AN - So, I'm starting this story over again, since I started the other over a year ago, and I feel that I didn't give it as much planning as I should've. So, I took off that old writing, and here's my new version. I'll include details from the first version, but I felt that my writing was pretty poor when it came to everything making sense. So, here goes... : )

The question : Do you believe in flying? Of course - birds do it all the time. The slightly harder question : Do you believe in humans flying? For me, I constantly went from skeptical to hopeful. To fly through the clouds, escaping all your problems, leaving the dark world behind you... Who wouldn't want to believe in that?

Now, here's another. Do you believe in superheroes? For a long time in my life, the answer had been a firm no. Maybe it was because the idea wasn't practical. A freak in tights running around, punching villains to save attractive (always attractive) victims? Right. Or maybe it was because I had given up on the idea of a helpless girl, abandoned, suddenly being rescued by a mysterious stranger with a mask, and living in happiness for the rest of her life...

But things change. Never forget that, or change will pull your world out from under your feet, and you won't have anything to fall back on. Maybe if I had built myself up on hope, the fall wouldn't have been so hard. But enough about me. I'm just a reflective girl beyond her years. This story belongs to another time, another me...

"Lexi! Lexi!" I ran on, though everything around me looked like black shadows and outlines standing out among the stormy gray sky. I heard rumbling come from the clouds, and I tried to move faster. Without warning, the sky let loose a torrent of hard, piercing rain. I felt it hit my head and shoulders as it quickly soaked up every dry surface it could find.

It was even more impossible to see my surroundings, and I cried out as I tripped. I couldn't see what had caught my foot - I couldn't bring myself to care. "Lexi," I called out, but it was a call for help now. Where was she? I felt trapped in this world of darkness and rain. I rolled onto my back, and let the rain pelt my face.

A flash of lightning blinded me, and a powerful boom of thunder followed. I flinched instinctively, and stayed tense as the rain became more intense.

Maybe it was best to just lie here, with my head spinning from all the sounds around me, and the stormy night passing by without a care in the world. I could not even see my own hand when I raised it to my face, though I was dressed from neck to foot in black, and that wasn't helping.

Another bolt lit the sky, and the responding bang woke me up a little. No, I couldn't just lie here. I had to get up. I felt around me to check for stable ground, and rolled into a kneeling position.

I pictured Dick's face, when he was determined to overcome a challenge. Though I had only seen him like that with his mask on, it wasn't hard for me to imagine the thoughtful gleam of his blue eyes.

With a sigh, I pushed myself to my feet, though I swayed, and my head pounded. The rain continued mercilessly, and I shivered as the wind whipped the sheets of water at me.

I walked a few steps, but the sharp bite of the freezing gale threatened to unbalance me. I was already feeling unsteady, and the mystery of the area around me combined with the storm was icing on the cake.

I felt like growling in frustration. Nothing around me made sense. But the most alarming part was that I could not get my thoughts together. Everything was blurry, and I couldn't pull together a complete thought. I shook my head.

'Focus, Skye, focus. You have to know where you are... Focus.' I said to myself. But nothing was coming to me. I looked around. I could just barely see the rain coming down in harsh waves, but nothing seemed real beyond it.

I felt the urge to run, but where? The lightning had died down, and I scolded myself for not using it as a light source. I felt vulnerable, and it didn't help that my head continued to spin faster. As the storm grew more intense, the jumble of my thoughts kept pace with it. I half sat-half fell to the hard ground, this time on purpose.

What good is a girl trapped in a storm with no idea what's happening around her? I pondered that as the pounding in my head took over my conscious thoughts.

AN - Feel free to tell me what you think. I would appreciate something a little more constructive than 'I hated it', but I guess that's your choice... : )