So, readers really sorry this took so long to write up. My life has become really hectic with a job and school. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter!


Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or The Mortal Instruments

"Bold"- Mental link

"Italics"- Flashback

"Underlined"- Comm

"Normal"- Normal


Chapter 8 - Campfire Secrets

Mount Justice

July 20, 21:32 EDT

Clary's POV


"Cardinal, B-05. Sparrow, B-04," Rings out above us from the AI. We'd just finished a hacking lesson after a hand-to-hand session with Ted. And I felt like crap.

"How did you learn all this hacking stuff? It's so stupid!" I pull out my sunglasses and put them on as I argue with Sparrow.

"Many sleepless nights and hours of practice with Batman staring over my shoulder." He looks over at me through his own glasses. "Why do you still wear the sunglasses? We already know what you look like. It's not like it's mystery."

"You take off yours, I'll take off mine," I tell him.

"Clary! Sparrow!" M'gann streaks through the air towards us. "Wally and I are having a campfire, do you wish to come?"

"Is Rob coming?" Sparrow inquires.

"Yes, I've already asked him. He's game" M'gann lands in front of us as she answers.

"Ok, I'm game then," Sparrow glances over at me, "Clary?"

I hesitate before answering. I had shadowhunter lessons all of tomorrow, however, "I have something at 8 tomorrow morning but I'm good till then," sometimes you need to live a little. I blink a few times. I was starting to sound like Dinah.

I cringe a second later at the high pitched squeal M'gann does. "Alright! We've meeting the others in the Kitchen." She levitates herself again and zooms down the hall towards the kitchen. Sparrow and I silently follow. As we come into the room Sparrow gives me a little nod before joining his brother. I walk over to the other side of Kaldur.

My hair flies back and Wally runs into the room, arms full of camping supplies. "Gathered a couple of chairs, some firewood, scrounged the pantry for graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows and now we'll cozy up together outside just the two of us?" Wally finished off in a question as he looks around and sees all of us.

"We're going to need a lot more stuff than that is we're gonna go camping," Robin smirks at Wally.

"I hope you don't mind I invited all the others to join the fun with the s'mores!" M'gann says. I suppress a laugh at the look on Wally's face. Regardless of how the night went, being able to see Wally's face right now would be worth it.

About two hours later we were all outside with several tents set up and a raging fire with s'mores. I was leaning up against a log next to Superboy, a few feet from the fire. I set roasting a new marshmallow. Both Sparrow and Robin were roasting marshmallows, while Wally inhaled his at an inhuman speed. "This was a great idea, don't you think Wally? Camping in the great outdoors." Robin smirks over at Wally, almost taunting him.

"I don't remember inviting you. Besides, I didn't anything about camping. I said a campfire. Big difference between just a campfire and the whole camping thing. I don't like camping...outside." Wally turns around to glance at M'gann. "Unless of course, I'm camping with that special someone." Sparrow pulls his marshmallow back and wrapped the graham crackers around it before handing it back to M'gann. She takes it with a smile. Sparrow grabs another stick and sets another marshmallow on it. He shifts and balances the marshmallow over the fire.

"Dude, kinda bordering on creepy," Robin says.

"Well, I think all of us camping is a wonderful idea!" M'gann squeals as she holds the dripping s'more.

"She doesn't see to think so," Wally responds to Robin's earlier comment.

"She's probably on a sugar overload." Robin counters.

"How about you stop talking about her right in front of her," I growl. Both boys look at me with slightly sheepish looks.

"Thanks to Wally, I get to try s'mores for the first time!" M'gann says while chewing the creation.

"What can I say? I'm a sweetie! Ha! Get it? Cause s'mores are sweet?" Wally attempts.

"We get it," I respond dryly. Barely over an hour with Wally and he was getting on my nerves. The playboy, flirty attitude was too much for me to take for long periods. It was too much like Jace at times.

"So, this is what you do when you go camping. Sleep in this flimsy things called "tents" and sit around the fire?" Superboy asks.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it so if you feel like heading home I can sit out here with Ms. M...alone." I stifle a groan at Wally's thinly veiled attempt at getting us to leave.

"You're about as subtle as a train wreck, you know that?" Robin smirked as he throws his marshmallow and the stick it was on into the fire. I look back at my own marshmallow. It was black and on fire. I pull my stick back and break off the end. The marshmallow was a black hard blob, glowing a dark red, and emitting a nice warmth. I throw the blob on the stick into the fire and grab another marshmallow. I roughly push in down the stick before balancing it over the fire.

