Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice!

Chapter 14

The moment I was conscious, I knew something was very wrong. I hadn't even opened my eyes yet either.

For one thing, my head was throbbing. Which could mean a lot of things.

One, I accidentally fell down the stairs and hit my head hard. Two, I got hit in the head by some villain (probably in Gotham since they do like to hit people on the head) and was probably kidnapped and being used as-

Wait, a minute. Is that the sun I feel on my face? And it was hotter than I remembered. Almost to the point where my skin was being roasted (which is rare for me).

I moved my stiffened arms and curiosity peaked within me. Beneath my fingertips, I felt some type of grain reminding me of sand. Now being more conscious, I could feel some soft beneath my back and I was lying down.

Slowly opening my eyes, they were blinded by the light as I yelled in reflex. My hands flew to my face and they were slightly sticky.

Turning my body over so my back was facing the sun, I opened my eyes.

Spots danced in my eyes while I was blinking rapidly with tiny sand particles falling out-

Wait a minute (again).

Sand?

My brain now fully awake, panic rushed through me. There was sand beneath me and were extremely warm. Instantly I knew I was in a desert; since there was no indication of the saltiness of the ocean in my mouth or in my nose and I couldn't hear the waves.

Through my fingers, I could see dried blood on them. My breathing hitched and I couldn't breathe.

Did I-

My head throbbed even more and I rose to massage my temples. To my surprise, I found something wrapped around my head. The texture was rough and reminded me of a bandage or gauze. It was also slightly padded and I looked up.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to re-adjust to the harsh lighting but when I did, there was only a vast land of sand that didn't seem to end.

"What the fuck?" I uttered before I got to my knees. I just sat there and stared ahead of me, trying to gather my bearings.

My mouth felt slightly dry but it wasn't to the point of dehydration. I was dressed well enough for the sweat underneath my clothes being converted as an automatic cooling system.

It would be a while before I collapsed due to heat stroke but I had to figure something out.

Why the heck was I in a desert?

I don't remember anything… much.

I looked around to find an indication of where I was exactly but surprise! There was only more sand.

"First thing first, find some shelter first" I said to myself before getting up. Trudging through the sand, I realized something.

There was only sand and occasionally, a huge slab of rock. I just stood there to rethink my plan. Thoughts raged through my head. How did I get here in the first place? Why was I here in the first place? Am I alone? What am I even doing here? Does anyone know I was here?

I could hear whispering in my head and I knew that whispering. I felt irritated when the whispering were getting more and more louder and I knew those whispering. They weren't around me, they were in me. I tried to ignore them but as I walked through the sand, it didn't work.

Well, isn't this just grand? said a voice within me that sounded disturbing.

My head throbbed even more as I growled and threw my hands in the air. Great! Not like it was annoying enough to have my head throbbing, now I have to deal with the voices in my head!

I face-palmed myself and hissed inwardly when I hit my wound. I frowned. Great, why was this happening?!

Simple darling, we've never left~ said the same voice again.

Growling, I took in a deep breath and let it go. My arms dropped to the ground as I hunched over. You know what? I could deal with this later. First thing first is to get out of the sun.

When I resumed travelling, realization started to sink within me.

The voices…it had been a while since I've heard them. Not since… While continuing to avoid getting myself heat stroke, I pulled up my redish-pink flowing sleeves up. Concentrating, I could feel the magic that Kent had once placed onto me but it was…faint. Almost as it was on the verge of breaking.
Worry and more fear started to rise and I could feel bile start to rise. Trying to focus on survival, I pushed those thoughts away.

I started to make my way towards the mountain of stones and I could feel a pull. Curiosity got the better of me as I inched forward with my guard up. I peered over the edge to scan my surroundings as I saw a figure sludging forward.

I widened my eyes in surprise at another person here but I looked ever closer. The figure was a broad chested mail with dark skin and blond hair. He wore all black and on his belt was the….Atlantis's symbol!

I gaped and I saw the gills on his neck. Oh my god-

Running over, I carefully made my way down.

The figure instantly saw me and got ready to defend himself but I could see how sluggish his movements were.

I held my hands up as I saw his face.

It took a moment to click as I gasped and pointed at him. "You're Aquaman's protégé; Aqualad! What the heck are you doing out here?" I questioned worriedly.

I have no idea how long he was out in the scorching heat but I was worried if he was going to collapse from dehydration. His gills were fluttering to breath and his breathing was labored.

"You know of my king and mentor?" asked Aqualad in surprise and weariness.

