Leaving the Creche

"This doesn't look promising," Jebediah said. On his shoulder, Trolli squeaked in agreement.

Lucy frowned at him before turning her attention back to the scene before them. A horde of guards stood between them and their chosen exit. Court's snooping had revealed that there was an even bigger group waiting the other way, cutting off that choice.

"We need a diversion," Lucy said. She handed Niles Jr. off to Aarti who in turn handed him off to Morris who took him with a startled look. "Sol? You got any power left?"

"A little," Sol said meekly. She huddled together with her brother. "Kuro might be able to help, too."

Kuro nodded emphatically. He shot a mocking look at Don who sneered back. Both of their eyes narrowed as they took a step towards each other, held back by their respective sisters.

"He does know they're actual brother and sister, right," Morris snarked, yawning. Niles Jr. took the opportunity to put his hand in Morris's mouth, giggling. "Ack! Baby fist!" Morris gasped, pulling away with an exaggerated outraged look that had Niles Jr. gurgling even more.

"I think it's because they're brother and sister," Dawnie refuted with an exasperated look. "I'm sure Don would act the same way if he found out I had a crush." Don turned a suddenly infuriated look at her that she ignored.

"Do you have a crush?" Lucy asked. Beside her, Aarti perked up, turning gleaming green eyes Dawnie's way.

"And we're currently escaping, remember?" Dawnie said with an eye roll. She patted Sol on the shoulder. "We've just got you, your brother and Ella to worry about right now."

Sol smiled at her. Exhaustion was etched on her face. Obviously, creating the crowd illusion had taken a lot out of her. She slumped a little towards Kuro, causing him to abandon his expression war with Don. Kuro held her up, patting her back anxiously. Sol shot a triumphant look towards Lucy that morphed back into delicate exhaustion. Lucy shook her head.

"We need you two to maintain this form for a little bit longer. The overlords won't know who you are unless they were watching the entire thing, and Court took down the lab surveillance a while ago." Lucy turned to Kathryn. "Any clue how you access your powers?"

"I think the guy in the cowl knows, but he won't say," Kathryn said. She'd been a quiet observer for most of the time she'd been around.

"That means he knows your biomom," Court said. He glanced at Jebediah. "Any clues?"

"Sorry. Spent most of my time trying to figure out how to short out my collar," Jebediah said with a shake of his head. "Thankfully, Trolli found me." Trolli let out a contented squeak before producing a wrapped hard candy the size of her head.

"Any clue how she does that?" Aarti asked, watching as Trolli discarded the paper and proceeded to devour the square yellow candy.

"Not interested in finding out," Jebediah admitted. "Maybe in a few years, I'll ask." He frowned, meeting Morris's gaze.

Morris juggled the baby to a different shoulder. The two boys had a silent conversation before Morris nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Do you smell something?" Morris asked, gently cradling the baby's head.

Court glanced upwards. After a moment, his face darkened. With a muttered curse, he squatted down, his hand reaching into the backpack slung across his back. A slim, silver laptop appeared. He flipped it open, his fingers flying across the keys.

"That's not a good sign," Lucy muttered while Aarti grimly nodded.

"Which is probably why there's a horde of guards bearing down on us in a pincer maneuver?" Aarti ventured. She buffed her nails on her shoulder and examined them. "I'm willing to be this distraction you need."

"And you will not," her mother interjected. Diana loomed beside them, looking like an older, more experienced Aarti albeit with gleaming blue eyes instead of green. "Batman and I will provide this initial distraction."

"We only need a few seconds," Lucy said, darting a worried look at Aarti, catching the flash of stifled anger that flitted through her eyes. "There's no need to play superhero for long," Lucy replied, her eyes on Court. Beads of sweat were starting to show on Court's forehead. Lucy lightly frowned before smoothing it away. "Okay, listen up, people! Ella!"

"Here!" Ella said, popping up from the group. She ran up to Lucy, a stick of candy in her hand. "Have you tried this stuff? It's awesome!" Ella bit down on the stick, eliciting a crunch.

"Mental note: Ella needs more candy in her life," Aarti muttered while Lucy tried to ignore her.

"And where did you find candy sticks?" Morris asked. His brow was furrowed as he asked the question.

"There's a whole pile of them over that way," Ella said with a nod towards their left. "Is that what they're called? They're just sitting in a bowl."

"A bowl?" Aarti echoed. "Have you ever seen a bowl of colored sticks?" She asked the rest of the captured teens remaining. There weren't many since a lot had gone through the doorway with Cassidy.

The expressions of the other teens started sinking.

"Not in the entire time I have been here. They have brought food in such bowls before, though." Morris studied Ella who'd been mostly unconscious during her entire stay. "Ella, what did the bowl look like?"

"It was silvery metal and full of sticks like this one," Ella said, slowly lowering the stick in her hand. She blinked at Lucy and suddenly yawned. "I don't think I feel so good."

"Crap! Court!" Lucy screamed as she caught the collapsing Ella.

"I'm blocked. They're pumping something in the vents," Court snarled at her. He ran a hand through his hair, rumpling his curls. "Give me a minute to see what I can do."

"We fight fire with fire," Jebediah offered, his voice still hoarse and raspy. Beads of blood still pooled on the wounds on his neck. "Or rather, we could if Rena was here." He looked around.

Most of the kids who'd been captured were wearing singlets. Only a few didn't, like Morris who didn't really need clothes. Lucy's original outfit had been mostly destroyed by an acidic poison before she'd arrived, and Aarti's clothes, while trendy, still mostly mimicked an Amazon's barebones approach to clothing. Court was wearing mostly denim which was still too thick for what Jebediah had in mind. Sol frowned at him, taking a step back into Kuro's protective shadow.

"There's nothing to make masks with," Sol said with a roll of her eyes. Beside her, Kuro nodded solemnly. "We might be able to manufacture a shield of some sort."

"You're almost out of juice. Whatever you come up with won't last long," Bruce said with a frown. Dawnie inched closer to Lucy. "We need to make our own exit."

Lucy coughed. She felt a disturbing little itch at the back of her throat. She shot Aarti a sharp look. Aarti nodded and disappeared into the direction of the crowd of guards blocking the entrance.

"Gather up! We're breaking out," Lucy announced. She grabbed Court by his collar, pulling him upright despite his protests. "What are they doing while they're distracting you?"

Court scrambled to keep his laptop from tumbling to the floor. Then his jaw worked as a long series of curses ripped out of his throat. Lucy peered over his shoulder as he worked.

"That," Lucy said, pointing at a mass of red. "What does that represent?"

"Even more guards, approaching from the left," Court answered glumly. "I got distracted."

"Because they were ready for you this time." Morris busied himself arranging the remaining teens into orderly lines, easily juggling Niles Jr. on his shoulder. "Listen up! It's time to move out! Boss says!"

Lucy sighed and shook her head. Court stowed his laptop away, moving towards the line. Aarti returned, eyes scanning over the lines approvingly and then lingering on her mother's unhappy expression. They all ignored Niles' complaining about his lack of Lucy time.

"Then we're making an exit out," Lucy said, starting to walk. "Where's the wall facing outside? The right, right?"

Court exchanged a grin with Jebediah. This was going to be more fun than they thought.