I'm sorry to say that even after I found the flash drive that held this story, a boy in my class stole it then erased it. You have no idea how infuriated I was. Anyway, I've had to go back and rewrite the whole thing over again and that's why I haven't updated in awhile. I would like to thank you guys for reviewing, you have NO idea how excited I am every time that I see that a new review has come in. Seriously, they make me want to write the entire story in one night :D

Anyway, this chapter begins with what happens between that little time jump between the CADMUS night and the day at Mount Justice.

BTW, I'm trying to keep in mind that Robin and Faye are thirteen as I'm writing them. Tell me if you think things are a little too mature at times. I'm actually going to make them fourteen really soon so I won't feel as weird about writing little romantic scenes with them in it. Oh, and I re-read the first chapter and I realized that I forgot to take out Batman thinking of Robin when he heard about Faye's dream control. That was when I had the story set when they were old, like ten, and Robin was there before her. Sorry about that! I'll try to go back and fix it later.

So, I give you the sixth chapter!

After a long ride in the Batmobile with a rather stoic Batman who didn't make a single sound, we arrived back at the Batcave. I climbed out, quietly going to the mannequin in the glass case that held my Panthra costume when I wasn't using it. I took the mask off my face, trying not to feel disappointed with myself. Sure, I had help unveil a secret CADMUS project that even the League didn't know about, but what did Bruce think? I'd learned to read him pretty well over the years, but tonight, he was showing nothing. One look at Dick told me that he felt the same way.

When I took off the shredded cape and placed it on the mannequin, the skin on my back twisted and shifted and I hissed, letting the cape fall to the floor as my stomach knotted, blocking my throat with constricting force. I shoved my hand against the glass to keep myself up as I held my stomach, willing the sick feeling to go away. Don't be weak, you idiot! I hissed internally. Bruce has come home with worse than this and never complained!

But before I could stand again, Dick was at my side. His hand was under my elbow, helping to keep me on my feet. I looked up at him and swallowed the lump in my throat, confused at the irrational warmth that flooded my arm where he touched me. I blamed the pain and said, "I'm fine. Just let me catch my breath. Long night, you know?"

He snorted with a smile. When he was sure that I was okay to stand, I took his hand away. Again, I blamed my dizzy head for the sting of cold on my arm where he had held me up. I took off the rest of my costume (Don't let your mind get lost in the gutter, I always had a camisole and spandex shorts on under it) and walked up into the mansion, my feet dragging a little. I yawned and waved good night to Dick before entering my room, pulling out a pair of pajamas. They were the simple loose pants with a button up nightshirt. I was too tired to worry about looking pretty just to go to sleep. I didn't ever really feel like wearing those little shorts that girls wear to sleepovers to look adorable and cute but just end up freezing all night. Come on, you know that you've done it, too.

I didn't bother buttoning it up, putting it on backwards instead so that the cloth wouldn't touch my back. I collapsed on my bed with a sigh, embracing the plush pillows and soft blankets with a grateful sigh. I heard the door open and I cracked open a eye. Alfred stood in the door, some bandages in one hand with a wash cloth and disinfectant and in the other hand a bowl of water. I groaned. Great.

He walked in, closing the door behind him. He flicked on a lamp, turning it away from my eyes so it shine in them. He placed the things he'd carried in on my nightstand. "You'll be coming home like this very often now, I assume."

I snorted. "Maybe. Bruce doesn't seem to like the idea of Dick and I branching off." I looked at my hand that was resting beside my face, curling my fingers to give myself something to do. I closed my eyes again as Alfred put a numbing solution on my back. "Thank you."

"I'm sure Master Bruce is simply concerned for your safety," Alfred said as he put the disinfectant on the claw marks. "That, and I don't think that you had permission to do what you did tonight. Am I correct, Mistress Faye?"

Feeling a little sheepish, I mumbled a yes. "It's not like we did it just to defy them," I said, feeling a little frustrated "We just wanted to. . . to show them that we weren't as weak as they thought we were."

