Disclaimer: We do not own YJ. Not that rich or creative. We do own the two NEW characters we're throwing in – Anna Winter/Castor and Maki O'neil/Phoenix. Enjoy~

Summary: A new villain emerges, forcing young Anna take up the role of Castor and face her inner demons. Maki O'neil is still coming to terms with her father's death. Their journey takes them to Gotham where their lives become entwined with the legendary Batman and the new team known as Young Justice.

Chapter 4: The First Night is the Hardest

"So I hear you picked up two newbies!" Flash grinned at the darkly clad man in front of him. As usual…Batman's expression remained as stoic as always. His eyes drifted over the Leaguers in the room – Flash, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado. Although only Tornado and Canary needed to be here to begin the new sessions of training…Green Arrow and Flash were anxious to meet the new comers.

"They are raw…but have potential." He contemplated out loud.

"Well you know what they say about 'a diamond in the rough'," Canary smiled, blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

The Bat turned to her," That…is your job."

Recognized.

All five heads turned at the robotic voice as the teleporter whirred to life. A white flash illuminated the room and as it dimmed, Superboy walked in, supporting a limping Miss Martian. She had a hand on her head and looked completely out of it. Conner looked up at the older heroes. "Uh…we're back."

Black Canary stepped forward to help the Martian but M'gann held up her hand with a strained smile. "No it's ok…I…I've got it." She took a shaky step away from Superboy and straightened, keeping a hand on his shoulder.

Next through the teleporter was Artemis…who was splattered in various places by a pink goo. She was slinging some of it off of her arms with a disgusted grunt. "UGH! This stuff just WONT COME OFF!" She glanced up to look at Green Arrow whose expression went from something of shock to a slightly entertained grin. "Please…Don't. Say. Anything."

***(Gothem Alley Way)***

Maki's hair hung around her in stringy, wet strands. From head to toe, she and the others were completely engulfed in clumps of the strawberry pudding. Anna in particular…well her naturally poofy hair had even more volume to it. It was ragged and clumped in places and the energy she gave off sparked in annoyance…peaking everytime Kid Flash opened his mouth.

"—So this one time –" Before Kid could finish his sentence, Robin pushed him into the teleporter with a slightly sadistic grin. Kaldur followed, shaking his pink covered head. Robin turned back to the girls.

"Wow…déjà vu, right?" He pointed at the telephone booth with a smile. "Second verse same as the first?"

Maki gave Anna a glance and gently patted her head. "I will go through first, Anna-chan." Most of the goo had hardened but some of the clumps in her roots were still congealed. She removed her hand, slowly, so as not to yank out any of her friend's hair. Then, she took a step into the metal booth, and waited as the beam of light scanned her.

Recognized - Phoenix – B-14

A light engulfed her and she was gone.

"Ladies first," He said with an almost mocking tone of voice and an indication of his hand. He didn't seem happy about something though and Anna gave him a thoughtful look. He glanced over at her. "What?"

"…You're upset about something," she said quietly and softly, head dropping slightly so her chin almost touched her chest and her shoulders sank down, "Is it something I did…or…said?" She asked, showing a moment of vulnerability towards the raven-haired boy. His expression didn't change for a few seconds before he shook his head.

"No…I'm more irritated at myself than anything," He said with a slight uplifting of one shoulder," I didn't react as quickly as I should have…and made a few errors that Batman wouldn't have." She glanced up at him.

"But you aren't Batman…you're Robin. You make your own choices and you do what Robin does best," She said with a slight smirk. He returned the smile.

"Yeah…I guess your right…You did a pretty good job tonight yourself you know," He told her and she shook her head, looking down-casted again.

"Nah…I lost my temper again…and I didn't follow anyone's lead on anything," she replied in a quiet voice.

"You said you were solo right?" He questioned her sharply and she glanced up. "So, now you're learning to work with a team…Trust me...It's not that easy learning something new…I'm sure you and Maki work well together…but that's because you know each other well enough…It's like…Batman and me… We work well without speaking because we know each other," he offered her, attempting to lift her spirits before she had to face the others. It was the least he could do. No telling what awaited them in there.

