Disclaimer: I don't own young justice. I only own Alex Matthews A.K.A. Mia Sanders.

BOOK TWO: Queen Of Loners

"As far as I'm concerned, the world is in white and black – good and bad. But when the good deserts you, where else is there to turn?"

Mia POV:

My head bounces against the brick wall in the alleyway and I breath heavily past my split, swollen lip. I fall onto the floor in exhaustion, squinting through the black eye beneath my red mask. Cheshire and the Terror Twins stand above me. I've been with them for five months now, or more accurately, they've been beating me up for five months.

There's no such thing as 'trust' or 'hope' here; those good feelings are like fairy tales, something you're aware of but never actually experience. In my months of living here I've seen so many people come and go. No big deal right? Wrong. The ones who come are subjected to torture beyond belief: not for any higher purpose, or in any attempt to weed out spies. No… It's done for fun. Pure animalistic fun. The guys on top enjoy having new toys.

I was once a toy.

The ones who try to leave are free to do so… If they can still walk after the customary beat down. There was once a feline villain: her name was Black Kat and she was just starting out. The poor fool announced that she was leaving - Of course then came the beat down. She was a tough one; She could still walk by the end of it. Unfortunately, she didn't walk very far. Her lungs collapsed. Needless to say she died.

If I leave, I wont be that stupid; I wont tell a single soul.

This right here? It isn't even a group – Just a medley of damaged individuals all looking out for number one… In some ways, I feel right at home.

Cheshire stomps on my head, pressing her boot against my short black hair and I shout out, feeling the scar on my right cheek graze against the alleyway pavement. Right now I'm getting beaten up because I took the job that Joker offered to deliver some illegal technology. And so did Cheshire, but she doesn't want to share the money. The Terror Twins only joined in because they were bored. I struggle and squirm beneath her foot as the pressure increases, she's not going to stop, none of them are. They don't care if they kill me. I breathe hard and bend my body upwards, hooking my legs around her torso and swinging backwards to pin her to the floor. I take out my knives, pointing them towards the Terror Twins. "I've got two knives and two idiots. Now see if you can guess what'll happen next." I growl, still pinning Cheshire to the floor.

The Terror twins grin and charge. I quickly push off of Cheshire and stand my ground. In this community it doesn't matter whether your fatally injured or outnumbered, you never run. The criminals take it on themselves to hunt down the cowards. Running from a superhero, or the police, is a different story; but if you run from one of your own, you're signing an assassins pay check.

They barrel into me; shoving me against the wall. I grunt as my jaw slams shut, and my lungs loose all the air. Their hold is so strong that I can't get a knife free from my holster. I bare my teeth and spit into their eyes, this new life has changed me. I fight dirty because there is no room for honour, those who fight with a moral compass die like animals. The terror twins rear away from me, and I quickly slash at their eyes, following through with a series of sharp stabs to their necks. They remain motionless for few seconds, then collapse, permanently paralysed. I wipe away some of the blood dripping out the side of my mouth, and turn around to glance at Cheshire.

She shakes her head. "They were amateurs anyway." She walks closer to me and I go on the defensive, ready to put her down, but she passes me and walks towards the twins. She bends down and snaps their necks.

I look away. This has happened many times before - its nothing new. It shouldn't really bother me.

But it does.

Cheshire looks up. "Now let's continue our...discussion."

She lunges at me with a feline grace, and I flip out of the way, dodging each of her deadly strikes with an air of cautiousness. Cheshire doesn't mess about; she's a force to be reckoned with. She kicks me in the mouth and I grunt as my head snaps backwards, If this keeps up I'm pretty sure I'll loose a tooth. I run at her, anger flushing my cheeks red, I slash my knives in a frenzied attack, catching her across the cheek and stomach. "You don't have a heart." I spit.

Her eyes widen as I embed my knife into her upper arm. "Maybe not, but by the end of this fight I will have a body."

I remain silent, allowing her threat to hang in the air. I need to end this quickly, before she starts to get the upper hand. I flip over, quickly grabbing her hand from behind, and throwing her onto the ground. I lift my fist, pounding it against her face until she loses consciousness. Removing my knife from her arm I re-sheath it, looking around for any more threats.

I close my eyes tightly and stomp down the alley, making a silent resolution to avoid anymore of the Jokers 'jobs'; anytime I accept them, there's always someone ready to kick my teeth in. I hold the tiny square package in my hand, and look around before sneaking into an empty house on Gotham Corner. Its weird how my journey has led me all the way back to Gotham City. Where Robin is. If I believed in destiny, maybe I'd be thinking we were meant to be. But I don't. So that's that.

I walk around, closing the curtains before I turn on the light. I've been squatting here for a few weeks now, and the owners are nowhere to be found. I remove my red mask, placing an ice pack on my black eye. When the swelling reduces and there's only a light bruise remaining I put my mask back on to cover it and disinfect my split lip. Dragging my feet to the coffee table I once again pick up the Jokers package, heading towards my unknown recipient. Really, If someone had told me six months ago that I'd be the Jokers lapdog I would have pissed myself laughing.

Funny how things work out.

I arrive at a warehouse to deliver the package. Why is it always a warehouse with these guys anyway? Glancing around for any looming threats I find Cheshire with her own half of the package. She narrows her eyes at me but says nothing. I inch backwards, leaning against a wall, I wont put it past her to stab me in the back. I scan the room for the mystery man; he's supposed to collect his package now. Suddenly a loud explosion blasts through the building, opening up the ceiling to allow six teenagers to enter.

I roll my eyes in annoyance – They always did know how to make an entrance.

