Chapter Text
"Load’a good she did. Suppose we lived nearby!"
The Green Arrow had led all the New Mutants to some beautiful hotel the Oracle had booked out for them. True to her word, every kid got their own rooms.
Even Ollie, apparently. None of them were rather thrilled about that development. Berto, in particular, was vocal about how they didn’t need a babysitter. Rahne thought he was nice enough, if a bit airheaded, but she didn’t know if they really trusted him enough to let him anywhere near her, nor her friends.
"They call her the Oracle though, Sam. That Green Arrow… he called her all-knowing…” Rahne interjected. “Ye S'pose she might be?"
She, along with the rest of the New Mutants, were in Sam's room. Amara and her were sitting on the bed together, while Sam took the chair in the corner, and poor Roberto near paced a hole in the floor.
"Then way I see it, Rahne. She'd know where Dani was! She can't not know where she is and be all knowing!" Sam said, standing up and running his hands through his hair in frustration. "And now they've taken Yana off too!"
Rahen sighed and looked to the floor. It was true.
Ollie had said they could visit Illyana the moment the doctors had taken care of her, no matter the time. But none of them knew where she was. Suppose they wanted to do something to her. Suppose they were doing something now?
Oh Lord, forgive me. How cruelly she'd thought of Yana earlier. Suppose that was the last time she saw her? Perhaps Reverend Craig was right about me being nothing more than a monster… Rahne looked down at her hands, a wad of guilt clogging her throat.
"Well what do we do about it, Sam? They're bound to figure out we're mutants now with ‘Yana under their microscopes." Roberto spat, punching a pillow. "I don't suppose we'll be much loved shortly."
Everyone was quiet after that. Rahne felt a familiar burn behind her eyes. If Dani was here... She'd know what to do.
But Dani wasn't. And Rahne was too frightened to face reality, to shift and see where her dearest friend was. If she was even near them.
Or… no, she couldn’t say it. Didn’t even want to think it. Dani was alive. She must be.
"Who’re these folks anyway?" Sam continued, "I'd thought we'd heard of all the teams. But… the Justice Society of America? Green Arrow? Who’re these people?"
"What if we're in a different time… or even realm, Sam?" Amara put in, Rahne feeling the Nova Romani pull her in for a hug, giving in to the pull and leaning into her friend. The young Scot "It seems pretty likely. Like those,” She paused, brows pinched. “sci-fi movies you all showed me. What if we're in one of them?"
"Some plot this is, then." Roberto huffed, hands flying as he spoke, "Here's Robin Hood in California helping a bunch of random kids, guess starring the Prof as a hot chick, huh?"
"Do we know she's psychic?" Sam asked, rubbing his chin. Rahne could practically see him running all the information through his head.
"She claimed to be a seer..." Rahne said, her mind on Dani once again. She knew their friend was the elephant in the room. But they were figuring out what they knew first, as a team. Then they would figure out what they didn't know.
Och, Dani would have a field day with this. Rahne thought, pressing a hand to suddenly-burning cheeks. The one time we’re not bickering tah high heaven and she’s not even here to see it!
Rahne knew she could find out now. Right now. She could find the absolute truth. All it would take would be one use of her powers and she could find Dani, know where she was, know if she was okay.
Or… know if she was even alive.
Rahne felt tears, hot and wet, begin to run down her cheeks. What if she wasn’t? What then? Should she morph? Or should she keep the glimmer of hope? Everyone else was in that street together. Why wasn't Dani?
Amara began drying Rahne's tears, pulling the kid in for a hug again. And once again Rahne didn’t argue with the princess. "I don't think she is a proper one of the Lord Apollo. What Oracle is she? Delphi? I think not."
"Suppose it's a new-fangled Oracle, Amara?" Roberto said, now leaning against the wall next to Sam. He seemed the picture of confidence, if not for the way he fidgeted with the neckline of his suit.
"My gods have not been active like that in many eras, ‘Berto..." A whist of longing in Amara's voice.
"And our world has no —" Roberto was cut off by a knock on the door. It would be funny, the way that all their chatter suddenly ground to a halt, if not for how terribly awful this situation was.
"I can hear you all chatting away in there! I'm not here for curfew call or any of that silly jazz Oracle wanted." A jovial voice called through the door, same as it had been back when he had knelt down to Rahne's eye level hours ago. "Your blonde friend's doing okay. I got the signal to take you to her. If you want of course. Kinda assuming you're worried though."
Rahne knew the voice already, it was Ollie. A faint relief in the matter; they were being allowed to see her again. Rahne's heart leaped, at least Yana was safe, and Ollie was happy. If they had figured out the bunch were mutants, he at least seemed to not care.
Sam looked around, expression determined. "Ah don't think we need to say we're all in agreement, right? We're going with him?"
Rahne nodded with the rest, an extra vigor added at the chance to apologize for her sinful thoughts. Lord, thank you.
"Great!” Ollie cheered, “Let's go then!"
•••••
Rahne had been impressed the first time she came to the "Hall of Justice".
She had been a wee bit confused too. Always she'd been told that the Fantastic Four were the first superhero team, not this “Justice Society.”
The building itself was a monument. A fountain in the courtyard, with two large pillars supporting a glinting glass semi-circle shaped design in the front... It had to have been at least five stories tall.