"Yeah…maybe," She murmured, turning to the telephone booth.

"Ladies first," He offered, this time more civilized than before.

"Brains before beauty right?" she retorted, making a mock gesture at him.

"Oh no, you get to go face the music first, pinky," he teased, meaning that her hair indeed had a pink sheen to it. She made a face.

"I don't have any other clothes than these," She muttered, crossing her arms stiffly over her chest. It was pretty hard to do.

"Well get you covered…Either that or I don't know, you can borrow something from someone," he said with an almost uncomfortable shrug of his shoulders, "Now hurry up please. I'd like to get this over with so I can take a shower and get this goop off of me before it becomes any more permanent then it already is." She shook her head, stepping through.

***(Mount Justice)***

Maki stepped through into the wide room and took in the new faces. Aside from Batman and Red Tornado, whom she had already met, there were three smiling adults. The man, whom she would assume was Flash, had a hand on Wally's shoulder – avoiding the goo as best he could – and a wide grin stretched across his face. A blonde man in a green tunic and hood stood next to a stunning beauty of a woman, who was also blonde. Their posture indicated that they were something more than friends.

"Maki," Aqualad gestured to the three in the center. "This is Kid Flash's mentor – The Flash."

"What's up?" His energy was a very happy and care free one…it seemed that crime fighting wasn't the only thing Wally had learned from this man. Aqualad motioned to the Robin Hood-esque figure next.

"And Green Arrow is Artemis's…uncle." The dark skinned boy next motioned to the woman. "And this is our combat trainer, Black Canary."

"How do you do," Canary bowed slightly to Maki who also returned the bow. She knew the manners of her people well. Maki lowered the mask that covered her face and smiled. "I would shake your hand…however I'm afraid we might get stuck."

"Understandable," The woman grinned. Maki knew she'd be someone that she could easily get along with.

Recognized – Castor – B13- Robin – B01

All turned as the final two of their team walked in…tracking yet even more goo across the floor. Kid Flash grinned and zipped over to place an arm over Anna's shoulder.

"And this lovely maiden is none other than a Castor of love," He teased, trying to be smooth. Her tense posture spoke otherwise.

"If you don't remove your arm…I'll remove it permanently," she growled out quietly. Robin passed by quietly, punching Wally in the gut as he did.

"Knock it off already," he said quietly. Anna's mouth twitched slightly but she gave no other reaction. With a bit of effort, Wally pulled his arm back off with a sickeningly squelching noise.

"Alright alright. We'll just talk later then," he said with a grin none the less.

"Castor, It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Black Canary," a fairly attractive woman scantily clad in black clothing offered, her face was kind with an almost motherly expression," I'd offer to shake your hand…but you understand my reluctance." She indicated the goo on them. Anna said nothing, only remained standing there with Wally beside her.

"Hey there. I'm Flash," Flash offered next with a cheery wave, instantly reminding her of Wally for some reason.

"And I am Green Arrow," the final one offered with a slight incline of his head in way of greeting. All seemed friendly enough but Anna didn't trust a single one of them in the room.

"Enough pleasantries…Kaldur, report."

Aqualad moved to stand in front of Batman and began his explanation of the mission…from getting into the theme park to splitting up. He then motioned for the rest of the information from the others. Miss Martian, Kid, Superboy, and Artemis told their side of the mission…admitting to the destruction of the central attraction of the park after fighting Harley. Aqualad jumped back in explaining his own experience while in the Tunnel of Love with Maki and then turned to Robin.

Robin was quiet for a few seconds longer than seemed necessary before launching into an almost detail-less mission report of their side of the story with Joker. Anna stepped forward, tapping his shoulder and cutting him off.

"You tell stories weird," She commented," I antagonized this…Joker character…and got in Robin's way of taking him down…leading to us being tied up…It was my fault also that they got away." She indicated for Kaldur to pick up on the mission details for the remainder of it. Kaldur nodded, noting Anna's revision to how Joker and Harley escaped.

