chapter twenty-four.
( birds of a feather. )

"Advanced weapons tech has been stolen at manufacturing plants throughout Europe." Dick stands in front of the holo-screen, replaying news footage of the events as he informs the team of their newest mission. "Each theft coincided with tour stops made by Haly's Circus. Batman's sending us undercover to catch the thieves."

It wasn't the complete truth, Yue thought to herself. Batman hadn't given explicit permission for the team to take this on but Dick's history with the circus meant they were going to investigate this no matter what; it was why Batman had asked her to tag along, and why Dick wanted her to stay far away from it.

"Where's Wally?" M'gann questions softly, her eyes scanning over the team gathered in the mission room. "Is he not joining us?"

Dick's brows pinch together, as though he were having trouble coming up with an excuse for his best friend's absence from the mission. Yue steps forward instead. "He and Kaldur are sitting this one out," she explains. It was the truth. Dick wanted neither Kaldur nor Wally, two heroes who knew his backstory and how much the circus meant to him, tagging along for the mission. "Their skill set doesn't exactly allow them to blend in ."

Roy approaches from behind, his arms crossed over the red and black of his suit. "This clown car have room for one more?" He asks, masked-eyes flickering between Yue and Dick as they turn to face him. The team had been tense since their last fight against Sportsmaster and Cheshire. With Roy on the team – an extra cog in a wheel that once turned perfectly – he and Artemis were at odds more often than not, and it put the whole team on edge.

Yue rolls her eyes. Before the mission, before their argument, she always believed she could only handle so much of Roy at once. Now that he had been on their team for over two weeks, it was safe to say she had her fill–twice over.

"We've, uh- We've got this covered." Dick answers. With the mission so close to his heart, it was only natural that he wanted it to go off without a hitch.

Roy leans closer. "You've got the mission covered," he says, then glances at the rest of the team. M'gann, Artemis and Conner stand a little ways across from them, just out of earshot as the archer whispers, "But who's covering the three potential mole suspects you're bringing along?"

"Are you ever going to let go of that?" Yue hisses under her breath. She'd rather not gain the team's attention, lest another fight break out that ruins team morale before a mission. "It was a tip from Sportsmaster, are you seriously going to trust him over your own team?"

"They could stab you, us, in the back at any moment." Roy points out. "Do you really want to put every ounce of your trust in them?"

She glances over at her teammates. She has known them for months now, she fought by their sides and trusts each of them with her life. If there was really a mole on the team, they would've shown themselves by now. "There's no mole," she states firmly as she looks back at Roy.

He raises a brow, "And if you're wrong?"

Her face hardens. "I'm not."

It was warm inside the large circus tent. Under the almost burning flood-lights lighting up the tent in the cold night, sweat perspires against Yue's pale skin. Standing high above the crowds, on the rig's left-most platform, she can barely see the faces of the crowds.

But she could hear their cheers; children and adults alike sit in the bench rows circling the inside of the circus tent, a sense of wonder echoes through the night.

Jack Haly, an older man with greying hair, a black top-hat and a cane, takes centre-stage, his hands stretched out at his side. "Welcome to Haly's International Travelling Circus, where the world of deceivery is your oyster!" His words are met with another set of cheers from the crowd. "And these are our latest pearls– The Daring Dangers!"

With the fly-bar of their rig held tightly in one hand, Dick waves to the crowd below as the spotlights focus on him. Rolling his shoulders, he grasps the fly-bar with both hands and dives off the platform. "Dan Danger!" The ringmaster calls his name, the one chosen for their mission, from below. He lets go of the bar, his hands wrapping around Yue's as she swings out in front of him.

"Dawn and Dana Danger!" Haly announces M'gann and Yue; the former gracefully releases the fly-bar and takes hold of the one Dick had been previously using, swiftly landing on the platform opposite Dick and Yue.

"Diane Danger." Down below, in the circle of damp dirt that made up the centre-ring, Artemis stands on the left and pulls back the string of her bow, while Roy copies her actions from the right side of the circle. "Dane Danger."

"And Dean Danger!" Conner stands in the centre of the ring, juggling two large wooden barrels before tossing them into the air; Dick and M'gann each fly through the barrels, before grasping their respective fly-bars. The ringmaster glances back to the crowd, "You will never see another trapeze act like this, folks! And all performed without a net!"

Yue tucks the bar beneath her knees; hanging upside down, with her dark bangs falling out of place, she holds her hands out in preparation to catch her teammate. Dick leaps forward, and as their fingers brush, he begins to fall– gasps are heard throughout the crowd and she feels her heart threaten to beat out of her chest.

All too suddenly the heat flooding the tent is too much, the screaming of the crowd too loud, and the lights too bright they blind her as she fearfully stares down at her brother's falling figure.

Twisting his body around, Dick glances up and makes eye contact with Yue, who still remains on the trapeze above. She can feel her mind splinter under the mindlink, then Dick's voice shouts, "Don't blow our covers!"

"But saving your life's okay?" Conner questions as he tosses another barrel into the air. Yue pulls herself onto the rig platform, her hands tightening on the fly-bar as she looks below; squinting, she can see the barrel press against Dick's chest, pushing him further up into the air.

M'gann leaps into action, her eyes glow white under the heavy spotlights and with just a slight extra push from her telekinesis, she grabs Dick's hand and pulls him to safety. His chest heaves as he glances up at her, "What did I just say?"

"The crowd couldn't see me use telekinesis from below," she explains with a slight shake of her head. With her other hand, she holds Yue's and lifts both arms into the air as the crowd cheers for them. "Besides, I've been using it all night. I'm not exactly the acrobat you two are."

