Prologue: The Explosion

Denver
September 20, 22:52 MDT (10:52pm MDT)

The streets were uncharacteristically empty this evening, save for the lone female, the assassin known as Cheshire, that was making her way through the empty streets, doing her best to avoid The Team was attempting to defeat and capture her.

"She can't keep running forever!" Kid Flash called telepathically as he ran to keep track of the assassin, staring far enough out of her weapon range so she couldn't cause him any harm.

"I imagine she can try, especially if she's avoiding being captured again." Miss Martian offered in response.

"Well how does she plan on getting away?" Kid questioned. "She's bound to hit a dead end eventually."

"Then perhaps we can speed up this process." Aqualad commented. "Robin, can you map a path in order to lead Cheshire to a dead end?"

"I'm already working on it." Robin replied.

"Good. Update the team of their needed locations to divert Cheshire." Aqualad ordered. "Everyone else, prepare to move."

It took several minutes and more reconfiguring, that was a little more than frustrating for a certain bird, but they'd finally managed to get Cheshire cornered. Artemis inched her way towards the assassin, an arrow nocked and trained on the elder woman.

"End of the line Cheshire." She called, catching as the rest of the team took up positions to limit chances of escape.

"Cheshire, you are under arrest." Aqualad spoke as he neared her, a hand on one of his water-bearers.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Cheshire spoke.

Aqualad made to question her but the everyone was thrown off guard as the ground beneath them seemed to quake momentarily as a loud booming explosion was heard from behind them. The team spun to find the sky to be lit by a blazing fire.

Aqualad quickly turned back to question Cheshire, his water-bearer now drawn, only to find that the assassin had managed a successful escape.

"No! She got away!" Artemis lamented as she lowered her bow, a glare set on her features as she stared at where their target had been.

"Now what?" Kid Flash questioned as he turned to their leader.

Aqualad took a moment to look around, glancing back to the fire blazing in the distance but remained silent. The team all shared a look standing in silence as seemingly no one dared to speak. Everyone reached for their communicators as a transmission came across.

"Mission update." Batman's voice sounded over the coms.

"Cheshire got away." Robin reported. He hesitated a moment before pressing on. "Bats, there was an explosion, should we…"

"Negative. The League is handling that matter. The Team should return to base and prepare for a debriefing in the morning." Batman instructed.

The team all turned to Aqualad whom finally turned his attention from the fire. Robin the first to speak. "Aqualad?"

"We have our orders. Let us return to base." Aqualad responded, not making eye contact with anyone as he began to wander off.

The team all shared a look again, the question hanging in silence as to rather or not their leader was alright.

Chapter One: The Newest Member

Mount Justice
September 21, 09:00 EDT

The team stood around as they waited for Batman to arrive for the debriefing, a civilian clothed Wally earned some looks as he loudly ate a bad of chips, turning to his team now.

"Is it just me or is Bats always late for debriefings?" He questioned.

"And you're one to talk?" Artemis questioned in response, earning a glare from the speedster.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped.

Robin gave a sigh as the pair dove into another one of their arguments, which Miss Martian did her best to try and break up. Robin cast a glance to their leader as he seemed to stare off absently, he made to question but suddenly froze, as did the rest of the team, when they heard a throat being cleared from behind them. They all turned to find Canary stood beside Red Tornado, the former of which stood with hands planted on her hips.

"Is this what you do when you're supposed to be training?" She questioned.

"Training?" Robin echoed. "We're waiting on Batman for a debriefing."

"You're also scheduled to train." Canary stated, relaxing her stance now as she eyed the children. "Did no one tell you?"

"It wasn't officially decided until this earlier this morning, Canary." Batman answered as he entered the room.

Canary crossed her arms with a nod, stepping aside so the Dark Knight would have the team's full attention as he stopped to stand beside her, Tornado remained in place. Batman brought up footage from the Watchtower's satellites.

"As you know, while you all were chasing Cheshire last night an explosion was set off." Batman began.

"Was anyone hurt?" Miss Martian blurted out the question, hands clasped over her chest, a worried expression present.

Batman cast a glance to her, adjusting the footage to show an aerial view of a fight taking place outside after the initial explosion. "Sportsmaster is believed to have set the bomb, which went off in a civilian household." He continued. "Two people are believed to have been killed as a direct result of the explosion, though no bodies have been recovered at this time."

Miss Martian stood in silence, unsure of what to think. A similarly mournful expression swept across the remainder of the team, Kaldur, in particular, seemed extremely remorseful.

"Is that why you called this debriefing?" Robin finally dared to question.

