Authors note: This is Whispery Muse with a couple disclaimers. I do not own Young Justice (copyright cartoon network).

I hope you liked the first chapter and I really hope you'll like the second chapter even better! I got some tips from the first one, and if my style seems a little different, it's because it is. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 2_Discovery

A grinding noise slowly brought her out of her restful sleep. Irritated, she cracked open an eye and yawned loudly before she froze, the metal beneath her reminding her where she was. Staring at the ceiling, she thought about what she knew. Okay, A) there's a dangerous guy named Conner. B) Four people named Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Artemis were named by a strange bionic woman. C) I'm starving and need water. The last thought was finished by her licking her cracked lips.

She sighed lightly and flipped over, feeling her bruises more than before. Noticing light coming from somewhere, she crawled towards it, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light. Vaguely remembering a flash of…something, she held her hands up and squinted at them in the dim light. All it gave her was a headache from squinting to hard and her stomach let out a rumble so loud it spooked her and she flinched. Realizing the source, she rolled her eyes at her skittishness. "Okay stupid stomach, food first." She whispered, and resumed her march towards the light. To her surprise she came face to face with a metal screen.

Peering out into the brightness, she sat in momentary amazement as a kitchen came into focus through the horizontal lines of the vent cover. Her immediate optimism nearly imploded as she realized the vent wasn't budging. Pushing with her shaking muscles, she nearly screamed in rage when it didn't budge. She pushed against the panel, and with a feeling of dread, realized that screws held it shut.

Tears fell down her filthy face unchecked, and she let her head fall against the grill in defeat. "So close, and I'm going to die right here…" Her voice cracked with misuse.

Remembering something with a jolt, she placed her hands on the grill, wriggling her fingers through the gaps. Her pinky finger was just barely small enough to fit, and with a prayer, focused all of her pain, anger, frustration and exhaustion.

To her shock, her hand began to glow slightly, and the screw separated from the wall with a hiss as it melted. Gasping in fear, she felt her stomach rumble again, making up her mind to be freaked out later.

Repeating the process with the other screw, she barely caught the grill as it fell, half hanging out of the vent shaft with her leg muscles shaking in effort. Gritting her teeth, she slithered forward and fell to the floor, only emitting a small thump. The wind got knocked out her, and she waited only a moment before scrambling to her feet. Placing the grille on the floor, she raced to the fridge and whipped it open.

The food nearly sparkled with temptation, and she snatched only a few things, barely remembering through her starvation-crazed mind that overeating would make her sick. Snatching only a few things, she saw a chair that she shoved under the vent. Footsteps hurried her movement, and she grabbed the vent cover, jumping in and placing the vent where it had been before—without screws.

Cursing silently, she realized that she couldn't truly disguise the fact that she'd been there. A shriek of pain sent her scrambling further down the shaft, and she put most of her body out of sight, leaving her head to watch the vent.

"What the—Megan? Did you leave this chair here?" Conner's voice thundered through the shaft, making her shiver. A voice mumbled, but it was too soft for the girl to make out. She leaned a little farther out, and suddenly there was a face in front of the screen. Ice blue eyes peered into the gloom, and she froze, extremely glad she was peeking out from behind a corner.

"You know, Megan, I think we might have a rat in here somewhere." His head disappeared, and the girl let out a soundless breath, deciding this was a better place to eat and sleep anyway. Scarfing her food down, she listened to the two in the kitchen, and once she was reacquainted to the sounds of civilization, fell asleep once more.

"So you said you saw something in here?" A younger voice jolted the the girl this time, and she froze, suddenly refreshed and energized from her rest and ready to run. For a moment she thought it was her hunter, but relaxed when voices bounced crazily in the shaft. The grate peeled away, and she began to slide slowly backwards, putting more distance between her and the strange voices.

"Yeah, I did. You'd better find it and give it to Wolf here. He's hungry." Conner's voice was cold.

Wait, they have a wolf? Where am I? She thought, slightly panicked.

"Jeez dude, you can be really creepy, you know that?"

"When you live here with a rat, Robin, you can be as uncaring as you want." The girl's voice, Megan, bounced into the darkness. The hidden girl flinched, becoming more rattled. They're all out there!

Then a scarier thought stuck in her mind.

Who are they?

"Hey, look at this guys. The screws were…melted?" The younger voice asked again, and a different voice laughed.

