Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

Normal POV

Batman hopped from tree branch to tree branch with an undeniable stealth. Rhythmically and carefully, not missing a single beat.

For him, jumping from these branches was no different from scaling the tops of buildings and other structures in Gotham City. The only difference, maybe, was the humid climate, which seemed to be making his sweat linger on his body.

The Flash was directly underneath him, travelling by foot, of course. He wasn't moving his fastest, partially in respect of the moderate pace Batman needed to go, but also because of the tangled vines that he kept tripping over. He made a conscious note to pay more attention to his footing.

On the other hand, Superman was having no problem flying up above. He maintained a low altitude, keeping in mind that this was a covert investigation.

They weren't quite sure what they were going to walk into, but they knew that the coordinates Batman punched into the cuff on his arm were going to lead them to Brocco.

"Almost there?" The Flash called upward to the Dark Knight in the trees.

"Few more meters!"

They were still some ways away, but Batman's bracelet was beeping, indicating that the layer was near. The only problem was, there was no building coming close into his perspective.

He wondered if Superman was seeing anything. "Superman, any buildings up ahead?"

"Nope." He responded after squinting his eyes and searching for a structure.

The beeps on Batman's cuff continued to get louder and faster, until the sound became one, long, monotonous tone. He knew this meant that they had arrived. But arrived at what? There was nothing there.

Batman hopped his way down the branches to meet the Flash, Superman landing a few feet from him.

"…I'm confused." Flash finally let out. "Where is it?"

Batman pressed a sequence of buttons on his cuff and the irritating beep ceased. He did his own check on the perimeter, looking in all directions. His tracking device had never been wrong before, so he had to believe it.

"Those girls said it was an underground layer. But I assumed there would be some sort of aboveground structure. Maybe a building." He huffed, unappreciative of the amount of moisture in the air. "Or even a hut."

Flash started circling the area they stopped in. There definitely weren't any signs of a hut. Or life, for that matter.

Batman and Superman followed suit and all three of them were looking around without going too far. They all knew better than to deem the area as clear without first looking for some sort of latch or button.

It didn't take long for Flash to trip over another tangled vine on the mossy ground. His balance was tampered with, but he remained standing.

"Dammit." He cursed under his breath. How many times would that keep happening?

Annoyed, he checked behind him to see which vine he tripped over, but what he didn't expect to see was a large trap door opening slowly, ten feet from where he was standing. It wasn't just a gaping hole in the ground. It was a rectangular entrance. Manmade. And a set of stairs proved to be the way in.

"Good job, Flash." Batman commended his friend. He assumed that Batman hadn't seen him trip over the vine, so he decided to go along with it.

Superman was the first to step forward. He'd hardly reached the second step before Batman whispered to "stay low". Now crouching down, he slowly descended the steps with Batman and Flash close behind him.

Five minutes later and the trio was still walking down the staircase, waiting to come to its end. Wherever this layer was, it was farther below ground than they had anticipated, and the three of them were starting to feel the effects.

Their ears had already popped a few times, but now the increased pressure was causing headache.

"We have to be close. The place would be unlivable if it were any further." Batman let out a forceful breath, his voice showing hints of frustration.

Luckily, he was right. The staircase stopped right at the front of a closed metal door. On its right lay a control panel that appeared to be some sort of a scanner. There were no handles or doorknobs, which implied that it couldn't be opened with out using the scanner. But identification was needed.

Already frustrated enough, Superman stepped passed Batman and Flash and held the frame of the metal door with both hands, as if he were about to rip it open. Which, after all, would be no problem for him to do. But Batman stopped him before he could.

"We can't leave any traces of our presence."

Superman let go, knowing that Batman was right. If they wanted to investigate covertly, surly leaving a big, gaping hole in the door would blow their cover.

Batman had already thought all of this through. Knowing that the emblems on the back of Flor, Cryo, and Blaze's necks, as well as the necks of the villains, were used to keep track of them, he deduced that they must have doubled as ID.

He dug into the inner part of his cape and pulled out the image of an emblem that belonged to a villain, figuring that the villain embellishments would have a greater chance at getting accepted than the prisoner ones. Once he unfolded the paper and held it up to the scanner, a green laser immediately followed, and searched the image up and down.

The zing went off and they knew their attempt was successful. What they weren't prepared for was the door sliding open quickly and abruptly. Not knowing who or what would be behind the door, the three heroes pressed themselves against the shadowed walls, leaving the doorway open and empty.

From the looks of it, there didn't seem to be anyone walking in the random hallway that the door revealed itself to lead to. So Batman presented hand signals to Flash and Superman who were on the wall opposite him, and the three of them crept in.

