Hi everyone! This is my first Young Justice fanfic, and apart from the show, I don't know much else about DC lore, so please bear with me! Constructive reviews are greatly appreciated. Enjoy the prelude to the story!


Holding onto her young girl's hand, the woman sitting at the edge of the hospital bed silently cried. It tore her apart, looking at the frail teenager who has lived her whole life in a hospital. She was weak, thin, and pale; darkened circles under her eyes made her look more like a ghost than a girl. Regardless, the broken girl would look up and continue to smile weakly at her mother in an attempt to comfort her.

"Oh, Melaine…," the older woman trembled as her husband placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked sadly between his grief stricken wife and his sickly daughter, face sullen.

"Ma, Pa; don't worry," Melanie spoke softly, struggling to speak. Despite her struggle, she tried to sound cheerful for her mother's sake. "I'll be fine."

When she was a toddler, Melanie's parents had learned of the rare disease in her blood. Not much was known about this illness; it was energy draining, and Melanie rarely had the strength to mover her limbs, lift her head, even speak at times.

"Mister and Misses Fitzroy," the doctor stated as he entered the private hospital room. "Have you come to a decision yet?"

"Don't rush us, Doctor," Mr. Fitzroy growled. "This is our daughter's life we're risking."

"May I remind you, Mr. Fitzroy, that due to your daughter's condition, there isn't much choice in what course of action we can take," he replied calmly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Although the operation may result in death, it's the only treatment we have at our disposal. This is one of the rarest illnesses mankind has encountered. There haven't been any successful treatments thus far."

"So we basically send our daughter out to the slaughter?" Mrs. Fitzroy quaked once more as she held her daughter's hand tighter.

"Your indecisiveness has already cost your daughter her childhood and young adolescence," the doctor responded. He had a stern tone in his voice. "How much more of her life will she waste rotting away in a hospital bed before you make the decision?"

Melanie's parents exchanged looks of worry before looking back down at their daughter.

"I told you," Melanie spoke again, this time trying to sound more confident. "I'll be fine. I'm tired of living like this. I'm willing to try anything."

Mrs. Fitzroy held Melanie tightly in her arms as she cried. Placing a gentle kiss on her cheek, Melanie attempted to push her mother away gently. "Ma, seriously, it's okay," she smiled. "No matter what happens, I'll be fine. I swear to you."

Reluctantly, Mrs. Fitzroy pulled away. Gathering some strength, Melanie raised her arm to pat her mother's swollen belly. "Make sure Robert knows how brave his big sister was."

Mr. Fitzroy sullenly looked down at his only daughter. Despite knowing he has a son on the way, Melanie was his first born, and she was his little girl. Blinking back tears, he too took her in an embrace. "I love you, princess," he said softly, trying to mask his sadness.

"I love you too, Pa," she replied, straining herself to hug him back.

After their good byes, the Fitzroy's left the hospital room. After ensuring they were gone, Melanie craned her head to look at Doctor Reid. "Well it took them long enough."

Doctor Reid smiled at the young woman, helping her out of her hospital bed and into a wheelchair. "You really are a brave girl, Melanie."

"No," she replied grimly. "That's not what I am."


Melanie's Perspective


My name is Melanie Fitzroy, age 17. I'm one of the few in history to suffer a rare blood syndrome that, according to Doctor Reid, burns energy at an alarming rate and therefore prevents me from basically living. But strangely, it's given me strange restorative powers; something I had discovered when I took to self-harming in an attempts to put myself out of my misery. Therefore, for my whole life, I've lived in this hospital being used as a living test subject – no matter how many times they would cut me open or take blood or tissue, it would restore itself. It's not exactly the best life, but I'm one of the only hopes to make advances in health for this illness.

But in Doctor Reid's studies, he didn't necessarily find a cure. He found more questions.

Much of my blood cells are alien; something he found quite alarming when testing my blood. And the way it fights with my human cells is what causes my energy drainage. At first, Doctor Reid thought the answer would be simple: remove the alien blood and replace it with human blood.

Let's just say in testing, that turned out to be…destructive.

So the only other option was to make the alien blood sole inhabitant of my body. With the absence of human blood, the alien blood will duplicate until all of the human cells are replaced. The side-effects, though positive, will render me inhuman. I'll turn into what my blood is. And what that is we don't necessarily know. But at this point, I'm willing to do anything to get out of these same four, pale walls. I'm tired of living with IV tubes and oxygen masks to help me survive. I'm ready to live. Even if there are consequences, I'm not giving up on this.

"You may not think it brave, but it is, Melanie," Doctor Reid spoke again, pushing my wheelchair to the elevator, placing in his security card to access the secret testing chamber in the basement of the hospital.

"It's selfish," I sighed in response. "But you swear to keep your end of the bargain?"

"Of course. No matter the outcome, I will announce you dead," he nodded as the numbers lowered as we passed floors. "We have a fake body prepared to be your corpse."

I nodded. "Whatever I become…my parents may as well wish I were dead. I don't want them knowing."

The doors to the elevator opened, revealing the familiar room where I've been experimented on my whole life. Nurse Karen smiled at me as Doctor Reid wheeled me in. She was like a second mother to me; she taught me everything I knew and was always by my side.

"Hello, Melanie," she said cheerfully. "Today's the day."