"I don't think they ever thought you weak," Alfred said primly as he picked up the bandages. "I think they just didn't want to see you all grow up." I opened my mouth to speak, but Alfred said, "Sit up, would you, Mistress Faye?"

I grumbled before doing as told, feeling him place the edge of the bandage on my back. He handed my the roll and I wrapped it around my chest before handing it back to him. This was the process that we had worked out so it wouldn't get awkward as I got older. It always worked well, and after telling him many, many times that I didn't mind, he would help me with the bandages on my back or chest. Although, it was times like that I wished that I had another girl with me. Going to the store to buy feminine products for myself was a little embarrassing Sure, Selina told me all I had to know, but it wasn't like she could just go shopping at the store and drop stuff off for me all the time.

When the bandages were done, Alfred stood back and I flopped back onto my bed, smiling. "Thank you, Freddie. I feel a lot better." Even though he said everyday that he felt I could use his real name since I was older now, I knew that he secretly liked it when I used my childhood name for him. "Goodnight, Mistress Faye." He picked up his things and left, softly closing the door behind him. I slid under the covers, feeling sleep cloud my senses as the warm and comfort of the bed surrounded me. I closed my heavy eyes, giving in to the surrender of dreams.

But I did not dream that night. I had work to do in my sleep. As I did most nights, I stood in the endless white smoke of my The Crossroads, an endless sea of smoke until a path was made. I saw nothing yet as I waited. They would come. The dreams would find me like they always did. I stood in the silence, patiently waiting. Finally, a dull blue light began to glow in the far off mist. As I focused in on it, the mist cleared to show me a way through it. The ground where it had cleared was covered in glittering gold dust, showing me the way. I took a step towards it and entered the dream.

I was back in CADMUS. We were fighting in the smoke, but this time Robin was with us. I watched as I fought beside them. One of the cat-like genomorphs that had attacked me tackled the dream me to the ground, biting into her neck. I shuddered as I heard her scream, crimson blood pooling as Robin beat it off her. In the smoke, I could hear KF and Aqualad trying to fight off the creatures. There were swarms this time, many more than there had actually been. Robin looked down at dream-Panthra, eyes panicked. He knelt down beside her and tried talking to her, saying that she had to get up. But only crimson bubbles came out of her mouth before her dark eyes glazed. Robin looked up when he heard Kid Flash and Aqualad's yells of pain, hearing the creatures rip them apart. He looked around frantically for someone to help, but there was no one.

I held my hands out in front of me, focusing on righting the horrible images. The golden dust blew up from my hands, surrounding me as I concentrated. I opened my eyes that had turned a radiant gold and let the dust settle over everything as an invisible breeze blew it everywhere. Where it settled, things changed and morphed. CADMUS was gone, and in its place was a memory. I let him see the images of Bruce's last birthday. He had convinced Bruce to put on a pointed birthday hat and he laughed at how glum Bruce looked. Dick and dream-me brought our presents forward.

Bruce opened Dick's first and smiled when he picked up a blank CD. He raised an eyebrow but Dick told him to put it in the stereo, bouncing in excitement. Bruce did and the Batman theme came on, the female voices in the background singing 'Batman! Batman!' After a long line of 'Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh's'. At this, Bruce let out a laugh, blue eyes shining as he thanked Dick for the gift. Dream-Faye handed Bruce her present next, grinning at him. Bruce unwrapped the box and opened it up. Inside was just another box. Upon opening it up all the way, he finally came to a small box hidden within all the ones before it. Raising an eyebrow at her, Bruce opened it up.

Inside was a folded up piece of paper. Bruce took it out and unfolded it, blinking. It was a picture she had drawn. It was him, Dick, and Faye outside. Faye and Dick were considerably younger, looking about eight years old or maybe a little older. Faye had her arms around Bruce's neck, laughing as he tried to fend off Dick's tugging at his hand. Alfred stood behind them, smiling at the sight before him as he held one of his blue roses.

