Hey everyone! AvenJackel here (duh)!

Okay, fun news! I'm choosing my freshmen classes this week! So freaked!

Anyway.

Hope you enjoy this chapter! It gives some background hints for Sparrow, but is mostly just a filler!

****YOUNG JUSTICE****

After training for several hours (several hours that included Bruce's criticism, yelling from me, Dick and Bruce, threats from me to Dick and Bruce, and many bruises that were going to hurt in the morning), Bruce finally forced us to call it a day, much to my displeasure.

"Awww," I whined. "Can't I do some more training?"

"You can, but I'm not. Night Kairi, night Bruce," Dick yawned.

"Night," I called back to him as he walked up the steps. Bruce merely nodded.

"You should get some rest too," Bruce told me.

Oh no he doesn't. I rolled my eyes and walked up behind him. "What is it?" I asked, placing my elbow on his shoulder and leaning against him.

"What is what?" he mentally side-stepped.

"Oh, come on Bruce! Something's eating at you! What is it?" I demanded, straightening up and crossing my arms over my chest.

"It's nothing," he grumbled lightly.

"Is to," I responded childishly, pouting slightly.

Bruce sighed heavily and rubbed his face with his hands. There was an awful lot of paperwork scattered around the Batcomputer. What a sec, scattered? Bruce isn't messy, things have to have an order. It's worse than I thought.

But then I caught the heading on one of the papers and everything clicked. I scowled in his direction. "I wasn't invited," I muttered angrily, narrowing my eyes at the full grown man still dressed as a bat.

He looked up at me. "You were on patrol," he informed.

"So!" I yelled. "I'm on the team too! Shouldn't I have a say in things as well! Or is that why I'm also on the Young Justice team! Just to get out of the League's hair!" I shouted angrily, throwing my arms out.

"That isn't the reason, Kairi," Bruce sighed.

"Then what is the reason! Why is it that I haven't been on a mission in three weeks! Why is it that I haven't been to the WatchTower in four!" I shouted, my emotions getting the better of me. "What, am I falling out of favor! Don't worry, I get it! Practically raise me in that tin can above the world! Treat me as a real superhero, allow me access all the others don't get and then give me an excuse and drop me off at daycare!" I spat.

Bruce stood up and placed his hands firmly over my shoulders. "Kairi," he said firmly. "Calm. Down. Deep breath."

I shut my mouth before opening it to suck in a mouthful of air, hold it in, and release it in a gush.

"That isn't why you haven't gone lately," he reassured me.

I took another deep breath before looking up into his cowl-shadowed eyes. "Then why?" I muttered softly, trying hard not to explode.

He looked down at me for a few seconds, calculating, before turning away back to his work. "Things have been…hectic, to say the least," he replied curtly.

"How so?" I wondered, calming down enough to have a full conversation. Bruce sat back down by the Batcomputer and I perched myself lightly on the console, swinging my legs slightly.

"A lot more lawsuits," he started.

"You know I can help with paperwork. You even made me help you years ago, when I was six," I ridiculed with my arms crossed.

He glowered over at me before continuing. "There are more dangerous enemies."

I snorted. "Please. I've helped you face the Joker when I was five, Kobra when I was seven, and I went with Clark against Lex Luthor when I was eight. They may have gotten more dangerous, but so have I," I interrupted.

He glowered again. "The government has gotten more antsy with our whereabouts."

"You know the government just eats me up," I smirked cheekily. "And I have connections," I added when I saw him about to protest.

"There are new recruits," he tried.

"All the more reason to introduce myself."

"You have your Gotham duties and now Young Justice. You are too busy."

"When has that ever stopped me? And the League comes before my 'playdates.' Face it, old man. You're making excuses," I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

He looked back at me. "We are working on a top-secret weapon," he replied seriously, and this time I could tell he was telling the truth.

My eyebrows nearly rose to my hairline. "Cool! What is it? Why can't I help out?" I started.

Bruce went back to his work. "It's a ray that reacts to deoxyribonucleic decompositories-"

"The samples we found at several major crime scenes," I nodded.

