robin and then Nightwing," Lagoon Boy continued as the human hauled him to his feet. "One of these days, you're mine, chum."

The sentence would have been threatening if it hadn't been punctuated with a smile. The challenge was apparent, but it was all in good nature. Nightwing grinned back, clapping his teammate on the shoulder encouragingly.

"I don't doubt it, Lagoon Boy."

"I do." Raptor called out, throwing in her two cents from the side. As usual, it was unwanted. Lagoon Boy and Nightwing turned to glare at her, and she shrugged, unapologetically. "Sorry. I like to keep it real." Nightwing rolled his eyes – he was wearing his domino mask, but Raptor could tell. He did that often around her.

"Keep it a little less real if it means being nice, okay?" he scolded her. Raptor didn't reply, and he turned to Lagoon Boy. "Sorry. Ignore her." Lagoon Boy shrugged.

"I think we're all used to it by now," Lagoon Boy replied, mostly unbothered. Raptor snorted darkly from the corner, scowling at no one.

"Unfortunately," Nightwing sighed under his breath. As the conversation fizzled out, the Zeta Tubes powered up.

"Recognized: Superboy: B-Zero-Four; Miss Martian: B-Zero-Five; Bumblebee: B-One-Eight; Beast Boy: B-Two-Zero; Robin: B-Two-One; Blue Beetle: B-Two-Three." Lagoon Boy broke into a wide grin and jogged over to meet Miss Martian, his 'angelfish.' Mal also appeared in the hallway to greet his girlfriend. Bumblebee landed in front of him, and he grinned at her.

"Slow down, beautiful," Mal told Karen as she grew to regular size and removed her cowl. "I want to tell you what's on for tonight." Karen smiled apologetically, and started walking away.

"Ooh, sorry Mal, I can't. I'm already late for a lab session with Doctor Palmer." With that, the young woman began to jog down the hall. She glanced back over her shoulder at her boyfriend. "Rain check, baby, okay?" Mal watched her go, his face falling.

"Rain check," he muttered, his shoulders slumped. "Sure."

"Welcome home, Angelfish," Lagoon Boy said, embracing the Martian girl. She giggled and thanked him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Rolling her eyes under her mask, Raptor walked over to listen to Nightwing and Robin's conversation instead.

"Clayface is safely back in his Arkham cell," Robin reported to the older teen. Nightwing nodded approvingly.

"Good work," he said.

"Yeah," Raptor added as she walked up. Robin's shoulders stiffened, already anticipating her next words. "You know, for a replacement," she drawled, arching an eyebrow in a challenge. The effect was minimized by the mask she wore, but Robin glared at her, and Nightwing gave her a warning look.

"You're dismissed," Nightwing told Robin. As he walked away, Nightwing rounded on his younger sister, shaking his head. "Care to explain why you're in particularly terrible mood tonight?" He asked her, sounding irritated. "Even you're not usually this much of an asshole."

I beg to differ, Raptor thought darkly. Instead, she said aloud, "I'm in a 'terrible mood' because I've had to sit around all night doing nothing. Why did you make me to come to the Cave if all I was going to do was sit around and watch you spar with a partner you can clearly beat?"

"You could have trained, too, you know," Nightwing reminded her, ignoring the last part of her sentence. "You don't need to wait for a personal invitation." Raptor scowled and scuffed the ground with her toe. A sullen quiet fell between the two vigilantes.

Raptor didn't say: When I was a Talon, sparring sessions were to the death. She didn't say: I was afraid I'd hurt him. I was afraid I'd hurt you.

"I didn't feel like it," she replied, after a beat of sulky silence. Nightwing sighed again, but before he could reprimand her further, the computer beeped and a transmission from Captain Atom appeared on the holographic screen.

"Emergency Alert," he announced. "United Nations Headquarters is under attack." Mal was studying a smaller screen just below the transmission, and he turned towards Nightwing as the leader walked up.

"Beta's only two blocks away," he told the nineteen year old. Nightwing nodded, and turned to address the other hero on the screen.

"Captain Atom, the Team's Beta squad is in the vicinity," he informed the older hero. Nightwing paused for a second and then added. "Raptor will rendezvous with them at the UN to help."

"I will?" Raptor asked, from where she was hovering just behind Mal's shoulder. "Is that an order?"

"You wanted something to do," Nightwing reminded her. Raptor sighed and nodded. She pressed the comm. in her ear to turn it on.

"Raptor to Batgirl," she said, tilting her face up to the ceiling. "I'll meet you and Wonder Girl at the UN." Instead of waiting for a response, she turned her comm. back off and jogged towards the Zeta Tube, her long, braided hair bouncing against her back. As the machine powered up (Recognized: Raptor: B-One-Five), Nightwing called after his sister.

"And stop antagonizing everyone! That's an order."