Every few seconds, they'd hide behind random corners, walls, and statues, but they were still making progress. Eventually, the trio came across some sort of a lift. An elevator. It was definitely working. They could tell by the way the lights were blinking on the panel of numbers up above.

One. Three? …Six? Six floors? They knew that the level they were on was the lowest. The lift only presented itself with an 'up' button on the wall.

Superman kept his voice down. "How is it possible for this 'Brocco' guy to have constructed a six-story, underground edifice without having a…" he paused to search for the words, "a small village behind him?"

"I don't know…" Batman narrowed his eyes through his mask. All of these scanners and technologies proposed that 'Brocco' was smarter than they thought.

They stood by the elevator for a few more seconds before proceeding down the hall.

As they continued creeping in silence, the sudden sounds of moaning and muffled voices faintly filled the hallway, the vibrations echoing off the cave-like walls. When the noises only became louder, the only quick thing they could do at that moment was hide behind an adjacent wall.

Amazingly, the passersby didn't see them, but Batman, Superman, and Flash were able to view them as they walked away.

The perpetrators were two ill-looking men, wrists locked in chains, being dragged down the hall by two other men in black cloaks.

"Please… No…" They begged, their ankles dragging on the floor. Once the men turned the corner, and the bing of the elevator could be heard, Batman, Superman and Flash rushed down the hallway in the direction that the other men came from.

If those men were going up the elevator with the prisoners, it meant that the prisoners had come from this level.

The chamber was nearby.

Sure enough, a few corner turns and there they had arrived at two double doors. They didn't even have to use the scanner and open it to know that it was the prison. The crying, muffled voices, and bodily smells spoke volumes.

Batman began taking out the folded paper when Flash spoke to him in a low voice. "Hey, Batman, Superman, over here." He was some meters away from them down the hall, in front of another closed door. The two heroes walked over to him.

This one was more presentable than the door to the prison. Green lights were scattered all around the doorframe and a sign reading 'Authorized Personnel Only' stared them right in the face. It definitely looked interesting enough to check out.

Batman held the paper to the scanner, and another successful zing was heard. Prepared this time, the trio stood firm as the door opened. But they couldn't have been prepared for the realities of what was on the other side.

Hundreds of test tube-like pods filled the room, all lined up next to each other in a semi-circle. Inside of them? Men. Men in black cloaks like the ones they saw earlier.

Their bodies floated, limp and lifeless. And each pod had a symbol on it. The spirals, the number sequence similar to the picture Batman was holding, and the lion said it all.

Flash gaped. "There's your small village."

Florose, Blaze, and Cryochill were beginning to settle in at Mount Justice. It had been three days since their arrival, and they finally felt comfortable enough to venture off to places other than the bathroom, the showers, the kitchen, and the lounge.

Miss Martian had decided to give the girls a tour while Batman, Superman, and the Flash were off investigating. They were introduced to the library, the Mission room, the Waterfall room, the Souvenir room, and the gym. Cryochill immediately became fond of the library, but Flor and Blaze opted to spend most of their time in either the lounge, or their own room. In any case, all three of them made it a commitment to stay out of the way.

Not like there was much of a 'way' to stay out of. When Batman came back from the rainforest, he allowed Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad to return to their homes since they had been required to spend their past night in the Cave. Leaving only Flor, Blaze, Cryo, Miss Martian, and Superboy.

Over those next three days, Miss Martian would spend her time trying to warm the girls up to their surroundings, while Superboy was seen mostly in the workout room and the lounge.

She talked with them, made dinner with Cryochill once, and they even had the opportunity to go pick up a few sets of clothes, sneakers, and some toiletries together, funded by the League, just as Miss Martian had promised.

She had no trouble becoming friendlier with Cryochill, given their close age proximity, and Florose's talkative nature made conversation a breeze. Blaze was nice too, but Miss Martian was having a hard time trying to get her to come out of her shell.

Anytime she asked Blaze a question pertaining to her own life, she'd shut down. She was making little progress. But once she saw Blaze sitting comfortably in the lounge with Superboy one night, eating and having a casual laugh at the TV program they were watching, she decided that it was best to avoid the prying questions if she wanted to make friends.

She even offered the girls to call her by M'gann whenever she was off duty. Kid Flash, Aqualad, and even Superboy all offered their names, as well. Robin kept his to himself, using his usual 'it's top secret' excuse. Even if he wanted to tell it, Batman came walking in right as the conversation finished, and he gave one of his many orders for him, Kid Flash, and Aqualad to return home.

Another one of Batman's many orders upon returning from the rainforest was given to Black Canary. And she was feeling its displeasure already.