Bruce embraced Dream-Faye and gave her cheek a kiss, thanking her for the present. I withdrew from the dream, knowing Dick would sleep better after that.

I stood in the smoke again, waiting. I realized with a sense of slight relief that there were no more nightmares to correct. But at the same time, I felt a sense of nerves and fear, knowing what was waiting for me as soon as I went into my own dream. The nightmares I corrected couldn't be destroyed. They simply found another person to latch on to. And I was always the closest to them, so they settled into me, waiting for me to go to sleep. The more nightmares I had to correct, the worse the dream was. I knew that the dream wouldn't be as bad as it usually was tonight since I only had one nightmare settling over me. So, with a sigh to get rid of the nerves, I slipped out of The Crossroads and into my own mind.

I stood in an alley, watching as me and my mom came out of the restaurant I began to tremble as I saw a happy young Faye laughing and smiling up at a mother who didn't have a face. I couldn't remember her face. Not even my father's. I felt my hands begin to shake as I watched a shadow of a man come into the alley. I ran at him, trying to push him back, but I went right through him. Turning, tears brimming in my eyes, I tried to scream for the to turn back. But I had no voice. I could only watch as my mother and father were killed in cold blood, the man running off as a little girl sobbed over her mother and father's cold, unmoving bodies. I collapsed to the ground, wrapping my arms around my legs and burying my face in my knees. My shoulders shook as my heart constricted and twisted, painfully making me howl into the unforgiving night that stole my parents.

Eventually I realized that I wasn't in the alley anymore. I opened wet eyes to see myself standing in nothing but black darkness above, below, and around me. I stood, swallowing the sore lump in my throat. Just a nightmare, I chanted to myself. Only a nightmare, only a nightmare!

But my mind didn't listen. Above me, cold red eyes stared down at me, the iris dark as blood. I stumbled back, blanching at the eyes that only showed evil and unforgiving ice. They narrowed and voice echoed around me. "Wait just a little longer, my prize. We're coming soon."

I felt something smash into my head, ripping it apart as I screamed, collapsing to my knees as it cut through me, shattering me into pieces. And I collapsed in the dark, trying to rid my mind of the endless pain, trying to wake up as I begged for it to stop. But it didn't, like I knew it wouldn't. And I was left there to roll in agony as my mind was obliterated.

I woke early the next morning, my head pounding. I tried to sit up but found myself tangled up in my blankets. I unwound myself from the thin, constricting sheet and kicked it to the ground with the other blankets that had fallen off during the night. My pillows were all over the bed and some were actually in places where they could only have gotten if I'd thrown them. I frowned and rubbed my head, sighing as I tried to get rid of the headache. I stood up and shuffled to the door, heading down to the kitchen for what I always drank after something like that. I usually drank some peppermint water of added lemon to some water for headaches since that seemed to work well.

I sat at the table, inhaling the scent of the peppermint. I rubbed my tired eyes and sighed. No matter how often that happened, I never got used to it. The nights no one had nightmares were always the best. But those rare nights someone had a nightmare, I was in agony all night. A few years ago, I'd given up on getting rid of the others' nightmares. I couldn't handle all the sleepless nights. But then I heard Dick in the middle of the night, dreaming of his parent's deaths. He could remember it clearly because he had been eight at the time. I could only dream of what I'd been told and feel what I remembered from that night – agony, sadness, and a force that made my stomach twist. So I went back to correcting the dreams. The worse the nightmare was for the original person who dreamed it, the same level of intensity was in my nightmare. My hands shook whenever I had to correct Bruce's nightmares, because the things he'd seen were beyond anything I ever had. But he only had nightmares on very rare occasion, so I really only worried about Dick. I drank the peppermint water, feeling my headache slowly fade away as the gray sunlight in the kitchen brightened as the minutes passed.