It was still impressive, but the anxiety over their friend tempered any remaining awe. Now instead of taking in all the new sights, the New Mutants had set their sights for Illyana.
Ollie led them in a small side door, then down a flight of stairs, around a few bends, and through some scanners.
By the end, they exited into some sort of medical bay. It was a blindingly bright space, every surface scrubbed white.
Tis truly, one of those medical places. And hostile ta any living thing inside. Rahne thought, wrinkling her nose. She hated it.
There was a girl with black-lensed goggles on. ark enough Rahne wondered how the poor lady could even see out of them. But she seemed to have no issues working with them on, monitoring and checking complex-looking machines as she went. Though, Rahne had to admit, even if she was having trouble, she probably wouldn’t be able to tell.
In the bed beside the lady lay a conscious Illyana, smiling at her friends, black rings under her eyes. Thank you for sparing her, Lord. Rahne thought, relieved.
She knelt next to Illyana’s bed, threading her fingers together and bowing her head. Illyana looked at her funny, but Rahne didn’t much care. She was just glad her sinful thoughts hadn’t come true.
"You look exhausted, ‘Yana." Sam said, leading the other four Mutants over.
"You're kidding?" Illyans joked,Russian accent spilling over her words, attempting to sit up before the goggles lady stopped her. Illyana rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah... Meet Dr. Sleepytime here."
"Dr. Midnight." The woman corrected dryly.
Illyana yawned. "Yeah. That." She rubbed her eyes. "Thank fuck all of you are okay..." She trailed off, brows beginning to furrow. “Where’s Dani?”
The New Mutants all shifted, looking between each other guiltily. Illyanaand Dani were friends. Good friends. Rahne had heard Sam say something about them being more than that one night, when he was joking with Berto. Rahne didn't really know what they'd meant, but she knew Illyana was almost as close to Dani as she herself was.
Illyana wasn’t well, that was clear. She was still deathly-pale, and her arms shook when she lifted them. But she was nearly as headstrong as Dani… She would try to go find her. And likely get even more hurt in the process.
Sam spoke first, seemingly having figured out what to say. "Dani's uh... We aren't sure." His fingers were running over calluses on his hands. Rahne could see he wasn't looking directly at Illyana.
But Rahne could also see Illyana instantly react, trying to climb out of her cot, only for Dr. Midnight to pull her back down, "You need to rest! We have our finest searching for your friend. You can help once you’re well, but right now you need to recover."
"The fuck do you mean Dani's missing and we aren't on the streets? What happened to ‘we look out for each other’ huh?" Illyana barked at Sam, eyes blazing. Sam stood still in the face of her fury, hands outstretched and palms facing her in a placating motion.
"Yana. Please. We don't know what happened, they have their people searching... We don't even know where we are, really."
"What do you mean? You're in Star City, kiddo." Ollie interrupted, his eyebrows scrunched as he studied them. "It's like... pretty well-known... Where're you lot from?"
"New York, sir." Rahne replied, after a nervous glance to Amara. "Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters."
Ollie's eyes narrowed as he pulled his phone out and fired off a text. "We were going to ask you all some questions once you lot recovered but... I think this tells us most of what we need, doesn't it, Midnight?"
Rahne didn't watch for the woman's response, instead keeping her gaze transfixed on Ollie. "What do you mean, sir?" She asked, head quirked to the side.
"I'm gonna talk about it with some peeps first I–" Ollie paused, looking at his phone, mumbling as he read, presumably to himself " — don't use modern slang..." He grumbled, putting the phone back in his pocket. "I want to confirm some things with people much smarter than me. Then we'll chat later."
"Can Illyana come back to the Hotel with us, Mr. Ollie?" Rahne pleaded, clutching her hands together as she spoke.
"That's up to the good doctor, not me, Rahne. What are you thinking, Doc?"
Dr. Midnight adjusted her goggles, flipping through print outs and looking at the screens around her. She shook her head. "I want to keep her till tomorrow. Make sure she's doing okay, she really overexerted herself before you came here, and that fall didn’t help. But, you're all welcome to stay overnight. It won't be comfy but... It's an option."
Rahne looked at the rest of the crew. They were in agreement. The floor would be bed enough for them tonight.
"We'll stay, Doctor." Sam answered for the group.
"Very well.” She adjusted her goggles, turning towards Ollie. Oliver, could you bring them some sleeping bags?"
•••••
Later, the kids were all bundled up into the sleeping bags. Rahne lay between Illyana and Sam, a small comfort. Guilt and nervousness tumbled in her gut in equal measure.
Rahne sighed quietly, nestling into the fabric.
It wasn't late, she knew that from the clock that ticked incessantly on the wall — Dani tended to stay up a bit past Rahne. Maybe, just maybe, she'd try to shift.
She felt the prickling under her skin begin as she morphed more and more, until Rahne Sinclair was no longer was a small girl, but a wolf, oddly tangled in a place where it didn’t belong.
Rahne laid there, closing her eyes and taking in all she could not as a human. New scents, smells, sounds... All so wonderfully overwhelming.
But none of them Dani's.
She waited a minute before morphing back with a sigh. Hopefully, she was had fallen asleep early like Illyana did.
Rahne wasn't sure what she would do if that silence meant anything else.