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Four

It took Scarlet a few moments to figure out where she was the next morning. It had been far too long since she had woken up anywhere warm and comfortable. The bed was empty and the smell of food wafted in front the kitchen. Laughter rang out from down the stairs along with the smell of bacon.

Memories flooded back, memories of everything before her powers manifested.

"More bacon, princess?" her father asked her, hovering over her with a grin on his face.

"Yes!" she grinned.

"You spoil her, Ian," her mother warned.

"She's our princess," he smiled. "Love you Scarlet."

"Love you daddy!"

Scarlet climbed out of bed. She hated those memories more so then anything else. Old habits had the teenager pull the cover over the bed before she headed down the stairs. She hated this place, liars, all of them. No one is ever this happy or friendly, thee world had an ugly side and it overtook everything else. These people wanted something from her.

"Good morning Scarlet," Barry smiled. He sat at the table reading the paper whilst Starla cooked breakfast. Bart was sitting at the table, feet swinging over the edge of his chair colouring in. It was a superhero colouring book oddly enough-Scarlet may have lived on the streets but she'd never seen Batman red and purple before. "How did you sleep?"

Scarlet slumped down in an empty chair. "Coffee, black, like my soul."

"Say please!" Bart reminded her. "Mummy and daddy always say to say please when you want something."

"Coffee, black, like my soul, please," Scarlet muttered.

Starla sat the hot coffee in front of her. "Did you sleep okay?" she asked.

"Don't talk to me," Scarlet snapped, sipping her coffee. She looked up at Starla. "I'm still trying to figure out what you want. People don't help anyone is this world out of the goodness of their little hearts. This world is diseased and disgusting."

"We want to help you," Barry told her. "Meta-humans kids end up in three placed. A good home, the streets eventually leading to a life of crime or sold."

"The Hunters that had you cornered were sent to catch you," Starla explained. She sat down. "Six months ago, the League liberated a place that kids like you and my son were experimented on. You had a file in the system. Designated valuable but extremely dangerous. You wouldn't have been able to defend yourself from an attack. We can provide that."

Barry stood up as the doorbell rang.

"We're trying to help you," Starla assured her.

"I don't want to be a hero," Scarlet snipped. "I just want the kids back. I want to be back in my own little world and leave it at that."

"How many kids have you lost in the time you lived on the streets?" Starla asked her. "Finding meta-human children and protecting them so that they can grow up right is the best part of this. Saving people comes in second but think about what you can do if you can properly use your gifts."

Those words stung. Scarlet knew each and every kid that she'd lost to the streets and to Hunters.

Jaime Elmer.

Kendra Queen.

Clara Tombs.

Samuel Jones.

Hunter Locks.

Theo Gamble.

Austin Freemon.

Thomas South.

"Scarlet!" Jason suddenly ran in through the kitchen door, clean and geared up like he was running away.

"Jason!" she grinned. Scarlet jumped out of her seat and ran over to her friend. "What are you doing?"

Jason at Starla. "She and her other league freaks separated all of us for our protection!" he snapped. "I've got some friends out looking for Jessie. Get some crap together, we're leaving."

"Jason you can't do that," Starla warned him. "We're trying to keep you safe."

"You're just as bad as the rest of them!" Jason snapped.

"What is it with these kids and mistrust?" Barry muttered.

"Mummy!" Bart yelled as a dog with glowing red eyes appeared in the house. "Mummy! Puppy!"

"Bart upstairs!" Starla yelled at her son.

Bart blinked and disappeared.

A second dog appeared beside the first and the two advanced on Starla until she was trapped in the corner of the kitchen. The telepath narrowed her eyes, focusing on the two dogs but the moment her mind touched theirs she found herself in such fractured chaos. The mind of an animal wasn't like the mind of a human. It was in pieces, all over the place. There was no order. The boys mind was exactly the same. To Starla it was like she was a rookie again, just a kid who couldn't control her powers.

Scarlet left the room to get some clothes and change. There was no way that she was staying here in this house. She was going to get her kids back and they'd go away, far away. When she came back, the two dogs still had Starla cornered in the kitchen.

Barry suddenly flattered Jason on his back, knocking the teen to the floor, forcing him to lose his control over the dog that had Starla cornered in the kitchen.

"JASON!" Scarlet screamed. She stared at Barry and suddenly the speedster collapsed on the ground clutching his head, screaming. "DON'T TOUCH HIM!" It was like the first time that Scarlet had met Jason, two Russian's had him cornered in an alley beating him within an inch of his life. That was the first time Scarlet had really hurt someone. Like brain turned into soup hurt someone.

Starla ran at Scarlet, she grabbed the back of her head and viciously dove into the teenagers mind, shattering through the poorly constructed defenses in her head.

The teenagers mind was like a fortress within walls and walls and more walls. Like a lord within a castle, battle besiegement. Starla stood upon a hill overlooking the medieval fortress. Soldiers were preparing for a fight along the wall, all their weapons were aimed upon the intruder into their master's mind.

Right in the center of her mind stood an enormous tower, inside sat Scarlet's representation of her own mind.

The being that sat inside the tower was grotesque. A mutant mass of twisted memories, oozing with black poison. Starla couldn't tell where it ended or where it began but from her position on the hillside of Scarlet's mind she could see all kinds of memory balls floating around it, there was more red and black then there was white.

"Oh Scarlet," she whispered. A black light exploded from the tower. Pure rage rang in all directions but it was mostly aimed at her. "I'm not here to hurt you," she told her.

"She doesn't care you know," came a voice beside her. Starla looked down to see a little girl no older than seven standing there beside her. "And why should she?"

"Scarlet?" Starla whispered.

"What's left of her," she smiled. "Before the world got to her." The little girl flung out some kind of shield around them as the wave of rage consumed them. "You said it yourself- She is strong and she is powerful and she is angry. You took her from her home and her friends, her family. Everything was okay, I wouldn't be fading away I it weren't for you. I keep the dark memories at bay but the black and red consumes everything. Feeding on what's left of her good memories."

"I can help!" Starla objected.

"Then get out of my head!" Scarlet yelled, flinging Starla against the wall. She stepped over Barry on the floor and picked her backpack up before turning to Jason. "Come on."

"Scarlet!" Starla called. "Please-don't go! We can help you!"

"We don't need your help," Jason snapped. His eyes widened as he picked himself up off the ground. "I found Jessie. Come on." The boy, although clearly taller and bigger than Scarlet followed her from the house.

Starla crawled over the floor to Barry as he lay on the ground looking as though he'd lost a fight with a bus. She pulled her Com out of her dressing gown pocket and called Clark. She knew where the two teens would be going, it was just getting there first.