I do not own any of the Young Justice characters. Some I have in fact created myself such as Fraya, Sadira, Jackdaw and Bolt. Please review, or don't I just thought I'd give this a shot and see where the story takes me.
I waited silently in the dark. Crouched at the steel gate of my cage. My forehead pressed against the cool metal as I tried to convince myself to breathe evenly.
This is it, I thought. Any second now…
In the cage next to me I could hear a terrified panting, muffled by a small hand over her mouth. She was trying to be as quiet as I asked her but the task ahead was too much to muffle the fear of my young friend. I didn't blame her, I wasn't even thinking about it too closely.
I didn't have time to reach out a comforting hand through the bars of our individual prisons because at that moment the door opened.
It was time to leave.
The door at the far end of the lab groaned as it opened, the hinges straining against the thick iron panels. White, artificial light beamed in, I strained my eyes as they adjusted to its intensity. The light travelled throughout the room. Approximately thirty by forty square feet in size, filled with computers and your general lab equipment, stools and desks filling all the empty space. The light hit the glass test tubes and flasks, sending light glittering to the panelled ceiling. I used to watch them, count the diamond lights in the sky and pretending they were stars. Now, I simply ignored them, focused back to doorway. A single silhouetted figure stood there. Holding my breath I raised my hands to clench the steel bars in front of me, daring to assemble some sort of defiant expression.
"Hey!" He called his voice gravelly, cruel. I knew it well. "Get back from the gate Thirteen, you know the rules!" I didn't move, I tried to breath instead, release the tension knotted throughout my body.
The guard chuckled deeply. Slowly moving towards me, his loud footsteps echoed off the linoleum. Each step seemed like millimetres as he edged closer. Just a bit further! My mind screamed.
"I know what you're doing," he crooned maliciously. "The brains are shipping you off tomorrow morning, away from your little friend – " His chin jerked to the cage next to me " – and you thought you'd make a rebellion on your last night." He was three feet away from the gate. Close, but not close enough, I gritted my teeth together. "Well, you've been here long enough to know what happens when you rebel…" He reached behind him to a small remote I knew was clipped to his belt. My stomach dropped as he pressed the red button.
At first, all you hear is a hum, a hum that you think is only in your own head, but soon you realise the sound is being emitted from the collar locked around your neck.
That's when the pain starts.
Electricity, the voltage changing for the age of each subject streamed through my body. Blurring my vision, causing my muscles to spasm agonisingly. In the back of my head I could hear a quiet sob from behind me but I could barely think past the pain. Barely. My heart sank, I'd failed. I was going to be shipped away to the facility for the older age group, away from her.
The current finally stopped, I slumped forward onto my hands and knees. I could feel the sting of the burns on my palms where the electricity surged into the metal of the cage I'd clung to. The pain was nothing though compared to the reality of my failure. My senses returned and I could hear his voice again.
He took that last step forward, but my muscles were immobile from the recent shock to move. He crouched before me, his yellowing teeth showing as his scarred face broke into a smile.
"A shame really, you were turning out beautifully." His big hand reached through the bars to grip my face so tightly that my jaw protested. "I wouldn't have minded keeping you to my –"
And that was when he realised his mistake.
On the contact my mind completely returned to me. I focused within myself as I'd been taught and fused the contact between my skin and his. His eyes widened when he realised he couldn't pull back his hand.
"Shit –"
It was at that moment that I took my first deep breath in what felt like weeks. Through that
breath I felt it. The familiar pulse of energy surging between us. I shut my eyes, images swam up from the blackness, they were murky but not unrecognisable. A young boy, playing tag with an older one… that image flickered to an argument between the two, the memories had been mute up until the younger child screamed at what I felt was his brother. The younger boy screamed a sentence that echoed in both our heads.
"Why don't you just go kill yourself, Dean!"
The image flickered to the older brother hanging from the stairs, a rope tied tightly around his neck which hung at a grotesque angle…
The memories became flashes then. Most I tried hard to forget as soon as I saw them. Many young girls crying for him to get away, but once eye contact was made they bowed to everything he said. Pills given freely once convinced, cars, homes, drinks that made him light-headed and throw him into a rage that had those poor girls covered in blood. The last image that rose was a group of men, dressed as the guard was now. Approaching him, convincing him that his 'gifts' could be used.
