Sylvia Wayne

The Watchtower

March 31, 2011

The treatment was hard on my body. I barely had an appetite and at the current moment, I was throwing up into a toilet. It was more like dry heaving, as barely anything would come out anymore. My chest burned as my muscles retracted, the involuntary movements pained as she lurched. But then it all ceased, allowing for her to stand up and drink a glass of water. The moment of relief brought her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where the food was that I was supposed to try and keep down.

I threw off the sweater I was wearing and tightened my ponytail, my feet cold from the stone floor. I bit into the burger set out for my lunch before setting it back down, grabbing the pill capsules of nanobots and chemicals I kept forgetting the names of and swallowed, chasing it with chocolate milk. I sat there, eating the food, staring out at the stars. Every day, I watched the sky. There would be battles every so often with Green Lanterns and outer space threats. I would watch those and guiltily hope that the threats would attack the space station so I would have some sort of real entertainment. All I had was staring out at stars and painting their ever changing patterns or brightness.

I went over to my tarped corner and grabbed a bunch of bottles of paint. Hooked on a Feelin' by Blue Suede played loudly in my almost too big headphones. They were shiny and white, unlike the room I was in. It was dark, the walls primarily made of stone from the asteroid the station was made of. The way it made me feel was far from the feeling of being at home. As the ooga chackas of the intro played in my ears, I went back to the door like I did every day. My claws extended and I began scratching against the wall, trying to get to the wires to get the door open to go home. But today, the door opened all by itself.

"How are you feeling?" My father asked, walking into the room, donning his cowl. I pulled off my headphones and turned off the music. The sudden shock of silence was overwhelming. I often listened to music to drown out that horrible silence that came with being on an orbiting satellite.

"You know, you don't have to wear that to visit me. It would be nice if for once, you were my father instead of Batman." I told him, looking away and sitting on the bed. He just stood there as the door slid closed.

"Well, it's been almost a month. The League has been consulting letting you go to Earth for a little, but you'd have to come back before the day is over." He informed me. I could tell that my eyes had lit up, as my father had gained a little curl in the corner of his mouth. He was fighting a smile.

"Could I see Wally?" I asked, feeling the hole in my chest that had been festering since I attacked Superboy. I missed him so much, the separation was unbearable. He was my person, and I only saw one or two Leaguers I barely knew each day.

"Only with supervision. During your visit you will be kept under a close eye." My father explained, sitting down on the bed with me. I sighed and fell back, flopping on the mattress.

"You guys just want to see if I can handle being around human beings that aren't Leaguers that can handle me if I snap. This is a test." I growled, but my father sighed.

"Just because it's a test doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy the opportunity." He tried to convince me otherwise, but I just layed there. My gaze avoided his, not wanting to feel the need to read his vague expressions.

"If you guys don't trust me then it's not worth the risk to test me. I heard euthanasia was a viable option." I huffed before getting off the bed, referring to the things I could hear on the outside of the room with my super hearing. They thought it would an option to pursue the termination of my existence in the hope of putting me out of my misery and protecting others.

"Dr. Fate was simply voicing all of the options he thought we should pursue and the others argued against it strenuously. The option was never on the table." My father tried to reassure me, but I just went to the dresser and grabbed real clothes, changing in the bathroom as my father stayed on the bed. Re dressing was an obvious sign that I was going to take the visit.

"I'll take your stupid test, but the supervision is in the cave." When I walked out, he had already left the room. I stood there in a longsleeve tunic and leggings, pulling out my ponytail and my hair flowing free, grazing a few inches past my hips. I simply sat cross legged on the floor, staring at all of the painting I had made of the stars. I couldn't stop making them, getting a new section of the sky and planet with each one. I almost started another one, but the door opened and Black Canary walked through.

"Long time no see, Wildcat." She smiled, moving closer and giving me a hug, lacking the fear the others had around me. The physical contact was something I hadn't realized I needed. When she released me, we moved together out the door.

"Have they said anything about me?" I asked, hoping that Superboy had forgiven me for hurting him. I didn't mean to hurt him. But if it wasn't him, I could have killed someone.

"They miss you, Sylvia. Wally won't shut up about you. Connor just want to know if you're okay. M'gann, Artemis, Rocket, and Zatanna have been trying to schedule a visit, but the League wouldn't allow it. Kaldur has been trying to propose logical solutions to your treatment, having it moved down to the Cave so they can be near you while you're undergoing the treatment. They all just want you to come home, so maybe this visit will be healthy for everyone." She informed me as the two of us made our way through the Watchtower. I felt all eyes on me from just about every Leaguer, all of them seemingly weary of me. They all probably thought I would snap at any moment, despite the fact that they all know how her treatment is going. We walked through the Zeta-tube and I saw an empty Cave. Canary lead me from the hangar to the training room, where they were all training together. I grabbed Canary's arm and stopped her before we went any further.