"Robin, what are you talking about? There aren't any screws there at all…Whoa. Why do I have a feeling that this is definitely not a rat?" The third, slightly whiny voice added. She began sliding backwards even faster, but suddenly there was a shout.

"I see it! Go get it before it gets away!" Conner's voice boomed through the shaft, and she gritted her teeth, feeling the shaft drop away behind her. Light thudding told her someone was coming inside the shaft to chase her.

They know I'm here. No more hiding! She jumped straight up as she began to fall, gripping the edges of the shaft and hauling herself into the opposite shaft. Shouts grew louder behind her, and she clambered furiously, taking a right and hopefully putting ore distance between them. The shouts faded, but the sliding behind her persisted. She kept going, trying to get away from whoever it was.

After five minutes of sliding, falling, climbing and squirming, she stopped, only panting a little as she stopped before another grate. No longer concerned with staying hidden, she placed her palms to the grill. They warmed within seconds thanks to her frantic state, and the metal melted, spilling her into a huge cavern. The force of her landing jarred her bones, and she flinched as the vent cover fell next to her with a clatter. Noticing a small door on the other side, she grinned for the first time since she could recall. She began sprinting for the door, her confidence getting another unexpected boost as no footsteps followed. Considering going around the strange circle in the middle of the room, she decided against it. Thundering footsteps in front of her made her look around, and to her shock she slammed against some—one.

She flew backwards, and so did the person she ran into. Looking up, she came face to face with a red-head, green-eyed boy who gave her a grin. "Hey guys, 'it' would be the wrong word."

Scrambling to her feet, she kicked his head and gasped when he fell to the floor. I…I've never hurt someone before! She panicked, backing away and shocked at her own actions.

Looking from where he came, she saw a huge shape flying towards her. A thunderous boom knocked her off her feet, and hands grabbed her neck, hauling her up. The world spun crazily, and she lost track of her thoughts for a moment. Furious light blue eyes stared into her own amber eyes. The world suddenly righted, and she thought she heard metallic footsteps behind her. I won't get caught now! Instinctively she threw her hand towards his face, trying to get away.

Her hand touched, and he gave an animal roar, dropping her. Coughing hard, she pushed herself away and turned back to the entrance, but a kick to her knees sent her sprawling into the strange circle. Another boy leapt in, and a bright white wall went up around her. She gave out a scream, smashing her fists beside her and leapt to her feet, gritting her teeth in fury. Are you kidding me!

Why are you running? Another voice, not her own, pounded into her mind, and she struggled to stand, blinking rapidly. The presence vanished, and as her eyes focused back on the present, she ducked in surprise as a fist flew towards her face. Thinking was out of the option, and everything was instinctive.

A pale face filled her vision, and she sent one hand out to touch, but he was already gone. A sharp stab to her side made her crumple slightly. Looking out, she saw four people standing to one side. Panting, she jumped towards the wall, away from the boy with sunglasses, and plunged her hands into the wall. It sparked, sending her muscles into a twitching frenzy.

Growling loudly, she pushed harder against it, her hands glowing brightly with bright yellow sparks jumping up her arms. Sweat trickled down her back, but she gasped in triumph as a hole the size of her own self showed. Jumping out she made one last desperate attempt to escape sprinting towards only one figure guarding her way to freedom. A blue stream shot towards her, but she ducked, leaping towards him. One touch—

"Kaldur, look out!" A girl shouted, and suddenly, she couldn't feel the ground beneath her. Looking around, she saw she was floating in the air. Panting, she blinked, her mind slowly switching back into thought. I'm…floating?

"Let me go!" she wailed, throwing her dignity out on its tail as fear swarmed her mind again, and she nearly cried. Swinging her arms around, she found out she was facing the girl named Megan. Her next screech died out in her mouth as she stopped to think. She…she has green skin…

The revelation hit her hard. "Martian…" Her voice was still scratchy, but she mentally screamed at herself. You just happened to fall into the hidden lair of the Justice League. Good job! You're officially dead.

"What is she mumbling about?" A blond haired girl stepped forward, hands on her hips and a bow in her hand. Gulping loudly, the amber-eyed girl began to tremble slightly.

"Moreover, who are you and why are you here?" Kaldur stepped forward, and another thing clicked in her mind as she hung suspended upside down.

"Atlantean…" She whispered, eyes wide with amazement, taking in the gills on the sides of his necks and his webbed fingers. It does exist! All of it! Another voice drowned out her awe-filled one. Yes, you idiot, but how are you going to get yourself out of this mess?

