A/N: Angst warning. Lol I'll just let you know for part of this, I was listening to a dark song, so a little bit of angst kinda exploded from my fingers... xD Nothing too major, just a short scene. This turned out longer than I thought and it came out quicker than I thought. Your reviews are really motivating me to write, and you have no idea how much I appreciate it!
Chapter 3: Adjusting
It had already been a few days since Stevie had been brought back to this strange place full of superheroes. She had only ever been in one enviornment for as long as she could remember, so it was a big change for her, especially for someone her own age. Black Canary had come to her exactly twice a day to try and get her to talk. But after two days with no progress, some of the members of the team had started to show up at her door. After a day of having each member of the team show up, she decided just not to answer the door anymore.
Batman had showed up yesterday evening, telling her that tonight she was to attend a mandatory "team dinner". It was pretty obvious that they were trying to get her to say something, but she wasn't going to budge, no matter how many team dinners she had to go to. Stevie had always been a very stubborn girl. It was why the doctors back at the League of Shadows trusted her so little and she was almost always in trouble. She never listened, and always refused to do things she didn't want to.
A soft knock coming from the door made Stevie turn over in her bed to look at where the noise was coming from.
"Stevie?" It was Miss Martian's overly cheery voice.
Stevie stayed silent, dark brown eyes wandering over the indentations in the metal door as she waited for the other girl to go away.
"I heard that you're coming to one of our team dinners tonight! I'm sure we'll have lots of fun! Um...if you'd like, maybe I can help you pick out some clothes to wear...?"
Stevie tucked her head underneath her arm and sighed quietly. Please go away. Please go away, she repeated in her head.
"I guess I'll see you tonight, then!"
The footsteps gave the technopath the relief she wanted and she sat up. Miss Martian was a nice enough girl, but she was a bit...too happy. To most, an attitude like that would make even the grouchiest person perk up, but not to Stevie. To her, that sort of attitude was a little irritating. Sighing, Stevie stood up and began to pace the room, unsure of what to do next...
Stevie glanced at the clock. It was unusual for her to even do so, because whenever her powers were active back at the League of Shadows, she would always mentally get the time from a clock out of range. It was 12:33. She had been pacing her room most of the morning and she decided to settle down and watch television for a little while. Any other time, the new flashing pictures on the screen would have entertained her, but she was still unsettled and uncomfortable.
Her small body froze as a loud knock sounded from the door. She wondered who it would be now. The deep, gruff voice gave her what she was looking for.
"Hello...?"
Just like earlier, she did not respond. There was a tense silence before Superboy spoke up again.
"Miss Martian said I should talk to you...but if you don't want to...," he paused again, waiting for some response that would never come. "Fine."
Stevie waited for a moment, listening to make sure he was really gone. She didn't hear anything, so she started to pace again, this time thinking of Superboy. He was definitely cold and unfriendly, but to describe him in one word, it would definitely be irritable. He didn't have much patience for anything and he didn't even really try to convince her to come out like the others. She stopped by the door, leaning her head against the cool metal of the doorframe. She was expecting at least one of the others to come and try and talk to her soon.
Miss Martian and Superboy were already off the list, since they had already come. It was a little relieving since she wasn't too fond of either of the two. Though she couldn't help but wonder that if she had had a normal life, maybe she wouldn't be so closed off to other teenagers.
Truth was, she didn't really know how to respond or act around others her age. She had only ever been around adults as long as she could remember, and even if she had a normal life before she was taken by the Shadows, she couldn't remember much. She had been taught how to read and write by the Shadows. They had also tried to teach her why the Shadows did what they did. For a little while, she believed them. But after hearing snippets of conversations and seeing things that weren't right, she knew that everything the Shadows stood for was wrong.
She jumped when another knock came from the door right by her face, causing her to loose her balance and fall over with a loud thump!
"Stevie...? You fell over, didn't you?"
It was Robin's infamous voice. She wasn't expecting him to come so soon after Superboy. She was expecting maybe Kid Flash or Artemis. They both didn't stick around too long, especially the latter. They probably didn't want to do it and just wanted to get it over with.