"In the end we were all caught off guard…and we had to endure our failure by being stuck in Joker's trap while Miss Martian recovered enough to get us out." He looked Batman squarely in the eye…regardless of the part that the rest of the team played…he and the Bat had already had this discussion…failure of the team was failure of the leader.

Batman watched the group for a few seconds before sighing and crossing his arms. "How is it that whenever I send you on a surveillance mission no surveillance ever gets done? In any case…the mission was a success – we can now alert the authorities of Joker and Harely taking up refuge in the theme park…we'll have them watch the surrounding areas and the League will keep an eye out for them. Now go get cleaned up."

"FINALLY!" Artemis all but ran to M'gann's room to get changed out of her messy uniform.

"Why is she complaining…she barely got any on her!" Wally sighed then looked down at his cast…grinned and licked a little of the pink goo off of it. "Mmm…strawberry…"

As the team dispersed, Maki shared a look with Anna…they were both down one outfit…and they had yet to retrieve any of Anna's things from her various hiding places. Robin noticed their mutual glances and spoke up loud enough for Batman to hear.

"Hey…you guys didn't bring a lot with you…do you need a change of clothes?"

Maki glanced back at him then down at Anna. She doubted anything he had would fit either of them. "We do, however…"

Black Canary inclined her head and took visual measurement of the two. "Why don't you wait here…I've got some extra training clothing around here somewhere for you to change into."

"…joy," Anna muttered under her breath sarcastically, arms still crossed over her chest. Her sunglasses still had a thick coating of pink strawberry pudding and she couldn't see from them. Her hair had dried in thick, stiff chunks in front of her hair though and that also made it hard to see. Suddenly her sunglasses were plucked from her face, and she threw up her hands to cover her eyes from the sudden increase of light.

"How do you SEE from these things?" Wally asked, turning them over in his hands. "Seriously…this pudding isn't transparent you know…I mean…you've been walking around all this time…and your hairs dried in like…chunks-not that you don't look good with it anyways—but seriously." His last ditch attempt to make it sound smooth and not insulting fell short.

"…I track you by your energy, now give back the shades or so help me-," She snarled, getting angry.

"Wally, give the girl back her glasses!" His uncle frowned at Kid's behavior. Hadn't he taught him better than that?

Maki reached forward to stop Wally's actions but Robin snatched the sunshades from his best friend's hands and she paused. Robin pushed Kid out of the way with a short growl. "I said to knock it off, didn't I? Dude…so not turbing."

He turned, moved some of Anna's hair out of her face and slid the glasses back over her eyes. "There. All better…and don't be afraid to zap him or something." With that, Robin followed Batman out of the cave.

Maki watched the scene quietly. She was so used to being the only one to come to Anna's aid…it had become second nature to them. How…unusual. She had misjudged Robin…when they first met him he seemed to be cross with their joining the team.

Black Canary came back holding a couple of T-shirts and sweatpants. "Here…hopefully they'll fit you…let me know if you need anything else. I'm always here to help."

"Come…lets go pick our room," Maki took Anna's hand and they followed Red Tornado to the living quarters.

*** (one hour later)***

Maki sat behind Anna, cross legged, running a fine comb through her young companion's thick hair. Beside her was a bowl that had balls of bright colored paper in it. Maki's fingers picked out the confetti bit by bit…they had been at this for little over twenty minutes just trying to get Anna's hair back to some semblance of normal. "So…Did you and Robin talk? You were a bit longer coming in from the Ally."

Anna had been quiet for most of the procedure. Picking out their room had been pretty simple actually, considering the two were going to share one and throw up a divider when they got the chance. Anna didn't like the idea of having a strange new room all to herself just yet, she was use to sharing with Maki on occasions and this felt no different. Hearing Maki speak up to her, she briefly considered what to tell her friend. Well, the truth usually worked out for the best.

