Disclaimer: Well, you see, what ha-happened was, I was walking home with the rights to Young Justice, then Ra's Al Ghul came and sent his ninjas after me. They stole the rights. That is why I don't own Young Justice. *sniffles* anymore. *bawls and runs away*
Chapter 1: Beginnings
Artemis had pulled a coat on over my bow and quiver, hiding them, and resuming a normal appearance. She did not remove the mask until we were inside of a house. I am rather unsure if it was an actual house, it seemed to be too big. Quickly, I looked about, too big to be a house, as well as too fancy. My thoughts were interrupted by Artemis, who had pulled off my mask, revealing my own kind of slightly exotic beauty. She gestured for me to follow my. She began jogging up the stairs, yelling "Hey Dinah! Batman dropped someone off for you; do you think you could take care of her?" I heard a lilting voice, one of a grown woman, not one like Artemis's, which was the voice of person who is not quite a girl, but still not yet a woman. "Artemis, what exactly did he leave me her, and not Wonder Woman? They look exactly alike."
"I don't know." They lowered their voices, as Artemis had arrived in the room before me, which I walked into hesitantly. I spoke just as hesitantly. "You are Black Canary?" I asked the blonde woman, who was pulling a jacket on over what looked to be a corset. She nodded.
"You do not look like a bird." I stated, clearly confused by the name.
"It's just an alias, a second name, my real name's Dinah, a pleasure to meet you, Grace." I smiled at her and nodded my head, as if it made perfect sense, but my head reeled. Why would someone need an alias?
"You are not a criminal, are you?" I said, then immediately regretted it. "I apologize, I did not mean to be rude." I looked down at my feet, wringing my hands behind my back. Then I heard a laugh. A laugh. I looked up, immediately baffled. The woman said "Call me Dinah, let's get you changed into something else, you can't be stuck in that thing forever." I looked down at my clothes and frowned, still walking "What is wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Nothing, but I'm sure you want something more comfortable." She said, as we stopped in front of a door. I nodded and yawned, blushing immediately after. Dinah laughed again and went through a drawer, pulling out some clothes, and handing them to me, then fixing the bed.
"You can sleep here tonight, usually Artemis does, but she's staying with my mom tonight, make yourself at home. Call me if you need anything. It's a pleasure meeting you Grace."
"You as well." I said, as she shut the door. I stood in the middle of the room and quickly glanced around. It was neat and used pretty often, due to the paper-scattered desk and such. I pulled off my previous clothing and changed into the looser clothes, sighing as I could finally be unrestricted. Standing before the bed, I laid down on top of the sheets, holding the pillow to my chest, and soon enough, I fell into oblivion.
I heard hushed voices outside of the door. Opening my eyes, I saw the dark room and a sliver of light under the door.
"-like a child, it's rather cute, and she is completely proper, like a child from the past. She looks exactly like you, Diana." That was the woman from earlier, Dinah. I was almost insulted by being called "cute" and "proper" The other woman, Diana, responded "So is she another clone?"
"I don't know, I'm judging off of physical appearance, you should see her, meet her. Grace really is a sweet girl." I swung my legs off the side of the bed and opened the door, and waved.
"There were three Graces. I am Saving Grace, the people outside of my room called me that and my sisters where simply called Grace I and Grace II. They named me because they thought I would die first. They considered it to be respectful, but I find it rude, because they did not bother to name my sisters, both of which have not returned to our room." I said, lifting my chin to look at them. There was a tall woman with a circlet on and what looked like a corset of sorts, that was red on the top, then followed by a gold belt, which holstered a thin golden whip, the bottom half was blue with white stars. Her eyes where a shade lighter blue than her costume, but far more fierce, and burned with a light that I had not seen before. Her eyes drifted from my face downward. They burnt into the dark marks on my arms. I ignored her gaze and turned to Dinah "Hello Dinah." She smiled down at me.
"Good morning Grace. You sleep well?" I nodded, and turned to the other woman, who I presumed was Diana.
"Good morning, I am Project Amazon, though people enjoy calling me Grace. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"I am Diana, a pleasure to meet you Grace." She looked down at me, a gentle smile on my face. I looked at my clothes once more, then at my own arms.
"We match." I stated, pointing to the W's on my chest, then the bracelets on my wrists. She looked perplexed, her eyes landed on my wrists, and she nodded to herself, but she searched for the matching symbol. I turned around, revealing part of the dark mark on my back.
"Do you know what they stand for? Neither of my sisters could figure it out. It was not in any of the books they gave to us."
