Chapter 2 - Intent

TAOS April 1st 17:23 MDT.

Alex couldn't believe it. It was over. No more electrocutions. No more poking, prodding and being forced strange fluids. He thought it was a dream but when he awoke in a bed for the first time in weeks, he knew it was real. The teens had been taken to Star Labs in Taos to test for any "anomalies" or so the scientists at Star put it but only the teens that had spent time with the Reach were held. Anyone who was captured that same night was let go. Alex figured that it was to find out what the Reach's experiments had done to the. Nightwing told them that they would be safe there and that they would be asked a few questions about what happened. Alex, Jaime, Bart, La'gaan and three other teens named Virgil, Asami and Eduardo sat in a hallway waiting to be seen by a member of the Justice League known as Black Canary.

"Virgil?" She called.

A kid named Tye Longshadow exited. He was amongst the four teens that were also experimented on by the Reach. Jaime seemed to take interest in him. Maybe he knew him?

"Tye!" Jaime jumped up in full armor. He suddenly paused and began stretching. Tye gave him a confused look.

"Ty-Time to stretch! Gotta keep limber."

Everyone stared awkwardly. The hall was silent until Virgil exited. Virgil sat down looking down at the floor. His face had a tired, weary expression. He just wanted to leave as did the rest of them.

"Alex?" Canary called him in.

The room was small. Nothing but a desk, two chairs and a video camera. Alex went a shade of red. Black Canary was attractive. Long blonde hair and a slim yet toned figure. She wore a blue jacket and a black form fitting suit with leather boots. He found it rather "distracting". He had trouble talking to women and even in a situation like this it made him feel awkward.

"You're a little red. Everything ok?" She asked.

"It's nothing..." He cleared his throat and looked away awkwardly.

Canary chuckled a bit. She found his shyness to be a bit cute. Besides, it lightened the mood and made it easier for her to bring up what happened in the weeks prior to the rescue.

"I just have a few questions to ask about what happened." She smiled.

She had given off a motherly presence which calmed him and reminded him of his own mother who must be beyond distraught without him.

"And the camera?" He asked.

"It's just to make sure we remember what you say. Virgil asked the same thing."

"Well...what you you want to know?"Alex replied warily. He was unsure of her intentions.

Black Canary's expression became serious. She leaned forward on the desk and folded her hands.

"Tell me how you were captured...if it's not too much..."

Alex told her about him going downtown for comics and being caught by a man in what appeared to be a black diving suit. How he was supposed to meet his mother and wasn't a runaway like most of the other teens. He told her about how he had woken up on the Reach's ship.

"When you awoke on their ship..." She paused. She knew it would be hard to ask but she had to know everything. "What did they do?"

Fear crept into Alex's mind. His body went rigid for a moment. He remembered the shocks, the testing. Waking up, wishing that he would die but didn't. Wondering if he would disappear like the other teens who were deemed failures. Canary grabbed his hand and have him a reassuring look.

"I...I had been on the ship much longer than the other teens. It started with the shocks and blood samples. Then it became more painful...they gave me all sorts of fluids. Some numbed me. Others gave me nightmares. One day they decided to turn up the voltage. I had never wanted to die more than that moment." Tears streamed down Alex's face and his body trembled.

"It was as if they wanted to break my will. Tear me out from the inside. Something inside me was unwilling to give in. Whatever they did, brought that out. I knew that I'd be able to live through anything after surviving that day."

Black Canary's eyes widened with surprise as Alex's body was covered in a green aura. His irises shined bright as he talked. It suddenly stopped as he realized that it had activated.

"No one was supposed to see that!" He backed up knocking over the chair.

"We'll need to run some tests to see the extent of whatever that was." She told him.

Alex became angry. He wasn't going to stay at Star and become a test subject like he had been with the Reach. He refused to be a lab rat again.

"I won't stay here and a rat to Star or anyone." He glared angrily.

"At least for a while..." She pleaded "We just need to make sure you're alright and not a danger to yourself or anyone else."

He wasn't hearing it. All he wanted to do was go home. Go back to his life and it was like everything was preventing him from that.

Alex took a deep breath. Arguing wasn't going to change that they were going to make him stay here one way or another.

"At least let my mom know I'm alright. She's probably going crazy. You probably already know but her name's Claire Conners. I'll stay but any podding or drugs and I'm gone. Deal?"

Canary smiled. "Deal."

Alex left the room and Bart went in. Jaime pulled Alex aside.

"You didn't tell her about what Bart said back at the ship did you?" He asked frantically.

"Didn't even cross my mind. To me you two were speaking gibberish. Time machines? The apocalypse? It was all nonsense. But after everything that happened, I'm starting to think that some of it is true. You and Bart saved me. So my lips are sealed. I'll leave it to you to tell them."

"Thanks..." Jaime sighed. "Canary told us that you guys are staying here for awhile. It'll be tough but I know you can handle it."

Bart exited the room shortly and Jaime asked him the same thing.

Bart put his arm around Jaime. "We don't know what triggers you going bad but I say, we say nothing. For all we know us telling then puts you on mode. Got it?"

Alex watched from the side. He figured that after saving him that Bart and Jaime were definitely trustworthy. After all, he owned then his life.

"Hey!" Jaime called. "You're apart of this too. After all l we did tell you our secret IDs."

Alex looked surprised. He was glad that after everything, he had made friends that he could count on. Jaime put his arms around Bart and Alex.

"From now on with this secret, the three of us are brothers. Hermanos."

The three made a small fist bump.

"Agreed." Alex and Bart said together.

TAOS May 15th 13:55MDT

They had been at Star for over a month. Alex had gotten to know the other teens pretty well over that time. Eduardo's father was a scientist at Star, Tye was a part of a great Native American tribe, Asami only spoke Japanese and Virgil like Alex was into comics. There was another older boy named Nathaniel who was previously known as Neutron, a villain that had attacked Central City but after the loss of his powers he had no memory of the attack and was sent to Star for study in case of his powers returning.

"Alright...show me again." Dr. Wilcox said though the observatory glass. Wilcox was one of Star's chief scientist was in charge of the teen's daily tests.

Eduardo teleported throughout the large room appearing here and there. The constant tests bored him and he wanted nothing more but to spend time with his father who was too busy for anything other than his research.

Virgil stared at the trash can placed in front of him. Electricity shot forth from his hands and around the lid of the can. The lid slowly lifted higher and Dr. Wilcox wasn't pleased as Virgil couldn't lift the entire can.

Asami channeled energy throughout her body and she was enveloped in a bright pink aura. She pushed off of the floor crashing into the stone dummies in front of her, shattering them.

Tye closed his eyes and tried to recreate the Astral form that he had randomly produced throughout their time there but nothing. His lack of control with his powers frustrated him and being stuck at Star didn't help either.

Alex concentrated. He imagined a large hand reaching out and grabbing the weights placed in front of him. His body was enveloped with the usual glowing green aura but as he put his hands out to channel it, a large hand made of energy grabbed the weights then suddenly dispersed. Alex put his hands out his knees, taking a few quick breaths. Using his powers were like using a muscle. The more he used it, the more he could do but the more he exerted himself the more pain he felt afterwards. Overusing his powers made it feel as if his nerves were burning. He told himself that he would master it so that no one else would end up like he did.

A/N I know it's a little slow but I feel it's essential to the progression. There will be a time skip just so I don't end up giving every tiny moment. I hope this was good and like always if there are any comments or criticism then please review. I take your thoughts into consideration when writing and it helps a lot. Thanks xD