Hello everyone! I am so sorry for my inactivity. I am planning on continuing my story, but the passed two months have been very hectic. I have also been fighting some writer's block. But I am back now and I hope everyone enjoys. I would personally like to thank those of you who reviewed and those who personally messaged me. You all make me feel amazing knowing that people are really enjoying my story.

Chapter 10: Belle Reve

Another few days passed accompanied by school and the occasional venture to Gotham to do some patrol with Batman. It was pretty clear my mother wasn't planning on popping up any time soon. She made her intent pretty clear. With the relative calm, and I use the term calm very loosely, I was able to come to Gotham more and more. Being on patrol with Batman and Robin was a really nice change, but I could always tell they were on alert for not only crime, but her. I had been watching the news and they had named her Cryos. They were stating how there was a lull in the activity and that hopefully Cryos was gone for good. I knew better though. It would just be a matter of time before she became impatient and tried something more drastic.

On this particular patrol there wasn't really anything going on, so Batman told me I was done for the night and sent me on my way. On my way back to the zeta tube I happened to stumble across someone I wasn't completely expecting. As I was about to enter the zeta booth, it lit up and out stepped Artemis. She looked around before coming out and noticing me.

"Hey Artemis, what's up?"

Artemis seemed to be at a loss for words simply at my presence. I watched her with a confused look on my face.

"Are you heading home for the night?"

She jumped at my words suddenly realizing that I had caught her.

"No, I came to visit my cousin. She lives here. I live in Star City with my uncle."

"Really? I could have sworn Batman said you would be going to Gotham Academy. Don't you have to be living in Gotham to attend?"

This caught Artemis even more off guard as I watched her defensive exterior weaken.

"Fine, you caught me. I live here."

"Why are you trying to hide the fact that you live in Gotham? There's nothing wrong with it."

"I'm not hiding anything! I just want to keep my home safe."

"Okay then. Be safe walking home. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later."

As I entered the booth I paused before entering in the coordinates for the Batcave. When I came out I headed straight for the computer and began doing a little research. Something about the way Artemis was acting threw me off. I felt bad for trying to dig through her personal business, but I wanted to make sure everything was okay. As I looked more and more, I found out a few things about her that I didn't know. There was also one glaring thing we had in common. I sighed slightly before shutting all the files.

"She's probably worried we won't accept her knowing about her family."

I contemplated what to do with my new knowledge and eventually decided to bring it up to Artemis at a different time. I just hope she wouldn't hate me for snooping. Maybe she would feel better knowing someone else was in a similar situation. I made my way back to the cave for the night and passed some time before going to bed.

When I woke up the next morning nothing was going on, but Artemis was there. She was alone and I had a feeling she picked this time for a good reason. Megan and Connor usually were in the garage or off somewhere.

"Morning Artemis. You're here early."

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About last night?"

"Yeah. Could you keep the fact that I live in Gotham a secret? It would just make things easier."

"If you don't want me to tell anyone about it, then I won't. It's not my place to say anything. I did want to talk to you about something though."

"Okay. Shoot."

"You're probably going to be really mad, but I wasn't snooping for the sake of snooping. I was just worried about you. Why haven't you told anyone about your family?"

Artemis, as expected, was furious at first.

"You dug through my personal files?! How could you do that? Do you not trust me?!" I let her vent her anger and frustration before I finally spoke up again. I shifted slightly and grabbed my right arm with my left hand in a nervous gesture.

"You're not alone Artemis. My mom is the same as your parents."

That caught Artemis off guard. She was immediately silenced and stared at me in shock. I could only imagine what she was thinking.

"So to aim your question back at you, why didn't you say anything?"

"I was worried that the team wouldn't accept me. I mean I knew Batman and Robin would. They knew before I even came on the team, but I wasn't sure how everyone else would feel. Growing up, everyone avoided me because of it. I guess I just keep it to myself to avoid all of that from people I actually care about."

Artemis frowned and looked down at the ground.

"I guess we do share that then. Let's make a deal, neither of us will say anything about this. But when one of us is ready to talk about it to the team, then we'll do it together."