"It's an eagle, tough it looks suspiciously like the initials for Wonder Woman. That's my alias." She said, her eyes widening slightly as I turned around, as if something had just dawned on her. Dinah mirrored her expression.
"Does everyone have an alias and dress up like it is Hallows Eve?"
They both laughed "Come along, Grace, it is apparent that both of us have to explain a lot to you." Dinah placed a gentle hand around my shoulders and led me down the stairs and into a large kitchen. I felt my heartstrings pull. Grace I, or Titania (Tea-taan-ea), as she wished to be called (She spoke several languages and learned them all from watching TV shows. She was in love with Titania, she heard it on the TV she loved to cook and told us that the second we are let out of here, she was going to learn how to cook, for real. Not in theory. Dinah gestured for me to sit on a stool and pulled out cooking supplies, and began to cook something I immediately identified as an omelet. I felt a pang in my stomach. Hunger, is what my mind identified it as. They set the food before me and I quickly ate it, a smile on my face, still thinking of Titania. After I finished, I pulled my legs up into the seat, and smiled at the two women, who had amused smiles on their faces.
"Thank you." I said and immediately blushed, looking down at my hands. I heard a chuckle as a hand was placed on my shoulder and gently led me from the chair I sat in to another one. An arm chair. I smiled and once again pulled my legs beneath me and leant back, making sure both women where in my line of sight.
Dinah leant forward, linking her fingers together, watching me carefully. "I do not wish to interrogate you outright, so, why don't we make a deal. Information for information. You tell us something, and we tell you something." I nodded, it seemed to be fair.
"My name is Project Amazon, I have no childhood, and I do not know how old I am. I presume that I am physically fourteen." I stated and Dinah nodded.
"My name is Dinah Lance, and I am otherwise known as Black Canary. I am a vigilante of sorts, I will not tell you my age, and I have a sonic scream."
"The men never told me about my parents. My guess is that they are either dead or they are nonexistent. My sisters and I looked exactly alike. Grace I, Titania, had strength that she refused to use. Grace II, Melanie, she could fly. Me, the scientists simply gave me these bracelets." I held up my wrists, showing them the silver bracelets that glittered in the low light, dark runes lining the edges of the metal, where the silver met my hands. Diana turned to me.
"My name is Diana Prince, I go by Wonder Woman to this world. I will not tell you my age under any circumstance, and I am an Amazon, daughter of Hippolyta, I can fly, I am invulnerable, I have the strength of a small army, and I am offspring of the Gods."
I watched her carefully, then my brows furrowed. "The three of us where all made with the same DNA, but somehow, we all were different. I flew once and about crushed a labbie on accident, and I remember Titania flying, and Melanie reacting so fast that we could barely see her. They told us we each had one power, but we all had three." I fingered with the hem of the shirt I wore and readjusted my position. "I knew I was being lied to, but I did not do anything about it. Everyone there took care of me, they taught me everything I know, though I do not know much, it was all that I had and do have."
The two women nodded and turned to one another, before Black Canary spoke. "We have a team, of people much like yourself, young people. Most of them are partners to heroes in the Justice League, who are Earth's protectors. We can train you, and give you a home, as well as an education in modern events. We can arrange for you to join, if you wish."
"You offer me a home, even though you know next to nothing about me?" I asked, still fiddling with the hem of the shirt.
Diana held back a laugh. "We know enough about you, Grace, to know that you are a good person, and that you don't know enough to be a bad one." I looked up at her, eyes widening as a smile tugged at the edges of my lips. "That is the nicest thing a person has ever said to me since Titania and Melanie, even though we fought all the time." The small twitch turned into a full blown smile, revealing straight teeth. "Why not? I have no reason not to join this team you speak of, and it might actually be fun." I hugged myself happily. The two women smiled triumphantly to each other.
"Before we take to Mt. Justice, Grace, we need to take you shopping." They both smirked as the grin left my face.
"I have heard of shopping and it sounds absolutely horrid. I will not under any circumstance go." I scowled at them rather frighteningly, a perfect glare on my face, one that emulated the man I had met last night, Batman. But before I knew it, I was wearing a sweatshirt and being shoved out the door and to the mall. A scowl adorned my full lips the whole time. They walked with me into many stores, and I still refused to smile about it, even though the scowl left and was replaced by a frown as I ran my hands over racks of clothes and stacks of bracelets. Dinah and Diana had both moved quickly through each store, making me try on many things until they were satisfied, and to my great relief, we finished, three hours, one lunch break, and two bathroom breaks later. Walking into the Queen's mansion, each woman dropped bags onto the floor. I dutifully picked up a few at a time and moved them where I was told to. I placed them into the room I had slept in and the older women picked up the bags that I left behind before shutting the door and telling me to put on an outfit. They laughed when they heard muttering and a few choice words, then wondered how I had learned them.
