chapter twenty-six.
( the worst is over. )

     Exhaustion weighs down on every bone in Yue's body as she tiredly trails behind her team. She had arrived at the Manor so late after their mission, only managing to get a few hours of sleep before Dick woke her up claiming they were being called to the Cave.

Stretching her arms over her head, Yue tilts her head back for only a moment before she glances down at the boy walking beside her. Dick was already dressed in his Robin outfit before she woke up that morning. "It's not like it's unusual for Bats to stay out all night," she assures him. "I would say he does it more often than he gets eight hours of sleep."

He was worried when their mentor didn't come home last night. He was worried when they woke up and he still wasn't home. "That's not what I meant," Dick shakes his head. "When have you ever known Batman to not come home early from a party?"

She presses her lips into a thin line. Bruce, despite the playboy persona he projected to the public, was a homebody. Dick was right to suggest something was wrong if he stayed all night at the Watchtower for the induction party.

"Chalk it down to a New Year's miracle?" She waves her brother off. "Let's just be happy he's not gonna be mad about last night. I mean, we took down the Injustice League's allies all on our own!"

"Flamebird is right," Kaldur states. He walks just ahead of the two Gothamites while the rest of the team is shortly behind– except for Wally, who walks in line with both Dick and Yue as he always does. "We have reason to be proud of yesterday's victory. But one thing has not changed–"

"Somehow, the bad guys are still getting inside intel about us." Dick sighs.

"Yeah, but-" Wally throws an arm around Yue's shoulders, his lips curling into a bright smile. "-At least we know none of us is the mole."

"That's correct." Batman had caught the tail-end of their conversation as they entered the Meeting Chamber. Each member of the team slowly glances his way, while he calmly announces, "The mole was Red Arrow."

"Roy?" Dick gasps quietly, betrayal flashing across his face.

"No way!" Wally's hands curl into fists as his arm drops back to his side.

Yue's heart falls to her stomach, his words wiping the smile off her face instantaneously. "You're joking," she murmurs in shock. "This is a New Year's joke, right? We've known Roy for years, he wouldn't do this to us."

"Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project Cadmus clone." Red Tornado informs the silent team.

"We've learned the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick," Batman explains with a small sigh. "The clone was pre-programmed with a drive to join the Justice League, which is why he was so angry over any delays to his admission and why he refused to join the team."

Her heart weighs heavily in her chest, and it feels as though Batman had punched her straight in the gut. An overwhelming sense of dread looms over her head like an axe waiting to drop. When a hand wraps around her own, she's quick to intertwine their fingers and fix her gaze on the person at her right.

Wally stares back at her. A mixture of shock and sadness swirled in his emerald eyes.

"This Roy Harper didn't know he was a clone, and his subconscious programming drove him to become League-worthy." Batman continues. "So he struck out on his own as Red Arrow. When he was finally admitted, his secondary programming kicked in and he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage."

At the mention of the immortal caveman, Wally's hand tightens ever-so-slightly around her own. Every hero knew he was a threat not to be taken lightly.

Batman's masked white eyes rake over the teens, taking note of their worry. "Fortunately, I had already deduced Red Arrow was a clone. We were prepared."

"Savage was subdued." Red Tornado states a moment later, and Yue can feel her shoulders relax slightly. "But Red Arrow escaped. He is now a fugitive, armed and dangerous."

Conner stares at the tiled ground beneath his feet, one of his arms rising to rub the back of his neck in thought. "If you guys hadn't rescued me from Cadmus..."

"Don't think like that, Supey," Yue reassures him, a faint smile tugging at her lips when he looks her way; it's all she can offer him as the news of one of her closest friends being the mole washes over her.

"What-" Dick clears his throat. "What happened to the real Roy?" He sounded scared as he asked the one burning question no one else had the guts to ask.

"We don't know. He isn't at Cadmus." Batman answers his protege. "We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead."

Yue slowly brings her gloved hand, the one not clutching Wally's, to cover her mouth as her face visibly pales. Roy is, was, her friend. He couldn't be a clone working for Cadmus, she thought to herself. He couldn't be a clone sent to infiltrate the team and the League, because he was the older brother she's had since she was thirteen and it was only two weeks ago that he was teasing her and Wally for kissing.

"The clone- Roy." Kaldur says, "The team will find him."

"Negative. Red Arrow's a member of the Justice League now, leave him to us." Batman orders then turns away from the nine teenagers as his hand taps against the radio in his ear. A second later, his frown deepens and he glances at Red Tornado, "I'm needed on the Watchtower. Tornado, stay with the kids."

