Chapter 83

Harry stared off, deep in thought. Today was the day where the Justice League would announce their new members. And the last possible chance for Harry to change his mind. Despite Harry getting along with enough of the League, there was just a sense of something amiss with the League. And Harry was not going to be able to change it. It would always feel too restrictive.

"So, you're not joining?"

Mareena came up from behind Harry. Harry smiled at his teammate. Upon her invitation, Harry sat down on a chair beside her. She put a hand onto her.

"No, I'm not."

Mareena raised an eyebrow in Harry's general direction. She had not been surprised that Harry had been considered. Although, Mareena did share some of Harry's sentiment about how the League operated today, she thought that he might be a bit too hard on them.

"You're completely sure you want to do it that way?" Mareena asked. "Because…"

"Because, I wouldn't feel right if other people who have more experience before me got the nod," Harry said. "That meaning you ...Whitney...Helena...you know...the people who rescued me."

"And Thea is joining," Mareena said.

Harry sighed. A part of him stung that Thea only saw her brief membership of the Team as a stepping stone to the League. Harry hated to see that the Team, with all they have accomplished, only being used as a feeder league, a way for people to gain experience before they moved up to the big time.

"That's her decision," Harry said. "She thought she made the right one for her. I don't begrudge Thea for doing it or anyone else if they took the chance."

"So, you're really sure about not joining?"

Speaking of Thea, she stepped around the corner. She leaned over the back of Harry's chair and Harry turned to look her straight in the eye.

"Yes, I'm sure," Harry replied. "Are you sure? I mean ...I am glad if you want to...move onto the League. But, I wonder if this is what you really wanted? If you would really be happy...with the League."

With a group of people that would always see Thea as the Green Arrow's kid sister, his sidekick, and not a skilled heroine in her own right. Not all of them granted, but enough of them. Harry could not see how Thea would be happy with something like that.

"It's what I wanted the entire time," Thea said. "Six months it took...but I'm finally here. It just feels like I was born to be part of the Justice League."

Harry closed his eyes. Unfortunately, some people did not share his vision for what the Team could be. Still, he put on a smile.

"Good luck," Harry said.

"Thanks," Thea said. "And maybe next time around you would join us...up there."

To be honest, Harry did not know if he would ever join the Justice League. Time would really tell whether or not he would change his mind. Regardless, he pulled Thea into a hug and allowed her to go, to officially join the League.

"You knew it would only be temporary," Mareena told him.

"Knowing and liking it would be two different things," Harry said.

Of course, with Thea gone, it did not mean the Team did not recruit a new member. Although, she seemed a bit miffed to be there in the first place. Raquel Ervin, better known as Rocket, a beautiful dark-skinned teenager, sat alongside the members of the Team. Helena, Whitney, Mareena, Donna, Megan, Artemis, Sara, Zatanna, Genesis, and of course Harry, Superman.

Really, a good reason to be there, although Raquel had been surprised that he had not moved up to the League.

"So, Dad gets in the League, despite the fact that I'm the one who is the one that got us into the mess in the first place," Raquel said.

"Hey, we've done a lot," Whitney argued. "And you'll see just how much."

"And here are the new League members," Zatanna said.

A few of them thought it would be cool, in theory to work with the League more closely. However, it was not a statement shown by all.

"Trust me, it's not all that it's cracked up to be," Helena said. "I mean...we have a lot more freedom to do what we can here. And the League, every move is monitored by the press. They are put under a microscope."

"Yeah, who would really want that kind of stifling heat?" Whitney asked. "I mean sure people think the League is the elite but…."

"We're more than just a bunch of sidekicks," Donna offered.

"If you say so,' Raquel said. "But didn't the League set up this cave and put you together? So technically aren't you working underneath them?"

"For now," Harry said.

"Although, you almost have as many people on this team as the League did," Raquel added. "Then again given that nutcase Amazon….no offense."

Donna just smiled and waved it off. She had been done taking offense by Aresia's actions. It was a pity that one woman, one sick woman, had caused people to judge the entire Amazon race by the same brush.

Meanwhile, Cat's coverage played on television, and Stephanie was on the Internet. Harry turned his head back and forth watching them both.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the newest League members are coming out today," Stephanie said. "Along with Captain Marvel and Flash being voted in as official League members, after the fall of their predecessors last year. We have some new members. Wasp, Captain Marvel...um the other one, Icon, and Red Arrow have joined...there should be more, come on...wait...that's it!"

"Much to everyone's surprise, Superman has not been invited to join the Justice League," Cat said. "So, despite this injection of new blood on the team...he is not among then at the Hall of Justice."

"Unbelievable," Stephanie murmured underneath her breath. "To think that Superman would not be a part of this."

"Yeah, you got shafted," Raquel said.

"Actually, I turned them down," Harry said.

