chapter twelve.
( who we are. )

Yue awoke, disoriented with a pounding migraine, to the feeling of somebody shaking her. She slowly opens her eyes, wincing as the bright sun glared down at her, barely blocked by the row of large boulders at her side. She blinks once, then twice, as her eyes take in her surroundings. Various questions fill her mind– from why she was laying in the middle of what looked like a sandy desert, to why her suit was black and grey rather than red and gold.

Her dark gaze falls onto Dick, who sits beside her in his Robin suit, his hands tightly wrapped around her shoulders. He was the one shaking her, she realises. "Di- Robin, what's going on?" Her voice comes out hoarse, no doubt a side-effect of being in the desert for who knows how long.

"I was kinda hoping you'd be the one with answers." With a heavy sigh, Robin falls back against his calves. The sound of a humvee breaks the silence that had washed over them, Robin – while Flamebird remains still to collect her thoughts – peeks his head out from behind the boulders. "Those are Bialyan republican army uniforms! But what are Bialyans doing in-" He glances down at the screen of his gauntlet, his eyes widening as a small map appears to reveal their location. "Bialya?!"

"Bialya?" Flamebird repeats as she glances over the boy's shoulder. The two red dots marking their location were right, they were in Bialya, but why? They, two Gotham heroes, had no business travelling alone to the foreign country. The Justice League wasn't allowed here. "What are we doing in Bialya?"

"And in September!" Robin points to the bottom of the screen, where the date – September 4th – was painted. "What happened to March?"

Her memories were hazy, but the last thing she could remember with absolute certainty was that they were supposed to be in the middle of March. So, what happened to the last six months?

"Look!" She reaches out to point toward a blue marker on the map. "GPS marker. Must be why we're here."

"Better radio Batman." Robin reaches up for the comms-device in his ear, only to stop himself with a sigh. "He ordered radio silence," he remembers as a hazy memory flashes through his head. "We're on our own."

"Great." Flamebird frowns as she moves to stand up, dusting the sand out of her hair as she stares down at the boy. "We have to keep radio silence and try to remember why we're missing a whole six months worth of memories."

Robin strolls toward one of the nearby boulders, his brows furrowing behind his domino mask as he reaches out for a torn piece of black cloth. The red Superman emblem painted across the centre of the fabric only raised more questions than answers.

It was going to be a long day...

The burning sun had set by the time the two heroes, trekking through the sand on foot, arrived by the GPS marker on their maps. "Wish I could remember why I put a marker here," Robin complains as he runs just behind Flamebird.

"I wish I could remember a lot of things, Rob." Flamebird, frustrated by the heat, her lost memories and a pounding headache, can't help but roll her eyes. She halts at the top of the sandhill, dropping onto her stomach in the sand as they both look out towards a metal crate in the field.

"Huh..." Robin mutters he drops down beside the girl. "I guess that's why."

"Come on." She pushes herself over the hill, sliding down the sand until she reaches the ground. She jumps to her feet but before she can take another step towards the tech, armed Bialyan soldiers emerge from their hiding spots, shouting something in the foreign language– Flamebird didn't know any Bialyan, but even she knew it was something hostile just from the tone of their voices.

"Flamebird, look out!" Robin shouts as he throws a handful of small beads toward her and the soldiers, they hit the ground and in a matter of seconds, the area fills with a thick cloud of smoke.

Both heroes leap into action, Flamebird rushes behind one of the soldiers and wraps her arm around their throat in a head-lock, applying just enough pressure to knock them out before dropping their body into the sand.

She dashes out of the smoke, her eyes widening as they fall onto two armed men sneaking up behind Robin as he fights one of their comrades. She reaches for her bola and throws it in their direction, the weighted weapon extends into a rope that wraps around both of their torsos and pulls them to the ground.

A relieved smile makes its way onto her face, though it quickly falls as she turns around and comes face to face with the barrel of a gun. He shouts at her, his voice loud and angry, as he shakes the weapon. His finger slowly drops to the trigger, then presses against the palm of his hand as a blur speeds past and snatches the gun from him.

"My turn." Flamebird smirks, her hand clenching into a fist that she wastes no time throwing at the man. He crumples to the ground unconscious. She spins around on her heel, grinning as she glances over toward Kid Flash– who stands by the pile of guns he stole from the soldiers, wearing a black suit similar to her own. "KF!"

