Joan heard the last few words of the man echoing in her ears when she awoke with a start. Her body flew upwards into a sitting position. Her lungs ached as they took in each and every breath. Her heart pounded inside of her and her head, keeping steady count of every second she had left before she was a slave to the Reach. Her body and clothes was drenched in sweat. She was soaked to the bone, but it was sticky, uncomfortable. It was as if her body had already begun to betray her.

Her eyes darted around, taking in every detail about her surrounding which were not her own. She saw the blindingly white walls and the tubes that went into her body. She looked down and saw the form of the Reach Scientist. Oh God. She was already one of them. She screamed.

She ripped out the tubes in her arms when a hand stopped her. She screamed again, resisting everything that said she was now a part of the Reach. She pushed the figure away and tried to get off the bed to discover that her body was much weaker than it was a few moments ago in her dream. But the hands persisted and stopped her. This time, she bothered to see who it was to claw their face.

It was Nightwing.

He was speaking in a soft and soothing voice. His hands rested on her shoulders trying to get her to focus on him. As the reality that she was still herself, still not a Reach, Joan began to cry. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed. Nightwing froze, but wrapped his arms wrapped around her. He continued to speak softly, saying it was all a bad dream. But as she sobbed, Joan knew one thing. It was more than a dream or a nightmare. It was her reality.

She felt something slimy slither up her right leg and Joan flinched, accidently kneeing Nightwing in the stomach. As he doubled over in shock, Joan saw that it was actually two things. They were alive, but not nearly as terrifying as she first thought. There were two little figures, smaller than a human child, perhaps four or five pounds. And they were nowhere remotely human. One had a dark red skin that reminded Joan of the wine her family used to drink during Christmas or business dinner. The other was a purply version of the other. They lay there side by side, and crawling towards Joan where they snuggled once again into her leg for warmth.

Joan turned her attention back to Nightwing who was coming back up. "Oh gosh, I'm-"

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to it by now. You know, I am a superhero."

Joan laughed playfully. She looked again at the creatures next to her. She hesitantly reach towards one of them and surprised that while they were slightly slimy, that was only from her own sweat. They were dry and scaly otherwise with little spikes running down their spine. They also had tails that were half their body length. One, the dark red one, braced itself against Joan's touch while the other recoiled. She smiled and looked at Nightwing. "What are they?"

Nightwing's face dropped. He looked over his shoulder to where Oracle and Tim were along with the body of the Reach Scientist. Joan saw the body and how Tim easily lifted it over his shoulder. Joan glanced from the body to Nightwing.

"She's... she's not..."

"She's alive. We're going to wipe her memories of this place then drop her off somewhere for the Reach to find her."

"Why not keep her? Interrogate her for information?"

"We made a promise. And I plan on keeping my word."

As he said those last few words pointedly, Joan sensed that something had happened while she was dreaming. She peeked at Nightwing who was glaring at Barbara who was glaring right back at him. Joan wondered what had happened and though she wanted to ask, she figured it was better to wait until later. She looked back at the little creatures. "So, what are these guys?"

"Her young. We though they were dead until a couple minutes ago when they managed to crawl up to you."

"They were dead," Barbara said as she rolled up to them and Tim left the room after a nod from Nightwing. "I don't see why we're keeping them when you said you were going to honor the deal you made with that Reach. They were a part of the deal."

"The egg was a part of the deal, and you shattered it right in front of her. So as far as she's concerned, they're dead. So it doesn't really matter, now does it?"

"Do we know what sex they?" Joan asked, trying to relieve the tension. She knew that something was going on, and wasn't completely sure whose side she should be on if at all.

"There isn't any of the usual human indicators of what gender they are, so we're not sure yet, but after a quick test, we should be able to figure that out."

"Names?" Joan had spent several months in one of her English classes before the invasion learning the importance of a name. She knew that without one, you were nothing. She knew how it defined someone. Joan had always loved her name with the exception of one or two weeks where she came up with a couple different names for herself. For her, her name meant everything to her. Joan always knew that if she ever lost her memory, her name would the first that she would find out. Because a name is who you are and who you are meant to be.

Nightwing looked at Joan before quickly looking back to the Reach newborns. Joan knew what he was thinking and she felt mixed feelings about it. "I didn't think about that," he said, but Joan knew what he was really thinking. It was so plain on his face. What he meant to say was "We weren't going to give them names. It's easier to keep your distance that way." And Joan knew with every fiber of her being that that was wrong.

"Can I name them? Everyone needs a name." Joan could only imagine what it might be like to not have a name. Who would someone be without a name? She looked imploringly at Nightwing, trying to use every ounce of her being to persuade him to let her name them. She almost laughed when she saw how uncomfortable he was. Nightwing looked desperately at Barbara who laughed out loud.

"You're the one who brought her here. You tell her that she can't," Barbara smiled devilishly before walking out of the room.

Nightwing glared, but looked back at Joan who had decided to give her saddest face ever. She made herself look like a child again which she knew that no one could ever say no too. Dang. Perhaps she was being just a little too manipulative. Nah. "What does Barbara mean we can't?"

"Ah, she means... she means that we can't give them human names." Nightwing tried to say. Joan giggled, her laughter filling the room.

"Really? That's the best excuse you can give me?" Joan sat up straight and shrugged off her childish demeanor. "I just want something to call them. Even Thing 1 and Thing 2 would work."

Nightwing sighed. Joan wasn't sure though whether it was from relief or not. He stood up and looked one last time at the little guys. He sighed again. This time, Joan knew it was from his inability to resist the adorableness. She smiled when she looked at them. They might be Reach, but they were pretty darn cute. Finally though, he turned back to her and said, "Fine. Just don't say anything around anyone else. And don't tell me either. I can't risk getting attached to anyone right now."

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