I smiled at the deal and nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

We decided that since everything was now dealt with, we needed something to occupy us. Without a mission or any homework I suggested sparring. Artemis agreed and we began practice. As we went through the usual stretches before hand we talked about random things. Wally, Megan, Connor and Robin were the main topics until we finally started sparring. I found out two things in that practice. One, Artemis is great at hand to hand, and two, if I'm going down, you're coming down with me.

Artemis was very quick and extremely flexible which made landing a solid punch or kick difficult. She would flip away or side step me. Eventually I managed to get a hand on her and threw her, but she landed firmly on her feet. Our practice lasted almost an hour before she tripped me up. As I fell on the ground, she let her defenses down and I tripped her up as well. Once practice was over we both got up and started laughing at the other's appearance. Our hair was a mess and we were covered in sweat. Our clothes were wrinkled and we both had a bruise or two.

"That was a great practice. We should spar more often." Artemis said while straightening up and wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"Yeah, I haven't had that much of a workout in a while."

We both sat down at the table and relaxed for a little bit before Megan and Connor came into the room.

"Eira, Batman is going to be coming soon with Zatara. He said to be ready." I stared at Megan for a moment before nodding and standing up.

"I should probably get going anyway. Later." Artemis stood up and headed to the zeta tube and left. I went and showered before coming back to the zeta tubes to see Batman and Zatara.

"The others will be arriving shortly. We need to get this done before they arrive." Batman looked to Zatara and nodded while he stepped toward me with something in his hand. He placed the items in my hand and I stared at them. They were red contact lenses.

"I may be able to age your body, but you eyes will remain the same color. Wear these at all times to ensure your identity is not discovered." I nodded to Zatara as he stepped back and began to recite the spell. He held out the palms of his hands and a bright light shot at me. When the light engulfed me I felt extremely warm. I felt myself growing taller and my body changing as it aged. When the warm feeling disappeared I stared at Batman and Zatara, wondering if it worked.

"Thank you Zatara." Batman nodded as Zatara left through the zeta tubes.

"So did it work?" Batman nodded to me before gesturing for me to follow him over to the computer.

"The only thing that is missing are your mother's scars. They can be duplicated with simple make up. Put on the contact lenses."

I carefully put them on and blinked quite a bit at the odd feeling. I had never worn glasses or contacts before so having something directly on my eye was a strange feeling to say the least. Just as I finished putting the contacts in, Connor and Megan entered the room. As I turned to look at them Megan gasped at my appearance.

"Eira?" I smiled at her and thankfully it still came across as my genuine smile.

"I look pretty close right?" Megan nodded while they both stood next to me looking at my taller form.

"If I didn't know any better I would have mistaken you for her." Megan's shock faded quick enough as one by one more people entered the cave.

Kaldur, as well as Martian Manhunter, Superman and Red Tornado all came. Once everyone was present, Batman began his briefing.

"This fourth of July, four ice villains staged simultaneous attacks. Mr. Freeze, Icicle Jr., Killer Frost and Captain Cold were all easily apprehended. Perhaps, too easily. Cold and Frost were immediately sent to Belle Reve penitentiary, a federal prison designed to house super-criminals. The seventeen year old Icicle Jr., was sent to a juvenile facility. Mr. Freeze to his usual cell in Arkham Asylum. But Freeze petitioned the court to be declared legally sane, and junior sued to be tried as an adult. As a result, both await transport to Belle Reve, which seems to have been the goal all along. I'm sending the three of you in to find out why." I nodded just as Kaldur posed a question.

"Who inside the prison will know their true identites?"

"No one. We can't be sure the prison staff isn't compromised." Batman proceeded to go over who Megan and Connor would be impersonating while I headed off to put on the make up for my "scars". As I was applying it, Connor and Megan walked by heading to Connor's room with a bottle of hair dye in hand. I was curious, but I needed to focus. I needed to think of how my mother acted and spoke so that I wouldn't blow my cover. I practiced on myself for a few minutes before I went back to Batman. The others had all left and I assumed they were preparing for everything.

"Your mother has fallen off the radar and was last seen leaving Gotham over a week ago. It is a safe bet to say that she won't pose an issue in this mission." I nodded before Batman gave me my run down.

"You will be slipped into the same van as Miss Martian and Superboy. Most likely upon arrival you may be utilized in whatever plan is being formed. Remember to stick to the mission. Aqualad and Red Tornado will be just outside the prison should the need arise to have the three of you removed."

