(I don't own anything, except Astrid Collins/SR-12)

- (2 years ago) -

I was sitting alone in my dim cage, silently crying as my nails were slowly digging into my chest. I wanted to rip my heart out; I wanted to end the pain and torture. Warm blood oozed onto my white T-shirt and slowly traveled to reach my white pants. I gritted my teeth and gripped one of the bars of my cage. I was so concentrated on suicide that I didn't even notice the cage door opening. I thought it was one of the brutes, coming to drag me off for more painful tests. I tried to dig my nails farther in until someone's hand grabbed my wrist and pull it away. I cried out in protest until I saw his masked face.

"Don't, I'm busting you out" he whispered.

"Who are you?" I asked with red eyes.

"Call me Flash" he insisted as he held me in his arms and sped out of the lab.

He stopped when we were at a hospital to get me patched up and examined. No one could ever trust a scientist so I was checked for trackers. A few times, I pulled back from the doctors, mainly when they held needles. But when I saw the needle, I hopped of the table and ran for the door. I screamed and thrashed as the other doctors tried to hold me down. Finally, they had to give me a shot of anesthetics when I slashed a nurse's arm with my claws. With every second, I struggled less and less until I was completely asleep.

Later, I woke up on a bed but I was all strapped down. I screamed for help and pulled furiously on the straps until a nurse came in. I noticed the bandages on her arm; she was the one I slashed before.

"Let me go" I snarled over and over.

"Someone is here to see you, miss, um" she trailed off with my name. "What's your name?"

"They call me Project SR-12" I barked.

"Um, okay, SR-12, you have a visitor" she inched back to the door.

A red-headed boy came in with a small smile. He had a few freckles, bright green eyes and a bit a tan-ish skin. When I saw him and smelled his scent, I stopped struggling and snarling like an animal. He looked about 13 years old, my age, with a dark blue backpack. I barely noticed the nurse leaving and she whispered "Good luck" to him as she left.

"Hey, I'm Wally and-".

"You work with him, don't you?" I interrupted him.

"Who do you mean?" he asked back.

I was about to say his name but I quickly forgot, "I forgot his name but I know what he looks like".

The boy un-did the straps on my arms and handed me a piece of paper and a red-inked pen from the nightstand. I sat up and quickly scribbled what Flash looked like.

"You know the Flash?" he asked when he saw the picture.

"He saved me from the lab" I corrected. "So, do you or don't you work with him?"

He quickly closed the door, "Yeah, how do you know that?"

"Your scent is mixed with his".

"Oh, right, wolfy-parts" he mumbled to himself.

"So what you doing here?" he un-did the rest of my straps and helped me up.

"Flash told me to come pick you up and bring you to the Bat-cave" he explained.

"But why didn't he just take me there?"

"I don't know, we could ask later."

"Fine, take me to the place."

"But you might want to get dressed first" Wally suggested and handed me some clothes from his backpack.

He turned around and watched the door as I tried to take off the hospital gown. But I couldn't reach the ties in the back so I tried to reach more but I couldn't.

"Need some help?" I heard him suggest behind me.

"Yes" I let my arms fall to my sides with a sigh.

He was able to untie them but stared in awe at my horrible scars.

"Oh, wow, what did they do to you?" he gently touched one of the scars.

I whirled around with my claws out and swung at him when I remembered where I got the scars. The scientists tried hard to give me wings but I just ripped them off. Wally was able to dodge the swing but I still made a small cut on his cheek. He cried out in surprise as I easily tripped. In all happened so quickly when he grabbed the back on my neck to pull me back so I wouldn't fall on my face. I ended up in his arms and our faces were only about two or three inches away! My face grew deep red as the thin gown hung off my body. His warm breath tingled on my lower lip as our eyes were locked on each others.

"Um, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" a voice said, near the window. We turned our heads to see a boy sitting on the nearby window sill. I quickly stood up straight and made sure the gown covered the front of my body.

The boy on the window sill had short black hair, a mask that covered his eyes, a black cape, black pants, thick gloves and a red shirt.

"Who are you?" I asked, ready to attack if I needed to.

"He's Robin, a friend and he works with Batman" Wally answered for the other boy. "What 'cha doing here, anyway?"

"The big guy wanted to know what was taking you so long so he sent me" Robin smiled at me.

I picked up the clothes I left on the bed and headed to the bathroom. "I'll just take a minute" I closed the door to change.

"So, who's the cute girl?" I could hear Robin ask as I perked up my wolf ears.

"Her name is…well, she said they call her Project SR-12 but I don't know who 'they' are" Wally replied.

"Where did Flash find her?"

"He said that she was in a weird lab"

I rushed on the clothes but made a small tear on the hem of the grey T-shirt with my claws. The pair of jeans was a little tricky because I never wore that kind before. Also, I had to make a hole in the back of the jeans so my tail could wag freely. I walked out of the bathroom and glanced at Robin.

"So, you think I'm cute?" I raised an eye brow. "Is that good or bad?"

The two look at me strangely, "What…is it something I said?"

"You really don't know, do you?" Robin asked.

"I lived in a cage my entire life, what do you expect?"

"Then, how did you learn to talk?"

"I picked it up when the others talked near me." I replied before Robin decided to leave.

"Oh, you might want to wear these so you don't attract attention" Wally handed me a dark grey jacket. It hung a bit low to hide my tail if I made it stay up, close to my back. I put on some headphones that had two holes in the sides for my ears to fit through. That way, it would look like my wolf ears were part of the headphones, instead of part of my head.

"Nice, right?" Wally grinned.

"I guess" I had a small frown.

"What's wrong, SR-12?"

"What if they find me? What if they find out where I am?"

"Don't worry" he placed his hand on my shoulder as my muscles tightened. "I won't let them take you away."

I believed him and there was one thing I knew that amazed me. He was the first…the first person I ever trusted.