Long Past Dawn

July 4th, 12:00 EDT, en route Washington DC

"Are you nervous?" Wonderwoman asks me from the pilots' seat of her invisible jet.

"Why should I be?" I ask as I look out the window. The clouds blow past us.

After I declined leaving Themyscira with Wonder Woman the three months of training turned into three years. It was only on my sixteenth birthday, last month, that I had decided to leave.

I think back to when I left, Anastasia and Eulalia said they would miss me and told me to visit if I could. As for Lyra... Well...

'I'll train hard enough until I can join you out there so you better wait for me.' I smile as I remember her words. Lyra will never change huh?

Wonder Woman doesn't reply just changes course slightly.

"Today's the day," I reply to the silence.

For the appearance of it, I'll be meeting with the 'sidekicks' at the hall of justice.

Which in truth is just a large tourist trap compared to the Watchtower. Which I was taken to. When looking down at the Earth like that you just feel so small compared to it all. I give a wry smirk, it seems even the great expanse of space can humble a God.

Wonder woman presses the intercom on the dash when it lights up. Batman's voice comes through to us, "Four ice villains have targeted various cities."

Coincidence? I'm surprised, or is there something more to it. Organized crime maybe.

"Are you requesting back up?" Wonder Woman asks him. I can tell she's getting ready to change course depending on his answer.

"No," his reply comes through after a second, "Other league members are on it, just be ready for the debrief at the hall. Batman over."

We don't talk about it as the intercom turns off. Instead, we sit in silence.

"So who do you think will be last because of that?" I ask after a moment.

Wonder Woman laughs and puts on more speed, "It won't be us for sure."

***

July 4th, 12:00 EDT, Gotham City

Sausages sizzle on a portable barbecue as the warm summer sun warms the many people gathered in Gotham park. A little girl with black hair, wearing a very pink outfit, smiles as her dad hands her a plate full of freshly grilled food.

Abruptly from the tall rock structure is a sound of crackling like melting ice and they turn to look as people rush past them yelling and screaming. A beam of ice shoots towards a few of the slower ones, when it hits them it encases them in a thick shell of ice.

Soon the beam hits the tall rocks, creating an overhang of ice. The man and his daughter are frozen in fear. A man in a robotic suit that covers him completely and blue skin steps out onto the overhang, he's carrying a heavy-looking gun that's connected to him by a thick blue tube.

"Enjoying family time?" He monotones as he points the weapon at the shivering pair. With a blast of cold air, the two are also encased in ice. Light snow starts to fall over the park and a mist from the use of the weapon sets over the ground as frost starts to form on the grass. "My family has other plans."

He slides down on the ice to the ground and aims for a few more of the unfortunate few who are too slow.

A Batarang flies at the man and knocks the gun away before he can pull the trigger. The man turns to see where the Batarang comes from. "Batman," he says as he turns and tries to see through the snow and mist. "I was wondering when."

Sharp laughter rings from every direction in the park as the man looks for the source. As he turns to look behind him a shadow appears from above and lands heavily on his helmet.

The man is thrown back and the shadow flips in the air and lands in a squat a few feet away. He has a mask that covers his eyes, a black cape with yellow at the edges, a tight red shirt with a yellow R in a black circle over the left side of his c.h.e.s.t, black pants and shoes that hug him tightly and a yellow utility belt around his waist. In truth, he looks no more than a boy in his early teens.

In a swift movement, he takes two sharp discs from the belt and throws them at the man lying on the ground. They hit the man right as he hits the ground and leaves cracks in the glass dome over his head.

"Oh, boy wonder," The man says in distaste as he gets up. "The bat sent you to drag me off to prison? Frankly, I'm underwhelmed."

He readies the gun again, aiming for the boy but the boy only raises his arms before putting one on his hip and the other gestures to the man. "Great but I'm kinda in a hurry here," The boy says.

"Kids," The man replies as he aims, "Always in such a rush."

"Not talking to you," The boy mutters to the man and realization dawns on the man's face as he starts to turn around. Batman jumps into the sky and as the man stares up in horror, too late to react as Batman punches through the glass knocking the man out cold.

***

July 4th, 9:01 PDT, Star City

On one of the busy bay bridges as cars rush past a boy, who seems to be in his mid to late teens, jumps down from one of the bridge towers into the middle of the traffic lanes. He is completely blue and shines slightly, his features are jagged and he has pointed ears with white hair blown back. He almost seems to be made of ice as spikes of ice grow from his arms. The place where he landed is covered in ice and after a moment of cars beeping at him to get out of the way, he throws his hands up and a giant shield of ice forms behind him.

Cars hit it and are thrown in every which way with no sign of regard to the drivers inside of them. He laughs at the chaos in front of him as cars crash into cars and one unfortunate one is sent flying into the wall and hangs out over the edge.