Bruce and Dick would be up soon. The only reason Alfred wasn't down yet was because he usually slept an hour later on Saturdays. Before they came downstairs, I put my cup in the sink and went up to my room, picking up the pillows and putting the blankets back on my bed. I rolled back into the bed, closing my eyes so that it would seem like I had been asleep the whole time. The others didn't know about the nightmares. I didn't want them to know to side effects of giving them peaceful dreams. I heard someone open the door but pretended to be asleep. I heard someone sigh and the door shut again. I was about to open my eyes, but then I heard someone walking towards the bed. Someone chuckled.

I cracked an eye open to see Dick sitting cross legged by my bed. I sighed and smiled at him, closing my eyes as I stretched. "Hey, Dick, what's up?"

He shrugged "Just wanted to say thanks."

"For?"

"Y'know, clearing up that dream last night," Dick said with a grin.

"Yeah, no problem," I said. Don't feel bitter because he slept well and you didn't.

"Anyway, Alfred's getting breakfast ready so I came to wake you up," Dick said, and I couldn't help but feel a little angry at how happy and relaxed he sounded because of what I did. But then I told myself that it was my choice and I could stop whenever I wanted. I wasn't being forced to fix his nightmares or anyone else's. So I told myself I was just acting like that because I was tired.

"Thanks," I said, sitting up and stretching. Dick raised and eyebrow and I looked at him. "What?"

"Is your shirt on backwards?"

Bruce didn't really say anything to us at all that afternoon. Dick and I just laid around the house, trying not to count the seconds in our boredom. We somehow ended up in the gym where Dick was slowly pacing back and forth on a balance beam with ease as I stretched on the ground, touching my forehead to the floor as I reached for my toes. Remembering something, I said, "Hey, Dick?"

"Yeah?" he asked, pausing in his walking to look at me.

"You're birthday's coming up soon, isn't it?" I felt a little bad that I'd forgotten about it.

"Yeah, it is," he said, as though realizing it himself for the first time. "Huh. I kinda forgot about it."

"What do you want for you birthday?" I asked, sitting up to look at him fully.

"I don't know," He shrugged. "Maybe some new video games or something. I already finished those strategy games Bruce got me last year."

"Dick, there were six," I laughed. "And they were for people like Bruce who could see a possibility in every little piece of evidence."

"Do I detect some jealousy?" Dick smirked. My face went sour. "No, of course not, you dork!"

"Really?" Dick teased, his smirk turning to a grin "I think your face is a little green, Faerie."

I leapt up and tackled him off his balance beam, rolling on the floor as we both fought for dominance. I felt Dick's hold on my wrists tighten and I found him above me. He was about to say something but I shoved my knees into his stomach, rolling us over so my knees were on either side of him, his hands now free as my hands planted themselves beside his head. My long black hair fell over my shoulder as we caught our breath.

Of course, though, I shouldn't have left Dick's hands free. His hands, faster than lightning, zipped up to my sides, tickling me mercilessly. I gasped and collapsed to the side, squirming and fighting for air through my laughter as his fingers continued to dig into my sides. "S-Stop!" I managed, trying to get him off with weak hands. "I-I can't. . . I can't breathe!" But I was laughing the whole time so he knew I was okay. But he sat back anyway, grinning as I laid there, catching my breath as a few stray giggles escaped my lips. I sighed, wiping my eyes and sitting up. I looked at him and shook my head. I couldn't help but grin and laugh a little more at how he started rolling on the floor laughing when he saw my messy hair. "You dork."

The League gave us ('us' being Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, and me) their original headquarters, a mountain called Mount Justice in a place called Happy Harbor. I had snorted a little bit when I heard the town's name. Seriously, who lived in a place called Happy Harbor? Someone who wants to think their lives would be better in a cheerful little town with a cheerful little name.

"Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions." Batman told us as he walked in front of our line, his voice serious and grim sounding. I couldn't help but start bouncing on the balls of my feet.

