MUSIC-FIC! ArtStorm is obsessed with this one song... And I plan on kind of torturing Wally, Dick and Roy. Inspired by Hero by Superchick So, Roy is sane and not a clone, Chesh leaving him is what made him a little... Yeah...and he has Lian! Wally is off the team with Artemis but she's 'dead' now. The three of them are being serious all at once for once in their lives and are talking to the team about being depressed and how their not alone and stuff. But they do it in their own way. I feel bad about being proud of this, but I think it turned out good... You be the judge
Nightwing filed into the room full of all the Young Justice members. He felt the team's surprise as Roy Harper and Wally West filed in after him. All of them were in civvies. They each grabbed a chair and sat across from the team. For a while no one spoke. But, of course, leave it to Wally to break the silence. He cleared his throat
"So... The Bat called us in to talk to all of you..."
Roy shot Wally a grateful glance "Yeah." There was a small silence before the oldest redhead spoke again "Artemis... Was an amazing person, fantastic teammate and irreplaceable friend... We all knew her, we'll all miss her, but this is just part of the job-"
"How can you say something like that about her? She shouldn't have died! This shouldn't have happened!" Cassie busted out. She'd met the blonde archer, and the two had connected quickly. Jamie was quick to her side and laid a calming hand on her shoulder.
Nightwing shook his head "No. It shouldn't have. But it did and we can't fix it." He gave a sad smile "If she could, she'd be busting our butts for being this sad about loosing her." He gave Wally a small nudge and they shared a glance for remembering before their eyes turned serious again "But that's not why Batman called us in. He called us to talk to you about depression and that sort of thing." He took a shaky breath and looked to Wally for help.
Wally gave him a small nod "Depression is easy to fall into with superheroes. What with all the war and hopelessness and loss we face... And we can't forget lovely school and family issues, right? Life isn't bad enough without them." He said this almost bitterly, then relaxed as Nightwing put a hand on his shoulder, then the ebony spoke.
"But as soon as you became a part of YJ, you gained another family, a group of people who will always have your back, no matter what you face. You'll always have someone ready to listen."
Roy nodded "I know that at least us three are willing to sit and listen to you rant on. Me'gann and Conner, too." The mentioned nodded in confirmation.
Bart and Gar gave them frustrated looks "What do you know about being depressed" the speedster asked
All three boys froze at this.
Megan moved forward "Boys...?" She asked
Roy snapped out of it and held up his hand, making Megan take a relictant step back. He slowly rolled up his sleeves. Nightwing came out of it next, he pushed his sleeves past his wrist and started rolling up his pant legs. Wally winced as he saw them do so but shook his head softly and outright took his shirt off.
What this revealed earned looks and gasps of surprise all around the room. Roy had thin white scars all the way up his arms and puncture scars clear on the veins. Nightwing had scars all over his wrists and even on his ankles. Wally had scars all over his torso, he shouldn't, but he did, meaning they happened before he was a speedster. Roy looked regretfully to his best friends and self-proclaimed younger brothers with regret deep in his eyes "We know a hell of a lot about being depressed." He said sadly
Wally winced and rubbed a ragged looking scar on his right shoulder that disappeared over the back "When I was a kid, no one in school sat with me, talked to me, heck, even looking at me with anything kinder than contempt and being caught automatically made you an outsider, a target. I was smart. I didn't really use common sense, but I was smart. I got good grades, enjoyed science, knew a few languages, even. That meant to fit in was to make my life hell and to be my friend made you as bad as the soulless ginger freak. You'd think my dad or mum would do something, but my dad was a drinker. Half these scars came from him. And my mum." He gave a sad smile "Well, she died when I was four, so not like she could say something, huh?" A small shake of his head "I had honestly thought about killing myself when I was only nine. Because in my mind, if even my father didn't want me around I must be really screwed up and not worth the air." There were some small gasps but he just shook his head "I met my Uncle and he showed me that he was the Flash, I was so psyched that I'd met him, I recreated the conditions that made him a speedster, and just as smart as Ben Franklin, here, electrocuted myself, got my powers and even then was still sitting there thinking about death because even though I was KF then. Because my dad still beat me, even though it never stayed, and school, when I got back, was still a pain. Then I met this guy." He cocked his head to Nightwing. "I'm eleven, he's this little nine year old and we click. We became best friends, best bros. He found out my past and told me his story, and we stuck it out for each other, accepting that we were both screwed up and that we would get better together, no matter how long it took we met Roy a little later and helped us when we were both down." He held out a fist to Nightwing, they fist bumped then did an intricate handshake that moved almost to fast to follow.
