Warnings: Talon is a pessimist and a potty-mouth. Not much really, that's it.

Also. 'This' is mental-link talking via Miss Martian and "this" is normal talking out loud, this will remain the same forever so I'm only explaining once. It's not exactly rocket science so I figured that was okay.

-Talon POV-

This was the second time in my life that I woke up in a bed and I strongly suspected that I could get used to it. Beds are comfortable. However, they are also suspicious. I mean, I got from never having a bed to having a bed twice in a row? That sounded a little too good to be true. There was no way something that convenient could possibly be happening to me. Plus, I was being chased by Deathstroke the fucking Terminator. There was no way I could've gotten away in the condition I was in. There was some sort of very blurry fight happening at the end of my memories, but the likelihood of whoever it was actually winning against Deathstroke the fucking Terminator is low. Very low.

"Are you actually going to wake up this time or are you going to fall back asleep?" The voice from before - Superboy, I remember his name was - asked.

"I guess I'll get up now," I agreed, opening my eyes properly for the first time since the fight with Deathstroke the fucking Terminator and looked around. JJ - whoever that was, I hadn't actually met him yet - had been right. This did look like a medical ward, just not one that I was familiar with. All the walls were a comforting of-white yellow instead of the clinical grey I was used to and there were curtains around the beds. The medical ward I was used to had metal slabs and restraints. I knew I hadn't been recaptured, at least by the same people. These ones seemed more friendly.

"Are you in any pain?" Superboy asked.

"No, I'm good." I nodded my thanks for the question, flexing my wings subtly to test myself and appreciating that my previous injuries couldn't even be felt anymore. Neither of us had anything to say after that so we both fell silent. It was comfortable, not faking a conversation or making small talk. Superboy and I were inspecting each other. I estimated that he was not concealing anything and probably wouldn't be very good at it if he tried. His eyes were just too expressive, even if his face seemed permanently fixed in some form of scowl. Overall, he seemed okay. I must've checked out under his inspection too because there was a slight relaxation of Superboy's shoulders to indicate his approval. I gave the slightest of nods in appreciation and the corners of his eyes softened slightly in response. He was definitely a good guy.

The door opened, breaking through the silence we were enjoying.

"I hope Superboy had been answering all your questions," Batman said as he entered and took position standing sentinel at the foot of my bed. He did not sit, retaining a position of authority through his height. Superboy and I shared a brief glance. Did he know we were supposed to be having a Q & A session? There as a nearly imperceptible shrug of his shoulders. Apparently not. Maybe we were both just socially awkward. Either that or there was some sort of unspoken rule about asking questions after being unconscious for a long time that nobody had bothered to teach me. I decided to take the petulant rout to handling the Batman, at least at first. I wanted to test my boundaries slowly and establish how much leach I could get out of this place compared to the old one, being nosy would be a good first step.

"Who are you people? What do you want? Where am I? Why did you take me? What kind of medications are in this IV? What happened to Deathstroke the fucking Terminator? Who brought me here? What happened to the labs I was being kept at? Have any of the scientists been detained? Did you find Red Arrow? Is his hand okay? Has he fully recovered? May I speak with him?" I asked everything as quickly as I could, all in a rush. Take that, Batman, I thought, Now tell me what I want to know.

Batman was impervious to my attempt at extracting extra information. "I am Batman, this is Superboy. I'm affiliated with the Justice League and Superboy is a member of the Team. We wanted to cut off Lex Luthor's supply of Nth metal. You are in the medical ward of the Team's base, which they insist on calling 'The Cave of Badassery' for some reason. We took you with us because Red Arrow insisted we protect you and because you needed medical attention that a normal hospital could not have provided. The IV is just a saline drip, no additives. Deathstroke lost interest in you after the Team arrived and left. The Team brought you here with the assistance of Red Arrow. The labs you were kept at are being investigated and much of the information and data they had there is being recovered. Most of the scientists and staff that were on duty have been captured but some are still at large. Red Arrow was the one who called in the Team and his had is fine. He is uninjured. You may speak to him next time he is here, as he is currently attending his classes at college."

Batman's answers were exact, not giving away any more than he had to. By answering everything I asked, he was demonstrating his trustworthiness, but I wasn't going to believe for a second that Batman didn't know interrogation techniques out the wazoo and could totally control this situation. The Lab had given me some serious paranoia issues. I had to remind myself that I didn't mind giving away their secrets because I held no loyalty to them, despite my training screaming at me not to reveal anything. Being tight-lipped wouldn't help me get out of here unharmed and that was my priority. I didn't have to worry about what the Lab would think about my decisions because that wasn't what mattered here. I just needed to get out alive and live to see another day. That's what mattered.

