The footsteps of the six young heroes bounced around the walls of the cave. The silence from behind them reassured them that they were not being followed, a sign that they had succeeded. The redheaded speedster struggled not to outrun his friends though he clearly was the one leading them through the tunnels of the dark cave. Close to the speedster ran the clone of superman and by his side his martian girlfriend ran with her hand in his for she was too tired to fly and he was not willing to let her fall behind him. At his other side ran the blonde archer, helping their leader keep up since he had gotten hurt during battle. The world's biggest detective's prodigy ran close behind them, ready to take the weight of the merman in case Artemis got too tired.
Wally smiled as the exit came into view and sped up, not caring anymore to leave his friends behind since they would clearly make it to the exit. Once they were all outside they walked into the woods where they had left Megan's ship, their ride home. Kaldur lifted his arm up and stepped away from Artemis so she wouldn't have to struggle with his weight and walked over to the ship. The last one in was Conner, who stayed outside a bit to check that no one had gone after them. Inside he saw Megan sitting on her usual seat in the center of the ship, her eyes closed but clearly still awake. He sat on the floor near her feat and rested his head on her lap, letting her know he was there. On the left side of the ship, Wally had taken a seat and was staring at Artemis, looking at her up and down making sure she was ok. One single scratch would make him go crazy, if he couldn't stand the idea of his friends hurt how would he expect that he would be under control if something happened to her? Why he worried so much about her was one of the biggest mysteries he had ever encountered.
Kaldur had clearly fallen asleep as soon as he sat down. Artemis didn't even bother to sit down, she just plopped herself on the floor and lay there until she fell asleep. Wally smiled at her, she wasn't like most girls, she didn't care if the floor was dirty or if her hair was ok and he liked that about her. The boy wonder seemed to be the only member who wasn't tired. It was late, probably 1 in the morning and the trip home would be long so Robin walked over to his best friend and took a seat next to him, shaking his head as he glanced at Superboy and Megan, though he found them to be sweet.
After what seemed like hours they finally felt the ship slowly land on a rough surface. The groggy teenagers didn't feel in the mood to even pay attention to it. At last Kaldur opened one eye only to be met with blue. The density of the air wasn't what scared him the most but the view he had. His surprisement was cut off by the groans of a curious redheaded that poked his face out of his little space where he had decided to crash into sleep.
"Where are we?" He said sleepily. Opening his eyes more carefully he was surprised to wake up to the most awful sight. Conner and Megan were still asleep in a cuddling position. She rested her head on the crook of his shoulder while he was lazily spread across the bioship's chair. What was it... Was he feeling... Sick.. No ... Maybe.. Jealous.. Yes that was it jealous. Debating with himself to attend to Kaldur's problem or with his obvious bitterness towards his denial that they were a couple he reluctantly changed position only to fall head first with a thick rug of hair. "OWW! Watch it!" Snapped the blonde owner of the hair. Kaldur was still watching silently deciding that the current problem of being stranded on a mountain was probably going to be postponed.
"What happened?" the voice of the youngest hero was the only sound in the ship. The humming the ship made when it was active was gone. No sign of it whatsoever. The boy of steel's ears rang with the sudden sounds around him, waking him up but did not move for Megan was still asleep. He scanned the scene around him with a narrow gaze, searching for any sign of danger that might threaten him or his friends. When he was sure that everything and everyone was safe, he relaxed his position and got up, careful not to wake his girlfriend. Artemis was rubbing her head as she glared at Wally who was smirking at her anger but Conner knew that no hate ran between them. None at all.
Robin was up on the dashboard of the ship; he cupped his hands around his eyes and pressed them against the glass to get a look of where they were. The landscape was dark and some silhouettes could be seen here and there but there was nothing that gave away their location. He groaned and he hopped off the dashboard and paced around the ship, no panic washed over him as his mind danced around the possibilities of where they could and what could they do to get out.
"It's her." said the blonde girl who had given up on trying to get her revenge on Wally and pointed her finger at the form of the sleeping Martian. Kaldur frowned and shook his head at Artemis' words. There was no way Megan was the reason behind all what was happening, after all she wanted to get home as much as every other member of the team. ''No, she's right.'' Kaldur was surprised when he heard the booming voice of Conner, he was the only one that hadn't talked and his voice was definitely the loudest. ''What do you mean?'' Wally asked clearly feeling as confused as Kaldur. Robin seemed oblivious as to what was happening around him, his mind somewhere else.
