Verisimilitude

Division - Part 2

An hour and a half later, Zatanna was finally confident enough to try the locator spell.

"Are you ready?" Kaldur asked, placing a hand on the magician's shoulder. She gave him a small - slightly hesitant - nod before he went back to join the rest of the Team.

"Are you ready?" He asked, looking at the young boy beside him.

"I...I think so." Tim admitted, "It's just so...weird. I've heard about Robin forever but..." He tugged on the sleeve of his costume.

It was the boy's first night out on the city as Gotham and he was nervous - who wouldn't be? He was about to go headfirst into a new world, one full of criminals and heroes. He would be concerned if the kid wasn't a bit anxious.

"It'll be okay." Barbara - now Batgirl - assured him. "We'll be here every step."

"She's right." He placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder, "There's nothing to be afraid of. The major criminals are locked up tight and we won't take our eyes off of you." He looked down at the boy and added softly, "We'll protect you."

"Thanks Dick." He said, giving the man a smile. "Thanks Barbara."

"That's Nightwing and Batgirl to you, rookie." Batgirl joked, making the boy laugh.

"Coordinates locked." He reported, snapping back to reality. "Roanoke Island. You did it." He drew a shaky breath, trying to dispel his last memory. He could focus on that later.

==================

Having something that they could possibly call a plan, the Team milled around the hangar as they attempted to iron out the details, still unsure of what exactly they were facing. Klarion was expected, but beyond that they had no clue.

That was until the lightning came, striking from out of nowhere into the center of the hangar, bringing a young boy - around Damian's age, he noticed - with it.

"It works!" The boy yelled, looking at his hands in surprise.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Kaldur inquired, rushing forward with the rest of the Team to look at the mysterious boy.

"Quick, read my mind!" The boy said, completely sure of himself as he looked at M'gann. Her eyes glowed green as she obeyed the young boy's wishes.

She gave a small gasp, "He's Captain Marvel." M'gann told them, her voice full of surprise.

"Yeah, and I'm Speedy Gonzalez." Wally said sarcastically, "Look, just because he's Captain-"

"Geez Wally." The boy spoke up, surprising them all with his knowledge. "Do I really have to bring you nachos and pineapple juice to get on your good side?" He asked, making the Team look at each other. They would have to reevaluate now that a League member had come through. Now, they could communicate and coordinate their attack.

The next few...was it minutes? Hours? He honestly didn't know. What he did know is that whenever Captain Marvel - or Billy, as he was in his civilian, child form - switched between worlds he felt like he was hit in the head with Riddler's cane. It was a dull, throbbing pain that quickly subsided between the Leaguer's visits. But when the lightning came, the headache came as well.

He didn't mention it to his teammates; they couldn't be worried about him and focus on the task at hand, and the mission was much more important. So he simply clenched his fists and was thankful that he had gauntlets to protect his hands from his nails.

When they entered the bioship, he realized that this was his first mission since he had woken from the simulation. It would be the Team's first mission since the failed exercise. Artemis and Zatanna had had a fight with a unique criminal in Manhattan on Halloween, and Superboy had teamed up with new gods from New Genesis right after the simulation, but this would be their first mission together.