gvae-94 here!
This is my first story here, so I hope I didn't make any typos -.-'. This is sort of the prolog of how Page became a hero, focusing mainly on her relationship with her uncle and the Young Justice team (particularly a red archer, a bird, and a spandex-clad speedster).
Page is one of my many OC's, so she's up for change whenever I'd like. And right now, I'm feeling the Green Lantern vibe. I've always had a fondness for Hal Jordan (it may possibly stem from my Dad's favorite DC character being Hal, but who knows), and I've recently gotten into the DC multiverse heavily. Mainly the Young Justice cartoon. Oh creative lisences, how we love thee.
But this will be a fic circling that timeline as close as I can. One good thing came of the time-skip between seasons: room for fanfiction! It's almost as if they had us in mind. Well, thank you!
Disclaimer: I only own Page. The rest belong to DC.
Diary of a Page:
They say on the brink of death, you see your life flash before your eyes. I was never quite sure that was true, and despite all of my efforts, it seemed like I was determined to find out. You may be thinking, 'Hey, why are you trying to die?' Well, I'm not really. I just like to put myself in those positions. It gets my blood pumping, my heart racing, and my mind thinking. Why wouldn't I want that happening? Maybe the 'death' side-affect might have something to do with it, but I crave that feeling it gives you to dance with the reaper, not knowing if you'll win or not. Don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of what normal folk would call 'near-death experiences', but those never made me see my childhood.
Until a particularly nasty event that just recently happened, I've never given much thought on the matter. But now that I think about it, in all of those 'situations', I've always thought about never seeing my family, or even my friends again. Of course, it had to come down to this in order to get my mind thinking.
...
"…Evacuation…Not…Drill…Red…Vacu…Tion…"
The intercom sputtered out into white noise, adding to the flashing red-lights. The entire factory was long since abandoned. When the walls started to shake and the ceilings began to crack, everyone felt the better urge to leave, much to my content. I ran around the corner, slipping on a fallen piece plaster and almost face-planting into a wall as another tremor shook the place.
"Will you sit still?" The brunette said sharply.
The question was directed to the small girl jumping in her seat. The girl looked towards her mother, making her brown doe eyes as big as she could possibly make them. The woman simply rolled her eyes with a frustrated sigh and directed her gaze back to the center of the large tent they were currently under.
"Oh, let her be excited, Martha. She's never been to the circus before. Plus, Haly's rarely ever comes to Coast City."
The girl turned to her left, her smile spreading into a grin. "Uncle Hal! Did you see that elephant? They made it stand on a tiny ball!"
The man was at least three times the young girl's size, seeing as she was smaller than the rest of the children her age. He easily lifted her off the uncomfortable plastic chair and into his lap. Doe eyes met bright green eyes.
"I did see, birdy. What about the clowns? With their funny make-up?"
The fear in the girl's eyes blocked out all of her former excitement. She shook her head. "No! Their make-up is what makes them so scary!"
Her uncle just laughed before pulling her into a hug, at the same time, letting a man slip passed. He sat down in the seat his daughter had been occupying, a hotdog and cotton candy in his hand. He had shaggy brown hair and identical brown doe eyes as the little girl on his brother's lap. The girl quickly snatched the cotton candy from his hand before he could let out a syllable.
"Geezus, Page. You could have taken my arm off." He joked with a smile. His wife had other plans.
"Jack, really. She shouldn't have any sugar."
"Don't worry about it, Martha. It's just cotton candy."
"Do you even realize that cotton candy is basically just crystalized sugar?"
While her parents continued to bicker, the girl's attention was adverted by her uncle pointing to the ringmaster in the middle of the tent. He was gesturing to the tightrope and swings as his voice boomed around the audience.
"Ladies and gentlemen! The moment you have all awaited is finally here. For the last act of the night is about to be upon us! If you would care to look above me, you will see three amazing acrobats."
And like every other eight-year-old in the tent, the little girl obeyed.
"The father: John." A spotlight appeared, illuminating a tall man waving to the audience. He had cropped black hair and light blue eyes.
"The mother: Mary." Another spotlight appeared. This time a woman was standing next to the man. She was a good foot shorter than the man but also had the same black hair, although her eyes were a dark green. She waved as well.