I gasped and broke the contact. The guard collapsed, moaning and holding his head between his palms. I swallowed down the nausea that arose from what I saw. Instead, I reached forward and grabbed the collar of his shirt so that we made eye contact.
"Let me out," my voice was hoarse from lack of use but it still seemed to have the impact desired. The guard did as I asked even though his hands shook as he typed the password into the keypad I couldn't reach. The gate that had been holding me against my will since I was born clicked open. I couldn't revel in freedom yet though as I kept stern eye contact with the guard. "Now her."
He did the same for my friend. Only four years old, she sprinted over, hugging my legs tightly. It was the first time we'd made physical contact in all the time we'd known each other. A fierce swell of emotion tightened my throat, my eyes stung as I tried to breathe. I had to ignore it though and swallow it down as I turned back to my puppet. Clearly and quietly I spoke the words I'd been practicing all week, making sure I left no detail out. This part was crucial to our escape.
"You will now take off our collars, adjust my one and place it on yourself. You will then hand me the remote for them before locking yourself into the cage I've just stepped out of. If you get any radio messages from anyone you will tell them that everything is fine, you checked us and you're now taking your break early. No one can know that we've escaped until they find you. Understood?"
The guard nodded mutely, I noticed how his expression was vacant as he took my orders. I wondered did all his victims have that same look. I shuddered at his memories once again fighting back the urge to scream or vomit. I'd thought about killing him. When seeing his memories I considered holding onto him for that bit longer. I decided against it due to the impracticality. I needed him to get us out of our cages and if he wasn't to answer the radio messages from the security office there would be squads in every corridor in seconds. I'd heard it before when others attempted escape. The impracticality was the first reason; the thought of not actually being able to kill someone was the second.
After I'd finished rhyming off my orders I locked him into the cell I'd been retained in for nine years. I finally took a moment to glance down at my little friend who was smiling up at me.
"Come on Sparks," I said hoisting her up onto my back. "Time to get out of here, I'm afraid the hard part's only beginning."
There was a small window in the door that led out into the corridor. Using a lab stool I stepped up and peeked out. I spotted four security cameras down our route to the elevator. I glanced back to the girl clinging to my neck.
"Ready Sparks? I need you to do what you did to the cameras in here to the ones out there ok?"
The girl nodded, her shaved head bobbing up and down before those intelligent blue eyes focused on the camera facing the door. The camera sparked, reminding me of how I'd first come up with her nick name before moving from left to right once more. The screen in the security room should display a clear corridor even if a bomb went off in front of it.
I opened the door then, the weight nearly to much as I heaved it open enough for us to slip through. Sparks worked her magic of the remaining cameras so that we reached the elevator without any problems or alarms blowing. Once inside I pressed the 'G' button quickly. After memorising the maps on the walls long ago I knew the easiest way out. A simple back door used for laundry shoots. The elevator 'dinged' making us both jump. As the doors opened I turned to my little friend again.
"Now Sparks I want you to make sure that all the cameras we see can't see us from now on. I won't need to ask you ok?" She nodded. "Good girl, we're nearly out of here."
The building was huge. Even the maps didn't prepare me for the lengths of the corridors or the amounts of turns. I kept rhyming off the directions in my head though. I was confident that I could get us there. All the while Sparks would have the cameras turning a blind eye to us and if we ever saw anyone I would immediately 'convince' them to forget they'd ever saw us. We were three quarters of the way there when the alarms went off making both of us jump in fright.
"Shit…" I whispered the word I'd learned from the guard who they must have found. I picked up the pace. "Don't worry Sparks, just keep doing what you're doing; they have no idea where we are yet. We're nearly there…"
We kept moving through the building, my heartbeat hammering in my chest as the thought of being caught pushed my muscles to move faster. The adrenaline making my new ability to work from afar as I forced them to forget us and go about their business. We were racing through the final corridor; I could see the door to the laundry room when I spotted her. One of the scientists racing ahead of me to the control panel. She had obviously been filled in about my ability because she made sure not to make eye contact. She reached it way ahead of us, and began to type in the lock down code. My insides jerked; there was no time to explain to Sparks to get the doors open again. It took weeks to teach her the trick with the cameras. I could hear the distant footsteps of security behind us, they were too close. My window of escape was closing, I had no other choice but to leap the final distance towards her, clutch my hands on either side of the neck and fuse the contact.
