I. Want. Young. Justice.

Hera and Zeus Academy are just places I made up in my head.

Alice is basically every well-meaning ditz I've ever meant. I sure everyone's met an Alice at some point in their lives.

My first priority had to be new clothes.

I knew I wouldn't last long without food or shelter, but those things would have to wait. I could always resort to begging when I got hungry, and thankfully Gotham had a lot of condemned buildings I could hole myself up in..

But if someone sees me dressed like this, they'll bring the cops down on me a heartbeat.

I'm just a kid... I thought, racing through the alleyways.

How am I going to survive on my own?

I shook off my doubts, I needed to try. If I'm ever dragged back to Arkham, which is becoming more and more likely with every passing moment, I refuse to go back knowing that I just gave up. What would mom and dad say? Or Rebecca for that matter?

Thinking back to my transport to Arkham, I tried to paint a mental picture of Gotham City. I made a quick estimate of my position, using street signs for reference, and made my way to a Goodwill store. People dropped off clothes at the back all the time, it couldn't be that hard to grab a bag and take off before anyone saw me.

But like everything else in my life it ended up being much more difficult than I originally thought.

I settled myself behind a row of trashcans and watched a minivan pull up, drop of a few bags, then pull away. I was about to rush over to the backstop when something stopped me. I couldn't risk this is broad daylight. Besides...I looked up at the building. Cameras. I completely forgot about the cameras.

Leaning against one of the sun-warmed cans, I started to form a plan. If I grab the clothes, the camera will see me the cops will know where I am. If I don't, I'll be identified and arrested for sure. A thought started crawling its way into my head, but I pushed it away. I'm not that desperate.

Yes, you are...

Sighing, I pulled a trashcan closer to me and pushed it over with my foot. Garbage spilled out and pooled around my legs. The smell was overpowering, I thought I was going to puke. I took a deep breath, pinched my nose, and started rooting through the can. I used bits of leftover food and cigarette ash to stain my mint green scrubs, making it unrecognizable. I found an old baseball hat and stuck it over my black hair, pulling it low on my face. Now I looked like a street urchin, one of thousands that occupy Gotham. No one will think twice about my theft now. Any bystander would just pass it off as yet another petty crime. The Goodwill people probably won't even care enough to check the tapes, in Gotham you're lucky to get through the day without being mugged.

I waited till dusk, not an altogether smart move considering Gotham's crime rate increases tenfold when it gets dark. Every second made me more anxious, I kept telling myself I was just waiting for the right moment. I could play all the mind games I wanted, but I knew that in the end I was nothing but a big coward. When I finally worked up the courage, a car was just pulling out of the parking lot. It left behind three black garbage bags, bursting with old unwanted clothes. I made my move. Running as fast as I could, again regretting all the times I hid behind the bleachers instead of running during gym, I grabbed one of the bags. Almost immediately, Someone shouted at me to stop. I ignored them completely and kept going.

My lungs started to burn after awhile, so I slowed and took refuge behind an old warehouse. I ripped open the bag with my hands, spilling the stolen clothes onto the pavement. I rifled through the bag, disappointed. A few pairs of socks, some tang tops, sandals and the odd bathing suit. Nothing that I could use in the wintertime.

My hand hit something that felt like a sweater. Excited, I grabbed it and pulled it into the dying sunlight. It was a girl's school uniform, and I recognized the insignia: Hera Academy, a boarding school for rich brats in Gotham. An old boyfriend of my sister's went to the Academy's brother school, the aptly named Zeus Academy. According to him, students slept over in each others rooms all the time.

I could almost picture the lightbulb appearing over my head.

Finding the uniform's matching skirt, I shrugged off my dirty scrubs and quickly changed. I kept the hat, out of necessity. Being in Arkham taught me not to take chances. Combing out my dirty hair and well as I could with my fingers, and stuffing Ivy's rose into the pocket of my sweater, I held up my head and bravely walked into the middle of Gotham.

Acting like a snobby rich kid, I swayed my hips and kept my nose in the air like the stuck-up girls at my old schools always had. Inside though, past my new schoolgirl persona, I was a paranoid mess. I was sure everyone was looking at me, it took every ounce of willpower I had to keep myself from screaming.

I had to stop four times to ask for directions, claiming to be a school girl who got ditched by her friends. Each encounter set my nerves on end, but I managed to get myself to the Academy without collapsing to the ground and curling into a fetal position. Hera Academy was a series of tall buildings, each surrounded by a huge black fence that was locked at night. Even though I knew the fence was meant for protection, it made me nervous. That fence brought up too many bad memories for my liking.

I didnt move. Now that I was actually at the Academy my courage dissipating like water in sand.

After a few moments of standing there, blinking dumbly up at the building, I noticed someone stating at me. A Zeus boy, with thick glasses and bad skin. Judging by the way he was staring at me, I'm willing to guess the perverted little freak walked over to Hera just to watch girls going in and out the building.