She walked down the hallway at an aching 5:45 a.m., remembering the conversation that took place between them the night before.

"What good is this going to do?" she asked.

"These girls have done everything to avoid even speaking about their powers since they've been here. We aren't running a hotel here. They need to be assessed."

"Do you intend to have them fighting? Do you want them to join the Team? What's the motive?"

"No. I just want to see what they can do. What they're capable of." He paused. "And I want to know why they have these powers in the first place. Find out."

Black Canary had disconnected the conversation, knowing that the Dark Knight had nothing more to say than this. And she wasn't going to argue with him. So there she was, up bright and early at 5 a.m.

When she arrived at the door leading to the girls' room, she huffed once before banging on the door as loud as she could, for as long as she could. She stopped when she heard the screaming she had hoped for.

"Get up!" She shouted from the outside. A few moments passed before the door opened and she was greeted by a tired, unsuspecting Cryochill.

"What's going on?" She yawned, her short, blue hair a puffy mess. Black Canary looked passed her to see Florose and Blaze sitting up on the bed, their eyes barely opened.

"Get dressed." She demanded and flicked on the light switch next to the door. Both Flor and Blaze let out agonizing groans and pulled the sheets over their heads because of this action. "Time to see what you've got."

"What we've got?" Cryochill repeated. "What does that mean?"

"Batman wants you three to be assessed." She stood with her hands on her hips, putting her weight on her left one.

Blaze and Flor shot back up. Did they hear that right?

"Assessed?" Blaze spat back at her.

Black Canary raised her head higher. She was already taking note on the brunette one's attitude.

"Yep." She responded immovably. "Be in the gym by six. You have thirteen minutes."

And without another word, she turned on her heels and walked back down the hallway, leaving the three girls to take in what she just said.

"What the hell was that?" Blaze spoke, the resentment clear in her voice.

"I guess...we have to get dressed now?" Cryochill half asked, half declared.

Florose hopped out of bed, already pulling the old t-shirts and shorts that M'gann had given them out of the drawers. Cryochill began making her own moves as she closed the door back and started towards the slept-in bed. She began pulling at the sheets, trying to make them neat.

"Get up, I'm gonna make the bed." Cryochill told Blaze simply.

Blaze looked at Cryochill, then at Florose, then back at Cryochill in disbelief.

"Are you guys serious!? You're seriously going and getting assessed!?"

Florose turned around from the dresser, holding a folded plain white tee and some black athletic shorts, while at least trying to run her fingers through her messy, blonde locks. "She didn't really give us much of a choice." Going to the gym and showing her skills wasn't much of a problem for Florose, anyway.

"Yeah? Well I'm choosing to stay up here." Blaze folded her arms and furrowed her thick brows.

"Blaze." Cryochill started.

"No! She can't force me to do anything!"

"I know, Blaze. But I still have to make the bed."

Cryochill had only said Blaze's name so that she'd move off of the covers. Blaze looked down at the messy bed she was sitting in and stepped off of it, allowing Cryochill to pull up its sheets.

She stood for a few moments before she began again. "I'm not going."

"Then don't! It's okay!" Florose insisted, now putting on a cheap pair of sneakers she bought while out with M'gann.

Cryochill finished with the bed and started pulling out her own clothes from the dresser drawers. "We'll tell her you didn't feel well enough to come."

Blaze still stood there with her arms folded. "…She's gonna be mad." She didn't know why she was arguing.

"Don't worry, Blaze! We'll make sure she doesn't get mad!" Cryochill continued, "It's okay."

Her friends were being genuine, with no tone of sarcasm in their voices, but Blaze was still feeling weird about their offerings.

"…But what if she-"

Her sentence was cut off when Florose went up to her, faced her, and shook her body from her shoulders. Flor was a few inches shorter, so she had to look upwards at Blaze.

"We got this!" she said while shaking her, elongating the vowels.

Cryochill was now fully dressed, sporting a red t-shirt and some black athletic pants. She looked at the clock once before heading towards the door.

"C'mon, Flor. We've got five minutes to get down there." Cryochill warned her.

Flor began walking towards the door to follow Cryochill, who was already out the room, when she turned back around to Blaze and called out, "We'll be back soon, Fifi!"

She closed the door behind herself, leaving Blaze in the room alone.

Now she knew what her friends' motives were, just by the old, affectionate nickname Flor had called her.

They were trying to protect her.

They knew that if she went to get assessed, it would only result in her using her powers. Something she had been refusing to do for a while now.

Blaze knew she was supposed to feel thankful because of this; which she did. But she couldn't help but feel embittered at the same time. Did they not think she was capable of handling the situation?