"Man, it's good to see a familiar face." Robin grins as he walks over to the boy, his eyes flickering from Kid Flash to Flamebird, as she jogs over to them and wraps her arms around the speedster.

After the disorienting day she had, relief fills her body when Kid Flash pulls her closer in his warm embrace. "What are you even doing out here?" She murmurs, pulling her head away from his shoulder to meet his gaze.

"You guys have memory loss, too?" He raises a brow as he looks between his two friends.

"Six months." Robin confirms. "Let's hogtie these creeps and compare notes."

The soldiers had been tied up with the help of both Miss Martian and Artemis– the two girls had arrived shortly after Kid Flash, who claimed he found them wandering the desert earlier in the day. Much like the three friends, Artemis had lost her memories of the last six months, while Miss Martian could only remember bits and pieces.

"So, we're a team?" Robin's brows furrow under his mask as he looks between Miss Martian and Artemis cautiously.

Miss Martian nods, "The five of us and Superboy."

"Superboy?" Flamebird reaches into the pocket of her utility belt and pulls out the black cloth she had found earlier, holding it out for Miss Martian to get a better look. "This must be his then, 'cause I don't think Superman would've taken a suggestion from Batman's colour palette."

"It's his!" The Martian gasps. "Did you see him?"

When Flamebird and Robin both shake their heads, Miss Martian's smile falters. "Uh," Artemis clears her throat from behind the group. "I think we did."

"Feral boy?" Kid Flash groans and rolls his eyes, "Some teammate. He attacked us."

"He doesn't know who we are." Artemis jumps to defend their absent teammate. "I don't know who we are!"

"I remember Batman ordering radio silence." Robin explains. "Our team must work for him."

"How do you know we don't work for my mentor?" Kid Flash's hand slaps against the lightning insignia on his chest; colour bleeds into his suit, the black and greys slowly being replaced by the usual yellow and red he wore. "Whoa! This is so cool!"

"We look ridiculous." Artemis comments, her own suit changing between a lighter and darker shade of green as she taps the arrow symbol. Her eyes narrow at Kid Flash, watching for a moment as he continuously shifts the colours of his suit. "Quit touching yourself!"

"Artemis has a point. We need to focus on getting our memories back," Flamebird points out, her eyes flickering between the members of their so-called team. "We need to know what happened to us, and why we're in the middle of the Bialyan desert."

"I think I can help with that," Miss Martian offers. There's a sudden flash of light, and when it fades, the team stands in the centre of some type of room. Flamebird looks around curiously, their surroundings are tinted purple, but it was the walls that stood out the most; fragments of memories, images of the team, flicker across them.

"I brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far. But I need your help." Miss Martian is met with sceptical looks from the four heroes in front of her, causing her to sigh and continue. "Together, our broken memories can form a whole; if you open your minds to me."

Flamebird pauses; her thoughts were just that, hers . She may not remember the last six months, but she remembered Bruce and his lessons– never let a Martian run around up there with no walls up. Yet, as her eyes fall onto the flickering memory of her and Miss Martian sitting together at the beach, she's struck with the urge to trust the girl.

"You want to paw through our private thoughts?" Artemis crosses her arms over her chest protectively as she steps away from the Martian.

Miss Martian shakes her head, "I have no wish to intrude, but-"

"You need to hack our minds to grok what happened to us." Robin cuts her off with a grin. "Got it. Go."

Kid Flash takes a step forward, his hand gently wrapping around Flamebird's, as they share a look of agreement. "My brain's all yours." He tells Miss Martian with a grin. "Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."

"Or underwhelm you," Flamebird snickers.

Robin raises a brow. "Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

With the rest of her team agreeing, Artemis huffs out a sigh and nods. "Fine," she agrees. "Last six months only, and only what you need."

Flamebird's eyes close as memories of the last six months begin to fit together like pieces of a puzzle inside her mind. The memory of Batman's mission briefing is the final thing to click in place.

"The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan desert." Batman informed the team. "Spectral analysis revealed elements non-terrestrial in origin. Find out what happened at the site, what landed there." The screen behind him changes from a map to a picture of a woman. "Bialya is a rogue state ruled by Queen Bee and is not a member of the League's U.N. Charter. All communications are subject to interception; maintain radio silence at all times. You'll land in Qurac on Bialya's border, two clicks from the hot-zone."