"Right, right, not the best way to start a conversation," he mumbled and she heard him shift around a bit. There was a pregnant pause before he spoke up again, "I know this is probably...well different for you and you're not whelmed at all, but, ya know...I'll talk to you...if you'll let me."
Stevie stared hard at the door. She wanted to feel angry at him for surprising her and making her fall over, but the slight pleading in his voice made her reconsider. No. She shook her head. She didn't particularly dislike Robin, but she knew why he was here. He was only doing this because the Batman had told him to. All of them were only doing this for that reason. He wanted to know all about her. She didn't want him to know. He didn't need to know. Not like there was much to tell, anyway. After he stubbornness kicked in, all hope of her saying anything to him was lost and she glared at the door, waiting.
"Okay then... Talk to me when you feel like it. See you at dinner tonight."
She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and got to her feet, biting her lip. The young girl made her way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and flipping on the lights. She leaned against the sink, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. This was what she wanted, right? To get away from the Shadows...? But she definitely wasn't expecting to end up here. She wasn't sure what to think now. She was only thirteen! How was she supposed to handle situations like this?
Frustrated, Stevie looked at herself in the mirror. Some of her light pink scars were easily visible on her pale skin. Her fingers tightened on the sink and she felt an overwhelming pang of nauesa hit her. Why was it so hard? Her breath hitched in her throat. She already knew the answer to that.
She had always dreamed of escaping the Shadows and finding a loving family. A family that would take her in and care for her. She would grow up feeling loved. And if not that, she would track down her real parents. She really believed that it would happen, but no, it wasn't going to. Everything she had truly believed was a lie! In a fluid motion, she picked up the closest thing to her, a bottle of shampoo, and flung it as hard as she could at the mirror. Stevie slid down to the floor, putting her head into her hands. The mirror was shattered in a million pieces, just like her dreams.
She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there, but she was interrupted by yet another knock. The youngster sprung to her feet, eyes widening in alarm and surprise. She slid the bathroom door open silently just in time to hear the voice of Kid Flash.
"Hey Stevie, you got any food in there? Bats won't let me touch any of the food in the fridge. Says it's for tonight. It better be good if he's making me wait."
Stevie let out a sigh of relief, grateful it wasn't Batman or Black Canary. She wasn't sure what would happen if they saw the shattered mirror.
"Fine. Make me wait for food."
"Can it, Baywatch! That's not how you talk to someone!"
Artemis's voice was now thrown in and Stevie almost groaned. Artemis was a bit cold and aloof, though she was more careful with what she said, but when she was with Kid Flash, their bickering never ended. She had already been the witness of this when she first was thrown into this place and every now and then, they were so loud, she could hear them from her room.
"Oh and you know how to talk to people? You haven't said one nice word to me since you got here!"
"That's because you don't deserve it, Kid Idiot!"
"Ow! You don't have to be that much of a jerk to me!"
"Like I said, you deserve it."
Their voices were beginning to fade. They must have completely forgotten about trying to talk to her. She shrugged to herself, not exactly unhappy about how things had turned out. Glancing at the clock again, she realized she should probably at least change out of her night clothes. It was just about 3 o' clock. Batman had told her that dinner would be around 5 o' clock. She had basically wasted all of her day by pacing around, watching television, and waiting for the team to stop bothering her. Getting changed would at least give her something different to do.
Stevie moved over to her closet, looking at the small assortment of clothing she had in there. A lot of them were old and worn. She picked the most comfortable clothes for the heat of the day, which was a pair of knee-length, dark gray shorts and a plain white short-sleeved shirt. The shorts fit okay, but the shirt was a bit loose on her because of her tall, stick-like figure. Now all she could do was wait until it was time to eat.
Stevie groaned as she heard a loud knock, rolling over in her bed. She must have dozed off at some point while she was watching television.
"Stevie? I am here to bring you to our team dinner."
It was the cool, deep voice of Aqualad. His voice just made her want to go back to sleep. Yawning, she sat up slowly, nerves churning her stomach like a storm. As slow as possible, she turned off the television and made her way over to the door. This was it. She opened the door, frowning slightly as she saw Aqualad standing there. He was wearing casual clothes. A red, short-sleeved shirt adorned his person while his lower half was clad in dark jeans.