Bruce nodded back. "It's not the safest."

I rolled my eyes. "Please," I exaggerated.

He looked back over at me. "Even I hardly work on it. I'm left to the equations. J'onn, Clark, and Diana do most of the physical work."

I nodded slowly, working out why in my head. "Because the deoxyribonucleic decompositories, when biologically reconstructed, revert their data to the anti-matter they originally were, killing any vulnerable DNA. And humans, not having the best biological systems, are extremely vulnerable," I reasoned.

Bruce nodded to confirm I was right.

"But," I drew out. "That does not mean I can't help with the formulas and what not," I crossed my arms again.

"You don't have to help us with everything," his reply was short.

"Right," I drawled the word on sarcastically. "But I want to help you guys all the time," I continued sincerely.

"You can help us by helping Young Justice," he turned and stared me down. I opened my mouth to argue, but he beat me to it. "The team is extremely important. Even though you've worked with the League before, you can still go around undetected and help out with Young Justice."

Well, when he put it that way. I gave in. "Fine," I groaned. "But I still want to visit whenever possible!" I demanded.

He turned to respond when he was interrupted by a loud beeping noise accompanied by a red flashing light. Instantly we both tensed and turned to face the Batcomputer's security screen, only to relax again as we recognized the familiar costumes of the League.

Grumbling to myself, I hopped off the counsel and went over to the control panel. It was a small box connected to the cave wall. I opened it up to flick some switches and press a few buttons in order, effectively shutting the alert system up.

"Really. Does Barry have to trip the alarm every time he comes to visit!" I grumbled.

Bruce made a noise of agreement and we walked over to the cave entrance. The heavy metal doors slid open and the League Council stepped in. Flash was the first to arrive, zipping around like he owned the place. His movements disrupted the papers Bruce had been working on, sending them all over the cave. One day, Bruce was going to kill him. And I would help.

The others alighted on the cave's ground and Barry stopped next to me. He rested his elbow on my head. "Hey there, short-stack," he joked.

Sighing, I picked his elbow off, moved it robot-like away from my head and dropped it. He merely laughed before rushing off again and ending up beside the others.

"What is it?" Bruce demanded, easily shifting into his 'Batman growl.'

"Top secret information. Best not said over even our communicators," Clark replied shortly.

A sly smirk found its way onto my face. "So what's this 'top secret information'?" I air-quoted, leaning towards Clark.

"Not for you," Barry laughed at me.

Frowning, I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at him. "And why's that?" I demanded.

He ignored me.

I sighed impatiently. "Why couldn't you just contact Bruce and ask him to go to the WatchTower?" I persisted, quirking my eyebrow.

"Who says we're going to the WatchTower?" Barry inquired.

My eyes widened for a second before they narrowed in thought. My smirk broadened and I cocked my head slightly. "You guys have all important stuff at the WatchTower," I thought out loud, drawing the sentence out for the anticipation. "If it's not there, it must be too big," I cocked my head the other way. I caught a look from the League members. I knew that look, it was the look they gave me whenever I was wrong in my thinking process. "No. Too unstable," I tried again. The same look. "Too dangerous," my eyes narrowed. Then it dawned on me. "Wait, no!" I exclaimed. "It's all three!" and I immediately knew I was right. "It's the deoxyribonucleic decompositories, isn't it!" I cried, turning to Bruce.

"Can I go too?" I yelled excitedly, jumping on the balls of my feet.

"No," Bruce replied shortly, going around the cave to gather what he needed.

My face fell. "Why not?"

"It's too dangerous for you, Kairi," Clark told me gently, placing his hand on my shoulder as I followed Bruce's movement with my eyes.

I turned to face the League. "You guys have become so protective lately! Yeah, it's dangerous! Being a superhero is dangerous! That's how our lives are! I've faced the world's most wanted before! What makes this more dangerous!" I cried in exasperation, throwing my arms up.

"It's not too dangerous for you," Bruce assured me.