Blaze ejected that thought out of her head fast, realizing how dumb she sounded. It had been her own decision not to use her powers. She made the promise to herself. And things had been going well. Up until this point.

She sat down on the bed Cryochill had made, careful not to mess it up, and started thinking about the measures her friends would probably have to go through with Black Canary. A few tricks, their best moves, maybe even some practice on a dummy. Yep. That sure sounded like breaking a few self-kept promises. But why was it still bothering her?

Maybe she was even a little jealous of Flor and Cryo. How they seemed to fearlessly deal with situations. Like when Cryochill didn't even have to think twice about throwing those wind blasts at that crazy tree. And how she stood there like an idiot while it attacked the others. She cringed when she remembered that she'd even told Cryochill, 'let's get out of here', 'we don't even know these people'. If she had used her powers that day, the tree would've been finished in seconds.

But that was the problem.

Blaze began to get dressed anyway. She was still trying to make a decision. She weighed in on the positives of what would happen if she decided to join them. Maybe she could improve her skills. Maybe she'd be able to control it better. Or finally feel like it was a useful gift. Like it mattered.

The decision came when she realized that they probably wouldn't have her try her powers on another human being. The thought of doing this made Blaze want to vomit. It reminded her too much of…

Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts. Erase those thoughts, erase those thoughts, erase those thoughts.

Blaze scurried out of the room in a yellow tank top, some spandex pants that cut off at her knees, and some sneakers before she could change her mind.

Black Canary hadn't even started speaking yet. It was ten minutes past six before everyone from the Young Justice team finally showed up, decked out in their gear. Florose and Cryochill were standing in the center of the gym while Black Canary and the Team stood near the front wall.

"I told you all, six." She scowled. Her words directed towards Kid Flash.

"Part of me hoped you meant six p.m." he responded. Up at six, but still able to make jokes.

Black Canary sighed, pinching the space on the bridge of her nose between her eyes. She directed her attention towards the two girls.

"Where's you friend?" she finally asked.

"Sh-she didn't feel good." Florose sputtered out, rubbing her right arm with her left one. She knew that if her response were stronger, it would've been a bit more believable, but it was too late now.

"Huh. Coincidental." Black Canary said sarcastically. Now she knew that the brunette one was going to be a problem. "She'll have to catch up next time. No time to waste."

Hands on her hips again, she stepped forward from the bunch. "Today, we'll be testing your skills." She started. "I may not have seen them yet, but these guys have told me all about your elemental abilities." She gestured towards Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, and Miss Martian.

"Your flirtations with air," she pointed to Cryochill, "earth," she pointed to Florose, "and…"

Black Canary looked slightly behind her and to her right, pausing for hardly a second from her list.

"Fire." She finished, smirking while she gestured towards Blaze.

Everyone turned their heads to see that Blaze, was in fact, in the room. She had snuck in quietly while Black Canary was speaking.

"Hey, Phi! We didn't think we were gonna catch you here!" Kid Flash called out to her, waving.

She wasn't expecting to see the Team there, so her hopes of walking in unnoticed had shattered.

"Go join your friends." Black Canary told her, speaking a bit easier this time. Blaze scurried to Flor and Cryo without a word. She noticed the looks they were giving her were both shocked, and pleased.

Black Canary continued with her introductory speech. "Today is the first of many, where we will be testing your abilities to see exactly what you are capable of." She announced.

"Do not consider this training... We are not trying to teach you anything here."

She paused to walk closer to the girls. As she began pacing the ground in front of them, she noticed all of them straighten up. All but Blaze, of course, who stood there with her arms folded and her hip out. Sure she came down there voluntarily, but she wasn't going to go through this without a fight.

"Consider these next few days a test." She resumed. "The testing of your abilities, your limits, your strengths…maybe even your weaknesses." She stopped in front of Blaze, staring her in the eyes. The brunette didn't even budge, returning Black Canary's same glare. She looked tough, but she was crumbling on the inside, because weaknesses, she could name a few. And Black Canary could see right through this.

Walking back to the front of the room, she began again. "Let these tests be a lesson to you."

She rolled her neck and returned to her firm position, arms folded.

"You can't hide everything."

Erm, sorry if anyone felt this chapter was lagging. I've really been pushing to get the primary details out of the way, but I never wanted to rush things. Hence, ten chapters in and you still don't know everything about Flor, Blaze, or Cryochill. The next chapters really focus on character development, which I'm excited about! Hope you're enjoying it!

Note: Look! I finally figured out how to add in the horizontal lines...3,947 years later...

-GC