"Yes, sir," Raptor saluted her brother as the glow grew stronger around her. "I'll be sure to tagonize people from now on instead." Nightwing shook his head, but he couldn't help but to grin as his sister disappeared.

NEW YORK CITY

January 1, 18:23 EST

Raptor stepped out of an abandoned, out-of-order phone booth in a New York City alleyway across from the United Nations Headquarters. She ran out of the alley, and studied the building, trying to figure out where her teammates were. Raptor touched a control on her belt and her domino mask responded, zooming in on the building to her a closer look.

When Raptor had been a Talon, she had worn the typical ensemble – a uniform with a horned cowl with goggles and a beak. When she'd become Raptor, Nightwing had persuaded her to ditch that outfit in lieu of one more similar to his. She had forgone the cowl, and in its place added a domino mask like her brother's. Across her chest and shoulders, where Nightwing had his bright blue wing design, Raptor had a gold logo of an owl with its talons stretched outwards, like it was about to attack.

However, she still employed some of the technology she had used during her time as the Talon. The binocular function in her domino mask was one of them, and the other was her gauntlet. One of the hands was covered with a black glove, and the other one was a gold gauntlet with a grappling blade. She also still used the same weapons she'd used during her tenure as the Talon.

She had one katana strapped across her back, situated carefully so it wouldn't get in the way when she flipped or ran. Her utility belt was equipped with dozens of throwing knives, and she had two shorter, foot-long daggers in a holster on either thigh, meant for close combat.

She drew one of these daggers now, and aimed her gauntlet carefully. She had just seen the windows in one of the rooms of the building shatter, and then a shape had swung into the room. Raptor could make an educated guess that that was where the struggle was going down.

She shot the grappling hook above one of the broken windows and swung into the room, rolling expertly to avoid stabbing herself with either weapon.

"Nice of you to show up!" Wonder Girl grunted teasingly as she blocked a punch from her opponent. Raptor flicked her wrist, and the throwing dagger flew forwards with scary accuracy. Despite its razor-sharpness, the blade barely nicked the foe's tough skin. Raptor studied him curiously. Either he was really into make-up, or he wasn't of this world.

"Wonder Girl, Raptor, keep him busy," Batgirl commanded. "I'll get Secretary General Tseng to safety." Wonder Girl smirked, falling back into line with Raptor. The blonde girl punched her fist into her other hand.

"All over it, Batgirl!" She replied. Raptor just acknowledged the older girl's command with a sharp nod. She could hear Tseng protesting slightly in the background, but chose not to concern herself with him. Instead, the dark-haired girl drew her other short dagger and flipped upwards, towards her adversary. She tucked her knees close to her chest and then straightened out when she made it over the alien's shoulder.

As Raptor finished her short descent to the ground, she stabbed each blade into the alien's back and dragged the two daggers downwards, aiming to make a long cut on either side of his back. As soon as the point of either sword pierced his skin, Raptor's opponent reached over his shoulder and picked her up, easily tossing her to the side.

Raptor grunted as she hit the ground, and shoved herself up only to see Wonder Girl receiving the same rough treatment. The alien scoffed and walked away, shouting loudly in his language.

Raptor scrambled to her feet, snatching up both swords and sheathing them. Yelling angrily, she ran towards the alien once more. She flipped towards him, kicking him with both feet before falling to the ground in a crouch. The alien didn't even acknowledge her blow, and instead ripped the doors to the elevator open.

Raptor watched, wide-eyed, as her foe took no notice of the empty shaft and leapt down it, quickly out of sight. She whipped back to look at her friend.

"Wonder Girl! I'm going after him." The Amazonian shot her teammate a quick thumbs-up as she began to pull herself out of the crater her body had created when she'd been thrown across the room.

Raptor shot her grappling blade to the ceiling of the elevator shaft and began the plunge downwards. When she stepped out of the bottom of the shaft, the air was filled with smoke. Coughing, she waved a hand in front of her face a few times before charging through the smoke-filled hallway.

She caught up the alien by the time he reached the room where Tseng and Batgirl were. Before Raptor could do anything, Wonder Girl flew into the room and swept the villain off his feet. He grunted when he hit the ground.

"Hold it, clown face!" Wonder Girl shouted. Raptor sighed; she was a little disappointed that Wonder Girl had beaten her. "We weren't done dancing!" The alien got to his feet. He scowled, clearly irritated by their attempts to engage him in fight.

"Keasy fem," he growled, stalking forwards. Wonder Girl rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, 'keasy fem.' I've been called worse."

"How do you know?" Raptor asked, smirking. Wonder Girl ignored her teammate, ducking a punch that the alien aimed at her. She shot into the air, and threw her lasso around their foe. While she held him steady, Raptor jumped onto the alien's and threw her arms around his throat.

Grunting, she tightened her grip, but she might as well have been pressing on concrete. He wasn't even slightly affected. Laughing, he plucked Raptor up for the second time that night and then, using the golden rope as leverage, threw the human into Wonder Girl.