"Yes…," she replied quietly, before continuing on without any further prompting to," He seemed upset…and I thought it was because of me, considering the first time we met…I kind of put him to sleep on a rooftop." She admitted quietly," However…he was upset at himself…and his ability. He seems to have a devotion to Batman to a degree that I don't quite understand and every little fault that makes him who he is and not who Batman is…bums him out. So I just told him that he is who is he is basically…" She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders, considering her legs were pulled up to her chest and her chin was resting atop them with her arms wrapped around them. She didn't like the training clothes they had on. The black t-shirt was about a size too big for her and the pants were even bigger than that. She felt like she was being swallowed whole in them. The sweat pants were of a darker gray material and she'd had to tie some string tightly around her to keep them on. The legs had been rolled up as well.

Maki considered her friend's story for a moment, "Ame futte chi katamaru…he will find himself after his hardships are over." She pulled one last square of blue confetti out of Anna's hair and sat the bowl aside. "Now it is time for bed."

Anna had kept herself perfectly still, eyes closed as she allowed Maki to nimbly pluck out the pieces of confetti. Stupid clown, she thought to herself with an inner growl. She almost missed Maki's response to her short story as she contemplated the things they'd had to do today. Other than Mindfreak…Anna had never gone against anyone as strange as the two she had. Listening to the mission report given by the others it'd dawned on her that this group went against some pretty dangerous people. She'd never paid much attention to the news reports for any of the cities she'd visited. That was Maki's job—well, no. Maki just seemed to know everything. She looked up to her older friend, more so than the ninja-girl probably even realized. Anna tried her hardest to be the mature one, so as not to let Maki down. She never wanted to be singled out because of her age. Maki was always so calm, cool and collected. Level-headed.

Moving around to the other side of Anna, Maki turned on the small bedside lamp that had been provided to them before standing. She then crossed the room, turned the main light off, and walked the short distance to her own bed. Laying down under just a thin sheet, she rolled over and murmured, "Oyasuminasai."

She watched as Maki stood up, flicking on the table-side light for Anna, before she turned off the big light. Anna's heart skipped a beat as they were doused in sudden darkness. It shouldn't have bothered her, but she was in a strange place and it'd been a tough day. She'd set her sunglasses beside the lamp anyways and glanced at them before laying down. She didn't bother pulling a blanket over her, the giant clothes would act as a good enough barrier. At first she had trouble getting comfortable. The bed was—well, a bed. Not a floor, or some dinky thing in a hotel room. It was an actual bed. Last time she'd been in an actual bed was with her real parents. Her eyes slowly closed and she spiraled into darkness.

Maki tensed and stared up at the moonless sky. She was in a thick forest standing on a crumbling rock path…before her was a shadowed dojo. A strong wind blew and her short hair tickled the nape of her neck; her stark white skirt brushed against her knees. The building groaned and Maki had to grit her teeth to keep from whimpering.

'Maki…maki…tasukete…"

"Oto-san!" Maki's voice was hoarse and she gripped her arms as the wind whipped around her with the force of a tsunami. The trees moved in the forceful gale and seemed like arms reaching out to grab her. "Ie!"

Bare feet slamming down hard against the broken and dilapidated steps, the girl ran as fast as she could towards the entrance of the dojo. She gripped the edge of the paper sliding door but it wouldn't budge. Another blast of wind pushing her slightly to the side, Maki turned to dash around the corner of the building…surely—Indeed, the back door to the adjoining building was broken inwards…just as she remembered. Blood stains leading from the wooden floors to the tatami ones told Maki immediately what she would find inside.

Instantly the wind around her stopped and the sudden silence deafened her. Tentatively, she took one step forward…then another. The only sound she could hear was the slow, dull thud of her feet as she shakily walked into the scene that had haunted her for the last few years. As she stood in the demolished doorway, she stared blankly at kotatsu table that had been slammed against the wall and now lay in pieces. Her eyes skimmed over the broken shelves and shattered glass from the family pictures that had been so lovingly displayed throughout her life. And finally they rested on a man in a white suit…a white suit splattered crimson with the blood of her father.