"Wait, why?" Raquel asked.

"Because, I don't think the League is right for me," Harry said. "And there are other people who deserved being in before me, who weren't invited."

Raquel took a second to consider and had been very impressed. To be fair, she had just been so enamored about the thought of being in the League, then she did not realize there was some very rough politics at work. As there might have been with any organization.

Suddenly, Harry picked up his phone to a text.

"We have to move," Harry said. "Naturally, they're striking."

"Wait, what?" Artemis asked.

"The bad guys, Sportsmaster, among others," Harry said. "They're after something at one of the ARGUS offsite locations...out in the mountains."

"How did you know this?" Artemis asked.

Harry just smiled.

"Two can play the mole game," Harry said. "Megan?"

"Already heading there," Megan said.

The entire team moved there way out, with their new recruit there. Naturally, Rocket realized she had been thrown out into the line of fire on her first day. White Canary looked up around them, but saw no one around. Not even a guard.

"I don't like this," White Canary said. "Are you sure you got the right place?"

"Pretty sure," Superman said. "Unless they didn't hit the sight because someone tipped them off of my spy...but how would they…"

"These tracks are fresh," Robin said.

She bent down and analyzed the tracks. Genesis joined her in the analyzing of the tracks, picking up a very nice scan of everything around her.

"Cloaking technology," Genesis said. "Disrupting now."

From the top of the mountains, several figures appeared. Among them, Sportsmaster, Knockout, Cheshire, Mammoth, some Kobra Mercenaries, some mercenaries, and some Intergang thugs. Sportmaster had been taken aback.

"So, how's the knee?" Artemis asked.

"Mending," Sportmaster said. "Some dirty play from you, little girl, think I might actually be starting to be proud of you."

Artemis just frowned. The pride he showed for her filled her with great shame.

"Looks like we're about ten steps ahead of you, you don't know what game we're playing," Sportmaster said. "But...I'm sure you're after this little case."

Sportsmaster waved a case out in front of them with a big smile on his face. He peered at them from underneath the mask.

"Better get it while it's hot," Sportmaster said.

"Are we going to kill them yet?" Scandal asked.

The Team braced themselves for a fight, as the group of mercenaries were the first who came down the mountain. White Canary unleashed a Canary Cry which triggered a miniature avalanche and almost buried the Kobra Mercenaries underneath a heavy amount of snow.

Out of the corner of his eye, Superman caught sight of Knockout who jumped down at him. Knockout grabbed with Superman who pushed back. A blast of energy launched her off of the ground. A couple of punches rattled her in the stomach and knocked her down onto the ground.

Superman jumped on top of Knockout and pinned her down onto the ground. Knockout struggled underneath the grip of Superman, her eyes locked onto his.

"We really need to stop meeting like this," Knockout siad. "People are starting to talk."

One of the Intergang thugs fired a weapon which caused Kid Flash to ram into an energy wall. This allowed Scandal to jump her from behind and take her down to the ground. Scandal raised a large knife, but it had been blocked by Robin's attack. The two scrapped for battle.

Cheshire just broke into a smile and motioned for White Canary to come towards her. White Canary jumped high into the air. Cheshire dodged her attack and came back around. The two faced hand to hand with each other. Right before Artemis shot an arrow, which she caught.

One of the Intergang goons put up a mental damper to block Miss Martian from using her powers. Miss Martian grabbed the goon around the wrist and flipped him down to the ground with a surprising judo throw. She flipped down onto the ground and ripped the remote control device out of his hand.

"Genesis!" Superman yelled.

"Activated!"

Several drones which resembled Owls came out of the sky and started to blast the Intergang members. One of them tried to fire back at them, but it set an electrified net down on them.

One of the Kobra Goons faced off against Rocket. He waved an energy staff at the woman and sent a blast of energy off. The blast hit her hard and just caused Rocket to glow.

"Thanks for the boost!" Rocket yelled.

Kinetic energy, the harder people smashed her, the stronger she got. Rocket jumped high into the air and took down three of the Kobra Cult members with one fell attack.

This allowed Robin to disable the mental dampener. Which allowed Miss Martian to lift the weapons out of the Intergang members, and also eliminate the device which prevented Kid Flash from using her speed. Kid Flash jumped high into the air and whipped from gang members, disabling them of all of their toys.

At least until Scandal disabled her with a well placed swipe to the tendon.

An arrow came from Scandal. Scandal broke the arrow clean in mid air with a swipe of her blade. She turned up to face off against Artemis.

Three more arrows came down from the sky and struck the ground right next to Scandal. The arrows exploded and encased Scandal in some kind of thick, grey material.

From the edge of the tree, Red Arrow dropped down next to Aquagirl, who had sent two of the Kobra Goons backwards.

"Thought you were done sitting at the kid's table?" Aquagirl asked.