In most circumstances, a human of average weight and size thrown towards an invulnerable Amazonian wouldn't have been cause for Wonder Girl to be thrown backwards. However, this alien was extremely strong, and he was also using her lasso to pull her closer towards Raptor before then using the rope to throw them both backwards.

The force of the hit sent Wonder Girl spiraling up into the ceiling, and Raptor falling to the ground, hard. Raptor gasped as all the air left her lungs and winced as her head slapped against the hard ground. Groaning, she rolled over onto her stomach and then slowly got to her feet.

Aiming her gauntlet, Raptor timed her attack until the alien was stumbling due to the small explosives that Batgirl had placed on his collar. She shot the knife and then whipped her wrist, guiding the tether until the alien was tied up again.

Wonder Girl had gotten up from were she'd fallen, and was flying towards the villain, fist pulled back. Seeing this and anticipating the blow, the alien pried his arms from his sides in order to grab her. This in turn pulled Raptor, who was attached to the rope, off-balance.

And before Raptor knew it, Wonder Girl was flying towards her – but not the controlled type of super-powered flying. Wonder Girl's eyes were wide with panic, and she hit Raptor hard. The force of the alien's throw sent both girls soaring backwards into Batgirl, and all three were down for the count.

Grunting as she slowly, slowly, pushed herself up, Raptor realized with disgust that she and Wonder Girl had just managed to perform the same fighting tactic back-to-back against the same villain – and it had yielded the same result: defeat. She cursed herself for not realizing this sooner. She was so stupid.

She turned towards Tseng, and her eyes widened with horror when she saw him dangling in the alien's arms. Batgirl and Wonder Girl had seen it too, and all three rushed forwards.

"No!" Wonder Girl screamed, as the alien grabbed either of Tseng's arms and began to pull. To Raptor's surprise, instead of blood and sinew spilling out onto the ground, there was nothing – nothing but a few sparks and the whine of overworked machinery. "Ew," Wonder Girl said, as the metal shell of Tseng's body ripped open to reveal a small, bright green creature.

Raptor stumbled to a halt, shocked, and the alien – the bigger alien – picked up the smaller one. He smiled in a self-satisfied way.

"The main man's contract is complete," he announced in English. He touched a button on his belt, and it beeped, flashing green. "Keasy fem, your world's your world." The wall behind the aliens exploded, and the heat of the fire and the smoke washed over the three girls. Raptor covered her face and crouched down to avoid being hit by debris, and she could see her friends doing the same.

"Okay," Raptor muttered wearily, rubbing her aching skull. "Have I taken one too many hits to the head, or did you guys see that too? We just fought an alien?" Batgirl nodded somberly, studying the ripped open body of the machine Tseng.

"And that's not even the scary part."

BLÜDHAVEN

January 1, 20:17 EST

Dick knocked on his sister's door. A grunt from inside the room permitted his entrance, and he pushed it open. Karla was lying on her stomach on her bed, her long hair loose around her shoulders instead of braided back. The lamp was on, and her bright blue eyes shown in the dim light as she stared at him expectantly.

Unlike most teenagers, Karla's room showed little about who lived in it. The walls were painted white, and there was almost no decoration on the wall, no clutter on the desk. Her bed was made neatly and all her clothes were put away.

The only thing Karla had on her wall was a poster of the Flying Grayson's. The only other sign of personality was the overflowing bookshelf. Karla loved to read.

"How's your head?" Dick asked. "No concussion, right?" Karla reached back to touch the lump cautiously. She winched a little when her fingers brushed it. Dick turned her desk chair around so he could sit in it and face her at the same time.

"Not too bad," she reassured him. "I have a thick skull."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Dick said drily. Karla rolled her eyes, and turned back to her book. "What are you reading?" Dick asked, hoping to recapture her attention. She glanced up again.

"Paradise Lost," she said. "John Milton." Dick nodded, and then frowned.

"For school or for fun?" he asked, confused. "I thought your class had moved on to Macbeth." Karla shrugged.

"We have. I wanted to finish it." Dick smiled. The school Karla was going to was an advanced school. Despite having missed school for most - well, really all - of her life, Karla was smart. Her biggest problem was motivation - she had all these questions about why she needed to do it, why it was necessary.

She'd skipped her trigonometry class more times than she's gone to it two years ago, and when Dick (with the help of Bruce, because she'd been in Gotham back then) chewed her out for it, she had just shrugged and told him that if she knew how to hack into the CIA, she doubted she'd need to know how to take the sine of an angle. And besides, she did know how to take to sine of angle. Why did she need to go to class?

The point was, it was nice to see her doing something for school on her accord.

"So, school is going well, then?" Karla shrugged again, looking back down at the page she was reading. Dick could see that she had scrawled notes in the margins.

"I just finished exams. I don't know." Dick sighed. Sometimes talking to Karla could be like pulling teeth.