"And the son: Richard." The last spotlight appeared. Standing on the other side of the tent, on the other platform from his parents, a small boy stood, grinning from ear to ear. His shaggy black hair came just above his deep blue eyes. Instead of waving, he gave a small salute before giving the audience a cocky smirk.
The adults were wearing the same costume: a red leotard with short green sleeves, tights, and gloves. The son wore a red shirt with green sleeves and gloves, but had on what seemed like green underwear in place of the tights. They all wore green pixy boots and yellow, collared capes that came down to their lower backs.
"The Flying Grayson's!"
I dove to the side, avoiding yet another piece of the collapsing ceiling. I pressed myself against the wall, waiting for the dust and dirt to clear, my face in my shoulder. When I looked up, I smirked. The entire ceiling in this room had fallen in, causing parts of the floor I was currently on to collapse into one of the sublevels. I pushed off of the wall and jumped down thru a sizable hole. Rolling out of the fall, I jumped off the desk I'd landed on and ran out the door.
"Has everyone been evacuated from the facility?" A gruff voice asked as if it was a second thought.
I put my hand to my ear and pressed my comm. link before replying. "Yeah, got the last out minutes ago. I'm heading down to you right now."
"Negative. You are to get out now. Rendezvous with the Team."
Without stopping, I laughed. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Out. Now." The voice ordered before continuing. "Robin, how's the city?"
"We've almost got everyone out." A younger voice rang in my ear. "There's just one more trip in the bio-ship and KF and Flash have a few before it's all clear."
"How long?"
"Uh, about two minutes?"
"Good. Wait for Ouzel, then take off."
That made me skid to a stop, my hand resting on a wall to keep my knees from failing. I pressed my link. "What about the rest of the League? All of you down there? There's got to be at least ten of you."
Without any hesitation, he replied. "We need to stay and neutralize Parallax."
"You know this is entirely your fault."
Her voice was shaking with rage. If it wasn't for her husband holding her shoulders, the woman would have to be taken away in handcuffs. She put her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes. The man being accused simply grabbed is niece's hand. The little brunette was lying in a hospital bed, her arm, from her wrist to her shoulder, was in a fresh white cast. She gripped her uncle's hand tightly.
"It's not Uncle Hal's fault!" The girl protested, but her mother wasn't listening.
"If you hadn't insisted we take her to that damn circus, she wouldn't have even thought about gymnastics!" She pulled from her husband's grip and stormed over to her brother-in-law. He gave her a warning look as her hands balled into fists. "She never would have broken her arm! She never would have gotten hurt."
"It's not his fault! It's not!" The girl shouted. Tears were picking behind her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall in front of her mother.
Bending and smoothing his niece's hair, the man kissed her forehead and whispered, "Hush, my little birdy."
Her uncle let go of her hand and stood, facing his sister-in-law. "I'm sorry Martha, Jack. You're right."
"No!"
"I know you don't like me. You never have." He smiled softly at the raging woman, his posture relaxed. "I get it. I'll go. You don't have to see me again."
The man side-stepped the woman, avoiding his now sobbing niece in doing so. He calmly opened the door and walked out. Even outside he could hear the shrieks and cries of the little girl.
"Affirmative, Batman." Robin's grim voice filled the silence. I gritted my teeth and pushed on, lunging down the stairs.
"Like hell I'm going to just leave all of you down there to die." I hissed.
That didn't have the most promising effect on the caped crusader.
"Don't act like a fool, Ouzel. Get out."
"Why don't you come up here and make me, huh Batsy?" I growled back. But just like my earlier comment, it had no effect on him.
"Flash, do you hear me?" Batman was pissed, but I didn't care. I was almost there. And thankfully, Robin answered. The boy's voice rang through my head like a lifesaver.
"Flash doesn't have his comm."
But by that point, I wasn't paying any attention to the angry bat and extremely tense bird in my ear. I struggled to open the door before I collapsed like the walls around me.
"But I'm ten now!"
The girl's dark brown hair brushed her shoulders as she turned her head to follow her mother down the hallway. She rushed behind her.
"It's been two whole years. I'm a much better gymnast, and I can fight if I have too. Plus, Coast City isn't nearly as dangerous as Gotham."
The woman came to a stop in front of a closed door. She turned to her daughter, a slight frown on her face. The girl stood her ground. Locking her gaze with her mother's, she continued.