Yue's brows furrow at his choice of words.

While Batman disappears through the light of the zeta-tube, Kaldur turns to face the team. "Clone or no clone, Red Arrow was one of us," he tells them. "We will go after him."

Thoughts and feelings, ones of despair and betrayal, wash over Yue through the mind-link. She could sense her team's discomfort at the thought of someone they trusted being the mole they thought didn't exist. None of them liked the idea of fighting somebody they considered a friend.

But what choice do they have?

Red Tornado approaches Kaldur from behind, his arm slowly reaching out before the light fades from his eyes and his metallic body promptly shuts down. Yue's eyes widen as she walks forward, gently tapping two knuckles against the side of his head. "Red?" She calls out. "You in there?"

Out of habit, the rest of the team resorts to the mind-link. "He totally powered down!" Wally exclaims and joins Yue at Tornado's side, his eyes flickering over to Dick– the Gothamite stands on his other side, silently scanning Red Tornado to find the cause of the shutdown.

"All functions offline," he states.

"Guys," Zatanna frowns, her fingertips pressing against each side of her forehead as she closes her eyes to focus. "I'm sensing a low-level mystic force at play. I- I don't know if it caused his shutdown but now that I think about it, I was getting the same buzz off Batman."

"Batman," Dick realises, then glances over to Yue who shares the same concern. "He called us kids, he never does that."

Dick is right. Bruce only ever called them kids when they were at home, and even those moments were few and far between. He'd never refer to them, and the team, like that while on duty.

"Look!" Wally leans forward to pluck a small red and purple chip from Red Tornado's hand. "One of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire."

"Something is not right," Kaldur says grimly. "Robin, Kid, Rocket, Zatanna, see if you can get Tornado back online." He turns his back to the team, already making his way toward the hangar. "The rest of you with me to find Ro- Red Arrow."

The team is quick to leap into action, but while the others follow Kaldur out of the room, Yue lingers behind and turns to face Wally. Something's not right, they can all feel it. He steps closer, his hands gently cupping her face as he leans his forehead against hers.

"Stay safe, yeah?" She whispers.

He kisses her softly. "Always."

"Computer logs indicate Red Arrow zeta'd to the Hall from the Watchtower," Artemis informs those assigned to Aqualad's squad for the mission of finding the clone. She sits to the left of Miss Martian's pilot seat, a frown permanently etched across her face since leaving the Cave. "But he could be anywhere by now."

Yue's foot taps against the ground as she stares out the window. Washington passes by in a blur of greens, greys and browns as they fly overhead.

"After Roy went solo, he installed equipment caches in several major cities," Kaldur explains to the team as the Bioship nears the coordinates he had given them just twenty minutes prior. The Bioship slows to a stop over a run-down apartment building. "One is here."

She frowns as the Bioship's belt untwists from around her torso, allowing her to move to her feet as the ship lands on the rooftop of the apartments. "You think he'll be here?" She questions her leader with a raised brow.

"We must hope." Kaldur sighs, then turns to face the others– Miss Martian, Superboy, and Artemis. "Flamebird and I will find Red Arrow. The rest of you, stay here."

"What?" Artemis' widened eyes trail after the two as they walk towards the Bioship's exit. "What if he attacks you? What if-?"

"Then we will handle it." He tells her. "As we have been trained to do."

Yue crosses her arms over her chest, her frown deepening as her mind raked over each and every memory with Roy. Their entire friendship had been a lie, something crafted by villains to make the League lower their guard. Still, she thinks he's her friend.

He would've come for them by now if he wasn't. "This is something we need to do," she says. "Roy– Red Arrow has been our friend for years. We owe this to him."

The team's arguments seem to stop after that, and Kaldur and Yue make their way down into the apartments to go face-to-face against their old friend. He holds the staircase door open for her to enter the hall, his brows pinched together. "This is it." He halts in front of the fifth apartment on the floor.

"Do you think he'll listen to anything we say?" She wonders aloud. Her concern wasn't over potentially fighting her friend – they had been there before – but she was left to think of what would happen if he didn't fight. This isn't the original Roy, but he is the Roy she knows.

The Roy she calls family.

"I do not know." Kaldur quietly admits as he positions himself. With a nod to Yue, he kicks the door down and the two heroes rush into the room with their weapons drawn. He had been right; Roy stands against the back wall, his bow drawn and an arrow pointed directly at the two of them.

