Oh my god. For my birthday I got Arkham City, and now, I can't. stop. playing. Anyway, this is actually an importantish chapter, even if I was winging it half of the chapter(Who knows if the Team gets mail or if Mars sends postcards?)

Synk: It would, wouldn't it? And I know. It's one of the many ways I will mess with your heads :)

100: Thank you! And yes, it is. Lol!

Starlitebreaker: Thank you very much!

pyro-pisces12: Yup! Only one more episode 'til the finale. I freaked out when the mole was revealed. And thank you!

I was sitting on the couch in front of the TV, flipping through the channels with the remote. Suddenly, the controller was yanked out of my hand with a jerky motion. I looked up, and Robin waved the remote teasingly above my head. I just shrugged; it wasn't like I was watching anything anyway.

There was a flash of blonde, and the remote was somehow in Artemis' hands. She clicked the button a few times, then frowned when she found nothing good.

"CATCH!" Artemis pitched to Zatanna, who caught it in turn. She repeated the process of looking for a show to watch. When the results, again, were zero, she tossed it over to Kaldur. The dark-skinned teen just looked at it, then passed it to Conner, disinterested. Conner looked confusedly at the device, then at the TV. I could tell that he was surprised that the TV actually played stuff besides static. He walked over to where M'gann was sitting, and placed it in her hand. M'gann shook her head, then levitated the remote back to me. We all stared, perplexed, at what just had happened. The remote had took the entire course around the common room in under a minute.

"MAIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLL CAAAAAALLLLLL!" Wally's voice broke the awkward silence. I got up from my seat, intrigued. We never got mail here. Ever.

"Since when did we start getting mail?" Artemis echoed my thoughts.

"Since the League directed important stuff to the Cave from our houses," Robin explained, reaching into the small cart and grasping a handful of letters.

"That's not stalking at all," Artemis muttered.

I eyed the stack, "You're certainly important."

"I have fans," He shrugged self-consciously.

"Cool!" Wally held up a couple of letters, "I have fanmail! So do you, Kaldur!" The speedster's other hand passed over some mail to him. But his nor Wally's pile were as big as Robin's. People must love the Boy Wonder.

"Hey, I got a something from Mars!" M'gann cried happily, reaching into the cart and pulling out a strange looking piece of paper.

"Sorry, nothing for you guys," Robin said, looking over at Artemis, Zatanna, and Superboy. They all just shrugged as if the fact didn't bother them.

"No one knows us…Yet," Zatanna joked.

"This one's for you!" Wally held out a single yellow envelope. I stared at it, an eyebrow raised. Who knew me well enough to send something to the Cave?

"It's yours. I mean, who else would be 'Alex'?" The ginger thrust the thing into my hand. I looked at the front, and he was right. There was nothing but my home address and 'Alex' written in curly lettering.

I took my time slipping my finger under the lid and ripping the seal. A single letter was inside, folded into the thirds. My curiosity was peaked, so I unfolded the paper and read it.

Dear Squirt,

Hey, long time, no see. Well, I guess that's a huge understatement. I can probably guess what you're thinking: Why contact you know, after all these years? After you possibly believed I was dead? To answer those questions, I have to tell you that I visited their graves. It wasn't pleasant(Cemeteries never are) but it was…nice, in a way. But, as I was there, I had this burning desire to see you. Or at least contact you. I missed you right at that moment(Not that I hadn't always missed you). There are so many things I want to tell you. So, at the bottom of this letter, I wrote my number. Please call, Alex. I really miss you. We can meet up at the café or something and catch up. How have you been? Anything new? Finally got into that fancy private school? Make some new friends? Got a boyfriend? Oh, don't even bother with writing back. I want to meet face-to-face. So, just call the damn number. Please? Don't be stubborn, Squirt. I want to see how much you've grown.

Much love,

Adelaide.

