Mount Justice;
August 9th;
22:47 EDT
My mouth tasted weird when I woke up. And my body felt stiff. And numb. My brain was sluggish, still trying to process the dreams I had. I couldn't remember them well, but there had been an unusual amount of blood, and a smiling cat.
The only thing I could feel was the massive pounding in my head. Ugh… I had a killer headache.
It took a while to work up the effort to open my eyes, and I'm not entirely sure it was worth it. The bright lights above me just made my headache even worse and it was leaking into the migraine category at this point.
My eyes adjusted to the lights soon enough and I took a look around the room I was in. Everything was a blinding sort of white, so I think I was in some sort of hospital room. I wasn't too surprised to be here; I was just stabbed, given a broken knee, and knocked unconscious. I think that warranted a hospital room.
Whoever had positioned me in the white bed had done a horrible job of it. I was sorely uncomfortable and needed to change position now.
After a lot of grunts, pants, and gasps, I shifted my numb body into a sitting position. Oh, that took a lot more effort than I wanted it to.
Now that I was sitting up, I had a better view of the room I was in. Just as I had first perceived, everything was white. To the walls, to the ceiling, to the floor, to the bedsheets I was snuggled underneath. Even the night gown someone had changed me into was white. There were multiple beds in the room, all lined up neatly on one wall, mine included. There were two doors in the room, one by my bed and one on the other side of the room.
I tried moving my leg around but my knee was firmly wrapped in a cast and my thigh was properly bandaged. Too bad I was out of angel grass; I would be able to heal them right up. Until I got some more, I was stuck like this.
The door near my bed slowly opened and the dark shape of Batman, looking like a vampire that was done with the stupidity of man, came into the room. And let me tell you, it was a terrifying contrast to the too-white room.
"The Team will be glad to see you awake, Arctica," Batman said in a monotone voice.
"How long was I asleep?" The words were a struggle to get past my dry lips, but I managed. Miraculously.
"Almost 24 hours. It's 10:47 PM, August 9th, Monday. We were expecting you to be asleep much longer. You lost a great deal of blood."
The way Batman delivered the information made it sound a little creepy. I don't know how Robin handled being in his presence all the time. He's only been here for about two minutes and I was already getting the heebie jeebies.
"Wait, wha- what did you guys use for the blood transfusion?"
Batman hesitated a lot more than I thought Batman would. "Martian Manhunter was able to shape shift his blood to match your own. We are unsure if the procedure was successful or not yet."
"How do we know if it was?"
"You don't turn green."
I stared at him for a full five minutes, but I don't think he was joking. "Oh, you're not joking. Oh. So I could be part martian right now?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
I leaned back against my pillow, taking that all in. Human, fey, and martian. I'm not sure how that would work. Would the different brain chemistries fight each other? I bet it would be at least slightly painful. It would be pretty cool, but I still didn't want to find out.
"You should be good to get out of bed by tomorrow. It will take time for your kneecap to heal, a month at the earliest."
"A month?!" I shouted, sitting up straighter, "I can't be out of action for a month! Boston will have burned down by then. She's looking for me, and if she doesn't find me where I'm supposed to be, she'll burn the city to the ground!"
"Who will?"
I clamped my mouth shut, realizing what I had just said. Arctica. You. Are. An. Idiot. Oh, Merlin. Now he was going to ask questions, and I can't lie to him; he's freaking Batman!
"Arctica, who is looking for you?" Batman asked again, and it looked like he wasn't going to ask a third time.
I kept my mouth shut for another second before spilling everything. Batman was intimidating, okay? I told him about my mother and my aunt and the director and the kids in the Arctic and about that mysterious girl that was helping me one minute and knocking me unconscious the next. I even told him about my sleeping problems and how his student was too noisy. I might have overshared just a little bit, but I might turn green in the next couple of hours and I'm pretty sure I was on some weird pain killers. I was understandably stressed and panicked.
When I finished, Batman remained silent with a thoughtful frown on his face. At least, I think it was thoughtful. He barely changed facial expressions, so it was hard to tell.
I waited for what he had to see, staring at my bedsheets and twisting my hands in them nervously.
"You're right. She'll look for you in Boston first, but you can't stay there all the time." I glanced up at him; had he already come up with a plan? "And you cannot stay here all day either. If what you say about her magic is correct, she would be able to track you wherever you are."