I nodded as I spoke, "Look, I'm going to make this quick so we can find some shelter to compare notes but I know you. We met a few times before remember? Aquaman introduce to each other a while ago. Remember me? I'm Sprite; I usually come along with Robin and Batman"

Aqualad narrowed his eyes at me to study me and I started to sweat; though it wasn't from the heat.

Deciding to risk it, I removed my butterfly inspired mask off. Revealing my green eyes, I let Aqualad see my face. As if someone had placed a plug, a connection was made. He widened his eyes and it clicked in his mind.

"Sprite!" he said in relief.

I sighed and laughed shakily before I walked over to him. "Come on, we need to get some shelter fast."

The two of us walked alongside each other but I slowed down to see his footsteps tremendously slower.

I bit my lip as I let him lean against me. His breathing was becoming more and more labored. I looked around and found a good place.

I led him to sit on a rock and he leaned over, breathing heavily. "My apologizes, I can't-"

"Your physiology. I know." I said. I bit my lip and looked around. There were no places for suitable shade or shelter from this blistering heat. There were only gigantic boulders of rocks and it wasn't like I could dig a hole- "Hold on, I have an idea" I said in a giddy manner.

Aqualad looked at me in confusion and surprise, "I-I don't understand-"

I squeezed his arm in reassurance, "You'll see"

I faced away from him and took a couple of steps. There was this giant sized rock that was a couple of feet up and it seemed sturdy enough. I held out my hands and took in a deep breath. Electricity sparkled off my fingertips as I felt the sand rise. I noticed the red tone there was to my electricity but I was focused on the task on hand.

Concentrating, tiny particles of iron rose from the sand as they followed my command. I shot out my hand as they shot forward to the stone and I increased the friction to drill through the rock.

I pushed further and further within the stone as the iron in the sand started to shake the interior of the stone and tiny pebbles fell to the sand. I started to strain under the pressure but it wasn't too bad. My head was throbbing more but again, it was something I could bear with.

Once I had deemed that I had drilled deep enough, I let the iron to drop to the ground. I released the breath I was holding before inspecting the cavern that I had just created. I let out the breath that I didn't realize I was holding before inspecting the cavern that I had just created.

The inside was nice and smooth and it radiated off some heat from being drilled but it was quickly cooling. I turned to the entrance and saw Aqualad with his jaw gaped open. I patted my hands against my dirty jeans before walking over and grabbing the Atlantean's hand. "Come on, it's nice and cool inside" I said tiredly.

Aqualad was silent as I led him inside the cavern before we sat on the cool ground. He looked around before he stared in awe at me. I feel embarrassed as I shuffled myself on the floor.

"Is it better now?" I asked timidly.

Aqualad shook his head before smiling at me, "Yes, thank you" he said.

I rubbed the back of my neck but winced at the pain. "Owie" I muttered before hissing. "Okay- first thing first, do you remember anything?" I asked, "Like why the heck are you even here? This is a bad place for you to be here"

"In truth, I do not remember" admitted Aqualad, "When I woke up, my head hurt and I found myself here. I was exploring the area at night till now before I came across you."

I rubbed my arms and frowned, "For me…I-I can't remember anything really. It looks like we remember our lives but we just don't remember why we're here" I said. Silent fell onto us and I decided to re-bandage my head. Taking off the pack I had around my waist, I opened it. Inside, there was a bottle of water, some weapons, some supplies, and my first aid kit. Grabbing it, I popped open the kit. Grabbing the necessary items and arranging them for efficiency, I reached up towards my head.

I hissed at the initial pain in my body but continue to take it off slowly. When I lowered the soiled bandage, I saw thick amounts of blood soaked into the gauze. Not even looking at it longer, I dumped it to the side before applying some antibiotics to it. Barely wincing at the stinging, I opened the mirror I had and stared at it. Ignoring the grime on me, I started to clean around the wound before re-doing the bandaging.

However, as I did so, I was suffering difficulty doing so. I heard movement next to me and from my peripheral vision, I saw Aqualad move. He grabbed my gauze and my hands let go, letting Kaldur'ahm wrap my head.

Wait- Kaldur'ahm?

Where did that come from? I felt confused but when I felt the movement stop, I realized Aqualad was done. Inspecting it, I turned to him and grinned. "Nice work, scout boy" I said.

"Thank you" he replied before sitting down next to me.

He sighed and as I was taking a sip of water I realized that I didn't need this water yet.

I held it to Aqualad as he stared at my hand. For some odd reason, I couldn't look at him but I tried. "H-Here, you need this more than I do. I'm used to the heat so this amount of thirst is nothing-" I stuttered.

Aqualad took it with his face red before he muttered, "Thank you" before taking sips of water.