"Do you mind if we ask some questions of our own?" Batman asked. So that's what they really want. Cut off Lex Luthor's supply of Nth metal my ass. Sure, that's what they wanted at first, but now? Now they had access to something better: me. I was an asset and I knew it. Controlling me was advantageous. Just because I wasn't loyal to the Lab didn't mean that I was loyal to the League. I didn't want to escape just so that my leash could be held by a different hand. That wasn't good enough for me. But I could play this game. The honesty and helpfulness of my response would of course depend on the type of question. Bring it on.

"Ask whatever you want," I challenged subtly. "I have answers." Not all of which are free though, you may need to give me something in return. Batman would understand the implications of my phrasing. He was smart like that.

"How much do you know about your own genetic makeup?" Batman asked me.

"It isn't pretty," I told him, testing him out. Batman already knew. Hell, he probably knew more than I did because he had seen my files. That was fine. Superboy didn't know anything other than the fact that I had wings. I saw the question in his eyes but also his willingness not to ask and let me keep my secrets. It was that willingness that made me willing to answer. I didn't bother telling my story to Batman, just Superboy. Him I trusted and I wanted to prove that he wasn't wrong to put his trust in me too. "I am a modified clone. When Hawkwoman was captured, she was pregnant with Hawkman's child. That baby did not survive the extraction from the womb due to it's youth. It did, however, supply Thanagarian DNA to the Lab. The Lab modified and cloned that DNA. That clone was a failure. That clone is now dead. The process was repeated an unknown number of times, resulting in me. I am unsure who's or what type of DNA my genetics have been altered with or what number clone I am in the series. Due to the extremely profitable nature of my wings," I gave a cautious glance towards Batman but he gave no outward sign of interest, "and their ability to supply free Nth metal, there was talk about keeping me alive even after I resulted in failure." I definitely implied that the Nth metal supply would cut out if I died. I wasn't sure if it was true, but if it gave the Justice League incentive to keep me that way then that was a good thing in my books.

"I'm a clone too," Superboy agreed, nodding to me. Sharing his own story after I had given mine as a trade. "Cadmus got a hold of Superman's DNA and filled what gaps they could with Lex Luthor's. Aqualad, Robin, Kid Flash and JJ rescued me and together we started the Team. You can stay here if you'd like."

I reexamined Superboy. He wasn't lying. Obviously. And I could tell he meant well. But I wasn't sure he quite understood me the way he thought he did.

"So you're a finished product then?" I asked. Superboy's eyes betrayed his confusion at the term. "If you don't know what I'm talking about then you definitely are. I am not the end result of a series of experiments. I'm just a step in the process, not a finished product like you are. It isn't the same. You're perfect, or as close to it as they can make you. I'm a failure waiting to happen." Superboy frowned at me. He still didn't understand but he could guess and obviously some of his guesses were close to the mark because he didn't like them. I knew he was a good guy.

"Would you like to meet your parents?" Batman asked, interrupting slightly.

I was completely baffled. Not only had that question completely derailed the conversation I was having with Superboy, but it didn't make any sense. "I don't have any parents. I am not the child of Hawkman and Hawkwoman. That child is dead. I'm actually pretty sure that child was female, which I am not. I'm not even a clone of that child what with all that had been done to me. I'm not even a full Thanagarian of the same species as them. Why would they want to talk to me?"

"You are as close as they'll get," Batman pointed out blandly.

"So I am meant to act like a replacement for the child they lost?" I asked. "No thank you. That isn't right. They deserve closure after their child's death. My presence would only make things worse." I didn't mention that I didn't have the right to call them parents either after everything that had been done to me. I wasn't their kid and I couldn't fool myself into thinking that I was. It was better this way.

Batman obviously did not see things my way. "They already know of your existence."

"WHAT?!"

-Wally West/Kid Flash POV-

We were all hanging out in the kitchen, discussing what to do about our possible new addition that Supes was watching over when JJ leapt up in alarm and spun about, an array of knives appearing out of nowhere, fanned out in each hand as he dropped into a defensive position. "Da fuck was that?!" he shouted, glancing around.

