A/N: Crap I started a new story :( to any of my readers from Reflection, I'm sorry. It's almost the end of the trimester and school so I got caught up doing homework and then this popped into my head. It wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it…then typed it. For those of you who haven't read my other YJ fanfiction, I do have another one called Reflection. Look it up if so you want to. Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy this story!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Young Justice. I promise. I only own Amira, Jake, and Mark.

Her brother was dying.

The news sent panic through her as she sat by his hospital bed, clutching onto his pale, cold hand. They had told her that whatever he had wasn't a known sickness. They had never seen or heard of anything like it. There was no cure. No way to save him. All they could do was either let him go, or put him on life-support and hope a cure could be found before he died. Now, he was laying there with various machines hooked up to him to keep him alive. His skin was so pale and cool to touch that she would have thought him dead if not for the heart monitor showing his heartbeat. Footsteps alerted her to the fact that her other brother or the doctor had returned.

"I'm assuming they told you?" it was her other older brother.

"Yeah," she replied softly.

"You know, I'll do everything I can to save him. It would be weird to tell people I'm a twin without him around." he joked.

"That would be weird." she gave him a small smile. "If I can do anything to help…"

"If there was, it would have to be a way that we could still keep you hidden. We've kept you out of sight for this long to keep you safe and away from them." he reminded her in a rare moment of seriousness.

"But if they can help him…" she started to protest.

"Then he would rather die. You may not remember much of what they did, but we do. We swore to do whatever it takes to protect you, Amira, and we both they that asking for their help comes with a price we won't want to pay." he stood up. "I need to go contact some people. Since Mark can't run the business now, I'll have to temporarily take over."

Amira watched as he left, grey eyes narrowed at his back. They were too overprotective. Sure, what had happened to her in the past was bad, but she would do anything to save either of her brothers, just like they would do anything for her safety. Even if she had to go to those people for help. There was no limit to what she would do to keep her brothers safe and happy. After all, they were the only family she had left. Everyone else was gone, killed in accidents, murdered, or because of a sickness. Only her great grandmother had died of old age. Her grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and parents didn't make it past 45, an age Amira hoped her brothers would live past. None of them planned on dying young.

But, wasn't that what was happening right now? Mark's only twenty-two and he's dying. She couldn't do anything to save him either. Of all the things to be killing him, it had to be something she couldn't stop. She could only watch him wither away. Footsteps entered the room and she spoke without turning around.

"Back already, Jake? I thought the phone calls would take longer."

"I'm guessing he is still on the phone then." A deep voice answered and Amira froze in recognition.

Bruce Wayne was standing behind her. Amira held her breath as she turned to see his kind, smiling face. He was tall, she thought numbly as she stared wide-eyed. Beside him stood Richard Grayson and she turned red. This was embarrassing.

"S-sorry! I thought you were Jake." she squeaked.

"It's okay. Are you a friend of Mr. Winters?" Mr. Wayne asked.

"Yeah, we've been friends since we were kids. Our families knew each other." She lied easily.

"Sorry about your friend. This isn't a very aster situation he's in." Richard said.

Amira blinked, "Aster?"

Richard nodded and Bruce gave him a reprimanding look. Amira wondered if he did that often, and what his English teacher felt about it. She knows there e is a flower called Aster, but she had a feeling that wasn't what he meant. And she didn't think aster was a word. At least, not a real one. Jake came in right at that moment looking very annoyed.

"People are so frustrating to deal with." he groaned.

"Um, Jake, Mr. Wayne is here." She pointed out to her oblivious brother.

Jake stopped, "Oh, Mr. Wayne! Sorry, I didn't know you were here." he stepped forward to shake Mr. Wayne's hand.

"Please, call me Bruce."

Amira looked down at her bare arm, "Would you look at the time? I need to be getting home. By Jake. It was nice meeting you Mr. Wayne, Mr. Grayson." she left the room quickly.

Bruce Wayne's voice drifted after her, asking Jake who she was. Blood rushed to her face again as she realized she hadn't introduced herself. That was so rude of me, she thought ashamedly. Ark would have scolded hr. He was always talking about being courteous and well-mannered to others and showing them the same respect she would want them to show her. That was mostly why others liked him so much and why is was him and not Jake in charge of their business. While Jake could be serious sometimes, he usually joked with people or lazed around the house. He could never stay serious for very long, whereas Mark might as well be the picture shown if you type in the word serious into the Google search bar. Very little did he fool around. Mostly, he had a serious expression and was very professional. At home he loosened up a little bit, but not much.

