Summary; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.

I apologize for such a long wait. I had a major case of writer's block on everything and then a lot of stuff going on in my private life. But I had inspiration and cranked this chapter out for you guys who've read and reviewed and let me know how much you wanted another update. So here you go! Hope you enjoy!

“Lida and Vigilante sure have been hanging out together a lot lately,” Booster Gold noticed, a remark at which Flash only grumbled at. The two sat at a cafeteria table, picking at their lunch while they rested from a recent mission.

His friend eyed the fastest man on earth for a moment before reflecting on the fact that he could be awfully slow a lot of the time.

“I even heard he’s over her house most times Manhunter contacts him,” he continued, enjoying the look on Flash’s face. “And that cat she’s in love with? Huntress started a rumor that he was behind that too.”

“So what?” Flash demanded in irritation. “It’s none of my business if Vig wants to manipulate her damn time! She’s just another member and that’s that.” He folded his arms across his chest stubbornly, jumping high into the air when he heard a snicker behind him.

“How many times have I told you not to talk about me behind my back, Booster?” Lida asked calmly, taking Flash’s vacant seat. It had been almost a month since she had received her cat and had to admit that between Vig’s visits, work, and missions she hadn’t had much time to socialize at the Tower.

“A few?” he guessed, looking over as Flash crawled into the chair next to him with a gasp. “So, what could possibly make us worthy of your presence?” he joked, grinning at her sigh.

“Seeing if anyone wanted to hit a movie. Vig is busy, and –”

“You need a replacement?” Flash interrupted her grumpily, and she looked at him in surprise.

“After that escapade with Beatriz, you were hardly my first choice,” she informed him dryly, having heard about a grandiose fight between the two after Flash had forgotten about a date. “Canary and Arrow are both on missions. So, what’s it going to be?”

"I'm busy," Booster said quickly, getting to his feet with a grin. "I probably have another mission to take care of, so I'll be seeing you later," he added, backing away as if afraid of the woman. She stared after him in amusement before turning her attention back to Flash.

"Well?"

"I'm busy too," he replied coolly, trying to regain some of his dignity. To his surprise and disappointment, she only shrugged.

"Okay. I'll find someone else to - crap," she griped, as her transmitter started to flash. "Figures," she muttered, getting to her feet to answer Manhunter's summons. "Catch you later," she called over her shoulder, waving absently before disappearing into a nearby shadow.

"Damn, I expected her to ask again," Flash sighed, obviously annoyed at how that scene had developed. A few nearby members snickered at his predicament - the towers were a great place to hear all the latest gossip.

"So, I'm going on another mission already?" Lida asked in surprise, having thought the Founder would punish her by keeping her off any missions for a while. He nodded, however, looking grim. He always looked grim, though, so that wasn't anything to go on.

"You'll be going with Batman and Wonder Woman," he informed her. Her jaw dropped open in surprise.

"Are you kidding me?" she interrupted, her voice high. "What do they need me for?"

"Your powers will be useful, if you want to listen to the actual mission," Manhunter said stiffly. She snapped her jaw shut and made a point of looking attentive. "An automated AI went rogue in a weapons-manufacturing plant in southern Costa Rica. I need you to go and disable it without damaging all the equipment there."

"And this is so dangerous…why?"

"Because this factory provides the majority of Latin America's weapons - all countries," Batman informed her, appearing from a shadowed corner and causing her to jump. "If this AI gets too out-of-control, it could quite possibly disintegrate the entire continent."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense," she managed, after taking a moment to absorb this information. "Wait, am I going to be bait or something?" she asked suspiciously.

"Not in the least. As J'onn told you, your powers of manipulating and traveling through shadows is going to be useful for this mission," Wonder Woman informed her, having been standing nearby the entire briefing.

"The AI is only defending the factory with weapons and automated machines, but it may escalate at any time," Manhunter told her. "If you can get inside and disable anything at all before Batman and Wonder Woman arrive, it will prove quite effective."

