"Jayce! Jay, get up, I need to tell you something!" a voice yelled in my ear, but I was dazed and disoriented. I didn't notice the hand on my shoulder or the feeling of being dragged across the floor. "Come on, sis, you need to know this! Get up!" A ghost of a grin faced across my lips at the word 'sis', but I could feel my consciousness slipping. My mind vaguely recognized the voice of my friend and metaphorical sister, Melissa, as she tried to get me to move, but my vision was blurry and fading.
"Lissy? Lissy, get... get out, leave me..." I knew she had to get out of there, but my fading focus couldn't remember why. We were in our hero costumes, so we had to be fighting villains. Was that a bullet wound I felt on my leg...?
"No, Jay, no way am I leaving you! Come on, sis, remember our vow? Our promise?" I smiled slightly despite a strange sensation of pain at the mention of our promise.
"Never leave each other behind, and die together or not at all..." She she nodded but frowned at my whisper, and my smile dropped as my vision swam, distorting her face.
"Well, I have to break it. Not the first part... I'm not letting you die..." My glazed eyes widened slightly at the implication, and I pulled myself farther back into the real world.
"No, Lissa, what are you doing?! Don't fight them, just get us both out of here!" I remembered then what we were doing- a mugging gone terribly wrong. We had tried to stop the man, but one of his flunkies had gotten a lucky shot in on me and pulled out a bomb detonator. They were going to blow themselves sky high, but if Lissa didn't keep them in that alley, they were going to take a lot of people with them. She couldn't let that happen and was too willing to risk her own life.
"Hey, hey, Jay, it's okay. I'll get to see our families, our friends, our brother... it'll be okay, you'll find a new family. You don't need me to live your life." I could only watch through half-lidded eyes as I was dragged quickly away, and she wrapped me in one last rushed hug before sprinting back to the alleyway. A few of the thugs were trying to leave, to bring the bomb into more populated areas, but she corralled them back in with her symphokinetic powers. Music filled the air, a sad and mournful tune, as she fought them back into the enclosed space, knowing it would result in the least casualties.
The explosion rang through the buildings, echoing down the streets and creating a shockwave that, even at a distance, sent me flying into the brick wall behind me. I let out a cry of pain as my ribs cracked, but the last thing I saw was a sight that would haunt me forever.
My sister, not in blood but in bond, her back to the explosion, smiling sadly at me. Her favorite silver flute was to her lips, one last, mournful note ringing through the air as flames enveloped her, welcoming her into their firey depths. Her soft lavender gaze met mine, and a single tear trailed down her cheek, matching my own as she was swept from my protection in a single last moment...
"Where is she? They said she'd be here! Why is she not here? Did she chicken out?" An annoyed, impatient voice snapped me from my reverie, and I smirked silently from the wall I was leaning on, mostly concealed by shadows. "I wonder if she was just late." I stepped out into full view, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as I blinked owlishly at Kid Flash in his civvies.
"On the contrary, I was the first one here, mes amies," I giggled softly in my thick French accent. My friends. He spun around, shocked, only for his eyes to widen at what he saw-or, more accurately, who.
My curly silver-blue hair was pulled into a short ponytail on the left side of my skull, and my sunglasses hid dichromatic green and gold eyes. A stylish black leather jacket covered a white t-shirt, and black leggings led down to black combat boots. Black fingerless gloves adorned my hands as I rested them on my hips. Kid Flash, aka Wally West, gaped for a second, then whistled.
"Geez, Bats has gotta stop bringing hot angels into the picture!" I giggled again.
"Si quoi que ce soit, je suis le diable, petit flirt. Tu devrais te taire avant de te faire tuer." He sighed dreamily, while the boy next to him, Robin, I presumed, choked on the air he was breathing before smothering a snicker. If anything, I'm the devil, little flirt. You should shut up before you get yourself killed.
The Justice League had contacted me two days ago to tell me they wanted me to meet two members of one of their covert teams, Kid Flash and Robin. Getting the time and location, I had easily agreed, frankly quite curious. I had hacked their systems in secret in the span of a few seconds, only to discover from the security feed in one of the Watchtower meeting rooms that they wanted to consider asking me to join the team. Of course, I would say yes when that asked. Who wouldn't?
"So, I am assuming you want a list of my powers, weaknesses, family members, current address, my personality, and, bien sûr, my branches d'argent. Forgive me, I do not know the English term." Of course.
"I believe it translates directly to, 'silver branches', and yes to all of those. How did you know?" Robin looked honestly perplexed behind the sunglasses, and I was honestly unused to attention that was not either condescending or directed at me by Lissy.
"I can hack almost anything. Plus, those are the things that you could use to easily make a plan to take me out if necessary." He nodded thoughtfully, while Kid Flash just kept drooling over my tight-fitting shirt. I frowned slightly at him, but he didn't notice.
"So, what are your silver branches?" Robin asked.
"Well, I believe the term most commonly used in English is powers," I recalled. "As for why they are called that, it is because of how I received them. And no, I will not tell you." I smiled sweetly as I finished the sentence, though Robin raised an eyebrow. I doubted West was paying attention.
"So, shall we get some coffee or something?" I proposed, feeling awkwardness begin to thicken the atmosphere. Robin grinned at the suggestion, elbowing Wally in the ribs.