"Can I just hang back for a second. I don't think they should see me like this." She told the hero, rubbing her hands together. She was skinny again, on the verge of emaciation. The treatment was fueled by her caloric intake. Whenever she took a new dose of nanobots, they would stop off at fat deposits to refuel before working to filter out the toxins from my systems. It's increasingly difficult the more my body begins to produce the toxin from my hypothalamus. All at the same time I've been injected with Narcan to shut down the receptors in my brain from receiving the toxin while the nanobots fix my nervous system.

I peaked around the corner and saw Wally in his Kid Flash costume, training with my brother who also donned his Robin costume. There was another boy in the corner, hair black like my brother's but slightly longer towards the front. He was in a dark pair of sunglasses, a hoodie, and a pair of jeans with his convers. He seemed to be studying my brother very closely. The boy looked a few years younger than him, but eager to jump into the fight. Zatanna was standing near him, her black hair pulled into a ponytail for once while she wore a loosely fitted tank top with jeans and slip ons while she made quiet incantations, making various tattoos appear and disappear on her skin, like she was bored from sitting on the sidelines.

Artemis was standing very closely to Kaldur while Rocket stood off from afar, hands on her hips. It looked like some weird love triangle had formed while I was away. But Connor and M'gann were standing together as if nothing had changed. M'gann's hair was getting shorter, and she now wore a solid blue dress and a cardigan, like she was slowly shaking the Marie Logan look. Her lips were even smaller and her green now matched Martian Manhunter. Connor seemed even more comfortable with her than he did before. Like standing with his arm around her was as easy as breathing. I exhaled and came out of my hiding place, holding back my need to run away and hide from all of them. I skirted along the wall, no one notice my presence aside from Canary, who smirked and focused on the sparring before her. Wally cheated and used his super speed, knocking Robin back. The simulation ended and he smiled briefly in victory. I came out of nowhere and stood behind him, standing on my tip-toes to cover his eyes with my hands. He froze, not knowing what to do for a moment. I realized that because I could not see the rest of the Team, they could not see me behind him.

"Oh my god." Wally said almost inaudibly. He whipped around to face me, just holding his hands to my face as he took in a good look. That was the moment he pulled off his cowl so I could really see his face. Wally bent down as he pulled my into a deep and endearing hug. The feeling I had in his arms, the smell of his skin, the softness of his hair and the heat of his breath. But he loosened the hold and looked down as me, his eyes sad as he gently traced the defined line of my collar bone and the defined contour of my cheek bones.

"Hi, Wally." I whispered, hugging him once more before peaking out from behind him. In that moment, I realized he had grown, and now I only came up to his chest. They all seemed happy to see me, all smiling warmly except for the newbie. I didn't know who he was, but he seemed to know me, because my presence confused him. There was a series of hugs and lines welcoming me back until I ended up facing the new kid.

"Hi, I'm Cat." I introduced, not using my real name because my usual rules still applied. My hand was outstretched waiting for him to shake it.

"Right now, I'm just Jason." He introduced, not bothering to shake my hand. "So you're the kid who went psycho and kicked the crap out of basically Superman?" He asked and everyone went silent. I just laughed.

"Well if that's what happened, I'm sure you don't want to cross me. Therefore, I suggest we drop this subject. This is a test and I'm determined to pass. Bring it up again, who knows what might happen." I told him, crossing my arms and tapping on one with extended claws. The kid was silent for a moment, and it seemed like he would drop it, but he didn't.

"I don't think someone as bony as you could do that much damage. Do you think maybe they exaggerated your rampage?" He asked, and Canary stepped in.

"Jason, that's enough-" She tried to dissolve the situation, but I put my hand up.

"Don't test me, boy." I threatened, fighting back a low growl. I knew I would be fine. I had to be fine or else I might hurt someone again. He just put his hands up in surrender, but the look in his eyes showed otherwise.

"Sorry, I was told I should bring things up. I'm Batman's main test for you." He smiled, laughing almost. "Let's try this again. Hi, I'm Jason." He put his hand out for me to shake it and I forced a smile, retracting my claws to grasp his hand.

"Cat." I told, him. I didn't realize until that moment that Wally's hand was gripping my shoulder, almost holding me back. I turned around and whispered to him. "I'm fine, really." I promised.

Hi guys, sorry I haven't been updating. A very close friend of mine was in the hospital, then I was in a place, then I was in Alabama for a school trip and now I'm heading into the state regionals for soccer. If anyone was wondering, I'm a GoalKeeper and I get a lot of bumps and bruises. I actually just got back into the season after my tendon decided to be very scary and old scar tissue making my X-rays look like I had a fracture, but I'm all good. It was just an anomaly that I've had since I broke it when I was little. Sorry, I'm rambling, so I'll just get back to writing the next chapter!

-thegirlwhoisstillwaiting