A/N: Thanks for all the favouriting, follows and reviews! You guys are great! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I apologise if it's a bit waffle-y. Please review! ~ Velvie
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.
Day 2: Kaldur's POV
I can feel myself growing wearier every second, with no way of relief. Some people are starting to change due to fatigue, such as M'gann, who had a surprising outburst yesterday. We have all put it down to tiredness, as she is a Martian and she may be feeling the effects differently to us. Nobody will question her, though. We have all just let it go. She did apologise later that evening.
Robin and I have been keeping up with our training to pass the time. After 48 hours without sleep, Batman's protégé is surprisingly full of energy.
"Robin, may I ask how you're so awake after this length of time without sleep?" I queried.
"I'm Batman's protégé, we patrol late every night" he replied simply, shrugging. I'm not sure I accept this as the complete reason, as even Batman himself would not knowingly let Robin's health suffer this way. I took that as an answer, for I did not want to risk prying into his personal life.
Wally and Artemis seemed quite lively in comparison too. Maybe it is because they are fully human and this sleeplessness is affecting them differently. Conner, being a clone, has never experienced sleep deprivation in his short life. Without questioning the trio I can only assume that this is the case. I think I will do a little questioning.
"Wally, could I ask you something?" I asked the speedster. It was evident he was bored, which meant my invitation for a conversation would be hard to refuse.
"Sure" he replied happily, filling his mouth with chips.
"I'd like to know why you, Robin and Artemis are so awake at a time like this" I informed him. An expression flashed across his face so quickly I could not recognise it, but it resembled a look of fear or worry.
"I don't know about them, but I guess it's because I eat a lot of sugary snacks" he replied, staring into his bag of chips to avoid eye contact. I could definitely tell something was up.
"I don't believe that is the whole reason for your alertness" I said bluntly. He glared at me and for a moment I wondered if I had gone too far.
"Dude, I'm tired, like everyone else. I'm just better at hiding it, I guess." He said, his glare changing to a typical Wally smirk. I inwardly sighed with relief and excused myself from the conversation. I will target Artemis next. I fear she will be indirect with me but I have to try. She seems to be the most tired of the trio but she is still alert. In fact, she seemed more alert than usual. Maybe she was getting tired too.
"Artemis" I called out to her softly. She jumped and spun round to face me, glaring. "I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" I asked her.
"No!" she replied, almost yelling. She was definitely starting to feel the effects of the sleep loss. I decided to divert the conversation and leave quickly.
"I was just wondering how you are coping" I said quickly, hoping she wouldn't take it to be patronising.
"Oh. I'm fine. I'm used to late nights." She said, dropping her guard slightly but her voice was still edged with a defensive tone.
"Why is that?" I queried. I may be able to find out why she was acting so defensively.
"No reason!" she replied quickly, and I knew that I should drop the subject.
I nodded silently to her and walked away. I saw Conner and M'gann curled up on the couch and decided not to bother them. I could hear Robin in the training room still and went back to join him. Something was definitely going on with Wally, Robin and Artemis. I became suddenly overwhelmed with rage and punched the door to the training room. It opened to reveal a surprised Robin. Why had I been so enraged? The idea that I wasn't in control of my feelings and my body enraged me even further. I swung a fist at Robin, who dodged with ease. What was going on? His dodging just made me angrier and angrier, and I kept punching and kicking.
"What's wrong, Kaldur?" I heard Robin's concerned question over the blood pounding in my ears. I dropped to my knees and tears crept out of my eyes. I covered my face.
"I- I don't know!" I yelled at Robin, taking another swing at my friend as he approached. He stepped back, thankfully.
"You're just tired" he told me. I looked up to see his sympathetic smile.
"But why are you not acting this way?!" I cried. He shrugged and smiled.
"I'm just not tired yet" he replied. "Now I suggest you go to your room and just relax. Just because you can't sleep, doesn't mean you can't relax and unwind." He smiled down at me, and offered me his hand. I took it gratefully, smiling at the boy I had come to think of as my brother. He walked with me to my room and smiled as I closed my door. He seemed to know so much about all this. But why? It doesn't matter. I should get some rest. I, along with the others, am in for a hard week.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please leave a review! Next up, Conner's POV! ~ Velvie