"I want to see Uncle Hal."
"Page."
Her mother sighed. She covered her eyes with the hand not holding a bunch of paperwork she had to organize. "You don't understand. He's dangerous for a little girl to be around. Plus, I'm working." She gestured down the hall before turning and opening the door. "We're at the office right now, and you should be getting home."
"Uncle Hal is not dangerous!" The girl plopped into the chair across the big desk sitting in the middle of the room. "And I can get there by myself. I'm ten, Mom. That's practically a teenager!"
Her mother had to suppress a laugh. After a few minutes of looking at her determined girl, she sighed. "Alright, but you have to call me the minute you get there, and just for a few hours. I'll get you before dinner."
"Thank you!" With that, she flipped over the back of the chair, landed in a roll, and set off down the hall without stopping for the slightest.
"Ouzel! What are you doing here?"
I looked up at the voice. Green Arrow was standing in front of me, his hand on my upper arm, making sure I didn't fall. Behind him was a sight.
The subbasement was almost completely destroyed: there were clouds of dust floating above everyone's heads; half of the ceiling was caved in, causing most of everything else to be broken or crushed; and League members were everywhere.
Hawkgirl was kneeling beside Hawkman, her hand in his. Black Canary was tending to Aquaman next to the couple. Captain Marvel and Red Tornado were standing next to Red Arrow, who was leaning against the bottom half of a pillar. They were the closest to the door where the green archer and I were standing. When Green Arrow spoke, his red-haired equivalent turned to us. A look of confusion crossed his face before turning into sympathy.
In the center of the room, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman were talking in a circle. While the two practically indestructible beings seemed relatively unharmed, the latter was visibly hurt. Most wouldn't notice, but having worked alongside him multiple times, I could tell he was favoring his left.
But they weren't where my attention was.
"Guess who!"
The girl yelled as she opened the door to an all-too familiar apartment. No one came to greet her though, causing her to venture in. She silently closed the door behind her before taking off her sneakers and padding softly down the hallway. When she came to the spare bedroom she knew doubled as a home office for her uncle, she didn't hesitate to burst thru.
"Uncle Hal!"
But he wasn't there.
The girl huffed as she backtracked out into the living area. "And here I pestered Daddy to bring me over for the weekend. Oh well, I'll just have to wait."
She turned the television on. The box turned onto a news channel. The girl instantly beamed, recognizing the reporter. Whenever she was on the screen, they were doing a story on a hero. Sure enough, the next clip they showed was of a flying man with brown hair wearing a white, green, and black suit with a mask. He was glowing green.
"Once again, the Green Lantern has stopped tragedy from striking Coast City."
The screen flashed to two more people. One was a tall archer with a blond goatee in a green costume that would make one think of Robin Hood. The second was a shorter, red-haired boy in his late teens. He wore an outfit closer to the Disney version's Robin Hood, yellow hat and all.
"With the help of our neighboring town Star City's Green Arrow and is sidekick Speedy, the heroes stopped a series of bank robberies all planned by non-other than-."
The girl muted the sound and paused the news. She zoomed in several times. On the screen was now just a single figure. The Green Lantern, the savoir of Coast City. And he had a particular resemblance to-.
"Page?"
The girl quickly clicked the television off with practiced ease. Turning to the voice, she saw a tall man with brown hair and green eyes. She beamed and jumped off the couch to hug him. She pulled away and looked up at him.
"Uncle Hal! I got here a little early, but I didn't think you'd mind. Daddy dropped me off. I was getting bored waiting for six. I finished all of my homework and practiced my gymnastics. Mom let me off of practice early today too. You look tired. Are you getting a black eye? Who punched you?" The girl rambled. Her uncle just smiled.
"Slow down, little birdy. I am tired." He sat down and she was quickly at his side. "Now, one at a time. You could give Wally a run for his money."
"Who's Wally?"
The man sighed and set his head on the back of the couch, but his smile never left. "Wally is one of my friend from work's nephew."
"From work-work or from work."
The way his niece spoke made him look up. He paled. In between her slender fingers, was a green ring. His ring. His hand shot to his pants pocket. Nothing. He hadn't even felt her hand in his pocket. She must have taken it when he sat down. He looked at the girl's face. She wore as smug an expression as an eleven-year-old could wear.