While he's distracted by this, three green arrows shoot at him. Two of the arrows land in the ice while the third lands in the boy's ice arm.

A beeping sound comes for the arrows and after a second of confusion from the boy the arrows explode sending the boy and blocks of ice flying.

He puts a hand to his head before straightening up to see where the arrows came from. He turns to the supporting frame of the bridge where two shapes stand. The first is a man in all green with a hood covering his face and a bow drawn and ready to fire, next to him stands a boy in his late teens dressed in red with a yellow hat and belt, he, too, also has his bow drawn and ready. The boy smirks as he looks up at them, "Finally, I was wondering what a guy had to do to get a little attention around here."

A crackling sound of growing ice fills the air as his arms grow bigger as ice spreads over them, he pulls one arm back then the other as his fingers turn to sharp and deadly icicles. He then hurtles them at the two, the icicles detach and fly at the pair.

"Junoir's doing this for attention?" The boy says as he pulls the bowstring back and fires an arrow at one of the icicles coming towards them.

As the icicles fly at the pair they run to the other side of the support frame, just as they get to the edge the icicles hit and spread like fire over the support frame, freezing most if not everything they touch.

The pair run and jump down the supporting wires of the bridge and dodge the onslaught of icicles. "I'm telling you now, this little distraction better not interfere." The teen says to the man as he jumps over a growing ice formation.

With a grunt the blue boy on the ground spreads his arms out before bringing them in front of himself in a cross fashion, a large ice wall follows his movements until it turns into a protective shield as the pair gets closer.

As the man and the boy get closer to the ice shield they both shoot an arrow which hits dead center of the ice, both arrows flash for a second before exploding and making a large hole in the ice.

The blue boy is stunned for a moment before throwing another round of icicles but this time the teen is prepared and launches into the air just as the icicles touch the spot where he was just standing. He pulls the bow back mid-air and sends an arrow flying straight at the boy on the ground.

The arrow hits the boy right in the jaw and he stumbles backward before falling to the ground unconscious.

The two come down from the top of the bridge to survey the damage and the man goes over to where the boy is lying unconscious on the ground.

He laughs as he looks at him before turning to the teen as he lands next to him, "The kid had a glass jaw."

"Hilarious," The teen says sarcastically. "Can we go? Today's the day."

***

July 4th, 6:02 HST, Pearl Harbor

A large navy boat stands in the water, no sign of crew on deck and much of it covered in ice along with some mini icebergs floating in the water nearby.

A woman stands on the deck, with short, dark blue hair, blue lips and pale, almost blue, skin. She has a short white cape on and a skin-tight blue suit on with an icicle shaped gap down the middle. She also has dark blue gloves on.

She throws ice beams at the other side of the ship and a man jumps down from his perch just as the ice lands. He has blond hair and a beard. He wears a tight orange shirt covers and a pair of gold cuffs over his wrists, along with black leggings that fade to dark green that also have what looks like a shark fin on his lower calf and a gold belt around his waist.

He dodges ice beams left and right as he tries to get closer to the woman throwing them but just as he lands on deck one hits him and freezes his legs and torso in ice. A frown crosses his face as he tries to move but can't.

Then from behind him comes another figure that charges towards the woman in his place. The new figure is a boy who looks to be about sixteen, he has tan skin and close-cut blond hair. He has a red tank top and black spirals that go down his arms and detail the shirt and the same black leggings with the fins on the back but this time they don't fade to black. He also wears a black belt with a golden symbol like an omega on it.

He lunges over the man covered in ice and runs on forward towards the woman. After a moment the man breaks free of the ice and follows the boy on towards the woman. "Don't tell me you're not excited," He says to the boy.

"Right now my king," He replies, "I'm more focused on the matter at hand."

As they talk and run another ice beam comes at them but both of them dodge it.

The boy jumps into the air and reaches behind to grab two handles that he brings out in front of him and as if by an unspoken command water rushes from the handles and forms into two spheres with sharp spikes coming from them. He swings them back then around and lands just as the woman freezes the two weapons, but he brings them down closer to the ground before raising them up abruptly, uppercutting the woman and sending her flying back to then hit the ground unconscious.

He looks at the woman as he slides the handles back into there holders on his back, the other man comes up to him and crosses his arms. "Well?" He says in his deep voice.

He looks at the older man, "Yes, I'm excited," He says with a slight smile, "Today's the day."

***

July 4th, 11:03CDT, Central City

A building wall is exploded showing the inside of a vault and ice covers the edges of the now gap to the outside. A man in a thick, blue coat with white trim and matching pants holds something that looks like a gun in one hand and in the other a grey briefcase.