"We have not come to harm or apprehend you, but the team requires answers," the Atlantean assures as he lowers his water-bearers.

Roy's eyes narrow at them. "Me first. Tell me something you haven't told anyone else," he demands. "Tell me who broke your heart," he shifts the bow from Aqualad to Yue, "and you, where is your dad locked up?"

Yue glances at her leader, the two teens sharing a look of understanding before her eyes flick back to Roy. "Blackgate Penitentiary," she answers. "Has been for the last three years."

With the arrow still notched, he turns to glare at Aqualad. "Tula," the Atlantean mutters with a heavy heart. "The girl I loved chose my best friend, Garth, over me. While my best friend here on the surface world aims an arrow at my chest."

Finding their answers satisfactory, Roy lowers his bow with a relieved look glimmering in his eyes. "It's good to see you both." He says. After a moment, his face hardens and he pushes past the two heroes to cautiously look outside the door of the apartment. "Were you followed?"

"We were careful to stay off League radars," Kaldur assures the boy. "Miss Martian, Superboy and Artemis wait in the Bioship."

"The rest of the team are with Red Tornado back in the Cave," Yue adds. "He tried attacking us, Roy. We could use some answers about that, you know."

He nods, then takes a deep breath. "Not here."

Roy, reluctantly but swiftly, returns to the Bioship with them. It's just over twenty minutes of uncomfortable silence later, while they fly over the city of Washington, that the conversation picks back up. "We were told you were the mole," Kaldur states, glancing over his shoulder to meet his friend's saddened gaze. "But we have reason to doubt."

"Forget doubt. I was the mole," Roy confirms.

"Batman and Tornado said you're a Cadmus clone," Conner points out, his lips twisted into a frown. "Like me."

"That explains it." Roy sighs. "I was a sleeper agent, pre-programmed to infiltrate the League. I think... I think Sportsmaster was my handler." Across the Bioship, Artemis' eyes widened.

"No wonder he was the one feeding our doubts." Yue turns her seat away from the front window, her arms crossing over her red and yellow suit as she faces Roy. "You were unknowingly telling him everything he needed to know about us." Her eyes flicker to the three new heroes, "Even our insecurities."

Roy nods. "He had a key phrase, broken arrow, that could shut me down- put me in a hypnotic state to steal secrets for his superiors or incorporate further programming. I'd then carry out all orders subconsciously, completely unaware of what drove me." His gaze flicks toward M'gann, Conner, and Artemis. "I think one of those orders was to focus suspicion on the three of you. I'm sorry."

"How did Batman discover this and prevent you from betraying the League?" Kaldur asks a second later.

The archer's brows furrowed in confusion. "He didn't," he says. "He and the entire League are under the control of what Savage called, Starotech."

Yue's eyes widen, and she instinctively glances at Kaldur, who turns to face her with the same recognition. Batman's usage of the word 'kids', and the League's insistence for them to stay away from Roy. "Tornado... That must've been what he was trying to do to Kaldur back at the Cave," she realises, then directs her attention back to Roy. "What exactly is Starotech?"

"I'm... I'm not sure." He answers. "All I know is that it turns the person into a puppet, lets Savage control them to do his bidding."

Her stomach twists at the thought of Bruce, or even the rest of the team who had been left behind in the Cave, being under Savage's control.

"I'm sorry, but how is it that you are not enslaved?" M'gann questions the boy.

"No Starotech for starters, just my Cadmus programming." He explains. "And once I'd satisfied its last parameter, my mind began to clear. I'm sure Savage planned to "Starotech" me, but he paused to... bask. I escaped."

M'gann frowns. "I promise I can clean any residual programming from your mind."

"We need to get back to the Cave," Yue suggests, anxiously tapping her foot against the ground. "If the entire League is under Savage's control, it's no longer safe to–" She cuts herself off as her mind splinters with the familiar weight of her team's thoughts.

"Here, Robin. Linking both squads and de-camouflaging." M'gann's voice echoes through her head.

"Great." Robin's voice follows. "Cause we really need to compare notes."

With Mount Justice compromised, and any known League-associated headquarters likely under surveillance by Savage and his mind-controlled puppets, the team headed for a small warehouse on the edge of Bludhaven.

Despite its utterly run-down appearance, the warehouse had been bought by a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises over a year ago. Disguised as a storage facility for the company, the location secretly stored tech that could rival that of the Bat-Cave itself. It was the perfect place for the team to regroup and get to work on their plan to save the Justice League.

