Young Justice

A Fiery Passion

Chapter 5: Another Team Building Exercise

Batman insisted that I find a way to release this fiery energy that adorns my arms before he left a while ago through a zeta something. He mentioned he'll be back later, whatever that meant.

Alone with my new team as the newest member, my anxiety and stress flares up. My eyes glance over each team member, taking in their forms and the things that make them individuals. Artemis with gorgeous long blond hair and sassy remarks. Robin and Wally are obviously close- most likely best friends. They stand near each other talking about something that is widely out my range of knowledge. Wally's red hair is a blur as he runs back and forth with more and more snacks. Kaldur is near them, his body firm and strong. His arms are folded along his chest as he listens intently to the groups chatter. And then there was Connor and M'gann, they kept to themselves but still a part of the conversation. M'ganns green skin alone is mesmerizing with her bold red hair.

They're talking about the task at hand, and it's me, naturally. We all know that I have to let my fire go, in a sense. Like a human flamethrower. I understand that. There's no way to avoid the fact that I have powers that bless me. I certainly am well aware that it is one hundred percent super destructive if I'm not careful. I know, trust me. Nobody can do this but me. This is my body, with my superpowers and my energy. As I stand in the middle of the room and conversation, my anxiety rages again.

The burning pain is nearly absent now as I move my fingers, breathing in a controlled manner- trying to not think about Nathan, or mom, or the fact that Batman (of all people) found and recruited me in less than 12 hours. When I flex my fingers, the fire acknowledges the movement. It's almost like it's alive and the sensation of my skin sizzling again under the flames comes around again. It doesn't really hurt, but the sensation is there. This has got to be a growing pain of some sort. It only hurts when I think about it. When I leave those thoughts alone, the pain itself seems to fade away.

With my arms extended away from the rest of my body to prevent anything else from catching the blazing rage, I turn to the team, hoping that they have some idea of with what to do- because I have nothing. The flames curl and dance upon my limbs, my hands completely engulfed in fire.

My eyes meet Kaldurs', pleading to help. "Whatever it takes, I need to control this." I say. My voice somehow comes out a little stronger than I intend.

The team immediately debates with one another about how to help my situation. Idea after idea is poured into the room, some are good, and others are… troubling. Sometimes an argument breaks out, but it's quickly resolved with Kaldurs' final say on that specific thought. I frown at nearly all their ideas as I grow impatient. The flames linger, on my arms and hands but the pain is finally fading away. I'm thankful that the fire didn't spread farther, because I can not afford new clothes at this rate.

"Have we even met a metahuman who needed this much time to adjust?" Artemis asks the group. "You know, from normal human to meta human and in the between stages?"

Wally looks at her baffled, "Yes. Hello. Did I not tell you how I recreated Flash's accident?"

"A thousand times, Wally. It's really not that impressive or even relevant." Artemis retorts with her hands on her hips, a look of disgust on her face. "I meant someone who was born with metahuman abilities and having to adjust to that."

The speedster rolls his eyes, ignoring the archer's response. "Clearly, it's an emotional and mental thing that's going on," Wally states, crossing his arms over his chest gallantly, like he already knows the answers to my dilemma. He waves one hand up and down my body, as if to show the team that no matter what, it will have to be me who releases the fire. Whatever, I already know this, now.

"If we can find her trigger, Rhyleigh can then obviously turn her fire control on and off and release it whenever she wants." With a smirk, Wally re-crosses his arms over chest as he raises his eyebrows, impressed with himself.

Megan taps a finger on her chin in thought. "I don't know, Wally. Rhyleigh is showing a lot of signs of heat energy that is being built up. It's not spreading, which is good for now. But I'm reading that you have a raised anxiety. Right?" She turns to me, concerned.

"Er, yes." I mumble, rubbing my fingers against one another. I could feel the heat surge once more. "I need to find a trigger and just find a way to control this."

Robin rubs his chin, deep in thought as he types into a keyboard? In his glove? He must have felt my confused expression when he looks up at me.

"I'm researching Star Labs data base on pyrotechnics." A smirk crawls along his face. "So far, they are very limited on this type of metagene. So, there's a lot to be whelmed with."