Ignoring him, I turned back to the Academy. I had to figure out a way to get inside. I jumped when I felt hot breath running down my neck. The Zeus kid was standing right next to me now, his creepy little pig eyes peering out at me.

"Whatcha doing?" he rasped.

"Um..." I backed away from him.

"Oh, there you are Kimmie! Where have you been?" A Hera girl, bleach-blonde hair tied into pigtails, popped out in front of me.

It took me a second, but I worked out that I was supposed to be Kimmie. I shot her a questioning look, she just winked at me and gestured to the creepy boy with her head. I smiled, the girl was helping me out. I couldn't help finding the humor in that, if only she knew...

The girl linked arms with me, guiding me into the Academy building and away from the freaky kid. Once we were safely inside, I stopped and thanked the girl for the assist. She grinned, flipping her hair out of her eyes with one manicured hand.

"No problem." she beamed. "I'm Alice, by the way. You?"

"Elizabeth." I responded, shooting her a smile of my own

I wasn't sure what surprised me more, that I was able to speak at all or the fact that the lie had tumbled from my mouth so easily.

"Marvin sure is creepy, huh?" she giggled.

"Totally." I nodded in agreement, feigning a shudder.

"Hey..." I said after a moment's pause, shuffling me feet back and forth.

"Feel free to say no, but me and my roommates got into an argument and..."

"That why your uniform is so dirty?" Alice blinked in curiosity.

"Yeah..." acting like a self-conscious teenager, I brushed off my uniform.

"You need a place to crash tonight, right? No big..." she giggled again.

"Yeah, do you mind? Cause if you do I can always..."

Without warning, Alice grabbed my arm and started pulling me down the halls.

"Me and my roomates argue aaaaalllll the time. I swear, sometimes it's like 'oh shut up, I can't stand you.' Just like having a bunch of annoying sisters. Do you have a sister? I do. Her name is Martha. Martha's only eight but she's sooooo annoying. She likes oranges. I swear the girl is like...obsessed or something."

I got lost somewhere after she stating talking about sisters, but I don't think the conversation was all that important. Alice deposited me in her room, telling me that she and her roommates wouldn't be back that night because they're all having sleepovers in other girls' rooms or something along those lines, then disappeared.

As soon as Alice left, I flopped down on one of the beds and tried to collect my thoughts. First things first, I needed a shower. I'd been running around and putting myself through insane stress all day. That, along with my garbage bath...Well, I probably don't smell too pretty at the moment. Shucking off the uniform, I stumbled back into the ridiculously exquisite bathroom. Everything was expensive and needlessly complex, it took me about five minutes to figure out how the shower worked. I found a bottle of strawberry shampoo at the bottom of the shower and used it to wash the dirt and sweat out of my hair. It smelled so good compared to the thick greenish shampoo they give us at the asylum I ended up washing my hair three times with the stuff.

I stepped out of the shower, feeling refreshed and clean. I grabbed a fluffy pink towel from a rack beside the sink and dried off. Feeling reckless, I started going through the Hera girls' belongings. My brain had switched back into survival mode. Ditzy Alice was now a liability, she could identify me if the police went to her. I had to change my appearance again, like a chameleon changing its skin to match its background.

I found a backpack in one of the wardrobes. It was filled with makeup and jewelry, probably a beauty emergency kit for the rich girls. I emptied it, shoving the contents into an open dresser. Hopefully the girls wouldn't notice until I was long gone.

Then I started to steal.

I didnt even really think about it, I just grabbed everything that I thought I may need: underwear, soap, long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, blue jeans, sneakers, basically everything that wasn't a stupid girly beauty product or too heavy to lug around. Although I did grab some makeup and a couple combs, you never know what you may need as a fugitive.

Fugitive. That's what I am now, I guess. On the run from the police.

I found an envelope full of cash, it was labeled 'Mackenzie's B-Day present money.' I didn't care in the slightest who Mackenzie was or that now she was going to have a crappy B-Day because of me. The money went into one of the outer flaps of the backpack.

And then my searches uncovered a bottle of blonde hair dye.

I stared at the bottle, contemplating. The cops would be looking for Quinn Mallory: black haired, skinny, thirteen-year-old Quinn Mallory. In order to survive, I thought, I had to become someone else. I told Alice my name was Elizabeth, because it was safe to be Elizabeth.

It wasn't safe to be Quinn Mallory.

With a regretful sigh, I carried the dye into the bathroom and started reinventing myself. Well over an hour later, I sat on one of the beds and munched on snacks taken from Alice's mini-fridge and tiny cupboard. My hair was now an unnatural shade of gold, glinted like fake sunshine in the light of the tablelamps. I was wearing fluffy pink rich kid pajamas, I had the backpack full of stolen supplies hidden under my bed. All the food I couldn't keep in a backpack for long periods of time was now disappearing down my throat: ice cream, chocolate bars, hamburgers smuggled from McDonald's. Everything tasted magnificent. After eating nothing but prison food for months, Alice's snacks seemed like a feast.