With help from Doctor Roquette, who owed them for the mission back in August, Queen Mera and Vulko from Atlantis, and Doctor Spence from the Cadmus Project that had turned itself around in Conner's name, an anti-virus was created to cure Black Canary from Savage's brainwashing.

It all led them here.

Huddled on the bottom floor of the Watchtower; the Justice League's orbiting headquarters and the one place that had been haunting them since the Fourth of July. Flamebird peers over her brother's shoulder, her lips curled into a small smile as they watch their plan fall into place.

Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Red Arrow had all arrived mere minutes before them. While the team boarded the Watchtower's lowest level and worked their way up to the main floor while curing members of the League on their way, the three heroes would keep Savage distracted for as long as they could.

"RT did it," Robin smirks. A screen appears from within his glove, portraying the Watchtower's surveillance system without anything to flag their secret arrival. "Wirelessly bypassed security for us as soon as he arrived. Savage shouldn't know we're here."

"Hey, babe." With a grin on her face, Flamebird's gaze flickers to Kid Flash. "Want to bet I can cure more Leaguers than you?"

His emerald eyes lit up from behind his cowl. "Oh, you're on."

Aqualad rises to his feet a second later, the next phase of the plan flowing from his mind to the others as he nods down at Robin. "Move out."

The team splits off into four groups; Aqualad and Rocket would clear the lowest floor, Miss Martian and Zatanna were on the next one up, Artemis and Kid Flash were working their way to the docking bay, while Superboy, Robin, and Flamebird headed North into the Watchtower's garden.

Superboy pounces off the floor, his fist coming into direct contact with Hawkman's face, the force of the punch sending the hero sliding across the ground until slowing to a stop by Flamebird's feet. The girl crouches next to him, a frown etched on her face as she administers the Cure-Tech patch to the side of his throat.

"This sucks," she admits with a heavy sigh. "These guys could've been a lot of help if they didn't pass out the second they were cured."

Robin shrugs beside her. "At least we can do it our way."

"It is a small miracle Queen Mera and Doctors Roquette, Vulko, and Spence were able to re-engineer a cure and vaccine at all," Aqualad reminds her through the open mind-link. She briefly captures a glimpse of the leader curing Icon as she follows Robin and Superboy through the empty hall.

Turning the sharp corner into the Watchtower's garden, an area filled with holograms dedicated to fallen heroes, Flamebird skids to a stop as she comes face to face with Hawkwoman. The Thanagarian's face twists in anger, her grip tightening on her mace. "Get down!" Robin leaps toward his sister, the two young heroes hitting the ground a few steps away from where Hawkwoman's mace breaks through the tile.

"I distract, you cure." Flamebird pushes herself onto her feet, then charges in the Thanagarian's direction with her bo-staff drawn at her side. She swipes at the hero's feet, watching with bated breath as the woman's wings spread out at her sides and push her up into the air.

A loud howl echoes through the deck and Wolf comes barrelling out of the next hallway, he pins Hawkwoman to the ground with a snarl as Robin rushes forward to deliver the cure patch. Slowly, Hawkwoman falls limp beneath Wolf's weight, her eyes closing as consciousness slips.

"We should get out of here," Flamebird warns the two boys as they stand on either side of the unconscious woman. Her eyes flicker around the open space – while she wants nothing more than to admire the once-in-a-lifetime view of the Earth outside the large windows, she forces herself to focus on the room she stands in – the garden floor was too open. "Being out in the open is like a flashing neon light telling Savage we're here."

With a swift nod, Robin glances down at the security cameras on his gauntlet. "The next room is clear," he announces as he begins to walk forward, his head hanging low as he swaps from one camera to the next. "We'll keep heading North."

"Hey, if you guys aren't busy." Kid Flash speaks through the mind-link, a sense of urgency in his telepathic voice.

"On my way," Aqualad responds. "You three-" He addresses Zatanna, Rocket, and Miss Martian, "-rendezvous with Robin, Superboy and Flamebird."

Wonder Woman skids to a stop at the end of the hallway, her eyes narrowing at the young heroes. With one foot braced in front of the other, she tosses her lasso at Robin. The knotted end of the lasso curls around the bubble that forms around Robin as the newest member of the team, Rocket, flies into the room.

With a growl, Wonder Woman pulls her lasso back.

"Now!" Under Robin's command, Rocket drops her forcefield from him and turns to face the Amazonian. Her hands stretch out in front of her, her teeth clenching in focus as the glowing sphere reappears around Wonder Woman. "Can she escape your force bubble?"