Another raised eyebrow, and a, "Oh… okay." From me, and I'm feeling drained from this social hour.

There are talks again, and amongst the chatter I hear that someone wants me to be suffocated by the Kid Flash running around me in circles until the fire left my arms, does anyone know that fire needs air to breath?

And then it clicked. Like a lightbulb turning on in a dark room. I finally understood what it meant to have this ability and hopefully to control it.

"Fire needs air to breathe," I whisper. Faces turn to me, surprise on all of them.

"That takes my idea out of the hat," Wally snaps, almost pouting. "But of course, I wouldn't you know, kill you." He says, sounding apologetic. He rubs the back of his head after Artemis swats at it and murmurs a "No duh" into his ear.

"If fire needs air to breathe, it would be a reflection on how you take in air." Connor explains, his voice, cool and calm. "I think if you controlled your breathing, slower and steady, then it would either enhance your ability and even give you the control you need when you are ready to use your ability and when you are done."

M'gann smiles at him and kisses his huge forehead. "Hello Megan! Of course! It makes sense! This is going back to what Wally was saying about the mental and emotional control!"

"It's all related," Artemis adds, nodding her head.

Kaldur steps forward, his skin is beginning to glisten from my out pour of heat. "Go and give that a try, Rhyleigh. We will be here to assist if it is necessary." He tells me, but it almost sounds like an order.

I nod my head in agreement, figuring out the best way to do this. Do I sit down and meditate and force the flames away from me? Do I close my eyes? I haven't done yoga in a few months, maybe that'll help. My arms are getting incredibly sore from holding them up so long. If I relax I'm afraid I might just lose my jeans.

Connor looks at M'gann and she nods her head with pleading eyes, a silent conversation is between them as they make gestures to one another. His arms are tense, tightening up until he finally sighs with a roll of his eyes.

"Rhyleigh, follow me." His voice is strained, almost as if talking now was painful. "M'gann wants to try something that is dangerous to both her and you." The three of us leave behind the other half of the team, Kaldur already setting up a sparring ring for them to practice during our absence.

After a few moments of walking, M'gann comes up to my side, floating. "My Martian biological make-up is rather weak against fire, but I think I can help you at least understand the idea of pushing the flames away from your body to hit a target." M'gann explains, carefully keeping her distance. "We both know that your metagene is new, and that's okay. The best way to understand what you have is with some help." She places a hand my shoulder with a soft smile. The fact that she cares and is understanding about this situation blows my mind even though this is one of her weaknesses. I smile back, a little reassurance goes along way.

With a simple nod of my head and a concerned look from Connor, the three of us head to the part of a cave where the ocean water met the floor of the cave. M'gann faces me a grin on her face. "Have your back to the water Rhyleigh, if anything disastrous does happen, at least we can say you already went swimming today."

I laugh at the image of myself falling into the water during this trial run. I would do that.

As M'gann and I face each other, our bodies meters apart, I can feel the sweat begin to build up on my forehead as the heat increases dramatically in only a few seconds. My anxiety of being the new person has lulled which is extensively wonderful. However, another round approaches me as my fear of accidently hurting the kindest Martian overcomes me. Flames rose higher and burned brighter along my arms. The inside of my palms glowed a hot yellow- orange.

Note to self- Must mange powers before I explode.

Miss Martian keeps her distance from me, staying a few feet in front of me to allow enough room for the releasing of this fire that refuses to either die down or have it become a weapon. I internally cringe at the thought. M'gann gives another small smile and nods her head before she holds out her arms horizontally. Her brow creases as she focuses on doing something that might help 'release' the fire- Telekinesis.

To put it mildly, it doesn't work.

M'gann uses her telekinesis to awkwardly 'pull' the fire from me. At first the flames begin to migrate away from my skin as though they are attracted to the pull. The fire crawls down past my elbows like a long glove, the flames extending past my fingertips and dancing wildly out of control. A flame thrower flickers between me and the Green Martian as it's pulled away from the palms of my hands. The red orange blaze fills the space, warping into a ball of an inferno.

