I've decided to answer reviews at the end of the chapter, so all of you can get right into it. Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. I only own my OC's. All rights go to their respective owners.
Mount Justice
September 17th, 02:33 EST.
This was going to be a long night. Jackie knew she was sick, but she didn't think she was this sick. She tossed and turned, sweat sliding off of her forehead as her illusions used whatever strength she had left to constantly disperse themselves.
Her illusions were non-stop. They were keeping her from falling asleep. They were making her question what was real and what wasn't. Was she even in the med-bay like she was supposed to be? Or was she lying down in her bed in her bedroom back in Gotham? Was she in Mount Justice? Was she really wearing her uniform? Or was she wearing her pajamas? Was her mother actually by her bedside smiling sweetly at her? Was her father actually standing by the doorway, staring intently at her as he watched her toss and turn? What was real?!
"Don't worry, honey," her real or not real mother soothed, "it'll be alright."
The teen whimpered and closed her eyes shut, attempting to ignore all of the illusions around her. Unfortunately, it didn't work; whenever she closed her eyes, the illusions were still there; she could see them in her own mind.
"Why is this happening to me?" the teen muttered and opened her eyes, frustrated that she couldn't tell the difference between reality and her illusions at the moment. "Why can't I just fall asleep?"
"Everything's going to be okay."
The teen girl looked over to her left to see her mother now gone along with the wheelchair she was in. She groaned and clenched onto her hair. "Why is this happening?!"
"You already know why," her real or not real father replied, sneering slightly. "You're sick."
"I know I'm sick!" she spat and glared at him. "I want it to end!"
He rolled his eyes and started walking towards her bed. She clenched onto her bed sheets and scooted to the other far side of the bed to keep distance between them. "Stop complaining already," he demanded and crossed his arms over his chest. "You'll only feel worse if you do."
She seemed taken aback by his warning. He was warning her about what not to do during her illness? He didn't care! Why was he helping her? "Why do you care?" she spat.
"I don't," he replied without hesitation. "I've clearly never cared since you view me this way."
"Can you blame me?!" she argued and sat up quickly, feeling her head swarm in dizziness from the movement. "You never treated me like a daughter! All I was to you was some girl that you could train to become a monster, like you!"
He sighed. "I know."
"Then why do you look so disappointed?" she questioned as she glared.
"Because you might never view me as something else, sweetheart," he answered in a whisper. "I love you and I'm so sorry, baby girl."
That's when she knew; he was an illusion. He would never seem so solemn and apologetic. He would never care. He would never love her. "Go away," she ordered as her glare intensified. "I don't want you here."
He sighed again before slowly fading away.
Once he was gone, she sighed and laid back down, letting a few tears fall onto her pillow. Why were illusions so good at manipulating people? Why did they mess with peoples heads? How did they know what to create to hurt a person?
She sniffled and wiped her sticky cheeks with her gloved hand. This was going to be a long night.
Gotham City
2: 45 am.
Jim bounced his leg against the wooden floor, feeling all the more anxious as he waited for the phone to ring to deliver more news on Jackie. She was sick, well, that was the term Batman used to describe it. The Dark Knight mentioned that the cause of her illness was her powers.
Jim knew exactly what Jackie was going through; Tony had gone through the same illness when they were kids. It was most likely her illusions that started the illness; Tony was the same. He remembered the traumatizing experience like it was yesterday.
Flashback:
"Tony?" Jim, ten years old, called out to his brother as he knocked on his bedroom door. "Are you alright?"
A groan was the only response the younger brother got before the lights in the hall began flickering.
Cautiously, Jim turned the handle to his brother's room and slowly opened the door, expecting a yell or an electricity ball to come hurtling towards him. But none of that happened. In fact, his brother didn't even acknowledge that he opened the door. "Tony?"
His older brother's eyes shot open and his head lifted as he stared at the door. "Jim? Is that you?" he questioned, his voice soft.
"Yeah," he answered and cautiously took a few steps forward. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I was hit by a truck."
"You've never been hit by a truck."
"It's just an expression, Jim."
The boy nodded and bit his lower lip, a habit he picked up from his mother. "What's wrong with you?"
Tony groaned and rolled over on his side, hugging his blanket close to him. "I think I overworked my illusions 'cause now I can't control them and they're dispersing random ones all over the place."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Don't come back in here for the rest of the night; you don't want a taste of what my illusions can do."