After around ten minutes, a lot of shuffling and a few more curse words, I pushed the door open and revealed myself, in a black shirt and dark skinny jeans, with a red cardigan over it all, a black belt with a silver buckle adorned the jeans, while my bracelets stayed on. I had tied the single necklace we bought around my neck. It was a star charm, hanging on a leather string. I crossed my arms over my chest. "You do not grow up around men without learning to talk like men, in case you were wondering."
Diana nodded assent while Dinah simply rolled my eyes.
"C'mon, let's pack up what we've bought." She said, looping an arm around my shoulders before walking into the room, and Grace folded the clothes while Dinah cut off tags and Diana packed them away. It all went very quickly, as two of the three girls had to pack bags for many people. Grace picked up the duffle bag as if it weighed nothing and placed it on my shoulder. She looked up at the two women with sparkling eyes and a small smile.
"What now?"
"Now, we get you an outfit you can fight properly in." Diana said, a smirk crossing her face. "Though I do not completely support the idea of children fighting crime, I won't be able to stop you either way." I smirked at her and shook my head. With that, Diana gently took the bag from my shoulder and silently asked Dinah a question, who simply nodded in return. The bag was handed over to Dinah, who walked down the stairs. The two ravens remained.
"I wish to take you to Themyscira, to get you armor."
I tilted my head and watched my for a while, an eternity, it seemed, for Diana. "How much good would armor do me, and it seems, from your expression that they will only give armor to an Amazon. I am not, under any circumstance an Amazon, by blood or not. I would think that the whole trip would be rather futile, that is, unless you wish to see your mother." I stated a matter-of-factly before taking a step back and turning towards the book case, running my hands along the books until I found the one I searched for. The one written on mythology. Flipping through the pages, I found what needed to know.
"Your mother is Hippolyta, correct? Then, you should go see her, and if you wish to get me armor you can, you can say that it is a back up, or something, I'm not that much smaller than you." I slid the book back into the bookcase and turned to face Diana, who had raised her eyebrows down at me. "I consent, a little more than that much smaller than you." I pouted for a few seconds, then returned to my neutral expression. Diana watched me, then considered what I said. "Alright, but I'm not going to lie, I'm going to get a suit of armor for you, I assume you want one slightly different than my own?"
"Yours is what you wore earlier?" Diana smirked and nodded assent. I consider the proposition, then spoke "I would like mine to be slightly different, if it was the same, I'd consider myself a copycat, or a cheap knockoff. If fetching the armor is not too much trouble." I say, quickly adding in the final sentence, staring down at my feet. There was silence, then Diana's voice said, "I'll see what I can do for you, let's see if we can catch Dinah before she runs off." With that, Diana flew down the steps and caught Dinah just before she stepped into the zeta-tube, and explained the situation to her. Dinah nodded and turned to me, who walked down into the headquarters, my eyes widening at the weapons that lined the walls. A small smile graced my face as I walked along the tables, my fingertips grazing the surface. I stopped in front of the two women, gently taking the bag from Dinah, holding it in my hands before placing it on my shoulder. She smiled up at Dinah, who had changed into a corset with grey tights. She pulled a jacket over her shoulders and nodded to Diana, who nodded in return before she stepped into the zeta tubes and started to speak of an override code. I simply inspected my shoes, suddenly finding the dark red laces interesting, as they stood out on the black, converse-like shoe. I felt slightly nauseated as my particles where moved from one place to another. I blinked and turned to Black Canary, who smiled encouragingly, and said "Call me Black Canary."
"I still do not understand, you look nothing like a bird, and Batman does not look like a bat, and I know for certain that bats do not wear underwear outside their clothes, even if they wore clothes." I stated, bringing my eyebrows together. Black Canary simple smiled at me and said "Grace, meet the Team. Team, this is Grace, your newest addition."
I looked up.
Authors Note: SHOUT OUT TO MY REVIEWERS! The wonderful lindz4567 and anon, wonderful WONDERFUL reviews! THANK YOU! I hope you enjoyed the next installment, and remember: peace, love, and rock and roll. God bless!