"Socially?" he tried. Karla raised an eyebrow at him, incredulous, and he sighed again. "Karla, do you have any friends? Outside the Team?"

"Do I need friends?"

"Yes!" Dick insisted. "It's – you need – " He groaned, and shoved his hands over his eyes. "You need a normal life, Karla. Like it would have been if none of this – "

"If none of this had happened?" She finished. Dick nodded, and Karla laughed darkly. "Well it did. And newsflash, Dick, if none of this had happened; we'd have grown up in a circus. How's that for normal?" Dick shook his head.

"But you would have been happy," he muttered, mostly to himself. "At least – not like this." Karla scowled.

"You don't know that." Dick briefly pictured his sister when she was a kid. She'd hardly even been without a smile; she'd been a lot like him – mischievous, lighthearted, and jovial.

"Yes I do," he said quietly. There was a beat of silence, and Karla sighed.

"Sorry," she apologized, sounding genuinely regretful. She didn't like upsetting her brother. "I don't know what you want me to do."

"Yeah." Dick rubbed his face. "I don't know either. I don't know what I should do." Karla sat up, curling her legs into her chest and resting her chin on her knees. She looked pensive.

"Maybe I shouldn't be your responsibility," Karla offered. Dick's head whipped up so fast that he got lightheaded. Karla didn't seem to notice. "I mean, you're only nineteen - "

"You can't go back to Gotham," Dick reminded her. "So what would you do?" Karla shrugged.

"The Cave?" she suggested. Dick shook his head.

"No. Just - no." Dick cut himself off. "Just try, okay? A little harder – at everything. Especially being nice to Tim." Karla scowled, her features contorting at the mention of the new Robin's name. "Karla," Dick said quietly. "It's not his fault that Jason died." Karla's hands curled into fists.

"I know," she muttered, her voice dark with anger. "But he still – "

"Tim didn't replace Jason," Dick insisted. God, how many times had he said those words to his sister? Karla snorted, and when she said nothing, Dick gave up. "Come on," he said, standing up. "Let's go get dinner. The diner should still be open."

MOUNT JUSTICE

January 4, 19:53 EST

"Recognized: Black Canary: One-Three; Access Granted: White Canary: A-One-Three. Authorization: Black Canary: One-Three," the Zeta Tube's electronic voice announced. Raptor walked towards the Zeta Tube, intrigued. She'd heard of White Canary before – Black Canary's relatively new partner – but she'd never met her.

The two women stepped into Mount Justice. Black Canary strode forward, but the girl that had to be White Canary hung back, looking around in awe.

"Hello, Raptor," Black Canary greeted the teenage girl. She glanced backwards. "Sara! Come here." The teenager jogged forward, and Raptor seized her up. The two women were clearly sisters – they had the same thick blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. White Canary/Sara was dressed in a white jumpsuit with a halter neck and a long white jacket. She offered Raptor a cool look, clearly appraising the other teen in a similar way.

"Hello," White Canary said. Raptor nodded shortly. The sound of footsteps made her head turn, and she saw Nightwing coming up to join them.

"Black Canary, hello," Nightwing greeted the older hero amiably. He then turned to the younger girl. "White Canary – I heard you might be joining us today. "You're just in time for the briefing." White Canary's eyes gleamed.

"Cool," she said. "So I get to go on a mission? Just like that?" Nightwing glanced at Black Canary, who nodded.

"Yes," Nightwing said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to start you off slow. But it's all hands on deck right now, and with a few of us off-world, we could use the extra help." As he spoke, the remaining members of the Team began to gather around. "The League and the Team will hit all fourteen Krolotean Zeta locations simultaneously. Your priorities are to destroy all Zeta Tubes or Platforms and search for any humans that the aliens may have abducted. As always, Mal is Ops Manager, coordinating comm. from here."

"Come on, give me Alpha," Lagoon Boy muttered under his breath. Raptor rolled her eyes, and then felt bad, remembering what Nightwing had asked her the night before. But did it really count if Lagoon Boy hadn't seen?

"Wonder Girl, you and I are Alpha. Assignment – Philadelphia."

"Yes!" Wonder Girl hissed under her breath, pumping her fist in quiet excitement. Lagoon Boy, on the other hand, was less than excited.

"Neptune's Beard!" Lagoon Boy muttered. "Okay, okay," he amended his wishes. "Give me Beta."

"Batgirl, Bumblebee. You two and Wolf are Beta. Assignment – Vlatavastok." Lagoon Boy groaned, his shoulders drooping. He knew that this meant he was Gamma Squad, also known as the soft gig. And it also meant that he was with Raptor, also known as the resident asshole of the Team.

"Robin, Lagoon, Raptor, Beetle," Nightwing listed. "You're Gamma. Take White Canary with you. This will be a good mission to break her in to the way we work."

"Which is how?" White Canary asked, stepping forward.