Two people run in circles around him, they run so fast they're nothing more than a flash of colors. One of them looks to be in his late twenties and is dressed mostly in red, with yellow zigzags running along the seam lines, he has a yellow lightning-bolt symbol on his c.h.e.s.t which is surrounded by a yellow circle. The other is a boy in his mid-teens with messy, red hair, he has a similar outfit to the man but with the top half being yellow and matching yellow boots and red goggles to cover his eyes.

The man in the center tries to shoot at the two, ice coming out of the gun instead of bullets, but they move way too fast for him to try to keep up.

"Stealing ice? Seriously, isn't that a bit cliché even for Captian Cold?" The man in all red says as he continues to run.

The man tries to shoot at the two again, and yet again, missing. "Come on," The younger of the two complains as he drags the word 'on' out for too long. "We don't have time for this!"

The one in yellow comes in from behind towards the man in the center, who notices him coming and aims right for him making the teen turn to the side as it just misses him, but a patch of frost still growing on his shoulder. He grabs the gun from him as he runs past at which the man growls at him and clenches a fist but suddenly the man in red comes and knocks him out cold.

"Calm down kid," He says to the teen as he watches to make sure the blue guy is out cold.

"Oh please!" he replies, again dragging out 'please' way too long. "You'll chat it up with the cops, bystanders, with Cold even! No, no way!" He says exasperatedly but it then turns to excitement, "Today's the day!"

***

July 4th, 14:00 EDT, Washington DC

The Washington Monument, the Lincon Memorial, the Capitol building and the Hall of Justice, all a sight for sore eyes.

The half glass dome with its concrete accents snaking around it stands tall and firm with 'Hall of Justice' in all capitals around the front of it. How this was made so fast while I was gone is still a mystery.

We stand on the opposite side of the Reflecting Pool from it, somehow not as many tourists are over here, though how they have yet to notice us and come flocking is the second mystery.

Batman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow all stand ready with their 'sidekicks' standing next to them, as I somehow expected of him, Flash is late.

Green Arrow's sidekick, Speedy I think, keeps glaring at me while the other two take no notice of me. I guess they weren't told I was coming along.

We stand in silence for a while, just looking at the building opposite. After a moment Batman lifts a hand to Robin's shoulder, "Today's the day."

"Welcome to the hall of Justice," Green Arrow says to us.

"Headquarters of the Justice League," Aquaman finishes and I wonder if they practiced or if they just are this somber.

I look over at Wonder Woman, I've grown while I was away and am now almost as tall as her, she just nods slightly, "You've all worked hard."

"Aw man!" A voice calls from behind us and we all turn, I expect it to be a tourist. But instead, we're greeted by the very late arrival of Kid Flash and the Flash, it seems the voice was from Kid Flash, "I knew we'd be the last ones here!"

He crosses his arms and looks up at the Flash but then seems to notice me. His eyes widen slightly but then he grins, "Hey, who's the chick." He looks closer at me, "Ah I get it, no wonder the sky is so gray today, the blue is all in you're eyes."

I grit my teeth and somehow I immediately know I don't like him, who the f.u.c.k does he think that is. I clench my fist tightly as the feeling of wanting to punches attractively crosses my mind.

Speedy seems to take this as an invitation to express his opinion on me being here, "Exactly! Who even is she and why is she here?!" He growls as he gestures an arm out to me.

Batman opens his mouth as he seems to try to think of a way to introduce me without giving away my identity, not that any of them would know me anyway. "This is-"

I cut him off, lately, I've been thinking that I'll have to use a name that's not my own so... "You can call me Scarlet Angel." As I finish I let my wings out which is met by some shock from the 'sidekicks' and a sigh from Batman.

Kid Flash speeds up over to me and tries to lean on me, "Woah I must be dead cause I'm seeing an angel."

Ok that's it, I think to myself as I raise my fist and punch him straight in the face. A few more shocked faces as Kid Flash goes flying, Robin snorts in laughter while Wonder Woman shakes her head and sighs.

Timeskip to after Wonder Woman tells Kid Flash off and not me, the black eye that's starting to form suits him.

We walk over to the Hall of Justice with more tourists starting to stare at us by the second, the attention makes me uncomfortable as you never know who's there, for all I know someone from Cadmus could be here. I stiffen as the thought comes to mind but push it from my mind as we get closer to the building, they can't hurt me now.

Mutters and camera flashes follow us as people fan over them, but my ears only seem to pick out the whispers about me.

"Who is she?"

"How does she know them?"

"Tch some rookie hanging out with the league."

"I've never seen her before, what's she doing with them?"

They only get worse and worse as I try harder to ignore them. "Ready to see the inner sanctum?" Green Arrow asks us as if he can tell I don't feel comfortable, I thank him for the distraction.