330-562-4908

I stared, mouth agape, at the letter. I quickly closed it when I realized that was not an attractive sight. A million thoughts were running through my head. My sister, the bad example, the runaway, had contacted me of her own free will. She claimed to miss me. Wanted to 'catch up'. I wondered briefly on how she would react to my life now. A super powered heroine fighting on a Justice League covert team, hunting down a psychopath?

'And pigs can fly' would be her reply. What would I tell her? Hold on, scratch that thought. Did I even want to see her? I flashed back to my conversation with Robin on top of the Wayne Manor. I told him I had no love for her anymore, and that was true. But now…now that she really wanted to see me, I have no idea how to feel about my sister.

I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone, programming the number into my contacts. I stared at the letter again, then sneered at it. This was obviously a set-up. She didn't want to see me. Why would she want to be with someone she abandoned and left out on her own? She doesn't. Period.

"Hey Lexi!" Wally dragged me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"Anything good?" He was referring to the letter.

"Nope! It's nothing important," I called back, earning a shrug from him.

I turned away from the others, walking to the trash can in the kitchen.

"Nothing important," I repeated, whispering the words. Snorting, I crumpled the paper between my fingers.

I didn't want to see my sister. Ever. I gave the letter one last squeeze. Then dropped it in the can with satisfaction.

I chewed my bottom lip, analyzing all the footage we had of Slade, which wasn't much. A fist here, a boot there, a glint of the mask in pale light. It was like he was a ghost.

How did he know where I was? Ok, cameras answered that question without much thought. But, a harder question: how did he know my teammates' fears? Even I didn't know that, and I spend most of my days with them! And it wasn't like Scarecrow's fear toxins, it was so terrifyingly real. Fear gas wears off over time, but if Robin, Wally, and I hadn't rescued the others, they would've been subjected to those fears forever. It was such a terrible thought that I immediately changed subjects.

I flipped through the some reports, but no one seemed to know who Slade was, much less what he was doing. I heard my door slide open and footsteps approach me.

"What's this?" Artemis asked.

"What's what?" I replied, not even looking up.

"This," A crumpled piece of paper covered the reports; a hand holding it by the tips. Terror rose inside me when I recognized what I saw. The letter from my sister! How did they get it?

"A wrinkled piece of paper?" I asked nonchalantly.

"It's from someone close to you. That much is clear," Kaldur said.

I looked up sharply, and saw every member of the Team staring at me, even Roy, "Did you read it?"

The Atlantian looked guilty," Please, we had no intention to of invading your privacy, but-"

"Of course we read it!" Wally exploded, "Who's Adelaide? Why does she want to see you? Whose graves did she visit?"

I couldn't help but look at Robin as I snapped, "That's none of your business!"

M'gann floated forward, "Please, Lexi. It's obvious that you know this person very well. We just want to know why she causes you so much pain."

I flinched like I was just slapped, "I have a feeling you're not gonna leave me alone until I tell you."

Roy smiled, probably giddy at what he thought he would discover about me, "Nope."

I sighed, closing my files on Slade. I wasn't going to go through them tonight, apparently, "That letter is from my sister."

Zatanna raised an eyebrow, "That's it?"

I looked at her passively, "That's far from 'it'. My sister, Adelaide Cross, ran away when I was nine." Shock rippled from the seven other occupants of the room. Out of all of them, Artemis looked the most hurt.

"She left her only sister behind. End of story," I proceeded to open the folder again, when a hand slammed it down.

Wally glared at me, "No, that's not the end of the story! She's wants to reconnect with you!"

I glared right back, "Well, I don't want to see her."

"Why not?" Artemis whispered.

"She abandoned me. I'm just returning the favor." Even I could hear the pain in my voice.

"You shouldn't do that!" Artemis suddenly shouted, "She deserves to see you!"

I stood up quickly, knocking my chair over, "Oh yeah? She left me with two parents who barely remembered they had another daughter! SHE DESERVES NOTHING!" My scream echoed in the barren room.