"No." Bat responded, pulling up photos of two individuals, a graying brunette-haired man and his blonde-haired wife. "The house belonged to a scientist and his family, he and his wife are believed to be the casualties." The man's photo was replaced by a photo of a woman clad in a golden costume consisting of a gold colored bodysuit with an equally golden skirt. "His wife was a former member of the League operating under the name Golden Hope. Two of their children were home with them at the time, but made it to the street, the oldest of the two was seen holding off Sportsmaster at the time of the League's arrival, and as such is being assigned to the Team."

"Another new member?" Kid echoed before gesturing in Artemis' direction. "I still don't want the old new member!"

Kid earned a jab from Robin and a glare from Artemis as a teen approached, standing beside Batman now. The teen had a tight-fitting dark gray beanie on, small tuffs of brunette hair seen poking out from underneath. A loose-fitting black tank was paired with navy fatigue pants, matching those of Superboy's, which were equally tucked into a pair of boots like the boy of steel's.

"I want you to welcome Gabe to the team." Batman said, casting a glance to the teenager whom stared at the team, seemingly unimpressed.

"Another guy?" Kid Flash questioned, almost disappointed. "What can he even do?"

"Well you can find that out for yourselves; Training starts now." Canary spoke up, taking a step forward. "Two teams; Superboy, Artemis, Robin and Aqualad Versus Gabe."

"Four against one, hardly fair." Robin observed, casting a glance to Gabe.

"I agree." Aqualad chimed in. "We do not know what Gabe can do and do not wish to harm him."

"You're not always aware of an adversary's capabilities before you engage them." Canary commented, stepping off the training space and motioning her fellow Leaguers to follow. "Now form team and prepare to spar."

The team all shared looks before Miss Martian and Kid Flash stepped off the training space, 'Gabe' cast a glance back to the league members that had moved off the mat. Upon receiving a nod from Batman, they turned back to face the four team members stood across the mat.

The team all shared a look again before turning back to Gabe. Robin glancing to Canary and his own mentor, the latter of which finally giving the command; "Begin."

The team turned to their leader whom gave a nod, prompting Artemis to shoot an arrow at their newest member, whom stepped out of the way of the attack. Artemis shot Gabe a look and quickly shot off another arrow, this one was caught however, mere inches from its target. Gabe gave a small smirk before snapping the arrow in half with only a few fingers.

Artemis shot a glare before charging forward and attempting to hit Gabe with her bow. The pair seemed to dance around the mat for several moments as Gabe managed to dodge several of Artemis' strikes before finally grabbing hold of both her bow and her top, pulling the weapon away from the archer and flipping her onto the floor outside the sparring zone.

"Artemis, you're out." Canary called.

Artemis gave a small growl as she pulled herself off the floor, reclaiming her bow which Gabe had discarded, mumbling to herself as she moved to stand beside Miss Martian, crossing her arms as she watched the match continue.

Gabe turned back to the remaining members, watching the three boys a moment before motioning for them to continue their assault. Without word or prompting Robin shot forward, attempting to land a kick. Gabe was taken aback at the attempt but still managed to dodge out of the way, albeit barely, before making their own attempt to land a hit on the Boy Wonder.

The two went around for a while, dodging and attempting to strike the other, with the younger team member managing to get some hits in before being eliminated from the match, though seemingly only on a technicality as Gabe had managed to force Robin to step outside the zone.

Gabe now turned back to the remaining duo, whom seemed to allow a moment for Gabe to catch their breath. Once ready, Gabe took a defensive stance and gave a nod to the boys.

The remaining pair had seemingly decided on a team-up as both charged forward, Aqualad the first to attempt an attack. Gabe quickly back flipped away from the strike, almost immediately having to block another one from Superboy, before turning their attention back to the Atlantean.

This matchup went on for the longest, the three seemingly of equal strength or agility, though both sides managed to land impressive hits to the other. Gabe backflipped out of the way of a grapple attempt by Aqualad, the latter of whom, instead, managed to grab hold of the newest member's cap.

Superboy and Aqualad watched as Gabe returned to their feet, the hair that had peeked through the cap before now fell freely, settling just below the brunette's chin. A sudden realization seemed to strike the entire team, the two remaining combatants not given much time to process before another strike was thrown at them.

Aqualad barely managed to dodge a kick from the brunette but was caught when the opposite foot swung around, connecting with his chest, the attack was swiftly followed by a leg sweep, dropping the Atlantean to the floor, though not outside the allotted zone.

Gabe quickly turned to Superboy now as he charged in for another attempt, the former taking to dodge most of the attacks until the pair matched strikes enough to warrant the match to be called.

"That's match." Canary called quickly, seeing that Superboy was prepared to land a punch to Gabe's chest, the latter being inches from sharply elbowing the boy of steel in the jaw.