The next thing she sees is the Bialyan desert in the dead of night; Superboy carries the large piece of tech into the clearing, under the orders of a familiar voice. Something felt off, she thought.

"Set up here." The voice ordered as Superboy carefully dropped the box. Robin ran forward, crouching at one of the side computers as he began typing.

"We'll be up and running in no time." The bird-themed hero announced, then glanced over his shoulder.

"Jackpot!" Kid Flash grinned as he read the computer data from over the shorter boy's shoulder. "The site's lousy with zeta-beam radiation."

Flamebird looked between the two boys, then down at the screen. "We're detecting non-terrestrial trace elements from the tent over there." She pointed toward the Bialyan campsite they had found.

"I'll check it out in camouflage mode." Miss Martian offered.

"Good idea. Go." There was the voice again. Flamebird knew why something felt off now, there was another member of the team that she couldn't quite put a name to just yet.

Superboy frowns. "Careful."

"And maintain telepathic contact." The boy comes into view for the first time, and Flamebird's heart races with fear in her chest.

Kaldur.

Her eyes shoot open and she, along with the other four members of the team, gasps loudly. "Aqualad!" The purple room of memories fades out of vision as they return to the sandy plains of the desert.

"Where is he?" Robin turns toward Miss Martian. "What happened next?"

"I don't know. That's the last thing I- we remember." Miss Martian looks between the team with wide eyes.

Flamebird glances over at Kid Flash, her heart only racing even more as she quickly drops his hand and turns away. The boy beside her clears his throat awkwardly. "We landed twenty-four hours ago," he points out. "If Kaldur's been wandering the desert that long... Well, that's not good for a guy with gills."

"Now that I know to look for him-" Robin switches on the holographic map in his gauntlet, his brows furrowing as he searches for the mark indicating Aqualad's position. "He's close! But... But he's not moving."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Flamebird's eyes widened. She takes a quick look at the map, then takes off in a sprint toward Aqualad's position. It doesn't take long to spot Aqualad's unconscious form hidden behind a rock formation. He lays on the ground, muttering incoherent words in his native tongue. "Aqualad!" She falls to her knees beside him, then gently lifts his head to rest on her lap.

Miss Martian reaches her hand out, carefully placing it on the boy's forehead before she frowns. "I can't restore his memories in this condition."

"He needs immediate rehydration." Robin points out, kneeling beside the two girls with a concerned look. "Call the Bioship."

"It's out of range." Miss Martian shakes her head, then glances at Kid Flash. "But you can get him there fast."

"He's too heavy, and I'm too low on fuel," Kid Flash sighs, "Right now, I couldn't even carry her." He lifts his head to point at Artemis, who scoffs and knocks her elbow against his shoulder.

The archer looks down at Miss Martian with furrowed brows. "Why not just levitate him back?"

"I can't," Miss Martian argues as she removes her hand from the boy's forehead and stands up. "I have to find Superboy. Six months ago, he didn't exist. He has no memories, just animal impulse. I'm the only one who can help him."

With the boy's head resting against her lap, Flamebird can't help but feel the need to prioritise the Atlantean over their super-friend. They were both vital parts of the team, they were both her friends, but only one of them was half-dead and resting against her. "M'gann," she says softly. "You're the only one who can help Aqualad."

"Superboy's indestructible. Just ask those tanks," Kid Flash chimes in. "It's Aqualad who needs your help, like now."

Miss Martian winces, her hands shooting up to hold her head. "No, Superboy's in pain!" She shouts, then shoots off the ground and takes off into the distance.

"M'gann, wait!" Artemis calls out to the girl.

Robin, though Miss Martian was already flying away, cups his hands around his mouth and yells, "We still don't know what erased our memories!"

Flamebird could understand why, when it came to Superboy's safety, M'gann was being so stubborn. She would do the same for Wally; that was why she needed to act more like Batman. She needed to stop letting her feelings get in the way of missions like these.

With a frown, she glances down at Aqualad. "We need to make a gurney and get him back to the bioship," she tells the team. "When he's safe, we can head back out and help her find Supes."

The team worked together to make a semi-stable gurney for Aqualad– while Artemis carries the back and Flamebird holds up the front, Robin leads the team in the direction of the bioship. The boy stops at the front, his brows furrowing as a low humming sound nears the group. "Quick." In a hushed whisper, he points toward a nearby group of rocks. "Over there."