The younger boy nodded again and walked back over to the door, not knowing how much of a mistake it was to leave Tony to fend for himself against his illusions.
End of Flashback.
The next day, he found Tony sweating non-stop and screaming at no one in particular; he even tried to beat him because he looked like one of his worst fears; whatever that was, he had no idea.
Jim sighed again as he turned his thoughts back over to Jackie. He knew what she would be going through thanks to Tony's experience. One minute she would be seeing harmless illusions left and right, then the next she would be experiencing her worst fears. However, if her illusions were being relentless through her illness, she was most likely having trouble deciphering the difference between reality and the imagination.
He groaned in frustration and sat up from laying down on his 'bed', also known as the couch. Jackie couldn't be alone if she was going through the latter. She needed someone that was real to be there to comfort her and make sure she didn't go into insanity. He could have been that person for her if he knew exactly where she was.
He threw his blanket off of him and stood up, reaching for his gray t-shirt and gun in the process. After putting the shirt on and placing the gun in the back of his pants, and after making sure the gun was secure between his back and the waistband of his pants, he walked to the kitchen, feeling the cold hard wood floor beneath his bare feet. He pulled out a glass from a nearby cabinet and filled it with water from the sink.
He brought the cup up to his lips and before he could actually swallow, he choked when someone cleared their throat from behind him. As quick as he could, he slammed the cup down onto the counter, pulled his gun out, and whirled around as he pointed the gun at the intruder. The intruder's eyes narrowed, and Jim let out a breath of relief once his mind registered who the intruder was: Batman.
Jim placed the gun on the counter before leaning back, rubbing a hand down his face. "Sorry, I didn't think I'd see you here," he commented, attempting to start a conversation in hopes to avoid any awkwardness after pointing a gun at a powerful superhero.
"How do you know that it's actually me? What if I'm an illusion your brother created to distract you?" the superhero questioned.
"My brother wouldn't have created you to distract me; he would have created Jennifer or Jackie, even my daughter Brenda, to keep me occupied."
"Don't underestimate your brother. You grew up with him, yes, but that doesn't mean that you know everything that he's capable of or what his motives could be."
Jim crossed his arms and glanced down as he let the Dark Knight's words sink in. He was underestimating his older brother, he knew that. But if a time came where he actually needed to fight his brother to protect Jackie and Jennifer, he only had his gun and his knowledge on how his brother used to fight to go on.
"Jennifer mentioned you were staying with her for a while," Batman continued, walking over to stand next to the archway of the kitchen, looking through. "Where is she?"
"Sleeping, at least, that's what she went to go do after you called."
The Dark Knight hummed before walking away from the archway and towards the fridge. "When did you arrive?"
"A few days ago," Jim responded and crossed his arms. "How's Jackie?"
"The same as she was a few hours ago."
"You sure? She hasn't worsened in the last hour?" he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Considering that her powers are the cause of her illness?"
Batman glared slightly. "Judging by your tone, I take it you've had experience with this before."
"With my brother."
"And?"
"He got worse when he was alone."
The superhero hummed again. "At the moment, she isn't in control of her illusions. Because of this, she is forbidden from being around any of her team members to prevent them from getting hurt or stuck in one of her illusions."
"Tony kicked me out the first time he got sick too because he didn't want me to get hurt," Jim admitted and leaned forward, placing his palms on the counter in front of him to keep him steady. "When I went to check on him the next day, he was sweating bullets and couldn't figure out if I was a figment of his imagination or if I was his own flesh and blood."
"He had trouble deciphering what was real and what wasn't."
"Yep. I left him to his merciless illusions for the whole night, only to let his illusions make him mad."
"You believe Jackie is experiencing the same thing your brother did?"
"That would depend," Jim answered. "If she's thrashing around in bed, shooting electricity balls in random directions with no target in sight, or screaming at no one in particular, then she's having the same experience that Tony had."
"Did your brother ever heal from the experience?"
Jim frowned as his glare intensified. "Not until a few days passed."
The Dark Knight stayed silent for a moment as he stared at Jim before moving back towards the window. "I'll have someone check on her and to stay with her until further notice."
"I want a way to contact Jackie then. In case, she needs to talk to someone she's familiar with or if something goes wrong, I can talk her through it."
"I'll make sure to set up a way you can speak with her but only if it's needed."
"Thank you."
Batman nodded once before jumping out the window, leaving Jim to close and lock it behind him.