"Born that way," Speedy says as he straightens up as if the photos and comments only boost him higher.

"I'm glad we're all here," Aqualad says diplomatically as he looks towards the building.

"Have all four of us ever been in the same place at the same time before?!" Kid Flash says and a small part of me is hurt that I'm not part of the group, not that I would be since I'm not a sidekick to any of the Leauge members. "First time at the hall, I'm a little overwhelmed."

"You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed," Robin sighs as he walks, "Why isn't anyone just ever whelmed?"

As the words leave his mouth we enter the building, tall statues that rival the height of the ones on Themyscira, but these are not of the Gods, these are of the original Leauge members with one for each standing tall and imposing as we enter.

"Oh..." He says a little taken aback himself, "Maybe that's why."

The elevator doors open and Martian Manhunter stands there with someone next to him who I've never met but recognize from news stories as Red Tornado.

Martian Manhunter steps out and towards us as more cameras snap pictures. "Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy, Aqualad, welcome." He says as he turns, again the fact that I am not recognized feels as if it's pushing me further and further from the group, I remember how I used to want friends close to my age, and that's what I did have back on Themyscira but now that I'm back I'm a fish out of water and these guys don't seem to let me in.

We walk towards the elevator, Robin and Kid Flash fist bump while I keep my eyes straight ahead. We walk into the elevator as he explains, "You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley and of course," He says as we step out of the elevator and into a large room with a few chairs and coffee tables scattered around, it's a huge library, "Our library."

"Make yourselves at home," Flash says as he gestures to the room, and Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad all take him up on it and grab the three chairs near us, Speedy and I stay standing.

The Leauge members head over to the computer where they talk, "Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day," Batman says before he turns to us and a small part of me hopes that I'll be able to come and help, but that's not what he says, "We shouldn't be long."

They turn to the large metal doors near them a scanner appears from the ceiling as Batman turns towards it, a light comes from it as it scans him up and down then the other members.

"Recognized," The robotic voice says, "Batman, 0-2; Wonder Woman, 0-3; Aquaman, 0-6; Flash, 0-4; Green Arrow, 0-8; Martian Manhunter, 0-7; Red Tornado, 1-6."

The doors open and they're about to leave when Speedy steps up behind them, "That's it?" He asks and there's a hint of outrage in his tone, "You promised us a real look inside not a glorified backstage pass," He says crossing his arms, "And who is this girl anyway?!"

The last part is aimed at me, he must really not like me, not that he was hiding it or anything. "It's a first step," Aquaman says, "You've been granted access few others get."

"Oh really?" Speedy asks as he points to a large window looking down at us with tourists on the other side of it, "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?!"

"Roy," Green Arrow says as he steps up to him, "You just need to be patient."

"What I need," He glares, "Is respect." He then turns to us, well not me but the other 'sidekicks', "They're treating us like kids! Worse, like 'sidekicks', we deserve better than this. Not only that but some random gets to come along too, what has she ever done."

Ouch. Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad all look at each other, with even a glance at me before back at Speedy. "You're kidding right?" He says slightly as he looks at their disinterest, somehow I feel like he isn't safe, "You're playing their game?! Why?! Because you think they play fair? Today was supposed to be the day! Step one in becoming full-fledged members of the Leauge!"

"I mean, sure I guess," Kid Flash says with a slight shrug and a confused look, "But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ."

"Except the hall isn't the leagues real HQ!" Speedy spits and I look at Green Arrow in shock as do the other members, he told him, didn't he? The others also look at him in shock and I stiffen up, "I bet they never told you, it's just a false front for tourists! And a pit stop for catching zetabeam teleporter tubes to the real thing, an orbiting satellite called the WatchTower."

Batman and Flash look at Green Arrow, "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make another exception." He says somewhat helplessly and I know that by another he means me. But when he sees their faces and how Batman crosses his arms his helpless smile disappears, "Or not."

"You're not helping your cause here, son," Aquaman says as he steps forwards towards Speedy. "Stand down or-"

Speedy cuts him off, "Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son! I'm not even his! I thought I was his partner, but not anymore."

He throws his hat to the ground and everyone stands in shock, he turns and walks slightly towards us, "Guess they're right about you three." He says as he stalks past and towards the door and the other 'sidekicks' stand from their seats, "You're not ready, especially if you're ok with her being here."

The elevator doors open and close behind him and then he's gone while we're all left in shock and wonder.

But we're not left in silence for long as the huge computer system in the library goes off flashing and we all turn to it as Superman's face is projected onto it, "Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

My eyes widen as the alarm goes off and I stiffen. Cadmus, it seems like that wasn't the last time I would be hearing from it.