Rocket lowers herself to the ground, a smirk tugging at her lips as she watches Wonder Woman pummel her fists against the sides of the bubble. "Not if she keeps punching it," she answers. "The kinetic energy only makes it stronger. But I'm stuck here, anything I do risks freeing her."

Flamebird kneels beside the unconscious Green Lantern as he lies beneath the Super-Cycle's spheric form, she slips the cure-patch against his neck and then glances toward Rocket. A dark, moving figure above catches her attention almost instantly as she lifts her head. "Rocket, move!" She shouts.

Batman leaps off the floor above, landing five feet away from Rocket, who shoots up into the air in an attempt to dodge his punch.

Robin takes off into a sprint, using the momentum to jump with one foot stretched in front of him. Batman steps to the side, avoiding his mentee's kick, then grabs the boy's cape and throws him across the room.

"We need to keep him away from Rocket!" Robin instructs, his hands pressing against the white tiles as he pushes himself back onto his feet. "If he frees Wonder Woman, we'll stand no chance." He stares forward, his eyes locking with Yue's over Batman's shoulder.

Flamebird's heart jumps to her throat as Batman moves to face her. His face was more devoid of emotion than it usually was while wearing the mask, but that didn't make her feel any better about what she had to do. "C'mon, Bats," she pleads, though her words are only met with silence. Over her mentor's shoulder, Robin nods his head, and she leaps into action with a heavy heart.

Robin drops a single bead onto the ground, a dark smoke fully obscuring the corridor in a matter of seconds. Using the smoke as her cover, Flamebird dashes toward her mentor. Even with his vision blocked by a cloud of heavy smoke, neither of the teens stands a chance; He feigns left and when Flamebird follows his movements, he dives to the right.

Rolling out of the smoke, Batman catches Robin's fist before he can land a single hit. He lifts the boy by his collar, slamming him into the wall behind them. Robin's eyes flick up to meet Batman's hardened gaze.

This wasn't like training, Vandal Savage hadn't given orders to take them alive, Flamebird realises as she watches Batman begin to reel his fist back. He had pulled the kill switch, forcing the League to kill their mentees in some sort of sick power play. If Bruce was still in there at all, this would surely be the one thing that could truly break any hope of regaining his control.

Flamebird unfurls her staff and takes off into a sprint, her hands tightening around the metal as she pulls the weapon back and swings– the metal end of the staff slams against the side of Batman's kevlar suit. The back of his closed fist slams against her face. She stumbles back, and before she can recover from the hit, Robin's body crashes against her own.

The two teens roll across the ground, and she grunts in pain as she scrambles back to her feet. She wipes her bloodied nose on the back of her hand, ignoring the red staining the golden fabric. From the corner of her eye, she watches as Superman and Superboy fall from the floor above. The Kryptonian punches his clone over and over again, hovering in the air as he lets the boy crash through the ground below them.

She doesn't have time to think it over. Hastily wrapping her hand around Robin's wrist, she pulls him to his feet and takes off into a sprint toward the broken hole at the other side of the room. They dive onto the floor below, and she lets go of her brother to pull Superboy back onto his feet.

"We're not gonna beat 'em one on one," Robin exclaims, his widened eyes staring upward as Superman and Batman follow them down.

"Plan B then." Superboy takes Robin's hand and then uses his strength to pivot the boy up in Batman's direction. Robin slams against Batman's chest mid-air at a speed faster than the veteran hero could counter, and with honed acrobatics training from his years at the circus, he twists himself around to press the Cure-Patch to his mentor's exposed throat as they both hit the ground.

"Are you sure about this?" Flamebird questions frantically. Plan B was meant for dire circumstances, they had no idea of the effects it would have on the clone.

With only a grunt of acknowledgement for her worries, he leaps behind Superman. His arms twist around the Kryptonian's torso, holding the man's arms to his sides as he attempts to hold him in place. "Do it," he shouts in Flamebird's direction.

Reaching into the front pocket of her utility belt, she pulls a small container out and sprints toward Superboy. "Brace yourself," She warns, then flips the container open to reveal a small shard of Kryptonite. She watches as Superman and Superboy writhe in pain, though while Superman falls unconscious, his clone slumps over with pained groans. "Robin, go!"

Her brother sprints forward and, under the green glow of the Kryptonite, presses the Cure Patch against Superman's skin. Quickly, Flamebird closes the container and slips it back into her utility belt as Robin holds his hand out for Superboy.