"Yeah, neither am I right now." Even with a smile plastered on his face as he waves to the crowd, each member of the team could feel the adrenaline rushing through the mindlink. "I think I caught that twenty-four hour bug that's been going around the circus."

"We should've had a net." Yue warns him. When he turns to her with eyes ever-so-slightly narrowed behind the red-and-white mask of their Daring Dangers costumes, she sighs. "One night with a net won't ruin immersion. Look at yourself, Rob, I'm surprised you're even standing right now."

M'gann's eyes flicker from the crowd to the boy standing on her right; sweat glistened against his sickly skin. "But the show must go on, right?" She asks.

Dick nods and takes a step forward to grab the trapeze bar. "Right."

"Put your hands together for The Daring Dangers!" At the end of their act, the six teens gather beside Haly on the stage in the centre of the ring, each of them bowing to the crowd.

The undercover heroes slowly make their way off the stage, and as they step out of the spotlights and into the dark corner of the tent, M'gann glances down at Dick. "Didn't think you'd make it through," she sighs as her eyes scan over the boy.

"Neither did I." He grunts. "Help me backstage."

Yue steps forward, her arm wrapping around his torso to keep him upright as they rush backstage. He presses his hand against one of the vanities, carefully limping toward a spare seat as a sigh of relief escapes his lips. "How are we supposed to continue the mission like this?" She questions. "No offence, Rob, but I doubt you could take down a criminal when you can barely stand on your own."

"We have no choice." Dick reminds her, his head leaning back as he takes a large gulp of water from the bottle. "We have to find this thief."

"Haly, what's the deal?!" A shout echoes through the backstage area as Haly steps through the tent flaps to join the crew. A pair of twins, two men who were part of the act since Dick's childhood, approach the ringmaster. "Giving the top slot to those Danger kids?"

The other twin steps forward. "That's our slot."

" Look ." Roy nods his head in their direction and, one by one, the team turn their attention to the commotion. Curiously, Yue walks forward for a better look; she stops in front of one of the various clothing racks scattered around their small portion of the room, stifling through the red and white outfits until she pulls out a jacket and wraps it around her leotard.

" Was your slot." Haly corrects the twins. "Until you missed that performance in Paris."

"Carlo was sick!" One of the twins defends. "He's better now!"

"Plus those Dangers are a scam!" Carlo states, then frustratedly waves a hand in their direction. "They say they're siblings, they don't even look alike!"

Yue glances back at her team. Carlo was right about that; while M'gann's human form was similar to Roy, and Dick and Conner had enough similarities to pass as siblings, Yue and Artemis – two half-asian teens – were certainly out of place in the family picture.

"Nah. You're just jealous." Haly waves the twins off dismissively, then strolls forward. His eyes narrow into a glare as he approaches a blonde man in a suit standing off to the side. "Oh, not you again! We're in the middle of a show."

"Then we'll talk after, but we will talk." The man pulls his hands out of his pockets. "Another city last week, another tech firm robbed, another stop on your tour."

"Fbi?" Yue wonders, then glances over her shoulder as Dick nods his head.

"If I prove you're responsible, I will shut you down," the agent threatens.

Haly rolls his eyes, and pushes past him. "I have three minutes to gather props and get back to the centre ring."

"He's coming this way." Roy averts his gaze from the agent, his arms crossing over his red and white vest as he faces the team.

The agent reaches into his pocket, then pulls out a small badge as he approaches the group of teenagers. His eyes, for only a moment, scan over their faces. "Faraday. Interpol," he introduces himself to the teens. "New act?"

"Yeah." Dick, as the de-facto leader of the mission, speaks up. "Just joined the tour."

Faraday hums to himself, then nods his head. "Probably clears you, but don't get too comfortable." His gaze hardens. "Haly's going down for this." With that, he turns his back on the teens and makes his way out of the much smaller tent.

Yue stares at his retreating form, then coughs into her hand, "Jerk."

The night, though the team had escaped the heavy winter snow back home by travelling to Europe for the Circus' tour, is rather chilly as they each survey a laboratory at the edge of town. Flamebird crouches on the side of an apartment's rooftop, her gloved hands curled around a pair of binoculars and a chill running down her spine as a gust of wind blows over them.

"If interpol's already on this, why are we bothering?" Superboy's question travels through the mind-link. Briefly, Flamebird can see a flash of the boy's vision; he sits on a nearby rooftop with Red Arrow, while the archer kneels out of sight and readies his bow, the half-Kryptonian stares down at the dark, empty street leading towards the warehouse.

"Because Batman said so." Robin answers shortly.

Just like that apartment on the cusp of Crime Alley would always have a place in her heart, the circus had a place in his. She was glad when the apartment was demolished, it was her closure, a release from a dark history created by her father; it wasn't like that for Dick. His earliest memories were in the circus, it was the last thing he had of his family, and if Haly lost the circus it would be like losing his parents all over again.

A motivation like that made it easy to get distracted, to risk your own health for the mission, and they couldn't afford to lose their leader right now.

Lowering her binoculars, Flamebird glances over her shoulder. Robin stands at the other side of the rooftop, observing the dark street for any approaching people or vehicles. He weakly leans against the side of the building, a wince forming on his face, and she turns to him in trepidation.

Artemis asks, "How do we know the thieves will hit here?"

"There are more obvious targets," Red Arrow agrees.

"And Faraday will have them covered." Robin explains with a sigh. "But I've analysed the tech already stolen, and the patterns suggest this is the place."