For the first time in a long time, I hear myself laugh with relief.

But that moment ends just as quickly as it started as the Martian begins to lessen her telekinesis around the fire and I force my hand into a fist as I try to control the massive blaze. I focus my breathing to steady the insanity and at first the ball of fire begins settle. The breath that I've been holding for so long is let out to fast, too excited about the progress. My instant mistake as seconds later a minor explosion erupts that sends both of us flying in opposite directions. M'gann is thrown into the cave wall and me into the ocean water.

Clearly none of us were expecting this kind of result to this scale. Wally and Robin both cheer in amusement from the side lines as blue and orange sparks rain down. Somewhere during the rime M'gann and I played with my ability Batman had returned as he stood behind the younger generation of heroes. The Dark Knight reaches for his cell phone and mutters into the device, softly and quickly. The other teammates stare at me in shock as I stand up in the cool water, rubbing the back of my head, my hands no longer aflame as the water had smothered the heat. Connor seems to show the most negative emotion towards the event. He balls up his fists and clenches his jaw as he glares at me through the smoke that begins to clear. Eventually he calms down, Kaldur putting his hand on Supey's shoulder when M'gann begins to stir from across the room.

I pull myself out of the water slowly, rubbing my wet arms nervously. It's nice to no longer have the flames engulfing parts of my body, but it seemed as if they were meant to be there. However, I genuinely felt like this day is going to be a disaster if things aren't going to get better. I don't want to make enemies out of my team members. It is bad enough that I've already embarrassed myself horribly. Crawling out of my self pity, I walk over to Megan's form as she too struggles to stand up.

Once I reach her, I offer a hand to help her up. "I'm so incredibly sorry M'gann," I say, hoping my apology sounded as sincere as it felt to me. "I'm sorry that I have this metagene with this meta ability that is so dangerous".

Megan takes my hand, smiling, and I help her to her feet. "It's not your fault, you can't be sorry over something that you don't yet understand or control yet. It takes time for things like this."

I frown as I let my no longer burning hand go from my new team mate. I don't have words that explain my disappointment for myself or for my capability. My mothers voice trills in my mind for the first time since I fainted in the nurse's office.

"Don't be sorry Rhyleigh, do better." I cringe at her voice, glad it was just a memory of the advice she'd once given me.

"It's okay. The buildup of energy had to be released one way or another," Megan explains, her cheerful persona practically blowing me away. "Besides, you're way new to this, having powers and all," she adds with another flash of a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I never expected any of this to happen," I admit sheepishly, gathering my hair that had fallen out of Batman's fail of a ponytail. I clench my hand, relieved that I don't' have to cringe in pain from the fire. I don't feel any short bursts of pain like before. There are no heat flashes when I make a fist. I don't sense the sparks of a new flame. Instead, for the first time this week, without the bandages or becoming a human blaze for any extended amount of time, I feel like a normal person.

Or as normal as it's gonna get from here on out.

From the side Batman murmurs rapidly into his cell, speaking low enough for neither one of us to overhear his speedy conversation. He clicks his phone shut, his famous grim expression taking over his face.

"Try again," he orders, crossing his arms over his chest. I swallow the ball of cotton in my throat in response.

M'gann and I walk back to where we originally met inside the cave. She flashes another beaming of a smile as we talk about what we can do better this time. I simply mumble my responses, keeping my eyes on the ground. We debate the possibilities of the combinations we can try. Actually, she does most of the talking: I just agree. She wants me to control my own fire more while she uses less of her telekinesis to trap the unruly flames. A second option was for me to simply do my thing with the fire as M'gann on standby in case I needed backup. The second option would be best if I was by myself in an area with no one around to either get hurt or to judge. But really, I just want to be alone now.

As Megan and I take our positions across from one another, Batman clears his throat and gains our attention. "This time, Rhyleigh, do it yourself," Batman commands, raising his chin and narrowing his eyes in my direction. M'gann gives me thumbs up before leaving the center of the cave and heading towards the team, who remain silent.

How awkward.