"Well, figured that I would have one more farewell mission," Red Arrow said. "You couldn't make it easy, could you?"

Scandal busted out and jumped Red Arrow. Red Arrow dodged the attack and caught Scandal around the wrist, before flipping her down to the ground. She twisted around Scandal's arm, with a loud snap echoing.

Despite having her wrist dislocated, Scandal still came back from the attack. She withdrew another blade from her boot. Red Arrow blasted it with an arrow.

Mammoth charged Wondergirl with a fury in his eyes. Wondergirl dodged the attack and lassoed onto the monster's neck. She came up and slammed down hard onto Mammoth's back. Mammoth dropped down to two knees and Wondergirl snapped all the way down, smashing down into a tree.

Sliding down, Mammoth began to cough up a whole lot of blood.

Sportsmaster swung for the fences at Artemis.

"Strike one!" Artemis yelled.

An exploding disc launched directly at Artemis. Artemis dodged the attack and fired a couple of arrows at her father/enemy. The arrows had been avoided.

Suddenly, another arrow clipped him in the knee and dropped him down onto the ground. Red Arrow came down to eye Artemis.

"Wow, a League member joins us on this mission,' Artemis said. "I feel blessed."

Sportsmaster struggled to get up to his feet before Artemis jumped up into the air and hit him in the back of the knee. A double team attack from both archers brought Sportsmaster down and wrapped him up.

Cheshire's eyes widened, as she moved alongside Scandal and Knockout. A portal opened up and the trio of women left through the portal, along with the case which Sportsmaster took.

"And they got away," Miss Martian said.

"No, not all of them."

Sportsmaster had been trussed like a Christmas goose and about ready to be delivered to prison. Finally, all of the times he gave them the slip had run out.

Green Arrow, Flash, and Superwoman escorted Sportsmaster into the hallowed heights of Iron Heights prison. Sportmaster raised an eyebrow.

"I thought that you were sending me to Belle Reve," Sportsmaster said.

"We have reason to believe it's compromised," Superwoman said.

"Wow, you're quick," Sportmaster said. "But not quick enough."

Green Arrow grabbed Sportsmaster by the shoulder and moved him through the door.

"Don't the League know that you're going to lose no matter how many of us you put away?" Sportsmaster asked. "It must be a kick in the nuts to think that Superman doesn't want anything to do with any of you. But, after tonight, the people will see the League for what they truly are."

"Keep moving, Crock," Green Arrow said.

Sportsmaster just stopped short of the door and started chuckling to himself. The arrow pointed towards his back just barely caused him to blink.

"Archery is such a girl's sport," Sportsmaster said.

"Which is why a couple of girls kicked your ass tonight,' Green Arrow responded smugly.

"Hey, the one in red's far better than you," Sportsmaster said. "Red...Arrow isn't it? I wouldn't mind sparing a few rounds with her, if you know what I mean."

"Just move it, Crock," Flash said.

"You don't know what's going on, don't you?" Sportmaster asked. "The mole, they tell us everything how the League's struggling to gain face. How they hoped to get Superman on board, because otherwise people are going to start asking questions about how the most powerful man in the world is not a part of the League."

"What do you know about the Mole?" Superwoman asked.

"Oh, I hear things, people say things," Sportsmaster said. "But, I'm no stooge and I'm no snitch. But, I can promise you one thing. By the end of the year, you'll know exactly who has stabbed you in the back. For all you know, they could be right in this room. Or they might not be."

"Just move it already," Green Arrow said.

"And you wouldn't see it coming," Sportmaster taunted. "Because you were blind. That's why you lost Black Canary to Superman, and that's why you're going to…."

Green Arrow forced Sportsmaster through the door into the waiting arms of the guards, not bothering to correct the fact that he and Dinah broke up months before she hooked up with Superboy.

"He's trying to get a rise out of you," Flash said.

"I know," Green Arrow said. "He's just a punk. He doesn't know anything. He likely made up the entire mole thing because he wanted to seem important."

Superwoman just nodded. Her mind gone back to Harry's suggestion the mole had been in the League and any of them. And the person who was the mole might not even know it was them.

Red Arrow met with Superman outside of the main room of the cave. The rest of the Team had celebrated putting Sportsmaster and several other bad guys away, even though Cheshire, Scandal, and Knockout all disappeared into the wind.

"You should be with the League," Thea said.

"You know the reason why I'm not," Harry said.

"Maybe you could have been the change that the League needed?" Thea asked.

"My Team is the change the League needs," Harry said. "And congratulations for joining the League but there's something that's been bugging me. How did you know we were there?"

"Well, I wanted to swing by to say my goodbyes, just as you were leaving," Thea explained. "And then I saw the Bioship leaving. And Felicity tipped me off at the break in of the ARGUS site."

"Yeah," Harry said. "Good for her."

