chapter thirty-four.
( my mercy prevails over my wrath. )

     "Your ship is most impressive, Ambassador, as are your people," Kaldur compliments as the Reach's Ambassador leads them further through the alien ship.

Cardinal walks five steps behind the two of them, her hands folded behind her back and her eyes cautiously scanning the busy halls of the ship. The entire mission had been leading to this very moment, to finding out the identity of The Light's secret partner, and yet she felt no relief at the thought of being a step closer to stopping them.

She felt no relief because The Reach being on Earth meant the Kroloteans were only at the surface of the invasion, that it was still an ongoing threat and she had no way of warning Dick or the team because she'd been radio silent since faking her death two weeks ago. She felt no relief because somewhere on this ship, four members of her team were being experimented on and it was her fault; in the name of justice, she swerved from the path of light and they were caught in the crossfire of her mission.

If Bruce could see her now, breaking the vow she had taken at the graves of his parents all those years ago, he'd surely be disappointed. Just as she is.

"Thank you," the Ambassador responds formally. He was a tall bug-like alien, with pale green skin and a hard-shell armour of blues and greens that reminded her far too much of Blue Beetle. "These are our labs, we are most dedicated to researching the human meta-gene." He leads them around the left corner.

"Meta-gene?" Kaldur questions politely, even as he falls a step behind the Ambassador and in line with Cardinal. Her eyes flick to meet his, the two teammates sharing a mutual look of intrigue.

"A genetic marker," the Ambassador answers. "It indicates the potential of an individual human to survive catastrophic physical trauma by adapting new abilities." The three of them come to a stop at the end of the hall and, with a wave of the Ambassador's hand, the metal door barring their path opens with a loud clanking sound.

Her eyes scan over the purple walls of the hallway they stand in, taking mental note of each and every turn they had taken to reach this side of the ship. Bart, Jaime, and Garfield – and Lagoon Boy, she could only hope – were somewhere on this ship, and she knows that somehow she has to get this information back to the team so they could be rescued.

"In other words, Ambassador, the meta-gene allows certain humans to develop superhuman powers?"

The alien ignores Kaldur's question and ushers the two of them into the room with a charming grin. Sharing a look with her former leader, Cardinal follows him inside and unwillingly allows the Ambassador to stand behind them. The lab walls are lined with the same red pods she had found in Queen Bee's warehouse, the same red pods they had been given to transport Bart, Jaime and Garfield from Mount Justice; all of them contained unconscious teens and children of varying ages.

The door clicks shut behind them and her left hand falls to rest on the hilt of the sword hanging from her waist, her gaze following the Ambassador as he brushes between her and Kaldur to walk toward the centre of the room where another Reach stands.

"Kaldur'ahm, Cardinal, this is the scientist in charge of all meta-gene research," the Ambassador introduces them to the female scientist in a pink-and-white garb.

"I understand you are responsible for providing several of our test subjects. Gratitude." The Scientist wears a cruel smile behind the translucent yellow mask shielding the lower half of her face.

Kaldur bows his head in acknowledgement, but Cardinal only bites her tongue. The reminder is like lead over her heart; she delivered innocent heroes, teenagers, into the hands of these cruel aliens. They're only children, and the hero-life already threatens to take so much from them.

How could she betray them like this?

The Scientist turns back to them a moment later, her arms formally tucked behind her back and her head held high. "I assume it would interest you both in knowing that in this lab, we are attempting to isolate this meta-gene by stimulating potentially dormant powers in average humans."

Kaldur steps away to trail down the line of nearby pods and, ever faithful as his chosen right-hand, Cardinal follows shortly behind him. The two undercover heroes stop in front of Lagoon Boy's pod, the Atlantean lies inside unconscious but seemingly no worse for wear.

"But La'gaan already has powers," Kaldur points out. "He is Atlantean, hardly an average human." To a stranger, he would just seem curious about the procedure but Cardinal has known him for over seven years; from where she stands, she can see the regret in his eyes and hear the determination in his voice as he fights for their teammate's freedom in the only way he currently can.

The Scientist strolls toward them, so that she too could peer into Lagoon Boy's pod. "But his powers are based on training in sorcery," she reminds him. "Beyond that, he is an average Atlantean, is he not?" The rhetorical question hangs unanswered in the stiff air as the Scientist nods for the two undercover heroes to follow her.

She leads them, and the Ambassador, into a separate secluded room. As soon as the doors slide open and she's greeted by the sounds of Garfield and Bart screaming, Cardinal's heart falls to her stomach. The two boys are trapped within their own pods, and Jaime is still nowhere to be found.