Frowning, Flamebird finally speaks up. "Rob, are you sure you're up for this?" She tucks her binoculars into her utility belt, then crosses her arms as he glances back at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Lousy, actually." He answers, wiping the sweat from his brow, with a weak smile. "But I'll manage."

She wants to end the stakeout right then and there. The team could handle it on their own while Dick got some rest to combat the twenty-four bug, but she bites her tongue. Dick can handle himself, she thinks. This mission means the world to him, and she knew if she were in his boots, there would be nothing that could hold her back.

"Contact." Superboy announces. "Northeast quadrant. Looks like we know why Carlo missed a performance." Flamebird closes her eyes, her brows pinching together, as the mental image of a man dressed in all-black flipping over the fence appears in her mind.

"Could be Carlo, could be his brother," Robin answers as he clips his binoculars to his utility belt and readies his grapple-gun. "Keep an open mind and move in."

The team gather on the left-most side of the warehouse; Flamebird keeps her back pressed against the brickwall, while Artemis and Robin peer around the corner to find the suspect. "Did you see where he went?" Robin questions.

The ground, when Superboy lands in front of the team, seems to shake beneath Flamebird's feet as she turns to face the clone with a raised brow. "I thought we talked about not creating seismic events during recon," she points out in a playful tone.

"I'll keep it in mind," he replies gruffly. His face hardens and he squints as his eyes scan over every inch of the large laboratory. "The warehouse." He points toward a building just behind the laboratory.

The team, as they arrive at the warehouse, swiftly enter the building. Pulling herself through the window, Flamebird almost grimaces at the dust that clings to her suit. She crawls along the railing, staying just out of the suspect's sight as he reaches into one of the crates below.

The suspect pulls the tech from its storage, only turning around when Robin's classic laugh echoes through the building. Each member of the team stands across the walkway, peering down at the man as he stares up at them. "Caught red-handed!" Robin laughs. "Red-faced, too, I'll bet."

Artemis stands next to Red Arrow, both archers pointing their bows down at the thief. "Acrobatics won't get you out of this." She pulls an arrow back against the bowstring, her eyes narrowing as she aims down.

"Then again, why even try when you're surrounded?" Flamebird, with Superboy at her side, tightens her grip on her bo-staff as she taunts the thief with a grin.

Silently, the thief pulls a stick from his coat pocket; it lights on fire and in a matter of seconds, he's blowing against it. It's a classic circus act Flamebird remembers from earlier in the night, and as the fire extends towards the team, Superboy leaps forward and pushes her out of the way.

The two teens roll off the platform, landing on the concrete below with a loud slam. "Thanks," she winces, then braces her hands against the floor as she lifts herself up. Smoke and another scent, something familiar that causes an uneasiness to settle over her gut, travels through the warehouse.

"Those crates are full of live ammo!" Red Arrow shouts. "Move!"

Dread fills her veins and without a second thought, Flamebird takes off running. She's not as fast as Kid Flash, he'd be out of the building and across town by now if he were here, but she lunges forward into the metal shipping container that holds her team just in time to narrowly avoid the explosion that rocks the building.

When the explosion settles, Superboy punches the door of the shipping container open, his chest heaving in what Flamebird assumes is a mix of anger and frustration. "That guy is dead meat!" He growls angrily.

"Superboy, no!" Robin calls out to the clone, his eyes flickering over to Miss Martian as they step out of the container. He keeps an arm around her waist, serving as the only thing keeping the Martian on her feet as the fire rages around them. "You need to get her out of here."

"But he's getting away!" Superboy points out.

With furrowed brows and her heart racing worriedly in her chest, Flamebird turns to face the half-Kryptonian. He seemed to hardly care that his girlfriend was in trouble. "Miss M matters more than the mission." She coughs out. "The fire'll kill her if she doesn't get out."

He blinks, as if he was suddenly realising their predicament, and quickly steps forward. "Right," he breathes out as he gently lifts Miss Martian into his arms. He glances down at her for a moment when she buries her face against his chest, then leaps out of the building.

With Miss Martian clear from the fire, Robin straightens up. "Artemis, Arrow, find the thief–" Red Arrow and Flamebird step forward to catch the boy as he stumbles.

"We'll try again tomorrow." Flamebird states firmly, pulling her brother's arm over her shoulders as she and Red Arrow help him off the ash-covered floor.

When her words are met with a sound of disapproval from Robin, Red Arrow steps in. "You're still off your game, pal," he says in an uncharacteristically soft tone. Flamebird had heard him be soft before but the moments were far and few, especially in the months following his walk-out from the Hall in July. "We're getting you out, too."

Dick had passed out almost the second his head hit the pillow that night; the team had rushed to return to their bunks after the explosion, silently agreeing to go over what they saw in the morning after getting rest. But morning had rolled around, and by the time their morning training finished, Faraday was already approaching Haly.

"Another weapons plant is hit, and once again, your circus is in town." Faraday accuses, his arms crossing over his dark suit. His gaze hardens. "I don't believe in coincidences."

"I don't care what you believe, my people are not responsible." Haly scoffs. "I did a bed check last night, every single member of my troupe was asleep in their bunks."

The team stand in their portion of the backstage area, each member silently listening to the conversation while appearing busy. Artemis, M'gann and Conner stand in a small circle near the edge of the station, while the others busy themselves with the remaining luggage.

"Well, we sure weren't." M'gann says, her voice echoing through the mind-link as Yue's mind splinters to welcome the familiar presence of her six teammates. "And if he's lying about us..."

Yue shares a look with the Martian, and though it was the last thought she wanted to have concerning someone so near and dear to her brother's heart, she can't help but frown. "He's lying about everyone..."