If he was trying to make me feel better, it wasn't working.
"Go to Gotham Academy," Batman concluded.
"Excuse me?" I asked, unable to believe my ears.
"The best way to avoid your mother is by constantly changing your location. Live here, go to school in Gotham, and defend Boston. The team will also be deployed on missions all around the world. The goal is to decrease the chance your mother will find you. Robin also goes to Gotham Academy, so he can help defend against an attack."
"You want me to go to Gotham Academy, probably the most prestigious school in New Jersey," I asked in disbelief. "You have already attended Roxlon's Academy for the Brilliant Mind in Boston. Gotham Academy should entertain you enough until you can return. I'll arrange it for you. You will have the needed supplies in time for the start of term."
I stared at him for an uncomfortable amount of time. Was he serious? Me going to Gotham Academy? And he was going to enroll me?
"I- I can't go as Fera or Arctica," I pointed out, although the idea of going at all was still strange to me.
"No. You'll need a new identity. I'll take care of that as well. All you need to worry about right now is staying off your feet. Your knee should be better by the end of the month, but you still be easy on it," Batman instructed sternly, but there was a slight caring tone to his voice. He almost sounded like my adopted father, only scarier. I guess that's how Robin deals with being around him all the time.
"Why are you doing this? Helping me?"
Unsurprisingly, his facial expression didn't change when I asked the question. It was almost as if I never asked the question.
"The same reason you help the people of Boston, even if they hate you. They need it, even if they don't want to admit it." Batman nodded to the crutches leaning against the wall behind me that had escaped my field of vision. "You'll be able to get out of bed tomorrow. Use those to walk and try to stay off your feet. You can move back to your bedroom tomorrow if you wish."
With those weirdly inspiring lines and the stern instructions, Batman left me alone in the white room. The white room seemed brighter than before without Batman's dark presence, but I think I liked it better when he was here. The white was too pure, too perfect and a bit sickening; as a human, Batman was a reminder that nothing was perfect or pure. Plus, his black cape was a lot easier on the eyes than the white was.
My leg felt oddly numb, whether from the poison Cheshire gave me or pain killers, I couldn't tell. At least I couldn't feel the pain right now. It was stupid of me to use the last of my angel weed during an incomplete mission. I should have waited until I was back at the cave and not at risk of tearing the wound open again. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
The only healing plants that I had left wouldn't work nearly as well as angel grass, but they might get me out of this cast a few weeks earlier, because there was no way in Merlin's tomb I was going to stop punching people for an entire month. I'd check out my stores tomorrow to see what I had left; maybe I had some sapphrise powder and ice griffen tears I could mix together.
Even after sleeping for almost 24 hours, I was inexplicably tired. It might have been the painkillers or the emotionally exhausting conversation I just had with the most terrifying man ever. Well, it's not like I had anything else to do while I waited for morning to come.
I allowed myself to snuggle into my covers further and drift off into a perfectly natural and not at all forced sleep.
Mount Justice;
August 10th;
9:09 EDT
I woke up this morning with no memory of my dreams. Not that I was complaining; my dreams weren't all that pleasant and it was better that I forget about them. Hence the forgetfulness potion I kept on my nightstand.
My stomach growled long before I forced my eyes open. I'm pretty sure the only reason I woke up at all is because of my exceeding hunger. I hadn't eaten in over 24 hours, so I was understandably starving.
Getting myself out of bed took a lot more work than I expected. My right leg was completely useless, and my right shoulder was still a little weak from the poison and shuriken. Fortunately, I swung both my legs over the side and made a grab for the crutches. Unfortunately, my legs had knocked over the crutches and now they were on the floor, where I couldn't reach at the moment.
"Tu dois être en train de te moquer de moi," I grumbled, trying to find a way to get my crutches without injuring myself further.
It took a lot of meunevering, skill and a bit of luck, but I slid off my bed with only one foot on the ground and managed to pick up my crutches. The only problem now was getting up. It took another five minutes of struggling, but I was finally sitting on my bed with my crutches in hand and ready to go… after a five minute break.
The break lasted way longer than five minutes, but I eventually forced myself to my feet and used the crutches to lumber out of the room. Opening the door with crutches was a bit difficult, but I finally got the stupid thing to open for me.