She knows better than to attack the Reach. She knows better and yet she can't stop her hand from subtly curling around the hilt of her sword because Bart and Garfield are in pain, and Jaime is still nowhere to be found; but in this secluded room, she could strike their Ambassador down and end it all here and now.

Then, her eyes lock with Kaldur's as he steps between her and the two aliens and glances at her from over his shoulder.

Maybe it would've been okay if it was just her, maybe she'd follow through on the impulse without a second thought even though she knows she'd go down with them. At least the boys would have a chance to escape. But, down here with no way of contacting their team for backup, their lives and Kaldur's life were in her hands.

Her hand falls away from the sword, hanging limply at her side as she lowers her gaze in shame. Kaldur trusted her to have his back on this mission. She would just need to trust him, too. He would find a way to rescue their teammates, just as he had found a way to foil his father's plans so many times before.

"Here we study humans with active meta-genes and how they respond to various levels of stress," the Scientist explains, proudly smirking as she observes the young heroes with a sadistic look in her yellow eyes. "The goal is to learn if their abilities are able to be extracted or duplicated."

"I see," Kaldur says, a steely expression covering his face as he avoids looking in the direction of the teenage boys, "You seek to weaponise the meta-gene."

The Scientist lets out a small laugh and turns to the Ambassador, "You never mentioned he was clever." The two aliens step past the undercover heroes and back out into the hallway, Kaldur follows shortly behind him and, though every part of her screams to stay behind and rescue the boys, Cardinal soon turns on her heel and walks after her leader.

The Reach led them across the hall and to another closed metal door. The Scientist pauses in the doorway and glances at them, "A pleasure meeting you, Kaldur'ahm, Cardinal." She nods her head cordially, then walks inside and lets the doors click shut behind her before either undercover hero can get a better look inside.

Her curiosity gets the better of her and, with every member of the team accounted for except one, she can't help but question the Ambassador. "Blue Beetle is unaccounted for," she points out, not-so-subtly from the way she watches Kaldur's posture stiffen beside her. "Is he inside there?" She raises a brow as she nods to the closed doors of the only room they hadn't been given a tour of.

The charming grin that had been plastered across the Ambassador's green face since their arrival slips momentarily as his eyes narrow at her. "That particular laboratory doesn't concern you or your masters, The Light– and, frankly, neither does Blue Beetle." He states firmly. "He may be human but he is of The Reach."

Whatever the hell that is supposed to mean, she thinks to herself frustratedly. Her lips part to voice her thoughts but, before she gets the chance, Kaldur steps between the two of them.

"Please, excuse my companion," he apologises on her behalf, then glances in her direction with a silent plea for her to correct her mistake.

Behind her scarf-mask, Cardinal presses her lips together then lets out a breath as she politely bows her head. "I apologise for stepping out of line, Ambassador," she says quietly. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"Of course not." The Ambassador's polite mask returns as he cheerfully claps his hands together, "Now, let us continue." He and Kaldur walk side-by side down the hallway while Cardinal trails behind them. "What of the new test subjects?"

"Soon to be on their way," Kaldur explains, "My father's best operatives are overseeing the shipment."

The Ambassador grins, "Gratitude."

Cardinal stands at the entrance of the docking bay, her arms crossed over her chest as she observes Manta's crew unloading the new shipment of runaways onto the Reach's ship. It's only when her eyes fall onto the familiar faces of Barbara and Tim that she forces herself to look away from the pods, her heart racing in her chest.

Kaldur had told her during the mission to destroy Mount Justice that he had delivered more intel to Nightwing but he hadn't mentioned any plan to rescue their kidnapped friends. She certainly would remember a plan that would inevitably end with her fighting the family who still believed her dead.

Her eyes flicker up from the floor and over to Kaldur, who stares back at her with a look she can only assume means he had no idea of the team's plan to infiltrate the ship either.

An alarm blares through the room and, as Kaldur's eyes widen ever-so-slightly, she knows they'll have to do what they always seem to do best; improvise. The team's mission had to succeed and, while they needed to get themselves out of the way for the team to do so, they also needed to prove themselves to the Reach.

"Cardinal, remain here with the shipment," he orders stoically. "I will find the Ambassador and locate the cause of the alarm."

"Yes, boss." She nods. There's a brief moment of knowing; there was only one person on their team with the ability to swim through the ocean depths this close to the seafloor, one person who could effortlessly sneak aboard the ship and remain undetected long enough to get close to their teammates and rescue them.

M'gann was here.

She had to be, because just like Yue, she would never trust anyone but herself to rescue her brother. But the thought of seeing her close friend again was a terrifying one. Just as M'gann was the only one capable of sneaking aboard the Reach's ship, she was also the only one able to see through her disguise and unravel the undercover mission in the blink of an eye.