If I wasn't too shocked, I would've thought he was cute-

Hahahaha- somebody is in love~ teased the disturbing voice within me.

I growled at myself as Aqualad looked at me worriedly. "Uh nothing, just my head" I said with a nervous laughter.

"Here" said Aqualad as he held out my water bottle. I took it and swished it around. There was still enough to ration between the two of us as Aqualad's condition improved slightly. "It would be selfish of me to drink all of it"

I gave him a small smile but placed it between of us. "You need it more than I do" I said before I got up. At that moment, there was an explosion not too far from us as there was more. Me and Aqualad looked at each other as we grew serious. We both nodded as we dashed outside. We peered over the edge as we saw tanks, jeeps, and, what appeared to be, Biaylian soldiers trying to restrain- if not- take down a boy who looked awfully similar to-

"Superman" I whispered in shock.

"Superman? But he appears to be too young to be-"said a shocked Aqualad.

I looked at him as my heart hammered against my chests, "I-I don't know either! But he looks exactly like Superman and as far as I know, he doesn't have a son-"I gaped when my body went cold, "Holy shit…he could be Superman's clone" I whispered.

Aqualad heard what I had said as we both looked at Superman's clone…Superboy- being restrained. If he was what we thought him to be, we need to get to him. Fast.

"Superboy…"

Like something hit me in the head, my head started to hurt. I dropped to the ground and held my head as memories flooded through me. I could faintly hear Aqualad trying to talk to me and I felt his hands on my shoulders but like a switch, I remember everything.

Fourth of July. Sun. CADMUS. Fire. Genomorphs. Superboy. Clone. Blockbuster. Mount Justice. Team. Robin, Kid FLash, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Aqualad, Mr. Twister, Venom and Kobra, Red Arrow, The Fog, Artemis, Amazo, THE TEAM-

I gasped and breathed heavily before I gripped Kaldur'ahm's shoulder, "We're a team" I whispered and my eyes danced everywhere, "Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Superboy…you and I- all of us- we're on a team together!" I said.

"Sprite, please-" said Aqualad as I got up.

No time. Superboy, I had to get to Superboy.

Rage filled within in me as the disturbing voice within me laughed manically.

What I did was incredibly stupid and unwise but I felt so angry.

I had charged forward with electricity sparkling from my hand and a storm of iron sand following behind me. My wings made from electricity shot out from my back, providing boost as I charged forward at the Bialyian shoulders.

I could only hear screaming and yelling. I remember bullets firing towards me but they were reduced to mere particles from my iron sand. I remember shooting out fire and creating glass and trapping some of the soldiers.

My only focus was Superboy.

If I was saner, I would've paid attention to several things. Like Kaldur'ahm yelling out to me. My body crumbling to my overuse of my powers. Inflicting damage onto myself. Blood coming from my wounds and coughing out blood. Or the fact of the telepath not too far from me.

But none of that matter to me at that time.

I had gotten to Superboy and our eyes made contact. I had him in my arms and was ready to fly us out of here and I was communicating to him through our mental connection.

He couldn't remember how to speak or anything but he knew- somehow- that I wasn't a threat to him.

Then I heard a voice in our heads: BE STILL.

Superboy and I froze and we started to black out. I could see Kaldur'ahm collapsing to the ground after a stray missile hit the nearby area. He disappeared behind the edge. I reached out a hand to him but then…there was nothing.

When I came to reality, it wasn't my reality. I was conscious but I wasn't conscious at the same time.

I was in a tent with people in white coats. There was machinery around us everywhere and I could see Superboy in front of me. He was strapped to a platform and there was a scientist with a clipboard.

A gigantic sphere was in front of me and it looked to be strapped down as well.

Within me, I knew it had a conscious.

"You cannot get into her mind?" said a voice. I looked over to the side and saw a soldier talking to a man in white. I could see his brain and he glanced at me.

"Unfortunately. Her mind is guarded, even unconscious. It was only fortunate that her mind and the Superboy's mind were connected at that moment was I able to." Said the man. He looked at me with a sneer, "No matter. Her Majesty's partners will be pleased that we have managed to retrieve not only Superboy but also her as well." He walked over to me. I was strapped to a pod with wires connected to me. I could feel the energy within me being drained when the telepath grinned before he left.

Then pain hit me. I screamed as electricity sparkled off me in a flurry.

Superboy screamed as well as did the sphere.

I had no idea how long this kept going on but there was only PAIN.

I was screaming and crying then when the voice within me cackled.

It hurts doesn't it? Of course it does. You can only feel pain when you are alive. This is the proof you are alive….what it means to live!

