Disclaimer:

Vanessa: AkariSegawa does not own Young Justice.

Chapter 2: ZERO

For a few seconds I was falling away from my bedroom window towards the ground. A gust of wind slapped my face as I went down. Just a few inches from the grass I stopped. After a pause my body began to float upward and the next thing I knew, I was high above my house. The view was magnificent.

The streets lights lit up the avenues and boulevards of the neighborhood. Yellow light glowed from within some homes, indicating that the residents were still awake. The few stars that could be seen in the dark sky twinkled down at me. My first time seeing the outside world from the outside, and it was wonderful.

The sound of breaking objects and an angry shout brought me back to the issue at hand. Mother immediately joined me up in the sky and grabbed my arm. Mother pulled me up higher and higher until the street lights below were nothing more than glowing dots on the ground.

"Where are we going, Mother?" I asked her.

"Somewhere safe." She said. I frowned at the ambiguous response but decided not to press her for answers until we arrived at this "safe place". We soared through the air and a breakneck speed. If Mother hadn't been holding my arm I would've been left behind, flying was a skill I hardly practiced. Cold wind blasted into my face. I shivered wishing I had a jacket.

The two of us soared high above the ground, passing houses and shops. A light caught my attention. On the horizon I could see an orange light. Slowly but surely the Sun was rising. What time is it? I wondered. The majority of the sky was still bathed in darkness, the Sun still too low to brighten the whole sky yet.

Mother paid no mind to the Sunrise. She remained focused on what was in front of her. Her grip on my arm was so tight she had cut off circulation to that limb. Hand was tingling, a sensation that really irritated me. I frowned at her and stole a glance behind me. I wish I hadn't.

Rocketing towards us was a strange looking bird. Its body was big. The wings alone were nineteen feet each. The feathers were pitch black and if not for the rising Sun I would've never noticed it. Glowing green eyes glared at me. Riding atop the bird was a bald burly man. From what little light I had I could see his white lab coat twisting and flapping in the wind. An eerie screech escaped from the bird's hooked beak.

Hearing the sound, Mother picked up speed, as did the bird. What is going on? I thought, frightened. Why is this happening? A flash of light zoomed past me and struck the bird. The creature cried out in pain and anger. At that moment, Mother jerked downward, pulling me with her. I closed my eyes against the harsh wind that attacked my face as we went down.

When I felt the strength of the breeze weakening I carefully opened my eyes. We were flying through the city. Even from high above I could just make out the surprised shouts of the people below. Mother and I zipped between the tall buildings of the city with the bird hot on our heels.

"Mother!" I shouted. "It's still behind us!"

"Hold on!" she shouted back. Mother made a sharp left turn, almost slamming me into the side of a building. The sudden turn caught the bird off guard and it went crashing through the glass windows. Mother dived down towards the streets. I screamed, afraid we were going to crash when she jerked up until we were flying parallel to the ground. We turned corners and dodged people as we made our way through town.

After what seemed like forever, Mother began to slow down. We finally stopped in an alley and landed lightly on our feet. I collapsed to the ground panting. Mother glanced around the alley. She walked towards a walk, paused, and then placed her hand on it a pushed. To my surprise, the part of the wall Mother had pushed gave way. Seconds later I heard a rumbling sound and the wall opened up into a dark tunnel.

"Come on Vanessa." Mother said. "That man won't give up so easily. We have to hide."

"Why are we running from him anyway?" I asked getting up.

"I'll explain when we get inside, now hurry!"

The tunnel was very dark. I frowned in the darkness then allowed some of my power to flow into my hand. My hand glowed purple, illuminating the tunnel. Mother's hand glowed blue with her magic bringing in more light. Together we made our way deeper into the tunnel.

"Mother what's going on?" I demanded.

Mother pursed her lips and sighed.

"Remember when I told you I use to be a criminal?" she asked me.

"Yeah." I answered hesitantly.

"That wasn't all of it." She said. Mother paused for a moment before continuing.

"I was no ordinary criminal." She said. "I was part of an organization called the Sinful Seven. My code name was Miss Greed. I powers I posses, the ones you inherited from me, I used them for evil and deception. At first I enjoyed the thrill that came with being a criminal. The crime, the theft, it was exciting."

"But then the leader of my group gave me a special mission: infiltrate and dismantle the Justice League. I thought it was going to be easy. I was able to befriend nearly everyone in the League, all except Batman who was suspicious of me to the very end."

A strange looked crossed my Mother's face as she recalled those memories. "That's where I met your Father. At first I didn't like him; I thought he was just a goody-goody pest. He was infatuated with me, but I didn't give him the time of day. But he was persistent, in a sweet way."

Mother smiled as she spoke of my Dad. I felt a little envious of her. She got the chance to bond with him while I never even got a chance to talk to my Father. I shook away those ridiculous feelings and listened to my Mother's story.

"I don't know when or how but the next thing I knew, I was in love with him. Slowly the thought of committing crimes lost its appeal, as did being part of the Seven. One day I made a difficult decision. I spoke with the leader of the Seven. I told him that I was receding from the group and wanted nothing to do with him or the others."

"To say he was angry would have been an understatement. He demanded that I stay and do my job, but I refused." She stopped for a moment, glaring down at the floor. I waited patiently for her to continue.

"In an act of revenge, Dr. Wrath exposed my true identity to the Justice League. They didn't believe it at first and I wasn't willing to tell them the truth. But then he threatened your Father. That man, he had kryptonite with him and used it to weaken you Father. I revealed my secret to protect him… The look on his face when he found out the truth, it was devastating. It was the first time I ever felt guilty for anything."

"With Dr. Wrath distracted by my distress, Wonder Woman took the chance to strike. She snatched the kryptonite from him, freeing your Father. The rest of them tried to attack Dr. Wrath but was stopped by his followers. While everyone was distracted, I escaped."

"I couldn't return to the Justice League after that and there was no way I was going back to the Seven. I decided to live the rest of my life hiding from both of them. Then I found out I was pregnant." Mother patted my head as she said that and smiled gently.

"I fixed myself up to give you a life better than the one I had lived. I tried to atone for my sins by becoming an officer, I good role model for you. Until now I was certain that our lives would be peaceful."

By then we had entered a large cavern deep within the tunnel. There was a couch and a table to one side of the room and a small bed on the other end. At the center of the room was a motorcycle. I frowned. Mother walked towards the vehicle, dumping her bag on the floor. She leaned over the bike then pressed a button. The motorcycle hummed.

"Hey there." Mother greeted. "It's been a while hasn't it?"

"Huh, no so you're back…" sneered a voice. Was the bike talking?

"Don't take that tone with me Zero." Mother hissed. "I am not in the mood for your snide comments."

"I have every right to be rude." The bike said. "You called on me to carry your heavy body and the munchkin all the way here and then leave without so much as a 'thank you'. Do you know how fat you were back then?" It paused. "Actually you're still kinda big."

"If you were a person I'd slap you." Mother growled. "I was not fat then and I'm not fat now. You're just weak!"

I shook my head. My Mother was arguing with a machine and it was arguing back. My life is weird.

"Uh, Mom?" I said hesitantly. Mother blinked in surprise, obviously having forgotten I was here.

"Well if it isn't the little munchkin." The machine drawled. "Oh I suppose you're now big little munchkin."

"Mother what is that thing?" I asked glaring at it.

"I'm not a thing!"

"Sorry honey," Mother said, lightly kicking the bike's wheel. "This annoyingly talkative machine is my partner ZERO."


Chapter 2 is done! Sorry for the long wait ppl!