"Page, it's not polite to take things from a person's pocket." He said as he snatched his ring back, slipping it on his finger.
"Why didn't you tell me you were the Green Lantern? That's so cool!"
"Ouzel?"
I couldn't tear my eyes from them. Martian Manhunter was kneeling by a man's head, his hands outstretched on either side. Both pairs of eyes were closed. The brunet man was in a green and black costume, his green cape rolled up under his head as a pillow. Just as I tried to take a step forward, a fierce tremor shook the building, making me stumble into Green Arrow. But the tremor didn't stop.
"The building's collapsing. We need to get out." Captain Marvel said while flying over to the center group. Batman turned to him.
"The explosion will occur in seconds, Captain."
My mind went blank for a second before I could comprehend his words properly. Then I was moving.
"Uncle Hal?"
A small voice asked, causing a man to turn sharply, not having heard the front door open and close. A girl, coming up to his waist, had her arms wrapped around her body. He quickly crossed the short distance from his desk. Kneeling down to his niece's level, he pulled her into a tight hug. The little girl was shaking. Her damp hair was falling out of her ponytail and her usually excited brown eyes were dull and apathetic. The baggy blue shirt and black shorts she wore were clinging to her small frame, adding to the depressing sight.
"What's wrong, my little birdy? Why were you out in the rain?" Her uncle cooed, trying to relax the girl. She sniffed and clung to his neck, burying her face into his shoulder.
"W-We got a le-etter."
The man instantly tensed. He knew his brother had married a woman in the military. And there was nothing wrong with that. He was in the air force himself. But he had thought she was too strict and cold toward his brother, but there was nothing he could say to him. His brother was infatuated with the woman. A year later, they had their first baby. Then he definitely couldn't say anything to him. Five years later, she became a decorated, high-ranking officer. She had devoted all of her time to her work until her daughter had been the victim of bullying in first grade. Now, some would think she was over-reacting, but she proceeded to teach the young girl of only five years how to fight and defend herself. Her husband didn't see a problem with it, and neither did his brother.
But he knew one day, after she was called overseas, the happy family would receive a Dear John letter. He just prayed it could have waited until the girl was older, on her own.
"Daddy, he started to get really mad." The girl had pulled away and was rubbing at her eyes. "He threw the letter down and started hitting things."
The man grabbed her shoulders gently, looking intently into her eyes. "Did he hit you?"
"No!" She shook her head fiercely. "I read the letter, but when I was done, Daddy had gone to the corner. But he was sitting with his arms around his knees and he was crying. Saying Mom's name."
The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She unfolded it, holding it out to her uncle. "It says- It says that she's dead. It says that Mommy's dead."
The man sighed after he skimmed the letter. Lifting the girl and setting her securely on his hip, he set off down the hallway to the front door. "Let's go see your Daddy, my little birdy."
"Like hell, Batsy." I said again thru gritted teeth. When I fell down next to the unconscious man, I yelled, "Everyone get closer! Now!"
I didn't hesitate to rip the ring off the man's hand. Not having the power anymore, the man's costume faded and shimmered. He was now just a plain brunet man. I shoved the ring on my finger, ignoring the protests and yells. Feeling the power ripple through me, I pulled it and channeled it. I threw my arm up. A bright green light shot up then encased all of us in a green bubble, just in time for fire to burst from the broken ceiling.
"Dad, where are you going?"
The girl was sitting on a couch, a book in her lap. Her father, a relatively tall man, glanced at her as he walked by. Over the past few months, the man had gotten thinner. His clothes were hanging off of him and his face was getting gaunt. But what scared the girl the most was his eyes. Ever since they had received that letter, his eyes had become apathtic.
"Out." Her father mumbled. The man let the door swing slowly shut behind him. But the instant it was closed, his daughter was down the hall, running to her room.
The brunette slammed her door before running to close her curtains, even though no light was shining thru seeing as it was quarter to ten at night. The girl skidded on her knees in front of her bed. She pulled a box from under it. Lifting the cover away, she bit her lip.