I could feel a sickening grin pull at my lips as I turned from screaming to laughing. I could see the scientists scrambling around trying to subdue me and the sphere was rotating more and more like it was trying to break out but then-

I saw two scientists being knocked to the ground and…the pain went away. My body was numb as I broke out of my haze and me and Superboy made eye contact with each other.

I noticed objects floating in the air before I sucked in my breath and….screamed.

It pierce the pod and fire and electricity exploded from me; breaking me out of my pod. The sphere broke out of its own hold and broke Superboy out. He jumped and charged at the man; who I later found out to be Psimon but Superboy was knocked back.

I saw Superboy freeze as the Sphere rolled over to me. It chirped happily to me before I gave it a half smile and I used it to get to my feet.

I saw M'gann appear in front of Psimon and they floated there; having a telepathic battle.

I didn't stay long as Biaylian soldiers started to fill in the tent and aimed their guns at me. Using the same technique as before, I used my electrokinesis to control the iron in the sand and started to cut down their guns. They charged at me using their fits but Superboy jumped behind me and started to punch them down. We were back to back when we glanced at each other, "Hey Sis" smirked Superboy.

"Hey bro" I said while grinning at him.

The two of us charged as we started to take down the Biaylian soldiers and I used my electrokinesis to enhance my muscles to fight harder and paralyze them down.

Then we heard yelling and screaming when I felt the large flux of psychic energy. We all looked to see a tornado made from the psychic energy that both M'gann and Psimon were emitting as the gravity of the situation changed.

I yelped and flailed until the sphere rushed over to me and whirled to the opposite direction, keeping us floating in place. I caught my breath while I patted the sphere. "Nice Sphere, that's a good sphere" I panted.

I let out beeps in appreciation when I saw Superboy appear in the middle of the tornado. .

"M'gann!" yelled Superboy as he grabbed her hand. They stood there and the next thing we knew, Psimon was holding his head and screamed. He fell back and was taken away by the tornado as I activated my wings. They burst out with power before I took Sphere and I to the ground. I saw Superboy catch M'gann into his arms.

The tornado got larger and larger and torn the tent away while I watched calmly. Everything and everyone started flying into different directions before the dust started to settle.

Sphere chirped happily in celebration and I gave a small smile at it before looking at M'gann and Superboy.

I just floated in the air with my electricity based wings as the two were having a cute moment. I squealed inwardly when I saw M'gann and Superboy lean closer to each other to kiss each other until Sphere spun out of my hands and went over to the two.

It chirped as I chuckled quietly before flying down. I saw M'gann and Superboy look at me when I touched down to the ground and sat on the sphere, with my wing fluttering. I had my chin on my hand when Superboy looked at M'gann and then me.

"Can I keep it?" he asked with hopeful eyes.

M'gann looked at me for an answer. I sighed through my nose but I had a small smile on my face. "I have no problems with it. You can keep it but you have to take care of it too" I said, pointing a finger at Superboy.

He grinned as I chuckled while M'gann got up. "Won't Batman say no?" she asked.

I shrugged but I floated beside the Sphere as it nudged me. "He will probably would but I'll talk to him about it" I said with a half smirk.

With that, we begun to make our way back to the Bioship and to the others. Superboy and M'gann flew side by side with the clone's arm around her waist while I flew behind them with the sphere rolling behind us.

'Hey everybody! I've got Superboy and Avery! They're back to normal and we're on our way!' said an excited M'gann.

"Who are you? And how did you get inside my head?" said Kaldur'ahm.

'Hello Megan! Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something!'

'Aww man, me too! I didn't get a souvenir from the mission!' said Wally.

'Don't worry, got the souvenir thing covered' said M'gann as I laughed out loud while Sphere jumped over the edge and chased after us.

Overall, the mission went alright but we didn't know what caused the energy signature in the end. We didn't know why the Bialyians had Sphere ( as Superboy and I named it) but I brought up the idea that maybe the energy signature was caused by Sphere.

I talked to Batman if we could keep Sphere and we went back and forth about it. In the end, we decided to keep it and learn about it since we had no idea how to deal with it properly and it definitely sentient.

After we gave our reports, I was laying in the med bay. Kaldur'ahm was up and all better after getting the proper fluids in him and Aquaman came in to talk to his protégé. We had been gone for about a day without reporting in and everyone's mentors were talking to their protégé; worried about what happened to us.

Superboy was busying playing with Sphere so I didn't have to worry about him being moody without a mentor of his own.