"Kaldur'ahm," she calls out, "Be careful."

He briefly nods, then takes off out of the room. Left behind with the rest of Manta's Troopers, Cardinal sucks in a deep breath to calm her racing heart before she turns to face them– Kaldur could make an excuse or two for why he wasn't able to stop M'gann, but right now it was up to her to buy the rest of the team some time to act.

"Get back to work!" She barks an order at the troopers standing off to the side of the room, each of them having stopped unloading the pods when the alarms began to ring. "We can't let this distraction put us behind schedule."

The faster they unload the runaways into the same room, the faster the team will be able to rescue them.

Her eyes flicker to the left and she cautiously watches as a Trooper steps away from the pods and starts walking toward the Docking Bay's entrance. "Hey," her hand stretches out to block him from stepping past her, "Hold your–"

The Trooper's hands wrap around her arm, their grip tightening in a way that has her eyes widening. Before she knows what's happening, the Trooper flings her out of the room and into the hallway opposite of the Docking Bay's doors. Her back slams harshly against the purple-coloured wall and, as she crashes onto the ground, she can only watch as the undercover-trooper takes out two of Manta's men before finally pulling his helmet off.

Superboy drops the helmet onto the floor and, for only a moment, she lets herself feel relieved to see him again after the destruction of Mount Justice. His blue eyes narrow as he silently surveys the room before turning to face the entrance as Bumblebee leads a group of kidnapped teens into the Docking Bay.

Cardinal pulls herself up off the ground, wincing slightly in pain. Make it look like a real fight, she tells herself as she brandishes her sword. Feel bad about it tomorrow, tonight even, but make it look good enough to fool the Reach.

A blur of red and yellow races past the Bioship's doors and through the Docking Bay, only to stop directly in her path. Cardinal pauses in her tracks, her sword pointed towards the figure as it slows into a recognisable sight. For the first time in two weeks, Wally West stands in front of her in his Kid Flash costume with a bright grin and, if it weren't for the alarms ringing throughout the ship, she would've thought she was dreaming.

"Woah, little birdy, you aren't going to stab me with that, are you?" The sound of his voice snaps her out of her trance.

He wasn't supposed to rejoin the team while she was undercover. They agreed on it, that he shouldn't throw away retirement and come back to a team grieving over a lie they created, and yet she couldn't bring herself to care in the moment because it wasn't a dream that she would wake up from at any second. He's standing right in front of her. He's real.

She smirks playfully beneath her mask, "Sorry, I only go for the pretty ones."

"Ouch." Still grinning in her direction, he lifts his right hand to rest over his heart. "I'll have you know, my girlfriend thinks I'm very pretty."

She charges at him, just for Kid to speed out of the way. "Come on, you can do better than that!" He taunts playfully from where he now stands behind her.

"The mind-link's down!" Superboy's shout pulls her away from the game she had been playing with Wally. The clone comes sprinting out of the Docking Bay, his brows furrowed in concern, "Kid, keep her busy! I'm going to–"

An alien, dressed in black armour eerily similar to Blue Beetle's, appears at the end of the hall with two Manta Troopers stationed directly behind him. A cruel smirk crosses his face as he punches Superboy in the gut, all too easily throwing the superhuman boy back in her and Kid Flash's direction.

Wide eyed, Cardinal tosses herself out of the way as Superboy is thrown back into the Docking Bay by the force of his punch alone. Her eyes flick up off the ground and meet Kid Flash's from across the room– the alien may have been on her side, but so far it didn't seem like he cared much for sides at all.

"Your backup has arrived," he informs her as he steps into the doorway, his large frame blocking the team inside while she and Kid Flash remain in the hallway. "I will handle the rest of these meat-bags myself." He presses his hand against the purple wall inside the docking bay, and all Cardinal can do is watch helplessly as the door slides shut behind him.

Kid Flash sprints across to the closed door, his clenched fists banging against them helplessly.

The two Troopers who had followed the Black Beetle ran over to Cardinal's side, their rifles trained in Kid Flash's direction. "Where's the Boss?" One of them questions.

"He's headed for the laboratory to check on the last shipment," she informs them, loud enough so that Kid Flash can hear her from across the hallway. Tucking her sword back into its sheath, she nods in his direction, "Keep speedy here busy, then rendezvous at the flyer. I'll find Kaldur."

The other Trooper nods, "Yes, ma'am."

