I don't own Young Justice.

A/N: Thanks for the review .

A/N: Nothing much to say this time around. Here goes another chapter.

Read. Review. Enjoy.

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Black Canary walked back to the room the house guest were currently occupying. She found Vanessa admitted to the room, and Alex asleep at her side. She smiled to herself. But she also felt guilty that such pain could be inflicted on beings so young. Hopefully her surprise would help raise some spirits.

She entered the room and sat next to Alex. She gently shook him while calling his name.

"Alex."

He awoke with a start, shooting the area below him and quickly raising his arm to defend himself.

"Whoa there Sport. I'm here as a friend."

"Sorry. It's a reflex."

"Nice technique. Distraction then attack. I like it."

There was a long pause. A change of tone had taken place.

"How is she?"

"Batman said she was recovering fast. From what I don't know. She was just hit with a sedative, but I guess that analysis machine found something else wrong."

"Well, I brought this for you both to share, but since Vanessa is unconscious, I guess you get it all."

She pulled out a tub of ice cream.

"What is this?" He took a spoonful and grinned happily.

"Ice cream. I'd thought you'd like it."

She watched as he enjoyed his pleasure. She didn't want to bring the mood down, but she knew she had to.

She took a deep sigh before she continued. She then noticed the bandage on his arm

"What happened, to your arm?"

"Uhh I cut myself with a skating. A floor burn. Nothing big."

"Right." She knew he was lying, but he must have had his reasons so she didn't pursue.

"Alex," she said gently. "What happened to you and your sister while you were in captivity?"

He stopped and turned his gaze to the floor. He shut his eyes as memories filled his head. Then he turned to her.

"I guess it's time we stopped running. We were tortured. We were beat. They experimented on us. They made us fight each other."

Black Canary could hear the waver in his voice. She knew this was hard for him, but it needed to be done.

"They wanted-"

He stopped mid-sentence, whipping his head in every direction.

"They wanted what Alex?"

He wasn't listening. He still looked around as if he were looking for something.

"Alex," Canary said with a little more force.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" She hadn't heard anything. She was wondering if the strain of all the days events was starting make Alex go mad.

"Alex, do you need to lie down?"

"No. No, no, no. Not now."

She was sure he was crazy now, until she heard the hum. It started low, but then increased.

Alex reached across the bed and grabbed his sister's hand. A light yellow aura surrounded them, and a powerful heat wave emanated from their bodies. The machines in the room started beeping wildly, and the medical bed was starting to shake.

Black Canary stood back in awe of what was going on. It lasted about a minute ending with a powerful surge of energy that nearly knocked her off her feet. Everything then settled back to its original state.

Alex sat back in his chair, clearly exhausted.

Black Canary slowly made her way back to her seat.

Before she could speak, Alex began explaining.

"It's an energy drain. Vanessa has a lot of power pent up inside her. It builds up after a while and well, it has to go somewhere. The first few times it , she nearly blew everyone to pieces. The building and everything. We had to learn how to stop it out we would well, you can fill in the blank. It can leave us exhausted for a while. Me more than her. I won't be able to use my powers for a while trying to recover, but I'll be okay, eventually."

Black Canary was stunned. She didn't know what to say.

"Okay. I'll let you rest then." She quickly left obviously at a lost on what to do, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

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Time blended, and hours felt like days. There was an unnatural silence in the cave.

Kid Flash slowly opened his eyes. He felt like he

had been hit by a spaceship. His head was pounding and his eyes refused to give him one clear image.

"Where am I?"

"The infirmary, old friend."

He recognized the voice as his leader.

"Kaldur, what happ-" he started, straining to sit up.

"Easy my friend."

He helped him up.

"It was the chemicals in the air once the-"

"The chemicals. I knew I should've stopped. I knew something didn't smell right. And then when I saw ... Where are they?"

He swung his head around and saw his teammates in the adjacent beds.

"No. This ... If I would've listened sooner they wouldn't be here. I knew I should've trusted my instincts and got outta there when I had the chance."

"Do not blame yourself. They would not."

"Unless ... you really ... screwed it up."

The strained voice came from the other side of the room.

"Robin."

Kid Flash jumped out his bed, rushing to his best friend's side.

"Seems like you ... recalled ... recaptured ... recovered quickly. Vertigo gone?" he forced out.

"I got double vision for a while, but I'll live."

Robin attempted to sit up, grasping for the rail but missing it causing him to nearly fall out the bed. Had it not been for Aqualad catching him, he would have.

"Dude, what happened to you?"

"My cerebellum. The ch... che... chemicals affected it, throwing off my speaking and m... mo... motor skills."

"And Artemis?"

"She suffered lung and liver damage. They are uncertain of when she will recover." Aqualad answered so his young friend wouldn't have to.

"Well waiting herr isn't going to make her heal any faster. I'm gonna go find a way to help her."

Kid Flash headed for the door, nearly tripping over his own feet.

"I'll go w... w... wi... with you."

"You could barely sit up. I don't think walking is in your best interest."

"I'm fine. I'm going with you. Besides we'll find out faster t... t... to... together."

"Fine, whatever."

"I would advise you both to rest," said Aqualad.

"I can't until I know Artemis is alright."

Aqualad stood out the way of the door. He knew when his friend was that determined, there was no stopping him, only slowing him down. The two heroes left the room, Robin in a wheelchair hauled off by Kid Flash, to find out more about how to combat their inside attackers.

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Alex was drifting off. His young body was still recovering from the energy drain from earlier that day. He hated doing it, but if it kept him and his sister out of trouble, he didn't mind the sacrifice.

Vanessa was still unconscious. What was wrong? She should have been up by now. Especially with her power. A simple sedative shouldn't have been this much trouble.

"Come on Vanessa. You're too stubborn to let anything else beat you. Why haven't beaten this yet?"

He didn't expect a response. He was talking to a sleeping body anyway. So when she replied, he was scared out of his mind.

The voice was low and still weak and shaky, but it was responding nonetheless.

"Maybe, I'm just to stubborn to wake up from the energy drain."

Alex jumped up and wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Owwww. My neck."

He let her go.

"Looks like you do love me," she said.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you. Then who am I gonna annoy?"

"Yeah."

A sudden punch was landed on the back of his neck.

"What was that for?"

"When you stabbed me in the neck. That hurt."

"Sorry. You know I was taught to go for the kill."

They shared a silent smile.