"So, how did you know they were there?" Thea asked.

"I have my ways," Harry said.

"And you're not going to share them with me are you?" Thea asked. "Not even if I convince you."

Thea wrapped her arms tightly around Harry and moved a little bit closer towards him. Seconds of time passed, as Thea pressed her lips firmly against Harry's. She kissed all the way up the side of his neck and stopped, short of his ear. Lightly stroking Harry's hair, Thea broke into a smile.

"Maybe tonight you can visit me up at the Watchtower," Thea said. "There's a party welcoming the new recruits. We can ring in the new year properly."

"Maybe I'll see you up there," Harry said.

They gave more kiss and Thea parted ways with him. Coming around the corner, Artemis joined him.

"So, are you having second thoughts?" Artemis asked.

"No," Harry said. "He's finally behind bars."

"Yeah, I figured...it would just be more to it than that," Artemis said. "He's caused us so much problems. But...I guess our lives are coming back together."

With Lena getting the surgery back on track, her mother would be able to walk again. And Artemis was really coming into her own as a member of this team.

"Something bothering you?" Harry asked her.

"Well, I can't believe how Jade was with them," Artemis said. "I thought after she...well…."

Harry just lead Artemis into the next room, where the rest of the team had been waiting. To be honest, it had been a good day, despite Cheshire, Scandal, and Knockout getting away with the case.

"So are all of your team missions like that?"

Raquel had been excited. She had gone from being disinterested to being a part of the team, to being excited about it. Maybe this is where she needed to be at this time in her life. Maybe it was where she really needed to be.

"We got it down to a science," Donna said. "Remember the first mission we were on."

"How could I forgot?" Helena asked. "Mister Twister. Remember?"

Megan, Helena, Donna, Mareena, Whitney, and Harry all exchanged looks. The other team members had no idea how off balance the team had gotten before they were recruited. Those early days were rough.

"I know, Dinah told me about the aftermath on that one," Sara said. "The League wanted to shut down the entire Team, but Batman convinced them that it was just growing pains."

"Good on Batman, then," Helena said.

"Technically, wasn't our first mission rescuing Harry?" Whitney asked. "You know from Cadmus...which almost got us captured...killed...cloned...so I guess that one kind of went back."

"Good thing Lois was there," Harry said.

"Wait Lois Lane?" Raquel asked. "You mean that reporter who always gets in trouble."

"Yes, that Lois Lane," Harry said. "She can handle herself though...although she does bite off more than she can chew at times."

Artemis took a long drink of soda and just broke out into a smile. With Sportsmaster locked into prison, nothing could stop her now.

From the side entrance of the cave, Cheshire appeared, clutching a case. Every member of the team, with the exception of Helena, Artemis, and Harry, all tensed up at her arrival.

"I come in peace," Cheshire said. "I don't have much time to explain."

She took off the mask so the team could see her face. And how serious she looked.

"I found your mole."

Batman bent over a workbench to take a close look at some circuitry he found in one of Sportsmasters known hideouts. It jived with the report the Team made about the strange tech that they were trying to bind with Vibranium.

"So, do you actually want to join the party?"

Red Arrow appeared at Batman's shoulder. Batman turned his head around a fraction of an inch.

"I have to figure out what this is," Batman said.

"Wonder Woman and Superwoman expect you to help them make a speech," Red Arrow said. "Don't shoot the messenger, but they've sent me to fetch you."

Batman responded with a nod. He moved over to set up a scan which would run over the next hour. Plenty of time to address the new recruits. Red Arrow patted him on the shoulder.

Suddenly everything went dark.

Batman walked out to join the entire League who had all been standing around in a circle. Unmoving, unblinking, untalking. Thea put a hand to her forehead and could feel a sharp pain coming from her temples.

Her head throbbed even deeper, as two figures entered the Watchtower. Thea had her hand on the control console, without realizing she had let them in.

Vandal Savage walked up towards her, followed by his daughter, Scandal, who looked bored. Thea's head throbbed even more, memories of her waking up in a pod, and being conditioned, programmed, turned into a deadly sleeper agent of the bad guys.

"Desmond warned us this could happen," Vandal casually said. "Once your mission had been fulfilled."

"There's a mole," Thea said. "I'm the mole?"

"I'm afraid so,' Vandal said with a big grin. "And you have the League right where we wanted...but there's a more pressing issue…."

Vandal turned his attention towards Scandal who stared back. Her contempt had been thinly veiled when directed towards her father.

"Someone has strayed from the Light," Vandal said. "She will have to be eliminated."

Now that Thea's true self had been relieved, she slipped off into the distance, breathing heavily. She escaped the Watchtower while daughter and father had been talking about what to do about this traitor.

"She won't get far."

The last words Thea heard before she took the Zeta Tube down to Star City.