I scan the room one more time and when I fail to see a mystery man all the pieces come together. The unknown recipient knew there was going to be trouble. He's here somewhere, but in the background, hiding out like a coward. I frown. Fine by me if that's how he wants to play it; I get paid just for delivering, whether he actually gets it is none of my damn business.

I attempt to drop the package and run, but Artemis blocks me. I curse. I've been avoiding any jobs that involved my old teammates because I didn't want to fight them. Yeah they might have ditched me, but we were family once.

I stand tall, ready to shove Artemis out of my way, but Cheshire appears and yanks me from behind. "She's mine Mia." I blink in confusion for a few seconds until I remember that Im Mia, and nod at her. As I turn around Kaldur attacks me with a water bearer shaped like a hammer. I raise my hands to block it, each hit reverberating through my bones. When I can take no more, I flip out of his reach, never once removing my knives.

Just then M'gaan appears behind me and lifts me into the air, throwing me against a wall with lots of force. I hiss in pain, my eyes darting over to Cheshire for a brief second. When she sees me in trouble she runs over, fighting past Kaldur and M'gaan, and bends down next to me. She touches me, as though concerned… then reaches for my package and bails.

I stand up slowly and grind my teeth in anger. What did I tell you? So not a team.

I run for the exit, chasing after Cheshire, but Wally appears and blocks my path. I pause in hesitation as all my feelings come rushing back. Damn, I miss the annoying red head.

Robin POV:

M'gaan sets up the mind link as she throws the girl, (Mia?) into a wall.

We pause in our actions to listen as Kaldur contacts us. "Has anyone realised that she is yet to attack?"

I nod. "Yeah. The only question is why?'

We follow her as she runs towards the exit, but Wally gets there first. I stare at what little of her face I can see; it seems to have paled slightly.

"I can feel strong positive feelings from her, aimed towards Kid Flash." M'gaan informs us.

We pause and just stand, gazing at Mia as she stares at Wally. Superboy just looks confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Artemis huffs. "It means that Goth chick over there has a thing for Wally."

We all see Wally grin at Artemis' words, and I roll my eyes. "Well done Artemis, you just boosted his ego."

She frowns. "Oh shut up."

Wally's grin widens. "I can't help it if girls are attracted to my charming personality and supermodel features. But don't worry babe, I'm all yours."

I give a mischievous grin and bat my eyelashes. "Oh honey, I just got out of a relationship, but I'm glad you feel that way."

Artemis, Kaldur, and M'gaan laugh, whilst Superboy remains completely confused. He scratches his head. "I don't get it. Are you talking about your relationship with Alex? Because that ended months ago."

Everyone remains deadly silent, watching my reaction. I say nothing, my face a still mask. It's fair to say that I kind of lost it when Alex left me. I knew that she dumped me, but on some level I didn't think it was actually over - even after I saw her note. I just figured she was cooling off, or trying to teach me a lesson. She wasn't.

I was depressed in a way I haven't been since I was eight years old. She just vanished: didn't call or text - just cut me out of her life completely. It was like she never existed. And on some days I thought the time we shared never happened; I thought it was all in my imagination. Even her note, which I clutched in my hand, failed to hold an ounce of reality.

I didn't fully realise that doing what was best for the team would mean sacrificing what was best for me. But if I had… things would have been different.

I watch as M'gaan pulls Superboy over to explain the joke to him, when she returns everyone is still staring at me. Wally's eyes dart between Mia, having trouble deciding who to pay more attention to; the girl with knives strapped to her body, or his best friend. 'Rob you alright?' he says through the mind link.

I nod quickly, hoping to turn the attention back to the actual threat. 'M'gaan, what are you getting from her now?'

She gives me a surprised look. 'You want me to read her mind?'

I shake my head. 'No time for that, just skim the surface like you did before.'

She nods and her eyes glow green. I watch as Mia walks closer to Wally. He shifts uncomfortably, unsure if he should attack. 'Guys? What should I do?'

M'gaan pipes up. "She won't hurt you Wally. She doesn't view you as a threat."

Mia pauses when she's standing right in front of Wally. She turns slightly towards M'gaan. "If you read my mind, I will slit his throat right here and now."

I furrow my brows. "Why haven't you done that already? You've been standing there for ages, and you've got those big old knives."

Wally's eyes widen at that. "Dude. What are you doing?!" He whines.

I roll my eyes at his dramatic nature and Mia turns to face me, I realise this is the first time she has looked directly at me. "I'm thinking of which vein to cut. I'd hate for it to get messy."

M'gaan interjects. "She's lying."

Mia's eyes quickly shoot towards M'gaan. "And you're annoying. I really will knock you out."

M'gaans eyes glow green again. "You don't really like me, you think I'm weak and naive. But you're trying not to loose your temper because you don't want to hurt anyone that Wally and-"

In a blink of an eye M'gaan is knocked out cold with a knife wound to her neck, and Wally is doubled over clutching his stomach. Mia is gone.

Wally whimpers in pain. "Owwwwwwww, I thought you guys said she was totally into me."

Artemis laughs. "Guess she came to her senses."

I walk over to Kaldur as Superboy carries M'gaan to the bioship. "That was weird. It was like she didn't want to attack us."

Kaldur nods, deep in thought. "But she did anyway, as a last resort."

"I'm not even sure if she's a real threat, after all, we didn't see what she could do. Plus, we didn't complete the mission." I sigh.

Kaldur nods. "I know. As leader, it is my responsibility to inform Batman of our failure to retrieve the packages."

Thanks so much to all the readers of 'Rough Relationships', hope this first chapter meets up to your expectations.

The reviews from 'Rough Relationships' made me update as soon as possible, unfortunately, I wont be able to do 3 a day for this story. But, I do believe in being consistent, so I'll update one chapter per day. Thats a promise guys.

Pls Read n Review.