"Automated machines…you mean robots?" Lida asked in disbelief. "What is this, a bad sci-fi plot?" she demanded. It was obvious she was going, however, so she quickly backed down with a sigh. "All right, all right, I'm ready," she grumbled.

"Good," Batman said curtly, his tone suggesting she was coming whether she was ready or not.

"It's huge," Shade groaned, surveying the factory from the jet. It was composed of two large buildings resembling warehouses, connected by a skywalk. "I'm not going to know where to pop in there, it's all going to look the same," she informed them, lowering herself back to her seat.

"Then just destroy whatever's there when you get inside," Wonder Woman ordered. "We'll track your location and join you as soon as we can," she added, making it clear the younger League member had no choice in the matter.

"It could be suicide," she grumbled, but opened up a shaky portal at the back of the plane. Sending a last glare at the back of their heads, Shade dropped through to the Shadow Plane. To her dismay, the plane had only grown more unstable as time passed, making it even more difficult for her to find a portal to the warehouse.

Portals nearest her were locations nearest to her physical location, she knew that, but there were too many for such a desolate area. Frowning, she decided to just pick one and hope she didn't come across the rogue AI itself.

"Might as well," she muttered, swooping into the closest one.

"Took you long enough," Shade remarked, as the two Founders strode down the hall towards her almost thirty minutes later. "I had enough trouble getting out of the portal, with all these damn things shooting at me as soon as my head showed up," she complained, kicking one of the disabled turrets.

"You survived," Batman remarked shortly and she glared at him before catching his eye and laughing nervously. "If you're done whining, we should go find the AI," he began, but Shade shook her head.

"No can do. I scanned a few of the robots and I don’t think AI is in this building. We have to use the skywalk and we'll be sitting ducks going across," she argued, folding her arms across her chest. "And I've had enough of getting shot at for the moment."

"Are you a League member or not?" Wonder Woman demanded, and Shade glared at her.

"Yes! But I'm not some little pawn because I'm the new guy!" she informed them. "I'm not going in again without a plan. I don't feel like getting my head blown off," she grumbled. She was wilting under the combined glares of the two, but the idea of staying alive was enough to bolster her spirits.

After a long moment, Batman sighed. "All right, we'll do it Shade's way. Diana, you think you can get across the skywalk and distract them?" he asked, to Shade's surprise.

"It's narrow enough that I can deflect any shots," she agreed with a curt nod.

"All right, do that. Shade and I will go around the back way."

"There isn't a back way," Shade objected, but hesitated when Batman eyed her.

"Then we'll make one."

Several terrifying minutes later, Shade decided she absolutely hated machines more than she already did and promised herself she'd never use a toaster again. She left blasting a hole through the brick up to Batman, having enough trouble holding off the attacking machines.

"Come on!" he ordered, grabbing the back of her cloak and dragging her through the hole without warning. Gagging at the pull, she winced when he threw her to the floor and covered them both his cloak - seconds later, another explosion rocked the building as rubble filled the hold behind them.

"Cool," she managed, getting to her feet a bit shakily.

"Just pay attention," he said shortly, heading down a nearby hall. She muttered something under her breath before running after him, creating a shadow barrier to prevent anything from coming up behind them. They ran into more machines shortly, a few well-placed batarangs taking them out easily.

"The AI's down there," Diana said, meeting up with them at a crossways. "The signal's transmitting from there," she added, referring to the tracker J'onn had given them to help find the AI.

"All right. Shade, you're backup. Keep them off our back," Batman ordered, he and Wonder Woman heading down the hall towards the AI.

"Keep what off your back?" she wondered, looking around blankly. All the machines in both buildings had been destroyed - they had been thorough about that - and she couldn't hear anything. For a moment, at least. A low rumble reached her ears and she groaned.

Preparing herself, backing up against a wall, Shade gasped when a miniature tank crashed through the barrier, followed by two others. "Three stupid over-sized toasters,” she sighed to herself, thick black whips stretching out to the first tank and ripping it in half.

"That wasn't so ha-shit!" she yelped when one of the flanking machines fired what appeared to be a plasma bolt her way. Dropping into the Shadow Plane instantly to avoid the blast, she fell backwards as the entire plane shook from the dimensional impact.