Immediately I realised my mistake. She wasn't like the guard or me or Sparks. She was… normal. There was nothing to absorb… at least that was what I thought.
Everything slowed down; I broke away from the chaos around me as darkness swallowed us. Her memories flooded into me like a tidal wave. Usually, the memories would be faded; I'd be given only flashes. But this time was different. The memories were vivid. I could see her and her family. She was young, only in her thirties. Her husband was tall, handsome… like a prince in a fairy tale. I watched as he reached for her to place a kiss on her cheek, mesmerised by that simple act of affection. Then a child ran in, barely Sparks's age. With the fathers dark hair and his Mother's green eyes. He reached his father and was hoisted up onto his shoulders. They painted a perfect picture, the perfect family. I felt the warmth of that memory the glow of love she had for those two human beings. And then I felt it vanish into the darkness, everything she ever felt… gone in an instant.
I screamed and pulled myself free of her. My hands wrenched from her neck and she fell backwards, nearly on top of us. I heard the smack as she hit the floor. My whole body froze as I stared at her vacant expression. It was a different type of vacancy from the guard though. Her eyes and mouth open in shock, her form lay unmoving. She wasn't even breathing.
I had killed her.
The realisation had me gasping for breath. Tears swelled in my eyes but I held them back. How could I cry for someone that I had murdered for my own freedom. An innocent… she had family. What would they do now without a mother?
Something broke through my thoughts of grief. A small voice crying in my ear, a small hand on my cheek.
"Please, please!" Sparks crooned. "Please, we're nearly there! I open door!"
Somehow, the four year old brought me back to the present. My sense returned, the rushing footsteps getting closer behind us, the sound of the alarms. A few feet from us was the door which Sparks had indeed opened. And through it I could see the exit. It was then that I knew that I didn't deserve to escape this prison. Not after what I'd done but the little girl on my back was innocent. She deserved a real life and she couldn't get one on her own, not without me.
With a final glance at the lifeless form of the young scientist I darted forward once more crossing the laundry room in seconds and bursting from the exit. Luckily, security thought we'd still be inside and hadn't the time to guard it. I sprinted across the parking lot and into the trees surrounding the building. I ran far enough to be nearly clear of seeing the Laboratory. I then took Sparks off my back and placed her on the ground next to me.
"Now Sparks, I'm going to need your powers now ok?" Sparks nodded and held out her hands. I gripped them tightly in my own. "I promise it won't hurt, just relax, I'm only borrowing them for a moment."
Because I only meant to borrow and not keep the ability I didn't fuse our contact. Instead I just skimmed the surface of her mind, absorbed the barest minimum of her memories. The only image I got was of her seeing me for the first time. Pale skin from never seeing real sunlight, thin arms and legs from being fed only artificial foods, brown hair only starting to grow out from being shaved weeks back and hazel eyes that didn't know if they wanted to be brown or green. But it wasn't looking at myself that impacted me in that moment. No, it was the overflow of emotion that she feels when looking at me. The feeling of security she feels when being around me.
Right then, I vowed silently to always protect her. Even if I had just committed the unthinkable just moments before I would live my life for her.
Blinking away the tears once more I turned away from my little friend. Instead I faced the building, feeling the whispers of every single machine inside. Focusing on all the mechanical doors I asked them to close. Every security door including the entrances to the building shut down. Not to be overwrited and opened again until we were far, far away. As a safety measure I pulled the plug on the power. They'd be in darkness like we were for a few hours. The karma seemed fitting. I then turned back to Sparks who looked exhausted after everything we'd been through. I hoisted her up onto my back once more and ran deeper into the forests, hoping to reach a road as soon as possible so we could hitch a ride. As I ran I began to allow myself to breathe in my first deep breaths of fresh air, fresh air and freedom.