Nightwing smirked "Guess it's my turn." He took a deep breath. "When I was seven... My parents fell to death in front of me. They died on impact, murdered doing the thing they loved. The person who was supposed to find me a foster home was lazy. She didn't feel like finding one, and the orphanages were full to the brim, so I was put in juvie." Nightwing shuddered "Try being a seven year old who only knows small bits of English and inside a place where they pick on the smaller ones and the guards are so corrupt they turn a blind eye. When Batman adopted me I was sick in the mind, so low, I started cutting a eight..." He traced a small pink line on the very crease between the heel of his palm and his wrist "That's the one that started all this." He said it ruefully "It felt so good, so victorious to make just one line through my flesh and watch the blood flow... It doesn't fix anything, doesn't solve your problems." He shook his head "Roy found out before Wally. He grabbed my wrist and told me to look at it. When I did, he said 'Does spilling your own blood bring them back? Can it save them from their death? Can it heal you?' I couldn't do anything but shake my head. And he told me 'Your right, it can't. Hurting yourself is pointless and stupid. It can't heal that hole in your heart" Nightwing shook his head "He was right but I didn't stop. Wally found me next. He just took the blade away, cleaned up the cut, hugged me and asked me not to hurt myself again. Then I was seventeen. Three months later, I hit an all time low. I don't know what caused it... But I just broke. I felt I couldn't go on and I sat up on Wayne tower and stared at a bottle of sleeping aids. Managed to take two before it hit me. My parents may have died, but what about the bat, what about my little brothers, what about Wally and Roy and all we've done for each other, what about the team and all of my friends? I was shaking so bad I threw the pills off the side of Wayne tower and watched it fall. Roy and Wally came by seconds later, when they got there I broke down in a crying fit and hugged them." He game a smirk "Roy, I swear he would've stabbed me in the calf with an arrow if he didn't know why I was hugging him."
Roy nudged him with a smirk then sighed "Arrowhead's turn. Listen up, I'm only saying it once, got it? So I only remember my parents a bit, but I grew up with the Navajo since I was five. Brave bow told me my father died in a forest fire." He shrugged "I try not to dwell on things I've never known. I learned to use a bow and arrow and how to sneak around like I do until I was twelve. When Brave Bow was killed. He was practically my father. I struck out on my own and ran into GA who adopted me within the hour after watching me shoot a bow an arrow off his wall at people who were chasing me. I wasn't ready to try and replace Brave Bow, but wasn't about to pass up free food, so I lived with the guy. He had NO IDEA how to raise a teen. Like at all. He and I argued to no end about everything. I turned thirteen and met those two idiots." He nodded two the boys beside her, who smiled "They gave me a reason to tolerate the guy, except I kinda had the help of some alcohol, a few dabbles of cutting and maybe a bit of cocaine..." he rubbed his neck nervously "Then came that one day where I threw down my little hat and stormed off. After a while, I'm like... Eighteen, nineteen, I run into Cheshire. Don't get me wrong, I knew what I was getting into and I fell in love. We got married." He lifted his hand limply and the shine of a gold band on his finger caught some attention, there were some surprised looks and gasps "Yeah, yeah, oh my God, Red Arrow fell in love with the dark side! It happened get over it." He sighed "Then out of the blue, she just leaves. Keep in mind I've probably got some issues with separation to someone I'm close to... And I found heroine. One time I was really low I must have been wanting a death wish because I got high while near Nightwing and Wally in the Bats' house. Man... I can't believe they put up with me... Nightwing said 'So is this one of those do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do moments?' And I remember muttering something about hurting and Wally said 'Course it hurts. All three of us have crappy emotional baggage, wake up, Pothead, and smell the coffee cause its way better than whatever's been going into your system now.' And they helped me out... In three months, I was down to one high every month, then Cheshire comes back. She says she's sorry, but her dad is after her, hands me our daughter, tells me the girl's name, kisses me and leaves. Let's just say with these bozos and my baby girl, I kicked all my habits in the next two months."
Nightwing punched him lightly in the shoulder "So where is she?"
Roy waved it off "Grandma Dinah" he put air quotes around that fondly "Begged me to borrow her for a day, and since I came to do this, it all worked out, then."
Wally chucked and stood, he slipped on his shirt as he spoke and the other two quickly followed suit in hiding their mistakes "So, yeah." The younger redhead started "You've always got people that have your back, and even if you don't, you've got one." He said, pointing to himself.
"Two." Nightwing threw in, raising his hand a bit.
"Three." Roy said, crossing his arms with a smirk.
This was met by silence. The boys shared glances then slowly stood, all making a noise similar to an 'Oomph!' As they were each tackled into a hug by a smaller kid. Bart on Wally, Robin on Nightwing, Gar on Roy. Cassie slowly walked over "You guys can talk to us, too"
Nightwing smiled softly and stretched out an arm to bring her in. Wally grinned cheekily and yelled "Group hug!"
Roy's eyes widened "Wait, no. No. Nononon-Oof!" His voice was cut off by several people crowding him into a hug and squeezing him isn't it tightly. They heard an annoyed sigh "Wally, I'm going to get you back for this."
Wally and Nightwing laughed "Just enjoy the moment, Roy-boy." The ebony chirped
Roy sighed again, but this time in acceptance, he hugged everyone within arms' reach back.
A few seconds passed then Wally piped up "So who's hungry? I passed by this awesome looking place that sells something called 'shwarma'... I don't know what it is but I wanna try it." (XD Had to.)
Laughter rung around the room for the first time in days, and soon all of Young Justice was in civvies, Roy driving the huge van, twitching in annoyance as Nightwing and Wally pestered him to no end while both new and old members of the team watched and stifled their laughter.