"Shit," she growled, preparing to reenter and dispose of the other two tanks. Her eyes widened when the portal blocked her exit - it was as if glass had been placed in the opening. Trying another, she found that inaccessible as well. Several frenzied seconds found her panting from the effort of blasting through more portals, with no success.

"Don't tell me…is it Tartarus again?" she wondered, wishing she had told someone about the plane's shakiness earlier. If she got stuck in the Shadow Plane, she might disappear from the normal universe entirely. "Batman's going to pissed," she thought, realizing she couldn't defend the two Founders.

"We barely made it out with our skins intact!" Batman shouted at J'onn, meeting with the Founders on the matter of Shade's supposed retreat. "She left us completely undefended!"

"I can't see Lida abandoning a mission," Flash objected. "Did something happen?"

"Maybe she got blown up?" Hawkgirl suggested calmly, earning a dirty look from the fastest man on earth. "What? It was just an idea," she protested, seeing the looks the other Founders were giving her as well.

"Maybe something happened with her powers," J'onn was forced to admit. "Zantanna reported unstable activity from the magical planes recently."

"It's not Tartarus," Diana said quickly. "My sisters have that secure."

"Then what is it? Wait, are you saying she's trapped in the Shadow Plane?" Flash asked in disbelief.

"Zantanna said it was a distinct possibility," J'onn admitted, having spoken to the magician earlier. "And if that's the case, there's nothing we can do until the plane is stabilized."

"We can't just leave her there!"

"Are you suggesting we try to get in there ourselves?" Batman demanded. "No one here can access that plane. Shade was the only one with that power, unfortunately. If she had said something sooner, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"I have an idea," Flash said suddenly, bolting from the room before the others could demand an explanation.

"If he wants to go get stuck in another dimension again, let him," Hawkgirl remarked. "It's his own skin. Let's get Zantanna and the others to see if we can fix this before half the League collapses again."

"And where do ya think you're going?" Vig demanded, seeing Flash zip by him in the hallway. The speedy man hesitated before zooming back to face the cowboy and give him a shortened explanation. "And you're doing what?" Vig asked incredulously.

"Going to see Shade - the evil one," Flash amended quickly. "If anyone has a chance of accessing that plane, he and that staff of his does."

"You do realize he's evil and isn't likely to help?" the cowboy pointed, keeping pace with Flash's quick strides down the hall. "I mean, he tried to get rid of her before!"

"I plan on making him agree," he replied grimly.

"Sounds like fun. Count me in," Vig agreed, his tone making it clear argument was pointless. Flash began to say something, then sighed.

"All right, meet me at the jet," he ordered, before speeding up and zipping down the hallway in seconds.

"This sucks," Lida grumbled, sitting down after hours of trying to break free. She was settled for any portal at this point, as they had begun to disappear at an alarming rate since her entrapment. "I doubt that stupid AI had anything to do with this…was it a trick? But they wouldn't know I would be there, so it was distraction at best," she reasoned, unable to see how she could have been the target.

She could at least see through the portals, receiving some news of what was going on wherever they led. It didn't seem like any major catastrophes had struck, so she hoped it was a localized event.

"Half the League is going to be out of commission if this has anything to do with magic," she realized with another groan, head in her hands. "I'm hungry," she complained to no one in particular. Although her bodily functions slowed down as well in the plane, she guessed at least a day had passed for hunger pains to strike.

Shade snickered at the two League members, a reinforced plastic wall between the villain and visitors. The two men exchanged a glance as the laughter continued before Vig punched the wall hard enough to shake it.

"All right, all right. You want me to help you get my niece back?" he asked in disbelief, shaking his head. "Gentlemen, why on earth should I? I have no reason to."

"I'm sure we could negotiate something," Vig drawled, easing himself back into his chair. "Depending on how helpful you can be, of course."

"Of course," Shade repeated snidely, peering at them curiously. "What could you offer me?"