2: 52 am.
Worried was an understatement; Jennifer was beyond terrified; Jackie was sick, really sick, and there wasn't anything she could do except wait. How could she lay around and wait for more news on her daughter's condition to come in?
Her head turned to the side when the sound of muffled voices reached her ears. Most likely Batman was talking with Jim, hopefully about Jackie's illness. She desperately wished they would speak louder, so she could listen in, but they kept their voices low.
She sighed and hesitantly, yet painfully, turned on her side, feeling her broken ribs protest against the action. She winced and turned back over on her back, massaging her ribs gently to ease the pain.
What if Jackie was in pain? What if her daughter needed her help to push through the pain? What if her daughter was getting worse by the minute?
Jennifer pulled the blankets up to her chest as she thought about her daughter. She was always there for Jackie when she was sick and now that she wasn't, it was torture. She couldn't comfort Jackie during her distress. She couldn't cook her her grandmother's famous chicken noodle soup. She couldn't be there for her. She was always there but now there was a time in history that she actually wasn't.
Flashback:
"Jennifer, why did you bring your daughter with you?" Lexi, her coworker and friend asked before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "Isn't a bit risky to take her outside during the winter, especially while she's fighting a cold?"
Jennifer put purple woolen gloves on Jackie's cold, pale hands, making sure her seven-month old was warm and covered so her cold didn't worsen. "Yes, I know it's risky, but I'm not leaving her alone with Tony while she's sick."
Lexi frowned. "Jennifer, you're taking risks that could potentially endanger your daughter."
"I would never hurt my daughter."
"I know you wouldn't. What I meant was that because you're so afraid of leaving Jackie alone with Tony, you take her wherever you go and you know it's too dangerous for a seven-month old to be out in the cold when she's sick."
"I know it is, but it's also dangerous for me to leave her with her father."
Lexi sighed. "You need to leave him, Jennifer. He's ruining yours and your daughter's lives."
Jennifer took out a tissue and wiped Jackie's nose when she sneezed. "Believe me, I wish I could."
"Then do it."
She shook her head. "I wouldn't be able to support Jackie and I if we left. Also, Tony would come looking and I don't think I would be able to keep us hidden for very long. I would hate to see what he would do to Jackie if he caught us running."
"You can stay at my place."
"That would be the most obvious place to go; he'd go there first."
Lexi leaned back in her seat and took another sip of her hot chocolate. "There has to be a way."
"There will be a way," Jennifer assured and stroked her daughter's cold cheek with one finger. "Because of Jackie, I'm looking for a way and I will do whatever it takes to find it."
End of Flashback.
03: 23 EST.
Jackie covered her mouth as she watched with tearful eyes her father punch her mother in the jaw, knocking her out of her wheelchair and onto the cold, hard floor. She let her tears fall and covered her ears as she turned away from the scene, reminding herself for the thousandth time that it was just an illusion.
Her eyes widened; what if it wasn't an illusion? What if this was all real? What if her father was actually there and beating her mother in front of her.
"No!" she exclaimed and shut her eyes. "It's not real!"
It wasn't real, she knew, or she thought? Oh gosh, why was she second-guessing herself?! It wasn't real!
But it looked so real. The details were there, even the shadows. Did that mean it was real?
She sobbed and clutched onto her head, tightening her hold on her hair, pulling it slightly. She heard the door to her room open and sobbed louder, fearing the worst. She felt a hand being placed on her shoulder and jumped before turning over, seeing Kaldur'ahm standing by her bedside.
"Electra, are you alright?" he asked, concern lacing his tone.
She started trembling and looked behind him to see her father stand up and begin stalking towards them. Her eyes widened and she looked back at her teammate. "Kaldur'ahm, you need to get out of here!" she exclaimed as she stood up out of bed, the whole room spinning around her, and began pushing him, rather weakly, away from her father and towards the door.
"I don't understand," he stated then grasped onto her shoulders, stopping her. "Tell me, what is wrong?"
"It's my old enemy; he'll kill you!"
He frowned and began pushing her backwards. "It's an illusion, Electra. You must rest."
She planted her feet firmly on the ground and retaliated by pushing him backwards, her feet stumbling a bit. "No! We need to get you out of here!"
Before he could respond, the door to the med-bay opened and both teenagers looked at it to see three personages, each of them with the form of her father, in the doorway.