Their assigned room on the train was fairly large, with enough room for the six teammates to spread out across the brown leather seats lining the walls. "So, two thieves, right?" Artemis questions as she leans back in the booth. Her blonde hair falls past her shoulders, while a red and white mask covers the top half of her face– the same mask they each wore to represent their Daring Dangers act. "The firebreather and one of the acrobats."

M'gann nods; her eyes glow white and Yue can see the image of the thief flash through her mind. "Dressed in identical clothes," she notes.

"Maybe not just two. Here's the Madrid security footage." Dick stands from his seat closest to the door and approaches the group. The holo-screen of his gauntlet lights up and footage of the thief tearing a metal barred window off its hinges plays. "And now Paris." The next clip shows the thief walking along the power-line as if it were a tightrope.

"So The Strongman and the Clown, too." Roy huffs. "If the entire circus is involved, Haly himself may be the mastermind."

Yue's eyes widen and, in an instant, her head snaps toward Dick. His brows pinch together and he steps away from the group with a deep breath, but the slight shake to his shoulders and the way his hands balled into fists, have her frowning and turning back to Roy. "We don't know that," she says. "We shouldn't jump to any conclusions yet."

"Well, it would explain his lies," M'gann sighs.

Dick snaps. "I told you to keep an open mind!" His shout reverberates through the train cart, catching the attention of the team as he storms out of the room. The door slams shut behind him.

They stare at the closed door, silent until M'gann taps the palm of her hand to her forehead. "Hello, Megan!" Her catchphrase echoes through Yue's head; their link felt a little emptier now, Dick had closed his mind off from the rest of them and though Yue knew it was for the best that he stepped out – he didn't want to go into the details of his parents deaths, who would? – she was still left with the urge to chase him down. "I'll read Haly's mind!"

Roy raises a brow, "I'm not sure we can trust you to do that without tipping him off."

"Or maybe you don't trust her, period." Conner's blue eyes narrow into a glare as he turns to face the red-haired archer. "I heard you talking to Robin and Yue back at the Cave, I know you're only here to spy on the rest of us."

Uncrossing his arms, Roy takes a step forward to stand face to face with the half-Kryptonian. He holds his chin up – he has always been too proud for his own good – and meets Conner's gaze. "There's a mole on this team, and good reason to suspect all three of you." He states firmly, his eyes flickering over to Artemis and M'gann as they sit across from each other. "Both Artemis and Miss Martian have already been caught in lies, and you could be programmed by Cadmus without even knowing."

Conner growls, "Or maybe I take your head off without even trying."

"Okay!" M'gann jumps to her feet, both of her hands shooting out to take hold of her boyfriend's shoulders as she gently guides him away from Roy. "Let's all take a timeout before we do something we'll regret."

She ushers Conner to the door, and as they both step outside, Artemis rises to her feet and follows behind them. At the last second, she stops in the doorway and turns back to glance at Roy. "None of us are perfect," she says. "But each of us would give our lives for this team. So, try to keep an open mind."

Roy's lips press together in a thin line as he watches the girl exit the train cart. Then, he glances at Yue. She sits on the leather seat with her legs hugged close to her chest, her own eyes trained on the door as if she were waiting for the team to return. He asks, "Is it worth it?"

"What?" Her dark brown eyes snap toward him.

"Whatever you're hiding for her," Roy explains as he takes a seat beside her. "Is it worth all the trouble?"

"Yes." Yue sighs. "Look... Dane, if you want to be part of this team, you need to have more trust in them. In me." Uncrossing her legs, she sits up straighter. Gently, she nudges Roy's arm with her elbow and smiles. "You've known me since we started all this, you really think I'd do all of this for no good reason?"

He rolls his eyes. "I do." He says after a beat, his lips curling into a frown as he stares at the tiled ground beneath their feet. When his words are met with silence, he begrudgingly clarifies, "I do trust you."

Her lips stretch into a grin, though it falters ever-so-slightly as Roy continues to speak. "I trust you enough to let you know, I won't be on the team for much longer." He sighs when he watches her brows furrow. "The League had their induction meeting recently-"

"--Don't tell me..." Her eyes widen, an even brighter smile playing on her lips as she lets out a small gasp of excitement. "You're seriously in?! After the stunt you pulled back in July?"

When Roy stormed out of the Hall, Yue had truly thought he'd blown away any chance he had at joining the Justice League. They all did. The League wouldn't reward his behaviour, they all thought.

How wrong they had been.

"How do you know?" She inquires, curiously shuffling closer to her friend as she stares at him in excitement. His induction would mark the first time a "sidekick" joins the Justice League. "Have you told the boys?"

Roy shakes his head. "I needed to make sure this mole problem was dealt with first." He informs in a serious tone. "No loose ends when I join the League."

The grin falls from Yue's face. "And now?" She asks. "Has it been dealt with for you yet?"

He's silent. "I don't know," he answers finally, then sighs. "I trust you, if you say they're clean then... I just need to clear them myself, okay?"

She hated that he couldn't – wouldn't – take her word for it, but she could understand. He doesn't know Artemis, or M'gann, or even Conner, the way she knows them. He hasn't spent the better half of the year fighting at their sides. But it sounded like he was willing to try.

"I get it." She nods her head. "Take as long as you need, but do it." She hops off the leather seat, stretches her arms above her head and strolls for the door. "I'm gonna check on Dan before the show, try not to piss anyone else off before we get back, alright?"

Light snow trickles from the grey clouds above her head as Yue makes her way down the trainyard. She tucks her hands into the pockets of her black coat, unconsciously hugging the material tighter around herself to shield her leotard-covered form from the chilly winds. Approaching the boy, she comes to a stop in front of a line of posters adorning the side of the train. The closest one brings a frown to her face.