"Delicately," Nightwing responded. "We're a covert ops team, that's why the other two squads are small. I'm expecting less trouble on this assignment, which means that this squad can be on the bigger side without sacrificing stealth." There was something weirdly backwards about his statement, but Raptor knew that was because most of the people on the squad were rookies. Or Replacements. It made sense that Nightwing had put Raptor with them – they'd need some experience to lead this mess.

"Prep the BioShip," Nightwing continued. "You're headed to New Orleans."

"Gamma always gets the soft gig," Lagoon Boy muttered as he and Blue Beetle headed off. Robin and Raptor moved to follow them, but Nightwing called them back.

"Karla," he said. "I'm letting Tim run Gamma."

"Me?" Robin asked, at the same time that Raptor cried: "Him?" Nightwing gave his sister a look, but she plowed on, ignoring him as per usual.

"Dick," Raptor continued to protest. "He's never led a squad before. He's not ready for this!"

"Enough, or you're benched for this mission," Nightwing snapped. Raptor crossed her arms over her chest, stewing silently.

"What happened to 'all hands on deck?'" She muttered. She knew she was acting like a brat, but she couldn't help it. Experience on the field and in a fight was all she'd ever known. To not have it acknowledged…well, to put it lightly, it sucked.

"Uh," Robin said. "I hate to agree with Raptor, but...I agree with Raptor."

"This will be a good opportunity to get your feet wet as leader," Nightwing encouraged his adoptive brother. He cast a look at his biological sister and added, "And Karla will help, if you need it."

"Because it's Gamma and you're not expecting trouble?" Robin asked. "Or because you're stretched thin and you have no choice?" Nightwing scowled slightly.

"Just don't die, okay?" Robin's eyes widened. "And no unnecessary risks to the squad," Nightwing added. "That's an order." Robin nodded shortly, and turned to leave. Raptor followed him, still sulking quietly.

"Karla," her brother said. She turned back, holding her arms out in a 'what-do-you-want' manner. "Try. Please." She sighed, nodded once, and then turned to catch up with her teammates.

"Nightwing said delicately," White Canary repeated thoughtfully as the squad walked towards the hanger. "I suppose this would be a bad time to let you all know that on a scale of delicateness, I'm closer to a chainsaw than a scalpel?"

A huff of laughter caught the girl's attention, and she turned. Raptor was walking behind her, and a smile was curved over her face.

It was surprisingly pretty compared to her normal scowl.

NEW ORLEANS

January 4, 21:59 CST

"I bet we got the soft gig," Lagoon Boy griped from his seat at the helm. "Why do we always get the soft gig?"

"Because you're rookies," Raptor snapped. She was sharpening her short daggers, which, combined with her scowl and dark attitude, was pretty terrifying. "What do you expect?"

"Oh yeah?" Lagoon Boy challenged. "And what are you then, if you're here?"

"Let's see…" Raptor pretended to rack her brain for a few moments. "Your babysitter?" Lagoon Boy snarled.

"Wow," White Canary piped up, watching the exchange with mild interest. "Always so friendly?"

"Sometimes she's worse," Robin replied. "You get used to it." White Canary looked over at Raptor and was startled by the expression on her face. It was angry, irritated, but it was also…sad? The emotion was gone from her face before White Canary could pinpoint it exactly. There was a moment of silence, and Lagoon Boy groaned again when he saw the source of the Zeta Radiation.

"A toolshed?" Lagoon Boy said in disgust. "Barely enough room for one Zeta. I knew we got the soft gig."

"And yet," Blue Beetle said from where he was reclining comfortably in his chair. "I'm strangely okay with that." He smiled his usual easy-going grin, and then suddenly scowled. "Yes I am." He replied to an unseen, unheard presence. "Yes, I am!" Another pause. "Yes. I. Am!" Raptor studied Blue Beetle appraisingly for a moment and then turned to Robin.

"And you say I have problems." Electing to ignore that comment, Robin contacted Mal instead.

"Gamma Squad to Cave. We're in position." He pressed a few buttons on the keypad in front of him, and a video feed of Mal's face came up.

"Acknowledged, Gamma," Mal replied. "All Team Squads and Justice League Units are in place and ready. Go time." Lagoon Boy pulled the BioShip to a stop, leaving it in camouflage mode, and the squad got ready to step out.

The hatch opened, and Blue Beetle flew down, while the others simply jumped the short distance to the ground. Raptor studied the toolshed in front of them a bit incredulously. She had been expecting this mission to be easy, but seriously. This was a bit ridiculous.

Blue Beetle's arm changed into a cannon, and he fired his sonic beam at the toolshed. It exploded into pieces of wood and left a long, deep scar in the dirt ground. Tools rained down around the teenagers, and Lagoon Boy jumped down to inspect the damage.

"Congratulations, Blue," Lagoon Boy said sarcastically as he kicked a toolbox over, scattering nails and other widgets on the ground. "You took out an actual toolshed." Robin touched the comm. in his ear.