I glanced around the hallway I was in. I think I recognized it. Maybe. Possibly. If I was correct, I turned left to get to the Mission Room. Hopefully. I really should leave my room more often.
After a couple of minutes of struggling down the hall with my crutches (seriously, who invented these awful things?) I found the Mission Room.
Everyone was there training. It was Wally against Roin now, and it was obvious who was winning. I limped into the room as quietly as I could and watched them punch it out. Robin seemed a bit… lopsided today, I think. Like his mind was elsewhere. Despite that, he was still kicking Wally's butt, both figuratively and literally.
Since the rest of the team was so focused on the fight, they didn't even notice my presence. Not until Robin was standing up from a backflip and spotted me. KF used the distraction to punch him square in the nose, and I inwardly winced in sympathy for him. That had to hurt.
"Dude, why didn't you duck?" Wally asked.
Robin held his nose in pain but was able to point urgently behind his best friend, right at me. "Arctica!"
At his joyous announcement, Artemis, M'gann, Kaldur, Superboy, and Wally all turned to stare at the night gown draped figure using crutches and having a horrible bad hair day.
I waved awkwardly with one hand, almost falling over when I let go of my crutch. "Hi."
M'gann rushed at me far too quickly for my comfort, but she didn't seem to notice the step back I took. Her green arms wrapped themselves around me and picked me up, crutches and all.
Oh my Merlin, that girl was strong. I could barely breathe.
"M'gann…. I need… air…" I gasped out.
"Oh, sorry." M'gann put me down gently, looking apologetic and bashful. "Are you okay?"
"Besides the stab wound and broken knee? Très bien." I shrugged my shoulders and shifted my weight on my one good foot. Merlin, it hurt to stand so long on one foot. "Dr. Roquette and the Fog, was the mission successful?"
"Yes, because of you." Kaldur put his fist to his head; I think it was a sign of respect in Atlantis, like bowing.
"All I did was get stabbed and poisoned," I said with a shrug of my shoulders.
"And totally beat the crap out of Cheshire? We watched the security footage of the cafe. Where did you learn how to use your swords like that? It was awesome!" Wally shouted exuberantly.
"I did not 'beat the crap out of Cheshire'. She was the one to bust my knee cap. As for the swords, I've had years of practice."
"It was still pretty cool. I bet you would have had her if you hadn't been poisoned or stabbed," Robin told me. I smiled shyly and blushed, unused to such attention and praise. I mean, would it kill Mr. Nelson to tell me I did a good job once in a while?
"How is your leg?" Kaldur asked.
"Numb and useless," I confirmed, "Batman said it would take a month to heal."
"Sorry," Artemis told me sympathetically.
"It is not your fault," I shrugged, "It is mine for being careless."
There was something on her face that made me think that she did not believe my words, but why wouldn't she? She had not been there when Cheshire attacked me, nor was she the one to do the actual damage. She had no fault in my injuries.
"Oh, hello, Megan," M'gann said suddenly, smacking herself on the head, "I forgot about the cookies I made you. And Wally got you some ice cream."
"Cookies and ice cream?" I stared at all of them, who were smiling brightly. Usually, only M'gann smiled like that, but even Superboy had a small smile.
"Yeah, about that ice cream… I may have eaten it…" Wally admitted bashfully. I wasn't even all that mad that he ate, I was just surprised there was any at all. Artemis, on the other hand…
"Wally!" She berated him by smacking him in the back of the head.
"Don't worry. I bought extra. Knew KF's 'high metabolism' would eat the first gallon." Robin nudged his best friend in the side playfully.
"Dude!"
"You really didn't need to go to the trouble of all this. It is sweet of you, but I do not need it."
'Dude, you were just stabbed, poisoned, and crippled. You need some ice cream," Wally pointed out.
"And cookies," M'gann chimed in.
"Arctica, it will do you good to relax while you recover." Kaldur put a hand on my shoulder and I knew I couldn't say no.
"Very well. If I must."
My teammates had been right, surprisingly, and ice cream did make me feel better. My painkillers were starting to wear off though, so I excused myself to my room after a big bowl of ice cream and a couple of cookies.