Our team (I couldn't help but grin whenever I thought about it) had opted to weak our civilian clothes, or, more commonly called, civies. I was wearing my favorite zip-up grey jacket. A white camisole with some lace on the top was underneath. On my feet were some old sneakers that I'd had for a year. I was wearing faded blue jeans, the pockets colored on with black marker when I had been bored. Of course, Bruce didn't want us giving away our secret identities so he made Dick and I wear sunglasses.

"Real missions?" Robin said, his voice hopeful.

"Yes," Batman said, walking to stand in front of his apprentice. "But covert."

"The League will handle the obvious stuff. There's a reason we've got these big targets on our chests," said Flash who was standing behind KF. He tapped his own lightning bolt symbol.

"CADMUS proves that the bad guys are getting smarter," Aquaman said informatively. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." He looked at the Dark Knight. Batman looked back at us and said, "The six of you will be that team."

"Cool," Robin said, his voice excited. Then he paused. "Wait, six?" In response, Batman looked over our shoulders. We turned around to see what he was looking at. I blinked before a wide grin appeared on my face. "This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." It was a very pretty girl with green skin and freckles. Her hair was auburn and her eyes were copper colored. Her hair was straight and went to her shoulder blades. She wore a blue skirt with a white shirt, a large red X on it to resemble her uncle. Blue gloves and blue boots were on her hands and feet. On her shoulders was a dark blue cape. She raised a hand and said shyly, "Hi."

"Liking this gig more every minute," KF said quietly to Robin. He quickly sprang into action. "Er, welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash, that's Robin, Aqualad. It's cool if you forget their names." I rolled my eyes. Some people never change

"I'm honored to be included," Miss Martian said sincerely, albeit a little confused at KF's words. Who wouldn't be a bit confused? I walked over to her and stuck out my hand. "Hey! My name's Panthra. Go ahead and ignore Kid Flash – we all do." Miss Martian laughed at KF's indignant sound of protest as the others walked up to join us. Robin looked around and spotted Superboy standing away from us, his head turned away. "Hey, Superboy," he said, catching the Kryptonian's attention. "Come meet Miss M!" He left it open to refusal, and that was probably why he came forward.

When he joined the rest of us, Miss Martian's top and cape morphed into a black T-Shirt, the red X still in place. Shyly, she smiled at him. "I like your T-Shirt."

Superboy glanced down at his shirt then hers, a small smile playing across his lips that got a few ideas turning in my head. Then KF had to go and butt in, speeding over to his right shoulder and wrapping an arm around it as Robin elbowed him in the ribs. It didn't hurt him, of course, but it got his attention. I looked at Aqualad, pride shining in his eyes as well as strength. "Today is The Day." I couldn't have agreed more. Glancing at my team, I wondered who would be the leader. I had no desire to lead. I was better at following orders, but if it was completely necessary, then I would do it. Miss Martian seemed a little too shy and hesitant to do it. Superboy was too rash and KF didn't know how to stay with the group. I decided it was down to Robin and Aqualad.

Call it betrayal if you will, but in that moment I thought Aqualad would make a better leader. Robin had proved in CADMUS when Guardian had found us that he expected his team to know exactly what he was thinking. It was just second nature to him because Batman, Robin, and Panthra didn't have to ever tell each other what they were going to do next. They were so used to each others moves that they didn't think much of it.

But I felt something odd in my stomach as I watched Robin harmlessly flirt with Miss Martian. It was a kind of light twist in my stomach that I didn't understand. It made me want to frown and make her go away, but I knew that was ridiculous. Miss Martian was nice, and I was only feeling that little clench in my stomach out of concern and protectivness. I convinced myself there were no feelings involved as I looked at Robin's grin, thinking of something Batman had told me a few years ago.

Dating within the team always leads to disaster.

So, what'd you guys think? If anyone can tell me what the last line is from, you're awesome :D

Next chapter will be episode 2 and a some bonding between Miss Martian and Panthra. Thanks for reading! Again, I would GREATLY appreciate some reviews – I live on them :D

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