Folded up in the box was a black jumpsuit with white stitching. She quickly stripped and pulled the suit on, followed by black gloves. The girl reached back under the bed and pulled on her boots, bucking them as fast as her shaking fingers could. The last thing she did before leaving was put on her mask. It was a simple black mask she had gotten at a party store, but she improved it. She put white lenses on the eyeholes, covering her eyes.
"I really hope I'm wrong about you, Dad."
Now fully dressed in her jumpsuit, she crossed the room and threw open her window. She made sure no one could see her before she jumped. Her boots landed on the ground with a soft click. The girl edged to the mouth of the alley.
The man in question was walking down the street in a haze. He bumped freely into anyone, as well as anything, in his way. Every alarm in her mind was buzzing. Something was clearly wrong with this man.
He made his way to the other side of town. Not surprising the girl, he ended up at the military headquarters of Coast City. The man entered without a problem seeing as everyone knew him from when his wife was alive. The girl sighed. She thought about how to approach the building. It had military level defenses after all. But the girl had spent most of her life in the building. She had been a curious and bored young girl, not to mention very adept when it came to computers. As a result, she knew all of their security and schedules.
Right on cue, a brown van pulled up. The delivery man shut the door to his van and walked thru the door, making a fuss as usual. No one noticed the dark shadow slip by.
The girl followed the man up the stairs. He stopped on the sixth floor. The same floor his wife had worked on. He was greeted by the general secretary. Her voice was chipper until he pulled the piece of metal from his jacket. The girl's face turned to one of horror.
The man had a gun to the secretary's head.
He pulled the trigger.
Her father had just killed an innocent girl, just years older than her.
The brunette was frozen to her spot in the shadows. She watched as her father took another life. Everyone either yelled or ran. Some stood still as they cried and begged for their lives. But the man had no mercy. His eyes were lifeless and distant as he pulled the trigger again and again.
Suddenly, the girl came to life. Sticking to the darkness in the room, she made her way closer to the scene playing before her. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. She continued to breathe slowly for a minute. The sound of a woman's scream broke her, and she ran forward. Without any more hesitation, she attacked.
Now, a girl of her stature, being only five-foot and close to a hundred and twenty pounds, she stood no chance in a physical battle against the built man. But she had been forced to study the martial arts when she was just five-years-old, and part of that was the human anatomy. She her mind was trained to point out a person's physical weakness and use it against them.
The man spun toward her. She quickly ducked under his outstretched arm. Taking the top of the gun in her hand, the girl continued the man's momentum as he spun and pulled him in a circle and released. The man's back hit the wall, sending the breath from his lungs. Wasting no time, the girl grabbed the gun once more. With her free hand, she jabbed at the inside of his wrist, causing his fingers to release his grip of the gun. She let the magazine fall to the floor and un-cocked the gun, breathing a sigh of relief when the bullet hit the ground.
Not skipping a beat, she tossed the gun to the side and turned back to the man. The girl almost collapsed at what she saw.
The man was utterly emotionless.
There was no warm smile welcoming her home from school. There was no careless and happy laugh as she jumped into his embrace. There was on content in his eyes as he sat on the couch and watched dumb movies with her. And she realized there never will be.
The man he used to be died with his wife.
The girl had lost both of her parents with one letter.
A cry escaped her lips as she twisted on one leg, her other coming up with enough momentum to knock the man unconscious. He fell to the ground without a word as cheers erupted around the girl. She took a deep breath and looked around. The room was a bloody mess of people she had grown up knowing. One of the few left standing came up to her and fell to her knees, encircling the girl's waist as she cried her thanks. The girl peeled herself from the woman. Giving the crowd a shaky smile, she walked to the stairs.
"Wait! What's your name?"
The girl turned to see a young man already on the phone with the police. He looked hopefully at her. She took a deep breath before giving her best smirk.
"Call me Ouzel."
This was sort of a test chapter. I've never really done a story mainly of flashbacks and what-not, but I really wanted to do it this way. Kind of like a build up to the full story. There will be more flashbacks but none like this. I think every other chapter is going to be sort of a flashback, until I see fit. It'll make more sense when I write it. Still, I think this was a success, even if I did tweek Jack's family's story a bit. I'm not entirely sure if they did have any kids, or if his wife was actually named Martha, and I'm pretty sure he didn't go on a killing spree. But hey, this is a fanfiction.
I hope you liked it! Review please! I'd love some feedback!
