Avery sighed and ran a hand through her hair to calm her nerves ever so slightly. "I have to apologize beforehand for not telling the full truth before." She held up her left arm for everyone to see her tattoo. She looked directly at La'gaan, "This is what you saw when you asked what was on my arm at our first meeting. It is not something I wrote on my arm and forgot about." Her gaze then shifted to M'gann, "This tattoo is also why I wear long sleeves, as you previously asked about."

"Great, now what does that have to do with anything?" Garfield asked.

"Patience," Avery reprimanded. "Now would you like the short version or the novel?" She addressed everyone.

Looks were shared and Wally spoke what everyone was thinking, "We'll take the novel for five hundred, Avery."

The teen smiled at the joke before starting. "It would be best to start from the beginning to explain everything, including my ties to Kaldur'ahm. I was born on September 1st in the year 1927." She ignored the looks of confusion and disbelief from those surrounding her. "That makes me eighty-nine years of age, I know it sounds unbelievable, but it is the truth. My birth name is not Avery Brave, as you have come to believe, it is actually Cyla Pela Chrobry. Although I still wish to be called Avery, please respect those wishes."

Everyone nodded in agreement to her request.

Avery continued, "I was born to a doctor and an ordinary housewife in Poland, both of which already gave birth to one boy and one girl previously. My mother died when I was young from disease. My father regretted not being able to save her and worked vigorously as a doctor to make up for not saving her. Mine and my sister's care was dictated to our neighbor, a rude lady. If anything, she helped me develop a tough skin. We enjoyed reading our father's medical books more than her lessons.

"A few years later we moved out to the country and stayed there. My brother left about two years later for America, we wished him luck. Sometime after that we were taken prisoner by Nazis for our Jewish heritage. They brought us to Auschwitz concentration camp where I was issued this very tattoo. It cannot be removed, trust me, I have tried vigorously. At the camp we were enlisted as medical help."

She took a shaky breath and pulled her sleeve back down unconsciously, "At the camp I was abused in more ways than I care to count. I would not wish the experience on my worst enemy. My tattoo is the gentlest scar I have from the experience. My abilities stem from an experiment performed on me at the camp by a man with the name Josef Mengele. The experiment has left me with the frozen form of a fifteen year old. I have all the same scars from the day the formula was administered. Even if a new injury counters one such scar, the tissue just grows back, exactly as before. Mengele never saw justice for the crimes he committed at that camp either.

"Not too long after the experiment's success, my sister was shot in the head before mine and my father's eyes. Around a year later, my father was dissected alive, as I was forced to watch. A few months later the camp received an order to evacuate. Those too sick or weak to walk themselves were left behind, so I simply feigned sickness. Ten days later the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army came. They brought food and enough medical supplies to make a difference. Parts of Auschwitz were converted to help accommodate for the sick, I stayed to help my fellow liberated prisoners. I stayed until the last patient left, most likely because I had no idea where I would go.

"It took years, but I finally gained the courage and means to travel to America. I saw my brother in New York, although he did not see me. He was happy, had a wife and two beautiful young daughters. I did not dare to step into his sight. Seeing his supposedly dead sister is not something I want him to experience. His younger child spotted me as she turned to look at the shops lining the street. It hurt to see how much she looked like my sister and mother. The elder tugged her sister along and I saw her too, remarkable how much she resembled my father."

Avery wiped at her eyes as the memories flooded back into awareness, "I left as soon as possible. Hopped a bus to Chicago and did not look back. I met a woman there, Claire. She taught me drawing techniques during the day while her husband, Harold, taught me card games. He always said he let me win all those games, we all knew it was a lie. I tried to stay with them, but they noticed my lack of aging within a few years. So I had to leave again. I have spent the majority of my life drifting from city to city, trying not to make ties I will have to break off in a few months.

"I will skip ahead to avoid boredom. I could go on for hours about the people I have met. But to skip ahead, I will start at about six months ago. Somehow, probably a witness to my abilities, certain villains and enemies of yours found me on their radars. To shorten the story and retain a small bit of my pride, they captured me. I was taken aboard some black ship that dove deep into the ocean. My jailing was brief. It included a total of three ineffective interrogations as to my ability and a lot of stale bread.

"A few days later, this guy," She pointed directly at Kaldur, "Strolled up to my cell, unlocked it and told me to leave, even escorted me to an exit. I was the only prisoner aboard. He gave me the warning that I would only have a few minutes before someone would notice that Black Manta's high and mighty son was helping the lowly girl, I am paraphrasing of course. He told me that things were going to hit the fan soon, and it was best for me to get out now. So I took the warning, scuba equipment, and my savior's name with me. The end."

Artemis' eyes widened in remembrance, "You were the girl taken aboard a few days before the summit."

Avery's face contorted into an expression of confusion, "Why do I not remember you being there?"

"I was operating under the disguise of Tigress at the time," The blonde explained her past persona.

"You kicked me in the jaw for disobedience," Avery deadpanned.

Artemis shrugged, "I'm not going to apologize for my actions while undercover."

"Thank you for your kindness," Avery let the sarcasm roll off her tongue easily.

"All in a day's work."

Conner interrupted from where he had been processing the information. "So you really don't age."

"Last time I checked," Avery settled back into the couch.

"Any tips?"

Avery thought it over for a second before saying, "Deal with it."

"That's not very helpful."

"Thanks for telling me that," Avery fiddled with a loose string on her shirt.

Robin leaned over from his spot on the love seat to whisper to Avery, "You're going to have to explain to Batman why you didn't tell him this first when he comes for training tomorrow, you know that, right?"

Avery groaned and slid down in her seat, "Great, now I have my actual death to look forward to."

A/N: Yup, here you go, have at it. Next chapter is going to involve a lot of yelling. I'm not even going to address the events of Endgame in this author's note, that'll make me want to stab myself in the eye with a straw. I will say that Wally is going to continue appearing in my stories though, specifically this one. So in later chapters I'm probably going to address why he's still there and not singing with the angels. 125th reviewer still gets a prize. Have a nice day, if possible.

Read. Enjoy. Review.