Tell the truth.

She took a deep breath and began coughing again. Movement caught her eye, and she saw Robin stand from where he had been kneeling next to Kid Flash. "Why does it matter? She nearly beheaded Wally!" He accused, pointing a finger at her. She glared right back, her anger getting ahead of her brain.

Conner walked up to the green girl. Staring at his face, the girl felt her jaw drop, seeing his skin an angry red where she'd touched his face. "Conner! What happened to you!"

The boy named Wally grimaced and gave a weak chuckle. "I think it improves his face, actually." That earned him a glare from the green girl and Conner. If she hadn't been in the middle of a panic attack, the girl might've laughed too.

Suddenly, gravity came rushing back, and she fell on her back, hard. She began to wheeze, trying to focus back on the real world instead of slipping off. Forcing her eyes open, she stood shakily, slipping as she went up. No one moved to help her, and she sucked in another breath.

"Keida." She said quietly, and they all turned to look at her in slight astonishment.

"What?" the green girl asked taking a step towards her, but Keida took another step back as well, still wary of the Martian.

"I'm Keida."

They exchanged a look, and suddenly Keida felt left out for some odd reason. All of them pulled away, not saying a word, but standing in a circle and gesturing as if they were speaking out loud.

Telepathy. I should've figured. Come ON, Keida, you must remember something Dad taught you about the Justice League. She wracked her brain, but stopped, and turned around to look at the exit. If I could just run for it—get away, then I wouldn't be a burden. Wait a minute, what am I talking about? This is the Justice—

Hold on. Do you see any Justice League members? No. So what does that tell you? It tells me that this is a section that hasn't been publicized at all. And they're all teenagers…

A screen flickered to life in front of the group, and she gasped, scuttling backwards a little bit. "Justice League there's a—who is that?"

Keida's eyes widened as she started into the masked face of Batman. All of the blood drained from her face and she felt her knees getting wobbly. "Robin, what's going on here?" Batman commanded, his eyes narrowing.

"This girl just showed up." Megan said, gesturing to Keida, who flinched slightly at the motion.

"Showed up? She broke in and burned me!" Conner growled, but the red mark was already fading from his skin.

"She also attacked Wally and me." The pale boy in the sunglasses added, but the Atlantean held up a hand.

"Her name is Keida, but…that's all we know."

The tension in the room suddenly grew, and Batman's frown turned downward even more, if that was possible. "Keep her detained until Martian Man Hunter and I can arrive."

Suddenly Keida found her voice and spat out, "Hey! I'm right here! Just let me leave and I'll never come back, I promise!" Five days ago I would never have begged at this level.

She mentally snorted. Five days ago you weren't involved in a mysterious factory accident that you can barely remember and Batman wasn't giving you the death glare that says, 'you are so screwed'.

"No. You've violated private property. Do as I say and contact Black Canary."

The screen went blank, and six pairs of eyes turned back to her. Suddenly the silence got to her and she glared at them back, shaking with fear. "What? Do you have a problem?" She bit at them, and the red-head, wasn't his name Wally? Took a step back away from her.

The blond came closer and Keida barely kept herself from flinching. "So what possessed you to break in? How'd you even find this place?" When Keida didn't respond, the other girl cracked her knuckles, handing her bow to the—

"Robin, hold my bow."

No way! Robin? As in…well, that certainly makes sense.

"Artemis, leave her alone." Kaldur stared at the blond with dark brown eyes, and when they turned onto Keida she nearly cowered. Mentally preparing herself to speak, she squeaked pathetically instead. I'm going to die. After all that hard work, I'm going to die right here, in a creepy cave. What joy.

"Why did you break in?" Kaldur asked again, and she was taken aback by the soft cadence of his voice. At least he was calm, and Keida felt herself unwind slightly.

"I'm running." She responded haltingly. When no one said anything, she felt forced to fill the silence. "And I can't tell you any more than that."

"Why not? Are you a secret agent from somewhere special? Have a secret to hide? Or do you know where a special weapon is that will destroy the world? Oo, maybe you're an assassin!" Wally spouted, and she was so surprised she stopped and stared at him with wide eyes.

"Wally, shut up. You're scaring her." Robin spoke, but he was behind her, and she spun on her heel, the hunted sensation quickly rising in her mind.

"N-nno . That's not it. I can't tell you…because I'm supposed to be dead."