Hey! Today is two holidays, Earth Day, and, today I have been on Fanfiction for a full month, and look at what I've done already! So, I am posting this chapter in honor of my month here, and because Robbie and I made a bet. Enjoy! Oh, one more thing, thank you to rainbowunicorns459, I can't believe that I was the one person who convinced you to keep going, with my one review, this one is for you, my other readers and, like always, Robbie, I luv ya all! XD, Enjoy!
Bella: yay, this chapter is going to be soooo much fun.
Dick: Why so sarcastic? (To the tune of the line 'Why so serious?' From raise your glass by P!nk.)
Me: You'll see *smirks like robin does when he gets a good (read: bad) idea.*
Wally: Oh, crap, Tora, your screwed.
Bella: I already knew that, start the story, Firecracker.
Me: Thanks, B- err, Tor.
(Breakline)
Kaldur and I have been dating for a week now and it's been nice, and, well, more fun. A few reasons for that: One, Wally flirts with me less, which I'm glad for, he can get very annoying. Two, Kal seems more, human now, I've been showing him more surface slang and stuff, but, hey, we're both learning about that kind of stuff. Three, he seems, protective of me, which feels nice, to not look out for myself. Well, my brothers are like that, but, it's not the same, not really. Tonight is my first night back at the manor, Dick says they have a big surprise for me, I really hope it's not anything... Crazy related, but, knowing my family, at is impossible. Im walking up to the manor and I open the door.
"Todd! Get back here!" Damian dreams as Jason runs down the stairs, the former chasing the latter.
"Hi, Babybird, you're back, huh?" Jay asks as Damian tackles him and starts trying to find... Something.
"Yeah," I say, eyeing my older brothers wrestling on the floor in from of me. "Jay, what did you do, or steal this time?" I ask, tapping my foot as Damian tries to punch him. I roll my eyes and attack Dami, driving my knee into the back of his and grabbing his arm and twisting it as I put it on the opposite side of his ribcage.
"Aghh! Alright, I'll get of Todd, Bella!" Dami says as I get up and help Jay to his feet. Then, I punch him, lightly in the jaw.
"Jay! What did you do?!" I shout, drawing the attention of a weary Tim and a bubbly Terry.
"Hey, Bel... What's going on?" Terry asks as he sees Dami rubbing his arm, a disheveled Jason, correction, even more disheveled Jason.
"That's what I'm trying to find out, Terrs!" I say, turning towards Jason "tell me, now." I say, glaring at him.
"I actually was running to go get you, Mr. Party Pooper Jr. over here, stopped me, we have a ... surprise for ya, and Jr. here was 'under orders' ". Jason says, curling his fingers to make quotation marks in the air.
" Idiots," I mutter.
"Oh, that, yeah, Bruce wanted to surprise you, but, this can do." Tim says, his eyes brightening and his face lifting.
"I'm gone for one week and suddenly there's a big event that has you guys happier than I've seen you since..." I trail off, sprinting up the stairs, to Stephanie's room once I make it there, I stop to catch my breath as I open the door. There she is, alive, reading Harry Potter on her bed. "Steph!" I shout, trying not to run to her bed.
"Hey, kiddo, how're you?" She asks, ruffling my hair as I sit on her bed, next to her.
"Honestly, I'm a little overwhelmed, I'm gone for a week, and when I come back, you're out of your coma." I say, smirking then I ask. "How?"
"Tim was able to dissolve the poison and treat the Fear Toxin, it took awhile to find out how to do it carefully, but, hey I'm just glad I'm not late." She jokes, as she asks me about what happened while she was out. Then, she asks, "So, I hear you're staying at the cave for awhile?" She asks raising an eyebrow, she's going somewhere with this, I know it.
"Yeah, I need to get away for a bit longer, I'll be back home in oh, another week or so." I admit, shrugging, what's she getting at.
"Is there another reason or person as to why you're staying at the cave?" She asks slyly, there it is; I blush slightly, but, of course, she notices.
"Maybe... Yeah, Kal and I got together a week ago." I admit, knowing it was pointless to hide anything, or lie.
"Damn, I owe Terry 20 bucks, my money was on you ignoring the boys and being..." Steph says, looking playfully downcast.
"Emotionally detached?" I guessed, "New, my time with Slade did make me distant on the inside, but, it also made me crave more emotional connections." I explain.
(Breakline)
Back at the cave, Dick, Robin and I are in great moods and we decided to have another movie night, this time, Disney movies, only. One of the first ones, placed there by Megan, innocent Megan was the Lion King. Immediately, I snach it away and give it to Wally.
"Burn it, Wally, burn it." I say, smirking as I thought of two weeks ago, Wally, Dick, Terry, Jason, Roy and I had a giant bonfire, consisting of copies of The Lion King. We burned movies, books, plays, any copy we could find. We do it with each of the 'sinister six' as we call ourselves, we have giant bonfires representing a popular item that reminds us about our pasts.
"Bonfire?" He asks, thinking what I'm thinking.
"Naw," I state, shaking my head. "Go to the grotto and light it on fire with this," I say, tossing him the cigarette lighter I took from Jason's utility belt.
"Got it," he states, zooming away as Robin comes in and raises an eyebrow.