The poster was yellow and black, with three flying blue figures soaring through what Yue supposed was a spotlight. The Flying Graysons, it reads.

"We need to prove Ol' Jack's clean or he'll lose the circus." Dick whispers. His icy blue eyes don't move from the poster, but he doesn't need to tilt his head to know exactly who's standing beside him.

Pulling her right hand out of her coat, she wraps her arm around the boy and embraces him from the side. "I know," she mumbles softly. "We're gonna find this guy, Dan. I promise."

The skies above the trainyard are dark and gloomy as Yue and M'gann carry the circus' luggage onto their rented train– they were leaving for their next stop, Geneva, at any moment now and they still weren't anywhere close to figuring out the identity of the thief.

Heaving the heavy bag into the luggage cart, Yue glances over her shoulder; two other acts in the circus sit tiredly by the crates, their pale faces reminding her too well of Robin's sickness. "What if we're looking at this the wrong way?" She asks through the open mind-link. The rest of the team stand nearby, preparing to board the train as M'gann and Yue finish their chores. "What if the thief isn't part of the circus, just an outsider using it as a cover?"

"So, what?" She can hear Artemis' voice. "We should look into new members of the crew? Last time I checked, that was us."

"Need a hand?" Her attention flickers over to M'gann. The disguised-Martian has her hand wrapped around the handle of another bag, while the roustabout reaches down to help her carry it.

M'gann shakes her head. "Ah, I'm good, thanks." She smiles politely as she lifts the bag off the floor, gently knocking the man's hand off her own. "Maybe one of the others could use some help," she gestures towards the tired men. "A lot of them seem to have that flu."

"Yeah, it's going around," Ray, the roustabout, shrugs his shoulders.

Jack Haly, with his top-hat in his hands, climbs into the train. "All aboard. Everyone, now!" He shouts to the crew, who all too eagerly – yet tired at the same time – follow his orders.

Roy raises a brow from behind the ringmaster as he too climbs into the train. "Someone's in a hurry," he notes.

"Meet up in our room." Dick orders. "We'll reassess and go over what we have so far."

Boarding the train, Yue and M'gann only make it as far as the dining cart before the Martian girl lets out a quiet groan and sways where she stands. "Dawn, are you okay?" Concern laces Yue's gaze as she rushes forward to catch the girl before she stumbles forward.

"I- I'm sorry." M'gann says weakly, one of her hands rubbing her temple as the other wraps around Yue's shoulders. "I just felt dizzy all of a sudden."

"C'mon." Yue, with a frown on her face, leads the girl forward. "Let's get back to the others." They reach the Daring Dangers' room in a matter of minutes, and as Yue lets go of M'gann, she watches from the doorway as Conner wraps a blanket around his girlfriend.

Artemis sits across from M'gann and Conner, her arms crossed as she leans back in her seat and glances at Dick. "You look better," she comments, a small smile of relief playing on her lips.

"I feel better. I'm sorry M- Dawn." He corrects himself, his eyes flickering down to M'gann– she lays across one of the seats, a blanket covering her lower-half as she stares up at the team with her head on Conner's lap. "I hope you didn't catch it from me."

"I feel so silly," M'gann admits with a sigh. "Who knew a martian could be vulnerable to a human virus?"

In the safety of their room, with the door closed and locked behind them, she supposed the slip-up of M'gann's alien origin wasn't bad. It certainly wasn't the best , Yue had been trained for years now for undercover missions and she knew better than to let her own identity slip, but M'gann was new at all of this. She had only been a hero for a few months, slip-ups were bound to happen.

"Uh, H.G. Wells?" Dick quips. "Look, when did you first feel sick?"

M'gann answers, "Just after boarding the train, it came on so suddenly."

"We were walking through the dining cart," Yue explains to the others. She moves out of the doorway, no longer struck with the urge to guard a locked door, and takes a seat beside Artemis. "The chef's stew doesn't smell good, but I doubt it's enough to make you feel sick, Dawn."

"Same with me the other night," Dick frowns, "I remember Ray rubbed my head for good luck right before we went on."

Conner scowls. "Ray? That roustabout?" He asks, while Yue's eyes widen in realisation. "He touched her before we boarded. Guy must be a walking petri dish."

Yue turns to her brother, the two Gothamite-heroes making eye-contact. The signs felt familiar; physical contact with a side effect of sudden illness, it wasn't just any flu. "Hey, Dan, you don't think-"

"Yeah. Yeah, maybe," Dick hums, then turns on his heel and unlocks the door. In a matter of seconds he steps into the train hallway, stumbling into the wall across from their room before taking off down the hall.

With furrowed brows, Yue follows him out of the room. Her footsteps are much slower than her brother's, and as she watches him catch up to Haly further down the hall, she crosses her arms over her leotard.

"Dan, you look..." Haly lets go of the side-cart he was pushing to face the shorter boy. "Refreshed."

"Thanks." He smiles, then lets it falter as he asks, "Uh, Jack... How long has Ray worked for you?"

Haly lets out a hum, his eyes flickering the passing scenery in the window in contemplation. "Picked him up at the start of the European tour," he remembers. "Poor lad's down with the same flu as the rest of 'em."

"We'll check on him." Artemis, who had stepped into the hall with Conner and Roy, offers with a smile. "It's the least we can do."

"Yeah, we kinda owe the guy," Yue chimes in with a small shrug of her shoulders. She grins and throws an arm around Dick's shoulders as she steps up to his side. "Dan here might have given him the flu. We told him to stay in bed, but you know kids, they don't listen." She ignores the dead-pan look Dick sends her way.

