I don't own Young Justice.

A/N: Thanks BubbleEwa for your reviews. Keep them coming.

A/N: This chapter is has b way more interesting tidbits than the last one. Like I said, the last one was a filler chapter.

Read. Enjoy. Review.

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The day passed slowly. I watched as Alex regained his strength and started to walk around the room. His powers still weren't at their peak, but they would back be back to normal soon.

"Ready to go out and meet the people?" he asked, a bit too chipper for my taste.

"No," I answered a little to quickly.

"You're not afraid are you?" he said with a little teasing tone.

"No, but what if... What if she's out there?"

"Vanessa, she's apart of the Team. Of course she'll be out there. You can't let that prevent you from going out. I mean it's okay to be scared though."

"I told you I wasn't scared."

"Then let's go."

I hated it when he did this. He was right and there was nothing I could combat it with.

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We entered the room. My arms were crossed. I didn't want to give off the impression that I was enjoying any of this. Of course Alex was all smiles.

Robin was the first to notice our presence. I guess it was all those years of training from Batman kicking in.

"Well I guess they decided to join us after all," he said as we walked over to the empty couch and took a seat.

Aqualad formally began.

"It seems we had a rather rough start. Allow me to start over. I am Aqualad. This is Mount Justice. Since you will joining us for a while, please make yourself comfortable. Everything here you have access to. We hope you find things to your liking, and don't hesitate to ask any of us for help or whatever you need."

I glared at the Martian. I had to tolerate her, but there was no way I was gonna ask her for any help whatsoever.

Aqualad turned and gestured at the rest of his team, implying he wanted them to follow his lead. Robin stepped up to the challenge.

"Well I guess it's my turn. My name's -"

"Robin," Alex interrupted. "That's Kid Flash, Superboy, Aqualad, Artemis, and ... Miss Martian."

I don't know if he meant to pause, but everyone could tell he had. Superboy glared over in our direction. I gave a little smirk.

"Well then, looks like we got ourselves a fanboy. I do give out autographs. By the way," KF smirked.

"We don't want any autographs," I said.

"Hahaha! Looks like you got shut down KF. Real smooth," teased Robin.

"Dude!" Kid Flash said as he looked back at the us. "Aren't we a sourpuss Vanessa? Fine, since you don't want a very valuable autograph or hang out with such a famous celebrity, then what do you kids like to do?"

I shot him a look that showed I was confused on how he knew my name.

"Don't worry, your identities are safe with us. Information kinda gets around here," the Boy Wonder answered my internal question.

"You didn't answer Kid Flash's question Vanessa," Superboy spoke up for the first time.

I didn't know why he had felt the need to single me out. He looked at me. I think he was on to us, but I didn'tcare. The more people that knew, it the less I would have to pretend.

Alex answered before I got a chance to.

"We don't really have any. Where we grew up, there wasn't much a ... 'fun' allowed."

"Unless you consider torture fun," I said under my breath.

Alex nudged me as Superboy gave us a look. Apparently he had heard.

"Where did you two grow up?" Aqualad asked.

"Uhh..." we answered in unison.

We didn't want them to know about our past. It brought back too many unwanted, painful memories. And for me, I was afraid for some reason that they would judge us for it, like it was some how our fault. I knew it wasn't, but these things always came up when I thought about my past.

Artemis looked at us.

"So who's hungry? I know you two haven't eaten in at least 24 hours. There's food in the kitchen. In fact, I think there's some pizza or something already fixed," she said.

She glanced at us with a small smile. She had covered for us. I don't know why, but she had. Against my instincts not to, I felt my trust for her start to increase. I don't know, if it was the best. I guess it was good to have an ally other than my brother, but the last time I trusted someone, I was hurt too bad.

And who says I have trust issues?

Alex and I rushed over to the kitchen, trying to avoid his question. We had gone days, even weeks without eating before. I had lost count, but I think at this point we were up to three days. But I wasn't complaining. On the table was a hot steaming circle with brown edges. It looked so good. We were to eager to try it. Artemis went in and cut a portion for me and one for Alex. She placed them in front of us.

"Bon appe'tit," she said.

We ate it ravenously. I had never tasted anything so good in my life. By the way Alex was stuffing his face, I could tell he felt the same.

We were done with it within two minutes.

"Can we have some more?" Alex asked.

They were all surprised.

"They're worse than you Kid Flash. I guess you two were hungry," Artemis commented.

She put another plate of food in front of us. We devoured this one just as quickly as the first. By the time five minutes had passed, we were completely done with the entire dish.

"What was that?" I asked, not able to hide my excitement about the cuisine we had just indulged in.

"Whatever it was, it was delicious," Alex said between bites.

"You have never had pizza?" asked Aqualad, surprised.

"You've definitely haven't lived life until you have,"said Robin.

"Yeah, especially with Miss Martian's cooking," spoke Kid Flash.