"Understood."

"Good. Let's go."

Right as Batman finished, Megan and Connor walked into the room. Connor looked VERY different with blonde hair and the clothes he was wearing, but he played the part well. As we left Batman placed an inhibitor collar on me and I felt the familiar weight on my chest.

"I hate these things." I mumbled while tugging lightly on the collar. Along the way I changed into something more fitting to what my mother would wear. I was now wearing dark blue leggings with a lighter blue halter shirt and black heeled boots. The outfit to me was uncomfortable, but I would have to deal with it. I was soon dropped off by Red Tornado and placed in the truck by myself. They hadn't gathered up Freeze or junior yet, so it was just me and the guard. He didn't say anything, all he did was stare at me as I glared at him. I at least had to try and make myself believeable.

As the truck came to its first stop, Mr. Freeze was loaded into the special containment chamber in the far end. He was staring at me with quite a bit of intensity, but I couldn't tell if it was with curiosity or animosity. We continued along to the next stop on complete silence, soon picking up junior. As he took a seat he stared at me with confusion. It was clear on his face that he wasn't expecting me to be there.

"What're you staring at kid." I spoke in the most harsh tone I could while directing an equally harsh glare at him.

"Nothing." He glanced toward Freeze and they made eye contact, non-verbally communicating something. The truck continued on its way once again in more silence. It took about thirty minutes before we stopped again and my heart rate began to pick up. The doors swung open and in stepped Megan and Connor disguised as the terror twins. I pretended to ignore them as I fiddled with the cuffs around my wrists. It was bad enough we were wearing these stupid collars. I could see Megan looking around the small truck. I also noticed the expression on junior's face. I cringed inwardly at the way he was eyeing Megan. After a few minutes of quiet thought I heard junior start to speak up.

He was leaning toward Connor saying something.

"Dude. Dude!" Connor finally realized he was talking to him and looked.

"Your sister is sweet! How bout you put in a good word for me?"

I could see Megan cringing at the thought, but junior's little outburst got him smacked in the chest with the butt of a gun.

"Sit down. We're here. Welcome to Belle Reve." The prison guard opened the doors once we came to a stop and one by one we all climbed out. We were led into the prison and into an open area where a woman and man were standing on a balcony above us.

"I am the law of last resort. My name is Amanda Waller. I am not your mother, your maiden aunt or your friend. I am your warden. And you are my prisoners. The proprietary collars you wear are custom designed to inhibit your specific meta abilities. No strength, no ice. In addition, the collars can and will be used to discipline inmates. A con who breaks the rules gets one warning."

Suddenly I felt a powerful shock run through my body and I involuntarily yelled out in pain. The pain was brief but everyone felt it.

"If order has not been restored the next shook will render the offender unconcious. At the slightest hint of trouble, this facility goes into lockdown. Belle Reve's walls are thick enough to hold Superman. We know, we checked. No one's ever escaped Belle Reve. No one ever will." When Waller finished her tirade about how great Belle Reve was the man standing behind her cleared his throat and stepped forward slightly.

"Oh. This is Professor Hugo Strange. He IS your maiden aunt."

He stepped up to the railing and I got a strange vibe off of him. It made me feel uneasy under his gaze.

"Actually, I'm the prison psychiatrist and I promise you a sincere attempt at rehabilitation."

Waller turned a harsh gaze down at us before adding her own two cents.

"Because we know you types are all about sincerity."

After the speeches were down Megan and I were separated into the woman's wing. As we walked I could hear the other woman yelling to one another. Whenever I passed a cell though I earned silence and stares. Megan was finally directed into a cell with Killer Frost and I was placed into the one next to her's. The whole walk pretty much, Megan and Connor were communicating within the mind link.

When I took notice of my cell mate she was an extremely large and muscular woman who looked down at me. On the inside I was scared, but I wouldn't let it show on the outside. We just literally stared at one another for a moment before she climbed onto the bottom bunk and laid down. I forced myself to keep the same expression and made my way onto the top bunk.