"Well, if you insist." Haly shrugs.

The smile falls from Yue's face the second she turns her back to Haly. she loved being right, who didn't, but right now she hoped her intuition was wrong. If this thief was who she thought it was, things had just gotten a whole lot harder for them.

She peeks her head into the room, "Hey, Dawn, we'll be right back."

Dick nods his head as he joins Yue in the doorway. "You should stay in bed," he tells the Martian.

Shaking her head, M'gann rises to her feet and follows them out of the room with a weak smile. "As a friend of mine once said, I'll manage." She assures them. Yue, as the group make their way through the train, hovers by the Martian's side until they reach Ray's room.

Artemis pushes the door open, her brows furrowing as they enter the dark room full of crates and supplies. Slowly, the team approaches the empty bed at the back of the cart. "Guess he wasn't that sick," Conner snarls.

Roy's eyes scan over the room, then fall onto a crate of elephant food in the corner. "Uh, does this circus have an elephant I don't know about?" He questions.

"Not on foreign tours," Dick shakes his head.

Cautiously, Roy lifts the lid of the crate and peers inside. "Empty. Wait, no-" He leans down, his fingers grazing the bottom of the crate; when he lifts his hand, a black powder coats his fingertips. "Ash."

"From the fire back in Bruges?" Yue suggests, her hands falling to rest on her hips as she glances between Roy and Dick. "You've gotta be kidding me. This guy has been right under our noses the entire time."

"Guess you were right about looking at the newer members, " Roy says. He doesn't mention their own team, the words go unsaid but Yue still hears them as her eyes narrow at her old friend.

"Uh, guys." Artemis calls out to the team. She kneels beside Ray's bed, one of her hands pulling something out from beneath the mattress. Yue's face hardens, her heart falling to her stomach as they rake over the object. It was a mask of Ray's face.

"Split up." Dick orders with urgency, his feet already travelling for the door. "Search the whole train."

Miss Martian and Flamebird walk through one of the train halls side-by-side, cautiously checking each and every room for any signs of the roustabout. "I can't help but feel as if this is my fault," the Martian says with a sigh, her arms folding over her leotard as she glances at Flamebird. "If I was more careful, maybe-"

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Dawn." Flamebird reassuringly smiles her way, then closes the luggage-room door behind her as she walks back into the hallway. "We had no idea this could've happened."

Flamebird's brows furrow as Miss Martian reaches up to switch on her ear-piece; they rarely use the communication devices over her mind-link, not when the chances of being hacked or heard could ruin the mission. Miss Martian blinks in surprise. "Uh, Dan?" She responds to Robin through the earpiece. "I think the flu's knocked out my other way. "

"Dane, Dean, Diane, Dana. We're chasing someone who's stolen Dawn's act, her whole shtick if you catch my drift." Robin's voice sounds through Flamebird's own earpiece, and she finds her shoulders stiffening in concern. Her suspicions must've been right.

"I got him!" Superboy shouts; briefly an image of the dining cart flashes through her mind, and without a second thought, Flamebird takes off into a sprint. "But he's onto me. Exiting the dining cart now, he's gone top-side."

"I'm on my way!" Flamebird announces. She swings the door of the luggage-compartment open and steps into the gap between carriages– strong gusts of wind brush over her and she sways ever-so-slightly as her hands shoot out to grasp the ladder in front of her. "Stay out of his touch, Dean! We can't risk another one of us going down."

"You sound like you know who we're up against." Artemis chimes in as she and Red Arrow make their way through the train.

Pulling herself onto the roof, Flamebird races forward to join Robin and Superboy as they surround Parasite. "That's no clown!" Robin shouts with an accusatory finger. "He's the Parasite, the guy who once stole Superman's powers!"

"As if you kids are who you claim to be. Please," Parasite scoffs. He leans his head back, a quiet grunt falling from his lips as his face shifts from that of a white and purple clown to a dark navy alien-looking man.

Superboy begins to charge forward.

"Stay out of his reach!" Robin reminds him hastily, watching from behind a red-and-white mask as the clone suddenly stops a few feet away from Parasite. "There's no flu going around, the weakness comes when he makes physical contact and feeds off the powers and abilities of others."

"I have been a bit of a glutton today. Chowed down on the skills of nearly every loser in this troupe." Parasite laughs. "But, oh my, the piéce de résistance was Dawn Danger, or whatever her real name is." Across the train, Superboy's eyes narrow into a harsher glare. "Thought I'd munch on her trapeze skills, imagine my surprise when she tasted like Martian Manhunter instead!"

Parasite glances around the train-top, his cracked lips twisting into a cruel grin. "She made a lovely appetiser, but guess who I want for my meal?" His eyes glow white, the same colour of M'gann's when she uses her telekinesis, as he pulls Superboy toward himself. His arms wrap around the half-Kryptonian, and he groans in delight. "Now that's the full body Kryptonian flavour I love!"

Robin's eyes widen and he takes a defensive stance. His eyes flicker toward the rest of the team as they reach the train-top. "Everyone, stay whelmed, but keep your distance!" He barks an order.

Artemis and Red Arrow raise their weapons in sync with one another, the two archers pointing their bows at Parasite as he spins around to face them. Once more, his eyes begin to glow; lasers shoot out of his once yellow eyes, disintegrating the bows in a similar fashion to Superman's own powers.

"What the-" Flamebird steps away from Parasite, her shoulders stiffening fearfully. "How did he do that? SB can't even do that!"