I smirked happily and stuck my tongue out at them. "Wait a sec. Why can't I go, then?" I looked at them all.

"Because I said so," Bruce replied shortly, coming back to join us.

Turning to face him, I quirked my eyebrow, put my hands on my hips, and cocked them. It wasn't really my style, but oh well. Be open to new things. "That's a child's excuse if I ever heard one, Bruce," I accused lightly. "I'm not going to be satisfied with that."

"Because I ordered you to stay here," he emphasized.

He turned with the other members and they opened the heavy metal doors, about to leave.

"Clean this up," Bruce ordered me, pointing around to the papers Barry had scattered.

"What! I'm not your lackey, or your secretary for that matter! I think you're getting your personas mixed up old man!" I told him.

"You're right," Bruce confirmed, turning back to face me. "You're my partner. And a good partner does what their partner asks them to do."

Opening my mouth to retort, I closed it again to think about that for a few seconds. He was right. "You're right," I agreed, nodded my consent. "But," I drew out. "You are also my partner. Which means if you want to be a good partner, then you have to do what I tell you to do. According to your logic, that is," I smirked in triumph.

Bruce scowled at me. "You should get to bed."

"I'm not tired. Quite making excuses for me to stay here."

"If you have too much energy, go on patrol. Monitor the screens. Watch for any activity from Arkham."

I opened my mouth to argue, before sobering down. "Well, crud. I have no reasons to not follow that one," I mumbled to myself, looking down as I tried to come up with something. Stroking my imaginary beard, I finally sighed and gave up. "Fine," I agreed. "I'll watch Gotham."

The League members nodded and turned towards the closest zeta-beam. Bruce shifted back to look me in the eyes. "You still have to clean this up-"

"What!" I interjected.

"Or else you will clean the entire cave-"

"What!" I yelled again.

"With your toothbrush," he finished threateningly.

My face fell. "I think I'll stay behind and clean up you guys," I muttered, walking off to clean as the League zeta-ed away.

As soon as they were all gone, I smirked broadly and crept up to the one forbidden area of the Batcave: Bruce's chair. It was the softest chair in the world (though he would never admit that!) and was spinny and rolled around.

Bruce never let us sit in it.

Smirk widening, I stopped when I was right beside it, the supple leather scent reaching my nostrils. I checked left and right, in front and behind, before tentatively standing up.

I bet you're all thinking that I was being too dramatic about it all, but this was Batman we were talking about. That man had more eyes than a fly.

Sick of wasting time, I leaped up and over, collapsing into the chair. I propped my feet up on the counsel and leaned back, my hands behind my head. I sighed in triumph. Man, this chair was pure bliss. I don't see how Bruce ever managed to stay awake in it!

My communicator went off. It was on vibrate mode, and it managed to shake my entire body, along with the chair. I unhooked it from my belt (which was snuggled up under my tank top at the moment) and pressed the answer button, swallowing in dread as I already knew who it was.

"Get out of my chair." His command was short, but not so sweet.

"Not fair, Bats!" I shouted at him before he cut the connection, standing up from the chair.

I flipped through some files on the Batcomputer, got bored, set up the crime monitor, got bored, picked up all the papers and organized them, oh, and did I mention getting bored? All the while I was thinking. Thinking about how the Justice League still thought I was stupid enough to fall for their tricks.

I couldn't believe they actually thought I didn't notice. How quiet they were. Even Barry was, which was never good. Sure, he ran around, scattered Bruce's papers, messed with me, but it was subdued. And rather obvious.

Unless, they wanted me to notice. To make a big deal out of nothing. What if they wanted me to follow? What if this was just Bruce getting the League in on some advanced training that showed if I was responsible enough or not for the League?

I shook my head to myself and gave myself a small smack. "No, Clark and Shayera have confrontational methods. If they wanted me to go, they would have told me," I scolded myself for getting my hopes up.

But…I could never resist a good tracking expedition…

****YOUNG JUSTICE****

Thanks for reading!

Review please!

Love,

~AvenJackel