Jackie's face was beaded with sweat as her eyes widened. "No," she muttered then looked at Kaldur'ahm to see that he was no longer the Atlantean she saw as her fellow teammate; he was her father as well. She pushed him harder than she had before, causing him to stumble backwards, and let him go as she backed away from the four of them. "No, no, no!"
"Electra," one of them called to her, his voice sounding like Batman's, and started moving towards her.
"No! Stay back!" she screamed and fired up her electricity.
He stopped and narrowed his eyes as the other Tony's widened theirs. "Electra, whoever you see me as I'm not them; it's all an illusion."
Tears ran down her cheeks as she created an electric ball. "You're trying to trick me. Well, guess what! It's not going to work!"
"J'onn, can you somehow take control of her illusions? Or calm her down?" he asked the Tony closest to him.
"I could, but I would need to enter her mind," another representation of her father replied, his voice sounding like Martian Manhunter's.
"Then enter it."
"I would be most successful if I were touching her head, physically connecting with her mind."
Tony with Batman's voice narrowed his eyes again. "Grab her."
She took a step back as all the Tony's ran towards her. Unfocused, she threw the ball, luckily causing it to hurtle towards the Tony that was closest to her. He jumped out of the way and another Tony jumped over him and threw something at her. What he threw hit the wall, lodging into it, behind her and she didn't have time to register that it was one of Robin's birdarangs before it went off, releasing some knockout gas. She coughed weakly then squeaked when a hard body collided with hers, knocking her down. She fell on her stomach and would have gotten up if her arms weren't being pinned behind her back by her father. She let out a rough gasp of pain then a frustrated sigh when another Tony sat on her legs, preventing her from moving them.
Her vision became blurry as the knockout gas began to affect her. She blinked rapidly and shook her head as she weakly tried getting up, only for it to be a useless waste of energy.
"No," she muttered and let a single tear fall as realization that her father had her kicked in. She silently prayed that the beating he was going to give her wouldn't be so effective or painful; hopefully, it would be quick.
Feeling a pair of hands being placed on the side of her temples, she slowly looked up to see a blurred version of her father. She glanced back down, not wanting to see what he would do to her or listen to what he said.
She let out a tired sigh when her dizziness slowed down and suddenly, yet strangely, felt a sense of relaxation overtake her. She slowly blinked once before letting her head fall onto the cold tiled floor beneath her. The last thing she saw before falling asleep, was Aqualad kneeling down next to her with a sympathetic look on his face.
Flashback:
"When you're going to get your capability to create illusions," her father lectured as he sat across from her at the kitchen table, "you have to be careful to not overwork them."
"Why?" she asked, curiosity getting the best of her. "Wouldn't it be better to just use your illusions at full power? The enemy could be taken out easier."
He smirked lightly, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance, understanding that he was pleased that she was actually listening to him for once. "Now you're thinking like me."
"I'm only curious," she claimed then bit into an apple as she glared. "Don't get used to it."
He chuckled and folded his hands on the table. "Well, overworking your illusions can lead to injuring yourself as well as anyone else around you."
"Wouldn't I want to injure those around me?"
"Only if they're not your partners." He lifted his pointer finger. "Unless, of course, you have every desire to take out your partners for the sake of a mission or achieving your own goals."
She hummed and took another bite. "How would I become injured?"
"You would become seriously ill. Your illusions could create themselves and taunt you with whatever they conjure up. It is-" he paused, hesitating for a moment, "torturous to see your illusions turn on you."
"You sound like you've experienced it before."
He sighed. "I have, which is why I'm warning you to not overwork your illusions; you don't want to see your worst fears right in front of you."
"You have fears?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side and smirking slightly when he huffed. "Huh. And here I thought my dad was a courageous, yet feared, monster."
"Hilarious, Jackie." He folded his hands again. "I am warning you though; don't overwork your illusions."
She shrugged and threw her apple behind her, it landing in the trashcan a few feet from her. "I'm not even going to worry about it since we both know that I'm not getting the ability to create illusions. I mean, I passed the age that you got yours."
He smirked. "You don't get your illusions at a certain age, Jackie." He leaned forward, causing her to scoot her chair farther from the table in fear that he would electrocute her. "You get them whenever your illusions are ready to reveal themselves."
End of Flashback.
5: 12 EST
The teen girl gasped and bolted upright but held her head and winced when she felt it start to throb from her movement. She closed her eyes slowly and sighed softly as she tried to ease the headache.