"Sounds great! There's a good cafe around the corner," he suggested. I nodded, grateful to get moving. We followed him down the sidewalk, and West slung an arm over my shoulders. I smiled sweetly at him, not pulling away nor leaning into the side-hug.
"Aww, Wally, I'm absolutely offensé by your terribles tentatives de flirter. Do me a favor, petit acolyte inconscient, and enlève ton bras de moi." (A/N: Google Translate is your friend.) Robin didn't even bother trying to control his laughs this time, cackling loudly at my French. Wally looked torn between asking one of us to translate and ignoring us both. He settled for the latter, and I let fake tears fill my eyes, looking at him like he betrayed me before huffing and brushing his arm off to walk by Robin, who was laughing his head off at the confused and apologetic look on Wally's face.
When we reached the cafe, we seated ourselves in a secluded corner booth away from the other customers.
"So, about all your questions. I do not have any weaknesses, aside from being terrified of loups et chiens, strengths, I am very fast but not that strong, family members are mort, and I do not have a current address. My silver branches are that I can shapeshift into any créature vivante." He typed away on a holographic computer that had popped up in his wrist the whole time, and was probably storing away the information on me.
"So, your family is dead?" he asked, not sympathetic at all. Good; I hated pity.
"Yes."
"Are you homeless at the moment?" All business.
"No, I am not homeless, technically. I live as an animal, most of the time." I felt my cheeks dust pink at the last sentence, but if he noticed, he didn't comment.
"Ah. So, any kind of living animal?"
"Yes, but nothing extinct. For instance, no ground sloths or dinosaurs. It comes in handy with stealth, though." Robin nodded thoughtfully, still typing, and Wally decided to speak up.
"So, gorgeous, how'd you get those amazing powers of yours?" It was probably meant to be kind, and I guess it was my fault for not mentioning it, but I HATED when people asked that.
"I forgot to mention something; do not ask me about how I received my silver branches. It is considered very impolite." Robin nodded distractedly, and Wally's eyes widened.
"Sorry, beautiful, I didn't realize." I frowned but nodded anyways.
"It is d'accord, Wally. You did not know. But do me a favoriser, stop calling me noms d'animaux. It is getting ennuyeux." Wally suddenly looked very confused, and I realized I must have lapsed into French. I still hadn't mastered the English language and had a tendency to do that without knowing.
"She wants you to stop calling her, and I quote, 'pet names', Wally. She finds it annoying. What's your full name?" The last part was directed at me, and while I knew they already knew, I answered anyway.
"Jayce Morolass."
"Alright, Jayce, can you stop speaking in French please? I can understand it, but while Kid Whiny is fun, he can't, and we need to have a conversation with all three of us, not just you and me. So please, English." I grimaced in embarrassment.
"I am sorry, I do it by accident. It happens when I am not paying attention." He gave me a weird look, but nodded.
"Okay. Hey, so, you know about our superhero stuff, right? The whole 'team' thing?"
"Yes."
"And who our mentors are?"
"Yes."
"Alright, so we'll bring this stuff back to them, and I guess they'll do what they want with it. Meet us in the same place tomorrow, same time, 'Kay?" He looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded.
"Je serais là. Oh, sorry, I will be there." He nodded, and I stood. "Well, if that's all..." Wally shook his head almost frantically.
"No! Uhm... I mean... why don't you go to the beach with me sometime?" Robin shook his head, looking amused at the 'help me' look I sent his way.
"Uh, Wally, S'il vous plaît, don't ask me on a date. Nous nous sommes rencontrés il y a une heure."
"'Please, we met an hour ago'," Robin translated, and Wally's face fell. I was tempted to tell him that the League planned to ask me to join the team, but decided it might be a bit better if they told him themselves so they didn't trust me less.
Turning away from the booth, I strolled out of the cafe and broke into a fast walk as soon as I hit the sidewalk. A few guys gave me attentive looks, but I pretended I didn't notice and rushed on.
Two blocks later, across the street from my destination, the park, I walked into a secluded, empty alley to change into a red-throated crow. A burst of feathers was all that was left behind as I fluttered towards my favorite tree.
Seeing there was a boy in it, I chirped and rested on a branch near him. He looked at me and smiled gently, slight red rimming his grey-blue eyes. His blond hair contrasted strongly with his dark skin. Letting out a soft trill, I hopped into his lap and settled against his chest, bathing in his warmth as he slowly, hesitantly reached up to stroke my feathers. I let him, happy I could cheer him up, even if it was just slightly.
We stayed like that for a long time until a voice called out for him below; his name was Kaldur, and whoever was calling him sounded familiar. I recognized the voice and instant later and flapped away higher into the tree to avoid the watchful gaze of Robin, realizing that this must have been Aqualad. Well, he did smell like seawater.
With that day's meeting in mind, and tomorrow's in my eyes, I settled down into one of my small nests, and waited for night to come. That night, thoughts of superheros drifted through my head; both those I would meet tomorrow, and those I knew long ago…
Translations: Offended, terrible attempts at flirting, oblivious little sidekick, get your arm off me. Wolves and dogs, music, dead, living creature. Okay, favor, pet names, annoying.