I look towards Batman, hoping he'll change his mind with my sad desperate eyes, but he only narrows his own eyes further in response. Frustrated with my situation and mumbling under my breath, I hold my hands out awkwardly in front of me. I breathe in and out a few times, getting adjusted to the idea of me with superhuman abilities and responsibilities. I'm certainly not ready for either. Wiggling my fingers and clenching my hands, I wait for something to happen. Of course, nothing does. The awkward level sores.

Off to the side I hear Wally exaggerate a loud yawn. I turn my head to glare at him, my small hands balling into hot furious fists, just in time to see Artemis elbow him harshly in the ribs. She also grabs his ear and mumbles something into it. His green eyes narrow as he pulls away from her grasp. I feel my face turn red as I bring my arms closer to my body.

I turn back to Batman with a sigh. "This isn't working." As if to prove my point, I wiggle my fingers to show that I'm not exaggerating.

His eyes narrow further until he's almost squinting. I just about have a code brown. "Try harder," he growls.

Yeah, okay. With a reluctant nod of my head I return to my previous position. Hands up in front of my chest, elbows bent, and fingers outspread… I take in a deep breath and search for this trigger since I know understood the meaning and importance of my breathing.

With closed eyes I imagine a growing and burning fire that rages and devours everything and leaving nothing. I imagine my anger, reliving the sting of the recent events of my life. Nathan breaking up with me over a top-secret military opportunity, my mother continuously absent or plain verbally abusive since dad….

My heart aches with all these emotions that burn and sit heavy in my core. The next thing I know the light switch I've been wanting to find was myself all along. I am my own trigger. Quickly, I open my eyes and clench my fists anger radiating from me like a glow stick.

And then, I feel the burning heat. It doesn't have the sharp pain of my skin melting off like before. I deepen the tightness of my fist, my fingernails digging into my scorching yellow-orange palms. I lift my flaming fist and open it, nearly shocked that the sting of the fire doesn't singe my hand like it did before. Now the orange flames simply dance on my palm as it does migrate up past my wrist, growing in size while doing so. Soon, Instead, the fire gleams over me, twisting into the space around me surrounding my limbs in a furious rage. All my hurt and emptiness burning away.

I soon realize that if I keep my fingers directly aligned with my arm, the fire simply winds itself around my hand, fitting it like a fiery glove.

"Okay, now that I have a fire, what's next?" I ask, taking in a slow, steady breath. I can do this. I can stay like this just enough in order to go on to the next step. It's almost like studying but times two, with both my arms again on fire.

Batman does not hear me, nor does he move from his stance: Narrowed eyes, straight back, with his arms crossed over his chest. I can nearly swear that he's my father under the mask, but I know better. "Figure it out amongst your team mates," he suggests shortly. I nod my head once in response.

I bite my lip as the team make their way towards me. To be honest, I wouldn't be bothered if they kept an extra step back for caution. But when they don't take the option to move away, I find myself sighing with relief. I'm a freak, and they are accepting me.

Robin speaks first, enthusiasm racing from his mouth. "Maybe if we set up some targets, like what Artemis does, we can have you shoot them down," he suggests as he pulls up a holographic image on his watch. Robin then begins to type vigorously, forming a plan on the light blue screen. "It could be similar to a gun, almost. But instead of using bullets, it will be a more like blasts of fire, somehow." The boy looks up from his blue screen and smiles. "What do you guys think? We have to have fire blaster gauntlets around here somewhere from the old days."

Kaldur folds his arms across his chest, a thoughtful frown splaying across his face. "It just might be possible," he murmurs, making eye contact with the other team members who either nod their in agreement or speak a simple "yeah" or "sure".

The team turns to me, waiting for my opinion again. A smile stretches across face as I agree with Robin's plan, "Sounds like… fun."

The past minutes blow by as the team creates the holographic archery targets that Artemis typically uses. M'gann and Artemis talk to me easily as they give me pointers for hitting the targets.

"Keep your back straight, shoulders back, chin up," Artemis instructs as she demonstrates alongside me. She lifts her arms up as if she is holding her bow and arrow. "I would use my other arm to pull back the string of my bow along with the arrow. But you only need one hand to release your own arrow." She then tosses her long hair over her shoulder as she concentrates on taking out her target out with her pretend arrow. "If you get in a fighting stance, it might help you ground yourself. And then when you throw punches, that's when you let the fire soar."

