I awoke to voices. I heard three, although I didn't recognize them.
I opened my eyes, not knowing for a second where I was. Panic seized me as I tried to get up from my resting place.
I saw the team surrounding me. All of them wore matching concerned expressions.
What...what had happened?
I tried to move, and then my body responded my shooting spikes of pain through my muscles.
"Good, you're awake." A deep voice said near me. I looked to the right and saw Batman hovering above me.
"How...long had I…?" I tried to speak, but my throat hurt and my voice cracked.
"Two days." He answered, his expression unreadable. But then again, that was his usual expression. Two days? Two whole days since…
I looked back at the crowd of people. There was a distinct lack of winged people among them. Good. I didn't really feel like talking with them anyway.
"Superboy was the one to find you missing," Robin explained, which surprised me. I thought Superboy still hated me. Did he?
I looked for him, but didn't see his face. My heart sank a little in my chest. I had wanted to reconcile with him, but it looked like that would have to wait.
"So, how you feeling? Better?" Robin asked. I nodded.
"Better," I replied. But I was still tired. I wanted to rest some more. Batman led the team out of my room, allowing me some more time to rest up.
I closed my eyes and almost immediately fell asleep again.
I didn't dream that time. At least, I don't remember if I did or not. When I awoke again it was late; the window was dark. I tried moving my arm and found that I couldn't. It was like I was glued to the bed. my eyes could still move, though.
"...we may have overestimated her strength," I heard a voice, but the curtain was drawn and I couldn't see who it was. It sounded like Batman.
"Yes," I heard Hawkman's voice as well. "It seems like her time in Cadmus had damaged her body."
"And still, she is growing in her abilities." Hawkwoman's voice spoke next. There was a pause.
"We'll let her rest for now," Batman spoke again. "And until she is fully well again, I will keep an eye on her."
Wait, so now Batman was going to look after me? Well, I couldn't really complain. Behind the dark mask and cold air around him, he seemed nice. Much nicer than Hawkman, that's for sure.
A door opened. Footsteps retreated from the room. I slept again.
The next day, I returned back to Mount Justice. Batman told me about the things I had accidentally overheard the previous night.
I felt better. I could stand and walk again, but my wings had been more damaged and I couldn't even try to fly without them hurting.
"I've asked Dr. Richards to stay here and monitor your health. Every day you will go to the medical room and check in with him." Batman explained as a man stepped forward.
It was Xavier's uncle, the one who helped me before. I didn't usually like scientists or doctors, but he was an exception. I smiled.
"Follow me, please," he walked ahead of me, and I obeyed. The medical room was easier to get to than the room in the Hall of Justice, just a left turn and then three doors down.
He told me to sit on a mat on a table. He said he was going to give me a "check-up."
I didn't like check-ups.
He shined a light in my eyes, stuck something in my ears and put a stick down my throat. But soon it was over.
I stepped down from the mat-table. He said I could go, and I exited the room. I found myself walking back towards the kitchen and living room.
The team was already there. They all looked back at me, and I felt a little bit awkward standing there.
"Well?" Kid-Wally- was the first to speak. "You good to go?" Go? Go where? On a mission? Were we getting an assignment?
I nodded. "But where are we going?" I asked. The team laughed a little. I was still confused, but I smiled as the tension in the room disappeared.
There was one person that didn't laugh, though. I saw Superboy leaning against the wall opposite of me, looked at the ground.
I dared to walk up to him. "Superboy?" I asked. He didn't reply.
"Superboy, please, talk to me." I pleaded. I didn't know what else to do or say.
"...I'm glad you're okay," he finally responded, his voice a whisper. He turned to the side and walked out the door. Well, it's a start.
The next two weeks passed quickly and slowly at the same time. I spend my time either in front of the TV box with various team members telling me about the videos, in my room, or in the medical room.
The team flowed in and out of Mount Justice. Robin and Wally were the two of the members who were gone most of the time, and Miss Martian occasionally visited her uncle Martian Manhunter.
Aqualad sometimes went to Atlantis as well to help Aquaman, as the king person was called. I asked him about it once, and he said it was an underwater city filled with people like him that had gills on their necks and webbed hands. I wanted to come with him to see Atlantis. It sounded fun.
Superboy and I were often left alone in the mountain. He had barely spoken to me since I had come back from the Hall of Justice, but at least he was talking again.
"Hey, clone brother," I greeted one day, as I walked into the kitchen. He huffed in reply, watching something on the TV box.
"What are you watching?" I sat down on the couch some distance away from him.
"Nature documentary."
I watched alongside him. It was about an animal called a lion. I knew what those were called, but not a lot about them.
They turned out to be more interesting than I expected. They lived in family units called "prides," and the females did most of the hunting.
Was that how humans worked as well? They did seem to live in family groups.
But soon I was getting tired. Grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter, I retired to my room. I usually didn't eat much, which Batman told me not to do, but I couldn't seem to shake the habit.
I went to the medical room and had my daily check-up. I decided to ask Xavier's uncle a few questions about him I had.
"Dr. Richards?" I started. He looked up from his clipboard, raising an eyebrow.
"Why were you and Xavier in the Hall of Justice?"
He sighed and put the clipboard down. "I'm one of STAR Labs top medical researchers." I didn't know what that meant, but I nodded anyway.
"The scientists there asked me to come and do a routine survey of their medical equipment, and I thought it'd be a nice learning opportunity for Xavier as well. It was by we passed by you in that hallway." He explained. I felt better now.
"Any more questions?"
I nodded in answer, then asked, "Where's Xavier now?" I'm pretty sure I would have spotted him by now if he was in the mountain with the doctor.
"He's with his family." Dr. Richards answered, then continued with the check-up. I was glad Xavier was okay.
That night I dreamt something different than flying. I was falling instead.
I saw the ground coming up at me. I couldn't move. I braced myself, but the impact never came. I opened my eyes, and suddenly I was standing on a street I had never seen before.
There was a little girl there, kicking around a ball on the empty, worn down road. I tried to reach out to her, but I found that I couldn't move.
There was a house beside the road. I could only move my eyes, but it looked small and wooden.
Then it was night. The girl was still outside, but now she looked older. She was sitting on the porch, her brown hair blocking me from seeing her expression.
But I then heard a sound. She was crying.
The scene changed again. The girl was no longer there. An older woman with dark grey hair was sitting where the young girl once sat. She was holding something. It looked like a picture frame.
Then I was beside her. The picture was of a woman with black hair and a girl hugging the woman from behind, both of them smiling.
My eyes widened at the picture.
That girl…
She looked like me.
I woke up in a cold sweat. Most of the dream slipped from my grasp, but that picture still burned in my memory.
I don't think I could ever forget it.
I decided not to tell the team, at least not for now. They'd think I was crazy for seeing some random people and a girl that looked like me in a dream.
I rolled over on my stomach and fell back into a light sleep.
A/N: I was actually kind of stuck on what to write for this chapter. I'm not usually one to plan out what happens beforehand, so I was kind of at a loss when it came to this.
The next two chapters will be during "Welcome to Happy Harbor."
Review, followers, and favorites are always welcome.