"Miss Martian made this?" I said showing my own surprise.

We both put down the current slice that we were eating. I suddenly had lost my appetite. Alex nearly choked.

"Is there a problem with that?" Superboy asked aggressively.

We hesitated before we responded. For all we knew, that pizza could have been poisoned. I tried to push those thoughts out of my head, but they just kept recurring.

"Well," Superboy pressed.

"No," Alex started, "there's no problem with it. It's good. We really appreciate it. It's just that we've never had pizza before, and we didn't expect it to taste so good. ... I mean not that she can't cook, it's just that she's a Martian, and you know..."

He was sinking our ship. I stepped in to rescue him before things got worse.

"It's just that we aren't used to eating like that. Food was scarce. Not that it should matter to you especially since you didn't make it."

There was an awkward silence in the room.

"I'm glad you two enjoyed it then," Miss Martian said, her first words since we had entered the living room.

"Can someone show us to our room?" Alex asked, hoping to get things back to the way they were.

"Sure, this way." Artemis volunteered.

We went quickly into the hallway.

"That couldn't have gone any worse. I knew we shouldn't have come out there to begin with." I said.

Alex stared at the floor.

"You would have had to come out of the infirmary some time. If not, they would've come to you," said Artemis.

"Thank you for helping us Artemis." Alex finally said.

It took her off guard.

"You're welcome," she stuttered in response. "Hey, I know this is going to be a difficult transition. But maybe you guys should try and conceal your Martian hatred a little better. It's pretty obvious that there something going on between you two and Miss Martian. Whatever they did to you in the past is over. I know it still hurts, but she's not out to get you guys. Trust me."

"Trust me." Those words stuck in my head. I had a hard time trusting myself sometimes, yet here Artemis was asking her to trust her. I wanted to, I really did, but I was still afraid this was going to backfire on me.

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She led its into the room. It was huge. There was a big bed in one end, a big TV in the middle, and it even came with a closet the size of a small store. It was incredible.

I rushed onto the bed as soon as we got in. It was so soft. I spread out and looked at the ceiling. I had never had something this amazing before.

I looked back at the door. Artemis had a huge grin on her face. She had never seen me act my age since we had been there. I usually didn't like people to see that side of me, but I was so excited then, it didn't make a difference.

Alex was slowly examining everything. He had always been very thorough and very cautious. He stopped one he got to the closet. He stared in for a few seconds before he started shaking. Then his legs started giving out. Though he tried to catch himself against the threshold, he still found himself kneeling on the ground.

I rushed over to him, and I think that triggered Artemis to do the same. When I got to him, his eyes were shut tight. He was mumbling something under his breath, but I couldn't make out what it was.

"Alex," I said softly, "it's okay. We're with Artemis remember. She said they wouldn't let nothing happen to us."

He started to ease his tension just a little.

Artemis then started talking to him.

"Alex, you're fine. Okay? It's just a closest. Nothing is gonna happen to you, I promise."

He slowly opened his eyes. He glanced at me.

"Better?" I asked.

He took a deep breath before he attempted to get up. He still wobbled a bit, so Artemis helped him. I couldtell he was embarrassed as he looked at the floor as he walked away. He hadn't even thanked us, that's how rattled the whole thing had made him.

I looked in the closet. The walls were bare except for the rails that extended from one side to the other. But it was the fact that they were white and bare. I knew it had reminded him of the ISO ward. I turned to look at him. He was on the edge of the bed staring at his feet.

Artemis turned to me and mouthed the words, "Is he okay?" I nodded at her and gave her a small smile. She returned it and quietly left the room.

I got on the bed and say beside Alex. I didn't say anything because I knew he wouldn't want to talk about what just happened. We sat in silence for a few he got off the bed and headed for the closet door. He slammed it shut, then went to the dresser under the TV and grabbed the remote.

He gave me a sinister smile as if he was up to something.

"Why don't we watch TV?" he said, cocking one of his eyebrows.

I laughed as he turned the TV on. We had never been allowed to watch TV even at the foster house we used to live at. Bring here had opened up a lot of new opportunities, and of course we were gonna take advantage of them.

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Mount Justice

1:52 A.M.

The night continued to fly by. We had been watching TV for hours. We had watched a lot of shows, but our favorite had been about this sponge and his friend starfish. I forgot the name of the show, but it was hilarious.

Starting a few hours earlier, I had started dozing. I would sleep for like a minute or so before I'd catch myself, and jerk myself awake. I was so tired. I wanted to sleep, but something in the back of my mind wouldn't let me. I felt like I would be in trouble if I did fall asleep.

After a few hours of it, Alex was tired of it.

"Vanessa, just go to sleep. No one is here that will keep you from it. You'll be fine."

I thought about it before I finally laid back and went to sleep. But if I had known I would have been tossing and turning like I was, I would have just tried to stay awake.