Amira teared up at the thought of Mark. His sickness hadn't been so bad at first. Just a few coughs and a runny nose, until it got worse. Gradually, his coughing got worse, he got weaker, his breathing became labored and suddenly, he had started coughing up blood. His eyes became bloodshot, his appetite grew smaller and smaller before he just started throwing up what little he ate. He couldn't sleep. He kept feeling pain, and one day he just passed out. That day had been a week ago. He hadn't woken up since. And to think, he had only gotten sick five months ago.

A hand reached up to clutch her shirt over her heart. The pain there didn't lessen, even as she held tighter to her shirt. She knew she wasn't the only one suffering because of this. Jake had started to look strained as he ran the business he hadn't wanted to be in charge of. Bags have even started to appear under his eyes. Amira did what she could to help by making food and forcing him to eat, but that was all she could for him. Hopefully she could find other things to help Jake.

After walking out of the hospital, she moved into an empty alleyway and made sure no one would see her. An image of her room formed inside her head as she closed her eyes. She could feel her energy drain a little as she teleported and her eyes opened to see the familiar light blue of her bedroom walls in front of her. Nothing about her room had changed. Everything looked the way it had been when she'd left and the normality seemed to mock her. Her life was falling apart at the seams and this room hadn't changed. Anger rose and she grabbed the lava lamp off of her desk to throw it against the wall.

-Line Break-

Jake opened the door, eyes glazed as he closed the door and stumbled into the living room. He fell onto the couch, all energy gone. How did his brother do this? There was so much to be done and piles of paperwork he had to sign. Then, he'd had to meet Mr. Wayne and talk about their partnership. It had been pitch black outside by the time he had driven home. Which added more stress because he knew how dangerous Gotham could be at night. Sure, Batman and his sidekick patrolled the city, but they can't be everywhere at once. Meaning, he had to be very careful. Luckily, nothing bad had happened.

"Jake, is that you?" Amira's voice drifted down the stairs.

"No, in a burglar." he called back sarcastically. "Of course it's me."

Amira came down the stairs with a metal bat held loosely in her right hand. Her eyes showed how vulnerable she was feeling. A pang went through Jake as he observed her. Her lips were turned down in a small frown and her shoulders were slumped. Their brother's condition had hit her hard. She was used to having them both around and Jake had to remind himself that even if she was sixteen, she needed them both to look after and protect her. While she was smart, her emotions always got the better of her and she sometimes acted younger than her age. There were moments when you would swear she's older than sixteen and others when you thought she was six. Right now, she was acting younger and needed someone to tell her everything would be alright. Even if it was a lie.

"Hey, come here." Amira shuffled a few steps closer and he sighed before holding his arms out. "You wanna hug?"

She dropped the bat and practically tackled him, holding on tightly to him and burying her face in his shoulder. He slowly ran a hand soothingly through her medium length, dark red hair. Tears soaked his shirt as her shoulders shook with each sob. Nonsense fell quietly from his lips as he tried to comfort her, tears falling from his own dark brown eyes. Somehow, they would have to get through this. The thought that Mark might not make it was unwelcome, but had to be accepted. Neither could live in denial forever. At some point they would have to face whatever the future planned to throw their way and it would not be easy. No, it will be very heartbreaking. He held his little sister closer, trying to banish the unhappy thoughts. Mark hadn't died yet. His heart is still beating and for now, that is enough.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, making them both jump, "Amira, go upstairs. I don't know who is here." he told her urgently. "I'll keep the bat, but you need to go hide and don't argue." they both got up from the couch.

Amira hesitated then quietly ran up the stairs. He waited a few seconds then grabbed the bat and walked towards the door. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he unlocked the door and opened it a crack to peep out. Confused, he opened it all the way. There was no one there. Holding the bat tighter, he looked around for a sign of anyone, only to be met with an empty yard. He nearly chuckled in relief before looking down and seeing a white envelope. His expression grew serious for the second time that day the moment he saw the word on the front.

Phoenix.

Jake cursed and slammed the door shut. That was one letter he would never leave. Not if it was from them. The people he would hate for the rest of his life. Cruel, selfish people that he knew would only bring sadness. Why they were sending a letter was beyond him, but he refused to read it. Especially if it had anything to do with his sister. Those heartless scientists could go burn for all he cared. But, they didn't know Amira lived here, so why send a letter to someone they knew hated their guts.

Reluctantly, he opened the door again and picked up the letter. Silently closing the door, he felt tempted to burn the cursed paper. Something he decided he wouldn't do. At least, not until he read it. Then he could watch it turn to ash. Carefully, he opened the envelope to take out the paper, wincing as he unfolded it. Reassured that it had not blown up, he scanned the letter. It dropped from his suddenly limp hands. His eyes reflected his disbelief. They knew Amira was here.

And they could save Mark if he and Amira did a few favors for them.

A/N: Hope you all liked this! Don't forget to review! See ya.