"Kryptonite-" Superboy groans as he takes Robin's hands. "-hurts."

Robin smirks, "Which is why Batman keeps it in an overwhelmingly impenetrable vault at the Batcave."

With a grin on her face, Flamebird knocks her arm against the shorter boy's shoulder. "More like whelmingly penetrable," she comments playfully. Her smile falters as she glances down at the limp figures of both Superman and Batman. "That's the last of them, right?"

"Right." Superboy huffs with a nod of his head. "Next stop, Vandal Savage."

Flamebird is the first of the team to burst through the doors of the main deck, with Robin, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Rocket hot on her tail.

She halts about five feet from the entrance, her eyes widening as they fall onto Klarion and Vandal Savage in the centre of the room. While she had fought the small sorcerer multiple times in the last few months alone, she had never come face to face with the Neanderthal responsible for the connected attacks over the year.

With claw-shaped scars stretching diagonally across his face, he turns around to meet the gazes of the young heroes. His lips twist into a smirk, an evil glint shining in his dark eyes as the doors opposite them burst open.

The rest of the team rushes in, with Kid Flash leading the charge as he sprints toward Klarion and Vandal. It's only then that Flamebird notices the swirling red portal behind the villains, her heart falling to her stomach as it disappears along with both Vandal and Klarion before Kid Flash has the chance to reach them.

Kid Flash skids to a stop. "Damnit!" He shouts, one hand frustratedly brushing through his red curls while the rest of the Team approaches him.

Flamebird pauses to crouch beside Roy as he lays unconscious on the floor. She reaches to place two fingers against his pulse point, sighing in relief as his heart continues to beat. "They're alive," she announces with a grin.

Nodding his head, Aqualad passes her and leans down over Red Tornado. He had been torn into parts during his fight with Vandal and Klarion, his robotic arms and legs lying a few feet away from the rest of his torso.

"Congratulations, Team," Red Tornado says as they crowd around him, "You have won the day."

Yue glances up, her smile softening as she looks at Wally, who holds his hand out to help her back onto her feet. As she stands, his right-hand falls to rest on her waist, his emerald eyes glancing over her in concern. She flinches ever-so-slightly when his fingertips softly brush over the bruise forming on her jaw. "You alright?" He questions in a whisper.

"I will be," she nods, then braces her hands on his shoulders as she carefully looks over him for any wounds. "You? You're okay?"

He hums in response, his arms slipping around her waist as he tugs her into his embrace. He kisses the top of her head. "I'm fine." His answer is muffled as he hides his face in her hair, but as she presses her cheek against his shoulder and sinks into his warmth, she doesn't mind.

Wally came back to her safe, Bruce was still alive, and they chased the bad guys out of the Watchtower. Today was a win.

"So, how many Leaguers did you cure?" She asks a moment later, peeling away from his arms with a playful smile. "I cured three, but I helped Supes take on Superman, so I say we chalk it up to four and let me have the win."

His lips part to speak, then he shakes his head, a soft look in his eyes as he stares across at her. She falters, bashfully averting her gaze from his love-struck one. Dried blood stains her upper lip and black bruises bloom against her pale skin, but he's staring at her like she's still the most beautiful thing he's seen.

She doesn't believe she'll ever get used to that adoring look in his eyes.

An automated voice rings through the Watchtower. "Happy New Year, Justice League." Small bursts of confetti fall from the ceiling, while the instrumental of Auld Lang Syne plays quietly from the speakers.

"Happy New Year, Birdy." With his hands still on her waist, Wally leans in to press his lips against hers; the kiss is as sweet and dizzying as their first, and has Yue chasing his lips with her own when they part. He leans his forehead against hers, "I love you."

Smiling in content, Yue gently swipes her thumb over the freckles dotting his cheek. Her heart threatening to burst out of her chest, she says, "I love you, too, Wal."

author's note.

This chapter officially marks the end of act one, season one! Sometime in the next few days, I will be going through act one to reformat the layout as well as edit over spelling mistakes I recently found— don't ask me how they slipped past, I wouldn't be able to give you an answer.

This rewrite has taken me over a year, marking two or three years total for Yue Harlow's journey, which is crazy to me. The support I have received on this story, and all the comments from readers that have stuck through multiple rewrites, mean the world to me. Back in 2021, I never would've thought so many people would like Yue.

Thank you all for sticking around, I hope everyone continues to enjoy the story as it progresses into act two.