"You're not going to catch any fish unless you go fishing dude," Wally mumbled through the s'more he was chewing. "Sorry," Wally turns around to Kaldur, "No offense."

"No, usually you sit around the campfire and tell stories." I glance over at Robin, he was grinning at the fire, which was perfectly reflected in his glasses. I twitch slightly, it was a perfect idea for a drawing. Pity I didn't have any supplies.

"Oh! I would love to hear your story Kaldur. Could you tell us how you became Aqualad?" I look up at M'gann, who had an excited look in her eye.

"I was thinking more of a ghost story type of thing, but I guess," Robin shrugs, "Whatever."

"Oh! I suppose I could do that if you do not think it will be too boring." Aqualad looked slightly embarrassed to be in the spotlight.

"Not at all! I would love to hear it!" M'gann leans forward in expectation.

Kaldur turns a little to face the rest of us as he starts on his tale. "Well, I grew up in the city of Shayeris, which is a city in Atlantis. Surface dwellers think all Atlanteans are the same, but our kingdom had many cities, many people, many cultures. When I was twelve, I completed my education and began my mandatory service in the Atlantean military, which is standard for all that age. After a while, I was transferred to the prestigious conservatory of sorcery in the Atlantean capital of Poseidonis. Queen Mira is the headmistress of the conservatory and the wife of King Orin, Aquaman. It was a very different time for me. It was difficult, as it would be for anyone at age fourteen I suppose, but also a tie in my life where I met friends that I know will be with me for a lifetime. Then, came a day… a horrible day when Poseidonis was attacked by the Ocean Master. I can remember it vividly as if it happened only yesterday. It was the day Aquaman nearly met his end. Aquaman and Ocean Master fought for what seemed like hours. When Aquaman and Ocean Master clashed, it seemed to shake the very foundation of the city. Ocean Master had gained the upper hand and nearly defeated Aquaman. Correction. Aquaman was defeated. Garth, a fellow student, and I intervened on the King's behalf. It was the only thing we could think of doing. The danger did not occur to us, the only thing that mattered to us was that our king was in trouble. It was have been one of the most foolish things Garth and I had ever done, as we nearly meet our own end. We had no hope of defeating him whatsoever, but the time we spent engaged in battle against the Ocean Master was time enough for our King to recover. That was all he needed as Aquaman finally triumphed over Ocean Master! He was able to drive him away from the city and save us all! Aquaman was a being of two worlds. On the surface world, he fights for justice for all beings. Under the sea, he is a leader to many. Both carry the weight of responsibilities. Responsibilities only even the best of men can carry for so long. Even Aquaman cannot do both forever. Realizing that on the surface both Batman and Green Arrow had both taken on apprentices that could one day take over their respective mantels, King Orin had been contemplating the same idea. With this in mind, he approached both Garth and myself with the possibility of becoming his protege. I must admit the possibility intrigued me immediately. I had never been to the surface world. And I am first to admit that I am a bit of an adventurer. Many is a day in class that I would dream of visiting distant oceans and possibly, one day, even the surface world. Both Garth and I seriously considered the King's offer. Garth ultimately chose to continue his studies with Queen Mira at the Conservatory of Sorcery. For me, however, the chance to visit the surface world was a dream come true. So at age fourteen, I became Aqualad. I miss my friends, garth, Tula.." I look over at Kaldur for the first time since he started his story. The tone of his voice said it all, Kaldur was in love with his friend Tula. "But the chance to work with my mentor and king was an opportunity I could not pass up. I like to think the work I am doing is making difference. The rest of the story you know. Aquaman brought Aqualad to the surface world, and now I am here with you."

"So, you wanted to be Aqualad?" M'gann had finished her s'more and was smiling at Kaldur as she leaned forward in her seat.

"Yes. The opportunity arose, I could think of no other path."