"You know, I almost never say this, but I'm sated." With a devilish grin, Parasite tosses Superboy against the metallic train-top. "Hate to eat and run." He rises off the ground, and Robin leaps into action; he lunges at Parasite, managing to grab hold of the case he held onto, before being backhanded. "Sorry, no hitchhikers allowed!"

Robin lands on the train top with a grunt, though with the speed of the train, he begins to slide off the edge– Flamebird tosses herself in his direction, her hand wrapping around his, before he can plummet off the speeding train. With all of her strength, she heaves the smaller boy back up onto the roof. "What happened to keeping our distance?" She questions, only to earn a shake of his head as Robin faces Superboy instead.

Miss Martian leans down to help her boyfriend on his feet, her amber eyes laced with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." He answers gruffly. Then, as he begins to sway, Miss Martian rushes forward to wrap her arm around his waist like Flamebird had done for her just an hour prior. Superboy sighs, "I'm fine."

"You're drained. Parasite took more power than you even have." Robin corrects him as he stands up. "Heat vision?"

Superboy falls silent, his gaze averting from the team before he shrugs his shoulders. "I have the genetic potential for it. Must have been enough for him," he guesses.

"Wally would say it's not enough time in the oven." Flamebird jokes, a half-hearted smile playing on her lips as she turns to face the clone. Though, when she's met with a narrowed glare, the smile slips from her face and she huffs out a sigh. "It's not as funny when I say it."

"Suit up." Robin orders the team as he heads for the ladder. "We need to find out where Parasite is headed."

The team were quick to follow his orders, discarding their circus costumes in favour of suiting up before reconvening in their room to go over what they know. "It's not a complete debacle," Robin states as he enters the room. "I picked Parasite's pocket and got this flash drive."

He takes a seat beside Flamebird, who eagerly glances over his shoulder to read over the files contained in the harddrive. Her eyes widen, "Parasite's working for Intergang." She informs the team with a frown.

Robin nods. "Everything he's stolen, they're all pieces of something." His brows furrow as his eyes scan over the blueprints contained within the flashdrive. "They're putting together a weapon that generates... Black holes?!"

"Oh, come on," Red Arrow scoffs with an amused smirk. "To build that, you need a particle accelerator."

"Like the large Bozon Collider in Geneva?" Robin's gaze lifts from his gauntlet to meet Red Arrow's widened eyes.

The smirk falls from the archer's face. "The circus' next stop," he realises. "But now Parasite can fly, he's got a big headstart on us."

Miss Martian frowns. "Sorry..." She apologises sheepishly as the team turns to face her.

"It's not your fault, Megs." Flamebird reaches out to gently rest her hand against the Martian's shoulder. She had been apologising since the reveal of Parasite using her powers, and Yue knew it was partially because of Roy's tendency to blame them for their mistakes, but that didn't mean she had to sit by and listen.

This wasn't any of their faults.

"This thing... it could wipe out entire cities." Robin rises to his feet. "We need to hurry."

"You, Flamebird, and I need to hurry." Red Arrow corrects the shorter boy; he reaches up onto the shelf and tugs a duffel bag out of its place, revealing a back-up bow he had been hiding within his luggage. "Without their powers, the others will just hold us back."

"Roy," Flamebird warns him in a hiss. "We-"

"Hey, you're not the only one with a backup bow." Artemis cuts her off as she holds up her crossbow to prove her point.

A loud, sharp bang echoes through the train cart and Flamebird spins around to find the source of the noise; Superboy stands at the back of the room, a large dent puncturing through the steel wall as he peels his fist away from it. "My powers are back," he growls.

Flamebird's brows furrow. It had taken Dick an entire day to recover from the symptoms, while M'gann was still weak from her powers being drained. It made little sense to her that Conner's powers were already back.

"If we want a chance at stopping him, we need to leave now," she reminds the team, crossing her arms over her suit as she stands from her seat. "You could still be weak against him, Supes, and we can't afford to-"

"I'm feeling fine." He tells her. "I guess Kryptonians recover faster than humans or Martians."

Miss Martian stares at her boyfriend in concern, then faces the rest of the team with a determined smirk. "Don't even think about leaving me behind."

It was dark by the time they reached the facility in Geneva, dark clouds littered the night sky and a strong breeze blew through the chilly air. It was clear Parasite had already arrived; unconscious security guards were scattered across the pathway and as Flamebird approached them, she took a deep breath. Cautiously, she leans down and presses two fingers to the man's pulse-point.

"He's alive," she glances over her shoulder at the team.

"Trail of destruction," Robin mutters as his eyes follow the pathway down to the facility's front doors. "This way." He leads the team inside. The building is empty, as expected after midnight, but the silence sends a chill down Flamebird's spine as she sprints along Robin's side.

The loud whirring of the machine leads the team straight to Parasite, and as they each sneak into the room and hide behind the crates scattered along the edge, Robin whispers. "We need to take him out." He stares out at Parasite, who stands with his back to them as he powers on the machine. "Or at least lure him away so we can safely disengage-"

Flamebird's shoulders stiffen as Superboy's shout echoes through the large room and he charges out of their hiding spot; she stretches her arm out to stop the boy, her fingers barely skimming over his wrist as he charges directly at Parasite.

The Kryptonian, taking the power-leeching villain by surprise, lands a punch directly across the man's navy face. Parasite stumbles back, then with a wave of his hand, sends Superboy flying across the room; he slams against the concrete wall before being dragged back towards Parasite against his will.