The time seemed to drag on with little going on. It seemed like all that really happened was resting until it was time to head into the mess hall. As we all entered I was greeted by the sight of all the cons and a giant wall of glass separating us from the men. I could just barely see Connor on the other side. As I hung somewhat close to Megan I saw a fight break out between Connor and some other guys. I could hear someone almost blow Connor's cover, but I had a feeling Megan stopped him. The fight didn't go on however. It seemed that someone stooped it, but whoever they were, they were sitting on the bench where I couldn't see them. I noticed junior walking over to the bench and Frost approached the glass.

'They must be discussing the plan.' I told Connor and Megan through the mind link.

'Yeah, it's a prison break. They're going to get the collars shut off and break out using their ice.' Since Connor was on the same side of the glass as them he could eavesdrop easily. I contemplated for a moment as I watched the group of ice villains talking. Occasionally I would see Frost and Junior glance my way.

'They're thinking about bringing you in on it Eira. They're saying that if you helped Frost that the two of you could be through the walls in a matter of minutes.'

'Thanks for the heads up Connor. I'll play my part if they try and bring me in on it.'

An apprehensive thought settled into my stomach. What if they tried to hurt someone. If we did anything to stop them we would be caught, but if we didn't people could get hurt.

'Megan. We need a back up plan in case one of us gets found out.'

'What do you mean?'

'When the breakout happens, what if they try and hurt someone and we stop them? We would be caught right then and there. We need a plan for just in case.'

'You do have a point. We don't have very long to think of something though. Your spell will be up in a few more hours. We need to get this figured out fast.'

We eventually went back to our cells and within another hour, clean jumpsuits were being dropped into the cells.

'The break is coming. Sooner than later.'

'Updating Aqualad now.'

As Megan and Superboy spoke I began to put on the new jumpsuit. It felt slightly different to the touch, but I couldn't explain how.

'Time to pull you out. Call in the league.'

'Icicle would just postpone. We need to learn how they plan on busting out or they'll just try again.'

'I agree with Megan. We need to know how.'

I could hear a sigh from Aqualad through the mind link.

'Agreed.'

I smiled inwardly to myself, but another pressing issue was brought up almost immediately.

'Eira, remember that the spell on you is only temporary. When it gets too close to your time, we will pull you out.'

'Understood.'

It was a short time before I heard Megan being pulled out of her cell to go to therapy. I was not looking forward to my session. How on earth was I supposed to convince a psychiatrist that I am a evil person.

'Megan, I came up with our backup. Between the two of us, if something happens, you need to be the one to help whoever needs it. If you need to, I'll volunteer to freeze you. I'll make sure to keep the temperature high enough to keep you alive. Should we tell Superboy?'

'He would never agree to that. We may need to keep this between us.'

'Got it. Remember to keep up your cover in therapy. I wouldn't trust any psychiatrist in this place. They did mention that the prison staff may be compromised. You never know who it could or couldn't be.'

'Don't worry. I'll do my best.'

After the brief exchange I was now left with just my own thoughts. With only a limited time left on my spell I had to either hope that something goes down soon, or give it a jump start. I pondered and pondered for the hour that Megan was in therapy, but came up with nothing. As soon as I heard the cell next door close I heard Megan once again.

'You're next. Good luck.'

'Thanks. I'm gonna need it.'

My cell door slowly opened and a guard pulled me out. I was led through multiple halls until we came to a room with "Dr. Hugo Strange" written on it. I was rather roughly pushed in and was greeted by the man who was at our "welcoming" ceremony.

"Welcome, please take a seat."

"So Ms. Evans, I want to jump right in to our session with a few simple questions. Is that all right with you?"

"I don't suppose I have a choice, do I?"

"There's always a choice. You could choose to remain silent in our session, but that benefits neither you or me. I highly recommend your participation."

"Yeah yeah, let's just get this over with."

"Thank you. Now firstly, it states in your file that you have a daughter that you gave up for adoption. I believe that this could be a trigger for your more recent outbursts over the passed few years. How about we discuss how this has effected you."

"I put her up for adoption because I didn't want a little brat tying me down. That was fifteen years ago. I couldn't care less about her."

I had to make myself as convincing as possible. I just wasn't sure if he believed me. He stared at me for a long moment before speaking again.

"It would appear in your most recent endeavours however, that you may be searching for her. Let's elaborate on that."

"Searching for her? Oh it appears you've simply got me figured all wrong. I'm not searching for her, I think the word 'luring' is better suited."

"Let's expand on that."