Her eyes widened as Takanari Okubo, one of the greatest swordsmen left in their region, struggled to turn his head towards his daughter. His eyes widened and he reached out his hand to her. In her mind she heard him calling over and over again: Tasukete…tasukete…Maki…chan…

A man, hidden in the shadows of the room, lit a cigarette, took a drag and then fixed his eyes on Maki. "Anata wa saishūtekini anata no kao o mise. Kore wa seitō-ka sa reru."

His words echoed in her ears. Masayoshi…Justice. This was her fault…had she only not gone against her father's wishes and attacked the man involved with slandering her family's name, Oto-san wouldn't be…

Ie. It was worse…so much worse…her father smiled at her. But it was sad…his eyes were apologizing. For what? She had disobeyed him…Those sad eyes full of regret and another emotion that Maki couldn't name focused in front of them and she could feel his spirit leave his body. "OTO-SAN!"

"Anata wa fukō o motarasu. Dono yō ni daremoga anata o shinrai suru koto ga dekimasu ka?"

The scene around her began to fade and she tried desperately to fight the fog of her mind. As the man's statement filled her mind, another rough voice cut through to the forefront of her thoughts.

"It is a group known as 'Young Justice', a small sub-group to the Justice League...You will meet the members yourself and assist in missions when necessary."