"Lion King, lighter." I say, sitting on the couch next to Kal as we start the first movie, Toy Story.
(Breakline)
Later, after about four or five movies, we all head to bed. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow, but my dreams are anything but pleasant.
"I said, GET UP!" The man clad in black and orange shouts above the little blond boy in front of him and I seethe with anger. The boy can't be older than five and Slade is hovering above him with a whip. "Y-yes M-master" the boy says, shaking as he tries to rise from his knees, but falls. I hear the "CRACK" of the whip and the laughter of Slade. I run to the training room."Stop, Slade!" I shout, letting the whip hit my flesh as I barely feel it through the adrenaline coursing through me. He gives me a quick uppercut to the jaw and the stomach, and, when I fall, his steel-tipped boot slams into my gut as the whip strikes me and the boy behind me. I suppress a scream as I grab his boot and yank it, but my efforts are futile, as he kicks me in the head, I lose consciousness.
(Nightmare Breakline)
"T-tora?" A little voice outside my door whispers. "Yeah, Johnny?" I ask, opening my door and picking up the six year-old boy I see as my little brother. "M-my heart h-hurts I-I want s-someone t-to m-make i-it f-feel better. I-I want s-someone to l-love m-me." He cries as I set him down on my bed. "It's okay, Johnny, I love you, and one day," I choke on my words. "One day we'll be safe, together, alright?" I ask as he nods, soon, I feel his breath ebpven out. Carefully, I take him to his room, not wanting to see the punishment Slade would give him if he found out Johnny was with me. Once there, I place him in his bed, "don't worry, little brother, I love you, we'll be safe, one day." I say, walking out the door. There, I am met with a masked Deathstroke. "Bellatora, just what do you think you're doing?" He asks as he pulls out his whip and a knife. After giving me nearly 80 lashes, he took the knife and carved deep, jagged lines in my upper arms and shoulder. Once done, he stood up, above my bleeding body and handed me a med kit. "Clean yourself up, you hardly earn the title 'Bellator' if you become soft on a pathetic, stupid, worthless boy like Jonathan." He says, kicking me with each word until I let out a high-pitched scream...
(Breakline, out of Nightmare)
I sit up, still screaming as Kaldur comes in the room and takes me in his arms. "Shh, Angelo, it was only a nightmare." He says, reassuringly, but I shake my head 'no' and turn to him.
"I-it wasn't only a nightmare," I say, closing my eyes and seeing John's vibrant, emerald green ones. "I-it was a memory, f-from my time with Slade." I say, as tears began to stream down my face. I can feel Kaldur's grip tighten a little around me.
"Why don't you tell me, it might help?" Kaldur suggests, and I nod in agreement, wiping my eyes and taking a deep breath, I begin.
"While I was there, there was a little boy named John, he was like a little brother for me. I took countless beatings for him, he would've died with all the ones his small body was taking. H-he was only f-five when Slade took him, i-it was h-horrible." I say, still crying as Kaldur's face seems to tighten in anger. I continue. "First, I dreamed about when I first met him, Slade started whipping him because he couldn't get up after a brutal training session, and I ran in to protect him. We both ended up getting whipped and I remember blacking out. The second one was of a time after we bonded, when he became my little brother. He was coming to my door, telling me his heart hurt, that he needed someone to love him. I told him that I loved him and, one day, we'll both be free." I choke, knowing, I haven't kept my promise, 'I'll get him out of there, soon' I tell myself. "He fell asleep and I carried him to his room, when I left, Deathstroke confronted me, whipped me, cut me and kicked me, then I woke up." I finished my voice shaking as I turned my head into his chest.
"That... Joker Venoming Captain Cold." He growled, his voice thick with anger as he held me close. "I'm never letting him hurt you, or that boy, again." He promised as I faded into a dreamless sleep.
(Breakline)
I wake up to Kal still holding me, I give him a quick kiss on the forehead and walk out of the room to eat breakfast. After breakfast we trained when GA came in asking mom about a... Train table and a kid.
"What's going on? What kid?" I ask trough the mind link.
"Who knows?" Wally said. I tuned back in when mom metioed the name 'Jonathan'. I looked at Kaldur and left the room, leaving him to make up an excuse about it.
(3 hours later...)
We all walked in civvies, to the main room by the Zeta Tubes as they roared to life, announcing the arrival of "Green Lantern: Jordan" and "authorised Guest", other leaguers were already here. I look at the mop of blond hair against the lantern symbol as Hal set the kid down and spoke softly to him. Then, the boy turned around, and simultaneously, we locked eyes and shouted eachother's names. " Jonny!" "Torrie!" And we colided into a hug, sinking to the floor as I murmured:
"It's okay, I have you now, little brother, I have you."
(Breakline)
Me: There ya go, Robbie! Well, take it away, my friends.
Artemis: Wait! Disclaimer! Firecracker only owns the plot, Tora and John.
Me: Part of the plot goes to Robbie, thanks for your awesome ideas! Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and favorited my story, you guys are awesome, keep it up! No, take it away!
Robin: Stay Whelmed,
Kaldur: Get Traught,
Jason: Feel the Aster,
Dinah: now, our newest phrase:
Stephanie: and Crash the Mode
Me: Firecracker OUT!