Miss M backed away immediately, apologizing at a million miles and hour. And I know what a million miles an hour looks like. It's fast. "I forgot!" she exclaimed, "We talked about this earlier but you weren't there! And I'm sorry, JJ, I didn't realize because you were- um, elsewhere and I didn't mean to-"

"That wuz telepathy?" JJ asked, frowning now, head cocked to one side. His knives were still out and he was still in his stance but I knew from experience that was just because he forgot to put them away, not because he still sensed a threat. It was always nerve-wracking on some level when JJ forgot he had weapons out, but knives were less unsettling than guns so I let it go for now. JJ carried guns less often as a concession to Batman too, which helped my peace of mind.

"Uh, yes, it was," Miss M explained shyly, "I'm sorry. I forgot that you are supposed to ask permission on this planet. It's not like back home. Everyone uses telepathy so it isn't such a big deal there and I didn't mean to intrude or scare you or anything. I'm sorry."

"That's not my issue," JJ dismissed. "I- It's just- Is that safe?" JJ wasn't looking at us, instead staring intently at the microwave as if he were addressing his question over there. He must have seen the reflection of his knives there because he started putting them away one by one while he talked. "I heard once… that Señor Green tried that with- with the Joker an'… it was unpleasant. Da- the Joker was braggin' all about it. 'E was crazy proud that 'e was too… that Señor Green couldn't manage to... What I mean is, am I… like that too? Am I too... like him?"

I sucked in a breath. JJ had never liked his dad. His mom? Sure, he loved her right up until she tried to kill him, maybe even now. But his dad… I think he blamed the man for driving his mother insane, for the pain he caused, for destroying his childhood, and more than anything for the genetics which made them the same. Insanity was in JJ's blood. It doesn't matter what a person's intentions are, everyone slips up on occasion. Everyone had bad days. But with JJ… people tend to die painfully on his bad days. Sometimes he cracks as some sort of self-defense mechanism, but not always. Rob and I can't blame JJ for what happens when he's like that. But somewhere along the line, he started blaming himself and that was even worse.

Batman had taken some convincing in the beginning but he got used to the idea and accepted JJ in the end anyway. That guy didn't trust easily so Rob and I just considered it an accomplishment. My Uncle Barry wasn't sure what to make of JJ at first and then just decided to treat him like a normal kid. Aunt Iris was taken with him immediately. Uncle Barry and I once kidnapped JJ, for Christmas. For a little bit, I thought we could get him to stay with us. JJ was already gone when we got up the next morning. He walked all the way back to Gotham on foot. Neither of us tried kidnapping him again, though we constantly offered for him to stay.

"I…" Miss M obviously didn't want to lie to JJ and hadn't thought of this issue before. "Let me just test it out, okay?"

JJ nodded. It was a tense moment. Rob and I glanced at each other. JJ would be crushed if he couldn't do this. If his mind hurt Miss M too much for her to look at. If he were too crazy to be part of the team. That's how he would see it anyway. Aqualad gave me a look, unsure of if he should be interfering somehow and helping JJ, wanting to be helpful but unsure how to help. I held up a hand for patience on his part and while he frowned, he also shifted back into a slightly more neutral stance.

JJ grinned. I could feel Miss M expand the connection to the rest of our minds. It was amazing how quickly we had all adapted to the sensation of having another mind present in our heads and how easily we could identify each other. It felt natural.

'You mean it's not a problem?' JJ sounded obviously ecstatic and partially relieved.

'Not an issue in the least,' Miss M promised him earnestly. 'Your mind feels different, but so does everyone's really. As long as I'm not intentionally digging through your memories - which I would never do - it's fine. Communicating is easy. It's no problem.'

'YAY!' JJ shouted internally, jumping up and hugging her tightly. 'Mental confetti!'

There was a burst of color behind my mind. It was the strangest sensation. I didn't see anything and wasn't hallucinating with my eyes, but I felt a flurry of JJ's boundless energy, color and joy at being part of the Team. Rob and I smirked at each other. The Team would be good for JJ.

'Congratulations, my friend,' Kaldur nodded to JJ,walking over to put a hand on his shoulder, 'I am glad that this worked out in our favor.'

'Yeah,' Robin grinned, 'me too.'

'Where did you pull those knives from anyway?' I asked, 'They just sort of appeared.'

"Secret pocket," JJ shrugged.

"There's a special lining on the inside of his hoodie. There's five on each side," Rob reported.

'That spoilsport,' JJ complained mentally. 'Selling out my secrets. I'll get him for that.'

'We can still hear you,' Rob pointed out amusedly.

"Damn it!" We all laughed. Yes, the team would be very good for JJ. It might even be just what he needed. Maybe we could help the new kid too while we were at it.