A team? But…she always brought misfortune to others…how could she be of any possible help if she couldn't be trusted?
** (Dream) **
She was atop someone's shoulders, and they were running around the back yard with her. She had to be dreaming. She couldn't be here again. This wasn't happening again. Her tiny little arms were outstretched to either side and someone was making airplane noises for her. She felt so free-spirited, that the emotion swallowed her up. She felt like crying, but at the same time she just wanted to live in the happiness of the moment. Bright sunshine washed down, warming her and she could smell fresh laundry that'd been hung out to dry. She let out a giggle as the person suddenly crash-landed, flipping her over their head so that she could land on her feet. She turned around but the sun was too bright and all she could see was the figure's blurry outline. She squinted, trying to make them out but they seemed to become vaguer and distance. Why couldn't she see their face? A hand met the top of her head and ruffled her hair.
"Now…let's go see about some grub from mom hunh? Peanut butter and jelly good for you?" The voice asked, smooth and deep but friendly none the less. It was familiar. Who had she been with? They held out their hand for her and she accepted before skipping towards the house. That's when she'd been knocked backwards onto her feet. As a kid, she'd never understood what had happened…but now she knew. It was an explosion. Their house had exploded, with their mother and father still inside. Flames had licked up the side of it and her brother—The figure she couldn't define anymore from her own memory, even though she struggled to recall who he looked like—had dashed inside to try and find them. To rescue them. Her brother had always been the hero sort, never the villain. She'd waited, a five year old, for her brother to come back out with her parents…knowing they'd go to the carnival like planned. This amusement park had come out, and she'd always wanted to go to one before and see the clowns who would paint your face and let you honk their noses. It looked like fun.
She shivered as the scene seemed to fade around her, morphing into the abandoned amusement park. She'd come to terms with her families death. An accident, the reporters had said on TV, when a gas line exploded. Killed three people, leaving one. She'd gone through several different foster-families, never getting comfortable with any of them. The wind picked up, blowing leaves with it and seemed to be tugging her into one particular direction. The fun house. She didn't want to go there again. Last time had been bad enough and she'd had Robin. Still, her feet didn't obey her mind and on wards she went into it. It's just a dream. It's just a dream. She repeated over and over, her words felt hollow even to herself. Her breathing was rapid, and her heartbeat sounded extremely loud to even herself. One foot in front of the other as she entered the hall of mirrors. She stopped, turning to look at herself in one.
Something evil lurked in her reflections. It was her, but then…It wasn't. It was someone more evil then her. Someone she didn't want to be. She felt tears spring to her eyes, a burning sensation as something warm trickled down her cheek.
"Look at you," her reflection spoke back to her, arms crossed over their midriff," A baby. Trying to play an adult game…you don't even have the backbone to do the things I can do. Pathetic…" She shook her head but her reflection smirked. "I can do a lot of things…"
"No. I'm plenty strong…Stronger than-," she started out weakly.
"Look at how you handled the Joker and his girl," her reflection snapped at her," Relying on a TEAM…bad enough you've got Maki always keeping your back for you. You can't even take care of yourself…Ha!" Her reflection snapped at her, leaning forward—and coming out of the mirror. Anna stumbled backwards away from it. Just a dream. Just a—
"Dream right?" Her reflection finished for her," Oh yeah. I'm a nightmare for you. You'll never make it out there…A team's going to slow you down even more…When do you think they'll give up on you? Like your foster families did? Hunh? When do you think they'll realize your nothing but a little baby—a fake…a pretend dress-up hero?" The reflection threw back its head, letting out an evil sounding laugh. "You'll fail… this will just bring you closer to hurting Maki."
"I won't hurt her-," Anna protested.
"Not on purpose I'm sure," the reflection sneered out, "But she'll slip up trying to PROTECT your weak self from some ATTACK and get herself killed… just you wait and see…" The reflection chuckled, turning back towards the mirror," If it were me…" Its head tilted," In a sense…you are…but…that's beside the point…I'd ditch the team…and Maki…once and for all…" It melted back into the mirror.
Anna opened her eyes, or so she thought since she couldn't tell if she was dreaming or not anymore. The room looked the same…but Maki was gone. She stood up quickly, heart pounding. Surely Maki wouldn't have left her alone—
"You're asleep," a voice cut in. Deep, metallic and oh so familiar. She spun around, coming face to face with Mindfreak who was stretched out on her bed, which looked awkward for him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, head leaned back against the wall and offered almost conversationally, "In case you were wondering…I'm not really even here…" He seemed to look around," Your cute friends gone though…Shame…Maybe I could've tormented your mind a little longer…" A quiet chuckle from him. "So…whose worse….me or that clown?" Anna shook her head, banging a fist into her forehead.
"Wake up…..wake up…..wake up," she muttered, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
"Oh, I want to help…That looks like fun," Mindfreak quirked up. This was from her mind right. Surely he had a purpose. "Yep. Those are fun too… Deeper meanings…you do that a lot don't you…and you dream about me too…wonder why…am I that captivating?" He tilted his head, and she was certain he'd of smirked underneath the strange mask. If there really was a face there, suddenly he reached up for his mask, slipping it off and revealing the face of the Joker. "Heeeeeeeey, betcha missed me sweetie?" He declared, tossing back his head and laughing maniacally. She was falling again, and into pudding of some sort. "I brought some friends for ya~!" He danced around the edge of her pit, peering down at her as she struggled to keep her head above the gooey concoction. It seemed to be pulling her beneath it.
"You failed me," Maki seemed to whisper from above the pit," You are so pathetic and weak…I cannot believe I was your friend this entire time. Who knows what I was thinking." She had her hands on her hips and the coldest expression Anna had ever seen on her face. "You deserve this…" The girl turned and slowly walked away. Anna's face slipped further into the goo, covering her mouth so she couldn't speak but her nose still worked and she was trying to breath calmly but it wasn't working. She felt like she was suffocating and being smothered. A tight pressure on her chest wouldn't let her pull in enough air. Maki was leaving her….She was being abandoned, and it was all because she cared for Maki. Joker peeked back over the edge, an insane smile on his face. The clown creeped her out seriously and she wasn't sure anything about that would change for her. She was crying, unable to move or do anything. Her only chance for survival had walked off and left her here to die alone. All because she was too weak and couldn't stand up on her own. Then Batman appeared, hand reaching down towards her. She was going to be saved after all. Her heart leapt into her throat as his hand touched her head.
"Sorry about this," He growled out," But it's for the best." Then he shoved her downwards into the goo, cutting off all of her air