I felt a lot like the Grinch, you know. I came in dressed up in a hastily put together costume and stole things from innocent people, rooting through their junk and taking their things and emptying their fridges without the slightest hint of regret. Only difference is I have no intention of returning anything, and I'm slightly less green.

I wiped my mouth on my shirt, yawning sleepily and covering myself with the goose-down blanket and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. When I woke up I had no idea where I was, then it hit me. The escape, the Academy...I massaged my scalp...The hair.

I looked around, realizing that Alice and her annoying-sister-roommates had been there. Obviously no one had noticed my thefts, or I would be facing the wrath of some seriously tweaking rich girls right now. You know what's sad? I didn't even feel bad about stealing. The only thing I felt was relief. God, I suck.

I stretched my body, working the knots out of my sore muscles. I looked at a clock mounted on the far wall, 11:30, all the girls must be going to lunch now, conciderering it's a Saturday and they wouldn't have classes to go to instead. I changed into jeans and a sweater, thinking I'd fit in well among the citizens of Gotham this way. After another moments thought, I pulled on an extra sweater and pulled on a pair of sweats over my jeans. About a year ago, I saw a TV show that said one of the best disguises is fat, it can drastically alter every part of your body so that you become nearly unrecognizable. The same goes for losing weight, but I don't have that kind of time.

I took a deep breath, slung the backpack over my back, and excited the room. Girls were rushing around like crazy, carrying around little lunch bags or wads of cash. I was right. Lunch Time. Perfect, now I could slip away and no one would notice.

As I walked down the halls, towards the exit, I was bumped into by none other than my spazzy new friend Alice. I opened my mouth to say something, like why I wasn't in uniform or why I was blonde now, or why I'd suddenly gained weight, but she never gave me the chance.

"Ohhhhmigod! The police are here! They're looking for that crazy kid that escaped Arkham yesterday! Ohhhhhhhhmiiiiiiiiigoooooood!" She bounced up and down like a demented bunny rabbit.

Crap...I bit my tongue. Gotham's finest sure do work fast...

"Alice," I said. If I was right about my new look, than I wouldn't have to worry too much about the police.

"Alice, do you know who I am?"

Alice's little face took on a befuddled expression. She eyed me up and down, raking me with her gaze.

"Lab partner?" she guessed.

I actually laughed, patting her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, Alice. Lab partner." I nodded, continuing on down the hall.

I passed a cop, but he gave me nothing more than a brief glance. Clearly a blonde, chubby, girl with a backpack didn't make a very big blip on his radar. Caught somewhere between terror and relief, I pushed open the massive double doors and made my way down the steps.

Creepy Marvin was there again, but this time I rushed last him before he could say anything to me.

Okay, Quinn.... I said, strolling down the sidewalk.

It's day two of your unexpected release from Arkham, what are you going to do...?

I had no idea.

Ivy's flower, which I had stuck into my backpack for transport, seemed to grow heavy as I contemplated the idea. I wasn't stupid, I knew Ivy was only going to use me for my powers. But at least she'd freaking feed me and keep a roof over my head.

But even if I wanted to join her, which I don't, I wouldn't even know where to find her.

I looked to my right, two guys were standing by a thrift store and appeared to shaking hands. Being a New Yorker, I knew that they were really doing a drug exchange. When the men parted and went their seperate ways I knew that one of them had just pocketed some cash, and the other some marijuana or whatever the dealer happened to have on him.

Okay, I think my next objective should be getting the hell out of Gotham. This freaking place is dangerous. Plus, the cops are most likely going to scour the areas nearest Arkham before they move on to other cities. If I can avoid the cops long enough, they may call off the search for me and give up. Escapees can outmaneuver the cops and reintegrate themselves into society. You never hear about it, but it happens.

And maybe hiding out in the hometown of the Dark Knight isn't the healthiest thing for a fugitive meta-human.

Fugitive meta-human. Electrokinetic. Elizabeth. Sparky. God, I'm getting a lot of new titles lately. None of them really feel like me. I'm still Quinn Mallory, no matter what I look like or where I'm at. Unfortunately, If I'm too pull this off I'm never going to be able to speak my name aloud ever again.

Am I really prepared to give up my whole life?

I set my jaw. I don't really have much of a choice, do I?

I found a bus stop, easy enough is a city like Gotham, and chose a seat in the very back of the bus. I was already forming alibis in my head: I'm going to visit my grandmother, my aunt is sick, I'm going to visit my best friend who moved away last year, and a million other stories I was prepared to give to probing adults.

We drove for about forty-five minutes when the bus suddenly screeched to a stop, throwing me against the seat in front of me. A few outraged shouts arose from the other passengers. Playing it low-key, I poked my head up to see what was going on. The bus driver sighed in frustration, turning towards us and gesturing to the road.

"League Road Block." he shook his head. "Probably looking for the escaped Arkham crazies..."

Oh.

My.

God.

CLIFFHANGER! Muahahahahaahhahahah!

Random: dear lord I need a new YJ and fast.

If you choked Megan what color would she turn? Blue? Or some other color? Purple? Orange? O_o