The pair locked eyes for a few moments longer before both slowly backed away and returned to relaxed stances. Once certain that the other wasn't going to attack, Superboy stepped off the mat, watching as Gabe retrieved their cap while helping Aqualad back to his feet.

"I gotta say, you guys just about gave me a run for my money." Gabrielle commented, giving a smile to Aqualad. The latter of which noted as their voice took an almost deceptively low tone but remained in a higher pitch.

Aqualad made to speak until Kid Flash blurted out a; "Gabe's a girl?!"

"It's Gabrielle actually." Gabrielle responded, turning to the speedster now. "And yes, I'm a girl."

Robin turned to his mentor now. "You knew." He stated more than questioned.

"Yes."

Before anything else could be spoken between the two, Artemis spoke up. "Why would you dress like a guy?" She questioned their newest member.

Gabrielle gave a sheepish chuckle, fluffing her hair out a moment. "That's… a long story." She responded.

"Wait…" Kid Flash spoke up quickly, turning to the League members. "If she's on the team then who's her mentor? I mean she has to have a mentor, right?" He began gesturing to his fellow teammates. "Robin has Batman, I have Flash, Aqualad has Aquaman, Miss Martian has Martian Manhunter, Supey has…" He paused and gestured widely to Artemis. "And Artemis has Green Arrow. So who…"

"I am." Canary spoke up, interrupting the speedster.

"You?" Kid Flash echoed, gesturing to their combat instructor. He glanced between the two women before turning to Batman. "Really? Are we sure about this? Sure about her?"

"You're more than welcome to volunteer for the next sparring match." Gabrielle commented, shoving her cap into a pocket.

Kid made to respond but was interrupted by their leader. "Kid, be respectful." Aqualad warned, holding a hand out to Gabrielle, which she gratefully accepted. "Welcome to the team."

"Thank you." Gabrielle replied, a small smile on her face.

She and Superboy's attention was both cast to the hall for a moment, the former casting a glance to Batman now. "Can I go get…?" Upon receiving a nod, she made her way out of the room, a barely heard call of "Nat I'm in here" was heard as she left earshot.

"Nat?" Robin questioned, turning to his mentor. "I thought we were only getting one new member."

"Natalia is Gabrielle's baby sister." Canary responded before Bats could.

"We're hosting a daycare now too?" Kid questioned with a groan.

"I believe," Aqualad spoke, shooting a look to his friend, "what Kid means is to question why it is Natalia is here."

"We've so far been unable to locate next of kin, so Natalia is in Gabrielle's charge." Batman responded.

"You said earlier that one of the children was able to hold off Sportsmaster single-handedly…" Artemis recalled. "That was Gabrielle, wasn't it?"

"Is that why she has been assigned to this team?" Aqualad questioned.

"Yes." Batman responded.

Everyone turned as Gabrielle returned, an auburn-haired child, looking to be about five, sat on her shoulders. Miss Martian giving a small excited squeal before quickly flying over to the pair.

"She's so cute!" Miss Martian exclaimed.

Natalia gave a small grin and a wave to the Martian. "Thank you!"

"Natalia and Gabrielle both will be staying in the cave." Batman spoke.

Miss Martian seemed to light up at the news, clapping her hands. "Oh, I hope you both love cookies."

Natalia's face brightened as Gabrielle gave a small chuckle, though before any more could be said everyone's attention was turned to the Zeta-tube.

'Recognized, Red Arrow, B-0-6'

Everyone seemed to watch as Red Arrow entered the room, giving a glance around before settling on Gabrielle.

He took a moment to examine her. "Another new addition to the team I see." He commented. "What can this one do?"

"I can shoot laser beams, right out of my eyes." Gabrielle responded blankly. "It's quite impressive."

"Oh, a comedian." Arrow commented. "Where do you keep finding these guys?"

Gabrielle made to retort but was cut off as a small voice spoke from behind her. "You're mean." Natalia called, giving a small glare to the archer.

"And a kid…" Arrow noted. "So the League's officially running a daycare now?"

"She's my sister." Gabrielle barked. "She stays with me."

Before the two could engage any further, Robin physically placed himself between the two, quickly changing the subject. "So, Speed- I mean Red Arrow." He began. "What brings you to the cave?"

"Yeah!" Kid piped up excitedly, running to stand in front of Robin now. "Did you come to join the team?"

Red Arrow cast a glance to Artemis before turning back to the speedster. "Pass."

"Then why did you come?" Canary questioned now.

"I have a mission that I figured would be better suited for this team." Arrow replied. "It involves Cheshire."