"Gamma to Cave," he radioed. "There's no Zeta Tube here. No Kroloteans. No hidden entrance."

"Watchtower Sensors still read trace Zeta Radiation from the site," Mal replied, forwarding the signal to Robin's handheld tracer. The teenager took another look at it, and nodded.

"Confirmed," he said. "But the radiation signature is coming from…below the water line!" He took his hand off the comm., cutting the conversation off. Robin turned towards Lagoon Boy and nodded. "You're up." Lagoon Boy dove into the water, and Raptor pulled two re-breathers out of her utility belt. She handed one to White Canary.

"Thanks," the other girl said, popping it in her mouth. Raptor nodded, waiting for Lagoon Boy's signal that he had found the source of the radiation. It didn't take long. The remaining teenagers dove into the water, swimming towards the bottom of the lake. They followed Lagoon Boy through a tunnel that was way too symmetrical to be natural – it had to be man-made.

Or, in this case, alien-made.

Lagoon Boy swelled up in order to pry the metal door open long enough for them to swim through. When it was opened, it revealed a metal tunnel with all sorts of glowing lights illuminating the dark water.

After a few minutes of swimming silently, the teenagers broke the surface. Raptor's eyes widened when she saw what they'd stumbled upon. A giant Krolotean base of operations.

The little creatures were everywhere, their screechy language echoing off the walls of the giant room. The whole place was filled with unfamiliar technology, and it was lit strangely – a greenish light.

"Gamma to Cave," Robin reported, slightly breathless. "We hit the Mother Load. Huge base. Alien Tech. Multiple Zeta, uh, Platforms. And more aliens than I can count." Raptor looked around as Robin gave his report. She glanced at White Canary, wondering how the other girl was taking this - it was only her first mission, after all. Her eyes were huge, and she let out a low whistle at the sight.

"Acknowledged," Mal said. "We'll send back-up. Until then, lay low." Blue Beetle made a choking sound and then spoke.

"That may be un problema, ése," Blue Beetle commented. He pointed to a screen in the center of the room that was clearly displaying the five teenagers where they'd been trying to hide. White Canary turned to look, confused as to what was filming them.

The answer was an odd looking alien camera. It had wings, and it was floating just above them. The room filled with the angry, screeching-clicks of the Kroloteans. All of the little aliens immediately stopped what they were doing and ran at the teens.

Raptor summed it up pretty eloquently.

"Well, fuck."

"Form up!" Robin ordered, leaping to his feet. "Blue, you have our six." Raptor unsheathed her two short daggers for close combat, and both White Canary and Robin pulled out long, collapsible staffs. Robin's was electrified; Canary's wasn't.

"Sí, hermano!"

"Stay liquid, minnows!" Lagoon Boy quipped, rushing forwards. Raptor twirled her blades in her hands and then jumped forward, landing in the middle of the fray. She knocked the Kroloteans aside easily, kicking the ones at her feet and slashing at the ones that jumped higher. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, and all of her muscles relaxed.

This was easy. Fighting was natural.

Flipping forward, Raptor knocked a few Kroloteans away that were sneaking up behind White Canary. The blonde shot Raptor a quick smile, swiping more aside with her staff. She was pretty handy with the thing.

"Thanks."

Blue Beetle began to fire his sonic cannon at the Kroloteans, taking them out in waves. After a few seconds of this, one of the Kroloteans not fighting – it seemed to be the one in charge, as it was wearing some sort of sash – snarled something in its language to the other Kroloteans.

At once, the aliens approaching Blue Beetle stopped short and turned tail, running away in the other direction as fast as they could. And not even towards the other heroes – to the Zeta Platform.

Lagoon Boy knocked another few Kroloteans aside with a grunt, and then called up to Beetle. "They really don't like you!" The Atlantean called. "I'm a little jealous!"

"He said what?" Blue Beetle responded, eyes wide. Raptor stopped, glancing up at her teammate. Something wasn't right.

"I said, I'm jealous!" Lagoon Boy repeated, clearly thinking that Blue Beetle's confusion was directed at him. "Don't rub it in!" Blue Beetle shook his head, waving off Lagoon Boy's explanation.

"No, not you! That jefe over there." Blue Beetle pointed to the Krolotean with the sash, who was currently beckoning the other aliens onto the platform, urging them to go faster.

"You can understand them?" White Canary asked, surprised, kicking a Krolotean aside.

"How?" Robin added, equally shocked.

"I – I don't know exactly," Blue Beetle responded. "But I can. Jefe is ordering all the Kroloteans to Zeta off-world. He's setting this base to self-destruct in four minutes!" Raptor glanced at the small alien who was typing something onto one of the large, central computers.

"Then we're getting out," Robin ordered, backing up to the waterline. "Anything else I need to know?"