"Hello. How are you this evening?" he asked kindly, offering her a small smile.
Stevie simply shrugged, looking down at the ground. I just want to get this over with.
"I understand if you do not wish to talk to me. I cannot begin to imagine how you must feel. So do not feel pressured to talk to me, though if you wish, I will be here to listen."
Her gaze lifted to his face and she spotted the sincerity in his expression. She bit her lip for a moment, struggling with a thought that popped in her head before going with it and smiling. Aqualad smiled back.
"Shall we?" He motioned down the hall.
Taking a deep breath, Stevie moved forward and ahead of the older boy, but he quickly caught up and walked beside her.
"I apologize ahead of time if the team is a little intrusive. It is just the nature of some of the members."
Stevie just nodded, not wanting to speak yet unless she either wanted to or had to. As they turned the corner, her eyes instantly found the team, who were all sitting at the table in the connected kitchen and lounge area. Most of them seemed bored and Kid Flash was the only one who was practically on the edge of his seat.
"Hey Stevie!" Miss Martian sprung out of her seat, smile as big as the moon.
Stevie waved a little nervously, glancing to the others as well. Superboy offered no form of welcome, Artemis still looked bored, Kid Flash smiled at her before looking back to the food on the table, and Robin waved and smiled.
"We are having chicken that Miss Martian made. I do hope you enjoy," Aqualad said kindly, motioning for her to sit at the head of the table.
Awkwardly, the young technopath moved to sit down as Aqualad took a seat next to Kid Flash. Everyone's hands shuffled around the table to try and get some food. Stevie waited until everyone else had gotten their portion before she got hers. She noticed that Kid Flash had his plate overflowing with food. She was surprised at how skinny he still was, especially if he ate like that every day. Sighing quietly, she poked the food on her plate for a moment before deciding to eat it. She would much rather eat than go hungry.
"So Stevie, how are you liking it here?" Robin asked.
She simply shrugged, looking down at her food.
"Well that's not vague at all," he muttered sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
Stevie bit her lip as Kid Flash laughed with a mouthful of food. She turned back to her plate, taking another small bite of her food. Miss Martian coughed a little, smiling.
"So is the food alright? I have tried my best at cooking earth meals."
It was better food than she had had in a long time, but instead of saying this, she nodded slightly. Kid Flash was the one to jump on her question.
"It's amazing, babe!"
Artemis rolled her eyes, muttering, "grow up..."
Superboy seemed a little more tense than usual, but other than that, made no comment.
"It is very delicious," Aqualad confirmed.
"Yeah. Good job, Miss M," Robin chirped.
Miss Martian's cheeks tinged a light pink, which looked a bit strange for someone with green skin. "Thank you, everyone."
The rest of the dinner was pretty quiet, other than Kid Flash's loud chewing and Artemis's occasional huffing. Stevie stood up as soon as everyone else was done, ready to get back to her room. Aqualad took everyone's plates to the sink and she brushed past the others, heading back down the hall.
"Stevie, wait!"
The girl turned as Robin came up from behind her, Wally slowly following behind.
"We were planning on a movie. Do you want to watch it with us?" he asked.
Stevie shook her head instantly, looking down at the ground as her tangled mess of hair flopped into her face.
"Good then you and I can play some Halo. I call the good controller!" Kid Flash zipped out of there before Robin even had the chance to say anything.
Robin scowled a little. "No fair!" he shouted, moving to leave but stopping and turning back to her for a moment. "You can always talk to me, you know." He gave a slight nod before heading off in the direction Kid Flash had gone.
Stevie wandered back to her room, flopping down on her bed. How was she supposed to hate them when some of them were being so nice to her?
A/N: So yep... Again, totally apologize if any of the characters are ooc. I'm still fairly new to the fandom. I also apologize if it didn't seem like I incorporated some of the members in fully. It's a bit hard to write some of the characters that don't talk that much and brood *ahem*Superboy*ahem* xD But don't worry. Once Stevie warms up to the team, there will be more interacting with the entire team. Again, I want to thank you for your encouraging reviews because they really pushed me to finish this really early! You guys rock! :D
Mo