I hadn't really been allowed to sleep while we were... uh ... put away. So falling asleep here was a difficult thing to deal with. I tried to cope with it the best I could though. But it was rough.

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THIRD PERSON POV

Alex woke up the next day quite drained. Sleep hasn't been restful for him either, but it was needed. His sister was still asleep, but on the floor next to the bed. It seemed odd to him, but he figured that maybe she found it easier to sleep on the floor since that was what she was used to.

Last night he didn't go to bed until hours after she had. His protective nature had always forced him to make sure she was okay before he could relax. She had been tossing and turning when he had finally decided to lay down.

He snuck out in order to get something to eat. He didn't know why he was scared of getting caught, but he believed maybe it was because old habits die hard.

When he reached the kitchen, he bee-lined for the pantry. Once inside, he grabbed two small bags of what the package read "chips." He closed the door exactly how he found it so as not to draw attention to his presence there, and quickly returned to his room.

He opened the door softly, hoping not to stir his sister. But as soon as the door switched open, she started moving. Clearly she was about to try and strike first.

"Vanessa, take it easy. It's just me."

She looked at him, sleepy-eyed and confused. She stared at the sheets and linen on the floor. Apparently, she was just as confused as he was about why she was on the floor.

"Sleep well?" he joked..

She glared at him.

"You're definitely not a morning person."

"How did I get on the floor?" she asked, confused.

"I don't know, why don't you tell me."

She got up.

"Didn't have a good sleep did you?"

Vanessa was silent, then she answered.

"I don't want to talk about-"

Alex looked at her pleadingly.

"It was Wellsworth." She conceded at last. "He had me strapped to an examination table-"

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me the rest. I didn't sleep that good either. Bar'azz was forcing us to fight Gerald. Then he had me sent to ISO."

There was another awkward silence.

"Want to watch TV?" Alex asked trying to change the subject.

"I guess," Vanessa said.

Alex searched frantically for the remote.

"Where's the remote?" he asked his sister.

"I don't know. You had it last," she replied back, still trying to understand why she had been on the floor.

Alex continued to search when he stumbled upon something black under the bed.

"Here it is." He frowned. "Vanessa, what did you do to it?" He held up a broken remote. It was bent and crumpled.

"I don't know. You had it last."

"Yeah, but it was on the nightstand, and it definitely wasn't broken." He sat and put all the clues together. She was on the floor and the remote was broken. She had done it, and she had done it in her sleep.

"Vanessa, who else could it have been? I went to sleep after you did. No one else came in here. And I know it wasn't me. That's probably why you were on thefloor. You broke it in your sleep."

"No I didn't! Alex, you can't tell. I mean we don't have to watch TV, we didn't before. Alex please don't tell!" Vanessa yelled back, tears in her eyes.

Alex sighed. He knew she was scared. Scared of herself and what she could do.

He responded back with a much softer tone.

"I'm not gonna tell. But you have to promise me this won't happen again."

She viciously shook her head in agreement. Alex hugged her. She may try to act tough, but on the inside, she was still a scared nine year old girl and his little sister.

"KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!" It was the door.

They both jumped at the sudden noise.

"Who is it?" Alex asked as Vanessa wiped the tears out her eyes.

"There's breakfast whenever you guys are ready." It was Artemis.

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VANESSA POV (FIRST PERSON)

Everyone was eating by the time we came in. I was still shaken by last night's incident, but I did my best to hide it.

"Looks like you two enjoyed sleeping in," said Kid Flash.

"Help yourselves to whatever you like" said Aqualad.

We filled out plates to the brim with food. Eggs, pancakes, bacon, biscuits, hash browns, and orange juice. We devoured it all, similarly to what we had done lay night.

"Whoa, and the bandits strike again," said Robin.

"It was delicious Miss Martian," Superboy said looking up only to stare at us.

"Thanks Superboy," she said happily, oblivious to the jab he was taking at us.

I choked on my juice as she said so.

Miss Martian came over to help me as I started coughing.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she touched my shoulder. I quickly ripped it away from her. I don't know if anyone else saw it. I had a thing about people I didn't trust touching me.

She shrunk back, hurt. They were all staring at me now. Superboy giving me the hardest glare I had ever seen.

"Looks like someone isn't a morning person," Kid Flash mumbled.

"Mind your own business. Doesn't look like that beauty sleep did you any good either," I said.

"You really are a stick in the-" Kid Flash started.

"So what do you guys do on a normal day?" Alex interrupted.

Aqualad spoke up, breaking the tension.

"Now, we would usually take part in a training session. You two can join us if you would like."

I looked at Alex. Then I looked around the room. All I could think about was seeing the Martian getting pummeled. Beat until she couldn't get up. A big grin formed in my face. This was something I couldn't miss.

"Yeah," I said, "I think we'll come."