"Not freedom. Maybe some extra parole benefits?" Flash suggested with a grin. "Maybe some better accommodations?" he continued. The villain sat back in his own seat thoughtfully and stared off into space for a few moments.

"What would I have to do?" he asked finally.

"Get into the plane and pull her out," Flash informed him sternly. "No funny business. And if you could figure out whether this is because of Tartarus again, that'd be great."

"Not Tartarus," Shade said firmly. The two men exchanged a surprised glance and he sighed. "If it was Tartarus, there would be many more magicians in distress than my dear niece," he explained patiently. "Haven't you learned anything at all? It's more likely the plane itself has become unstable."

"Why would that happen?" Vig demanded.

Shade shrugged. "For a number of reasons. Lida has used too much of her power and it's collapsing. Or there is another outside force subjugating the plane itself. Of course, there are only a few people who could do that," he added.

"Who?" Flash pressed, but the man only shrugged.

"I honestly have no idea. A powerful magician, of course. Why someone would target her, I have no idea. But I think I may be able to help you gentlemen, for a price."

"Of course. We'll talk after you get her out," Flash said firmly.

"I can't do that in this cell, or without my staff. I need to have some more room than this," Shade informed them, gesturing around his cell in disgust. The two heroes exchanged glances before getting to their feet.

"Wait here. We'll talk," Flash ordered.

"It's not Tartarus," Zantanna said firmly, she and several other magic-wielding heroes having experimented for several hours to see if anything would happen. "None of us are experiencing backlash of any kind," she continued.

"More of us would have become incapacitated if it was related to Tartarus," Doctor Fate added, shaking his head. Blue Devil and Red Omega, as well as others, nodded in agreement.

"That figures. It can't be something simple," Wonder Woman groaned, turning to the other Founders. "If it's not Tartarus, is it possible Shade was specifically targeted?" she suggested.

"It's possible, but unlikely," J'onn said thoughtfully. "It could be that someone was trying to manipulate the plane and she was merely caught in it at the wrong time." The other Founders considered this possibility for a few seconds before one of the doors slid open.

"We have a solution!" Flash announced, dragging a chained Shade in behind him, Vigilante closely following with frown hidden underneath his hat. Shayera's eyes widened in disbelief and Batman actually opened his mouth to say something before closing it again.

"What is going on?" John finally asked, eyes flickering between the three men as if deciding who to hit first. Flash grinned widely, ignoring the glares of the other Founders. The magic-using superheroes had wisely retreated from the room, deciding curiosity would indeed kill the metaphorical cat if they stayed.

"He's going to pull Lida out of the plane," he told them bluntly. "He thinks he can open it long enough for her to jump back out. And then we go find out who did it and take 'em down," he added, as if this was par for the course. Met with only silence, he decided to continue. "I said we'd discuss terms for his help after he actually did it," he added brightly.

"At least you did something right," Shayera remarked dryly.

"Do you know how dangerous this is?" J'onn demanded. "Letting him use his powers?"

"In the middle of a watchtower, guarded by practically the whole League? I'd say it'd be suicide for him," Vig added solemnly, eyeing the other members. "If anyone can help figure out what happened, it'd be Lida herself. And with her locked away we're not gonna get anywhere, are we?" he pointed out.

"He has a point," Batman said after a long pause.

"Fine. Take him to the bridge and get the other magic-using members to meet us there," J'onn ordered Flash, sighing heavily. "And we'll see if he can do anything."

"No funny stuff, mister," Vig added warningly, grabbing Shade's arm and giving him a look that would have dazed stronger men. The villain only eyeballed him back disdainfully before following his guards out as if he had given them permission to lead.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Wonder Woman asked skeptically.

"Flash has a point. Shade would be the only other one with access to the plane that's remotely stable, compared to Zantanna and the others," Batman remarked. "We just have to keep an eye on him."

"I'll take him out if he tries anything funny," Shayera volunteered, but J'onn shook his head.

"We need to get back to normal League business. That means you all have missions to go on. I'll handle this with Flash and Vigilante," he told them firmly. It was useless to argue with that tone, and so the Founders dispersed in tense silence.