"Yeah?" I glance at Wally who wore a cocking grin. "If you think he wanted to be Aqualad so bad? Let me tell you about how I got started. It literally goes back a few generation. Each generation started of Flash started with a bang! Literally! Jay Garrick was in a freak lab accident. Boom, there it is!" Wally throws his arms into the air. "During the 40's and 50's, he was everywhere! The fastest man alive! Jay Garrick was the world's first Flash! Then one day this guy comes along, a huge fan of the Flash, wanting to know all about this Jay Garrick, back in those days Jay didn't hide his identity. He contacted Jay and the two spent hours talking about his adventures and about the accident that turned him into the Flash. This guy even goes so far as to recreate the accident that created the original. But where Jay Garrick's accident was a total freak thing, this guy recreated the accident under laboratory conditions. He set the whole thing up in a lab and tried to make it happen. Result? Still a big explosion! But, Lo and behold he became speedy mcspeed-speed himself! Now he's the Flash! Well, not the original Flash but the new Flash...The Flash we all know! I mean, there's the Jay Garrick Flash and now there's the new Flash. You know, it just occurred to me that could probably use different names. Anyway, this time he's even faster than Flash, well the old Flash. It gave him even more speed." Wally leans forward even more with a glint of excitement in his eyes. "Okay, so check this! The second Flash is a fan of the first Flash-Jay Garrick. It turns out great minds think, cause I was a fan of the Flash-the second, not the first one. Well, I was a fan of Jay Garrick, the first one after I got to know him. He was a little before my time. Long story short, one day I was at my uncle's house, stumbled across a notebook his notebooks and got the shock of a lifetime! That was the day I found out my uncle was The Flash. Once the shock passed a bit, I kept reading. He was keeping a journal of all his experiments! Him the Flash, the second one, not the first-"

Robin rolls his eyes. "We get it already!"

"When I found that out," Wally gives Robin a pointed glare and continues as if he wasn't interrupted. "I would kind of keep hinting to my uncle that the Flash could maybe use a partner. I tried to convince him that Flash could use and probably needed a partner. I mean come on, by this time Bats already had Robbie over here and Green Arrow has Speedy! This was a no-brainer! I got to admit, Flash was a bit resistant at first."

"Does this sound confusing to anyone else?" Superboy leans back in the log.

"Yes." I peer over my sunglasses at Wally. "You're rambling."

Wally rolls his eyes. "Just let me finish and you will be confused no more, Supey and Claire!" My jaw tightens at the nickname. "So, having seen his journal just like he saw the previous Flashs', I tried to recreate the experiment with my own chemistry set!"

"You didn't." Sparrow looks at him with an incredulous look.

Wally has a full-blown grin on his face now. "I did, and you know what? I was able to do it!"

"The experiment actually worked?" Kaldur raises his eyebrows at Wally.

"Well… not at first, actually." Wally rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "It didn't happen at first, but a couple weeks later, I was off and running. I couldn't wait to show Flash! When he saw that I had powers, how could he not want me as a partner? You guys should've seen his face when I showed him! This time he jumped at the chance to have a partner! Flash couldn't wait to show the world! The Flash was beyond ecstatic! He couldn't contain his excitement! It was the greatest day of the world! Why you ask?"

Robin smirks at Wally. "For the record, we didn't"

"That's the day the world got Kid Flash!" Wally finishes with a satisfied look on his face. "You. Are. Welcome."

"Yeah. We're thrilled you're so speed capable." Sparrow nudges Robin's side and gives him a disappointed look.

"What's the matter? Jealous?" Wally grins down at Robin.

"Yeah, right! Jealous, of you?"

M'gann picks up another s'more. "Can you tell us about how you got started, Robin? Sparrow?"

Wally throws his head back and laughs. "Are you kidding me? Bats won't even let him tell you his real name! I mean, you'd probably get a better origin story out of Supey over here!"

M'gann raised an eyebrow. "But you already told me this story, didn't you? You said that the three of you rescued him from Cadmus?"M'gann looks at Wally in question.

Wally shrugs. "Yeah, we did."

"Of course, they blew up a building in doing so." I give the boys a pointed look as I say that.

Kaldur gives a little laugh and nods in agreement. "Yes. Chronologically Superboy is only 16 weeks old."

"M'gann leans forward. "And you have no memory of things before being rescued?"

"I have some memories from the G-Gnomes." Superboy looks at the fire. "It would teach me about the world outside while I was in the containment pod."

"So you remember things? When you were in the containment pod they would feed you information and you could remember it right?" M'gann continues to press.

Superboy shrugs. "I guess so."

"Well, if you remember what they taught you, you must've been thinking about things as they fed you information. What did you think about?" M'gann leans forward in her seat.

Superboy looks towards the fire again. "When I was in the containment pod, I was fed information. I didn't really start thinking for myself until after I got out."