"I-I'm sorry. I let my emotions get out of hand," I whimpered, picking the chair back up.

"I get that this is a touchy subject-" Zatanna started.

"But we need to know what happened," Roy finished, less than gentle.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. What was wrong with sharing my childhood with my best friends? "Addy was tired of being treated like a second rate daughter. Tired of never getting our parents' approval. She ran away with a promise that one day she would make a name for herself. And then finally would she have the one thing she wanted most. Addy would do anything for that, regardless of what happened to those she left in the dust."

"The graves?" Wally, for once, had a low voice.

"After Addy ran away, my parents stopped being, well, parents. My mom cried and my dad worked. I never really saw any of them," I felt tears make their way to my eyes, "In a last effort to pull our family out of the hole Addy dug, they took me out to dinner. The restaurant was robbed, and when the criminals found no one to murder, they set the place on fire. I got out, but my parents….they weren't so lucky."

My gaze dropped to the floor, "The place collapsed on them. The letter must be talking about their graves."

Green arms wrapped around me, puling me close. Right then, everyone expected me to burst into tears, but I didn't. Truth is, I was too numb to cry.

"I'm so sorry," M'gann whispered.

I hugged her back, "It's ok, M'gann." When she stepped back, I glanced at the solemn faces of my friends, "Really. It's ok."

"Thank you for telling us," Kaldur said.

Wally added, "Yeah! It takes courage to reveal your history to people!"

"Coming from the boy who is the most lax with his secret ID," I retorted lightly.

M'gann slapped her forehead, "Hello, Megan! It's almost time for dinner! Lexi, will you join us?"

"Sure. Be out in a moment."

She nodded, pulling away the Team, chiding softly at all that needed to be done. Only Roy lingered. It was weird, seeing him in civvies. I always thought the ginger archer lived under that domino mask.

"I guess I owe you an apology," I stared at him, thoroughly surprised.

"You do?"

"Yeah. All this time I thought you were a girl that had everything she wanted; the hero work was just because you liked helping people. I'd never thought it would be because you had a personal vendetta."

I corrected him, "Wrong. Well, you're right that about me wanting to help people. But it's so much more than a personal vendetta." I want to make all my mistakes right.

Roy again surprised me with his other question, "Have you ever tried tracking down your parents' killers?"

"No."

"Why not?"

I crossed my arms, "Because I know that I wouldn't achieve anything by finding them. No one ever does."

He shrugged, "You got me there."

"Roy, Lexi, dinner!" M'gann called from the kitchen. I followed the redhead out into the dining room.

Since dinner, I've had two visitors. The first person was Artemis. She came in without warning and sat down heavily on my bed.

"Sorry I yelled at you," She said, not looking at me.

"I'm sorry too. I guess I'm still angry at her."

Artemis looked up at me with her dark gray eyes, "I've had some….troubles with my family too. So I can relate."

The archer opened her mouth again, but then closed it with a shake of her blonde ponytail.

"You don't have to tell me anything," I reassured her.

The relief was plain on her face, "Thanks."

The next visitor was Robin. He grinned at me when he came in.

"Well, I didn't have to break my promise!" I looked at him.

His face softened, "That was really brave of you. But, why didn't you want them to know?"

I shrugged, "Sometimes its easier for them to believe that I came from a good place. Not from a broken family."

"It's ok to be broken. Just as long as you have people who can put you back together."

I nodded. When it became clear neither of us wanted to talk anymore, Robin left with a small smile and a wave.

I returned to my work, noticing that Addy's letter on the desk. I picked it up and smoothed out the wrinkles on the hard surface. I made a face as I pictured my friends shifting through the trash. Were they really that desperate to find out who I was? And why me? Artemis was way more secretive that I was!

Besides, who would want to know who I was and what I've done If I was another person and knew all of my secrets, even I would hate myself. And that's saying something.

I retired and packed up my stuff, exiting the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the letter, still open. The letters seemed to mock me. Daring me to call the number written at the bottom.