I was ready to pass out when I heard the door open. I cracked my sleepy eyes open to see Kaldur'ahm. He walked over to me and didn't realize I was awake. He hesitated and was ready to leave when I spoke.

"Hey" I croaked.

Kaldur'ahm jumped and I snickered when he turned around and gave me a small smile. "Hey" he said back before walking towards me.

I shimmed myself up as I looked at him, "How do you feel?" I asked.

"Better" he said before he sat in the chair next to my bed.

"Good. Don't like seeing a fish out of water" I commented as I closed my eyes. My body ached and I was told to be benched out for a while in order for my body to heal. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were going back to Atlantis for a while"

Kaldur'ahm rubbed the back of his neck, "Yes, my king believed would be best for a few days. I heard the rest of the protégés will also take a few days of rest."

I hummed as Kaldur looked at me, "So? What are you still doing here?" I asked with a small smirk and a raised eyebrow.

He blushed and he rubbed the back of his neck again. He started to panic a little and instinctively I grabbed his hand. I felt him stiffen but as usual, he relaxed and he held my hand. Nothing was said between us and we just relaxed this was normal. I smiled before I heard Kaldur'ahm speak.

"Avery?"

"Hm?"

"Do you want to…hang out with each other soon?" he asked carefully.

I widened my eyes and gave him my full attention. "What?" I asked.

He closed his mouth and struggled to find his words before I stared at him. I spoke first, pitying him for this situation. "Like just hang out? Just the two of us?" I asked, clarifying his invitation.

Kaldur'ahm nodded and I closed my mouth with an "Oh, okay". I was silent for a few seconds that felt like longer than it was before speaking. "Uh sure! I don't mind, do you have anything in mind or….?" I asked, hesitantly.

Kaldur'ahm cleared his throat and regain his composure, "I was thinking just walking around and exploring Happy Harbor. I am not…used to things on the surface and my time with Robin and Wally did not allow me to have much of an experience" he said.

Thinking Kaldur'ahm was asking me to show him around as a learning experience made much more sense. I remembered Richard telling me about the time he and Wally took Kaldur'ahm around the surface world but it was cut short due to the League of Shadows. Nodding, I smiled at him in excitement. "Sure, again I don't mind" I said, "It's a date then"

Kaldur'ahm smiled at me and if it hadn't been for Aquaman, Batman, and Black Canary appearing at the door of the med bay, I would've realized what I had just said.

"Kaldur'ahm, are you ready to go?" asked Aquaman.

Kaldur'ahm turned towards his king and nodded, "Yes, my king" he replied. Turning to me, Kaldur'ahm spoke. "Until then, Avery"

I nodded and gave him a short wave, "See you later, Kaldur'ahm".

Nodding, Kaldur'ahm followed his king and Aquaman gave me a nod and a smile before the two Atlanteans left. Batman and Black Canary walked over to me as I re-adjusted my sitting position.

"How do you feel?" asked Dinah before sitting next to me.

I stretched but stopped when I felt a small twinge of pain. "Uh…better" I said with a nervous laughter.

"You almost had a concussion. Luckily your head appears to be fine but you lost a lot of blood and considering your body is still healing-" said Batman while narrowing his eyes at me.

I sucked in a breath and pouted, "Hey, it's not like I wanted to get more injured than I already am. I'll be lucky if I just get out with a couple of bruises!" I argued before sighing, "I'm being benched again, am I?"

"Yes" replied Batman firmly, "And since you've told me about your current state of your body, we have scheduled you a doctor's appointment"

I groaned and face-palmed myself. "Great. Just great. I hate the doctors you know? I hate hospitals even more. I already had enough of them when I was a kid" I whined.

Dinah gave me a reassuring smile, "If it makes you feel any better, a few others and I will be there to support you"

I bit my lip and remembered something. Instantly I felt irritated and started to rub and scratch my arm nervously. Batman saw this and spoke, "Avery"

I stopped and I looked at him, "What's wrong, honey?" asked Dinah, worriedly.

I looked at both Batman and Dinah worriedly before sighing. Holding my hands out and cupping it, I summoned my electricity.

My, what was once, blue and purple electricity, was now tinged with red. I could still see purple and blue but there was an unmistakable colour of red now. Lowering the brightness enough for Batman and Black Canary, I looked at them.

Canary had her mouth open slightly and turned to Batman, who was studied my electricity. Closing my hands and snuffing my electricity out, I bit my lips again. "My…electricity. It's red again. What do I do now?" I asked worriedly.

Batman stared at me without saying anything and he left without a word. No doubt finding a solution right now. I sighed and hugged myself, aware of Dinah trying to comfort me but only negative emotions started to stir within me.