"No sé," Blue Beetle admitted, landing next to the other teenagers. "He said something about 'sacrificing the play-things below?'" Robin frowned and shook his head, not comprehending the statement.

"Playthings?" He repeated under his breath. Raptor's eyes widened.

"Repla – Robin!" She shouted. "The abductees!" Robin nodded, having come to the same conclusion.

"Three minutes thirty, ése," Blue Beetle reminded them. "And then boom." Robin nodded again, deliberating slightly. He almost wished Raptor was in charge to make the call. But then...he knew what call she'd make.

"Nightwing said no unnecessary risks to the squad," he murmured. He glanced up, suddenly determined. "But this is necessary."

"Of course it's necessary," Raptor snapped at the younger teen. "It was part of the freaking mission plan. Now can we get on with it before we all die and then I posthumously get blamed for it?"

"Below!" Robin shouted to the Squad and shooting a glare at Raptor. He was good at multi-tasking, especially when it came to giving Raptor dirty looks. "We have to get below!"

"There!" White Canary cried suddenly, pointing to a few tunnels in the wall opposite from them. A steady stream of Kroloteans were running out of it, towards the Zeta Platform.

"Beetle on point!" Robin shouted. "Go!" Blue Beetle's wings shot out of his back, and his arms formed into a battering ram. He flew low to the ground, knocking away any Kroloteans that he ran into in order to clear the path for his friends. One of them saw him coming and turned around, scrambling back down in the tunnel it had just come from.

"Grab him!" Robin shouted as the creature tried to scramble away. Raptor lunged forward, her reflexes quick, and snatched up the alien. It squirmed in her grasp and her lip curled as it screeched at her. She handed it unceremoniously to Blue Beetle.

"Here you go," she said. He stared at her.

"Why me?" He protested, not taking it.

"You can understand it, can't you?" She shot back, shoving it towards him. Sighing, Beetle took the squirming alien and gripped to firmly by the scruff of its neck in order to limit movement. He studied it distastefully.

"Hello?" Someone called in English. A human – the abductees. "Is someone there? Please, get us out!" Robin and Raptor ran towards the cage of abductees, the other three following closely behind them.

"It's Robin, the Boy Wonder!" One abductee noted with relief. "And Raptor, too!"

"Thank heaven!" Another said. Then when they caught sight of Lagoon Boy and Blue Beetle, along with the Krolotean, they shrunk back in fear. Raptor soon realized why.

"More aliens!" One shouted, terrified.

"Go away!" A woman screamed. Blue Beetle stopped short, offended, and White Canary laughed.

"Hey, we're not aliens!" He protested. The Krolotean hissed, and Blue spared it a glance. "Okay, well, he is. But we're not!"

"Lagoon Boy, get this open!" Raptor said, motioning to the cage. There was no lock to pick, and any bombs she or Robin had weren't precise enough - they could hurt the abductees. The Atlantean swelled up, and as he did so, the people inside the cage shrieked and shied away from him.

Lagoon Boy yelled and managed to pull the cage apart. He shrunk back to his normal size, and the abductees opened their eyes cautiously. They looked around, seeming surprised that they were still in one piece.

"Thank you," one of them said, sheepishly. "We didn't mean – "

"It's fine," Lagoon Boy reassured him, patting the man's shoulder. "I get that a lot, chum."

"Hey. Uh, maybe you should ask him the fastest way out," White Canary said to Blue Beetle, pointing at the Krolotean. Blue Beetle stared back at her, eyes wide.

"Dude, I don't speak the – " he cut himself off. "Wait, you can?" He asked the unseen presence. "Well, what are you waiting for?" The four teens exchanged perturbed looks as Blue Beetle continued his conversation with no one.

"Blue's an…odd little fish, isn't he?" Lagoon Boy asked. They watched as he pointed at the Krolotean still dangling from his hand and screeched at it. Clearly, the alien understood him because it responded, and pointed. Blue Beetle nodded, a triumphant expression on his face and turned back towards his friends. He started to screech at them before realizing his mistake.

" – I mean, this way! Come on!" Raptor hung back, making sure all the abductees were following the heroes out before bringing up the rear. As they swam out of the alien base, Raptor realized just how closely they'd cut it – the explosion radiated through the water and she could feel the heat of the fire on her skin.

Raptor broke the surface of the water, gasping. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought to put a re-breather in her mouth in her haste to get out. Her lungs were burning from holding her breath so long.

"You okay?" Canary asked her in concern. Raptor looked at the girl treading water next to her and nodded, coughing.

"Fine." She hesitated, and then remembered that it was polite to return the concern. "You?" Canary grinned at her.

"Peachy." Raptor glanced around, doing a quick headcount. All the abductees were accounted for. Blue was still clutching the Krolotean. Robin and White Canary…where was –

"Where's La'gaan?" Robin asked, panicked. Just as the question left his mouth, the Atlantean broke the surface of the water, whooping as he did so.
"That's right!" he shouted towards the sky, pumping his fists. "Gamma Squad rules!"

