Young Justice: Solstice

Thirty-One

I STARTED WRITING THIS IN THE MIDDLE OF SEASON THREE OF THE FLASH AND IT GAVE ME A TON OF IDEAS AND I FORGOT HALF THE IDEAS FROM THEN AND I'VE CHANGED THE PLOT LIKE FIVE TIMES SINCE I STARTED IT AND KIRAN AND KALDUR WERE SUPPOSED TO GET IN A FIGHT LAST CHAPTER SO THAT THEY WOULD BREAK UP BY THE END OF THE BOOK BUT I DECIDED THAT WAS STUPID SO NOW I HAVE EVEN MORE PLOT THREADS TO TIE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN AND THERE'S LIKE FIVE OTHER PEOPLE I WANT IN THIS CHAPTER NAMELY JAIME AND TIM AND WALLY BUT I JUST CAN'T DEAL WITH THAT RIGHT NOW *SOBs*

s/o to Mav for letting me rant at her.

Mum and Dad had been in Mohenjo-Daro for three weeks, working with Doctor Sandsmark, and thirty-one hours ago they'd gone missing on a nightly expedition. This morning, Helena had notified Wonder Woman, who told Cassie, who told me. On our way to the zeta-tubes, we were met with Kaldur and several other members of the team.

I gripped the strap of my satchel. Nothing too big, just everything I'd collected on Mehenjo-Daro, and the coordinating sites in Bialya and on Mars.

"You don't have to come. It could be something as simple as them just being lost," I said, my voice trembling.

"Are you serious?" Karen didn't believe me either.

"You're a member of the team now, and that makes you family!" Beast Boy declared from Superboy's shoulders. I ran my tongue over my lip, wondering if Miss Martian, hiding under her hood behind Superboy, felt the same way.

I took in the rest of our squad. Guardian, my mentors- Artemis, Zatanna, and Rocket- and of course, Kaldur.

"We're going with you, firefly," Mal grinned, "Whether you like it or not."

Kaldur stepped up, placing a hand on my shoulder, "I seem to recall that we made a promise, Kiran. I would be loathe to let you back out on that promise to face your parents alone."

I sighed, but I couldn't keep from smiling.

-------

"Any signs of a struggle?" Guardian asked. I wondered how he wasn't sweating in his uniform under the desert heat.

"They left their lantern behind," Helena waved to the broken object at the end of the artifact tent, now used as a base for the search.

"It's dented, the glass is shattered. Must have dropped it." Artemis appraised. I wondered if our uniforms had ventilation systems built in.

"Have they ever run off before?" Raquel asked. I noticed her question was directed at me. Despite being worried about my parents in that I was ready to drop everything and run to their rescue, my mind was anywhere but on the thought of seeing them again.

"They can be spontaneous, especially when they egg each other on, but not like this," I stammered out.

"I have a recent picture, if that will help," Helena pulled up a picture on her phone, glancing around the table to all the strange heroes. It wasn't that recent, it was taken at the beginning of the expedition, back when Cassie and I came with them.

Luckily, no one commented on me being in the picture with them.

"Who do we have already searching the site?" Superboy asked.

"The villagers we hired were asked to help search. We've combed through as much of the ruins as we can, but their may be something that we've missed that some superheroes like you all won't," She smiled weakly.

"I am detecting some kind of magic vibe from this place," Zatanna caressed one of the artifacts, "Very low-level. Probably dormant, but it might have something to do with their disappearance."