Cardinal takes off running as the sound of gunfire echoes through the hallway, at the last moment she glances over her shoulder and grins at the sight of her partner all too easily evading the shots fired in his direction. He could handle two of Manta's lackeys, she thinks to herself as she follows the winding hallways of the Reach's ship back in the direction of the laboratory. He could handle two of Manta's lackeys and when he's finished–

A gust of wind brushes past her and she grins to herself.

He will find her again.

Kid Flash appears in front of her, blocking her from running any further, with his hands on his hips and an unimpressed expression painted across his visage. "Speedy? Really?" He asks. "We don't even wear the same costume."

"Must be the red hair," she says with a shrug of her shoulders.

"When this is all over, I swear–"

"A left, then two rights." Cardinal cuts him off with a whisper. She hadn't spotted any cameras or surveillance in their tour and, with the ship in lockdown as the sirens continue to blare, she hopes that any soldiers who had been waltzing through the halls were now protecting the prisoners instead. "There's a lab they wouldn't let us see. I think it's where they're keeping Blue."

"Birdy, I..." He pauses, then takes a step closer to her. "I'm glad you're safe."

Her gaze softens. "You too. Now, go." She tells him sadly. "We'll see each other again when this is all over." Her heart begged for her to leave with him, yet she had no choice but to ignore that lingering thought.

Kaldur still needs her, she couldn't possibly leave him alone in this.

A sad smile tugs at his lips and, in a blur of fast movements, he rushed forward to press a quick kiss to her lips before disappearing in the direction she had given him. The moment was faster than she'd like, and all she can do is hold onto the warmth of a kiss she barely felt, as she presses on in her own mission.

Where Wally took a left, Cardinal takes a right and follows the hallway down to the first laboratory she had last seen Bart, Lagoon Boy and Garfield trapped within. Turning the corner, she halts in her path as her eyes fall onto Kaldur and M'gann; her two friends stand in the centre of the hall, staring at each other in some sort of silent, telepathic, face down.

Then, all of a sudden, Kaldur's knees buckle beneath him. An agonising scream falls from his lips and Cardinal's heart races with fear as she watches both him and M'gann fall– Garfield rushes to his sister's side as she kneels on the ground with a petrified look in her eyes, his hands grasp her shoulders as he gently shakes her to grab her attention.

"Kaldur!" Cardinal gasps. Without a second thought, she races to his side and drops to her knees beside him, her hand falls onto his shoulder and as she turns him to face her, her lips part in shock. His eyes were glossed over and he seemed to stare directly through her, as if he no longer inhabited his own mind.

Her eyes flicker over to M'gann, who meets her gaze with tears and a look in her own eyes that lets her know she sees her for exactly who she is.

Not Cardinal, but Yue Harlow.

"M'gann," she thinks sorrowfully as her mind begins to splinter under the familiar mind-link. "What have you done?"

"I thought–" A loud sob wracks through M'gann's body as she tears her gaze away from Cardinal in shame. "-I thought he deserved it. I thought he killed you..."

The weight of her mission, the weight of the lies she had left behind, feel a thousand times heavier as M'gann's words repeat themselves over and over in her mind.

Garfield looks between his sister and Cardinal, then leaps in the undercover hero's direction with a ferocious growl as he shifts into a green tiger while mid-air. Cardinal whips around to face him, her brows pinching together as she reaches into the back pocket of her utility belt and throws a handful of smoke pellets against the ground.

A thick, dark smoke fills the hallway as Cardinal rises from the floor and slips Kaldur's arm around her shoulder. "Take yours, and I'll take mine," she warns the young, green hero. "Count yourself lucky."

As she makes her escape with Kaldur's unconscious form in tow, all she can think is that she needs to get him to safety. It wasn't a word Yue ever used to describe the places she had visited while undercover but, oddly enough, there was only one place she could think of.

She needs to get Kaldur back to his father.

AUTHOR'S NOTES.

✶ When I say we're gonna have slow updates just to get the urge to post the next chapter because I wrote a few scenes in act three that made me want to hurry up and finish act two already.

✶ I brought Wally out of retirement, temporarily of course, in this chapter because I've always thought it was such a missed opportunity in the show. Whether they wanted to keep him off the team so Artemis' death looked more real or not, Wally would never just sit by and I don't know how it wasn't considered more weird to the team for him to stay in retirement and act like everything was normal when his girlfriend died at the hands of their former friend. But what do I know?

✶ I think the day I stop being insane about Flashbird, which is Yue and Wally's new ship-name (courtesy of spaceism ), I won't know what to do anymore because my schedule right now consists of just yapping about the two of them to anyone who will hear me out/put up with me.

✶ But anyways, I shall return to trying to finish the final scene needing to be written in order for me to finally say that act two is completely finished. Please remember to vote and/or comment, it's never cool to be a ghost-reader!