After she completes her task, Artemis turns to me. "Now it's your turn." With a nod of my head, I position myself the way my new… friend… has shown me.

"Oh, and make sure to breathe," M'gann reminds me. "It's important."

With the nod of my head I shift my feet and rotate my body so they are aligned with my squared shoulders. It almost feels like I'm back in yoga, getting ready to do some weird pose. With my arm raised to shoulder level, I find it be almost easy to relight the flames that come from my hand.

"Good Job, Rhyleight!" Megan cheers as she eyeballs the flame that swirls around my hand as I let it grow. "Now all you have to do now is aim it at all the targets that Robin has set up for you, and you're good to go. And then we can finally show you the rest of the cave and find you a room to stay in for this weekend."

My stomach roars for food as I nod my head in response, trying not to get nervous with this progress. Besides, it will be like one huge sleepover and hopefully with some food.

Moments later, from the other side of the cave, Aqualad gives us the thumbs up as the holographic targets come into view. The targets are circular and float in mid-air not moving, preparing to be shot down just the way they were programmed to.

The flames continue to dance on the skin of my hand as I narrow my eyes, focusing on a single target. Taking in a deep breath, I find myself letting the fire fly from my fist as a ball of inferno. Like a bird trapped in a cage, the fire shoots from my hand in a fiery haste… only to fizzle out half way to the intended target.

"Really?" I mumble, dropping my empty hand by my side, feeling strangely frustrated with myself. I never get mad at me. At other people, yes, but to have those emotions directed towards myself? Hardly ever.

M'gann places her hand on my shoulder lightly, attempting the art of comfort. "It was good try, at least." I don't respond to her as she tries to explain how my actions were only a 'beginner's mistake' and how 'practice makes perfect'. I got those lectures years ago from my mother, when she really was one.

The guys approach us, discussing theories as to how my metagene evolved to become what it is now. Wally has convinced himself that my familial ancestors had encountered some huge forest fire that their own skin had absorbed, thus giving all of us the "ability to manipulate fire" or in other words, pyrokinesis. I laugh, there's no way that happened. Dad was a firefighter before the accident. Batman follows the group silently as Robin interrupts Wally, claiming that his idea was illogical and could never happen.

"For your information, Boy Wonder, it can happen! This goes back to how Kid Flash came into existence," Wally explains loudly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Beside me, M'gann, giggles quietly at the argument between Wally and Robin, covering her mouth with her green hand. It is going to take a while to getting used to seeing somebody who comes from Mars. Not only that, but the idea of being around a group of people that will eventually call me a 'friend' will be something that I will also have to get used to as well. Not like I don't have friends back home. It's just… my group of friends revolved and around Nathan and now that… the thing happened I don't know if they are or were really friends to begin with.

Suddenly a holographic image of a woman with flowing black hair and a stern expression on her pale face divides the group in two. Half of us are separated from the other half as she begins to speak. "Wonder Woman to the Cave, requesting League members to follow up on the mandatory meeting regarding the code of conduct 67." Her tone is very serious. On the other side of the image, the group of boys part the way for Batman to step forward as he receives the message from his comrade.

"Confirmed. I'll be there shortly," Batman responds, with a quick nod of his head.

"Also, Green Arrow and Black Canary are on their way," Wonder Woman informs him, her red lips taking the shape of a smile. "Batman, please also inform the rookie that the League gives her a warm welcome in entering Young Justice." Another smile, a nod of her head, and the screen collapses into the air, leaving us all stunned.

Hey Guys!
This is chapter five. And I had a very hard time writing this. Because of transitions for different events that take place in the chapter as well as the classic WB. But there is no excuse for writing!
Anyways, introducing a lot of people in the next chapter! I'm so excited. Please leave a quick review. Thoughts, feelings, advice! Anything and everything helps! Please remember I haven't touched this story in 5 years, so for those who are coming back- yes there are lots and lots of changes.

Serenity.