"Ah ah ah, not today doctor. I'm afraid that's all you're going to get out of me."

I smirked as I saw the doctor visibly deflate for a moment before calling in a guard to escort me out.

"This session was quite enlightening Ms. Evans, I look forward to our next one."

When I was finally back in my cell I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

'How did it go?'

I inwardly jumped hearing Megan's voice in my head.

'I think I was convincing. Hopefully he thought so too. Did I miss anything?'

'No. Nothing other than it being almost lunch time.'

'I guess we can use that time to try and get more information.'

Only a short time passed before lunch. We we in the women's mess hall before the next hour. I prompted Megan to sit separately from me so we wouldn't draw any attention. I sat relatively alone as did Megan. I did notice a few specific villains all sitting together, with Killer Frost seeming to be the 'leader'. I strained my ears to try and overhear anything but I was just too far away. The only thing I made out was Frost talking about it being not too much longer.

'I hope this is soon. I can feel this spell weakening.'

'From what I can tell, Frost isn't positive on how much longer. She just knows a general time.'

I glanced to Megan and gave an unnoticeable nod before standing up and throwing away the trash just as the guards walked in to take us back to our cells. Once we were locked away and sitting for a brief period I heard Connor's voice echo in my mind.

'It's going down now.'

My body went rigid as I heard the sirens blaring and saw the flashing red lights. I suddenly felt the weight on my chest lessen and vanish. I was quick to freeze the God forsaken collar and take it off before my cell mate charged through the door. I stepped out hesitantly and saw a large group attacking a guard. I made my way over, meeting with Megan along the way. The guard was thrown to the ground and was pleading for her life, but I knew Frost had no problems with killing. I gave a side glance to Megan before I watched her defend the woman. Immediately Frost turned toward her with a gave an evil smile.

"Well Tuppy aren't you just full of hidden talents."

I saw Megan raise her defence as Frost was about to make a move.

"Frost, let me handle her. There are better things for you to be doing." I spoke in the cold and harsh tone I knew my mother used. Frost seemed to believe me and began to move. Megan chased after Frost and I chased her. Throwing a few ice blasts and intentionally missing. Once we were in the laundry room I made a huge racket as I blasted Megan with ice. As she was being covered I began to explain.

'This ice has a higher temperature. It will break apart on its own in a few minutes.'

'Got it.'

Finally I had completely encased Megan in ice and I could hear Frost and another inmate working on the wall.

"Go round up the others, we're almost through." Frost demanded. I ran off back toward the cells and faintly heard the beeping of the collars turning back on and screaming from the electric shocks. As I saw more inmates falling one by one I took notice of the few who were smart enough to remove the collars. Before they could make a move I froze them in place. They all stared at me in surprise before they started cursing at me. I made my way back to where Frost was after I made sure every last convict was frozen in place. When I entered the room I was greeted with the sight of Frost knocked out and the ice I had covered Megan in was shattered. Icicle Jr. was standing off to the side with a disgusted look on his face as Connor kissed Megan.

"Dude! That's your sister!"

I smiled as I watched Megan revert back to her true form. Junior seemed to now be putting the pieces together.

"What...wait, is she...and are you...oh, dad's gonna kill me."

I felt a tingle ripple through my body as it slowly reverted back go it's normal appearance. I let out a sigh of relief and a smile.

"Man it feels good to be back to normal."

I don't think Junior could handle everything before he just sort of wandered back into the Men's side of the prison.

It didn't take long for us to be pulled out of the prison. Red Tornado and Kaldur seemed pretty eager to get us out. The flight home in the bishop was quiet, but I could feel happiness radiating off Connor and Megan in waves. It made me smile to myself thinking of just how happy they finally were.

"Did something happen inside Belle Reve?" Kaldur questioned, also feeling the air around us.

"Not really." I said with smile before glancing toward Connor and Megan.

"They just finally realized how important they are to one another."

I saw a faint blush cross Megan's cheeks as Connor looked away to hide his face.

"I see. That is good news to hear. I wish you both the best."

The two nodded and I gave a little giggle as we entered the cave. We headed to get a debriefing from Batman before we were all released for whatever we wanted. I would have normally just gone to bed, but maybe staying up and playing a few rounds of video games with Connor wouldn't hurt.