Author Notes: So, this is the third chapter. I think it turned out pretty well. I tried to show how messed up M'gann has become in season two without making her a complete monster. (I personally still think there's some good left in her somewhere.) I hope you enjoy and please review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It belongs to Cartoon Network and DC Comics.
Chapter 3: Miss Martian
At first glance, no one thought she wore a mask.
They didn't understand that, out of everyone, she had the best mask of all. Even if it didn't seem like it.
Because when she was fighting crime as a hero, her eyes weren't covered. You could see her face, her hair, everything.
But at the same time, even though her skin wasn't physically covered by anything, it was green. She looked like Martian Manhunter. She looked like an alien. She looked different.
Then when the rest of the world saw her, in her everyday life, she looked normal. She looked like any other redheaded, hazel-eyed, twenty-something girl you might see on the street. There was nothing strange about her. Nothing at all. She looked just like everybody else.
Most people wouldn't guess that under that plain exterior, there was a green super hero with the strength to destroy planes, buildings, nations.
And no one would have guessed that under that green skin, there was a white one. That under two different humanoid disguises, there was a monster with the power to steal the best kept secrets. The power to tear apart even the strongest minds.
She hid better than the others. She'd been hiding all her life.
She could be invisible. She could look like anyone she wanted to. She could escape into the crowd. She could disappear. She could be alone.
She didn't need to worry about the people she cared about finding out her secret identity, because they would never – could never – see though every layer of her disguise. And the people closest to her, her teammates, had already seen her many sides.
She had at least three different masks.
She was Miss Martian, the powerful hero. The confident girl who took down men twice her size without batting an eyelash. The woman that struck fear into the hearts of anyone who had seen what happened to her enemies once she'd gotten a hold on them.
She was Megan Morse, the bubbly school girl. The girl she had said she was on the inside. The girl with the protective but sweet boyfriend, and the entire cheerleading squad as her group of friends. The girl who went to parties and dances and had fun without doing anything wrong. High school seemed so long ago.
She was M'gann M'orzz. A combination of both the hero and student, and yet neither. Under everything, she was always a white martian. She was always hiding. Layers upon layers of a mask. No one ever saw all the way to her soul.
No one, except for Conner.
He was the first one to see who she really was. And he hadn't cared. He'd loved her before he'd known. He'd loved her after he'd found out. He had trusted her to tell him when she was ready, and he had waited patiently.
She'd loved him even more when she found out how much he trusted her.
He wasn't shallow.
And that kiss… That first kiss… He'd seen past the fact that she looked like Tuppence Terror. He'd even known that under her green skin and auburn hair, she looked like a monster. And he hadn't cared. He'd loved her. Every side of her. He'd seen who she truly was, on the inside, in her mind.
Her mind… Her powers… What she'd done to him…
No. Too painful.
They were over now. He'd ended it. She was back to hiding.
Most of the Team thought they knew who she was. They knew that she was white. They all knew she pretended to be green. They knew she could look human. But that was all they knew.
The physical aspect. The way she looked. The way she acted. They only knew what they saw.
They didn't know her mind. They didn't know her thoughts, her fears. They didn't know the extent of her powers. The terrible things she'd done and regretted and rationalized.
Because even around those closest to her – even in her own mind – she had to hide. She had to run.
The mask was so thick these days that she barely even knew herself anymore.
She just had to keep telling herself that what she was doing was right. There was always a reason why she had to keep going. There was always a reason.
Because what she was doing was helping the entire planet.
Because they were her enemies not her victims.
Because the end always justifies the means.
Hiding was part of who she was. She been building up this mask since the moment she stepped onto this planet. She'd worked out every lie. She'd been scared. She was still scared. She needed an escape.
Her walls. Her lies. Her disguises. Her mask. They were all just tools.
She was still hiding. She was always hiding. From her friends, from her enemies, and most of all, she was hiding from herself.
Author Notes: So, what did you think? I'll try to finish Chapter Four as soon as I can. I think it's going to be about Artemis, I just have to flesh it out a bit more, which is hard when she's not on the Team anymore. I hope you enjoyed Chapter Three and please leave me a review. I'd love some feedback. :)