"Well, what kind of things do you think about now?" Everyone looks over at Superboy.

"The one thing that's always on my mind is destroying Superman." My eyes widen in surprise behind my glasses.

"Robin, Sparrow, did you hear what he said?" Robin jumps slightly and Sparrow shifts at Wally's words.

"Huh? What?" Robin looks over at Superboy, who had just stood and turned his back to us.

"Superboy says he wanted to kill Superman." I look over at the bat boys. Both raise their eyebrows in surprise.

"Are you serious Superboy? M'gann's mouth is slightly open, and her eyes were wide.

Superboy shrugs. "It's just how I feel...sometimes." He turns to look at M'gann. "What if that's why I was created? What if that was the only reason I was created?"

I snort. "Who cares!" I yell as M'gann says, "That's not possible!" Everyone looks at me.

"I'm serious! Who cares! You're you Superboy, member of The Team. Cadmus might have made you, but you make your own legacy." Superboy hesitates and then nods at my words.

Wally jumps up."Yeah! Look at all the good stuff you've done so far!"

Kaldur tilts his head in question. "What would be the possible reasoning behind this thinking?"

Superboy turns from us. "I just feel...I don't know what I feel. Sometimes thoughts happen."

"Those would be silly thoughts. You should put them out of your head." M'gann looks to us for help.

"He does have a valid point," Robin starts.

"We really don't know what anything they did to him yet," Sparrow finishes.

Wally grabs another s'more. "We know he's one of the good guys and we know he's a part of this team!"

"In my world, actions speak louder than words. Superboy has proven his intentions with actions." Kaldur gives Superboy a small smile. He doesn't, however, see it with his back still turned to us.

"Yeah! You put those thoughts outta your head, Supey!" Wally holds a s'more out to Superboy. "Here, have another s'more."

Superboy hesitates then takes it slowly. "Thanks...everyone."

Wally turns around and fixes his gaze on Robin. "Hey! What's with you? Not like you to zone out like that."

Robin shrugs and glances at Sparrow. "I guess Superboy isn't the only one lost in thought tonight."

Wally shrugs before quickly turning around to look at M'gann. "Hey! You haven't told us about your story. What's the dealio with you, M'gann?"

Robin splits a grin and turns with Wally. "Yeah!"

M'gann turns a deep shade of crimson. "Oh...okay. Since all of you told your stories. I guess...well, I'm from Mars." She suddenly face palms quickly. "Hello Megan! You guys already know that!" She straightens before continuing. "All martians live in underground tunnels because the surface is uninhabitable. Our family lives are very intertwined. As you already know, we mostly communicate telepathically." She threw a guilty look at Superboy. "The form of communication we use helps large martian families maintain a sense of community and stay closer."

Wall perks. "Large? How many are in your family?"

"Martian families are usually quite large. I have twelve sisters and seventeen brothers! In my extended family, I have over three hundred cousins."

Wally runs up and places his face right in front of M'gann's. "Three hundred?"

M'gann backs her face up. "Yes."

"Are they all hot girls like you?" Sparrow rolls his eyes and grabs Wally's coat and pulls him back to the log.

Robin laughs as Wally throws Sparrow a dirty look. "Wow! You are a class act."

Wally sits back into his seat. "Dude! Three hundred girls that look like her? That's a planet I want to visit!"

M'gann clears her throat. "Well, half of my cousins are males, but yes most martians look very similar. Mostly green, like myself and Uncle J'onn. But there are others with differences. There are also martians that are red and white. Some on my planet do not see the white martians as equals. My parents and were both green and I was raised in what you would call a 'liberal' type of environment. My family...I… had no issue with white martians. Others were not as tolerant and the treatment of the white martians was especially horrible."

Kaldur pushes a marshmallow down his stick. "How do you happen to come to earth?"