"Electra."
She gasped and looked over to her left to see Martian Manhunter standing by her bedside, his eyes diminishing the glow of red they once were. "Manhunter," she questioned and sighed softly again, feeling tired, "what happened?"
"I am relieved to know you see me as who I am," he commented before answering her question, "your illusions overworked themselves. You are lucky that your illusions weren't as ruthless towards you as I expected."
"Illusions?" she whispered before her eyes widened in remembrance. "My illusions! The others! Are they-?"
"Electra, please," he interrupted and placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing her back to lay on the bed, "you must rest. You are not completely healed. You're illusions are still dispersing themselves."
"But I don't see-," she began before spotting Cheshire twirling her sais on the other side of the room, "oh."
"Yes, now rest."
"Can you see what I'm seeing?" she asked weakly as her eyes slowly began closing themselves.
"No, I'm only helping you fight through it. Now please rest."
She nodded once and obliged to his request, allowing herself to fall back into a, hopefully, blissful and nonviolent slumber.
Flashback:
It was a terrible night. Why did her father make her do this? Jackie wasn't good at fighting, like Cheshire was, so why did he think that pinning her against the assassin would be good practice?
She turned off the sink after rinsing her blood off her now wounded hands and sighed as she looked in the mirror. Her long blonde hair was partially saturated with blood from her head receiving a hard blow to it as well as landing in a poor guard's pool of blood. She grimaced and attempted to straighten it, hoping to make it at least stop frizzing.
She gasped and whirled around when the door to the girls bathroom swung open, letting in her opponent. She narrowed her eyes and turned back to the mirror as she continued straightening out her hair. "Did my father send you to humiliate me in here as well? Or does he want you to kill me?" she asked, her tone laced with venom. "I wouldn't mind, by the way, if you chose the latter."
The assassin sighed and took off her mask, revealing her face to the young teen. "If I was going to kill you now you'd be leaving your mother behind," she stated.
The thirteen year old glared after she finished her sentence and sharply turned around to face Cheshire. "How did you know about my mother?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"Your father mentioned her," she replied then shrugged. "I overheard him talking about her with one of his friends."
"What did he say?"
"He said he abused her, mostly every day," she answered then crossed her arms. "I'm guessing the same goes for you."
Jackie scoffed and turned back around to face the mirror. "What do you care? It's not like you've been abused before."
The assassin sighed, causing the young teen to quirk up an eyebrow as she warily looked at her, who was now leaning against the sink. "I understand what it's like to be abused more than you can imagine," she admitted softly. "My sister and I both do."
"Your sister?" she asked warily. "What's her name?"
Cheshire narrowed her eyes and straightened her posture as she walked over to Jackie, who took a slight step back. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that I know what you're going through."
"So what if you do?" Jackie challenged, placing her hands on her hips. "It's not like it's going to change anything."
"Maybe not, but you should know," Cheshire tried placing her hand on the young teen's shoulder, but Jackie shrugged it off and took another step back, "you have someone that understands."
Jackie scoffed. "Like a friend?"
"No, just someone who understands." The assassin crossed her arms. "But if you want to think of me as a friend, that's fine."
"Thanks but my friends wouldn't try to make me bleed on every limb."
"Then we're acquaintances cautiously walking through dangerous waters."
The thirteen year old teen hummed before sighing, giving up on her hair, and pulling it into a ponytail but struggled with making it look somewhat neat. "Here," the assassin offered and, before the young teen could protest, she took a hold of her ponytail and began brushing out her hair with her claw-like fingertips. Jackie huffed in annoyance, causing Cheshire to glance at her before successfully putting her hair into a semi-neat ponytail. "There. Done."
Jackie sighed. "Thanks," she whispered and washed her hands again to rinse off the excess blood from her hair as well as her wounds.
"Sure." Cheshire walked back over to the door. She grasped onto the handle but hesitated before looking back at the young teen. "It's Jackie, right?"
"That's me. The daughter of a monster. You gotta name or are you not going to tell me because of the whole 'assassin code' or whatever it's called?"
"It's Jade."
The young teen widened her eyes and looked back over to the door to see it closing, meaning that the assassin, Jade, left, leaving her to wonder if that was her actual name.
End of Flashback.