''She's too tired to power it. She tried to stay awake long enough to get close to the Cave but she fell asleep. The bio ship needs her to run and she's drained out of energy.'' Artemis explained as she saw the merman's brows relax from the frown they had been knit in. ''I say we spend the night here, wherever we are, she will be fine in the morning."
Everybody was wide awake after resting so long. Everyone except Megan, who was placed carefully on her seat at the middle of the bioship wrapped around here were two strong arms that belonged to her boyfriend. "Its 3 am" the boy wonder murmured from his seat almost as if he was just talking to himself. After several minutes of awkward silence Wally got bored. He began shuffling in his seat very distracted and started playing with his fingers. "Well... we should do something?" He finally said trying hard not to think of food at the time.
"We could play a game! What about truth or dare?" The little 13 year old said a little too excited. " I'd rather not" replied Artemis coldly. "Fine if she doesn't want to she doesn't have to" replied the most unexpected one. Wally. He always had something to say, just to start an argument with her, he enjoyed bickering with her. But he didn't. 'Was he avoiding her?' She thought silently in her mind "I bet you're just scared" blurted out Robin with a cocky smirk. Artemis glared at him. Wally began pacing but ended up sitting next to Megan. Conner remained silent the entire time his gaze wandering around, looking at Wally to Robin to Artemis to Kaldur and end up on Megan. Just to be sure. He had promised not to be protective on missions but he couldn't help it. His nature was to care. Like he did for wolf or sphere. Like he wished Superman would understand. Rage was suddenly blurring his vision at the thought. He felt a hand touch his shoulder in, it belonged to Kaldur. He was probably watching his internal battle the whole time. "We should stop them." he simply said.
"Lets play then." Conner said with a slight grin deciding he would forget about his anger. Maybe he just needed some silly game to cool off.
They all gathered in a circle. Wally had his unique goofy grin plastered on his face. Clearly he was exited. Artemis had been dragged along by Conner and Kaldur who silently obliged her to do so just to pass time until Megan awoke. Robin had a playful look and it made him look creepy. "I'll start" he began happily. "Wally truth or dare?"
"DARE!" He yelled almost instantly. "Good, I was expecting that." Robin started grinning now.
"Your dare is to kiss Megan"
"WHAT?" Kid Flash's face brightened. Superboy was standing up in a flash, fists clenched, his jaw tightened and his eyes fixed directly on Robin with so much hate he could kill him with a look. Kaldur was trying to sit him down unsuccessfully. Robin let out a chuckle although it seemed kind of nervous and said "Just kidding your dare is to punch Superboy in the face."
"Like that makes it any better." Superboy muttered darkly. Wally's face
showed horror. He would surely break his hand trying. " I thought we were being nice for a second." Wally said raising his fist and was about to punch Conner when Robin stopped him "Wait! I changed my mind he said eying Artemis by the corner of his eyes.
She shot him a 'better not be what I'm thinking look' and he smirked and said "Ok better idea I dare you to run around the ship until you trip over something or until game ends." Wally was tired since he hadn't eaten in hours and with an inaudible murmur he began his laps at super speed. The only sign of him now were the blurs all over the ship.
It was Superboy's turn to ask. "Um …Artemis truth or dare?" Not wanting to invent a stupid lie she chose dare. "Okay" he said pausing for a moment to think
"Kiss Robin" Everybody looked shocked. Even Kaldur hadn't expected that. A loud crash was heard. Wally had tripped with a chair while they were exchanging words. Artemis looked at Robin shyly. She had never ever even thought about kissing him. He didn't talk to her much and was the only person who made her feel vulnerable, and the age was something she wasn't going to think about right now. Robin had a priceless expression, he had a dark blush covering his cheeks and deep inside he was actually considering doing it. Wally was recovering from his fall and had a small tinge of red on his cheeks from running…or maybe from something else but managed to stand and was about to interrupt the game when an explosion was heard from afar. Suddenly a loud thump was heard even closer. All of them rose to a combat position when Red Arrow appeared at the entrance of the bioship. All eyes were on him when he came to light Artemis gasped, Robin remained with his poker face, Kaldur and Wally was already beside him helping him as he almost fell. Superboy was silent. Red arrow had appeared out of nowhere smeared in blood and sweat, several cuts around his body, his fists were clenched and in one of them he held his bow tightly and had no arrows in his quiver. "Cheshire" was the only word they were able to hear before he collapsed and passed out.