It was difficult, but I rifled through my room for sapphrise powder and ice griffin tears. Hmmm… maybe if I added some goat belly lining, it would increase the potency….
I spent hours shuffling around my room, gathering different ingredients to make a potion. I couldn't decide between using walla-walla dust or dried zingzongbing leaves. They did similar things, heal damaged tissues, but one was just better for burned tissue and the other torn tissue, but I couldn't remember which.
"Où ai-je mis ce livre?"
After digging relentlessly through my bookshelf that I really ought to clean out more often, I found my cookbook. Well, I called it a cookbook; it was really a potions book. I called it a cookbook to annoy Mr. Nelson; he didn't like calling things by their improper names.
As I was looking through my book, holding up one canister of walla-walla dust and another one of dried zingzongbin leaves, there was a knock on my door.
Since I was in an exceptionally good mood, I didn't even hesitate to say, "Come in!"
The door slid open to reveal Kaldur, holding a plate of cookies. "Arctica, there are some more cookies if you would like them."
"Oh, thank you, but no. I've already had enough sweets. My metabolism isn't as fast as Wally's." I smiled at Kaldur, my good mood showing way too much.
Kaldur nodded understandably and spotted the canisters in my hands. "What are you working on?"
"Just a little potion to make me heal faster, because there is no way in Merlin's tomb I'm going to let you guys have all the fun." I winked at Kaldur before I knew what I was doing.
Okay, seriously, what was happening to me? I didn't even care that Wally ate the ice cream that was supposed to be mine earlier, and now I was winking? At someone that I thought of as a best friend but was too scared to tell him? Maybe I should go see a psychiatrist or something. There was definitely something wrong with me.
"Arctica." Kaldur waved his cookie free hand in my face, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Oh, sorry, what was that?"
"I asked if you would like help."
"Oh, yeah, sure." I put down my canisters, hopped over to my bed without my crutches, and grabbed my black cauldron out from underneath my bed. I held it out to him while I sat on the floor, unable to get up. "Can you fill this with water and put it on the stove? I need it at a boil."
"Of course." Kaldur took the cauldron I had to carry with two hands with one hand and left to do as I instructed him.
A minute later, I decided to go with walla-walla dust, since it repaired torn tissue, which was what I was dealing with. I also decided that two different potions would work better to heal me than one, so I filled my second cauldron with all the ingredients I needed and tried to figure out the best way to get it to the kitchen. I ended up making a sleigh out of ice that would follow me around everywhere. Pretty good problem solving, if you ask me.
Kaldur was watching the cauldron on the stove with his hands in his pockets while M'gann and Robin looked curiously at it. Wally was raiding the fridge of the kitchen while Artemis read a magazine at the counter and looked at him in disgust a few times, and Superboy was staring at a staticy TV screen. Don't know why, exactly, but I didn't care to ask.
I didn't go into the kitchen right away, but instead stayed in the doorway for a moment to take in the scene before me.
This was my team; my friends even. When I got hurt, they got me ice cream and cookies. When I needed help, they tried the best to race to my side, even if they don't always make it all the time.
I hate to admit it, but they made me happy. Happier than I had ever been in years, despite the fact that one of my legs was completely useless. I was happy, even if Wally was annoying, or Robin was too noisy, or M'gann was too friendly.
When Mr. Nelson had told me to go to the Justice League, I hated the idea at first. But now I have these… friends that cared about me. And I cared about them, no matter how dangerous it was.
I made a vow, right then and there, that I would do my absolute best to protect them from the crossfire between me and my mother. I wasn't going to let her hurt them, or anyone else for that matter.
It would be painful to push them away but that was the only way I knew how to protect them. They wouldn't see it right away, but my distance was keeping them safe.
"Is that a magic sled?" Artemis piped up, nodding towards the ice sled that trailed behind me.
"That it is." I limped into the kitchen and over to the stove where my cauldron was sitting. "Thank you, Kaldur, I can take it from here."
He seemed hesitant, but Kaldur nodded and backed away so I could get to work.
"What are you making?" M'gann asked excitedly.
"Something that will hopefully heal my leg faster."
(Rough) Translations
Tu dois être en train de te moquer de moi - You gotta be kidding me.
Très bien- Fine.
Où ai-je mis ce livre? - Where did I put that book?