Flamebird presses her left hand against the cold ground, her right-hand reaching back for her bo-staff. With Parasite distracted by Superboy, they could try to dismantle the machine. Though when a hand wraps around hers, she turns away from the ongoing fight and back towards the others.

"Wait, I have an idea." Miss Martian tells her as she scoots closer to the team. "It might not work but if Parasite steals our powers, what's to say he doesn't steal our weaknesses, too?" She announces sheepishly, her amber eyes flickering between their teammates. "What do you think?"

"Alright, Dangers!" Parasite shouts behind them. "Come on out! Only a couple minutes before this baby's done warming up and eats Geneva!"

Red Arrow glances at the Martian. "Big risk to take on theory."

"Do it." Robin orders with a nod of his head. "Go."

The team silently splits up across the room; while Red Arrow heads onto the second floor and Artemis sticks to the shadows, both preparing for the only shot they might have, Flamebird stays by Robin's side as they stealthily approach the machine.

Miss Martian steps out of her former hiding spot, her hands on her hips as she approaches Parasite from behind. "What do you have against Geneva anyway?" She calls out to the villain.

He turns around, his lips twisting into a smirk. "Never liked the food," he answers, then rubs his hands together. "But the menu keeps improving." He reaches a hand toward the girl, telekinetically pulling her closer.

"I'm just the appetiser, remember?" As Parasite's outstretched hand clenches into a fist, the Martian ducks under his punch and somersaults forward onto the ground. "Here's the main course." With a determined smirk on her face, she sweeps her leg out to kick Parasite's legs out from under him. The two Gothamite heroes, Robin and Flamebird, stick to the shadows as they move closer to the machine.

Red Arrow readies his bow, his eyes narrowing down at Parasite as he releases the arrow; Parasite rises to his feet when the arrow strikes the ground in front of him, covering the man in a hardening foam. "Foam? You think foam can hold me?" He scoffs. His eyes begin glowing and slowly the weapon falls from Red Arrow's hands as he's lifted into the air. "Or stop me from crushing you with a thought? Combined Martian and Kryptonian powers here!"

Flamebird's head snaps in Parasite's direction as a bang echoes through the laboratory. The villain punches one arm straight through the hardened foam, his eyes falling onto both Flamebird and Robin where they stand in front of the control panel.

Robin smirks. "But do either of those powers free you before I sabotage your death-thingy?" He announces half their plan to the unsuspecting Parasite.

With a growl, Parasite's other hand breaks through the foam. His eyes glow bright white and in the blink of an eye, Flamebird is thrown away from the control panel and toward a stack of containers off to the side. "This one does," he says, his eyes shifting from white to red as lasers similar to Superman's are fired in Robin's direction. The boy leaps to the side.

The bottom of Flamebird's boot presses against the round white container, kicking it across the room just as Artemis shoots an arrow from her hiding spot; the arrow slices through the air and as it nears the container of flammable gas, Parasite's lasers strike it.

An explosion rocks through the laboratory.

"So clever! Trick me into igniting flammable gas," Parasite's booming laughter echoes through the room. Each member of the team glances his way, the fire spreads around the villain. "But you forgot doofus' double dose of invulnerability..." His voice weakens. "Fire... can't touch... me."

Flamebird smirks as she rises to her feet. "I think you're the one to forget," she taunts. "Kryptonian invulnerability is nothing compared to the Martian's weakness to fire."

"No!" Parasite's eyes widen as he watches the spreading fire. "No!" He groans weakly, before his head lulls to the side and he hits the ground with a thud.

"Aw, poor baby." From a safe distance, Miss Martian crosses her arms and watches the man. "Something you ate?"

The clearing of a throat snaps the teenage heroes out of their adrenaline daze, and as Robin shuts down the machine, they turn around to see Faraday and a group of other agents and firefighters enter the room. "We'll take it from here," he tells them, then approaches Robin. "Thanks for the tip, by the way. Definitely helps to prepare the inhibitor collar in advance."

"Glad to be of service," Robin grins up at the agent as his partner wraps the inhibitor collar around Parasite's neck and escorts him out of the room.

With her arms folded over her chest, Flamebird approaches the boy. Her eyes burn into Faraday's back as he leaves the room. "Now we've caught the suspect, I'm sure he'll leave the circus alone," she states, her masked-eyes flickering to her brother as she smiles. "Jack'll be happy about that."

"Yep." He nods, and though he doesn't say anything else, Flamebird watches his shoulders relax for the first time since they arrived in Europe for the tour. Her lips curl into a soft smile, and she throws an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders as they approach the rest of the team.

Artemis stands in front of Red Arrow, her hand outstretched in his direction; Artemis helping the boy that has done nothing but blame her time and time again isn't what surprises Flamebird, she had seen Artemis put aside her annoyance before when it came to Wally. What truly surprises her is when Red Arrow glances up at the archer and takes her hand with a smile.

"He deigns to touch the hand of a suspected traitor," Artemis teases with a smirk.

"Mind open." Red Arrow says. "I guess I never really saw you three in the thick of it before. Superboy's a hothead but I know I'm not one to talk. You each could have betrayed us here and you didn't." His gaze softens as he glances at the three teammates he had belittled. "I'm sorry I doubted any of you. There is no mole."

"Finally!" Flamebird grins, her arm falling from around Robin as she reaches out to gently punch Red Arrow's upper-arm. "I don't want to say, "I told you so" but... I told you so!"

author's note.

There's only two more chapters of act one, and that's so scary. I've been writing act one for over a year and honestly, I am not ready for all the angst of act two.

At the point of writing this note, I'm almost done writing chapter 26, but like I said last chapter there will likely be a hiatus for a little while as I work out the first chapter for act two.