8: 34 EST
A groan escaped Jackie's lips as she moved her head to the side, opening her eyes and squinting before they adjusted to the light. She sighed in relief that her head didn't throb anymore and attempted to sit up, only managing to put her weight on her elbows as she looked around the room then froze when her eyes landed on a familiar Atlantean sitting by her bedside.
His head rested on the bed with his arms folded underneath him. He was breathing softly as his body heaved, making her realize he was asleep. She swallowed nervously and looked around for the Martian but discovered he wasn't in the room; only Kaldur was.
She bit her lip and looked back at Kaldur as she wondered if she should wake him or not. He looked so peaceful as he slept but he looked a little uncomfortable too. If anyone from the League or the Team walked in, no doubt he would be extremely embarrassed. But maybe they would understand that he was the Team's leader and every once in a while should get some much needed rest. Not to mention, what if he woke up and caught her staring? That would be more than awkward for the both of them and she would look like a creep. She sighed; she needed to wake him up.
"Kaldur'ahm," she whispered, hoping that that would wake him up.
When he didn't show any sign that he was waking up, she sighed and slowly sat up, feeling her body weaken, then shook his shoulder gently. "Kaldur," she whispered a little louder.
She heard him sigh tiredly and took her hand back when he lifted his head off the bed. He blinked tiredly a few times before he looked at her to see her awake.
"Electra," he questioned and yawned behind his hand before continuing, "are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she answered and smiled slightly. "Why don't you go home? You need some rest."
He smiled gently, yet it seemed more tired to Jackie. "I will be fine. It is you who needs rest."
"I've been resting for a while," she protested gently before yawning, "but getting some more shut-eye doesn't sound so bad."
He nodded once. "Then lay down and get some more rest."
She smiled gently and carefully laid down, feeling her body continue to weaken. She slowly felt her eyes closing and brought up the blanket to her chest. "Goodnight, Kaldur."
He widened his eyes in surprise before returning them to their normal size and smiling wider. "Goodnight, Electra. Thank you for calling me Kaldur."
She chuckled slightly. "You're welcome," she replied and turned her head to look at him, "Kaldur."
He sighed and grinned as he laid back in his chair. "Go to sleep."
She nodded once and closed her eyes as she let herself succumb to sleep.
Looks like J'onn had to intervene to help Jackie get through her illness. Lucky for her, he didn't go through her memories or see any of the illusions she saw. But I bet the Team, Batman and Martian Manhunter have questions as to what she saw after she tried resisting their help and threatened to hurt them.
Okay, review time. :)
Thank you so much for reviewing, Luna! I appreciate you taking the time to send me some ideas. Thank you for them and letting me use them. They're really good; I might incorporate them into my story. :)
Thank you for your review, Star. I already have the 'moderate guest reviews' option enabled. :)
Thank you, Ta, for your review. I did know most of what you sent me already, but thanks for the reminder. :)
Okay, so I could be completely wrong, but I believe there were three Guest reviewers. This is where I got confused, so if the guest reviews are all from one person, I'm very sorry. Please leave a name. :)
I'm labeling the Guest reviewers as Guest (#1), Guest (#2), and Guest (#3) like last time.
Thank you, Guest (#1), for your review! I do look at Young Justice Wikia to help me out 'cause I need to know when missions happened in the Young Justice universe. When you asked me where Jackie was during July and August, did you mean right before she joined the Team? 'Cause during July and August, taken place the same year the Team formed, Jackie was mainly on summer break and working at "James Cliff's Steakhouse." Towards the end of August she started her senior year at Gotham Academy. :)
Thank you, Guest (#2), for your review! I appreciate you taking the time to leave me some ideas and sending me links to stories you suggested reading. I found a few of them but not all of them. The ones that I have started reading (I haven't finished them yet) are okay. My favorite so far is the Shadow Ghost one; I'm really enjoying it so far. I couldn't find that one at first until you sent me the right link so thank you. :) Also, thank you for letting me use the ideas you sent. Oh! Before I forget, Jackie does not know that Artemis is Jade's sister. Jade hasn't, and possibly won't, tell Jackie about Artemis. Her father did teach her hand-to-hand combat, markswoman, and how to throw knives; he also taught her torture techniques; he hasn't taught her any other languages. :)
Thank you, Guest (#3), for your review. I already know most of what you sent me. :)
Wow that was a lot of reviews! I hope I got all of them. If I didn't, let me know and I'll write down my responses right away into my next chapter, so I won't forget. :)
Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome! :)