"Of all the brothers, sisters, parents, aunts and uncles, the family member I was closest to was uncle J'onn. We had a great relationship! We would watch his exploits on earth with the rest of the Justice League! He grew to be a true beacon of hope and stood for what our society could achieve. He became the most famous martian in our history! Upon his return to Mars it was declared a day of planetwide celebration. When he came back it was not just for the adulation of our population. He also had a specific purpose in mind. Having heard about all of you-Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Speedy and the newly christened Sparrow and Cardinal- J'onn decided now was the time to introduce a younger martian hero to earth. J'onn J'onzz came to mars and declared he would hold a competition to find the next martian champion that would be returning with him to fly among the heroes of earth. I decided I would enter the contest, as did what seemed like half the martian population. I, however, was coming to earth. The competition was fierce and dangerous. It was exciting and consumed or touched the lives of every single martian on the planet. At first, Uncle J'onn seemed as if he didn't want me to compete. I thought maybe it was that he did not want me coming to earth. I had seen some of his adventures, and they were life-threatening and dangerous. But I was not going to let that stop me. I was determined to win! From everything I had seen and heard of earth up until that point, I found that I...loved it. I wanted to come see it for myself. I would not be bested!" M'gann was full on grinning at that point. "I won! The whole competition!" She throws her arms up into the air. "My heart soared! I was coming to earth! This was the most exciting time of my life! Now I am here with all of you, and I am part of the team! I truly love it!"

Most of the team were smiling at this point. "We are happy you're here with us as well, M'gann."

Wally gives her the swooning eyes. "You could say that again!"

Robin nudges Wally and rolls his eyes before standing. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think I've had one s'more too many. I'm going to hit the old sleeping bag."

M'gann pops up. "Yes! This has been such a wonderful evening but I am excited to sleep in a tent."

I get up to follow her to our shared tent. "Farmhouses are better than tents, trust me."

Wally jumps up and starts to follow us to the tent. "I'm right behind you girls!"

Sparrow grabs his arm and pulls him back. "Yeah, but you're sleeping in my tent with Robin and me."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Wally yells. M'gann and I turned to look back at him. "Clary never told us her origin story."

Everyone looks over at me. I shift uncomfortably and sigh. "It's pretty simple. My mom slipped into a coma and she didn't have a will. So, I ended up in foster care after they deemed the family friend unfit to be my foster parent. I ended on the west coast and bounced around for a while. I was out one night and got mad; I had been kicked out my most recent home. I screamed and destroyed the inside of a building...with my canary cry...that had just developed. Canary tracked me down and here I am."

Wally blinks at me. "Seriously! That's your origin story!"

I give a huff. "Not all of us a fancy, elaborate origin story, Wally. Some of us got handed their powers, instead of seeking them out." I turn back around and continue to the tent. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have training tomorrow at 8 and it's for most of the day. I want some sleep."

"Clary!"

I stop and turn back around. "What Wally?"

He sighs, "I didn't mean it like that, it's just. You seem like someone who picked this life, not the other way around."

I give a little laugh. "I picked this life, just not the powers. And apology accepted."

Wally's eyes widen. "What apology?"

I hold open the tent flap for M'gann who climbs in. "The one you were trying to give me but couldn't quite say." Wally opens his mouth to retort back but closes it just as quickly. Instead, a deep red color starts crawling up his neck and onto his face. Robin and Sparrow laugh at Wally's red face and pull him away. I glance over at Superboy who was still staring off into the distance. "Don't be up too late Superboy." He turns and gives a quick nod before looking back out. I hesitate another second before ducking into the tent.

M'gann had settled into her sleeping back with an electric lamp next to her. "You ok?"

"No," I respond honestly.

I pull off my jacket and set in down next to my pillow. After setting my shoes next to the door of the tent, I settle into the sleeping bag.

"I'm sorry about your mom, Clary." She says quietly.

I don't respond as I reach into the pocket of my jacket and pull out a picture. It was faded and torn but I could still make out the faces of my mom, Luke and I in it. I stare at it for a few long seconds before tucking it back into the pocket. "So am I," I say as I turn over.

M'gann gives me a small smile and closes her eyes. "Goodnight Clary."

I reach over to the electric lamp and click the off button, plunging us into darkness. "Goodnight M'gann."


So my original idea of doing all of the comics and episodes of Young Justice with Clary has been scrapped. I'm really interested in getting towards the Young Justice/DC world interaction with the mortal instruments world. I will still include comics, episodes, and scenes I feel are important to the character build up of Clary and plot development. Also, when I originally started this I planned have a third story, and fourth show involved, in the universe I'm creating and another character added to the team. So stay tuned on that!

For those who haven't heard Young Justice Season 3 has been confirmed! It will be called Young Justice: Outsiders, and be about fighting meta-human trafficking rings. Popculture has more information if you want it.

Criticism and Comments Welcomed!

Hope you enjoy this chapter!