"Uh, guys?" White Canary said. She lifted an arm to point to the sky. "We might be in trouble." Raptor followed her gaze. The League was coming in from all directions, those who couldn't fly on a platform created by the Green Lanterns or Doctor Fate.

And the SuperCycle was there too, with the other members of the Team. Nightwing was at the controls, his face blank. The five teens in the water exchanged nervous looks.

"For the record," Raptor said. "I wasn't in charge." Robin gave her a familiar dirty look, and turned to look back at Nightwing. To Robin's surprise, the older hero had broken into a grin.

"Dude!" Nightwing called from his seat. "Way to get your feet wet!"

MOUNT JUSTICE

January 5, 02:19 EST

Raptor stifled a yawn as she left the debrief. She was more than ready to get home.

"Hey," someone said, bumping her shoulder. It was White Canary. Raptor blinked, a little startled. She got along with most people on the Team, despite her bad attitude, but until they had gotten used to her, none of them had gone out of their way to talk to her.

"H – hi," Raptor stuttered. "Um. Hi." Canary grinned, and Raptor blushed. She hated talking to people. Especially people she didn't know. "What?" Raptor grunted, crossing her arms tightly.

"So, how did I do?" Canary asked, unbothered by the other girl's one-eighty in mood. Raptor stared at her and shook her head. White Canary read her confusion. "You know, my first mission?"

"Oh," Raptor said. She brushed her hand through the hairs that had escaped her braid, tucking the strands behind her ears. Her hair felt crunchy and stiff from the lake water. "Why are you asking me?"

"You were the 'babysitter,'" the blonde replied easily. She was still smiling. Raptor shrugged tightly, somehow simultaneously wishing that the conversation would end immediately but also hoping that it wouldn't ever.

"I – uh. You did. You did great, Canary."

"Oh, you can call me Sara," she said. "When we're not on the field, I mean. I don't have qualms about people knowing my secret identity. Unlike you." It wasn't said maliciously, or even teasingly - just in a matter of fact tone.

Raptor pondered this statement. Was it possible to have qualms about people knowing her identity when she most of the time felt like she didn't have one? Often times, Raptor felt more whole, more real when she was in the mask than when she was out of it.

"Okay," the dark-haired girl said, abruptly exhausted. She suddenly didn't have the energy to finish the conversation. "Sara." Sara frowned suddenly, studying Raptor carefully.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt in the mission?" she asked gently. Raptor shook her head. "Oh. Am I bothering you?" Raptor shook her head again, vehemently this time. She didn't want Sara to think that she didn't like her.

"No. It's not you. I'm just – tired." Sara nodded.

"Okay. I should probably go anyways. My sister's probably wondering where I am. Good night." She hesitated, and then added. "And by the way, I knew it." Raptor shook her head, confused. She had no idea what this girl was talking about.

"Knew what?"

"That you weren't a total asshole," Sara responded with yet another grin. "You haven't made a single snarky remark in the last five minutes." Raptor tried for a weak smile.

"Oh, no. You know my deepest, darkest secret. I guess now I'll have to kill you." Sara laughed.

"You could try." The blonde clapped Raptor on the shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow." Raptor nodded, still struggling to absorb the behavior of this new person who acted so differently from the people she was used to.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." Sara walked away, and Raptor watched her go, considering. People were never nice to her once they got their first impression, and she had no idea what to make of this. And then, all of the sudden, she knew.

Sara was probably being nice because Black Canary had told her too. Black Canary was, after all, the person who had evaluated Raptor right after she'd left the Court. Part of Dinah's conclusion, Raptor remembered, was that Raptor was socially awkward to the point of ineptness. She just wasn't used to talking to people who weren't her superiors or her handlers, people she had to be subservient to – and Raptor hated being subservient.

And after all that time of isolation, it was just easier to be mean than try.

Sorry, Dick.

yeah so karla's a lil fucked up. i'm going to explore her trauma and her relationship with people in general, but especially dick, sara, tim and jason in this fic.

also if anyone was wondering, her name is karla because that's the name of nightwing's aunt, and since he was named after his uncle, and his cousin was named after his dad i thought it a) kinda made sense and b) i just really couldn't think of a good name. sue me, i'm lazy.

and also for anyone that doesn't know sara is from the cw arrowverse shows. i freaking love her character. she's such a badass. she is different in this (a little ooc) because this is young sara who hasn't gone through the league and lian yu and all that shit.

and since i love the legends SO MUCH they are going to make some cameos in here in some maybe unexpected ways (like, ray is not ray palmer. mick rory wouldn't be heatwave. SPOILER: they're sara's friends)

anyways this is probably a stupid story but it is very therapeutic for me because i've had this freaking idea for so long. my b if it sucks.

if u read and u liked please leave a review.

if u read and u hated please leave a (constructive) review.

just please leave a review lol? thanks!