The group, still carrying Aqualad on the gurney, rush to hide behind the rocks as another humvee drives past them. Flamebird frowns as the Atlantean begins to groan and murmur again. "I think he's getting worse," she whispers to the others.

Artemis gently places her hand atop the boy's head, "Shh, Kaldur. Quiet now."

Robin peeks over the rock, his eyes narrowing as he counts the amount of soldiers exiting the humvee. "We can't risk a firefight with Aqualad KO'ed like this."

Kid Flash sighs, "It's not just him. I'm way out of juice."

Artemis glances over her shoulder, frowning as she counts only two arrows left in her quiver. "And I'm almost out of arrows," she informs them.

"Robin, we need to-" Flamebird cuts herself off as her eyes fall onto the empty spot Robin had once been kneeling in.

This isn't right, she thought. Robin may have had the most experience – just a few months more than her – but it didn't make him the leader, he was still just a kid and Bialya's considered the deep end for a reason.

It's dangerous.

"Hey." Kid Flash's hushed voice pulls her from her thoughts. The speedster moves to sit beside her and Aqualad, a reassuring smile on his face as he meets her apprehensive gaze. "You doing okay?"

She wants to spill how she feels about everything; how she's scared to be in Bialya, that she's afraid Kaldur might not make it and they won't see M'gann or Superboy again. But she can't.

"Yeah." She plasters the best possible grin on her face as she stares back at him. "I was just thinking about how pissed Bats'll be when we get back after twenty-four hours of no contact."

Kid Flash– Wally stares back at her like he could see straight through her lies and into the deepest parts of her soul. Maybe he could, he always prided himself on knowing her better than anyone, after all. But for the first time since meeting him, she wished his eyes would be on anyone but her.

"Seriously, Wal." She assures him, then reaches out to place her hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine, I promise."

"Yeesh, lovebirds, get a room." The sound of Robin's voice has both teens spinning around to face the young hero as he drops over the rocks to sit by Artemis, who sits beside him with a teasing grin.

"Dude, where were you?" Kid Flash asks with a pointed gaze.

"Breaking radio silence." As a smirk tugs at his lips, a loud copy of Robin's laugh echoes through the silent desert, followed by a bang as smoke emits from various devices he planted in the vicinity. "That's our cue. Move!"

Flamebird and Artemis grab each end of the gurney and, with the rest of the team, take off into a sprint away from the site. The rest of the walk to the bioship feels treacherous, and she can't shake off the feeling of someone's eyes on her.

It had taken another half-hour to arrive at the bio-ship, followed by another ten minutes connecting the IV to Kaldur's arm to rehydrate him. With a sigh, Yue tiredly collapses into the seat she had conjured from the bio-ship, her hands running down her face as the exhaustion washes over her.

Still feeling a pair of eyes on her, she whips her head around– only to find Wally still staring at her from the corner of the hull. His eyes were always on her, but never in the way she wanted them to be, she was beginning to realise.

He hesitates before strolling toward her. "Here, Birdy," he holds out a small chocolate bar for her. When she stares up at him with furrowed brows, he smiles sheepishly and drops the chocolate onto the dashboard of the bio-ship. "I just- I don't know... Thought you could use a pick me up."

Her dark flickers from him to the chocolate bar, her lips curling into the smallest of smiles– he had been thinking about her, he was worried . For her little lovesick heart, that meant more than words could say. "Thank you, Wal..."

He grins playfully and drops his hand onto the top of her head, gently ruffling her hair, "Anything for you, birdy."

"Hey, everybody!" M'gann's voice rings through their heads as she nears telepathic range. "I got Superboy! He's back to normal and we're on our way."

At the very back of the bioship, where Kaldur had been laying atop a makeshift bed while recuperating, the boy shoots up with a loud gasp. His hands clutch his head, "Who are you?!" His loud voice shouts through the mind-link. "And how did you get inside my head?"

"Hello, Megan! I knew I forgot something! " M'gann chirps. Yue moves back to her feet and walks toward the boy, watching as Kaldur rubs his temple with two fingers, the memories flooding back to him.

"We've got you, Kaldur." She reassures her disoriented friend. "You're gonna be okay, just rest up."